The HITS project

“A ship in the harbor is safe. But that’s not what ships are built for”

The HITS project was commissioned in Jan of 2013. Originally it was known as Ironman Lake Placid “Redemption”. However as the project took shape it was decided that Ironman Lake Placid would not be feasible thus the HITS project was formed. It was determined that countless hours of training would be needed to have the project be deemed a success. From January until the completion of the project on June 29th nothing else would be as significant as the successful completion of the project.

The HITS project may as well be a top secret mission. It will have no fan fair, no great measure of success and even fewer people there to witness it as it ends. It will not be on par with Red Bull Stratos or have movies made about it like Zero Dark Thirty. What the HITS project is and or will become is a solo endeavor to see how fast I can do an Ironman. The distances will remain the same, 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a 26.2 mile run. The clock will start when I enter the water and it will end when I cross the finish line. What happens between those two points not many will know about.

Unlike major Ironman races I have done in the past, their will be no online tracking and no great amount of spectators. The amount of aid stations on the course will be limited, and contain only the bare essentials. And the number of other participants will likely not be more than 50. It will be me against the course, one on one for 140.6 miles.

Ordinarily training for a Ironman is a very lonely endeavor in and of itself. You get up early to head to the pool and swim while others sleep in. You ride your bike endlessly hoping to get just a few minutes faster over the course of a bike ride that last hours. Finally you relentlessly destroy your knees and back by running 50+ miles a week in search of that perfect marathon time. Countless hours spent training alone with no spectators, and no medal around your neck when you finish. Just you and a clock for 15+ hours a week in search of every last ounce of speed you can bring to the race.

Tomorrow the alarm will go off at 4:30am and I will go downstairs to ride my bike for 2 hours before work, and prior to the sun rising. No one will know about this, and no one will care. The reasons for these early morning training sessions will be to gain a level of fitness the likes of which I have never reached. The main goal to be faster than the last time I did Ironman. I will train to beat a man or woman that I have never met and will likely never see again. It will be a purely selfish endeavor. It will all be in pursuit of making the HITS project a success.

Check your ego at the door

“If you want to be a champion, you've got to feel like one, you've got to act like one, you've got to look like one.”-Red Auerbach

This past weekend my triathlon team hosted their 12^th annual indoor time trial aka “Sufferfest”. For those not familiar with a indoor time trial, you hook your bike up to a computer and ride a predetermined 9.3 mile course against the clock. It’s the biking equivalent of running a all out 5K road race. It sucks, it hurts and to say the least it is very humbling for a guy like me. Being a tight knit team there is always a lot of smack talk flying around pre and post race. Believe me when I say it almost always gets backed up as well. These guys can ride bikes, and over the years it has been what the team has been known for.

Being the “new” guy on the team and being fairly new to the sport in general these types of events are real ego busters. The old adage that no matter how good you are, there is always someone better out there, applies to this event. And despite getting my ass handed to me, this is exactly what I and a lot of other athletes need this time of year. As the long winter starts taking its toll, and those of us who love to compete and race are stuck indoors training, this is one that gets circled on the calendar.

As athletes we all have healthy egos; however the difference becomes how much of that ego you choose to reveal. Some athletes wear their ego on their sleeves for all to see and get labeled cocky. Others just quietly go about their business knowing what they are capable of but preferring to remain quiet and humble. Having an ego, however you express it, is an essential part of the makeup of a champion. To add to Red’s quote I also think you need to not only act, look and feel like a champion but you need to surround yourself with them. So going into the lions den that is the Team Psycho time trial is just what makes us all raise our game and become better athletes.

Larry Bird, one of Auerbach’s favorite players was famous for being outwardly cocky. Once during the three-point shooting contest on All-Star Weekend in 1986, Bird entered the locker room, looked around without saying a word, then finally said, "I want all of you to know I am winning this thing. I'm just looking around to see who's gonna finish up second." He won the shooting contest.

So while I made no bold declarations this year, ala Larry Legend I did get to feed my competitive urges which hopefully will keep me motivated until race season. I’ve always said that I would rather be the worst athlete on the best team, then the best athlete on the worst team and Team Psycho is just that for me. So maybe in a few years I will bust out a little cockiness and make some people worry, but for now I will be keeping my mouth shut and taking my beatings.

