Life after Ironman

Life after the Ironman is bitter sweet.  I very much enjoyed my road to Ironman.  Race day itself was amazing and a day I will never forget.  However I am glad the training is over. I needed a break. The Ironman goal has been with me for so many years and was a large part of my life this year, and now it is over.  In some ways it is like there is a piece of me missing now.  There are many items from personal, professional, and athletic that I said would have to wait until after the Ironman.  I am now tackling them. 

But what is next?  I have no idea.  In some ways I miss have the looming goal of a massive endurance event.  I have some ideas for events to do in 2012 and beyond but nothing is concrete.  I also enjoy not having the pressure of needing to train.  I recently one morning turned my alarm off and went back to sleep.  It was great.  I did not feel guilty or the need to make-up the missed session. 

SeeYa!

Photos from the event

CFE in hindsight after an Ironman

Ironman Louisville was my first Ironman but I have had competed in numerous triathlons from sprint to half iron utilizing traditional endurance training protocols.  This was my first year of triathlon using the Crossfit Endurance approach.  Historical I have been a good swimmer, a much better cyclist and a weak runner.  Every triathlon I have done always presents itself with those results when compared to the rest of the field.  Using CFE I felt very good and confident with my swim and bike training. 

My swim training volume was low, drastically low, compared to my peers however my intensity was through the roof.  Most of the training season I swam twice a week using in intervals in a 25 yard pool.  I rarely did a tempo or time trial swim.  I didn’t feel like I needed it.  Looking back I would have changed only one thing: start swim training later to allow time to concentrate of the other sports. 

For the bike I typically did one interval session (usually hill repeats) and one longer bike ride.  My rides ranged all the way up to 100 miles but typically stayed in the 30 – 60 mile range.  This is a bit longer than called for in the CFE protocol, but significantly less than the traditional approach.  My bike weekly mileage was over a 100 miles less than average Ironman participant (in accordance to the athlete guide information).

The run is my Achilles heel.  I do think the no brick approach that CFE has is wrong.  However I don’t believe it is necessary to do more than 1 every 10 – 14 days.  The recovery cost is high.  It is unfortunate that I discovered late in the season the intervals sessions that worked best for me.  Mile and ¼ mile interval session seemed to work best.  I do agree than any training run over the 10 – 13 mile distance is not needed.  Whatever fitness is gained from the longer runs is lost to the extended recovery.

I consistently showed up to my crossfit gym 3 – 5 times a week.   At times this is less than the CFE protocol requires, but it worked for me.

I will do another Ironman at some point in the future.  If I had to decide now what training protocol I used it would be CFE with some changes.  Every 4 – 6 weeks I would throw out Crossfit and Crossfit Endurance and train with a traditional LSD approach.  This would allow to mix-it up, thoroughly test nutrition, and mostly gain confidence.  Below is how I would schedule a CFE week:

Monday: Crossfit (usually a longer WOD)             CFE short swim intervals
Tuesday: CFE run mile intervals                                                Crossfit or long swim intervals
Wednesday CFE Bike hill intervals                           Crossfit
Thursday: Crossfit                                                           CFE run 400 intervals
Friday: Crossfit or long swim intervals
Saturday: Longer (40 – 70 miles) but hard bike and possibly followed by a 20 – 40 min run

The above would be my approach for an Ironman.  It is what I feel would work best for me.  That has to and will differ from person to person.  I would absolutely agree with and RX CFE for a sprint or Olympic distance triathlon.  The reason I feel as though I need more distance for the Ironman is a reflection of the event itself, my weak run, and mostly because there are just some issues that can only be encountered over a long distance.  Please do not take this as anti-CFE but rather adaption for myself for such a great distance spanning 4 sports: swimming, biking, running, and Crossfit. 

The biggest downfall to the CFE method for me was that I mostly went at it alone.  There were training groups in the area riding and running miles upon miles but my format didn’t match well to theirs.  Obviously I had my crossfit class, but my swim, bike and run WOD’s were typically done by myself.   At times it was tough to motivate myself.  I expect that would be different if I had some people to train with. 

Through this experience starting from my CFE cert in November 2010, I have learned a great deal about myself, crossfit and crossfit endurance.  Both the websites, the Crossfit journal, the forums, and my local box were instrumental in getting me to the finish line.  However my wife was by far the most supportive person and best cheerleader I could have asked for. 

