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Max Wunderle's Race Reports
Sandy Beach Triathlon August 01-03, 2008 So, a buddy of mine (and 3 other guys!) decide it would be “a lot of fun” to race 3 sprints in 3 days just for kicks. Well, 2 months ago, I check the calendar and decide “sure, why not?” and go ahead and sign up for a triple dose of sprinting in Connecticut and Rhode Island. As I’ve mentioned in previous race reports, my Ironman recovery and search for a new focus in the sport had left me with some decisions to be made about being patient in letting my body heal as well as ramping up for any new races I decided to enter. To this end, I finally let my body heal and felt that I was ready to re-engage some aggressive training in order to create a nice fitness base to taper down from. 10 days before this “triple race” weekend I found myself have some of the best workouts of my life and felt great about cutting back a few days and racing “rested” for some fun races.
Sandy Beach Triathlon So, heading into the Friday night race at Sandy Beach, I felt good and ready to race hard. Theswim was a straight forward out and back ½ mile distance that was quick, but warm. The water must have been at least 80 degrees, but wetsuits were allowed due to the large number of newbies in the 350 person field and the lack of a USAT sanctioned status. So, the gun went off and I found myself leading the first half of the swim with some good energy all the way out to the turnaround. At this point, I was overtaken and happily sat in behind my fellow competitor to enjoy a nice draft. This lasted for about 400 meters until he finally dropped me and ended up putting about 7 seconds on me by the time we got to T1.
While I was in the lead and failed to see anyone closing the gap, my feelings of fatigue continued to haunt me. Why was I in so much pain? Why did I feel so unproductive? I failed to answer either of these questions and hoped that the run would allow me to use some different muscles and respond. I breezed through T2 and headed out to try and put down a good run finish. And to think the bike was painful… The run course features an out and back on the same terrain as the bike, so the first 1.5 miles were relatively uphill and put me in a bad place! Again, I noticed my heart rate racing, and I was unable to feel any power in my legs. I trudged through to the turnaround and was thrilled to finally get some relief offered by the downhill grade. I noticed I had a 20-30 second gap on the second place racer, but was convinced he would pass me at any time. Somehow, I was lucky enough to hold out and crossed the finish line with the win. While I was happy for the finish, I realized that something was very wrong with my body and knew that the rest of the weekend was not going to be any fun!
Block Island Triathlon I had never been to Block Island, RI, so I thought this would be a cool place to travel to and race. We woke up early and got a ferry to get to the race site, about 50 minutes on the water from Connecticut. The family tagged along and we thought we’d have a great day at the beach finished off with a fun little race and then a return ferry trip back home to get some rest before the 3rd race of the weekend on Sunday morning. Well, the ferry was fun, the planning was dead on and the first few hours hanging out with friends, riding the course and enjoying the island was perfect. Unfortunately at about 2PM, torrential thunderstorms rolled in and ended up forcing the cancellation of the 3PM race. Post race cancellation, we traveled to some friends’ house on the island and had a great steak dinner, finished up and headed back on the late ferry. Although we didn’t get to race, I had enough time to review my body’s status as being empty and non responsive. In short, just as my body had healed from Ironman Coeur d’Alene, my assault to beat it back down (6 days of very, very aggressive high intensity cycling, running and lifting) had fundamentally broken my body back down to Ironman recovery status. In a classic case of doing something that I would never even think of prescribing for one of my athletes, I had jacked up my training so hard and fast (instead of building) that the damage I had done had broken me back down significantly enough to prevent me from racing productively. While I had “stolen” a win at Sandy Beach, I knew this wouldn’t be the case at the Niantic Bay Sprint on Sunday morning.
Niantic Bay Sprint Coming to grips with what was plaguing my body, I wasn’t exactly thrilled to go through the pain I had experienced at Sandy Beach again at the Niantic race, as I knew I would be trying to get blood from a stone. However, I treated it as I would any other race and ate well, warmed up well and headed down to the race start. Similar to Sandy Beach, I was able to jump out to a quick lead and hold onto this position for the entire ½ mile swim. Unlike my biking and running, my swimming felt OK and I felt good for the first 90% of the distance. With about 100 meters to go, however, I caught a jellyfish right in my face and got stung. The pain was annoying, but not overwhelming and I pushed on to keep the lead I had worked to retain. This lead was short lived, however, as the 200 yard run up to T1 allowed my friend Ian Ray to overtake me and take the lead onto the bike. It would be the beginning of a lead that he would fail to relinquish for the rest of the race. As for me, I ended up having a terrible transition with a slow run up the hill and a frustrating time fighting my helmet strap (again!). My slow transition allowed for another racer to pass me and I was out onto the bike ready to put myself into the ‘red zone’ again. I knew what was coming this time and simply accepted my fate in not being able to close the gap on my fellow competitors ahead of me. In fact, I rode fairly alone on the bike and was greeted in T2 with 2 other bikers who had managed to close the gap toward the end of the bike and in T2. By ½ mile into the run, I had slid another 2 slots back in the standings and was dreading the remaining 3 miles. Luckily for me, I was able to hold things together just well enough to end up passing 1 of the guys who had dropped me earlier and found myself in 4th place overall. At this point, I just looked down the whole way and tried to focus on good cadence and holding my form. This strategy allowed me to hold things together just enough toward the finish as I ended up holding on to my position, but only 6 seconds ahead of the 5th place racer! When I look back at the weekend, the racing was frustrating, but the time with friends and camaraderie well offset the pain experienced during the races. I learned more about my body’s ability to sustain punishment and its needed recovery cycle. Also, our group managed to win both of the races we raced in and that was just icing on the cake. It’s hard to believe the season’s almost over! I think I’m going to look at 1-2 more events before the Fall, then shut it down for a good offseason of lifting and trail running. Happy training!
Pat Griskus Sprint July 09, 2008 Well, so much for learning from past mistakes! I got the opportunity to race for the first time since Ironman Coeur d’Alene last night and had flashbacks of how frustrating Ironman recovery can be. First, though, here are the headlines:
After racing Ironman Lake Placid last year, I vividly remember racing at the Litchfield Hills Olympic triathlon only 2-3 weeks after Lake Placid. I was very excited to get back to racing and prepare for Kona and I headed into that race with high expectations of putting a good time together in only my second Olympic distance race. Unfortunately, the mind was willing, but the body wasn’t able and I got a crash course about deep seeded exhaustion in learning how badly broken down my body was. The crazy thing was that I felt no muscular or tendon based pain whatsoever. Additionally, I didn’t feel actively fatigued or particularly devoid of power in my legs. Regardless of how I felt before the race, I hit a wall within minutes of entering the swim. I felt as though I had lost several ‘gears’ of power and simply could not muster any strength to accelerate or break out of the blasé feeling I had. After the race I sought out some literature and counsel on Ironman recovery and learned that one should really not expect to have the kind of power one might have had before racing that distance for anywhere from 4-7 weeks afterwards. This year, though, I figured maybe I could sprint well as the distance and time competing would be less than half of last year. Boy, was I wrong! To make matters worse, there was a great field assembled for this race as the top 4 guys were all more than 3 minutes faster than last year’s winning time. So, on with the breakdown…
After the first mile or so, Ian Ray dropped me badly and I was unable to respond. A quick check of my heart rate monitor showed me at about 166 (with a max of about 184), so I knew I was pushing, but my legs weren’t listening! I was fairly alone for the next several miles until the cavalry came. Between miles 5-7, 6 guys came up to me and blazed right by leaving me no other choice but to wish them good luck! I plugged away through the hilly 10.5 miles and was ecstatic to come into T2. Unfortunately, like a true newbie, I had forgotten to mark the proper ‘run out’ exit and ended up running the wrong way out of transition. A quick shout from the volunteers got me on the right path and I was off, hoping to salvage a good run after pumping the bike with my dead legs. My first mile split (downhill, no less) came up (6:55) and pretty much confirmed things weren’t going to work out. I knew the guys ahead of me were going to be putting down 5:30s and being so far off the pace didn’t bode well for my mental focus to bring in a good split. Anyway, I did what I could to hold things together on the out and back course and cheer on my friends who were battling it out for the podium spots. After about 2.5 miles, 2 more guys came up and passed me solidifying my 10th place finish. All in all, my experience was another great learning about recovery, intensity and learning about my body. Although I felt empty and unable to respond to the attacks on the bike and run, the competition was definitely out of my league and even in top form, I don’t think I could have mustered more than a few spots up the rankings. As for the rest of the season, I want to make sure my body heals as successfully as possible so I can jump back into some more intensive training to focus on several more sprints and one more ½ Ironman. Happy and safe training!
