Tales From The Mid-Pack

Ragnar, bitches.

2011-06-13T11:11:00.005-05:00

I've wanted to do a long-distance running relay race for quite a while now - we actually submitted an application to the mother of all relays, Hood to Coast, two years ago, but didn't get selected - and this past weekend I finally got to experience one.

Our friend Ross gets all the credit for actually pulling the trigger, and setting up the team, so all kudos to him for getting the ball moving. For those who have never heard of Ragnar, it's a series of races nationwide, all about 200-miles in length, in which teams of 8-12 runners complete three (or more) legs each over the course of 36-odd hours. The race goes around the clock, so you're moving - either on foot or in one of two vans - pretty much non-stop until the whole thing ends. As you can imagine, the nature of the event - combining both mental and physical fatigue, and both in extremely close quarters - means that you had better be careful in selecting your teammates. Luckily, Ross did a great job, and apart from a few late-race snipes and a couple of tears, I think we're all still friends (but, I guess we'll see if Cath and I ever get another invite to be sure...). Cath and I were assigned to Van 2 along with Drew, Ross, his wife Diana, and our friends Danielle and John for Minneapolis. Because we ended up with an extra participant, Ross graciously volunteered to forgo his running spot and just come along for the ride.

The adventure began on Thursday, when the van picked us up at home for the trek to Madison. Traffic was pretty lousy, so we didn't end up getting into town until after dinner time. Burgers and beer hit the spot, and we then retreated to the hotel to soak up as much sleep as we'd get for the next 40-odd hours.

Because Van 1 started the race for us at 8:30 a.m., we had the morning to ourselves - the format of the race requires all 6 runners in Van 1 to complete their first legs before the runners in our van began their legs - and took advantage of the extra time to joke our way through breakfast and pick up some last minute supplies. The leisurely start was a welcome way to begin a race, but I was antsy to get going - Van 2's first runner didn't hit the road until lunch time, and I was the last runner (leg 12) to run their first leg. I think I actually took the "baton" from Cath for my first leg around 6:00 p.m. on Saturday evening.

But it didn't take long to get into the race - about 10 steps in, a kid passed me asking what kind of pace I planned to run. I said I didn't know, and was going to see how I felt. He said he wanted to run 7:00/miles and we should run together. Yeah, right. No, I said, that's too fast for my old bones, but good luck out there. He motored ahead, but never got too far away, and I started feeling better as the first mile passed by. This first leg was 6.9 miles long, and almost totally flat, and I quickly made my way back up to this kid's side. We chatted for a quite a while, which was a nice way to pass the time, and we were still going at pretty healthy clip - somewhere in the 7:00 to 7:30/mile range - until there was just a mile or two left. I then left him to try and pick a few more "kills" (the popular name for runners you pass during your leg), and ended up completing the leg in just a bit over 50 minutes. I think it worked out to about 7:15/mile average, which I was super happy with - didn't think I had that kind of speed left for that kind of distance.

We then got a quick bite to eat - the local Boy Scouts were selling burgers and such at the end of the leg - and headed to the next van exchange. With Van 1's runners now plowing ahead with their second legs, we were able to rest a bit at some high school that had volunteered to let hundreds of sweaty, hungry runners crash on the gym floor and take cold showers in the locker room. Believe me, high schools still look and smell as gross as they did when you were a student - the first shower I turned on spit out a sad little stream of brown water. But even a cold shower was better than nothing, and we rested on a dark basketball court for a couple hours until it was time to prepare for our second legs.

My own second leg started at around 1:00 a.m., and ended up being another 5.4 mile sprint through the suburban neighborhoods of Racine, Wisconsin. I really didn't intend to put so much effort into it, but, again, as soon as I started, there was a high school girl (Haley, as it turns out) on my shoulder. At first I thought she was going to leave me in the dust, but she stayed right there on my shoulder. Then that got annoying, so I tried to pull away, but her long legs were having none of that. So then it got weird. We were running much faster than was comfortable, but I felt like I couldn't slow down - ego, maybe - so I just kept going as fast as I could into the night. Her van would come by to cheer every few hundred yards, which I thought was really nice, and it made the dark miles fly by. And we stayed just like that - front to back - for almost the whole leg, never speaking a word to each other, until about 500 yards left, when she suddenly faded back. I congratulated her after we finished, and sure enough, she was probably 17 years old and about 5'11''. We had run straight 7:00/miles and I thought I was close to death. Crazy what pride will do to you. But, again, I'm proud of myself for the effort - it was Ironman-level intense, and I definitely wanted to slow down (or lay down) many times, but was able to keep up the pace. In the grand scheme of things it really didn't matter, but it made me feel a little bit badass. So, there's that.

And with that, we had another long-ish break - from roughly 2:00 a.m. to 3:30 a.m., where we tried to rest inside Lutheran church. But, again, I just couldn't sleep - there was just too much noise, and I was too jacked up from just having run, so I just laid there and tried to rest a bit.

We struck out again for our last legs at about 3:45 a.m., and that's when the long day/night started to really hit me. I just couldn't keep my eyes open in the van, and wondered how I was ever going to finish that last leg. Then my stomach started getting bloaty and sick feeling. Luckily, the sun came up and things started to fall back into place. We stopped for bagels and coffee, and I rallied in time for the home stretch. I was lucky enough to draw the last leg of the race, which would take our team over the finish line. By this time, a lot of the truly fast teams - and our team was no slouch, so these kids were really flying - had caught up to us and we (sadly) getting killed more often than we were picking up kills. It seemed like every around us was running well under 7:00/miles and were obviously on college or club teams.

I got the slap bracelet from Cath for the last time at around noon on Saturday, and made my way south from Northwestern University to the finish line, a distance of 6.8 miles. I started off strong, successfully repelling an attack from behind (winning!), but pretty much felt like ass after about 25 minutes. I tried to keep the pace high, but just because I wanted the running to be o-v-e-r. My quads were killing me. I was cold. I was hungry. And so tired. I just wanted to stop running.

Then, as I turned a corner along the lakefront, I saw Ragnar's orange tents and banners in the distance and about died - it all seemed so far away still. Pfft. Finally, I made my way to the beach, and stopped my watch at 56 minutes. So glad to be done. So. Glad. It was great to see everyone, and super nice to be the last one in, but I was so glad to be done.

All-in-all, it was a great event. Much more difficult than I imagined it would be, but probably because I ran it much harder than I expected to. But everyone on our team gave it 110 percent, and you just felt like you couldn't lounge it in. My teammates were awesome - so much laughing, and nobody went postal! Can't ask for much more than that. And can't wait to do it again.

Cheers!

Wrapping up week 7

2011-05-27T08:18:00.002-05:00

Don't really have any hard and fast feelings as to how the training is going so far - it's going, I guess. I'm in it enough that the days are all starting to blend in to each other, so nothing really stands out. I'm hitting the workouts, with a few adjustments here and there, so I'm feeling good about that. I'm also feeling good physically - no aches or pains, knock on wood.

Hoping to get outside on the bike this weekend, which would be a first this year. Pretty pathetic that my bike hasn't seen the pavement since, oh, September maybe? August? I can't even remember. I have two and one-half hours on the plan, so I'm hoping the weather will cooperate. That kind of time on the trainer is pretty grating.

Other than that, nothing too exciting going on. Just knocking out the miles/laps. Ho-hum.
Hope yu'uns have a nice Memorial Day weekend.

Cheers!

Week 5

2011-05-11T07:58:00.002-05:00

Dude, week 5 already? Wow. My head can't believe it, but my body does - despite a pretty consistent off-season, a real IM schedule has been a bit of an adjustment. The volume isn't all that heavy yet, but focusing more on swim-bike-run has been a bit of a challenge. My body just feels a bit run down most of the time. The Monday rest days don't do a lot to help. But the workouts, themselves, are good. No problem there. And my sleep (including weekend naps) has been awesome.

But I've always had a bit of a problem with recovery - I have never been good about post-exercise stretching and nutrition, and I think that's why I'm feeling a bit 'blah.' My muscles are tight, and I'm hungry at night, which tells me that I'm not cooling down well enough and not eating enough during the day. Both issues need to be fixed before the numbers start to pick up in the coming weeks.

In other news, Cath and I are going to spend a week in Boulder/Denver, CO in July to celebrate her birthday, and scope out the area as a potential target for re-location. As I've whined before, I can't wait to pull up stakes and leave Chicago behind, and we've (well, I've...) recently focused my attention on Colorado as the most viable candidate. We'll see. My mom still wants us in Bend, OR, seeing as she lives just a couple hours away, but I fear that the area is too small and won't provide ample employment opportunities for us (which is, of course, especially important in this deflated economy). At this point, I'm just excited to be hunting for new places to live. It should be fun.

Other than that, we did end up bailing on Galena this year - it just didn't make economic sense without Drew's involvement - so our next adventure is Ragnar the weekend of June 11th.

Hope all is well where you are.

Cheers!

In it

2011-04-27T08:21:00.002-05:00

So, we're officially into week 3 and things are still pretty much on track, training-wise. I've continued to hit my goals for the week, and, physically speaking, everything feels good. The transition to more intense and extended cardio has taken a bit of getting used to - I'm now feeling the absence of running and biking from my life over the past few months - but I'm liking it. Having taken some time off, I feel pretty fresh and it seems almost new again.

The only workout I really don't look forward to is the long bike on Saturday - the weather is still crap here, so the trainer is getting a workout. And I forgot how horrible the trainer can be. Anything more than an hour is pretty miserable. I'm not sure how I made it though four and five hour rides preparing for IM Arizona - I can't imagine doing that again. I'm just hoping that the weather improves enough in May to actually get out on the roads. That's not asking too much, is it?

Otherwise, things are pretty low-key here. Unfortunately, our sprint tri in Galena may have to get scrubbed - Drew has had an unexpected family issue arise, and I'm not sure I want to expend the time/$$$ to go up there alone, but we'll see. But Ragnar is still on the agenda for June, and I'm looking forward to that as something new and exciting.

And speaking of new and exciting, I definitely want to do one of these next year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jjvVEovZVY'

Cheers!

Things I like

2011-04-18T08:15:00.005-05:00

Even though I'm very small potatoes in the blog world, and receive nothing in the form of endorsements or discounts from anyone for anything I write here, I still thought it might be helpful to occasionally post about things I like (usually related to training). I know when I started in triathlon, I had no idea what to eat, drink, wear, etc., and there were even fewer options then than there are now. I think I've ingested just about every type of bar, drink, and gel, and am now on my fifth type of bike helmet since 2004. Obviously, everyone is different, and what I think is great may not be so great for you, but I'd definitely recommend that you at least try some of the things that have worked for me - it might totally change your training and racing. Hopefully, for the better.

Today I'm plugging Gu energy gels. And I'm not talking Roctane, Gu's high end cousin, but rather the original Gu. Not the recovery tea, or the blocs, or whatever else they have out there, either. Just the plain ol' Gu energy gel that's been around since 1991 (look, I even did research for this post!). Not that the other stuff isn't good, but it's just not my focus today.

Gu, for me, is like the high school sweetheart you left behind when you went to college, and then later wish was still part of your life. I started with Gu when I started in triathlon, actually while I was still just doing running events, but I was tempted by all the new gel formulas that quickly entered the market, and left Gu behind. I dabbled with the Power Bar variety, the Cliff Shot, even the Accelerade, Carb Boom, and Hammer offerings. But I soon came back to Gu (unlike the high school sweetheart). They weren't the same.

I'm certainly not smart enough to know the science behind it, but Gu just seems to work for me. Much better than the other stuff on the market. I slug it down, and instantly feel energized. I actually look forward to the point during the run or ride when I can rip one open, because I know that it will make me feel better. And I like the little things - there's a million different flavors (or Plain, which is actually one of my favorites), and while it can be a little thick when it's cold out, warming it up makes it easy to take in on the bike or run. You can even mix it in a flask with water to make it extra-liquidy, which I did for IM Arizona a few years ago. In fact, that's about all I took in for that race, and felt fine the whole time. It's also easy on my stomach, which can be super sensitive on race days.

So, there you go. Like I said, the folks at Gu don't know me from Adam, and I'm not asking them for anything - this is just my little tip for you. Energy gels can be hugely effective for training and racing, so if you're not using them, you should give them a try. Sample a few different kinds, but make sure there a Gu Chocolate Outrage in the mix - it looks and tastes just like frosting, and what could be better than that?

Cheers!

Weekly schedule

2011-04-15T07:35:00.004-05:00

One of the great things about training for an Ironman is that you never need to spend any time wondering what type of exercise you want to do on a given day. The plan tells you what you're doing. And for how long. And how hard.

This can, of course, also be a huge draw back, if you just don't feel like doing what's on the plan for that day. Or doing it as long as it wants you to do it. Or as hard as it says to do it.

The 30-week plan that I'm following, and followed for IMWI 2009, as well, is pretty straight forward. And, yes, I have the schedule printed out as a graph so it's easy to see what the week holds (I'm not naturally a graph person, unlike many/most IM participants, but the graph was given to me by a friend that followed the same plan, so I'm using it).

A typical week looks like this:

- Monday = rest day (love that the week starts with rest - how can you argue with that?!);
- Tuesday = swim/run (distances and times vary as the plan progresses);
- Wednesday = bike/run;
- Thursday = swim/bike;
-Friday = run;
- Saturday = bike;
- Sunday = run.

I've previously altered this schedule slightly to fit our life schedule, and will likely do the same this time. For example, this week I just biked on Thursday, and swam today instead of running. Because my run is probably my strong suit, and has the greatest chance for injury over the long-term, I will probably do fewer runs than the plan provides and instead put that time toward a strength session and more biking. Drew and I usually ride long on Sundays, and we can run with Cath's marathon training group on Saturdays, so those days usually get reversed. Don Fink, the guy who put this plan together, encourages people to do some measure of strength training each week - mostly core stuff, and nothing too exhausting - and I'm going to try to keep at least one session in each week, which I didn't bother to do the last time we IM trained. We'll see if bringing it back into the fold will make any difference.

Other than that, I plan on trying to keep to the plan pretty vigorously this year. I did well this week - which is probably a good thing, seeing as it was week 1 - and hit each of the workouts, except that run on Friday (which, as mentioned, will probably disappear from my schedule altogether). So far, so good, but it's early still - the hard work is still a ways down the road.

Cheers!

Day 1

2011-04-12T15:23:00.005-05:00

Well, there are over 200 days until I - hopefully - get a glimpse of the finish line at IM Florida, but you gotta start somewhere.

And today was that somewhere. Day one.
IM training has officially begun, and I'm excited and grateful to be in a position - physically and otherwise - to begin this journey once again.

I remember attending a group pre-race dinner put on by a triathlon coach friend of ours several years ago for her athletes that were about to take on IM Wisconsin. The coach asked some of us who had already completed the race to give a few words of advice on race strategy and the like, and, when it was my turn, I got choked up just thinking and talking about the experience again. I think I actually had to stop and check myself before continuing. I'm not generally a mushy person, but the memories created by an IM race - and the effort that I made to get there - are so vivid and so deep, that the emotions were just right there. So much can go wrong - in the days and weeks leading up to the race, and on race day itself - you realize that the journey could have ended at any point along the route. But if it all comes together, those are memories you'll have for the rest of your life.

It meant a lot to complete that Ironman race, and the two I've done since then have been equally rewarding, so to be in a position to once again start that trip is reason in itself to give thanks. I'm lucky that I have a wife that supports this lifestyle, generally good health, and the disposable income to throw on race fees and travel. I'm lucky to have friends that enjoy spending their weekends on long runs and rides in the middle of nowhere, days which typically start way too early in the morning. And I'm lucky to have the genetics to be somewhat proficient at all three sports that make up this silly sport.

I hope I make it the start line in one piece this year, but I also recognize that the true value of finishing an Ironman race comes from the training you put in to get there. The race, itself, is just frosting on the cake. So I'm going to relish this feeling and the days that lie ahead because it's this effort that will make another IM finish so memorable.
Here we go.

Cheers!

The final countdown

2011-03-14T08:54:00.003-05:00

So, as previously mentioned, I'll be following the Be Iron Fit training plan for this round of "Can John Make It Through Another Ironman Without Dying."

With the race falling on November 5 this year, that puts the first day of the 30-week training plan on April 11 (although, because the plan gives you Monday as a rest day every week, the training really starts on the 12th). That's fewer than 30 days from now, and feels like tomorrow. Gulp.

But what I like about Fink's plan is that it starts out rather tame, and the increases in training are moderate - the first week, for example, is only six hours of exercise, and only averages less than 10 hours per week for the first 11 weeks of the plan. Considering I'm already in the gym six days per week, this should be a pretty easy adjustment.

And I'm looking forward to following a plan again, while at the same time easing off on the high heart rate activity - sadly, Peak Performance (otherwise known as "60 minutes of pure, painful, agony not designed for a 42-year old man") will have to go on without me. Long and slow, here I come!

The only down side is having to pick up another day in the pool - I've been going once per week, just to remember how it's done, but will need to add another day in order to gain a bit more endurance. And I hate swimming. Especially with other people. A week or two ago, I was forced to share a lane with a guy much larger than myself, with the more bizarre stroke, and who was entirely unable to stay on his side of the lane. Totally threw off my swim, as I was terrified that a fist was going to come crashing down on my head every time we passed each other. But, I guess that's just comes with the territory. Hopefully, the warm weather will arrive as quickly as the cold did last year, and we'll be swimming in the lake before Memorial Day.

I also can't wait to get the bike outside again - it's been so long since we rode out in the suburbs that I'm afraid we'll get lost on our tried-and-true route. Did 90 minutes on the trainer on Saturday and it seemed like an eternity. I'd rather get buzzed by rednecks in pickup trucks than muscle through an indoor trainer session, so we may venture out a bit early this year. Again, praying Mother Nature turns on the warmth early this year.

Hope you're making through this winter in one piece!

The list

2011-02-09T08:23:00.003-06:00

It's really no secret that I hate Chicago.

I've felt this way for about 10 years now. It's loud, the people are inconsiderate douchebags, the weather sucks, and anything resembling nature is at least a 45 minute drive away (and your definition of "nature" had better be pretty broad for this apply). Luckily, the wife shares my contempt for this place, and we have rather unscientifically come up with the following possible destinations for our ultimate escape from the frigid Midwest. When this escape will be pulled off is anyone's guess at this point - I had a dream the other night that our condo was appraised at $15,000, which may not be far from reality. But, it's still nice to dream of leaving this all behind, especially when you're walking to work in single-digit temps. So, here's the list of frontrunners so far, in no particular order:

1. Bend, Oregon - sits pretty much smack-dab in the middle of Oregon, not far from Mt. Bachelor and the Cascade Lakes. I love the fact that it sits in the high-desert, and has less than 60,000 full-time residents. It's also the home of the Dechutes Brewery, and closer - but not too close - to my folks. Perfect.

2. Boise, Idaho - is the state capital and the largest city in Idaho, which isn't saying much - the tallest building is only 20 stories, and there's around 200,000 residents. Outside magazine recently rated it the number one place to live in the western US. Sounds good to me.

3. Santa Fe, New Mexico - another capital city, Santa Fe sits at 7,000 feet above sea level and has just over 73,000 residents. I love desert climates because there's no humidity, and Santa Fe's temps are just my speed - not too hot, and not too cold. And 300+ days of sunshine each year. I could get used to that.

Cheers!

Galena

2011-02-02T09:32:00.002-06:00

So, Drew and I signed up for the Galena triathlon, set to take place on May 21, 2011, in scenic Galena, Illinois. I've actually signed up for this race three times, but have finished only once - my very first triathlon, back in 2003. Since then, the race was cancelled because of thunderstorms, and I DNF'ed in 2009 (Cath had a tire melt-down, and I stopped to try and help, but the damage was too severe and we bailed).

But, despite the fact that I've only crossed the finish line once, it's a beautiful race - the scenery in that part of the state is lovely, and the course is very challenging. Rolling hills everywhere, on both the bike and run. And Galena, itself, is a cute little town, very popular as an antique-lovers destination and summer B&B getaway. Drew and I also like it, because it presents a nice early-season training weekend - the race is on Saturday, so, if you choose to spend an added night, you have half the day on Sunday to ride and run some more. I'm very much looking forward to it, and strongly recommend the race as a great way to kick off the tri season.

