2009 Additional Thoughts

At the request of a friend, I've been asked to analyze my racing schedule in relation to my desired outcome. If my desire is to PR the IM, then I might need to reconsider my current race schedule. If my desire is to win a bunch of local races most of which are short-course, then I might be setting myself up for a good IM but nothing stellar. This led me to look at what other successful Wisconsin athletes have done to peak for an IM.

The fastest non-pro in Wisconsin is Thomas Brunold. This is how his IM career has played out:

2004 - Marathon (2:35); IMWI (9:12); IMKONA (9:49)
2005 - Marathon (2:31); 20K (1:06)
2006 - Marathon (2:46); HIM (4:14); IMWI (9:38)
2007 - IMWI (9:14); IMKONA (9:12)
2008 - IMWI (9:20)
2009 - 20K (1:15); Syttenda Mai (2:01); IMWI 9:31

And that's it. The guy only shows up to race IM and usually one or two long distance running races. Interesting. Lets look at his protege Joe Kurian. I included only the relevant races:

2001 - IMLP (11:53 or 11:04)
2003 - IMWI (10:34)
2004 - IMKONA (12:02)
2005 - Marathon (2:33); IMWI (10:42)
2007 - Marathons (2:31; 2:39)
2008 - Marathon (2:39); 20KM (1:06); IMWI (9:39)
2009 - Marathon (2:39); 20KM (1:10); IMWI (9:10); IMKONA (10:02)

Another to look at is Terry Labinski, long-time fast guy in Wisconsin. His fastest year was 2003. Let's look at the number of races he did that year and the distances:

2003 - Odd distance tri; 3 HIMS; 1 Sprint tri; IMWI (9:23)

Next is Scott Bowe who did a lot of racing leading up to IMWI in September 2006, then over the next seven months until IMAZ in April 2007, did only four running races to have a breakthrough race and qualify for Kona:

2006 - IMWI (10:26)
2007 - 15K; 15K; 10K; 5K; then IMAZ (9:46)

Finally, lets look at up and comer Jeff Tarkowski from Green Bay. He seems to follow the Brunold Approach: only two races a year both of which are triathlons.

2007 - IMAZ (10:10); HIM (4:30)
2008 - IMAZ (9:54); HIM (4:18)
2009 - HIM (4:01); HIM (3:54); IMAZ (9:36)

On the other hand, I can think of a number of guys who continuely crumble at IM distance but rock the short-course stuff. There certainly seems to be a dividing line between HIM and IM.

Why are these athletes racing so little? I suspect its because they trade the short-lived glories of winning multiple short-course races for the long-term benefits of getting another high volume workout in. With Ironman dependent more upon stamina than quickness, it makes sense to prioritize the season that way. Add in the responsibilities of work and family, one finds it too difficult to get in the necessary long workouts during the week hence the weekend is too valuable for training to be wasted away by a short-course race.

This limited amount of evidence suggests that I need to reconsider my 2010 strategy. I didn't sign up again for IMWI to simply participate. The Brunold Approach of doing only one race, IMWI, is extreme. I would love to hear his rationale behind it. I suspect that his teaching & working schedule might be some of the reason. Another might be that with an Olympic background, he has a natural inclination for focusing on one big "A" each year as a matter of personal experience. Besides an IM is so long that the technicalities of fast transitions is irrelevant. You simply have to slug your way across 140.6 miles. Additionally, when reviewing the front of the pack IM racers at the international scene, especially the pros, one sees a complete dedication to the distance. The local races are seen as low-key opportunities for weekend warriors infected with the triathlon bug to participate in the sport; mere diversions from the task at hand for serious IM racers. Initially, I saw such non-participation at the local races as elitism by Wisconsin's fastest IM racers and it really turned me off. But now, I'm beginning to see things differently. I'm convinced that the unfortunate promixity of many highly enjoyable triathlon races here in Wisconsin are too close to IMWI for proper race execution. Expect to see me a lot less at the local racing scene this year.

2009 Whistlestop Half Marathon

October 2009
Whistlestop Half Marathon
Ashland, WI

Matthew Amman
1:21:25 (6:12 pace)
7th Overall

Good race considering it was 22 degrees and the seven hour drive to get there the night before caused havoc to my right hamstring. I was hoping to go a few minutes faster but still chalk it up as a good performance. I held fairly strong at 6:00/mile until mile eight when the leg started complaining and I had to stop and stretch it out a few times.

