The KodaFit Blog

Saturday July 11th I did the Echo Triathlon Olympic distance. This was my Fathers Day present this year. Fathers Day arrived, and after saying all week that I didn’t want anything, it turns out no-one got me anything, so I asked if I could register for a race. SCORE!!

I wasn’t considering this an A race by any means, since I only had a couple of weeks to prepare, and with my first half iron distance race looming next month, I’m more focused on that. However after riding the course and as the day got closer, I was looking forward to a fairly good showing.

A few days prior I also read some feedback from a coach about his coachee’s experience with Coure D’Alene a few weeks ago. Two things stood out in the feedback.

1. He talked about how fructose doesn’t play real nice with other sugars.

2. Almost everytime a world record has been broken, the runner has negative split the course.

The fructose thing was new to me. Usually in a race I use Gu, and then either Gatorade, or more recently Hammer HEED. At BAM a month or so ago, my stomach felt funky on the bike. Not bad, but just like things weren’t mixing well. I checked out a Gu pack, and discovered that it uses fructose. Hmmmm!

I’m thinking about switching over entirely to Hammer nutrition as I switch to training for IronMan later this year, so I figured now was as good a time as any. I picked up some Hammer Gel at Striders, and fortunately found 2 sample packets of Melon flavored Heed at home, since Striders don’t appear to carry it any more. In the past I haven’t liked HammerGel, but I went with the Raspberry and the Fruit Punch, and both were actually quite palatable!

On the negative split thing… In the past a lot of my mid-week running has been done on my lunch break. I’ve been busy implementing a new web application for a local law firm on my lunches for the past month or so, and my running has really suffered. The last 2 tri’s I’ve done, I’ve ended up walking a little on the run. I didn’t want to do that again. I started running on lunches again last week, and have been feeling stronger. I figured a negative split might be a good way to go.

OK, but onto the race! Echo Reservoir is just a little under an hour up the canyon from where I live. It was an interesting race, in that the venue has no parking, and so you get to bike in to the start. I left home a little late, but not too late, and was shocked by how many people were already there. The ride down to the start was uneventful and check-in was quick and easy. I think they were expecting 800 athletes, and they had the organization to handle that.

Transition was pretty cool. They had assigned racks, and each label featured the comments entered at registration about why the athelete tri’d. The only downside was that transition was in the dirt.

Pre-race prep went well. I got my nutrition in, had my ibuprofen in good time, and the pre-race porta potty visit was successful as well.

I got into the water with just a couple of minutes to go. Met up with a couple of other Sharks and tried to work out whether we were swimming clockwise or counter-clockwise. Everyone was lining up facing counter-clockwise, so we figured that was it, and after a couple of quick warm up swims, I positioned my self on the outside edge of the heat.

The horn went off, and it was on. The water was about perfect. A little chilly to begin with, but once we got moving it was great. The course was a triangular shape, and Olympic distance did 2 laps. The swim to the first buoy was really long, but I tried to stay calm and smooth. A couple of collisions, but I held my ground and it went well. Between the back two buoys, I started to get a side stitch, and a cramp which moved up to my shoulder. I’ve been getting these a fair bit lately. I think it may have to do with my breathing, and increased intensity. I tried to stay slow and fluid, and breathe easily.

As I turned to complete my first loop, it was right into the sun. It was a good thing, since I forgot about the cramping and focussed on try to stay straight and see where I was going. By the time I started lap #2, I was feeling much better, and I started to find my groove. I sped up a little and felt like I was headed for a strong finish.

Hopping out the water was tricky. With a couple of waves starting after mine, the mud on the edge had gotten very soft and squishy. I swan in as far as I could and then squished and slid out of the water. The run to transition was carpeted, but they had a shoe zone, since the transition itself had a lot of small rocks and stones in it.

The shoe thing didn’t go well. Next year I’m taking flip flops instead of water shoes. I had my wetsuit down to my waist by the time I hit transition, leaving my goggles and cap in the sleeve as I pulled my hand through - coolest trick ever!!!

