Ironman Lake Placid, Part 2

Ironman Lake Placid was a dream I'd had for years. I've volunteered for the past 10 years, including last year when I raced (I did athlete kit stuffing on the Monday before the race). I always work at an aide station on the run course, and I've joked that that's why it took me so long to do the race. The sights you see are inspiring; they are also a bit of a deterrent. The swim is terrifying, but short. The bike is mentally tough because it is long and can be boring. The real physical suffering starts on the run. And only a truly sick person can watch all that suffering and say, "Hey, sign me up!" As I said in my last post, I did over a dozen 3500 meter + swims, including a two-loop swim of Mirror Lake before race day. I've done many century rides over the years. I'd ridden the 112 miles during the Lake Placid Spinervals camp in 2013, and a few times with friends, "just for fun." I'd even done Troy Jacobson's Hard Core 100 Spinervals DVD once indoors on my trainer (I promised myself never again, and I've kept that promise). But, I'd never done a marathon prior to IMLP, and my longest run ever before the race was 16 miles. All of the people I trained with over the year from signup to race day had done IMLP before, and I heard many times that the race doesn't start until the run. I heard all of their war stories of past races. It was kind of like telling a first time mother every labor and birth horror story you know in the months before her due date. So, I was worried about the run.

About the time I signed up, I also went all in on a gluten-free diet. I'd had gut issues for years, especially after I started doing endurance sports and drank the figurative and literal Gatorade. I was sick of suffering from IBS, and it seemed to help. I stumbled across an article about the low carb/high fat diet, and it was exactly what I was looking for. When I started training, I stuck to a strict LCHF diet in my daily life, and used Skratch for hydration and Generation UCAN for nutrition for my long training sessions. One of my training partners was convinced I wasn't taking in enough carbs, and that would bite me in the ass on race day. As I watched him suffer from bloating and discomfort and desperate searches for bushes or trees big enough for him to duck behind during our long rides and runs, I was pretty confident I was on the right track. As race day drew closer, I experienced some tight IT band issues and visited my chiropractor. He asked me what I thought my finishing time would be, and I confided in him that, if I had the perfect day, I thought I could finish in around 13 hours--1:40 for the swim, 6:30 for the bike, and 4:30 for the run. Add 20 minutes for transitions, and there you go. Everyone else got the "just want to finish" answer. It's a long day. A lot can happen and I didn't want to jinx myself. He had also done IMLP before (when you live in this area, you can't swing a dead cat in a room of fit people without hitting a couple of IMLP veterans). He suggested that I walk all of the aide stations to be sure I get water and food in, and that I walk the two big hills, Lisa G.s and the ski jumps. We had a rule during training, absolutely no whining. That wasn't easy. We had to remind each other frequently. As race day approached, we added three more: no hanging on the "lily pads" on the swim, no drinking the broth on the run, and no crying until the finish line.

It's now race week and I wanted to experience all that I could in case it is my one and only Ironman. We waited quite awhile to book a place to stay. Lake Placid is close enough to drive, but I thought it would be fun to be there in the middle of everything. A couple of months before the race, we rented rooms at a place just outside of town. We headed up on Thursday before the race. I checked out the room as my husband checked in. The door was unlocked, so I walked in and looked around. Within a few minutes, I felt something bite me and looked down to see my legs covered with fleas! I ran outside and swatted and wiped and stomped my feet until I had them all off. I had to take off my sneakers and hit them on the ground to be sure I got all the fleas out. My husband went back and demanded a refund, while I called our friends who were also staying there, and then called around looking for any available rooms in town. I got lucky right away. The Crowne Plaza had rooms, and we booked on the spot. More expensive and worth every penny. And no fleas. I did the Underpants Run on Friday morning, which was followed by Greg Bacon's Meat and Greet at the beach at Mirror Lake. I chatted up Mike Reilly there for a couple of minutes. That was a dream come true! Checked in, got my prized wristband, listened to the athlete briefing, and went to the opening ceremony and watched the video. I soaked it all in.

Start of the Underpants Run at Mirror Lake.

Mike Reilly at the opening ceremony.

I had a minor freak out on Saturday when my IT band was painfully tight during a short run. I was relaxing in our room Saturday night when I got a text from a friend asking if I was okay and if I needed a place to stay. An apartment above a store next to the Golden Arrow was on fire. Part of the Golden Arrow was evacuated, and rumors started swirling that, because of debris and chemicals washing down into the lake, the swim may be cancelled. I'm ashamed to say that I seized on that bit of news as a ray of hope that I could do an Ironman and avoid facing my biggest fear. I was so convinced it might happen that I was actually able to sleep a little that night. The water was tested the next morning, and as we were getting bodymarked and placing our special needs bags, it was announced the swim was a go. In retrospect, I'm glad it worked out that way, but in that moment, I was terrified. We put our wetsuits on and started walking to the swim start. I almost broke a rule and started to cry, I was so scared. IMLP has a rolling swim start where you self-seed based on your projected finish time. Dan is a very good swimmer, so he was up with the 1:05 or 1:10 people. Bob and I had almost identical swim times, and I had planned to go in the water with him. I had several panicky minutes searching for him in the 1:40 group, but I did finally find him just moments before we went into the water. And, of course, I lost him within seconds.

I guess there's no such thing as an easy Ironman swim. Theoretically, Mirror Lake should be as easy as it gets. You have a cable under the water that is plainly visible and you can follow without having to sight. Of course, all 2500+ athletes want to swim on or near the cable, and it's a battle getting that coveted spot. The one thing I hate and can't seem to get over is the close proximity of other athletes in the water. I figured I'd swim wide left and just follow the bodies. It's a small lake, and when you know people are on the cable and swimming straight, you just have to follow the bodies. That didn't work out very well. If the cable is like a somewhat civilized drag strip, wide of the cable is like the demolition derby. People swimming over the top of me at a 90 degree angle, people hitting and kicking me. One guy put his hand on my hip and aggressively shoved me. When you pack my 115 lbs. into 5 mm of neoprene, I skate across the surface of the water like a leaf in the wind. After about five minutes of the washing machine, I felt the panic start to rise and I lifted my arm for a kayak. I'm not sure what I intended to do, but as soon as I stopped swimming, the water opened up in front of me and I had room to swim. I waved off the kayaker and continued. I did get into a good rhythm, but there was still enough contact and I was having to sight often enough that, as I finished the first loop, I was determined I was getting on that f-ing cable for the second loop. Which I accomplished relatively easily. I think by then, the faster swimmers were done or well into their second loop, so there were just fewer bodies to fight through. And, people were much more civil. If they swam up from behind, they passed to my side instead of over the top of me. And as I (surprisingly!) caught people, I did the same. My calves did start to cramp a little on the second half of the second loop, and I rolled my toe again running out of the water. I had sprained it rather badly at Syracuse. It was black and blue for days all the way down to my mid-foot. And, now, here we go again.

