Brian McCune's Blog

MooseMan 70.3 Ironman 2010

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:39:00 +0000

MooseMan has been a well-established race in the Northeast for several years and this was it's first as an official 70.3. It's located in scenic, lush Alexandria, NH. Averages temperatures in this part of the country hover in the 60-70 range this time of year which was a big factor why I chose this venue. What I failed to account for (more on this later) is that the region is also known for it's beautiful scenic mountain region.

The Day
... started out in the low 50's with a 70% chance of showers (but no thunderstorms until 9:00AM) and then moved up to a 90% chance of showers and thunderstorms. After a 3:30AM alarm, we were onsite at 5:10 for the pre-race planning and setup.

Transition at this race is tight. It's in a heavily shaded area with primarily dirt/grave/roots on the ground. After setting up, it was time to go hide out somewhere to do some stretching and neuro muscular activation exercises to get ready for the swim.

The Swim
Newfound Lake is billed as one of the cleanest in the USA, and it was.... This race was a beach start. I loved this: Sprint as far as you can into the water and then dive and swim as hard as you can for the first 300 meters. Unfortunately, I made the most beginner of mistakes and purchased a new pair of goggles the day before.

After run sprinting into the lake, my dive filled both goggles to the brim with fresh lake water. My wife has photos of me leading the pack of about 100 people out to the first buoy as I flip over to back stroke (twice) to empty my goggles. I cooled off after the initial rush and sat in with a group of fast feet. Unfortunately, the goggle problem persisted and I flipped over every 2-300M to drain the water. I ended up coming out of the water slightly behind the leaders in 27:39.

The Bike
By the time I exited the water, the rain had started to fall. Temps were in the upper 50's/low 60's at this point, and I opted for arm warmers and lightweight mittens. The first 5 miles of the bike seemed to take forever. Riding in the rain is really not all that bad, but if your chilly it can really present some mental challenges. It took awhile for me to realize that I wasn't the only crazy man racing a 70.3 in a downpour and I finally convinced my legs that they needed to stop whining and start working!

The first 15 miles of the bike roll by and then comes "Devil's Hill". I've read that it's a 16% grade. It seemed like it took almost 30 minutes to get over. It's one of those hills that goes straight up, plateaus for just long enough to catch your breath and then disappears again up into the sky. This was a blessing and a curse... I was no longer chilly, but I was getting passed by these pipsqueak mountain goats. The good news was that revenge was not far off as we descended down the backside of the Devil. My PowerTap said that I hit 49MPH (and overtook most of those pip squeaks). Not too shabby for a technical decent on wet roads. I learned that driving rain doesn't really hurt until you hit about 35MPH.

The MooseMan organizers had an interesting element at this race --- a speed trap! During parts of the descent, they had well-marked sections of the course that were "No Speeding" zones. They actually had radar guns with MPH displays set up so that you knew how fast you were going (and we were instructed to keep it below 30!). At the bottom of one of the descents was a USAT official with a radar gun taking notes on which of us were speeding! Safety first!

In retrospect, I never would've ridden a disc for this race. Dragging that extra weight up the hills was tough. I also would've definitely run a compact crank setup. Pushing 500 watts, going 6MPH and pedaling at 55RPM is tough on the legs! I finished the bike in 2:50:41 with an average of 19.7 MPH -- OUCH!

The Run
... historically my most dreaded part of the race. I've really been working on getting fit on the bike to make the run seem a bit more bearable. I was very scared of blowing up on the run after I'd worked hard to manage my effort on the bike.

The run was one of the most beautiful that I'd ever seen. Winding along the lake with a light/moderate rain. Granite cliffs dropping down to the road --- I felt like I was on a fancy European twisty/turvey road course and that a couple of sports cars should've been winding their way along the lake anytime now. My feet were numb for the first 2 miles... that feeling of running on stumps. You know your feet are there, but you can't feel them at all. After they warmed up, I hit my stride and started to realize that it was time to make up some serious time if I was going to come close to my goal.

