Ironman Kona 2014

It was a great trip back to Kona for 2014.  My year off, getting married, starting a company, closing the company for a great opportunity with movecoach, and starting our family has been a whirlwind and nothing short of a miracle that it has all come together.  My wife deserves a lot of that credit;)  After Couer d'Alene, it was rough getting back into the swing of things.  Getting back into sales, little trip to Ireland and family time, but well worth it.  As with anything, my focus just wasn't there so Kona would be more of a "fun" experience for me to enjoy for a change.

Arriving Sunday it was the usual family fun heading through the week.  Coffee bar swims, rides on the Queen K, zip-line adventure (highly recommended by Kohala) and casual runs along Ali'i.  Nothing really compares to being around all the fit people around and it can get intimidating as well as easy to lose your cool leading to race day.  Luckily the family and Whitney did a great job of keeping me sane through the week.

Race morning arrives and I feel good.  Not expecting a breakthrough performance, but also trying to keep things respectable.  Wake up, normal breakfast and coffee and off to the start.  Head through body marking and do last minute tweaks to the bike.  My buddy One Hour Ironman/IronBob finds me and we find a good place to relax.  He has a great charity he supports and actually raced in 6 Ironman's on 6 continents over the span of 4 months.  Not an easy task, but it was to support Well Aware, a great charity that provides water wells and education to the people of Africa.  He always had great stories from his travels and it was great to pass the time.

Getting close to race start and I always need the last minute pottie break.  Funny run in with Lew Hollander and Sister Madonna in line.  Hopefully I get into the NBC broadcast as they wish each other luck.  Lew was slugging down a Red Bull at the time, I guess he has a good heart!

As we all trudge to the start line I catch up with my buddy Tim Smith who races for Everyman Jack (super stud, sub 9 hours).  He has been on a tear for the last few years and is always looking to push the envelope on a race.

Stepping into the water and everyone's focus sharpens.  Its a few hundred yards out to the start so I take it easy, not wanting to tread water for too long out there.  I think I see my family in their neon green gear which was great!  With the split AG Men and Women's starts, the crowd on the line wasn't too bad.  I line up about two thirds down the line from the pier and wait........

Cannon goes off and its a washing machine!  Surprised nobody was swimming over each other, but it takes a good 100 yards to get space to actually swim.  Settling into a good stroke, people played nice and were forming good groups to draft.  Visibility was perfect, and following feet and bubbles was easy.  Really no sighting required as if you veered right or left, someone was there to keep you going straight.  Cruising out to the turn was just amazing with the pack keeping things together.  Hitting the turn buoys things stayed mellow too!  We all made the turn and made our way back home.  No idea how long it was taking, felt long (time wise), but was hopeful to keep it under 1:10.  Little bit of water in the goggles I had to fix, no biggie, but then a cramp in my foot!  So painful, thankfully nothing to really keep me from going.  Just try to relax, pull the pace back slightly and stretch thing out in my stroke.  Luckily it goes away in a minute or so and it is back at it.  I'm veering a little bit now with the pack thinning out.  Staying on the buoy line, but getting close to the surfboards lining the inside.  Finally coming into the pier and the crowd is always just crazy!  Every breath you can see all the volunteers cheering and the rest of the water line is packed with people.  My hand hits sand, stand up and it is just overwhelming.  Make sure I stand up straight, get my bearings and up the stairs.  1:09!  Wahooo!

Cruise through T1 which is packed, and HOT!  Make sure I'm ready to head out on the road.  Jogging out with my bike and the little parade through town.  People are just hitting it hard already, but its a long day, no reason to win the first 20 miles.  Through "Hot Corner" and I catch my family cheering me on.  Out Kuakini and the road is lined with people cheering the whole way.  Flying back into town a few of us nearly run over some people running across the road.  I see my family again, but they weren't expecting me so soon, of course my personal photog Whitney was;)


Time for some TLC on the Queen K.  With the start staggered with the women, the road isn't as crowded as usual.  Maybe my faster swim helped too!  Rolling out there are still packs forming in the first 20 miles.  I end up fighting to get around packs that drop in front of me, and using up too many watts in the process.  Winds aren't as friendly as usual until after the airport, but then they switch to considerable cross winds at times.  Its really fun to watch the rider in front of you get hit and move a few feet sideways!  Ticking away the miles and rolling hills I'm trying to hold back for a good run.  Its a hard task as the bike is always my go-to.  In retrospect, I didn't do a good job at that.  I was out to have fun though!

Making the turn toward Hawi the winds weren't bad at first.  The road gradually turns East though and it just got worse and worse with just a defeating headwind.  Your mind can be decimated at this point as you watch time slip away while you approach the half way point.  Its a hard thing to keep in your head, but the way back is like a flash and makes it up.  Turn in Hawi is always fun.  The whole town must turn up to come cheer and the Special Needs group is a fun one too.  Load up with my frozen bottles, crest the hill and its a roller coaster down and out of Hawi.  Some nice tailwinds paired with cross blasts makes for tentative riders not letting loose.  I have a few extra pounds to stabilize and I'm good!  Cruising at 40 mph, spinning out my gears and loving it!  Making my way back to the Queen K I hit a dark spot though.

Around 35 miles left and my mind takes a bit of a turn with sore feet and the crazy winds picking up.  I really need to find a new cycling shoe for IM's as I get "hot spots" under the knuckles of my pinky toes.  Such a pain for a small part of the foot.  Watts and speed are down and I just need to get off my bike.  I figure the lower watts will do good for the run, but the damage was already done.  Trying to keep positive thoughts as I start to see the familiar landmarks and things get better.  Winds aren't as bad, and I'm going to hit my time of 5:10!  I should have figured it was a "slower" day out there for everyone.

Slowly through T2, trying to make sure my legs don't seize up like they normally do, I'm just excited to be off my bike and out of my shoes!  Sit down in the changing tent, get my gear together and out on the run.