Unfortunately, May still seems like a million miles away, especially as Chicago got hammered with an epic blizzard last night, and more snow is falling today. I think they're expecting two feet of snow on the ground by the time it's over, so I guess the bike can keep sleeping in the closet. It'll be awhile before those two tires will be hitting the road. But, snow or no snow, the IM training plan starts on April 11. Can't wait!

Ragnar

2011-01-21T08:15:00.003-06:00

So, Cath and I were recently invited to participate in our friends Ross and Diana's Ragnar relay team. Apparently, they think that we will bring a bit of speed to the squad. Little do they know that we've been doing nothing but drink beer and watch football for the past four months. Oh, well, Ragnar is all about fun, right? No podiums, no medals, no Kona slots.

But we're actually very excited - I had my heart set on Hood to Coast a couple years ago, but we didn't survive the lottery, and I frankly forgot to get an application in for 2011. Huge registration fail. But leave it to Ross (//http://road2imoo.blogspot.com/) - who has recently taken the triathlon world by storm - to set up a team that will, no doubt, finish squarely in the top 90 percent of the field. It should be a hoot.

The relay "race" goes from Madison to Chicago, 193 miles, and is broken down into multiple legs. Each of the 12 participants runs three legs, varying in distance from three to eight miles per leg. The only kicker is that the race goes all night, so sleep will be in short supply, and the 11 non-running runners are stuffed into two econo-vans for 30+ hours. Like I said, should be a hoot.

Have a great weekend!

New Years Fail

2011-01-20T08:51:00.004-06:00

Can we just all agree to push "re-start" on 2011?

I don't know about you, but this year has gotten off to a ridiculously poor start - the weather blows, work blows, and it seems that - overnight - the number of duchebags in Chicago has more than doubled (from what was already a huge number...).

Anyway, I had silently decided to blog more in 2011, but that hasn't really happened due to a number of pending issues, mostly related to work - personnel issues have dominated my days, leaving less time to ponder training plans, workouts, nutrition and other triathlon silliness. But I'm going to try to be better. You - my three or so loyal followers - deserve better.

Exercise-wise, I've been pretty good - swim, bike, run has taken a backseat to higher heart-rate training, and using a greater variety of gym toys has been a ton of fun. We're still hitting that Boot Camp class once a week, and have been doing a bit of TRX training, as well (that's some random guy using the TRX straps in the figure to the right). The TRX stuff is strength-based, using your body's own weight as resistance. It's great for the core, and gives you a nice cardio burn, to boot. Good stuff. If you have access to a TRX class, I'd definitely check it out - it's much harder than it looks, and the results are awesome.

Other than that, I've been swimming just once per week, and just over a mile at a time (which is about as much swimming as I ever consider "fun"). I run about once a week, as well, for about an hour. Biking is more-or-less my recovery activity, so I'm afraid my first time back on a real bike outside will be beyond painful. But it is what it is. I decided this year to really step away from tri stuff in the off season, and it's been great for me mentally. Physically, I'll probably pay a price, but I'll deal with that later.

Later, taters!

Vacation fail

2011-01-07T14:46:00.006-06:00

Well, so much for a winter vacation.

Southwest decided - 11 hours before takeoff - that fog was on the horizon, and cancelled our flight out of Chicago. Which would have been fine - the flight was scheduled for 6:40 a.m., and I wouldn't have minded a later morning or even afternoon flight instead. But that's not what Southwest offered up as an alternative.

Instead, they insisted that they had no other flights out until January 3. Unfortunately, our family gathering was centered around New Year's weekend, and everyone was leaving on the 3rd. So, with no other option available, we bagged the trip. Pfft.

Thanks, Southwest. I hope your 2011 is filled with enormous financial loses and eventual bnakruptcy. You suck, just like the other "big" airlines that you think you're so much better than.

On the bright side, the wife and I were able to spend a relaxing weekend at home with the dogs, watching hour-upon-hour of bad television and rarely venturing out of doors. The weather has been colder than ususal for this early in the winter, but we went on a great group run with friends last Sunday and it felt great - beautiful, blue skies and very little wind. Lovely. I'm hoping that this becomes a weekly event.

Tonight we are taking a class at our gym called "Peak Performance," which should really be called "Death in 60 minutes." It's a bootcamp-style workout, with equal parts cardio and strength exercises designed to break both your mind and spirit. At least, that's what it feels like. As you can imagine, it's very popular - despite starting at 5:30 p.m. on a Friday night - and as much as I dread it, the class is addictive like the ol' crack rock. Or so I've heard. I mean about the crack rock thing. But it's a good class.

Hope your 2011 is off to a crazy good start!

Hitting the slopes, yo

2010-12-29T09:28:00.002-06:00

So, Cath and I are heading out to Idaho tomorrow to visit my dad and jump into some winter sports.

I haven't skiied all that regularly since I was a teenager, many moons ago, but we went once last year and it came back pretty easily, so I'm excited to get back out there.

The only problem with skiing as an adult is that you're now wise enough to know that a bad fall could lead to many months of painful rehab, so I'm hoping that the ski gods smile on us, take some pity, and we avoid a hospital stay. Still, I'll be massaging my ligaments and tendons all day, hoping they get all soft and flexy before we get there.

Otherwise, training is going well - I've been trying to really test myself a bit this off-season, doing more intervals and just generally trying to get my heart rate higher than I usually would during a typical IM build up. Basically, just enagaging in two types of workouts - intervals and recovery. I figure I have plenty of time to build up a base, but I'd really like to boost my VO2 max a bit before the IM training really begins in the Spring.

Santa was good to me in the form of a new pair of bike shorts - the DeSoto 400-mile shorts, if you're curious - but it will likely be a good number of months before they get tested. The snow and cold temps arrived early in Chicago this year, and they don't look like they'll be leaving any time soon. But, I'm looking forward to making lemonade out of the lemons, tromp around out in the Sawtooth Mountains, and remember that summer always comes back...eventually.

Happy New Year!

Don't Get Old

2010-12-20T12:15:00.003-06:00

I am one out-of-shape mother f'er. Seriously.

The combination of a light racing/training year and, uh-hum, advancing age has killed my fitness, and I feel like crap.

Drew and I have been hitting up a boot camp-style fitness class at our gym recently - basically, just a group class with an emphasis on strength and high-heart rate agony - and the results have been humbling. I guess I'm not a kid anymore, and it's going to take some serious training to get back into the game, triathlon-wise.

But, I'm trying to look at the bright side, and think that it's better to realize this now - before the New Year - rather than be shocked when the training schedule starts in the Spring.

As such, I'm thinking of following some sort of pre-season training plan that will get me to April. Not sure what I'm going to do - I thought about a personal trainer, but I'm not inclined to spend the money. I'll probably keep taking the ass-buster fitness class, and add some other non-triathlon-ey stuff so as to not get burnt out before the real work begins in the Spring. I've been taking a day to row, walk the incline machine, and walk stairs, which I think has been helpful. And I need to run more outside. I've been lazy about braving the winter weather, but that needs to change.

In other news, I think we're close to choosing a couple more races for 2011 - Galena (http://www.facebook.com/galenatriathlon) and Steelhead ( http://www.ironmansteelhead.com/). We've done both of these races before, so I know that they're quality events, and the timing is great as far as IM FL is concerned.

Now, if I can just get down to shaking off the rust....

Oh, boy. Here we go again...

2010-11-08T13:48:00.003-06:00

So, my buddy Drew and I pulled the trigger on IM FL, which will take place on Nov. 5 in Panama City Beach, Florida. It wasn't exactly our first choice, as far as ironman distance races go, but we have a couple friends who wanted to do this one, and we figured it would be a fun gathering when the time comes. Cath decided to take a pass, and instead focus more on performance training with a personal trainer, and maybe some shorter distance events. Unlike her husband, she had a pretty active year - a 70.3, two marathons (including a BQ!) and an ultramarathon - so I think she wants to recuperate a bit in 2011, but is supportive of me wanting to get back off the bench and into the ironman game. And I'm super-excited to get going again - it feels like it's been forever since I crossed the line in Wisconsin, and I've felt a bit rudder-less without an IM event on the schedule, so I'm happy.

I'm anticipating using the same Don Fink plan as I did for IM Wisconsin last year, which I found to be extremely reasonable in terms of a time commitment. Lord knows you can give your entire life to IM preparation, and generally improve your ultimate performance as a result, but I'm just not that interested in going to that extreme. I enjoy training as much as the next slightly-unbalanced triathlete, but double workouts every day and dozens of century rides is beyond my level of dedication and interest. The Fink plan (as detailed in his book "Be Iron Fit") is 30 weeks in length, and provides three different training plans depending on how motivated you are to crush the race - "Just Finish," "Intermediate," and "Competitive." I think I started with the Competitive plan last year, but pretty quickly found that it required more than I was interested in giving, so backed off to the Intermediate schedule. Even cheating a bit with the Intermediate plan, I still felt that I was in pretty good form for the race in Wisconsin, and never really felt burnt out with the training.

But the training plan doesn't start until April of next year, so between now and then I'm thinking of trying to build a little strength with the help of a personal trainer. I don't do much strength stuff during IM training, so now I think is a good time to get serious before the swim-bike-run takes over. I do some strength stuff now, but I know I don't go as near as hard on myself as a trainer will, so that's probably the way to go. Otherwise, my exercising is pretty pedestrian - swim, bike, and run once (maybe twice) per week, strength stuff twice per week, and one or two off days. Nothing over an hour per session. Easy stuff.

But the New Year will bring more intensity and volume, and I'm grateful for the opportunity. Should be a fun ride.

Damn, what now?

2010-09-24T13:35:00.011-05:00

So, my 2010 racing season - as meager as it was - has now come to an end. Cath is doing the Indianapolis marathon in November, but I'm not a huge fan of marathons, so I'll be spectating that one. And, as happens every year at this time, I start chomping at the bit to figure out what to do next year. So, bear with me as I think out loud a little here...

The tide definitely seems turned toward Ironman Florida in November, so, depending on how successful we are in getting registered, that may be the "A" race of the year. If, not, we are also looking at IM Cozumel, which is also in November. We had briefly flirted with the idea of an IM Wisconsin-IM Florida double (roughly two months apart), but sanity prevailed, and we'll stick with "just" the one IM-distance race.

I'd also like to do some kind of hiking/climbing/camping adventure, which we didn't get to do this year. We've discussed with friends the possibility of climbing Long's Peak in Colorado (a 14,000-foot peak that doesn't require extensive climbing experience or skill), or perhaps hiking across the Presidential Range (http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_Range) back east. Either would be great in August.

Triathlon-wise, we'll likely to another sprint race in the spring, probablyTri Shark again, or a return to Galena (sorry, Cath!), and a 70.3 in the early summer. Cath has become enamored of the Vineman triathlon (http://http//www.vineman.com/triathlon.htm), mostly because of its proximity to all.those.vineyards (!). We've done Muncie, Racine (twice), and Steelhead already, so a change might be nice. But I kinda have a problem with all the travel (and expense) associated with "only" a half-ironman. Elitest much? Perhaps, but that could be a lot of cash for a "B" race, especially if we do some of the other travel-related things I've mentioned. Hmmm...we'll have to discuss that one further.

Well, that's a start, I guess. I'd also like to do the following things at some point, although not necessarily in 2011:

- Climb/hike to Crater Lake, OR (thanks for the idea, Jen!);

- Mountain bike hut-to-hut from Telluride, CO to Moab, UT (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0210/photo_details.html);

- Hike to Machu Picchu along the Inca Trail (http://www.inca-trails.net/);

- Survive the Shawangunks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_of_the_Shawangunks);

- Climb the Grand Tetons (http://www.exumguides.com/).

So, what do you think? Any other suggestions?

The North Face Endurance Challenge - Race Report

2010-09-20T09:38:00.008-05:00

I'll apologize right off the bat, because we took no pictures, so I don't have any good eye candy for this report. The weather was crap - pouring rain and lightning right up until the race started - so the pics just didn't happen. So, sorry about that.

(I did, however, find this yummy looking shot of a Five Guys burger and fries online, and figured I'd throw that up here because that's what Cath and I had to eat the night before the race. It was pretty good - I'd definitely recommend it).

Anywho, as for the race itself, we got up to Middle-of-Nowhere, Wisconsin, otherwise known as Eagle, WI, around 2:00 p.m. on Friday, checked into our Holiday Inn Express and moped around the surrounding strip mall for a bit before chilling in the room until our burger dinner. The weather on Friday was extraordinary - very fall-like temps, clear skies, perfect for running. Unfortunately, the race was on Saturday. Thunderstorms started rolling through
in the early morning hours dumping all kinds of rain, and I was seriously wondering if the organizers would let the race proceed in these conditions. It was looking ugly out there. Regardless, we gathered our stuff and made our way to the park where the start/finish area was assembled, and, luckily, the storms seemed to be making their way east and the rain eased up. By 7:00 a.m., all systems were go, and all 142 of us made our way to the start line. The Ultramarathon Man, himself, Dean Karnazes, was there to give a little pep talk, and we were off.

As mentioned previously, Cath and I had decided to run the race together, and employ a run/walk split in order to conserve energy. I can't remember exactly why we chose to run 9 minutes and walk one, as opposed to, say, a 8-2 or 7-3, but that's what we went with and it worked pretty well. I was actually surprised that nobody else seemed to be doing a run/walk, as they all made their way past us on our first walk segment, but I figured our system would pay dividends in the end.

The course if divided into six sections, each approximately five miles long, seperated by aid stations. It seemed like we hit that first aid station in no time, with Cath and I running somewhere between 8:30s and 9:00s (I wasn't running with a watch, so my numbers could be totally wrong, but that's what it felt like), and feeling pretty good. I had started to get a head cold a couple days before the race, and had taken a decongestant hoping to keep my head clear, and it seemed to be doing it's thing. The weather was cooler than the day before, but humid because of all the rain. The trail, however, was a complete mess - mud, mud, and more mud. That thick, slippery mud where you think you might lose a shoe if you try to run through it. But the scenery was spectacular. Just really beautiful trails, and so, so quiet out there. I can't imagine a more scenic place to do a race. Just lovely.

We hit the second aid station and I was still feeling pretty good. The weather was holding - a few sprinkles, but nothing major - and the terrain had changed for the better. We'd find that each section of the race showcased a different type of trail running - some horse trails, some single-track, some wider cross-country ski trails, etc. It was great to get away from all the mud, but this section had a ton of steep sections, choked with loose and slippery rocks. Cath turned her ankles a number of times, and I was worried that she might be risking a sprain. Luckily, the third section of the race was through a series of relatively flat - but soggy - fields along the Ice Age Trail. They apparently use the Ice Age Trail for a number of endurance events, and I can see why - the views are just incredible and the terrain is challenging, but very doable. The only bad part of this section was that it was all single-track, which made passing - and being passed - a bit of a pain.

It was at the end of this section that I started to feel kinda crappy. My head and chest were getting congested, and I just wasn't really getting into a good running rhythm. Just laboring. We hit the fourth (of six) aid stations at mile 22, and, as I pushed another gel into my mouth, I got that feeling like I just really didn't want to run any more. I started to panic a bit because I knew we still had nine more miles to go, and I was not feeling good. We started out again, but it wasn't long before I told Cath to go on without me. She was running really strong, and I didn't want to hold her back. It was also making me kinda nauseous running directly behind someone, and I hoped that a little distance would do me some good. But, first, I figured I'd walk a spell and try to re-focus. I kept Cath in sight for about another mile or so, running for stretches and then walking a bit, but she was soon out of sight and I was pretty much by myself out there. Unfortunately, the solitude didn't make me feel all that much better.

The run/walk stretches started to get about equal, and my legs were really starting to rebel - my feet, ankles, hamstrings, and hips were all telling me to stop. The last aid station was just 3.7 miles from the finish, and I thought I'd be able to finish relatively strong - or at least run the whole way in - if I could just get to that last station. I was then run/walking with a couple of other guys, which is always a nice way to spend the time when you're not feeling great during a race, and we finally hit the final aid station. One of the guys I was with said that we had 50 minutes left in order to break six hours, and thought we could make it if we did a 4-minute run, 2-minute walk split. We started out running, but I just didn't have much left in me. Everything just hurt really badly, and I was also mentally pretty burnt - focusing on the trail all day, picking a good line, avoiding big rocks, and the head cold had left me really drained. The run/walk splits were now pretty ridiculous - seriously, like 50 yards of each, over and over again. I'd run the downhills and walk the uphills, hoping the end of the trail was just over the next hill.

We finally got back to the main road, which I knew was just a half-mile or so from the finish. I did manage to break six hours, barely (5:59.56!), but it wasn't a world-dominating performance by any means. I pretty much just slogged through those last nine miles. In fact, if Cath hadn't taken a wrong turn near the very end, and thereby run two extra miles, she would have beaten me by at least 20 minutes. She was strong from beginning to end, and I surely was not. But I'm trying to be positive about it - I wasn't feeling 100 percent, I hadn't trained (and taken it as seriously) as I should have, and I probably didn't take in enough nutrition out on the course, and still was able to run/walk it all the way in. I actually lived up to my nom-de-blog, finishing 73rd out of 142 competitors, 20th (out of 35) in my age group, and the 62nd male (out of 112).

And I can say that I've done an Ultramarathon. Dean Karnazes might not be too impressed, but I can live with that.

Cheers!

The North Face Endurance Challenge

2010-08-30T11:12:00.006-05:00

So, although Cath and I decided to take a step back from Ironman racing this year, we came upon another challenge that we figured might be equally fun/physically demanding for the latter part of the summer - the North Face Endurace Challenge.

Sponsored by the popular clothing manufacturer, the North Face Endurance Challenge is a series of trail runs ranging in distance from 5k to 50-miles put on in five locations across the country, including one just southeast of Madison, Wisconsin, on September 18. Seeing as we have a couple friends who have done a few ultra-distance running events, Cath and I have discussed giving one a shot sometime, and the North Face Series seemed like a good place to start.

At first we considered going all out and registering for the 50-mile race, but I was pretty sure that I was not going to be in a good position to pull that off this year, so we settled on the 50k instead. Which is still a daunting proposition, seeing as I've never run more than a marathon at a time, and never run a race off-road.

Cath has been leading a marathon training group at work, and I've tried to glean some measure of fitness by dragging myself to their weekly long runs for the past six or so weeks. We've ramped up to 19 miles a couple of times, but it hasn't really done a lot to make me feel very comfortable or confident going into this race. In fact, it's made me wonder how I ever managed to get through a stand-alone marathon in one piece. Running for more than two hours straight is just a ridiculous thing to do, really. It hurts quite a bit. People say, "but you've done three Ironman races, each with a marathon tacked onto a bunch of other stuff..." Which is true, but an Ironman race can be broken down into a series of one-mile (slow) repeats, with a snack break between each one. It's much easier than thinking about - and then doing - 26+ miles without stopping.

I have tried to convince/delude myself into thinking that this course is generally considered the least technical of the race series, and Cath and I have agreed to stay together and tackle it in a run-walk fashion (ie, an 8 minute run, 2 minute walk sequence), so there's really nothing to worry about, but I'm still a bit scared. It's still a lot of miles to cover over uneven terrain.

Regardless, it will no doubt be an adventure, and something we'll remember for quite a while. And that's always exciting.

Racine 70.3 Race Report

2010-07-19T12:23:00.011-05:00

First off, a little history (not because it's been so long since I've posted anything that I'm feeling extra verbose, but rather because it's actually relevant to the report) - having completed IM Wisconsin in September of last year, I had just mid-packed my way through my third Ironman distance triathlon in four years, to go along with four half-IMs and a handful of sprints and Oly-distance events during the same period. My buddy Drew had done all that, plus another Ironman event, and Cath now had two IM races under her belt, in addition to a couple of injury-aborted training cycles.

So, needless to say, we all came into the 2010 "season" a tad burnt out by the whole triathlon training process, and opted to take a more chill approach to things this time around. Most importantly we decided no IM races at all for this year, but we'd throw a half-IM on the schedule more-or-less just to have something to train for. We chose the Racine 70.3 race primarily because of the timing and close proximity to Chicago, and perhaps a bit because we did this same race in 2005 and it kicked the boys' asses - especially me, as the high temps and humidity forced me to walk almost the whole run leg, while the wife ran away to family victory. So, a little sweet, sweet revenge over the town of Racine, WI was also on the agenda.

