2016 Recap
2016 started with a dream, which is best epitomized in in the picture below where I was leading the race at HITS Ocala in April; I wanted to achieve a new level of performance in my athletic life. The year ended with a an honor I would have previously not thought possible: the top spot in the United States for the male 45-49 age group USAT Rankings. I remain in disbelief that I'm ranked among the top athletes in the US, some of which were professional athletes in their younger days. It's amazing to me that such a thing is possible from a person with relatively modest athletic genes (I might be lucky to rank at a regional level based on my running for example). Further, it demonstrates that incredible things are possible from modest beginnings when pursuing a dream with discipline and passion. I credit the performance last year primarily to regaining my health, which had been in decline for years. In this regard thanks goes to Nourish Balance Thrive founder Chris Kelley.
What worked in 2016?
A Good Break: After a cold prevented me from starting IM Arizona in November 2015, I took about 2-months completely off running & biking. However, I decided to dedicate myself to swimming by the end of January I had logging 75 swims in as many days, and 100,000 yards in the pool for the month. I think that early season break from the more demanding sports resulted in a freshness that served me well through the rest of the year. In addition, I never felt like I was behind the 8-ball with regard to swimming, which allowed me to focus later on biking & running. Further, the work in the pool through the year under the guidance of Pete Alfino of Mile High Multisport really yielded some substantive gains in races. My swim splits at the Ironman World Championship over the last three years show that improvement from 1:19 to 1:14 to (an amazing) 1:02.
Slowing the Run: Pete had also suggested that I slow my running down. Rob Gray, another trusted advisor and amazing athlete, also suggested I slow down. Out of respect, I listened, and considered the suggestions, but the idea just did not make sense to me. Historically, most of my training was performed in zone 2-3. And, post-kids, my training actually probably tended toward zone 3-4. My thinking was simple: train the upper aerobic system and the lower-end would follow. More specifically, I felt elevating my modest threshold would result in the biggest gains in racing. However, my body was rebelling early in 2016 -- I was chronically ill, which prevented me from elevating my heart rate without considerable discomfort. Having ample experience with significant illness, I realized that I just needed to keep moving, even if slow. Ironically, during this "crisis", I found a renewed love for running. Since moving to Colorado, running had been always hard -- not like it was at sea level, when it was comfortable and therapeutic. Slowing down to give my body time to heal, I began to enjoy running again. So, from the early season through most of the year, my running remained relatively easy. The efficacy of that approach is now clearly evident. Not only did I set an Ironman run PR (at altitude and 6-years older), but I was also winning my age-group in a few races -- a first for me. Further, with a full racing season, including two Ironmans, I still felt like I had more good training left in me at the end of 2016.
Run Volume: While I tried the Sami Inkinin approach to my early season running (run nearly every day, but short distance; e.g., 2-miles), it did not yield good running form for me. What did work for me was increasing the run volume. I am convinced that -- for me -- the long, negative-split runs were critical to my first AG win (Boulder 70.3) in June. I just did not have a sufficient run fitness in the first two races of the season (PR70.3 & HITS Ocala). St George was a bit of an anomaly in that I was feeling the effects of the illness that I'll discuss below. It wasn't until I had 4 solid weeks of a run build that I began to feel strong in the most critical portion of the races. From early May to early June, I increased my run volume from the 35 to 45 miles per week range, with my first 20-mile run occurring 4-days before Boulder 70.3.
Run Volume: While I tried the Sami Inkinin approach to my early season running (run nearly every day, but short distance; e.g., 2-miles), it did not yield good running form for me. What did work for me was increasing the run volume. I am convinced that -- for me -- the long, negative-split runs were critical to my first AG win (Boulder 70.3) in June. I just did not have a sufficient run fitness in the first two races of the season (PR70.3 & HITS Ocala). St George was a bit of an anomaly in that I was feeling the effects of the illness that I'll discuss below. It wasn't until I had 4 solid weeks of a run build that I began to feel strong in the most critical portion of the races. From early May to early June, I increased my run volume from the 35 to 45 miles per week range, with my first 20-mile run occurring 4-days before Boulder 70.3.
Bike Strength: While I was making great strides swimming & running, I was also improving my biking strength. Specifically, February through June, all my bike training was hard, short, and indoor. I kept my torque-intervals through the entire season, including during the Ironman build. Lastly, I deferred any significant bike volume until just 7-weeks prior to Ironman Boulder. Here again, the theme of freshness prevailed. The results: the second fastest overall bike split at Ironman Boulder, and a HUGE bike split PR. Further, a top 3-percentile (in the AG) bike split at the Ironman World Championship.