June 22, 2008 Finality. This would be the major theme of the day as I attempted my 3rd Ironman event in a little under a year. All in all, I had a strong day across all three disciplines and learned a lot about motivation, mental toughness and the value of perspective both inside and outside of the world of Ironman. Here are the headlines:
As I’ve mentioned in several earlier race reports this year, my total training volume has been down and has made me second guess my fitness on several occasions. However, the intensity of many of my workouts has been significantly higher and very productive. While I have had good results in several shorter events this year, I still had a fair amount of concern around my ability to perform well at the Ironman distance. Coming into Coeur d’Alene, my goal was very simple, qualify for Kona. So simple, in fact, that the entire trip to Idaho was very much a “business trip”. I came in two days early (without any friends or family) to get adjusted to the 3 hour time zone difference, camped out in my hotel, put in my last few workouts and readied my body for Sunday’s race. Other than rest, I did go out to accomplish two other tasks. First, the snow melt in upper Idaho came very late this Spring which caused the lake water temperature to hover at about 57 degrees only two days before race day. Upon my first attempt to swim in this water, I found myself in true pain as the cold in my face, hands and feet was unbearable! As it turned out, race officials allowed the use of neoprene caps and booties to help curb the bite of the cold water. So, I hunted down my Zoot team manager, Ben Harper who hooked me up with a nice neoprene hat, then finished my ensemble with some warm booties. Step two involved getting out on the bike course to check on the climbs as well as the turns—this 112 mile course had 44 turns! I had met Cliff Scherb at the Ridgefield Sprint Triathlon earlier this Spring and he and his parents were gracious enough to let me tag along on their field trip on the bike course. I think Cliff and I were both surprised how technical the course was, but overall, the climbing was very fair and while challenging, it wasn’t as taxing as Ironman Lake Placid. On race day, I felt strong and confident, however, my lack of swim training did strike a bit of fear in me. I offset this concern by taking solace in the hopes that the swim course would be windy and wavy. I feel very comfortable in choppy water and knew that tough conditions would negatively impact my competition more than me. As it turned out, the water temperature ended up being about 59 degrees and the wind was not a major factor during the swim. Once the cannon went off, all thoughts of preparation and the elements took a backseat to my goal of finding a good “rabbit” to draft behind. While I was fortunate enough to break out of the pack and find open water, I failed miserably to find good legs to draft behind. I fought through the first loop and finally ended up in a pack of five swimmers just before we exited the water to repeat the 1.2 mile loop. My first loop split was about 28 minutes and didn’t make me feel any better about my lack of swim training as my first loop split from Ironman Lake Placid was about 25 minutes. I quickly ignored this little piece of information and turned my attention back to staying in the pack of racers I had been lucky enough to find. The second loop was quite uneventful as we stayed quite close together and chugged our way around the counter clockwise loop. As the swim came to a close, I exited the water and saw the official race clock at just over 56 minutes. I was shocked to realize that I had even split the swim—clearly aided by the strong draft I picked up on the second lap. All was well again as I felt a little better about my effort. I would later be even more content with this result as I was only 2 minutes slower than the lead pro pack and only 5 minutes off the fastest pro split of the day. T1 was a “good news”, “bad news” experience. On the good side, my wetsuit stripper volunteers were awesome. My wetsuit was off in about 2 seconds and I was off to the changing tent. Glasses, check. Bike shoes, check. Helmet, um, well…. A la Chris McCormack from last year’s Ironman World Championship, I fought to get my helmet secured and lost about 25 seconds screwing around with my chinstrap. It finally clicked and I was off. Out onto the bike, I was thrilled to get into the meat of the race. My legs felt solid, my heart rate was tracking and the weather was ridiculously good at about 68 degrees (it would only climb to about 74 by the afternoon). I settled into the nice open roads, and began to get my nutrition plan and heart rate ranges on track. Once out of town, the course’s first set of climbs appeared at about 25-30 miles in. Much like the Lake Placid course, patience would pay big dividends here and I resigned myself to being measured in my efforts and patient as the stronger bikers caught up and passed me. I also began engaging in an internal discussion with myself as to why I was here and what I was doing. In retrospect, I think I felt I was laboring a bit too much for so early in the race and found myself second guessing my motivations in competing at all. The course’s technical demands didn’t allow for much internal soul searching as there were several 90 degree turns and many blind turns done at just under 30 mph. Coming back into town, the winds kicked up significantly. Again, thoughts as to why I was here filled my mind. Additionally, I was unable to bring my heart rate down. I was planning to dial in an average heart rate just under 140 and felt that the wind was preventing me from staying below this threshold. This last stretch was only about 8 miles, so I was able to control my frustration and ended up splitting about 2:40 for the first 56 miles of the bike with an average heart rate of 138. As I headed back out for the second loop, thoughts surrounding my motivation continued to swirl. By this point, the conversation had moved past what I was doing and was in full “I don’t think I’m ever going to do this again” mode. Conversely, I was also criticizing myself for having such a dialogue when I hadn’t even earned the right to talk about the future as I was in the middle of negotiating today’s events. The second loop was much like the first highlighted by a solid pace, good nutrition discipline and similar winds. Unfortunately, I lost my salt tabs at some point and got nervous about the potential lack of sodium during the run. So, I began mixing my water intake with about 12 oz of Gatorade in the last 15 miles—more on this later as this move would come back to haunt me during the run. Coming back into town, the crowds had swelled and were thirsty to see us transition to the run course. As with the swim, I virtually even split the bike course by staying steady on my pacing and nutrition. This was exactly my plan and felt great about this effort. However, there are thousands of stories of people who had strong swims and bikes who ended up blowing up on the run to ruin their day. The end of the bike had also ended my thoughts of doing another Ironman. In short, I knew what it took to get here, I know what it would take to do it again, and I knew that the motivation to simply go faster would not be enough to fuel my fire. As I mentioned earlier, my bike leg was successful from a result standpoint, but I felt that I muscularly labored harder than I had in the past. Therefore, I still felt unnerved about the run. Optimally, my plan had called for a 3:20 marathon split fueled by smart, consistent 7:40 splits. As I breezed though T2 very quickly and onto the run course, my first two mile splits were 7:06 and 7:07. I immediately cursed myself out loud to get my act together and settle down. While the speed of these splits was intimidating, my cadence and heart rate monitor told a little bit of a different story. My run cadence was very quick and short while my heart rate was only 142. OK, I gave myself the benefit of the doubt and simply tried to keep my effort under control while keeping good form. At this point I was also in full analysis mode of my future (or lack thereof) in Ironman distance triathlon. Why was I here? Well, I was here to get a Kona slot. Why do you want a Kona slot? To go back and race faster, to host my wife and friend and to support my sponsors. How much faster? At least 15 mins. How much training will that take? At least 15% more than last year. Where would that time come from? Family and friends. Does a 9:39 Ironman effort offset the lost time sacrificed from your friends, 3 kids and wife? No. Who else cares about you going 9:39? No one. Enough said. Today would be my final Ironman race. Ironman isn’t going anywhere. If I ever changed my mind, I can reengage this journey. Conversely, every minute that goes by is another minute of time being a part of my children’s upbringing that I could miss by training. There have been too many occasions where my family went to a movie or an event together and I opted out to go ride for 3-4 hours. I would put a stop to that today.
Although I was not bonking, I could feel that my body was not processing the calories I was inputting. Also, my mile splits began to get a bit ugly and into the 8 and 8:30 range. I immediately changed to a much heavier water and cola diet to help increase the osmolality in my stomach. Miles 19-22 showed some improvement and I was encouraged by the reduced bloating. I was also getting faster and further motivated to finish strong by my experience in Hawaii. Last October, I dug as deep as I could and powered the last 2 miles as if they were the last I’d ever run again. By doing so, I must have passed at least 20 people who were just trying to hold it together and finish. Today, I remembered that experience and turned the jets back on. To my great surprise, I even passed a couple of folks in my age group! By the time I turned the final corner to finish the last half mile, I was completely alone and enjoyed every second of the packed crowd’s passionate encouragement to bring me home. I acknowledged them all and waved my way in to hear the great Mike Reilly call my name again and say “from West Simsbury, CT Max Wunderle….You are an IRONMAN!” Official results can be found here http://www.nasports.com/results/cda2008prelim.html. Postscript After getting some solid food, resting and putting myself back together, I returned to the finish line to watch my fellow competitors during the late night hours. For those of you who haven’t had the chance, I cannot stress how powerful and motivational it is to see people finish an Ironman in person. From 9PM-12AM, it happens every few seconds/minutes and is absolutely awe inspiring. Monday morning came and I went back to the race site to mill about and to officially roll down my Kona slot. As I approached the table, I felt 100% confident in my decision—that is until I realized who was sitting there…8 time World Champion, Paula Newby-Fraser. Just seeing her reminded me of all she had done in the sport and the time she had invested in becoming the greatest Ironman champion of all time. For a brief second, I felt very small and embarrassed to turn down an opportunity to go back to Kona. However, my decision had been made and I asked that my name be scratched. Two hours later I was even happier about my decision as I witnessed the Kona roll down and watched the 16th place male 35-39 age group finisher’s eyes light up as a dream of his came true. Just seeing his reaction further cemented my decision as I felt I was a part of his journey and knew he would enjoy and respect his trip to Kona more than I would have. I was introduced to this sport from a friend’s bet only 3.5 years ago. In that time, I couldn’t be happier about the experiences I’ve had and the things I’ve learned. When I look back, I quickly am reminded of the most emotional experiences that triathlon has offered me. I’m not the most sensitive guy out there, but this journey has brought me to tears on more than one occasion. The moments before running my first ½ marathon, finishing my first marathon, qualifying for the Ironman World Championships 70.3, qualifying for Ironman World Championships, completing Ironman Hawaii and most recently finishing the way I did at Ironman Coeur d’Alene all elicited incredibly emotional responses that I never would have experienced otherwise. I have great respect for this distance and know that the only way to return to it would be out of a commitment to a cause much greater than simply going faster. The only thing that would bring me back to this distance would have to involve helping someone close to me finish their Ironman journey or being a part of a charitable cause that I felt passionately about. Other than that, I think I want to be a part of others’ journeys to Ironman through my coaching. I will continue to race at other distances and do so at as high a level as I can, but just not at a level that compromises my commitment to my family.
