Race Report - 11th Annual Steelman Triathlon

There are some races that end up as a one-off event, either because it is a destination race or the race just sucked and you don't want to go back. Others appear on your race schedule year after year. For me, there are a number of races I do most every year because I like the event or I like the cause. Thanksgiving morning I am usually in Nazareth, PA for the annual Pumpkin Pie 5k. A lot of my friends are there and it raises a fair sum of money for the Nazareth YMCA. There may be consumption of the complimentary donuts as well.

The Steelman Triathlon is different. Held at Lake Nockamixon in Quakertown, PA, it is close to home on roads and trials I like. I have done this race every year I have been involved with triathlon except for 2006 and 2011 when I raced Ironman Lake Placid just two weeks prior. If Steelman were about going out and just "having fun" I would have been there those years as well. Steelman, for me anyway, is an opportunity to throw down and see what I have in me. Steelman is a chance to compete in a familiar setting on a course that is consistent from year to year.

This year's race was this past weekend on Sunday August 9th. With my previous two races being defined by horrible weather and weather-related changes made to the race course, it was nice to get a nice day with no unexpected surprises.

Pre-Race

If you are going to race here you have to get up early. Start time is 7 am but due to limited parking (due to the approx. 1,000 competitors), you either show up early or you park on the other side of the park. So wake up for The Queen and I came at 4:30 am with a departure from home just after 5 am. The ride down Rt. 412 was quite. Much to my surprise, parking turned out to be just perfect this year. For some reason, even with my relatively late arrival (and cars being parked in the upper lots) I scored a spot at the marina. No post-race hill climb back to the car this year!!!

Dale offers race-day packet pickup, a very nice luxury, which is as easy as it gets. Thank you for that Dale!!! From there I got my transition area set up, took care of the port-o-john business, then hung around till my 7:10 start time.

Swim: 1500M 22:55

Strava File

Last year I had close to a perfect swim that I did not expect to repeat. My goal in the water was simply to swim smart, draft as much as possible, and exit the water at the front of my swim wave.

Fortunately this is exactly what happened. After taking off hard I found a set of slightly faster feet within the first 150 meters. The quick start had me anaerobic, but the draft allowed me to dial back to a sustainable effort.

My lead out was a good swimmer, easily maneuvering the back of the waves in front of us while getting around the first two turns efficiently. One problem I tend to have is passing whomever I am drafting on the turns, but not this time around.

Unfortunately, on the back side of the swim the person I was drafting started to swim off course. I quickly found another set of feet to sit on, finishing the swim without having to burn any matches, in an official time of 22:55.

T1: 2:33

Last year I had trouble getting my wetsuit off. This year ... I had trouble getting my wetsuit off. In fact, I would guess I lost a good minute fooling around with it. The biggest problem I had was the left leg got caught on the huge timing chip I had around my left ankle. (Note to LinMark - invest some money in modern equipment and get rid of the timing chips that were new technology 10+ years ago.)

Basically, any chance I had of a PR disappeared the moment I had to sit down to remove that damn wetsuit.

Bike: 40K 1:04:09

Strava File

The course profile is one that plays to my strengths. I find a flat course to be rather boring and enjoy the challenge of dealing with varying terrain. Here you get a bit of everything. The race starts with a short, steep climb right out of transition, follows that with two loops of various types of rolling terrain, and concludes with a short, steep downhill back into transition. If there were any course I feel comfortable on, this would be it.

So after a very short flat section I dropped into my 39 CR and comfortably headed up the first climb and through the park, using the 1.5 miles in the park to get myself situated. Once onto the two loops on route 563 it was game on.

My first loop I passed a good number of people from the waves in front of me, including both Lauren and Cassie who had started in the wave just prior to mine, as well as the two guys in my age group who out swam me. I had a feeling this would not be the last I would see the ladies as they are both great cyclists as well as more fleet footed than I am. While I wanted to put as big a gap as possible between me and my age group competitors, I also wanted to finish the race in front of these two very fast ladies, even with the 5 minute head start they received.

The start of the second loop is where things can/have gotten interesting. By the time the Olympic distance racers get around to the park entrance the Sprint distance people are flowing onto the bike course. It can be good for the psyche to pass a lot of people. But it can be hard to deal with a crowded course, especially at the two turnaround points. Fortunately there were no issues.

I felt better on lap number two and pushed the pace all the way in. I hit the timing mat in 1:04:09 for the 3rd fastest bike split of the day and 49 seconds faster than I rode in 2014.

T2: 1:00

Smooth and without issue. Nine seconds faster than last year.

Run: 10k (really 6 miles) 44:41

Strava File

Heading out onto the run I felt pretty good but knew that I just do not have the run miles in this year. I have been running between 15 and 20 miles each week, not the 35-40 miles I have done in years past. It is a non-Ironman year. I have made a conscious decision to not beat my run legs up with high mileage in 2015. I'm not a kid anymore and I know I have issues that could someday come to the surface. Not making any excuses, just putting it out there.

