Cancer, LiveStrong and Ironman 2011

Bringing home the baby!!

2011-07-18T10:48:00.006-04:00

Sorry in advance to any and all of the woman who read this blog with my inference!! For the record, as it relates to evolution; the "big guy in the sky" got it right when he selected woman to bring new life into the world. If it were up to us men, I’m not so sure the human species would have survived/advanced?!!

Ok, where is this guy going with this you may ask? Well, here it goes.

When it comes to competing in an Ironman, and actually finishing one in fewer than 11 hours, it’s the male equivalence of delivering a baby. Sorry ladies but please hear me out and see below. (By the way, this picture is of our son Mark less than an hour into this world).

1) IM (Ironman) even to get into these races now takes over a year of planning.
2) They cost as much if not more than having a baby.
3) After the baby (IM finish is delivered) they make you pay for the next baby even before you can enjoy the one staring you in the face.
4) We lay in bed at night wondering what it’s going to look like.
5) The preparation talks back to us at all hours of the night.
6) We try to come up with a suitable name, but “this effn hurts” or names like that doesn’t go over well enough in the school yard.
7) Everyone around us could care less about it.
8) We carry our finish line photo in our wallet.
9) We have to eat well, avoid booze and our bodies are out of sorts and disfigured.
10) The list of formulas and drinks and supplements surpasses even your best night time feeding
11) We go for check-ups even more than having a difficult pregnancy.
12) Our coach (doctor) is on speed dial and comments on how much we weigh, what color is our pee and how much rest we get.
13) We spend all our free time congregating with other pregnant men and read magazines to buy faster strollers.

Well, it’s just a short list and I’d love to see you add to it.

We are just 6 short days from the big dance called Lake Placid. I so love this course because I feel it suits my biking skills better than most. Training and health are as good as they have ever been. Swim is better, bike watts are about 30 watts higher and I have a solid base for the run with my start and stop of Atacama training. For just this Ironman protocol not including the Boston Marathon, Nubble Light and Atacama preparation I’ve logged 428 hour of training. I’ve completed almost every ride on my trainer where I wanted to see if I could control the workout and keep the intensity as high as possible and time constrained. I’m ready!

The long and crazy odds for Kona are something like this: 100,000 IM athletes, 1500 slots available out of all the races throughout the world. 1.5% chance, or 1 in 66. Less than 1/10 of 1% of the human population will ever even run a marathon. Add IM onto that and you get the picture!

I’ve asked a couple of friends to take over my twitter account since they will be on course. Look to follow Face book or Twitter if you would like updates. Also, here is the Lake Placid real-time tracking.

My bib number is 2091

scribb@twitter.com
http://ironmanlakeplacid.com/
www.ironman.com
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1408468181

Getting it all together and racing for purpose for Alina

2011-07-07T20:14:00.000-04:00

Recently my friend Alina passed away unexpectedly at the age of 34. When this all started Alina was one of, if not the first to reach out to me to offer praise, encouragement and assistance. Alina was an amazing athlete who crushed her first Ironman in and around 10:15. She will be missed, but not forgotten!

It seemed like every race I had Alina would send me a message such as; "get it, rip it, take it deep" or you name it.

I plan to talk more about Alina after talking with her family. You can read her race report and blog to me a long while back. One of the many, many great things about the endurance community is the level of support in and off the course. Alina’s friends have put on ride in her memory.

http://ironmanforcancer.blogspot.com/2009/01/ironman-florida-it-all-came-true-alina.html

I dedicate my next races to Alina’s memory and to her family. Please consider donating to Alina’s charity in her memory here:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/alina-farinas-friends-family-celebrate-life-of-triathlete-1577003.html

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/palmbeachpost/obituary.aspx?n=alina-maria-farinas&pid=152029285&fhid=5127#.TfyqVrDzSto;facebook

Since Alina passed I’ve been able to use her encouragement as added fuel to push harder and more focused than ever. One of my daily affirmations is, “someone, somewhere is in a hospital bed right now begging for the opportunity you have right now; step into your moment” This sadly is so true in memory of Alina.

This weekend I take on the Nubble Lighthouse Challenge as prep for My July 24, 2001 Ironman. This race last year almost got me with getting lost in the ocean and my legs shutting down. Time to face it again as it’s been in my head all year!!!

http://www.nubblelightchallenge.com/

The July Push

2011-05-20T20:16:00.003-04:00

It’s been too long since my last blog. To be candid, there has been so much living going on that I’ve found it difficult to take pause and write any of this stuff down. It’s all good, so here we go!!!

The past few weeks have been all out, head down and focused. (Well, it’s always that way, but to be candid I was getting a little tired tweeting and blogging about my day). Some, I’m sure were/are getting annoyed with the daily posts and updates on the schedule and workouts. (I've lost FB friends :-) )What I’ve come to realize is that after receiving so many nice emails from people who are not exposed to the endurance lifestyle and in part counting on my posts (this is what they tell me) of how I fit it in all that I do are not only flattering, but somehow makes me even more focused and wanting to excel even more for them and for me for that matter!

Jesse, my coach several months back put out a blog about managing your stress budget. Well, this hit home for me more than most items Jesse discusses because it has been a limiter of any advancement I’ll ever make in endurance sports. I’m not only impatient at times with not advancing, but managing all aspects of what Jesse refers to as “the budget” is simply not possible for me at this point in my life. The reality is that I’m not a gifted or talented athlete at any of the three sports. I am good however at mastering the part about the sport with going deep and enjoying the "suffer-fest" that race day brings. Having so much crammed in daily makes that even more of a limiter. Jesse's Blog here Stress Budget

A typical week looks like this: Work 50-60 hours a week; Commute 15 hours, Train 18-20. If my math serves me well, there are only 168 total hours available during the week and that leaves about 10 total hours to me a day, which has to include sleep, kids and family. My wife calls me superman, but in the same breathe wonders when I’m going to crack. So, this is why I’m pretty sure I am stagnant with not getting faster, but that is "ok" because I have so much I want to do right now. It’s also amazing that I have not been sick or crashed!! It has a lot to do with hitting a pure diet most of the time (the core diet). I can’t think of any other reason I’ve been able to pull off the last year or so this way!!!

I’ve said this before and it’s certainly the way my brain is wired. These are all choices and by putting so much on my plate I feel as though I’m living life to the fullest! As soon as there is air, I find myself committing to more with things like filing a patent and inventing something or putting something new as a challenge to improve upon areas that are of interest to me. There are certainly pitfalls to this, but with the love and support of my insanely great wife, I fully feel that there is not and end in site as to what I can achieve.

On April 23^rd, 2011 I full filled a long-standing desire to coach recently via the Spaulding Rehab Marathon Team here in Boston. I want to tell you it’s been beyond an amazing experience and I gave it everything I had! Some of it was frustrating because in the beginning I was so over the top with spewing out all of the knowledge I have accumulated via Jesse. I’m pretty sure I offended a couple of our athletes/Team Mangers after coming down too tough on them with nutrition and rest, etc. I was just too passionate out of the gate but settled down and got into a grove. I realized that my approach needed adjusting and I’m happy it was not too late! We had 27 athletes and the stories and achievements are what I remember most. We had folks that lost parents, and a couple with tough injuries. We had amazing people run the last miles with their kids like I want to with mine some day. In the end, the athletes crushed it and all 27 of them completed the Boston Marathon with huge smiles on their faces and at the same time rose close to $175,000. I have gained some great memories and friendships. I come away from the process a better man, certainly a better athlete after spending so much time covering race fueling, pacing and life planning. Wow game changer for them and me and this is where it all began for me almost seven years ago!!!

I also want to say that I’ve spent a huge amount of time tasking around goals and working more on living in the moment and working to focus on recognizing that some of my goals do not have to be "all or none", or "black and white" per se. For instance, it does not have to be "Hawaii and Kona or I’m not happy", beat my goal to the point of death vs appreciating the process. Right now, I’m very much ok with doing the best I can under all situations. That’s a big step for me and I want to thank my performance coach Joe from IPG for this work IPG.

So here we go with what’s up next. This has been a year of evolving goals and racing as little as possible to let the family exhale and not put so much stress on my supporting cast. Racing is important to get your grove on for Ironman, but I don’t want to burn my crew out even though the next few weeks it’s all out for this athlete.

1) I’m racing Mooseman 70.3 in NH on June 5, 2011

2) Going to Lake Placid for my big build weekend for training from June 23-26

3) Nubble Lighthouse 2.4 mile Ocean swim on July 9, 2011. This race almost killed me last year and I want at it again!!

4) Lake Placid Ironman July 23, 2011 goal sub 10:30.

5) Atacama 7 marathons in 7 days March 2012 to raise funds for the Marlene Scribner RN Fund

That’s it for now. I promise to do a better job updating after getting the dust off the cover!!! Let’s go rip it!!!

Pulling it all together

2011-01-24T19:14:00.001-05:00

If you couldn’t tell, I love putting a lot on my plate and have dove in deeply over the years into personal development when it comes to family, business and sport. Even more so since the endurance bug got a hold of me.

In fairness, I sometimes chuckle and shake my head as to how all this stuff goes down on a daily basis. Once in a while some close to me pull out the pity party because they wonder out loud when I’m going to break with the schedule I keep. I remind them often that none of what I have going on in my life is without my doing. I fully believe that we all have choices in life and can only control how we react vs. being a victim. I'm certainly not a victim!! No one makes me do anything I don’t want to do. I don’t need to run marathons, train for Ironman’s or any other difficult goal oriented outcome. I chose this because it's one of the many ways I move towards my ideal life.

When it comes to how the days are rolling, here are some things I’ve come up with that have helped keep the train rolling! I’ve scaled some of the training goals down a bit and now focused on racing the Boston Marathon, coaching 26 athletes, Racing Ironman Lake Placid and some small prep races here and there. I’m commuting about 600-800 miles a week in the car between locations and work. That means Hotels a lot too!

Well credit is due of course again. My wife Michelle is amazing and she helps me immensely. She get’s all my bags ready, washes and folds every bit of stuff I produce, feeds me and packs my bags and food each day. I then pull on my personal assistant Sue to run all the daily items an executive needs taken care of. She handles every aspect of the calendar, bill pay you name it! I daily pull from my lifestyle coach Joe from IPG with measurable and quantifiable results and goals and last Qt2systems.com and the corediet.com for overlaid nutrition to keep me healthy and on target with endurance racing. With work I focus on working three straight weeks as a Wealth Advisor and on the fourth week I work on the business and myself termed Strategic Week.

So, as boring as this goes, and you asked for it; my typical week. I’ve replaced all my socks with the same color and brand so no more sorting to save time. I search often for ways to save time and be more efficient in any way I can. I have about 12 suits and 25 shirts in offices, the car, etc so I can be global and be ready to see clients and work regardless of where I am. I keep two sets of training gear in bags for swim, bike and run. Dry cleaning is key here! It seems as though I change three times a day!

Day prior at 4PM, I write my Six most important goals before leaving the office for the next day in Evernote.

5: 00PM. Head home or to a swim

6:30PM Eat, lean meat and fruit and veggies

7:00 Check emails and unwind while review next days training

8:00PM Read/Hang with the wife

8:30PM Protein Shake, some cottage cheese, head to sleep

4:30AM Wake and walk through my list of things I’m grateful for before putting my feet to floor.

4:45: Brush teeth and wonder what I can do on this day to better myself while staring in the mirror.

5:00 Hydrate and eat breakfast while watching YouTube or reading something positive. I’ll often post something positive or re-tweet to my athletes.

5:30 Workout begins

7:00 Showered and read my goals for the day and my first email and replenish food and recovery drink

7:30 In the car and plow through calls on my way to work

8:30 Meet with team and right at it

9:00 Piece of fruit

10:30 Snack

11:00 Read emails/respond

12:00 Salad with Grilled Chicken

1:00 Faye yogurt

2:00: Nuts

3:00 Fruit

3:30 Assemble goals for the next day

4:00 Read emails

4:30 Pack case and head to next workout or dinner with kids at 5:00PM

My wife pre-packs all of my meals for the prior day after reading my nutrition requirements depending on the volume. Right now I’m running a 350-calorie deficit to lose 1lb per week for the next 10 weeks in order to weigh in at 142 for the Boston Marathon. I typically have 2-4 hours of workouts during the workweek and 4-6 per day on the weekends. Volume right now is 17 hours and will cap out at about 23 hours before Placid. I usually have 2-3 meeting per day outside of the office with clients from Monday to Thursday and use Fridays to re-group and catch-up with reading and planning.

So there you have it…

Atacama we are not crossing. At least not this year!

2010-12-07T23:39:00.001-05:00

Seven nights in a row, I woke up at 1,2,3,1,12:30,3,4AM, you get the picture. During these nights my days were spent running what it seemed like a half marathon every day and the usual 3 hours hard training in the morning followed by an even harder weekend of 4-hour workout days. The weekend runs were in the 20’s each day. Driving crazy distances, putting as much time into work and family as life allows, and the daily grind, something or someone was going to give and I knew it. Nothing I could do was combating the mounting pressure!

For a few days I was so tired that even when I relaxed I felt that I could not breathe full enough to rest my body. Even when there where nights when I could sleep in and did, I did not feel restored. I wondered when I was going to crack!!!

You see, I know myself and count on myself as unstoppable. It’s my identity and I’m not proud of that, but we all have our crosses I am told. I did not doubt that I would be able to hang in this state until the start of Atacama. All endurance training and races are all about the sacrifice and hard work before you tow the line. Actually race day often is anticlimactic. I’m ok with this and love it!

A few weeks back when I started to assemble all of the details it became apparent early on that all three of these goals were not well suited with each other. I guess in a form of mourning, I was also coming to terms with the fact that all of the races were possibly going to be completed in an average fashion and in the end I’m not ok with that. I had also put a ton of time racing Ironman and I felt I had unfinished business to attend (Hawaii).

You see, the growth here for me and the profound aspect is that I realized after killing it for so many years that I certainly am busy, crazy driven, passionate about a lot of stuff and have the Quantity, but it irks me that I’m not well grounded in living in the moment and often lack the quality that is so important to me. Do you ever have that feeling?

I had lunch with my good friend Karen who is an internal medicine doctor and she spent the better part of the lunch grilling me about getting base-line data on me before Atacama. She made me promise that I’d do a cardiac echo and blood work after a couple of athletes who died with underlining hidden issues. After not being able to wiggle out of it, I was off to see my doc to get what he called “the full Monty”. After a couple of days everything came out fine except it showed I was a tad anemic and had to have a repeat.

Over the past few days I agonized about how I was going to pull this off and not knowing what quitting is. I’m simply not wired to quit or give-up. I was dying inside because over the many weeks I train myself during each training session to go to that dark place so as it’s not foreign when it’s needed. I was on my bike checking work, etc and then I knew I had to re-focus and pull the plug.

I wrote Jesse and told him I needed to refocus and to call it off and he wrote me back telling me that he thought it was smart and took a lot of courage to realize this. This made me feel better and after talking it over with my incredibly supportive, amazing wife who was concerned about me, the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders.

