Training Update and Ironman Kansas Prediction Crapshoot Extravaganza Celebration Kerfuffle

Yeah yeah, I'm overdue for an update etc...whatever.

My Honey Stinger race kit

The last time I posted, I was celebrating my 5 year anniversary of being an athlete, being stoked about my new Honey Stinger Hive sponsorship(still am stoked, btw), and musing on the upcoming triathlon season and what it might hopefully have in store for me. That was almost 4 months ago. Let's go chronologically, shall we?

In late January, mostly out of curiosity and partially because I was starting to feel a bit on the doughy side...people will ridicule me for saying this because even then I was quite a lean dude, and definitely still an appropriate weight for my height. But I felt softer than I ever had in a long time. A distinct bulge was growing on my midsection, and I hadn't seen my abs in quite some time. The fact is that I was still eating like I was running 30 miles a week, but I was running approximately zero miles a week. ANYWAYS...for a bunch of reasons, I decided to buy a scale and weigh myself. I had been hovering in the 190's for a few years and I had convinced myself that it was all muscle and there was likely little I could do to lose weight. But I always told myself that if I ever passed the 200 lb mark, I'd think about doing something about it.

Well...that day arrived. 202 lbs and my alarms went off. I had heard about a smartphone app called MyFitnessPal, so I downloaded it and began the now simple process of tracking calories eaten vs calories burned. I learned very VERY quickly that there is this thing called "portion control" that I had been previously unaware of, that pasta is a really easy way to waste your calories, and that snacking ruins diets. Also...Taco Bell? My go-to late night order was more than a day's worth of calories. Oops.

So my experiment in dieting continued and much to my surprise, I lost weight. Really quickly, actually. Within a month, I was back under 190. Another month and I was back to my 2010 Ironman fightin' weight between 180 and 185, where I have since remained. And what's more...to be completely shallow and narcissistic, I look about as good as I've ever looked in my life. Now to do something about my face...

So this gradual process of losing almost 20 lbs...basically the weight of an entire BICYCLE...coincided nicely with my gradual ramping up of triathlon training. My swim was coming together nicely with more consistency in the pool. My sporadic experimentation with breathing on both sides became more focused, which resulted in a smoother stroke, a quicker stroke cadence, and SPEED! My run was still coming in spurts depending on the cooperation of my ankle, but my bike was what was really beginning to shine. All those hours spent sweating to Sufferfest videos(seriously can't recommend these enough) on the trainer were quickly revealing themselves as worth their weight in GOLD. Not that "hours" really "weigh" anything, but it's more figuratively....fuck it. You get the picture.

Brief Race Report Interlude: Perry Rocks Trail Half

In May, I was debating between doing the Running With The Cows half marathon or the Perry Rocks half marathon. The debate had many variables and it was a close call. RWTC was a paved race and would be more in-line with my triathlon goals, Perry would be trails, which I like more and which would be easier on my still-healing ankle. Friends were doing RWTC. Perry was a Trail Nerd event, which meant that everyone there would be my friend. I wasn't quite fast enough to attempt a paved half PR, but I was juuust fast enough to MAYBE get a PR at a trail half....and mmmmaybe attempt to place in the top-3, depending on who showed up. In the end, I opted for Perry Rocks and I'm so glad I did.

I decided this was going to be a balls-to-the-wall, see-what-happens effort. I usually start my shorter trail races a bit on the fast side just so I get space on the trail, and then I usually get passed by people later. I blitzed out of the gate and was simply going to see how long I could hang on to my pace and ranking. After a few miles, I realized that I wasn't getting passed, I was actually passing others. I even caught up with Amy White Schmitz, who usually wins these things. I decided to match her pace for awhile, but when it became apparent that she was having some pacing issues with her dog Winston, I decided to pass her and venture off on my own. I did get passed by one guy and although I attempted to stick with him, he dropped me after the first aid station about 5 miles in. I was ok with that, mainly because I was still moving really well and my legs felt great!

Against all expectations, I was able to maintain my pace through mile 11 and then I finally passed that guy back! Then, in the final mile, I saw another runner farther up the trail. I didn't know what place he was in at the time, so I decided to catch him in hopes that he was in 3rd. I slowly gained on him and right as we busted into the clearing to head up the final hill before the finish line, I was right on his heels. I was already pushing about as hard as I could and I feared that when I came alongside him, he'd be able to kick into high gear and hold me off. Luckily, as I charged up the hill and pulled alongside him, he had no answer whatsoever and I pulled into the lead! I gritted my teeth to hold my pace up that long hill, turned the corner, and triumphantly blazed towards and across the finish line for....