One more important thing: this is NOT a full 10k run course, but a 6 mile run. Always has been. If you don't believe me just check out the Strava file, then ask yourself when is the last time your Garmin shorted you distance on a race course. The answer is never. If anything your Garmin will measure a bit longer. I say this to make sure it is very clear when looking at my run time exactly what I ran. That extra .2 miles would have added another 90 seconds to my overall run time. People can fool themselves into thinking they are faster than they are. I may be a fool but I prefer to not fool myself into thinking I am better than I really am.

Anyway, my run started out just fine running a "comfortably hard" 7:10-7:15 for the first 4 miles. It was here that my lack of muscular endurance came into play. And by came into play I mean I simply didn't have the legs to hold pace. My heart rate was fine but the legs were just done. Last two miles I ran 8s and called it a day.

To be clear, I do not believe that my not-what-I-wanted-it-to-be-run is a result of over-biking. Been there, done that on many occasions and know exactly what that feels like. If I came out running a 7:35 first mile feeling like I wanted to die ... that's a bike induced implosion. And if I blew myself up I would just say it.

Anyway, what I did get to see out on the two-loop run was a battle for top overall female between Lauren and Cassie. These two young ladies are incredible athletes who came to throw down and they did. At the end Cassie did squeak out a small victory but they were both winners on the day. Danielle came in not very far behind as fifth overall woman and first in her age group while Alison won her age group and KT set a nice PR in his race.

Overall: 2:15:15 M 45-49 1/34, Overall 13/328

Racing a new venue is fun and challenging, but so is racing the familiar. With my last two races being disasters (here and here) it was good for the psyche to race well.

First Place AG 45-49

Lots of hardware among this crew.

Women's Overall with Cassie and Lauren going 1-2

How Could I have Raced Better?

More run training, which just isn't/wasn't in the cards for 2015. With my overall mileage way down from where it has been in the past my fear has been not having the muscular endurance to run to my capabilities. I have always responded well to volume. I will continue to experiment with my training to get this right.

Overall Impressions of the Race

I am a personal fan of this course. The lake is a nice place to swim, the bike course is challenging, and the run is on a shaded trail. The trail does get tight when both the Olympic and the Sprint athletes are all out there, but it really isn't that bad if you pay attention to your surroundings. Dale does a great job as the race director.

The only real complaint I have is with the big hacking timing chips provided by Lin-Mark. Seriously, you spent the money to redo your website and get the ChronoTrack System. Couldn't you now upgrade your timing chips to something a little more modern and smaller? Please?

Full results can be found here.

Up Next: Not much racing for a while. On September 13th I will be a part of The Queen's relay team at the Via Marathon right here in the Lehigh Valley and then on September 26th I will be back down in Quakertown, PA to race the Quakerman Triathlon (Olympic distance).

Thanks for reading.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

NJ State Triathlon Race Report

Being born and raised in New Jersey I have an affinity for the one state that has not always received the best reviews from just about everyone else. You know the stereotype - loud and obnoxious, curse a lot, say "yo" every other sentence, say "Joisey" and don't know how to pump my own gas.

As for the state itself, there's this perception that "Joisey" is dirty, loud and congested. And if your only view of the state comes from your car while driving on the NJ Turnpike north of exit 7a, than I can almost understand. But if you open your eyes just a bit you come to realize that New Jersey is a pretty kick-ass state with great expansive suburbs, lots of farmland (it is called the "Garden State" after all), and quick access to both Philadelphia and New York City.

The site for the NJ State Triathlon, not far from both Princeton and Trenton, is a perfect example of what is right about NJ as well as a wonderful setting for a race. The swim and run are both inside Mercer County Park with the bike portion on the surrounding roads.The park itself is massive, with just about everything you could ever want inside a park, including a concert venue. Traffic and parking for the race were as easy as can be expected.

And the lake ... ah yes, that beautiful, clean lake. I have raced a lot of places along the East Coast and this is, by far, my favorite swim venue. The water is clear, the course is spacious enough to deal with an Ironman-sized mass start, and sighting is a breeze.

On Saturday I drove down to packet pickup, making sure I arrived in time to hear the pre-race meeting. At races I have done multiple times I will often skip this meeting as there is nothing new to hear. For 2015 the bike course had been changed so I wanted to hear what the race director had to say about road conditions, aid stations, etc. as well as wetsuit status for the swim.

Good thing, too, because the water temperature was a balmy 83 degress (no wetsuit) and there would be no aide stations available on the bike course. According to the race director, the only logical/obvious place for an aide station was 2 miles from the end of the ride, which is basically useless from a practical perspective. Instead of carrying just a bottle of EFS I added a bottle of water.

That evening I stated with my parents who live 30 minutes from the race. We hit an Italian restaurant for dinner, where I had a usual pre-race meal of pizza and a salad.