Unfortunately, and perhaps not unexpectedly, training for the event never really got off the ground - I had been swimming and running pretty regularly, if once a week can be considered regular, but the biking thing was pretty much forgotten. I'm thinking I did - maybe - three rides of over thirty miles all year (and they were just a hair above 30 miles, as that), and most of my saddle time had taken place inside on the Keiser bike. And most of those indoor rides were about an hour long, and included some short intervals, but still weren't all that taxing. So, really the "training" was nothing more than some daily exercise, and I was worried that I hadn't give the distance the respect it was due.

Cath and Drew had also been a bit down on triathlon training, so we all went into this past weekend a bit apprehensive over what 70.3 miles of racing was going to feel like.

We hit hit the road on Saturday afternoon, and check-in was rather uneventful - the old Spirit of Racine Half Ironman was taken over by WTC this past year, and is now an IM branded affair, which (in my humble opinion) is typically a good thing - IM events are usually very well-organized and the routes very well-planned. More on this later, but I think they dropped the ball on this one.

Our friend Ross, who's in the midst of training for his first IM, joined us for the race, and is no doubt the most fit of us all right now. We had a pre-race dinner with some members of his training group, and then hit the Best Western for some zzz's. I didn't sleep very well, but woke up ready to roll - ate a couple slices of some cinnamon bread we picked up the night before, and headed down to transition to set up. The morning was slightly cool and bit cloudy, which was a great surprise since the forecast had called for sun and high humidities. I drank a Red Bull as I got set up, along with most of a Powerbar.

The swim in Racine is a point-to-point, and you have to walk the mile down the beach to the start line, but we got down there in plenty of time. Ross and I were in the second wave after the pros went off, about 7:15 a.m. What's nice about this swim is that you've got a nice, wide section of beach to start from, and the waves are four minutes apart, so there's very little contact between athletes. I think I brushed into someone maybe once or twice, and it wasn't anything violent. Just a bump, and then they were gone. Nothing like the chaos that is an Ironman start. The swim actually felt pretty good - water was pretty calm for Lake Michigan, and it ended just when I was getting tired of swimming. I didn't see the clock coming into T1, and I was racing without a watch, but I they say I did it in 42.09. Pretty good for me.

Hit the port-o-let, and got ready to ride. Given my limited training, I knew going in that the end of the bike was going to be hard, but I actually felt pretty good the whole way. The ride started well - the skies were still clouded over, and the temps were in the upper 70s, with little wind - but things changed about half-way through. I actually cursed when I first saw the sun's rays as they broke through the clouds, as I knew the day was about to get a lot hotter. But the air was still feeling pretty cool and the miles ticked slowly by. In fact, the only distress I had on the bike was hunger - I had about 575 calories during the ride, but my stomach started to rumble with about five miles to go - and the mental fatigue of being on a bike for so long.

Rolled into T2 most thankful to be off the bike, and scarfed down about half a Powerbar in the transition area. Jogged out toward the exit, and the heat really hit me for the first time. Yikes. Those first two miles were just brutal. Decided right then that I was just going to run aid station to aid station, stopping at each to drink and throw water over my head. That worked pretty well until about mile 8, when I had to stop between aid stations to let my heart rate settle back down. It seemed like my brain wanted to run a certain speed, but my body couldn't go that fast and my heartrate would spike. So I'd walk about 15 steps, and then force myself to jog again (to describe it as a 'run' would be an exaggeration). That happened two or three more times over the next couple of miles, but I got into a pretty good rhythm with about two miles to go, and even had enough left to sprint it to the finish.

In the end, I'm happy with my times - swim: 42.09; bike: 2:46.23; run: 1:59.54; overall: 5:36.16. Not the best I've ever done, but not the worst either. The weather and my conditioning were pretty second rate, but I was happy with the mental effort that kept me pushing on the run. And it's always fun to do a race with friends - grumbling about all the trial and tribulations we experienced out there is like the fourth leg of triathlon, and I was thankful to have Cath, Drew and Ross up there with me. Very good times.

I don't think I'd do this race again, though - the course really blows. The bike especially. The road quality is for crap - bad pavement, and the course spends way too much time on narrow portions of the highway. The website also boasts that you run through the Racine zoo, but that's a lie - you run *past* the zoo, or maybe it's more accurate to say next to the zoo, and the only animals I saw were the a couple of dogs watching from some spectator's front lawn. And, while I really can't blame the organizers for this, the weather was complete crap. Again. I don't even like to be outside in weather that's ninety degrees and humid, let alone race in it. So, I don't think the Racine 70.3 will be on the agenda again any time soon - there are too many other quality half-IMs in this area to do a dud like this one - but I was happy that we did it. Next time, we might even train a bit for it.

Cheers!

Tri-Shark Race Report

2010-06-14T08:46:00.002-05:00

Hey, remember me? The Tales From the Mid-Pack guy? Yeah, I'm back with an exciting new update on my 2010 racing "season" (which, so far, amounts to two races). I actually participated - and completed! - a triathlon on June 5, which I believe allows me to continue to describe myself as an "athletic person." At least for another few months.

The event in question is a long-standing sprint-distance triathlon in scenic Normal, Illinois, which is about 130 miles south of Chicago. The participants included Cath, Drew, our resident Ironman-in-training Ross, and myself. We drove down to Normal on Friday and arrived with plenty of time to register at the lake start. "Register" might be a little strong of a word, considering the whole process amounted to basically crossing our names off a list and handing us our swim caps and numbers. A nice thing about Tri-Shark is that they allow you the option of forgoing a t-shirt in exchange for bumping a few bucks off the registration fee. Considering that about 10 percent of all race shirts ever get worn in our household, this was a nice option. We all took a moment to gander at the lake, which would be the site of our 600-yard swim, and then head back to the 'ol Hampton Inn.

Now, honestly, I wasn't completely sure that this race was going to even get off the ground - the forecast called for a series of major thunderstorms to come crashing through the area all evening and deep into the following (i.e., race day) afternoon, and I know that race directors are typically quick to abort a race - or at least scrub the swim portion - when the dark clouds roll in. My fears were only compounded when the first storms rolled through at 3:00 a.m., and it was still raining and very dark at 6:30 a.m. Hmmm, not looking good.

But a confidently-written mass email from the organizers bolstered our hopes that we'd be racing, so we soldiered on to the race site. We had all gotten settled in the transition area when they told us that the start would be delayed "until further notice" because of the surrounding storm activity. Crapo. Is this going to happen today? But then, all of a sudden, the director is again on her bullhorn telling everyone that we're back on schedule, and looking at an on-time departure! Boo ya!

Drew, Ross and I take off in the same wave - sporting the mighty powder blue swim caps! - and I quickly remember that: 1. I haven't swam in open water since last September, 2. swimming with a wetsuit feels totally different that swimming without a wetsuit, and 3. triathlon swim starts are very. physical. affairs. These people were in it to win it, and swimming like they were in a bar fight. Yikes. Gotta say that the starts are probably my least favorite part of triathlon - it can be just brutal out there.

Luckily, I managed to survive the first 500 yards before I literally had the watch knocked right off my wrist as I made my way to the swim exit. Luckily, it was just my old Nike and not something I'd be losing tears over, but it was still a surreal experience realizing that some catfish would likely be eating my watch for breakfast. Oh, well. Moving on...Swim - 12:19.

Transition was smooth and easy (1:55), grabbed the bike and headed out - legs didn't exactly feel great, but I hoped that they'd warm up as I moved along. The course was super-smooth (gotta love the rural roads), with just a few short hills, but it still felt like a lot longer than 13 miles. I obviously didn't have my watch anymore, and I don't ride with a bike computer, so I had no idea how fast I was going, but I tried to keep up a pace that felt somewhere between good and just a little bit hurty. My bike fitness is admittedly pretty poor right now - longest ride is right around 35 miles, and not exactly a hard 35, either - but I came into T2 feeling fine, and saw Cath just as she was entering the transition area. Bike - 36:30 (21.4 mph); T2 - 1:37.

We started to run out together, and I actually had a hard time keeping up with her - I hadn't taken in any liquids on the bike, and I was feeling a bit dry. Stopped to grab a cup of water, and started to feel a little more normal. I just wanted to hunker down into a steady groove and stick with it until the end. The first half of the run felt like it was all uphill, so I was thrilled to see the turn-around point, but - of course - the way back wasn't exactly an express elevator down to the finish. But you've gotta love a 5k run - it can only hurt for so long, and then it's over. I even had a little sprint left in me at the end! Run - 22:17 (7:11/mile); Total - 1:14.40.

All-in-all, this was a really fun race - really well organized, good size, nice distance. I've never done a legitimate sprint distance triathlon (I've done the Galena tri a couple of times, and also one in Terre Haute, IN, but the bike and run legs were slightly longer for each), and it was a nice change of pace. Not my favorite distance, but it sure was nice to finish the race in time to get back and shower at the hotel before check-out time! I've still got a long way to go, training-wise, to be ready for the Racine 70.3 next month, but this was a really nice practice run.

Now, if I could just get in some serious riding...

Cheers!

So much to say!

2010-04-15T07:49:00.004-05:00

Okay, not really.

I just didn't want this blog to be repossessed or condemned or sold to some high school kid in Des Moines.

Training is still going, although I'm a bit irked because I had a rash of stomach issues a week or two ago that set me back some. At the risk of TMI, I tend to go through bouts of stomach upsets - bloating, gassy spells - that I think are somehow related to some sort of food sensitivity (dairy? gluten? soy?). Anywho, these spells usually last a week or so, and then tend to clear up, but I tend to eat less during these things, which makes me weaker, and the workouts aren't nearly as good. So, having just come off one of these periods, I feel like my fitness has taken a step back.

We did have a great trail run out in the suburbs two weeks ago a couple friends of ours, and it was amazing - almost a 10-mile loop on a rolling course almost entirely in the rain. It felt wonderful to just smell nature again. Our friends were a week out from a 50-mile trail race, so we did a 8-minute run and 2-minute walk pace with them, and it was fantastic. Apparently, the run/walk combo is is a very common practice for ultra-runners, and I can see why - those two minutes can do wonders for your legs, and it felt like we could do that pace all day. Cath and I are actually interested in giving it a go next year! Here's the link:

http://www.mcnaughtonparktrailruns.com/index2.htm

There's a 100-mile option, as well, but, um...no, thanks. Fifty would be plenty challenging. Could be "fun."

Anywho, not to much else going on here. Our first race this year is in just less than two months, although I have yet to take the bike out into the real world in 2010. Hoping to get her tuned up this weekend, and, weather-permitting, hit the lakefront to clear out the cobwebs. It's been a l-o-n-g winter.

Blogger freak out.

2010-03-23T14:33:00.002-05:00

Apparently, Blogger thought I had died. Or was on vacation. Or just had nothing interesting/important to say. Because it hasn't been letting me log-on to post anything. But, thankfully, after much ado, I was able to bum-rush the show and hack into my own blog.

The crops are saved!

Anywho, maybe Blogger was right to keep me out, because life in these parts are pretty vanilla - I've been training, but nothing too crazy. I'm hitting the gym six days a week, but I don't think it's been with any great intensity. Or maybe it just feels that way because the sessions haven't been all that long in duration? Ironman does weird things to your exercise-based perspective. Now, if it doesn't last more than 90 minutes and/or isn't the second workout of the day, it doesn't seem like a "real" session. Oh, well.

Whatever, I've been working out. The running is probably going the best, which isn't much of surprise since running is probably my best discipline. I've been hitting the pool at least once a week for 2,000 yards, and I've been biking (on the trainer or the Keiser bike) for either 45 minutes or an hour once or twice/week. I cranked it up to an hour and 15 minutes on Saturday just to start building a little endurance in the legs. And I'm still doing at least one strength session each week, mostly core stuff like planks and dynamic movements with weights.

Not bad, I guess, considering we're still a ways out from the summer. I'm not really following any kind of training plan as yet, and I'm not sure that I'm going to - 70.3 really isn't that big of an investment, time-wise, and I think I can trust myself to get in adequate amounts of base, interval and endurance work on my own. But that might change if I feel like I'm sloughing off.

In other news, we sorta scrubbed plans for a Spring vacation - the taxman is taking us to the woodshed this year, so money is a bit tight. However, the wife might get sent to Vegas for a work conference around Memorial Day, so we might be able to turn that into a little getaway. We'll see. And we've made a tentative commitment to climb Colorado's Longs Peak in late summer/early Fall with the same crew that did the Grand Canyon last year. Fingers crossed that this comes together, because I think it would be an amazing adventure.

Other than that, nothing new to report. Hope y'all are making it through the final days of Winter with sanity intact. The sun is out today, so maybe that means that warmer temps are on the horizon.

Cheers!

Finally.

2010-03-05T07:45:00.003-06:00

Well, it's three months into 2010, and this particular Ironman isn't looking (or feeling) all that tough anymore. Up to this point, I haven't really felt compelled to commit to a 'big' race, which would require a co-committment to an actual training schedule, so we've sort of tabled the issue for as long as possible.

But yesterday we threw down - Cath, Drew and I are registered for Racine IM 70.3, which will take place on July 18, 2010, or just under 20 weeks from now. As mentioned previously, I'm not a huge fan of repeating 'A' races, and we previously did Racine in 2006, but there were a few factors weighing in its favor:

- it's close;

- it's now a 70.3-sponsored event;

- the timing is good; and, perhaps most importantly,

- there's a revenge factor.

Yes, the 2006 version (then known as the 'Spirit of Racine' half-ironman) was a particularly horrible day to race - temps were deep into the 90s and it was very humid. No doubt the hottest race I've ever competed in, and it was miserable. I remember really wanting to be off the bike, and just struggling through those last few miles. I thought the run would be refreshing, but I jogged out of the transition area and just felt like absolute crap. I probably ran a half-mile before stopping to walk. Luckily, Drew and I met up, and he wasn't feeling much better than I did, so we suffered together - alternating long walk breaks with brief fits of running. There were people collapsed on the side of the road, all red-faced and spacey-looking. It was a pretty gruesome scene.

Of course, my amazing wife was having a great day - she passed both Drew and I relatively early in the run, looking fresh as a daisy, and went on to beat both of our asses (which she takes great pleasure in reminding us...). I think I finished in around 6 and 1/2 hours, which is a good hour longer than what I'm usually capable of. It was just brutal.

So, needless to say, Drew and I are looking for a little redemption in ol' Racine, Wisconsin this year. And I'm excited to have a goal race on the agenda. It sounds a little bratty, but I don't consider a 70.3 to be all that much of a challenge anymore, but it really is a great distance for a triathlon - long enough to be a challenge, but without the uber-long training sessions that a full IM require. I'm not sure I could mentally commit to that kind of intensity this year. So, this should be a good compromise.

I'm still not sure what we'll be doing with the rest of the year - I had thought about a possible marathon, with an eye toward qualifying for the Boston Marathon (which, for my old ass would be a 3:20.00 - I did a 3:26.00 at the Chicago marathon in 2005, so it's theoretically possible), but I'm not sure. A stand-alone marathon just seems really hard, even harder than a full IM (which, of course, makes little/no sense). I've had a few running-related injuries in the years since 2005, and I'm afraid that all that running would be an invitation to re-injury.

But, we'll see. We're taking 2010 in baby steps. At least we have our mid-year goal in place.

Dusty.

2010-02-27T12:30:00.003-06:00

Man, this blog kinda faded into the sunset, didn't it? Sorry about that, but there just hasn't been much to report - my workouts are still pretty unorganized, but are slowly becoming swim-bike-run focused again. Not a ton of any one thing, but I've been consistent, so I figure that's a good place to start.

We're looking more and more at the 1/2 IM at Racine, which is now a 70.3-branded race (something I actually like, just because they seem to do a consistently good job of putting on a event - nothing like putting in all the effort, and having the course distances be incorrect or not having enough water on the course), but haven't yet pulled the trigger. Cathy is getting a little PT on some nagging aches and pains, nothing serious, but rather something she hopes will keep her training/racing throughout the summer months.

I'm also looking at a Spring vacation of some sort to help break up these never-ending Midwest winters. Not really anything training-based, but just a few days to soak in some sun and get away from the Big City. We're looking a bit at Palm Springs, which would allow some phsical activity ( ie., Mt. San Jacinto State Park) if we feel the need to stray from the pool. If anyone's been to PS, we'd appreciate any reccommendations you might have on where to stay, eat, etc.

Anywho, that's it for now - boring, I know, but that's the winter for you. We'll get thins blog crankin' come Spring. I promise.

Cheers!

So many choices, so little time

2010-02-02T10:43:00.002-06:00

So, I had a bit of an epiphany at some point during my early to mid-thirties, when it occured to me that 1. Life is ridiculously short, and 2. There's a lot of stuff I'd still like to do while I'm physically capable.

Not necessarily a novel or profound epiphany, to be sure, but it led me to decide one thing - that I would commit to undertake at least one new and exciting endeavor every year, physically challenging, and something I'd remember for the rest of my days. It started in the early 00's with my two climbs up Mt. Rainier, and two cycling trips to France, and has continued along the triathlon path (from Olympic, to half-IM, to full-Im distances), as well as hiking the Grand Canyon, until you get to today. I've had many incredible adventures during this period, and have amassed a library of wonderful memories from these endeavors, and it has allowed me to really feel like I've accomplished some things in life (as opposed to just counting down the days until Friday).

Now I've become rather obsessed with how to sculpt out the rest of the year, triathlon-wise as well as any other adventure that we might be interested in tackling. I'm lucky enough to have a mate who is up for just about anything, and is phycially capable of backing it up. So, really the issue is strictly scheduling, finances, and priorities. Which is still pretty tough. And is where I'm at right now.

We're looking at one or two 1/2 IMs this year, in July and August, but I'd also like to do some other things - mostly camping and hiking-type things out West. Unfortunately, the timing is tricky - everything outdoorsy needs to be (generally) scheduled for the eight week period between July 1 and September 1 because of weather. Which is also peak triathlon season. So, there's the rub.

Hopefully, this dilemma will work itself out over the coming weeks and I'll have Grand Plans to share with y'uns real soon. Until then, cheers and happy training!

The winter blahs

2010-01-25T08:48:00.004-06:00

Ah, winter. What can you say, really? It's long, it's cold, and makes you appreciate the summer months. Oh, and there's some really good winter beers available, like my little friend sitting to the left. I think it's the rich beer that makes the period from December to May at all tolerable.

Not much new to report from the Tales From the Mid-Pack head office. I'm still futzing around with various non-tri related workouts, including some spin classes and even a dash of rowing (!). It's been fun, and a real test of my aerobic capacity. I've also been mixing things up a bit within each workout, like rowing for 15 minutes, then doing stairs for another 15, and then maybe 15 more of incline hills or a short run. I'm totally loving the variety.

Other than that, we're pretty much nestled in for the rest of the winter. Cath is going to San Diego in March for work, but then we're thinking of hitting Palm Springs for a little vacation in April. We've never been there before, and would like to do a little hiking when we aren't lounging by the pool. It'll also give us something to look forward to, which I'm totally needing right now.

Cheers for now, and stay warm!

A little update

2010-01-14T15:01:00.004-06:00

I'm sure you're all wondering what I've been up to since IM WI and our Grand Canyon adventure, and I'd love to say that it's been time filled with exotic trips, lottery wins, and fine dining.

But it really hasn't.

The Fall was marked mostly by an unshakable inability to get back to the gym, along with a large amount of television, mostly of the NHL variety (Go Penguins!). But, with time, I have gotten back into the swing of things. Not necessarily triathlon-related things, but things. Mostly aerobic stuff on machines that I rarely use, like the incline trainer and stair-climber. Both have been great for pushing my heart rate into uncomfortable places and providing a relief from all the swim, bike, run I had been doing all summer. I'm still hitting the pool about once a week, but only for about a mile each time, and mostly because I'm afraid I'll lose what little proficiency I have if I take a complete respite from the water. And doing a modest amount of strength stuff. Mostly core. Nothing too crazy.

I'm also running once a week, mostly on the dread-mill. I actually enjoy running outside during the winter, but the Mrs. broke a bone in her foot at the end of September which sidelined her a bit, and Drew has been AWOL with various projects, so my primo running mates have been absent. And I haven't really had the gumption to run outside by my lonesome. Lame much? Why yes, yes I am.

So, activity-wise, I'm doing pretty good - probably doing something close to six days a week, but almost never more than 45 minutes a day. A far cry from an IM schedule, but consistent, and it's sure nice to be able to do whatever sounds like fun as opposed to swimming or biking or running simply because it's on the schedule.

I'll probably segue into a more triathlon-specific routine within the next month or so, but, for now, I'm liking the freedom of being able to play with all the cool gym toys and not pay any attention to splits or miles.

