The purpose of this page is to create a running history of my attempt to complete the Ultraman 520 that is happening in the Okanagan Valley the August Long Weekend of 2017.
- July 29. 80%. That’s about where I am with one week to go to the Ultraman. Judging from my 100 metre swim times in the pool (2:05), my heart rate at 6 mph on a flat surface (128), and my heart rate at 160 watts (140), my physical fitness is about where it was in February. Although my death virus has robbed me of any fitness gains, it hasn’t robbed me of the mental benefits from going on those seven k swims, eight hour bike rides, and three hour runs. Come race days it will be my mind, not my body that will get me to the finish lines. I will: eat lots, pace wisely, be nice to my crew, monitor my body closely, overcome any adversity or bullshit through “baby-steps.” Let’s see if this approach works!
- July 21. Coming out of the dark. After being tested, I found out that my iron and B-12 levels are normal. I’m starting to feel normal, except for tinnitus, night sweats, and low energy levels. To test my fitness I did a 20 mile run yesterday. I was slow, but able to get it done. Some things that I learned from the run were 1) Change shoes often 2) Use thin socks unless the toe box has lots of room 3) Take the time to drink more per sip – you were stronger in the last hour than you were in the first 2.5 – take it in!! 4) Use the roller after every 1.5 hours 5) For the race have a WIDE VARIETY of gels and take one every hour 6) Rotate the liquids as: Glyco Endurance, Hydro Endurance, water. 7) Remember the difference between necessary suffering and unnecessary suffering and get rid of the later.
- July 10. HARD RESET. After a big week of training, the last week of June I finally hit my wall, big time. I contracted a nasty virus that: blurred my vision, caused heat and sunlight sensitivity, piercing headaches, weakened my muscles and reduced my cardio capabilities. Most of my days (and nights) were spend shivering and sweating in dark rooms to avoid sunlight. There was no training for ten full days. Even now, I am only at about 75%. I tried a run yesterday, I think the longest that I could run non-stop was four minutes. More rest needed.
- June 18. A pretty good week for going long with some learning along the way. 7.5 K pool swim on Wed. June 14. Fuel was F2C Glyco-Endurance only. Theme of the day was cramping. 30 minutes in – it was my feet, 90 minutes in it was my calves, then my right quad, then at about the 2 hour mark tendinitis in both of my elbows. I had to modify my turns to finish it off. 2:34 not including about a 1 min break after each 500. Cardio and energy levels were ok. Yesterday (June 17) was an experimental train the mind and treat the stomach ride of 8:15. F2C Gylco-Endurance and Pizza was the ticket. No cramping or BAD stomach problems. I need to add a spacer to the QR is I want to ride in the aero position for more than six hours.
- May 21. Has it really been almost a month since I last posted? Did the Westwood Lake Olympic distance triathlon. Plenty of endurance but I was slow. More watts and perhaps more moderately intense stuff. Yesterday I did my longest bike ride ever, 8:32 and 139 miles. What I learned is that a) my fueling does not to be complicated, I did it all on F2C Gyyco-Endurance, Clif Bars, Hammer Perpetum blocks, and Gu gels, b) I need to go less aggressive on the position, there was too much sitting up in the last three hours, c) my mind seems to be well-suited for this length of stuff, at least on the bike, d) I like my prescription sunglasses. Today I will do a ten mile run to get a little taste of how Ultraman Monday will be like.
- April 29. Why the hell am I procrastinating? I’ve paid the entry fee, told everybody that I am doing it, done some training, created this blog, but still have yet to turn in the paperwork. Lazy moose! On the upside I have already swam three times in Whonnock Lake, so my open water swim is coming back. I greatly prefer it to pool swims, however I had a pretty good pool session. I made a mistake and got to my master’s swim session with Ryan Clifton an hour early. I did my usual 500 M time trial to begin (9:41 – and I’m happy about that!). Then did I some paddle and fin work THEN did the full masters session, plus a bonus of 500 M at the end (10:24). 5 K later, I crawled out of the pool.
Maybe this picture of will motivate me to get those registration papers in. - April 6. Not injured, not sick, but slow. Came back from California having not really swam for about two weeks. Boy was I slow. Unable to do 500 M in under 10 minutes. Today, I said to heck with the speed and just put in time. 2 hours and one minute later, I was done 6.1 K. Now if my watts on the Computrainer would start coming back, I’d be somewhat satisfied.
- March 22. News! 3 days totally off, primarily due to travel gave me an opportunity to rest and recover. After a dreadful run in Elko, NV (due to a lack of coffee) my body was ready to go when the rains stopped in Healdsburg, CA. Got on my bike for the first time outdoors since UBC and felt really strong. BTW. On March 19, I signed up for Ultraman. A few pieces of documentation and I am officially in!