Out on the first few miles I manage to keep my pace down, but at a good clip.  All smiles running through the crowds along Ali'i.  So much fun seeing the lead women runners heading the other way.  Rinny goes blowing by, looking like she will reel in the pack of women ahead.  I'm always worried about my abs seizing up, its a problem I've had in the past few IM's when I try to dig deep.  The rollers on Ali'i don't give much trouble and the pace is nice and consistent between 7:00 and 7:30 and feels easy.  Hitting the 2 mile mark and my family is just ahead.  They are great about giving me a good show when I go by.  The kids have some great chalk work done too.  Down to the turnaround is great and much better than last time with a bum knee where I was walking a good part of the marathon in 2012.  Coming back towards my family and I'm still full of energy.  Smiling and enjoying the day unfold.  Running back into town is great as usual.  Everyone is on the street cheering you on, it is such a sight.  There was nice overcast most of the time so far and heading up Palani to the Queen K has a monster crowd.  Making the turn and downhill and I was thinking my goal of 3:15 was in reach!

The Queen K has a tendency to bury you.  It's such a long stretch of road with nearly no end in sight.  With the sun coming out, and the heat rising, this was a bad place for me.  The energy just left me at this point.  Pace started to slow and everything turned south.

The biggest part of a race is that you know what you are racing for.  In the past it was completing my journey to lose weight and regain my health.  My last race here was about pushing as hard as I could, but injury didn't let that happen.  This time with so many other great things happening in my life, there really wasn't anything I was out to prove.  It's amazing how having that drive in your head can help you train and push your body to new limits.  That spark in my head just wasn't there for this race.  I knew it going in, but was somewhat ignorant to that fact.  Fitness and drive can take you to great places, my place was just to finish and be happy.

Grinding out the final ten miles was a chore.  Heading into the Energy Lab and I was beat.  Luckily its downhill first, unluckily it uphill out.  Down to the turnaround I see an old competitor from a duel at the end of the Pittsburgh Triathlon a few years ago.  It is one of my favorite tri experiences, chasing down people on the run in that race.  I got within 10 feet of him that day and we pretty much sprinted the final mile in.  He kept up the pace though and held me off.  He has had a great year this year on his run to Kona and it was great to see him.  I let off "don't let me catch you" as I saw him going the other way.  There was no chance of a heated finish this day though.  Heading back was a chore to say the least.  Trudging out of the lab took a big toll.  Walking aid stations, but still smiling at everyone trying to urge me along.  I can't believe how the volunteers are out there all day and still love to be there.  Turning back to the Queen K and I know its about an hour home!

About a mile back I see my Dad.  He rode out to cheer me on and make sure I was doing OK.  He know it was a rough day, but we always have the right things to say to each other.  He loves to see everyone out doing what they love, and if he can help anyone and be a part of it, that has become his purpose.  Putting some work in and my spirits lift for a mile then back to grinding.  My favorite aid station of the day came up and they are playing this goofy song "What does the fox say!" and it makes me run faster for a mile.  It was a fun mile though it nearly had my hamstrings seizing up!



The last miles are always a blur.  Trying to hold things together and make it in.  The final turn down Ali'i and into the shoot the family is back to see me in.  It was a rough day out there and emotions start to get me.  This is the last time for a while I'll be here and I know my family, especially my wife have all done so much for me to chase triathlon dreams.  I just hope there is something I can do to repay all the love they put my way.

Taking my time down the finish shoot and enjoying the crowd.  Crossing the line and the relief was amazing.  Done and done.  The last time doing that for a while!  It has been a great, but long eight years of my life that probably took over much of it for a good period.  Its time to mellow out for a few years and do some normal life things like have a baby, lol.  Not closing a door on Ironman, but a well deserved break.  You'll see me soon enough taking on the stroller division in a few road races next summer, and of course I have the Miller Family Florida Ironman next November, but that will really be for fun and cheering the next future Miller Ironmen, Ashley and Mom!

Aloha from Kona!

Ironman CDA 2014

Its amazing when you are self employed how much time you can spend away from here.  The past year has been great, marriage, starting a business, and getting back into shape to do this "fun" little thing called Ironman!

Of course I had to drive to Coeur d'Alene, as city living restricts getting out on the open road.  Whitney was a trooper for tagging along and not taking the easy route and flying as I offered.  A little stopover in Bend, OR for the night and we made it in a relaxed two days.  Unfortunately I picked up a little bug from a restaurant in the middle of no-where in Oregon.  Luckily nothing major, but scared me for a day.

Arrive in CdA, get settled in the great place Whitney's friend hooked us up with and relaxed for the week.  My parents and a lot of friends from Scottsdale were up so there was no lack of good distractions around town to keep spirits up.

 

To be honest, after Wildflower I had some doubts as to whether I had it in me to get back to Kona.  Oceanside was a great race, and there was some complacency that set in for a period, thinking I didn't need as much to perform.  Wildflower showed different.  Wildflower wasn't a bad race, just not a good one.  I rededicated myself after that and had hoped it was what I needed.

Race morning comes along and I'm ready to go.  The long months of training are in, the body feels good, nervous excitement for the first time in a while, this is going to be a fun day!  Adding to this, the winds are up, and a chill in the air.  Perfect day for the big diesel engine.

Good luck kiss from the wife, parents have a good send off too and into the starting groups for the rolling start.  No mass start at CdA, you self seed yourself sort of like a running race.

I get in with the 1:00-1:15 after a short warm-up in the water.  Relaxing and talking with people around, we are all anxious for the canon.  Mike Reilly gets on the PA and counts it down.  The cannon goes off and the super A types in the fast swimmers sprint into the water.  It takes about 3 minutes to get to the "start" line, and I take a casual jog into the water, and a good dolphin dive to get away from people.  While it should be a lot mellower of a swim than a normal wave start, the wind is kicking up some good chop in the water, and people are ending up everywhere, with some poor navigation.  I decided to keep it calm and smooth for the first 10 minutes as my body and lungs get warmed up.  Still get a few mouthfuls of water, but uneventful until the first turn.  Pretty crowded, and washing machine.

Second turn is about the same until I get away outside the buoy line again.  Now with the waves you can feel it being faster.  Things were thinning out, so more sighting involved, which was harder with the wake as you couldn't see the buoys.  Cruising into the finish of the first lap and the crowd on the beach was nuts!  Trying to keep calm and take a concerted jog down the beach to get clear of everyone swimming straight for the course.  I breath to the left and can see people battling on the inside, so I'm happy where I am even with a slightly longer course.  Second lap, the chop was increasing, but with a good warm-up from the first lap, it was much easier to cut through the waves while losing a breath here or there.  Far side of the second lap and we hit lap traffic.  Tried my best to not run anyone over, but some people were just dead in the water.  Make the last turn and its a quick down wind race all the way in.  Feeling good the whole time even with the crazy waves, I know it should be near my goal time.  Strong push to the shore, up the beach, and its 1:04 for the swim!  Best "real" swim for an IM!  Two years ago I pulled some obnoxious swim time (46:00) in IM NJ/NY, but that was downstream in the Hudson.

