Alex McDonald Pro Triathlete

II have had my sights on racing Ironman Coeur d’Alene (CDA) since November. I know that the average Ironman athlete signs up and prepares for an Ironman for over a year. However, about 3 weeks prior to the race I had been training very hard and my left hip flexor began acting up on me. Initially it simply felt tight, then painful, then VERY painful. I was pretty pro active, immediately skipping a run when symptoms began to see if I could let it heal before it became more of a problem, however, it did not help. I took 2 days off…still painful.

I had diagnosed myself, however, that is a big “no no,” so it was time to see a sports med doctor. The good news is that my self-diagnosis was correct, and it was tendonitis, simply a soft tissue injury. However, the bad news is that it would simply take time and rest to heal.

After a week of rest, I tried running at Rev3 and again the hip was not happy. Ok another week of no running. I saw Jeff Wells, my massage therapist, several times over these weeks and finally this week he sent me to an acupuncturist and with some trepidation I had acupuncture. It was incredibly helpful and I was feeling much better and very optimistic about healing in time for Ironman CDA.

It had been 6 days without running (keep in mind I was swimming and biking throughout this injury with minimal discomfort) and 2 days of almost no pain. So I decided it was time to try running and I was feeling very optimistic. I did a extensive warm up, with some self massage and stretching and 5min walk warm up and with my first few run strides I knew this was not good. The pain immediately came back and my stride noticeably had a limp.

At this point I some deep thinking to do. In the back of my mind I knew that I should not race IM CDA, however, I was yet to admit it to myself. That afternoon I had an appointment with Jeff Wells and the first 15min of my massage was simply talking about my hip and the race. After that I had a good conversation with Ashley and then with my coach who both lead me to the conclusion that Ironman CDA would have to wait.

The best case scenario would be a sub par performance at IM CDA and then at least 2-3 more weeks of dealing with my re-inflamed hip. It certainly is a frustrating situation and really the first time that I have ever had to deal with an injury that has limited me so much. I have decided that I am going to take a week entirely off from training and set my sights on Ironman Lake Placid where I certainly have thrived before.

This week will involve no swimming, no biking and certainly no running. The goal is to focus all my energies on physically and mentally refreshing myself and healing. Psychologically it has been a struggle the last few weeks and this week may be the biggest test yet, however, I know this is the best decision so that my hip does not turn into a chronic problem and I am not dealing with it for the rest of the season.

Of note I had run out of Base Amino and Recover Activator a week or two before this problem developed and I cannot help but wonder how much of a role that played. This injury was caused by multiple different factors and I cannot blame one aspect of my training or recovery.

I am certainly very disappointed, but I am feeling better and better about this decision knowing it will give me the best chance to rebound faster and stronger than ever.