Setting the buoys early on race day.

I survived.

If I had written this blog within days after the race, I don't think I would've recalled much more detail than I can a year later. Call it "flow" or some kind of intense concentration or emotional detachment, but much of the rest of the race seemed to pass, I wouldn't say quickly, but without much mental engagement on my part. Well, except for the first hour on the bike. I was ecstatic to be out of the water, alive, and have that behind me. I had planned before the race to go for comfort in my first Ironman, so I was prepared to do a complete wardrobe change in both transitions. It was a cloudy and cool morning, and was sprinkling a little when I got out of the water. I decided to forego the vest and arm warmers, but somehow I also missed the sunscreen. When I got to my bike, I became inexplicably enraged that there were so few bikes left. I had done the swim in 1:39, and took 12 minutes for T1, so I was very close to where I wanted to be. In any event, I hammered the first almost 40 miles of the bike, I was so angry. The first 10 miles or so are a pretty good climb out of town before getting to the awesome downhill through the Cascades to Keene. Every person I passed on a regular road bike or with a Camelback on, just enraged me even more. I swore at them in my head, "Did you punch me on the swim? Take that, motherf--er, how do you like me now?" I reined my emotions in before I got to the Cascades. I love downhills, but I know enough to ride intelligently and be vigilant about crosswinds and other riders. I did ride most of it in the aerobars, and continued to push through the flat section on 9N from Keene to Ausable Forks and back to Upper Jay. It wasn't until I turned onto 86 and started the climb to Wilmington, that I finally told myself to stop being stupid and rein it in a bit. I was passing people rather easily on the climb to Wilmington, and I knew what was ahead of me, so I dialed back the intensity. I did stop in town to grab nutrition and hydration out of my special needs bag. You feel like a rock star from Poppa Bear until River Road, with all the cheering from the spectators. I took the climb out of town a little more reasonably, and sat up a little more on the downhill, because a cross wind had started up on the second loop. It was getting very hot, and I do remember knowing I had made a bad error missing the sunscreen. It did cloud up and sprinkle a bit, and that felt wonderful. The only other item of note happened as I was climbing through the Notch. It's like one long train of bikes with no consideration being given to staying out of the draft zone of the bike ahead. I was passing pretty much everyone I rode up to, and because they were so close together, I basically just stayed to the left, since there was no room for me to move right after each pass. A motorbike came up alongside me, and the official on the back smiled at me and motioned me right. I kind of shrugged and gestured as if to say, "Where?" He responded by motioning right again a little more emphatically, so I moved right to avoid a penalty. A headwind had come up on the second loop as it often does, and when I moved right, I was suddenly and blissfully out of the wind for a few seconds! I couldn't stay right because I was in someone's draft zone, so I passed and moved right, passed and moved right, all the way to the top. And saved some energy in the process, so that guy did me a huge favor. I completed the bike in 6:34, just a few minutes off my goal time. I didn't negatively split, but my second loop was only a couple of minutes slower than my first, so the angry riding hadn't really hurt me.

Cool as a cucumber, somewhere in the Notch.

Back in T2, I did another wardrobe change, located the sunscreen volunteers, and headed out of the Oval on the run. A friend who is a coach and was there spectating, yelled to me that it was hot and getting hotter, and to grab ice often and put it in my hat. I stuck to my plan of walking every aide station. Despite the heat, I was running pretty easily, keeping to a 10:15-ish pace. I started seeing friends, passing some who were already walking, or meeting some still running coming back from the turnarounds. Every one commented on how hot it was, and while I agreed, I still felt okay, and decided I'd just keep running as long as I could. I walked the two steep hills by the ski jumps and Lisa G's. I do recall feeling some gut discomfort near the end of River Road on the second loop, but it didn't last. The sun wasn't as high in the sky and it was cooling a bit. I really felt pretty good until the last two miles.

On River Road, feeling pretty good.

When I turned the corner to do the out-and-back on Mirror Lake Drive, I was thinking that they must've moved the turnaround further down the road, it just seemed to take forever to get there. I walked a bit, and told myself it was okay, but I needed to start running as soon as I passed the turnaround. I could hear Mike Reilly at this point, and I actually thought I'd maybe run past the Oval and up to my hotel room so I could lie down. I just wanted to stop. I doubled down and started running faster, and when I got into the Oval, I lost all sense of being in the moment. I only wanted to cross that finish line. I heard Mike Reilly say my name, and I broke down. I finally let myself acknowledge that I had done it, that I had completed an Ironman. I sobbed, I hugged everyone.

No caption needed.

 When I watched the video after, I saw that I had passed a woman in the Oval. She slowed down, so she could have her finishing moment. Damn, I was that guy. I regret that, and would do that over if I could. Another rule I should've remembered, unless you're a pro or top age-grouper racing for a slot, you don't sprint to the finish line and ruin someone else's finishing moment and photo. I finished in 13:12 and placed 4th in my age group. T2 was about nine minutes, and I had done the run in 4:37. I never felt the IT band or the toe. Dan was at the finish line eating French fries. I saw my husband at the fence. I did the medal photo, grabbed a water bottle and went over to my husband. Started talking to him and Dan for a few minutes, then I suddenly felt nauseous and had to sit down. Then lie down. On the ground. Some volunteers came over and hustled me to the med tent, where I stayed for the next hour and a half. I had gained a couple of pounds during the race, and after emptying my stomach of lots of fluid, I did feel better. I apparently did too good of a job walking the aide stations and drinking water, and I was a touch hyponatremic. My son worked the massage tent, and unfortunately, he missed my finish by about 20 minutes. When he was done his shift, he sat with me in the med tent, and that was  a huge comfort. I missed Bob's finish, and felt badly about that. Tried to eat back at the hotel, and wasn't able to. But, I was an Ironman, finally! And I podiumed in my age group. I couldn't have scripted it any better; well, I suppose I could've done without the puking. I am an Ironman, and I have to say, it's one of the best feelings in the world.

"Alicia Chase, from Cadyville, NY, You. Are. An. Ironman!"

My friend Bob, giving props to Mike Reilly. Bob won his age group.

4th place AG. My friend, Mary took 1st.

