VIRGINIA
DOUBLE IRON: PT II
If an athlete
trains, say, 20 hours a week for an Iron-distance tri, does s/he
train 40 hours a week for a double-iron, or 60 hours a week for
a triple? How does an athlete train most effectively for
ultra-distance tris? What’s the real secret behind training for
longer distances?
In my limited
experience, once my muscular, metabolic, and neurological
systems are adapted to iron-distance racing, I can sustain
prolonged aerobic exercise for much longer duration if three
criteria are met: 1) I have a simple nutrition protocol for
continuous fueling. 2) I remain patient and calm enough to
regulate a sustainable pace appropriate for the duration. 3) I
constantly focus on executing each stroke and stride
efficiently, economically and gracefully.
The big secret
behind training for longer distances is mindfulness – the
capacity to remain present here and now, even under duress.
It’s simple, it’s profoundly powerful, yet it is illusive,
intangible and hard to measure. Mindfulness is not something we
can bottle up or put in a snazzy package and sell. However, we
can train and practice mindfulness in every
waking moment, in every circumstance, in every
relationship. Mindfulness training requires clear, pure and
focused intent. (See Mindfulness and Athletic Excellence in the
Essay section.) In my opinion, it is essential for ultra
endurance events. Keep in mind that “ultra endurance” is a
relative term – for some it may be an event exceeding 2 hours,
for another it may be an event exceeding 12 hours.
For the Double, I
used the same nutrition strategy I’ve used in the past: I
refrained from eating anything on race morning until 5 or 10
minutes before I began. I consumed one Hammer Gel before the
start. For the remainder of the race, I consumed 2 to 2 ½
scoops of Hammer Perpetuem per hour (even during the 4.8-mile
swim), along with water and Hammer Endurolytes appropriate for
the climate conditions. Hammer Nutrition supplied Heed and
Endurolytes that were available at the transition area and the
run turnaround. On the second day, as the weather got hot on
the run, I opted for Heed over Perpetuem. This simple strategy
works very well for me – no fiber to process, a steady and even
flow of complex carbohydrates and electrolytes and a protocol
simple enough for any crew to follow. (Once again, I arrived
without a crew. I am grateful to John Well, one of the timers
who assisted me intermittently.)
The most effective
approach for ultra-training is the relentless pursuit of
economy, efficiency and grace – in the water, on the bike, and
on the run. Perfecting our swimming, biking and running form is
the most effective way to go faster and to go farther. This is
true for sprint races, it is true for double irons, and I
imagine it is probably true for triple irons.
Here’s a quick
overview of my training since 23 July, when I did Ironman Lake
Placid. I resumed my yoga-Pilates mat and physio-ball workouts
3 days after IM, and resistance strength training 10 days
later. I raced a sprint distance tri 8 days post IM. My
primary focus after IM was the USMS National 2-Mile Cable Swim
Championship 3 weeks later. Consequently, most of my high
intensity workouts (with the exception of weekly sprint tri’s)
were limited to swimming. Three days before the USMS race, I
did a bike-run “volley” in preparation for 24 Hours of
Triathlon. A few days after the USMS race, I did a swim-run
“volley”. (See a preceding blog for details on these workouts.)
I soloed 24 Hours
of Triathlon 1-2 September – five weeks after IM, and two weeks
after USMS. While I returned to swimming, biking, yoga and
Pilates as soon as I returned to Lake Placid, I refrained from
running due to a minor injury to my left knee from the 24 HOT.
A week after 24 Hours, I signed up for the Virginia Double.
That weekend I went on a 4-hour fast-hike with friends to the
summit of Giant Mountain, here in the Adirondack Park. My legs
were very sore for 3 days after the climb, so I ran only twice
in that week, 20 minutes each time. The next weekend, 5 of us
completed a 13 ½ hour fast-hike, summiting 9 of the Adirondack
High Peaks, with over 10,200 feet of elevation, covering over 25
miles. (All 5 of us had completed Ironman Lake Placid, and all
of us agreed this hike left our legs far more trashed.)