I decided to make the trip up to Middlebury, CT to race the inaugural Rev3 triathlon. I was planning to race Ironman Cor d’Alene in just 2 weeks and decided to approach this race as a practice race/learning experience, especially given the depth of the pro field. Additionally this was my 3rd half Ironman in 5 weeks, on top of the fact that I have not officially taper for any of them due to my focus on Ironman CDA. In retrospect this may have been a bit of a stretch, however, you are never really sure where the line is until you cross it.I flew up to NYC where my mother-in-law picked me up and then lent me one of their cars to drive up to Middlebury. An easy drive on a Thursday afternoon and I arrived at my homestay with plenty of time to relax. Gina, her 2 dogs and cat were great hosts! Also, for those of you who do not know, Middlebury, CT is the headquarters of Timex. Keith Meyer and several other folks at Timex hosted several of us on the team on Friday and it was great to not only see several teammates, but also the Timex staff.Let me start by saying how well the Rev3 staff was at taking care of the pro athletes who were racing. We were provided complimentary pre-race massages, and personalized banners at our transition spots, just to name a few. For example, the shifting on my bike was a little off after the plane ride and I had no idea where a bike shop was in the area. I e-mailed my contact at Rev3 about the problem and 2 minutes later, literally 2 minutes, I got a call back from them.As for my race I knew it was going to be tough. I had been nursing a hip injury and was pretty sure that I was not going to run in an effort to save myself for IM CDA. As I said I was approaching this as a practice race so I was not too concerned or putting too much pressure on myself. However, I perhaps was not putting enough pressure on myself and I found that I was mentally having a hard time getting “psyched up” to race. I think another factor in this equation was the cumulative fatigue in my body from 2 months of solid Ironman specific training and 2 halfs. Unfortunately, this mental flatness translated into physical flatness on race day as well.I have been very happy with how my swimming has improved over the last several months, yet I am still having difficultly mastering the race tactics and sprinting involved at the beginning of a race amongst the pro field. I really wanted to have a good swim at Rev3 like I had at Cali 70.3 earlier in the year. I sprinted as hard as I could for 5 minutes and then my arms and shoulders seemed to decide that they were done. I had nothing in the tank and it was all I could to simply keep moving forwards on the course. The thought of simply quitting did enter my mind and right up until exiting T2 I was debating whether or not I should even ride. However, I decided to approach the bike as an up tempo training ride.The bike course at Rev3 is beautiful and very challenging. It seemed I was either mashing up a hill at 10mph or coasting down at 35mph. I focused on keeping a steady up tempo effort and felt ok a moments but the flatness in my legs remained.I rolled into T2 in 12th place, much to my surprise and decided that I would at least practice my T2 and try to run. After running out of transition and 500 feet down the road the pain in my hip was not horrible, but I did not want to set myself back for IM CDA, so I pulled out and headed to the massage tent.Although this race was probably one of the worst of my career thus far, the lessons continue and I certainly learned a thing or two about the mental aspects of racing. I found that racing without a goal, or without any pressure on myself that there was nothing pulling me forwards or encouraging me to dig down and find the energy and strength to fight on. This is really the first time that I have mentally given up in a race and it is a slippery slope. I find that when the pain and desire to quit creep into your mind during a race it never lasts very long. However, when it is coupled with self-doubt or lack of self-expectation is very easy to give in and say to yourself “you’re right, I can’t do this” or “I’m not good enough.” This begins the negative downward spiral that in many ways becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The trick is to give yourself little goals, such as “one more hill” or “1 more mile.” Most importantly, however, stay positive, no matter how much your doubt yourself and your body is screaming to stop, smile, focus on staying relaxed and stay positive. It really does wonders and soon you will feel better, I promise.In summary, my race a Rev3 was pretty horrific, yet is certainly an organization where I will considering racing again in the future, only hopfully under very different circumstances.

One year ago this past weekend I graduated from medical school and made the uncharacteristic choice to take a break from my medical career and challenge myself in new and painful ways in the sport of triathlon. I have now been training and racing as a professional triathelte for 1 year and the lessons continue to arrive fast and furiously. This past weekend at Ironman Florida 70.3 was no exception…in fact it was probably one of the most glaring examples of what I have learned over the last year.

First off, racing at Disney World is fun, although next time I need to bring Ashley…and maybe the kid if we have one by then. I arrived on Friday, got everything taken care of and was ready to test my fitness, just one week after racing a previous weekend at the White Lake half triathlon.

As a professional triathelte the swim can make or break your race and unfortunately on this day it broke mine. I have been working very hard on my swim over the last 6 months and have made huge improvement, both in terms of my speed as well as my swimming endurance. I had put together great swims at IMAZ last fall and this spring at California 70.3 and was excited to put together another solid swim thinking I had figured out how to do it. The pro wave went off at 6:20AM and the sun was not even up yet. I had made the mistake of wearing tinted goggles and I had trouble seeing the buoys as well as other athletes. I began swimming very hard, as I usually do, and found some feet and then settled in to a steady rhythm after a few minutes. However, I got over confident and before I realized what had happened I had veered off course a little, the pack surged and I was left swimming alone. This has happened before, but this time it was not because I was not a strong enough swimmer, or I didn’t know what I was doing, it was because for a brief moment I lost concentration and stopped fighting to stay with the group. Lesson learned, never stop fighting to stay with pack, never! In that brief moment when I let the pack slip away my desired top ten finish also became much more difficult.