Race Morning

Around 5:15 am my alarm went off and I started my usual pre-race routine of some dynamic stretching, a carb-rich meal and clearing out the pipes. With everything all packed the night before I hit the road around 5:50 am. The biggest issue of the morning had nothing to do with me, but everything to do with the weather. Driving to the race felt more like driving through the clouds as the 72 degree temperature was nearly matched by the dew point at 71. Eventually I knew the fog would burn off, leaving us with a very hot, very humid, sunny day to race.

Parking was quick and uneventful, save one interesting side note. A few minutes after parking a young guy walking through the parking area was asking to everyone in general if they had an extra helmet as he forgot to bring his with him. He seemed to be freaking out a bit. No helmet, no race, so his concern was understandable. That desperate look on his face changed when I uttered two words: "I do."

Much to everyone's surprise I did actually have an extra helmet with me (an extra pair of bike shoes as well). Seemed like a nice guy so I let him borrow it. Years ago I raced the Lighter than Air Duathlon at the Lakehurst Naval Air Force Base in a pair of running shoes. Seems I made the mistake of leaving my bike shoes in Bethlehem. Fortunately for me the bike course that day was completely flat so I could manage without clipping in. The lesson I learned was to throw an extra helmet and shoes in the car a few days before a race, just in case.

Other that that there would be no more drama. I set my transition area up, used the port-o-johns, and hung out at the race start until my wave (10th out of 12) went off at 8:15 am.

Swim 1500M 24:24

What a great swim venue

I am not a swimmer, but came to it because of my desire to do triathlons. My goal is never to be at the front of swim, but in the first group behind the "real" swimmers. With 110 people in my wave start the plan for me would be simple - go out hard for the first few hundred meters then sit on the next set of feet that pass for (hopefully) the rest of the swim.

Which is exactly what happened. I hit it hard from the start. Well before the first turn at 250 yards I had my draft all set up, finding a fellow age grouper who is just a bit faster than me. For the next 1,000 yards or so he guided me through the back end of the swim waves in front of us, before I lost him at the jam up at the third turn. While not my ideal, getting a draft for two thirds of a crowded swim worked just fine. Expecting to be around 25 minutes I was pleasantly surprised by the 24:xx my Garmin showed.

The online race results show my swim rank as 93rd overall, placing me in the top 10%, which is always my goal for the swim. I was 5th out of the water for my age group.

T1: no official time reported

Nothing special here, other than the longish run from the bike racks out to the mount line out at the road.

Bike: 19.4 miles 50:27

Strava File

Somewhere around 7 am an announcement was made regarding the bike course. Specifically, due to a downed telephone pole they were forced to cut 3+ miles off the bike route making it 20.5 miles, according to the announcement. This course is short to begin with (officially 23 miles) but now it is really short. Even worse, according to my trusty Garmin 810, the actual distance traveled came in at 19.4 miles.

It takes less than a mile to get out of the park and out onto the open road. Most all of the course is coned off for cyclists, and flat to slightly rolling, making it a relatively safe course to ride, even with traffic still around.

The first 10 miles were great. There were few turns and I was able to get into the aero position and get into a good groove. Within the first few miles I passed a few of my fellow M45-49 as well as a fair number of those who started in earlier waves than I did.

The back half of the course was completely different. Instead of long open sections of road we hit a series of tight turns on tighter roads. As a result riders it felt like a constant slow and go for the next 6 or 7 miles. I did continue to pass people, steadily moving my way through the early starters.

Around mile 16 or 17 we reentered the park for a small loop in a parking lot, followed by a short stint on the main road, before we reentered the park toward transition. Did you get all that? Because the way that sentence is written is exactly how riding that section felt.

Shortly before the dismount line I got out of my shoes, swung my leg over the bike and headed into transition for the run.

There are no rankings for where my bike split ranked overall, but I know I was the 5th fastest split for M45-49, which is a bit slow for me. There were only 2 other M45-49 that were more than 1 minute faster than I was, with the others not much faster. There was a long run from the dismount line to the transition mat and, because of the heat, I purposely jogged it into transition. Get rid of the run to the mats and I am sure I actually rode as fast or a bit faster than the two guys in front of me. Whatever, it isn't a bike race.

T2: no official time reported

The only thing of importance here is the fact that I moved much slower than I would have in more normal weather. At this point temperatures were above 85 degrees and the humidity in the 70% range. I am terrible in the heat (see below) and consciously slowed myself down to keep from overheating.

Run 10k 57:19

Soooooo ... this is simply horrible. Coming into race week I had a plan to run aggressively, hoping to have a shot at winning my age group against what I knew would be a competitive field. Once the weather forecast shifted from hot to just effin' awful, I knew I had to scrap the original plan. This may sound like some BS excuse - and I'm sure there are people reading this who are thinking I'm full of crap or I over-biked (take a look at the watts and zone distribution on the Strava file above if you think that) - but I am just not designed to run in oppressive heat and humidity. Making it worse, I have very little opportunity to train during the heat of the day, so I can only get so acclimatized.