I took three days off of training and had my plan re-worked to focus on the next 29 weeks with now just Boston and Lake Placid on tap. I added qt2 full nutrition support to better learn how to restore and to get stronger during the next push. I also have the huge honor of coaching 15 mostly first time athletes to run their first marathons via Spaulding Rehab. It’s certainly a passion of mine and a great chance to give back to those in need. I’m sure this is why one obstacle turns into an opportunity; I have a chance to touch someone the way I was and paying it forward can never get old.

The next 29 weeks start now and Atacama or something like this will be waiting for me!!!!

Preparation, Atacama and Compex Elite Recovery

2010-11-08T20:24:00.002-05:00

Are you being fully tested? When you are tested and your back is to the wall, who will you become? Who will you serve? Do you see yourself as a visionary, an extraordinary father, husband, leader or something else? Do you think life will happen by an act of God, or are you the one who is persistent, a person of never dying action and Iron will that can accomplish monumental things? Who are those people anyway? How did they or do they separate themselves and accomplish the unattainable? Who are you and what do YOU stand for? Define yourself! I dare you!

Well, these are the sorts of questions I ask myself on a daily basis and as I come close to the Atacama, the goals I have formalized are not too average to say the least. In fact, it appears before I have even tried any of them some say that all or none of them are achievable.

In fairness, those who help me pull this off have my best interest at heart and worry that I will be disappointed that I might not accomplish the goals. They are doing everything in their power to help me get there, but really good coaching is about having very honest communication on what’s real and what’s not. It now looks like I stand alone and think my goals are achievable. However, the way I am wired does not offer any other alternative. There are so many instances in my life when my back has been against the wall, when I was told I would fail even before I laced my shoes for the dance, showed up for my first day of work that are too many to put unto paper. Even at this moment I am being tested and I like how I react and overcome. Does that make me a realist or off the charts insane? I don’t know. I’m not sitting back running for office or care what other’s think. What I do know is that I am a person of action and that my reach is further than my grasp (#9). I can’t live in the “safe zone”. I would not bet against me though based on my resume.

Here are my daily affirmations re-worked:

Mark’s Daily Affirmations

1. Mark, you made bold moves to assure Mark and Bella have a fighting chance of success and happiness! You have the tools, resolve and emotional IQ to have the kind of family life they deserve, the one you never had and its up to you to fight for them. Since the day you knew they were coming, you made a contract with their souls that you will be there for all your days that cannot ever be broken. You will never not fight for them.

2. Pattern interrupt the familiar and embraces the unknown. Don't live in a comfort zone. Adversity is lurking and will sneak up on you unless you proactively live your life to get what you want.

3. Visualize your Finish at Atacama, the Boston Marathon, Lake Placid; you are now a World Champion. Your efforts carry over to your entire Endeavour’s. No one will get this.

4. The difficulty of a problem is in direct proportion to the reward. Don't settle Mark, you are not average.

5. Someone, somewhere is in a hospital bed right now begging for the opportunity you have right now, step into your moment now!

6. You have not lived until you do something nice for someone

Who can never repay you; Random act’s of kindness.

7. Learn like you'll live forever; live like you'll die tomorrow. Marlene died with regrets, you won't!!

8. Pattern yourself after incredible people who have done what you set out to do, then set out to do it for yourself but with your meaning and better.

9. Your reach must be further than your grasp. No easy goals here!

10. The past is bedrock, unchangeable, but the future's clay to

be molded day by day. Power of now!!! Be curious of that mental dialogue, but it's the past and you will garner the power to be all that you desire unless you live with passion.

11. SMILE NO MATTER WHAT until it hurts. Most important thing you can do every day!

12. I will win. Why? I'll tell you why. Because I have faith,

courage, enthusiasm and strength, and I'm committed to

doing my best every day. No excuses!

13. Don’t deny the reality; it is what it is, just deny the finality of the situation that is difficult that is staring you in the face.

14. A successful man gets what he wants, a wise man wants

what he gets.

15. My tool is wisdom, my strength is sheer tenacity. Mental toughness. Who can complete an Ironman with broken ribs, St George in the Big Ring? Almost die in the ocean?

16. Don’t take yourself or your life too serious; we are only on this planet for a blink. (laugh more, you are a funny person)

17. Don’t major in minor things.

18. Love that feeling of being free, driving your Ducati with the wind against your face.

19. You cannot be idle in this pursuit. Skipping even one-day means you are living a lie, which I cannot do.

20. Insane preparation is what it takes for this newer level.

21. Top American Atacama

22. Boston Marathon, sub 3

24. Lake Placid, 10:10

25. Ironman World Championships

Recently I reached out to Dean Karnzas the famous Ultra guy to get guidance on completing the Atacama. His response, “live”. While this was not the kind of information I found helpful, it was pretty much spot on as to how tough this race will be.

The issues here are multiple and like anything it all depends on luck and execution and hard work. The hard work is happening as we speak. I’ve been building my aerobic engine for months now. It will be a miracle to pull even one of these off without getting hurt.

Here are the coaching concerns:

1) That I have not taken into account how messed up I will be after doing Atacama

2) Turing around to do Boston so fast with speed is not realistic

3) I’ll not have enough time to put into the biking volume for Placid to race fast.

4) Anyone of these would require their own season and don’t work together.

So in sum and substance, it all makes sense but I refuse to say I can’t come close too if not all. I’d rather die trying than to not try at all. That’s the whole point to very, very hard goals.

Compex Elite

About three weeks ago I got this unit called the Compex Elite after seeing some videos and reading that Macca was using it as part of his recovery process. Often the training runs I have are in excess of 13 miles a whack with biking etc put in the middle.

The recovery routine I have deployed religiously is as follows. Shower, Ice Compression with Play Harder then Complex Elite stim and recovert drinks and good food. The Compex has helped so much that it has made all the soreness goes away and I come back harder like never before. Also, I have had this nagging ab strain for the past five months and this has been the only thing to get the symptoms’ to go away. I plug it in for long car rides and let it do its thing. I highly encourage you to try it. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of massage and recovery. I’m very exited to have it as part of the arsenal to achieve these lofty goals. www.shopcompex.com

So, it’s full-on, head down execute. I’m sure putting lofty goals out in the universe is a chance for some to “nay-say” I say, never let others determine your legacy or outcome. Carpe Diem and bring it!!

Recovery and Chile

2010-10-13T21:27:00.001-04:00

Preparation continues for Chile/Atacama Crossing (same place they just plucked the miners from 33 of 33!) and the miles are definitely accumulating at a good clip now!

The coaches and I have been assembling data on Chile and reaching out to others who have completed this event prior to get a good feel for how to attack this feat. The training is very different compared to the typical ironman build I’ve done multiple times. I’m still doing a little swimming and biking but mainly I am back in the gym working on building a more solid core and trying to stave off injury for the increasing load that is happening each week. Check out the race data here: http://www.4deserts.com/atacamacrossing/

The focus now is to go out there extremely slow and methodical for each run. On the days where recovery runs are called for are even slower. They are really, really slow and I’ve mixed them up a bit by going off trail and running in the woods on packed mud and pine needles without a Garmin or heart rate strap (naked).

In the beginning of this build I was completing some of my Z1 runs at the top end of my zones. This is always an issue for me and I got pulled back and reminded by the coaches that there was no way I’d be able to show up on March 6^th at Chile, attempting to run a sub 3 in Boston and transition into full blow Ironman mode for lake Placid by cranking out almost peak runs. Not getting injured is going to be a miracle in of its self. I’ve reeled it back about 10bpm’s per run and now I get really nice emails from the coach when I barley crack the Z1 charts. I know that going slower is the only way to go faster. However, it’s against my nature and fight with it. I do feel that I am developing a pretty solid aerobic engine over the fast few weeks.

Recovery and 110% (play harder!)

One of the hard parts of putting in all this training is also putting together all of the remedies, concoctions and nutrition to recover the correct way. It seems like every run is over 10 miles these days with some of the more intense ones being completed as split runs with combined volume of 20 plus miles.

Over the years, I tried my best to use ice baths as a recovery tool. I’ve read all the data and it makes complete sense getting in a cold water based environment to reduce swelling. I’ve felt so much better and come back stronger after using them. However, each and every time I felt like I was going to have cardiac arrest after getting into the tub filled with ice water. A few weeks back I followed my massage therapist suggestions (she’s a world class marathoner) by using a diaper and sitting in the tub and slowly letting the water creep into the tub and then apply ice last. By the time you are about to freeze to death, you let the water drain. Start to finish this was to take 15 minutes. It was a nuisance lugging the ice upstairs and not to practical.

So I was on a tear to find out a better way after getting frustrated!

I was on Face Book one night and read a posting by Kellie Smirnoff that discussed this company called 110% that actually came up with a great idea!! This product has fit into my routine nicely. They have really comfortable compression knickers and calf sleeves that have pockets where you can put ice packets in and get the full benefit of an ice bath and the areas that are needed (no more diapers). Because I have a long commute, right after my run and recovery drink I put these babies on over my shorts and drive to my meetings. Tonight after my 10 miler, I wore them at dinner immediately after the run vs. ignoring recovery all together. Total multi tasking at its best!! I was using Zoot compression for a couple of years but I was so hot wearing them that I started avoiding them along with the ice baths. I like this company so much I’m looking forward to buying more stuff!! The compression knickers and calf ice sleeves have made a huge impact on my back-to-back runs that are pretty standard at least until April of 2011. Check them out http://www.110playharder.com

Next up: Please RSVP if you have not already to our Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation event on Nov 4^th. We have some really nice auction and raffle items. It’s going to be a fun night. To RSVP click here: http://new.evite.com/#view_invite:eid=00A5AAQZXGK5ZYW2CEO7WQYVESS5BA

My P-diddy

2010-10-01T05:57:00.000-04:00

Have you ever noticed that your internal dialogue largely determines the results you experience? The questions you ask yourself are at the center of how you deal with a situation. So for example, you could say to yourself, “how come I’m over weight or how come I’m broke? Why don’t people like me? Why am I sad? Why do I always end up the way I do”? I’ve done it and I know you do too!

As a rule, I really try and work on my internal dialogue and the “mental” talk if you will every day by replacing negative or closed-ended questions with “better questions”. For example, if you replace the closed ended questions with asking questions such as, “How do fit people live and what can I learn about changing my life in order to attain all that I want? How do wealthy, abundant people live? How can I become likable? What are the steps I need to take in order to find the happiness I deserve? Last one that I love, “What resources will I need in order to pull this off”? Really good replacement words, what, how, where and when!!!

Over the years, when dealing with people I have found that the world opens up a great deal by asking questions in a positive way. For example, like this: “I’m curious to know how you have been able to have a great life, stay fit”, etc? You would be amazed as to how many people will react in a positive way once a question is presented this way. In general most of us want to help others, we’re just over conditioned to say no and have been taken for granted and or advantage too often. Try it and let me know how it goes!

The last piece of advice I often forget but it’s a game changer… Drum roll… Smile until it hurts even when you feel like you can’t! It’s so much fun smiling at people. It changes something in your soul when you do this! So often people will walk past me after receiving a smile and feel guilty that they act awkward. Try this too!!

The sad part is that our environment(s) and any negativity out there plays a large part in influencing our ability to have meaningful dialogue with our inner selves. The negative belief system or questions have a way of creeping into our heads at times when we least expect or need it. I know for me, I grew up in a pretty negative house and I have bad habits that I fight often, sometimes daily. The good news is that we can “un-learn” these destructive behaviors with a practice and repetition.

So what’s with the P-diddy?

I have been working through ways to accomplish more each day. I’ve been spending time working with my team on the “how’s” to get to the next levels of different areas of my life. In order they are, family, my clients and team, philanthropy and endurance.

I feel fit, eat and sleep like a super-hero, but often I feel as though I come up short in more than a few areas of my life. At times I feel as though I’m not mastering much and the quality is not up to my standards.

I have a practice management coach, nutritionist, performance coach for endurance and a talented and gifted assistant that manages the details of my life.

Despite all of the above,there is no question that I was lacking the bandwidth I needed in order to take on demanding, emotional clients, kids and separation, Chile 6 Straight Marathons, Boston Marathon, Coaching 20 athletes and Lake Placid.

600-800 miles a week in the car, a firm that is growing, a family that is in need of me, 100 or so emails a day, conference calls, 16-25 hours working out and my internal fire to push my limits in all areas of my life.

So after a few weeks of working on this and bringing back some people that had a huge hand in my success early in my career (International Performance Group) here is what I’ve come up with in order to take myself to the next level and find the inner peace that I am in need of, deserve and want.

Every morning I spend 20-30 minutes listening/watching/reading something positive before I workout, work. It's called a success ritual. The purpose of this is to frame the day and avoid negative news, etc. I’ll spend time visualizing my perfect day and gratitude is front and center. I’m more visual, so I go to YouTube and find stuff to watch. A good day is being moved to tears by something inspiring!!

My goal list for the day is prepared by 4PM the prior day. I typically have a list of the 6 most important things I want to do for the day. It’s my game plan for the day and it allows me to stay focused and nail the things I need to nail to advance the different areas of my life. It’s so cool at the end of the week to see this stuff take shape and materialize!

Work, workouts are completed. The range of time is from 4AM to 4PM. There are exceptions to this schedule as the need arises. Flexible is important, because life is not that neatly packaged.

I will keep this schedule for three straight weeks and on the fourth week I will focus heavily of PD (Personal Development that’s the P-Diddy of the equation). This one-week of the month is coined as “Strategic Flex” where I’ll use this time to learn how to be a better father, husband, leader and anything else that is needed to be whole and happy. I’ll go to classes, seminars, etc. It is designed to create an environment where I can work on myself in a way that cannot be accomplished during the days/weeks where meetings, schedules are required.

A limited number of clients can access me, but they have to go through my assistant first and we will continue to automate other areas of my life.

This will allow about 14-16 weeks off a year. We spend the month of December planning our 2011 and three, five and ten-year game plan.

Hope this is of value!! Next up.. November 4^th and the The PLGA Foundation (A Children's Brain Tumor Cure) at West End Johnnies. (a dramatic look at a young girl's struggle) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unVGIc_30B4

Pumpkinman Challenge and the juggle of life

2010-09-14T11:56:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday I completed the Pumpkinman 70.3 Half Ironman Challenge in South Berwick, Maine. I want to say it was my eighth Half Ironman in the past 20 months?

I was exited to do this race, as it was the first half ironman where I had raced the course prior. Last year I raced Pumpkinman after completing Lake Placid and was shelled, still nursing broken ribs and a bruised spleen and completed little or no speed work or intense training leading up to the race. Last year my completion time was 4:45.

Well this year, my mouth was writing checks it in the end had no business cashing. It was all on credit!!! I had been fooling around with my teammates on our on-line forum and well, as it stands with all of us being ultra competitive and pranksters, it got serious and we started the throw down of who was going to do what to each other, etc. I’ve had a leg up on the ultra course as of late. As bold as I can be, I think I had a pretty good bulls-eye on my back as a result of the banter. It was all in good fun! Let just say, our team of www.qt2systems.com athletes have talent all over the place!

Actually, the added incentive was needed, because at times the season seems long and mundane especially after doing a spring Ironman (St. George). I like to push and this certainly motivated me even a little more. I took the banter and brought it into my workouts as I do with pretty much anything that is going on in my world. For instance, if I’m having an issue at work, with the kids, etc I’ll try and find a way to use it as motivation even if only for an hour. I’ll visualize at times trying to reel in a Qt2 mate or another competitor. I'll even well-up in tears of happiness dreaming of walking my daughter down the isle getting married or something futuristic that just moves me to want to dig deeper. Come to think of it, I pretty much do that all day!!

