Justin Daerr December 12, 2005

Not as many adventures last week as I had hoped for,
but I did get the chance to ski (and chat) with Duane
Vandenbushe last Saturday afternoon (excellent snow
conditions). Vandenbushe is the head coach of the
cross country team at Western State College in
Gunnison, Colorado (elevation 7700 feet). The men's
team won Nationals (D2) in November and that is only a
glimpse into Coach V's legacy (not sure if anyone
calls him that, but I like the way it sounds so lets
go with that). A brief synopsis of Coach V's work with
the Mountaineers can be found here:
http://www.western.edu/ath/teams/country/coaches.html

My folks teach business at Western so they got me in
touch with him. I am always interested in folks that
are consistently successful (in athletics and
otherwise) and my interest grows even more when the
training takes place at altitude. There are countless
articles (both scientific and layman) out there that
address altitude training. However, science does not
seem to give me the answers I am looking for. I don't
mean that I cannot find a study that supports my own
beliefs. I just mean that most articles come to the
same conclusions and address the same things over and
over again (which is good as well).

One question that I really want(ed) to know is "when
is it best to come down from altitude?" It seems that
science hasn't quite nailed that so I figured this
would be a great question for someone with extensive
experience. Coach V's response: 'within 72 hours.' I
followed that up with Qs like:

Does it depend on the distance of the event?

What about heat and/or humidity?

Again, within 72 hours. I also chatted with a couple
athletes who agreed. I don't know that they (the
athletes) have all tried different approaches, but
they did believe that they felt solid 2-3 days after
coming down from altitude (and knowing that something
works means a lot when its you who is racing). Coach V
said this is what he has found after 35 years of
data/experience/trials/etc. Seems like a pretty fair
bet.

My own coach, Joe Friel (Coach J), suggested a 2-3
week adjustment period prior to an athlete's key race
of the year (or training cycle). He said that the
muscles need an adjustment period to get used to the
higher loads placed on them at sea level. In other
words, the body needs to be prepared to race at these
higher intensity levels economically.

So, then it may be best to race either:

1. 2-3 days after leaving altitude; or

2. 10-21 days after leaving altitude.

I have read this conclusion before. It seems like 3-9
days is a bit grey. I wouldn't avoid it for
logistical reasons, but I suppose if you had the
choice (because of extensive travel, for ex), then
those two scenarios might work well.

I spent last summer in Boulder (5500 ft) and I
returned to sea level just before Labor Day. I tried
to really get a grasp for exactly how I felt over the
next 4 weeks after leaving altitude. I will say that I
continued to 'improve' considerably for the next 2-3
weeks, but its hard to tell how much of that has to do
with fitness improvements and how much has to do with
advantages attained from living at altitude. Every
session will seem like you are improving, but you have
to account for the difference in training and racing
numbers from altitude to sea level.

Coming down early can still be great because of the
huge mental boost it will give you going into a race.
If you are seeing 5-7% better numbers at sea level
prior to a big race you will simply have more
confidence (even if they aren't necessarily "better"
numbers). The confident athlete will likely outrace
the other of equal fitness.

Hopefully over time I can develop my own conclusions
based on experience, but regardless of all that, I
still believe that altitude training is best because
of the things that cannot be quantified. Training in
the mountains just makes me happy every day I'm out
there.

-j

p.s. I had lunch today with Coach V and he talked more
specifically about training and the 'intangibles'
which I'll address later.

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Justin Daerr December 12, 2005

Does it depend on the distance of the event?

What about heat and/or humidity?

So, then it may be best to race either:

1. 2-3 days after leaving altitude; or

2. 10-21 days after leaving altitude.

-j

p.s. I had lunch today with Coach V and he talked more
specifically about training and the 'intangibles'
which I'll address later.

__________________________________________________

Justin Daerr December 7, 2005

Its interesting how one's perspective can change over
time. I used to go inside when it was below 40 degrees
outside. On Monday I went running when it was eight
below zero and it wasn't all that bad. I would not
want to spend a whole season doing it, but its fine
for the time being. It probably helps to have pretty
mountains to look at while freezing my butt off.

My point on perspective is that I am currently waiting
for it to "warm up." Once it gets to -10 I'll start my
morning run. Maybe this will gain me some respect from
my friends up north, but I doubt it. I remember
reading about a group of folks training through the
winter in Fairbanks, Alaska. They routinely shoveled
lane one at the track each week. I hope summer makes
it worth it.

Things are starting to get rolling again. I spent four
weeks "off the clock" following Ironman Florida. I
managed a trip to Sweden in there. The entire side of
my mother's family is overseas so its always fun to
get over there and see everyone. It was cold and dark
there, but I had a great time hanging out with
everyone and drinking a little wine. I likely had too
much wine one night as I found myself in a club one
night trying to imitate Madonna's routine from "Hung
Up." I failed, but I think I scored some points for
the ol' U.S. of A.