I stayed positive and came of out the water with a small group and jumped on my Trek. The bike course is smooth and fast and after a few minutes I found a great rhythm and a group of athletes and we help push each other along as we tired to chase down the main pack of 12 cyclists. However, despite a solid PR ride I remained about 2-3 minutes behind the group the entire way into T2.

The run course consists of 3 loops, which was a nice change from the “out and back” routes most courses have. The first mile I felt pretty good and was happy with my sub 6min split knowing I would catch several of the athletes ahead of me if I was able to maintain it. However, the middle 2 miles or so of the loop was on a wide grass trail and I had a very difficult time getting into a rhythm on the soft uneven footing. In addition to the grass the temperature and humidity began to climb and the sun began to feel very intense sapping my energy. I managed to stay relaxed and smooth and I was able to pick up the pace a little on the last lap where I passed a few guys and moved up to 17th overall.

The process of training and building fitness and seeing improvements is hugely gratifying and I have seen great improvements over the last year. However, I am still leaning the best way to execute a great race as a pro and give myself every opportunity to put that fitness to use. Many top athletes have told me the best way to become the best in the world is to train a lot, but race even more, and I am beginning to believe them. Every time I race I learn something new and especially when I am racing against some of the best in the world. Some people ask me why I constantly enter races that have a very deep pro field or that I probably won’t win. The answer is that I want to be one of the best in the world and the only way to get there is to continually, challenge myself and race the best in the world. I know that I now have the fitness and ability to race against some of the best athletes in the world, now I just need the experience! Next up Rev3 and Ironman CDA!

My Trigger Point Technology Massage Balls…why? What were you thinking? I always carry my TP massage balls with me when I travel and find that sitting around the airport is the perfect time to use them. This, however, requires carrying them thru security. On my trip here to Florida 70.3 I forgot to take the Quad Baller out of my bag and when they saw it on x-ray they decided that it was a club and decided to search all my other stuff! I though this was pretty funny, and the TSA officer and I, as well as a few other bystanders, had a good laugh when I got down on the floor and demonstrated it’s use! So the moral of the story is always take your Quad Baller out of your bag and put it in the bin before going thru the x-ray machine. But be prepared for a little demo at any point! ☺ Check out all the great TP products and the new Grid at www.tptherapy.com, use the coupon code MCDONALD09 to get 10% off your order! ☺

Sometimes races do not go exactly planned…. In fact they rarely go “exactly” as planned, but it’s how you respond to the adversity and handle yourself physically and mentally, that dictate the result. Lets just say that White Lake #2 was a great test. 

First off SetUp Events put together a great race in a great location! This race has been so popular in the past that they split it into 2 weekends Whit Lake ½ #1 was 5/2 and the sprint was 5/3, and White Lake #2 was 5/9 and the sprint 5/10…. I did the second weekend.It was an early morning for me, even by race day standards, because I decided to save money on a hotel room and got up at 2:30am to drive the 2 hours to the site that morning. What can I say…I am poor and cheap! I got there in plenty of time to register and got all my stuff together without any rush or unnecessary stress.The swim was in beautiful, clear and smooth White Lake (hence the name of the race). The water temp was 77 degrees, just barely wetsuit legal for this race, but it was going to be 90 degrees and sunny so I decided to go with the swimskin to keep my core body temp as low as possible for as long as possible. Also I wanted to challenge myself. Swimming in a swimskin is certainly slower than a full wetsuit. I had a decent swim, not exactly what I was hoping for, but it was difficult to see for the first 1/3 of the course and many of us swam a little farther than necessary. I exited in about 29min and was in 8th place, about 4min behind the leader.