2009 End of the Year

2009 In Review

Training:
I spent most of the year following my own advice, but I did add in the bike tips of Zach Ruble, an IM pro who many might know from slowtwitch as BigZach. After Ironman Wisconsin in 2008, I knew I needed to work towards achieving a deep bike base again but wanted a stronger high-end (threshold). Zach recommended some early season biking at Zone 4 then mid-season a weekly dose of Zone 3 work (3x30 min/2x45min /1x90min). As for IM prep, he recommended German-styled 5hr/3hr bike rides. It proved beneficial. I'll be doing it again for next year. This year I was inclined to add a run after them ranging from 30 to 60 minutes. I'll be dropping that down to 15 minutes. The key, as I see it, is getting the bike section to be a high quality workout. Saving something for the run afterwards is likely counter-productive.

As expected, I coasted on my swimming ability. As long as I could get to the pool 3 times per week I was happy. I spent most of it swimming 200-500's with a weekly set of 100's(Base 1)/200's(Base 2)/300's(Base 3) at IM race pace (1:17/100yd).

Running was not much different. I made sure to get in 3-5 runs per week with one long run that progressively got longer. My longest run was 2.75 hr and I ran 5 times over 2 hours this year. Most of the run work was done in upper zone 1/lower Zone 2 (135-140 bpm). The pace usually was 7:30-8:00.

Racing:
The highs were that I won a lot of races this year. My early triathlon dreams still lingered with me this year: to win J-Hawk Early Bird and Camp Whitcomb Mason. I managed to win both.

1st J-Hawk Early Bird Triathlon
1st Camp Whitcomb Mason Triathlon
1st South Milwaukee Tinman Triathlon
1st Stevens Point YMCA Lactic Edge Triathlon
1st LaCrosse YMCA Got Energy Triathlon

2nd Pleasant Prairie Olympic Triathlon
3rd Tri-ing for Children Olympic Triathlon

56th IM Louisville

The lows were getting hit by a car, not finishing Triple T because of another bike crash, and competing at a different Ironman venue that I thought would suit my strengths (swim, bike) but found otherwise.

What I learned this year:
I was physically sharper then ever before. Most of the improvements are from simply training another year. This was my fourth year, third serious year of training. The minor changes in my yearly training program did address some my specific performance limiters. The changes in bike workouts, the 2 week versus 3 week taper, and doing lots of early season long bike rides proved beneficial when looking at race results.

Off-Season:
To improve I need to make one big change. I recognize that competitive swimming from age 8 to 22 got me to the front end for triathlon's swim portion. As for the bike, that required 3 dedicated years of high volume and some intensity. And now, it's time to work on my running. I'm making two changes in my run training. First, I'll run in the middle to upper end of Zone 2 (6:50-7:45). Too often, I floated on the lower end (7:30-7:55 pace). It was fairly apparent when running with Scott Bowe or Chris Wichert that when running alone I was going too easy. To keep things on target, I'll start using the Polar foot pod. The other more important and more dangerous component is increasing run volume. I ran 30-35 miles/wk this year with the highest being around 40. I knew this day was coming. Every HIM or IM runner faster than me that I've met has at some time in their career put in some really high running volume. To that end, I'll attempt to put in 4-6 months of "runner" like volume. The goal is 60 miles/week January through April. I'll spend November and December slowly increasing the volume so that I don't acquire an injury in the processs. In summary, I want to be running 6x/wk during the season with a lot of race pace running.

Next, I need a mental adjustment. Work was a toll this year and took up a lot of "space" in my head. With the change in practice location and changes in fee-structures with insurance companies I had more stress this year. I need to refocus that area of my life. I am working on some ideas to make an adjustment. Although I successfully compartmentalized the mental drain at shorter races, when it came to IM I had a number of ugly thoughts slipping through related to work.