By the time my suit was completely off, my feet were covered in mud. I tried to scrape it off as best as I could, and slipped the shoes on. I was going to try biking without socks for the first time in a race. It was easier not having to put socks on, but with the mud my transition was over 3 minutes. To make matters worse, someone asked a family member for the time, and it seems like my swim had taken almost 35 minutes - NOT GOOD!

Perhaps now would be a good time to mention my goals…

My plan was for a strong swim in the 30 minute range, which would be a PR by 2 minutes, but I felt was possible.

T1 was supposed to be a minute, since I wasn’t going to be messing with socks.

The bike course is an out and back with a big hill going out and then down coming back. I went conservative and figured a 1:20 would be a good time to go for.

T2 was supposed to be another minute or so.

The run, I was going to start slow, and try and hold 9:30 per mile for the whole run.

With those plans, and factoring some cushioning in, my goal was 2:55, although I would have been stoked with anything under 3.

Got on the bike and tried to get into a rhythm. I didn’t feel bad, and I was moving quickly, but it just wasn’t perfect. 3 miles of flat and downhill, and then we began the climb up the canyon. I got passed a bit, did my own passing, but by 6 miles in, I was starting to feel the groove again.

I hit the top of the canyon with an average speed of 17.5 mph. Which considering that I’d been hovering around 15 most of the way up, was pretty good.

I turned and headed down… Free speed Baby!! I took the speed up to about 30mph. It felt great. It took some concentration, since the road wasn’t the best, but I managed to hold it to the bottom of the canyon. Average speed was now up above 20mph, and I began the final 3 miles up to transition. At this point the road was really busy, with all the Sprint Athletes out on the course as well. It made it fun though.

Transition was interesting. There was a looooong run in the dirt between the dismount and the entrance. As we approached the entrace there were about 3 or 4 sprint gals walking slowly through. I’m grateful for the girl beside me, who started yelling for them to move, thus clearing the way for her and I. There were a number of dirty looks given, but if you’re going to walk slowly next to your buddy and stop in the entrance you deserve it.

Mud and dirt were still an issue in T2, although there was a little less mud now. I grabbed a 5 hour energy as well, and drained my gel flask. Grabbed the Garmin and back out onto the course in just under 3 minutes. Not great, but I was feeling good, so perhaps I could make it up on the run.

My last couple of races, I’ve left transition and held a 7:30 to 8:00 pace for the first half mile or so. That may have been my downfall at those races, so this time, I opted to try and stay around 9:00. It was tough, and it hurt but I managed to hold it.

The run was a trail alongside the dam. Pretty flat, but there was a definitely decline heading out, and incline heading back. I stayed fairly consistent and managed to run solidly all the way out. At the turn around I started feeling really good and figured I could pick it up a bit. It also helped that I was starting to run by other Sharks and plenty of high 5’s and encouragement were shared.

With 2 miles to go, I came upon #123. He had an O and a 33 on his legs, just like me. That meant same age group - and he was looking tired. I figured I’d hold it behind him for a while, and then opt for a final kick over the last 250 yards or so to pass him. It’s the first time, I’ve ever worried about strategy in a race, and it was both fun, and it took my mind off my legs.

It was going well, until the 5 mile mark where he stopped for a drink… I blew by him and tried to up the tempo a bit, but I’m guessing he say my leg markings and got an adrenaline charge. He came flying by me seconds later. I figured he’d burn out a little way down the trail and I’d catch him then, but he kept going to the end. DOH!! I sped it up a little with half a mile to go, and came into the finish feeling strong, but spent.

All in all, it was an excellent race. I felt good in all three legs, and felt like my nutrition and pacing were dead on. The only thing I wasn’t ecstatic about was the swim, but it seemed everyone’s swim times were off, leading us to suspect that the swim course may have been long. So that’s my excuse for that.

Finals Times

Swim: 34:02
T1: 3:21
Bike: 1:14:42 (Average Speed 19.9 mph)
T2: 2:50
Run: 53:15 (Average Pace 8:35 per mile WOW!!)

Overall in my division, I was 15th in the swim, 13th on the bike and 15th on the run, giving me a final placing of 14/24. Still plenty of room for improvement, and I do have a really tough division.

