Random Update

Working on Tango race post part 2, but in the meantime, here's a few treats.

First, absolutely great article on mental strength from Chris McCormack for Triathlon Competitor. 

photo by Nils Nilssen

It’s an age-old saying, but without question, in the sport of triathlon nothing can be as close to the truth as “It’s all in your head.” Sure, as athletes we can get ourselves into amazing physical shape, but at the end of the day, the single limiting factor for racing well always comes down to how well an individual can deal with those tough times in a race—when things just hurt. It is what happens in those moments when your body starts to rebel, your mind wanders and things start to get really uncomfortable that ultimately determines just how fast or how well your race goes.

READ ON...

Advice from Macca never gets old, so check out the latest edition of Ali'i Drive dealing with mental strength.

Tango 100km Ultra: Part 1

Related posts:  Tango 100km Target, Tango 100km: Part 2, Tango 100km: Part 3

Saturday, Sep 15th, up at 8am and 20min run.  'Last run before the big one.  Hard to believe it's here!'  Leg speed naturally picking up, 'uh, no, not today, cool it.'  Long stretch and breakfast: yogurt, oats, banana and raisins.  Shower, double check the bags, and we're off!

essentials (clockwise from top left):
nutrition, camelback, sunglasses, shirt,
shorts, ticket, socks, Garmin, belt and hat
(shoes, obviously, already packed!)

Train from 11am for a 4hr ride.  Kyotango, marked by A in the pic, is almost directly north from Kobe which is in the middle.

thanks to Google for the pics!

birds eye view of Japan for context

A couple transfers and an hour sitting on the floor later, and we arrive with a train full of endurance athletes.  Everyone donning technical t's from other 100k+ races covering long, lean structures with skin darkened from hours training under the sun.  Intimidating for sure.

near Kyotango, 'not bad scenery for 100k'

As I've come to expect in Japan, the logistics were faultless.  The organizers had several buses waiting to take us to registration.  This is where the excitement begins.  I've missed race atmosphere, and this was just what I needed.  The positive energy and excitement, the anticipation, it's all great!

start and finish

runner 1515

cheeky pic
only in Japan have I seen runners prepping
with beer and even cigarettes!

Registered and armed with my race pack, off to the ryokan (Japanese style inn).  Again, the race organizers had buses taking runners to their hotels.  First rate organization.

Welcome to Lakeside Kotobiki.  A little more pricey than other places, but offered a marathon package with 2am breakfast on race day, 3am ride to the start line, and free beer post-race.  Sign me up!

lobby

our room, no bed
in ryokan, you sleep on futon on the floor

Stiff back from the train, so stretching and onsen (natural hot spring bath in the ryokan!) to loosen up.  Next, goodies from the run bag (clockwise, top left): Tango t-shirt, bag of California raisins, bag of rice, VAAM sports drink, 2 different electrolyte pills, Phiten bag, run number and some kind of muscle relaxing stickers.

Finally, dinner time!  And what a dinner it was.   A boat, literally, of sashimi, sushi, prawn and seaweed salad, crab and cooked fish, chawanmushi, accompanied by the non-captured two bowls of rice, grilled fish, Tajima beef and final plate of fruit.  A meal fit for a team of runners!

Post dinner sloth followed by another onsen and prepping my kit for race day.  Set 4 alarms (1.45am, 1.50, 1.55 and 2.00, 'maybe a fifth is overkill?!?') and in bed by 9.30.  Short visualization and surprisingly not too anxious, z'ing in no time.

Continue with Part 2

Ali'i Drive: Dreams

Episode 2, less than 3 weeks!

Recovering

Four days on, I'm back to normal sized meals, soreness going, chaffing done, swelling almost gone, blisters healing, walking normal and ready to get moving again!  First run post ultra is targeted for Mon, Oct 1st (can't wait!).  Until then, I'll be cycling, yoga-ing and maybe joining a gym.

Mentally, I'm still wrapping my brain around the race.  That plus a full-on week at work, race post won't come until Mon.


In the meantime, here's some Ironman fun!  With just over three weeks to Kona, Ironman begins Ali'i Drive, a new web series.  Enjoy!

100km in 100 Words

too tired to lift my head?

