Year in Review - 2012

2012 was another year of excess.  Along the way I had ample opportunities to submit.  I questioned several times if I had finally bitten off more that I could chew.  My wife and I had our 3^rd son in April, I took on some more responsibility at work and I was training for an Ironman with a Kona qualifying race as the goal.  The only way to get it all to work was to be ridiculously organized, strive for flawless communication with my wife and optimize my training time with high quality, focused work.

Quitting would have been much easier but I pushed on and surprisingly had one of my best seasons yet!

·         Run CF ½ Marathon – PR 1:19 (PR by 6 minutes) 1^st AG, 3^rd OA

·         Island Lake Olympic Tri – 2:05, 1^st AG, 3^rd OA

·         Grand Rapids ½ Ironman – 4:28, 1^st AG, 3^rd OA

·         Muncie 70.3 (ish)  3^rd AG, 5^th fastest bike split OA

·         Ironman Wisconsin – 9:43, 5^th AG, Kona Qualifier

I didn’t race a ton in 2012 but that was a compromise I made because all of the other challenges I was facing this year.  By focusing on a handful of races I was able to absolutely nail every single one of my goals.  I got some run speed back into my legs early in the year which primed me for some OLY and ½ iron distance racing.  I continued to push hard throughout the year on my bike fitness and with a new bike and optimized position, I can confidently say my biking is no longer a weakness.  And finally, I pulled it all together and held tough at Ironman Wisconsin as I ran my way into 5^th  place in my 5^th Ironman.  In doing so I qualified to race in the Ironman World Championship again next year which was ultimately my end goal for the 2012 season!

Busted, hiding from our kids!

2012 wouldn’t be complete without thanking all of those who supported me.  My wife for her patience and understanding.  She accepts my goals as her own, all the while, being a business professional and a super mom!  My team of sponsors for the 2012 season: 1^st Endurance continues to develop and deliver “best in class” nutritional products that have allowed me to exceed my own expectations.  Desoto Sports for outfitting me in the most comfortable, high quality training and racing apparel I've ever worn!  Profile Designs is a company with deep history in the tri business and their products, with the help of the guys at Fraser Bicycle helped dial in my super low, super aero position.  My success would not have been possible without their support!

Salude!

Again, thank you all for reading and cheering me on!  2013 is going to be a riot!  Much more racing and a lot less pressure!  I’m hoping you’ll all stick around to join me in the adventure.

Happy Holiday

Train Safe

See you in 2013!

I'll leave you with some of my favorite random pic from the season

Daniel-san, shovel the dirt

Team Perez

35 going on 15!

Mike Reilly gave me a woody

Top Shelf Triathlon – WTF!!

Every good blog has a theme and over a year ago Top Shelf Triathlon was born.  I started blogging blabbing on and on about myself and triathlon, mainly to get some sponsorship attention and to capture my journey to Ironman Wisconsin.

Really?  REALLY?

Top Shelf Triathlon, just like so many of my good college drinking stories begins with, “it seemed like a good idea at the time”…

Albeit a modest one, my top shelf!

So here’s a summary of how I came to my “over the top” blog theme!  Ya see, I started drinking way too early back in high school and used to get drunk and pass-out by 10pm off of a few 22oz, brown bagged Icehouses  (Deuce-Deuce in the House!).  By the time college ended I had “graduated” to top shelf liquors and all night parties.   

Years later, I sighted a new challenge and began racing small local sprint triathlons, now almost 10 years later I’ve graduated to the Ironman World Championships.

Top Shelf, is not who I am, but what I'm always striving to be, no matter the challenge!

The whole story starts here.

ICEMAN Cometh - Race Report

I swear I saw this guy at the 10K to go flag

Race: Iceman Cometh

What is that?:  30mile point to point MTB

Where: Traverse City, MI

When: November 3^rd, 2012

Time: 2:03

AG Rank: 7^th

Overall: 298 / 2900

The Iceman lived up to its name this year.  Morning temps were hovering right around freezing with a steady 10mph breeze out of west.  About an inch of snow was on the ground and a freezing rain, snowy mix was falling.

Another cool thing about the ICEMAN…9am starts!  Who starts a race at 9am you ask?  Well, mountain bikers for one and also when day break in northern Michigan doesn’t come until 8:30, the elements leave you little choice.

