Maximizing Your Ability

I just finished reading 'Iron War' and it really opened my eyes to a lot of the reasons why coaches and athletes follow certain training methods and what they are supposed to accomplish. I always understood that classic training theory states that you need to start building your 'base' in the early season and as you approach your races in the spring/summer you should focus on higher intensity workouts to maximize your fitness. I usually scoffed at this type of approach because I really enjoy training with intensity and doing it all year long, and I figured that I was getting better every year so it was obviously working, right? I read that Alberto Salazar used to do crazy intense workouts all year long and he would destroy his competition at every race. The problem is that you are always riding along a razor's edge between burnout and injury and only complete rest and recovery for a long period of time can bring you back. It happened to Alberto and it happened to me... Such is life.

The one major insight I gained from reading Iron War though had to do with a study done in the US on Cross Country runners. A researcher was attempting to discover why some runners can be as successful as others while having completely different running styles or forms. The study hooked experienced and inexperienced runners up to an accelerometer and measured differences in their running stride, there was no surprise that experienced runners were more efficient and had less of a 'decceleration' phase associated with their stride. What surprised them was that both experienced and inexperienced runners tended to have a less efficient running stride when they were asked to concentrate on how they were running and to try to perfect their form. The conclusion they drew from this was that there is no one 'perfect' running form, everyone has their own unique way of running and there are only two ways to improve it. 1. run a lot of miles over many, many years, or 2. run at high intensity. When you run at high intensity you tend to 'think' less about how you are supposed to run and your body naturally finds it's most efficient way to run. That being said this flew in the face of all conventional wisdom at the time, that a runner needed to be coached and trained to run a specific way in order to be more efficient- not true!

It makes a lot of sense when you think about it, I look back at images of Dave Scott running along Mark Allen in 1989 and you could not have had two completely different running styles. Dave ran like he was trying to catch a bus 100m down the road, arms swinging wildly at his sides, feet outward in his typical duck-like run and then there was Mark, smooth, efficient, long measured strides and they both ran stride for stride and both did a 2:38 marathon at the end of an Ironman! Wow... You can't take anything away from Dave even though he lost the race that day he still did an 8:10 race and over years and years of training his body found the most efficient way for him to run, it wasn't Mark Allen's way but it was just as fast and effective.

Ironman Arizona 2012

What an incredible week, Amber and I spent a short week traveling from the great white north to sunny Arizona. Our good friend Kevin competed in his first Ironman after months and months of hard training and it paid off big time. We left on a Wednesday and returned the following Monday but did a lot in those short few days. On Thursday Kevin and I rode the Ironman bike course and although I was on a beat up road bike I really enjoyed being outside and seeing the course all the athletes would be battling it out on. The ride out was tough with a headwind and slight uphill and the ride back was very fast and tons of fun. Friday we went to the outdoor pool and met some friends from Calgary and banged out a few laps.

It was also the day we got an up close and personal look at our new baby boy, we did a 3D ultrasound and it was incredibly emotional- both Amber and I really saw what he was going to look like and were so excited to see him! He's healthy, happy and ahead of where he should be in terms of development, his due date was pushed up to February 1st so we know he's growing very quickly. I can't wait to have a new member of our little family he'll be the most loved and cared for kid on the planet- that I'm sure of.

Sunday was the race and even though I knew it was going to be tough on Amber she did a really great job, resting when she needed to rest and making sure she ate regularly and had a nap when she was feeling run down. All in all the race was so much fun and had me reinvigorated to start training again for Ironman CDA. I started getting really serious about Achilles treatment and have gone to 2 ART treatments, it's a little early to tell if they are working but the doctor says if I keep it up I should be healed in three weeks.

Keep it Slow and Steady

Anyone who knows me understands that I sometimes have a hard time keeping my training 'moderate' even during the off-season. I know I can sometimes go a little overboard with training hard throughout the year but I honestly believe that's why I've been able to have such incredible results. However there is always a point of diminishing returns, where that extra hard ride or run does a lot more harm than good. When you are new to triathlon and not sure of where your potential lies I think you can get away with hammering fairly hard in all three disciplines and still see very good progress over the first 3- 4 years of racing. After all if you don't really know how the cumulative aspects of training are going to affect you and you may feel like after a hard 60- 90 minute swim, ride or run you can do it again tomorrow. It's not until you've gone to that place where the world gets a little fuzzy around you and you start to have tunnel vision or you simply feel like you want to sleep during a workout that you start to comprehend where your real limits are; for me that's usually during the 20 hour bike week leading up to an Ironman.

