This was my sixth year racing either the Florida Half Ironman (2005) or Florida 70.3 (2007-2011) and while each race is a bit different, the 2011 edition had to be the out-lier.

Indications of a bizzare day were evident almost from the start.  Heading W (actually S) on I-4 from downtown Orlando towards Disney, teammate Mark Vermeersch and I noticed flashes of lightning streaking across the sky off in the distance. Lightning is of course nothing new for Central Florida, undoubtedly the lightning capitol of the US (Rawanda, Africa tops it in the World listings for most strikes).  However, it is rare to see an aerial display in the morning, as most lightning is associated with thunderstorms that run across the state in the afternoon. Regardless, certainly not a normal occurance for the start of a race.

Upon arriving at Walt Disney World, lightning was still flashing pretty regularly but thankfully the rain was holding off.  Sure enough, though, the rain commenced by the time we reached transition.  Rain happens, but again, not usually in the morning, and not during any of the previous editions of the race. Despite the weather situation, though, the announcer continued informing us that the radar indicated the weather would clear and we should be ready for our regularly scheduled 6:20 AM start time. So I continued warming up, kept remarkably dry by my Timex Multisport Team Zorrel Whistler Jacket.  This thing looks sharp, is comfortable, and as a bonus repelled the water incredibly well.  Before I knew it, 6AM rolled around and I was heading out of transition and down to the swim start.

Once on the beach, the announcement was made that the race would be delayed 20 minutes.  This, I thought, was reasonable as the rain and lightning had finally stopped and the sky did appear to be clearing.  Of course this meant 20 more minutes of nervousness and a 6:40 start rather than the usual 6:20 start.  A little warm up in the water would’ve been appreciated, but it was too dark for that.  (Thus the perils of starting a race before sunrise…)

Finally the gun was off and the madness ensued. On approximately my 4th stride, my foot landed on a sharp object and I felt a slicing pain under my left big toe. It hurt, but I could still feel the toe, so I figured I’d survive. Coming into the first turn buoy, I was in a group with 3 other guys but was a bit worried that I was too far back.  I felt like our pace was strong, but it also looked like there were some others pretty far ahead. The water was choppier than it had been in previous versions of the race, so I was pleasantly surprised to be out of the water around 26:40.

Running through the long chute to the transition area, I looked down at my foot and sure enough, it was covered with blood.  I couldnt exactly do anything about it, so I proceeded to my beautiful Ordu and took off, hoping it wouldnt hurt too bad the rest of the race. I still wasnt sure of my position, but I did notice quite a few more bikes remaining on the pro men’s rack than spots vacated, so that was a good sign.

Once I got moving on the bike I looked down at my PowerTap only to find that the computer was not picking up my wheel.  This was bad news. My coach, Paulo, had given me strict instructions for the ride, so I knew he’d be upset if I didnt have any data.  I tried remounting the computer and adjusting the wheel sensor, but nothing seemed to work. Without data, I just focused on riding hard and keeping people in sight.  I was passed by a couple of people early on, but also passed a couple of riders, so I hoped I was riding well.  Without a working computer, I wanted to keep my 5-mile splits right around 12 min. I did, for the most part, with a few under 12 and all under 12:30.  This left me confident that I was cruising towards a decent bike split.

Finally the bike was over, and I was off on the run.  Up to this point, the day had been one of unfamiliar occurrences, but the run was eerily similar to years past.  The theme for this race goes something like this: run fast while you can, and then hang on.  Florida in May is hot and humid, and sooner or later the heat will take its toll at which point you just have to fight as best you can to maintain whatever pace you can.

I believe I was around 12th or 13th coming off the bike, but after a strong first lap I was being told I was in the hunt for top 10.  The multiple out-and-backs allowed plenty of opportunity for the hunters to see their prey, and I was on the prowl.  I had moved into the top 10 by the start of the last lap when I was informed that Kevin Collington was about a minute up the road, so I was hoping I could reel him in as well.  By this time, though, the heat was really starting to take its toll and my 5:55s fell to 6:15-6:30.  Nevertheless, I caught him with 2 miles to go and he told me 8th place was “fading fast.”  Once I got back out onto the asphalt, I just focused on keeping the tempo up as much as possible in order to maintain some semblance of a reasonable pace.  Finally, I moved into 8th with about a mile to go, and just wanted to cruise to the finish.  However, a few moments later I noticed a hard charging Brent Poulsen was closing rather quickly and I sure as hell was not about to get passed in the last half mile after racing for over 4 hours! So I redoubled my focus on turnover in an attempt to increase speed, as I was determined to hold him off.  Finally, I reached the barriers and hit the left turn for the chute. I started to think I was in clear when I heard someone say, rather nonchalantly,