Anyway, my plan went from racing to try and win to jogging to survive. I came out of transition slow and steady. I ran an 8:11 first mile which, just for comparison, was only a few seconds faster than my first mile of the marathon at Ironman Florida last November. All I wanted to do was keep running.

Unfortunately, from there it only got slower. Try as I might, all the ice and wet towels I could grab did not keep me from overheating. My head seriously felt like it was going to explode. By mile 2 1/2 I was running when I could, walking when I had to.

It is what it is.

Overall 2:16:25 M45-49 11/110, Overall 182/1272 

Racing in New Jersey in July is always a gamble, and this a gamble I lost. Sometimes you have a bad day, while other times you get the hottest day of the year. I didn't do what I had hoped for here. If it were a good weather day and I crapped the bed due to a lack of fitness or a rookie racing mistake I would be upset with this showing. Reality - my reality - is that I have never been able to function in these weather conditions. I would have been very happy to keep the run around 50 minutes, but that didn't even happen. Instead, I'm moving on and looking ahead.

How Could I have Raced Better?

I'm not really sure I could have. I swam within myself, biked conservatively, then melted on the run. Could I have taken in more fluids? Maybe. I just have always had problems with crazy hot conditions.

Overall Impressions

This is a race I have done before and will do again in the future. I love racing in New Jersey because, well, because it's New Jersey. I love racing here because it is a great venue with a seasoned race director who is good at what he does.

The organization is excellent. Everything ran on time, the staff dealt with a down telephone pole on the bike course with ease (and apparently a huge thunderstorm that caused havoc at the Sprint distance race on Saturday), and they go one step beyond what you would expect. The best example of this is the signs at each bike row showing which race numbers were in which row. This is extremely helpful when you are running into transition with a 160 heart rate trying to find your bike. Well done.

The one issue I have with this race is the bike course. Prior to 2015 the Olympic distance bike was two loops and a little over 25 miles (so it was a little longer than the traditional 40k). This year they replaced it with a one loop course that was 23 miles, quite short of the standard distance. Worse yet, the new course doesn't flow very well. There are a lot of turns. The section into the park and around a parking lot has an awkward, random feel to it, like they needed some extra distance so they just threw it in.

Full race results can be found here.

Up next: Steelman Triathlon on August 9th.

Thanks for reading.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

2015 TriRock Philadelphia Triathlon Race Report

As I have stated previously, the TriRock Philladelphia Triathlon is one of my all-time favorite races. I like the venue - the roads in and around Fairmont Park and the Schuylkill River - I like the challenge of the bike course, and the organization has always been top notch. The only complaint one could ever have about this race is the possibility the swim could be cancelled due to poor river conditions.

My goal going into the race (as stated here) was very straight forward - set a PR. I felt that my training had been going well, I know this course well (this would be my 8th time racing here), and with no Ironman or half Iornman races on the schedule I could focus on racing this distance for the first time ever. But in order to race a PR I would need to have a full Olympic distance course to race. And that is where my problems began ...

On the ride down Saturday afternoon in a downpour I contemplated the real possibility of a cancelled swim. The Schuylkill River can get muddy and filled with debris due to heavy rains making it impossible for the race promoters to allow anyone in the water. And, really, who would want to try to swim in those conditions?

Pre-Race with the Belgian Beast

My thoughts were confirmed when I got to packet pickup. The swim had been cancelled, but much to my surprise, the race would go off in a time trial start. This took me by surprise as in the past a cancelled swim meant a run-bike run format. Granted, TriRock wasn't the race promoter the last time this happened, but TriRock was the promoter in Asbury Park last year where they cancelled the swim due to a rip tide, and a run replaced the swim.

Bottom line: no PR attempt and a race format I didn't like.

The good news is I met up with Philippe (the Belgian Beast), who was racing with the Johnson & Johnson team and raised more than $8,000 for childhood cancer, and spent a nice but uneventful night in the city. Our hotel room in the University City section was only a few miles from the race site. We didn't venture too far because of the rain, but didn't really have to. Directly across the street from our hotel was a pizza place with everything we needed for a pre-race meal.

Race Morning

Early races mean early wake up times. In this case the alarm went off around 4:45 am mixed with the sound of rain hitting the hotel windows. After a quick stretch, a small meal and a couple of trips to the bathroom we headed over to the race site. The Belgian Beast rode his bike over and I decided to drive the four miles as I planned on heading home straight from the race site. The drive was easy as was parking.

Once down around transition the weather was causing some chaos. I have to give TriRock a lot of credit for their flexibility as they just went with the situation. The rain had not let up and transition was a total mess. There was a long line for body marking as the markers weren't working on wet skin. The race director made the decision to let it slide.

The pro race started at 6:30 am with a big gap of time before the first age groupers would head out to the start line. Seems crazy unless you know the course. With two bike loops that are both hilly and technical it made sense to let the pros have the bike course to themselves. Not the best thing for me, but understandable.

What the gap in time did allow for was a chance to catch the pro field coming through T2. You know they are fast, but it becomes much more real as they fly through transition so fast and efficiently.

