Mack Kincaid Armstrong

I took a while to post this because I wasn't sure if he was a keeper.  It's been almost 4 months now, and I think he's here to stay.  Meet 2028 Olympian Mack Armstrong:

To answer the question that was posed to me the other day, "What happened to you at White Lake Half," here's your answer!

It's Only Suffering - June Training Camp

June 11^th through 14^th

Thursday

-6:30 am - swim at Triangle Aquatic Center - Link to pool

        5000 total – main set: 2 x 1000 easy, 500, 400, 300, 200, 100 negative split, then 10 x 100 partner relay 

-4:00 pm - 1 hour easy no-drop ride starting at Old Reedy Creek rd entrance to Umsteady, off of Weston Parkway in Cary.  Following the ride we'll then run 10.5 miles through Umstead Park.  Fluid and gels will be provided.  Shorter options are available - Link to run route

 

Friday

-6:30 am swim at Pullen Aquatic Center - Link to pool

4000 total - main set: 10 x 300 evens with paddles, odds swim easy build to steady

-2:00 pm - ride from my house in Efland to Virginia border and back ~80 miles - Link to route

Saturday

-8:00 am - Battle at Buckhorn sprint tri - individual or relay - Link to race website

I'll provide a carpool from Inside-Out Sports in Cary to the race site.

-2:00 pm - ride from the race back to Inside-Out Sports in Cary ~60 miles - Link to route

Sunday 

-9:00 am - Jordan Lake open water swim - Link to swim hole

Total time in the water will be 1 hour.

  The swim will be followed by an easy 1:30 no drop ride. 

-3:00 pm - Cary High School track - Link to track location

2-4 mile warm-up; then 6 x 1 mile tempo repeats on the track; cool down as a group.

Gels, water, sports drink, and post-workout snacks will be provided for all sessions.  

Email me at Richard@Richard-Armstrong.net for more details or to sign up.  The cost is 50 dollars + sign up cost for the sprint tri on Saturday.  

Detraining

This word is often missing from an endurance athlete's vocabulary. An athlete that wants to do well during racing needs to peak for those races. You can't have the peak without the trough. Recently, I heard about a friend of a friend who's working really hard right now so that they don't lose the fitness that they gained this year. I think this is a big, and common, mistake that we too often make; we're scared to take a step back and start over with our preparations. It can be scary to move slower, to be less fit than during race season. However, it is necessary both mentally and physically.

Multiple world champion Chris McCormack says this about his off season in an interview on Slowtwitch.com:

In the off-season I really do nothing. My sport is so selfish, it is about
spending time with my family and relaxing with them in the off-season...I take a
rest of 7 weeks each year where I do absolutely nothing. I don’t run and I don’t
swim or bike. I let my body heal and put on some weight and recover. I think
this has been the key to my prolonged career and to the fact that I have never
had an injury in my entire career. Rest in the off-season is what I do best.

The bigger the season, the more training and racing, the bigger detraining session you need at the end of the year. If Chris is taking 7 weeks of in between seasons and is continuing to improve and win championship races, doesn't it make sense that an age-group athlete should also work in a cycle of fitness peaks and troughs to keep healthy and get faster?

Getting faster in racing is not linear progression. It is more 3 steps forward and 1 step back. If you didn't take a dedicated break after a big race, or didn't peak for your big race, you may need to look over the past year(s) and see if you've really taken a break to detrain. Remember that there are no peaks with out the troughs.

Ironman Nutrition Basics

Sally is racing her first Ironman - Ironman USA. She's followed her coach's training plan exactly. She plans to complete the swim in 1:15, the bike in 6:15, and the run in 4:15. She's not going to win the race, but she's fit and should finish in the faster half of her age group.

Coach has supplied her with the the guidelines she needs with regards to race day nutrition:

• 600 Calories for breakfast from easily digestible food
• 300 Calories per hour on the bike, 200 per hour on the run
• 2 salt tabs per hour
• 2 bottles per hour on the bike and drink at every aid station on the run
• calories can come from sports drink, gels, and/or bars

This sounds like a sensible plan given Sally's light weight and current level of fitness. Right? The average temperatures are a high of 76 and a low of 53. Overall, the temperature should be comfortable and Sally should not have any trouble with with heat or cold.