Ironman Lake Placid, Part 1

My intention last year was to blog my training for IMLP. It just didn't happen. Training for an Ironman, working full-time, taking care of family obligations (not always in that order, I hope), just ate up all of my time. If I did have a few free hours, I tried to sleep. No kidding, I barely remember last year. I'm making a promise to myself that I will blog my next Ironman. For now, I will just do my best to recall my training and the race.
When I signed up for IMLP, I knew of one regular training partner who was also doing the race. My friend, Bob, who is 20 years older than me (I'll let you do the math), and who had been a regular training partner for a couple of years, was giving the race another shot. He had raced it three times prior to last year. Turns out, much to my happy surprise, at least seven other people I knew had also signed up. This meant it was possible to have a few people to train with, commiserate with, and just generally support each other on this journey. We started out riding together quite a bit through the fall of 2014. We also ran together a lot through the winter, and occasionally met for swim workouts. We had a pretty mild winter during '14-'15, and I recall that I only did four runs on the treadmill, which is amazing for this part of the country (upstate NY, just 45 miles from Lake Placid). I truly believe that not spending a lot of time on the treadmill really helped me break out of the never-ending running injury cycle. A bunch of us did the Octoberfest Half Marathon in Peru, NY in the fall of 2014 as part of our base-building. A couple of guys from the group, Dan and Jeff are both faster runners than me, but were both battling injuries and de-training. They heard me mention that I'd like to PR at this race, so they ran with me and paced me to a 1:48:01 finish. I knew nothing about the NYC Marathon, so when they told me I could qualify with my time, I thought they were kidding. Dan had a deferral from the previous year, so we decided to sign up for 2015 when it opened. Dan and I also signed up to do the Naples Half Marathon in January--Dan has a condo in the area, and my step-son lives nearby. It was a fun, quick trip during MLK weekend in January 2015. About 2000 people do this race every year. There are cash prizes for pros, masters and five-deep in age groups. The chip-timing system crashed, and it was an incredibly humid day. But, it was fun to race on the course with the Kenyans, and it was Florida in January! No complaints. I finished sixth in my age group, and only missed my PR by two minutes.
Official Ironman training started about the third week of January. As always, I used a Joe Friel training plan. I purchased and uploaded his 140.6 Base, and then Build, Peak and Taper plans to my Training Peaks account. Outdoor riding ended by late October, and it was indoors on the trainer with Spinervals and TrainerRoad. I had read about a new web-based riding app built on a gaming platform, called Zwift. Zwift was in beta during the winter and spring of 2015, and I used it a few times to break up the boredom of indoor riding. As the slowest swimmer in the group, I only joined them occasionally for group swims at the pool. I was about a 2:17/100m swimmer heading into Ironman training. I was getting a lot of advice as to how to fix my stroke and gain speed, and while it was all well-intentioned, it had the opposite effect. Swimming 2.4 miles in open water with 2500 others athletes was basically my scariest nightmare, and one I had voluntarily signed up for. I desperately wanted to improve my swim, but trying to incorporate all the advice had the opposite effect, and this was a huge source of frustration for me. I eventually just focused on being sure I could do the distance and have a reasonable estimate of what my swim time would be. My plan was to swim two loops in Mirror Lake in the summer of 2014 to set a baseline and to Just. Do. It. and get it out of my head. It didn't happen, but I did swim 13 or 14 3500m plus swims in the pool, and I did one 2-loop swim in Mirror Lake a couple of weeks before the race.

Bob, Dan and me about to do our first open water swim in Mirror Lake. I look less than excited.

We vacationed in Florida in April that year. My friend, Dan and his wife were there for the first few days of our stay, and I rented a bicycle from Naples Cyclery. Dan and I rode a few times in Naples together, then I did a couple of rides there and in my step-son's neighborhood on my own. I also got a lot of running in, of course. Flat, beautiful weather, and my step-son's gated community is huge, with lots of wide streets to run in. The swimming didn't go as well. FGCU is only about 10 minutes away, and for a few bucks you can swim in their pools. They have a 25-yard practice/warmup pool, and a 50-meter competition pool, which is sometimes set up crossways with short course lanes. That year, they had some maintenance issues and the pool was closed. I had to make do with the small pool at the local L A Fitness gym (I think it was 20 yards), and my step-son's 10-yard backyard pool. I did 100 laps in that pool one day.
Once I was back from Florida, training was in full swing. I did several bike rides in the 70-80 mile range. I only did one 100 mile ride. It was one I will always remember. It was a Saturday morning early in June. I was meeting Bob and Dan at a park about 10 minutes away. We were riding to Lake Placid and back, so some of the ride would be on the race course. I was almost at the park and was stopped by a sheriff's deputy. She had a pump shotgun at the ready. I was clearly going for a bike ride, dressed in a tri kit, with my bike strapped to the rack on back of my Outback. She took a quick look through my windows and waved me on. When I got to the park, the guys, who came from the opposite direction, commented that they had been stopped by New York State Troopers. Same experience, quick look in the car and waved on. We agreed they were looking for someONE, not someTHING. As close as we are to the Canadian border, drug smuggling is not unheard of. But there were no dogs, and no detailed search for hidden contraband in our vehicles. I jokingly said, "You don't think someone escaped from Dannemora, do you?" Dannemora prison was about eight miles away, and no convict had ever escaped from inside the prison. Until that day. Now, wouldn't you think since we were clearly going to be riding our bikes nearby (on some pretty isolated back roads) they might have mentioned that we should be careful, or alert, or something? Nope. Not a word. We geared up and off we went. As we made our way over the isolated back roads to Lake Placid, we noted NYS Police choppers flying overhead. When we got to Wilmington, Bob (who knows and/or talks to everyone) asked a state trooper at the store we stopped at what was going on. The trooper told us that two convicts had escaped from Dannemora and were at large. I suppose we weren't really in any danger. A tri bike wouldn't make a very good escape vehicle. Still, we had money and cell phones, and Dannemora is a maximum security facility. There aren't any "good" inmates there. We made it home safely, but the next three weeks were spent finding partners for every ride and run, going through checkpoints every time I left home, having law enforcement guarding my school, and even having school cancelled a couple of days because the buses couldn't get through the road blocks. Hard to sleep with the choppers with infrared sensors crisis-crossing over my house all night. The third weekend of June I went to Syracuse to do the 70.3 again. It was a relief to sleep without hearing choppers all night, but on the way home, we got into a convoy of cars leaving Malone and headed to Plattsburgh pretty late at night. Of course, our luck, we were in the middle of law enforcement leaving Owl's Head after the convicts were spotted in the area (one was shot and killed; the other was shot and wounded and taken into custody). Did I mention they were both murderers? Yeah.

It was comforting having a Trooper outside my classroom, not knowing where the escaped convicts were.

