Ready To Go On A Racing Rampage!

The vacation is over. I'm fully recovered from the race. Everything that bothered me before, during and after the race seems to be gone. I am ready to get back to racing. The first race back will be this Sunday at the Wildcat Sprint in Lowell. I absolutely need to be in the first wave of the swim - hopefully it will just be a mass start. I know this course well because it goes down and around the Baystate Marathon course - it's flat, fast and I am going to hammer all-out on the bike. The run is short, so this should be a good experiment to see how fast I can go after all of those months of endurance training and racing. I haven't really done a whole lot the last three weeks. Did a little bit at the track the other day. I have been riding real light the last two weeks. There's not really any training to do for these races and I'm just going to race. After all, I am still pretty fit from the intense training for IMLP, that started all the way back in January. I have gained a couple of kilos from the vacation, but it is slowly starting to come off - too may all-you-can-eat buffets and the post race pie-athlons.
After this weekend, I have three races planned in four days. They are all short, so I don't think there will be any issues. Here's the schedule:

Wildcat Triathlon, Lowell MA Sunday Aug. 12
Clinton 5K, Clinton MA Thursday Aug. 16
Ipswich Triathlon, Crane Beach Friday Aug. 17
Gardner Heritage Triathlon, Gardner MA OR Sodus Point Triathlon, Rochester NY - both Sunday Aug. 19
Chicopee Triathlon, Chicopee MA Sunday Aug. 26
Hoptkinton Triathlon, Hopt. MA Sunday Sept. 9

I need to find out whether or not I'm going to be forced by my wife into traveling to Rochester, NY next weekend. If so, payment will be the Sodus Point Tri, but I would much rather race at the inaugural Gardner Tri. Anyway, I'll refine the schedule as I get closer to the dates and hopefully the entries won't close.

I posted this picture of the swim start becuase I am in there somewhere. It's not possible to identify anyone in that mess, but that's where I was - right in the middle, about two bodies from the line.

If anyone has any suggestions for races - triathlons, running, trail, etc. Let me know. I'm open for suggestions.

-Kyle

Lake Placid Ironman Race Report

Sorry for the late report - I'm still on vacation and I've been without internet access for some time. First of all I would like to thank my family, team-mates, friends, training partners, the support crew and all! No one ever said this sport was easy and I just received another reminder of that reality!

Anyway here are the splits:

Overall time: 10:23:58
Swim: 1:07:40
Bike: 5:33:32
Run: 3:35:23

Report:

Swim did not go well. I found it difficult to find any open water. I got kicked in the side and popped a couple of times, once in the face, but luckily my goggles stayed on. My swimming has come a long way (see the other race reports), but it didn't show in this race. Too many people trying to go to the same spot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTmT2gkWUgk

I still beat my time of last year though.

The bike: What happened my second loop split? It felt like I was going just as fast, but my split was slow. There was a head wind going through the gap headed towards Keene. Anyway, still faster than last year, but a lot slower than my competitors.

The run: Warm and sunny. Another fight against dehydration. I took in an incredible amount of fluids to fight it off. Keeping cool anyway possible was key in this one. I was running while most were walking in the second half. I thought I had a pretty decent marathon given the conditions were a lot more difficult than last year and I still ran faster. The nagging left hip flexor thing again in the last three miles, but at that point, it's just another thing that hurts.

Anyway, some tough international competition with former pros and non-pro elites all competing in my age group. The long and the short - I missed Kona again by one slot! ughh! 10:40 would have got me there at the last non-male pro race two years ago. It shows I have got a long way to go - this being my second Ironman. I need to compete with those guys on the bike. As Chris McCormack has said in interviews - if he had just come to Kona and won on his first attempt, he wouldn't be the athlete he is today. I feel the same way about myself - take it to the next level and come back and nail it next year!

I'll post again when I'm back on 8/6, until then, happy recovery!

Rock On!