Great achievement comes from great sacrifice

We all know that in order to reach our goals many great sacrifices have to be made. As I embark on my fifth year in triathlon I am reminded of that everyday. From 5am wakeups to swim endless laps, riding endless hours on my bike, hammering mile after mile on pavement, these are the things that it takes to be better than the next guy come race day. As I have gotten better at these things, one quickly realizes that it doesn’t get any easier. In fact, in order to continue improving and reach the goals I have set for myself, it will take even greater sacrifice and commitment.

I wasn’t blessed with a ton athletically; however one thing I do possess is the mental capacity to keep going when others give up. No matter what it takes, whatever time I have to get up, however many hours I have to put in to reach my goal, I will do it. As a new season begins and I inch closer to my long term goals in this sport, I realize that the commitment that it took to reach last years goals will not be good enough. With each new season the sacrifices will become greater. Greater commitments will have to be made. And the training hours will get longer. I am prepared for that and know that if I stay the course I have a real shot at reaching my goals.

Last season I set the bar pretty high for myself and I was able to accomplish what I set out to do. This year however is one in which my only goal is to continue to learn and get valuable Ironman experience. Their will be no time goals I am chasing, no new race distances I will attempt. Plain and simple this year will be about getting better in all 3 sports. Hopefully that will still include a few pr’s along the way and solid placements in my age group. However, the true success of this season, will not be revealed until many years from now.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
Calvin Coolidge

Ironman Cozumel Race Report

Funny thing about Ironman and any endurance event for that matter, is that there are no magical days. No matter how hard you try, no matter what kind of luck you have on your side you will not go faster than your training says you can. Some sports have the advantage of special days. Take baseball for instance, things like no hitters, perfect games, hitting for the cycle, or a 4 homer game are all very rare and special performances. They are performances that you couldn't ever imagine doing, but every now and then the stars align, you get the calls or get in a groove and you do something that is unique and special. Ironman has no special days. If the best you could do in training is a 20 mph average on the bike, then that is what you can expect in the race. If you ever dare decide to throw caution to the wind and "go for it" in a race of this length you will pay. Maybe not on the bike, maybe not in the first half of the run, but rest assured their is no where to hide on that last 13 miles. This race in particular is even more unforgiving because the run is 3 loops. So that means you literally run by the finish line at mile 18 and have to head back out to suffer for 8 more miles. Everyone suffers in a Ironman but the key is always to suffer less than the next guy. Bottom line is that you are only as good as your training has been and to say the least my training had been spot on.

I had upped my volume drastically from 2011 and nailed every workout and all the key sessions that were called for. I was rested, ready, and eager to erase the time I put up at IMLP, which by my account was a great learning experience but no where near what I thought I was capable of. So going into this race the training hours and paces I had done in training had suggested a 1:24 swim, 5:33 bike, and a 3:43 marathon. Throw in 5 to 10 minutes for transitions and I was looking at a 10:48 overall time. This became my number. I wrote it on all my water bottles and hung it where I could see it for every basement session I did. It was a not a magical number and meant nothing to anyone else but me. What was special about it, was that it was real. Not some magical number that was too far out of reach. It was based on the training, the hours spent swimming, biking, and running. If I didn't hit those numbers then I could not blame the plan, I could only blame myself or worse, something out of my control.

Pre-Race: Considering it was my first time going to Mexico and never having done a race where I had to fly, it went very smooth. I pride myself on being adaptable to different situations, something that the Army hammered home, one drill sergeant after another (ummm that doesn't sound right does it?). Also a huge burden was taken away by shipping my bike with Tribike Transport.

Swim: Every race report I have read since the race (except Becky's) says that the swim was rough. I have yet to swim with 2700 people and experience calm waters. However considering most people have said that there swims were 5 to 10 minutes slow and 300+ people were pulled from the water I will take my time. Lots to work on for me as a swimmer but a non-wetsuit swim in rough waters with a current and I will take my time as a big improvement. I experienced none of the stomach issues I had in Lake Placid although I did trust a fart about a hour in and managed to keep it dry.
Time: 1:21:53 126th AG 727 OA