Ridgefield Sprint June 1, 2008 Last weekend marked the first sprint of the year in my old home town of Ridgefield, CT. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to spend as much time seeing old friends and hanging around as three lacrosse games and another soccer game were also on the docket!
As I had did in FL, I had a new toy to try out as this race marked the first time I ever even put on my new Zoot Zenith wetsuit. It went on without a hitch and felt smooth and snug. After the start, I was able to break ahead of the pack and find plenty of flat water in the Martin Park Lake. Although I felt strong and smooth, I did feel the presence of another swimmer near me and was unable to shake him and/or back off to catch a draft. This trend got even more humorous as both of us hit the beach about half a second apart and raced down the hill to transition. This effort was good for the 3rd fastest swim split of the day and set me up for the rest of the day. My T1 transition was a bit labored as I wrestled off my new wetsuit (hadn’t practiced that in about 9 months!) and jumped on the bike. It felt great to have the entire road to myself and settled in about 50 yards behind the Ridgefield police car clearing the course in front of me. This course is fairly technical with quick turns and several little climbs—all in all adding up to an experience that demands your attention at all times. Well, as my attention was focused on the road and elevation changes, I wasn’t focusing very well on my gearing and found myself laboring up one of the short climbs. As I quickly over corrected and slammed my chain down to the big ring, it dropped! I jumped off my bike and tried to throw my chain back on, fumbling with the rings and chain, and finally got things back together. If this wasn’t embarrassing enough, the police car had even stopped to wait! Thank goodness the rest of the ride went smooth and uneventful as I focused on making up for lost time and plugged away into T2. My transition was quick and efficient and I headed out onto the stumpy 3.1 mile run. As the bike and run courses overlap each other, I was able to see the other racers come back into transition. I was happy to see that I had a good lead, but knew I had to put a good run down to hold them off. The first mile was hilly and resulted in a 6:26 split. I never saw the 2nd mile marker, so I just kept focusing on a good cadence and pressed on to the finish line. The suffering finally ended as I came back into transition and the crowds started to erupt. I ran through the finish line and was thrilled to pick up only my second win ever! I guess those last two miles were pretty quick as my overall run split was 18:13, or a 5:51 per mile average. I think you always tend to learn more on days when things don’t go well versus on days that do. While my overall result was very satisfying and a ton of fun, it also acted as a great proxy to my early season fitness. I’ve only got about three more weeks until Ford Ironman Couer d’Alene, which means 1 more week until taper time! My final training block has been very productive, safe and successful. So to have good sprinting speed on such dead legs is a good omen! Happy and safe training to everyone! Next stop, Idaho!
Florida 70.3 May 18, 2008
-Placed 23rd Overall Coming into this race, I had a fair share of concern around my training and ability to put up a good result. A year ago, I was fiercely driven in my workouts and commitment to get to Kona. This year, various activities outside of triathlon including starting a new coaching business, a higher workload and diminished desire to put in the 14-18 hrs per week of quality training all conspired to curtail my training efforts. It is safe to say that my total training hours have been down at least 15-20% per week versus last year, with most of that differential lost in much needed cycling time. This year’s weather in the Northeast has not exactly helped that effort, either. On the positive side, I have added a significant jump in intensity across my weight training efforts. Instead of doing 3 sets of one exercise, resting between each set, then proceeding to the next exercise and repeating this regimen, I decided to “superset” all of my weight training. So, instead of resting after each set, I performed one set of 4 different exercises without any rest and repeated this circuit 3 times. Outside of virtually killing myself, this type of training has delivered very significant muscular endurance in my legs and core. Also, a year ago, I had injured my Achilles tendon and was unable to run for over 4 weeks during the month of April. This Spring, I was fortunate enough to be injury free. So, race morning finally came and I was armed with an arsenal of new toys afforded to me by various sponsors. For the swim, I was outfitted in a new Zoot prototype full body skin suit (this race disallowed the use of wetsuits due to water temperature). There is only one of these currently in existence and this one had just come from triathlete pro, Mac Brown who wore it in the St. Croix 70.3 race several weeks back. Once the cannon went off, I was able to quickly sprint out to the front of my wave (there were 3 in the 35-39 AG) and began attacking swimmers who had gone off in earlier heats. I wasn’t able to find anyone to draft off of and didn’t find too much trouble in sighting. I felt strong and aerobic and worked my way out and back across the 1.2 miles. As I exited the water, I looked down at my watched and was shocked to read 27:38! Why? Well, that’s another story… Last year when my Achilles was injured, I couldn’t find any exercises using my legs that didn’t tweak my injury. So, I was forced to spend endless hours in the pool to get my aerobic work in. In fact, this practice ended up with me averaging between 25-35,000 yards per week in swim training. This year, I have yet to break 12,000 yards in any week. With such a drop off in volume, I was fully expecting to be 1-2 minutes slower than last year (29:15). Much to my surprise, the 27:38 (3rd in my AG) split was completely out of left field and was clearly the result of my new Zoot skinsuit. In short, if you are going to race 1.2 miles in a non wetsuit legal event and don’t wear one, you will be giving up at least 1 minute to anyone else who is. My first transition was quick and I was out onto the bike, outfitted in my other new sponsored toy for the day, a pair of Zipp 808 wheels. I had raced all last season on 404s and was anxious to see how the two sets compared. This course is fairly straight forward with maybe 6-8 turns and no discernable climbs or descents. The only dynamic that can be frustrating to deal with is the hundreds of other bikers whom you have to pass as you move along the 56 mile route. All in all, the traffic wasn’t too bad and I was able to keep a good pace and stay strong throughout. By mile 30, it began to rain a bit and everyone enjoyed the brief respite from the heat. This rain was short lived, however, and by the second transition, it was back to being about 92 degrees with over 80% humidity. I ended up finishing the bike in 2:21:25 and later found out that the course was actually over 57 miles! This was even better news as if the course was a true 56, my split would have been well under 2:20, more than 4 minutes faster than last year—much like the skin suit in the swim, my new wheels played a big part of this result. In T2, I threw on my shoes, picked up my visor, GUs, and headed out for a very hot 13.1 mile run. My first mile split was 6:14 and exactly where I wanted to be. Unfortunately the next several splits told a different story. From that base point of 6:14, I gradually got slower as my watch read 6:21, 6:28, 6:39, 6:44 and so on up until about 7:23. Things started to level off in the 7 teenish range and I tried my best to focus on nutrition and getting hydrated along with my salt tabs. The last lap of 4 miles was truly a sufferfest as I just tried to keep my cadence together and get to the finish line. I stopped looking at my watch at this point and finally got the finish and crashed into an empty chair, finishing in 1:34:38. After doing this race 3 straight years, I have yet to put together a strong run. After much thought around this trend, I am convinced that my hydration/electrolyte plans have not been as aggressive as they’ve needed to be. Although I consumed close to 100 oz of fluid on the bike and downed 5 salt tabs, my inability to continue this trend on the run clearly impacted my ability to stay “clean”. While the traffic caused by 2000 athletes on a 4 mile run course presents challenges of its own, I think this can be overcome with a Fuel Belt hydration system and at least another 5 salt tabs on the run. All in all, I am pleased with this effort and feel comfortable with my training base. Now, I’ve got to make sure I recover quickly, then lay down some serious training weeks before tapering back down for Ironman Coeur d’Alene in late June. Official race results can be found here http://www.nasports.com/results/flh2008prelim.html
Boston Marathon April 21, 2008
The 2008 season officially opened up for me yesterday as I competed in the 112th running of the Boston Marathon. I had intended on doing this race a year ago, but was unable to start due to an Achilles tendon injury that mandated rest instead of competition. This was only my 3rd stand alone marathon, but one I thought would be a lot of fun to compete in and hopefully put up a good time. In planning my season, I had scheduled this race as a “C” level competition as I am targeting the Florida 70.3 race next month and Ironman Coeur d’Alene as “A” races and ones that will help pave the way to my hopeful return to Kona next Fall. To this end, I chose not to taper (rest) at all and treated the race as a long training day featuring 25,000 other practice partners! I knew this would compromise my potential performance, but I am too focused on having good results later in the season and went into this race with a very laid back attitude. Coming off a solid training week and several previous months of aggressive leg weightlifting and run work, I decided I would forgo my normal practice of tethering my efforts to my heart rate and/or splits. Instead, I would treat this race as a complete RPE effort (Rate of Perceived Effort) and ‘feel’ my way through a strong paced effort. Although my previous best had been a 2:59 that I had run about 18 months ago, I felt that this strategy could place me anywhere from 2:50 to 3:10 depending on how my legs could recover from the training they had been through. The start of the race could not have had better weather as the sun broke through the clouds and the temperature steadied at about 48 degrees. As soon as the gun went off, people clammered for position and immediately starting discarding their excess layers. As this course is virtually 100% downhill, the masses were off to a fairly good clip as we made our way from Hopkinton to Boston. I had always heard stories about the crowd support at this race, but was now experiencing something that I never could have imagined. With only a few exceptions, the entire route was packed with spectators (sometimes 10 people deep) screaming encouragement to all the runners. My legs felt very strong and my heart rate was well under control. The weather, competition and crowd support fueled me along to about a 6:35 per mile pace for the first 8-10 miles and all was well. By about mile 9, I had the opportunity to have one of those really cool moments in your life that you can’t forget. Lance Armstrong was running only his 3rd marathon (NYC twice, Boston 1st) and had been seeded at the front of the field, courtesy of his great 2:46 effort at the New York marathon last Fall. I knew he was in the field but was pretty sure I’d never see him. Imagine my surprise when at about 9.5 miles in, I found myself 4 bodies away from Lance’s left side! I hung out and stared like a 10 year old girl at a Miley Cyrus concert for about a ¼ mile. At this point I had the following thoughts to explain my position: -Lance is blowing up After passing him, I held my position ahead of him for about 3-4 miles. Just as we chugged by the throngs of hundreds of Wellesley College girls screaming at the top of their lungs, guessed who paid me a visit? Yup, Lance. This time he passed me on my left side with only one other runner between us and I realized that thought #2 was most likely the case. His gap on me began to build and he was on his way. As for me, something completely unforeseen started to occur. By mile 15, I began to feel the pain of virtual daggers cutting into my hips and knees as my IT bands began to flare and shorten my stride to nothing more than about 2 feet at a time. I stopped completely several times to stretch them out and get some relief from the pain, but was unsuccessful in doing so and simply tried to plod on. Every step, whether walking or running, caused this stabbing pain every time I placed my foot down. This feeling of frustration was only compounded more as the crowds roared their support for the runners to “pick it up”, “finish strong” or “almost there”. I was utterly embarrassed in not being able to respond and just tried to keep my head focused on the road in front of me. Over 3000 other runners passed me as I fell farther and father behind as I walked at least 3 of the remaining miles. The final 8 miles were absolutely horrible as my situation never improved and thoughts of actually DNFing (Did Not Finish) swam through my mind. My stubbornness to finish kept this option at bay and I was finally able to shuffle across the finish line in 3:19. As I covered the first half in 1:26, this meant that my second 13.1 miles was over 30 minutes slower at about 1:53. Overall, my goal of having a good training day was successful. My hydration and nutrition plans were dead on and I now know how to solve my IT band problem going forward. The first half of this effort also showed me that my training is just where it needs to be and I can’t wait to race again. Now, back to some long weeks of solid training before tapering down for Florida 70.3 in late May.
