2018 IRONMAN 70.3 CHATTANOOGA Race Recap#IM703CHATT

Last week was the IRONMAN 70.3 CHATTANOOGA triathlon in Chattanooga, TN.  Where were you!?

I was there!
I came.  I saw.  I finished.
End of race report.... ok maybe not.

There's a couple of things that happened in between.

I headed out from KC the Thursday before... for my 12 hour drive that started after throwing the kids on the bus for school.  Being a thrifty racer, I opted to drive with all my gear and stay at a budget friendly BNB 1.5 miles north of the river.  I brought all my own food and with the exception of dinner with some friends the night before the race, I avoided costly trips eating out.

BUT, along the way, I spotted the below and our good friend Chris that doesn't seem to get the idea of taking care of your bike.  I mean, really?  Your bike's outside on a rack when you have a camper trailer?  Bad form.  He got some razzing on Facebook for that.

I also hung around IRONMAN Village for some announcements and the Pro Panel.
One awesome announcement was that IRONMAN and Chattanooga extended their contract for 5 more years for the half and full.  The race isn't going anywhere for a while, and for good reason.  Great venue!

The pro panel consisted of Andrew Starykowicz, Andy Potts, Adam Otstot, Heather Jackson, Meredith Kessler and Linsey Corbin. Listen in as they weren't all that excited about the points system being modified and having to chase new targets to qualify for Kona.

I dropped by Quintana Roo bikes for a factory tour and sit down with new IRONMAN world record holder Matt Hanson.  QR are great bikes (despite some issues I had with components that they replaced for me when I dropped in) and Matt seemed like a cool customer.

On to the race...
THE SWIM // 25:08 // 1:18 per 100 m
Hello swimming.... can we say wetsuit and down river swim!?
I wish I was that fast in real life, but nothing helps the freestyle more than rubber and a current.  I know I enjoyed the self seeded start, rolling start and only 25 minutes to get 1.2 miles.  I'm pretty sure this swim time will stand for the rest of my life as a PR.

THE BIKE // 2:44:54 // 20.4 mph
After the swim warm up, I hit the road.

It wasn't like I remembered the full in 2014.  The first 15 miles were uneventful and then it started wearing on me.  No, not the hills.  The chip seal roads and cracks every 4 feet.  I was so worn out by being rattled for 56 miles.  My back did NOT like that.  For the full, I'll probably look at a lesser inflation on the tires to soften the ride.

There was some drafting, sadly.  Couple of pace lines 5 to 6 riders deep passed at times and looked to have no intentions of spacing out or passing.  Just zooming by having a great team ride.  But, when you have 2500 athletes, some aren't going to play by the rules.

I also implemented my less is more in nutrition and more is more in hydration.  My goal was to get just under a gallon of water in on the bike, half a bottle of sports drink and only took 1.5 GU gels.  This was after breakfast 2 hours before the swim and clif blocks 45 min before and hot shot 20 minutes before the swim.  Also had a hot shot to start the bike.  The plan was hydration, energy to make it through the run without needing solids and avoid sloshing and GI issues on the run.  I knew the hills were coming on the run and heat was starting to be a factor by the end of the bike.

THE RUN // 1:45:43 // 8:04 min/mile
While not blazing fast, it's a solid pace for 13.1 miles after 1.2 swim and 56 miles on the bike.  I hit my goal here to stay close to my 7:30 pace which slipped the last few miles and hill sin the heat.

The big climbs conveniently were in full sun locations, keeping everyone honest and exposing those that had not prepared to make that run.

I caught most of the bikers I was hop scotching with on the bike without a problem and made some serious headway.  I was on pace for a sub 5, but with 4 miles to go, heat kicking up and more hills to come, I was relegated to holding whatever pace I could find and get to the finish.

THE END // 5:03:54
Not a PR technically with the 5:01 in Boulder, but the bike was 2 miles short in Boulder, but Choo is a down river swim.  each in their own way helped me out, but the hills on the run for Choo were a lot tougher than the run around the Rez in Boulder.  Equally difficult in their own right, so I'll keep the 5:01 PR knowing I gave what I had for Choo (A effort) that with any past fitness, I would have taken longer.  Had I raced Boulder with this fitness level, I think I would have easily been sub 5.