Bike: This is where I knew I had done the most training and my strength on the bike and the ability to stay aero for 5+ hours is key. The bike is 3 loops and within those 3 loops there are 3 distinct sections. Headwind, crosswind, and tailwind. So on every loop I would ride 23mph with the tailwind, 20mph with the crosswind, and 17mph with the headwind. All in all it averaged out to a 20.36mph average for the 112 miles. Again I tailored my training to be uncomfortable for the whole ride and knew that there would be no chance to sit up and spin if I wanted to hit my target time. So I rode it exactly the same for all 3 loops and was quite happy with the result. I will say this race is heavy on drafting and as someone who prides myself on playing by the rules it did get frustrating. I rode my ass off only to have large packs come by me quite easily and then decide to ease up and I just couldn't get around them. There were only two officials I could see and they seemed to be enjoying their scooter rides more than actually doing their jobs. All and all I don't think it hurt my overall time but I did consider a flying arm bar or two. The only thing that kept me from doing it was when in Mexico you never quite know who is a Lucha Libra. The last thing I need is a dnf from someone dropping a elbow on me from the top tube.
Time: 5:30:00 55th AG 292 OA

Run: This is where every good race is made. Their is no such thing as a great bike and a bad run. That simply means you over road the bike and payed for it on the run. So knowing I had kept a steady heart rate and rode what I was capable of I had no fear heading out on to the run course. I have a tendency to go out too hard and fade late but I knew that here, unlike Lake Placid I was strong enough to go faster, longer, harder (only at Ironman, not at home). So I headed out of the transition tent and just ran. I stopped looking at the watch and just did what I do best. I shut my mind off, zoned out and kept my feet moving. Having run 3 ultra marathons you become a master of not over thinking the run. It is such a simple task, one foot in front of the other, repeat and hope that it looks fairly decent for photo ops. It hurts, it's uncomfortable but is not nothing other than grit and balls for 26.2 miles. I took in the right amount of calories and hit all the Gatorade stops I could. Finally at mile 16 I made the switch to Pepsi (odd that the Mexicans don't like COKE) and never looked back. The only problem with this strategy was that they didn't let the soda go flat so it felt like I was drinking pop rocks, however on the bright side I got a little gas powered for a few stops. The down side was what felt like a cross between a Mariachi guy stabbing me repeatedly in the rib cage and smuggling heroin in places we don't talk about at parties. This made for a fun few miles until I passed the heroin and Pancho went back to serenading the ladies. All and all I was happy with my "run scared" strategy and think that had I gone out more conservatively It would not have resulted in a better time.
Time: 3:51:44 39th AG 218 OA

Overall: The crowds here are really great and the whole island gets behind the income, ummm I mean the race and what it brings to the island. They really do embrace the race and although I probably would not go back to race it again, it is a race worth putting on the IM bucket list. So long story short there was no magic on the day but instead a affirmation that hard work pays off. I was only 3 mins off my goal time and in a race of this length I am pretty proud of that. Was it the perfect race? by no means, but it was the race I was capable of and sometimes that can be just as good.
Time: 10:51:32 218th out of 2664 athletes

Everyone has a plan till they get hit

There are so many parallels between the sport of boxing and the sport of triathlon. The title of this blog is a quote that many people like to use in regards to sports such as boxing and triathlon. The problem with this, is that people have implied this to mean that not having a solid plan is ok because eventually you are going to get hit and the plan will falter. Any decent endurance athlete will tell you that you can not prepare for a 5k run, or a sprint triathlon and live to tell about it. You can not however hope to do this in a long distance race of any kind, in any sport, especially marathons and Ironmans. Their is just too much time for things to go wrong and not having a plan, a backup plan, and a backup plan to the backup plan, means you are really just not prepared for the race.

The reason I am writing about this is because as many of you know I am deep into training for my second Ironman (hence the lack of blog posts). And with experience has come the knowledge that while you need to put in the long training miles required to finish the race, their are so many other things that you need to plan for to have a good race. From the logistics of getting to and from the race with all the necessary gear in tow, to a solid nutrition plan, not only for race day, but the week leading up to the race. This is my fourth year in triathlon and I am constantly learning more and more about my self and about this sport everyday. And with that comes the added knowledge that while yes it is true that not everything will go exactly to plan on race day, that is no excuse to not have one.

