So I am still dealing with some pain in my lower back after last weekend’s Toughman Half Ironman. I can swim normal, can do some easy riding, but still can’t run. I was hoping to be able to start running yesterday or today but each day I wake up it is still tender. So this morning I received an e-mail from Doc with instructions to swim and “Just Chill”! O.K. so I banged out a great swim this morning and then went fishing with some friends. What a great way to spend the last day of summer!

Kyle and I on the way out of the inlet

September is by far the best month of the year at the Jersey Shore!!  We get about a dozen or so days that are just like today, temperatures in the low 70′s, blue skies, and a warm ocean.  It’s no wonder so many people from New Jersey and New York move to Florida as this is the kind of weather they get 6 months out of the year.  The rest of the year, the weather can be crap so when you get days like today, it’s best to spend them outdoors! 

Eric enjoying the ride!

Kyle and Eric catching another one

Erin with the first catch of the day!!

The Keepers

Headed Home!

What a gret day it was! Several times I thought how good for the soul fishing can be!  And wouldn’t you know it, what’s good for the soul is usually good for the body as tonight my back feels the best it has felt in weeks!!

SD

Last Sunday I raced the Westchester Toughman for the second year in a row. I was really hoping for the win but with just two weeks since IM Louisville I was unsure how my body would react to racing again. Leading up to Sunday I was feeling pretty good and was confident that if I could manage the damage given up on the swim that I might be able to run the defending champion, Dom Gillen, down. Race morning turnd out to be a perfect morning, I wasn’t too nervous, more anxious to race again.

The swim was pretty straight forward triangle out and back. We had a strong current on the way out but made for a quick return. I think I might have had the best swim so far this year, in a 27:30, coming out of the water I was in second, “Holy Crap!! That never happens” I thought. My parents came to the race so it was comforting to see them at the swim exit, this was the first time my Mom has ever seen me race a triathlon. Derrick Treadwell, who finished 2nd, his wife was at T1 and informed me that I was 4mins behind Dom. I knew I was going to have to ride hard to limit my losses so I went hard from the start. The course is constantly rolling with some pretty good climbs. I had no idea how far back I was but I knew I was riding well as Derrick, who is a national duathlon champion, did not catch me. This was probably the hardest I have ever ridden for a half ironman as I am still trying to find the balance between as hard as I can go and still having legs to run on.

Coming into T2 Derrick’s wife told me I was 6 minutes back, I started doing the math and really thought I could catch him by mile 7 or 8. Leaving the transition my legs felt o.k., we had about a half mile of flat running till we hit the hills.

My first mile was 5:40, feeling pretty good I carried on but a short while later I began to feel the Ironman in my legs. The run course is relentless with hills every mile. My pace was slowing and I was very much aware that I did not have my usual pop in the legs, it was a suffer fest. At the turn around I saw that I was still a good 5 or so minutes back and I also saw Derrick charging hard to catch me. I kept reminding myself that it was just another day of training and I wanted to get the most out of it. I took in some coke around mile 8 and by the last mile started to feel a bit better, could be that the course flattend out as well. I was a bit disappointed but had to think of things logically, knowing that there might be some residual fatigue from Louisville. Either way Dom and Derrick both had a great races and it was great to have my parents there for support. The best part of my day was my bike split as Dom only out split me by 1 minute, last year he put 10minutes into me. So this was huge!!!I was also pleased to have had a pretty decent swim.  I am now hopeful that the new swim stroke Doc has had me working on is starting to come together!  Also thanks to reading/watching the Wongster’s blog on swim stroke I can see how I am supposed to be swimming. 

Thanks to Richard Izzo, the race director, for having me participate in another great event, and to all the volunteers who gave their time on Sunday!!  I am actually a little more beat up after this race than IM Louisville as I strained my back pretty good on Sunday, I am hoping it clears up so I can get back to training hard for IM Florida!!! 
SD

I’ve said from the very beginning that this journey I am on is my Mt. Everest and when I win an Ironman, I will have reached my summit! Even though I am disappointed in my result, I still took a few steps up the mountain and continue to show signs of improvement. Some people can’t understand how I can be disappointed with a 45 minute p.b. but when you’re a runner and you fall apart in the last hour of the run, you are very disappointed.

I came out of the water knowing I had a shit swim. I lost the pack I was swimming with after I swam into a submerged tree trunk, thus swam the last 45mins by myself. I wasn’t too sure how much time I had given up but I knew I had to hustle if I wanted to crack the top ten.