2010:
The goals include figuring out how to race hard without a side-stitch, have my run splits be more in line with stand alone run times, and having a breakthrough race at either a HIM or IM. To accomplish this I expect to race more. The tentative game plan is 10 short-course triathlon races, 2 HIM's, and 1 IM. The general training theme for the year is work on my speed for 3-4 months, then build my endurance on top of that. In Spring I'll start my usual training mode but decrease the weekly long bike to keep it under 4 hrs and keep the long run at 1.75 hr. This should allow me to add in a weekly track workout and race frequently. Late in the season I will spend 8-10 weeks doing the long stuff required for an IM and reintroduce the 100 mile rides and 2+ hr runs.

2009 Ironman Louisville

Ironman Louisville
Louisville, KY
August 30, 2009

Matthew Amman
9:53:17

56th Overall
10th Age Group

PRERACE
What I saw in Louisville, Kentucky before I even started the race let me know that this was going to be ugly. As the son of a hydrogeologist and serious fisherman, I know a thing about water quality. The Ohio River is barely suitable for swimming. Add in floating timbers and logs, swimming is hazardous. As for the bike roads, the road surface itself was nice but there was absolutely no shoulder. The road ended at the white line. I was little taken back by the whole venue.

SWIM
Horrible, horrible! Imagine lining up at 5:15 am to sit on road pavement for a 7 am race start. And because I was about the 1,200th person in the 2,700 person line, I started around 7:25 am. This was a time-trial start and I certainly prefer the mass swim start.

After jumping in, we had to swim a narrow channel for a 1/2 mile or more. The congestion was terrible. I had to swim with my head up most of time until we rounded the turn buoy and headed out into the river. The long swim to the exit with the river's current was easy. I exited with a disappointing time.

BIKE
The first 2:13 on the bike were uneventful. I kept the effort ridiculously easy to save it for the back half of the bike.

At 2:14 I got a flat tire. Luckly it was the front wheel. I never did take the time to look for a hole. It did not matter, I needed to change it. It was my first time changing a tubular and made a few mistakes. Using a razor blade to cut the tire, I thought I cut all the way through the base tape. Nope. When I pulled with all my might to get it off the rim, it would not budge. I tried the other side. No luck. I thought this might be game over. After a closer look, I saw that I failed to cut the base tape. After cutting it, the tire came off. When putting the spare on, I found out it was not pre-stretched enough. Luckily, an IM race photographer was right there to help. With his assistance, I managed to muscle it on. I inflated the tire and was on my way at 2:21. Poof! seven minutes gone.

I pushed a bit after the flat tire to minimize the time damage. I also had to start dealing with road traffic. I passed a number of cars plus a truck with a horse trailer on the left. Yes, I said the left. Without a road shoulder 2-3 feet wide, often times motorists were stuck behind slow cyclists and simply had to wait patiently to pass. Well, when the faster cyclists like myself are on our second loop of a two loop bike course, we were forced to pass both the cyclist and the vehicle on the left.

The final 50 miles were a little hard to pace, akin to the first 50 miles. The rolly-polly hills made for a pedal, then coast feeling... similar to when riding with a group of cyclists. A powermeter would have helped out a lot.

In the last 10-40 miles somewhere, I got another flat tire. It was a slow leak that I did not notice it until the last few miles.

RUN
I felt really good running out of T2. I walked the first 2 aids stations like planned. I plugged along comfortably while watching my fellow competitors put on a show.

Guy #1 in my age-group passed me in the first 200 yards coming out of T2 running sub 7. No problem I thought, he'll die later. He never did.
Guy #2 not in my age-group was insane. He ran past me just after the 1 mile mark running 6:00 pace. No problem, he'll die later. He (Evan MacFarlane) never did. For the first 3.38 miles he ran 20:17 at 6:00/mile ending with a 2:55 marathon.
Guy #3 Viktor Zyemtsev and winner of the race running sub 6:30's.
Guy #4 Luke McKenzie and second place overall running sub 6:30's.
Guy #5 running around 7:30 pace and I just could not respond.

So about 5 five guys me passed on run. Not too bad I thought. Except for one, I was not confident enough to run in anybody's shadow and try to hold on. Based on how I felt last year at IMWI, this was a positive run and I looked great while doing it (according to my family and friends watching). My form was good, light on the feet, relaxed arm-swing, no side-stitch, and no stomach distress.