Iceman Cometh Challenge!

My off-season is well underway.  Like all of my other Ironman seasons, the post-race high and excitement to quickly find something to put on the calendar has struck again.  It really is the most bizarre thing, 6+ months of consistent training to build up for an Ironman and right about went taper begins, the biggest thing I look forward to is a break from the structure, a break from the training regimen, a break from the constant strain of trying to squeeze it all in.  And then, after about two weeks from this break , without fail, it happens.  I get tired of eating like garbage and sitting on the couch all night and just generally feeling slothish.  So this year, to keep a little motivation in to the off-season, I decided to sign up for The Iceman Cometh.

Product Review - Saucony Kinvara

For the past several years my race shoe of choice has been the Brooks Ghost / Launch.  My feet have always received quite a beating on race day and I attribute that mostly to running in wet, heavy shoes and socks for 26.2 miles.

This year, I was willing to try something new.  I wanted a shoe that was light weight and would drain/breath a little better.  I have always shopped at my local DSW because 1. I’m a cheap bastard.  2. I have no issue sporting last years model.  All that said, I found a pair of Saucony Kinvaras that fit like a glove, were feather light and best of all, were only 40 bucks!  Score!

Oops, nip slip!

I had done a ton of research about the Kinvara and was a little concerned about the minimalist make up, low rise and acclimation period that most people had warned about and had had issue trying to convert too quickly.  Over the years I’ve converted myself to being a fore foot runner so I felt that it was possible to make the change.  I still approached with caution and ended up putting more miles on these shoes prior to a race than ever  before (almost 50).  By working into them over 4 weeks with numerous mini runs (2-4) miles, come race day I was confident that it was the right choice...or at least that I wouldn't rupture my achilles!

I race with thin little sock liners that don’t absorb water and provide the perfect amount of protection from friction.  Also, as with all of my shoes, Xentex are my laces of choice!!

Drill holes and durability concerns evident

Another thing that I did, on recommendation from slowtwitch was drilling several tiny holes through the sole of the shoe to further enhance drainage.  My neighbors already think I’m crazy but I further confirmed this by also placing a bucket of water at the end of my driveway and on several training runs, upon passing my house for another loop, I’d step through the bucket.  This allowed me to further test sock absorption and shoe drainage as well as toughen the feet for race day.  Train like you race, no?

We Tradin' War Stories

Race day came and went.  The Kinvara’s are badass.  They are by far the lightest shoe I have ever worn.  There is a consequence for that though and half way through the race my quads and calves were feeling pretty beat up.  I attribute some of that to the lack of fore foot cushioning but also to the 112 miles I tackled hours before.  The great thing though is that my feet never felt water logged, nor sloshy. 

I swear this really is after the race!

 After the race my feet were in great shape!  I was so astonished that I actually took a picture and a month later am even posting it on my blog for all to see! 

I think the Kinvaras are a great race day shoe.  They’re feather light, breath well and with a little help drain well too!  The soles are not very durable to really hold up to the rigors of training miles but that's mostly due to the light weight nature and my fore foot, supinating run style. I’m not 100% confident that I would use them again for a full distance race, my quads really did hurt that bad on race day….I wonder if with a little more cushioning I could have minimized my run/walk breaks over the course of the 26.2 miles.  But one thing is for sure, if you're a racer looking to fly and you want to go minimal, I'd definitely recommend the Saucony Kinvaras.

2012 Training Summary

One of the most common questions I got from my race report as posed on slowtwitch.com is what

did my season volume look like and what taper stragegy did I execute.  So here's Part 1, training volume.

Understanding that volume is not everything and the devil is in the details, here is my cumulative volume from my 30 week approach to IMWI.  My average training time for 30 weeks was 12hrs/wk.

My swim volume is almost embarrassingly light.  I swam competitively from age 6-18.  While I'm many years removed from 30,000 yard swim weeks and two-a-day practices, there's a lot of muscle memory and technique that just comes back to me.  I am very fortunate to only have to swim once a week for an hour to swim sub 1hr.