Ford Ironman World Championship 70.3 November 22, 2007
I’d been looking forward to racing in Clearwater as it would be a new experience for me by competing in a half Ironman only 4 weeks after racing in Kona. On one hand, I thought I could race faster than ever due to racing on a fast course and being in the best triathlon shape of my life. On the other hand, I had never asked my body to race at such a level so soon after an Ironman. So, in hoping for the best, I was also prepared to endure the worst, should my body not respond. Race day weather could not have been more perfect. The water temperatures were in the mid 60s and the air temperature was in the upper 50s. Such temperatures would be great aids in keeping everyone’s core temperatures down. My age group wave started about 25 minutes after the pros and I was able to jump out to second place in my wave. Unfortunately, I was unable to close the gap on the top swimmer and failed to get a good draft. While this might have been a missed opportunity, I felt strong and took advantage of relatively calm conditions. As we made the turnaround though, I was reminded of a mistake I made in last year’s race—one that I was about to make again. The swim course is an out and back format that goes directly west with an immediate turnaround back due east. Well, I conveniently forget (again) that the sun tends to rise in the east! So, as soon as I turned around, I was blinded by the rising sun and found myself having major sighting issues. In fact at one point, I had gone so far left that a kayaker had to point me back right. Three minutes later I found myself 2 strokes away from hitting the right side buoy! This blind swimming continued for the remainder of the way. Upon exiting, one of the volunteers mentioned that I was 4th in my age group, so clearly I ended up losing some time in my inability to swim straight. I would later confirm this when I saw that the top pros’ times were about 24 minutes. In every half Ironman race I’ve done this year, I have consistently been 2 minutes off their standard. Today, I ended up going just over 27 minutes, losing about 1 minute due to bad sighting. Regardless, this was a good effort and about 30 seconds faster than my time last year. Jumping out onto the bike I was very nervous about how this leg would go. Coming off of Kona, I had no muscular damage, but knew my body was in a deep state of overall exhaustion. To make sure I recovered as ‘gently’ as possible, I only ran about 4 times since Kona and only once ran more than 8 miles at one time. Instead, I biked very aerobically for about an hour a day and made sure that I never stressed my muscles or cardiovascular system. So, as the miles clipped away, I constantly monitored my heart rate to keep it at about 152 beats per minute and felt smooth and comfortable. The ride became pleasantly uneventful as I was able to keep my cadence up and my efforts measured. My goal was to go between 2:13 and 2:19. I ended up finishing in about 2:17. Again, as with the swim, not a great effort, but right on pace for a personal record and a top 6 finish. If I was nervous going onto the bike, I was flat out scared of the run. My heart felt fine, my energy levels felt strong as well. In fact, even my legs felt as though they would be able to produce the 6:10s I was looking for. Well, all of the above came to a crashing halt when my first mile split came up at 6:39! This should have been at least :30 faster. The following 3 miles hovered between 6:50 and 7:00. Averaging 6:52’s would bring me in at 1:30 for the run, so my goal of going about 1:22 quickly went to going 1:30. Unfortunately, miles 4-8 weren’t so forgiving as my average splits stayed in the 7:30-7:40 range. At this point I began second guessing my mental strength and ability to overcome some physical setbacks. To confirm this suspicion, I looked down at my heart rate monitor just after I had chalked up an 8:12 mile split. It read 163! This was about 8 beats higher than I had planned and at least showed me that I wasn’t giving up. I would later review the data on my heart rate monitor that showed I had spent a fair amount of time above 165 beats per minute and had even registered a high water mark of 189 beats per minute! This 189 was all the more absurd when factoring my previous max heart rate estimate was 184—in reality I had never registered a heart rate above 173. So, as I reviewed my physical and mental checklist, I came to grips with the fact that my body simply had nothing more to give. I hadn’t asked it to race at such a high heart rate for so long in almost 7 months. Instead, I had tuned my body to run at about 140-145 beats per minute for 10-11 hours. My pride wasn’t so easy to swallow, however, and I plugged on hoping for some late race recovery that would allow me finish strong—it never came. My run split came in at 1:40, almost 20 minutes behind my goal time and contributing heavily to my overall time of 4:30. Last year I finished here in 4:21 and went 4:13 at Eagleman this Spring. In the 24 hours that have passed since the finish, I’ve become more and more satisfied with this result. While I wanted to go 4:12, I learned so much more in going 4:30. Sometimes you can’t truly appreciate success without experiencing failure. This season has been a dream for me in going 4:13 in a half Ironman, completing my first (and second!) ever Ironman competitions, breaking 10 hrs twice and best of all, competing in the greatest triathlon event in the world in Kona. I exceeded every one of my goals and was finally humbled as I failed to perform as I hoped to in Clearwater. The good news is that this experience has now fueled my fire for next season. I know what my body is capable of and how I can better train it for any distance. But before doing so, I’m going to take a well needed rest for the next couple of months and go back to working out for the fun of it—no heart rate monitors, no pacing, just a good time breaking a sweat and having fun. Official race results can be found here http://www.ironman.com/events/ironman70.3/worldchampionship70.3?show=raceresults&year=2007&format=htm. I won’t be racing again until next Spring in the Boston Marathon, so I just wanted to take some time and thank my support group for being such a big part of my success this year. I had the opportunity to work with four nutritional sponsors who all helped me perform my at best Motortabs, Dedicated Athlete, BNRG and Fiberwise Pasta. John Pugmire and my triathlon team, HEAT have been a great source of support and enjoyment as I learn from my teammates’ experiences and share my own. My best friend, Mark Johnson continues to be my biggest fan and is always there to keep me in my place and help me with nutrition and quality of life guidance. Kris Arnold is the singular reason I have been able to ramp up so quickly in my knowledge and awareness of this sport. He took me under his wing and continues to tirelessly train with me and act as both a mentor and sounding board. While all of these people have helped guide and counsel my triathlon experience, I owe more than I can ever repay to my wife, Christina and my kids. Her undying patience and tolerance for my hobby and time with my ‘boyfriend’ (yes, Kris, that’s you) is the singular enabler for my commitment and success in this sport. Finally, my results are all the sweeter when I come home from a race and my kids all scramble to see what place Dad came in—and the color of the race t-shirt! Thanks again to all of you and Happy Holidays!
