Alex McDonald Pro Triathlete

For New Years my wife, dog and I made a whirlwind tour of New England.  We drove up from Durham, NC to visit various family and friends and while we were in Providence, RI I made a stop by the Tri Fit Lab.  Todd Kenyon has created a top secret new machine that will revolutionize the fit process and I was happy to be a guinea pig…I mean pioneer of this new method.  This new machine is top secret (hence the blurred out picture below), however, I can say that it enabled Todd to independently change various proportions and fit dimensions of the bike I was riding, while I was riding a hard threshold set.  We played around with various methods to determine the best way to determine the best fit with the best power production.  At first I watched my power while Todd told me what changes he was making and I would try to figure out what felt better.  However, I found it very difficult to be objective and honest with what position felt better or was more powerful.  We then decided to try changing parameters while holding a constant power and without giving me any information.  All I had to say was what felt better, “number 1, or number 2.”  Much like the eye doctor asks you which lens lets you see better without giving you any prior information.  I found this method very helpful and after some tweaks we got me into a great position where I was very comfortable and still able to produce optimal power.  This never would have been possible without this new machine.  It may sound cliche, but it is going to revolutionize the way that a rider if fit.  You can find a little more information about this machine at here and find out more about Todd and his fit services at www.ttbikefit.com.

For those of you living in the triangle area here is a great opportunity to learn from a world class swimmer!

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I was unable to even try to qualify for Kona this year, due to my stress fracture, which was frustrating indeed, but I had a great consolation prize. My wife had already taken the week off from work (scheduled a year ago) just incase I qualified. However, we decided that we should still take a trip, so went to Denver and Telluride, CO for the week, in addition it was to celebrate our anniversary.What a great trip! I got to visit my friends from med school now living in Denver, and see their new baby. He was the person who first got me into triathlon and it was great to reconnect with him. As for Telluride, let’s just say it is a magical place! ☺ My wife and I did lots of hiking (up to almost 13,000 feet) and had a wonderful time. Here are some photos from the trip.

For the past 2 years the final touch on my training for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI has been racing the Duke Liver Center ½ Iron Triathlon, which has now become my home town race since moving here in 2008. Regardless, of my current racing, or lack there of, this year, I could not let this race go by without being involved in some way. So, despite the rain and early morning start I rode my bike the 20 miles to the race, volunteered for a few hours and then rode home. It was a lot of fun to watch, help out and be involved from a different perspective. My injury and set backs this year finally gave me the time to volunteer.

I have always meant to volunteer more at races, however, with my own training and racing schedule normally very full I always found it difficult to find the time and the energy. This year I have had, at least the time and have found the energy. Between working the expo in Lake Placid to volunteering this weekend I had a great time and have a new found respect for the volunteers and expo workers within the triathlon industry. I would encourage everyone to get involved from a different perspective, if you have raced, volunteer. If you have volunteered, race! ☺

The best part of this weekend was watching my friends and occasional training partners rip it up on race day. Including Timex teammate Eric bean cross the line first!

I have had a frustrating 2009 to say the least. After my hip started bothering me at the end of May and I pulled out of some races in June I finally learned that I had a stress fracture in my femoral neck at the beginning of July.
Although it was frustrating I at least had a diagnosis and could now make a plan for returning to racing. However, my body and my mind apparently need to work on their communication skills. After some set backs while returning to running I have finally realized that I was putting a little too much stress on my self too soon. Not only was this stress physical, but mental as well. I was so focused on getting healthy and getting back on the race course that I was ignoring many of the indications that my mind and body were sending. They were telling me to slow down and not force myself to try to return too soon. After some good conversations with my coach as well as friends and family I decided that I needed to take the pressure off and really give myself time to recover, mentally and physically. As a result it looks as if I will take my “off season” now and focus on rest and recuperation along with my diet and body composition. Let the running return gradually and spend some time with my wife and dog. As a result I will focus on an early season Ironman in 2010 and know that I will return to racing stronger, faster, leaner and more determined than ever! Now pass me that beer and Burger… just kidding coach! ☺

As many of you know I have been dealing with a hip injury for well over a month now. Initially my doctor and I thought this was due to a tendon strain and taking a few weeks to try to let it heal would do the job. However, after 3 weeks without any running success and continuing pain, I knew something was wrong. An MRI revealed that I had a stress fracture in the neck of my femur. Although I was frustrated to learn this information and wish I had known it 3 weeks earlier, at least I had a diagnosis and knew what I had to do to be able to run again.The disappointment of having to skip Ironman Coeur d’Alene as well as Ironman Lake Placid has passed and I have focused on the things I can control. Right now I am swimming quite a bit and really working on my form and technique in the water. Additionally, I am working with Jesse Kropelniki at QT2 Systems to tweak my body composition to avoid the repeated stress of additional body weight while pounding out the miles. Lastly, I am working with some amazing physical therapists at Duke University. They have identified some major flaws in my running biomechanics that may have contributed to my injury and we are working to correct them.Lastly, I am going to travel to Lake Placid to watch my first Ironman. It is going to be painful to watch and not participate but I know it will also help to motivate me to get back to training and racing once my body is ready. I will be helping out at the expo in Placid as well. I will be hanging out at the Timex truck, Trigger Point, TYR, and Globus booths at different times over the weekend, so stop by and say hello.

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! ☺