Pass the vegemite

Cadel Evans, the soon-to-be oldest winner of the Tour de France, came out of hibernation this week to win the Tirreno-Adriatico in the dominant fashion we have come to expect from him. Cadel continues the Australia-New Zealand wave that is sweeping the cycling world.

Feels good mate!

While that cycling world is anxiously awaiting la Primavera, aka Milano-San Remo, I am sure folks in Belgium are really much more interested in tomorrow's edition of Nokere Koerse, won last year by none other than promising neo-pro Jens Keukeleire.

Today is also a sad day for Belgian cycling. 40 years ago, on March 15, 1971, then world champion Jean Pierre Monseré ("Jempi") was killed during a bike race. He was 21 years old.

I dug up some more photos to entertain you while I am on my blogular holiday. Here are some shots from my first Iron distance endurance race, the Great Floridian in Clermont, Florida.  I finished eight in my age group, despite running out of food and suffering badly on the bike.

In Clermont, FL, triathlon capital of the world..

First Ironman

And finally a shot after finishing the first trademarked Ironman in Panama City Florida.

That was easy!?

And a very well worn race number from that infamous race.

More pictures

First Big Kahuna in 2003. One of my first half-iron distance races. The water was so cold that year it took me almost 10 minutes in transition to warm up and get going. I was told the swim course was too long--it surely felt that way. My total time was 5:39:05 and I was 13th in my age group. I swam for almost 1 hour (52:01) and was thoroughly frozen. The bike leg on my old Merckx that John Cobb thought was way too small for me. Last shot is near the finish on the beach, Annelise tried to run into the chute with me but I did not see her coming so I ran past her.

FROZEN!!

On the bike, a 2:36:19

Finish, Annelise in the background

Recovery drink

The issue of recovery drinks came up again yesterday after someone posted an article and ad from Erdinger Alcoholfrei touting its benefits as a recovery drink. Although Erdinger is a beer and the title of the report read Athletes Replacing Sports Drinks with Beer, I need to point out that Alcoholfrei means free of alcohol, so the beer that is being sold here is not a real beer. Certainly not real in the Belgian sense of beer. It is simply a brewed concoction that had the alcohol removed.

The article was news to cyclists but triathletes have long known about this brand through none other than  Faris al-Sultan, the former ironman world champion.

Erdinger sponsors triathlon events

I am not sure why people are so convinced that they need a recovery drink, but in America at least, the consensus seems to be that one cannot perform well without them. It is like stretching prior to running, or massage after an ironman. People simply assume that one cannot recover well or perform well without those rituals and potions. As I have pointed out many times before I do not lend credence to these beliefs. Furthermore I am living proof that one can improve -and improve quite significantly I might add- without all this stuff.

The issue of recovery drinks got a big boost last year when none other than Fabian Cancellara was seen gulping down a protein shake after winning the Tour of Flanders in a rather decisive way. His action had a profound impact on the normally cynical Europeans, and before anyone thought of the infamous cancellara-motor, the protein shake was widely mentioned and credited with magical powers.

Fabian on the kapelmuur

Years ago when I ran Ironman Switzerland, which was not one of my best performances by the way although I had the shortest T1 there, I was treated to Erdinger after the race. It tasted really good and due to its low (or absent) alcohol content I was able to drink quite a bit of it without getting drunk. I must admit though that as soon as my biggest thirst was over, I did top it off with a good bona fide beer, before jumping into the hot tubs that were provided at the finish line by one of the race sponsors.

Beer is a very popular recovery drink for many master athletes and when it is available it appears most prefer it to sodas or other drinks. Nonetheless, these people would not dare call it a recovery drink (other than jokingly) or even admit that they consumed it after the race or ride.

True recovery drinks are protein drinks or protein shakes. In essence they are usually nothing more than chocolate milk, although some like chocolate milk shakes (i.e. with ice cream). The commercial versions sold by PowerBar and other companies are essentially chocolate milk with some added salts and vitamins.

The rationale behind recovery drinks -apart from having more stuff to sell- seems to be the finding that muscle is more eager to take up protein (read amino acids) in the first twenty or thirty minutes after hard exercise. The finding by itself is not surprising and one would expect muscle recovery to involve enhanced amino acid uptake. The real question of course is whether supplying oral protein immediately after exercise will actually lead to better recovery.

I.e. it may well be true that muscle is more receptive to circulating amino acids for a limited time  immediately after exercise. But that does not necessarily mean that supplying oral protein will make a difference. The first issue to consider is whether we can get the amino acids that are being supplied by eating or drinking protein to the muscle in time. Even if you gulp down a protein drink immediately after the race, it will take quite a while for your digestive system to process it. Unlike carbohydrates (sugars) protein digestion is a rather slow process. Add to that the fact that in many individuals the digestive tract is essentially shut down, and you can see that we are faced with more than a theoretical hurdle.

But there is no reason to worry. There is ample time for muscle recovery to take place. Even for those involved in multi-day stage races, the overnight hours are all it takes. And unless activity is at a very high level from day to the next, a few hours recovery is all it takes. Without the need for special food items. Such is the lesson we learn from RAAM. As a matter of fact, the more normal your diet, the better you will do.

It is really only at the end of 2-3 week high intensity stage races that people tend to fall behind and end up in a catabolic state.

And one last thought. Drinking or eating protein during the race is definitely unnecessary. There is no way muscle can build protein during an event so all the protein you ingest gets burned as either carbohydrate or fat (the explanation needs a bit of biochemistry here but suffice it to say that some amino acids get burned as carbs, while others go down the fat pathway). All the protein ingested during an event -to the extent that you can digest it- gets burned as fuel.

Many people however, do like to eat some protein in a long event such as ironman. Although the protein per se won't help muscle recovery, there is also no reason to avoid protein either- as some would advise. The extra nitrogen load is negligible and unless you have advanced kidney disease -in which case you probably would not compete- there is nothing to worry about.