Ford Ironman World Championship October 13, 2007
So, as this perspective sinks in, I wanted to capture my thoughts about the race and how I thought through each segment, both positively and negatively. I won’t get into the week spent in Hawaii prior to the race other than to say that the acclimation and time zone adjustment went well and I was ready to race. I seeded myself at the front of the 1,800 racer start and felt good about sprinting out to open water and finding a good drafting rabbit. This strategy came to a crashing halt as I and the pack around me failed to separate with any consistency. Just as a break up would occur, our group of about 9-12 swimmers crashed into each other again and again as the various groups tried to sight the cleanest path. The only respite from this traffic was a sight I will never forget the rest of my life. Here we are at the Ironman World Championships, fighting, kicking, punching our way for better position and suddenly we are swimming over a pod of about 20 dolphins! I couldn’t help but smile and remember to enjoy the race. I made the turn at the half way point in a little over 26 minutes and briefly fantasized about coming in with a :53-54 split. That dream was short lived as my pack broke up a bit sacrificing our draft. We were also pushed back by a right to left current that caused me to finish at 56:43 with an average heart rate of 153 BPM. My goal here was to be :55-56, so this was a good sign. Once on the bike and out of town, the ride at Kona might be the most mentally challenging one could imagine. First of all, the entire Queen K Highway is shut down, so, there is no one on the course but the racers and aid station attendees. I asked if any vehicles were allowed out here and a friend said, “Sure, ambulances.” Great. In addition to virtually zero human presence, the lava fields are extremely non descript. That is, there are very few landmarks and the terrain seems to go on forever—this is only exacerbated by the constant rises and falls of the road gradient. I share all of this, because it is so easy to fall off your game of pacing, nutrition and hydration due to sheer boredom. All of these issues compounded with the potential for oppressive heat and gusting winds make for a wonderful dichotomy of falling asleep and being violently woken up by a 40 MPH gust! I proceeded to let about 100 cyclists roll by me as the big bikers went to work. It was difficult to sit in and watch, but that was exactly what I did. I watched my heart rate stay just below 140 BPM and worked my way through the winds. My hydration and nutrition plans (drinking 28 oz water per hour, squirting one bottle of water on my back, and eating 1 PowerGel per 20 mins, 1 200 mg salt cap per hr) were spot on and I felt strong throughout. Also interesting is the fact After going 3:27 at Lake Placid, I thought the flatter Kona layout could offer me a shot at going closer to 3:20. This would call for averaging about 7:40 per mile and the first 11 miles featuring splits from 7:15-7:44. The next 4 miles started coming up just under and about at 8 mins per. At this point, my HR started to rise into the 150’s—about 10 beats higher than my first 11 miles. I also began reviewing my nutrition and hydration intake. At every station I was drinking water, cola and cooling down with ice and sponges. I was also eating 1 gel about every 3rd aid station and ripping through my salt tabs. In fact, I would finish the race eating about 20 salt tabs along with the 200 mgs per serving in each of my gels! The heat was brutal and was taking a serious toll. At this point, my ability to do simple math was severely threatened and by mile 17, I was convinced going under 10 hrs was impossible. While this was disappointing news, I never got down on myself and just remembered that getting here and finishing well was the goal. I began walking through every aid station buying everything they were selling and continued to do so while putting up 8:40s. I promised myself I would run in strong from mile 24, and did so. At mile 25, a friend yelled out “Max, you can break ten, come on, come on!”. I figured he saw my pace, saw the clock at about 9:52 and thought I could somehow get under 10 hrs. I took the bait and began to sprint as fast as I could. Although I had already mentally signed up for 10:10-30, this news reinvigorated me and pushed me harder than I had gone all day. What was even cooler was that I passed about 20 people who looked just like I did only a mile before! I continued to pump my legs as fast as I could and finally made the turn to see the finishing clock---9:55! Are you kidding me?! I raced across the line, pumped both my arms and crashed into the catchers. My marathon ended up being just over 3:30—good enough for a final total time of 9:55:23, 9 seconds slower than Lake Placid! This last bit was bittersweet, but overall, a great day, great learning experience and one that I hope to have the privilege to improve upon. I would also find out later that my results were good enough for 249th overall, 60th overall American and 52nd in my age group. What made it even more special was finding my wife and kids after the race and sharing tears of joy. I could never have done it without them and owe them more than I can ever repay. Now, time for some rest and active recovery, then off to Clearwater, FL in November for the Ironman World Championships 70.3. I wish you all happy and safe training.
Nutmeg State Half Iron Race Report September 23, 2007
Wow. What a day. I had entered this race as what those in the sport call a “catered training day”. That is to say that this race was a low priority event designed simply to cement my fitness in my final build week leading up to my Kona taper. To say I was ill-prepared would be an understatement. I knew the course would feature a lot of climbing, a quick, flat swim and a pretty flat run. I also knew that I was pretty broken down, so I didn’t have very high expectations for an overall place or time. Instead, I was hoping to put up a strong run that could act as a proxy for my fitness after a solid 4 weeks of training. As expected, the swim was flat and quick. I also benefited in a huge way of being able to draft off the eventual second place finisher (Jordan Rapp) for the first 400 meters. I then found two other ‘rabbits’ to draft off of and came in with the #4 overall swim time. What doesn’t show in the results though, was the incredible glare that was directly in our faces on the return to shore. Happily, both racers in front of me did a great job sighting and brought us in fairly straight. Getting out onto the bike, I was immediately faced with what would be one of 4 climbs in excess of 700 feet. Intertwined with these four climbs were countless other ascents that prevented any sense of consistency in either sitting in or staying in my aerobars. By about mile 15, I was passed by the eventual winner (Janda Ricci-Munn). He was looking very solid and would end the day with the #1 bike split—over 17 minutes faster than me! The first third of the 56 mile leg was fairly lonely as I was unable to make any ground on the leaders and no one else put much time into me. I continued this theme until about mile 30 or so where I was passed by Jordan Rapp! Unfortunately, after winning the swim, he missed a turn and was forced to double back, came in just behind me, then proceeded to blow by me and chase Janda. By mile 53, I was taken over by Chris Shulten who eventually put about 15 seconds into me by T2. All told, this bike course was the most difficult I have ever raced on and totaled over 6600 feet of climbing (as a frame of reference, the Lake Placid Ironman is known for having one of the hilliest bike courses and only has about 7000 feet of climbing over 112 miles!). Although the climbing was taxing, I still felt capable of a good run. My first two mile splits, however, came up at 6:45—about 20 seconds slower than I had hoped. I plugged away and found myself again in ‘no man’s land’ as Chris Shulten pulled away (running a 1:23 split vs. a 1:31 for me) and no one behind me made any significant progress. My 7:05’s continued to come up on my watch and I settled for this speed while noticing that my heart rate seldom went over 144—a clear sign that my body was broken down and was unable to materially pick up any speed. Even if I had run my goal time of 1:25, there was no way I was going to catch anyone in front of me. All told, I came in 4th overall and 2nd in my age group. Official results can be found here http://www.plattsys.com/results/res2007/nuthalf.htm So, I am officially on borrowed time as my Kona taper period begins. I am very anxious to give my body the rest it needs and to stay healthy as we get closer to October 13th.
Hammerfest Race Report September 18th, 2007
I had the opportunity to race in a local sprint this past weekend and am happy to report that things went pretty well. I placed 3rd overall and 2nd in my age group in the Hammerfest Sprint Triathlon in Branford, CT. I’m in my final training weeks for Kona, so heading into this race, I was fairly beaten up, but felt relatively strong and was looking to see how my body would respond under a heavy training load. As anyone living in New England would know, the past 4-5 days have been quite cool with highs in the low 70’s and lows in the upper 40’s. To this end, the 7:30AM race start made for some cold toes and tight muscles. The water temperature, however, was very nice (lower 70’s) and provided for a quick turn in the Connecticut Sound. I was able to break out of the pack quickly and came out of the water first with about a 10 second lead that I took onto the bike. I held this lead for about 5 miles until the eventual winner (Peter Daly) blew by me like I was standing still! I tried to respond, but was already pushing my max effort and watched him open up about a 45 second lead on me through the 13.5 mile distance. I continued to labor through the chilly weather and came into T2 with high hopes of a good running effort.Heading out onto the run, I was virtually alone as the leader had opened up another 30 seconds or so and no one behind me closed the gap. My heart rate was in the lower 150’s (I think due to the cold) and my legs felt strong. Unfortunately, there were no mile markers on the course and I was unsure of my pacing. The remainder of the race was uneventful and I came in with a run split just over 24 minutes for 4 miles. When I looked at my results from this race from last year, I learned that this year’s bike effort was about 1.5 minutes slower and my run was about 15 seconds slower. Additionally, another racer from a different wave (Bill Schumann) moved ahead of me in the standings to bump me to 3rd. Official race results are here http://www.plattsys.com/results/res2007/hammer07.htm. I hope these results versus last year are just indicators of my exhaustion from the last few weeks of training. If that is the case, my taper will be excellent and give me the rest I need to peak for Kona. I’ve got one more race this weekend (Nutmeg State Half Ironman) to cement my training, then its taper time and off to Kona on October 5th.