Here is a prime example of two athletes one with a plan and another who didn't. For those of you that follow boxing you no doubt have heard all the arguments of why Floyd Mayweather jr is not a great fighter despite his 43-0 record over 16 years. You have also probably heard that Mike Tyson was one of the greatest ever. Mayweather's style is to play defense, pick and choose his spots and fight a tactical fight. Tyson's style was to engage his opponent early and often and usually this resulted in a highlight reel knockout. Well the fundamental difference between these two fighters is that one had a plan and the other did not. Tyson's "plan" which is not really a plan at all was to knock out his opponent as soon as possible thus avoiding taking a hit and having to use something other than his strength and speed to win the fight. The problem with that "plan" was that when he failed to gain the early knockout he would lose. Of his 50 wins he only went past the 7th round 12 times and his record was a very mediocre 6 wins, 6 losses in those 12. Whereas Mayweather has gone past the 7th round 22 times, and went the full twelve rounds 17 of those times. Mayweather's plan is to fight smart, and have a plan for every conceivable situation resulting in a unbeatable strategy. Tyson was no doubt an amazing athlete, however he was very one dimmensional. And once that first loss to Buster Douglas happened and other fighters developed a plan to beat the once unbeatable Tyson, he was essential no longer feared and proved very beatable.

Now we all know that even the best laid plans do not ensure a successful race. However one thing is for sure, the athlete who does not develop a plan, and a backup plan will definitely not succeed. If you are going to put in hours and hours of training miles then you owe it to yourself to be a complete athlete. Train like a athlete, eat like a athlete, learn as much as you can about your sport and prepare for whatever the event will throw your way.

"It ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"-Rocky Balboa

Lab Rat

Sacrifice, dedication, hard work, and consistency, these are all words used to describe success in athletic pursuits. Well guess what, they are the same words that apply to your diet and nutrition. And let me start by saying that when I use the word diet I use it to mean the way you eat day in and day out. I do not use the word diet to mean some book you read that said if you eat rabbit poop for 10 days you will lose 10 lbs.

I eat pizza, I drink beer, I love Dairy Queen and for the most part if I REALLY want something I eat it. The difference is that when I do these things I quickly get back on track with my diet right away. If you don't and you let it escalate then you find yourself 20lbs overweight and wondering what went wrong. You don't have to be a robot and eat things you don't enjoy to be healthy, fit and happy. In fact in my opinion it is just the opposite. Your body and mind need these treats and luxuries to not only keep you sane but also to keep your metabolism constantly working.

In writing this piece on diet and nutrition I can only speak from personal experience and I am by no means a registered dietitian. What I can speak on are the things I have tried and the things that work for me. Their is no magic pill or special diet, and exercise, even large amounts of exercise alone will not get you those abs you see in the magazines. What will work is doing the right thing at least 90% of the time and being consistent. Not for days or months, but years. I have been "dieting" as some would say since I was 18 years old. I could not tell you how many calories I eat in a day. However I will wager that I eat more than anyone else I know day in and day out. I also would wager I burn far more calories then anyone else and that my metabolism is constantly working to burn calories.

Diet and nutrition, especially as it applies to athletics is the biggest mystery known to man. Nobody and I mean nobody has it completely figured out and they never will. What works for Joe may not work for Jane and what works for Jane may not work for Joe. People are not cookie cutter and are bodies are not so simple that x.y, and z is guaranteed to work. What you need to do to become successful and maintain a healthy weight is to become a lab rat. Find what works for you, day in and day out. Find foods you like to eat, study what times you feel best based on what and when you eat. And pick up a book or google different strategies that work for others and try them.

For 14 years I have been doing this and I finally have a system that works for me. I don't consume any of my calories from liquid form except when exercising. This is how so many people lose count of their caloric intake because it is so simple to drink 12oz and consume 200 calories without a second thought. I eat every 2 and half to 3 hours, and when I don't look out because I get slightly (ask Amy) agitated. The running joke amongst my coworkers and friends is that you really don't need a watch when you are around me for I will eat at 7, 9:30, 12, 3, 6, and 9. I always am prepared to eat my next meal and I always think ahead so I am never out of reach of food when I need it. It has become routine for me. So when I want that treat after dinner I allow myself to have it but I wait and push it back to the next time I eat so I don't overload my body with calories that it can't burn. Now most people think I am nuts or that I deprive myself of things that others enjoy. This could not be further from the truth. I just make it work for me. I am probably one of a million people who go to Dairy Queen and ask for it to with a lid to go. It is so I can eat it when it works for my body.