Swim Time: 1:04:28

Overall Rank: 152

AG Rank: 26

On to the bike! 

The bike course isn't technical in terms of handling, but with its constantly changing altitude, it is technical in terms of gearing.  Added to this, the winds were going to cause havoc on the long loop portion of the ride. 

Taking my time in transition, grab my bike and get rolling through the massive crowds in downtown.  Seeing the family was great at bike exit and my personal photog got some great shots:)  Rolling through town and out along the lake was the tricky part.  Lots of 90 degree turns, but not many people on the road.  One of the perks of swimming faster!  Winds  weren't too bad on this part of the course, but definitely a factor.  The climb on the short loop of the route is short, but has some teeth.  I came in with the mentality of hitting hills hard, up 20-30% watts from the whole ride.  Targeting 260 watts, the rolling terrain was perfect to keep effort even.  Back through town the place was going nuts.  Had to keep calm rolling through.  I love to see my family out cheering, and they were in the perfect spots all day for me to catch them.

Turning onto 95 for the big loop of the course, the wind was straight in our faces.  M2's teaching states to push up watts up hills and into the wind by 20%.  This was going to be 20 miles out into this wind.  This meant holding 300 watts for over an hour!  This really threw me a bit in my head, but I trusted it.  Pushing even more up the gentle, short hills (compared to SF), it still scared me a bit that I was going to burn up my run legs.  Two climbs on our way out 95 and into rollers to the turn I get passed by a rider, I look left, and there is a stream of people wheel to wheel.  Its the first time I've shouted at another participant, but it was pretty much a few choice words that came out.  They pass, and I take the opportunity to cruise back as I'm supposed to.  We hit a short roller and they slow and I put a push in to get by again.  Cresting the top, and down the short hill and they catch me again.  We were approaching the turnaround and I didn't want anyone latching on for the rollercoaster freeway back with the wind.  I hit it hard and make the turnaround with good distance passed them.  This was 20 miles in 1:04.  Could be demoralizing, but I knew he ride back would more than make up for it.

The ride back was all I thought it was going to be.  Strong tailwind and cruising over 30 MPH pretty much the whole way!  Some of the descents I even spun with 53 up front and 11 ring in the back.  Open roads now, and as I always do, I'm doing math in my head on when I should get back into town.  I've always done this trick, it keeps me calm and passes the time.  Descending the last hill was just unreal at this point.  Keeping aero all the way, the winds were a bit fun to deal with and I was a little wild.  Luckily nobody was around.  Finding my way back into town I link up with a few guys who decide to do a little leapfrog every few minutes which lifts my spirits as we get to exchange a few words each time. 

Into town and the crowd is even bigger with everyone out on the road.  Of course the family is in a perfect spot again and yelling their heads off.  Weather is still cool, and it looks like the cloud cover will let up and have some sun.  Rolling through town and out along the lake, I can sense my legs taking a little fatigue at this point.  Nutrition hasn't been a problem and I was taking in all my calories from the Perpetuum and Osmo I started with, then anything I could get my hands on at aid stations.  Up the short hill of the short loop and to the turnaround, they have Bike Special Needs set up.  I grab my second batch of Perpetuum and Osmo, and get back on the road.  Flying back into town, the road is pretty open and I know I'm out front somewhere.  Game on for the second loop!

Back by the family and onto 95 for some wind tunnel testing again.  Definitely on the right track going for 300 watts all the way out.  I know it will be slightly lower with some fatigue, and I also need to work on keeping something for the run.  The energy definitely isn't as good pushing the hills, but still feels good.  Staying in a tuck for so long is starting to take its toll on the shoulders and neck.  While my swim was faster than I've done, the lack of overall swim fitness took its toll on my shoulders.  No draft packs around this time, but I do have traffic from lap 1 people out.  Had to give a few yells of "on your left", but for the most part they kept right.  I knew heading into the turn I was a few minutes slower, but the joy of the return run with the wind brought my head back to its task of getting home.

Ripping away again at super cruise, I had a smile pasted on my face and counting down the minutes to get my ass off this bike!  My first major prerace mishap happened on a test ride Wednesday where I had to replace my saddle.  It felt good, and was the same model, but not broken in, so not as comfy as it could.  Happily, my feet weren't hurting like they normally do at this point, so I guess its an even trade.  Almost into town, we have the "no passing lane" heading up the bridge.  Another guy finishing up, and I very nicely talk a group of people to let us squeeze by and we get through without issue.  Into town and into transition, the legs are feeling like jello as usual and my dismount is nearly a fall.  Volunteers are there and steady me and I'm into the tent for a quick change.

Bike Time: 5:13:00
Overall Rank: 19th
AG Rank: 4th

A healthy run was something I was looking forward to for the past year.  The heal and knee were feeling good, and my training solid for the past two months.  Hitting the transition tent, and its pretty much empty, always an awesome sight.  Get the volunteers to rip my kit off over my head because I can't raise my arms, put on my run shirt, change shoes, and head out.  No cramping in the legs this time as they usually do so I know I road the bike perfectly.

Flying out the first mile and I have to slow it down.  My body wants to GO GO GO!  Luckily I realize it each time and slow it down each time.  Trying to hold around 7:15 pace.  All the houses in the neighborhoods along the course made the day awesome.  One even had a Fireball Whiskey table, I thought could be good the second lap, some stiff competition in the field took that though out of my head. 

Getting along the bike path along the lake I was picking off people, but all the sudden someone goes by me like I was standing still.  Some crazy fast dudes showed up and performed that day.  Two guys in my AG went under 3:00 for the marathon.  That was beyond my capabilities so the thought of latching on wasn't there.  Still see-sawing in the rankings, but no idea where I was.  Taking the hill for the first time on the run, my legs are still good, but very happy for the downhill recovery.  The turnaround comes and its back up for a short climb, then the long descent.  This is the perfect time to see where everyone is.  The people I passed are still falling back, and some competition looking good though.  Back along the lake feels great.  You get some tailwind and the pace is fast.  Into town and I catch my family again and get an update from my Dad, 5th place in my Age Group.  That's good and bad.  Awesome for a podium, but no wiggle room.