The bottom line: don't spend your money on fancy recovery concoctions. Have a beer or drink some chocolate milk. And don't worry about eating a sandwich during Ironman. You will feel better and hence you will do better too!

Tour of California

According to the local media, the Tour of California organization has dropped a provision that excluded riders who are subject to a pending doping investigation, prompting speculation that Lance Armstrong may enter the race. The Texan, who is under investigation by US authorities for activities relating to his Postal Service years, has quietly withdrawn from cycling after the Tour Down Under where he faced a barrage of doping-related questioning. A re-appearance with a more upbeat exit cannot be ruled out.

Lance had earlier canceled plans to race triathlon on the Ironman circuit. He was due to start Ironman New Zealand after the Tour Down Under, in order to secure a spot for the world championships in Kona, HI in October. He had been training on the big island last year and even challenged Chris Lieto, former second place finisher to an informal time trial there. He must have figured if I can beat second place Chris on the bike, I will win for sure.

However, after last year's stunning win by Chris McCormack Lance must have realized that his chances were close to non-existent. Lance, as we all know, does not enter races unless he thinks he can win them.



Ironman races are decided on the run portion of the event. Even if Lance were to ride a stunning TT and gain 20 minutes, chances are a runner like Chris McCormack or Craig Alexander would find him rather easily in the marathon. Winning times for that segment have now dropped well below the 3 hr mark. Based on Lance's previous marathon results it would be surprising if he could run a 3 hr marathon in Ironman. So there is a very real chance that -like Chris- he would just make the top 10- a nightmare of epic proportions for a seven time Tour de France winner.

A further interesting note regarding the Tour of California is that the AEG organization will hand over doping investigations to WADA.  USADA apparently pushed for testing to be done by an independent agency, and not UCI and its potential conflict of interest.

WADA would like to begin testing next week for the May 15-22 race and AEG has asked the teams for a list of 12 riders by the weekend. Even so, AEG does not want to exclude riders who are not on the list from entering at the last moment. If Lance were to stage such a last minute entry nobody would have the guts to stop him.

But on to the interesting question of early testing. WADA thinks doping will happen in the months leading up to event. Surely longer term remedies such as growth hormone, anabolic steroids, etc. take several weeks to show an effect and that effect lasts for months. These compounds work mainly through building muscle and promoting muscle adaptations that do not happen overnight.

Last year riders were first tested 10 days before the start of the race. Given that the event lasts for a week that left the door wide open for most forms of doping, including what is probably the most effective form of doping, blood doping in all its incarnations.

Blood doping relies on extra red blood cells to carry oxygen. Since performance is largely limited by cardiovascular performance -which in turn means the capacity to deliver oxygen- blood doping is probably the most effective form of doping. I say probably because my background in drug development tells me that the only way to be sure a drug is efficacious is to see how it performs in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. To the best of my knowledge no such testing has ever happened. So even though blood doping makes total sense, and should enhance performance, we won't know unless we test it.

In any case, blood doping is not only (rumored to be) most efficacious, it is also virtually undetectable if done properly. The best way to catch blood doping is to find the athlete in flagrante delicto and the chances of that happening are insignificant to say the least.

Red blood cells survive for a long time. The value one finds in the literature is 120 days, or nearly four months. Of course there are cells of all ages in a random sample so one cannot expect the cells gathered to last for that long when re-infused later. Furthermore, storage does affect life expectancy and even properly stored cells will not survive as long as they would in vivo. But in all likelihood a transfusion 10 days out will guarantee extra cells for the 20 days needed and then some. Such an autologous transfusion would be undetectable.

There is a lot of talk about biological passports and even dating red cells, but as a practical matter these methods are not going to achieve much. If statistical methods gain traction it would open a whole new can of worms, and one lawyers would love to tackle. Then lawyers would indeed wreck the sport as McQuaid so miraculously predicted.

EPO is even better when there is extra time. rhEPO's half life is less than half a day (4-13 hrs) so it is undetectable after just a day. But its effect lasts for months as new cells will be formed that will easily survive for 3-4 months. As you can see, this is a no-win situation.

The irony is that there is a very simple and very effective way to stop blood doping. Simply set a limit on the hematocrit. Unfortunately that means switching to a method that favors science and abandons the magic-inspired forbidden substances rules that WADA holds so dear. If you think WADA likes science think again.

WADA prefers to use the latest science to uphold a pre-scientific set of beliefs. This is no different from religious groups using science to enforce religion as described in the Feynman incident where orthodox Jews asked him whether nuclear energy was fire, so they would know if it was allowed on the Shabbat.

Measuring hematocrit is simple and easy to do. Rumor has it athletes who engage in blood doping use it to check their outcomes. It thus appears that the groups using doping are indeed far ahead of the regulators in their adoption of scientific thinking and the scientific method.

In Bruges, beer, and ironman

Yesterday we watched the movie "In Bruges." It was entertaining, funny at times, silly at times, but what is best about it is that it offers an impressive sightseeing tour of the city without the crowds. Granted, the characters sometimes teleport from one location to another that is almost a mile away, but unless you are intimately familiar with the city and its layout you will never notice. Ironically enough the characters are not very fond of Bruges and refer to it as a "shit hole" more than once. But that should not detract from the visual beauty that is apparent in every shot. Probably no better way to see it all from the comfort of your home. The tour even includes visits to the museums and shots of the most famous works of art that are there.

Ralph Fiennes in Bruges, more credible than Voldemort, but just as evil

Speaking of Bruges and Belgium, I picked up a six pack of Leffe at Whole Foods the other day. Here is a great blond Abbey beer that can hold its own in any contest, yet is easy to approach and enjoy. The Leffe can be enjoyed straight out of the bottle but like any self-respecting Belgian I use a glass.

Leffe, the glass I got at the Pacific Crest half ironman

The glass, a souvenir from the Pacific Crest endurance weekend, brought on a discussion about triathlon and ironman. I mentioned rather casually that I had participated in several ironman races, which caused one of my guests to look at me as if I was from another planet. It is strange how many people seem to believe that finishing an ironman is a superhuman endeavor, when in reality it is rather easy to do.

