Call me compulsive. Call me crazy. Call me seriously in need of a coach.
But since racing Ironman in Taupo, New Zealand in 2005 I’ve dreamed of the day I would return with a vengeance. Or at least a decent grasp of the course, an intimate knowledge of chip-sealed asphalt and enough time lapsed to have erased the memory of 12.5 hours of pain. Yes, I’ve committed to racing IMNZ again on March 1st, 2008.
Actually the majority of my race day in Taupo did favor the positive side of the pleasure to pain ratio. I have to admit that I liked the hurt. In fact, I’m quite convinced that if we long-course triathletes didn’t have a remarkable affinity for suffering we’d never accomplish half of what we do. Is it that our pain threshold is necessarily higher than most, or are we merely more obsessive and probably less sane? Who was it that said you can’t experience joy without the contrast of agony? I do believe they go hand in hand, or at least the life experiences that are most rich & rewarding hold heavy doses of both. Just think about love and how often it hurts like hell.
I think we pretty much have a choice in the way we approach our lives: ride the roller coaster, screaming wildly out loud through the peaks and descents, or remain silent and safe, boringly flat-lined.
I have a 15 week ride to race day, which, in respect to my previous IM training, is almost twice what I need (which is why I might enlist the services of a coach this time around!) For my two previous IM’s, I very loosely followed a program called “9 Weeks to Your First Ironman”, which includes a 3 week taper. The plan came from Roch Frey & Paul Huddle, though I’m sure they’d be horrified at how much I butchered their program. I ignored everything about heart rates and tempos and intervals and pretty much just adhered to the general workout schedule and the timing of my long rides and runs. Somehow, miraculously, it worked and I turned in a 12:38 for my first IM attempt.
Last June I raced IM Coeur D’Alene on the same plan and, despite 2-foot swells in the lake and a much hillier bike course, I bettered that time with a 12:11. The improvement, I believe, was mostly attributable to a few key factors:
• Reducing my commute time to zero and thus devoting more hours to sleeping like a baby. (I had the good fortune to work from home last year.)
• Using GU Energy Gels during training and racing. (I know this sounds like a shameless self-promotion, but I swear I started using the GU prior to my hire. Not only is it the best tasting gel on the market, I’m a firm believer that the ginger in the herbal blend it contains has significantly reduced my usual stomach sensitivity. Plus, there’s nothing quite like branched-chain amino acids.)
• Homemade post-workout whey protein smoothies following every long ride & run. (Try it: soymilk, frozen banana, non-fat vanilla yogurt, peanut butter or almonds and chocolate protein powder.)
• A stronger base of long run training. (I started out the season with a March marathon PR).
• The wisdom & power of experience. (Enough said.)
There are a few reasons I’ve decided to return to Taupo specifically. First, anyone who knows me knows that I have a strong affinity for all things Kiwi, and I’ve had the good fortune of developing a few friendships on that side of the globe. There’s nothing quite like traveling half way around the world to race and having familiar faces & voices cheer you on.
Secondly, I recently relocated to Berkeley for my job with GU, and I don’t yet know any long ride and run routes, nor have I looked for a lap pool. Now that my glamorous travel schedule has tapered off a bit, I have the time get out there and train. The commitment to race will force me to find these options, as well as some new training buddies, pretty darn quick.
Thirdly, I want to qualify for Kona. There, I said it, in print for all the tri-blog-reading world to see. My chances are so-so. I’ll have to pull off a great, but not impossible performance. But the combination of Taupo timing (early March, so a slow race could conceivably be followed by a 2nd IM attempt later in the season) and my impending birthday (aging up in December) make it perhaps my best bet on the IM circuit. But most importantly, even if my race blows up and I walk the final miles to finish at midnight, I’ll be walking in New Zealand, one of the coolest locations on the planet, where disappointment and regret have no hold.
So there you have it. I think I better head out for a run!