Another advantage to the swimskin was my T1, itwas the fastest of the day and I was cruising on the bike course before I knew it! I had decided to push pretty hard for the first hour, not even look at my PowerTap, and see what happened. I had moved into second position by mile 10 and kept my foot on the gas, so to speak. This bike course is pretty flat, has a few small undulations, but is basically pancake flat so I could see the other competitors on some of the long straight away and knew I was catching the leader. At about mile 23 I moved into first position and was feeling great! However, about 2min later I heard a clunk and my chain feel off. My first thought was to stay came reach back down and put it back on. However, the chain had gotten jammed between my 11 cassette and rear seat stay, so I had to get off yank the chain out and I was off again. Ok only about a minute lost, and I thought to myself “no big deal, stay focused and relaxed. Note to self, never do your own bike tune up before a race…leave it to the professionals!” At this point I knew the leader was well aware of me and I have a feeling he pick it up a little, because it took me almost another 5 miles to catch up. I cruised past, a little more aggressively this time and around mile 40 there is an out and back where I clocked about a 1:30 lead. However, about a minute after that I heard that dreadful noise…KA POW! Tsss…Tsss…Tss…Tss and I knew this was not my day…to add insult to injury it was my rear tire also that had flatted. At this point I muttered a colorful metaphor to myself and for about a sixteenth of a second I thought about quitting. However, I that is not my style, I hit my watch to time how long it was going to take. After what felt like forever I was back in the saddle and rolling along. It took about 4min which I was pretty pleased with. I knew the leader was a good runner and at that point I decided that I would cruise into transition and see where things stood at that point before deciding my fate. I finished the bike in 2:15, which was the fastest of the day, including my mechanicals and flat, I was very happy with that.

I rolled into transition with my flat tire around my neck, since I didn’t have anywhere else to put it and didn’t want to leave it in the side of the road. Immediately my wife saw it and asked what had happened. I told her about my bike adventures as I took a somewhat relaxed T2…rushing never helps anything. As I headed out my wife also told me I was about 2min back, good to know. I was out on the run course with just my thoughts the sun and the heat before I knew it. I am racing Florida 70.3 next weekend and my plan at White Lake was not to run myself into the ground so that I would be fresh for next weekend. I was a little frustrated with how the day was unfolding, but I decided to focus on the beautiful weather and the fact that I was doing what I love, racing! I got myself into a positive frame of mind and felt great, physically and mentally. I found a slightly up tempo pace that was pretty comfortable that I knew I could sustain for the rest of the run and not kill my legs. A few people gave me splits along the route and I realized that I was closing in on the leader, not very fast, but I was closing. I decided to continue in my rhythm. At the turn around he was 1min up and knew I was closing. I decided that I would at least make him work for the win, so I picked up my pace for a few miles, but I kept getting 45 second splits. At that point I was going to have to run much harder to catch him with only a few miles left and I had bigger fish to fry next weekend, so I continued my pace and cruised into to the finish line in second place about 40 seconds behind, with the fastest run split of the day.

Believe it or not this was the first time I had ever flatted during a race and although I must admit that I am a little disappointed with my luck, I am very happy with the race and the lessons learned. There are several aspects of this race that I am very pleased with, not the least of which is how I responded to the events of the day. I reacted and responded to the situations around me in a calm and collected manner and I ultimately raced my race and stayed positive throughout the day. White Lake certainly tested me both physically and mentally and I am very happy with the outcome. Now for some new tires and tubes on my Bontrager Aeolusrace wheels, a visit to see the mechanic at Inside Out Sports and then off the Disney World for Florida 70.3! ☺

I am a strong believer that quality and consistency in training will trump quantity and/or intensity, if not immediately, then eventually down the road. Many people go out and race…a lot… and for some this works. Frequent, high intensity efforts, (a race), followed by recovery and rejuvenation is one way to build fitness, and for some this works. However, when it comes to most athletes, who have various other commitments, work family, school ect. and particularly those athletes training for an Ironman distance triathlon this may not be the best way to build your fitness.