 The only other item of note was that I tweaked my left calf on a run in Lake Placid on River Road sometime in April. We had gone up to get the bikes tuned up at Placid Planet. Dan and I were running, with my husband trailing along somewhere in the car. I was running in the dirt off the side of the road, which was still very soft from the spring thaw. Sharp snap and I couldn't even walk. We were almost at the end of River Road, so it was a good thing my husband was nearby, because I had to call him to come and get me. There was no way I was running, or even walking back to town. Of course, that messed with my head in a major way. I wasn't able to run for a few weeks, and by the time the race came, I had only done one long run of 16 miles. As I said many times that year, if you ever want time to fly by, sign up for a race you're convinced you'll never be ready for. Before I knew it, it was July. Stay tuned...

Busy Life=Bad Blogger

Catching up on my blog has been hanging over my head like that summer writing assignment for school. We're having an all-day rain today, so today's the day. We've had a roller-coaster ride of dealings with my father's health and living situation, but long story short, he's settled at a local adult residential center where he's being well-cared for, and his memory still continues to improve. He's generally healthy and happy, so we'll be satisfied with that.

My last blog entry was about the time I began training for Syracuse 70.3. I think I'll write that race up as a separate entry, and make this entry about the lead up to that race. I purchased Joe Friel's 70.3 training plan for athletes over 50 and uploaded it into my Training Peaks account. I had been loosely following Troy Jacobson's Super Six off-season training plan for the bike, while continuing to swim three times a week (like it was my job!), and running three times a week. I did a Resolution 10K Run on New Year's Day, and resolved to do my long run outdoors every weekend throughout the winter. I managed to keep that resolution, but it wasn't easy. We had an ice storm around Christmastime, and my road and the adjoining roads remained ice covered until mid-March. They were hell to drive on, and impossible to run on. I drove to Plattsburgh every weekend and ran with a group of friends on mostly clear and dry city streets. Twice, it was so cold, my water froze in my hand-held bottle. Still, it was way better than running for an hour-plus on the treadmill. I still battle the dreaded shin splints on and off, and see my chiropractor, Jon Mulholland, for Graston scrapings and occasional tune-ups. He also fitted me with orthotics. I confess, the jury is still out on them. My shins have been better, but they still flare up occasionally even with the orthotics, so I just get after them aggressively with a lacrosse ball and massage stick. Also, the orthotics are aggravating an old scar on the bottom of my foot. I'm still using them, but we'll see...

As for the bike, my tri bike was on the trainer all winter. Besides using Spinervals and following Coach Troy's Super Six program, I also discovered TrainerRoad. I had looked at it before, but couldn't see how it was better than what I was doing. I'd been training with the Kurt Kinetic inRide computer on my trainer and using the corresponding app on my iPhone for workout data and simulated power. An OS update by Apple broke the KK inRide app (it's still broken, although Kurt Kinetic is saying they will have a fix ready soon), so I took a closer look at TrainerRoad. I have the Garmin Ant+ speed and cadence sensor on my bike, which I paired with the TrainerRoad app on my desktop. I did a time trial and got an FTP number that was relevant to TrainerRoad, and I was good to go. The great thing about TrainerRoad is the website has an extended library of rides to choose from; many of the Spinervals titles, as well as member-produced workouts, and a "free ride" option to pop in a DVD and ride along, while recording data. I would look at my training plan, then choose from my DVD library or the TrainerRoad library and find a workout that met the goals of my plan. 

I ran the Frostbite 5K in February in order to get a LTHR for running and to set my zones. My time was about 30 seconds slower than last year. I did the race in my new-ish Hokas, and rolled my ankle slightly just a few minutes into the race. I won my age group, though, so I was pleased. By March, the shin splints were back with a vengeance. On the advice of my chiropractor, I ditched the Hokas and got the orthotics. That's when I did the Graston treatments, and started using the lacrosse ball and massage stick regularly on my shins, and as of this writing, have not had any more serious issues with them. I also ran the Plattsburgh Half Marathon in April as part of my training. By then, my hip was starting to aggravate me. I tried not to push too hard and finished with a time about 35 seconds slower than last year. Still, the hip continued to hurt. In the two months between the half marathon and Syracuse, my longest run was 6.6 miles. I saw the doctor who did my hip surgery. He ordered an MRI which showed fluid in the joint, but no new tears. I had a cortisone shot four days before Syracuse (more on that in the next post). Needless to say, I wasn't able to follow the run workouts of the training plan as written. It's becoming obvious that speed work and stand-alone 5Ks are just too hard on my hip. I followed the training plan as best I could, mostly trying to put in the time for the week. I've mentioned before that I live in hill country, and since the run at Syracuse is very hilly, the best plan of attack seemed to be to just get out and run my hills. I only did one other stand-alone running race as a lead up to Syracuse, a trail run 5K fund-raiser for my school, and I'm not sure if I'll do any this fall.

Late in the winter, I put my mountain bike on Craigslist. It was a very nice bike, but I wasn't riding it. My interests are now firmly entrenched in triathlon. And besides, I wanted a power meter. It took a couple of months, but I finally got a buyer, and used the money to buy a PowerTap for my Zipps. I took the tri bike off of the trainer in April, and it hasn't been back on since. Using power has transformed my training. I did the local time trial early in the season to get my FTP and to set my zones, and did my best to follow my plan, hit the power goals, and still ride outdoors. I know there's a ton of literature supporting training indoors on a trainer to control workout goals. For me, riding outdoors--on hills, in wind, on bad pavement, with friends and surging to stay on wheels--prepares me much better for racing. Most of the enjoyment for me on the bike is riding on beautiful days, through gorgeous scenery on quiet back roads, with good friends. If I had to choose between only riding the trainer to train for races, or riding outdoors and not racing, I'd give up triathlon. Thankfully, I don't have to. I did the Placid Planet half century ride in late May as a training ride for Syracuse. (Side note, I've found that my FTP from my PowerTap is much closer to the inRide simulated power numbers, versus TrainerRoad's simulated power numbers. Stay tuned for my next post on how that all worked out for me at Syracuse.) 

As for swimming, it is what it is. The masters swim team at my gym was defunct by late fall. There were promises to start it back up during the winter that weren't kept. I swam three days a week, and tried my best to follow the training plan. The shorter speed and form workouts got done. The longer swims were a little tougher, because there was a time and a distance goal. For the most part, there was no way I'd get the distance done in the time allotted, and indeed, in the time I could reasonably spend in the pool (without packing a lunch and becoming water-logged). I did several 2+ mile swims, but often had to compromise somewhere between the time and distance goal, because, well, I had a life. Lots of room for improvement.

So far, I'm on track for my training goals for the season. Next post, the Syracuse 70.3 debrief. Stay tuned.