Our hike occurred
3 weeks before the Double. I resumed biking and swimming the
next day, but did not run for 4 days – and then, just 20
minutes. A week after the hike, I ran 10 miles. It felt like
20. This was only my fourth run since the 24 Hours, and the
first longer than 30 minutes. It was also my longest run before
the Double. My longest bike between the 24 Hours and the Double
was 3 hours. With the exception of our epic hike, my weekly
volume between these two long races was moderately low, peaking
at a weekly total of 13:45 (except the long hike). Regardless,
I maintained my relentless pursuit of economy, efficiency and
grace in every workout.
In addition, twice
a week, I did my yoga-Pilates matwork. This is essential to my
craft; it is my thorough body tune-up and core strength
session. Along with resistance strength training, these
sessions train muscle fiber recruitment – a neurological
function that is essential to endurance racing. (It’s worth
repeating for the hundredth time: Of the three physiological
systems we train – muscular, metabolic and neurological – the
neuro-system responds and improves the most.) The relentless
pursuit of economy, efficiency and grace occurs primarily
through neuro-training.
Novice athletes
initially realize their greatest athletic advances in metabolic
efficiency, training the body to burn fat and to conserve
glycogen at higher levels of intensity and for longer
durations. As the metabolic system adapts, the advances here
will level off, with occasional peaks through well-planned
periodization. However, the advances from neuro-training never
have to level off. We can continue to improve our technique
indefinitely as we age. We can focus on technique during
every workout, whether it is a recovery session or a
high-intensity interval session. Mindfulness is the key.
Psychologically,
it would have been easy for me to feel anxious about my low
training volume as I prepared for the Double, especially running
volume. However, I have discovered through experience that this
anxiety does not serve or empower me. As a component of my
endurance athletic training, I have learned to disengage from
the fear I associate with uncertainty, as I approach a new
endurance challenge. This ability to disengage from the fear
and befriend the uncertainty as an “elixir of life” is a
precious skill as we approach any new and unfamiliar experience
in life. Endurance training and racing provides a great arena
for honing this life-skill. I continue to venture forth and
explore unfamiliar territory as an athlete so that I can
continue to hone this skill. I am very grateful for the health,
wealth, and the family, community and cultural support that
enable me to do this.
One of the
greatest psychological supports for me as I “raced” the Double,
was sharing the experience with those who began 24 hours
earlier, racing the Triple. Their daunting endeavor made my
quest look much smaller and more attainable.
The swim portion
was relatively easy, given my ability to sustain efficient and
economical technique. I emerged in first place from the water –
with no expectations of staying in front. My race
strategy was simple, and worth repeating: Execute each stroke
and stride perfectly, regardless of my placement in the ranks.
During the 224-mile bike, I focused on keeping my shoulders low
and relaxed, tucking my chin, lengthening the back of my neck
and leading with the crown of my head. I kept this focus in
both aero and upright positions. I had set-up my bike so that I
was moderately and equally comfortable in both aero and upright
positions. (This is a function of dialing in a fore-aft seat
position that is far enough forward to allow adequate hip
movement in aero position, but far enough back so that I did not
bear a lot of weight in my arms while riding upright.)
Another constant
focus throughout the 15-hour ride was minimizing side-to-side
movement in the saddle to avoid chaffing. The longest ride I
had done in my athletic career before this was 171 miles in the
2006 Hawaii UltraMan. I was very concerned with saddle
discomfort and knew that the best way to avoid it was through
diligent saddle positioning that minimized side-to-side
movement. (I had brought an ISM saddle on a separate seatpost,
in case I felt the need to change saddles. However, I stayed
with my Fizik Arione Tri saddle.) I opted for Pearl Izumi tri
shorts with minimal padding and minimal bulk over bike shorts
for the entire bike leg.