- March 17. Sick! I may have pushed myself a bit too much in the past week. I did the UBC duathlon on Saturday March 11, then the following day did a 90-minute run, the next day I did a 90 min. bike with hard intervals, the day after that I did a 3 hour (indoor) bike run interspersed with running, followed by a 30 minute run, the day after that (March 16) I did a trail run of just under three hours. I knew that things were going south when I was running along and could not get my heart rate above 130. There was, however, a BIT of method to my madness, as I knew that I would be taking the next two or three days off in order to drive to Calgary, and then onto Napa, for some hopefully big miles on the bike.
- February 25. 7.2 K swim. Longest ever. What was bugging me in those later stages? A) a bit of a sore gut from too strong of Gatorade b) left hand cramping c) quads starting to cramp at 6 k when I put on the Zoomers. Things that I was pleased with a) no really bad stomach problems, b) arms were ok through the whole time c) my mind did waiver from time to time but having a break after each 500 m really helped d) the neurological problem in my right hand (piano fingers) faded away after 2 K.
- What training for Ultraman has taught me that Ironman never did – (only because I am a very slow learner). It’s been about two months since I made the decision to begin training for the Ultraman in Penticton the August long weekend. Even though I have done 9 Ironman distance races (4 of them, I would say successfully) I am starting to learn things about myself and about training that I never did while training for “just” an Ironman. Here are four things I have learned so far.
- Eating real food while working out is a good idea. While training for my Ironman races I really like to experiment with my nutrition. For my first two Ironman races, I ate a lot of bananas and Clif bars but then when gels became more popular and cheaper, I used a lot of them. When Hammer gel came out with the 1 litre jug, I thought I went to gel-heaven because I could customize the ratio of gel to water to salt and whatever else I was going to put into that mixture. That seemed to work ok for training and racing for Ironman, however, because I am planning to eat more frequently for Ultraman, I am eating things like sandwiches and baked potatoes while running and biking. (every 15 minutes while running and every 20 for biking). Since my level of intensity is a bit lower on the long stuff, that means I can chew without having to gasp for air. I am able to finish those long sessions without becoming a zombie like when I was just using gel-based nutrition.
- I can handle more volume than I thought possible. Even though it is only February I am already doing longer “big days” swimming and running than I was at the height of my Ironman training in July. Most of that volume is at a very low level of intensity, so I can go out and do something long the next day.
- I can build pretty good speed and fitness without doing a lot of high intensity stuff, at least for running. Those weekly long runs of two to three hours seem to be making me faster when I do push the pace. Which is not that often right now.
- I need to take care of my body better. For now that means doing one less cardio workout per week, and instead, doing a second session of strength and stretching. The squats and dead lifts in the gym seem to make running up hills easier. I should go for a massage. Should, should…
- February 11. Did my first ever 5500 metre swim in the pool. I went for 500 metres sets done as swim/swim with fins (zoomers)/swim with pull buoy. Repeated that 3 times and then for the last 1000 I did 500 with pull buoy and a 500 m time trial at the end – 10:18. The sips of Moose Juice seemed to be enough to get me through the session, but no amount of coffee is helping me right now. I just want to sleep! I lead a 90 minute spin session for the tri-club in 40 minutes – must – stay – awake!
- February 6. The snowfall is providing some great opportunities for “whole-body-workouts” = shoveling snow. I thought that’s why I left Alberta? Some good sessions on the CompuTrainer over the weekend. Was able to do just under 4 hours of race-pace on the bike on Saturday with an average watts of 172. That’ll give me a basis to work from in future long rides. Unfortunately, my heart rate monitor was not working, so I’ll have to estimate that number.
- January 30. What the hell is happening to my swim? After a great session on Saturday, I returned on Monday to do a bunch of 100 metre repeats. Arms aching, lungs gasping, time sucking, 2:05? REally?
- January 29: Taking my “real-food-as-fuel” strategy seems to be working. I just did a 3 hour workout on the exercise bike this afternoon. My menu was pizza (2 slices) pretzels (4 handfuls) and a Clif Bar (all of it). I was able to keep a strong pace through the whole session. It was only during one hard section, in which my heart rate climbed to over 140, that my stomach started to rebel. I slowed things down to 130 and all was well again. Hours after the bike ride I was still feeling quite clear-headed and positive.
- January 27: You know you have “gone-Ultra” when you are running down a trail in the dark holding a Cheese Whiz sandwich. My old self would have never tried “real-food” while running but now that I have tried it, I like it. Expect stocks in PowerBar to tumble as my gel consumption plummets. (2.5 hours running).