As far as an 1/2 IM goes, we're considering the Door County triathlon in July or Steelhead again in August. The race committee is still in session. But it's sure nice to sit back and dream about summer races - warm summer races, with sun, and beer, and...more beer.

Can't wait.

A little racin'

2010-01-08T12:40:00.003-06:00

So, we're (finally) thinking a little bit about triathlon again after a nice, long break. Cath, Drew and I are signed up for a sprint race on June 5 called the Tri-Shark Triathlon Classic. It takes place in Bloomington, Illinois, about two hours from Chicago, and it's a race that Drew and I have wanted to do for a while now. The swim is 600 yards, followed by a 13-mile bike, and then a 5k run.

Can't tell you how nice it is to have something on the schedule. Now, I'm thinking about 1/2 IMs. Drew and Ross are leaning toward Steelhead again in August, but Cath wasn't thrilled with that race. May need to go back into committee for some more haggling. Personally, I'd prefer to do a new race, but we've hit pretty much all of the 1/2 IMs in this area (Racine and Muncie), and I don't think we're all that keen on traveling too far (i.e. flying) for a brand new one.

But, what do you think? Is there a killer 1/2 IM out there - 70.3 sanctioned or not - that deserves a spot on our '10 calendar?

Grand Canyon '09 - Pics!

2010-01-05T13:03:00.009-06:00

Mr. and Mrs. Tales from the Mid-Pack.

On the Canyon floor.

This is actually a shot of Cathy, but Blogger cropped her out. Sorry, babe.

Yeah, that's me again. You can't tell, but my heart's beating, like, 200 beats/minute here.

Wow.

More wow.

Still hiking across the Canyon floor.

Pretty cool waterfall.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T08:11:00.006-06:00

Well, hello all!

I've decided to resurrect this little blog for 2010, despite the fact that our race calendar is still pretty much empty, solely because it gives me a place to put down my random thoughts.

As a catch-up, after IM WI, Cath and I would have been pretty content to go straight into hibernation mode for the rest of the year, except for the fact that we had already committed to a rim-to-rim crossing of the Grand Canyon almost a month to the day after the race ended. So, after an all-too-brief recovery period, I tried - not alltogether successfully - to regain a bit of the fitness that I had acquired coming into the Ironman. Mostly cardio stuff, but also a some strength training that had been almost totally abandoned during IM training.

It was tough. Really tough. I had forgotten how much IM training and racing can totally drain you of fitness. The easiest workouts were exhausting, and my little bird arms could hardly move a dumb bell. Mentally, I had a hard time accepting that my body was pooped and that I'd have to start all over, just to get to the point where a 30-minute jog would be possible.

But departure day quickly arrived, and, before I knew it, we were gazing over the rim of the GC as the sun went down on the day before we were set to depart. I won't bore you with all the flowery descriptions, but, if you've never been to the Grand Canyon, you really should make it a "bucket" item. I guarantee, it's like nothing you've ever seen.

Our group - 13(!) strong - started off at 4:30 a.m. from the South Rim in the pitch blackness, with trail dust floating through the beams cast by our headlamps. We planned on hiking down the Bright Angel trail, head along the Canyon floor past Phantom Ranch, and then up the North Kaibab trail to the North Rim Lodge, where we'd spend the night. Depending on how everyone was feeling, we planned on doing the reverse hike the next day.

I guess I should have known that this would be a very demanding endeavor. The National Parks Service highly discourages folks from attempting a rim-to-rim hike in one day, and vistors are routinely extracted from the Canyon floor after having underestimated the depth and breadth of the GC. But, going in, I really didn't think that it would be that bad - we had just done an Ironman, and this was just a hike. A long hike - 26 miles from South Rim to North Rim - but, still, just a hike, right?

Whew. Yeah. It was hard. Super hard. Between the altitude (the North Rim tops out at 8,200 feet) and my post-IM fitness, I was seriously sucking wind by the time we reached the North Rim Lodge, some 13 hours after we took that first step down the trail. Thankfully, the weather was perfect, and our group was awesome - everyone got along well and completed the trek in good spirits. The views were extraordinary, as you can imagine, and the adventure really made me want to make a point of exploring more of our National Parks. Truly incredible.

That said, I was bushed after "just" completing the rim-to-rim, so we ended up taking a shuttle back to the South Rim the next day instead of attempting the 26-mile return trip on foot. I would have liked to complete the loop, but there was no way I was going to enjoy the physical toll that was going to take. We had a nice ride back to the South Rim, and you can imagine how good the Bloody Marys tasted when we got back. All of our pics are on Snapfish, and I don't know how to link or copy them to the blog, but I'll try to post some in the coming days.

Anywho, that's all for now - hope everyone is excited for 2010, and all the adventures it's sure to hold.

Adios (for now), amigos y amigas!

2009-10-05T12:41:00.005-05:00

I've been giving some thought to what I should do - or not do - with this little blog now that the Big Race is over. As much as I've enjoyed laying down my silly thoughts on various things in here, I don't have any races scheduled for the rest of this year and next year's schedule is still in committee. And, sadly, my quiet little life doesn't really warrant a regular update in the cyber-verse.

As such, I'll probably leave this blog as a discreet little reminder of my adventures leading up to - and through - IM Wisconsin 2009, and, if I decide to embark on a new adventure or two, I'll start something new.

So thanks for following me on this journey, and good luck to everyone with your racing goals for the rest of '09 and into '10.

Cheers!

Final Thoughts

2009-09-25T07:48:00.002-05:00

That sounds so profound - "Final Thoughts" - but they're really not. I didn't have anything in mind when I reserved a post for a bit of reflection after the actual race report ended, thinking that a flood of things would come to me in the days following the race. Unfortunately, the real world hasn't allowed me to really reflect much on this training cycle and the race itself. Dog health issues, work, etc., have kept me pretty occupied since the 13th. But, because you've no doubt been on pins and needles waiting for some Final Thoughts (ha!), I'll throw a few out there:

- The Ironman is so much more than just a really long triathlon. It's much more than just another endurance event. It's unique. I hope that my extended race report brought out even a hint of the emotion, and tension, and drama that surrounds the weekend surrounding the race. It's really like nothing else you'll ever experience. I'm not sure if it's because it's still considered by most to be such an extreme thing to put yourself through, or because the athletes themselves invest so much of their lives (and their family's lives, no doubt) into a single day, but the atmosphere surrounding race weekend is just amazing. To be a part of that stew of athletes, spectators and volunteers is like being initiated into a special club - one that meets only on select occasions and for only one day at a time.

- That said, the Ironman is a really hard race. And I don't mean just physically hard. They say that every athlete that competes in one will face adversity - usually severe - sometime during the race. As I mentioned earlier, there were times during the run when my body was begging me to stop and rest, or "just walk a few hundred yards." And I'm positive that there were plenty of other tired bodies out there making the same demand. And you just don't know how your mind will respond. Push forward? Or give in? I think this is actually one of the reasons a lot of people do this race again and again - they want to know how they're going to react on any given day when things go bad out there. It may sound crazy, but you really don't know until you're facing that challenge. And who doesn't want to know?

- There is one problem with Ironman racing: it makes all other distances look insignificant. I certainly mean no disprect to anyone who has/does non-IM distance triathlons, and perhaps has no interest in doing an Ironman race, but I will tell you that Ironman races are truly addictive. I don't know of a single person who has done their first Ironman race and thereafter said, "Well, that was nice, but I wouldn't want to do another." I'm sure it happens - bucket list item, or whatever - but I haven't seen it. If you've done one, you know the feeling.

- If you end up doing an Ironman race, you really have to watch the last finishers come in at midnight (the 17-hour mark). I swear, if you could harness all the positive energy coming off of the crowd during these last few moments of the race, you could light up a city. This is the first year that we were able to go back to the hotel, get cleaned up, and return for the end, and it was so worth it. Mike Riley, the official announcer, was leading the cheers/singing, and each finisher got a hero's greeting as they came across the finish line. Again, my weak description can't do it justice. Just make sure you go. You won't regret it.

- So, when's the next one? Hmmm....as much as I was determined to have IM WI '09 be my third and last Ironman race, there has already been talk of taking on Ironman Florida in '11. That's a quite a long ways away, and a lot can happen between now and then, but I'd be excited to re-live the experience. Like I said, it's addictive, these stupid IM races. It gets in your blood and causes you to spend an insane amount of time swimming, biking, and running - way past the point of being 'fun.' And Florida's a flat course!

The Run

2009-09-20T13:28:00.012-05:00

So leaving T2 is always a nervy experience in IM because, no matter how well the rest of the race has gone, you just never really know what it's going to feel like when you start running. Could be easy, could be next to impossible. You just don't know until you take those first tentative steps onto the course.

In '06, having just come off of a cold and pretty miserable bike ride, I was shocked to discover that the run started super easy, and it stayed that way for about 17 miles. In '07, upon leaving T2, I immediately felt an uncomfortable bloat in my belly, which stayed with me for most of the marathon, but was manageable enough so as to keep going. Two different IM races, and two different run experiences. This year, having already experienced some cramping on the bike, I was especially unsure of what the run was going to offer. I took another pee break heading out of T2, and shuffled toward the transition exit.

Crap, I thought to myself. Not feeling too good. The legs were turning, but I felt really slow and my heart rate already seemed too high. But I figured, "Give it some time, let the salt tabs kick in, get into a nice rhythm, everything will work itself out." Made my way around the Capitol square, past the first water station, and gritted my teeth for pretty much the next 26 miles.

Cue the Drama Queen Moment (DQM): This was by far the most difficult run I've ever endured. I don't think I've ever had to pep talk myself more, engage in more internal negotiations ("Okay, just run to the next aid station, and then you can walk for as long as you want..."), or just plain demanded that I continue the forward motion than I have during this race. Which is funny, because I don't recall being in extreme pain, or having (too bad of) an upset tummy, or anything that would usually make you want to sit down and cry, but something inside me really, Really, REALLY just wanted to walk. Running just seemed too damn hard. There were definitely moments, especially early on, when I didn't think that I'd finish. Then I thought that I'd probably finish, but much later than I had hoped. After that, I figured that we were looking at a repeat of '06 - running for the bulk of it, but walking in the last 10k.

But, luckily, the miles somehow kept ticking by. I'd run aid station to aid station - downing water, Gatorade, and/or Coke - telling myself that, if I could just get to the next aid station, I'd get another break. Apparently, a great many of my fellow competitors had a similar deal going with themselves, because I saw very few people running through the aid stations. And quite a few people had given up running entirely - they'd be walking in one's or two's, commiserating about "what went wrong" and how hot it had become.

At around mile 8, a nice guy named Juan drifted back to me and started running alongside, asking how I was doing and if I wanted a runningmate for a while. I said sure, despite the fact that I really didn't have much conversation in me at this point. It was taking all my will just to keep soldiering from mile to mile. But it went well - not a lot of talking, just a few questions or comments here or there, and we knocked off miles 9 through 12 together, before Juan faded a bit and I was alone again.

Pretty soon I was back at the Capitol, where the course takes you tantalizingly close to the finish line before scooting you back onto your second loop. Although I still felt pretty lousy, I figured that I was a half-marathon away from finishing my third IM, and that started to feel totally do-able. I feel bad for all the volunteers who handed me cups of liquid during that second loop, though, because the look on my face must have been a mix of anger/dread/fear/pain great enough to intimidate an NFL linebacker. I don't even recall faces, or cheers, or much of anything at that point except my internal dialogue telling me to "run, don't walk." Drew once reminded me that your slowest jog is almost always much faster than your fastest walk, and that if I could just keep turning my legs over...

Coming toward mile 16 or 17, I knew that we were once again approaching the only really steep section of the run course - a series of hills that take you over the top of the UW campus before heading back toward State Street. I had already walked this section on Loop 1, and actually looked forward to doing the same on Loop 2. Knowing that this break was coming gave me a huge boost. I knew that the final miles were counting down as I made the last turn on State Street, and once again hit the lakefront trail that would take us out toward the Ford inspiration zone (an electronic board where people's messages of support are shown when your chip trips the corresponding mat). That's at mile 22. The aid station there was great - the volunteers were all dressed up as characters from famous movies - but I was still pretty grim-faced and serious as I thought about the handful of miles I had left.

About a half-mile later I saw Cath and Drew running together going the opposite direction - I was excited that Cath looked like her chipper self (she's probably the happiest racer that you've ever seen - smiling, high-fiving, and cheering on other athletes), although Drew looked like he might be struggling a bit. We exchanged encouragement, and I went another 50 yards before I had to stop and walk. The last four miles had a lot that: run 50 yards, walk 10 yards, run 50 yards, walk 10 yards, etc. I finally got to the 25 mile marker, and could visualize the last mile+ to the finish, but again had to agree to a walk break through the last aid station before my legs would let me run again. I saw Ross at this aid station, where he was volunteering, and I barely remember telling him something about how glad I was to be finishing up.

The adrenaline kicked in when I sensed how close I was to the line, and then, out of no where, there was the finishing shoot - I let the one gal in front of me have her finishline moment, and crossed the line with three fingers up on each hand to signify my third time coming home as an IM finisher. 12:03.22. A 30-minute improvement over my time in 2007, and almost two hours faster than 2006. My super-secret, really-shouldn't-even think-this, don't-tell-anyone, pie-in-the-sky, goal time was sub-12, and to be this close, after the run I had just endured, was too good to be true. I couldn't believe it.

It's really impossible to explain what's going through your head when that finish line finally arrives. Words just really don't do it any justice. It's weird the way that the finish is always a million miles away during the race, until it's right there in front of you - there's, like, no transition from being hip-deep in the heart of the race until it's absolutely over. No mental downhill to the line, just racing and then there's no more racing. Even after such a long day you want desperately for that finishing shoot to go on for just one more block, to allow you to absorb the enormity of what you've accomplished, but then it's done. You're an Ironman.

Crossing the line, two volunteers ("catchers") grabbed my arms and immediately asked how I was feeling ("great!"), what size t-shirt I wore ("medium"), if I needed any water or Gatorade ("yes, water, please") and helped me get a photo taken (yeah, great, my hat's on crooked). I walked around a bit and soon found a folding chair to collapse into. Sipping a mix of water and Gatorade, I just sat there, silently watching as athletes made their way across the line and into the arms of waiting volunteers, each person's face etched with a mix of joy and relief. It took me a bit for the emotions to hit me. I had never expected to be so close to 12 hours for this race, especially after suffering through what I thought was a horrible run (oddly enough, my 4:18.14 was actually a 10-minute improvement over my run at IMAZ in '07). The PR, combined with all the mental pushing that I had to do during those last 26 miles, almost had me in tears. This race was really hard - much harder than IMAZ - and I actually felt like I had done something pretty special. Sure, my finish time didn't get me to Kona, and wouldn't win me any praise on Slowtwitch, but it meant a lot to me. I kept on going. I ran when I could have walked. I overcame the doubts. I persevered.

And I think that's what Ironman is really all about.

The numbers:

Overall - 544/2397
Total Time - 12:03.22
Swim - 1:17.43
T1 - 11:07
Bike - 6:07.58
T2 - 8:21
Run - 4:18.14

Next...final thoughts.

The Bike

2009-09-18T08:07:00.007-05:00

I don't care how good of a swimmer you are, every IM triathlete has *got* to experience a profound sense of relief when the water is behind you and the remainder of the race awaits. There's just a certain sense of unpredictability associated with swimming, especially in a mass-start format like IM Wisconsin. You hear too many stories of people getting clocked so solidly during the swim leg that it kicks them out of the race - imagine training for over six months, putting in all the blood, sweat and tears that's required, only to get kicked in the eye and be forced to drop out within the first two miles of the race. Horrible. But it happens.

So, needless to say, I was thrilled - as always - to be heading out onto the bike course. Hit the porto-let real quick before grabbing my bike, and quickly made my way back down the helix. The first five or so miles on this course is pretty uneventful - the roads are narrow, and you are pretty much forced to follow single-file as you make your way out of Madison. Which is fine - it's nice to take a few moments to gather yourself after the swim and focus on the new task at hand. Of course there's always some idiot that's too eager to get going, and, sure enough, one hotshot took an unceremonious spill when he failed to negotiate a tight 90 degree turn not two miles into the course. Luckily, he was up quickly and didn't disturb any other riders.

I was much more surprised when I heard Drew call out my name and pull up beside me just a few miles later - it was great to see him, especially after having missed each other at the start, and it was good to know that he also had made it through the swim leg unscathed. We chatted a few minutes, during which time I looked over and saw probably the nicest view I'd see all day (except for the finish line, of course) - a ginormous field of yellow flowers off to our right. Considering that Drew and I last did this race in 2006, under a steady cold rain, this bright yellow field laid out peacefully under the morning sun just felt like a good omen.

As riding side-by-side is considered a penalty, we soon parted ways, and was again left to my own thoughts. I've had people ask me what one thinks about during the course of a six-hour bike ride, and, honestly, I can never really remember anything specific. Feelings come and go, little internal pep talks get thrown out there, snippets of songs get sung (sometimes out loud). Nothing too profound, that's for sure. But it's crazy how quickly the time flies by. The first loop - roughly 60 miles total - was over in a heartbeat. My nutrition plan - an area where I've failed miserably in the past - was going pretty well. One bottle of Infinit (275 calories), one of water, and one of Gatorade was already inside me, and I'd knocked back at least 3/4 of my gel flask and a package of Shot Blocks. I stopped at special needs and choked down a Balance bar, and stuffed another package of Shot Blocks in my jersey pocket. I had another bottle of Infinit in the bag, but it was warm and sounded gross, so I decided to just stick with Gatorade and water from there on out.

The second loop seemed to drag a bit slower than the first, but I was feeling great when I hit the hill leading up to Mt. Horeb High School. At that point, I knew that I just had the string of rollers along Witte and Garfoot, and the final three hills, before I'd be heading back to Madison. My nutrition faltered a bit here, as gels sounded less and less appetizing. I kept drinking as much as I could, and killed the second package of Shot Blocks, but that was it for the solid food. I was definitely excited to make that final turn-off back to Madison, just before the 100-mile mark, and it was nice to note the lack of any appreciable headwind. But it was even nicer to know that I'd soon be able to get off the &*@#%^ bike seat, which had by now pounded my nether regions into hamburger. Seriously, I won't get into details, but the pain I was feeling down there was ridiculous. A brief glimpse post-race was pretty shocking. Let's just say that I wouldn't wish that kind of pain (or injury) on anyone. Yikes.

Unfortunately, it was also at about the century mark that I got a bit of a scare. Both of my quads started to cramp up. Nothing horrible, but definitely uncomfortable, and it got me worried about whether I had taken in enough water and salt. The thing with IM is, you can feel great one minute and wiped the next, and it often depends on what you did or didn't do in the hours before. So, although I still felt good, generally speaking, I was afraid that maybe I hadn't done as good of a job as I had thought, nutrition-wise, earlier in the race (which, considering that I didn't have to pee AT ALL during the bike, was looking more and more plausible).

Anywho, I made it back up the helix with the cramps coming off and on, and handed my bike to another nice volunteer before walking (I couldn't run) into the Convention Center and toward T2. Grabbed my bag and found an empty seat, where another volunteer materialized out of no where and started helping me get my run stuff together. And here's another instance of extreme IM kindness - the athlete next to me, a guy in his late 40s or early 50s, saw me rubbing out my quads and asked if I was okay. Told him I was cramping up, and he immediately started digging into his own transition bag for salt tablets. I couldn't believe he was taking time out of his race to help me, a complete stranger, but he handed me three tiny ziploc bags with three pills each and told me to take one package immediately and then another if the cramping wasn't going away. I had salt pills in my T2 bag, courtesy of Drew, but I took the little baggies because I didn't want the pills to dissolve in my pocket.

I, of course, thanked this man profusely for his thoughtfulness, and, once again, thought about what an amazing event this truly is - how everyone out there has there own goals and dreams, and have invested so much in this one race, but so many will gladly go out of their way to help a fellow competitor. It's this kind of positive energy that envelops the whole day - it's like the air is saturated with it. I've never felt this kind of energy in such force during any other competition, and I think it's part of what makes an Ironman race such a unique and special athletic event.

After downing the three salt pills, I jogged out of transition, hit the porto-let, and was soon on the run course.

Bike split: 6:07.58.

T2: 8:21.

Next up...the run.