As I wrote in my last post, I completed the Pemi Loop about three weeks ago. Man, was that more of a recovery than I could ever imagined!!!! I was warned it would be like that, but I’m just so stubborn I always think it’s going to be different for me with this sort of thing. The recovery should take about 6-8 weeks, and racing 1-3 weeks after was going to be issues come to find out. Almost all my toenails popped off and I could barley walk for three days! I’ve never been that messed up after a race after many!!!

My workouts prior to this race where coming along nicely. I train in Maine and run some pretty hilly routes. My track work was fast and I was able to shed the weight pretty fast in order to attain race weight. I was pretty exited to see what could happen even though in the back of my mind I was not recovered I felt my durability had increased a good amount. This process of learning what your body can or cannot do is another aspect I love about endurance training. It was certainly going to be a “what if” playing out live.

The past few weeks at work have been stressful and that has so much to do with how you recover as well. In addition, I’ve been driving a ton with work and family and my sleep was not where I would like it to be. For a few weeks I’ve been trying to spend more time with my kids, driving about 600-800 miles a week, putting in 40-50 at work and 10-16 in training. This is never an ideal mix, but the only way I can pull off all that I want in order to have the kind of life I dream of. Something or things give like this and it’s a work in progress.

With all the usual nutrition and prep work complete and not a single brick or workouts missed I felt ready despite the above.

I received the pacing from my coach and it all made sense. The goal was to put out 215 Watts, Swim 30-32 and run a 6:50 pace and hold onto that for as long as possible. The possible completion time would be 4:30-4:38 or about seven minute improvement form last year. Here we go!!

Race morning, on time and ready. Up at 3AM and get delayed a little and I’m now finding myself a little late. Don’t like this, but the course and crew at Pumpkin get me in and ready fast. I head down to the water and I’m excited to race as an Elite even though I’m the oldest and have no business being there. This year I’m excited to swim because my volume and mechanics were worked on a ton over the summer.

A couple of people who I’ve crossed paths with came up to me to say hello and told me that they’ve been following this blog and posts and thanked me for motivating them each day. They told me that they have no excuses because they seem to have a simple life as compared to mine. Wow, what a way to start a day and race. I thanked them and we wished each other success for what lay ahead!

Boom, off and actually find feet and stay with them. No contact and I felt like I was sailing pretty well. I did not want to look up and lose the feet and I cruise for a bit. I round buoy one and shoot for the next. I have two swimmers to my right swim over me and force me to my left at the next buoy. It was a turn, or was it? I look up and we were turning one buoy too soon. Darn, lost feet and I get back on course. Here come the other swimmers from the next wave behind!! Oh!! 33XX but ok with this.

Bike transition and we are off. The weather and day are ideal. I get after it and immediately I’m not feeling it. Having a hard time meeting the watts. There is something a miss. I struggle for a bit and more or less determine that after the first 25 I’ll free up and I stay consistent. Mile 26 and I’m not getting any stronger.

Finish up a little dejected however, I see all my kids, mother N- Law and wife heading out into the run. This actually was the first time my kids saw me race and I was so excited. I wanted to stop right there and hug them all and forget about the race, but I was pretty dialed in and wanted to catch my teammates in the worst way!

I head into 6:50 without issue and I felt I was going actually nail this run and run a 1:30 or better half. Legs are turning over and I’m holding back a ton. I keep the pace for the first 3 miles and then I start to fade faster than the slide we plan. Mile 6-7, my legs are cement and I can’t get my heart rate up based on perceived exertion. It was like mile 20 in a full ironman. I’m not breathing hard just no pop at all. I nailed my nutrition leading up and all day up until that point and even added an extra gel shot because my stomach felt fine. I peed on the bike on plan.

Mile 8-13 where I dig deep and pretty ugly. I slid all the way to a 7:45 pace. I finished at 4:51 and off about 20 minutes of where I projected. This day was all about completing and as soon as I knew I was cooked, I went about smiling and high fiving my mates on the course and was happy for their days.

For about 2 minutes I was bummed, but I had my family with me and it changed my spirits immediately. We went and left the venue and had pizza and the kids were so excited to start swimming and running after watching all the amazing athletes. I was able to snag medals for each of them and they were thrilled. It was one of the reasons I started this a while ago and I had forgotten about wanting to expose them to other people and families that lead active lifestyles’. It was in the end the best part of this race for me! They are still talking about it!

During my long drive home with the kids I sat quite in the car thinking about my life. I spoke to Jesse and sorted out some stuff that didn’t make sense with him or me at the time. Jesse re-enforced that the Pemi Loop was more important to my future and races than this race and that Pumkinman was not an “A” race for me. I posted to Face book my initial sense of disappointed and the fantastic thing about FB is that you def get a different perspective when you can’t get out of your own absorbed way once in a while. My pal Shanna summed it up for me, take it in, learn from it and make the necessary changes if need be. So true and this is what I came up with.

1) I need to continue to simplify my life and say no more.

2) The Pemi Loop was more critical to my future than this past race and my durability is what is being focused on right now.

3) I’m very much on track for the other larger goals.

4) I can’t shed weight so fast because it borders on being unhealthy

5) You can’t race fast after shelling yourself 3 weeks prior

6) Driving 800 miles a week is not going to make any of this get better.

7) The pacing was based on a best-case scenario with the possibility I was recovered enough to achieve the result. It was going to show around mile 7 if I was not recovered. This was a good test.

8) Don’t do every ride on a Computrainer. I have not ridden outside since May!!

So in closing, I’m really exited to push onto some incredible goals next and feel great about my effort, etc. The next five months are going to be epic. I just know in my soul that what I’m learning out there is invaluable and gong to fuel some great stories. Up Next, Raising Funds for Chile!!! Picture above is part of the course (that's not me, but it will be). I'm learning now about altitude sickness.

Pemi Loop

2010-08-25T12:38:00.001-04:00

On August 23, 2010 I completed the Pemi Loop with my coach Jesse and Pat Wheeler. It is a 30.2 mile loop with 10K of climb and typically takes 20.2 hours to complete situated in the New Hampshire White Mountains.

I had been begging Jesse (my coach from http://www.qt2systems.com/ ) to do this training session for a year now after reading some of the completion stories in prior years. Jesse after a few go rounds agreed to let me tag along (mainly because of my Chile Ultra preparation). I later was reminded why Jesse does not agree to do this with just anyone for valid reasons. Jesse after training with him for a couple of years takes every session very serious. He’s not into just hanging out to check the scenery, its crush until you drop every step of the way regardless of what’s going on. I think the best analogy is like asking Lance Armstrong to go out on a bike ride with training wheels. It’s not going to happen, and if you have ever gone out for a ride, run swim or a conversation with Jesse it’s going to be with purpose. All of this is good and why most of us have made such great strides.

After getting the short notice this workout was going to happen I got in touch with Pat Wheeler. For those who don’t know Pat, he’s a really nice guy and one incredible athlete like Jesse. Pat is also one of Qt2’s coaches and has completed this training session multiple times. Pat reached out to tell me that the Pemi loop was no joke and that completing it will be by far the most difficult thing I have ever done. Pat told me that the Pemi at the speed we would be traveling at would make Ironman look like a joke. Pat then went on to tell me that I would be messed up in a way that I have never been for ten days min. I explained to Pat that I signed up for an Olympic Tri for the following Sunday and he chuckled and wished me “good luck with that”. I got off the phone and wondered how much did I actually screw myself?

After a couple of days I spoke to Pat again and he reiterated that as soon as we get out of the car we literally start sprinting and never let up. Gulp!

The day before I followed my full Ironman Carbo-loading protocol which consisted of a big dinner on Saturday night followed by a huge breakfast, food all day into a lighter meal on Sunday night. I was to have applesauce in the morning of the training.

The packing list for the day

43 Ounce Back Pack

100 Ounce Camel Pack Filled with Power Bar Endurance

32 Ounce Bottle

12 Gels, PowerBar

3 Nature Valley Bar

2 Bagels

Granola Mix

Breathable Rain Jacket

Breathable Rain Pants

Non cotton Shorts

Non Cotton Short Sleeve

Non Cotton Long Sleeve

Plastic Bag in case the shit hit the fan

Body Glide

Blister pack

2 Pairs of Wool Socks

Hiking Boots or trail shoes.

Gloves

Winter Hat

I got to the cottage after driving 162 miles around 8:30 PM. As soon as I got in, Jesse summoned my supplies and instructed me to get everything ready. The no joke stuff happens fast!

We read the reports and knew that the weather was going to be bad. The weather on the tops of the summits can change very fast and I knew that from other smaller trips.

Alarms set for 4AM. Hit the feathers around 10PM and never really sleep. Boom, I hear Jesse coming down the stairs and right at it. I get my stuff ready as fast as possible and forget that I need to get calories on board. I was messing with my Camel bag. I get myself together and was instructed to eat the applesauce in the car.

We had a drive of about 20 minutes to base camp. I’m eating about 3.5 cups of applesauce and drinking until we get to the base. See a bathroom and try as fast as possible to let nature do its thing after eating for one straight day. Not a ton of success. I wondered who brought the TP???! I asked, Jesse said leaves of course.

Here we go!

It’s completely dark out and we have head lamps on. We put our packs on and cross a small bridge and Jesse and Pat start running! I don’t know how I forgot this, but here we go. Immediately my heart rate starts to go crazy and I’m hot and can’t believe how hard it is to run with a pack. I think, "holy shit, why did I wear these trail shoes, they don’t bend and I can’t push off, and whoa, they are not comfortable"! After a few clicks and about a mile, I have to take the worst crap and I yell ahead that I had to stop. We had agreed that bathroom stops would be in unison, but this simply could not wait. I pull over and explode!! I felt better but wondered if I could really do this. This was only 9 minutes into the run. I told the guys that I was not sure and that maybe I’d go 5 hours and find my way out of the woods. They ignored me and were dead pan.

I got behind Pat and followed him on the run. Jesse was going to set the pace and we had a goal of around 11 hours. I had no idea what that meant. All I knew was the average completion time based on a good pace was 20.2 hours.

As soon as the run part moves into the ascents with boulders, Pat and Jesse scream up the rocks. They take huge strides skipping over rocks. I’m baby stepping with a foot on each rock trying to figure out if this was the best way to go or figure out if there was a way to get a groin transplant at the end of this day. I elect to come up these ascents more or like I run which is like a pose running style and high turnover. I’m glad today I figured that out!!

I get into a rhythm and there is absolutely no way to not let your focus down. Rocks and speed galore. Every chance to jog or run we did. If you even paused for a minute, I’d lose sight of these guys. I was impressed and I dug in and did my best.

I was rolling my ankles and ripping shins all over the place. After about 3 hours of rolling my ankles so often, my right foot went numb. Our feet where up to mud ankle deep and being dry at least feet wise stopped 20 minutes into the run/trip.

I started to feel badly because I felt like I was slowing them down. I offered to finish on my own, but Pat and Jesse were incredibly encouraging and simply asked for me to focus and let them push me. We settled into Pat leading and Jesse behind me lighting a fire on my ass. It was the best way to keep pushing.

I started to feel a little better and lead for about 38 minutes with a flatter (loose term) section into the halfway point known as the hut. It was a house with supplies and a bathroom. The wind gusts there were 40-60MPH.

We changed some clothes and began to eat more solid items and to re-fuel hydration. I took my pack apart and was blown away. Apparently I only drank 7 ounces of my 100 ounce pack. This was one of the reasons’ I was messed up. Pat was quick to point that out. All I could do was focus on my footing and pacing and I did what I never really do, I forgot to execute my nutrition the way I do in Ironman.

We stopped for about 22 minutes. Jesse all day was on our pacing, blurting out elevation and speed during loops and told us we could blow the day unless we stuck to the plan. Honestly, I had no idea what the plan was other than to get my ass out of the woods before night.

Funny, I had this safety device that was for tracking called Spot me. There is an SOS button on it in case of emergency. You hit the button, the freaking coast guard comes propelling down for you. I considered hitting that button because I heard it cost 2K.I thought, “Shit for 2K I could be sitting in my car, hell Yes!!! I later learned it cost 15K so that made my mind up I’d have to get out of the woods on my own!! I’m not sure if Pat and Jesse were feeding me shit, but I did come close!!!

As we got into the more technical and slower climbs it was really intense. You become exhausted and at 8-9 hours, your legs are shaking and your footing is very hard to keep in check. You start heading over summits with 40-60 miles gust and one small step, you are back to the car with a 3600 foot free fall.

I was slowing down even more and Jesse was on me in an encouraging way. They were still fast and waited for me at each summit. Jesse was even checking his blackberry at a few of the summits and as soon as I got to the summit we were off. No rest!! I’d roll an ankle and let out a yelp here and there and Pat would yell back to see if I was still moving!

As it became clear that 11 eleven hours was not possible I asked what out projection was. My answer, “it all depends on you Mark”! I was suffering like I can’t even describe, but I knew I was not going to give up and was determined to run out of the woods.

As we approached the 11.5 hour Mark Jesse behind me gave me the elevation and told me that we only had 2,000 feet left of descend and that we would get into some stretches where we could run fast again. That was encouraging until you realizes that you no longer have muscles, ligaments or a skeleton attached to your body. Your heart Rate plummets, because your legs fail so much the peripheral system can’t move blood fast enough.

I set on again getting to the 5 miles mark and wanting to run out of the park and into the car. As soon as we hit that stretch I started a slow run/walk for about 20 minutes. I kept asking “how far” and my standard response was up to you, it could 40 minutes or 90 minutes depending on you. I got pissed and went into that crazy zone. As soon as we hit the tracks where we started, I ran behind Pat and along Jesse for 3.5 miles to the car. I did it!! 30.3 miles, 12:52, Avg HR 136.

I took my socks off expecting to see gang green and messed up feet, but they were not as bad as I thought. I got into the car and the chills started as we drove back to the cottage. I let my wife know I was out and was looking forward to a shower.

I got into the shower and wanted to let out a small scream as soon as the water hit my mid section. My shorts literally ripped my scrotum in half!! This was something duck tape was not going to fix!!

I gathered my stuff as quickly as I could to get home. I had a three hour drive and my next goal was to not fall asleep. I had given up coffee three weeks ago, and decided to only get a green tea on the way home. After a few minutes I found a McDonalds and ate the food and 30 seconds and had a coke. I felt human again and drove home in complete silence. All I could see where rocks and where to put my feet cycling through the back of my brain. Wow, was I cooked!!

I got home and was so stiff and pretty much thought I’d sleep in the car. My wife came and got me and helped me into the house. She pushed me upstairs and I began to fall asleep. The sheets even hurt my legs. I shivered and convulsed all night. I had to pee but I could not get out of bed. As the morning approached I wiggled different parts of my body to see what would work. I got help out of bed and began the journey of hitting the bathroom. I was prepared for the shower now. I took about a jar of Vaseline and smeared it on my groin as a barrier for the burn. Success!! (Well not hygienically).