Litchfield Hills Olympic Triathlon August 13, 2007
Its been just over 3 weeks since my Ironman race and I am still coming to grips with some very deep seeded exhaustion that just won’t leave my system. I have felt great from a soft tissue and muscular pain perspective (virtually zero of either) yet my overall sense of recovery is very dull and empty. My legs and overall sense of strength is very depleted. Most literature says that recovery from an Ironman can be anywhere from a couple of weeks to 2 months. As this is unchartered water for me, I am hoping for the former and have no choice but to wait out my body’s timeline for recovery. In the meantime, I raced in my only my second ever Olympic distance race this weekend and got a painful reminder of how taxing this distance can be. Additionally, this race in particular featured over 2500 feet of climbing which beat me up on both the bike and run. So, on with the details. -1st in my AG -2nd Overall I knew it might be a tough day when I was passed very early in the swim by a fellow competitor without a wetsuit! In a race like this, a wetsuit can add upwards of 2 minutes of speed, yet I was not only past, but beaten by over a minute. I had no sighting issues and the water was flat, but ended up with the #3 swim and headed out onto the bike about a minute off the leader pace. On the good side, I eventually worked my way up to the leader and pace car and took the lead at about mile 5 on the bike. I held the lead throughout the various climbs and descents on this 40K course and headed into the run with about a 2:30 minute lead. On the run, my worst fears were confirmed as my mile splits varied from 7:40 to 6:40. While hills drove much of my slower splits, the following descents failed to bring my pace down to what I would have expected (6:15s or faster). In the past, I have averaged just under 6:20s for half Ironman events and under 6 mins for sprints. As I chugged along, I knew it was only a matter of time before somebody ran me down. This prediction came true at about the 5th mile marker where the overall winner blew by me and ended up beating me by about just under a minute (official race results are here http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/ct/Aug12_Litchf_set1.shtml). All in all, I am happy with the effort I put forth and the way I raced, but simply frustrated with the time it is taking me to recover. In an Ironman competition, my heart rate pacing would call for about a 135 avg heart rate. In a sprint, my heart rate would be expected to be about 162+ or so. In an Olympic distance race (1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) you are trying to stay at sprint intensity but for about twice the time it would take to finish the shorter races. After the race, my heart rate monitor showed that I had averaged 160 beats per minute which showed very good effort, but my legs were not as responsive as I had hoped and I have to believe my body is still putting itself back together after Lake Placid. The remainder of my season calls for two more local races and then I’m off to the big dance in Kona, followed up by my last race of the year in Clearwater, FL for the 70.3 World Championships.
Ford Ironman Lake Placid Race Report July 23, 2007
I have been dreaming of hearing those words called out as I crossed the finish line at an Ironman event for almost 3 years. This past weekend finally afforded me the opportunity to hear that phrase as I competed in my first Ironman event in Lake Placid, NY. I am still quite overwhelmed with the day’s events, so I’ll start from the top with the results. -Final Time 9:55:15 -Placed 16th Overall -13th Male -4th in 35-39 Age Group -Qualified for Ironman World Championships Going into this event, I had backed my way into a plan that was designed to qualify for the World Championships in Kona, HI. To this end, I had researched the past 3-5 years of qualifying times at Lake Placid and came to the realization that a time between 10:10 and 10:30 would make the cut, depending on competition and weather conditions. So, with this total goal in mind, I knew enough about my swimming background that I could cover the 2.4 miles and two transitions in about an hour. I had also run a sub 3 hour marathon last December that allowed me to plan on running about a 3:30 marathon in an Ironman event. Lastly, to get to 10 hrs, I would have to cover the 112 mile bike in 5:30. Unfortunately, I had been up to Lake Placid for a training trip about a month ago and biked the course route in just over 6 hours. The conditions were quite different and I wasn’t rested, but my doubts were still quite strong. For any of you who have never viewed or witnessed an Ironman swim start, please click on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8nYY1nlhqQ&mode=related&search=. I have read it described as 2000 people in a washing machine, water rugby and the like. It is pure madness. Although being a strong swimmer doesn’t contribute significantly to the overall time in a longer triathlon, I never imagined how advantageous it could be in a mass start. After the cannon went off, I immediately sprinted out to get clear of the bodies surrounding me and only suffered a few bumps and bruises. I was also able to find a pack of strong swimmers that provided a great draft. Staying close to them allowed me to come in with a 51:33 swim split. This put me with the top swim split in my age group and 9th overall. I exited the swim and raced into transition. I was in and out of T1 very quickly and onto the bike course. The bike course has 2 loops which total almost 7000 feet of climbing. Each loop breaks down with the first 9 miles being straight downhill, another 23 with rolling flats and mild hills and another 14 in uphill climbing. The first part of this course can trick you by inviting one to race the downhills and enjoy speeds up to 55 mph. However, the most efficient and productive way to race is to exercise patience and remember that there are loops to go and a marathon afterwards. To this end I experimented with a whole new race attitude. I told myself to enjoy the ride and thanked every police officer holding traffic and waved/thanked every volunteer/fan I passed who cheered me on. Normally, I would have put on the blinders and had more of a “I’m here to cure cancer” intensity. This strategy helped me immensely as much stronger riders passed me, I sat in and chose not to respond. I felt very solid throughout the ride, focused on eating 3 Powergels per hour (plus 1 salt tab) and must have had at least 8-9 bottles of water. The fruits of this labor paid off in a huge way as I was able split a 2:43 on the first 56 mile loop and a 2:48 on the second. The ideal target for such an effort would have been to keep both splits within 10 minutes of each other, so this 5 minute relationship was great. Coming back into town was a ball as the crowds had gotten even larger and were anxious to see people start their runs. I must have been jumpstarted by this emotion as my first mile split on the run was a 6:53! This was over a minute faster than my intended pace, but what was truly amazing was that my heart rate was only about 136 beats per minute. I put my head down and just focused on a good running cadence and tried to stay clean and smooth as the miles came and went. Throughout the remaining time on the first 13.1 mile loop, I was able to hold 7:20-7:38’s and ended up averaging 7:24. My hydration and nutrition strategies were still solid and kept me together as I headed out for the second loop. At this point, I was so worried about falling apart that I simply followed the lines on the road and only waved to those fans and other friends offering encouragement. I wasn’t trying to be intense, but simply more inward as I thought any other energy use might cause my concentration to lapse. My splits began to creep over 8 minutes and I just tried to stay focused on keeping a high cadence and eating/drinking well. Miles 23 and 24 are fairly intense climbs and challenge anyone when finishing this race. If I remember correctly, I think I split something like 8:48 and 8:56. The crowds were great and really helped me through this section and I tried to come in strong for miles 25-26. At about the 25.5 mark or so, someone in the crowd yelled to me that I was close to breaking 10 hrs if I could keep it together. I hadn’t been keeping good track of my overall time and thought that getting under 10 hrs would be pretty cool. But, I was afraid of trying to pick it up though as I didn’t want to blow up and end up walking the finish. So, I kept my eyes on the yellow line in the street and plugged away. What makes this race so cool is that the finish is on the actual speed skating oval that Eric Heiden won 5 gold medals on in the 1980 Winter Olympics. As I entered the oval, the crowd started to roar and I made the final turn to see the clock at 9:55! I was completely overwhelmed and raced through the finish to end at 9:55:15 and heard Mike Reilly (the voice of Ironman for almost 20 years) say “A first timer, from West Simsbury, CT, Max Wunderle, you are an IRONMAN!” Overall, it was a fantastic day that was only made more special by being able to share it with my wife and family. Without them and their support, I would never have been able to train the way I did and prepare myself over the past months. Now, it will be my turn to support them and get my wife on track to become an Ironman! P.S. Race results can be found here http://www.nasports.com/results/index.php
Pat Griskus Sprint Triathlon July 12, 2007
Hi everyone. Last night I had the opportunity to race in one of the top sprint triathlons in New England that promised to have a tough course along with most of the top talent in the area. I was ready for a great race and was anxious to put up some strong transition times along with strong performances in all three disciplines as my taper has offered me more rest and what should be increased speed. Ahh, if the results only matched the plans… Well, in the spirit of positive thinking, I’ll start with the good news. Here are highlights. -2nd in my Age Group -#1 T1 and #1 T2 splits amongst almost 500 competitors -#3 Overall swim time Now, the bad news... After having a pretty strong swim and a very quick T1, I found myself leading the race going out onto the bike. In fact, this lead was about 40 seconds and I was even more excited how quickly I was able to work off my wetsuit and get riding. The first 2-3 miles felt very quick and strong—and lonely. Lonely in that I could not only feel any competition at my back, but I also was not seeing much in the way of course guidance (volunteers, street arrows, etc.). In retrospect, I should have figured something was wrong within the first 1.5 miles as I sped by an aid station of cups of water (normally used for the run course). But I thought maybe they're offering water on the bike? Anyway, my worst fears were realized by about mile 3.5 or so as I noticed a wave of bikers out of the corner of my eye about a quarter of a mile away—going down another street! Yes, you guessed it. I blew a turn very early in the race and ended up doing about an incremental 2 miles or so which essentially destroyed my chances of a top performance. So, with this ‘death sentence’ in my mind, all I could do was focus on working up through the bike field and trying to muster some sort of a good performance on the run. Alas, this was not to be had either as my bike computer failed to register the magnet on my wheel and offered me zero data in terms of how I was tracking or pacing. Happily, my second transition was very quick and I headed out onto the run hoping for the best. This hope was very short lived, however, as the reality of making a very bad mistake on the bike was in my head and prevented me from concentrating to any significant degree. This course made this situation all the more ‘fun’ with the first 1.5 miles downhill and then turns around so competitors have the joy of running back up the same hill! I ended up 14th overall and an age group podium finish which was a nice consolation prize. But the much more enjoyable experience was witnessing my wife, Christina win her age group! A close friend of hers did the same in another age group and made an otherwise bitter day quite sweet. This was only her 3rd triathlon, but she managed to not only win her age group, but also put up the #3 overall women’s swim time. Here are the race results: http://roadntracksports.com/RaceResults/2007%20Griskus%20Sprint%20Triathlon.html That’s all for now as the next 10 days will be fine tuning and tapering for the big dance in Lake Placid next weekend.