The Swim

2009-09-16T18:55:00.006-05:00

Surprisingly enough, I slept pretty well - for Steelhead, the half-IM we did earlier this year, I don't recall sleeping for more 10 minutes all night. This time, I was much more relaxed. Very strange, but also very welcome. The alarm summoned us awake at 4:00 a.m., and Cath and I silently assembled our special needs bags (goodies to be stashed at the half-way points of both the bike and run) and choked down some breakfast. We then went down to meet the rest of our masochistic friends in the lobby at 5:00 a.m.

As you can imagine, the tension was pretty thick as we nervously greeted each other and death-marched our way to the special needs drop off boxes, and then to the start area. This is always the worst part of the entire IM experience - 2500 athletes, all stewing in their own anxiety, waiting for the final moment when Mike Riley (the long-time IM announcer) orders everyone into the lake. The nervous energy is so powerful, and not at all in a good way. It's like every competitor's worst fears are all escaping from their heads out into the air at once, creating a huge cloud of dread in the air. Yuck.

Unfortunately, after we all (somewhat reluctantly) pulled ourselves into wetsuits, Cath and I got seperated from Drew and Danielle. They are both much better swimmers than either of us, and were therefore going to situate themselves in different start positions, but I was still sad that I didn't get a chance to wish Drew well out there - he and I did our first ever triathlons together, and have started both of my previous IM experiences together, wishing each other good luck just before the cannon sounds. I probably wouldn't be doing triathlon without his influence, and almost certainly not at the IM distance.

It's that kind of thing that you think about before an Ironman - at the risk of over dramatizing the whole IM thing, it really is an incredibly emotional experience. Maybe it's the thought of the full-day's racing that awaits, or realizing that you've put so much time and energy into one event, but it's hard not to get choked up during those last moments before the clock starts. I was admittedly a little teary-eyed just thinking of how Cath had successfully balanced her work and training for the last eight months, and how cool it is to have a wife that supports this arguably crazy lifestyle. I gave her a last hug and kiss and we drifted to our respective start positions, hoping that she'd have an easy and uneventful swim to start her day.

And, just like that, Mike told us that we only had one minute left to wait and then - BANG - the cannon sent us on our way. I seeded myself about halfway between the shore and edge of the rectangular swim course, hoping to let the speedy-McSpeedersons go ahead, but stay ahead of the truly swim-challenged. (An interesting aside, and not meaning to sound demeaning to anyone, but you would amazed at the number of truly BAD swimmers there are in a typical IM race. The rules give you 2:20 to complete the 2.4 mile course, and there are a substantial number of people that need the bulk of that time to finish. If they finish at all. Now, maybe some of these folks are kick-ass bikers and/or runners, and will blow away a lot of the field later in the day, but still, I'm always taken aback by the number of people that are still in the water long after I'm done, and I am by no means a good swimmer).

Anywho, the swim starts pretty well for me - there's contact, but I'm moving forward, and not getting pummeled. Much. At least not until we get to the first turn bouy. Then the beatings commence. To say that the seven turns that you need to make on this swim course are 'physically-challenging' would be an understatement. It's more like a bar fight. Or full-contact karate. But you get through it. I advised Cath before we started to just go with the punches - literally - and not let the contact throw you off your rhythm. I tried to take my own advice, and was able to get back on track pretty quickly. I actually thought the first loop went by pretty fast, but resisted the urge to look at my watch and just press on. The second loop wasn't as good - I think I got a bit off-course, and spent a goodly amount of time getting back on-line, which freaked me out a bit. I have a tendency to do this in open water, and it's frustrating to think that you're going farther than you really need to. But at least the water was becoming more and more open, and, therefore, easier to just swim with a nice cadence.

The backstretch also seemed to take forever, as it usually does - the intermediate bouys just keep coming and going, but you never seem to get to the big red one that signals the turn for home. Luckily, my shoulders felt good and I wasn't feeling overly tired, but I could have used a gel around the 3/4 mark. Having made the final turn for the swim finish, I successfully battled all the last-minute sprinters and exited the water in 1:17.43. I could hear Mike Riley tell the crowd that 1,100 athletes had already completed the swim portion, which was a bit disheartening - I know I'm a mediocre swimmer, but had half the field already passed me?! Bummer. But I felt good physically, and figured that was the most important thing - conserving energy and escaping the water without a fat lip or black eye (which, sadly enough, not everyone did).

Jogged up to an inviting-looking wetsuit stripper, who had me on my way in no time. The swim out requires you to run down a path and then up a multi-tiered parking ramp (the so-called helix), which was lined with loud and excited spectators. The support here, and everywhere on the course, was totally incredible. Madison is a great IM location - even the people who were stopped in traffic because of the race would be yelling support for the racers. It felt great. Ran into the Convention Center, grabbed my transiton bag, and changed into my bike gear. The appetizer portion of the race was done, and now it was onto the main course.

T1 -11:07.

Next up...the bike.

photo courtesy/stolen from: http://ellasdeli.blogspot.com/

Ironman Wisconsin 2009

2009-09-15T11:00:00.005-05:00

Wow, as usual, what a crazy ride it's been. It's Tuesday, and I can't believe that it's already over. That the race is now behind us instead of up there, somewhere around the bend. That I don't have a plan to follow or workout to complete. Which I guess is both refreshing, but just a little sad, too. Anywho, I think I'll indulge myself in a multi-part race report, so please bear with me. I want to try and remember all of it. We'll start with the build-up.

Pre-race:

Cath and I dropped off the dogs at the boarding place and were on the road by 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, and made record time up to Madison - something like 2:10 from Chicago. It was a beautiful drive and, despite the undercurrent of nerves, it felt great to be going back to such a great city. We arrived and checked into our room about 12:30 p.m., and set out for some lunch. The weather was spectacular - nothing but clear, sunny skies. Took a nice walk down State Street - which we'd spend quite a bit of time on come Sunday - and had a nice (long) meal at a little Lebanese place. Decided to push off registration until Friday, and instead opted for an afternoon nap. Dinner was had at the Great Dane Brew Pub, where it very, Very, VERY difficult to avoid indulging in their great selection of in-house beers. They looked delicious. But, being a tad concerned about hydration issues, I stuck to Ginger Ale,and we ended up going to bed pretty early.

Friday we hit the Expo and checked in as soon as they opened at 10:00 a.m. We hoped to avoid the long lines, and were pretty successful, escaping just around noon. Cath got some ART done on her hips and hamstring while I watched former IM champion Greg Welch interview some of the pros who would be competing. I also had a little work done on my hips and hammies, which felt great - wonderfully loose. So nice to have that available, and totally free! Afterwards, we picked up sandwiches and waited for Drew and Ross (who would be volunteering on Sunday) to arrive, as well as Danielle and her Husband, John, who were coming in from Minneapolis. After everyone got registered, we got together for dinner at a Mexican place on State Street (where there was just a little drinking involved - but it was Mexican food, it's mandatory, right?!). It was another incredible evening, weather-wise, and, after a leisurely walk around the Capitol, we retired to the hotel for some dessert, hot tea, and more good conversation.

Brief aside: Apart from the race itself, and exceeding our personal goals, this weekend - and Ironman, generally - was all about connecting with great people. So many times during this experience I was reminded just how great this sport is - how it brings different people together, how supportive they can be, and how great the energy is that surrounds the whole thing. Cath and I both noted that, despite the nerves and stress, we laughed so much this past weekend, and were greeted with such kindness, it was almost overwhelming. Coming from a big city, where so many people think that "Fuck you!" is an acceptable greeting, it was a wonderful refresher that there are genuinely nice people out there.

Anywho, on Saturday, I decided to brave the thick algae and dead bodies (sadly, a fisherman drowned early in the week in the lake that we'd be swimming in and had yet to be found by race day) and head down to the Gatorade swim. Luckily, the water wasn't as bad as I had feared, and was crazy warm. There's something about a warm-water swim that's really comforting, and I was super glad that I checked it out. I just did an easy 20 minutes, checked out the site lines, and headed back to meet everyone for breakfast. We then made our way back to the Expo for a bit before getting our stuff together. Putting together your transition bags and special needs bags really brings the magnitude of the event into focus for me - double checking, triple checking, quadruple checking to make sure everything's in there....pfft. It was then that the nerves really started to kick in - the 'Holy, shit, we're doing an Ironman tomorrow!' moment. Yikes. I get a nervous belly just thinking about it again!

Dropped off the bags and bikes, which always takes way longer than you'd expect, and we (finally) sat down for lunch (again, at the Great Dane - highly recommended, btw) at around 2:15 pm. I knew the anxiety had started take over at that point because I was agitated that we were eating lunch so late, which would mean that dinner would be pushed later, and I don't like eating late before a race...blah, blah, blah. Hopefully, my friends didn't/don't think I was too much of an ass, and it was just the pre-race jitters doing their thing. Regardless, we then retreated for a little naptime before gathering again for dinner. Because of the size of our party, we decided to just take advantage of the pasta buffet in the hotel and avoid a long wait somewhere outside, which meant that we were done eating by 7:30 pm. The food was pretty blah, but, by that time, everyone's thoughts were more focused on raceday than the quality of the cuisine. Again, we capped off the night with some hot tea and dessert and wished each other good luck on getting some measure of sleep.

Next up...the swim.

I'm an Ironman!

2009-09-14T05:02:00.001-05:00

And a PR, to boot - details to follow.

Cheers!

I should probably have something profound to say...but I don't, so I'll just ramble a bit

2009-09-09T07:50:00.004-05:00

Well, the days are ticking away, and the start line awaits. Cath and drop off the dogs at the Petsmart Hotel and make the three-hour trek to Madison tomorrow, around mid-morning. Drew is coming up on Friday, as is our friend Danielle and her crew. We've got tri stuff piled up on our dining room table, wetsuits on the floor of the guest bedroom, and clothes that still need to be packed, but our bikes are tuned and we should be ready to hit the road by 10:00 a.m.

I was freaking out a bit over the weekend, but have calmed down quite a bit over the last couple of days. Even the (deteriorating) weather report hasn't phased me much, which is nice. Perhaps I'm in a good 'head space' about the race. Or maybe it's just denial. Whatever, at least it beats anxiety.

I'm not sure if I have a time goal(s) for this race - Ironman is a hard race to have goals for, just because the day is so long, the conditions so unpredictable, and the human body is...well, let's just say that we've all had a bad day on race day. So, it's hard to predict a time goal. I'd prefer to think of IM as less of a race and more of a journey from start to finish - a long, steady journey around the great state of Wisconsin. Just taking each leg as an adventure. Never getting too winded or stressed. Trying to be in the 'the moment' at all times. Having that mentality worked well for me at IM AZ, and I think it's the key to a successful IM experience. I also think that this one might be my last, for at least a year or two. Never say never, right? But I'm honestly ready to move on to some other challenges (including fatherhood, perhaps?), so this gives me extra motivation to run a smart race.

Racing an IM truly is a gift - getting to the start line is your reward for getting through a tough training cycle. The day, itself, is a celebration of all that hard work.

I probably won't be able to post again until after the dust (or mud) has settled, so thanks for reading everyone (anyone?). I look forward to recounting what the day gives me. It should be quite an adventure. Ironman always is.

The agony and the ecstasy

2009-09-03T07:52:00.003-05:00

When my buddy Drew first brought up the idea of possibly committing to an IM distance triathlon, I distinctly remember thinking two things: "Oh, God, are you kidding?! No way" and then "Well, really, how hard could it be?"

With time, the idea of doing one became less crazy and more doable - I figured that we all exercise anyway, that we might as well have a (major) goal at the end of our training, that we had already done a 1/2 IM (and lived), and that it would be fun to go back to Wisconsin - where I had lived a bit as a youngster and later attended law school - to race the ultimate in triathlon. So, we signed up and ended up finishing it (albeit not entirely the way that I had hoped). But the journey from registration to finish line was a lot more complicated than I had ever imagined.

Make no mistake, twenty-four to thirty straight weeks of ever-increasing training is a beast. It's not just a series of workouts, it's a gauntlet of sessions designed to trick your body into going harder and longer than it would otherwise want to go. It beats your body up in more ways than you can imagine, but, hopefully, at the end, you'll be acclimated enough to move continuously for 140 miles. Once. And then have nothing left. A lot can happen during that period, and most of it's bad. Cath signed up for IM WI 2006 with Drew and I, and had put in a huge amount of training, only to have a freak bike crash take her out of the race before she even got to start. My blogger friend Kristin is now, sadly, in that same boat - a freak injury may prevent her from competing in a race that she's already invested so much in. It's not fair. Both gals put in the time and effort, made the sacrifices, had gained the fitness, but had their IM dreams put off for another day.

Unfortunately, Ironman can be cruel like that. Maybe that's what makes it so special. The race, itself, is just one (long) day, but the training it takes to get to that day makes up a huge chapter in your life. Watching a competitor cross the finish line is merely the last page of the IM novel. If you miss a 10k this weekend, there's no doubt another scheduled for next week. The next IM is a whole year away, and another long training cycle awaits. But it will be there. If you want it enough, it will be there. Cath put the disappointment of 2006 behind her, and successfully completed IM AZ in 2007. I know Kristin will be back, as well. And all the disappointments will be forgotten. That's the Ironman.

Now, this is living

2009-08-31T08:14:00.005-05:00

Despite what I noted in my previous post, I'm actually enjoying this taper quite a bit. Granted, I'm only one week in, but I already feel more rested and peaceful than I did two weeks ago. This past week just struck me as being a lot more civilized, in terms of both training load and intensity. And I liked it.

My week went something like this:

Monday - rest day.

Tuesday - swam 2300 yards (100 WU, 1 x 300, 2 x 200, 1 x 300, 2 x 200, 1 x 300, 1 x 300 pull, 200 CD).

Wednesday - 90 minute keiser ride (five minute WU, then increasing one gear from set point every five minutes through 45 minutes, then downshifting one gear every five minutes until set point; then two standing climbs, each for 2.5 minutes, with an equal amount of rest between).

Thursday - 45 minute hilly run.

Friday - OWS with Drew, 1.5 miles, 55-odd minutes.

Saturday - solo ride along the lakepath, two hours and twenty minutes.

On Sunday, Cath, Drew and I competed in the Chicago Accenture Olympic triathlon as a relay. Cath did the swim, Drew the bike, and I did the run. It was a ton of fun, despite the fact that we needed to check Drew's bike into transition by 5:30 a.m., and didn't start racing until almost 10:00 a.m. (wave 56!). Which meant that I got up at 3:30 a.m., and didn't start running until just after 11:30 a.m. But it's always fun watching this race - it's absolutely emormous, over 9000 people doing either the sprint or olympic distances, so it makes for great people-watching. The weather was cool and breezy for most of the morning, but cleared up nicely by afternoon.

Poor Cath had to swim her leg mostly into the windy swells, but posted a great swim time, and Drew powered through the headwinds like a knife through butta.

I was actually a little nervous about doing this event so close to race day, even as a relay, thinking that our competitive juices could lead to injury, but it ended up being a good time. My run actually felt effortless for almost the whole way, and I put up mile splits that I haven't seen since I was a much younger man. My 10k time was 43:34, which works out to just over 7:00 minute miles, and, more importantly, I felt great at that pace. Now, obviously, I didn't have the swim or bike in me before running, and it was only 6.2 miles, but it still gives me some confidence going into IM WI that I've got some level of run fitness going on.

I'm sure that this week's training will be similar to last week's easy-feast (people, when I taper, I taper HARD), and I have to get my bike into the shop for some last minute tweaks. I can feel the nerves starting to percolate, especially before drifting off to sleep, so I know that race day is on its way. Gulp.

The taper

2009-08-27T07:41:00.002-05:00

I've found that tapering is an odd and awkward beast for most triathletes. Which has always struck me funny, because it makes perfect sense, physiology-wise, and it's easy - you just cut back on the either the number or length/intensity of your sessions (typically 25 percent each week until race day). How could doing *less* exercise be a problem, you ask?

It just feels weird.

I've always found that, as much as I enjoy the mental break that comes from tapering - I swear, just trying to schedule 30-weeks worth of workouts, day in and day out, is like the fourth leg of triathlon - the physical part is baffling. You'd think that, given the additional rest, your body would feel better and better everyday. That you'd wake up each morning a little bit more chipper and energized. That you'd just feel stronger, and smarter, and more confident with every passing hour.

Yeah, not so much.

My taper is usually filled with doubt and anxiety, mostly because I *don't* ever get that feeling of physical rejuvination. There is no grand rebound in the weeks before my big race. I don't get the sense of growth that's said to come from the body's response to a period of continued stress. I just feel flat. Really tired. Always hungry. Certainly not an Ironman poised to conquer the 140 miles of water/road that ends just blocks from the Capitol building.

There's also the ever-present fear that you're either tapering too much or not enough to do any good. For example, I typically swim in the morning and run in the afternoons on Tuesday. This past Tuesday, I blew off the afternoon run. Just didn't really feel like it, and, in honor of the taper starting, I didn't do it. Instead, Cath and I had dinner and watched TV. And, of course, I felt guilty about missing the run. I still do. Did I *need* that run to do well on September 13? Probably not. But the doubt still lingers.

Typically, when asked for their advice, most folks will just say "stick with whatever plan that you've been following and you can't go wrong," but that gets tricky when your body is telling you one thing (either it hurts, doesn't hurt, or is somewhere in between) and the plan says something else. Or you just can't read your body's signals - yeah, your knee is bothering you a little, but is that just a random nothing or the beginning of something debilitating? Is that last long-ish run going to push you over the edge? Or not? Hmmm...

I certainly don't have the answers, but, for me, I'd rather not chance anything at this point. It's been a long road, and I'd hate to have anything go wrong before I've even hit the start line. One more swim, bike, or run isn't going to make or break my race. But it could lead to an injury that could take me out of the race, or, at least make it a more difficult one. So why chance it?

We're another day closer to the Big Dance, kids. Be smart with your training!

Welcome to Tapertown!

2009-08-25T08:13:00.004-05:00

Mission accomplished!

While I certainly didn't follow my training plan to the letter - in fact, I gallantly started at the "Competitive" level and quickly dropped through "Intermediate," and am now somewhere closer to "Just Finish" - I think I put in some quality training this IM cycle, and am proud of myself for sticking with it. I've no doubt put in more pool time and hard cycling miles than I did prior to IMWI '06 or IMAZ '07, and my running is probably at a similar level. Hopefully, when we're all floating about on September 13, waiting for the cannon to fire, I can be confident that - for once! - the "hay" really is "in the barn," and just let the day unfold.

On the way back from Madison (more on that later), my beautiful wife - out of no where - started to sob in the seat next to me, happy and joyful that she had made it through this IM training cycle without getting hurt. As I may have mentioned, Cath had a nasty crash prior to IM WI in '06, and the injuries that resulted kept her from the start line. She has also had set-backs over the years due to various strains, pulls, breaks and other physical issues that either kept her out of races or at least hindered her performance. The relief she felt to realize that the start line is just a short taper away was emotionally powerful and the tears just ran out of her.

And it got me thinking - it really *is* a huge accomplishment for any of us to have gotten this far. Twenty-seven weeks ago we started this latest adventure, which works out to several hundred miles, laps, and intervals, six days a week. That's a ton of effort, both physical and mental, over a very long time. To hold it together - even on cold, rainy days when no one else is stupid enough to be out there - shows an incredible resolve and focus that deserves a bit of congratulations in and of itself.

Regardless of what happens on Race Day - and a lot of crazy things can happen on Race Day - the fact that we've all gotten to this point in one piece is something that no one can ever take away from you. All those early mornings. The sweat in your eyes. The rain on your sunglasses. The skinned knees. The bee stings. All of that "hay" is in the barn because you moved it there. And that, by itself, is reason to celebrate. Take a minute to do just that. You deserve it.

___________

On the training front:

Saturday, Drew and I ran 18 miles along the lake path in about 2:40. The weather was fantastic - cool at the start, and then sunny as we finished up. Probably around an 8:40 pace throughout (I don't have my Garmin in front of me, so I'm guessing a bit).

After Cath finished up at work, and took a short nap, we blasted up to Madison for another crack at the loop. Talk about night and day. Whereas two weeks ago it was hot as all get-out, with high humidity and wind for added pleasure, Sunday morning was c-o-l-d, like, in the 50s cold. I actually had to wear a t-shirt under my jersey for the first loop to keep out the chill. There was fog in the lower valleys, but that burned off pretty quickly. Our friends couldn't make it up, so it was just Cath and I, and the course was unusually quiet - I had expected a huge turnout for one of the last weekends before most folks begin a taper. But the parking lot at Fireman's Park was almost empty when we arrived.