After the shower I felt much better than I thought I would and set out to go to the Whirlpool. As long as I moved around I was good. By the end of the day I was moving ok. As the day went on I got better and set about eating pure and drinking as much as possible.

Today, I’m much better and got on the floor and started doing some sit-ups and light core. I have a small ride to do later. I skipped it yesterday to see me kids.

I’m not sure how this Sunday will go with the Fireman Olyi,. I would not be surprised to give it a go based on how fast stuff is going today. We’ll see.

I’ve attached the Garmin file to the training run. I forgot to re-start my watch after my first bathroom break so I left off about 3 miles. It’s was great prep for Chile in March. Completely different, but lot’s learned. I was so excited to get this under my belt and I certainly feel that it adds to the resume of durability and mental toughness. I do feel that this was ten times harder than any Ironman race I’ve ever done. I was happy to get out without any injury and I’m sure I’ll be doing this for many more years. It’s a great way to break up all the training and to see what you are made of. I’d encourage most if they have never done an Ironman do something like this before you race. It will make Ironman seem like a walk in the park.

I want to thank Jesse and Pat Wheeler for a great experience that you only get once! They hung in there for me and I really appreciate them for it!!

Click here to see the Garmin File

http://connect.garmin.com/player/45958391

Quality vs. Quantity

2010-08-18T13:10:00.001-04:00

I’ve been focusing on that same thing “quality” for a bit now since coming off Ironman St. George in May. Non-Ironman volume is a huge shift into everyday life and an adjustment period to say the least! Going from 25 hours a week to about 16 has been really helpful in so many ways!

About three months ago Jesse mentioned to me that simply doing workouts was not enough. The quality was more important than the volume. Oh, make no mistake, the volume is always there and is more than important at Iron levels, but what happens when you just put your time into training vs. trying to get better each session is that you never get faster or make much progress. You simply do not do enough of what matters (stressing your systems in order to break them down so that they respond faster and stronger). I now go into a workout with clear data and a focus of what I’d like to do with a particular workout vs. going by feel or expectation that putting the time mandated will be enough. The results have been great with wattage up and speed galore.

One of the things I like about myself (this is a new behavior I’m trying to master) is that I’m extremely goal centric. Almost too much at times. However, what I try to do on a daily basis is go about the task of being introspective and working on issue I don’t like about myself (I'm especially good at this). To a lesser extent, taking into consideration opinions from other’s (another work in progress). What I have noticed is that I don’t live in the “now” as much as I want/need to. Too often my head is pushing onto the next task or sadly at times, I’m in a distant place while maintaining a conversation. My daughter Bella even constructed a pact with me to leave my cell phone in the car during our time together. It’s made us closer and she is mature beyond her years. I’ve been applying the "in the moment" in any way I can.

Often on a Friday night my wife and I discuss the weekend plans and the things we would like to do. She will throw out a whole list of things we either could do or need to do and try and overlay that with usually 5 hours per day of working out. Invariably I say yes to all of it with the full-on belief that I in fact will fit everything that life has in front of me that day. It could be something like paint the house, mow the lawn, drive 200 miles, run 13, bike for 4 hours, etc. My wife calls me superman because I actually try and do all of it and get frustrated when the day runs out and it can’t fit in. I look at life as little goals and go about trying to problem solve them in my own unique way. To me they are choices. The great part is that Michelle is one of those people who can pack a suitcase fast, has the sort of mind that can organize details and implement a plan. I’m not completely sure how you would describe this skill. She’d make a great project manager and is pretty amazing. After my rendition of how the day will go, Michelle then asks what my realistic plan is for the day and offers choices. Now that’s a partnership!!!

The Training and Pemi

For the past couple of months I’ve been focusing on getting more efficient and stronger in each sport. I’ve consolidated some equipment and picked up my new P4. The next push until March is going to be a lot of fun and varied. I really feel like I’ve found the fun again.

I bought this cool Tanita scale that syncs with my Garmin that gives crazy accurate body fat info. Apparently my older scale was 5lbs more friendly which meant clamping down even more !

This coming Monday I’m going to complete the Pemi Loop with my coach/friend Jesse along with a great young guy, Pat Wheeler. Jesse has been doing this hike for a while and apparently it makes Ironman look like a joke. It’s over 9100 feet of climb and 32 miles. We are starting out around 4AM. The average time of completion is 20 hours. The world record is 8:34. Jesse has us at plan at a sub 11. It’s going to hurt for sure. I then have an Olyi Tri the following Sunday. The Pemi usually takes 10 days to recover so I'll be a bit banged up for this race. It's great prep for the 6 back to back marathons in as many days in March. I love these weeks! As soon as I set the plans in motion after talking with Michelle, my world perked-up knowing this was right around the corner!

Jesse authored this great article on Xtri about hiking and Ironman Training.

http://xtri.com/coaches_display.aspx?riIDReport=6608&CAT=52&xref=xx

If you would like to track us live starting at 4AM on August 23, 2010 click the link below. If this works I’ll be using it during the Ultra in March. The Pemi Map is above.

Just follow this link to see my location updates:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0iI62lXVDdpf2ymlq9UO7ctECsLZnDXfU

If the link doesn't work, try copying and pasting it to your browser's address bar.

Nubble CHALLENGE

2010-07-15T12:59:00.000-04:00

Been a while since I’ve written up a race report. Actually, before signing up for the Nubble Challenge that I completed this past weekend In York, Maine, I didn’t even contemplate writing a race report for an event such as this which is part and parcel to what will follow next.

To elaborate on the above, I still consider myself a tri guy. Yes, there are plenty of epic cross training events and other activities in the universe of endurance like swimming around obscure landmarks and even, marathons, and bike time trials.

I’d like to say in advance that the event was something I’ll want to do in the future and would recommend it to those who are equipped to take on an event like this. The organizers did a good job and being that it was the first year it’s not reasonable to think that a new event is not going to have some wrinkles. Ok, now that all the disclaimers are done, there were a few things I can contribute that were issues that are my opinion only and that I’ve read similar feedback. I’ll leave those until the very end.

Since Ironman St George, my training has been more on maintained mode and transitioning into higher run volume in order to take on Ultra’s. I did do a 1-mile swim time trial up in Vermont two weeks ago and felt ok. The swim volume has been low, but candidly having a race with only a 2.4 mile swim as a stand alone vs. having to do that distance with 110 mile bike and a full marathon to follow seemed doable even though I’m not in Full-blown Ironman mode. I have competed in the Ocean in California, and in St Croix. I was not swimming in hand-to-hand combat with 2500 other athletes (Ironman Race), so how hard could this be? Another mistake you shall see.

I followed my normal Olympic Tri carbo loading routine and Applesauce in the AM. The race was to start at 8:30AM. Got to York Long Beach no problem. Beach was buzzing with people and there was a heavy fog hovering over the shore.

There was Kayak support and I was going solo on this because for one, I had signed up a little late and there were no volunteers left, and last, my confidence got the best of me and I declined.

I met some old friends and milled around at the start. I jumped in the water to see how the temps were and as expected, Maine water was cold. Nothing too severe and two days prior I swam the coast for 30 minutes and it was not bad. Certainly no worse than St George on May3rd..

I did notice that it was very hard to see the lighthouse from the beach and boy did it look far. I was excited but my approach was to just finish the race with good technique and to add to the resume and to try and become a better swimmer. I was racing this race to have fun. My approach and game-plan was to head out into the gut of the lighthouse at around the 1.2 mile mark and if I felt strong, push it hard around the coast and into the Short Sand’s shore. So that was what I planned.

I was in wave 4 and we cue-up and are off. Did a little high-knee action and I’m timing waves to swim under. Well, they are pretty consistent and I’m not doing that great of a job timing them. I ate the first two and I do not like the rolling so fast.

I settle into a pace and was counting air in between rollers. I felt good and think that that this could be fast. I’m swimming at a pretty hard effort and working on sighting and notice that I’m all alone. With the rolling waves, I could not even see the lighthouse or that buoy that was discussed on shore. Fog was more intense now, and I see Kayakers near by, but more than a few are dumping over. I swam by another Kayaker and I popped my head to ask which way to go and this poor guy head a fearful look on his face. He was not in a state where he could help so I continue.

I catch a glimpse here and there of the lighthouse and the coast guard boat. All of a sudden, boom!!!!! I have no idea of how cold it became, but it knocked the wind out of me. It felt like low 40’s and it rolled in and out like a breeze. My feet and anything not in the wetsuit were on fire!! My lungs were up to mouth. Immediately I see I Kayaker raise his flag and blow his whistle, there were people having some major issues I guessed. I was rapidly trying to asses my health and I felt tired, but ok. I was getting a little worried because I’m pretty far out, at least a half mile and I felt a little sick with all the rolling and banging from the waves.

I continue through another ten minutes and can’t see the Nubble anymore and I continue to go through patches of crazy cold. I stopped to look at my watch to figure out how long I’d been swimming and to my surprise, I’d been swimming for 44 minutes and had barley crossed a mile. The waves, poor sighting and currents made everything a slow go for me. Normally this would take me I’d say 29 minutes. As I stopped, my legs started to cramp. I’m def all alone looking around and there is no one in sight. I started to panic and knew I was in trouble and wondered if this was the way I was going to leave this earth.? Honestly, as funny as this sounds now, I said to myself, “Dude you can’t die like this, no one will know you even disappeared. If you go out, it’s at least got to be dramatic. All they will do is float some stupid wreath for you next year!” I really did. My next thought was of course about my kids and wanting to fight and see them again. So as is the case with all these endurance events, you plot and compute how you can overcome what is in front of you? I set on the plan of putting in ten minutes in the direction I thought I was to swim and to try and heat my body up and to try and get out of the water before hyperthermia took me down. My BMI is usually pretty low and at 150lb’s there’s no room for cold. So that’s what I did and found a kayaker to hold onto for 2 minutes to cough up some seawater. As I did that, it looked like his wife was holding onto the other side and she tipped him over and they both started panicking and swearing at each other. This by no means was comforting and I saw the “gut” of the Nubble and pressed through.

As I swam through “The Gut” with currents kicking the shit out of me and crap on the bottom of the ocean and seeing people on shore waving and getting glimpse of the historic lighthouse, I joked to myself, and said, “geese this is it, looks the same from the shore”. I began to laugh because it reminded me of the Chevy Chase movie, Vacation in Europe when he keeps driving around the rotary going insane making his kids see Big Ben. “Onward, Let’s get outta here and onto food”, I say!!

The sun started to emerge and I was heading into the other side of the lighthouse and there were very little waves and the temperate improved greatly. So did my spirits and my confidence got back to where it usually is. I could see swimmers ahead of me and I decided that I was going to try and catch some.

I was able to catch up to a couple and actually bumped into another swimmer on the way back. I felt badly, because all I could think about was how pissed he must have been fighting through that whole swim and he’s all alone in the ocean and another swimmer had no etiquette. Sorry pal, but you were my carrot!!

I rounded the buoy and the shore looked close, but not close enough. 1K yards ahead I say another swimmer and chased them all the way to the finish with every thing I had. Could not catch up with them, but it was the way I like to try and finish an event.

As I exited the water the volunteers helped me out and the feet and hands were literally frozen useless appendages. I crawled to the blanket where my wife, mother and sister-in-law undressed me like I was a newborn. I had made it!!

After getting warm I ran into my friend Sue to compare some quick notes. I made her laugh when I told her I wanted to give up so many times out there, however there was simply none to surrender to.

That night I was praying and thanking God for seeing me through. It was hairy and I know I used up a couple of my 9 lives.

In the end I think 7 people were pulled with issues/hyperthermia but most did pretty well.

The next day I was walking along the coast with my wife and watching the ocean swells. Watching this actually made my stomach sick because it reminded me of the teacup ride I was just on the day before.

So here is my unsolicited opinion of the event/my "do over’s".

Make everyone use a Kayak.

Delay the start if there is Fog.

Increase the number Buoy’s. First one was too far out. I think I swam 3.4 miles.

Put the festivities at the finish.

Again, these are small things and I think these guys did a great job and I’m very appreciated and thankful to all the supporters. This was a non-profit even and I’m sure the tasking and effort to pull it off was monumental!

Next up, Pumkinman 70.3! (In a lake!)

Reformation

2010-07-07T20:32:00.000-04:00

Recently, I read the book Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes. A part of the book I read struck a cord with me. One night while Dean was at bar, a little drunk and faced with some choices that would impact his life and the people around him going forward, Dean opted to sneak out through the kitchen of the bar and proceed to run through the night until exhaustion. Dean it appeared was dealing with stressors in his life and was taking inventory of whom he was and where he wanted to go. He was not fulfilled in ways that stroked his soul. Dean had lots to be thankful for, he was healthy, had a great wife and thriving children, but that was not enough. Who had he become and what was the uneasiness in his soul?

From there, Dean found endurance sports which in short helped him heal from the loss of his sister and to push himself to untold limits by racing at a frantic pace in locals all over the world.

Dean over the years always was asked why? Dean made up answers because he really never knew why; it’s just that it’s something he needed to do. Over the years, Dean was able to combine fundraiser to match this soothing of his soul. The why more or less was back filled because Dean recognized that pushing himself unveiled so much about himself. Dean was able to surround himself with other motivated individuals and daredevils, who like Dean, had the need to test their inner limits in ways many could never understand. They just got it and Dean.

Sorry for the book report, but obviously I felt compelled to write about this book, because for the first time I was able to read about someone whom I felt I could relate regarding the need to test my limits. It was much more than an Ah hah moment? I’ve heard that this is how some religions have been formed?

Do you recall sitting in school taking psychology 101 and hearing the professor discuss different conditions and diseases you swear to yourself that you or some you know has that same condition? Well that was a little like how I felt reading Dean’s book! Not a carbon copy, because every precious life has its unique fingerprint. Certainly there is comfort in numbers at times?!?!?

After reflecting, it’s pretty spot on for I think a lot of us searching to find purpose, passion and something bigger than what sits in front of us!! I’m certain some in life search out ways to find answers, self medicate with drugs, going to bars, etc. I’m even sure some use endurance sports as a way to heal wounds! I know for me, it’s a combination of all that and more!

As of today, I’ve found the time I’m out in the road or training to be a great place to become a better person and I’ve coined it my personal development lab!

I also found it reassuring yet again to read that Dean over the years was able to pull some amazing feats with the love and support of his wife and children. I like reading how his kids have become his biggest supporters through the years and his events have become family affairs. I knew this was possible because I have met so many amazing people who live this way!

As you might know, I’ve been attacked more than a few times by small minded people who chose to live in a vacuum and are afraid of life. I only pray that they meet some of the people I’ve been fortunate enough to cross paths with….

So what’s with that reformation?

The past few weeks I’ve taken it pretty low profile with training while working with Jesse (www.qt2systems.com )on how to pull off my next hooorah!

There will be stages for this, and largely my involvement will be determined by my fundraising success and the schedule of my family. The goals are pretty interesting and don’t afford the chance to sit back and wait for them to happen. Training for events such as these take a gradual approach in order to attain the results desired and to be healthy. You can't hope to run 155 miles on your resume!!

A couple of friends described the goals as Macro when I last posted them and questioned where the micro was in the planning? I love these guys, because they push as hard as anyone.