The race was awesome!  10:39:37, way off any target time, but a fantastic experience.

Just home, so not much energy to type, but it's safe to say I underestimated 100km of running and overestimated my preparation.  But no worries, a wonderful weekend and lots of takeaways to improve for the future.

Full report coming soon.  Cheers.

Tie Your Runners

pic from Runner's World.com

Early mornings, intervals, long runs, cycling, yoga, compression gear, stretching, cold spray, body comp, gels, electrolytes, proteins, etc, etc.  With all this going on, it's no wonder the little things get lost in the mix.

Stopping into Yano Sports (Sannomiya, Kobe), I picked up a small but useful tip on tying my shoes (also learned why there are two eye-wholes at the top!).  Click here for a 2007 article from Runner's World that shows 5 different lacing techniques to relieve foot pain and better secure your foot: shoe rubs top of your foot, big toenail goes black, shoe too tight at top of foot, cramped toes or heel slips.

I don't have these problems, but I was also told my foot is too narrow for standard shoes, so the fifth technique in RW's article should secure my foot better.

I've been lacing my shoes this way for the last couple week and it's working well.  Glad I stopped in.  As they say, it's the little things that count.

Here We Go!

30 hours to go, but who's counting!

Today has been relaxing, just hanging out at home.  Took the day off from work, and tomorrow we head for Kyotango and registration.

H&N - weight at about 61.5kg/ 135.5lb and bf just below 10%, I'm dead on target.  Feels good.  This week has been clean diet, gradually building carb intake and cutting out nuts and veg since dinner on Wed (to limit stomach problems).  I've also been conscious not to overeat in an attempt to avoid my 7+ pitstop performance in Ironman last year.

Race day, I'll start at 2am with a couple rice balls, a banana and some sports drink.  Then back to sleep and up an hour later to head out for 4.30am start.  Race nutrition will be as follows:
- Energy gel: one gel every hour
- Salts: a bit of salts with water every 30min
- Water: taking the camel back, will sip a bit every km and take from aid stations
- Sports drink: try to take some from each aid station
- Other: fruit from the aid stations, and in the late stages, anything I'm craving (but in moderation)

R&R - It'll start with a buffet of anything in sight!  Then hopefully a massage and a long stretch before heading back to the hotel for relaxing in natural hot springs (Japanese onsen!).


A few motivational quotes.
- "You have not predetermined limits.  Your limit is where you say it is.  We don't even scratch the surface of what we're capable of."  -- Craig Alexander
- "Now is where the mind takes over."  -- Chrissie Wellington


Thanks to you for listening and supporting me along this journey.  It's much appreciated, and it'll give me a boost come race day.  Cheers.

Tango 100km Ultra Marathon - 9:19:59

See it larger by clicking

Here it is.  Less than one week, and I've finally nailed down Target A time, 9:19:59.  Based on previous years' results, this will put me top 30-ish out of 2,200 (almost top 1%, not bad!).

I've broken the race into 7 sections.  Enjoy.

4:30am start!

1) Slow & Steady (0-10km, 6min/km or 9.40/mi) - As always, but more so given this is my first ultra, I'll set a good base and not get to ahead of myself.  With two weeks of tapering and the excitement of race day, I'll be holding the legs back.   

The first section has a climb to 150m at 2-4% gradient, not dissimilar to a couple marathons I've done.  One example is NYC, where the initial climb isn't so high, but I took it for granted and blew up around 20mi as a result.  'Uh, can't afford to blow at 20mi this time, it's not even a third of the way!'

2) Solid Pace (10-35km, 5.24/km or 8.42/mi) - Relatively flat section, I'll use the down hill from Slow & Steady to roll into a relaxed but focused pace for the 25km.  I may find myself holding back still, but want to wait closer to 50km to push the pace if it's there.

3) Marathon 1 (35-45km, 6/km or 9.40/mi) - Looping back around, so running Slow&Steady in reverse.  Also, crossing the marathon threshold, so officially the farthest I've run in one go.  6min/km is an average for the climb and descent, so I figure I'll be moving well at the bottom of 45km and can use the momentum again to pace well in the next section.