Final Time: 2:48:11

Now my previous Olympic PR was at BAM last month in a time of 2:41 and some change, but this course was 3 miles longer on the bike, and a quarter mile longer on the run, and if you factor that in, with my average speeds at the two events, I think this one comes out as a new PR.

My final results are here.

And there are photo’s located here. I particularly like some of the bike pics, and the run ones where I’m going from right to left. The left to right ones were on the way out, and I was hurting.

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Part of the reason I keep this blog is as a personal training journal.  I’ll warn you know that this probably won’t make much sense at all, unless of course you just read the Post-ride report, which I plan on writing in a couple of hours, and then it will make more sense than that, but probably still not too much.

OK, so the training plan calls for a 2.5 hour ride today.  I’m supposed to practice my race nutrition plan, and keep notes on the results - hence the post.

It’s supposed to start raining in this area in about an hour, but it’s not like I haven’t faced rain before!!  I’m wearing the full tri-suit as well, since that handles the rain well, and I want to make sure I don’t have any issues with chaffing and that kind of thing.

Pre-ride weight - 174.6 (I’m a little dehyrdrated, but my body composition numbers do look better than yesterday morning at this time - they’ll get tweaked because of the ride, so no real point in posting those.)

Pre-ride snake - packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast with 8 oz milk & a Hammer Gel (Banana)

On the bike: 48oz of Gatorade (Fruit Punch today), 24oz of Water, 4 packs of gu (in flask) & some Endurolytes (Salt Tablets).

Drinking plan - approximately 5oz every 5 miles.  My Garmin is setup to lap every mile, so hopefully I can use that to que me in to take a drink

Gu plan - One swig (about 1 packet), every 12 miles.  So at 12, 24, 36 and 48.

Endurolytes - 1 tablet every 20 miles.

I can probably do just under 50 miles in 2.5 hours.  I may push it to 56, but this plan should hold for that.

Feeling good right now (except when looking at the weather forecast).  Legs aren’t too trashed after yesterdays 30 miles on the bike, so it should be a good ride - Hopefully I’ll stay reasonably dry and above all - warm!

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… the fact the I spent last night in the ER with my 2 year old son, who bit through his lip while jumping off the couch,

and in spite of the fact the I have a nasty little scab on my inner thigh, due to some chaffing on Saturday’s long run,

and a few other things that went awry this weekend…

I have a pretty sweet life!!

Saturday was my longest run ever in my entire life!  20 miles!!!  It was also my last big run before the St. George marathon.  And interestingly enough, training has warped my brain to the point, that I consider next weekends scheduled 15 mile run, relatively short.

I took a different route Saturday, not that my usual route isn’t good, but I wanted a change of scenery.  I got to run on some brand new asphalt on a stretch of road, not yet open to traffic.  From there I headed down to the Salt Lake Shorelands Reserve.  It’s a great place, and they have installed a loop of wooden walkways out on the marshes that is a little over 1 mile long.  As I ran out amongst the reeds and bulrushes, watched a harrier swoop to my right and saw little birds flitter in all directions, I realized that I’m a pretty blessed guy!

When I got done, I put my legs up for 20 minutes, then I tried the ice bath thing (Probably should have gotten more ice) for another 20.  My quads are a little hammered, although feeling better today (Monday) than yesterday, but other than that I feel great.

Some additional pluses from my run.  I did a negative split.  First and Second halves where exactly the same, except I took a 5 minute break in the second to visit the bathroom, and let the wife know I was still going.  I made all that time up, mostly in the last 3 miles.  Average page was almost dead on a 10 minute mile, and my last mile was done at 8:28.  Again, not fast for some, but based on my history, that’s kicking some serious butt.

Nuttition was perfect as well.  I think I have my formula down for long distance running - at least for now.

• Breakfast - Carnation Instant Breakfast (Chocolate or Vanilla)
• Endurolytes - 1 every 2 miles or 20 minutes
• Gu - 1 15 minutes before and then 1 every 4 miles or 40 minutes.
• Accelerade with the endurolytes (ughhh!  But it works really well), and water with the gu!