The races I have planned are Chile 155 mile Ultra, Boston Marathon, Lake Placid Ironman, Kona or the Sahara Dessert. I'm hoping to coach a group of 16 with many of them running their first Marathon, Boston!

Due to family issue, I’ve asked Jesse to try and formulate a plan for me and not have me race any or as few as possible prep races unless it falls on the weekends I don’t have my kids.

I took about 5 weeks off of Qt2 training standard. I was instructed to put in about 5 hours a week in training, but coming off of 25 hours a week it felt as if I was losing my mind with the extra time made available. I just do so well with lots going on and tasking around Ironman, it was time to bring back more of my routine. I'm one of those people who sputters without goals!! I know that about myself!

Jesse was concerned that I would “give-back” too much of my hard earned progress and gave me some weight guidelines to follow. Well, I exceeded that, but not by much. It was fun to see after testing for whatever reason I actually improved my BMI as compared to my last break in November. I still have no clue how that is possible with the amount of pizza and donuts I ate in five weeks! I also improved a little on power. That’s def going to be a new sponsor for me, Dunkin Donut’s, Boston Crème, Get the power Mark got by eating our donuts!!

I do know that my fitness slid a lot. I attended a training weekend recently with my team and most of them are in Ironman shape pre Lake Placid. I had hopes of riding with the top guns, but reality took over and it was ugly!! It actually pissed me off!!

For now I’m pretty happy ramping it up and learning how to be more efficient in my running, swimming and cycling. I’m spending more time looking around these days taking in the sites and enjoying the journey versus the results. I’ve got the comfort and the expanding knowledge that Ironman racing provides; that life can change, but there is no event or situation in front of me that I cannot overcome with the love and support of many and the mental toughness to determine how my life will turn out just like Ironman does. Thanks Dean for reconfirming that. I could not put your book down!No Mercy No Mercy No Mercy Recovery

My breaking point?

2010-05-31T11:19:00.003-04:00

I’ve been sitting back and digesting life if you will especially after St. Gorge, which I can’t believe was a month ago! I have put a solid 15lb’s on since race date (that’s the digestion part). I definitely feel sluggish and out of shape but my wife continues to remind me that I am still only 151 pounds and the only difference now is that my eyes are not sunken in my face. I’m going to miss my daily regime of a medium coffee, Boston Crème donut followed up my a chocolate glazed and for whatever reason, a “low-fat” blueberry muffin. It’s easy to see why eating well has its benefits!

Recently, I have been thinking about what I’d like to try next. I came to realizes that the way I am wired I need to have aggressive goals and trips planned well in advance. Endurance racing and training has become my personal development lab. I’m a much more focused, productive and an all around more gentle person when I have this aspect humming in my life. I get up early and get so much more done each and every day.. So, it’s here to stay and every year I get better at figuring it out and trying to achieve that elusive state commonly called balance..

A few weeks back my teammate Mary wrote a blog piece to the affect that she loved Ironman because it was a forum where she could try and test her limits to see what her breaking point was. Sometimes, she never got to that point and sat back and wondered how far could she go?

Well, after completing, 3 marathons, 7 Half Ironman’s, 2 Ironman’s and a slew of other first time events in 2 short years I wondered the exact same thing. I had two very crappy Ironman races with a host of obstacles to overcome and as I sit here today, I loved every moment of it/them. In addition, I still wonder much like Mary what my breaking point is. I want to know how far I can go before I “cry uncle” and call it a day. I want to know what that looks like. Where can I go to try that?

Coincidentally, recently I was bouncing off the wall late at night with my would be training energy reading about endurance and I downloaded racing the Sahara. I had seen parts of it before and at that moment I remembered how badly I wanted to try something like this even though I don’t like running as much as all the tri related preparation. Hmm, could that be a limit tester for me?

So here are the goals in rough form. Jesse and I still need to talk more to try and hammer out the last of the details. The interesting part will be how to maintain a triathlete body at the same time running a ton without getting injured due to the time in between events. I’m going to also discuss with Jesse how we can reduce the in between preparation races to cut down on the away time from the kids and home, work.

So here goes,

On the calendar pre-paid is Pumkinman 70.3 this September. I’ve already started training for this in base phase post St. George. I ruled out a hernia via a CAT Scan recently. I still have a mild ab strain that looks like its scar tissue on my psoas. I’ll be hitting the gym hard to try and get back some core strength and balance to combat this.

March 6^th, 2011. Atacama Crossing Chile. This race is titled, the driest place on earth with not a single drop of water registered for as long as man has been able to track. It will be 155-mile running race all completed in six days in the mountains and salt flats of Chile while carrying a 20-25lb backpack and sleeping in the desert. The temperatures are all over the map. I have never attempted anything like this and it’s going to be a great experience. The goal here would be to have a top five international finish and to be the first American. It’s part of the racing the planet series of the 4 deserts. http://www.4deserts.com/atacamacrossing

April 2011, Boston Marathon. I received a qualifying spot for this race with my 3:19 finish at the DC Marathon. I raced DC post Ironman Lake Placid. One of my goals has always been to complete a marathon in less than 3:00 hours. My first go-round and first marathon only three years ago was Boston, which I completed in 6:24 mins. This is where the injury can come from with the amount of running coming off an Ultra.

July , 2011 Lake Placid Ironman

I love this course and I feel its set-up well with my biking skills. It is where I completed my first Ironman and broke 2 ribs and bruised my spleen. The goal here would be to get to Kona. It will be interesting balancing out Ironman training and Ultra running. The extra running could eat into power output on the bike. The swimming is great for fitness.

Oct, 2011 Plan A, Kona. Jesse sent me an email a few days ago making sure I don’t let this goal fly by. He told me I’m not done with Ironman yet and that it was what I presented as a goal when we first met and he was not going to let me push that one away. Also, it’s rumored that Lance is racing it too!

Oct, 2011 Plan B, Sahara Desert racing the planet, 155 miles in the dessert and in the racing the planet series like Chile. http://www.4deserts.com/sahararace/

If Kona is not attained, I’ll be signing up for the Sahara desert Ultra marathon.

I’m also excited to announce that I will be doing all of this to raise funds and awareness for pediatric brain tumors via www.endurancetrust.org. Racing for a cause gives so much more meaning to an endeavor like this. I’ll be posting more in the weeks to follow and with a fund raising goal and site.

Also, due to safety and for fun, I’ll be linking myself up with a product called spot me. You will be able to follow me during each training session as well as on course throughout the world with GPS and real-time tracking.

Last, via the philanthropic side, blogging, media coverage I am looking for corporate sponsors who would like to increase their products visibility via the world stage, etc. If interested please contact me. Stay tuned!

IMUT Race Report

2010-05-08T21:50:00.003-04:00

On May 1, 2010 I completed the inaugural Ironman Utah (IMUT) with 12 of my fellow teammates from Qt2systems.com. This race was in honor of Whitney and her family.

I arrived in Utah on Tuesday so that I could get a couple low intensity workouts in and to acclimate, rest and preview the course which was very important being that its never been raced.

On Wednesday morning a few of us headed down to the swim venue to scope it out and get in a quick 45 min swim with a couple of pick-up sets. Since the moment we arrived, it was evident that the typography provided no cover from wind, sun or anything Mother Nature decided to prepare. It’s the desert and although the landscape was beautiful, you have a hard time differentiating landmarks regardless of where your head turns.

The rumor a couple of weeks back were that the lake had been frozen and was 45-50 degrees. That turned out to be exactly a rumor, but we did discover the water was very cold. More than a few jumped in and jumped right back out. It was cold, but after the initial shock and about 5 minutes in and having your lungs acclimate, extremities go numb, it actually was enjoyable. I noticed how difficult it was to pick out sighting points, which I try to do prior to the race start. The buoy’s were not up either and only had a map to draw reference. The water was a green color and was pretty dark. There was no visibility and while swimming it was easy to get disoriented as well as a little bit of vertigo.

After the swim Pat Wheeler and I rode a small bit of the course careful not to climb any hills and to stay in ZR. The wind gusts on the bike were hard and we commented how tough of a race it could be if the wind was like this on race day. At this point, I got really excited because I feel the more difficult the elements are, based on the protocol we follow, along with severe elements as well as tested nutrition, it would really benefit me and my day. We also observed so many people hammering the hills with only three days to go before the gun goes off!

After the ride on Wednesday we drove the remainder of the bike course and previewed the run. The run preview was where our jaws dropped and there were more than a few “oh my’s”. The best way to describe it, take the first part of the Boston Marathon and reverse it then add the areas of the heart break hills in the middle until Boston College and repeated it twice. The first 5 or so miles were ascending climbs followed by equal declines. Again, I was pretty happy about this as most of my training this protocol was completed in the steep hills of Maine on Route 77. There was no question that it would be critical to complete the biking assignment on plan or you would be in a world of hurt during the marathon!

Thursday was registration and logistics day and family was arriving. All went off without a hitch and I was getting anxious to get the show on.

Friday’s plan, stay completely off the feet. Did and awesome job of that. Into Friday night I did not sleep that well, but I guess as good as you could ask with a wake-up time at or around 2:30.

Race morning, up on time, showered to loosen up and did a light roll and re-checked my pacing and morning bag. Applesauce and all of the pre-race hydration goes down without a hitch. I felt calm and ready to roll. We head down to the shuttle and leave the hotel at 4:15AM. 4:45 head to the swim venue and I have to pee so badly!! The bus takes forever to get to the swim venue. My eyeballs are floating I have to go so bad!! I ask my seatmate to turn his head and make use of the only thing I could do, my 24 ounce drinking bottle. I’m happy now!!

The swim venue is buzzing with activity. Bike check is secure and I find a place to lay down to stay off my feet. It’s amazing how many people tool around with 10-17 hour days ahead of them.

Not enough porta potty’s and its pretty cold out. I notice that more once race weight is attained I have just no fat to hang in the cold. Race start was at 7:00AM. It’s 6:30 now and I head into a tent to get into my swimsuit and to get ready. I’m calm and my head is totally ready to endure. I visually replicated my start, my swim technique and what I want to do. I re-inspect the transition and head into line for the swim. The line is huge and does not move. The announcer provided a request for swimmers to enter the water, but it appears no one is moving. I enter the water and it feels much colder than the practice swim. I speculate it’s the thermal of it still being mostly dark.

I roll into the water and adjust, but I could not bear to put my face in. My placing was to be ¾ right of the buoy, three rows back. I’m not that great of a swimmer and there is no benefit for me to ride the cable and try and get the snot kicked out of me. My conditioning would allow me to avoid the mass hand-to-hand combat and work my way over to try and cut corners. I’m about half way to my chosen spot and people moving all over the place and bam, the gun goes off!! Oh, no, I have 200 yards till my position! There is still a quarter of the field on the shore. No warning, no countdown. Darn!!!

Immediately, the craziness starts with people panicking. I’m not sure if it was because I did not get closer to the start? I guy swimming in front of me pulls up after a couple of strokes and tries to hug me. He had the look of death on his face and I put my hand out to keep him away. He flings his cap of and holds it in his hand, his day is over. The surfboard guy rushes over and I swim in between them. There were tons of people who seemed to just sit-up, freak out and call it a day!

The sun was rising and it was hard to see the buoys because they are the same color as the swim caps. I could not find feet with the color of the water and looked up often on the first turn. I felt good, on the first turn but felt my powerbar coming up and was doing mini pukes. There were little waves and good contact through he first turn. I over shot the first turn by about 50 yards and headed straight and 25 yards to the right of the cable. The sun was low and in our faces and I was happy that I picked mirrored goggles.

I could not get a good breath as the wind was blowing in our face and I was eating water. I settled into a groove and headed for the turn. I saw a big rock way out front and assumed I was at the 1.2-mile mark. I could only sight to the left because the waves prohibited turning to the right. I have to at least get a few right breaths in because my shoulder gets tired if I only breathe on one side. The mini-pukes don’t subside, but I’m feeling strong and go about getting into a grove. There is something mental about swimming and leaving a little meat on the bone until you know where you are on the course and can push it. This is the case for me today. I round the big rock and see the finish. Pull it home and feel great. All of the prep was spot on for this distance. I’m able to get out of the water well and think about running by everyone on the boat ramp but…. I put my feet on the ground and they are frozen!!! I was running on what felt like bone!! I reach for my zipper on my suit and my hands don’t work!! I turned around and a volunteer starts the process.

I head into the tent and its’ dark and jammed with people. The gravel on the ground feels like it cuts my feet. There is no place to sit and I shove to the back of the tent. I stumble through the clothing change. I had to make a decision now if I put the extra shirt on because of the cold temperatures. I decide to go with arm warmers only. I think I would have opted for the shirt, but I knew my hands were not going to play along with this practical choice.

The volunteer swings my bike out and I mount looking forward to getting out of the reserve and into the mountains. I fumble to pull up my arm warmers and blitz out on target and on plan. I take some PowerAde down and I’m good to go.

As I exit the reserve and head out into the hills, I see Michelle and my uncle yell out my name. It was a surprise because they did not think they could get that close. This was mile two I’d say.

Mile 3, I’m riding the small ring and my screen computer has two figures I will cue on, cadence and watts. The plan was to ride this course for an average of 166 watts with a max of 215 and a cadence of 82-90.

I approach a flat portion of this hill and shift to the “big ring” and crack open my fuel belt and proceed to eat ½ of a Powerbar. I have my left hand on the hood. Often in the races I do, the barnburners are out to hammer the bike only to die a painful death latter in the day. Again, this was only mile 3. I catch a glimpse of a guy passing me on my left and boom, he pops his chain while out of the saddle and falls and reaches out for me. He fell on me and I frantically try to pop my cleat out and arch my leg out. We are going I think 9 miles an hour. I tuck my arm under me to protect it and fall to the ground and stuck the front of my bike into the hill. The guy is on the back of my bike lying on me and we’re a tangled mess. We both scramble and I go about trying to get onto my bike. I put one cleat in and raise the bike up and my handle bars are bent the wrong way. I try to adjust while over and I’m too weak. I get off the bike and wedge the tire between my legs and tug. I get it close and worry that I don’t want to try to go down the hills a little off center but reason I can correct it latter. I jump back on the bike and notice that the skin on my finger is torn off and bleeding nicely. One foot in, to push off and shift and I then notice the left shifter is dangling in the air with no resistance. A few people drive pass and ask us if we both are all right. The assaulter response “we’re fine” and I’m focused on my bike and say nothing. The guy tells me he’s sorry once again and that when he sees bike support he’ll send them my way. My head is processing every option in a speed that felt very mechanical… blip, blip, blip, options, options. Stay still or wait? Pull out, or press on. I want to say this calculation took 5 seconds. The “plan” was out the window. The only decision I could make was to do my best to work with what was in front of me. I was prepared, and I would not DQ unless they pulled me off the course.

I jump on the bike; it’s big ring only and three rows of gearing, fast gear to middle row only. I can’t get enough power uphill and almost fall over so I have to get a head start and go down hill for a blip. I turn and see a wall of people and I’m not thinking clearly. Imagine getting a penalty now and how safe was this to the other racers? I turn around and do a military march of left, right up the hill. I peak down, 350 watts and a 30 cadence! Oh my!!! This is where I said out loud, “fuck it, the marathon is going to hurt more than usual!! Nail your nutrition, and do what you came here to do, you are prepared and focus on the now”. (It’s kind of freaky how often I talk to myself!)