I crossed the finish line in 9:53. I was happy to go sub 10. As for qualifying for Kona, I needed to go a 9:48. Doing the math, the flat tire did me in. Frankly, the whole experience left me sour. Ironman corp. did a fantastic job; it was the venue (swim and bike course) that really irritated me. Ironman Wisconsin was a five star experience. I'll likely stick to my home turf next time.

SUMMARY
A month ago an acquintance asked me why I race. It's a question I have struggled with for a couple of years. This particular Ironman race gave me a two-fold answer. First, when life fails to demand my time, efforts, and talents either professionally or personally or both, I seek it out in the form of a hobby. Currently, triathlon quenches my desire for success and hard work. Second, I found out what makes me tick. I have a hard time racing against myself or the clock. To win races or beat rivals I mentally have to say, "I'm better than you and I'll turn myself purple to prove it." A lot of front-of-the-pack racers are like that. I am no different. But at an Ironman race far away from home, I had neither a chance of winning the race outright nor a rival--somebody that I could say to myself, "There is no way I'm going to let him beat me." So what happens to me under those conditions? I coast and that's exactly what I did. If you saw me racing last year at IMWI, you could see the agony and exhaustion. I was digging deep to try to catch my rivals up the road. I gave it everything I had.

My future in Ironman racing is uncertain. I feel that there is much work to be done both physically and mentally to hit the ceiling. But like most hobbies, it's just for fun and if something else comes along that fosters the same feelings as racing I might just hang up the swim cap and goggles, sell the bikes, and use the running shoes to mow the lawn.

THINGS TO REMEBER:
- Breakfast 3 Powerbars, 1 can Red Bull
- Bike: 13 Powergels; Chocolate is fine; Avoid Vanilla; Try Strawberry/Kiwi
- Spare Tubular plus trying bringing along Vittoria PitStop for flats
- Run: Loop 1 alternated coke/gatorade; Loop 2 just coke
- Salt tablets: 4 on bike, 2 on run (Salt stick); try more on bike and run











Heart Rate Data:
Swim 163 bpm
T1 144 bpm
Bike 135 but failed to work for last hour (likely was 145)
T2 122
Run 143 ave

Run Splits:
1 -7:54/pace 147 bpm
2 -7:19 141
3 -7:17 147 bpm
4 -7:41 146 bpm
5 -7:27 147 bpm
6 -7:40 147
7 -7:49 149
8 -7:25 146
9 -7:46 152
10-7:45 149
11-7:47 144
12-7:53 145
13-8:10 141
14-8:18 140
15-8:18 150
16-7:50 140
17-7:55 140
18-8:01 138
19-8:20 135 (started walking aid stations)
20-8:23 135
21-8:27 135
22-8:14 136
23-8:35 137
24-8:24 138
25-8:51 135
26.2-10:29 135

2009 Pleasant Prairie Triathlon

Pleasant Prairie Triathlon
Pleasant Prairie, WI
August 16, 2009
Olympic Distance

Matthew Amman 2nd OA
S 19:47 B 55:18 R 38:57
1:57:09

PRERACE
This was the race to finish off my IM Build. I'd never done a race at this location and looked forward to a semi-flat bike and flat run course. In the past a number of "fast" people come to win money. Pay-outs were for the first three overall.

SWIM
Without an elite wave, Scott (Bowe) and I started in wave two with Jelly Belly Pro Daniel Bretscher starting in wave 1. The water was clear and I swam comfortably on Scott's feet for the first 1/3. The triangular swim course was nice because we made only two turns. One guy in our wave smoked us with a low 18 swim, I exited the water about 30 seconds behind Scott.

Transition went fairly smoothly for me minus having to rethread my right shoe strap. Scott had issues.

BIKE
When you start biking, we have a good vantage point to see who's in front. Scott was nowhere to be found. I figured my T1 must of been slower than I thought and he somehow put out a herculian effort to be out of sight. Turned out I was wrong. Scott delayed exiting T1 to rearrange his race belt and then while biking, his rear brake was rubbing for loop 1. I had simply exited T1 before him.

Loop 1 was uneventful. I rode fairly even and upon starting loop 2, I saw the leader and calculated that I was 30 seconds behind. Not too bad, but I didn't have the motivation to push any harder. Suffering to catch and overpass someone is fun, but to do it as a solo effort wasn't going to happen today.