Making the turn, the city is erupting, a smile still on my face.  All is good and I actually have some thoughts of a 3:10 race.  As I get back onto the lake, those thoughts begin to erase.  The fast running Age Groupers are catching, but much slower passes now.  Get to talk to a few and then a dude even taller than me cruises by!  Must get my ass in gear!  I take it easy up the hill for the second time and back up after the turnaround.  Hitting the bottom its 6 miles to the finish and thinking about what's left in the tank.  Keeping track of people I know I'm in 6th now.  I'm not catching 5th, but hoping for a meltdown.  On top of that, with the staggered start, there's no way of knowing exactly where everyone is. 

Keeping things together, my stomach starts to seize up.  Just at the same time I'm passed by my AG.  Keeping things together, but slowing, I know I may still have 3 minutes on him.  A few minutes later, my stomach finally gets right and the AG'er who massed me pulls up with a hamstring problem!  I get back passed him and he knows what going on too and gets moving again.  We end up trading passes for the next few miles in the neighborhoods.  At the last aid station we are next to each other screaming for coke and its game on to the finish.  I take the opportunity to ask when he started and he reveals he started in the front group at the gun.  I gleefully respond I have 3 minutes on him.  I don't think he was happy.  That's the one thing I probably regret, lol.  The last section of the course is ridiculously long at this point.  Long street with the finish visible and nobody else on the road.  Mind racing to stay the course and push the pace as much possible without falling apart.  The final stretch just blew me away with the crowd cheering and I'm actually able to enjoy it to myself.  I cross the line and nearly fall over.  Volunteers grab me and make sure I'm good.  I thought so, legs didn't and I fell on her.  Luckily she was ready and I didn't eat pavement.  Escorted to a seat, I slump down, try to eat and get some fluids and enjoy the pain. 

Run: 3:18:59
Overall Rank: 34
AG Rank: 8
 
Overall Time: 9:43:04
Overall Rank: 24
AG Rank: 6

This was nearly a perfect day coming back to Ironman after a year off.  Realizing that I can take some time off and come back to racing at a high level was one of the biggest goals of the day.  Another was getting back to Kona.  Crazily, we only had 5 spots in my Age Group.  Waking up the next day, I ravenously scoped out everyone ahead and discovered the 3rd place guy grabbed a spot in Arizona last year.  Still a bit freaked out so nervous leading into roll down.  My Age Group comes up and the winner turns it down because he is having a kid in October, 3rd turns it down, 4th and 5th take it and I joyously accept the first roll down!  My AG was the aberration of the day.  Not sure what went down after that, but it went all the way to 10th.

This race hurt the most of any (except for one legged running in Kona).  The support and love everyone shows me is amazing and I can't express how much I appreciate it.  All my friends, the crew at  M2, Michael McCormack my coach/mentor, Tom McGlynn with runcoach for a run PR, my family who are always so supportive, and my biggest support my wife.  Whitney deals with so much of my shenanigans, I don't think I will ever be able to repay her.  At least a trip to Kona is a small prize, but I still owe her a lifetime.

Demanding Life Foods

A new adventure in my life is starting out very soon.  Back from an amazing wedding to the love of my life, the next exciting chapter begins!

Over the past few years this idea has been developing in my head.  Training for triathlons while working a full time job was rough.  Obsessively working on getting a hold of my life, weighing 250 pounds, the stark realities of how hard it was set in.  Learning how to balance the training, work and developing a healthy diet/lifestyle was a huge part in my weight loss and improved health.  I had always loved cooking, but didn't really have an outlet aside from the small meals I was preparing for myself and my future wife.

The project started by a chance conversation with a friend at +M2 Revolution.  In August of last year a friend gave me the opportunity to develop a meal plan for him, as he was a vegetarian and didn't eat a balanced diet.  His job as an attorney, and training schedule took up a great deal of his free time which limited his food options when in a hurry.  Enter me!  Putting together a balance daily set of meals, that both supported his diet requirements, and training regimen, was complicated at first, but brought out some great meal options I had really never explored with my own personal cooking.  In the end, Demanding Life Foods was born!

People in San Francisco, and everywhere, have incredible ambition and drive for their professional and personal development.  Our mission is to fuel their lives with balanced, healthy, and tasty meals to help remove a stumbling block to maintaining a healthy lifestyle to match their fruitful careers.

To that end, Demanding Life Foods will open for business this August in San Francisco, especially for Ironman Lake Tahoe athletes in their final phases of training!

The end menu is not vegetarian, but incorporated some of the dishes.  Hopefully in the near future I can offer a fully vegetarian menu, but for now it will be a mixture of healthy meats, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and nuts.

Some of the best aspects of our cooking is the concentration on Organic and Non-GMO ingredients.  Its not feasible to source 100% Organic, but nearly all ingredients are certified organic.  Another great benefit to our menu is the Gluten Free and Non-Cow's Milk aspects.  Gluten sensitivities affect more people than realized, and most can benefit from a reduced amount from wheats and flours.  Gluten causes inflammation in general among all people, so the benefits to any athlete is strong.  The removal of Cow's Milk products has multiple benefits, and really no drawbacks.  Using Sheep and Goat based products, as well as Almond and Coconut Milk, our clients can satisfy their taste and nutritional needs, with less risk of hormones and irritation from Cow's milk.  Demanding Life Foods goal is the fuel our clients lives, to help them meet their goals.

You can view a sample menu and pricing for a week here.

Calorie needs for each client is based on their specific needs.  After filling our a survey, each client will have an email consultation with our Registered Dietitian to make sure the menu plan is a good fit for them. We know you will love the tastes of the foods we deliver, but sometimes, people have conditions where they should seek other dietary avenues for their health needs.  Once the survey and consult is complete, our recommended calorie levels are set for the client's daily needs, be it 1,500 to 3,500 calories a day.  Serving sizes are based off this amount, and your meal plan is set for deliveries.

Food Delivery

The big benefit to our program is delivery.  For anyone with a busy life there are obstacles to overcome that mostly include time.  There is no ordering to take care of, no pickup, no box of food on your door-step in the middle of the night to worry about, or even a time to coordinate for a hand-off.  Demanding Life Foods acts as a personal concierge and delivers your food to your refrigerator while you are out, taking care of all these worries.  We are a fully bonded and insured company, and each delivery will be made by a trusted employee (me for the beginning), who has gone through extensive screening and background checks.