Overall, just a great weekend to be alive in Northern Utah - Oh, and I just got notification that I am officially a member of the Desert Sharks Triathlon Club!!!  It just doesn’t get any better than this! (I should add that my place of business is closed down today, due to a water leak )

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It was a good weekend.  It began with me taking the wife and kids to the park on Friday morning.  I walked around with the youngest three, while my wife rode laps on her bike.  She hasn’t been on her bike in almost 2 years, and I think she did remarkably well.  She wasn’t lightening fast by any means, but she kept the pace good and steady.

Saturday morning, I undertook an 18 mile run as part of my final preparations for the St. George marathon.  I have never run more than 15, so it was a big step.  My night time gym buddy offered to ride along next to me, earning himself numerous sarcastic comments from other runners, but I’m glad he came.

My plan was to try and get my nutrition plan worked out.  My goal was to do 3 x 6 mile loops.  Gu at the start and every 3 miles. 1 Endurolyte capsule every 2 miles, and then 40 oz of fluid every 6 miles - 20oz water and 20oz Accelerade.

I started a little late, but was grateful for the buddy, since I would likely have laid in a little longer had he not been waiting.  I ended up making the first loop into an 8 mile loop, and it went well.  I missed my Gu’s at 6 and 9, and wasn’t drinking as much as I wanted to, negating the need to stop at the car after the first loop.  The second loop went well, although by mile 10 I was feeling some stiffness in my knees and my stomach started to feel a little iffy.  Got my 12 mile and 15 mile Gu’s in, and continued with the endurolytes.  I finished the second loop at about 16 miles, and skipped the drink refill again.  I was still going strong, but ready to be done.  The last 2 miles went well, although having someone alongside helped immensely.  Normally when I see the end, my brain starts shutting things down, but pride prevailed, and I finished the last 250 yds at under 7 minute mile pace.  The entire run took a minute less than 3 hours, for an average of just under 10 minute miles.  Not stopping for refills meant that I ran the entire distance continuously and it felt good.

I feel like I am ready for St. George.  I’m excited for the downhill, since that will help me increase the pace a little, andrace day adrenaline is going to help a great deal as well.  I also tried some recovery techniques from the months issue of Runners World and the definitely seemed to help out a great deal.

The only negative from the run, was that I arrived home, and my stomach promptly declared war.  I need to find a way of determining if it was the endurolytes, the stress of running that distance, or if I picked out some kind of stomach bug and it wasn’t related at all.

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It was an interesting weekend. If you read my last post, the plan was a 10 mile run on Friday night, followed by a 68 mile ride on Saturday morning, followed immediately by a 3 mile run, and then a decision on if I really want to try the Utah Half IronMan next month…

I donated blood on Thursday morning, but Friday night I felt great. I decided to do a sweat test as well, since I am having trouble staying hydrated during my longer training sessions.

I started off with a half mile walk and then started running. I was averaging 9 min miles, not fast, but decent for me. The first mile was OK, although the first couple are never good for me. Mile 2, and my legs started cramping, my shins hurt, my ankles hurt - Life was not good. I stopped and stretched for a while, and then walked another half mile, although it probably ended up being closer to a whole mile.

When I started running again, things were OK, but I’ve been struggling with GI problems this week too - I’ll spare you the details, but running was not comfortable. I turned around just past the 4.5 mile mark and headed out for home. The second half went much better, still not great, but I was able to get my speed up and run for most of it. I ended up doing about 10 miles by the time I was done, but averaging 10 minute miles. It probably wasn’t a great workout to measure my water loss, but I think I have a better idea now. All in all, I lost about 33 oz per hour. It would probably be higher if I had been better hydrated, and run faster, but thats a better number that the 20 oz I was assuming I was losing.

Friday night, the youngest spent the entire night puking… I slept a little, but not much. Saturday was long and tiring, and I even ended up taking a nap. No training on Saturday that was for sure. Things were better today, but when I woke up and it was well after 8, I figure any chance of a morning session was out of the question.