When I say easy I don't mean that finishing an ironman is easy, as in taking no effort. The race is most certainly not a walk in the park. On the other hand it does not require superhuman strength or endurance to finish. Six months of training will suffice for anyone who is not terribly overweight or out of shape. The time window is rather generous and allows for a very leisurely pace. Thousands of people finish ironman every year and thousands more ride double centuries or run 50 mi ultra-marathons, which are comparable in effort required.

While finishing an ironman is easy (as in eminently possible) racing an ironman is a different matter. If you start out with the simple goal of finishing, chances are very good that you will indeed finish and live to tell the tale. But if you set out to race or set a personal best, things are very different indeed. Now your chances of finishing are quite a bit smaller and unless you are well prepared, and have a good plan, you can easily end up with a DNF.

Finishing Coeur d'Alene (with Annelise). First time I ran the marathon start to finish

Pacing is the key to success and nowhere is that more true than in ironman. What makes the pacing more difficult however, is that there are two distinct disciplines that come with their own set of rules. It is hard to mess up the swim, but the bike and the run can be challenging for all. The bikers are prone to go too hard on the bike, which can mess up their marathon, while the runners often do not eat enough and bonk on the bike, resulting in the same problem.

Food and diets

Once again nutritional supplements are headline news. This time the benefits of vitamin D and calcium are questioned. What I find shocking is that this so-called revelation is nothing more than a rehash of what we have known to be true for more than 50 years.

Waste of money

When I went to medical school more than three decades ago I learned that osteoporosis is a bone disease affecting the bone matrix proper and that calcium supplements are of no benefit in this condition. If anything excess calcium -remember the bone is also loosing calcium here- put a burden on the kidney and increase the risk for kidney stones.

This mantra was repeated over and over again and finally ended up on a test as well. Someone was clearly concerned that we get the message. And for good reason, because then as now doctors were busily prescribing calcium supplements to anyone with evidence of bone loss. Unfortunately, such bad behavior -akin to prescribing antibiotics for viral infections- only got worse as time went by. By the 1990's doctors had moved ahead and were now recommending calcium supplements for healthy young women with no evidence of bone loss whatsoever.

It would be easy to point a finger at the pharmaceutical industry, which undoubtedly played a major role in all this. But that would be to ignore the urge of doctors to do something, even if they full well knew it was useless. Doctors and patients hate to feel helpless and nothing is more problematic in the practice of medicine than the urge to do something.

Let me be very clear on this: there is no need for any nutritional supplement whatsoever. There are no proven benefits of any supplement but there are potentially serious side-effects. Taking supplements is at best a waste of money, but more often dangerous for your health.

There is also no need for special diets. Humans can thrive on nearly any diet that includes some variety. There is no evidence that any diet is better than any other. Adults can tolerate anything, from complete carnivore to complete vegan and stay healthy. The key health issue relating to food has to do with quantity of food consumed.

The culprit in the obesity epidemic is the ubiquitous availability of cheap calorie dense food. All weight gain is due to excessive intake and all weight loss is due to reduced calorie intake. No diet offers any advantage over any other diet when it comes to weight loss. What matters is calories, pure and simple.

Athletes should eat normal food whenever possible. When offered a choice, always choose regular food  over any packaged, prepared, and especially "scientifically designed" offering. If you doubt the latter, please note that many nutrients were discovered because deficiencies were seen in people who were fed scientifically designed diets.

Endurance athletes are especially likely to obsess about food. Lack of success in many endurance events is often attributed to nutrition. The reason is simple: failure often comes with gastro-intestinal symptoms. Upset stomachs, abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting often go hand in hand with poor performance. But are they to blame?

Athletes are not the only ones who are quick to blame food intake. No doubt when you felt ill as a child your parents first asked if you ate something that did not agree with you. When it comes to abdominal pain, humans first think of bad food. So it is not surprising athletes blame nutrition for lack of success. Like many others, I am certainly guilty as charged. Although I have made significant errors that can be attributed to nutrition, more often than not the real issue was training.

Lake Placid 09-

When I ran my first San Francisco marathon, I was forced to stop at mile 7 with a badly upset stomach. I was quick to blame the waffles I had for breakfast. My legs felt fine! Heck I could run like this forever. It took a while to figure this out but I now know the real issue was starting out too fast. I was running 7 minute miles at the time, and although that may not impress many of you, it was way too fast for me. But the excitement of the race got to me. And it wasn't the only time that happened.

I also learned that nearly all food related issues in Ironman have one of two causes: lack of adequate training and-or excessive food or drink intake. Believe  me, you are much more likely to eat and drink too much, or go out too fast than do the opposite.

I will discuss dehydration and drinks tomorrow so stay tuned.

An evening with Chris McCormack

Last night a friend and I attended the Chris McCormack event at the new Clif Bar headquarters in Emeryville. Apart from getting a free Clif shot, Clif Cafe lasagna -which was a tad greasy- and New Belgian Brewing hoptober ale, we were serenaded by the company band with solo performances on the trumpet by Clif Bar founder Gary Erickson. Mr. Erickson also gave a short presentation of his own athletic career covering nearly every sport from rock climbing, dancing, skiing, to surfing and triathlon.

Gary entertaining the crowds

Next, Mark Allen, the six time Hawaii ironman winner made a short intro appearance in which he was full of praise for Chris's most recent victory. Compared to when I last heard Mark Allen talk -at the 2005 CaliforniaMan- he appeared a lot more reserved and less self-centered.

Then Macca came up on stage and settled in for a long interview that was filled with stories from his long career and personal life. A large amount of time was spent on recounting the key events in the 2010 Hawaii race, which was, as Mark Allen had previously remarked, one of the most memorable in Ironman history.