 Our weekend run group after the Plattsburgh Half.

 My tri training partner, Bob Heins, and my #1 running partner, Leanne Macey.

 Sprinting to the finish. Why? Because Sandy (in the red cap behind me) told me to.

Spinervals Lake Placid Camp, June 2013, Chapter 1

Raison D'etre: I've been incorporating Coach Troy Jacobson's Spinervals training videos into my workouts since January of 2012. My friend, Mary Duprey, suggested I use them when I was recovering from hip surgery. At the time, about all I could do was spin easy on a bike. Six months later, I PR'ed at my first post-surgery 5K. That made me a believer. This past fall and winter, I participated in Coach Troy's Super Six Challenge: six months of structured training, including the December "Challenge" month of serious strength-building on the bike. Around that time, Mary asked if I would consider attending the Spinervals Lake Placid Camp. At first, I said no. Camp conflicted with work, I'm not racing IMLP, and just generally felt like I'd be over-reaching. Winter progressed, and my fellow Spinervals teammates and I virtually trained and suffered together. I had an opportunity to meet two team mates, Kelly and Eddie Mendoza, while training and racing at Battenkill. Mary asked me again, and I decided to resolve my work conflict and sign up.

Registration and Orientation, Thursday, June 20th: I had originally reserved Friday and Saturday nights at the host hotel, the Golden Arrow Resort in Lake Placid. A couple of days before camp started, I called and added Thursday night. I arrived at the hotel around 5:15, checked in, and headed to the conference room to register. That's where I first met Dan and Dave, Troy's detail guys. I would learn to look forward to the sight of this father and son team before the weekend was over. I filled out the paperwork, got some swag--a Spinervals jersey (which I love and fits perfectly!), a water bottle from a local bike shop, and a couple of other random items. We also were instructed to choose three titles from a variety of Spinervals DVDs. I had all but two of them, and both are Runervals videos (which I'll have to rip and put on my iPad or iPhone to use at the gym). We proceeded into the conference room, where we met Coach Troy and his team. Troy put up a PowerPoint presentation with a few questions for us to use as a guide to introduce ourselves. After the introductions, Coach instructed us to stand up and do a five-minute isometric squat, as a way of simulating how one feels throughout the day when competing in an Ironman (Coach Troy had done his iso squat that morning, so didn't join us. Yeah, where have I heard that before?!) Longest five minutes of my life; the room became very quiet, my legs were shaking, beads of sweat started rolling down my face. Somehow, I and everyone in the room made it through the five minutes without sitting down. In retrospect, this little exercise accomplished two things: 1. When Coach told us he expected timeliness for meetings and workouts or we'd be doing squats, we took it seriously. 2. I think we impressed Coach Troy. He knew the caliber of the group he was dealing with from those five minutes. At that moment, however, all I could think was, what the hell had I got myself into? Coach talked some more about racing IMLP (I'm not going to give any details from the lectures. I think you should attend a camp to hear those), gave us the overall plan for the weekend, and sent us on our way for the night, with the instruction to meet in the hotel lobby at 6:40, for a 7:00 a.m. swim. As I walked down the street with quivering legs looking for a place to eat, I resolved I would be up early. My favorite sandwich shop was closed, so I started to head back to the hotel, thinking I'd grab some take-out pizza. I ran into fellow campers, Merle, Lola, Jerre and Christina, and they invited me to go with them to Milanos. We had a great dinner (I ordered the pizza special and a beer), and some good conversation getting to know each other. As we walked down the stairs leaving the restaurant, we felt that damned iso squat in our legs, and I secretly worried if I was up to the challenge. When I got back to the hotel, I called my husband and told him I didn't know what I was doing there, that I was in over my head. Then, I went to bed and worried about getting to sleep, waking up on time, iso squats, swimming in cold water, and on and on...

Tanita InnerScan BC-533

I've been using the Tanita Inner-Scan BC-533 for about a month and a half now, and I feel I have enough data to draw some conclusions. I chose this particular model of Tanita because, at $85.00, it seemed to be a good value for the price. It's advertised as the best selling scale on the market. The next model up was not only a lot more expensive, but provided more data than I was interested in having. Between my Kurt Kinetic inRide and my Garmins 110 and 500, Training Peaks and Garmin Connect, I feel a little overwhelmed by all the numbers I'm looking at every day. However, I really do want to gain muscle, and just tracking my weight every day wasn't giving me any useful information about if and how all the training and eating was helping me accomplish that goal.
This model of the Tanita provides the following data: weight, body fat %, body water %, muscle mass/physique rating, bone mass, visceral fat, daily caloric intake/metabolic age. The Tanita uses Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis to calculate your body composition. It passes a low electrical signal through your body, carried by water and fluids. According to their literature, "Fat tissue does not contain much water and creates resistance to impedance to the signal. (Fat is approximately 10-15% hydrated, whereas muscle is normally between 50-70%.)" The Tanita uses this information along with formulas based on other information that the user provides: height, weight, gender, body type and age, to estimate the user's lean and fat tissue. I've discovered that my hydration level is the most important factor in getting consistent data. But, more about that later.
The Tanita was very easy to set up. There is a guest mode, and up to four users can store their personal data to get more accurate readings. Once I turned the scale on (it runs on 4-AA batteries), and selected my Personal Key Number, I entered age, sex, height, and activity level (I selected "3", which is an "adult involved in intense physical activity of approximately 10 hours per week and who has a resting heart rate of approximately 60 beats per minute or less." ) That's it, set-up complete.
Each time you weigh yourself, you need to first select your personal key before stepping on the scale. Tanita recommends that you weigh yourself under consistent conditions of hydration. This is important, because you can get very different numbers with seemingly insignificant differences in hydration. You also need to be barefoot, so that your skin can make contact with the electrodes. Further, it is recommended that you be unclothed, and wait three hours after rising, eating or exercising. These stipulations basically give me a small window of time on weekdays, so I find I'm not using the scale every day. But, if I use that window, I have the best chance of getting consistent readings, and I can see the effect that illness or poor hydration has on my readings. When I am adequately hydrated, I see my highest muscle mass, highest bone mass, and lowest fat percentage. Not surprisingly, this corresponds with my highest weight, though not always. Also, some of my lowest body weight readings were coupled with some of my highest body fat percentages, simply because I was dehydrated. For me, my best readings happen when I weigh myself after work and before my workout, and when I've had two meals (breakfast and lunch), two snacks, and about 60 oz of fluid, at the time of weighing. Here are the differences I've seen between my highest and lowest readings: weight-4.2 lbs, muscle mass-9 lbs, bone mass-0.4 lbs, body water-5.3%, body fat-7.3%. My worst readings were when I had an intestinal bug, my best were two weeks after I finished the Challenge Phase of the Spinervals Super 6 training plan. It was an intense month of focused muscular endurance training.
Time for some conclusions: The day I recovered from two days of intestinal nastiness, I gained 2 lbs, gained 0.4 lbs of bone mass, gained 9 lbs of muscle mass, lost 6.6% of my body fat, and had 4.8% more body water. Clearly, I didn't have 9 more lbs of muscle from one day to the next, but it illustrates how important hydration is for correct readings. I can see trends, and I can use those numbers to make decisions about my training. For example, when I look at my numbers for January 14th and February 11th, all of my numbers are virtually the same, except I weighed 1.6 lbs less and had 1.2 lbs less of muscle mass on February 11th. Since my current training phase has been mostly aerobic endurance work, I feel I've done a good job maintaining my muscle gains, and I'm ready for the next phase of my training. I also really like the Tanita because it forces me to focus on hydration, something I have been casual about in the past to my detriment. So, if you like to quantify your progress and are serious about training and improving your chances for success, the Tanita scale can be a very useful tool to have.