My biking took a huge jump in 2009 when I qualified for Kona at IM Louisville but then I got a power meter meter last year and was fooled that quality was way more important that quantity.  Comparativly, I only biked 180 hr in 30 weeks in my IM Lake Placid build and I paid the price.  Sure I was strong but my biking endurance was inadaqute to compete with the best in the age group.  This year, I swapped some quality sessions to build in some good old plain, bike volume.  Granted, this increase in hrs wasn't just joy riding in a casual group ride, as I was likely cranking out hours at 75-85% FTP.  So working on my weakness from '11 resulted in an increase in hours spent on the bike by 35 hours.  Surprisingly, my FTP was the same from '11 to '12.  Maybe "more is more"!!!  (slowtwitch reference to one biking philosophy on volume).

My running also saw a slight increase.  Up 7 hours from my qualifing attempt at IMLP in '11.  My peak weeks saw little volume incease, but my early season run training for a spring 1/2 marathon was the main cause for this bump.

Core work and yoga is something that I started in '09 and got lazy with in '11.  After a long day of work, family activities and working out, the last thing I wanted to do is push-up, planks and standing triangle pose in my basement.  This year I was dragging my ass out of bed at 4:30am a couple of times a week to make sure I got it in.  Getting out of bed was the hardest part and kind of like my 5am swims, I always hated the idea, but after completing it, man, it really was a great way to start the day!

So in a nutshell, there's the answer to the volume question.  I do love to train but I'm heavily committed so I can't train as much as I'd some times like to, or nearly as much as other, but like I said the devil is in the details and I'll go into much more about that next time.

Enjoy the off season!

Peaks and Valleys

It's already been 2 weeks since Ironman Wisconsin and much like training all year for a race, life is full of extreme highs and pretty crappy lows.

Qualifying for the Ironman World Championships is exactly what I set out to do.  The level of satisfaction of setting a goal, busting my ass for a year and achieveing what I set out for is very hard for me to put into words. The first time I qualified for Kona was at Ironman Louisville '09.  It's the absolute last qualifier for the given year, which meant I had exactly 6 weeks to recover from the race and plan for huge trip and the biggest race of my life.  It had all come and gone before I even realized it!  This year, qualifiing at IMWIS is the polar opposite.  It's the first qualifing race for the following year, so now I get to ride this wave of euphoria and plan another trip to the Big Island but I get 13 months to do it!  Seriously, when describing this feeling, Cloud 9 isn't even remotely high enough.

I've taken the idea of taking "some time off" to the extreme (see a theme here?)  I've been eating like an absolute hog and haven't spent a minute exercising since the race.  To achive what I have in this sport, hobby isn't an appropriate word.  I developed a lifestyle around eating well and exercising, everyday.  The habits I've formed are obsessive and in my opinion it's what's required to competitive.  So needless to say, removing myself from this lifestyle has been very tough.  I feel like crap when I eat like crap, I feel like crap when I don't exercise and I sleep like crap because frankly, without exercise my body isn't really tired.  See this vicious cycle I've built.

So with the high highs come the low lows, and I wish me feeling like garbage was the low I'm describing, but it not, it's way worse.  A friend of mine was making her final preparation to race in Kona this year.  She was in a horrific bike accident and is now literally fighting for her life.  Even though she's from the Metro Detroit area, the first time I met her was in '09 in Kona.  She's in this group of "cool" kids that are bad ass enough to race Kona every year, and one of the things I was really looking forward to was hanging out with them again next year!

And then it happened...in the blink of an eye, Amy went from 5x USA Triathlon All American and 5x Kona Qualifier to being the subject of massively organized Power of Prayer session at Henry Ford Hospital.  I've been obsessively checking her Facebook page for updates from her sister and boyfriend on her condition.  I've been in denial since the accident and have been waiting for the post that says she's feeling great and is thinking about getting back on  her bike.  Sadly, it's going to be a terribly long road and a victory will be scored by the 1000's of people pulling for her if she can wake up from her coma.  This is serious stuff and what scares me most is that it could have happened to any one of us.

We all have mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, friends and spouses and children that are way more important than this, or any race. 

I still have a ton to share but for now my message is a simple one but it's the most important:

Please, please, please be careful out there.
Train SAFE.
Corey

Ironman Wisconsin 2012 - Race Report

Summary:
Swim: 57:55
Bike: 5:19
Run: 3:17
Total: 9:43
5th in M35-39 / 30th Overall

Goals: Going in, and as was highly publicized here, I wanted to get back to Kona. As my race goals further evolved leading up to the race I wanted to get on the podium and figured I’d need at least a 9:45. My time predictions from my training and race simulations were sub 1 swim x 5:20 bike x 3:15 run, so a 9:45 was within reason.
 