Race Winner Cameron Dye exiting T2

The Bike: 23.6 miles 1:03:18 

Strava File

The time trial start at a triathlon is not my friend. Even a hard swim gives the body a chance to get warmed up to the point where I'm comfortable from the start of the bike. After standing around for 2 1/2 hours I was nothing close to loose. I had the same issue at Ironman Florida this past November when the swim there didn't happen due to a rip tide. I'm old and tighten up when I stand around in transition. It is even more of a challenge here as the first climb of the day comes about one mile into the ride, giving you very little time to settled into a rhythm.

Somewhere around 8:35 am I finally was released to start my race.

Going into the ride my concern was that the time trial start would cause more crowding than normal. As one of the last people to start racing I assumed there would be a big jam up. My experience, fortunately, was just the opposite. Which worked out great.

If you thought that I might take it easy you would be wrong. While I did sorta ease into the first mile, once I hit the base of the first hill it was game on. With the wet roads my game plan was to work the uphills, ride conservatively on the technical downhills and open it up on the flat stretches working through the field the best I could. And that is exactly how it played out. For the first 7 or 8 miles I had another AG45-49 guy around me, but I dropped him for good the first time up Lemon Hill.

From there I just continued to move forward as fast as I could with no drama.

T2: 1:31

Not my fastest time. Ended up having some trouble with the mud.

The Run - 6.2 miles 48:28 

Strava File

After a good run at Jerseyman in May I really had some high expectations for my run. I will never be the fastest guy out there, but I a 6:40-6:45 would have been respectable, and well within my current fitness. Or so I thought.

Source: Craig Sheckler

Heading out onto the run course my legs were still not loosened up. I assumed that they would come around somewhere in the first mile.

Never make assumptions ...

About 3/4 of a mile in the guy I passed on the bike on Lemon Hill came by me. He got a gap and then he slowed back down to my pace. Sounds good, except "my pace" was somewhere around a 7:10 mile, not a 6:40. Just after mile two I was passed by two more AG45-49 men who I should have been able to hang with.

But not today. On this day it just wasn't happening. Just after mile 3 I got a little light headed and took a brief walk break, taking in some Gatorade, hoping to turn things around. A few minutes later I rethought the situation. With no chance for a PR, my legs not responding, and being out of the top three in my age group, I could think of no reason to push myself. So as the Strava file shows, I didn't rush things.

Overall -1:53:16 86th out of 896; AG45-49 6/77

Not what I wanted for sure. The goal coming in was a PR at the Olympic Distance. No swim = no PR, which came as a big mental letdown.

How Could I Have Raced Better

I could have kept my head in the game. Once the race got changed I mentally checked out, which is never a good way to race and something I need to work on for the future.

I could have also taken better care of myself during the extended wait to begin racing. A better protocol than stand around and talk. I ended up peeing like 8 times while standing around and took in a few calories and some liquids, but surely not enough. In the future I need to be better prepared for the unexpected.

Overall Impression of the Race

This is one of my favorite races every season and I highly recommend it to everyone. "Flat and fast" is fine every now and then, but most of the time I enjoy the challenge of a technical bike course. The venue is nice while TriRock has done a great job of keeping this race great.

Full race results can be found here.

Up next: On July 4th The Queen and I ran the Firecracker 4 Miler in Palmer Township. On July 19th I'll be racing the N.J. State State Triathlon (Olympic Distance) in West Windsor, NJ. 

Thanks for reading.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Book Review - Unbreakable Runner by TJ Murphy & Brian Mackenzie

I have been a very fortunate runner. Prior to 1995 I never ran any further than down into the kitchen to grab a late night snack. Back then I was consumed with strength training, more specifically the three power lifts - squats, deadlifts and the bench press. Get big! Get strong! That's the ticket ... or at least it was at the time. One day I began to realize that while lifting really large amounts of weight could be fun, it didn't really get me to where I wanted to be. By the time I was in my mid-20s I hurt like a much older man.

Around 1995 my focus began to change. I continued to strength train, but started to run a little. Then I ran a little more. Then I lost some weight, began to have less pain, and ran a little more. By 1998 I was running half marathons, with my first marathon the following year.

Strength training became less important, but still remained. The more crazy the endurance racing got - marathons, triathlons, eventually Ironman triathlons - the less I hit the weights. But unlike many, I continued to strength train. Not like I did in a past life, of course, but still enough to keep the body strong. And honestly, I never gave it much thought. I enjoyed lifting weights so I continued to do it.

Which leads us to Unbreakable Runner: Unleash the Power of Strength & Conditioning for a Lifetime of Strong Running. As an endurance athlete there are two things that eventually come to the forefront of your mind - the desire to get faster and the reality that injuries occur. Not surprisingly, injuries are more likely the harder you push in training in the quest for a PR. Problem is, if you get injured it is hard to run fast as training becomes compromised.

TJ Murphy knows all about this. For many years Murphy's training protocol looked like the traditional high-mileage schedule. Over time it played havoc on his body, leading to injury and lots of downtime. Murphy came upon Mackenzie as a result of a story he would write on Mackenzie. His injury history and frequent downtime him to give Mackenzie's approach a try.