Spinervals 43.0 Review

I downloaded Spinervals 43.0 the other night, in preparation for today's ride. Some of my Spinervals friends have ordered the DVD, but it hasn't arrived yet, so I'll start this blog with the actual workout.

The workout is about 1:58:00, and starts with the usual 3x30 seconds, with 30 seconds rest for the warmup.

The first set is 10x2 min reps, with 30 sec rest between reps. The focus is low cadence, and keeping HR and power below LT and FTP, zone 3 for those on Spinner bikes. Coach recommends the big chain ring on the front, and the 13/15 on the back, but focusing on keeping cadence in the 70-80 rpm range. Two minute recovery after the set. Coach says he's going to have people stand, but only has you stand just once. I don't remember which rep, maybe 7 or 8.

Second set: 4x5 min, with 1 minute rest between reps. All other instructions the same. Two minute recovery. Stood twice in the 2nd rep, and once in the last rep.

Third set: 10x2 min, 30 sec rest between reps again, but this time cadence between 90-100 rpm, HR and power still below LT and FTP. Coach recommends Small/15 combo, but stresses hitting cadence range. Two minute rest. Stood two times on the 7th rep, and one time each on the 8th and 9th reps.

Fourth set: 5x4 min reps with 1 min rest between reps, all else the same as the last set. Stood twice on the fourth rep.

The workout was supposed to be 90 minutes and 25 miles. When I started the video, it showed 1:58, and I wondered if I had double-clicked the wrong one. But, Coach says within the first few minutes that it's a 90 min workout, so I thought, "Ohhh, one of *those*." Figured I'd go for the 90 minutes first, then see how I felt. At around 50 minutes in, Coach says the low cadence set should be making your quads burn, and maybe the name of the workout should be "Quads on Fire." Now, I'm thinking, "Damn it! I did start the wrong video. I must've clicked 42.0 by accident." Got off the bike to check, but no, I had the right one. Then, the first rep of the third set, I think Coach lost his focus. It was supposed to be a 2 minute rep. About 3 minutes later, I'm thinking, "Man, this seems like a long 2 minutes," when Coach says, "Two minutes to go."! Either he realizes his mistake, or someone tells him, so he ends the rep at four minutes, and counts it as the first two reps. Coach, for my extra credit, I'll take one of those shirts you're wearing, women's small, please :) ! At 1:11, I already had 19 miles done, and thought that for once, I'll hit the time and distance for the workout. The last set starts at just before 1:30 into the workout, and I had 23.5 miles at that point, so I decided to start the set and go rep by rep and see how my legs felt. I did HC100 three days ago (HC86.5 in my case), took a rest day, and ran and swam yesterday. My legs felt surprisingly good, so I kept going, and finished strong. I did Strendurance E after; the legs were starting to feel it then.

Stats for the workout: 1:58:14, 31.1 miles, avg HR-135 (pretty low, awesome!), avg power-162 (right where it should've been, awesomer!), avg rpms-80, avg mph-15.7.

My Addie cat watching me, wondering why I spend so much time on that stupid bike!