Pre-race
2 days out, I always start by cutting my toe nails just a little too short and removing all of my nose hair. Just kidding, it’s really 4 days out for the nails. Race morning 4am rise for breakfast, coffee and pre-race evacuation. My staple pre-race breakfast is a .....

Never Say Never

Ironman Wisconsin Results

Swim: 57:55
Bike: 5:19
Run: 3:17
Total: 9:43

5th in AG / 30th Overall and I'm going back to Kona!

Midway through the year I had doubts if this was even possible again.  Then yesterday, a dozen times on the run course, it would have been so much easier to just give up.  If there was any doubt, doing well in these races isn't all about who has strongest body.  The mental aspect of hanging in there until the very end can't be captured in a picture.

I was gonna hang it up for iron distance racing if I didn't place Top 5 and qualify to go back to Hawaii.  So it looks like I get to keep pushing along for my really long victory lap next October on the Big Island.  I've learned a ton along the way and now that I'm no longer competing for a Kona slot, it's time to spill it.  No more secrets.  I'm completely open to questions and topics.  Please feel free to ask, as I will certainly elaborate to the best of my ability.

Upcoming topics include:

• A detailed breakdown of my race by discipline.
• My Go Fast "secrets"
• "These dudes must be on something!"
• The "OFF" season
• "Are you gonna eat that?"

Stay tuned.

The Odds Makers - Ironman Wisconsin 2012

Back in the day they used to call it stalking and it was creepy. Now a days, with the advent of social media and internet sites like athlinks and slowtwitch learning about your competition can be classified as doing 'research'...although it's still a little creepy, it's really not much different than a scouting report and college recruiters. Regarding my competition, I've always said it all depends who shows up.  It's not uncommon for a FOP age grouper to get whooped up on by a former pro runner at a local sprint triathlon but said FOP age grouper could run away with win at a big Iron-branded race.  It all depends who show's up.   All that said, I've done a limited amount "research" to identify some potential contenders in the M35-39 AG at Ironman Wisconsin....and let me tell you, the FIELD IS STACKED! ....

That’s a wrap

Summer's Almost Gone!

Well, that just about does it for another ‘iron summer’.  I just finished up my final big week before things slow down and I start my taper for Ironman Wisconsin.  I'm more than ready to be done...and to race!

Surprisingly, Hell week (s) went quite well this year.  Last year, prior to Ironman Lake Placid, I was so fried I ended up compromising and modifying my final big weeks so I could survive and make it to the starting line.  As a result, my “big weeks” didn’t end up so big.   Not sure what the difference was this year.  Could have been a couple things:  another year of distance training, strategic placement of key workouts, improved recovery techniques…quite possibly all of these things combined.

Update - Hell Week!

Years ago I used to follow a fellow ironman blogger who was also just getting started with all of this distance stuff. She had a coach and great team of supporters. She was a fantastic writer and very openly shared every detail of her training. Early on, I was learning right along with her.

One of the terms she coined, and closely associated with the training of the Navy Seals was Hell Week. Hell Week summons the imagination of a week filled with dread and despair and during Tracy's journey it was just that. A hellashish week of work, juggling work, family and the rigors of training for an Ironman. I'm not quite sure what happened to Tracy, she shutdown her blog after a few years and having had successfully completed an Ironman, has likely moved on to another challenge. From my memory, Hell week was exactly how she would describe it, something undesirable that she could not wait to be done with.

I still use the term Hell Week to describe my final weeks of perpetration but for me it's different. It's not hell week because I don't enjoy it, sometimes there's nothing better that I would rather do. The sense of accomplishment when looking back at the training log after completing a monster week is a thing of beauty. The thing is, I love to accomplish work. Whether it's mowing the lawn, a office desk free of bills, a freshly cleaned house or a 20 miles run. It's all work and there always progress to be seen by the time it all said and done. 



