2010 Season

Time to lock it in and make commitments.

The A's

March Madness Half Marathon

Rockman Half Ironman

USAT Halfmax Challenge

I'll fill in the rest later. As you can see, no IM, not until 2011.

I DID IT!

OK, so I know you have been wondering where the heck I have been lately. I sort of am dormant in October and November after the racing season in the midwest - it's my time to reflect on the year and spend time with my loved ones. And, this year, was no doubt a very special year to me. I made the ultimate commitment to my soulmate, Marcia. I had the ring for two weeks (shopping for a month) and it was just weighing me down. So last Thursday, in a very special moment, I was massaging her hands after a very long day of work and I said, these are beautiful hands and are so important to you. However, they are missing something and I left the room and came out with a small box with the ring. I got down on both knees (haha!) and said in really simple terms, will you marry me.

It was a wonderful weekend - she had 3 days off and we spent it with our families. I can tell you I am so into it, so tuned in, so focused now. It just makes everything right -all the time we spent together in the last months of our relationship were validated and I know this: she is the one I am spending the rest of my life with. Readers may have seen how somber I was earlier this year and how slowly, after July the posts on this blog were less frequent but happier. That is because of the profound love and effect she has on me.

2009 has been really good to me - just like I predicted. I can't wait for 2010.

Hey long time............

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while and I apologize. Caught up in the moment but you are all in my heart and I think about you all the time. Anyway, I got the chance to post on Unrealcycles.com and Jerome asked me to blog on their site about my wheel set that I used this season. I really am impressed with the wheels and encourage you to look into these as an alternative.

To check out the posting, click here.

IMmoooooo race report long over due

OK, I know I know. Readers are definitely wondering where I have been. Well I just had to concentrate on training and I met someone really special. So I was dedicating my time to her and preparation for Ironman Wisconsin. And yes, it was really special. In short, I finished in 11:09 and executed a well thought out race plan. I would like to thank people first before I get into the details.

Jen Harrison: Without the planning and coaching, I wouldn't have been able to race so well throughout the past year. I feel I have come a long way and there is still a lot of potential she recognizes and we can reach it. She is a tough cookie and likes to make me suffer but is all about recovery. It's a beautiful mix. Her husband Jerome is a great friend and source of information too.

Patrick Chalmers: A Ironman Veteran who I met earlier this year. Also a client of Jen's, he is a great friend, training partner, and amazing athlete who can put it together. By training with him, I stepped my game up to another level. Earlier in the year I realized there was a difference in the ability level and I knew if I could befriend him and train with him, there would be a great friendship that developed.

Travis Vanderloon: Another Ironman Veteran, friend of Patrick and Jen. He raced well and is another great friend and training partner. We drove up to Madison before the race and he kept my head in check.

Tucson Campers, Blogger friends, Facebook Friends: You kept the encouragement up during the race. Seeing you guys and hearing what you wrote virtually really touched me. It's the best when I go back and re-read what was written on Facebook and email. I am truly your friend.

OK, with all the sappy stuff out of the way, here are the details of my race.

Pre-race: Was in the worst possible mental state. I was a ball of nerves and just looking at me you would have jumped. Travis and especially Patrick snapped me out of it. I saw Jen and Jerome before walking down the helix. Marcia (my gf) and my mom met me too before the race and Marcia was taking pictures and it was really great. Seeing her really calmed me down. So much energy in the racer's minds. So much enthusiasm in the crowd. Mike Reilly was pumping us up.

Swim: I seed myself right of the ski jump (deep water start) and about 4 rows back. Immediately surrounded by swim caps I think oh shit, I am gonna get smacked around. So I try to find some open water before the gun goes off. No luck, just deal with it. BAAAAM. Gun goes off, start throwing arms and kicking trying to get out there. It was mayhem and ridiculously crowded. I managed to do OK on loop 1 without getting hit and I knew I was slow. That swim is tough. On the first turn on the 2nd loop, some guy in a body boarding wetsuit kicks me square in the face. My face goes numb and I can't feel my bottom lip. Then he cuts me off when I try to pass on the right. Then he swims into another group of people. Oh wow, he's gonna get hurt. Out of the water in 1:22. I knew my swim was weak but I survived and that was the plan. I was not tired running up the helix but my heart rate was high.

T1: into transition and it was easy to navigate. Grab bag #546 and find an open spot. Great volunteer work. I paused and got a cup of water before I ran out of monona terrace. I carried my bike shoes and ran in socks to my bike. IMO this is the best way to do it with such a long transition. Get to my bike and notice my bike is one of the last ones on the rack...my heart sank a little but I didn't get pissed. IM fields are deep competition and people are strong, I told myself to not worry I would make a lot of ground if I paced the bike correctly and ran a strong marathon. I get onto my bike and notice that my bike got knocked around and my computer mount for my Edge 705 broke.