I set out to create an attack plan. I settle on trying to keep the power watts as low as I can on the hills and to attack the flats with as high of a cadence as reasonable and as fast as I could go on the downhill’s. I smile here, and build my confidence after doing exactly this as I completed a rolling hill of 3-4 miles. I’m thinking that the moment is similar to when I played football. The game never started for me until I got smacked in the jaw or knocked on my ass. That is where I was now on the bike. I was ready and knew what was ahead of me.

Having previewed the course was an extra advantage for me on this day. I knew that most of the hills had and ending and the worst of the hills were at around mile 45. The approach is redundant, grind, grind and once a downhill or flat came, I let lose. In fact, I let any amount of good common sense go on the downhills. There were big bursts of wind. The first couple of times I went down a hill I could easily achieve 50 plus miles per hour. It was insane, but felt it was all I could do to make up time. The course was wide and I did not think about anything other than ripping it up whenever I could.

I started passing people around mile 40 or so which was early for me. I may have been riding too hard, but had no way of knowing what my real numbers were. I completely nailed every aspect of my nutrition and completed 6 pees on the bike. My heart rate was nowhere it needed to be, any my legs were building up acid. They would do that on the hills and I freed them up on the flats and descents.

It was very strange to lap riders at the 60-70 mile mark. The winds coming back where harder to navigate and more than a few times I got into trouble coming downhill with my front tire going out of control with gusts. I saw that I at one point I hit 54MPH and had no regard for my safety. At mile 90, I hit the flats with a tail wind and was cranking along going 35MPH. I passed people like they were standing still. At mile 106, near my hotel I got the worst wobble I have ever had. I’ve been practicing beating the wobble. Just way too much trainer time coming from the North! It was so bad that I thought my handlebars came undone. I was fading in breaks and sitting up with no success. Finally as I came into a neighborhood did I slow down and make the corner. Ugly stuff. My right calf became sore. Never had that before and I surmised it was from the crappy cadence. The marathon was looming and I could not wait to see how it was going to unfold.

I turned my Garmin on and prepared myself mentally to get into the run. My plan for the run was to race the marathon 10-13 beats above my bike heart rateaverage. As you know now, all of my bike data was useless because I was riding outside my wattage and zones for 5:47:00. It was all going to be by feel on this day.

I arrive into town and dismount. I change over and start to leave the tent and realized my Garmin was still on my bike. The volunteer offers to get it, but can’t figure it out. No worries I say, find my bike and twist, on the wrist and away we go!

The first part of the run is about 5-6 miles of ascent. Look at the Garmin for a reference and we’re at 165BPM or about 20 higher than my bike. It meant nothing other than I decide to go as slow as I could while not wanting to look like I was walking (the family was there you know watching)!

I got through the first tough part and set a goal to run up and to roll down the hills with a high turnover as my only goal. I set on trying to run with good form. My legs were completely spent right out of the gate, but that did not mean my day was over. I set on trying to get faster throughout the run.

I did exactly that. After completing the first loop and getting encouragement from teammates and friends and strangers, the first 13 miles were over. I knew exactly what was in front of me. I’m not thinking of anything other than nailing my nutrition and to go about destroying myself from mile 21-26!

At mile 21, I turn it on, and the last 2-3 miles are down hill and I’m cranking out 7:05’s and I don’t know what!!

As I enter the “applause zone”, I’m obsessed about sprinting through the shoot with no pause. I’m grinning, and all about kicking the shit out of the course.

Through the gate, a nice volunteer tells me he has to walk me out to make sure I’m ok. I politely explained that I would not allow assistance today and that the course can’t beat it and me was not going to happen now.

The end result, 23^rd in AG and 107 overall out of 2900 plus racers. The course had the second highest non-completion rate of any Ironman in the past 30 years. Something like 14% did not complete and more than 75 people were pulled out of the water on the swim. The bike had close to 10,000 feet of climb with grades of 8-14%. There is no question in my mind that my coach Jesse and his program at Qt2systems prepared me to achieve my goal. There was no way I could have pulled this off if not for the plan!! Thank you Jesse!

I immediately received a flood of calls offering support and condolences for what some said my “miss” of not getting to Kona as was the stated goal that I put out there in the wide open. I understand how supportive people are and appreciate them greatly! I got chided by more than a few that professed that I have “bad luck” in Ironman because of my crash on this day and my broken ribs at Lake Placid. Some more of the funny ones told me I needed two more Ironman races with the next one me falling on the run or getting hit by a car so that I could have the perfect race on my 3^rd!! Hmmm…

As insane as some of this is, it’s not even a question in my mind that this will go down as one of the proudest moments in my life. Although I would prefer to live in the no drama, draft free zone, this is why I love Ironman, endurance and life for that matter. I feel that this day was meant for me, a test. I can't allow myself to look backwards and "what if" because there is no value in that for me.

Ironman is a long day, and everyone has crap to work through. It’s not the crap that determines your day, it’s your mental toughness, the place you go deep inside that determines your interpretation of what success is. I could never live with myself if I folded when I knew I was not going to the big show. All you have to do is see the people puking on the side of the road, running with one leg or a broken shoulder to know you’ve made the right decision. It’s a lifetime of this stuff that inspires me.

I drew on Whitney and her parent’s! Shanna tells me, my Angel mother riding on my shoulder and so much more.

As of this writing I do not know what’s next. I kicked around trying to get into Placid but actually, that does not even matter to me right now. There is no shortage of goals, but an incredible resume of life changing events and memories! Thank you all for your support! Special thanks to Michelle (MFS) and my dear Uncle Paul who traveled cross-country to support me!

Seven Days Until We Dance!

2010-04-24T09:21:00.000-04:00

I am now within seven days of completing my second Ironman Campaign in Utah on May 1st. The inner quite is very amazing this go-round. I’m not sure if it’s the strength of knowing I’ve applied focus like never before despite the usual highs and lows. The dances now, prepare myself to go to that “dark place”, and from deep within, lay it out with nothing left. Propel my body 140.6 miles while leaving nothing behind. No looking back, ever! This is it for me, right now!

Recently, I asked my coach where I compare now in my preparation for this race vs. my first Ironman campaign last year. To date, during my primary build, I’ve logged 410 hours in 22 weeks vs. Lake Placid at 465 Hours in 26 weeks. My BMI two weeks ago was at 11% and I’ve pulled it down to 9% as it stands now. My current weight is 140 and 4 pounds lower than Lake Placid. I am many weeks ahead of where I was last year. In addition, looking back the past 22 weeks, the level and intensity has been amazing (much harder because my peripheral system had a solid base and could handle more). I have a better understanding on how to destroy myself during a workout with the knowledge that I am able to do this and complete subsequent workouts at a higher level. Also, I really came to understand the value of sleep and rest. Combined, I’ve attained better results and the stress has been more manageable. The results have been there in the testing and preliminary racing.

My many thanks!

Well, there is one for sure! The old adage, “it takes a village to raise the young” always struck a cord with me. By that I mean, one of the best and worst things about a pursuit as selfish as Ironman is; we log so many lonely miles by ourselves, but none of what an Ironman athlete does on race day is possible without the support of many! I get crazy teary at the point that the longest workouts are complete because I think of all the people that propel and support me on a daily basis to help me achieve my goals. The sacrifice friends and family make are unreal! Some I tell daily how much I love them and thank them in person. Some never know how much I appreciate them, which is a shame and I need to do a better job at that and not be so self-absorbed. So here goes! Please excuse me if I’ve missed anyone and ignore the order!

My Kid’s, Bella and Mark. Thank you for rooting me on and putting up with me. Thank you Bella for pulling fries out of my mouth when the diet kicks-in and giving me the hairy eyeball if I try and sneak a piece of candy. I’m hoping that you see my actions as proof that one person can make a difference and chase your star at the same time. That life with passion and empathy is what it’s all about!

Thank you Michelle F, for treating me like I’m a newborn baby while pouring all of my concoction type drinks. The many times I completed a tough workout only to have the perfect recovery breakfast waiting for me. The laundry alone was amazing! You always have my back and your support has been amazing while dealing with crap on the field of play and off. So many days I’ve had to cut off fun-times and go to sleep again like a newborn in order to shred myself the following day! You are solid to the core! I’m so grateful to have you in my life!

My coach Jesse. On our team we kid often about calling him GOD. While not offending some (I’m catholic) this dude is the real-deal. The crap he has in his head about endurance is off the charts. Anyone who truly wants to go as fast as possible with what the good lord gave you in the form of genetics, dedication and talent, he will pull that out of you! Thank you for crafting a plan in and around my hectic life! www.qt2systems.com

Sue C, yet again I could not pull any of this stuff off without you. You now manage every aspect of my life! If you ever go down, I’m screwed! You are family to me and I appreciate you so much! Thanks for putting up with me!! I know for sure you’ve never met anyone like me!!!

Shanna P, broken record on this one. We recently had the chance to meet in Boston. I can’t say enough about how Shanna came into my life! Face book and social media is a funky thing. I’ll never "pooh-pooh" it, because I’m so grateful to have her as a friend. Shanna thanks for always making me “dig deep”. I’m holding you to the Kona trip when I make it!

QT2, the many athletes on our team. So many of them have helped me over the year with support and competition. Thank you Pat Wheeler, Andy, Michelle, Courtney, Keith, Molly and all the rest!

Katrina: My massage guru. Was not able to get in to see you as often as needed, but thank you for keeping me healthy

Fitwerx, great crew with keeping the rig in the best shape. My bike continues to impress and I appreciate the great last minute service when I breeze in and need stuff fast! www.fitwerx.com

Newton Running. Thanks so much for your sponsorship and great gear! Running pain free is where it is at! www.newtonrunning.com

Whitney: Thank you for allowing me to dedicate this race for you! I hope to deliver on my promise even if that means crawl to the finish line!

I am now in taper mode, which means all of the hard stuff until race day is complete. I’m healthy, excited and the happiest I’ve ever been. Thank all of you for your amazing support, love and motivation!

Below is the link for tracking:

Mark Scribner

Bib 1682

May 1, 2010, 7:00AM West Coast Start

Utah

http://ironman.com

Whitney

2010-04-10T19:49:00.005-04:00

About eight years ago, I walked into the room my mother Marlene did her laundry in the house I grew up in Melrose Massachusetts.

As I entered the room, I noticed that she was fixated on a picture frame she placed on the top of the dryer. It was a picture of her mother affectionately known as “Peggy” who had passed away a few years prior from natural causes. As I rounded closer to my Mom, she had two small tears streaming down her cheeks. She reached out to me for a hug and we embraced. As I pushed back, as to connect with her face, I said to her, “You miss her greatly don’t you” not knowing at all what I was talking about, or the depth of that question for that matter.

I was thirty-six and had never lost anyone or anything of any magnitude as of that encounter. It just seemed like a natural question. My Mom went on to explain to me that there had not been a day since her Mom’s passing that she did not want to reach for the phone to simply have one final quick conversation with her. “It’s so permanent”, my mom said. “ I asked another not knowing, “does it EVER get better?” My mom said it never did get any easier but she did take comfort in re-living all the memories, the laugh s and the “good times”.

Sadly, after six plus years, I know fully well as to what my mom was talking about! We lost my Mom to colon cancer and that is when endurance sports began.

Cancer or loss of a loved one is difficult to put into words. It’s a walk that will happen for most of us at some point in our lives and some will face a good portion of their lives without the people they love. We live with the memories and hopefully each of us go on to create wonderful happy lives with the all the joy and enthusiasm our loved ones blessed us with. It still bugs me when I hear friends complain about their parents, because I would do anything to have that one last conversation!

Therefore, it was a “no brainer” and honor to race and compete for Whitney to be the recipient of my next Ironman medal on May 1^st in Utah. I will write Whitney and Stacey’s name on my Newton Distance sneakers (www.newtonrunning.com) as a tribute to Whitney and her incredible life!

Please read below Stacey’s note to me about her friend Whitney. Thanks for the extra incentive and inspiration Whitney!!

From Stacey

“Hi, Mark;

Whitney and I met as freshmen at Mississippi State University in 1987 and pledged the same sorority - Zeta Tau Alpha. She is the best friend I could ever hope for. I am at her home in Atlanta right now as we are celebrating our 41st birthdays and prepping to run the ING Half Marathon on Sunday.

Whitney lost her mother when she was 28 after a 4-year battle with colon cancer.

Whitney lost her father to cancer just before her 38th birthday. Dealing with the loss of both of her parents truly broke her heart.

The reason I am a runner is because of her. She and I and 2 other sorority sisters decided a year ago to run our first half marathon together. Only one of us had ever run in any type of event and we trained for it in 6 weeks. All the while supporting and motivating each other. Since then we have run in 7 half marathons together and have all benefited so much from becoming runners.

Now at 41 Whitney is facing life without either parent or trying to stay motivated to stay healthy and in shape. She has struggled with injuries and a low HDL level that has slowed her metabolism and limited her weight loss. She is frustrated and was ready to give up running and weight training completely. I believe it is my role in her life to keep her focused and give her strength.

So, she is running with me on Sunday and motivating me to go for my 2-hour time goal as I encourage her to compete. When I saw your post regarding your medal I immediately thought what an impact you would have on her. To know that you are running for her...to see how far she has come...to see what it means to stay focused and continue with her fight to stay healthy......All that is represented in your medal.

She does not know about this. I want to surprise her. I would be honored if you would select her for your Utah race.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart”,

Stacey”

Oceanside 70.3

2010-03-31T13:38:00.001-04:00

Oceanside Race Report.

Figured I’d pen to paper some quick thoughts and a race report from Oceanside Ironman 70.3 held this past Saturday. I’ve not had a chance to download power files and discuss them with Jesse my coach. The preliminary assumption is that I hit all my targets and we are happy with the results. I’ll get graded on my bike cadence and power range/surges as well as run data soon. I’m very much on target for my pre-season race goals.

I got back early Monday morning via the “red-eye” and hit the ground hard with catching up. I’m sleep deprived so forgive me in advance of none of this makes sense.

There were 15 out of 52 Qt2systems team headings out to do this race. It’s always great racing far away from home with not only good, competitive peeps, but most of them had raced this course prior and supply a huge amount of knowledge on how to attack the course. Also, the last thing I like to do is think about all the logistics/timing of where to be. Many on our team have detailed notes on all the places and times to stand.. Lesson one; always surround yourself with quality people who are smarter than you!!! Check!!

The weeks leading up to this race were as good as they have ever been. I literally have not missed a single brick and almost all of the workouts were as planned if not better. The focus was there, however I had been dealing with the ab tear/strain for a long time and it was not getting better or worse for that matter. The only issue I had was coming in about 5 lbs over from where we wanted for this race, but I don’t think that will be a concern coming into St George in five short weeks from now.

I’ve raced a good amount away from home so it’s become second nature to tear the bike down and throw it in the travel box. Funny, only a short time ago I’d prepare crazy notes on what to pack and it never went off well. This trip was so easy out of the gate from the good sleep, travel and check-in.. I’d do it again without question!