Thoughts about racing a half

• Be ready for heat. It snuck up in a hurry on the run. Do some runs in the heat working on energy management and hydration. 
• Focus on managing the excitement that will come out of T2 when you get off the bike and the crowds are cheering. There's a tendency to ride the wave and then be walking by mile 7. Even energy flow out of T1 and T2. 
• Get some hydration at the aid stations and walk them a bit to let everything settle. You have 13 miles to get all that energy out. 
• If you do training indoors, practice being in aero as you would outside. Personally I had the saddle time, but not enough indoors was spent in aero and I paid for it with a sore back and having to get out of aero a lot to stretch the back on the fly. Dare I say that was the one point I could have saved more time for my sub 5. 
• NUTRITION For Choo I only had the following: 700 calories overnight oats mix 2 hours before start time. Brought it and drank it after transition setup. Hot shot 20 min before start. clif blocks 45 minutes before start. Hot Shot in T1. 1.6 GU gels on the bike. Half a serving of gatorade packet on the bike. 24+ oz of water on the bike - enough that I had to pee 3 times Hot Shot in T2 1 dixie cup of Gatorade on the run + sipping water every aid station As you can see, that's not a lot of calories. I depended on my breakfast for most of the race and supplemented a little during the race to avoid GI distress. Don't get caught up thinking you need to eat a ton during the race. Obviously if you are out there for a bit, you will need a little more, but you're body can only take in so much on the bike and run before you end up with a gut bomb.

Thoughts for IRONMAN Chattanooga 144.6

• The roads are mostly chip seal and cracks = bumpy and momentum draining. Be ready on the flats to be peddling with some power to keep momentum. 
• When training, think about the start and end of the ride and then subtract 10% of the energy you have left (probably more). That's what you end up with on race day. Don't race to 100% of your power. The bike is energy management and time to fuel and hydrate to set up the run. Don't blow it by focusing on a speed or target split time. 
• So many factors can change your bike time and speed. Be comfortable riding in groups. The course will be crowded on the bike loops. 
• Run course... think Hospital Hill x 2 for you KC locals. It is draining to have to climb those hills. Take the hill runs seriously. Learn to manage the effort as you will be doing that 8 to 10 times over 26.2 miles in the heat. 
• The last few years the heat was in the 90's and it's more humid than KC. BE READY and expect A HOT DAY. Hydration, pacing and energy management will be key between having a great race and dragging across the line looking for the med tent. I know... been there with a big fat DNF at Texas.

Well, that's a lot and about wraps it up.  Any questions?  Shoot me a note, comment on the blog, find me at www.SetThePaceTriathlon.com - REACH OUT!

2016 Ironman 70.3 Racine Race Preview @asicsAmerica @Team_HOTSHOT @LifetimeTri @GenUCAN

So it's around 10 to 15 degrees cooler in Racine, WI, than Olathe, KS.

Which is good for every day walking around, and good for biking and running generally, but not so good for a brisk 1.2 mile swim in mid 60's Lake Michigan.

Tomorrow wraps up my long course triathlon racing for 2016.  Ironman 70.3 Racine has been my target race ever since I signed up late last year.  The course is flat, the temps are cool and it's "drivable" from home, if you consider 10 hours drivable (with stops).

I ended up manning it alone as the kids are on a trip with my mom and Em had to work and watch after a certain little 6 month old at home.  I do have a large contingent of friends and neighbors around, so it's not all loneliville.

Look who just turned 6 months old!

Where you at?

My training has been consistent, but not as productive as I would hope.  Having a new kid definitely changes the game and switching to an office job puts a kink in the works.  I've managed by super early workouts to get to work early to avoid traffic and lunch workouts at our downtown executive airport.  It's got s 3.6 mile loop around the runway that's low traffic and no stops.  The only kicker is trying to jam a workout in and get cleaned up and back to my desk in a timely fashion.  Hence, every workout is shorter than I'd hoped and in the heat of the day during the summer.

BUT, I'm not complaining.  I'm getting it in, just takes more effort now.  I was hoping for some more biking miles than I got in, but what are you going to do?

But the bike may not be the issue race day...

Storms are looming.

Weather.com shows 60+ percent chance of storms all morning will the likelihood going up around 10am.

My swim wave doesn't go until 8am, so I'll potentially be in the thick of it on the bike at 10am.  Should be interesting.

At most I'm hoping we can race the whole event, and not have a duathlon or bike and run event or just a run.... I've been lucky with no weather issues for races this year and hoping the streak continues.