MM is a two loop run course. I hit the first 3 mile mark to see Coach Janda cheering me on. I really appreciated all of my support crew that day --- standing in the cold rain was much harder than racing in it! After some words of encouragement from coach, I headed back towards transition. Still feeling pretty good as I headed in to complete the first loop. Seeing my Wife and her new group of triathlon fans was a big boost before heading back out for the last 1/2 of the run (the toughest part of the day). At this point it was time to buckle down and to dig in for the tough part. I had switched to cola at this point which seemed to be working.

Watching the paces slowly slip on the Garmin can be mentally intimidating, but the key is to keep pushing. After final words from Janda at mile 10, it was time to GO! GO! GO! Miles 11 and 12 are the toughest. The guys that have raced smart up until this point are able to surge a little, and the guys who have not been smart inevitably fade. The folks that I had run with up until now are all starting to pick things up. This hurts the most --- you're eyeing the guy 50M in front of you who you're trying to catch... you pick up your pace from 7:55 to 7:45 and he does the same... then he picks up the pace from 7:45 to 7:35 and you're forced to match him... it's a battle to the finish for certain!

As we all know, once you hit the 12/12.5 mark... the adrenaline kicks in and you "sprint" to the finish. You can hear the announcer at the finish line, and you know that you're going to make it. I finished just over 5 hours, which was not optimal for me --- but on that hard day, just enough to secure a Clearwater slot. Finished the run in 1:42:20 (7:49/Mi Pace), which I was pleased with.

2010 Ironman Mooseman 70.3

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Sat, 29 May 2010 21:39:00 +0000

It's been a long springtime of hard workouts and long hours on the bike. It's been forever since I posted anything here, so here's a quick update...

Next weekend is the MM 70.3 in New Hampshire. I'm looking forward to another breakthrough performance. My races up to this point have been going as planned. I had a tougher time at White Lake, but still managed to best my personal record by 23 minutes. Next weekend we will see if we can shatter that record.

The workouts this spring have consisted of two-a-days almost every day. The focus has been active recovery on Mondays and Fridays with core hard work being done Tu-We-Th. and then longer pace and intensity sessions on the weekend.

I've also been doing nutrition quite differently this season... almost no nutrition on anything unless it's a workout that lasts more than 4 hours (and I only did a few of those). This has really helped the body to learn how to economize. It's also produced weight loss to the tune of about 20 #s. When it comes race time, my body will be pleasantly surprised to have a full compliment of nutrition.

I've also added carbohydrates to almost every dinner --- but in the form of simpler, organic foods like legumes, fat free pretzels and potatoes. This has been especially critical during those Tu-We-Th sessions when I thought that I was in a cycle of rinse-wash-repeat......

Wake up - Eat - Swim - Work - Eat - Work - Run/Bike - Eat - Sleep - Repeat.

My breakfasts have changed from anything processed to greek yogurt, natural granola or oatmeal with fresh fruit.

One last thing on the nutrition/diet front. I learned this spring, after reading a great new book called: Racing Weight: How to get lean for peak performance to eat almost 100% non-processed foods. Stuff we've had drilled into our heads since we were little kids: Fruits, Veggies, Lean Meats, etc... I've always enjoyed this stuff... but I would pair it with something processed, or generally not healthy -- and it's those little things that kill the diet.

I've found that loading up on the stuff that's all natural allows me to eat whatever I want and to still feel full at the end of a meal. I know that I could probably drop another 20#s if I went super hardcore on the diet (and starved a little bit), but I'm in this game to have fun. I don't plan to turn pro and I enjoy the good life too much to give it up. Besides, if it's not fun, then why are we doing it? Starving myself would not be fun for me.

One last thing -- check out this new BLOG by my pal, Ryan Conrad. He just moved to Richmond to work for a company called RaceIT. Watch out Active.com!!