RUN
I came into T2 and put my socks and shoes on. After exiting, I was informed that I was in third. The run was hard. I struggled with the side-stitch from the start. At an out and back section, I saw the leader and he was cruising sub 6's. The guy in second had a CC shirt on with running shorts, obviously a relay team. By mile 3 the stitch had become manageable. I ran even paced until the end for second place.

Mile
1 6:15
2 6:19
3 6:16
4 6:23
5 6:25
6 5:57

SUMMARY
The time difference between first and second was almost 5 minutes. Where can I make that up? First would be my transitions. Up to now, my bike shoes are off the bike. It seems that the faster racers are keeping them on their bike and slipping into them after the bike mount akin to the racers in ITU racing. I'm going to start doing that next year and try it out at Devil's Challenge Triathlon. Second, transition 2 is a little slow because I put socks on. With IM coming up, I was hesitant to get a blister. Third, raise my running performance. Between these three things, I might be able to make up the difference.

THINGS TO REMEMBER:
- 1 Gel and Red Bull for breakfast, worked fine (race start was 6:30)
- Carried a spared tubular, probably carry Pitstop in the future
- No socks for Olympics triathlons
- Running with race belt in hand for 1/4 mile felt good
- Side-stitch strategies remain effective
- Liberal use of Vaseline for the unit, worked good
- Nasal strip, aero-helmet, Team GG kit, visor
- Tire pressure F-115 R-117

2009 Camp Whitcomb/Mason Triathlon

Camp Whitcomb/Mason Triathlon
Hartland, WI
August 9, 2009
Sprint Triathlon
1/3 mile; 22 mile; 5K

Matthew Amman 1st OA
S-8:35 B-53:42 (24.6mph) R-19:43
1:23:59

PRERACE
The original plan was to do a massive workout on Saturday before the race (5hr ride, 1hr run) and then show up and humilate myself at the CWM triathlon. Well, the weather was terrible on Saturday but I managed to sneak in a 2.5 hr ride.

Sunday morning was sunny with a slight breeze. Like usual, I had to sign up race morning. Big problem. Upon registrating I was informed that they weren't allowing anybody in the elite wave. Huh! Two years ago I signed up race morning and was allowed into the elite wave. In a huff, I told the volunteers to hold onto the forms while I chatted with the race director. After pleading my case to both the RD and the head timer, the official response was NO! At this point I wasn't sure I wanted to play; besides Scott and I had a monster workout planned immediately after the race (3.5 hr bike, 1 hr run). After fuming for 15 minutes, I returned to the registration table, coughed up the $100, told the ladies that I'm going to win the race and not come back again. They just smiled.

SWIM
Scott (Bowe) with the rest of the elite wave took off while I watched. I was stuck in wave 7--the last wave. The previous time I did the race, I swam with a wetsuit and found myself overheating. With similar conditions, I opted to go without it this time. It was the right move. I had a lot of swim traffic to manuevre past and made sure to be courtesy. After the recent triathlon related deaths, I didn't want to hurt a newbie by swimming over them.

BIKE
Two years ago I raced CWM differently. It was my first time trying to win a triathlon. Between Michael Boehmer overtaking me on the bike coupled with trying to hold off Phil Bzdusek, I rode every hill all out (akin to MTB racing) and prayed that I wouldn't die. It worked that time to take 2nd OA and a big mental booster.

This time without the hype of "being in the front" when starting the bike, I simply kept my effort consistent never digging deep on the hills or making a tactical move.

RUN
I started running fast to take advantage of the uneven territory. At mile 2 I developed a side stitch. I kept it under control for another 100 yards but then I needed to stop. After resting for 10-15 seconds, I surged forward. One thing I learned that is if I tuck my chin, the stitch goes away. I may look a little goofy but it seemed to work. I finally crossed the finish line in 1:23:59.

SUMMARY
I'm taking my ball and going home.

Race safety is always my primary concern. After getting hit by a car in a triathlon earlier this year combined with a record number of triathlon deaths, I'm alittle worried while racing. In this particular case, you don't pay $100 to simply enjoy the morning especially for us competitive guys. To ask an elite to swim over a few hundred people and then bike past them 5-10 mph faster is potentially hazardous. We got lucky this time, but that hasn't always been the case.