Hard Core 100 Debrief

I did Hard Core 100 for the first time on January 1st, 2013. What a way to start the year! It was the last day of Coach Troy Jacobson's Spinvervals 32-day Challenge. I won't write too much about the prep. See Keiko Flores's Blog for the best advice on what to do to get ready for this ride. I did get quite a bit ready the night before: laid out three changes of clothes (someone from our group Facebook page mentioned changing socks at each disc change. Great advice, my shoes stayed relatively dry), put three towels by my bike, had a tub of assorted GU gels and GU Chomps, and put Heed powder in four water bottles. I use about a scoop and a third per bottle. I don't like my drinks flavored too strongly, and I don't ever cramp during exercise. Also, had my iPod shuffle ready to go (thanks, Tom Fisher), and a tub of Assos Chamois Cream. Obviously, I didn't do any New Years Eve partying. We had a quiet night, and I was in bed by 10:30. I haven't been sleeping well the past few nights-hot flashes :( and I woke up almost hourly. Finally checked my RHR upon waking, it was about 50 bpm, so no worries about lack of sleep having a negative effect. Got up at 6:30, and had my usual breakfast of oatmeal, juice and coffee. Checked Facebook to see who was already rolling, and was on the bike by 7:30 a.m. I started out with tri shorts. We had a discussion on our Spinervals group Facebook page about sore and chafed bits. Someone mentioned wearing tri shorts. I always wear tri shorts on my tri bike when riding on the road. Don't know why I've been wearing bike shorts while in the trainer. Great decision! Had no issues today, so did tri shorts for every clothes change. I was a little concerned with Coach's admonishment at the beginning that anyone who starts the workout must finish it! So, I rode pretty easy at first. I won't give the entire workout chapter and verse. Here's the link to the PDF, though it's not accurate near the end. The ride started with a warmup, then six-10 min sets. Kept my HR and power in the recovery range for the first set. I typically warm up pretty slowly. Bumped them up to aerobic range by the end of the first set, and was firmly aerobic by the second set. Was having no difficulty maintaining 16+ mph. In retrospect, I should have pushed a little harder in the first 1 1/2 hours. Right from the beginning, I decided to ride with my music in one ear, and left out the earbud in my other ear, so I could hear Coach call out the gear changes. I was feeling very good. I did have to get off the bike after one rep to kill a large black spider. Brrrr...hate those things. My husband, AKA Sherpa, got up when I was 1:20 into the ride. He brought me another cup of coffee. I finished the first water bottle in about an hour, and started nutrition at 30 min. I took nutrition every 20-30 minutes, alternating GU Chomps with GU gels. Started Disc 2 at 1:33, but changed into dry clothes first. I had started sweating about 20 minutes in, and was wringing wet by this time. There was another three minute break at 2:30, but I just stayed on the bike and spun through. My hips were getting a bit tired, so I started standing occasionally. I finished the coffee and the second water bottle by 2:45. I was 43.6 miles in at the half way mark. Really thought I was on track to break 90 miles. I see now that my math was bad, per usual. At 3:03, Coach said we should be at 50 miles. I was at 48.3, so, still all good. Disc 3 started with two hours left. I did another clothes change, and remarked to my Sherpa that it was getting mentally difficult. I had left the heat on in my workout room; I usually turn it off, but with a 5 1/2 hour ride on a cold day, I was afraid the house would get too cold. When I walked back into the room after changing, the heat hit me like a wall! I turned it off for the last two hours. I was only at 56.3 miles, and the sets were getting harder, so my average speed was dropping. I was actually still maintaining 16+ on the reps, but was really spinning slowly on the breaks. There was a 12x4 min set with lots of gear changes that just seemed to last forever. It was also becoming clear that the PDF I was following along with couldn't be right. There was too much time left, and not enough work to fill it. Sure enough, at 55 minutes left, there is a 10x2 min set that wasn't on the PDF. I mean, I know I had to do another hour, but mentally, it really threw me for a loop. Checked my distance with 40 minutes left, and I was only at 76 miles. I actually broke down for about 90 seconds, shed a tear or two of frustration, then pulled myself together. Finished out the ride without any more issues, with 86.5 miles. I went through three sets of clothes, three towels, 4 1/2 bottles of Heed and one cup of coffee, three gels and three packages of Chomps. I think I did ok with fluids and nutrition. Took in about 1350 calories and 116 ounces of fluids, plus breakfast. Didn't cramp, although I hardly peed at all during and after the ride. I was literally dripping sweat the entire time, but it does concern me a bit, given my hospitalization last year. I do 50 mile races without getting off the bike (or peeing in my shorts!). Felt better after it was all over about my results. I was reading and posting to Facebook a little during the ride, and I said it was the hardest thing I've ever done. I've done around 10 century rides, and I suffered more on this ride then any of them. Bike setup plays a role. Riding my tri bike on a trainer is not the same as riding my road bike outdoors. For starters, they have different gearing: 53/39 on the tri bike, versus a compact 50/34 on the road bike. There's no coasting on the trainer, no downhills, no riding the wheels of bigger guys and catching a break. Everyone says I'm very hard on myself, and I know I am. This was an accomplishment that I am proud of, like my first century ride. And, if I were to remind myself, my goal then should have been my goal with this ride, which was to finish. And I did that. AND, I finished the Challenge! Thanks to Keiko Flores, Karen Haldane, Judy King, Brad Ellis, Kelly and Eddie Mendoza, Michelle Sewell Spina, Rick and Susan Sobona, Tom Fisher, Mary Duprey, Chrissy Bianco Brooks, Cleda Beckhorn, Callum Skeet and all my other Spinerval Peeps for being so supportive.

Stats at 2:31:16, avg rpm-80, avg hr-140, avg watts-162, avg mph-15.8, distance-40.01
Stats at end: 5:32:39, avg rpm-77, avg hr-143, avg watts-158, avg mph-15.5, distance-86.54

Note to self for next time: eat real food, like fig newtons or peanut butter bagel. Was feeling kind of nauseous by the end.

On the Road to Kona in a Snowstorm

I've been doing the Spinervals 32-day Challenge since December 1st. We're in the home stretch, but this week has been pretty tough. We've been joking on the Spinervals Facebook page that every DVD ends with Coach Troy saying that the next day should be a rest or recovery day, and yet, we find another grueling intervals/big gear/strength training on and off the bike session scheduled. This week, I did the Pain Cave on Monday, which is rated 9.8 out of 10 in intensity--lots of intervals. Then I did Bending Crank Arms on Tuesday, which is a 9.5, and involves big gear work on the bike, and squats with hand weights and isometric squats off the bike. Yesterday (Wednesday) was Ultra Conditioning 2.0, rated 9.3, and had one-legged pedaling on the bike and core off the bike. A huge Nor'easter was forecast to move in last night, and predictions were for 13-18 inches of snow. So, I thought since I'd likely be stuck in the house all day, maybe I'd do Kona, instead of waiting for Saturday, when it is scheduled. Seemed like a great plan...until I got up this morning. It was a snowstorm for sure, several inches already, so I was going to be stuck home. Check. My son had to go to work (nervous about that, still waiting for him to come home), and my husband would be out plowing all the neighbors and relatives all day, so I'd have the house to myself. Check. Hip flexors very fatigued and sore from yesterday's workout. Wait a minute, that wasn't part of the plan! Now, Coach's notes for the ride say 3-6 hours, and he has 6 1/2 hours plugged into the calendar for today. Last night, when I was all high on snowstorm excitement and leftover chocolate pie, I was thinking maybe I'd do at least five hours. No big deal. Then DOMS reared its ugly head. Always takes 24 hours to kick in. So, I had decided before I even got on the bike, I'd only be doing three hours. Did I mention that we have a 5 1/2 hour, 100 mile ride scheduled for Tuesday, New Years Day, the last day of the 32-day Challenge? The first hour went ok, except that my hips weren't liking the aero position. I checked my stats after the first hour, wished l had written them down, but they seemed pretty good. Think I was averaging 16.6 mph. My one issue I always face is, I can't do the gears Coach suggests and the cadence. I either need an easier gear to do the cadence, or stay in the suggested gear and let my cadence drop. I was also finding today that if I hit the cadence target, my heart rate, power and speed all dropped. So, I mostly went for the Big 3, and didn't worry about cadence. My HR and power were solidly in Zone 3 range. All good. Except pushing that bigger gear made my legs start to tire. Disc 1 ends at 1:55 into the ride, and I was happy to take a break. I did a quick bathroom break, put on a dry shirt and grabbed a dry towel, and recorded my stats: avg rpms-72, avg HR-142, avg power-165, avg mph-16.0 (oh, oh!), distance-30.74 mi. Hmmm. I polished off one big bottle of Heed after 90 min, and was eating two Gu Chomps every 30 min or so. The third hour got ugly, especially the last 45 min. I was moving around so much on the bike, because everything seemed hard. Standing, sitting with hands on bar ends, aero, back to sitting up, back to standing. Aero was almost impossible, I could almost hear my hip flexors screaming, then whining, and finally just the occasional whimper. I continued to do Chomps, then a gel, plus the Heed, so I wasn't bonking. Felt good, except I couldn't generate any power from my core. It felt like survival by the end, and I was sure my numbers had tanked in that last hour. But, when I slid off the bike and had a look, they actually weren't all that bad: 3:00:07, avg rpms-71, avg HR-140, avg watts-161, avg speed-15.8, distance-47.6. That puts me at around a 6 1/2 hour Ironman bike, which is about what I always thought I would do, based on my past riding experience. I can do a century in about 5 1/2 hours, but that's on a road bike and drafting in a pack. Right now, two hours later, my hips feel like jelly. So, lemonade from lemons, considering how tired my hips were, I actually think if I were rested, I would've done much better! And, it was really fun, looking at the beautiful tropical footage, while a snowstorm raged outside my window. This is likely the closest I'll get to Kona. Someday, I'll do the entire DVD.