In the end, I'm leaving the corporate world and exploring a brand new adventure that I will happily share with everyone.  Target date for first food deliveries is August 18th.

To contact me about options and start our consultation process please email me at info@demandinglifefoods.com.  Website still being developed.

Like us on Facebook too!   Still working on logos and filling out the page.

Wired Article and Photo Shoot

Photo credits: Talia Herman/Wired

Recently I had the great pleasure to participate in Wired Magazine's "Living the Wired Life" series.  +Christina Bonnington had contacted SF Tri Club about possible athletes to help in the process, and of course I jumped at the opportunity.  While I'm not an expert in the sense of DC Rainmaker, I've tried enough technology (and wasted enough money on bad things) to give a good understanding of what helps an athlete, and what is just throwing money away.

As the interview and subsequent email exchanges continued, I got a sense they were looking for something a bit more involved, and triathlete like, obsession.  Yes, the evil triathlete trait was being delved into.  I didn't have a problem with it, as many triathletes can tell you, we are obsessed to a fault most times.  As long as you can accept it, you can work with it to make sure it does not ruin your life.  As some of the commentators on the article have pointed out, the obsession is a means to ignoring larger things in life, and I definitely agree.  My journey started as a way to get back to a younger, healthier self, but also as an escape from breakup.  Luckily my journey transformed into a new avenue for both work and personal growth, but that is not always the case.

There is definitely more to this story coming very soon.  Triathlon gave me my health, some incredible friends, and professional growth I was searching for.  The great people I've shared my life with in the past, luckily stuck with me through this growth period and I couldn't be more appreciative as I probably wasn't emotionally, or physically "available" until I figured it out in my own head.  A big turning point came in meeting my wife Whitney.  While I'm still learning a lot about sharing my life, there is no other person I would rather take that journey with than her.

+WIRED did a great job with my story and I can't say enough about my appreciation for that.  +talia herman  was wonderful to work with as well on the photography.  Luckily my friend +annie gherini was around to help coach me, and try to get me to stop smiling so much in the demo workouts.

Here are more of the photo's that didn't make it into the shoot.  Running through all the equipment at +M2 Revolution was exhausting, but it was such a fun experience that I'm happy to be a part of.

West Coast Ironman Kona Allocations

Much has happened these last two years with Ironman on the West Coast.  From new races, Tahoe and Cabo, to big drama up North, it has been interesting to watch.  To say the least, it is going to be a competitive atmosphere at many races, with athletes vying for the precious Kona slots at each race.

With Tahoe opening up early last year, I think the whole state's tri community jumped at the opportunity to have a race in driving distance.  I'm definitely in the minority in not doing this first year race, but I'll be up there supporting my friends and athletes for that brutal course.  Not jumping in on this may be the best decision some athlete's made as I'll describe below.

Breaking out the participant lists, I developed a projected slot allocation based on previous allocations I've seen.  Much can change come race day, as the allocation is based on finishers not registrants, but it gives a good picture.

Ironman Los Cabos - March 16th
The first race for he west comes up soon, and with 50 Kona spots available, and a max of 1,500 people, its almost your best shot if you are in shape early in the season.  Registration is still open, so they may not even fill the 1,500 race spots.  Hopefully they will publish a participants list so I can have fun with the numbers.  If they do, I will update.

Ironman Coeur d'Alene - June 23rd
The next race is the favorite among many in Coeur d'Alene.  This June race can still freeze out a lot of competitors with its cold water, and air temperature from year to year.  There are 50 Kona slots available, but over 2,800 registrants.  Definitely a hard go for many, and with SEVEN 70-74 year old's fighting it out for 1 slot, late night on Sherman Ave should be a fun one!

Ironman Canada - August 25th
Last year's exit from Penticton was an amusing drama to unfold with the city bringing in Challenge Family racing to replace Ironman, unhappy with their current program.  Lucky for the patient athlete's who didn't jump on the Lake Tahoe bandwagon, Ironman rolled out their most lucrative Kona slot allowance, offering up 100 slots to make sure people registered for the new Ironman Canada in Whistler.  This untested race, looks pretty cool, and should be a great addition to the schedule.  There are still Foundation slots available, so if there was ever a race you wanted to try to qualify for Kona, this is it.

Ironman Lake Tahoe - September 22nd
Finally we arrive with the race people in California have been waiting year for.  A race to finally call our own up in Tahoe.  Completely sold out, this event occurs in the 2014 Kona calendar, so if you qualify, you have over a year to wait and compete in October 2014.  Sweet deal, unless your "significant other" rolls their eyes at the notion of 12 more months, ha!  

Altitude and a mixture of dry, variable weather will test athletes on this course.  The bike route is grueling, but Ironman laid out a rolling/flat marathon to soften the hit to athletes' egos.  Only 50 Kona spots for this race as well, but as seen in other 1st year races, the level of competition may not be there across all age groups.  Being in California, this race may buck that trend.  This race has proportionately more women though, taking more Kona slots, and increasing the competition for the Men looking for the Big Island.  Again, late night at the finish could be exciting with three 70-74 year old's and two 75-79 year old's dueling for Kona.

 I like to play with numbers and always like to know these things for both myself and my athletes so they have a good perspective on things going into their races.  I'm planning my 2014 schedule right now, so I like to see where things stand.  Hopefully it helps others out too.

Athlete Performance Breakout - IM 70.3 - Oceanside

For many people, racing in triathlon is about "fun" and living a healthy lifestyle.  While performing well is a high priority, it is not the end all by any means.

While "fun" is a relative term, what I'll try to do today is attempt to explain proper pacing through the bike leg of a triathlon using Ironman 70.3 Oceanside as an example.  Oceanside is a perfect example of what can go well, and horribly wrong if the bike leg is not given its proper attention either through under-training, or overexertion.  With this course's widely varying terrain, all skills of the athlete are brought into play with steep climbs, rollers, and good flats.  One must be adept at knowing how hard to push, or not to push in all these areas to have a complete race and legs for the run.

The ride through Camp Pendleton enables a special view into how participants fared in the race since these roads are mostly closed to outside civilians.  With limited rides taking place on this course and stretches of road, pouring over Strava ride data gives a perfect set of sample data without the masses of rides on normal routes.