The math:

• 300 Cal x 6.25 hours = 1875 Cal on the bike = 17 gels @ 90 Cal + 2 bars at 200 Cal
• 2 bottles x 6.25 hours = 12.5 bottles
• 2 salt tabs x 6.25 hours = 12.5 salt tabs
• 25 aid stations / (2 gels per hour x 4.25 hours) = 1 gel every 3rd aid station

She can carry all of the gels, bars, and salt tabs that she's going to need on her top tube and in her bento box. She can't carry 12.5 bottles on the bike, but she can carry 5!

Race day:

Breakfast - 600 Calories from bagel and 2 cans of ensure.

Sally is really excited to exit the water in 1:13, just ahead of her goal time. In the change tent, she puts on socks and arm warmers because the day usually starts of a little cool (see average temperatures above) and the ride starts with a descent. On the bike, she feels really comfortable at the coach's prescribed hr zones and is following the nutrition plan exactly. The first long climb of the day - beginning at mile 40 - rolls around and she's still carrying 4 full bottles as she replaced 2 at the aid stations and has drank 4. The plan was to ditch the arm warmers at the beginning of the climb, but she is still cold. The high for the day turns out to be only 55 degrees, reducing her sweat rate by half compared to 7o degree weather. Mile 80 sees the onset of the dreaded slosh - a full stomach that doesn't seem to be operating. The plan has worked perfectly; why deviate now? It feels great to get off of the bike and sit down in the change tent. 6:30 on the bike. A little off target, but it is a long day.

4 miles and 4 aid stations worth of drinking into the run and she's walking. She can't understand what's going on. She followed the plan!

There were a few flaws in the plan.

• Sodium intake should be correlated with water intake, not unit of time.
• Fluid intake should be correlated with the conditions and need, not unit of time.
• Sally stuck to the plan when things started going wrong.
• She carried all of her supplies on the bike when the aid stations could have provided her with most of her calorie and fluid needs.

Let's first address carrying 5 full bottles and all of the calories needed for the ride. For just one of the two climbs - Whiteface, ~15 miles at ~8% - getting rid of the 8.5 lbs of 3 water bottles, cages, and a dozen gels will decrease her time on the climb by over 6 minutes. And, she does the climb twice! (120 lbs body weight, 20 lbs bike weight with 2 bottles and 400 calories, 180 watts for the climb) These results were found using analyticcycling.com.

During Ironman Lake Placid, Sally could have easily acquired the gels and bottles that she needed from the aid stations on the bike. They are only 10 miles apart. At 18 miles per hour, that is only 33 minutes in between stations. Even in the hottest conditions, that is enough to supply your fluids. The aid stations at Ironman are incredible. On the bike, you have multiple chances to grab what you need. The stations are around .25 mile long. You can grab two fresh bottles for the frame and take a few sips from a third bottle to only toss it a the end of the station. The stations on the run are the same way. You have dozens of volunteers supplying everything you'll need, every mile. In fact, on the run, there is an over abundance of supplies. It is easy to over eat and drink because so much is available. You may actually need to completely bypass an aid station if you don't need anything. Heresy!

The amount of sodium lost is related to fluid loss through sweat, not how long one has been exercising. By connecting the sodium intake with the fluid intake, when you have to vary your fluid intake you also vary your sodium intake accordingly. I've found through published research and experience as an athlete and coach that 1 gram of sodium per liter matches excretion and absorption rates of sodium during sub-maximal exercise in ultra distance events. I will acknowledge that there are varying opinions about sodium needs during exercise, but the above guidelines work.

One additional note about sodium: not all salt tabs are created equal. The amount of sodium (the primary electrolyte that must be replaced) varies greatly between brands. So, a general number of salt tabs is not a rule to follow! You must read the label and determine how much sodium is available. Sodium chloride is 40% sodium and 60% chloride. Plan accordingly.