Bike: the bike computer was spinning around the right aerobar extension and it was going to drop so I decided to take the computer off and put it in my pocket. I didn't know what my heart rate or what my cadence was so I was SOL. I had to ride the bike on perceived effort and listen to a HR alarm which was set at zone 4. Turns out that I did fine, just fine. My average HR for the bike was 150 bpm and average cadence was 83. I spun up the biggest hills and let the hammer heads go. I got off the bike in 5:56 or so. Averaged 18.9 mph. This included a fix for dropping a chain and colliding with the back of a car that cut me off. OH I was ever so pissed. The latter could have ruined my race. Stupid driver stops right in front of me when she had to go down the split road. The sign says, cars right, bikes center!! Keys for a successful bike were to stay on top of my nutrition and hydration. I peed 4 times (without stopping), took in a bottle of water at each aid station and took in 3 bottles of gatorade. I finished my bike bottle with 13 power gels and ate one power bar and one bag of power bar gel cola blasts. I'm not going to tally it up but I think it was around 335 calories per hour. I took in about 12-14 salt tabs...I can't quite remember. Who's counting, I don't have to think about this until next time.

T2: I was a mess. My head was not on straight because I realized 26.2 miles to go and I am on an empty tank!! My friend Kean finds me. He's a double PHD and one smart guy. He completed 5 Ironman races in 2 years and finished Ironman Malaysia. He knows his stuff and especially nutrition. He sat me down and got my run gear out. He said, "Ben, time to forget about the bike, it is over." I don't know why I was so frustrated. I had to remain positive. BE Positive. Kean says, "Ben, this is the time to concentrate, you must realize that there is going to be a lot of fans cheering for you and it will be easy to lose your focus especially on State Street. Just remember to stay on your game plan." That was it, nothing else, not, "you can do it". This was because he knew I could do it and didn't need to tell me. If he told me, then maybe I would have questioned whether I could. Therefore, he omitted it. What a smart guy. I grab my fuel belt...without it no way I would be able to complete this. I start running out the door...

Run: This was my strength. I knew that in order to run well, I had to start off conservatively and I had a good race plan. I was running without heart rate, I didn't need it. My plan was to go out and average 8:20-9:00 for the first 13-16 miles or 2:30:00. Then take it up a notch with whatever I had left. This was a good plan for my ability level. It WAS hot! My sweat rate was high and I thought, "good, it means I am not totally blown out." However, I knew that I need to get my core temp down. I used ICE and sponges - these are great. The sponges keep me clean and when inserted into my jersey and against my chest, it pulls the heat out. There is air inside the sponge and a little water so it does a good job of pulling the moisture away from the skin. I think this was key for keeping me cool. It does work. I switched a sponge at each aid station. When I pulled it out, I noticed the side that was against my skin was warm....this means that it was pulling heat out. I kept on top of my nutrition and never stopped running....even through the aid stations. My cadence was high and I was passing people left and right. I felt great at a 8:20 pace. I had finished one 8 ounce fuel belt flask filled with 4 gels, water and a half of scoop of First Endurance Pre-Race. This stuff works!!!! It gave me that kick I needed. Definitely good for later stages in a long race. I see my mom and Marcia cheering me on around mile 11 and I shout out, "this is easy!" It was easy, I felt awesome. However in the back of my mind, I just didn't know if I was going to blow up or not. Time to go for it and see. Have guts, be positive, do it! These were all things I was telling myself. AND, I was talking to myself out loud. People I was passing were probably thinking I was crazy. I was, borderline ha! Passing half way, I see the wellfit crew and I was hauling. I saw Jen Harrison and she gave me a "good job, keep it steady". She used both hands in a downward motion, kind of like saying good job, keep it steady, don't blow it, calm down a little. I think she saw that I was running well and to keep running well and to keep that pace I would need smarts on the second loop. On the hills at Observatory Hill, I did. I climbed those hills at about a 10:10/mile pace to give you an idea how steep they were. The hills are serious but not too serious. Nothing like Sabino Canyon in Tucson. I remember that instantly when I was climbing. I remember when Spencer Smith was kicking my ass that time in Tucson and pushing me. I remember and thought to myself at that moment that I was actually hurting worse back in March than I was at that point. I thought, I can do this. I came around mile 18 and had a good kick to get more momentum. My fourth toe on my left foot was blistering but I kept going. Passing mile 20 I wanted to rip the microphone out of the lady's hand that was marketing the Ford stuff. Why!?!! It's so disrupting and your music sucks!!! Just shut the F*ck up! no one is listening to you! No one doing the damn race is going to decide to buy a car right at that moment! You are not helping!!! Whoever decides to buy a car at that moment or decides they like Ford at that moment on the race course is not thinking about the race!! I look at my watch forget about the stupid advertising and it just fired me up more. 4 miles to go, 5kms to go. Just the distance I will be running with my gf in her first 5k race next month. She and my mom will be at the finish line! GO GO GO! I put away my watch, I just didn't look at it and started going for it. One guy I catch up to who was walking starts running with me and passes me. Great! I inspired someone to start running again. Rounding the square I see Jen. She shouts out with soo much enthusiasm, "Rock star, great run!!!!" IT brought tears to my eyes and just fired me up more. I run down and hands up in the air fists pumping! SO Much excitement around. I see Marcia and my mom, I cross the finish line and hear Mike Reilly, say my name and how I am a first timer and I run down the chute. I did it! I didn't know how fast I ran, just that the clock read 11:09. I didn't know what to think or if that was good. I had no time goals. All I wanted to do was finish. I didn't know how fast I ran. I thought I was in 3:40s or something. Turns out that I ran a 3:38 and was estatic. My marathon PR is a 3:19 and I think that is textbook - to run 20 minutes off a Marathon PR in an Ironman Marathon without walking. Yes, I did it correctly. I am happy with my race: running strong off a well executed bike was a race goal. I think 85th overall run place is a big accomplishment. I am not one to really brag and I am not bragging, I am just surprised I did so well.