Tonight though I bit the bullet and took the bike out. I was pretty loaded up with 48 oz of Gatorade, 24 oz of Accelerade and Fig Newtons - I’m guessing the key with those last guys is the amount of sodium and potassium - based on my sweat rate and the quantity of white stuff on my skin after I train, I’m assuming I need more of electrolytes, so these should work well.

The ride went well, although I started a little later than planned, and so I decided just to do a 56 mile course. Longer than any I have done before, but I wanted to see how it felt.

Actually it didn’t feel bad at all, and by mile 42, things were looking good. That was when I came across the herd of buffalo… I’d seen them when I first got onto the island but they were way off by the beach. When I got back to them, I could see they were moving, and were pretty close to the road, as I got closer though, they started to cross. I opted to stop, finish the rest of my liquid and take a break. I’m guessing there were upwards of 150 animals, so of them absolutely huge and plenty of calves as well. I had no idea that buffalo growl/roar when the move…. It was a little intimidating. I stopped about a quarter mile off from where the main herd was crossing. There were a couple of cars in the midst of the whole thing, and from the sounds of things the occupants were in awe. I was soon joined by a motor bike, who shared my apprehension and getting mixed up with them.

After fifteen minutes or so, most of them had crossed over, and we also realized we had another group of them coming up on us from behind. We decided it was time to leave. We had a few dodgy moments down the road a ways with other groups from the herd, but both me and the motor bike made it through OK.

The break had been nice, but my legs got pretty stiff after I started peddling again. My average speed dropped down in the low 17’s, upper 16’s and that’s about where it sat till I got home.

My time wasn’t too bad though… 3 hours 20 minutes for the 56 miles, average speed of 16.8 and average heart rate of 137 (Probably a little low, but it was averaging 130 on my long rides a month ago, so I’m glad it appears I’m pushing the pace some more.

I didn’t run when I was done, but I felt like I probably could, especially with a good taper and solid race prep. I think I’m going to give the half a go, obviously depending on what happens with the impending arrival!

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Tomorrow is my first Olympic Triathlon, but before I get to that, I have some important shout outs to take care of…

Iron Eric - See his link on the left - is racing in IronMan Coeur d’Alene on Sunday. He’s been training really hard and I suspect will do remarkably well. On the Endurance Sports Bar blog (At the end of the list) is a competition to guess his time. They have some pretty nifty prizes - so if you want to guess how well Eric will be doing…

Becoming Ironman a.k.a XT4 has the Spirit of Racine 70.3 coming up at the end of July. He had a nasty cold last week, and has been struggling to train amidst some pretty crazy weather. When I’m trying to psych up someone I know, I often point them in the direction of the Becoming IronMan videos on YouTube - I guess that probably won’t work in this case! I think he’s going to do really well though - I’ve learn’t a great deal about training from reading about his experiences on his blog. All the best XT4!

OK, now to the matter at hand… The race is tomorrow. It’s almost 2 hours south of where I live and they are recommending that we get registered tonight, to avoid missing the start while standing in-line tomorrow. I’m still trying to decide if the gas to get there and back is worth making sure I can start with the rest of the field.  It’s not like I’m not going to PR!!

Aside from being my first Olympic Distance race, this will also be my first race start with an open-water swim. I haven’t swum in an open body of water for well over a decade, excluding some body surfing in Cali a few years ago, but that’s just different! Anyway, the water is still a little cool and they are recommending wetsuits, so I decided to rent one for this event.

I’m taking the rental approach, since this will likely be my only chance to use one this year, and I’d like to try one out before I invest in it. I’m renting from a running store in Salt Lake - They seemed nice, not as nice as my usual store, although recently both stores have subjected me to new, clueless employees, whose opinion of their knowledge far exceeds their actual knowledge. I’m all for someone sharing experience and idea’s but don’t make stuff up - seriously!!

Anyway, I tried the suit on last night. It’s a Blue Seventy Synergie - probably about a $400 suit and it sounds like it will really help me in the water. That said, it took a while to get on. I have small legs which helped with that part of it, but it took two attempts to get my arms in and I had to have help zipping it up - Most of my weight is on my chest and my arms. It didn’t take as long to get off, fortunately and I think it was probably pretty close to how it may be at the race - I didn’t go swimming in it, but I did sweat profusely while jumping around in it checking out the flexibility.