That's all for now!

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:28:00 +0000

Had a rough week of workouts during the Christmas week, but had a great time hanging out with Family in Savannah. Now it's time to get back to work and to try to continue to buckle down on the diet.

I got this book for Christmas from my wife. I got into it a bit last night and it's quite intriguing so far. Lots about balancing diet and exercise as opposed to just starving to realize a lighter frame. It's all about finding peak performance weight as opposed to just being super lean and light. Lots to do with timing of meals, the protein/fat/carb balances and tying it all together to sport-specific training.

Tonight was 8 x 400 on 1:00 rest.

Ran an easy 8 and swam 2400 yesterday morning.

Tomorrow will be an easy swim and a shake out run of approximately 6 miles. Trying to get as close to 40 as I can this week in anticipation of starting with Janda on Monday.

201/7.2%

A great start to the week!

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:35:00 +0000

Swam with Bob and the crew at Fleet Rec today. They are always up for some awesome quality. They swim every day --- I'm just a 2-3 day/week slacker. I don't know how they do it without their shoulders falling off...

This is especially tricky in a long course meter pool.

500 W/U

Main:
4 x 400 as:

200 on 3:00
100 on 1:35
100 on 1:35
:45 rest

200 on 3:05
100 on 1:30
100 on 1:30
:45 rest

200 on 3:10
100 on 1:25
100 on 1:25
:45

200 on 3:15 (too easy)
100 on 1:20
100 on 1:20 (OUCH!)

200 c/d

//2300

7.5 @ 8:20ish.

200.2/6.6% - Weekend parties caught up to me.

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:35:00 +0000

In the past, Blogger would let me login and post-date all of my posts --- this came in handy for entering my last few days of workouts. Looks like that functionality is gone, so I'll have to start lumping things together.

Wednesday: 6.25 Miles --- Nice and easy. Fun to run with Katherine while she was back in town for the holidays.

Thursday: 6 Miles with 10 minutes of tempo effort after a 1.5 mile warmup.

Friday: 3200M swim with Joel and Smitty. Lots of pull (2 x 1000), and some good drills. 30 minute afternoon run with Sterling the dog.

Saturday: Planned on a 10 miler at 8:ish pace, but the noreaster rolled through and dumped 12" of standing water on the trails and roads. Ended up pounding out 4 miles hard and fast in a torrential downpour (41 degrees outside). Not fun.

Sunday: 1:45 on the bike as :15 warmup/:50 SS/:10 Tempo/:30 Cool down. Felt good on the trainer --- guess that's what happens when you only ride once per week.

RUN TOTAL: 34 miles

199.8

The Biggest Loser: Triathlon Season 2010

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:18:00 +0000

I had my first consultation session with Janda Ricci-Munn last night about 2010 planning. We went over lots of good statistics --- past races, FTP, recent training load and of course my 2010 aspirations. I heard poetic words like "PR", "Transformation" and some potential race times that I'd never dreamed of. I also heard some scary terminology like "Calorie Deficit".

In any case, triathlon will become a 4-sport activity and my diet will become the fourth discipline in 2010. It's easy to be ambitious this early in the season. Focusing on the benefits of carrying a lighter frame(and the results that come with it) will hopefully be motivation enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Tonight's workout:

2 Mile Warmup

5 x 1000

1. 4:17

2. 4:14

3. 4:11

4. 4:11

5. 4:08

2 Mile Cooldown

Becoming a runner (THERE, I said it!)

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:50:00 +0000

Running, for me, is typically my least favorite use of my time. Regardless, I spend endless hours each week at the track, in the trail, or around my neighborhood putting one foot in front of the other hoping that practice makes perfect.

Last night, I actually had a bit of a breakthrough and my workout yielded a pleasant result (I went faster than I thought I could). Typically this happens for me in the winter months when my training, eating and sleeping gets consistent enough that my body agrees to let me push it harder and farther than I have in the past. I like to think during these times that if I were able to live like this year-round, that I would be as fast as some of the pros (we all dream of quitting our day jobs at some point to pursue our hobby professionally).