I'm also grateful for racing the Kansas City Triathlon in May when it was pretty chilly to know, I can put together a good race in the 60's and not freeze to death on the bike.  That being said, I will be bringing a layer to wear over my tri top in the event it's raining.  At least now I know to leave the tri shorts in T1 so I have dry shorts for the ride.  It helped tremendously.

I'll be checking weather, but not stressing about it.  Only so much you can control.  At least it's guaranteed wetsuit legal no matter what being in Lake Michigan!

What's my prediction?

Perfect weather // 30ish min swim // under 3 hour bike // under 1:45 run // 5:15 in perfect conditions
Rain // I have no idea.  Lake could be full of waves // bike could be VERY slow // run should be ok // who knows

It's just hard to tell since the Legends 70.3 in June was after a 5k and a half marathon in the days before.  It was more for fun and training than racing for time.

Check the ole Facebook page for updates on race day or www.ironman.com for real time tracking.

All I know is I'm ready to race and head back home to be with the family!

What I'll be using race day:

HotShot muscle cramp reducer
ASICS gel cumulus 17's
Lifetime Fitness Tri TEAM kit
UCAN superstarch and hydrate
XTERRA vortex full wetsuit

Bust out a SWEET @GenUCAN cinnamon blueberry smoothie!

Trying out UCAN, and LOVING IT!

Thought I'd share a new smoothie recipe that I can't get enough of!

As you may know, I am a Triathlon Coach with Lifetime Fitness and Lifetime is connected with UCAN.  It's a great nutrition and hydration product line that utilizes natural sweeteners and no sugars.  The superstarch line is great for energy and I recently experimented with implementing it with a blueberry smoothie.

I have been trying out the cinnamon flavor and it's AWESOME in smoothies, not so much as a coffee additive.  ;)  Yes, I tried it in coffee and it doesn't really work out well.  Stick to smoothies and mixing with water.

On to the recipe!
Here's the breakdown:

Oikos Triple Zero Plain Yogurt - 0.5 cup
Blueberries - 0.5 cup - I freeze them - YUM
Almond Breeze Unsweetened Original Almond Milk - 1 cup
UCAN Cinnamon Superstarch - 1 scoop
PB Fit Peanut Butter Powder - 2 tablespoons
Lifetime Fitness Grass Fed Vanilla Whey Protein - 0.5 scoop
Ice Cubes - 1 full tray

Just toss it in a blender and ice crush to mix fully.  Just that easy.

Here's the nutrition breakdown.

Just pour in a cup and enjoy the flavor and energy high!  Heads up - don't drink a few hours from when you want to go to sleep as it might interfere with going to bed and actually being able to get to sleep in a timely manor.  Hours of steady energy, focus and no sudden crash!

#90DayChallenge Update with @LifetimeFitness

Ok folks, here's an update keeping me accountable... maybe.

I posted a few weeks ago about how I signed up for Lifetime Fitness' 90 Day Challenge.

It's not for one specific genre of person, but can be beneficial for anyone to refocus nutrition and fitness after the holidays.

In an effort to be transparent, here's an update on how it's going.

By the NUMBERS
I started at 176.1 pounds on weigh-in weekend on 2/6 and 6.4 percent body fat.
Today (3/8) I weighed in at 177.9 and 5.5 percent body fat.

I have an ideal body weight of 165 for racing season, but I also want to stay in a healthy range for body fat and not force my body into muscle catabolism and eat muscle by not getting enough calories to compensate for training.  It's a delicate balance of nutrition and training.  Still working on it as you can see since I'm up in weight, but down in body fat.  The fluctuation is minimal and typical for me from day to day.  The In Body scale is also very sensitive to recent meals and fluid intake.  So... breakfast, hydration or lack thereof can shift the numbers.

BUT, I would like to see the body weight go down and from the trend on the chart, it was going the right way, but spiked up this week.

Could be the cake we had for Daughter #1's birthday.  :)  Saved leftovers for day off meal day and made sure the evidence was gone before the end of the day.  Don't worry, I had help.  I've also been known to indulge in 32 ounces of pure heaven, like Cold Stone oatmeal cookie batter ice cream with Reece's Peanut Butter Cups on off meal days.  Ya, it doesn't help, but you still have to live and indulge where you can.

I have been tracking calories.

I use MyFitness Pal to track my calories.  I have been for a while now.  Over a race season, I have a higher allowance, but during base (fall through winter) building, I back it down since there's less intensity and volume and more drills and technique work.

Keep in mind, I DO NOT add my workouts into the app since it will adjust your target.  I separate nutrition and track workouts on Garmin Connect and do not sync them.