Don’t get me wrong, I love racing, and toeing the line is truly the best way to test your fitness. Racing is also the goal that keeps us going forwards, and provides motivation for us all when we are tired or just lack motivation. But in my mind racing is also the reward, especially a good race, after some delayed gratification and heavy training, we dig ourselves out of the hole and see what the last several weeks have brought us.

I like clustering my races together, so that I can complete several weeks of uninterrupted training. Having said that, I have just finished a solid three and a half week training block which saw just under 100hrs of training, including 71000yrd of swimming, almost 1200miles of biking and 178 miles of running. Although there were certainly some hard intervals and work sets throughout this training block I keep the effort repeatable and consistent to maximize the fitness benefits.

As for the racing! I am racing the White Lake Half #2 here in NC tomorrow and then Florida 70.3 next weekend! I can’t wait to laid it all down the next few weeks and I’ll be sure to post updates afterward.

I have kicked off the last 2 season in Oceanside and 2009 was no different. The Timex Multisport Team holds it’s annual training camp in Carlsbad following the race and aside from getting some California sun, going to team camp, and having some fun racing, it is a great chance to test my early season fitness against some of the best athletes in the world. This year was no different, only instead of just 1 or 2, there were several world champions and Olympians racing.I arrived in Oceanside Tuesday night and was hosted by a great family, along with 7 other athletes racing! It was a fun environment to be in prior to the race and we were very well fed. A huge thank you to Felicia! ☺My race week was unremarkable and I was excited to race and see the results of my training the last 4 months. A visit to the expo, a few short loosen up workouts and lots of lying/sitting around. It was especially fun to see some great friends who were also racing/spectating whom I had not seen in a long time.
I arrived at the race site at about 5am, plenty of time park, get settled and do a short mental prep. It was about 45 with a pretty stiff wind and I was freezing and not at all looking forward to getting into the 59 degree water.

However, before I knew it I was in my wetsuit and standing on the boat ramp. I felt pretty good in the brisk water, I lined up right on the front and off we went. I found a pretty good group and cruised along expecting about a 27 minute swim, however, I was VERY pleasantly surprised to read the clock at 25min as I exited the water. Over the last 4 months I have been working very hard on my swim with the help of the NCAC masters group at UNC as well as on my Vasa Ergometer.
Cali 70.3 has a great bike course and I felt phenomenal during the first 45min or so as we flew up the coast with a slight tail wind. This winter cycling has been a key piece of my training, however, I was not expecting anything amazing. I pushed pretty hard these first 45min and then I settled down a little and still felt great. The back side of the course is rolling and has a few climbs, but some newly paved roads made for a very enjoyable ride. The last 15min or so of the bike I again let my power fall a little to make sure that I had something left in the tank for the run. In many of my races recently I have pushed pretty hard on the bike and I think that my run has suffered a little. As a result, I decided to give up a few minutes on the bike in order to run well.

I was into T2 and onto the run course before I knew it. My T2 was a little slower than I would have liked, but it was primarily a result of taking a few extra seconds to put on my CEP compression socks, which certainly allowed me to more than make that time up on the run.

I knew the run was going to be fast, especially give all the ITU athletes that were racing, so I dug in and kept my cadence up. There was section of beach that we had to run on (4 times) and it was miserable, but aside from that I was pretty satisfied with my run, not quite where I wanted it to be, but I was pretty satisfied.I finished in 4:13 which was about 10minutes faster than last year and was good enough for 21st place overall. Given the fact that it is only April I am happy with my results and it is a sign of very good things to come this season.

Making this race even more special is that my wife and dog were able to watch me race! My dog was also very thirsty after so much excitement so she helped herself to some water from my Fuel Belt.

I arrived in San Diego last night after a rough 5hr flight. The flight was pretty bumpy and I didn’t actually get sick but my stomach and head certainly ached pretty much the whole flight. San Diego airport is pretty easy to navigate and I was in my rental car cruising up to Carlsbad where my home stay hosts were more than generous to wait up for me. Now I am in So Cal, where it is not so sunny this morning but I am getting pumped to race on Saturday.