And who is Brian Mackenzie? The founder of   CrossFit Endurance (CFE), a much different approach to endurance training. How different? As Murphy puts it in the writer's note, CFE is "either the best training innovation since the interval workout or a fatal virus out to destroy all that was pure and good in running." Clearly, Mackenzie is a polarizing figure.

So now that we know the approach here is polarizing, we need to know what is so different. To start, the approach here is about health and sustainability.  Unlike CrossFit, which is about developing all around athleticism, CrossFit Endurance is about sports-specific performance. When it comes to running, the CFE athlete will work on developing running skills, balance, flexibility and mobility. Nutrition is also a focus.

And CrossFit Endurance is exactly what the book is about. Over the course of the first five chapters you will learn the what and the how of Mackenzie's method. The final chapter is devoted to sample programs for all distances from the 5k through ultra distance. Appendix A is devoted to building your own home gym and Appendix B gives sample individualized programs for CFE.

Who Should Read "Unbreakable Runner"?

While the title of the book is attractive to any serious runner, the contents are not. I know enough endurance athletes to know that there are many who would be closed-minded to such a different approach. I can hear the arguments already: "I'm not a lifter," "this will never work," "I would miss my road time with my peeps," ... I'm sure you could add one or two of your own.

What attracted me to this book was a knowledge of Mackenzie as well as TJ Murphy's story from broken runner to reborn endurance athlete. What kept me reading was my understanding of what the authors were saying. And honestly, not all of this is new to a traditional running program, just repackaged around less mileage and CrossFit training.

Personally I got a lot from this book. While I am not making such a radical change in what I do, I have been a lower mileage runner for a few years now. I have started making subtle changes to my workload while introducing or modifying some of the non-running parts of the plan.

Bottom line: I recommend this book to anyone who is open-minded enough to at least consider a different approach to endurance training.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Thoughts on the Upcoming TriRock Philly Triathlon

"The best pace is a suicide pace and today seems like a good day to die" - Steve Prefontaine

On Sunday June 28 I will be among 2000 or so people who are looking to complete the TriRock Philadelphia Olympic distance triathlon. Everyone is there for a reason. My reason for racing is simple - I want a big PR.

Since 1998 my big goal races have been long distance affairs. They have been either a marathon or a race with the word Ironman in the race's name (both the 70.3 or full distance). Most years there were multiple races of these distance on my schedule.

This race season is a very different one for me. In 2015 the longest events I will participate in are Olympic Distance Triathlons and half marathons. This change in focus has given me the chance to do some different things, making my experiment of N = 1 a totally new, interesting experience.

In year's past I have raced shorter distances, but never as the focus of what I was trying to accomplish as a racer. Most all of these would be considered "B" or "C" training races. I cannot remember doing anything close to a taper that lasted more than three days. All things considered, I haven't done all that bad on the short stuff.

Philly Tri with the Mighty Belgian in 2013

In 2009 at the ripe old age of 40 I set my Olympic distance triathlon PR of 2:12:54 at the Philadelphia Triathlon. I remember swimming well, riding as expected before hanging on for the last few miles of the run. Two weeks prior I had raced Eagleman 70.3.

Last year at Steelman I came close to a new PR, missing the old mark by just 4 seconds. This was during my build for Ironman Florida, so no taper. And then there was that whole knee surgery thing I was still recovering from. Needless to say (but I will anyway), the fast time came as a surprise.

It also got me thinking: What if I actually trained for the OLY distance? How fast could I conceivably go?

So here I am, less than two weeks out from the Philly Tri looking to score a big PR. How big? Weeellll ... I think I can go 2:10:xx.

No. seriously, I think I can go 2:10:xx. And not only do I think I can do it, I'm going to go for it on June 28. There are no secondary goals or "if this happens" kind of scenarios. None of that for Jon. Come race day I'm racing for a 2:10 or better. Period.

I've never been the  keep one foot in the door, race safe kind of guy. In my mind, unless I'm racing "for fun" I am out there to see what I have on that given day. Race safe and you get mediocre results. Which is fine, I guess. To each his or her own. But racing safe means never fully investing yourself in what you are doing. Yes, you won't likely be disappointed. OK. But does racing safe really produce success?

In order to produce personal greatness one needs to take the risk of racing on the edge. When you race on the edge you risk blowing up and having what looks like pretty crappy results. Could this be considered "failure?" More to the point, if I go, say, 2:22:xx would I consider my race a failure? It depends.

If I go out, race smart but on the edge, pushing my personal limits and leaving it all out on the race course then yes, a 2:22 would be a success. After years of racing making a stupid mistake with my pacing or nutrition would be a failure. Not pushing the limit and putting up a good time would be failure as well. Blowing up while shooting for that stretch goal? I'm so good with that.