But he did not stop there and Chris went into great detail on nearly every Hawaii ironman race he took part in, highlighting pitfalls and strategy. Whatever one might think about the value of tactics and strategy in what is essentially a solo time trial event, it is clear that Macca and his team have given it much thought and attention. It is also obvious that they think of it as a group event instead of a solo race.

Strategy and tactics really matter to a man who, by his own admission, watches replays of nearly every race and memorizes splits for all his competitors and illustrious predecessors.

In the short question and answer session, Chris remarked that there are no magic formulae, no magic workouts and no magic recipes. He said everyone has to find out for themselves -maybe with help from a coach- what works and what doesn't. He also expressed the opinion that some athletes train too much and overreach. He was not shy in mentioning fellow athletes like Bozzone and others, whom he thought were training too much. I suspect it is this eagerness to name names and openly express his opinions that has gotten Macca in trouble before. He has often been labeled arrogant and the label clearly offended him so he took some time to dispel this notion.

After the event there was time for pictures and signing autographs. Unfortunately my camera malfunctioned and so I did not get my shot with the champ. I did get an autograph on one of my Ironman finisher shirts however. Mark Allen also posed for pictures and signed autographs but on the whole he kept a low profile and left the stage to Chris.

Chris McCormack after the interview

Mark Allen signing autographs

Asked by one person if he had ever run a marathon and what his best marathon time would be, Chris first said, "no, and ouch, painful" but then confidently predicted he would be able run a 2:19. (2:20 is the Olympic qualifier time) He looked over to Mark and Mark said he had once tried to run a marathon -in Berlin- and his goal then was a sub 2:20, but he never made it past mile 18. He and a fellow runner then jumped on the subway for the 8 mile ride back to town. He called it his very fast half marathon.

In other news, the Belgian high court has given Iljo Keisse the green light to start racing in the Gentse Zesdaagse (Ghent six day track event) in two weeks. Keisse tested positive for masking agents (cathine and a diuretic) in the race in 2008 and was fired by his team. The Belgian Federation cleared him of any wrongdoing in November of 2009 and Keisse was able to race for Quickstep in early 2010. But then WADA appealed to Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS), where Keisse was once again suspended and Quickstep was forced to let him go. Even though the high court overruled that decision today, it has not cleared Keisse yet. That is not expected until a hearing next April.  The whole affair is yet another example of the sorry state of affairs in cycling.

Next week some more on training with power and racing in Belgium. Have a great weekend.

Ironman logic

We all know you can't draft in Ironman races. You are supposed to stay 7 meters behind a competitor and when you do enter the "zone" you must pass within 15 seconds. It sounds really good until you do the math. My bike measures 167 cm from the edge of the front wheel to the edge of the back wheel. Add a little safety margin and a bike plus its drafting "rectangle" takes up about 9 meters.

For simplicity's sake let's concentrate on a one loop bike course (not very many of those left). Now take 2,500 competitors, or about 100 less than the most recent Ironman Canada (where there is a one loop course).

2,500 competitors all riding "legally" would take up 22,500 meters or 22.5 km on the road. That is 14 miles of roadway, all filled with racers riding just within the legal boundaries allowed. Assuming the first competitors left the water at 55 minutes, went through transition in 5 minutes and rode 28 mph, that would mean the last competitor could exit the water at 1hr25, take a 5 minute transition and get on their bike.

The whole road would then be filled with a continuous 14 mile train of riders.

The reality of course is a bit different. People do not come out of the water one by one with a nice and constant spacing. At the most recent IM Canada, 2,250 people exited in the first 90 minutes, but they were far from evenly spaced. 1,000 came out at between 1 hr 15 and 1 hr 30. If you study the data you can find many such clusters.

The clustering is part of any North America IM race. 1,000 or more racers enter the bike leg in a space of 15 minutes or less. 1,000 racers need 9 Km (or 5.6 miles) of roadway to sort themselves out. One has to ride 22.4 mph to cover that distance in 15 minutes. Clearly, unless many are forced to wait, it is not possible for all these people to fit in properly and obey the strict no drafting rules set up by the race directors. They simply can't do it.

Indeed what we see in a race is that most mid-packers ride in dense groups. They do not necessarily do so because they want to cheat -although some undoubtedly do- but because they have no alternative. They cannot physically fit into the space available without wasting valuable time. And so we have something analogous to a typical "California freeway" situation.

In California, nearly everyone drives faster than the speed limit, but only a few unlucky souls get tickets. It is not a good situation as it allows the CHP to pick and chose whom to punish. The same, unfortunately, appears to be true for Ironman races. The referees can arbitrarily pick people to give penalties too.

If you are a slow swimmer and a fast biker, you are very likely to get such an undeserved penalty. In Canada I got a "yellow card" for riding over the centerline while trying to pass a group of riders. I did not intend to cross the centerline, but the racers in front of me slowed down on the hill and I had to swerve to avoid crashing into them.

Never mind the fact that some Ironman races are run on open roads and that the rules then specify that the drafting zone behind a car is 35 m (IM rule book). If more than a few cars are on the road, we'd have to stop the race repeatedly to make it legit. In Canada for example, there are often long lines of cars on the "backside" of Richter pass, all trying to get past groups of riders. Many cars are filled with spectators and family members, but there are also trucks and other vehicles on the road. These vehicles are often backed up and forced to drive slowly in long lines.

Ran 7 miles in the hills today. Yesterday I rode on rollers for 1.25 hrs. On Saturday, I ran 6.25 in the hills.

Ironman won't die

Just as I made up my mind not to compete in Ironman again, I received an email from the BAF indicating they had secured 10 slots for the 2010 Ironman Lake Placid. The email also asked about what hotel I would prefer to stay at. So much for that...

And here is another Ironman tidbit. I just downloaded the power file from Canada and it confirmed my suspicions regarding not eating enough. One can clearly see how my power drops as the race goes on. With a very slight uptick some 10-15 minutes after the 120 KM mark, where special needs was located. There I grabbed a bagel and drank a Red Bull, and shortly afterwards I noticed how easy the climb to Yellow Lake was. I was cruising at a fairly good clip for about half an hour or so, and then the power and speed drop returned in force.