Regained Health: The foundation for the improvements discussed above, was NOT harder, longer, smarter training; it was improved health. While all my paces were showing excellent potential in the early season, there was something wrong; I could not elevate my heart rate in training without significant discomfort. This issue also impacted my ability to race. As an example, I held the following heart rates during the run split of St George 70.3 in the three prior years: 158, 157, 148. Clearly, something was wrong. After some searching, I came across an organization called Nourish Balance Thrive, which is essentially a health-coaching business aimed at executes and athletes. I heard the founder Chris Kelley speaking during a podcast and it caught my attention. I made the decision that the investment in my health was worth it (starting is expensive, but what is worth more than one's health?) and started down the course with Chris. We started the process in the standard way with a bunch of functional medicine testing involving nearly all my bodily fluids (and solids). I also started some consults with his wife Julia on the first intervention -- diet. WOW! What a shock that was. Specifically, this meat & potatoes & cheese guy was to start Whole30 -- meaning, no dairy, no grains, and no sugars. After a few weeks of complaining, I started down that path in earnest. I remember starting Whole30 just before St George last year, sitting across the table from a plate of nachos my wife Christine had ordered. Oh my, what torture this was going to be! Well, after 30-days I was pretty successful, with only a few minor deviations from the plan. In hindsight, this was just the kick in the pants I needed.
The lab results started coming an and showed some significant deficiencies, including auto-immune antibodies and a pesky parasite. Fortunately, most of these issues could be addressed with just a better diet.
Here again, the evidence is clear. I went from having a difficult time elevating my heart rate in early May to winning my age group a month later. However, that was just the beginning. Something Chris said to me, perhaps in one our first meetings, was that while I may have been training like a beast, my body was not able to absorb the training due to illness. Anyone who's trained for an endurance event knows that the main benefits accrue after several months or years of healthy, consistent training. Which brings us to 2017!
Regained Health: The foundation for the improvements discussed above, was NOT harder, longer, smarter training; it was improved health. While all my paces were showing excellent potential in the early season, there was something wrong; I could not elevate my heart rate in training without significant discomfort. This issue also impacted my ability to race. As an example, I held the following heart rates during the run split of St George 70.3 in the three prior years: 158, 157, 148. Clearly, something was wrong. After some searching, I came across an organization called Nourish Balance Thrive, which is essentially a health-coaching business aimed at executes and athletes. I heard the founder Chris Kelley speaking during a podcast and it caught my attention. I made the decision that the investment in my health was worth it (starting is expensive, but what is worth more than one's health?) and started down the course with Chris. We started the process in the standard way with a bunch of functional medicine testing involving nearly all my bodily fluids (and solids). I also started some consults with his wife Julia on the first intervention -- diet. WOW! What a shock that was. Specifically, this meat & potatoes & cheese guy was to start Whole30 -- meaning, no dairy, no grains, and no sugars. After a few weeks of complaining, I started down that path in earnest. I remember starting Whole30 just before St George last year, sitting across the table from a plate of nachos my wife Christine had ordered. Oh my, what torture this was going to be! Well, after 30-days I was pretty successful, with only a few minor deviations from the plan. In hindsight, this was just the kick in the pants I needed.
The lab results started coming an and showed some significant deficiencies, including auto-immune antibodies and a pesky parasite. Fortunately, most of these issues could be addressed with just a better diet.
Here again, the evidence is clear. I went from having a difficult time elevating my heart rate in early May to winning my age group a month later. However, that was just the beginning. Something Chris said to me, perhaps in one our first meetings, was that while I may have been training like a beast, my body was not able to absorb the training due to illness. Anyone who's trained for an endurance event knows that the main benefits accrue after several months or years of healthy, consistent training. Which brings us to 2017!
2017 General Plan
I had decided last year to give my body a break from the rigors of Ironman training and racing for 2017. Last year was heavy in terms of training, time commitment, and focus on a single thing. I had also decided that I wanted to build my running & swimming strength further so that those disciplines could further my position in races. However, since I'd like to return to Kona for another shot at the podium in 2018 when I "age-up" to the 50-54 age group, I decided to do a late-season Ironman, but with a very short bike build.Goals
A plan has no direction without an objective. For me, the following are my goals/focus for 2017:- Achieve the #1 position in the USAT Rankings for 2017
- Achieve the #1 position in the US in the Ironman 70.3 rankings
- Podium at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in September, 2017
- Qualify for Kona @ IM Louisville in October, 2017; I also have a "secret" goal for this race, which I may share later in the year
Training Strategies
For obvious reasons, I will be using many of the training strategies I used in 2016, but with some slight variations. For example:- Functional strength -- I saw some significant strength improvements between Bould & Kona last year, which I am sure was a result of fucntional strength work; I plan to maintain that through the year this year
- A balanced focus on swimming -- Keep the frequency at 4-5x per week, with volume near 12k; join in the masters swimmers for some speed & skill
- Keep the bike work indorr & high-intensity through the entire year; maintain the torque-intervals, even 2x per week
- A limited, three-week bike build for IM Louisville
- Log 3-full months of nearly exclusive Maffetone Run pacing (comfortable; 132-135BPM for me)
- Build run volume early -- In fact, get to the 20-mile long run before my first race in April