There will be no "I could have gone 2:10 if I really wanted" come June 28. I want to know what I'm capable of. And without a legit effort it is impossible to know my personal limits. Whatever happens, when I enter the finishers shoot I will know exactly what I had on that day. I'll give it my all, risking failure in the process.

I have more than enough experience to be confident that when I jump in the Schuylkill River I won't screw things up. What I do fear is that my two week taper period could cause me to not perform my best. This is a new experience for me and, quite frankly, what I'm doing to be prepared is a best guess kinda thing. I know what I have done for longer races, and I know what the standard protocols are for short course racing are, but I do not know how this all relates to me specifically. Hopefully it works out as I expect.

Thanks for reading.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Training Review: May 2015

Finally some descent training weather. After months of horrible to unsuitable/not-so-fun training weather it was nice to finally get a full month with uninterrupted outdoor bike/run training. In fact, the weather has been so attractive it became hard to get in the pool.

OK, that's a bit of a stretch. If you have been round these parts before you know I've been struggling to get in the pool since the start of the year. Still, the combination of warm weather and sunny skies sure didn't help.

This season is about focusing on shorter events than I have in the past. This comes with a big challenge for me, mainly finding the proper balance between volume and intensity. Getting older makes this more of a challenge as I just don't recover like I did 10 or 15 years ago. Forty-five isn't necessarily old - not even half way to the end - but it is in athletic terms.

It is different now. I struggle to find that proper balance. I can drill myself into the ground, just like I could years ago. The difference is, today I would need three days to recover from a workout that would take 24 hours in the past. Guess the experiment of N=1 will just have to continue.

The game plan for May was to up the bike intensity while maintaining a relatively high volume, hit the track on the run, while getting consistent in the pool with two races to test fitness. Nothing fancy, just some good 'ole training.

Swim: Consistency prevailed in May. I got in the pool 3x each week with the exception of the last week of the month, which had more to do with a scheduling conflict than lack of desire. Once at the pool my workouts general were solid, staying around 2500-3000 yards per session. With no Ironman or even a 70.3 on the agenda in 2015 I find no reason to push through long main sets or worry about hitting a large total volume. I get to the pool, get in, put my head under water and go. Forty-five to 50 minutes later I'm out of there.

My favorite go to set has become 18-20 x 100 on a 1:40 sendoff time. I find that I can work hard yet concentrate on holding my form.

Bike: I have fallen into a nice rhythm on the bike where I get some solid interval work in during the week that is complimented by a long ride on Sunday that always includes plenty of vertical. Throw in a Monday night group ride and an easy, recovery ride or two and that's my week. My interval work over the month moved from shorter to longer intervals. With my "A" race getting closer I have been more race specific with the work sets. I feel strong, but wish I had more time to do some hill repeats.

My favorite set during this cycle is 3 x (10 min @ OLY power + 2-5 min recovery)

Taking a break at Mueller's General Store on rt. 611

Run: Things have progressed here but I have not put in as many track sessions as I had hoped for. Earlier in the month I was dealing with a slight abductor strain that limited my running. This is a thing I have dealt with enough over the years to understand what I can and cannot do. I can run but cannot over do the speed work. Oh well, stuff happens.

I am happy to say the issue has resolved itself and I feel I am back on track (and back on the track as well).

Racing: May was a good month for racing. On the 16th I worked out the triathlon kinks at the Jerseyman Triathlon in Clinton, NJ, placing 18th overall and 3rd in AG45-49 with an overall time of 1:49:05. More important to me than my overall time is that coming off a lousy winter for training, I rode faster than I did in 2014 (where I did the AquaVelo) followed by a very solid run of 27:14. The other race I did was the Tortoise & Hare 5k in Wind Gap, PA on Memorial Day. Running a 19:39 placed me 13th overall and second in AG45-49.

Jerseyman Finish

Overall: Things are starting to fall into place. My swim appears to be adequate - I'll never be a front pack swimmer - and the bike is feeling strong. Surely disappointed with the minor running setback, but what are you going to do? Still, my speed, which was so lacking in 2014, is starting to come back around.

What's happening in June? This month is 100% about getting ready for the Philadelphia Triathlon on June 28. The first part of the month will be dedicated to race prep with the back half all about getting ready to race.

Thanks for reading.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Racing Ironman? Respect the Distance

A few years ago The Queen and I ran into an acquaintance while picking up our race packets for the St. Luke's Half Marathon. Let's call him Mike because, well, that's his name. Mike was "getting ready" to race Ironman St. George, and was just 6 weeks out from his race. He went on and on about how ready he was because, you know, he had "done" all three distances before. And by done them, he meant he has swam a 1.5 mile swim, rode his bike 80 miles one day, and has completed many a marathon. I reminded him that the Ironman swim was 2.4 miles and the 112 mile bike was a bit more than the 80 he said he had previously completed. To be fair, Mike had completed a good number of standalone marathons.

Now Mike is not the leanest person you would ever meet. And in case you know nothing about the Ironman St. George race course, all you need to know is the race is now an Ironman 70.3 because the long course was just too much of a challenge (becuase Ironman should be easy?). To say the course was hilly is an understatement. Put these two facts together and race day would be a challenge for Mike.