I remember how sluggish I felt once I crested the first climb and had to ride to Twin Lakes. Then further declines as I rode along Skaha and into Penticton. There were no more aid stations along the way, and I was running really low on energy.

I was looking at some endurance cycling events and the 12/24 hours at Davis (in May) looked really appealing. Something I ought to try. The 24 hours is a RAAM qualifier to boot. The only drawback here is that one needs a crew, and the entry fee for RAAM is a pretty hefty expense too. Not that I feel ready for RAAM, mind you. Maybe RAW, a 1,000 miles-- if I felt really brave. But RAAM is a bit too much for now.

Today I rode 40 miles in the hills. Good speed too.

Ironman OD

It's official. I need a new challenge. I am OD'd on Ironman. This year's poor results clearly show that it is time to find another fitness goal. All in all I am quite happy with my triathlon/Ironman experience. I (almost) reached all of my major goals and the differences are for all practical purposes, in the noise.

My first and most far-fetched goal was to qualify for Hawaii. I never seriously thought I could make it given how poor a swimmer (and runner) I was, but I nonetheless managed to get tantalizingly close. In Canada in 2006 I came to within 4 minutes or one slot, and if that isn't in the noise, what is? But in all fairness, someone who swims as slowly as I do is not really a top 5% performer in triathlon. So it is just as well. I probably would have been dropped in Kona.

Furthermore, while it used to be fairly easy to get in (in the nineties it was trivial), it is getting harder each year as more competitors enter and more races are competing for precious spots. So in essence I am losing ground when it comes to Hawaii. My best chance was probably Canada '06 and it seems unlikely another chance will materialize unless I dramatically reduce my swim time. And that is not something I want to concentrate on now.

My second, and perhaps more realistic goal was to improve in a significant way over time and hopefully reach a finishing time that read 10:something. I consider that goal met, even though my true best finishing time was 11:04:55. We'll call it a rounding error. What matters most here is that I performed consistently and got better over time.

I managed to solve nearly all my problems (and if you add in Canada of '09, even my swim eventually budged) and that is great. It shows my training work formulas work and I am on the right path. It also shows that improvement in the over-50 age group is possible. The fact that I set a PR in the Boston marathon this year further confirms that the trend is real and durable.

So now I want to concentrate on something I really like. Something that does not involve swimming and may not even involve much running. Something I would do if I had a chance to pick what I genuinely like best, i.e. cycling. I will find a endurance challenge in cycling and concentrate on that for 2010.

My "theoretically" best ironman. These are actual times:

Swim 1:18:33 (Canada 09)

T1 2:47 (Switzerland 06)

Bike 5:21:04 (Arizona 08)

T2 2:59 (Arizona 08)

Run 4:00:34 (Canada 07)

Total: 10:45:57

Ironically that would have been enough for a top 10 finish and a slot for Hawaii in Canada 09!

Looking for a new challenge

I was reminded this morning of the Cal triathlete who put his tribike up for sale, "so he would not be tempted to do another asphalt triathlon." He was going to focus on XTerra events instead. I too am yearning for a new challenge. Ironman is all good fun but it is expensive. Now that my immediate family members are no longer interested in joining me there, it is inconvenient too.

Speaking of triathlon, the event I enjoy the most is the bike. Biking is my favorite sport and it is the one thing I truly enjoy doing at all times. Although I have come to like running better than before, the fact that I sweat so much makes running a loss less enjoyable for me. To say nothing of being prone to aches and pains.

As for swimming, I have to admit, it is rather boring. I am not very good at it, and I do not seem to improve much. It is somewhat ironic that I say that at this point, now that I just made a significant step in the right direction. The truth is I do like open water swimming (although maybe not with 2,000 of my best friends), but there are few opportunities for it where I live.

Lake Temescal is the best option, but there you have to pay and you have to swim in a small rectangle under the watchful eye of aspiring life-guards who always feel the need to make one comment or another. The other issue with Temescal is that the water is murky and foul tasting. Not ideal. Anza is close by too, but Anza is pretty much the same story if not worse. It tends to get very crowded to boot.

I feel I can live without swimming, but I have been thinking about the Boston marathon. The signup starts next week and I am not sure whether or not I should do it. It too is rather expensive and inconvenient -although I can still persuade the kids to come-, but I had committed to run three and this would be my third one. Three is a nice number. You could argue I should do 12 ironman races, but 11 is quite good too, and maybe I should have stopped at 10?

This morning I was looking to find out more info about the Great California Landrush. It is a two day double double century from SF to LA, that I did in 1990 or 91 and enjoyed greatly. It was organized by a group in Glendale called Wandervogel and they did a great job supporting it. Unfortunately, they stopped doing it in 1997 and nobody picked up on it.

I would love to ride across America. It is something that always intrigued me. I used to follow RAAM closely and dreamed about doing it one day. But the logistics are too complex. Logistics is one of my least favorite things and I am very poor at it. Organizing a RAAM entry would not work for me.

Last year I toyed with the idea of riding across the country with Alistair. Then I thought about crossing California (shorter and less logistics). But neither materialized and I ended up doing another Ironman instead; even though I had vowed to take a year off.

After meeting Seth in Penticton and discussing a major event like riding across America with him, my interest is re-awakened. It is something I would love to try. Another friend of mine is doing an organized trek across country right now, but his takes 45 days and that is not something I can afford to do. Furthermore I am not sure I would like it, the speed is too slow for me and there is no competitive angle. There needs to be a goal of sorts, a time limit, a cutoff, something.

That was what was fun about the Landrush. You could do it leisurely -although you had to make the flight on day two, but you could also aim for the "brevet" cutoffs. And although I did not sign up for those -I was unaware of these beforehand-, I did make all of them easily. And that made it fun!