As for the “it” that made it as well, I am referring to my race bracelet from Ironman Arizona this past November. As many of you know at races they give every athlete a bracelet with the name of the race and your bib number on it to keep track of everyone and allow athletes access to certain areas. I normally take this bracelet off right after the race, however, after IMAZ and the less than ideal results I let it on as a reminder of why I get up everyday and why I push myself to the breaking point at times and struggle to be the best athlete I can be. After a few days I just left it on and it eventually began a little game of how long with it last without breaking. Well, it has made it 4 months! That’s 294,000 yards of swimming, 2600 miles of biking, 665 miles of runner, 3 holidays, my birthday and who knows what else. It is hardly even recognizable any longer, the silver backing has long since wore away along with the writing and the several layers of plastic are breaking apart and disintegrating…but it is still around my writs. It has served as a reminded of why I am working so hard and pushing myself. Now that the 2009 season is virtually here I will take it off and see what the results are from leaving this bracelet on thru 4 months of steady, consistent and at times hard training.

It has been almost 4 months since my last race and it has been a long time. The hardest part of training the last few months has been the steady day-in and day-out training without and immediate race goals. All that changes next Saturday at Ironman California 70.3. My 2009 race season officially kicks it off in Oceanside and I am getting excited. The last 4 months of training have been solid and I think that I can count the number of days off on one…(maybe one and a half)…hands. I have never begun my season feeling this fit and never been able to bounce back from tough workouts this quickly. I attribute this to my attention on the daily “details” of recovery and focusing on the foundation of health and fitness. I have made sure to get enough sleep, wear compression socks during and after tough workouts, take ice baths, daily use of trigger point technology products, proper and balanced nutrition include the daily use of Base Performance Nutrition product line. In fact I have not been sick or had any illness that has limited my training in the last 4 months. Focusing on the little daily details to make sure I am healthy and ready to do the hard training is the most important piece of the puzzle. Next week in Oceanside I will kick off the 2009 season and see just how much the last 4 months have paid off.

I spent last week in Santa Fe, NM to enjoy a mid winter altitude training camp.  It was really my wife’s vacation and we wanted to get a little change of scenery as well as see her parents new house.  So it was a last minute trip, for just a week, but it was great! 

For those of you who don’t know Santa Fe is located 7,000 feet above sea level…let me tell you that is high…in fact 2,000-1,500 feet higher than Denver and Boulder, CO.  I could barely do a flip turn without gasping for breath! J  Although I did feel flat for most of my workouts there was one great ride I have to share.

The Santa Fe ski basin is at 10,000 feet and there is a single 15 mile winding access road that snakes it’s way from downtown to the summit.  I decided that I needed to make this trip on my bike, just to say that I did.  I began in the late afternoon when the sun was strongest and the temperatures were warmest.  However, as I began the ascent the clouds quickly hide my heat sources.  I had prepared for the descent, so I put on a few extra layers sooner than anticipated. 

About 30minutes into my climb I began a 30min tempo work set up the hill holding about 80% of my FTP, this helped me warm up quite a bit, even though I was barely going 8mph! J  As I got closer to the top the sun began to rapidly sink in the sky, the snow banks began to increase in size and the water on the roads soon turned to slush.  I considered turning around, but I had made it this far I had to continue. 

I reach the summit at about 5pm, significantly later than I had hoped, but just as the sun was setting and it was beautiful.  I snapped a few photos on my phone and prepared for a cold ride back down to town.  It took me 1:35min to climb the hill and less than 45min to get back down!  It would have been a lot more fun if I didn’t have to slow down for the ice and I didn’t need to stop a few times and breath on my hands and into my gloves to keep my fingers from going numb! By the time I got home it was pitch dark and I was FREEZING!! When I got home I took a steaming hot shower and a huge vat of my new favorite 53×11 coffee!  It was not the best planned adventure, but it was great fun!