I also focused on
maintaining a cadence of 80-95 rpm throughout the ride, mindful
to shift gears accordingly. I rarely rode out of the saddle
except to stretch as I coasted downhill, opting to conserve my
leg strength. Overall, I maintained a harmonious and symbiotic
relationship with my steel-framed Serotta CXII throughout the
bike portion, maintaining good biomechanics and constantly
articulating my “vocabulary” of riding positions.
The most difficult
element of the bike segment was navigating the stretch of road
closest to the transition area in the darkness, as we were
sharing this section with runners. I constantly reminded myself
that these runners were doing the Triple, and were enduring
their second night without sleep. Many were in a state of
trance that deserved a wide berth. Each cyclist and runner had
a headlight/lamp. Depth perception was difficult, so I
exercised caution, keeping the speed conservative throughout
this section of the course. Patience is a precious virtue for
endeavors of this length.
I transitioned to
the “run” section around 1:00 am. I was relieved to dismount
the bike – not so much out of discomfort or fatigue – but for
having completed it safely, and without mechanical
problems. I attribute the ease of transition from bike to run
to my pacing on the bike. My ride was perfect. My run however
was not. Setting out on the run on a dark, unlit road after 15
hours in the saddle was a challenge to the proprioceptive
capacity that I rely on for dialing in perfect form. It was
impossible to accurately “read” the road surface, to determine
the subtle variations in grade and crown. However, I felt great
for the first marathon, as I maintained good running form,
running for 9:00 and walking for 3:00 alternately.
Somewhere around
mile 20, I began to feel inflammation in my right Achilles
tendon. By the end of the first marathon, as the sun rose, I
realized that my focus for the remainder of my race would be
damage control. I began power-walking the second marathon,
maintaining a good pace and good spirits. As the day heated up,
my pace deteriorated. The inflammation increased and the air
temperature climbed into the 90’s. I realized that if I stopped
to take a break, I might experience a rapid onset of swelling.
I focused on staying on my feet, moving forward, fueling
adequately and maintaining a humorous and encouraging banter
with my fellow athletes. My respect and awe for the Triple
athletes grew with the passing of each 2-mile lap. Some of them
were still able to run and passed me by many times. Ah,
the benefits of humility! I was grateful to be there. I was
grateful that I could still walk, even as that simple task
became progressively more difficult.
I finished just
after 3:00 in the afternoon and immediately began to dismantle
and pack up my pit area. It wasn’t easy. I was just a little
on the crispy side, and the sun beating down on my red canopy
did not exactly cool things down. However, I remained
mindful for another hour, as I alternated between packing
and cheering on the athletes still in the race.
Perhaps I can
attribute the Achilles injury to my lack of running volume
leading up to the race. However, all this is mere conjecture.
To put it simply, “It is what it is”. So be it. I
finished… somewhat gracefully.
The swelling in
both feet completely subsided in 4 days. Two days after the
race, I began riding easy for 30 minutes a day, and began
swimming as soon as I returned home. It’s now 9 days after the
race ended. Today I cycled 90 minutes, with two 10-minute
threshold intervals and some hill intervals, in Zones 3-4.
Yesterday, I conservatively resumed weight lifting and swam 50
minutes. On Sunday (7 days post-race) I tried running for the
first time. I felt great for the first 25 minutes, then the
Achilles flared up. OK, I get the message: Patience, patience.
For those who are
interested in racing longer than iron-distance, I strongly
recommend soloing 24 Hours of Triathlon as your initial
endeavor. This is a great venue for “getting your feet wet”.
There is no pressure to go a set distance in a set time. The
format allows you to transition many times between disciplines
without having to do long durations in a single discipline. It
allows you to gain experience in sustaining activity for 24
hours, to test your metabolic capacity, hone your “mindfulness
endurance”, devise suitable pacing strategies and dial-in your
nutrition and hydration protocol. After that, you’ll be ready
for a Double… or maybe a Triple!