4) Give or Take (45-60km, 5.30/km or 8.51/mi) - Another relatively flat section.  If I'm feeling good, I may pick up the pace a bit (5.30/km Give or Take a few secs), but only a bit, barely half-way at this point.

5) Separation Hill (60-70km, 7.15/km or 11.40/mi) - 420m of climbing over 10km (i.e. 4% grade), separating the men from the boys.  Keys to a successful climb: a) caffeine gel 20min before, b) forward lean, c) short efficient strides, d) head up and e) POSITIVE attitude!

I'm a solid climber and have put in a lot of hills on my long runs, so I'll be using that for a mental boost.  

Just realized why so many people sign up for the 60km run!

6) What Goes Up... (70-80km, 4.45/km or 7.40/mi) - must come down.  So, 420m down over 10km.  I'm planning to let rip a bit here; but given the late stage of the race and the grade, I'll have to be careful to avoid cramps.

7) The Box (80-100km, 5/km or 8/mi) - If the race has not already put me in the hurt box, I'll put myself there.  I'll play it by ear but knowing my tendency for the conservative, the plan is to go past the point where my mind wants to stop.  Easier said than done.

Stretch and B Targets - Always good to have back-up plans and pacing.  So, here we go. 

Stretch Target - In case I'm feeling extra-special, my stretch target is 9:09:59 which includes speeding up Give or Take and The Box.  

Target B - 9:50 which slows down most sections especially at the end assuming the race punches me in the face before shoving me in the hurt box!  The key, the race pack includes the name of all runners that ever ran sub-10hrs, so Target B still gets me into the annals of the Tango Ultra-marathon.  

Now, I just want to run!

Ironman 70.3 World Championship 2012

photos by Nils Nilsen/ taken from Triathlon competitor.com

In case you're not following, the Ironman 70.3 World Championship is today, Sunday Sep 9th.  Not much time to type, but you can check out the men's and women's field by clicking on the photos above.

There's a lot of contenders, but I'm excited to see Crowie and Michael Raelert go head-to-head.

Need a Change?

If you've hit a plateau in your tri training or just need a change, here it is.  Neal Henderson, director of sports science at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, spells out his approach to endurance training in this article from Triathlon Competitor.

I'm enjoying the running focus but can't wait to get back to multi-sport.

Under Two Weeks!

Into taper mode cutting last week's mileage by nearly 50%, 55km/ 34mi.

Tapering is always nice (you get some social life back!) but mentally, it's difficult.  The previous 13 weeks have carried a single-minded focus, building stamina.  All of a sudden that tails off and questions begin to fly.

This time, it's my hamstring.  Right now, I no longer notice it's "off" and there's less stiffness.  There's no reason to believe it will impact Tango, but racing 100km should do a number on it and I wonder how long it will take to recover.  Have to put that out of my mind and worry about it after.

photo from indulgy.com

Second, have I done enough to race over 100km?  I'm not in this to just finish.  I want to push for nearly 10hrs (hopefully closer to 9!).  In any training cycle there is always more you could have done, but in reality, there's more to life than training and racing.  This time for me it's been a move half-way across the globe and a calf injury that limited me to 16wks.  Confident I've  it my best given the situation.


H&N - 62.3kg/ 137lb with 9.8% bf, finally under 10%!  Stoked!  Feels good when all the hard work and mental toughness pays off.  Next two weeks will be clean diet but have to watch out for over-eating (even if it's healthy food).

Tapering is the point where I lost site of nutrition while training for Ironman UK.  My peak calories topped 6,000 a day so I got used to eating a ton.  Then came taper, and I failed to sufficiently reduce calorie intake.  Also, I was just below 7% bf, so that was agood excuse to give in to cravings.  The over-consumption probably didn't impact body comp too much, but I'm pretty sure it contributed to stomach problems on race day.  Those issues are firmly imprinted in my brain, so I'll try to avoid the same this time.

R&R - sleeping lots, 8hrs +, even some 10hr nights, lovin it!  Temperatures cooling off, so back on the compression gear.

As for the hamstring, as mentioned before, it's improving day-by-day.  Have been using cold spray every night and it's working.  Also, gave it an extra day rest by cutting out one interval this week which started the improvements.


As promised, more posting on target time and race day prep to come.  Getting excited!