...wait for it....

4th place. Dang! But still a hell of a race! As a confidence builder, it would be hard to top this! And as a bonus, I did end up finally getting my sub-2 and PR on a trail half...1:57:40!

Meanwhile...back in triathlon world...

I was getting faster consistently across all three triathlon disciplines...even my run, despite the inconsistency and low mileage. The ankle would slowly work itself out over the next few months, finally culminating in my first completely pain free run this past week.

So...things were going well. But I remember two years ago when I was preparing for Ironman Kansas 70.3, and I thought things were going well. Then I notoriously exploded and had a medical emergency at that race. Possibly the worst race of my entire life, definitely my worst triathlon. I promised myself I would never do Ironman Kansas again. It was just a miserable hateful race...I had raced it three times, and it had tried to kill me three times.

Danny's History With Kansas 70.3: Omnibus Edition

2009 - First triathlon, full blown panic attack in swim, big wake-up call, learned bricks are important, cried at finish line (No race report)

Emotional meltdown in 3...2...1...

2011 - More experience as an athlete, brutal swim, decent bike, punished severely on run, best finish, cried at finish line

ALMOST broke six, but still got a PR!

2012 - Best preparation thus far, brutal swim, brutal bike, walked most of the run, forgot why I race(because it's fun), cried at finish line AND in med tent

Last photo of me before everything went to hell.

Don't get me wrong...I'm just a crier sometimes. 2009 was all emotion. 2011 was emotion and a heaping-helping of exhaustion. 2012 was just utter defeat. And an asthma attack. But mostly I was simply a defeated and deflated man.

This race had once again completely withstood my attempt to conquer it.

Never again, I said.

......

Until mid-April when I decided to sign up for it again! Originally, I think I just wanted to do it casual style and have a smooth race, but after the results I've been having in training, I'm in full revenge mode. I've learned too many lessons the hard way and trained too diligently to let this race continue to have the upper hand on me in the record books. I've put in more than twice as many miles on the bike than I had at this point two years ago. One of my key words for training this year, as a matter of fact, has been "diligence". Delaware started saying it at the beginning of the season, but like every good training season, I needed a catchphrase/battle cry to help motivate and focus myself. I'd post a solid spin session. Diligence. I'd grind out a tough brick. Diligence. You get the idea.

So...now I come to the part where I make predictions about my race. I'm not calling it a "plan" because that's an evil and stupid word that spells doom for me. As I've often said, a "plan" is just a list of things that probably aren't going to happen. I'm calling them either "predictions" or "loose expectations" and I'm leaning towards the latter.

Loose Expectations for Kansas 70.3: 2014 Edition

Swim: Assuming the swim conditions aren't End-Of-The-World bad, I really think a sub-35 is a very real possibility. In absolute perfect conditions, I think I could drop a sub-30. 

Bike: My long rides of late have consistently averaged 19-20 mph. Assuming winds aren't horrendous(which they most likely won't not be), this is predictive of FINALLY getting my sub-3 bike split. I believe I could conceivably average 19 for the race, giving me around a 2:50 split! 

Run: I have gotten in some really quality brick workouts this season and despite my low run mileage, my pace has been sub-9:00 and has tended to feel pretty casual. Now one might THINK that this would point to FINALLY getting a sub-2 run split, but I'm much too aware of my history with 70.3's to think it's in the bag. Even in the best conditions, I'm convinced that while I AM capable of doing it, it's going to be a wailing and teeth-gnashing effort. Like my first sub-6 in Boulder, I'm really going to have to WANT this for it to happen. 

So...best case scenario...30 minute swim, 2:50 bike, 2:00 half marathon, and a liberal 10 minutes between T1 and T2...THAT is a 5:30 half ironman. Anything less than perfect conditions would see me finish somewhere between 5:30 and 6:00.

OR...

Or the swim is choppy, my goggles leak, the bike is windy and hot, the run is hot, humid and punishing, I explode, and nothing goes according to plan. 6:30+

As melodramatic as it sounds, the latter is still a very real and un-exaggerated possibility, especially with my track record of racing in the summer. 

But whatever happens...I'm gonna enjoy myself. 

T-Minus 6 Days until I have my revenge...or until I get punched in the balls by reality. We shall see.

KTB