Namaste, Zenman
Note: Typically I
stay away from personal recollections in these blogs. My
decision to include this is not to gain attention or recognition
– that goes to the folks that finished the Triple. Here, my
intention is to provide some perspective on training for those
who have some interest in venturing beyond iron distance.
VIRGINIA
DOUBLE AND TRIPLE IRON TRIATHLONS
Two days after 24 Hours of
Triathlon, I signed up for the Virginia Double Iron. For some
time now, I’ve been dosing Ironman triathletes with a little
humility by informing them that there are double-, triple-, and
even deca-iron distance triathlons. I felt it was time to walk
my talk.
The first
question many of us hear when others find out about our athletic
endeavors that seem to defy their sense of limitations is,
“WHY?” Often I respond that extreme endurance events take us
beyond our familiar territory, deep into the realm of
uncertainty. What constitutes an extreme endurance
event? That definition is relevant to each individual. For one
individual, it might be an international distance tri, for
another it might be a “deca-iron”.
When I get
up close and personal with my limitations and uncertainty, the
best “tools” I have to work with are my humility and gratitude.
As I approach challenging situations in life with humility and
gratitude, I develop and cultivate grace. To live my
life with grace, gratitude and humility is one of my highest
aspirations. Endurance training and racing comprise a very
effective means of practice towards that aspiration.
So, at 7am
on Saturday, 6 October, I started my first double iron. The
most striking aspect of my 2-day experience was witnessing the
triple iron triathletes, as I struggled through just
two-thirds of their quest. (The triple athletes had started 24
hours earlier and were chipping away at the 67 ½ laps of the
336-mile bike portion when I arrived Friday afternoon.) By the
time we started, they had already been biking throughout the
first night.
The swim was
relatively easy – 12 laps around a cable in the calm waters of
Lake Anna. By 11am, the double athletes had joined the triple
athletes on the bike course for our 45 laps. There were some
gradual hills on the wooded out-and-back course, but mercifully,
nothing steep. By afternoon, some of the leading triple
athletes began their 78.6-mile “run”, consisting of 39 laps of a
gently rolling, out-and-back road course. (Many of the triple
athletes biked well into their second evening of no sleep before
commencing the run.).
After about
the first 5 laps, I was familiar enough with the bike course to
dial-in my riding technique (cadence, gear selection, pace and
positioning on the bike). My primary objective throughout the
entire tri was to focus on perfect technique, executing each
stride and each stroke perfectly. This was especially true on
the bike. I concentrated on overall body sensing to avoid
stressing my joints and muscles. I kept my shoulders low, my
chin tucked, my neck long and led with the crown of my head. I
did this constantly in both aero and upright position. I
finished the bike feeling fairly relaxed, with some tension in
my neck and shoulders.
The weather
for our first day was overcast and humid. The skies cleared
overnight and the air cooled.
I began the
run shortly after 1am, using a “run 9:00/walk 3:00” strategy for
the first marathon that seemed to work well. I was very mindful
of my running technique, based on ChiRunning. After that, my
hips were inflamed and my right Achilles tendon was swelling. I
was reduced to the less than glamorous pace of walking the
entire second marathon.
Throughout
the night as I biked and then ran, I watched the triple iron
athletes going through their second night, their
second period of darkness and doubt. I was touched to see
them embracing and disengaging from all the delirious tricks
their minds would conjure to end the pain and tedium they were
experiencing. While there were not a lot of external signs
manifesting their internal struggle, I could feel the enormity
of their “inner wilderness” just being in their presence. In
the latter part of that night, I remember seeing five-time
triple female winner Kathy Roche-Wallace walking
countless laps with her husband leading her by the hand. In
fact, many of the triple athletes were accompanied by spouses
during the night and into their third day. One athlete was
accompanied by his wife pushing a stroller with their child for
hours.