Anywho, I felt much, much better this go-around. The first loop was challenging, but not demoralizing, and we were back at the parking lot in no time. The weather could not have been better - lower 70s, with little or no wind. It doesn't get any better out there. Oddly enough, I felt even better on the second loop. Knowing where the turns were, which section of rollers were coming, and where the tougher climbs started, was a huge mental advantage. I recovered well after the climbs and we finished both loops in just under 4 and 1/2 hours. Cath's legs were pretty beat, so we just bricked for 15 minutes afterward, but I felt vindicated and much more confident about taking on the bike course. Hopefully, I'll have just as good a day on the 13th.

Welcome to Tapertown, kids - let's be smart about this final training phase!

The final push

2009-08-21T13:27:00.002-05:00

So, we've finally arrived. It's the last big training push until the taper leads us to the start line. I've had a good week, so far - nothing too strenuous, but consistent, with a few challenging sections to keep things interesting.

Monday, Cath and I swam - I did 3,200 yards (100 WU, 5 x 600, 100 CD), which felt good. No intervals, but a good race-type pace throughout.

Tuesday I took a rest day.

Wednesday I rode der Keiser for 90 minutes, including a series of standing and seated climbs in Z3-4 (the sequence went like: 2 minutes, 3 min., 4 min., 2min., 3 min,., 4 min., and then 6 x 1 minute seated climbs, all followed by an equal amount of easy recovery). I then bricked that ride for 15 minutes at 8:45 pace.

Thursday I ran 45 minutes at about an 8:40 pace.

Today Drew and I swam two miles in the lake, which took just over an hour. The water was freezing, but very flat, and I actually felt like I was swimming *gasp* fast (!). These longer swims are still killing my shoulders, but, aerobically, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm intentionally trying to not think about the fact that the IM swim is actually another .4 miles, and how my arms are going to feel after that. (Luckily, I get to just lay on them for several hours thereafter.).

Tomorrow Drew and I are going to run another 2.5 hours, which should work out to around 18 miles, and that should be my last long run of the program. Apart from some hamstring pain (strangely, not the one that's caused me problems in the past), my running has been great. My pace is a little slower than I'd like, especially on the longer stuff, but I keep reminding myself that I'm not training for a marathon, I'm training for an IM, and it's a totally different experience. A steady 9:00 pace on September 13th would be fantastic.

Then, as soon as Cath is done with work, we hit the road and head back up to Madison. We may or may not have company this time, but, regardless, I have maps and figure there will be plenty of folks like us hitting up the course one more time before the Big Day. I'm excited to get back on those rollers and get a little bit more familiar with the whole loop. Truth be told, I've never felt that this was a very good course for me - the short, sharp "rollers" really kill your momentum, and I just never feel like I'm any any kind of groove out there. In 2006, it took me just over 7 hours to finish it, and, I swear, it felt like 2/3 of the field was already running by the time I shuffled out of T2. I'm hoping that this weekend's ride - even if it's slow and exhausting - will make me feel better about the course, and bring just a hint of mental comfort come race day. The weather up there, unlike two weeks ago, is looking good, so fingers crossed.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The Doubt Phase

2009-08-18T13:41:00.005-05:00

So, we've officially entered the part of the training cycle that I hate more than any other - the Doubt Phase.

As in, "Oh, God, I hope I did enough to train for this stupid race, but not too much so that I am over-trained and now past my peak."

I've trained for three different IM races now, and the Doubt Phase has hit me every time. I was hoping to avoid it this year because I was smarter about following a more structured training plan and figured that, if I just followed the plan, I'd eliminate any questions I may have about being ready to race.

But, truth told, I haven't followed the Fink Plan as closely as I had originally intended. Probably about 75 percent, really. Maybe 70 percent. Haven't run as much, haven't swam as much, and haven't biked as much as ol' Don prescribed in his "Competitive" plan. Some avoidance came from design - I didn't want to tax my wonky hamstring too much by running 4+ times per week - and some came from pure laziness/lack of will (i.e., just swimming 2x per week, and usually at distances shorter than those Coach Don recommended).

So, following the Plan hasn't really served to allay any concerns I have over being IM ready. In fact, I'm pretty anxious about being under-trained at this point. I know I've done more quality work than I have previously, but I'm really not sure if it's enough to have a good race on this particular course. Because it's a toughie. Don't let anyone tell you that all IM races are similarly difficult, because it's just not true. Flat courses - like IM Florida or IM Arizona - are nothing compared to hilly courses. You can argue that riding in the aero position into a headwind is equivalent to a long day of riding rollers, in terms of overall exertion, but that just isn't true. Riding hills just takes a lot out of your legs, which you then need to run on for 26.2 miles. Riding in the wind just slows you down, it doesn't (necessarily) wear you out.

But, at the same time, my body is telling me that it's been worked over pretty good - nothing painful, really, just an all-over body fatigue that doesn't go away. I also haven't felt like I've made any real progress, aerobically-speaking, for quite a while. For example, rides that I did a month ago are now harder than they were then. I'm able to do the prescribed workouts, but I worry that they're not making me stronger. Just more fatigued. Or maybe this is just the nature of a 30-week training plan? That kind of effort is bound to wear on you over time, and presumably the fitness gains will only show once the taper period ends. Pfft...it would all be so much easier if we just had a dial or gauge on our bodies to show how much fitness is in the tank.

This period is especially frustrating and confusing because, with only a few short weeks left, there's really not a ton you can do about it either way - you've either slacked way off too much or put away too many miles to make any real difference to your race result. The damage - if there is any - has already been done.

I guess there won't be a definitive answer as to where I am, fitness-wise, until Race Day. Until then, I'm going to just stumble my way toward the start line as best I can and hope for the best. We're just over three weeks out, with one more big weekend left to train.

Fingers crossed that I'm on the right path.

Training update

2009-08-15T11:45:00.006-05:00

I just realized that I've been a bit remiss in keeping track of my workouts this past week, so here goes:

I took a rest day Monday, but was back in the pool Tuesday morning for a quick 2400 yards (4 x 400, 16 x 25 [alternating AN and easy], 200 pull, 200 CD) and then ran for 75 minutes in the afternoon (9 miles, 7:37 average, 2 rather long intervals buried in there).

Wednesday I hit the Keiser bike for 75 minutes, and threw in six sets of standing climbs of varying lengths (two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, two minutes, four minutes, three minutes) and then bricked that for 15 minutes.

Thursday I just sat on the Keiser bike and spun my legs out for 45 minutes.

Friday I swam 3,000 yards (something like: 100 WU, 3 x 150 [alternating AN and easy], 4 x 250 [alt. AN and easy], 3 x 150 [alt. AN and easy], 8 x 50 [alt. AN and easy], 300 pull, 300 CD).

This morning Drew and I hit the lake path for a 2:30 run. It was wicked humid out there, but the air temp was relatively cool still at 6:30, so the first half of the run was nice. I felt a ton better in the humid air than I did last Sunday, but the sweat was still pouring off of us and there were plenty of water breaks. Our 8:45 pace caught up with us after the half-way point, and the run back was a bit labored, but I feel good now. I doubt that I'll run any longer than this for this training cycle, but I may repeat the 18 miles next week. I'll have to see how my legs hold up. I'm not super concerned about my run, and would hate to invite an injury at this late date.

Tomorrow Drew and I are heading out to Palos for our last long ride out in the suburbs (next week Cath and I are heading back up to Madison for what I hope for me will be a more successful ride on the IM course). I'm kinda hoping that the humidity will make another appearance, just so our bodies are ready for it come race day. We're probably looking at five or so hours tomorrow - I'm not so concerned with total time anymore, but rather just get in some good roller and hill work. Then I suspect we'll brick the ride for 30 or so minutes.

I have Monday off, so Cath and I plan on hitting Lake Michigan for an OWS. Hoping to put in another couple miles of slow and steady to compliment the shorter/faster stuff I've been doing in the pool. Cath also runs with her training group that evening, so I may join them for 7 or 8 miles and take Tuesday as my rest day next week.

Whew. That all sounds exhausting! I'm hoping that there's a nap or two buried in there somewhere.

Cheers all!

Two weeks

2009-08-14T08:14:00.003-05:00

Well, that's what it's really come down to - two more weeks of pretty intense training and then we'll be starting a two-week taper. Although, I'm sure that I'll regret this soon enough, I'm already a bit sad that this training cycle is coming to a close. As much as the week-to-week beat-downs can get to you (and, believe me, they have), there's something comforting about having a really big goal out there that takes a long time - and a lot of effort - to achieve. We decided quite a while ago to forego any IM in 2010, instead electing to try some new things (ie., the Hood to Coast relay, or perhaps the Triple T), which will be a nice break from the months-long training that's required for an IM, but I'm sure that I'll miss it soon enough.

There really is no race like the Ironman. It is a ridiculously long and grueling day, both physically and mentally, but the payoff at the end is absolutely enormous. Words can't describe it. The energy, the excitement, the tension, the joy - it's all there. And it's still a small enough event, with most folks (even most athletes) thinking that it's an insane undertaking, that you still feel unique for having taken part in it. The 2009 IMWI will be my third IM distance race, and, while there's never any way to replicate the feelings associated with your first, you can't help but be awed and excited by the Ironman. A year ago, I spoke with a small group of athletes - mostly strangers - who were preparing for this same race, and literally got choked up and teary describing how amazing it truly is. At the risk of being overly dramatic, it's really that powerful. If you can complete an IM race, there's nothing that you can't accomplish.

We're just a month out from the Big Show, and the excitement is already building to get up there and take part. Two more heavy weeks and we'll be ready to go. Bring it!

Four years!

2009-08-13T07:55:00.002-05:00

Today marks the four-year anniversary of one of my happiest days ever - Cath and I got married on August 13, 2005, and I can't imagine what my life would be like without her.

I'll save you from the unnecessary details, but we met under extremely unlikely and somewhat complicated circumstances back in 2004, but it was quickly apparent that we were a match like no other I had ever experienced and we were destined to be together. It's been such a great trip so far, and I often look forward to the times to come and what adventures await us (and the dogs, of course!). She's the perfect partner for me - supportive, smart, funny, and always my number one fan. She makes me eat my vegetables and take my vitamins so that will "live forever."

I know that, regardless of whether I finish first in my age group, or fail to finish at all, she will still think I'm a winner, and there's really not much more you can ask for than that from another person. I count my blessings every day that we found each other.

I'm the luckiest guy I know. Happy anniversary, Poochie!

Two steps forward...and one back

2009-08-10T08:16:00.005-05:00

Welcome to week 26 of our IM adventure! As is typical of this (any?) IM training cycle, I had a couple of really good days followed by one crappy let down of a day.

I'll start with Friday - another (unpaid) day off meant that I could swim in Lake Michigan with Drew. We hit the beach around 9:00 a.m., and there were plenty of other swimmers mulling about. The water looked pretty smooth, but with some chop father out. I was trying my new XTerra sleeved suit for the first time and I'm happy to report that the fit is great - the suit is lined to the interior, which makes it super comfortable. I treated myself to a slightly higher end model with thinner material at the shoulders for greater flexability. The water was a bit chilly getting in but it got comfortable pretty much right away. The suit felt great, and, despite the chop being a little bigger than it looked from the beach, we knocked out two miles (a season high in open water) in just over an hour. My shoulders were still sore at the end, but I'm sure that was a result of my non-existent strength training program and not about the suit. Happy with the day and happy to get in a longer OWS.

Saturday, Drew was out of town and Cath was teaching the marathon group, so I decided to run on my own. I set out along the lake path just after 6:00 a.m. and the rain clouds were gathering. After about two miles, the skies opened up and the rain fell for about the next hour. It actually felt great and my pace was pretty much where I wanted it to be (8:00-8:20/mile). I ended up doing just over 17 miles in 2:20 and felt good for almost all of it - I could definitely used another gel (or two) on the way back in, and was lucky to run across a Fleet Feet table with Gatorade about two miles from home. Thanks Fleet Feet!

Saturday afternoon we dropped off the dogs at the PetSmart Hotel and blasted up to Madison to meet a couple freinds who are training for next weekend's Dairyland Dare (a 300k cycling torture fest). Had dinner at a cute little pizza place not far from the IM swim start and spent the night in Verona. Got to Fireman's Park (the traditional gathering place for IM'ers in training) around 7:30 a.m. and hit the road.

And here's where things went a bit sour.

Unlike the weather we've had so far this summer, it was crazy hot and humid even at that (relatively) early hour. Within five miles the sweat was everywhere and the wind - which was also kicking pretty hard - did nothing to cool things off. The couple that we rode with, Nancy and Chad, are ridiculously good athletes - a listing of their accomplishments in triathlon, running and other adventure sports would take its own blog post. And they've ridden the IMWI course a bazillion times, so they were right at home. Cath was also feeling really good, and all three were riding their road bikes like little kids on Christmas Day. I, on the other hand, was quickly feeling like I should have stayed in bed.

For whatever reason, I just didn't have it mentally. Physically, I was pretty good - I had forgotten how deep the rollers are for the first half of the IMWI loop, which made riding the tri bike a bit of a chore (lots of shifting, moving in and out of aero, quick turns, etc.) and my heart rate was higher than usual because of the humidity, but I was hanging in there. We stopped at about the 25 mile mark for water and Pop Tarts (blueberry!), and I still felt fine. Then we knocked off the three big hills, which really weren't as bad as I feared, but as we coasted back into the parking lot to re-load supplies before heading out again, I was already feeling like I was done.

I just flat out didn't want to be on my bike. My companions were super supportive, offering to take an extra (and longer) break during the second loop, but, despite the regret that I knew was coming, I just couldn't convince myself to get back in the saddle. So I let them leave without me, and I slowly stowed the bike, and set out to brick my ride. My ride portion ended up being a sickly 40 miles total over 2 1/2 hours. Certainly not what I had planned on.

I actually had a good run - averaged just over 8:00 min/miles in the very hot sun for 40 minutes - but was crazy disappointed in my ride. Despite having all kinds of motivation - good friends, ample nutrition, and actually riding the IMWI bike course - I just couldn't tough it out. I spent a good long time trying to figure out what went wrong, watching a steady stream of athletes enter and leave the parking lot for loop No. 2, and I can only conclude that my brain was just a bit spent. Maybe too many weeks of sport-specific focus caught up with me. The will to continue wasn't there. I don't know. I was pretty down yesterday, angry that I had let this training opportunity get away from me, but I'm already feeling more determined today to get back at it.

We've made tentative plans to go back and ride the course again before Game Day, probably the weekend of the 22-23rd, so I can give it another go. And I may bring both bikes to see which one I feel better on. Luckily, we have a bit more time to get back up there, and I'm thankful for that. Can't wait to give it another shot (which is, hopefully, a sign that my brain isn't too far gone). Just another reminder, I guess, that there are good and bad days from beginning to end in an IM training cycle.

Here's to a brand new week!

The road ahead

2009-08-06T07:54:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm not going to lie - my body was a bit beat down after Sunday's race. My quads were sore well into Tuesday, even after going for a less-than-strenuous 60-minute spin on Monday. I swam Tuesday, and nixed the afternoon run that I usually do in favor of some more stretching/rolling/couch time.

Felt better yesterday, and hit the gym for my mid-week mini-brick, which went really well -- 75-minute ride, including two sets of 5 x 1-minute hard seated intervals with one minutes rest in between. The brick portion was a rather benign 20 minutes on the treadmill (.5 percent grade) starting at 8:47 and ending with 8:25s.

Today, I feel great. Plan on a run of some sort this afternoon, somewhere in the area of 45-60 minutes, with a handful of short intervals thrown in. Tomorrow, Drew and I are swimming in the lake (hopefully, a double-loop, or two miles) and Saturday's our long run. As mentioned, the Plan and I have a serious disagreement over running volume, and it's now really starting tro get ugly -- Coach Fink is demanding a 2:45 run this week, and I haven't yet gone beyond two hours (to his credit, the longest run in the Plan is three hours, scheduled for the following weekend). I'm a bit torn as to how far I want to push my running, considering I have that wonky hamstring, but I think I need to get to at least 2:30. As such, I'm thinking Saturday will be 2:15 and the following week we'll shoot for the 2:30 (Week 27).

The big surprise is that we may actually get up to Madison for a ride! Yes, friends, the stars have aligned, and it's looking like Cath and I will blast up there Saturday night, crash, and then hit the course with some friends on Sunday morning. Given that I remember very little of the actual course from 2006, I'm excited to give it another look-see before Game Day. Logistics are still being worked out, but it's looking good so far.

Stay tough, everyone - the starting line is just up the road a piece.

The raw numbers

2009-08-03T08:13:00.003-05:00

Swim: 37:39
T1: 3.19
Bike: 2:47
T2: 3.49
Run: 1:45

Total: 5:17.29

Steelhead 70.3 - (at last, a real) race report

2009-08-02T11:18:00.004-05:00

Well, I finished. Which was my number one goal coming into the 2009 Steelhead 70.3 Half-IM, considering that I haven't actually completed a race of any type/distance since 2007. So, mission accomplished. And I PR'ed the distance, to boot. So, double-nice. I only have accurate run splits from my watch, but I'll post others as soon as they're available online.

We got into Benton Harbor on Friday afternoon, picked up our race packets at the Expo (which had more stuff for sale than I've ever seen at any race, ever, even Ironman. Mouse pads, glasses, coasters, everything you could possibly think of. I held my ground and just bought a new race belt). Then we checked into our hotel and napped a bit before dropping our bikes off at T1.

Neither Cath nor myself had ever been the western side of Michigan before, so seeing the lake from the opposite shore was great - rolling dunes, tall grasses, beautiful homes. It was altogether wonderful. The set up process all went smoothly and we then proceeded to try and figure out where to eat. Considering that none of us (in addition to Cath and I, we were traveling with Drew and his buddy/business partner, Ross - the three boys are pictured above, awaiting the swim start) were from there, this was a bit of a challenge. The only non-chain looking place had a 45-minute wait, and it was already almost 7:00 p.m. local time, so we split. And ended up at, of all places, Dairy Queen. Yes, the DQ. Cath was determined to get a Blizzard for dessert so, to save time, we decided to "dine" there as well. Which ended up being fine. A double cheeseburger is a double cheeseburger, and I really just wanted to get some food in as early as possible so that race morning would start out, uh-hum, smoothly, if you catch my drift, so we ate and headed back to the hotel to begin a (typically) sleepless night before game day.

We got up at 4:00 a.m., checked out, and headed over to the shuttle area, which would take us to T1 (there was no parking allowed on-site). Got there in plenty of time to get situated, and, after making the long walk to the swim start (you essentially walk the length of the swim so as to exit at T1). The morning was lovely - a soft breeze, clear skies, comfortable temps. We waited/peed in the shallow water before seeing Cath's wave leave just past 7:30. Up next, Drew, Ross and I were up at 8:00 a.m. sharp. The race begins with a beach start, and follows the current. The water was a bit roll-ey, but super warm, and the current made for a fast swim. The staggered waves also made for a wonderfully congestion-free first leg (sadly, I know from experience that IM WI will not be the same. Sigh.). Exited the water and then made the long, painful run through the soft sand and into the transition area.

Transition was fine, no real problems, but I should have peed again before hitting the bike course. I ended up carrying a full bladder for the entire bike leg. Oops.

Big props to the race organizers - this is the first race in recent memory that did NOT include some ginormous hill immediately out of T1. So, thanks for that. And, actually, although it is relatively rolling course, the bike leg was probably the smoothest and most pleasant biking experiences that I've ever had in triathlon. Seriously, most of the roads were smooth like butta. The only bad part was the winds, which picked up dramatically as the day moved along, making the last 20 miles a true test of will. I thought I was putting together a pretty great (for me) bike split up to that point, but those last 20 miles put an end to all that. Even so, except for my sore nether regions (standard tri shorts and a bike saddle just don't mix), I felt good going into T2, and, after polishing off a big cup of water, I hit the run course.

Here, the organizers were less generous, as they throw a pretty substantial hill at you before you've even hit the first mile marker. But, again, I was feeling pretty good, hitting the first mile mark in 7:43. The course then makes it's way through a little neighborhood before entering the Whirlpool corporate campus. The campus includes a nice shaded path through a wooded section, but always seems to be creeping ever so slightly up in elevation (which, strangely enough, you never seem to ever get back..hmmm...). Anyway, I continued feeling good through the first three miles, going 7:52, and 7:38, respectively, and then went through a bit of a rough patch (8:21) before taking in half of a banana and some Gatorade. I would continue to take either water or Gatorade at every aid station, which seemed to keep me pretty well hydrated/fueled.