But there is a point where training more, or harder does a lot more harm to your body than good and usually that's when you start to notice injuries. Having to deal with an injury this year has been pretty humbling, I've gone from my usual after work run being a 15k jaunt in an hour to running 5k in 1/2 an hour. However I realized this year more than ever how much I enjoy being active and healthy and the competitive side of me has had to take a back seat for the time being. It's been 6 months since my injury and I'm still recovering but I'm hopeful now more than ever before I will get back to normal I just need to do the right things and I'll be on the road to recovery.

Every time I try to push to hard on the bike my achillies reminds me who's in control and I have to back off. I know a lot of people don't like indoor training but I love it, there is no better way to get stronger and stay focused then by being on the trainer for an hour or two. Afterall we live in Canada so if you don't like indoor training you'd better move. That being said I still need to take things slow and keep my focus on recovering more than building right now. I'm giving myself until January 1st to start some serious training again and that will only be 6 months away from my Ironman, that's the shortest amount I time I've put in to prepare for an IM but the law of diminishing returns is starting to show itself just before I turn 40 so I'm listening to my body and preparing myself to peak at the right time.

Family Fun Run

This past Sunday was the first race I've done where I ran as a family with Amber and Harley, it was a nice change to the previous years I've competed in the GP Fall Classic. I set my 10k PR at this race in 2009 with a 34:25 and it was the first time I'd ever run a sub 37 minute 10k. I remember the extreme suffering I went through from start to finish to get that time and it was nice to just be a part of the race atmosphere without all the pressure to obtain another PR. I'm still dealing with the achilles injury but I can run, very slowly, which I'm very grateful for. I realize now how much more important it is for me to feel active and healthy than it is to win. I may be a lot slower but being able to be apart of the training and racing environment is a lot more important.

It was also the first time we ran with a new member of our family, Amber is 5 months pregnant and the little guy got a free ride (in utero). Amber has had some really tough times during this pregnancy but I'm really proud of her to go through it all and face it like a trooper, she is creating a life that we're going to love every day of our lives and I can't wait to find out what fatherhood is going to be like. 

Missing It

Steve Suffering at IMC

It's hard to believe that I miss the suffering that you go through at an Ironman but the event itself is just such an incredible celebration and achievement that it outweighs any amount of pain you are going through on the day. Amber and I watched some local triathletes compete at IMC this Sunday, the last IMC in Penticton, and it was a lot of fun to track our friends and follow along as they reached certain points in the race. I remember thinking throughout the day that- "Steve must be hitting the rollers about now" or "he's probably hurting up Yellow Lake at around this time" and it brought me back to those moments for myself in the race. All the sacrifice and training during the entire year culminates in that one day and it doesn't matter if you hit your time goals or you don't when you are out there all you are thinking of is just getting to the finish.

I'm a little excited that WTC isn't apart of the race in Penticton any more, there were getting incredibly greedy and were taking advantage of all the great volunteers and athletes that go to that race every year. The fee was absolutely exacerbating, I think it was up to $675 which okay- in the grand scheme of things isn't huge but heaven forbid you get an injury and can't race- you forfeit all but $150. At that price WTC was making $1,755,000 on entry fees and if you add in race merchandise it's probably around $2.5M per year. All the operations were mainly handled by the great volunteers and the prize purses for the men and women's winners were only $5,000 each, really! $2.5M and you're only going to pay the winner of the race $5,000!! Come on... Well challenge Penticton is promised to be as great of a race with more community involvement it's just a shame that you can't get a Kona spot there anymore. Maybe Coeur D'Alene will start to be the go to spot for most Western Canadian triathletes, which could make qualifing A LOT more difficult.

Well I still enjoy the Ironman atmosphere and it's great to be a part of the race in any capacity, even as a spectator. Amber and I decided to go to Pheonix in November to watch Kevin race and I can't wait, I'm already starting to get the training bug again and watching Kevin is probably going to really make me want to get back into it for my own race IM CDA next June. I've never been to Arizona but it'll be a lot of fun I'm sure, I just have to find someone there that will lend me a bike.

