Starting Over ... Again - Part I

"Don't call it a comeback I've been here for years" ... LL Cool J

This was a song on a play list my sister gave me before the race (a tradition) and what my buddy Bob wrote in an email to me after the race at Arizona. I have been around for years but just in a dormant state ;)

****The photo above is from IM Hawaii in 2002 ... my last Ironman.

I have never been a fan of writing race reports but the requests have come and I figured the only way I wanted to do this is if I can make it educational for those few out there that read this. I am going to take it in manageable chunks, so here goes ....

A brief, pointed history (details not needed) on the time frame from April 2004 (last time i did any consistent, healthy, training) until the fall of 2007 ... the last Ironman I did was in Kona 2002!

* 2 Knee surgeries

* No running

* Limited and often unmotivated cycling and swimming

* Zero Training from FEB 2007 to September 2007 (mono)

* 1 Broken Arm

* Passing of my dad

* Gained 20 pounds

Considering the long lay off and the sickness, the plan was to take three months of very, slow, progressive, low heart rate (safe) training and then evaluate in December what I might want to do. The plan at this time was to get the body prepared to be able to "train" again! ;) It was at the end of this three month period that a number of my athletes and wife decided to sign up for IM AZ. At the time there was no way I could imagine training for let alone competing at IM AZ. Figuring i was going to make the trip I signed up knowing I had 10 months to see if I could do the training before I had to send in my request for withdrawal. It also gave me good incentive to just stay healthy and consistent :0)

When I hit the DEC 1 mark I made an overall plan that seemed simple as well. Do some bike racing with my cycling team and pick 3-4 triathlon events to see where my brain and body were at with very little specific prep to any of these events.

Breaking it down ... shall we start with the swim?

- Again, this was pretty simple stuff as well ... try to swim three times per week (some group stuff but lots of solo), not worry about volume (initially), and then see where things were at come August/September. Although there are some schools of thought out there that don't advocate swimming year round I happen to like it (most of the time), plus if I spend time away it takes forever to ramp it back up! So if you have the time and energy ... STAY IN THE POOL!

When I hit mid August, Jen and I put together a group that swam a long open water session every Wednesday evening. Most often we were swimming at least 2miles+ and I wish we could have kept this rolling until NOV because it was very valuable ... but unfortunately it wasn't the cards logistically ;( After that the long swim went to the pool! So some details in general:

-- AVG swimming per week from Jan 1 to Race day = 9500 meters
-- Longest Swim = 5400m on Jan 1

-- Biggest Swim Week = 14,500m week of AUG 25

-- AVG per week for the last 10 weeks pre-race = 9500 meters

RACE DAY:

I was a little unsure of what I was going to swim but thought 1:00 was a long shot and 1:05 would be acceptable. In the "old days", historically all my wetsuit swims were between 58 - 59 minutes. For this day I didn't have enough harder or longer swims in the bank for that to happen at a comfortable effort. As we jumped in to the chilly 63 degree water I decided to start a little to the right and back about 5 people. I learned quick this was a mistake! After the swim and looking at photos, my best spot would have been closer to the front and more left or inside. It seems everyone wanted to start to the right ;)

The swim was uneventful except for getting buffered way too far left by a large, slow swimming group. I then had to to move out of and around that group before I just decided to swim most of the time in my own water off the buoy line. From there it was just about keeping my patience and the stroke long until I made a final wide turn around the last buoy and headed for the stairs. I took the chance in that last 150+ meters to really back off, take a pee (yes while swimming) and just keep as low a heart rate as I could when I hit the bike.

Getting out in 1:01:?? I was at the back of the large group that swims :57-1:00 but well ahead of that next big group that is closer to 1:05. I recognized that fact when I was in the water and could see that group a little too far ahead and realized THAT was the group I should have been with! Being in that group a minute ahead would have made the swim that much easier because of the draft and energy conservation ... not to mention the slightly quicker swim.

Simple and relaxed T1, albeit a little slow, but not the thing that was going to hurt me on the day!

Lessons learned? (some of these are personal to me but also across all athlete ranges)

* Swim consistency makes a difference as opposed to big swim blocks to ramp things up.

* A consistent long swim every week for at least the 10 weeks leading in to the race is still the crucial building block of being able to swim relaxed and not get out of the water over exerted.

* People have adjusted where they start their swims and I need to do the same if i go back. Seems more people want the outside now. I'll save the new strategies for my athletes! ;)

* Swim specific strength matters. When I couldn't swim or needed a time efficient way of holding on to swim strength I hit the stretch cords. My wife Jen benefitted greatly from this!

Bottom line? There is no magic potion to swimming fitness for this race. You have to do it and you have to do it technically correct. The less you do it and the less you do it technically correct the more it shows up later on race day. Some say the swim is just the beginning of the fuel tank emptying. BUT, you can decide how you want the fuel to drip or pour out! It all depends on the type of training and pacing you decide to execute;) ... your choice!

Chew on that and I'll come back with Part II AND ... feel free to shoot questions across to me or post them in the comments ... DL