Onto my Cervelo P2, I was very anxious to see how much progression I have made after training in the Swiss Alps all summer. I pushed hard from the beginning. On the first loop we had an open road, on the out and back section I was able to see the second pack, which made me grit my teeth a bit as I see how much harder I must work on my swim this winter if I want to be in that pack next summer. Up and down the rolling hills I went slowly moving up the field. By the second loop we were mixed with the age groupers, which looked like one big group ride, not their fault, just the way it is. I weaved my way in and out and of traffic looking forward to the last 15 miles where the road would open up again.

I never really felt comfortable on the bike, I suffered for nearly the entire 5 hours but I was confident that I had done enough hard running over the summer on tired legs to be able to handle the pace on the marathon. A positive sign is that unlike in Nice where my last 30mins on the bike were my toughest, this time my last 30mins were when I felt best. My goal was 5 hours and I nailed it.

Onto the marathon my legs felt great as did my new par of Avia Bolts. It was great to see some familar faces on the run as my sister and brother made the trip down from Jersey, a former teammate of mine at Tennessee, Keith Kimmons and another friend of mine from Jersey, Jaime Gallagher both happened to be in town.

I held nothing back on the run, the goal was 2:50 marathon and I went out after it. I was a bit quick the first 10k so I pulled back the second 10k, coming thru the half right on pace. Only problem was that by 20k my hamstrings and calves started cramping a bit and once I headed out on the second loop, I hesitated. When you give up 15mins on the swim, you can’t hesitate!!! By mile 15 I knew I was in trouble so I took some extra time at an aid station and drank some coke and gatorade. I felt myself coming out of it for  about a mile or so but by the time I reached 30k I started to lose it menatally. I’ll be honest, I knew I was out of the money and I was tired of suffering. I gave into the pain, I was weak and I must get harder if I want to be a champion. I simply switched into survival mode.

On The Run

I never stopped jogging other than at aid stations, but it was slow going. The last mile of the run had some comic relief as my sister tried jogging next to me on the side of road, yelling words of encouragement and informing me that Lisbeth was just up the road and was doing great, my response was, ” No shit I just watched her run by me”. After a bit she said she was whipped and had to stop. I was gald to finish with a big P.B. but I am still an hour away from where I know I can be.

My swim was shit, but I will worry about that in December and January when Doc locks me in the pool. My bike is getting stroner, it was the best part of my day, but I still have many, many more mtns to climb before I am ready to ride with the leaders. In Nice I made it to 15k of the marathon, in Louisville I made it to 25k. I am hopeful that by November I can make it to 42k and run a 2:50 marathon. Doc continues to remind me that my small frame has its’ advantages and I am starting to see it as 48 hours after the race I was able to run virtually pain free.

Next up is the Toughman Half Iron distance race in Westchester, NY next Sunday. Last year I finished second so naturally I hoping to win this year! The bike is challenging with many hills and the run is very tough with relentless hills. I cannot wait to race again!!!

Big thanks to my homestay Andy Anderson, to my sis Heather and brother in law Jimmy for coming to support me, and to Pat and Gary for providing the post race steak dinner and for taking me to their neighbors Michael Jackson Funeral Theme Party

Me at the Michael Jackson Part

Congrats to my fellow Team TBB Teammates Hiro, Maki, and Lisbeth for your great finishes. And to Kurt Kahl who at 73 years old was the oldest starter and finisher at 16:24:26. Kurt I was out there at 11:30 pm, beer in had, cheering you on, very inspiring!!!

Hiro and I feeling refreshed after a massage!!

Nutrional Info:  My good friend Brian Shea of Personal Best Nutrition, who provides my supplements for me asked if I could include my nutritional plan in my race report so it is below

Once onto the bike I immediately drank a bottle of gatorade that I had on my bike and took 1 Gu Roctaine.  Over the first 60 miles I sipped on a bottle of 400 calories of carbo pro mixed with gatorade.  At an hour and a half I ate 1 snickers bar.  At each aid station  I took either 1 bottle of water or 1 bottle of gatorade endurace.  I also tried to grap a bannana at each aid station.  At 68 miles I grapped my special needs bag which included another bottle of carbo pro and gatorade, this time only 200 calories of carbo pro.  I also took in 3 additional Gu Roctaine every hour or so. 

On the run I took in 2 Gu Roctaine during the first 20k while sipping water and eating 2 bannanas.  On the second loop I took in 1 more Gu and also started drinking coke and gatorade.  What I will do next time is take a bottle of gatorade out of T2 with me like I did out of T1 as I don’t think I drank enough during the first 15k.   I will also leave a bottle of half gatorade and half coke at  the special needs stations on the run.