Running at 1km/hr

There hasn't been much to post lately in regards to my training, I really haven't been. After suffering a really bad achillies tear in May it's been tough to go through the summer and not be out there swimming, biking and running. I was swimming and biking consistently after my injury but after taking a full 10 days off for vacation and not doing anything but walking I realized that the kick off the wall swimming and riding hills were not helping me heal properly. I went to Calgary with Amber for a few days and met with an orthodics guy who diagnosed a severe over-pronation in my stride so he said he could help with some custom orothodics. I was always a bit skeptical of these, thinking they were really just a sales pitch but when I initially got them in 2005 while training for my first Ironman they helped the achillies problems back then so I guess I'm sold on them now. The first week in them was aweful, my entire right leg from my calf to my sacrum was in pain but I knew I had to stick with it if I was going to get better. Eventually the tightness started to ease up and now I don't even know I'm wearing them.

I still have a bit of healing to do so I can't swim-bike-run but I've been starting back at the gym lifting weights again, light weights- 20-30 reps at a time and water running. Before I was injured my average after-work go-for-a-run pace was 15km/hr or 4 minute/kms now I'm reduced to running 1km/hr in the pool, 20 laps in one hour. It's tough to get in there and stay motivated but at least now I feel like I'm doing something, I might be starting from scratch again but at least I'm moving forward. I'm going to take the next month really easy, water running, weights, walking and hopefully by September-October I'll be back to normal running again. Amber and I are heading to Pheonix to watch Ironman Arizona in November so that will be a great early winter break and I'd like to do some light running in the warm Pheonix sun.

One Final Kick At The Can

Last weekend was GWN race weekend and it's always a tremendous time to welcome in summer; the first major race of the year, the tour starts, everyone is happy and excited to race and you get a chance to see if all the training has paid off. It was a little bitter sweet because I went into it knowing I wasn't able to run with a torn achillies but I wanted to at least have a solid swim-bike. The weekend started off great hanging out with friends going for a little ride (which of course I got a flat on) and then going to the lake for one loop of the two loop swim course. I was pretty pleased to have finished the loop in 15 minutes, it made me think that perhaps I could pull off a sub 30 minute swim.

Race morning there were dark clouds to the west of us and wouldn't you know it by the time we got to the lake it was raining, not a hard rain but enough to make it annoying. I did all my pre-race prep and lined up a couple rows from the front and hammered the swim right off the start, I kept a solid pace and drafted off as many strong swimmers as possible. I was a little disappointed later to find out I did a 31:05 swim again but I was going as hard as I possibly could and given all the swimming I've done this year that's probably the top end of my time without swimming 5 days a week.

The rain made things on the bike really frustrating, my glasses fogged up and I put them in my pocket where they fell out at some point. So I didn't have them for the downhills which made the stinging rain difficult at 60+kms/hr. The entire ride I kept feeling like I couldn't push the same power that I normally do but I heard that from everyone else too so I'm attributing it to the cold. The way back I was pushing as hard as possible I knew I wasn't running so I wanted to power through right to the end. At the final turn right before the finish my front wheel hit a soaking wet crack in the road and went right out from under me. Bam! down on my left side I went and slid for 10-15 feet. Arrgh no, I jumped up and my chain was off on the front and back so I was fiddling with that for 20-30 seconds I was only a couple hundred meters from the finish of the bike so I was just shaking my head at how I could be so stupid. The bike only suffered a little nic on the seat, which can be easily replaced so I obviously took the brunt of the impact. My left knee, thigh, forarm and back have quite a bit of road rash which I can handle just fine but my ribs must have landed on my arm because they are really bruised and moving around is difficult. Oh well, all of it will heal soon enough and I think this is the universe telling me that it's time to call it a year.

I was really hoping to have a great race in Calgary but I've decided to roll it over to next year and fully recover my achillies so I can get back into running shape again. So that is the end of the 2012 season for me, a bit disappointing but not the end. I signed up for IM Coeur D'Alene 2013 so I'll start preparing for that in December/January and get a full, deep recovery going into it. Getting older is tough but listening to my body is key to making sure I can still train and race.