It is a great feeling toeing the line at a race such as Oceanside where the competition is some of the best you will see in the world. Some say even better than Clearwater 70.3 World Championships. I have such high confidence now coming into a race with the knowledge that I was prepared, have logged the training volume and have been diligent about my preparation. Not long ago before the gun went off I’d pee my pants with nerves. Now, it’s pure excitement and enjoyment!

The Swim

The Start…Our wave was pretty big as is often the case and split into two waves. The transition area was as big as a full scale Ironman with about 2500 racers . A couple of the locals were telling me that a couple of days before seals were washing up in the harbor from where we would start half eaten. They said there were sharks out there! Could not confirm or deny, but along with the cold water, this was going to be a fast swim for me!!! Side-note, not a great thing growing up seeing Jaws when I was little!

My wave is called and we line up to enter the boat ramp. Slither into the ocean off the ramp and the water is cold (59F) but nowhere near what we had feared. We swam about 50 yards to a floating start and boom, we are off. I got into a good grove fast and hung on some feet. They did not seem fast enough so I skipped to look for more feet. I did this a few times until I took a nice solid shot from a flying elbow to the right eye socket. It hurt but more importantly it broke the seal off my right goggle. The sun was blaring to our left. As I changed breathing to my left the goggle filled up with salt water and along with the sun glare, sighting was a bit of a problem. To be candid, as a total bonehead, I never study any of the courses I race prior for some stupid reason. I had no idea where I was to go. All this training and volume and a mess up a big component. Add one more thing to the list!!..

Back to the swim… I hit the turn without issue out of the harbor and into the ocean. The benefit of so many people in the water is that it’s hard to get lost! The temperature def changed to colder beyond the cover of the harbor. The water was pretty cloudy and salty. I was pretty much swimming alone and was sailing through different caps fast now and taking it back home at the half mile mark. Every once in a while I was thinking about getting bitten by a shark, but I was really focused on finishing the swim without any hiccups. For me the race does not start until after the swim and I try to limit any damage or slippage.

I pulled it home and got log jammed on the ramp. I pushed my way through and through a few shoulders through people walking into T-1 (At least I give contact while you can see my face!). This T-1 was so long and far. 33:00 and some change for the swim and on target. My pacing goal was 31-34. I was very happy with my swim since it was my first open water swim since last September.

The Bike

Was pretty cold coming onto the bike but decided to skip arm warmers. The bike course we had a plan to hit the first 15 miles at about 10 watts higher then my settle in pace of 225 Watts (highest ever for me). Pacing goal 2:36-2:39. My nutrition goes down and I start out fast. I felt the best I’ve ever felt coming off a hard swim. I know its is going to be a good day even though I had not been my bike outside the trainer since my last race at Pumpkin man in September.. The first 15 miles were fast and the Marshall’s were out in force. I love that because people actually obey the rules and make it easy to pass.

The same thing appears in all the races our team does. We train and race with power zones to attempt to flatten the course out. That means we look fast on the flats, consistent on the hills and fast on the down hills. Everyone around us on their bikes is hammering the hills going by only to fizzle out at the top of the hill and rest on the downhill. This gets more extreme until you never see most of these riders appear all day. I know this because I exited the water in 89 positions and passed a ton of people and maintained 29^th position on the bike and on the run. It’s being very patient and consistent to set-up a good run.

The winds and course were brutal as prescribed. At about a mile 40 decent, the scariest stuff started to happen. The downhills were so fast and I was riding with a disc and an 808 on the front. I was nearing 48 miles an hour and micro gust in the form of cross winds were hammering me and I lost control of my bike. I was weighing close to 146 for this race and the winds shot my bike all over the place. I could not slow it down because the P4 has crappy rear brakes. Bike riding 101 from your school yard days will tell you that the front brakes are a big “no-no” at 48 miles an hour. This hill was so huge!! As I clamped on my rear brake, the death wobble started (Front wheel and bike wobble out of control). All I could do was let go of the brake and tight the tension on my aero Helmut to ready for some serious road rash as 50MPH now.

Now cars were passing on the left and all I was thinking about was the best way to lay the bike down to avoid the cars. Insane. Even sitting up would not slow me down. I hung on the rear break and baby tapped the front along with sitting up to try and make the bend. Finally I slowed down to about 30 and the course leveled off. Massive relief!!!

As I went into mile 49 I passed my teammate Custie who was in a wave in front of me. My stopwatch re-sets and I had no idea how my total race was shaping up at this point. However, I did note Custie was in the wave or two in front of me and that he is a much better swimmer and runner than me, so it could not be a bad thing. I rode by him fast and pressed because I knew he would come after me hard. We were racing and I was excited but did not get off plan just the same.

About two miles later the most unpleasant thing happened. If this poor guy is reading this, I’m so very sorry again!! I blew a snot rocket to my right that must have been a foot long going 22 miles an hour only to have this guy pass me on my right and wear the whole thing on his hood and shoulder!! I must have said I was sorry 20 times while he went on to tell me how he was going to piss on me. Finally he calmed down and I went by him embarrassed and glad I was faster!! Finish 2:34:10 ahead of goal.

The Run

I rolled into transition and dressed into running and blasted out of T-2. I had been trying to pee on the bike and I finally took care of business in T-2. As I get out of my row, Custie sprints by. I pledge to watch his back and do that for about the first 6 miles were my pacing put me at holding a 7 minute mile for as long as I could hold it. It was easy but then I felt the heat and maybe even the bike strategy. The run course was really flat and along the beach with great views. The course in front on me was well-supported and almost wide open. I felt pretty good. My approach is to run with good mechanics and to try and not breakdown at the core and get sloppy. The nutrition is the key for us and I had nailed that all day. The heat was def a factor for me, but not too bad. At mile 7, the suffering began and I was not feeling as chippy as I wanted! This is when writing the name of someone like Paulette on my shoe comes into play. I want to stop for a brief moment and walk. I look down and think about Paulette and what she has gone through and it toughens me up instantly. I then see Custie go by on the other side and I’m excited to try and chase him. The rest of the run went by fast. I felt like mile 8-10 were slow, but I hunkered down and started to get back close to the 7 minute mile and feeling stronger. I could maintain that pace all day long and was running by hoards and hoards of people.

The last two miles I brought the pace down to 6:45 and pretty much finished with a negative spit which I’ve never done and wanted to do here. I felt so strong! 1:36:XX and change, finish of 4:51:XX

Race ended and I was not shelled at all which bummed me out a little because that said to me I should have gone faster. Again, it’s all new and now I have more information to use on my next outing. This race was for your Paulette for all that you do for your family and friends, Shiny 70.3 Medal and some smelly sneakers with your name on their way to you! Looking forward to meeting you in St. George!!

The next five weeks are for all the marbles. Total lock-down with the diet. No more red-wine, carbs go to 300G per day and 800 per day on my mega block days. Grains only before each workout and no more coffee. My current weight is 146.6. I have about 5lbs to go before May1. I’m so excited that I’m healthy and even hungrier to lay it all out for Ironman St George. It’s been a long, difficult road with many, many obstacles. Tears, joy and agony. I’m so grateful for this opportunity! Mission Utah here we come!! My next Blog, Whitney and IM

Paulette, Oceanside 70 miles of thinking of you!!!

2010-03-22T22:31:00.001-04:00

I’d like to keep my comments to a minimum because I don’t want to take away how amazing the world can be and more importantly the power of love that is obvious between mother and daughter (see below). Also, I feel kind of selfish; after I get the honor of writing the name of someone like Paulette on my shoes and literally feeling lofted the instant my feet hit the pavement just does not seem fair. Paulette, my next race this weekend at Oceanside 70.3 is dedicated not only to your strength and purpose, but also Sheryl who is equally amazing! Your love is contagious!

Sheryl: “My mom has always been my ROCK!! It was always her and I growing up!!! At times in my life she has given me everything she has had to provide for me. She is the most loving, giving, caring person that I know. She is the kind of woman who has love in her heart for everyone and has never said an unkind word about anyone. My mom's diagnosis seriously was unexpected and out left field. One day she is perfect and then stage 4 Ovarian. She has been so positive about her diagnosis. She has never once said anything negative about it. She is always so worried about my happiness and me and would never want me to hear anything that would make me unhappy or feel sad. I honestly don't know another person like her!! She has been such a good example to me. I don't think that in my lifetime I will ever be able to be that great!! My mom is a fighter!!! She has been through Chemo.. She never once complained! I thought I would be able to take care of her but instead she was wiping away my tears. Unfortunately, it didn't work. She is trying a breast cancer drug now to stop the female hormones. It was actually helping for a few months but she went in for her monthly checkup and her tumor markers are up again. She is having another scan soon. I can only hope for the best. She has impacted so many people in her life with her positive attitude, love and compassion.. She is my best friend. I am honored that she is my Mother!!!

Sheryl W.”

Good bye Base Phase

2010-02-22T12:05:00.001-05:00

The end of the base phase
As of today, I concluded the base phase of this Ironman campaign. I want to say this started in October about 3 weeks after the DC Marathon, but life is such a blur at times juggling all of this training and life for that matter. All I know is that THE next 4 weeks of training are for all the cookies and the most difficult right now!

Posting the daily workouts
A couple people commented about me posting my daily workouts. Some even told me they feel guilty when they read them. I know all of my team at Qt2 do the exact same workouts and the pros even harder. I think the only difference with me is that my workout times are more screwed up than theirs! Truth be told, I often post them because it forces accountability on my end. I feel once I post it, it’s a done deal that I complete it. I guess you could call it framing. I’m here to tell you that 90% of this sport is mental. Especially when you sit your ass on a trainer for 5 hours at a time staring at a piece of dust blowing in a basement!!

Coach Jesse from Qt2 Systems and I came up with a plan to help me with getting more rest and more importantly try to free me up on the days and weekends that I have my kids for visitation. It’s a really good plan and still forces a huge amount of sacrifice on all fronts. The most difficult part is jamming in training in 5 days, which for most athletes should take 7. It seems like every day there is a 3-5 hour trainer ride that happens at 4AM or ends at 10PM with a long day at work, etc. Am I complaining, not at all? These are all choices we make, and I’m really amazed that I can pull it off. The end is in site!!

The other reality, I found I couldn’t even go food shopping or do my laundry and much else for that matter now that we head into the craziest 8 weeks you can imagine. I know I sound like a broken record, but Sue without you I’d never be able to roll like this. Thank you and thank you!!

I’ve been pulling the BMI lower and will have about 7-8lbs to go before Utah. Actually, dropping weight is so easy; it’s the least of my worries. My weigh-in this AM put me at 149. I’ll pull off about a pound a week from this point going forward with a goal of 138-140 for Utah.

All Green.
Jesse and I spoke this morning for an update and to discuss yesterday’s Boston Triathlon Time Trial.

Both of us agreed that I have hit all of my benchmarks dead-on thus far (races, lifting, rest, nutrition and bike power). Jesse also told me that I am substantially ahead of where I was last year in terms of comparison for Lake Placid. I’ve exceeded all of my testing and I am ahead of my top form for Lake Placid now with a ton of time ahead. This is all good news and not to be taken as complacency. It’s full out, head-down execute. Oceanside will be “reality” of where we go from here on March 27, 2009.

Where do we go from here?
I’ve been wrestling with this for a good period of time. If you’ve followed this pursuit, I am very new to endurance sports. I know basically nothing of what I’m doing out there and learn on the fly. I have so much fun and in essence anything I pull off is from the passion I have from living and the chip on my shoulder from being a self-made person. Most of it is grit and it aint pretty!

The pursuit I’ve undertaken has been over 17 months of non-stop taking it to the limit levels at every turn. So much time has been invested and at the end of the day I’d never change how much I’ve learned about myself, the chance to meet and be surrounded by incredible, giving and positive people. How much I’ve heeled through pushing myself to limits I never would have dared to imagine. I’ve used it to mourn the passing of my mother, and to deal with the stress of a very negative and unfulfilling relationship. I’ve cleaned out my closest if you will. Clarity is painful, but I’d rather be this way than what I had let myself become!

The plan this year was to hit Utah as of our best chance for Kona. It still is. Our plan B was to race through the summer and race Arizona in Oct for the second Kona chance. At the start, I liked having 2 chances. However, after thinking about it, that puts me at another complete year for Kona 2011.

As a person, I always try to be careful of not stating goals or intentions that I don’t think I can complete even when they are stretch goals. I was raised by a father whose word meant nothing and would change a goal or belief as the wind blew. It drove me nuts and I always craved consistently and reliability as a result of that. So, I don’t want to put out there that I am done with endurance or Ironman, but I do know that I’m going to need a break and take on something new for a while after I tow the line in Kona. Hmmmm, Everest?

Next up, this weekend, Hyannis Half and 1:27 or better for a PR.

Block 2

2010-02-01T16:57:00.004-05:00

Ironman is a process of deconstructing your deep inners, from there one can build to higher highs and to take on life with ease and enjoyment through a set of lenses few will ever wear or possibly ever understand. In essence, everything Ironman teaches me through the joy, wonderment, pain, sacrifice, frustration and disappointment are features I embrace and apply to many facets of my life. I love everything about it!

After a brief hiatus of blogging, twittering and Facebook, I decided to hit the writing process again even though I said I would not. Candidly, I originally stopped blogging because a few people who never really knew me started giving me a hard time about posting, etc. A few even said, “how can you be a good financial advisor, Dad or anything else while you pursue something so hard as the world championship”, aka Kona. Well, if you know me, I took that a little hard. I stepped back and thought about the lessons to be learned from these words and statements. After reflection, and clarity for that matter here is my response.

The short answer is: I can and do pull it off even if you think I can’t!! Like anyone who amounts to anything in this life; you cannot win a Super bowl, lead a great organization, and raise a family without a great core of special people operating as a supportive cast. Some sign-on, some don’t. I’ve always been a dreamer! At times, I am so all-out out focused on a vision and executing a dream it can be misunderstood. I’m not a victim, but I came from a modest background. I let myself be marginalized by people who took advantage of me and my kindness. I started in a profession as a broker with not a single client and about $30 to my name almost 23 years ago. I not only survived against all odds in my profession, I rose to the top 1% and there I remain. I was pushed down, doubted and made fun of. I’ve never let that deter me even at my darkest most desperate hour. I chased a vision and I execute that on a day-to-day basis with precision and a team of amazing people that I alone assembled. I practice gratitude and give all of myself to the people who love me and I of them . I’m a cowboy. I make no excuses of whom I am. I don’t operate my life by other’s rules. I’m not liked or even loved by everyone and at the tender age of 42, that’s ok too. I know who I am, what I want to do, how I want to challenge myself, who I want in my life and who I want to become. I will not step on a basketball court, lace up the sneaks or saddle up on my bike without the intent of winning each and every time. I’m fully capable of putting my ass on the line at every turn and I am unafraid of anything including death. I do not perceive limits and I could care less if I fail and I’m going to give my best effort in everything I commit myself to. Is it selfish to be flat out focused on living a dream, I don’t think so. Do you have to think like I do? No.

The last block
The last training block was completed as prescribed and I obtained all the stated goals by coach Jesse. My last race which was a 10K was completed on pace. I’ve been struggling through a really bad lower ab strain. The strain is in a spot that is annoying for a triathlete because virtually every activity engages that area (swimming, biking and running). The reality is, the volume is so intense (25 this week) that it’s pretty impossible to miss any time without missing the stated goals.