Sobe Mossman Triathlon July 9, 2007
“If T1=:54, then 2=3” I’ll offer the background on this semi-algebraic equation through my race result of the 2007 Sobe Mossman. This was to be a special race for me as last year’s event was my first and only win in the 2 years I have been competing in triathlon. So, I was motivated to return, yet a bit anxious as I wanted to put up a good effort without compromising my Lake Placid Ironman taper. To this end, I am about a week into my taper, but some days call for some fairly aggressive workouts. Yesterday was indicative of this as I biked about 2,800 feet worth of climbing in 1.5 hrs and followed it with a 8.6 mile run averaging around 7:20’s. So, while mildly rested, yesterday’s workout surely wasn’t going to leave me in top racing form. Regardless, I was excited to try and defend my title and thought I had a good chance of doing so. I was placed in the first wave and was excited to see very calm waters in the Connecticut Sound just off Norwalk, CT. I jumped out to a good lead and continued to put space between myself and the pack. Outside of some minor sighting issues with one of the bouys, my swim was pretty clean and I found myself in the overall lead with about a 40 second cushion. Unfortunately, I failed to learn as much as I should have from my experience in my last sprint race where I gave up precious time in the first transition (T1) by struggling to get out of my wetsuit. This rookie mistake was made again as I fumbled with getting my legs cleanly away from my wetsuit and lost 15-20 seconds to my primary competitors. On the good side, once I was out of T1, I had clear roads to negotiate for the first of two 6 mile loops through town. I used this to my advantage and retained the lead I had created in the swim. Now and again I noticed my heart rate was just about redlining at about 165—meaning that I was giving about all I could. I continued to labor through the second loop and felt pretty good about my position. This feeling was reinforced as I went through the second transition (T2) and was able to put up the fastest split. I took this as a good omen offsetting my mistakes in T1 and headed out onto the 3.1 mile run course with about a 40 second lead. As my heart rate continued to be pegged in the low 160’s, I ran as fast as I could but could only muster a 6:08 average. As a proxy, I had held 6:20’s for over 13 miles in my last half Ironman race. I knew my legs were still recovering from yesterday’s workout, but I pressed on hoping to hold off the charge that I knew my competition would be initiating. Lo and behold, the dreaded footsteps were heard at about the 2.5 mile mark and a very quick amateur racer (Mitch West) went by me with no response. My legs were dead and I held on to what I thought was second place for the remainder of the race. Mitch and I shook hands and congratulated each other on our efforts, but would find out later that a younger racer in a later wave put up a very strong bike split (almost 3 minutes faster than Mitch and I) and ended up with the win. The final results had me finishing 6 seconds behind Mitch and about 40 behind the eventual winner. The event's final results can be found here http://www.teammossman.com/SoBeMossman2007Results.htm. All in all, I’m happy with my result, but bitter with some of the mistakes I had in T1. You can’t make mistakes like that in such a short race and I paid the price. On the positive side, I have another opportunity to redeem myself in another local sprint this Wednesday. I’ll be sure and keep you posted!
Lake Waramaug June 22, 2007
Note to self. After an evening triathlon, do not drink Red Bull and Vault soda. Unfortunately I did so and cannot sleep--so I thought I'd capture my thoughts from tonight's race--hopefully that'll put me to sleep... First the highlights: -2nd Overall -1st in 35-39 Age Group I hadn't sprinted since last September, so I was kind of excited to get a chance to push my engine a little harder than normal and see what would happen. At the same time, I had a fairly aggressive training week with heavy squatting, long climbing on the bike and some up tempo, longer runs. So, tonight's race was a true crap shoot. Things started pretty well with me jumping out to a quick lead on the swim that would pace me to winning this leg and going into transition with about a 30 second lead on the pack. Unfortunately, I burned almost this entire gap by having a terrible transition by fighting my wetsuit and fumbling onto the bike. Once I got riding though, I felt comfortable and began pushing my heart rate into the lower 160's. It was pretty cool to actually lead a race--first time!--this feeling was short lived however, as one of the better triathletes in the area, Ian Ray, passed me and held fast at about 20-30 seconds ahead of me. At about mile 6 or so, a local pro (John Hirsch) did the same and remained very close to Ian going into T2. Coming out of transition, Ian had about 50 yards on me, but I was able to chug along and get by him in the first mile. Little did I know this excitement would be short lived. What I wasn't prepared for was a 500 foot climb over the first 2 miles that reminded me how painful these short sprints can be. As this misery continued, I also pegged Hirsch about 45 seconds ahead of me and confirmed this as we made the turnaround and headed straight down back to the finish area. Such a gap is a lifetime in such a short race, so I got comfortable with my position and tried to enjoy the rest of the race--very good crowds and a lot of support. The last mile was quick and relieving after so much climbing and I got to see a bunch of friends on the way in. Anyone interested in the gory details can check the results at http://www.plattsys.com/results/res2007/lwtri07.htm. All in all, I was very happy to have such a result and look forward to a couple more local sprints before my first Ironman in July.
Eagleman 70.3 Race Report June 15, 2007
As many of you close to me know, this has been a major priority in my life for just over years. What added to my focus in this goal for 2007 was the fact that my training partner and close friend, Kris Arnold, had already qualified for Kona via the lottery. So, in short, 2007 potentially marked the only time in our lives when the two of us could find ourselves competing on triathlon’s greatest stage. The best opportunity for this to happen had planned to be in Lake Placid in July as there will be approximately 10 slots for Kona to be had in the mens’ 35-39 Age Group. I never imagined that this past weekend’s event would have turned out the way it did. The Eagleman 70.3 in Cambridge, MD is one of only 6-7 half Ironman events in the world that have slots to Kona. Specifically, there were 2 for my age group. Unfortunately, this fact makes this event one of the world’s most competitive as everyone is vying for a Kona slot without having to do a full Ironman. Due to these facts, I had made the decision to not taper for this race and instead, focus on training for Lake Placid. My primary goals were to test a new nutrition strategy, hydrate aggressively and race strong on the run as I failed to do so in Florida’s 70.3 last month. Race morning came with great news as the waters of the Choptank River were fairly calm and free of any aggressive winds or heat. My expectations for the swim were optimistic as I was testing a new, full wetsuit and my swim training had been pretty strong. As our wave began, I jumped out to the front of the pack and while I enjoyed the open water, I was also immediately joined by at least one other racer drafting me like crazy! He consistently hit my feet for about half a mile and I was unable to drop him. I finally got some separation and came into transition with a 23:22 split for the 1.2 mile swim. This was a very fast split for me and I told myself the course had to be short. I would later find out that there was a mild current at our backs for about half of the distance. Regardless of this help, I came in only 2 minutes behind the top pro result where I normally come in about 4 minutes off that pace—good enough for 4th in my AG. The wetsuit was a major contributor to this speed as well as an average heart rate of 157—almost 7 beats higher than past efforts. Transition was smooth and I headed out onto the bike course. Eagleman has a very flat 56 mile tract that can be very windy (20-25 mph winds). This year, however, the winds were very tame and rarely in our faces. My only thoughts were to remain calm and measured in my effort (150 avg HR) and to eat and drink aggressively. To this end, I ate a gel every 20 minutes, drank almost 4 bottles of water and another bottle of Infinit (a electrolyte, carbohydrate and sodium replacement drink). The ride was fairly uneventful as I moved through some of the earlier waves and was only passed by 2-3 racers in my AG. Everything went to plan and I came into transition with a 2:22:58 split and an average HR of 150 on the nose. I picked up my salt pills, some extra gels and went onto the run course without knowing my exact position nor whether or not my nutrition strategy would pay off. Coming into this race, I had realized that everything would most likely come down to the run. My swimming plan would be driven around similar efforts from the past, my bike would be focused on strong HR pacing, but my running would be a true ‘X’ factor as my expectations would be high, but I had no experience in running as fast as I had planned. My fastest stand alone half marathon is a 1:22 and my fastest half marathon in an half Ironman race was 1:30. My hope was that my increased eating and drinking could get me to a 1:26-27. My first two mile splits were 6:08 and 6:09. Very good, very smooth. I knew this couldn’t last and I slipped into more comfortable 6:20’s. My heart rate was fairly stable at about 156 and I felt that I could hold on to this type of pace. Also, I took about 4 salt pills at the first aid station and took on cola and water for the duration of the run. Things felt fairly comfortable until about mile 5 when a 35-39 age grouper past me. This guy blew by me so fast (he would end up winning our AG and put up a 1:17 run) that I didn’t even think of responding. Mentally, I put myself at about 5th place as I didn’t know how many people beat me in the swim and I only passed 2 people on the bike and run. At about mile 6, another 35-39 racer came up to me and we went stride for stride for several miles. However, at the mile 8 aid station, serious racer congestion allowed him and another 35-39 runner get by me and put down about 50 yards of separation. The next 2 miles or so were filled with all kinds of one way conversations about how I may or may not respond. What if the individual ahead of me got a Kona slot? What if I missed a Kona slot by only 10-20 seconds in a 4.5 hr race? Could I live with this? What if I made a move right now? Would I blow up? Would my competitor respond? I finally came to grips with myself that I was in unchartered waters. I had never run at this pace before and felt that if I did respond, I could very well blow up and end up in a ball on the side of the road. So, I focused on my own efforts and tried to run my own race. Surprisingly, one of the guys who passed me began to slow ever so slightly. I eventually found myself about 10 yards behind him and decided that I would pace behind him over the last 2-3 miles and try to out sprint him at the finish. To my surprise, though, he began to slow further and I decided to make a move at about mile 11 to drop him. As it turned out, he was unable to respond and I held my pace as I began to focus on the one other racer in my age group I could see ahead of me, only 80 yards out. Unfortunately, over the last mile, our gap never closed and I pulled in only 12 seconds behind him. At this point, I still did not know where I stood and collapsed next to him on a bench in the finishing area. I would later find out I had run a 1:23, good enough for the 5th fastest run in my AG—a full 7 minutes faster than I ever had in a 70.3 race. “Congratulations,” he said. I mumbled the same thing in return and asked what place he thought he came in. He responded by saying, “No, congratulations on the Kona slot—I’ve already got one—I came in second.” What this meant was that as long as he did in fact come in second, his slot would roll down to 3rd—me. The next several hours were some of the most exciting and stressful in memory. One set of results had another individual ahead of me, putting me 4th. Those results were later amended to make me 3rd again at 4:13:50. I didn’t allow myself to believe what had happened until they took my check and gave me my receipt for the entry fee! It was a very emotional day and I was overwhelmed to be able to share it with so many other Connecticut triathletes from my HEAT triathlon team (www.heat.org) and Eric Hodska Fitness Training (www.hodska.com). It was especially gratifying to share this event with Kris in person and my friends, Mother and family over the phone. The trip to Hawaii will be a blast and one that I will share with all of you. Next stop is a sprint in western Connecticut and then off to Lake Placid in July.