So Hell Week, a week where a hell of a lot of work is accomplished. Training wise it's my peak volume week and also puts an incredible strain on my other work and family obligations. A little more swimming, a ton of biking and a decent spike in run volume and core strength. I shoot for 20 hours spread across the disciplines. I've practiced mini surges in run volume all season, so I feel prepared for the jump in running volume.  These are the last two weeks to push for a gain in fitness. Following my peak weeks, we move into taper and focus on recovery, fitness maintenance and preparation for the race.

My Hell Week look roughly like this.
Swimming: 2 x 1 hr sessions.
Biking:  12ish hrs, w/ longest race sim brick
Running: 4-5 hrs, 40-50 miles. Several short 1hr runs + mid week long run (18-20 miles)
Core/Yoga: 2+ hrs
I've followed this pattern for each of the Ironman races I've completed. I'm certainly not saying it's the only way, but it's my way and I'm confident that this final push will have me trained, rested and ready to race in just 3 more weeks!

Hope all is well.
Train Smart.

Update - 5 weeks and counting

Keeping up with this blog is harder than keeping #2 and #5 diapers stocked in our house!  

Training-wise, things are going well.  I'm been accumulating quite a bit of fatigue but this time of year that's normal.  Train hard, sleep hard, repeat.  Five more weeks to go.  

 

My build continues and I'll peak with two 20ish hour training weeks separated by a recovery week.  I'm going with a two week taper again.  Last year I was a dumb-ass and errored on the side of doing too much during taper, rather than too little. I'm smarter now (hopefully) and you won't catch me doing 3x12min threshold intervals with less than a week to go.

 

Muncie 70.3-ish

EXTREME!  Sweet, sign us up!

Swim:   24:57 (1:34/100m)

Bike:    1:07:29 (25.8mph)

Run:     41:36 (6:43/mi)

Time: 2:18:30 (3rd AG, 32rd OA)

We got to travel down to Muncie, IN to race the Muncie 70.3 half ironman this past weekend. Unfortunately, due to a National Weather Service Excessive Heat Warning  (Heat Index forecast of 115 degrees), the Race Director had to make a hard decision to shorten the race.   (1mile x 29 mile x 6.2 mile run).  Nobody was happy about it.  I personally don't think it's in our personalities to concede that something is TOO hard (or in this case, TOO hot).  In the end, at the awards ceremony, Greg Bennett said it best "the right decision was made, no one died today and that was the goal."

Training Update

I fell into a nice groove after the Grand Rapids Tri, it felt good to have a good race and I rode that momentum for a while.  My numbers from GR helped to validate the time I've spent training is doing something.  I'm nearly where I was this time last year and the good news that I’m still 12 weeks out from IMOO.  I’m hoping that this mean there won’t be any “cramming” during my final build up this year.

Swimming
My swim training this go around has remained the same but I joined a new club that has much better pool hours.  I'm still swimming once a week for an hour but now that I can swim at 5am, it frees up my evenings for more family time and other biking/running activities.  

 

My main set this time a year is 10 x 200 on 3.  It's a hell of a set for me and I get in a boat load of work in 30mins.  I also do a 

little kicking and a handful of 50's for good measure, but other than a warmup/cool-down that's it.  I'm in, I'm out.  Just like Big Black's motto, DO WORK.

Biking
Biking has fallen off a little since the 1/2 in GR. It got stupid hot here and even though I thought I was recovered, I fried myself one afternoon attempting at 4hr x 4 mile brick.  I make lots of mistakes; too little calories, too many cals, too much water, too little, and probably the most painful, too much power.   

I can tell you what exactly what each of these feels like as the symptoms set in, so I guess it’s good that I’m learning something, even if it is the hard way.

Running
Still progressing.  My long run is still hung up at 11 miles but I'm able to get in a "long" one that doesn't destroy me for days.  They say Consistency Counts, so I'm gonna go with it.  The treadmills at work allow me to get in one 1/2hr speed session a week during lunch.  I'm all about 

lots of work in a little time, so I love me some intervals.  2min on, 2min off has been the flavor of the week lately.   2x2s aren't nearly as scary as Tabata Sprints on the bike (ala Chuckie V) but the body definitely gets stressed!

Ironman Muncie 70.3 is about two weeks away.  I have one more big training week to get in before I dial things back a bit.  Really excited to see how fast I can go down in Indiana!