IM Louisville Race Report

Pre-Race: My morning started out at 3 am.  I woke before my alarm went off.  I had a protein shake and a cliff bar.  I made it to transition around 4:45.  I checked out my tires, put my starting fluid on the bike, and handed in my special needs bags (which I never saw again).  I made my way down to the swim start where I found a friend already in line close to the front.  I sat down next to him and waited.  This is a time trial start where we lined up based on first come, first served.  There is nothing too exciting to report about the waiting in line process.  The race officials handled the line well in an attempt to get everyone started quickly.  I heard it took less than 30 minutes to get everyone in the water.  I was in the water within 2 – 3 minutes.

Swim:  (1:14:32) Even though it was a time trial start it was still crowded, but I was told it was not near as bad as other IM swims.  Being a point-to-point swim, most of the swim was with the current.  I could tell there was a current while swimming which was nice.  Overall the swim was uneventful.  

T1: (6:55) The swim exit and the large transition area was about ¼ mile apart.  I jogged to my bag, went into the tent, put on my tri top (with some help since I was wet), stuffed my nutrition in my pockets, stopped by the porta-potty to pee and then ran to my bike.  

Bike: (6:12:32 avg 18.1 mph) First of all no flats on the bike which was awesome.  I removed the rear bottle cages on my bike to save a little weight as the aid stations were well stocked and usually about 10 miles apart.  There were lots if hills which I prefer since I could rest on the downhill.  On the course there is a short out and bike which has some of the worst hills.  At one point some guy was dressed as the devil with pick fork running along cyclist encouraging us to get up the hill.  Next is the 2 loops around a small town in Kentucky. About half way through the first loop I was passed by the leading pro on his second loop.  This was very cool and I used the moment to speed up to stay with him just to enjoy the race atmosphere in of its self.  Of course that last about 30 seconds.  On the second trip through the town I spotted my wife and friend waving me along.  That was very cool and gave me a bit of an energy boost.  Eventually the energy tapered, but before I knew it I was passing the 70 mile mark.  It is funny how long 112 miles seems, but looking back it went by so fast.  I tried to enjoy each and every pedal stroke.  I was good until about mile 80 when I started to get stiff from being in the aero position and on the bike for so long.  At that point I wanted off the bike.  The last 12 miles into transition seemed to last forever.  Overall I am very happy with my bike.

T2: (7:52)  I got off the bike and handed it over to the volunteer.  I thought about yelling at them not to worry because I didn’t pee on my bike, but before I knew it was gone.  In hindsight, I should have left my shoes on the pedals because the trot down to the bags and changing tent was slower than I would have preferred.  Once I was in the tent I switched over to my run gear.  Once again I had to pee, but this time it seemed to last forever.

Run: (5:50:52 avg 13:23/ mile)  The run started with a short little out and back half way down a bridge.  From there we went on a 2 loop course which was really another out and back twice.  The run is by far my weakness, and this run course was boring.  I ran straight for the first 3 or so miles (except walked through aid stations).  Then the dreaded run walk process started.  I made constant deals with myself that if I ran to some sort of marker down the way I would walk.  Somewhere around mile 10 or 11 my stomach felt upset.  I started taking in water, pretzels, and chicken broth.  That made a world of difference.  At the turn around I saw my family. I kissed my wife and my daughter.  They were so happy to see me.  A friend of mine ran with me for about a mile.  It was nice to have someone I knew with me.  That gave me a bit of energy that lasted until close to the turnaround.  For some reason I became obsessed with finishing the marathon under 6 hours.  I started calculating where I needed to be and when.  A one point I struggled to run, but I didn’t want to slow down to a walk.  So I resorted to power walking…. Like a mall walker.  I was passing people that were walking.  That was funny.  Finally I hit mile marker 26.  I looked behind me, and there was nobody there.  Just in front of me was one runner.  I wanted to cross the finish line by myself.  Yes I wanted the stage to myself.  So I sped up and ran (almost sprinted) and crossed the finish line by myself basking in the glory of finishing the Ironman.

Below is a picture of me just after I finished with my daughter.  She was very excited about the whole atmosphere and kept calling me an Ironman.