During the holidays, the weekly overage had been from 7000 to sometimes 9500 calories over for a week.  That happens with pumpkin pies and Christmas cookies.  Lets keep it real.  But, days on were within range, but I timed off days with Tday meals, Christmas treats, birthdays, etc.  So when it was off meal days, it was ALL OUT and GAME ON.

Now it's time to bring that back in, queue 90 Day Challenge.

Change a lifestyle choice, track the changes.

Right now, I'm adding a little more training volume, but I'm more focused on daily nutrition being spot on and not going so insane on the off day.  Cold Stone 32 ounces is till my weakness, but I try and keep the rest of off day as normal as possible.

So far I have had success, with last week being a little off with a regular day being at capacity with unscheduled chips and dip that affected the week numbers.  But, you have to live a little and be ok with every day not being perfect.  Lets be real and lets be human.

So that's where I'm at...

Trending the wrong direction with weight, but I need to stay the course.  Body fat is staying in a good range, but I need to be more diligent with regular days, but be better with staying on the rails on off days for food.

Food is fuel, but sometimes you need to live life and hit the 87 octane and take a day off from 98, know what I mean?

It also helps that we are now done with birthdays in our house until July.  We have Easter to survive with the baskets of candy and jelly beans.... ahhhh jelly beans.... what?  SQUIRREL!  I should be able to stay on track, but who knows what curve balls will come my way, like free Chipotle burrito coupons.  Damn you, Chipotle!

#90DayChallenge with @LifetimeFitness

So I'm weighed in and ready to go!

Why sign up for 90 Day Challenge you ask?  You're a Lifetime Fitness Tri coach!  You've done several events and 3 full IRONMAN races!  You're in pretty decent shape!

It's called accountability after Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and my birthday.

The Day Off diet plan is great, but I have taken it to extremes the past few months due to the holidays and all the great treats that come with them.  Man have I lived it up!

But, now it's time to reign it in and sharpen the saw for the upcoming season.  Life may throw you a curve with not being able to catch all of your workouts, but you can pretty much control what you put in your mouth on a daily basis.

You gotta have goals!
I do.  I'm not interested in going extreme and there's a difference between being healthy and obsessed.

I want to stay around 170 for the season while maintaining muscle mass (cause if you lose muscle, you lose speed and power) and a healthy body fat.  Too little body fat and you leave yourself vulnerable to illness and injury.  It's a thin line to walk on the opposite end.

START LINE
Here's my starting stats.
Weight = 176.1 pounds
Body Fat = 6.4 %
Check out these FANTASTIC before pictures...

I'll weigh in each Tuesday and see what the scale is telling me.  My cheat days / off days will require more discipline and self control not to go hog wild and eat in excess ALL DAY LONG.  With the base training I have done all winter, it was pretty straight forward to maintain, but I was exceeding the weekly limits with one day off and the scale was tipping to 180 (have no idea what the body fat was).

Tune in if you'd like to follow along.  As I mentioned, my goal is to really nail the nutrition while increased workload for the upcoming endurance season.  Of course I'm human and would like to see results in the mirror, but I'd rather be healthy than just "look" healthy by starving myself.

Where does the time go!? Spending time with @LifeTimeTri

I'm here!  I swear!
I didn't fall off the face of the earth, but I did have a kid!

She arrived 5 weeks early which required a mandatory stay in the NICU for a week to make sure all was ok, but we are home and finding a new normal with 3 kids and 2 jobs for me!

Great lesson learned was being packed at all times for swim, bike, run and street clothes.  Went straight from work to hospital when we found out and luckily I had a change of clothes to get me through.  Thank goodness for a grotesquely large duffel bag.

I recently also saw some articles about how birth is like running a marathon.  Now my wife truly knows the suffering I go through... finally.  Maybe it's the other way around and I need to times marathon running by 10 or 20.  Naaaaa.

And nothing beats painting bedrooms at midnight since your daughter decided you get shorted 5 weeks to get ready.  It's all good.

Hope she likes pink...

Have to keep the older kids moving!
Volleyball anyone?

 The next Shaq?

On top of all that I managed to get USAT re-certified.
Nothing like waiting until the last minute to get my recert for USAT level 1 coaching to go with my Lifetime Triathlon coaching gig!

It was a lot of hours at the last minute that I'll never get back, but I wanted to stay current.  It was all good stuff and I'm ready to kick butt.