Wow – that was boring.  I don’t even think pictures helped this one.  My bad.

Until next time.

Hope all is wonderful!

Grand Rapids Triathlon (½ Ironman)

Swim: 27:45

Bike: 2:22

Run: 1:34

Total: 4:28 (1AG, 5th OA)

This race was approached much like the Triple T has been raced in the past.  The main objectives were to test the early season fitness, establish and maintain some self imposed limits  to train discipline and patience (HR, power, pace) and finally to make sure not to dig too deep a hole so I could resume my ironman build within two days of recovery.  This past Sunday I was mostly successful in accomplishing these goals.

Island Lake Triathlon

I hesitated for a moment before submitting this one but then realized I promised myself not to sugar-coat any of my Ironman experience. Warning, brutal honestly to follow.

Race Report: Island Lake Tri - Olympic Distance (1.5k, 40k, 10k)

Executive Summary:
22:15 swim
1:01 bike (24.0mph)
39:34 run (6:22s)

Total: 2:06, 4th overall, 3rd in AG.

Update

Has it been 2 months already!  Jeez, time flies when you're having fun....or incredibly busy.  Here's a mind spill.

My Boys
My 3rd son was born early in April and once again I got to add another day to my list of Most Incredible Days of My Life.  Have you ever been so happy that you've laughed and cried at the same time?  I'm not talking about "oh, man that was a funny joke, my eyes are watering".  I'm talking about actually laughing and sobbing and smiling and sniffling with joy.  I'll admit, I'm not even remotely close to an "emotional guy" but for some reason each of these little ones have reduced me to a blubbering mess.  Maybe I am human.  3 BOYS!  All I'm gonna say about that is we're gonna have one hell of  tag team!

 

On to the update...

Run CF Half Marathon

I've never really been into race reports.  They're boring for me to write, so I can't even imagine what they must be like to read.  So here's the quick and dirty, non-race report writing, racers report.

Distance: 13.1 miles
Time: 1:19:14
Pace: 6:02 min/mile
Average HR: 165
Place: 1st AG, 3rd OA

It was a smaller race and that is indicative of my overall place.  Sure it's the best I've ever placed in a running race, but in reality a 1:19 for 'real' runners isn't squat.  I still consider myself a triathlete that can run, not a runner.  I wanted to go 1:18:45 but really that was just so I could have claimed a 6:00/mile half.  I missed it by a little but am happy with my overall time.  I pretty much laid it all out there, doubt I could have gone faster, even if it was only 29 sec faster.

Pre Race Update

I'm just a day away from my last race as a father of 2.  I'm hoping for a big PR!  Once again I expect the Degree of Difficulty to race "fast" will increase with the arrival of #3.  

The Triple Indy

On to the update...

Update

Man, while it seemed like a great idea at the time, this blog thing is getting hard to keep up with.  I said it up front but I’ll say it again, the purpose for capturing this adventure was many-fold: to provide entertainment, capture some of the my training protocols that may or not be successful, pay tribute to my sponsors who all allow this sport to remain “affordable” for me and lastly to capture some honest thoughts so if I ever have a notion that doing this with a working spouse and 2, going on 3 kids, is a good idea, this blog will be a reminder of the sacrifices required and that it’s not all fun and games.  (that was a really long sentence…F-it, I’m keeping it).   

My plate is full.  Work is crazy.  Home life is crazy.  Squeezing in the training that I feel is required to be successful is crazy and is teetering very closely to not being  much fun anymore.  I do want to send one strong message to Ironman and to my 4 regular readers.  “I won’t quit you”.  It’s not in my blood.

Damn, I had to check that because I thought that was a Broke Back Mountain quote…,nope not quite…F-it, I’m keeping it.

On to the update….

Going Primal

I read The Primal Blueprint (Sissin 2009)  about two years ago and it was very thought provoking book.  So much so that nearly every time I sit down to eat, I can gauge the ‘primal-ness ’of my meal.  Now that’s not to say I often eat ‘primally’ but I at least think about it.

Sissin’s mixed narrative of storytelling and the science behind his primal theory kept me turning pages as I continued to hear his argument on how far we (society) have strayed from eating what our bodies were designed to eat and process.

I’m no expert book reviewer so I’ll keep his theory summary short and to the point.