I’m going to try some different things to determine what works best for me when racing. At the Ogden Half Marathon, things went really well and I’ve been trying to find exactly what it was that worked there, so I can make it a standard for me. I think I’ve ruled out the Clif Bars - I love them, but I think the extra fiber has been a little too effective in keeping my bowels nice a clean.

I’ve narrowed down the key factors to 2 things - At Ogden I used Hornet Juice and wore a loose shirt. Last week I didn’t use Hornet Juice and I wore my tighter than it really should be tri top. Tomorrow I’m going to try Hornet Juice and a looser top, to see if it makes a difference. I’m also going to be making sure my fuel tank stays full with plenty of Gu and Accelerade - although I won’t be touching the Accelerade until a mile or two into the bike route.

My plan is to get everything packed tonight, so tomorrow morning I can shower, check my bike tires, load the bike and go - probably around 3:30 or 4am, which could make for an interesting day!

Anyway, you can expect a full report when I get done. For now, my plan is:

Swim - 30 minutes

T1 - < 5 minutes (Doing this with a wetsuit add an element of the unknown.)

Bike - 90 minutes (Depending on where my heart rate ends up, aiming for 18-20mph average - I believe the course is pretty flat)

T2 - 1 minute

Run - 55 minutes

That should put me done is almost 3 hours exactly. It could be really close though, should be hot, but hopefully that won’t affect me as long as I stay well fuel and hydrated.

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I’m doing it.  Not to see how fast I can, but more to enjoy it and for the experience.

 I was delighted to find that I got a discount from my USAT membership, so it wasn’t as expensive as I thought it would be.  My run last night was a little iffy.  I got about 2.5 miles in, and my knee didn’t feel good at the end, but I think I can still pull it off.  I’m not going to post goals, since I just want to finish, but I figure this would be a good place to write down my strategy.

 Here’s the strategy:

Gu Pack right before I start.

Accelerade in my aero bottle with another Gu pack at the turn around.

Accelerade at the transition, with another Gu pack, and so Ibuprofen.  I may also stretch some more to make sure my IT Band is flexible.

 For the run, I’m hoping they have aid stations, but I’m probably going to be OK without.   Unless my leg feels great and I can get into the rhythm quickly - which I highly doubt.  My plan is 10 minute runs with 5 minute walks in between.  I’m hoping to be done in 75 minutes.  I’m guessing the bike will take about 90.

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I got a new book last week on Endurance sport nutrition.  I will likely post a full review on this blog in a couple of weeks.

The problem I have been having is that I’ll be fine for a couple of days, and then it just seems that all of a sudden I lose my strength and feel really sluggish for a few days.  I’ve been following an eating plan that is supposed to increase testosterone production, but I think I may have hit on the key problem as I read last night.

 Your muscles use glycogen to fuel your movements.  There are other systems that help with this, but glycogen is the key one in long distance training.  Once you exercise and burn off the glycogen, you then need to replenish these supplies.  My diet has been pretty much a high protein one, with carbs and fats taking an equal share of the remaining calories.  My daily target has typically been in the 2300-2500 calorie range.  This is good, especially since at the beginning of the year, I was lucky to hit 2000.

 Based on what I have been reading, I should probably be pushing 3500-4000 calories on my heavier days.  And my carbohydrate intake should be substantially higher.  What seems to be happening is that I am using my glycogen stores, but they aren’t fully recharging between workouts.  I then reach a point every week or so, when my stores just run out, leaving me weak and powerless for a few days.

 My plan is to plan each week out before I get to it, looking at what workouts are planned, and then base my meal plans around that.  Hopefully I can get my body to fully recharge between workouts, thus allowing me to workout for longer periods at a time, and more frequently, without the negative effects.  I’m hoping to get both these things posted at the beginning of each week.  I missed the training plan this last week, but to be honest with my injury, the pool being closed yesterday, and the cold I’ve been fighting, training really hasn’t featured much at all.

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