To go along with Lifetime I hosted and directed my first indoor triathlon at my club in Kansas.  I would say at 55 athletes it was a success!  Thanks to Bikesource and ASICS for throwing some goodies our way for top finishers.  It was taxing, but rewarding!

Speaking of coaching, training and nutrition...
Do as I say, not as I do.

IHOP endless pancakes.  Challenge accepted.  Mission failed.

First attempt - 10 pancakes
Second attempt - 12 pancakes
My kids even made fun of how little I could eat.

I'm coming back for another attempt and taking no prisoners.

I'm also still running MetaRun through the paces.
We have been getting cold, rain, snow, sleet, ice and all kinds of wintry goodness in Kansas City.  I have been taking the MetaRun out when possible and have a few opinions formed and will share more since they are a huge advancement and have a hefty price tag.

Are they worth it?  Stay tuned.

So there you have it.  I'm not that busy really, just lazy, right?

Day-Off Diet + New Years = all show and no go for Dr Oz?

So there I was... watching Dr Oz on the trainer...

It's an interesting story.  I was riding the trainer at a later than normal time and happen to catch the Dr Oz show.  Normally my inner monologue goes as follows:

• Dr Oz show starts.
• Look at it for a minute and digest what garbage he has now.
• Think to self, this dude is a quack.
• Change the channel to something more inspiring or informative.

But, this time was different.

He announced his Day-Off Diet.  He packaged it up like it's something new, but in reality it's been around for a while in the dark little circles of the inner webs you talk about at triathlete Christmas parties and stuff of legends.

Simply put, you eat a sensible diet for 6 days, and 1 day you can eat what you want.
Finer print:

• Not really counting calories
• Eat healthy fats
• Eat within reason on your day off
• Pick your day off to work with your life - parties, gatherings, etc

It was actually simple and straight forward.  I didn't get into the fine details, but on the surface it makes is reasonable to not count calories, weigh food and eat clean 100 percent of the time.  That's a recipe for disaster when Burger King is offering death on a plate for $4.  But, with his plan, you can eat that BK crap on your day off.

Here's the catch, it's not that new.  Dr Oz just put some marketing on it and now sells it as a diet plan to compete with the other 1000 out there.

I've been subscribing to this method since over a year ago around Dec 2014.

Before that I was racing IM distance events, eating freely while trying to keep the bulk of it "healthy", but when you burn thousands of calories in one day, two Chipotle burritos won't hurt you.  Problem was I did lose weight while in the highest volume phase, but it was blind luck trying to remember if I ate too much junk in what days and how often.

Ask any triathlete that's been doing it for a while about race weight and sit back for a 3 hour diatribe into what that means.

Before IM distance races, I clocked in from 190 to 195.  Not bad as I was more into weight lifting, but bulky for wanting to go long course.  I focused on eating a little better and while training for IM Lake Tahoe, I was around 185 to 190.  Not bad.  Problem was it was hard to maintain in off season and I got to 190 to 195 again.

Flash forward to 2014 IM Chattanooga and getting some insight into macronutrients and food tracking.  I'm an avid MyFitness pal tracking daily eating.  I track calories, carbs, fat and protein.  You need them all in the right balance to function optimally and once you get into the habit, it's easy to meet your weight goals and adjust for training and off season.  I was clocking in around 170 to 175 and I wasn't starving!!!

6 days I eat pretty clean.  Some traveling days for work are hard to meet the goals, but these days you can find options on the road, in airports and at hotel restaurants.  It can be done.

The chosen off day, it's game on!

Challenge accepted, IHOP.

So what's the point of this post?

I always raise an eyebrow when you see the fast food deals for so much crap food for so little money when you have to pay $4 for a little tub of blueberries.  Eating intentionally and being healthy about it is HARD WORK.  Well worth it, but hard.

For once, a "fad" Dr Oz show was worth it's salt to watch.

The Day Off diet should be the Day Off Lifestyle.

Lets face it, fast food and crap food that tastes great and is in plentiful supply is not going away anytime soon.

Why torture yourself by cutting it completely out?

This gives you some actual real life tools to cope with trying to maintain a healthy weight and being able to enjoy the fun things as well.  I'm in my offseason and I survived Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas eating like a pig for 1 day a week and I'm still keeping 170 to 175.  It's not rocket science, but it takes dedication and a decision to stay on track.

Results are real, you just have to find a lifestyle that works for you and stick with it.

Just keep in mind what season you're in whether or not your day off includes 10,000 calories... it's easy to do.

Good luck!