2009 Late Season Training

Beesting & Loose Skewer

This past week I finished my first of three Build weeks to set me up for Ironman Louisville on August 31st. I managed to survive, learn a few lessons along the way, and was thankful for the rest days in between. The key workouts consist of:

1. German style 5 hr bike ride faster than IM pace
2. Zone 3 bike ride for 90 minutes followed by 60 minute run faster than IM pace
3. Long hard run

A lot of times when you do really hard workouts like this you don't know what to expect. Sometimes you surprise yourself yet other times you make a few errors. The major lesson so far is pacing.

WEEK 1
Workout #1 was designed to be soulcrushing but with poor pacing, I sort of ruined it. I did the TriWisconsin Lannon loop three times (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3062739) with a working knowledge of how fast I can ride it per loop. Last week I did two loops at breakneck speed without much trouble. However, this time the wind was up and my stubborness led me to believe that I could still muscle out three loops fairly close to the same pace per loop. I was wrong. My final loop was 11 minutes slower than the first. Not good. And when it came to running 30 minutes afterwards, I struggled. While the focus was the 5 hr bike part and running was simply bonus material, I did not get what I wanted out it, plus I got a nasty beesting while riding. Adding insult to injury, my rear skewer was loose for the ride. Thankfully, I lucked out and nothing bad happened.

Workout #2 was at Crank Daddy's bike shop on a ergmo/computrainer to ride at constant watts to keep my heart rate within zone 3. What I did was ride 425 watts (the thing must be WAY off) for 90 minutes followed by a 60 minute build run. The first 20 minutes were to be easy, the second twenty moderate hard, and the final 20 tempo. It was a challenging workout.

Workout #3 was the long hard run. The goal was to run my usual 2:45 loop faster than usual and see what happened (house down north ave to parkway, parkway to Hawley then back along wells (at Hawley & Wells turn usually takes 29-30 minutes), connect with parkway head north, across bridge to hart park, up parkway to north ave junction (usually takes 60-62 minutes) up parkway to hwy 100 back along other side of parkway, back down all the way to Hawley, same route back to north ave then to home street). 20.5 miles later I finished in 2:30. I had to fight a few mental demons along the way yet I survived.

WEEK 2
Workout #1/German Ride
This was a combo workout with Camp Whitcomb/Mason Triathlon followed by 2.5 hr bike ride immediately afterwards. The race went really well (see race report) and the following bike ride was manageable. I was far off IM race pace, but I made it. I also thought about running after the ride, but called it a day. This was my substitution for the week's German Ride.

Workout #2
Long brick workout of 2.5 hr bike (originally going to be 3.5 hr) followed by 2 hr run. The bike was on pace until 2:10 when I was stung by a bee on the right thigh, ouch! I had to stop on the side of the road and was in considerable more pain than last week's episode. After a few minutes, I decided to cut my ride short and head back to the car. Ten minutes later I felt fine at the car, I decided to finish with the long run. I ran strong hold sub 7:30's. I was happy that I kept it together mentally.

Workout #3
Instead of a computrainer ride at Cranky Daddy's I opted to go outside and do the Lannon ride. I rode sub 1:40 for 35 miles with a 7:30 pace run for 45 minutes afterwards.

WEEK 3
Workout #1/German Ride
Long ride was 105 miles to Theresa and back in sub 5 hrs (4:56) with a sore throat/head cold. I was supposed to run afterwards but with a late start time I had to get to work. I ran 1 hr later in the day and it was easy. I did, however, check out the legs after the bike with a short jog and felt fresh unlike the previous effort the week before or a month prior when I did the exact same workout (105 miles to Theresa and back in 5:00) but could barely walk afterwards.

Workout #2
Long Run 1.5 hr hard at sub 7:20 pace in the heat. I suffered.

Workout #3
Olympic distance triathlon (see race report).

+++++++++++++++++++++

I followed this with Matt Fitzgerald's two-week taper.

+++++++++++++++++++++

In conclusion, the season has gone by fast. Adrienne and I have done a number of races with the usual drama. We won a few, lost a few, had moments of greatness and moments of failure. Mentally I feel cloudy with erradic motivation but physically things seem to be getting sharper. I believe the build workouts I have chosen for this year will make me stronger to handle the challenges of racing an Ironman.