“Nice job, almost there. You’ve got a guy coming up behind you”

Not exactly what I wanted to hear!  I went into HS CC mode and began “sprinting.” I was thoroughly wiped at this point, so I felt like I looked like a actor who is obiviously not a runner trying to run in a movie. All of his motions are exagerated, but he really not moving that fast at all.  So that was me… trying to sprint, but not really moving that fast. At that point, though, it was all I had. Indisputable photographic evidence, courtesy of Katie Hodges:

I crossed the timing mat and then continued through the banner before halting and hunching over to place my hands on my knees. A couple seconds later, there was Brent.  Although I had quite a few minutes of not being able to see anything, I did manage to stay upright and prevent collapse.

Summary (full results can found here):
S: 26:55
B: 2:16:52
R: 1:20:29

Total: 4:07:40, Good for 8th place.

In review, my swim start couldve been better, I was pleased with the bike ride, and I couldve used a little more at the end of the run. But there are always things to improve and I was happy with my effort in the first race of the season. Most of all, it was great to see my family and hang out with my Timex teammates.

Carter's Gin tornado damage

As I’m sure most of you most have heard, states across the south were hit with a brutal storm last Wednesday which spawned multiple large tornadoes.  Across Alabama 21 tornadoes have been verified by the National Weather Service, with 6 being listed as EF-4 or EF-5 storms, with peaks winds at least 170 mph.  The current death toll has already topped 300 and is still rising.  For an idea of how widespread the damage was, check out this interactive map, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.

Most of the press coverage thus far has focused on central and southern Alabama.  Indeed, the damage in Tuscaloosa and around Birmingham was large enough to warrant a visit from the President and the images from the area were breathtaking, with large neighborhoods leveled.  Even before President Obama’s visit, the the video of the tornado tearing through Tuscaloosa linked to by Bruce was been seen by millions.

As some of you may know, I live in Huntsville, AL, which is in the northern part of the state. Thankfully my house, and most of my neighborhood, was spared from the worst of the damage but others close by were not so lucky.  While much of the media attention has focused on Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, a number of smaller towns in northern Alabama were particularly hard hit with some entire towns being wiped almost entirely off the map.  Towns like Hackleburg, Phil Campbell, and Haleyville, to name a few, were hit by a massive EF-5 tornado which had winds of over 200 mph, traveled 132 miles, and was 1.25 miles wide.  To give you an idea of how strong of a storm that is, there were reports of asphalt being lifted off the ground.

The tragedy, of course, is that many of the residents of these towns were desperately poor before the storm and now have lost almost all of what little they had. These are hard working people who rarely asked for or expected assistance but they certainly need it now.

So if you feel compelled, please go here, to the Salvation Army, to make an easy, safe, secure donation.  If you are too lazy to follow the link, you can simply text “REDCROSS” to 90999 to make a $10 donation to the Red Cross.  Its just that easy!

“Most people will run better in their next race if they lose a pound of body fat.” -Exercise immunology expert David Nieman

Amby Burfoot has a great article up on the Peak Performance blog at RunnersWorld.com. First of all, believe it or not, Runners World does actually publish some decent information online and blog is a prime example.  In this post Amby speaks with David Nieman, who he calls, “among the smartest and most impeccable of exercise scientists.”

With the introductions out of the way, the second half of the post contains the section on post workout glycogen re-stocking and the QOTD.  His words, with my emphasis added in bold:

This is a pet peeve of mine. Runner’s World and every other fitness publication is always talking about the importance of re-stocking “glycogen stores” shortly after you finish a workout. Chocolate milk is a current favorite choice, but you also read about energy bars, and peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches, or maybe tuna sandwiches.

The research findings are valid enough. That’s not the issue. The issue is that this finding doesn’t apply to 99 percent of us. It’s for Ironman triathletes and marathoners doing double workouts and 120 miles a day. These folks are never more than a few hours away from their next workout, and for them it’s important to practice maximal re-stocking.