Since returning I've been at my parents' place in
Crested Butte, Colorado. We have been getting hammered
with snow, especially over the previous weekend. I had
planned on snowboarding once or twice over three
weeks, but I ended up venturing over to the hill three
times in the first week I was here. Its fun since the
entire mountain is made up of locals for the time
being (and the lift tickets are half price). Crested
Butte is a destination resort and does not receive
much of the front range traffic so the
in-between-dates can be sweet. If any of you are
planning a trip to the Rockies over the holidays I
wouldn't worry about snow conditions. It has been
taken care of.

I will be in Crested Butte for another eight or nine
days before heading down to Houston, Texas for the
holidays. I plan on getting there by the 17th, but I
haven't quite figured out the logistics yet. I'll be
there through the 28th (at least) and then its off to
Clermont until Memorial Day. I'm getting pretty pasty
white up here in the high country, but I think FL will
help reverse that.

Hopefully I'll get an adventure or two in while I'm
still here.

-j

Ironman Florida

Justin Daerr December 5, 2005

IRONMAN FLORIDA 2005

I was really excited about this race which made race week seem exceptionally long. My parents, brother, aunt, uncle, and a couple cousins made the trip to PCB and I was motivated to give them a good show.
The ocean was not too rough, but it did have a steady chop and it had been much calmer all week long before the race. I was hoping to find a group on the first loop and enjoy the ride. I never really found a good group until two thirds of the first loop was complete. I managed to bridge the gap to a very large group of 10+ folks and it felt like I had hopped into the flow of the river at that point. I really wanted to stick with this group so I moved aggressively as I ran over the timing mat on the beach before starting the second loop. This was not the smartest of moves. I was totally redlining with a heart rate close to 190 at this point. Whoops. I ended up losing the group because I needed a couple minutes to settle down once I started swimming again. I found another group to swim with, but my swim tactics were rather poor on the day. I went over the timing mat in 56:57 which was on the low end of my 55-57 minute goal, but it was still much better than my 61 minute swim in 2003 and my 64 minute swim in Kona last year.
You would hope the first transition would be uneventful, but as I pulled my helmet out of the gear bag I found that one of the straps had broken in all the shuffling. I spent about a minute trying to put everything back together and somehow everything turned out ok.
I got on the bike and started riding steadily from the get go. This was the first time I was using power in a race and it made it easy to get rolling without riding too hard in the first 30 minutes. My heart rate was in the mid 170s at the start and it slowly came down and fell in line within the normal RPE/power/HR ranges. Obviously the swim had been a bit aggressive for me.
I spent the first 20 miles riding solo, but eventually a group of five to six riders began to form. This group stayed together for quite some time and grew bigger and bigger as we caught more and more riders. I tried to get away at each aid station, but it was hard to put a surge on early in the ride and everything would come back together after a few minutes. It was not until mile 60 that I was able to break away and make it stick. I knew the course was about to turn west at this point and we would then be riding with a tailwind for the next ten miles or so. I lifted the effort as I neared the turn and the tailwind made the speeds over 45kph once I turned west. The group was eventually reduced to four and then just to two. My friend Lon stayed with me through mile 75 or so, but I eventually rode away from him and rode solo to the end. There was a strong headwind for the final 20 miles of the bike which was not exactly what anyone wants at that point, but it happens.
I got off the bike in 4:49 and met my goal of riding 4:50 or faster. I made it through T2 in a reasonable amount of time and started the run. Just as I was starting my brother told me I was nine minutes out of the top ten. The first few miles were rather uncomfortable for me. My feet sometimes swell on long rides in warm weather and the weather on race day had apparently been warm enough to do so. This made each step quite painful and if the same thing had not have happened in Kona the year before then I might have been a little more concerned. After the first 5K I started to feel a little better and I focused on just running steadily.
I finished the first loop of the run and at this point my brother told me I was one minute out of the top eight. The news my brother told me and my caffeinated Catapult drink (from my special needs bag) had me motivated to keep things rolling. I was still running decently on the second lap, but I had to slow down considerably when I hit the aid stations. It gets crowded out there on the second loop and I had to make sure I got my cola at each aid station. I felt solid on the last 10K (relatively speaking of course) and I was able to deal with the unavoidable discomfort it provides. I was actually able to pick it up over the last couple miles and finish strongly. I crossed the finish line in 8:57 (3:05 marathon) and made it to 8th place overall.
The race had its peaks and valleys, but none of the valleys crushed me. I’m looking forward to putting my feet up through Thanksgiving and I’m equally anticipating next season.
Cheers,jd