All this being said I sometimes overeat at meals and their are certain days that I just eat way more than I should. I make the same mistakes others make but I never let those mistakes compound so they add up to weight gain. I stop, re access and get right back on track. And I don't consider what and how I eat to be a "diet". After 14 years I am still learning new things everyday, especially when it comes to race day nutrition (see marathon race report). What I have figured out is what foods are best for ME and when and how they should be consumed. And in order for you to be successful you need to do the same. I only wrote this particular blog because a few asked for me to write something about diet and nutrition. And if you want my top ten list of what, whys and hows I could give it to you. But make no mistake that the only reason I have figured it out is because I was willing to be a lab rat and follow the same principles that pretty much apply to anything that you want to be successful in. Sacrifice, dedication, hard work, and consistency. So if you will excuse me I am going to go run 100 miles and have a beer and some pizza.

For those of you wondering what weight loss will mean for your run times:

WEIGHT LOST	5K	10K	HALF-MARATHON	MARATHON
2 lbs	12.4 secs	25 secs	52 secs	1:45
5 lbs	31 secs	1:02	2:11	4:22
10 lbs	1:02	2:04	4:22	8:44
20 lbs	2:04	4:08	8:44	17:28

Race report: Grit and Balls

I did it, I followed my race strategy, went out hard and hoped to hold on for the finish. It worked real well for 18 miles and then the wheels came off and the engine seized. I made it to the finish line but not without some serious pain and "Grit and Balls" as Kevin Garnett was recently quoted as saying. Truth of the matter is I left every ounce of effort out on the course. At the end of the day that is all you can ask for, and if you don't reach your goal then at the very least you can keep your head held high. Breaking down the numbers and taking a step back to analyze, it was easy to see what went wrong. First things first I relied on the aid stations for GU and fluids, when at the end of the day it is never too smart to leave anything to chance. My reason for this was a)my disdain for wearing fuel belts and b)having read the race website and being confident they would uphold their end of the bargain. They did not, so I ended up consuming only two Gu's (the first one at mile 12) and probably only got in about 20oz of water/Gatorade. They had advertised gels at 7 of the 8 aid stations and only had them available at 4 (the last one being with 2 miles to go). So poor nutrition and a lack of fluid certainly did not help my result. Going out too fast at the start. This has been a big issue with me at all my races but I was aware of that and although I hit mile 1 at a 6:17/mile pace my heart rate was steady and in control. From there I held a faster than goal pace for as long as I could, thus hitting 5K in 20:20, 10K in 41:44 and the half marathon in 1:28. This translates to a 6:45/mile pace which I have now done for the half marathon distance 3 times. So this was good and truth be told I was in a great rythmn and felt strong. I knew at this point a lack of gels and fluids was going to catch up to me, but the only option I had was to keep runnning and running hard. From miles 13 to 17 I was tetering but was still under race pace until mile 16. From there it was a slow decline until mile 18 where the wall went up and my body had had enough. Getting to mile 20 was a huge relief and I even got pretty excited seeing 2:18 on the clock knowing I had 6.2 miles to go and 47 minutes to do it. On any given day this is not a problem and in fact despite my legs feeling like they were cased in cement I really still felt I could do it. However those that have run this distance or any distance over what they are prepared for knows that no matter how hard you run, and no matter how much your mind wants to do it, sometimes it just isn't there. My body was out of calories and hydration was not adequate. So starting at mile 20 it all went to sh*%. The numbers don't lie, 7:35, 7:50, 8:23, 8:56, 9:03, 9:13, and 8:54 for the last 7 miles. And then came the .2 miles which is the hallmark of the marathon distance. Only problem was that this .2 miles somehow ended up being .5 miles. On any normal day a little extra is not the end of the world but when you are doing the Bataan death march that can be a real long time. It also adds time which in a race against the clock is not a good thing. So there it is, I held a 6:55/mile pace for 20 miles and then promptly hit the wall. Running a final 10K in 56 minutes was a reality check but knowing that I gave everything I had and then some made me ok with the how the day went. A lot was learned and I know that with proper nutrition and maybe a different pace strategy things may have turned out different. I will however not omplain about finishing a marathon in 3:14 so it is what it is. Boston will always be there and this was my first ever attempt at a fast marathon so all and all I am happy. For those that want to see me hit the wall here is the Garmin profile. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/175495384