-Kyle

Race Week - Ironman Lake Placid 2007

Well, this will be my last post until the race. Everything has gone pretty smooth. I have trained harder, longer and more focused then I have ever trained for an event ever. My 41 year old body has held up and I have certainly never been as fit as I am now. I have made some huge strides, including my swimming, which has come out of nowhere. I am going to swim faster with much less effort, which is going to help me a lot this year in the later stages of the race. My bike miles have doubled from last year's training. I had a number of weeks at 300 miles with one around 350. I have forced myself to stop training, because I know that it will only have a negative impact on the race. This is definitely going to be an anxious few days. I can't wait to get up there and I think I will start to relax once I get up into the race environment. This should be a big day for me and I hope it will be a turning point for me as an athlete. I will use knowledge from last year's race to put in a solid and optimized performance. This picture is the run course out-and-back with the Olympic ski jumps in the background.
I hope everyone has had a good training period and is ready to race. I will post a race report when I can. I wish all the racers good luck - it should be a blast!

-Kyle

Patriot Half Iron Weekend

Well it's finally here ... The big race season has begun. I will be racing in the open division with the big boys on this one. I will be going hard. Enough said, I am hoping this is a race that I finally earn some respect in this sport - we'll see.

Last weekend's last huge training; 115 miles on the bike (4 loops of the course +) and 30 minutes of hard running, followed next day by a 20 mile run (7.5min/mi) is over - thank god. My mileage last week was the biggest ever; 350 miles bike, 55 runing and ~ 10K yards swimming. I wouldn't even consider this tapering for the race, but the timing is for me to be peaking with Lake Placid approaching. That is the race, Patriot will have to come second to the IM training. Anyway, I'm told to keep training by the coach - no days off, so I'll keep the high cadence stuff going, light running and moderate swimming. I'm looking for the big PR in this race, so wish me luck. I'm also anticipating big PRs on the swim and bike legs.

I hope everyone has a great race - team mates, friends, training partners and all! This should be an interesting inaugural race. I've already placed my money on my coach to win, probably by a landslide. Hopefully, he will tire everyone out from chasing him and I'll place in the top decade or so of the open cat.

Cheers! I'll post a race report when I get back.

-Kyle

Pivotal IronMan Training Day

So you are thinking about doing an Ironman sometime. Lake Placid is always a good choice, because you don't need to get on a plane (if you live in the Northeast US or Canada). Unfortunately, if you do sign up for a race (the year before, because they sell-out in about an hour), you'll need to do these kind of pivotal workouts - unless you want to suffer out there on race day, which I don't recommend. Read on ....

Sunday's workout:

105.4 miles on the bike; 7mi warm-up, 3x25+ on with 7mi recovery.

10 mile run; 2.5 warm-up, 4x1mi with .25mile recovery, 2.5 cool-down

We averaged overall about 19 mi/hr including warm-up and recovery loops, so I figure that the on-ntervals were between 21-22 miles an hour. All good when considering the on-interval loop climbs Oak Hill (only the locals can appreciate).

My 1 mile run splits were between 6:00 (1st) and 6:20 (last) and I felt real good, but the last one took some effort.

The total workout time was 7 hours. Not a bad day at all. I felt great all day and I am feeling real good on the bike for a change. I thought I might actually run four 6min flat miles, but the fact that I could run as well as I did after riding 5 1/2 hours, means I'm pretty fit. I hope I feel that good on race day - it will be a big day for me (cross fingers).

I followed up today with 1:44 run (12+ miles) not too fast, but to keep those legs going. Light commute on the mtn bike with back-pack et al. - I also like to get in a different (upright) position. I hope to get in 3200 in the pool tonight.

Tomorrow back to the track for some fast 400s, probably an early morning ride. This weekend will be the townie road race, which I hope to bag, but seems every year that a non-local comes in to take it. The following day is the next scheduled complete day off - June 17th - exactly three weeks from the last.

Anyway, the 42 year old body is holding up okay. I need to add in some type of yoga or I guess more stretching to keep the body loose. Anyone that has any questions about Ironman training should feel free to email me (included in profile). I continue to be coached and am doing some coaching, so I can see both sides of the fence.

We are 6 weeks away from Lake Placid IM http://www.ironmanusa.com/ . I'll do another one of these in two weeks, but it will probably be less miles because of the Patriot 1/2 Iron race http://www.patriothalf.com/ .