If you are unfamiliar with Strava, a short synopsis is it compares GPS rides and run against other athletes' uploaded routes, and ranks them according to determined "Segments" set up by users who think they would be useful tools for training.  From this a reward system shows you how your latest performance matches you previous ride/ride, as well as the rest of the Strava world.  For example, Oceanside 70.3 has various segments set up and the major climbs and full route are below:

Full Oceanside Bike Course - 54.8 miles - 2,500 feet of climbing
First Pendleton Climb - .5 miles - 300 feet of climbing
Basilone Climb - 4.1 miles - 460 feet of climbing
Basilone Final Climb - .6 miles - 210 feet of climbing
Pulgas Basilone Climb - .5 miles - 170 feet of climbing

Using these segments, along with each athlete's half marathon and historical race results, we'll show how proper and poor pacing can effect a full race.  None of the above climbs are that severe, but the body only has a limited capacity to absorb major damage that can be inflicted on some of these short and steep inclines.  Each time an athlete overexerts on a climb, they may not affect their overall bike time, but more than likely, their run will suffer.

"There is no such thing as a great bike followed by a poor run." - I've seen this quote used a lot and would love to figure out the first to coin it. 

So, we now come to our stable of 31 athletes who have uploaded their data to Strava and are easily found in all segments. I'll leave them nameless and review them in general as to not overly praise, or poke fun at.  As I said, each athlete does this for their own fun and it is not our place to chastise.  An objective view of this data is what we are bringing to the table for those who would like to learn from these athletes.

In my analysis, the above segments are taken into account, as well as their full bike time, run time, as well as heart rate and watts when available.  To make the data manageable, the results were ranked against the smaller pool of participants, as some results from previous years muddle the Strava rankings.  

The 20 mile preamble to the bike course lets athletes thoroughly warm up, and usually provides a false sense of how the race will unfold with a normal south tail wind providing a push up the coast.  This can add to athlete's need to push harder up the hills as well as their goals may have shifted to faster bike splits as they hit the halfway point ahead of schedule.  

Full athlete data can be found here.  Any input is welcome to further the analysis.  Let me know if you have any questions.

From the first climb, we can see  a wide thinning of the field through the rest of the course.  Of the top half (15) of our sample, a drastic re-shuffling occurs.  By the second climb, Basilone-4.1 miles, 5 athletes have dropped to the bottom half of the field.  At the top of Basilone, many of these athletes felt a resurgence when seeing the peak and pushed their way back to their peak power and only two were left lagging.  Reaching the final major climb of the bike course it was surprising that only three athletes who took the first hill in the top half had dropped to the bottom half of the field.  I was thinking the theory of overexertion may be wrong?  Nope, taking the full course into consideration you can see that 6 of the athletes who charged that first hill, and the rest of the climbs, had dropped to the bottom performers.  

A better distinction of how the race played out for people is ranking their Average climbing rank, against their time rank.  For example, Athlete K ranked 20th, 18th, 19th, and 13th respectively on the major climbs.  Nothing stellar in that aspect, and bringing his climbing rank average to 17.5, making him the 19th best climber in our field.  What is stellar is that even while giving up time on those climbs, his overall time for the course ranks him 12th in our field, a 7 spot improvement!  A great piece to his data as well is that he was using a powermeter so further analysis can be gained.  His entire ride averaged 232 watts, and none of the climbs exceeded a 20% margin.  Marked with a PR Half Ironman Run, this was a near perfect race for this athlete.

The next example will be overexerting climbs and a severe drop in overall bike rank.  Athlete C ranked 5th in the climbing portion of the bike course, with charging the 1st Climb in 2nd, tempering his pace for Basilone in 16th, surging the top of Basilone in 6th, then climbing Pulgas in 5th position.  These were great climbs, but in comparison to the 24th best bike time, not as much.  This athlete also finished the run 20 minutes slower than his Open Half Marathon PR.

A prime example of under-exertion comes from none other than me!  I think I got into my own head a bit too much in preparing for this race.  I am still a bigger guy, so I climbed conservatively.  In looking at my ride files, it was much to conservative.  Even as a bigger guy, I didn't increase my watts on the climbs enough and ended up with the 20th ranked climb average.  When you compare this to 8th ranked overall time in the pool, there was probably 4-5 minutes left out on the course.  The one bonus of under-exertion is that you guarantee legs for the run!  Even while coming off an injury through January, as well as running the new, convoluted run course, I managed a faster half marathon time than the previous year at 1:27:14.  This adds to the adage that pushing harder on the bike can exponentially slow your run time.  It was the choice to make sure my under-trained run had a chance, but looking back, the bike could have been better.

Back to the climbers once again to measure how their climbing rank, pairs up with their overall time.  I would say that a 4 spot margin would be acceptable change in climbing rank to overall time rank.  That equates to around a 5 minute change to overall time from the rankings.  Outside of this margin you can see many incredible climbing efforts.  From the field, you have the 3rd, 5th, 13th, and 17th ranked climbers.  Unfortunately, these athletes averaged a drop of over 10 spots in overall time rank.  All of these athletes were in our first group of climbers to charge the first climb as well.  You can see the destructive power of charging a hill from this group and the importance of proper pacing.

Hill climbing is only half of the equation.  Even if an athlete managed to ride a continuous effort through the bike course, it still may have been too much for them on that day anyways.  Unfortunately, since I can't interview each athlete to find their overall biking ability, we will have to assume that they are trained for the event, as well as research their best historical run times to help reveal overexertion on the bike.  The 70.3 distance is also a place where things can go wrong and effect finish times wildly.  Its hard to really pinpoint if someone just had a bad day, fueled improperly, or was just injured.  

I'll leave the run analysis to the reader now.  Unfortunately, without knowing the athlete, or speaking with them, it is extremely hard to tell if they under performed or not in the run.  The rudimentary data I can pull from other race results doesn't show a distinct trend either except for the severe over and under performing climbers.  The lesson I guess is finding the edge you can push on the bike and be able to hold it together for the run.  It seems simple, but watching people pass you on a hill can drive even the most disciplined athlete crazy.  Today's world also rewards cyclists for their efforts with KOM's.  If that is your motivation, have at it.  I'm going for a PR.

Ironman New York Goals

Make no mistake, this year has been a great one so far personally.  Getting engaged, and life in general has been amazing, but training for this race was troubling at times.  Dealing with injury and the mental aspect was the biggest task.  Getting better, setbacks, having an able and fit body being held back by a single tendon is just agonizing.  Luckily everything just seems to have fallen into place over the past month and my confidence has come back to push hard for what my goals always are for a race.