Afterward, I was really tired. Ha! Yes, I should be. Here are some pics.

Left to Right: Me, Marcia, Mom.

The awesome, two-sided sign they made. I saw it many times on the race course.

Pre-race: me, Kean, Patrick, Travis. I have bigger arms than Patrick =)

Swim Start

I don't have any good bike pictures to share. I don't really like them too much.

Finishing...those are my mom's hands!

Finishing...picture was taken too early by ASI. No I am not screaming in pain, I am extremely pumped up here.

I finished in 11:09:05 and :01 seconds later this is the expression on my face. Going from extremely pumped up to extremely out on my feet (just kidding). I think I am trying to blink. This looks more like ROBOT MAN instead of an Ironman Finisher.

Hugging my GF and she snapped a picture right before to capture the moment.

That is pretty much it. I learned a lot about myself that day. I am still recovering and am not sure if I am going to do IM next year but I am sure I would have the courage to try another one. I realized that there is potential for improvement but it's going to mean more intensity on the bike and run and improving my swim technique.

Thanks again for reading.

TOTAL SWIM2.4 mi. (1:22:51)2:10/100m1501194
FIRST BIKE SEGMENT40 mi. (2:03:10)19.49 mphSECOND BIKE SEGMENT83 mi. (2:17:06)18.82 mphFINAL BIKE SEGMENT112 mi. (1:36:28)18.04 mphTOTAL BIKE112 mi. (5:56:44)18.84 mph739119
FIRST RUN SEGMENT6.35 mi. (54:53)8:38/mileSECOND RUN SEGMENT13 mi. (55:13)8:18/mileTHIRD RUN SEGMENT19.23 mi. (51:20)8:14/mileFINAL RUN SEGMENT26.2 mi. (56:46)8:08/mileTOTAL RUN26.2 mi. (3:38:12)8:19/mile23534 TRANSITIONTIMET1: SWIM-TO-BIKE6:52T2: BIKE-TO-RUN4:26

almost there

25 days.

I feel great and full of vitality.  I am sleeping more but was trashed on Sunday and Monday after a lengthly training camp in Madison last week that consisted of a IM simulation day, a pokie flush spin on some rolling hills, capped off by a longer brick.  I finalized my nutrtion plan and must say that Powerbar,Powergel and Powerblasts are all great products.  These work much better than CarboPro, INFINIT.  In the future I would like to try the Powerbar drink mix, but I figured this is what I use on the bike instead:

12 Vanilla Powergels 

• 110 calories x 12 = 1320 calories
  
• 200 mg Na x 12 = 2400 mg Sodium
  
• 27 g Carbs x 12 = 324 g Carbs
• 10 g malodextrin and fructose x 12 = 120 g sugars
• 20 mg K = 240 mg of Potassium

2 Vanilla Crisp Power Bars cut in half then cut lengthwise.  I stand these up with the cut side facing upwards in my bento box so the bars don't melt and turn into one big bar