Paralysis by Analysis

Today is Day 3 of the Spinervals 32-Day Challenge. I've been rearranging the workouts this week because I have two more nights of a professional development class. I have a full day's work tomorrow, plus a three and a half hour class tomorrow night. Tomorrow's workout was supposed to be a threshold test, but I just couldn't see myself getting up at 4:15 a.m., and being able to put forth my best effort. So, I moved things around and did the threshold test (Spinervals 27.0) today after work. Last night, I checked Joe Friel's blog to see if I could get some insight as to what the "typical" FTP might be for a woman my age (53). He had a quick-and-dirty formula (Estimating your FTP) that I used, and came up with 215 watts. There's a reason I teach Kindergarten. More about that later. So, I came into the test with a pre-conceived notion of what my FTP should be, and with an attitude a little too focused on power, and not all the data I would be getting. Now, I've done many 10 mile TT's. We have a local time trial series. I didn't do any this past season; hip still healing and thought it might be counter-productive. But, I've done enough to know that my average heart rate for the effort should be around 165 bpm. (Here's the last TT that I have data for: Time Trial) I get my bottle of Electrolyte Brew, I get my towel, put the heart rate monitor on, start the DVD--no cadence. Are you kidding?! This is a new computer!! I get off the bike, check everything out, replace the magnet with the one that came with the computer. (I had left the magnet on from my Garmin and it worked yesterday. A magnet is a magnet, right?) Nothing. Figured I may as well get the workout done. I just won't have cadence. Well, the only part of this computer that has a wire, is the cadence sensor to the mount. Started fiddling with the computer; sure enough, I didn't have it seated in the mount securely. Yea! Cadence back. Did the warmup, stopped and recorded my numbers, then reset the computer. Started the test. I left the computer on the power screen. My Spinerval Challenge friend, Rick Sobona, told me how to set the computer to show HR on every screen. Would've been helpful if I actually looked at it. I got so focused on wanting to keep my watts over 215. On the DVD, Coach Troy is saying that cadence should be in your "sweet spot", which for me is around 85-90. I'm typically a spinner, not a masher. But, when I shifted to a gear to get my cadence up, my power dropped. Can't have that! I will say that I gave it a pretty hard effort. As I sit here almost four hours later, my legs feel pretty fatigued. (Note to self: compression tights after the shower would've been a good idea, duh!) I formed a nice, little pond under my bike. When the test was over and I checked my stats, I was, um, surprised and a little disappointed. My average HR was only 150, my average cadence was 70, and my average watts was 219. At one point--sometime after Coach said to not worry, that I'd pass out before I die, and before the end of the test--it suddenly occurred to me that I had done the math on the estimated FTP wrong. Checked it as soon as I finished the cool-down, and sure enough, it should have been 202.5. Then, plugged in my 20 minute average power into Coach Troy's calculator and came up with...204. Oh, well. Looks like I'm typical. What I really have is a pretty good number to use for my training. And a take-away lesson: it's the whole picture, dummy! Next time, I will get my cadence to where I know it should be, push hard to get my HR where I know it can be, and let the power take care of itself.

First ride with Kurt Kinetic Road Machine

Today, I did my first trainer ride on my "new" Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. I am doing Coach Troy Jacobson's 32 Day Spinerval Challenge. (I'll talk in a different blog about Spinervals, and anything else that comes to mind.) So, I got my new trainer yesterday. It was an easy setup. I also purchased a Kurt Kinetic Wireless computer. My primary reason for the new trainer and computer is that I want to train with power, but wanted to do it fairly inexpensively. Not ready to pony up $900 for a PowerTap right now. I got the trainer used and the computer new, for a total of $327.00! First, if you have a magnetic trainer, get rid of it now and treat yourself to a fluid trainer. What a difference! The pedal stroke was so smooth and realistic compared to my Cyclops magnetic trainer. And it is much quieter. The trainer alone made the purchase worthwhile. I'm not as enamored with the computer, but I think I am going to love training with power. I am used to my Garmin 500. I can customize the screen (and toggle between 3 customized screens), so that I can have all the data I want to see on one screen. Not so with the KK wireless. The three data points I want to see: HR, cadence and power are on different screens, that I have to toggle through (not easy pushing that button on the side while I'm pedaling/breathing hard/sweating excessively. Today, I was doing a Zone 2/3 workout: Spinervals 17, which was a 1:20, 22 mile ride. Coach Troy was talking about cadence and heart rate zones a lot. In newer DVDs, he discusses power more. So, I wanted to keep an eye on my cadence and HR, but I was particularly curious about my wattage. Here are some things I observed: regardless of the cadence or gear, I was able to keep my power output fairly steady until the last 20 minutes, when I suspect I started to tire a little. Also, I ate breakfast about three hours before this workout, but started with plain water. About 30 minutes into the workout, I saw my power suddenly drop by 20 points, almost immediately followed by that low blood sugar, bonking feeling. I got off the bike right away and grabbed a Roctane Gel, and mixed a bottle of Electrolyte Brew. Within 10 minutes, I felt better, and my power numbers came back up. After the ride, I scrolled through the screens and recorded my data, then manually entered it into Training Peaks. I may miss not having all the "in-ride" data, but I was very excited to see how my power data compared to my HR and cadence.  I finished feeling like it was the best trainer workout I've ever had. I've never been able to maintain the speed and achieve the distance of Coach Troy's workouts until today. For sure, the Road Machine is a far superior trainer to my old one. Being able to watch and maintain my power during the proscribed sets was exciting! Here are my final stats (pretty much all the relevant data you can glean from the KK wireless computer): Time-1:23:09, Avg RPM-79, Max RPM-112, Avg HR-136, Max HR-219 (what's up with that?!), Avg watts-171, Max watts-241, Avg MPH-16.1, Max MPH-19.1.