Testing and Training Camp

Last week my group of coached athletes completed our testing on the treadmill to evaluate our running zones and VO2. Matt Carnal, pictured above with his six pack abs, kicked all our asses and blew a 70.2 VO2 max. The rest of us were in the mid 60’s.

I was surprised how my lactate levels stayed steady in the 3.4 range until I was 2 minutes into the 5:30 pace of the protocol. What’s cool about this testing, is that your perceived exertion matches what the lab results are spitting out. David stopped the test for me at the end of the protocol but I felt I could have kept going much longer and harder. My lactate level only went to 5.6, whereas the other athletes got much higher. What this told me was that I was in pretty good shape, and I can tolerate exercise above my lactate threshold for quite a long time. My body seems to be efficient in metabolizing the lactate better than those who were lesser trained.

Going forward, we will be retesting in 12 weeks to see how the fitness levels improve by training in our laboratory measured zones.

After the test, Matt and I had a big weekend of training. We had a hard bike interval hill repeat session and ran the 13.4 mile hilly Thunder foot course. Last year I did all my training alone, this year, with my coaching group; I am teaching and producing some fast young guys to train with, it turning out to be beneficial to all of us.
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I was on vacation last week and my wife, Dana, went to Henderson, Nevada to do a training camp with some of her gal pals, Jennifer Johnson, and Lisa Wei-Haas. The only photos they took were postcards like shots. However, I did happen to find the photo above which bears a stunning resemblance to all three of them. Anyway, I was Mr. Mom for a week which was nice.

Much of the girls’ training was done in the mountains on the Silverman course. They got in some epic swim bike and run training to assist in bumping up the fitness levels. Dana is in preparation for Ironman Brazil. She closed the camp with a half marathon race which included running through six tunnels blown through mountains. She did pretty well in the race despite having a week of volume and fatigue in her legs.

At the end of the week, I got a babysitter to watch the kids while Matt and I did our big ride. This was a big mistake, I should have just taken it easy and enjoyed the time at home with the kidos, but hindsight is 20/20 and I continue to make huge mistakes.

Our garage door angles 90 degrees. It is a bit tricky to maneuver the van into the garage. My babysitter took the kids out for ice cream and didn’t quite make the tricky turn into the garage. Result: A smashed van with $2000 damage and a damaged entry way into the garage. Ouch!!
I picked Dana up from the airport that night and she wasn’t too happy with the new look to her Honda Odyssey. That ended up being a pretty expensive ride I took. Luckily, insurance will take care of some of the expense.

Just for laughs, here’s a link some one sent us picturing what celebrities would look like if they were from Oklahoma.

Matt Carnal: "Anything is Possible"

Not long ago I began working with an athlete, Matt Carnal. Matt came to me about a year ago with aspirations to do Ironman. No not just any Ironman. The Ironman…You know the one in Hawaii… The World Championships. Matt had yet to even do a triathlon, but this was something he really wanted to do. His background is college baseball and he ran a little in high school. I kindly let him know that it was very competitive to get to the event and that some people work their tails off for many years and still never get to the big show. I wasn’t really coaching people then but my wife was. He wanted some advice from us because 50% of the 2006 Oklahoma Hawaii Ironman qualifiers were living under our roof. We must have been doing something right. He ended up working with another coach but we saw one another now and then and when I saw him at a few races I offered encouragement.

Matt learned pretty quickly that there are some pretty fast dudes out there, especially in his age group, the M25-29. His first triathlon was Oceanside 70.3, and then he went to Honu 70.3 and had a better race. He had some mechanical problems on the bike at Buffalo Springs and didn’t finish, but in 2007 he got his feet wet in the sport and he got a good feel for “what it takes” to succeed and reach his ultimate goal. He contacted me again this summer and I agreed to help him. Since then we have been working toward his big goal…one step at a time.

The first step in Matt’s progression is to run a sub 3:00 marathon at Route 66 in Tulsa on November 18th. This wasn’t my idea, it was Matt’s. He has never run a marathon before but this is what he wanted to do. Sub 3 his first time out. He’s right though. To make the Kona cut in his age group he will have to have sub 3 hr open marathon speed. I gave him workouts that a sub 3 hr marathoner should be able to do and he did them. I gave him tune up races with goal times as benchmarks to see if it was a realistic goal and he even surprised me.

He got faster with each race and as the distance went up Matt was able to sustain the pace. On Oct 6th he did the Zoo Run 10K in 39:47. On Oct 27th he the did the Tulsa Run, his first 15K, in 56:51, On Nov 4th he did the Jenks half in 1:23:53. Based on his last long run pace he did on Oct 14th, and his progression in times in these last few races, he should be able to crack the 3 hour barrier if he paces himself smartly and I’m sure he will ;) These great results will steamroll into better ones and build greater confidence for further achievement down the line.

What I’ve noticed most about Matt recently is that he is focused. He has the right mental attitude and tunnel vision required to meet his goal. He is eating a proper diet, no junk. He is getting the rest he needs. He knows what he needs to do and goes out and does it. This mental attitude is often overlooked but is the most important component of achieving an Ironman goal. There are so many opportunities for letdown in a race this long. Having the right mental attitude is more than 50% in achieving success.

I will be updating Matt’s progress in his quest for Kona but for now, Ironman Kentucky this summer will have to suffice. In Ironman the slogan says "Anything is Possible". Maybe he will be in the waters of Kialua bay this October. At this pace, he very well might.

So if you are on out on the course at the Rt. 66 Marathon in Tulsa on November the 18th, give Matt a cheer.