I'll conclude with three words; bike, bike and more bike.

Party On!

-Kyle

Race Report Mooseman International Distance Triathlon

I don't think I've ever won anything at a triathlon before, certainly not at a race this big, not to mention the short distances I didn' have big hopes for this race, but I managed to grab 2nd in my age group and 25th overall.

The weather held out and didn't produce any rain, in fact at times it was very sunny and felt hot.

The race featured Jarrod Shoemaker (Pro/ITU/U23 World Champion), who was just looking out over the water taking in the sights as he passed me by from the out and back run, cruising along at a 5min/mile pace.

This race for me is a big disadvantage because of the long swim. I did go into the race thinking I would try to swim hard and follow with a fast bike. I sprinted at the beginning of the swim and got into a decent pack which I held onto throughout the swim. A few times I had to sprint to stay in the paceline, which was just fine with me, since we were moving at a good pace (and I wasn't leading). I am getting better at taking a breath every four strokes on the sprint, which is helping me a lot. Also, I stop kicking to preserve the legs for later in the race. I didn't start kicking until the end, where I opened back up and sprinted in. Probably my best swim at a tri to date and felt really fresh going into T1. I had a good bike. I rode hard, but I got passed by my AG competitor at shoreline drive and I really needed to stay with him. I am kicking myself because I know I could have stayed with him - I just needed to ride harder. I could see him throughout the run, but could not reel him in, despite a hard charge the last two miles. I felt hot on the run and really didn't have a fast run, but I'll take it. I think it is all a result of the heavy training the last few weeks, with many hours on the bike. The most important race is July 22.

Some fast times the next day at the 1/2 iron race. Almost all of my team mates had PRs. My biggest AG competitor for Lake Placid (that guy from Quebec) put in some blazing splits and won the AG with no competition. It's motivating me to reanalyze what I need to do for Placid. I'm not concerned with the swim, but I need to get faster on the bike and still have a great marathon.

Anyway, a light couple of days and back to it tomorrow. Here's the splits from the race:

Swim (1mile) - 24:52, Bike (27+mile) -1:15:03, Run (10K) - 40:24, Total - 2:23:00

Back Online May 25th

Hope everyone's IronMan training is going well. A large number of athlete's at Walden Pond this morning at 5:30am. I know some are training for Coeur D'Alene in June, which I plan on in '08, but most of us are training for Lake Placid. It feels great to be swimming open water again.

I'll summarize the last couple of weeks: allergies, sick, 2 hours a day each day on the trainer with the cold, rainy weather, stress, not much fun. My coach is telling me to cycle 350 miles a week. A distance I have yet to reach (mostly in the mid-200s), but now that the weather looks like it's going to be decent for a stretch, I think I can come close to that mileage. Last weekend was the Lion's Sprint Triathlon. Any race that starts with the word "sprint" is not going to be a great race for me, but I managed 3rd in my AG not far behind some pretty quick guys.

Swimming is going well. I've ramped down my swimming lately, but the 5 days a week over the winter has really paid off. I think I have made it over the hurdle, finally. I am also trying to keep my running fitness and still improve on speed, but I will continue to concentrate on the bike. It is my best opportunity to shave off time the IronMan.

Race Schedule is:

June 2 - Mooseman International Distance, Bristol, NH
July 1 - Patriot (Inaugural) Half Iron, Freetown, MA
July 22- IronMan Lake Placid, NY

I am doing things different this year, doing different races and distances. I want to keep this sport interesting and the best way to do that is to mix up the races. The coach's theory is: rather than doing the Mooseman 1/2 and taper/recover, instead do Patriot and not taper, then I can recover and taper for the IronMan at the same time. The schedule also has fewer races, so I can focus on the primary goal and get to race in Kona this year.

This weekend is the "Sufferfest" 55mi bike + 6x1mi on the track at 6:00 pace (or faster) with 30 second rest. I think we'll be doing a post ride of maybe 25. It should be fun. It will be nice to get out and train with some of the local pro-athletes.

Anyway, evrything is going well. I had a massage yesterday and feel good, although the transition to heavy biking from marathon has had some small impact on the legs.

See you on the road,

-Kyle