It’s really part and parcel to the whole process though. I don’t mind having the strain because it’s nothing compared to the rib issue I had for much of the end of the season. All I have to do is be healthy and fast for one-day (May 1) Mission Utah!!!

Also, I’m excited to announce that I got a sweet sponsorship deal from Newton Shoes (Newton Running). It’s mostly bragging rights, but fun just the same! More on that later!

Schedule has been daunting to say the least. Jesse has been really over the top nice in working with me. I have my kids every other weekend and I have to get my training completed in and around them and work. As a result, I have 5 days to complete what really should take 7 days. I cram 25 hours into most often 5 days early (2AM – 11PM). I love it!!!!
Here is my most recent block goals. Next up, Hyannis Half Marathon and a sub 1:26, BTT Time Trial, Oceanside 70.3. I’ve been crushing the weights and staying in my zones. Swim mechanics are getting better too!

Block 2 Comments
• The purpose of this block is to continue rebuilding a base (aerobic & strength) that will carry you throughout the season. It is very important to stay within your zone 1 during this block. Don’t be tempted to do speed work or hammer the hills. We will begin some hill work in about 8 weeks.

• I know that the HR zones feel too easy, but stick to them. It’s important that you do that to keep the energy production coming from the aerobic system. If you push it too early, you’ll promote anaerobic energy production that will undermine your long distance racing. Keeping the intensity down will also, help prevent injuries as the volume increases.

• Our second race is scheduled at the end of this block. This will be another good test on where your run fitness is. A bunch of us are planning to do a 10K in Danvers if that’s convenient for you. As we get closer to race day, I’ll develop some goals based on your performance indicators at that time.

• As discussed, keep pushing the weights as long as the moves feel safe. Don’t sacrifice form in any way to lift more weight.

• Plan on continuing lots of steady swimming this block. If possible, I’d like to get in the pool with you to asses your swim mechanics again. This will help us target any specific limiters with drill work over the next several blocks.

• As discussed, let’s schedule a date to asses your sport mechanics soon. We can do a swim analysis or run analysis on the day we meet. That will be in addition to a review of your performance indicators and progress.

• As you know, we’re still trying to increase your BMI here through the base phase. Make sure you are focusing on protein at about 220 grams of protein each day minimum.
• Now that we have rounded the new year, start to tighten up the diet A BIT. Here are the guidelines

o Go to whole grains during the post workout windows, no cake or pizza here anymore.
o Start adding 5 grams of glutamine to your post workout drinks o Have ONE cheat meal a week like pizza on Friday night o Add 300mg of GLA to your normal fish oil on the hardest workout days o 220 grams of protein every day o 4 servings of fruit and veggies each day.

“I’m really excited for your season this year. 15 months of hard work is really starting to pay off.” Jesse

Volume up and keeping it simple

2009-12-29T14:14:00.004-05:00

Hi,
It's been a while since I last posted! Writing to let you know that I will not be able to blog/Tweet about my epic ride until after it happens! It will happen, rest assured!

As it stands, work and just life is just so exciting and busy that I don't have the luxury of sitting down to write. I hope you've enjoyed following and thank you!
All the best,
Mark Scribner

2010 Season Testing

2009-11-23T14:00:00.004-05:00

Quick recap on some preliminary testing notes from last night while they are top of mind/ fresh!

I met with my coach Jesse Kropelnicki, from Qt2 systems.com last night. There is so much trust in working with him, and the results and caliber of athletes that work with him are more than impressive. During meetings like these, it’s “all ears” and trying to figure out how it all comes together once again. There is limited reason to question anything. It’s some of the most interesting science at work with the human body, limiters, nutrition, etc. It’s all about tricking your body and putting it through the maximum stressors in order for it to line up perfectly for one day. Jesse is simply amazing with all this!

I’ve completed the three weeks "totally off" as prescribed post DC marathon and have been lightly getting back into the grove with about six hours of volume in Z1 range in all three disciplines. The eating was epic! I don’t even want to get into how outrageous it was! Needless to say, my body rejected this eating orgy pretty fast! I didn’t gain as much weight as I wanted because my stomach could not handle the mutiny!I will give it one more chance on T-Day!!

I have a lot more to pull together, but here are the salient points:
The testing I did last night was important because it’s pure base-line coming off a solid recovery period and tons of volume and results from last year (actually I’m still in the same year?).

Easiest way to do this is via a laundry list.
1)Next 12 weeks I’m to dedicate to power and the gym and bike tabatas during longer rides.
2)Current weight to stay the same (151), but work on replenishing muscle mass given up with the long stretch of training I had (64 straight weeks) and with the marathon/run specific training.
3)Current BMI is 16.1 or 3% lower than where I started last year at the exact time.
4)Race weight is going to be even lower than last year from 143 to 138.
5)BMI for race week will be 8%.
6)More biking with tons of speed and power improvements.
7)Added 5K into swims, to top out at 17,000 Yards as an average for the week.
8)Small reduction of run volume.
9)Fitness improved by 2-3 beats for HR, target ranges a tad lower now.
10)Average 230 grams of protein daily for repair/ re-build for the next 12 weeks.
11)Make sure recovery drinks are used more often.
12)Overall volume for the 24 week cycle will be the same, but harder across the board with intensity galore.
13)Rest more.
14)Vo2 max calculations show that I’m functioning at an Ironman Aerobic level with a higher blood lactate threshold. Some people are born to have a higher output. I fell in this category.
15)Nice power improvement on biking.
16)Pedal stroke is improved and I have mostly even power. Left leg is late by 1-2%. Can fix that!
17)Body at the end of the year started to morph into a marathoner vs. an ironman.
18)Two cycles for Kona chances (12 week blocks). Utah, and then Arizona. Second part of the season not planned. Oceanside and Utah will dictate the season. Could be a hard or easy summer!

I’m ready to get back to training and feel excited about the season with the progress I made from last year. Looking forward to bringing it all together!

Training for the worst case scenario

2009-11-12T20:35:00.001-05:00

Training for the worst case scenario

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The Deal and MCM Marathon Race Report

2009-10-28T12:05:00.003-04:00

I’m sitting in my car in the parking lot this morning. I drove around in all the dark places a healthy person with a family and a good life should never go. My mind was racing and wondering if there was any other way to deal with the overwhelming compulsion that has taken me. I telephone my usual support group, but nothing on the other end. Called Rick, Tim, …Crickets….My life-line is cut and I’m sweating! It’s 8:00AM and I’ve just completed the transaction. I’m sure I was not recognized and I make the buy, but I’m worried just the same. I used an un-marked crinkled up ten dollar bill left over from the washing machine. I have worked hard and I have a good reputation in these parts. I reach into the bag and I’m shaking, looking around and my nerves are shot. I half care if anyone is looking. At this point, I don’t care anymore if I get caught. This is now where I am at, I’m on the edge, and danger is my middle name. A police car slows to a crawl behind my car. I pull my hood over my face as to conceal my identity. This is no crystal meth experience… or maybe it is? I have just eaten my third Egg McMuffin of the week and I am now heading into another chocolate glazed donut. Tonight it’s Chinese and Cold-stone Ice Cream and tomorrow it’s the North End and Italian.

For real, this is how I felt this morning!! Kid you not! After 64 straight weeks of eating pure and what my fellow Qt2 mates call “the core” post marathon, I’ve got serious issues!

Coming off the core and really dedicating the nutrition aspect to this season, I’ve certainly gone full-speed with catching up on all of the things I’ve deprived myself of this year. It would probably make you ill to hear about how much I’ve had to eat in the past two days, but I’m thankful to admit that even that has become boring and I miss my healthy way of living. Now sleep, that is something I don’t think I can have enough of.

MCM Marathon Report (As prompted by Custie the super fast Crampton)
I completed the MCM Marathon this past weekend. This race completely kicked my tail! Here goes!

Arrived in DC on Saturday morning at 7:30 and hit the expo. This was the first time I went to an expo and didn’t buy something I didn’t need. Registration was smooth and left with packet in hand in about 20 minutes. The expo like all of DC is so spread out, but I was happy to get back to the hotel and continue the carbo loading and to get off my feet. I took a cab back to the hotel even though it was a quarter mile walk. Saturday was relaxing and watched the movie Hangover again. Quick nap during the day and woke up to meet up with Kat and Jeff Donatello at a really nice place in Georgetown. I had my taper meal of ½ chicken breast and some pasta and headed home early. I’d say I fell asleep by 9. By far, this was the best week of preparation in terms of sleep, lower stress, etc that I’ve had prior to a race. Feeling very good about the prospects of having it all come together at this point. To digress, the week leading up to the race I got a terse email from my coach letting me know that one of my key workouts I hit too hard. I ended up pulling down very low 6 min paces off of a long bike. It was a quick misunderstanding, but I was warned that this mistake because of the stress I put on my body could have an impact (it will you will see). Also, the major issue I had leading up to the race; I was heading into about my 64th week and I was on vapors. I was so exhausted and had a really hard time keeping my concentration to a level I needed. I did it, but it was not fun. I continue to practice too hard and it will be something to improve after the break.

Back to the race. The pacing agreed for the race was a best case, 2:58-3:06. I was told to stay away from pacing below 6:45 at all costs and to run the race as conservatively as possible all the way into mile 20. If at mile 20 “I had it” I could lay the hammer down only then. Mess with the 6:45’s even if only for a spat, risk paying the price latter. This is still new to me having made so much progress so soon. How can I question any of it? I’ve only started running in the 6’s for about a month. Also, this race goal was going to be about 45mins faster than my last pr only 2 months ago. Granted that PR was while doing an Ironman with fractured Ribs and a bruised spleen but was still aggressive! I’m all about that and the challenge and love to see what I am made of.

Race morning. Usual pre-race Apple Sauce and shower and rolling. Head off to grab a cab and apparently the early morning DC Cabbies don’t like to drive people unless they get the extended airport passenger. After searching and finding one he takes me to the wrong hotel where the Donatello’s are meeting me. I had 20 buck’s on me and my options were getting pretty slim. This was not a good way to start the day. I decided to go back to the hotel and have him wait while I got my cell phone. We are on our way once again and the cabbie was talking on two cell phones, eating a sandwich and proceeded to light up a cigarette. Now, I’ve basically had it at this point. I had so much applesauce bloating my stomach and enough fluid in me to hydrate an elephant. Suffice it to say the cabbie had a look of horror when I explained my rights to him. I still have not come to terms that I don’t come off as intimating at 143lbs at race weight. It’s all about the bark now!!

I arrive at the hotel and I was happy to find out I was not the only late one. About 6 of us headed into the metro to get to the marathon start. Pretty seamless. I always seem to link up with people who have the whole morning logistics thing nailed down. It allows me to relax. At this point we make a few switches and start to see the masses. You could tell from the start that this event was well run with the Marines. Basically like clockwork. Mostly, all I do is search for random places to pee or poop until the gun goes off. Today is no different. I believe there was something like 30,000 or so runners. The start had two sides that would merge for corals. Tons of people! Kat and I picked an entry coral to get to our pacing places. It was really cool that my coral was going to be the second of all of them or about the 400th spot. It’s exciting to be in a coral where everyone (Well hold-on) looks fast. Count-down comes and we are off! I could immediately see that I should have gone into the first coral, because people in mine started walking at mile 2. I had to plow through a bunch of people and I was below my starting pace by 10 seconds. The course was mainly up-hill for the first 5 miles. I felt good and was surprised how many hills were there were along with the steep down hills. I had my Garmin set for two-mile alerts and I was pretty much spot on. I felt tired and no pop, but that is not unusual for me to start.

As the race continues, I could see that I was slipping a little and got into a grove and focused. I also noticed that it was very easy to get away from pacing on the down-hills. I saw on my Garmin that just the momentum took me into the 5’s for pacing and had to back-off as much as possible. I kept hearing Jesse’s voice, “it only will take little to screw your whole day up”! The nutrition and pacing is without incident from mile 1-15. I knew I was having a hard time on the down-hills and could feel my quads pounding and a first, my right knee interior was bound-up. I pressed forward and I was very much on pace. Again, I’m purely focused on mile 20 and then who knew how deep I could go?

At mile 19, I’m not feeling so confident. My energy is fine, my quads and knee are not. Something in my left foot exploded and burned. It’s common, and felt it was either a blister or a toe nail that said bye, bye.. Onward. I stop and decide to walk for no more than 10 seconds. This is where the funny of the suffering is.. I had my Qt2 uniform on and my red Ironman hat. Obviously I consider myself a tri guy vs. a marathoner. Also, it’s what I train in and the most comfortable. As I was walking, about 6 runners rush by and said, “come on ironman, you can do this running back-wards”, you can’t walk”! That inspired me and pissed me off at the same time. But, they were right, and this was nothing compared to Ironman. We are talking about a three hour workout, and I had to get this over then a now. At least I had hoped!! LOL.

At mile 21, Jeff Donatello caught up to me. He was suffering too. He was still able to rally pretty well. He as we all do make little pledges’ or goals while on the course. Jeff’s offer, it’s only a quick 6 mile run from here to the finish. “Let’s do this together, what do you say Mark”?. I agreed, because it sounded awesome. About a minute into the deal with the devil, I told Jeff I had to walk… It was that bad now and my knee was seizing up.

Mile 22 to 26.8 was ugly. At this point breaking 3 hours was out of the question, but I still had my last goal in view, qualifying officially for the Boston Marathon. I calculate that I really only needed to run about an 8:30 min mile to get that goal. In order to even do that, it was pulling from that go deep ugly place. As I rounded over the bridge and toward the starting line and searching for the finish I realized that the finish line was not at 26.2 miles, it was a long course. I’m pulling a 5:20 pace at the end for a half mile at the end of a marathon with throw-up in my mouth. The finish line has a cruel hill at the end where you have Marine’s yell, “take that hill”!! The clock is ticking, and ticking. I need 3:20 to qualify. Tick, tick and people are stopping at the hill blocking. I had no choice; I blew through the wall of walkers and sprinted.. Fell into a Marine..Qualified for Boston with a 9 second to spare… 3:19:51 7:38 pace. For the first hour or so I was very upset that I did not hit my targets. However, I knew in my heart of hearts that I gave it everything I had on this day. I'm happy with it and excited to build.

Below are my splits.. I’ll have more on the season and a video soon. For now, I have five week off before the next big, big push to Hawaii. In the meantime, it’s more time with my kids, sleep and food!!

Dist Clim Dec Pace Best Pace
1 00:14:20 2.00 518 281 07:10 04:55
2 00:13:45 2.00 285 512 06:52 06:03
3 00:14:13 2.00 155 105 07:06 06:31
4 00:14:23 2.00 207 187 07:11 06:16
5 00:14:06 2.00 423 490 07:03 04:51
6 00:14:11 2.00 169 206 07:05 05:07
7 00:15:06 2.00 136 136 07:33 06:44
8 00:14:53 2.00 180 185 07:27 05:53
9 00:15:37 2.00 171 169 07:48 06:41
10 00:15:39 2.00 207 165 07:49 06:47
11 00:16:25 2.00 128 98 08:12 07:03
12 00:16:56 2.00 724 685 08:28 05:40
13 00:16:21 2.00 155 219 07:20 05:20