For the 99 percent of us, it’s smarter to practice maximal food restraint. We’d be better off losing a couple of pounds than re-stocking in world-record time. In my opinion, what most of us should eat after a typical workout is a glass of water and a banana. Or something equally light. Yes, we need fluids. Yes, we’ll enjoy a few carbs. But the fewer the better, if you want to know the truth. Your next meal is only 3 to 4 hours off, and you’ll pack away plenty of glycogen-restocking calories then.

Nieman agreed with me. I wasn’t taking notes, but he said something like: “I’ve looked at those studies, and the glycogen gain is very modest. Most people will run better in their next race if they lose a pound of body fat.”



Amby and I apparenly have similar pet peeves, as I have had similar thoughts.  This is especially prevalent among triathletes and ultrarunners, as they compete in long distance events which do require on course fueling.  However, just because a race may require the consumption of calories, doesnt mean immediately refueling is imperative after or during every workout. IOW, you really dont need a gel, or even some sports drink, to complete that 40 minute run.

So by all means, if you’ve got a multiple workout day planned, make sure to get some calories right after the first and/or second workout. Otherwise, drink some water and make some real food. It’ll taste better and will allow you to eat less and race faster.

BTW: I also love how Amby calls out, “Runners World and every other fitness publication” on a Runners World blog. Priceless.

SWIM, 25:25

Rule 6: Travel in a group
BOOM!!! Goes the cannon, and we were off the beach and sprinting into the Gulf of Mexico. As soon as we started swimming, it was apparent that zombies were out in the ocean, as the Gulf’s usually serene waters were replaced by a zombie generated wave pool. I tripped a bit on the run in which left me to play catch up early, requiring a really hard effort for the first 400m or so. Eventually I found a group and just hoped we weren’t too far back from the leaders. The conditions made it difficult to determine how many people were “up the water”, but I was swimming hard and in no place to escape our decent sized group.

Exiting the water, I recognized a couple of faces and heard a couple more names of guys coming out behind me, so I was pretty happy to have escaped water zombies in relatively good position. My focus immediately turned to T1, which I knew would be crucial.

BIKE, 2:14:31

Rule 17: Dont be a hero
Out onto the bike and what do you know… more zombies, this time in the form of a stiff wind out of the East. After the first few minutes, I was grouped with a few others when we made a turn onto a longish straight road heading east towards the main out and back section of the course. Up the road I could see another largish group and my first instinct was to chase. However, my Zombieland training kicked in and I reconsidered. Dont be a hero. Due to the straight road, the pack was likely further than they looked. Additionally, I was already riding moderately hard at the back of our little group and we were heading into a headwind. Passing the group and then chasing the others down would’ve been a sure ticket to zombie cannibalization, especially at the beginning of the 56 mile ride.

Rule 8: Kill with Efficiency
With that key tactical decision out of the way, I focused on staying with my friends and keeping the pace honest. This was especially challenging with the course traversing primarily north and south, leaving us with a day full of zombie crosswinds. Thankfully my Shimano C75 wheel was more than up to the task, annihilating wind zombies left and right.

RUN, 1:15:48

Rule 22: Be Ruthless
Coming to the end of the ride, my leg/butt was feeling really tight so I was looking forward to getting off the bike. After gaffed transitions last year, I was really focused on good transitions this year. Towards the end of the ride I moved to the front of the group, jumped off my bike, grabbed my bag, threw on my shoes, and headed out on the run in no time. At this point, it was time to Be Ruthless. I had been waiting to attack, and now was the time to go in for the kill-shot. I took off out of T2 and after a minute of stumbling, found my stride. First mile: 5:36. The early mission of zapping my biking companions was effective. Now: to pick up some more scalps. I notched a couple more on the first lap but as I headed for the turnaround to start lap 2, I realized there was only open real estate in front of me.

Rule 32: Enjoy the Little Things
At this point, with my place more or less set, I focused on keeping my turnover up and enjoying the day. I made it over that stupid bridge for the last time and cruised in, soaking up the crowd support from awesome Timex teammates, friends, family, and the plethora of others who were out cheering.

TOTAL: 3:59:20, 25th Overall, 7th American

Rule 1: Cardio.
In the end, it still all comes down to fitness. You can make the correct tactical decisions during a race, but if you dont have the fitness to execute them, they are useless.

More musings at the Wide World of Andrew, http://ajhodges.blogspot.com