Post-mortem: a basic mistake in Penticton

When Alberto Contador cracked on the Mont Ventoux and lost Paris-Nice, he said he forgot to eat enough during the race. The papers had a field day. An experienced racer like Contador falling for a beginner's mistake. But it is more common than you think. Johan Bruyneel describes one instance where Lance almost lost the Tour because he ran out of energy-- I am sure there were more-. The reason: Lance had forgotten to eat while chasing Ullrich.

Granted I am not Armstrong or Contador, but I do have a lot of experience with endurance racing. Running out of energy for lack of food is a beginner's mistake. Not one you should make after 10 ironman races. Furthermore, eating during Ironman is easier than during the Tour, where an attack at the feed zone may distract riders. In Ironman, all you have to do is to make a plan and stick to it.

Unfortunately, I did not make plan for either race in 2009 and the results were catastrophic.

First, I have to admit that my 2009 Ironman season was plagued with motivational issues. You could say my heart wasn't in it. There are various reasons but I really did not want to go to Placid, and after returning and realizing how much money I spent there, I did not want to go to Canada either. I ended up going to both.

Placid I did because I felt compelled to help the BAF; Canada for old time's sake. Neither was good motivation. I sabotaged my chances at success, maybe not consciously, but sabotaging I did.

If you read this blog you know about Placid. I did not train enough and I paid for it. I had cramps on the bike and I was exhausted riding into transition. Then I had more cramps on the run and I ended up finishing in 12:16, my time worst ever. It is obvious training and lack of motivation was to blame. I did only a few long rides before the race and I trained 87 hours in the 8 weeks prior to it, compared to 111 for a "normal" race. It wasn't enough. But what about Canada?

First, I thought I did not have enough time to recover from Placid. That seemed to make sense except for a few bothersome observations. It all came to a head last night when someone remarked that they could not understand how I could ride hard three days later and feel fine. I had to admit, it bothered me too. And so did these:

One, I felt good prior to the race and my swim was better. Swimming normally takes it out of me but here I felt fine.

Two, I rode well on the bike and although I experienced periods of no power, these were followed by strong sections where the power magically returned. When I look back, the "strong sections" happened shortly after I ate something. The best example was Special Needs at KM 120. I was depleted going in but shortly afterwards I was riding 20+ mph uphill to Yellow Lake. Shortly after hitting the top, I was once again depleted. Since there was no more chance to eat, I suffered all the way home.

Three, no cramps. Unlike what most people think, cramps have little to do with dehydration (I and many others were severely dehydrated in Penticton), but cramps are the sure indicator of inadequate training. I had leg cramps in Placid and it started on the bike. Whenever I have cramps on the bike at around mile 85, it is because I rode hard but did not train enough. Here, no cramps, just empty.

Four, the Pepsi on the run tasted fabulous. I normally only drink cola in the last third of the marathon, but now it looked so good at mile 3. And the taste !! Better than a vintage Mouton Rothschild. I could not stay away from it. Taste, like all senses is very context dependent and when something ordinary tastes better than a three star Michelin restaurant, it is a sure indication that your body is in desperate need of it.

Four, I was able to ride yesterday with Alistair and I rode well and felt strong. Clearly I was fully recovered and such a speedy recovery is the hallmark of good training. Today I ran and to prove my point, I ran 10.5 in the hills, in the heat, and at a good clip. All without problems, clearly I am recovered. Every time you recover quickly it means you were well trained. Placid was good training.

This morning, I finally sat down and wrote out a detailed race report. I thought about every section and what happened. And then it occurred to me that I was "missing" 700-800 calories. Try as I may I could not find them. Let me explain.

I normally fill 2 gel flasks with gels and consume those on the bike. One flask is 450-500 calories.

This time, I left my flasks at home. I did not want to buy new ones, as I felt I already overspent by a large margin. So I took a few gels in a ziploc bag. I actually took 3 and a Clif bar. That is 500 calories versus 900-1,000.

Then I dropped my bag on McClean and had to go back for it. Not only did I lose time this way, I also got a yellow card for crossing the midline. It put me on edge.

As a result I did not want to go fishing for the baggie again for fear I would lose it or break another rule. I ended up eating 2 gels plus whatever gels I could pick up. That is about 7-8 short. The one's I pick up don't really count as I usually pick up gels in addition to my flasks anyways.

There is my 20 minutes on the bike. And another 5 in transition where I sat depleted and dazed wondering what was wrong with me.

I am not sure how much I lost on the run because of no food. Normally running is a free-fatty-acid affair and sugar does not matter much. Then there is also the heat. However, I have run when I was tired in the heat before and I always get the marathon done in 4:30-4:35 (even with cramps and what have you). When I feel fine, I run a 4:00 to 4:10.

Five is a bit excessive. I also noticed that there were a few sections, and one near the end, where I was able to run well. Once again these were closely associated with calorie intake (in this case, plenty of Pepsi).

My diagnosis: IM Canada was a failure because I "forgot" to eat.

Penticton

I am done with Tribike Transport, never again. What good is a service if you can't count on them? I packed my bike and I am ready to roll. It wasn't so bad after all and it is cheaper and more convenient in some ways. At least this time, where there are scratches or scuff marks I will know who to blame.

On Wednesday I ran for an hour on the treadmill covering about 7.5 miles. I ran three intervals at 10 mph. First a mile and then two half miles. For me that is pretty hard running. My best mile time is just under 6 minutes, but somehow I find running outside on the track easier than running on the treadmill.

On Thursday I swam for 45 minutes, focusing all my energy on technique, but without much progress. I still can't breathe easily on the left and I still run out of breath when I breathe every other stroke. And that is in an empty pool, calm water... forget about the Ironman laundromat.

On Friday I rode on rollers for 1.2 hours and on Sat I swam once more (same end result). Yesterday I rode 30 miles to the top of Redwood. I went with Barbara and so I rode slow, except for the climbs where I hammered.

Alistair is coming back from Belgium tomorrow. He finally finished a race and placed in the middle of the pack. But overall, the trip was a mixed bag. He was just recovering from a nasty crash in Oregon before he left, and then on August 16, he crashed pretty hard again so that pretty much wrecked his program right there. We will see when he returns.

More bike riding

After the Lake Placid "disaster" I realized I need to put in more miles on the bike. So on Thursday I rode to the golf course and back (38 miles). I did the same on Saturday, and on Sunday I rode 90 miles to Livermore and back. On Friday I "rounded it all out" with a 14 mile run to "sprints" -if you live in Berkeley, you know where that is.

On Sunday I stopped at ExtraMile, a gas station in Danville where I often get a drink. Since I was quite thirsty and since I hadn't eaten lunch despite having ridden 70 miles, I went to the soda fountain and got the biggest drink they had, 52 oz to be exact! I filled it with a mixture of coke and gatorade.

The cup was interesting, it read: soda, the forgotten food group. Seriously! In America, soda is all but a forgotten food group. For most people it is a staple. I never drink soda (or energy drinks) unless I ride. That 52 ounces fueled my bike ride, but unfortunately, most people who stop at ExtraMile are driving cars. It is a gas station after all, and one that is not walk-up friendly. So you wonder what all these people do in their SUV's and pickup's, gulping down 52 ounces of sugar water. No surprise everyone is overweight or obese here.

Today I swam for 45 minutes, taking it easy. I worked on my technique and tried bilateral breathing. It was better than before but I still have trouble keeping it up for more than 50 yards.

I read an interview with Lance today where he indicated he may try ironman. When someone asked him if he was going to win it on the bike, he said: better to take it easy. You can ride your heart out and gain 10 minutes, but then lose 20-30 on the run. So now you hear it from someone else: ironman is about running. If you want to do well you need to focus on the run. If your goal is to finish, and you have never done it, focus on the bike. Although you can't gain much time here, the bike is easily the most demanding leg and it is the one that sets up the run.

Lake Placid

It took me exactly 24 hours to get here. I left my house at 2:45P on Tuesday to catch a 5:52P to LA. After a long layover I caught the red-eye at 9:45P to Newark, NJ, where I arrived early in the morning (5A local time). I had to wait until 10:45A for a ride to Lake Placid and that ride arrived at 5:45 in the afternoon on Wednesday. 24 hrs to the minute. I could have traveled half way around the globe...

I ran on the treadmill on Tuesday morning for 45 minutes. I included a fast 5K in 20 minutes, with the first mile at 10 mph. I did nothing on Wednesday, other than take a shower, have dinner and fall asleep. It is pretty here, but rather cool (in a temperature sense) and quite wet. We have had rain twice already.

This morning I swam 1.2 miles in Mirror Lake, very nice and clean and with a buoy line that went all the way across the lake so you could follow it. Open water swimming with pool-like convenience. It was fun. Unfortunately it won't work that way on Sunday and I am sure the line will be pretty busy. The lake is small enough that 2,000+ people will create a whirlpool-like current, or at least that is what the locals say. It may very well be true.

Then I registered and picked up my bike. In the afternoon, we drove the bike course. Early on there is a 9 mile downhill and our tour guide had this great idea that we should ride it. It goes through a rather narrow canyon with lots of traffic, but the descent is fast enough to keep up with the cars, or so they say.

Once again, reality was a bit different. There was a rather strong headwind and then, as if by magic, it started raining as soon as we started riding. That made for a very treacherous descent with lots of traffic trying to squeeze by, and a tremendous soaking. I was totally wet by the time we reached Keene, the little town where the road flattens out. My shoes were full of water, my socks soaked, my race suit drenched, and I was very cold to boot. Not fun. Certainly not something I would do for 112 miles. At one point the rain fell so hard that it stung like hail -or maybe it was hail.

Less than 9 miles, all pretty slow due to the wetness and the headwind and I was toast. So much for that. There is rain in the forecast for Sunday as well. I can't wait;) Where is Arizona when you need it?

Cycling and more

I am trying to arrange a trip to Belgium for Alistair so he can cycle over there, where there is competition. It is far from easy. The logistics are just mind boggling but I keep chipping away at it hoping things will go well in the end. That is only if air fares stay within reasonable ranges. I shudder at the thought of how much extra I will have to shell out to have him travel by himself, AND, take a bike.

I took the non-functional Ergomo off his bike and then "investigated the unit." If it wasn't broken before, now it sure is. And there is probably nobody around to fix it.

My preparation for IM Lake Placid is so-so. I went to the pool today and swam 160 laps or 3/4 of an ironman swim. I inserted 30 laps of breathing on the left (helped with a buoy) but I cannot say I am ready to adopt this new technique yet. I think it will be a great success if I just go freestyle for the entire distance.

On Tuesday I rode 35 miles with Alistair, pushing on the climbs. Then yesterday I dropped off my bike and took the little ones to the pool, where I swam a mile and a half with some technical stuff in between. I swam some laps with Annelise, who is really getting better and she is now almost as fast as I am swimming freestyle (goes to show you how slow I am).

Monday I ran 8 miles on the treadmill, doing a "fit" test in the process. First successful, uninterrupted 4.5 miles at 9 mph. Then I ran another mile at 9 later. I keep on thinking I did not do enough volume for the ironman. But that is small potatoes compared to the horrible weather forecasts for Lake Placid. I hope I don't have to go 140.6 in the freezing rain.

Lake Placid

The ironman is coming up. Fundraising is not as easy as last time. Many are hurting because of the poor economy. I also suspect things will get worse before they get better. That does not bode well. I have received tons of messages citing the economy as a reason for not contributing.

My ironman training is going well, although I did not get in as much volume as I normally do. I am a bit worried about it, especially since Lake Placid is a pretty tough course. But what worries me even more is the poor weather (rain, cold, etc.) that has been battering the place. I do not care much for racing 10+ hours in freezing rain. I like sunshine.

No more time to add volume either. I am tapering now. If worse comes to worse Lake Placid will be a training session for Ironman Canada in August.

On Friday I rode 42 miles to Castro Valley and back. On Saturday I ran 8.5 miles along the backside trail and through Roberts park. On Sunday I swam for an hour, working on my technique a bit more, and on Monday I rode 31 miles with Alistair (to the top of Redwoood Rd.)

I have also been watching the tour. One thing I know for sure is that I would not want to be Alberto Contador! Talk about a no-win situation! It kind of reminds me of those early Indurain years, when Miguel had to forgo wins to help Pedro Delgado. But Alberto is in a much worse trap than Miguel was. How do you ever get out of the Lance shadow? He should have switched teams earlier in the year when he was offered a deal by Caisse d'Epargne.

I suspect all of Astana is a snake pit from top to bottom. The sponsors are unhappy, Bruyneel is trapped, the team has divided loyalties and everyone tries to keep up appearances and smile in the cameras. It is amazing how Disney it has become. The happiest team on Earth!

Some numbers

Today I ran 10.5 miles in the hills. My right calf was a bit sore but other than that I had no problems. I put some ROCKTAPE on and will see how it works. I have been testing ROCKTAPE for a while and it appears to help (although I cannot rule out the placebo effect of course).

Here are some PR's (or PB's if you prefer), that give some idea of my performance/progress:

Best marathon: 3:22:21. Boston 2009. Every time I get better and I feel I can do even better. Maybe a 3:15 is in the cards---if all goes well.

For a long time I was stuck at >3:35 and well >> 4:30 in the Ironman marathon. Then in Coeur d'Alene, 2007, I finally figured out how to run marathons. I ran a 4:17:38 there, followed by a 4:00:34 in Penticton in August. Later that year I ran 3:28:19 at CIM in Folsom, and qualified for Boston.

Best ironman: 11:04:55. Tempe Arizona 2008. My swim is the problem, but in Arizona I also had cramps and my run time was slower than Canada, where the marathon is much harder. So I think a 10:50 is doable. I would love to break 11:00 one day.

Best Ironman bike: 5:21:04. Tempe, Arizona 2008.

Best Ironman run: 4:00:34. Penticton, Canada 2007.

Best half-marathon: 1:34:00. Primo's Run 2003. I have not run a half for a while. I am sure I would run faster now. It would be nice to try and break 1:30.

Best half-ironman: 5:11:31. Big Kahuna 2004. Not sure I can improve on this. It was one super-Kahuna in 2004.

Best 2.4 mile swim (wetsuit): 1:20:50. Catfish 2004.

I seem to be stuck at 1:20-1:25. I swam 1:22:54 in Arizona '07, 1:22:34 in '08 and I did a 1:22:54 in Canada '07. In 2006 I swam 1:23:39 in Switzerland.

I swam a 1:23:48 in the Catfish '05 in the non-wetsuit category.

Fitness-wise I "should" be able to swim a 1:00 or 1:05 ironman distance, but don't hold your breath. If I ever did, I would qualify for Hawaii with time to spare.

Eating and racing

Today is a rainy day. Totally overcast here in the hills with on and off showers. Good day to ride rollers. I rode for 90 minutes, more or less even with some moderate efforts, keeping my heart rate below 165 all the time. My average power was slightly over 200 with an NP of 220. I burned 1,221 calories doing this, which once again shows that the stationary bikes at the club are overly optimistic when it comes to calories.

Many people are confused about eating before a race. Personally I have gone back and forth on this but now I feel that eating -and drinking- less is probably best. Unless you are competing in stage race or multi-day event. It is also best to eat at least 2 hours before the race and if you can't do that, just skip breakfast altogether and eat a candy bar.

For marathons, don't eat much at all. Especially when the race starts early in the morning. Races like Boston, that start later give you time to eat a normal breakfast and have most of it cleared by the time the race starts. I found that the less I eat the better. I also found that I need to cut back on coffee or tea, because otherwise I get too wired and start out too fast. I make sure not to drink too  much before the race, and not to drink at all during the first 10 miles. That avoids potty breaks, sloshing liquids and other stomach trouble. 

For a 50+ mile road race on the bike, I tend to eat normally. Since most races start around 10 AM, I eat a normal breakfast of two slices of toast with peanut butter and jelly, coffee, and some banana. On the bike things are easy and if you get hungry or feel sluggish you just eat a candy bar (I prefer Clif) or pop a few gels.

For Ironman I eat early, around 4:30-5:00 AM for a 7:00 AM start. Normally I eat a bagel, some banana and a candy bar, with some coffee and juice. I try not to eat too much beforehand. I may consume a gel half an hour before the swim start, or munch on some candy bars, but overall I try to keep things light. Experience has shown that this works best, by far.

I also found that the better prepared you are, the less you need to eat or drink. I also recommend that you avoid eating big dinners the night before. Especially so-called carbo-loading dinners. These events do no such thing and are usually just an excuse to overeat and binge.

Ironman USA Lake Placid-TeamCindy

It's official. I am committed to compete in Ironman USA Lake Placid 2009 as part of Team Cindy. It will be my second fundraiser for the Brain Aneurysm Foundation (BAF), a charity in Hanover, MA. I just signed up and they already posted my picture on their site.

Today I swam 180 laps or slightly more than 2 miles freestyle, non-stop in the pool. I think I am getting better. Not faster perhaps, but better. An easier swim that is. And I can hold the freestyle for extended periods of time now. That is good.

Yesterday I tested Alistair's Tarmac and it feels really nice. We will cut the steering tube tomorrow and wrap the handlebars. I think it is pretty much ready for prime time. We rode 35 miles together and I burned in excess of 1,800 calories. My NP was 254 and the average close to 200W. The ride took 2:20, not including the stop at the bike store in Montclair. We climbed the Berkeley hills one extra time in this process.