Now, about that plan... A nutrition plan during an Ironman should be variable with the conditions, how the athlete feels, and effort. In Sally's case, she needed to reduce her fluid intake with the reduced temperature. She was sweating less, therefore, she needed to drink less. You cannot force more into your stomach if it has not absorbed what you drank/ate 10 minutes before. During an Ironman like Lake Placid, the athlete will spend long periods of time at higher efforts (climbing) and long periods of time at lower efforts (descending). During the periods of climbing, as the athlete rides or runs closer to their anaerobic threshold, their calorie intake must decrease. The digestive tract will decrease in its ability to process food during times of higher effort. This means that you will need to decrease calorie intake going up and increase on the flats and down. At a higher effort level a more simple source of calories (sugar from Gatorade as an example) will absorb faster than a more complex source (grains from Powerbar as an example).

When things go awry such as stomach slosh, decreased mental focus, and decreased physical performance, you need to assess what is causing the problem and not just blindly follow a plan. Are you having stomach issues because you are running to hard? Is your stomach full of fluid because you drank too much or is it because you've taken in too little sodium? Are you losing sight of you goals and wondering why you are on the course in the first place because your blood sugar is dropping?

A good plan for Sally would look something like this:

• Eat a simple breakfast of 600 calories. Have various foods on hand because a nervous stomach can be picky. Sip sports drink when thirsty before the race.
• Average ~300 Calories per hour on the bike only drinking Gatorade on the two big climbs and eating the more solid foods on the descents, flats, and smaller climbs. If you are hungry eat. Drink when thirsty on the bike. Consume 750mg sodium per water bottle (24 oz/0.7 liter). This can come from Powerbar Gel (200mg each, handed out on course) and salt tabs (250mg brand that you are carrying on the bike). Listen to your body.
• Average ~200 Calories per hour on the run by taking a gel every 3rd or 4th aid station. Drink when your stomach is not full of fluid and you are thirsty. Take a salt tab containing 250 mg sodium with every 4th cup of water. Listen to your body.
• Start the bike with 4 gels and a film bottle full of salt tabs of the 250 mg sodium variety. Carry one bottle on the frame and one aero-bottle between the aerobars filled with water.
• Listen to your body.

Racing Arizona

Thoughts expressed both internally and externally during the Ironman:

Announcer - "We're about to get the 2008 Ford Ironman Arizona underway. Let's hear it for the pros in the water!"

Crowd - "woohooo!" (clapping) "yeah!"

Internal - "Man, this is awesome. Check out all of these people." (Pumps fist wildly in the air while treading water, directed at the spectators on the bridge directly above)

External - "We're rockstars."

Female pro - (laughing at me, not with me)

Cannon - "Boom"

Internal - "Start strong; stay relaxed; make the group...Great, I'm in the group; stay in the middle...Close the gap...There they go, again. Ok, who's with me. Nobody. That's ok. Now, I can swim my own pace...Swim with the body...Finish the stroke...Where's the buoy? There's the buoy...Where's the buoy? There's the buoy...I'm hungry...Where's the buoy? There's the buoy...There's the stairs and I haven't seen the top amateur come by yet. I've got to be under an hour. Ah, there's a blue cap. Swim faster. Beat him to the stairs...The clock says 57 something. Yes! I'm on my way to 8:59...Stop grinning you look like an idiot."

External - "41, number 41"

Volunteer at bags- "Your bag is over here."

Internal - "Dang, wrong row and I even practiced going through here."

Volunteer in tent - "What do you need?"

External - "Something to clean off my feet. Grab me a bottle of water...Man, this is a long transition."

Internal - "People looking at my splits on Ironmanlive are going to wonder why I took so long...Great, I didn't forget to put anything in the bag...Where's my bike?...There it is, it's almost the only one left on the rack...First lap easy...Come on guy. I just caught you. Do your own race...270-280 up the hill...High cadence...Economy first...Form looks good in shadow...Core engaged...There's the first guy...Ok, number two...three..four..."

External - "Hey Alex!"

Alex - (too cool for school)

Internal - "thirty-four...thrity-five...Quit counting and do your own race...Look at the huge group. That's like 80 people. That's the 5-hour-bike-split-or-blow train."

External - "Quit drafting" (pointing to group)

Internal - "First loop down. Only two to go. That was easy. Watts and speed a little low. Pick it up this lap...Check out the crowd...It sure is quiet"

External - (Holding hand up to ear) "Come on. You guys are too quiet. You guys are weak."