• 240 calories x 2 = 480 calories
• 200 mg Na x 2 = 400 mg Sodium
• 45 g Carbs x 2 = 90 grams of Carbs
• 25 g of Cane Juice Syrup, Maltodextrin, Fructose, Dextrose x 12 = 300 g of sugars
• 8 grams of Protein x 2 = 16 grams of Protein 
• 1 gram of fiber x 2 = 2 grams of fiber 
• 3.5 grams of fat x 2 = 7 grams of fat
• 120 mg of K = 240 g of Potassium

1 package of Powerbar Gel Blasts

• 130 calories
• 40 mg of Na
• 30 g of Carbs
• 24 g of sugars 
• 2 g of Protein

I will start off with my bike bottle and two throw aways in my bottle launching rear hydration system.  I am going to use friction tape (the kind hockey players use) on the inside of my bottle cages to add a bottle retention feature.  I also will add a strip of tape around the bike bottle with all my gels.  The WI course is notoriously bumpy!!!  I lost 3 bottles this past weekend multiple times.  I plan on taking a two bottles at each aid station if it's hot.  

Here is the fluid and nutritional intake plan.

If it's hot (>85 degrees), I take in two bottles every 10 miles.  I drink every 10 minutes, if it's hot, I drink every 5-7 minutes.  I start my nutrtion intake at 20 minutes on the hour, so for the first 20 minutes on the bike, I drink water only.  At 20 minutes, I take a shot of gel from my bike bottle.  At 40 minutes, I eat something solid from my bento box.  At the top of the hour, I take in 2-3 salt pills from a dispenser and drink more since I have a high sweat rate.  I am a garden sprinkler sometimes.  And then I repeat this for the entire bike course.  It's a lot easier than it sounds and it gives my body routine in a conveyor belt type of feed.  The goal is small bites to eat, small sips of gel, small sips of liquid in between.

Given the surface roughness of the bike course, I must ride in bike shorts.  I plan on changing into tri shorts at T2.  If there are bananas in transisition, I am going shopping.  

This plan will give me at least 300+ calories per hour.  

For the run:

here is what I did last time for a 3 hour training run.  

Fuel belt: 4 x 8 oz flasks filled with 2 gels each mixed with water.  Get a flask down every 60-80 minutes.   My stretch goal is to break 3:45 in the marathon and I know I can do it if I pace correctly on the bike and take in my nutrition as planned.  I just have to feel that my run legs are there and be patient in the first 5-6 miles.  I know I can do it, my leg turnover was high and my legs felt strong during my IM simulation.  Bring it on Wisconsin!!!

For those that are interested, here is the bike maps that I did while staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Middleton.

Bike (IM Sim day)

Bike (Saturday) + 30 minute honesty run

Big Week!!

I'm still pretty tired from SOR...I just haven't recovered as fast as I liked.  I also have this nagging little bitch ass pain in my heel that won't go away.  I think I stepped on a big rock at the swim start at SOR and didn't realize it hurt until the next day.  I know it will leave soon, just hope that I don't re-injure.

This week is HUGE.  Here is the bike route I am planning for Saturday...it's 122 miles with a 30' T-run after.  Any local friends that want to join for the entire ride or for part of it, arrive at Barrington High School at 5 am.  Breakfast and lunch are eaten on your bike.  Bring your own utensils and food.  

I really hope my bike parts come in this week.  I need a new arm rest cup and a I picked up a Fuel Cell from Carbon Concepts (see blog list of friends for link).

Some stuff is being cooked up at work too...we will lose 10% of our staff and that is a lot (but less than 100 people).  When you think about it though, engineers are difficult to replace and the effect is more than just a ripple.  

7 weeks out

After last weekend's race, I feel like a new chapter should be written.  Yes, I felt like I had a successful race at Racine, but now looking at the last 7 weeks until my IM, I think there is a long way to go still.  I have the heart of the training, a hard training camp in early August (for those that are interested, email me), and I have to figure out my nutritional plan.  I'm not really going to write about SOR, it was a PR: the swim was short, the bike was fast and filled with cheaters, and the run proved that I biked too hard and had nutritional issues.  I should have ran in the low 1:30s but instead I over-biked and ran a mediocre 1:41 on a cool and flat run course.   I am clearly not happy with the run performance.   My splits were: 28, 2:23:51, 1:41:xx.  End of story, that one is in the books, I will never do that race again.  It doesn't make sense compare age group standings in my opinion since most of the times in there were not true PERSONAL times.  From now on, I do hard as hell hilly ass half-ironman courses (Silverman or bust!) or IM.  Make it hilly, make it windy, make it hot, make it in another country, and domestic races begone! (except Wisconsin this year).   My mistake on Sunday was a lack of preparation in my race plan.  I need to figure this out in the next three weeks otherwise it will be a LOT of pain and suffering on 9/13.