Goals can be tricky, and publishing them for the world is a daunting task for many people.  My high school basketball coach, Coach Bell, taught us that if you don't let people know what you intend to do, you really don't believe you can achieve them to begin with.  If you fail in those goals, sure some people may take selfish pride in seeing you fail, but those people shouldn't matter.  Taking a risk and publicly going for lofty goals is what takes a person to the next level in their aspirations.  Stepping foot on the start line for a race, especially and Ironman, you need to know why you are there or when things get tough, the dark thoughts can create doubt as to "why the hell would someone do this to themselves?!"

So here they are:
#1 Finish
#2 Break 10 Hours
#3 Kona Qualification
#4 Podium for my Age Group
#5 Finish Top 20 Overall for Age Groups

If I fail in any of these goals, I will be alright with it as long as I know I put forth my best effort.  Flat tires, strange race conditions, random health issues can all happen in any race, but I know in my own heart that I will have left my race on the course and not look back.

As always, thanks to my family, friends and coaches for their thoughts and encouragement.  I'm looking forward to a great week visiting with family I haven't seen in a long time and showing New York to Whitney for the first time.

Racing, Injury and Life Updates!

After a good month off in May, some great training in June, and a few life changes thrown in the mix, life is better than ever!

#1 I think I have temporarily solved my heel problem.  I don't think anything can fix it until I take a few months off and seriously put some time into rehab and strengthening.  From my earlier post, my achilles tendinosis comes and goes with increases of run mileage.  Not quite the sharp pain I was feeling in the beginning of the year, but definitely a mental block keeping me from putting some hurt on my body while running.  Enter Hoka One One!  

Slowtwitch had an great review on these shoes last year, but at $170 and legs feeling great, I had not interest in trying them out.  Enter 2012 injury desperation and theclymb.com having them on sale and I was sold.  Getting the trail version first at a discount and running in them, I was sold from the first mile.  The extra cushioning was either a placebo, acting as the heel lifts recommended for my injury, or just held my feet better and removed much more impact.  I don't know and don't have anything scientific for you, but after putting in 10 miles with the Mafate 2, and then buying the Bondi B's the next week and getting a 16 mile day in, I was free of the second day soreness in my heel I had been experiencing.  This revelation lead me to be extremely excited for my race at Vineman 70.3!

#2 Always a great time up on the Russian River.  I have a perfect setup with one of my longest, best friends buying a cabin just west of Guerneville that I get access to.  Nice 5 mile warmup ride to the start.  Bike racked, business taken care of and ready to rip up the river.  Little disparaged about the late wave, 7:50 after a 6:30 start to the race, but everyone has to deal with the same, so I get over it.

Into the water for a little warmup, they guys in my 35-37 AG wave are definitely friendly for a change and some good banter while we wait for the start.  Waiting wasn't the right word as all we hear is this Charlie Brown teach voice say something, then "GO!".  Half the wave lets out a "Really!?"

Love my Fit2Race

Probably better that way, and keeps everyone honest.  I had clean water and kept to the middle of the outbound traffic for most of the upstream half.  Not much drafting, but clean water was suiting me as we encountered many people from earlier waves.  Some shallow spots where my long arms hit gravel too.  At the turns, people were wading, causing a log jam.  I navigated this fairly well and no standing.  Heading back toward Johnson Beach and I finally get some good feet to draft off and we make great time back, with good navigation as well.  Pushing hard to the finish and a good run up the beach I know it was a good swim, for me at least.

Swim Time: 30:36 - 250th Overall 37th AG - Full minute improvement over last year.

The bike went as planned from a race perspective.  Navigating wave traffic on my way out River Road, trying to be nice, but still having to yell "ON YOUR LEFT" a few times.  Luckily everyone except for one lady obliged with courtesy.  I won't repeat what she yelled back.  The course is a great one on the 70.3 circuit with the exception of 5 miles of really crappy 1960's concrete.  You have two big climbs and plenty of rolling vineyards.  Never boring with bends and it can be a task to stay aero at times with some of the 90 degree turns.  While overall the course is not "difficult", it can be a technical course with lots of gear shifting and turns to make bike handling skills a very large benefit.

One strange thing that I still can't figure out is the loud hissing I heard right before Chalk Hill.  I thought I had blown a tire from what it sounded like, so I even slowed down, but wheels were rolling true and no mushy feeling either.  Figured a CO2 popped, but both were sealed afterwards.  Nobody around me pulled over to fix a tire either.  Thinking back, there were a good deal of either live or dead snakes on the road there, and maybe I had a close encounter?

Taking Chalk Hill hard, flying down the hill and my one tragic event occurs.  My last bottle of water violently ejects off my back wing.  I'm down to maybe a quarter bottle of perpetuum for the last 10 miles of the bike.  I pretty much say screw it, and drive my body into dehydration for those last few miles because I wanted a stellar bike split.  Hammering away at 300-320 watts the whole way, I wanted to close hard as running was not going to be the strong suit for the day.  Hoping I had kept up on my drinking I was expecting the worst when I go back into transition and off my bike.

Bike Time: 2:22:42 40th Overall 7th AG - 1:30 improvement over last year

Slow transition because with my new Hoka One Ones, I haven't had a chance to dial in the speed laces, so having to tie them up took a minute.  Up and out of T2, slamming down as many cups of Gatorade and water I could gram and I'm out on the course.  Amazing friends Stefan and Virgilio are waiting half a mile down screaming and I'm feeling good.  Definitely a lot left in the tank, but since I hadn't tapered for this race, my bike suffered slightly, so I couldn't put myself into the red out there, or on the run.  My heel puts a mental limiter on my for the run anyways, so off on the road and I'm clipping away at the miles between 6:30 and 7:00 pace on the way out.  Rounding La Crema Winery and still strong running at sub 1:30 HM pace.  The route home was changed this year to "Help Traffic".  I guess its neighborly, but I love seeing everyone on their way out and cheering for people I know.  Now you run a short downhill/uphill out and back, where I can see my competition eating up time on me.  Definitely the 1st place AG'er from two waves back charging.  The legs are cooperating and letting me drop the hammer a bit more for the last three miles.  Virgilio was out on his bike yelling for Mike and me, giving splits to where our competition was.  I knew I was 3rd or 4th in my wave at that point, and so a near miracle for a podium.  Still wanting to push and get a good time I see Stefan cheering, and some other SF Tri Peeps along the finishing mile so I'm stretching my stride and pushing all the way in.  Eric Gilsenan gives me a great welcome over the PA and I'm happy with a new Vineman PR!