In any case, it's this time of year when the weather cools off, the humidity drops and the run paces really begin to pick up (albeit in the pitch black darkness). I'm confident that this year's hard work will yield a positive result in 2010.

Tonight marks the first night of the J&A Racing Group's Cycling Clinics. My good friends, Joel and Dave are running the show and helping athletes take their cycling to the next level. This clinic is certain to have some fresh faces hanging with the fasties this spring!

A new frontier...and back at it again.

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:18:00 +0000

I started this blog out of curiousity back in 2004 partly because I was curious who the hell would read it, but mostly out of utility as a means to track my progress during my triathlon training and racing.

I was relatively dilligent about keeping track of the workouts, and did little more than make frequent and quick updates after the workout was completed. It gave me a sense of satisfaction, and a means to look back on my (somewhat pitiful results) years later to see how far I've progressed.

...and then one day, I viewed the traffic count on the site and noticed that people were actually reading this crap! For the most part, I think it's my friends, colleagues and nosy co-workers who read this stuff. Perhaps they've subscribed through their RSS readers and still get the updates, or they just browse while bored at work. In any case, It's time to pick this back up and whip it into shape. Certainly more to come for as long as you all keep showing support for it.

As for the triathlon training; well, it's certainly still a passion of mine. I'm only training about 10 hours per week now, with the intent of ramping that up considerably as springtime approaches. My first significant race on the 2010 calendar is a new 1/2 Ironman in Alexandria, NH called the Mooseman Triathlon.

Ford Ironman World Championship

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:12:00 +0000

Just after the OW Swim with Macca on Sunday.

Coming out of T1

Meeting Scott Rigsby before the race

Thunder Bear getting ready to rock the bike

I have the greatest fans in the world!

Just before the swim start - TENSE MOMENTS!

Michael Lovato taking time from his photo shoot to talk to us.

Normaan and Brian 20 minutes before the pro start.

After an IV and some blood work all was well!

Bodymarking at 4:30AM

Brian and Chrissie at the finish line after midnight

Jacelyn and Crowie after he'd won the race

Crowie getting ready to win!

Jacelyn and Andy "The Snake" Baldwin

2

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:14:00 +0000

3:15 run with :15 strides every 30 minutes.

FK --> Rudee Inlet Loop --> FK

Decided I wanted to try to hold a 140BPM HR for this. The temps were cool(er) - probably in the high 70's/low 80's when I started (3:45PM), and I felt like a rockstar for the first 14 or so. Ran 8:40ish for that distance.

Ran with Kike for 15 minutes or so on the boardwalk (pure coincidence).

Once I got back in the trail, the breeze was gone and my HR started to climb as my pace dropped. Still felt okay, but I was starting to have to concentrate to hold my pace/HR. Stuck to 140ish HR, and wished that I'd made my goal 138 at the beginning (lesson learned). Ended up averaging 138 overall with a 9:06/mile pace. 20.5 miles for 3:09 of running.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this run, and feel like I will be able to run the entire marathon in Hawaii - even if my pace is 10:00/mile.

My knees/legs hurt extra bad the next morning --- very tight.

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:13:00 +0000

Swim
600 choice warm up
Main set
500 steady state effort on 1:00 recovery
2X400 low end tempo effort on :50 recovery
3X300 low end tempo effort on :40 recovery
4X200 mid tempo effort on :30 recovery
5X100 tempo effort on :20 recovery
6X50 catch up drill cool down on :30 recovery

//4200

NAILED this! Swam 1:23/100 for the last 100's, and felt pretty darn good.

Run 1 hour ext. effort

Shuffled around the neighborhood at an 8:50ish pace for an hour. Saving my legs for tomorrow.