Brad and Alan - (picture taking and cheering)

Internal - "Stop grinning. You look like an idiot...Core engaged. Symmetry. Smooth. High cadence...I'm hungry, that makes 450 calories for the first hour and 500 for the second...I wonder what all of these people think about a bunch of guys wearing knee high socks and aero helmets."

External - "Looking good Joseph. Keep is smooth."

Internal - "I wonder if that guy thinks I know him...come on lady I know it's windy but..."

External - "Quit drafting!"

Sixty year old lady sitting in on a big guy - (bewildered, but mean look)

Internal - "I can't pronounce that guy's name."

External - "Lookin' good, Man."

Internal - "He sure was having a good time."

Internal - "How much sodium was in that Gatorade?"

External - "What kind of name is Ed for a pretty thing like you?"

Female prison guard - "Short for Edwina. Turn to the right."

External - "You're a flower, you are. Just a little desert flower."

Internal - "I'm loving this down hill tail wind."

Brad and Alan - (cheering and picture taking)

Internal - "Two down. One to go. That was easy. Even split, nice. Money makin' time. Time to catch the guys that went out too hard...Caught you...and now you're gone...caught you...and now you're gone... Caught you two at the same time... and you're still there...still there...still there and a little too close... I'll just sit up and let them pass...Wow, they are really working together. No shame.

External - "Cheaters! Quit drafting!...Shameless, aren't they. Those guys are my competition."

Random competitor - "What can you do?

Internal - "Who's going to catch my bike...You are."

External - "Thanks."

Internal - "Do everything right the first time. Shoes are even. Grab the visor and salt...Hit lap split button...I'm running...Quit grinning. You look like an idiot...Check out those F-18's...There's the first mile marker - 6:09 - that's too fast...First lap easy...6:50, that's better...6:35, that felt easy...That's a smart sign 'Be Patient'"

Jane - "Ahhhhhhhh, Ahhhhhhhh, Richard, Ahhhhhh."

Cid, Sr. - (in Brazilian Portuguese accent) "Richard, what are you doing?! Go faster. Catch him."

Internal - "Half-way done, that's 1:30 even. Is it possible to even split and run a 3:00? Just take it as it comes. I can positive split by almost 10 minutes and still break 9 hours...Engage the core. Good form. Symmetry...There's 20 miles. I feel a little funny. I'm not going to finish. God, I trust you...I feel great. I'm still running."

External - "Hey man take it easy. There's a long way to go."

Hard-breathing man on his first or second lap - "Are you a pro?"

External - "Yeah."

Now-irritated, hard-breathing man on his first or second lap - "Thanks for the advice. I've done ten of these."

External - "Ok."

Internal - "Just 5 miles to go. If I average 7 min miles, then...Where's the 25 mile marker? Did I pass it? If I didn't, then I'm behind...Where's 26? I've got to be close.

Brad, Alan, Christina, and Guido - "Dang! Woof!"

Internal - "There's the finish just over there...Around this corner...It still says 8:56:XX, I've got plenty of time...High fives for everyone!...Quit grinning. You look like an idiot."

Will in Kona

One of my athletes, Will Harrison, will be racing at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii tomorrow. Will won his age group at Ironman Lake Placid and is in phenomenal shape. He should do really well tomorrow. You can watch his progress at Ironman.com. Below is a list of the local folks I know racing in Kona:

Name Bib #

Will Harrison 1797

Cid Cardoso 1082

Eric Bean 58

Alex McDonald 169

Stacey Richardson 1376

Tony Adams 622

Suzie Pantlin 773

Pinehurst Triathlon

The race last weekend was way too much fun. To start with, my wife and two friends put together quite a silly relay. See evidence above. It was Mel's first open water swim and she did great despite hauling around the other person living inside of her. What can I really say about the other two goons that you can't see in the picture? It was actually a little awkward hanging around Lawrence, the one in the Joe Dirt-esque wig. He was a little too believable.

Additionally, it was really awesome to win the race. I swam just hard enough to stay with the main group, rode just hard enough to ride to the front of the race, and then felt really confident on the run because of the hard work that I've done. When one of my competitors was close enough for me to hear him breathe, I had the confidence and fitness to up the pace to hold him off. On the bike, I actually averaged slightly higher wattage for the second half vs. the first half. Another block of hard work and 8:59 is going to be a real possibility.