I wished Mike luck and went on my way ...

OK, that last sentence is bullshit.

Truth be told, I don't remember the exact wording, but I basically told Mike there was no way he would be hearing Mike Riley at the finish line calling him an Ironman. No, he would be finishing his race by handing his timing chip to a volunteer, not crossing the finish line after a 26.2 mile run. Not a matter of if he would fail, but a matter of how far he would make it before calling it a day.

Mike made it to mile 30-ish on the bike. I am sure he heard my voice in his head when he handed over the timing chip and sat down in the support van. That must have really sucked.

As hard as it may be to believe, I'm pretty sure Mike doesn't like me anymore.

Now I know what some of you are thinking right now - Jon's a real f'in a$$hole for saying such a thing. You need to support people in their efforts; Everyone can't be fast; He paid his money and can do what he wants; And on, and on, and on ...

I admit, I could have handled the situation differently. I COULD have wished him luck, told him he would be fine, make sure you properly fuel your body, etc. Yes, I could have said any and all of those things without upsetting my acquaintance. I would have come off as the supportive friend. It's what people do, right?

No. Not in my world anyway.

I said what I said for one very important reason (at least to me) - respect for the distance. See, I have no problem with someone racing a long distance endurance event and either completing the distance in a "slow" time or having something happen and not completing the course. Not only am I fine with it, but in my little side training business I have worked with people who's goal was to simply complete the Ironman distance in the 17 hour allotted time. And when they do it, it is pure awesomeness. Everyone has their own goals, their own desires. Whatever it is YOU want to do, I'm cool with it.

What I am NOT cool with at all is thinking you can just half-ass your training and muddle through the day. One hundred and forty point six miles is a long day. Heck, just running 26.2 miles or riding a century is a long day. And don't get me started on long swims. I did the 3 mile distance at Steelman OWS one year and wanted to quit somewhere between miles 2 and 3. Problem was I happened to be in the middle of the lake so walking off the course wasn't an option at the time. Never doing that again.

Preparing for an Ironman is no joke. My first full Ironman was at Lake Placid in July 2005. I started training for the race on January 2 of that year. I remember sitting down with Bill and getting that first week of training and thinking he was crazy. The amount of work he had me doing is what I expected to see during peak weeks, not the first week of January. Funny thing is, everything I did those first three months were more about getting fit enough to train for the training I would need to do for the main event. Come race day I was ready (Thanks again Bill!!!).

You just can't wake up one morning and decide you will go out and go 140.6 miles on Saturday. It takes time and dedication. It takes focus and determination. It takes patience and persistence.

Now let's say you signed up for an event that you had all good intention of completing. Because of the popularity of the Ironman you need to sign up for most events in North America a year in advance. Sometimes you can do it online, but for other events you are better off going to the event and volunteering the year prior to make sure you get a spot for the following year. I've done that twice myself.

The problem is, a lot can happen in a year's time. You can suffer a major injury for example. I have experience with this as I had to back out of Ironman Coure D'Alene last year due to injury. Didn't take much for me to realize that I just had to skip the race and move on.

The other thing that can happen is you simply lose your motivation to properly prepare. I totally get it. The IDEA of becoming and Ironman is much different than the day-to-day reality of doing the necessary work to complete the Ironman. 

There are times you are going to give up social activities to ride your bike. There will be times you just don't want to swim, let alone do a 3 x 1k main set. And I don't know anyone who craves a 2 hour run off the bike. The body will hurt and you will get tired. Real tired. All of this is part of the Ironman experience. This is what is necessary to do it right.

Do it the right was and there is a very high probability you will successfully complete the distance. At the end you will either be a one and done, checking the Ironman box, or you will fall in love with long course racing.

When I crossed the finish line in Lake Placid at the end of Ironman #1 my family and friends were there to meet me. The Queen, knowing me as she does, looked at me and said "this isn't done, is it?" I looked at my feet and squirmed like a child caught with his had in a cookie jar. Nine years later the flame is still lit.

I know I am not the fastest, but I have a respect for the distance. I enjoy the process, I crave the work. I love the feeling of being Ironfit.  If the drive to go long - the drive to put in the necessary work to race long - leaves me I'll call it a day. I have too much respect for the sport, for the distance, to have it any other way.

Getting back to Mike, my problem wasn't with his desire to race the race. My problem was with the lax attitude he had towards proper prep for the race. Back to what I said earlier, the idea of being able to call yourself an Ironman is much different than the reality of the work needed to cross the finish line. I find it rather arrogant to think that you can just half-ass it and expect to muddle your way through. I have much more respect for someone who says they can't do it and gracefully backs out than shows up thinking they can fake it enough to succeed.

My point is a simple one - if you decide you want to do an Ironman, respect the distance and put in the proper training to complete the Ironman. If you can't or won't do the work, don't do the race.

Thanks for reading.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon