Final Marathon Preparation - A Cerebral Approach!

It is the cerebral person that will do well in endurance races.

Well here we are, about 4 days away from the NYC Marathon, and a lot of people are starting to get a bit nervous. I definitely understand. "What will happen to me in this race?" is a good question that comes to mind. Also, "what should be a good starting pace?", and "am I going to die?" are other questions.



The best strategy is pretty simple. Start off with a fast but safe pace for the first couple of miles, and then decide on whether to keep that pace, go faster, or go slower from there.

Wait, that's it? Nothing elaborate about "going at a certain pace for the first half, then going 10 seconds per mile for the next 5 miles, and then at mile 20, I'll pop in a few gels and go another 10 seconds per mile faster, and then at mile 25, I'll sprint to the finish?"

Nope. Let me tell you this one thing. Any plan with that much detail will fail 99% of the time. Trust me. It's never worked for me in my early days and I was forced to make some decisions on the fly just to save my races from utter destruction.
Keep it simple. Decide on a fast pace for the first 2 miles, but keep it on the safe side. Those first two miles will tell you how much energy you initially have in your race. By mile 2, you can definitely make an "on the fly" decision whether to keep your pace or change it faster or slower. At that point you will have received critical information from your body that you wouldn't have gotten right at the start.

A marathon is a pretty long distance for a lot of people. For you, you'll need to make A LOT of decisions from mile 2 all the way till mile 26. That means you'll have to stay alert and stay in tune with your body so that you are alerted when something changes along the way. A quick adjustment to your pace or your nutrition will be critical in deciding whether you have a great race or a mediocre one.

But by keeping your initial plan simple, you allow a lot of flexibility into your strategy, and you're basing the strategy on what energy you have at each moment of your race. Keeping your mind alert and in tune with your body is the winning formula for PRs and BQs in a marathon.

You'll need to think about your nutrition as well as your pacing during the race too. And again, you'll go about it the same way as you do with pace; you'll come prepared with foods that worked well in your training; this is the food you'll initially go with in the beginning stages of the race.

Although you mean well with nutrition, be prepared for the eventuality that a) it might not work right at the start, or b) it will work for a good portion of the race, but will not work in the later portion of the pace. This happens a lot! In either case, don't keep to the plan. You'll need to partake in what the aid stations give you the rest of the way. Again, you'll need to think about what you might need at the aid station to get you through to the end, or just that specific stretch of the race.

Again, you'll need to keep your mind engaged and in tune with your body! In other words, DON'T ZONE OUT! Don't "go on autopilot", "daydream, "sleepwalk", or whatever people call it. Stay alert, stay focused, and more often than not you'll think your way to a very good race.

It's the cerebral way of doing your race, and most often, it is a winning strategy.
Note: I'll be in Brooklyn cheering people on in the NYC Marathon (around miles 11-14), and will try to make it to Central Park to see some friends finish. If you're in this race, let me know and I'll place you in my tracker. If it's not raining I'll be in a black "cowboy" hat (more accurately an Aussie hat) along the course.

Good luck!!!

Calculating Ironman Goal Times for Ironman Ireland

As a lot of people know I plan to run Ironman Ireland right on my 50th Birthday, June 23, 2019. Keep in mind that I set a PR in the Ironman distance way back in 1996 Ironman Canada with a time of 10:36:37. As a 50 year old, I wish to break this PR that I got during my prime years. So I'll need to get in some pretty smart training and diet decisions before that day.

Anyway, I've ran some calculations for time here. Below are two such calculations. One, the aggressive time, is for qualifying for Ironman Hawaii qualification. The second, less aggressive goal is just to break my PR time. I'll try to keep this short. 

I always swim for 1 hour in Ironman races. Sometimes less, but never more than an hour. T1 and T2 are combined for 10 minutes for both. It can be a long transition so I made it the worst case scenario for transitions.

The bike and the run are the big factors here. I've already proven I can hold 22MPH in a half Ironman race. I know I can go more at that speed. The aggressive goal will reflect a 22MPH time for my bike over 112 miles. The less aggressive goal will be at 21MPH. As for the marathon run, both need to be under 4 hours to get my goals. I say it's quite make-able if the training goes right.

So, I will have my work cut out for me to try to get that aggressive time. This is going to take a lot of core training and a stellar diet to get down to race weight. If all goes well, I know I can hit those marks!

It's going to be fun trying to hit those goals in training! I'm ready for the task. I start my training in earnest on December 10, but my diet and the core training are already starting. Wish me luck!

2019 Iron and Tri Training - Switching over to Unprocessed Foods (Paleo)

"Diet Means Everything!"

One of the things I have done this week is switch over to Paleo foods for my Ironman training. I've been looking at my logs from 2013 when I trained for the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning and found that this was an amazing transformation of my body. I did lose about 25 pounds, got very muscular on it, and felt that I even underwent an "age reversal" on my body! I know.

Paleo basically means "the less processed food, the better." I wouldn't call it a "diet" per se, but more like tweaking my current eating habits to maximize on unprocessed foods. I think this is the key to getting in best triathlon shape as possible and getting my speed back into form. 

Anyway, I'll be popping in from time to time about how things are going with my eating habits. I'm hoping it will be as pleasantly surprising as in 2013. Stay tuned!

Athletes Anne S and Mitch M celebrating after a nice run at the NYRR Long Training Run in Central Park, 18 miles total in the hot and humid day! They are with the rest of our friends in the Raritan Valley Road Runners who are taking steps to train for their respective marathons!

Good luck to everyone at the marathons, and remember to make the journey as fun as the destination!

January 2 - 2017 Notes and Reflections

Greetings athletes!

Hope you've had great New Year's celebrations and are ready to embark on great things in 2017. I'm hoping for great things for myself too, and for my athletes.

One of the things I would like to do is be a bit more interactive in the new year. Hopefully I can get out to do some group runs in NY and NJ and do them a lot more often. I'm also restarting this blog to keep everyone updated weekly on training throughout the year.

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Winter Training. Some people love it. Some hate it. But winter is a reality and all of us have to train in it.

Training Outside

As for training outside, forget about swimming. If you still consider that an option, you can contact the local Polar Bear chapter near you. As a matter of fact a lot of them will have Polar Bear Plunges around the New Year, so check around!

Cycling is also very tough when the weather gets frigid, but it can be done. You need special clothes that seal your body away from the outside air to make it work. Covering the extremities is very, very important, and they have items and methods to keep your digits warm. Here is a short, concise article on what to wear at certain temperatures. http://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/beginners/winter-layering-done-right-how-dress-cycling-cold-weather

Some people do opt for the treadmill when the temperature plunges, but running outside is by far the easiest to dress up in those cold winter days since you are not going as fast as cycling. It's best to have something that keeps the heat in but can dissipate the sweat. Layering and covering up the extremities are also important here. Here's another good article on running in the winter: http://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/beginners/winter-layering-done-right-how-dress-cycling-cold-weather

Training Indoors

If you decide to remain indoors, especially when those huge winter storms hit, you do have options.

Swimming indoors is a given. You should have already signed up with a gym with a pool. Thankfully there are a good number of pools in the area that you can sign into, with the YMCA being the best bet.

Cycling involves an indoor trainer, or rollers. The two most expensive options are the Computrainer or the Peloton. The machines cost at least over $1000, but they do provide the best way to cycling indoors. You can plot various courses on these machines and allow the machine to increase or decrease the tension as you “climb” and “descend” the simulated hills respectively. It definitely helps break the monotony of riding in place for an hour or two.

If you want to go cheaper, CycleOps has fluid and magnetic trainers available for several hundred dollars. But here you'll need to be a bit creative and design interval-style workouts that will increase your bike fitness during the winter months. One of the best resources for interval workouts is online, of course. Another very good source is this book full of great workouts designed to target both your aerobic and anaerobic systems: https://www.amazon.com/Workouts-Binder-Indoor-Cycling-Hobson/dp/1931382751

For indoor running, there's the treadmill. If you're fortunate enough to sign up with a pool that has a gym, you have one available there. Just set up the pace and off you go! You can also run intervals on the machine as well.

Goings On

On Staten Island

Thursdays, January 12 and 26 at 6AM: Boardwalk Runs – We'll start these off this year. We'll meet at the South Fin Grill on the Boardwalk (you can use the Park and Ride lot to park your car). We can do anywhere from 4-6 miles along the Boardwalk to the Midland Beach Promenade and Miller Field. I'll aim to get these done every Thursday in the possible future!

Other runs, like runs in the Greenbelt and around the Conference House, will be scheduled from week to week whenever I discover I have free time. If you want to lead a run, let me know and I'll post it here!

In New Jersey

The Directors, Ken Vercammen and the Rumson Hash House Harriers are organizing yet another Hash run around the South Bruswick neighborhood on January 7. Wear your rattiest clothes and come on down!

Upcoming races (next 2 weeks)

January 7 - 15

Triathlons and Multisport

January 8 - Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon – various locations. http://www.indoortri.com . 10 minute swim in the pool, 30 minute bike, 20 minute run. Only $30 to enter. Very good min-winter training idea!

Pete

Weekly Announcements - January 11, 2016

Weekly Announcements – Coach “Iron” Pete

Welcome to 2016! I'm going to try to make these brief announcements a weekly thing.

Long Term Race Planning

Now's the time you should be making those long term plans for 2016. The best way to do this is to always list your races you're doing as “A” races (your BIG races, or your races you're trying to excel in), your “B” races (not as important, but you might want to try to get a good result anyway), and your “C” races (basically “train through” races that are a part of your training with no taper involved). Once on your calendar, you should place in your important training runs that will help you achieve your goals in your “A” races. For example, putting in a couple of 20 mile runs four to six weeks before your big marathon.

Once you're done setting in your key workouts on your schedule, remember to check it every week when planning your daily workout routines to make sure you're on track. Never take your eyes off that schedule! That's the long term goal you should always try to stick to.

First Swimrun race in the USA announced!

If you like ultrarunning and ultraswimming, there is a type of race that has gotten very popular in Europe called the Swimrun. Inspired by the original event, ÖTILLÖ (pronounced ah-till-ah), we finally get to see one here, in Maine! Here is the video of the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36o9M4i4hVA

The link to the USA event in Maine is here. Get yourself a teammate and go! : http://www.slowtwitch.com/News/First_SwimRun_in_USA_announced_5570.html

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Upcoming races (next 2 weeks)

Triathlons – No triathlons listed so far.

Running

January 16 - Resolution 5K Run - Bloomingdale Park, Staten Island – Link: http://www.challenge-race.com/calendar.html

January 23 - NJ Trail Winter Series 5K/10K/13.1mi – Morristown, NJ - Link: http://www.njtrailseries.com/winter

January 11 - Leatherman's Loop Trail 10K lottery – ends midnight tonight (Jan 11)! Race itself is on April 24. It's a tough 10K in Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in the Hudson Valley. Link is here: http://leathermansloop.org/

Ultrarunning

January 17 at 7PM SHARP! - Vermont 100 mile and 100K Signup. You'll need a previous 100 mile finish, a 100K race finished under 14 hours or a 50 mile race in less than 12 hours to enter the 100 mile race. The race itself will be run on July 16-17. Race fills quickly so be ready to sign up at 7PM. Link is here: http://vermont100endurancerun.blogspot.com/

End

200 Miles. WTF?!

What the heck am I thinking?

So far I've run 8 races of 100 miles or more. 7 of them are official 100 milers, and one of the races was a 72 hour one in which I ran 161 miles.

I can remember three of those 100 mile races where I was either coming in limping or walking pretty badly towards the finish line.

The 72 hour race? That was at Three Days at the Fair, where I had problem after problem keeping going after 100 miles. My feet swelled up so much that I had to run in regular sports sandals for the last 30 miles of the race. And it took me well over 6 weeks to recover from that race.

Now comes a slew of 200 mile races. And most of these are in the mountains. Oh boy...

For years it was just the Tor des Geants in the Italian Alps for a number of years This was the premier survival race of this distance.

Now we have three mountain 200s in the United States, the Bigfoot 200, the Tahoe 200 and the Colorado 200.

Here is Trail Whippass and Ultimate Badass Ultrarunner Conrado Bermudez at the finish line of the Bigfoot 200, along with RD and "Sadist" Candice Burt, who also puts on the Tahoe 200 race. Not sure how he is smiling after this crazy race...

And there are probably more to come!

I can just picture myself limping badly at 100 miles...heck, I've done that several times already. But the kicker is that I'M ONLY HALFWAY THERE!

The reason why I'm talking about these 200 milers is that I've already had nightmares about them. And why am I thinking about these races?

Because I'm probably thinking about doing one.

As a matter of fact, if I don't get into Western States this year, I've already made my choice of doing one next September. If I do actually get selected into this race, the nightmares will continue.

Just put me in a straitjacket right now or this might happen to me...