Florida 70.3 Race Report June 4, 2007
The past 5 months and following 2 months will be 100% focused against my first Ironman at Lake Placid in July. Said differently, these 7 months have been/will be focused against qualifying for the Ironman World Championships in Kona--Lake Placid is simply the qualifying means to this end. With this goal in mind, I signed up for the Florida Half Ironman as a proxy for my fitness and as another opportunity to get some key learnings under my belt. First, the good news/results. I ended up putting finishing in 4:30.10 which achieved the following: -Placed 4th in my age group -Qualified for the Half Ironman World Championships -20th Overall Amateur -45th Overall (including pros) On paper, these results are pretty positive and successful. Unfortunately, the actual race was one of the more painful I've done. So, on with the details. The swim started fairly uneventfully with calm waters and pretty good sightlines. I immediately jumped out in front and in doing so, was unable to find anyone to draft off of. This was a mixed blessing as I ended up with the 2nd fastest swim time in my age group, but confirmed my swimming fitness was strong. Battling through the other waves in front of me was frustrating at times, but all in all, wasn't too difficult. However, when I checked my watch out of the water, I put up a 29:10 split which was over 1 minute slower than last year at this race. I would only find out later that the course was most likely a bit longer vs. the 1.2 miles it was supposed to be. I later confirmed this in seeing that my time was about 4 minutes slower than the top pro which is consistent with my past swims. Transition was pretty clean and quick and I was out ready to try a new strategy with my bike effort. In past races I had 'hammered' the bike pretty hard and put up an average heart rate of 150+. On the way down to the race, however, I learned a new nugget from my friend John Pugmire that spoke to one's run performance following the bike. That nugget claimed that optimally, one should be able to run at about a 5 minute incremental clip vs. one's stand alone half marathon time. For me, that meant that my optimal run should be about 1:27. So, I specifically turned down my bike effort and shot for an average heart rate of about 146-147. It may not seem like a big adjustment, but saving 3 heart beats per minute for over 2 hrs is significant. With this in mind, I stayed steady in my pacing and continued to hold my cadence at 96+. The wind was a little biting, but all in all, it was a successful effort and ended me with a 2:23 split.&nb sp; I entered transition 2 feeling good about my positioning and went into the run anxiously eager to try my new pacing strategy. To go 1:27 in the run, I would have to average about 6:40 or so per mile. I had averaged 6:52 at the World Championships last November (after averaging a 152 heart rate on the bike) and felt good about my plan. The first mile came up at 6:14....perfect. I new this first mile split would be critical in setting up the remainder of the distance and felt capable of holding splits no slower than 6:45 for the balance. My next split came up at 6:30. Again, this was good and safe. Little did I know that each mile following this one would feature a 7 second slide per mile ending with my last effort at well over 7:30. For those of you who don't know this course, it is a 3 loop layout on grassy, dirty trails with about 25% on pavement. The trails are not flat and test one's foot striking. This course format and a bad choice of socks also contributed to the raising of three blisters on my feet. By about mile 7, I realized that th is wasn't going to be my day. I began hitting the aid stations, taking in cola as a last ditch effort to get much needed sugar and caffeine. Unfortunately, it was too late. In retrospect, I had not budgeted my hydration appropriately and was badly dehydrated--as evidence by my lack of urinating for the entire race and up to 2 hrs following my finish. Thoughts of never racing again and seriously second guessing my interest in the sport were plentiful. I trudged on to the finish with a 1:33 split thinking that I had suffered a serious setback in my training and felt that doing a full Ironman may be a bit out of my reach. Once I got a chance to review the results, I was met with more bitter, yet more positive information. While I had finished 4th, I was less than 1:20 from winning! It turned out that much of the field had suffered as well. In terms of key learnings, I can now look back and know that I was my own worst enemy in not drinking enough and not staying mentally strong. On the good side, I dropped 9 minutes from last year's effort and felt that I was closer than I thought in my training. Training that I owe a great deal to my training partner and close friend, Kris Arnold. His willingness to always be there during pretty long hours and tough weather have been a major asset in my successes. Next up is next month's Eagleman Half Ironman in Maryland where I won't be tapering at all, but look to put up a good result and implement a new hydration strategy. From there, I'll jack up my training for another few weeks, the start a 2-3 week full taper for Lake Placid. I look forward to speaking with all of you soon and wish everyone a great Memorial Day weekend. |
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The swim start was fairly electric as the folks in the first wave knew each other very well and were jostling for a good position prior to the gun. This gamesmanship continued well into the race for at least the first 400 meters as I got beaten up worse than in any of my 3 Ironman swims! A lot of elbows, hits to the head and bodies were climbing all over each other as everyone battled for position and a good draft. Things only opened up with about 150 meters to go and I was able to find some open water and exited with #4 swim split in the first wave. I had a quick transition and jumped onto the bike course where I jumped into the lead…for about 60 seconds!
As one part of my mind came to grips with this final decision, another berated itself for being so obnoxious to be so cavalier about my decision to turn down a Kona slot that I hadn’t earned! This healthy debate allowed me to stay focused on my pacing and nutrition while my splits continued to hold at or below the 7:40 threshold. While I was feeling confident in my pacing and cadence, I began to suffer from “Buddha” belly as two diametrically opposed forces battled in my stomach. Due to the loss of my salt tabs, I became concerned about the amount of electrolytes in my body. If I failed to replace the electrolytes that my body was burning, I would surely cramp and be forced to dramatically slow my running pace. To offset this result, I had begun to drink some Gatorade on the bike and continued doing so on the run. Unfortunately, gels and Gatorade don’t get along. In short, Gatorade and gels are both sugar based nutrition sources. While these sugars are fairly simple and easy to break down, your stomach has problems differentiating the two different sugars and instead fails to process either. This leads to stomach shut down and a bloated belly. The first 15 miles showed no direct ill effects brought on by my nutrition mistake. By mile 16, however, I was feeling the full effect.
Although it was a short trip, it went well as I was able to put together three good splits and came out on top with the overall win against 400 other competitors! Results are here (
distance race, albeit for different reasons each time. In short, I traveled to Florida to do this race to pick up an Ironman Coeur d’Alene spot and to try and attempt to win my age group—a feat I missed by less than a minute only one year ago. Before I dive into the details, here are the results:
It’s been almost 2 days since Kona and I still can’t stop wrestling with my results and the culmination of a dream that started just over 3 years ago. Like so many things worth working for, the satisfaction truly is in the journey and not necessarily in the result. I say this because as I find myself being critical of things that I could have done differently to pick up a minute here or there, I have to remember that the result from Kona wasn’t about Saturday. It was about the last 150 Saturdays and 150 Sunday through Fridays of training a certain way, eating a certain way and resting a certain way to prepare my body to endure such an event. 
that this layout has only about 400 ft less of climbing than Lake Placid! None of the climbs are steep, however, the constant rolling nature of the bike added up and can sneak up on you. I think this is what happened coming out of the turnaround at Hawi. On the way back in, I must have passed about 50 bikers who were gassed from pushing too hard. The winds at Hawi were also very blustery and I saw 3 guys go down due to unexpected wind gusts. Although I didn’t witness any such crashes, I saw at least 4 bikers on the side of the road with road rash injuries. The good news was that there seemed to be a tailwind coming back into town. One that helped bring me in at 5:21:16 with an average HR of 136. I had gone about 5:31 at Lake Placid and was hoping to drop 10-15 mins. Good swim, good bike, now onto the marathon.
Max Wunderle…You are…an IRONMAN! 
The last few days have been quite surreal for me as the reality of this past weekend’s results continues to sink in. Like any significant goal for anyone in any field, the journey tends to be so much more encompassing than the actual result. This reality has been setting in over the past 3 days as I am proud to report that I have qualified for the 2007 Ironman World Championships in Hawaii this October! 
Hey everyone. Its been awhile since I checked in with this group in total, so I trust all of you have been enjoying the Spring and are looking forward to a better Summer. As for me, training has taken on a new level of intensity and this past weekend allowed me the first opportunity to knock the dust off my racing frame and start the triathlon season.