The sun was now completely covered by clouds and the cooler weather was incredibly refreshing. Just outside of the Whirlpool campus, they turn you immediately up another steep hill and then wrap you around for a repeat of miles two through seven (splits: 8:10, 8:14, 8:01, 8:24, and 8:30). Although the running had been going well for me, I got to mile 10 and was looking to be done. Made it to the top of the final hill and started for home, wondering if I could keep this pace to the finish line. Hit the mile ten mark in 7:50, then went 8:29 for mile 11, and got to mile 12 in 7:50 (down that first killer hill).

There's always that fantastic feeling in any race when you can just start to hear the race announcer calling out people's names and you know your day is almost over and you can finally.stop.moving. The finish shoot is pretty long at Steelhead - they have you run the entire perimeter of the very long transition area - but I felt good and took it hard all the way to the line (8:10, including the last .1). Yikes, that last push really hurt something fierce, but there's nothing like emptying the tank going across the line. I actually had to take a knee a few steps across the finish to get my wind back, and then I just wanted to take a nap. In an ice bath. For a long time.

Total time (by my watch): 5:17:27. Thankfully, everyone in our little group finished, including Ross, who had never done a triathlon of any distance before! Quite an accomplishment.

I ended up PR-ing the distance by over 10 minutes, and, more importantly, felt really good for most of the race. Even though the IM course is much different than this one, I'm hoping that this as a good barometer of where I am, fitness-wise, and I actually think my nutrition plan worked out pretty well. I was never low on energy and I had no stomach issues all day.

My legs are really sore today, and we're taking the day off, but I hope to spin my legs on the Keiser bike tomorrow for a bit and swim on Tuesday. Just a few short weeks until the Big Dance!

Have a great week, and thanks for reading.

Tuesday (mini) double

2009-07-28T08:28:00.002-05:00

Just noting today's mini-swim:

3 x 150; 200 pull; 3 x 150; 200 pull; 3 x 150; 100 free; 100 pull; 100 CD = 2050 yards.

Tonight Cath and I are going to run a bit, but I'm not sure how much. Probably in the 30-45 minute range. Gotta love taper weeks.

Race week!

2009-07-27T15:29:00.004-05:00

I probably shouldn't mention anything, considering that my track record with actually completing a race has been pretty abysmal of late, but we have a race set for this weekend!

Yes, we're heading out to Benton Harbor, MI, on Friday for the Steelhead 70.3 tri on Saturday morning. It will be my first 1/2 IM since the Muncie Endurathon in 2006 (!). Yikes, how time flies...

Anywho, I'm excited and nervous about the race itself, but mostly excited because it means that we don't have to ride long this weekend! Yay, Sunday rest day! Speaking of which, we were out in Palos yesterday pounding (read: cursing) the hills for four and 1/2 hours under beautifully sunny skies. We recorded somewhere between 75 and 80 miles total (naturally, three different watches measured three different distances), which felt pretty good - my legs were fatigued from the hill work, but I was strong on the flater sections at the end. The Training Committee decided to scrap the brick portion, so we spent a good 20 minutes or so stretching before hitting our favorite Mexican place for burritos and ice cold Diet Rite (don't laugh -the shit is good. And they don't have beer).

I'm going to kinda taper this week, but nothing too extreme, because Steelhead is really going to be just a long training day for me. I'll keep the distances short, but plan on doing the same workouts through Thursday. Friday is a travel day, and Saturday is race day. As of today, there's a 30 percent chance of rain/thunderstorms. Last year, they scrubbed the swim portion because of extreme water conditions, so we're hoping that doesn't happen again.

Fingers crossed.

Yeah, you can hate me - another three-day weekend

2009-07-24T11:40:00.003-05:00

So, my mom is in town from the west coast, so this weekend is a little crammed, but I took advantage of the furlough today to get a nice OWS in with Drew. We did roughly 2400 meters (one and one-half miles) in 48 minutes, which seems kinda slow (especially since the water was almost perfectly flat). But, oh, well. I felt good, and I always prefer the lake to the pool, especially when the water is so nice.

I have been sorta free-forming the training plan of late, just doing what feels good during the week while maintaining the longer stuff on the weekends (excluding last weekend's travel, of course), which has brightened my mood and lifted the training funk I was in. It's actually been fun again. Not fun enough to foresee doing another IM any time soon, but fun enough to get me to the start line in Madison.

Like I said, mom is in town, but we're still running long tomorrow and riding long on Sunday. My hamstring has been a little grumpy ever since last Sunday's long run, so I'm not sure how "long" the long run will be, but Sunday's bike should be another intense session. We're running out of weekends to get quality rides in - next weekend is the Steelhead 70.3 and we have the Accenture relay in August, which will chew up a couple of Sundays, and we're hoping to get in at least three more 4-6 hour rides in the hills before the taper begins in late August/early September.

Can't believe that game day is that close! Gulp.

Terrific Tuesday (okay, I'm done now)

2009-07-21T16:15:00.002-05:00

Had a great weekend - especially getting two rest days so close together (Thursday and Sunday). Not so much going on this week, but I wanted to jot down what I've been doing training-wise:
- Saturday Drew and I ran just a hair short of two hours at about an 8:45 - 9:00 pace and then went over to the lake for a 25-minute swim. There was a Swim Across America event going on, with a variety of different OWS events to benefit cancer research, which was cool to watch. It was nice having so many people out there in the lake (usually it's just a few random triathletes and one or two old school swimmers sans wetsuits). The water was pretty choppy and cool, but it was nice to get into the lake again. I'm going to try to go again on Friday.
- Sunday was a travel day.
- Monday I rode for 90 minutes (mostly) on the lake path, which was a bit of a nightmare. It never ceases to amaze me how people just DO NOT pay attention on the bike path, nor do they look after their children. Even on a very short ride, I was almost killed at least twice by people not paying attention and just wandering aimlessly across a busy path. Like, screeching brakes, bike going sideways-type near-crashes. But, whatever. That's the lake path, and I can't bitch too much because it has - and always will - be like this, especially at 5:30 on a summer evening. Anywho, I did a series of one-minute pick ups that (also) almost killed me, but somehow managed to limp home.
- Today I swam before work (2 x 200; 1 x 100 AN; 2 x 200; 1 x 100 AN; 2 x 300; 1 x 100 AN; 6 x 75 [easy 50, hard 25]; 100 CD = 2250 yards) and plan on doing a short run after work. Tomorrow I'll do a short brick at the gym, and Thursday Cath and I are contemplating a ride before work (!).

That's all for now. Hope your week is going well!

Phabulous Phriday!

2009-07-17T12:16:00.002-05:00

Well, I was pretty good about easing back this week. It's weird how, even when you want to cut back on training - and know that you probably should - there's that little voice in the back of your head urging you to keep powering through. Which is funny for me, because I am definitely NOT one of those crazy, driven by demons, Type A athletes that drive themselves to exhaustion week after week in preparation for whatever race they're preparing for. No, I am usually perfectly content to bail on a planned ride when the rain is falling (or threatening to fall) or push today's swim into tomorrow (or next never). But that voice is still there - "don't slow up now, you'll never get back on track!" and "you're in the home-stretch, don't ease up now!" and "everybody else is going farther/doing it faster/putting in more than you!"

It's really annoying, and stressful, and counter-productive. Maybe that voice is what keeps me on task, forces to me get back out there every day, but sometimes I wish I could just switch it on and off. But you can't. Luckily, I was able to mostly ignore the voice this week, and just do what felt good. Which was really refreshing - just go out there and do whatever felt good, for as long as it felt good. And no more.

As such, despite the mental fatigue I complained of the other day, I had some really nice sessions - Tuesday evening I ran 80 minutes at about an 8:10 pace (thank you, Garmin!), with a faster section mid-way. I hadn't planned on going this long, but the weather was nice and my body felt good. Wednesday, I did 60 minutes on the Kaiser bike (including a series of 60-second standing climbs) and then bricked that for 15 minutes. I took the day off Thursday, and rode easy for two and one-half hours this morning (43 miles). Cath and I are planning an OWS this afternoon depending on the weather - it's plenty windy out there, which will mean plenty of swells. Yuck. If we don't go today, I'll try to convince Drew to swim after our run tomorrow. Sunday will our rest day this week, and Monday I'll be back in the pool.

That's all for now - have a great weekend, kids. Be safe.

Tuesday's swim and a little break

2009-07-14T12:59:00.005-05:00

Just wanted to note this morning's swim before I forget what I did:

- 2300 yards: 2 x 200; 1 x 100 (AN); 2 x 200; 1 x 100 (AN); 2 x 300; 1 x 100 (AN); 1 x 300; 3 x 100, alternating aerobic and AN 50s.

Swim was fine - didn't really feel especially fast or slow. I plan on running this afternoon after work, although I'm not sure how far I'll go. It hit me last night that I'm really starting to hit the wall, mentally, and could use the remainder of this week as a step back. Physically, I'm still feeling pretty good, but the will is just not really there and I've been a touch grumpy lately. I've also noticed that I'm starting to dread the workouts, especially the longer stuff, which usually means that I need a few days to chill. So, given that we're traveling this weekend anyway, I may cut the training back and hope that this sets my head back straight.

As such, Wednesday is looking like a short brick and Thursday another short/medium swim. Friday I'd like to bike and Saturday I should be able to get a run in before we hit the road. Apart from Friday, I don't plan on doing anything lasting over one hour, and with no intervals.

Deep in the heart of it

2009-07-13T10:25:00.002-05:00

The only problem with taking a Friday off from work, is that it makes Monday a bit of a clusterf&#%. There should be a rule that, when you're out of the office, no one can leave you messages/send e-mail/otherwise burden you with junk that will need addressing when you come back to work. Somebody make that happen, m'kay?

Anywho, the weekend was totally lovely - the wife and I had dinner at Frontera Grill (Rick Bayless' restaurant), which was good, but not worth the two-hour wait (they don't take reservations). We pooped around together on Friday after my swim (3000 yards; 5 x 600, with a few hundred being pull), and it was a nice day. Saturday I ran two hours at a pretty steady 8:00 - 8:05 pace, but it was harder than I expected. Maybe it was the high humidity, maybe it was the two bird attacks (!), but it felt much harder than it should have. My interval session earlier in the week actually felt easier, so go figure. Had lunch with my aunt who was visiting for the day from Milwaukee in the afternoon.

Sunday, Cath was feeling a bit worn out, so Drew and I went out to Palos for our weekly long bike. The weather was absolutely picture-perfect. The lack of extreme heat so far this summer has been such a blessing for our training. Couch potatoes are complaining up a storm that it's too cold, but I'm totally loving it. Especially when stuck in the saddle for 4+ hours. Drew and I put in our beefiest ride to date: 82 (hilly) miles in 4:45, followed by an unpleasantly difficult 28-minute run. The ride actually went by pretty quickly, or, rather, about as quickly as 4:45 can go, and I was much better with my nutrition this time out - religiously took my gels every 30/45 minutes, and had a granola bar about half-way through. I think I could still use some more food, though. I had another bar before running, but I think it was too little, too late, which contributed to the poopy brick. I really need to get this ironed-out before the Big Day. It's too important to ignore. But, fitness-wise, I think we're in really good shape - the training has been of much higher quality this year than before previous IMs, and I think all the hill work will make race day that much easier to take (* fingers crossed* ).

Cath and I are going to visit her mom this weekend in Indiana, so the training schedule will be a bit jumbled this week. Am considering an OWS after work tonight, and I'm taking Friday off again, so that should free up some time that will likley be lost to travel. We're deep into the hardest stretch of training, which is starting to wear on me mentally, but I just keep telling myself that it just for a few more weeks, and then we'll start to shorten things up again. I can't wait.

Long weekend and happy birthday!

2009-07-09T08:00:00.003-05:00

Well, I've got tomorrow off, so this is my Friday - yay, Friday! It's my beautiful and talented wife's 34th birthday today (Happy Birthday, Pooh!), so I'm squeezing in a quick strength session at the gym this afternoon, and after work we're going out to dinner.

Tomorrow we're planning on an OWS in the morning, but they're predicting thunder storms in the am, so it may be (yet another) long pool session. Saturday, I'm running two hours and Sunday we're heading back out to the suburbs to brick (we're thinking 4.5 to 5 hours in the saddle, and then a 30 minute run). The weather is looking good for Sunday, so fingers crossed that it stays that way.

My workouts this week have been good, but sleep has not - dog issues have interupted our sleep a few times - so I'm dragging a bit today. I took Monday as a rest day, then swam on Tuesday morning (2200 yards - sorry, I don't remember the breakdown, but it included a bunch of 50 and 25-yard intervals) and ran in the evening (75 minutes, including three long intervals; 7:40 average). Last night I spent 90 minutes on the trainer, at a pretty steady pace (my legs were a bit fried, so no interval sets).

Probably no more updates until Monday, so everyone please stay safe over the weekend. Cheers!

Good times, good times

2009-07-06T08:36:00.003-05:00

Well, I managed to put a pretty good training week in the books. This, despite the fact that I decided to trade in a long run for a strength session on Thursday (as a brief aside: all-in-all, I like the "Be Tri Fit" plan that I've been [mostly] following, but it is decidedly run-heavy. And he includes no strength sessions. In fact, if you elect to follow his "Competitive" program, you'll be running five times a week. Yes, I said five times a week. I didn't run five times a week when I was training for a stand-alone marathon, let alone an event with two other disciplines. Personally, I think all the running is a bit excessive, and potentially harmful, so I've cut down accordingly.).

Anywho, I had Friday off for the Independence Day holiday, and celebrated by riding for two hours along the Lakefront path and around Northerly Island. The ride was lovely, but I'd forgotten how crowded the path is and how poor the pavement can be - we've obviously been spoiled by riding out in the suburbs. The path around Northerly Island (the former Meigs Field) actually saved the ride for me - although it's only a little over a mile circuit, the pavement is pretty new and very few people are ever out there. And the City views are spectacular. If you can handle the monotony of one-mile loops, which I apparently can, it's like having your own personal velodrome. Very nice.

Saturday, Cath and I swam 3,000 yards at the pool (5 x 600) in about 55 minutes, and I took the rest of the day to relax.

Sunday, Cath and I returned to Palos and had a great ride. It was crazy foggy for about the first hour - droplets of water were attached to your arm hairs and dripped off your helmet - but the sun soon burned it all off and we were treated to largely windless and mild morning. We explored a little bit, and finally crafted a route that pretty much eliminates all the poor road surfaces that we've come to hate, but with all the crazy hills that we need to prepare our legs for IM. We did four hours on the bike (just over 70 miles), and then bricked that for 30 minutes on a hilly section of trail close to where we parked. By then, the sun was starting to bake, and the running was hard, but we felt great at the end.

After some recent concerns about low volume, this past week's efforts did a lot to ease my fears and get juiced for our final push to the start line. The poor economy should also help my training, as I have a few mandatory furlough days to take in the coming weeks. Although our bank account will be a bit lighter, at least I won't be forced to cram workouts in before and after work, and might actually get some open water swimming in.

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend, and your training is humming along.

The week so far...

2009-07-02T08:21:00.002-05:00

...has been great. I think having a lighter load last week was a blessing - I feel better both mentally and physically, and have had some great sessions this week. The weather has been great for training, too - cool and (mostly) dry, which is a true blessing for this time of year.

- Monday: I did 100 minutes on der Keiser (alternating two-minute and one-minute intervals after a 15-minute warm up) and then bricked it for 15 minutes.
- Tuesday: Swam 2000 yards before work (6 x 150, 6 x 100, 6 x 50, 200 CD).
- Wednesday: Ran 75 minutes at an 8:00/mile pace, with two longish (10 minutes and 5 minutes)intervals at 7:00/mile pace.

Today I plan on riding after work (they're letting us leave early because of tomorrow's Holiday), and Friday will likely be a long OWS.

Oh, and I'll share an interesting anecdote from the pool this week:

Him, already in water, breaststroking toward me:
"You're not coming into this lane, are you?"

Me: "Umm, if that's okay with you..."

Him: "Well, this isn't really a lane for two people [it's the lane closest to the wall] - there's really not enough room."

Me: "I think all the lanes are the same width."

Him: "But the others have room underneath the lane dividers so you don't run into each other or hit the wall."

Me: "Would you rather I take the wall side? I'd be happy to take the wall side."

Him: "[Somewhat frustrated] No, I'll just get into another lane [which he does]."

Crazy, no?

(The goody below is a Garmin 405cx, which is essentially a 405 with an allegedly improved GPS antenna and some weird calorie consumption feature that I'll never use. Our running store didn't have the regular ol' 405, so I got this one in order to take advantage of a rebate that's expiring soon and a small discount we get at that shop. I used it last night on my run, and my initial thoughts are that it's awesome - so nice to have pace, distance, and time all at once. I'll try to provide a more thorough review after I figure out/try more of the features).

Goodies!

2009-06-30T12:30:00.002-05:00

Surfing the waves of panic

2009-06-29T08:04:00.002-05:00

Well, the weekend, like so many that have come before, carried about equal amounts of success and failure as far as IM training goes. Cath and I had decided that, because she had the day off excpet for coaching her running group, I would run in the morning with her group and then we'd head over to Lake Michigan for an OW swim. The run was great - her group is made up mostly of running newbies, all training for their first marathon, and they're all very outgoing and positive people. I ran a modest pace - probably somewhere in the area of 8:45 to 9:00/miles - with a guy named Chadwick, and had a nice time chatting with him. The weather was beautiful - sunny, but not too humid, so I felt great affterwards. Then Cath and I walked over to Oak Street beach to swim. There were a good number of triathletes already out there (around 9:00 a.m.), but it never felt crowded, and we had a great session. I put in one and one-half loops of the marked course, so roughly 2500 yards, in just under an hour. Not a great pace, but we weren't really pushing it, and it was nice to just get out there. I can't believe that it's taken until almost July to get into the lake!

Sunday, we had planned to go out and do a century ride in the suburbs. Drew wouldn't be able to go with us, so it was just Cath and I, and just before heading off the bed on Saturday night, I checked the weather - clear skies, high around 82, with * 20-30 mile/hour winds *

Hmmm. Yeah. That sounds pretty crappy.

With that in mind, we went to bed. Checked again in the morning, and winds out there were already in the teens and expected to go higher, so the training committee met and voted to scrap the ride. In fact, it voted to scrub training for the entire day. I was anxious about this for a while, but ultimately decided that:

1. We still have eight solid weeks of training left before the taper starts;
2. We have established a good base of 60-70 mile rides in conditions similar to the IM course;
3. We both could use a blank Sunday to do a whole lot of nothing, and to do that nothing together.

So, we got up early and went for coffee and a long walk along the lake, and then went out for breakfast. Then we came home, napped, and went to the running store for some new goodies (I'll share what they are soon). Later, we had drinks on the deck, while playing with our two grateful-that-we-were-home dogs. In the absence of a long ride, the day was gloriously long and peaceful.

I'm still a bit anxious about getting in all the necessary miles, especially biking, but I'm hopeful that taking back this one Sunday will actually set us up for a solid push to the taper. The plan calls for some ridiculous amounts of training over the coming weeks, and I'll likely appreciate both the mental and physical break this lazy Sunday provided us. There's still a long road ahead.

Quickie update

2009-06-24T16:15:00.003-05:00

Just a brief update on training so far this week:

Monday was an all-too-brief rest day.
Tuesday I swam 2500 yards before work (4 x 600, mostly free but with a few sub-sets of pull thrown in for variety; 100 CD)and ran an hour after work. Didn't do any run intervals because it was ungodly hot, and I thought I'd pass out if I did any.
Today I'm riding der Keiser for an hour after work and following it with a very short run.

More soon.

Monday = rest/best day

2009-06-22T08:27:00.002-05:00

Things didn't go entirely as planned during the last part of last week, but I ended up getting in most of the training that I wanted to. I'm not sure what happened on Thursday, but I just could not muster up the energy to hop on the bike and put in the 75 minutes that I had planned for. Just. Couldn't. Do. It. I think the intervals on Wednesday kicked my ass a bit more than intended, and I was just pooped.

So, I left the bike on the trainer.

I was taking Friday off from work, so I used that as an excuse to bail on Thursday's ride. Friday, I did Thursday's aborted ride, but nothing else. Storms were coming in and out most of the day, so Cath and I decided to kick the swim to Saturday after our long run.