Of course,
this would be considered “assisting” in shorter triathlons,
subject to disqualification. But I venture that this is a
powerful form of bonding that will help them endure through
difficult times where their “choice” for suffering and hardship
is not so evident as it is on the race course. It is precisely
this element of choice that empowers us as endurance
athletes. Stress, strife and struggle of all kinds can be
elements in our lives that help us to develop spiritual
fitness. As I have written many times, our endurance
training and racing can be highly effective catalysts for
developing spiritual fitness – especially when our intention
is pure and clear.
As athletes,
we have the opportunity to exercise the context of choosing and
being the source of our stress every day, when we set out to
train and stress our bodies. After all, effective athletic
training is a balance of stress, recovery and adaptation.
Without stress, we will not grow stronger. This is not only
true as athletes, but as human beings. The daily stresses we
encounter are valuable opportunities for growth. As we gain
athletic proficiency in choosing our stress, we can transfer
that skill into our daily lives. Rather than victimizing
ourselves in stressful situations, we can embrace them with
humility and gratitude. We can move through them gracefully and
grow stronger and wiser.
I always
love the dawn after racing all night. The doubts recede and
clarity returns. Perhaps a little too much clarity at Lake
Anna. Temperature rose above 90 as we plodded back and forth on
the road. It was quite a challenge to persist in the heat, even
as I swaggered along. It astounded me that other athletes could
still run – especially the triple athletes. I was faint and
light-headed just waking.
The cutoff
time for both races was 7pm Sunday. (Double iron time limit was
36 hours and triple was 60 hours.) The final triple finisher
crossed the line within seconds of the cutoff.
The most
noteworthy characteristic common to all the athletes was that
few looked like the elite hard-bodies lining up for your average
Ironman. These are unassuming people. Arthur Puckrin is a
69-year old judge from England. He gracefully completed the
triple with an hour and five minutes to spare and never looked
distressed or fatigued. He always smiled when we passed back
and forth on the run course, and his breath was always slow and
deep. Arthur will compete at the Deca Iron World Championship
in early November, in Mexico.
The heart
and soul of this race reflect the passion and integrity of race
director Steve Kirby. It must be his sincere commitment and
deep love for this event and for the athletes that keeps him
awake and engaged for three straight days with no rest. The
small-scale and “down-home-Virginia” attitude belie the high
quality of this event. In comparison to the almighty benchmark
of Ironman, this event shines. Ironman events are
noteworthy for their scale, for tremendous community
involvement, and for their media attention and hyped up energy.
The finish line of an Ironman nearing the 17-hour limit is
unforgettable. The finish line for the Virginia Double and
Triple consists of two people holding a “Finish” banner over the
timing mat as the athlete carries the flag of his or her
country. It is located on a remote road in a little park lined
with a hodge-podge of tents and canopies. The spectators amount
to the crews for the athletes. Picture a local 5K event and
reduce the scale a bit. As unassuming as this may seem, the
heart and soul of this event are pure and clear.
The awards
party is the finest I’ve seen. We enjoyed a sumptuous banquet
at a local winery. We sat at tables with linen table cloths.
The awards and finishers’ shirts are of the highest quality. I
stayed only long enough to eat, leaving at 8:15pm, since I had a
3-hour drive. (I was concerned that I might fall asleep at the
wheel, after being up for so long.) I’m certain that the actual
awards presentation provided a great sense of closure and
completion for all. The $450 entry fee went a very, very long
way. Steve is not getting rich on this event.
The love and
compassion of this event are as epic as the distances of the
races. Ultimately, it is this love and compassion that empowers
and guides each of us through our journeys in life as athletes
and as human beings. I am so grateful have participated in this
event and for the health, love and support that enabled me to
experience this.
In a week
or so, I will post a second installment on this race. I’ll
discuss the training and technical aspects and some more of my
impressions. For race results, athlete profiles and photos
visit
USA Ultra Tri
February 20, 2007
March, 2007
June, 2007
July, 2007
August, 2007
September,
2007