Run Time: 1:27:16 50th Overall 5th AG - 7 sec improvement over last year

Total Time: 4:27:10 28th Overall (removing Pro's) 8th AG

Very happy with the result as this was a test race to see where I was and make sure everything was a GO for IMNYC.  Happily, two weeks later, my heel has been holding up, and another great training week is in the books.  One last weekend, then its on to some taper and recovery before the big race.

#3 Amazingly as a triathlete and the world of Ironman, something even bigger has happened in my life recently.  The girlfriend has been creeping into posts, we moved in together, and she is an amazing person in my life.  On a beautiful summer day up on Mt. Tamalpais while hiking up to West Point Inn (site of our first hiking adventure), I proposed to Whitney and I was lucky enough to receive a yes.  Full story here.

There aren't many things to compare to some of our adventures in racing, but this tops anything I've done in life.  Whitney and I are looking forward to a long, healthy life together.


Sorry for the shackiness, but I asked some random MTB'ers to act like they were taking a picture with my camera, but I had it set to video.

2012 Season 1st half and catching up

Totally flaked on this post, but I'll finish it anyways 2 months later.
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Last year put quite a beating on me, so I decided 2012 would include a bit of a break before the big push for IMNYC in August.  My girlfriend appreciates it, so we are both happy and it falls right while we were looking for an apartment together in SF, which is a harder task than you would think (thus the delays to blogging).  All the apartments we looked at had a line of people waiting.  Nearly two months of looking, and we finally found one!  The owner said she rented to us because Whitney was just "so nice, but persistent".  I think she just wanted us to stop calling her.  We'll get settled in and ready for the summer months.  Whit is happy because moving won't interrupt her summer vacation at all.  I'm sure that was the highest priority;)

Racing and training had finally all come together into May as well.  Wildflower became my early season A race as there was some disappointment in Oceanside with some mishaps and training blunders.  The ramp up and response to training was awesome over April and I could feel a good race coming on.  With a Double Mt. Diablo climb, highly place Presidio 10, hard raced Metro Tri, and amazing Lighthouse Ride, I had the confidence to go attack Wildflower Long Course.

The swim!

Finally some excitement can be had for a swim!  The past two years have brought nothing but disappointment for swimming in my races and Wildflower finally brought some joy to it.  Pushing out hard with the leaders, I had to slow a little to keep from freaking out, but then found a good rhythm, and a draft for a good portion of the race.  Exiting the water with a 30 for the first two digits was all I wanted and it finally happened.  A huge burst of energy helped me sprint up the boat ramp and out onto the bike. 

Swim time: 30:43 - 305th Overall

New helmet and all, I was pumped to be on the road with some slightly altered objectives for my bike.  The past few races, I've underperformed on the hills.  Trying to contain myself on climbs, I was going a little overboard and losing too much time.  Hitting the hills harder and leaving everything on the road was the objective, then relying on my training to have good run legs was the hope.  Wind blowing, but not as bad as last year, just the direction was worse as its angle, kept it a steady headwind out of the lake, until we made the turn off Jolon into the farmland.  Not sure how many people I managed to pick off, but it was a good race from how I was feeling.  Nasty Grade approaching, and it was HOT climbing.  Making sure things didn't fall apart, but also keeping some good pressure, all I could think about.  Climbing with and old friend who moved to LA, Ivan, was a lot of fun too.

Descending from the top of the course and into the rollers was still a task with winds picking back up.  Another top guy in my age group picked me off on Nasty, and I was hoping to reel him back in.  I knew he was a good runner, and I needed a gap to be able to have any hope of holding him off.  Stefan was also still ahead having an amazing bike.  Somehow his tiny little body puts out HUGE watts and I can't catch him.  Not knowing where I was in the race, but feeling good it was still time to push it into the Lake.

Through the gates, and down the hill, I find transition empty!  Such a great feeling being able to count the bikes in transition for who is in your age group.  A sweet P4 (naturally David Condon who is off the front and un-catchable), two others I don't recognize and Stefan's yellow Felt.  Rack the bike, shoes on and I'm off to see how my legs and heel are willing to cooperate. 

Bike time: 2:34:56 - 17th Overall - 302 Watts - Wahoo!!!!

Quickly out of the crowd I get to hear a friend Renee screaming for me.  "Stefan's got 2 minutes on you!".  Wow!  He crushed the bike, but I made up time on him in Kona, so lets see what I've got.  Feeling good along the lake and into the hills, everything feels good.  Heel holding up, not fatigued (as much as I can hope), and head ready for some damage.  All the sudden, this string bean comes blowing by on a hill that was in my age group.  I scream a bit of sarcasm and hate for the lightweight, but cheer him on for the good run.  Crap, 6th!  Time for some work.  I know I can't make up time without really hurting myself on the hills so some patience was in order.  Cresting the last big climb and into the steep trail descent at mile 6 and the legs fly! 

The run through the campgrounds was awesome.  So many people cheering and yelling, always a big push.  Climbing to the top of the pit and down I finally see Stefan climbing out.  He has some distance on me, but there is a chance.  Turnaround point and climbing out, Ritch Viola comes by and offers some encouragement as he is another lightweight, cruising up the hill and seeing the labor of me charging up.  All I can do is hope to keep the 20 yards between us as we run the final 2 miles home.  Thought of my Grandmother (funeral was the same day as Wildflower) filled my head and my energy tank and I know she was with me.  (Ritch is just a stud, making up 10 minutes on me from 2 waves back)  Coming up on the final mile downhill and I can crush it with strong legs left.  Absolutely pain in the quads from the pounding, but the legs can take it and the heel is holding up.  Finally in one of the turns I can see Stefan and he is not taking the hill as fast.  Flying to the bottom of the hill I take him, but slow to finish together.  I had the race, but Stefan has been a driving force in my training and sharing the finishing shoot was a treat.

Run Time: 1:33:21 55th Overall
Total: 4:43:44 5th AG-22nd Overall

So many emotions went into this race with recovering and managing my injuries, to my Grandmother passing and racing in her honor.  I wanted to be there for the family back East, but my father told me to stay and race.  Knowing she was watching was a godsend and I was happy to have the race of my life that day at Wildflower.

My reward!