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:11:00 +0000

Brick- can do trainer or loop at fort or shore drive.
Run 15 min. warm up
Run 1 mile tempo effort, 2-4 min. easy
Bike 20 min. steady state effort, taking 5 min. to build up to pace
Run 1 mile tempo effort, 2-4 min. easy
Bike 20 min. steady state effort, taking 5 min. to build up to pace
Run 1 mile tempo effort, 2-4 min.
Bike 20 min. steady state effort, taking 5 min. to build up to pace
Bike 30 min. ext. effort cool down

NAILED THIS! 7:00ish/mile for the tempo stuff, and held watts as best I could in my HOT garage.

Rode the last 30 minute cooldown around the neighborhood.

Probably felt good because I was rested from walking the last 6 miles of the run in Pungo on Sunday.

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:10:00 +0000

1-1:15 open water swim

Sea Lice were TERRIBLE - got out after 25 minutes and walked back. Watched the commercial fisherman reeling in the net.

Optional 40 min. regen run

Ran with Joel to visitors center and back.

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:56:00 +0000

Race Pace Brick-
If you can, do the same course you did for your last race pace effort and record pace, HR, nutrition and how you felt in general.

Distances can be altered slightly if need be.
Bike 4 hours goal IM pace
Run 2 hours goal IM pace

I'm such a doofis. I biked a solid 4.5 hours with Jacelyn in tow (did a lot of looping back), and ended up pushing 185ish watts for the ride (118 average HR), and then got off of the bike running 8:20ish feeling great. I nailed my nutrition on the bike!

My HR spiked to 153, and I quickly found myself on a hot country road in Pungo totally BONKING. Each time I ran (11:00/mile pace) my HR would spike up to 155.

I walked the 6 miles back to my car at redmill and sat in the car with the air conditioning on full blast for a good 15 minutes trying to decide if I could drive myself home. I was totally puzzled by what happened - I felt GREAT for the first few miles of that run! It wasn't until I looked at my run data that I realized what went wrong.

I knew I needed sustenance, so I went to a 7-11 and got gatorade and water, which didn't help. Ended up getting home and when I realized that I wasn't starting to feel any better it was time to Google 'heat stroke'. Found out that my delerium was caused by over-exerting myself in hot temperatures and proceeded to gulp down lots of ice water and placed an ice pack on the back of my neck. Took a 30 minute nap and had some high-sodium "lunch" at 4:00PM and felt immediately better.

Lesson learned:

IM Race Paces to stick to:

Bike: 118 (or less) HR and NO MORE than 210 watts!!
Run: 138 (or less) HR and NO MORE than 9:00/mile pace!!

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:55:00 +0000

2 Hour easy spin on the trainer (while the hurricane passed through).

Watched 2006/2007 Kona races on the tivo and took it easy.

Disappointed that I didn't get to defend my Clydesdale title in Williamsburgh.

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:52:00 +0000

Mini Brick or separate a.m. and p.m.30 min. ride

Min. 1-10 ext. effort
Min. 10-15 as 15 sec. hard/45 sec. easy
Min. 15-20 goal race pace for tomorrow
Min. 20-30 regen effort

Run 10 min. followed by 4X60m strides

I felt AWESOME during this workout (which means it's be a terrible 1/2 IM on Saturday)!!

Hurricane is coming - race on Saturday will probably be cancelled.

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:50:00 +0000

Shake out swim
600 warm up
6X100 tempo effort on :20 rest
6X100 VO2 Max effort on :30 rest
600 cool down

Swam with Jay - his last swim before he deploys. We swam the tempo's at a 1:20ish/100M pace, and the V02's at a 1:17ish pace. Did a 300 cool down, not 600.

Run 1 hour with 15 sec. strides every 10 min.

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:48:00 +0000

Bike 1:30 shake out ride
Min. 1-10 ext. effort
Min. 10-20 int. effort
Min. 20-25 as 15 sec. hard/45 sec. easy
Min. 25-30 ext. effort
6X2 min. VO2 Max with 3 min. recovery
10 min. ext. effort
10 min. tempo effort
remainder of ride ext. effort

Crushed this ride. My 2:00 efforts were pushing into the 400Watt range. My legs are so strong from all of this riding and running. I can't imagine what they'll do when they are rested.

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:46:00 +0000

1 hour open water swim- keep it easy.

This was the first time that I actually swam for an hour in OW. I don't expect to be in the water for over an hour in Kona.

I swam without a wetsuit and slowed down from time to time to let my fellow swimmers try to stick to my feet (then sped back up and dropped them).

Perfect morning for a swim - calm and sunny.

Rock N' Roll 1/2 Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:43:00 +0000

Ran a great 8.5 mile warmup with Diane. Started at 5:30ish from Kike's house and ran up towards 75th before turning around and heading back to the start. Ran 8:00ish/mile for these miles.

Started with Jacelyn and ran 9:30ish for the first 6 and 10:ooish for the 2nd half. This was a tough race and I ended up on my feet for over 4.5 hours.

Spent afternoon on the couch tracking Joel and wishing that I had energy to go to the various Memorial Day parties that we were invited to.

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:42:00 +0000

Bike 5:00 ext/int effort- nothing fancy today, just put the time in.

Rode with the Bike Beat Crew from home with Katherine. Ended up heading down to Creeds from Kempsville via Elbow road. A new route is always welcome. Those B-Beat roadies kicked my butt (28MPH sustained).

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:41:00 +0000

VO2 Max swim
800 pull warm up
6X200 VO2 Max effort on :40 rest
100 easy
6X100 VO2 Max effort on :30 rest
100 easy
6X50 VO2 Max effort on :20 rest
400 cool down

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:46:00 +0000

2 mile warmup
4 x 1 mile @ tempo
2 miles cooldown

Did it through CYPT with a warmup over towards Bayside H.S. and back.

Tempo Mile 1: 6:58
Tempo Mile 2: 6:49
Tempo Mile 3: 7:04
Tempo Mile 4: 7:06

Temps were in the low 80's and it was overcast and windy (90% humidity). This is a pretty good performance for me considering I haven't done much speed work at all recently. iPhone said the dew point was 70!

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:22:00 +0000

1:15 run.

Learned not to eat the shitty peanut butter crackers from Sam's club. My stomach was killing me on this run. Something in them is NOT good.

45 minute swim.

Swam with Staci down to the sticks and back - very, very slow. My neck/shoulder was killing me, so I really took it easy. Actually felt good to stretch it.

noreply@blogger.com (bmccune) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 12:02:00 +0000

Bike 6 hours- I really want you to focus on your pace and nutrition thenext few weeks on this ride, practicing what you think you will do inkona.
Simple structure
min. 0-30 = low end extensive effort, light gearing warm up
min. 30-60= high end ext/low end int
min. 60-300= goal race pace/high end int/low ss, aero position throughout,stay low and keep the effort dialed in and go!
min. 300-360= ext effort, normal gearing and cadence
Run 20 minutes off the bike

Ended up riding with Lewen and Diane for the last hour. Looking back at the instruction that Diane gave me, I rode entirely too easy. I dont know how she would expect me to push that wattage for 5 hours and be able to walk afterwards.

I pushed 210ish for most of the first 5 hours. Overall average was 189 which included a stop at Creeds and Final Kick (and traffic lights, etc.). I covered 112.5 miles in about 5:40. I figure, I should be able to do the same on race day when I'm nice and rested up.

Nutrition is a challenge for me on the bike - especially without any aide stations along the way. I took 4 water bottles at 400 calories each, 2 poptarts, 1 sweet/salty for a total of about 2000 calories. I've been putting Endurolytes (2) in my bottles lately which really seems to help!

The run was slow, but manageable (9:45ish). Again, I'm hoping that a nice long taper should help me feel better as long as I race smart.