Saturday, Drew and I ran an easy 100 minutes along the lakefront path. It was pretty humid, but some cooler breezes seemed to keep my core temperature from getting too high. Sadly, the heavy rains that came down the last few days closed the beaches, so the OWS got pushed back a week, and Cath and I hit the pool for a quick 1600 yards (500 free; 10 x 50 alternating hard and easy; 500 free; 100 CD).

Sunday, Drew was tied up with Father's Day responsibilites, so Cath and I went out the Palos Park for 60-odd miles and a 30-minute run. Again, the humidity was pretty high, but the sun was hidden behind clouds for most of the ride, and the winds were calm, so I had a pretty nice ride. Never felt too terribly taxed, and we explored some new areas off our typical route. That said, I'll be happy to ride a brand new course when we head out for the century next weekend - the change of scenery will be most welcome. And so will some flat roads.

Deca Ironman?!

2009-06-18T07:52:00.002-05:00

So, I'm reading an article in the latest issue of Inside Triathlon, which describes the subculture world of multi-IM racing. Yes, I said *multi* IM racing. Apparently, there is a growing interest in taking IM to another level, with double, triple, quadruple, and, yes, deca (10) IM-distance racing. These races can take days, or even weeks, to complete and are typically performed in a pool, a short bike circuit, and a track.

Yikes.

Now I can understand the urge to push yourself further, and if you've done a number of IM-distance races, perhaps the lure of a greater challenge starts to loom large. But I can't imagine ever wanting to do something like that. I just don't see the point. There are other challenges in life besides multi-sport racing. If IM gets boring, just try something else. Climb a mountain. Skydive. Maybe an adventure race. But 10 IMs in a row? Over the course of two weeks? Really?

No.

Personally, I'm just looking forward to IM Wisconsin - although it's just a single IM, it's plenty enough challenge for me.

Training-wise, the week so far has been good: Tuesday I swam 2800 yards (4 x 600; 1 x 200 pull; 1 x 200 CD) and ran an hour on the treadmill. Wednesday I rode der Keiser for an hour, with a bunch of painful intervals thrown in (5 x 2 minutes and 5 x 1 minute, with comparable CDs) and then ran for 15 minutes. I've been sitting on a tennis ball at work for my hamstring, and trying to stretch more after training sessions, and, so far, so good. Nothing seems to be getting any worse. * Fingers crossed *

Tonight I'm doing an easy 75-minute ride, and tomorrow Cath and I are hitting the lake for an open water swim! I'm excited to hit the lake again - it's so much more fun than lane swimming, and I'm excited to try the new suit. It's an XTerra Vextor Pro X2. We recently got Cath an XTerra full-suit, and she really likes it, so I'm hopeful this guy will feel good out there.

Hope everyone's having a good week.

Weekend shananigans

2009-06-15T16:26:00.002-05:00

I did end up getting into the pool on Friday, albeit just for 1600 yards (500 free, 10 x 50, alternating fast/easy, 500 free, 100 CD). I think the intervals have been helping in the water, as my 50-yard time is down to to about 44 or 45 seconds (for the fast ones) and I can usually do the easy 50s in about 50 seconds, which is quite a bit better than I where I was a year ago. So, go me.

Saturday, I did cut the run short by 30 minutes and went home to do some core work, which I've neglected for quite a bit. The hamstring was noticeable - just a persistent feeling of tightness, really - but I've started a more aggressive stretching regimine in hopes of staving off any real problems. Fingers crossed on that one. I'm slightly scared that this is progressing in the wrong direction. I guess we'll see. Hopefully, the stretching and ice will do the trick.

Sunday, we hit up Palos again for a ride/run, but Drew forgot his helmet, so he ran while Cath and I did a loop (41 miles) on the bikes. Afterward, Cath joined Drew for another run loop (eight miles) while I put some more miles in the bike. I topped out at about 70 miles, and then did a short 20-minute brick with Cath. We hit the taco place again afterwards, which made for a spectacular nap in the afternoon. The hamstring felt fine all day.

Today is a glorious rest day, and I look forward to spending the night camped in front of the tv. Who knew that Mondays would become the best day of week?!

Not tri-related

2009-06-15T12:33:00.001-05:00

Stanley Cup Champions!!!

Little of this, little of that

2009-06-12T08:29:00.003-05:00

Well, the training this week was a bit hit or miss. I swam 2800 yards Tuesday morning (4 x 600; 1 x 200 pull; 200 CD), which is my longest swim to date, but had to scrub the after work run because of a work event. Wednesday I rode for 45-minutes, including ten 1-minute intervals with one minute's rest in between, and followed that with a 30-minute run. Thursday I rode for 60-minutes at a moderate pace. Today I was going to swim before work, but I just couldn't drag myself out of bed in time, so I'm hoping to go in around lunch time.

My hamstring has felt a little tight during runs and after I ride, so I may cut the long run short tomorrow in hopes to preventing something bad from happening. Sunday I'm guessing that we'll head back out to Palos to ride/run, but I'm not sure how long (the Plan has us at 3:30, but I think that's because we're supossed to do an Olympic-distance race next week, which we're not doing). I imagine that we'll do around four hours in the saddle again with a 30-minute run.

Sadly, it looks like our training weekend in Madison has fallen through, so we're looking at couple of century options in the area instead. One is the Swedish Days ride (see above), which I like for the name alone. It's so nice to find a fully-supported century for training purposes, but the timing is often tricky. This one would be great, so Cath and I (our training partner Drew has *other* obligations that weekend) are likely to sign up.

Other than that, all is well. Pushing forward and all. Oh, I got a new wetsuit, so that's exciting. We hope to be swimming in lake Michigan soon and my current full-suit looks like I was attacked by sharks.

Hope yu'uns have a great weekend!

Another weekend is in the books

2009-06-08T09:56:00.004-05:00

I'm a bit behind in the training updates, so, in a nutshell, here goes:

Friday: 2200 yards (10 x 50, alternating hard and easy; 10 x 100 alt. hard and easy; 10 x 50 alt. hard and easy; 200 CD)

Saturday: 90 minute run with Cath and Drew along the lakefront (felt good, but not great)

Sunday: 4 and 1/2 hours (75-ish miles) in/around hilly Palos (the weather kinda blew - cloudy, and a bit drizzly - so my spirits weren't real high, but it was nice to get some serious miles/hours in on the bike. The ride felt good, but, again, not as good as last week. Started to bonk a bit at the end (fail!). The 30-minute brick felt good, though, and the mexican fiesta-style lunch we had afterwards was heavenly! I woke up feeling surprisingly fresh today (must have been the four tacos).

I can tell that we're getting to that point in the IM training cycle where the fun starts to ebb, and it becomes more of a chore to get out there and put in the training time (seriously, who wants to be on a bike for 4+ hours?!). Conversely, the urge to sleep in and take a leisurely stroll to breakfast is way strong. Luckily, I have great training partners, so it's pretty easy to stay focused. It's all about just getting to the start line.

Mid-training reflection

2009-06-04T08:18:00.002-05:00

Well, being as we're half done with this IM training cycle, I guess a little reflection is in order. It's easy to get lost in the day-to-day, especially when one training session bleeds into the next, but I think it's good to take stock in where you're at along the way. Too often, I've pushed myself through rough patches only to find out much later that I should have backed off a bit instead. So, anyway, here we go.

Overall, I feel pretty good about where I am, fitness-wise - I've generally followed the training plan and I'm still feeling pretty good both physically and mentally. I am a little disappointed that I've effectively, by eliminating a few workouts during the week, gone from following Fink's so-called "Competative" plan to really doing something closer to the "Intermediate" option. I accomplished this by skipping one run session each week (which was actually intentional, so as to preserve my wonky hamstring) and just flat out failing to pick up the extra swim session (the third of the week) and extra ride-time on Saturday (the Competative plan has you riding for a period before your long run) that was supposed to start about a month ago. Part of me wishes I could have stuck more to the original plan, but, then again, I may have been a lot more burned out/injured/unhappy now if I had done so. C'est la vie.

Even as an "intermediate," I feel like I'm in a better place than I was with no clear plan to follow, so that's an accomplishment. The interval sessions have helped quite a bit, fitness-wise, and haven't beaten me up too badly. I haven't consulted past training diaries, but I think I'm getting in more - and better - workouts now than I did for either of my previous IM training cycles. I'm also eating pretty well (not in quality, but quantity) so my weight is staying in a good place.

So, all-in-all, I think things are going well. We have a great many long rides to go, which is typically where I get all whiny and want to throw in the towel, but I'm actually looking forward to the outdoor time - summer still hasn't come here with any consistentcy, so the thought of spending a few hours out under the sun is really appealing. Let's hope that feeling lasts.

Half-way there

2009-06-01T08:04:00.003-05:00

So, week 15 is in the books, and we ended it in pretty good fashion - Saturday, Drew and I ran 90 minutes (again starting with Cath's running group) along the lake path and Sunday we were back in Palos to bike some more rollers and do our brick along the wooded trails.

Saturday was - once agin - pretty uneventful: we held a nice pace the whole way, and I felt good despite having missed a run earlier in the week.

Sunday was the high note of the weekend - we got out to Palos at about 6:30 a.m., and this week our small group included Drew's friend (and business partner) Ross, who has recently committed himself to his first 70.3 (Steelhead). The plan was to do somewhere between 3.5 and 4.00 hours and brick that for 30 minutes. The weather was clear but chilly, and we all wore arm warmers or long sleeves to start. The big difference for me was that I broke out the tri bike for the first time this year. (I typically start the training year on the road bike and then move to the tri bike as the plan develops). Through a very strange twist of fate, I happened to secure a Cervelo P3 a couple years ago, which is much more bike than my modest skill (see the name of the blog, above) really allows for, but it's an amazing bike and is ridiculously fun to ride.

That said, the day was spectacular - the chill subsided once we got going, and there was very little wind all day. We even modified our tried-and-true route on the fly (again, how did we survive before the iPhone?!) to avoid a long and nasty section of pavement, and added a challenging (but much more scenice) segment to our course. I felt great the whole way - faster, smoother, and with much less effort than last week. I wish I could say that my fitness is that much better, but it really is the bike that made the difference. I could have gone much longer, which is pretty rare for me on long training days. The brick afterward was easy, too, and I felt like we got in a really solid training day.

Speaking of which, it looks like we're going up to Madison the weekend of June 27-28 to do a little training on the bike and run courses, which should be a good time. We didn't get to see the course in advance of the race our first time out, and I think it takes some of the anxiety away if you can get out there beforehand. Hopefully, the weather will be good, and we can get in some quality sessions.

More soon.

Team Cack Punch

2009-05-28T08:29:00.002-05:00

The wife signed us (and Drew, our resident cabana boy) up for the team competition of the Accenture Oly Tri on Sunday, August 30! We are Team Cack Punch, and I'm guessing that Drew will swim, Cath will bike and I will run us home. Should be fun. We've done this race a few times in the past, but never as a relay, so I'm looking forward to a new (read: full-on, heart-about-to-explode, dying inside, suffer-fest) challenge.

Good times!

Plans are made to be...modified?

2009-05-26T11:51:00.008-05:00

Well, I had a nice four-day weekend, filled mostly with training and napping. Friday, I started my day in the pool with 2200 yards (600, 500, 400, 300, 200, 100, 100 CD) and then went over to the LBS to have Cathy's tire fixed (i.e., source of the Galena fiasco). I was supposed to do some strength training after the swim, but I was starving and ended up going to Starbucks instead. (Perhaps an omen of what was to come over the course of the weekend...).

Saturday, Drew and I started our 90-minute run with Cath and her running group (she leads a marathon training group for work), and then finished it up by ourselves. Nothing very remarkable about the run - we kept a nice pace, and I felt good the whole time. Sunday, the Plan had us down for a 3 1/2 hour bike with a 30-minute brick. Based on the lengths, we decided to drive out to Palos (about 25 minutes out of the City) where the roads are generally in good condition and less crowded than the lakefront path. We parked at the old Tobaggen slides, which have recently been demolished in favor of a sledding hill, see photo), and started our ride.

Sadly, we got off on the wrong foot by getting a bit lost and ended up following a bunch of pothole-filled roads with a ton of Sunday-morning traffic. It was also pretty windy, which just added to a general feeling of "this-isn't-very-fun-and-not-at-all-what-we-were-expecting." Anyway, after a couple recon stops (thanks, iPhone!) we found our way to the tried-and-true route and completed our 35-mile loop in just under two hours. By that time, though, Cath's neck was feeling lousy - she threw it out a bit during a rest stop - and Drew wasn't feeling all that great on the bike, so we voted to modify the training day by ditching the rest of the ride and extending the brick. So, we racked the bikes and hit the trails. About an hour later, I had done the 8-mile loop and was pretty spent (I had forgotten how hard trail-running really is). All told, we did about three hours of exercise, but, somewhat inexplicably, it really felt like a ton more.

Monday, feeling a bit disappointed in Sunday's adventures, we traded in our regular rest day for another ride, this one just around the lakefront. Again, the wind kicked our asses, but we did another 35 miles in just over two hours (different terrain, but same time/distance...weird). Cath bricked the ride for 30 minutes, but I was spent and headed straight for the ice bath.

Today, I'm still feeling a bit worn out, but I hit pool this morning for 2200 yards before work (10 x 200, 200 CD). I felt pretty slow in the water, but otherwise not too bad. I'll wait until after work to see if I feel like doing the 60-minute run (with two, 6-minute pick-ups) that the Plan is calling for. I'd hate to miss the training, but I'm also a bit concerned about the idea of not having a rest day this week, so I guess I'll just go by feel.

That's it for now - hope you all had a great Holiday weekend!

Want

2009-05-21T17:03:00.002-05:00

Memorial Day

2009-05-21T12:50:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm off work tomorrow (Friday) and Monday, and I'm looking forward to a nice balance of training and relaxation time.

Last night, I busted out the trainer (because the winds picked up and I wussed out on battling them) and did my hour ride with three 5-minute pick-ups. Specifically, I went 20 minutes, did the first 5-minute interval, then spun easy for five minutes, and then on to the next interval. Felt good. I think the intervals are really going to help my overall fitness. Or kill me. One of the two.

This morning, I did 45-minutes on the Keiser bike and bricked that for 15-minutes, and I felt great the whole time. Tomorrow I'm going to swim a bit and do some strength stuff afterward (which I've neglected of late), and Saturday is our long run day - we're supossed to do a 30-minute warm up on the bike, then run Z1/Z2 for 75 minutes. Sunday, we're to ride 3 and 1/2 hours (with a 5-minute pick-up at the 3:20 mark) and brick that for 30 minutes. Whew.

Should make for quite a weekend. Cheers!

Back on track

2009-05-20T10:01:00.004-05:00

After taking a day off on Monday, I was back in the pool Tuesday morning for 2500 yards (4 x 600, 100 CD) and ran in the afternoon after work. The run workout called for an hour, including two 5-minute pick-ups. My legs were feeling pretty stiff from the weekend, so I modified the pick-ups as follows: at the 20-minute mark, I did a series of five 1-minute pick-ups followed by one minute of easy jogging. I then ran easy for five minutes, and repeated the cycle.

Yikes, that was hard. Intervals are no joke. The wind was blowing something fierce, and an 11th pick-up would not have been possible. But I felt great afterward, and my legs feel good today.

Today, I'm supposed to do an hour on the bike, with two 5-minute pick-ups tucked in somewhere. The weather is spectacular today, with highs in the 80s, so it should be a nice ride. I'm going out to the same place I did the run intervals last night (Northerly Island), so the wind might be an issue, but should make for some good fitness gains.

Hoping to avoid a repeat of our roadside debacle in Galena, I ordered a sexy little carbon pump (see above) from REI as a back-up to the CO2 I ususally carry on rides. It's probably not the toughest pump on the block, but it's made of carbon fiber, so what else really matters?!

Race report...well, kinda.

2009-05-18T07:51:00.004-05:00

After a half-day spent on travel prep, slightly amplified because we had invited a couple friends of ours to crash at our place with their infant son during our absence, we blasted up to Galena on Friday afternoon. Perhaps as an hint of what was to come, it rained hard pretty much the whole way up there, but, because we were car pooling with Drew, the ride was fun and we got up there in plenty of time to get things situated.

Galena is an interesting race in that there are two separate transition areas, so you're forced to prepare both transition areas the day before the race. Luckily, T2 was close to where we were staying, and it didn't take long to get everything set up and head over to the hotel bar for some pre-race hydration. We actually rented a condo, which worked out great - plenty of space for Cath, Drew, and our two little dogs to spread out, complete with a little kitchen. We had a nice dinner in downtown Galena, and hit the hay pretty early.

The race, which is now up to about 1400 competitors, goes off in waves, and it worked out that Cath was in the wave right before mine, and Drew immediately after, with three minutes between each wave. When we got to the beach, it was every bit as windy as they predicted, and the temps had dropped overnight and sat uncomfortably in the low 40s. Cath and I put our wetsuits on early just to stay warm. Her wave took off at 9:30 a.m., and I hoped that the full wetsuit we just got her would keep out the chill of 60 degree water.

My own wave went off shortly thereafter and I was happy to not notice the cold water one little bit - the swim felt easy and fast, and, despite having to swim through a few very uncoordinated and thrashey swimmers, I made it to shore in what I thought was a pretty good time (just over 10 minutes for 660 yards). I saw Cath come into the transition area after me, and was happy that she made it through the swim and seemed in good spirits (she had been very afraid of how the cold water would effect her). I grabbed my bike and took off onto the bike course feeling good.

There's a pretty big hill leading from the beach out onto the bike course, and I knew it was going to be a challenging day when I saw all the riders being blasted by wind gusts as they crested the hill. But I felt fine - figured I'd just take what the day gave me, and keep moving forward.

About four miles into the bike course, I noticed someone who looked very much like my wife on the shoulder of the road, and immediately realized that she had a flat. I pulled over to help, despite her protests to just keep on racing. She had already identified the likely culprit - a huge gash in the tire that went completely through the tread. After a crazy long time trying to replace the intertube, none of which would take air, we gave up hope of being able to re-enter the race. Cath told me I should continue on, but the wind was whipping so fiecely and she was shivering so badly that there's no way that I could leave her on the side of the road. So, as she steered my bike, I threw hers over my shoulder and we started to amble down the road, hoping that a sag wagon would come along or we'd find a medical tent. After about a mile and half, we ran into a sheriff controlling traffic and a nice man waiting to cheer on his wife, who graciously offered to take us to the finish line. His car had a bike rack, and (more importantly) a good heater (by that time, I was also cold as hell), and we ended up finding Drew at the finish.

So, not exactly the race we had hoped for, but just one of those things that can happen out there. I'm just glad that Cath beat me out of T1, or else I never would have seen her on the side of the road. Hopefully, we've paid our due to the race gods and IM will be smoother sailing.

The weekend was not a complete loss, either, as we stayed an extra day to ride the amazing/killer hills in that part of the state. With Cath's bike still toast, Drew and I took off after the sun started warm things a bit and did 2 1/2 hours of hilly goodness, which I followed with a 20-minute (equally hilly) run. The ride was incredible - smooth pavement, few cars, calm winds, and (most importantly) I felt super strong the whole time, which was a great morale-boost after feeling not so great the day before. We've already discussed going back up there this summer for another training weekend.

Congrats to Drew for conquering Galena, yet again, and thanks again for riding with me the day after a very challenging race.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Weather

2009-05-15T09:44:00.002-05:00

Lookin' good so far...

A few clouds early, otherwise mostly sunny. High around 60F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph.

Gulp. Thankfully, the bike is only 17 miles.

Have a great weekend, everyone, and thanks for the support!

Three days

2009-05-13T07:48:00.002-05:00

Our first race of the season is on Saturday, and it just happens to be my first race of any kind since August of 2007. Yep, my bum hamstring kept me from running, let alone racing, anything in all of 2008, so it really has been a long time.

Training is great and all, but there's nothing like the nervous excitment that comes on race morning, and how it all slips away when the cannon (or whistle) goes off. Doesn't even matter how the race goes - flat tire, flat day, mid-pack, first place - there's nothing like crossing the finish line. That hour or so after the finish is probably one of the best feelings you'll ever have - it's almost like time slows down and you're left with that overwhelming sense of relief and pride in having completed another challenge. Can't wait to get back to that place.

Monday I rode the Kesier for 75 minutes and bricked it for 15 more. Tuesday I swam 2500 yards (10 x 200, 5 x 100). Today, I'm going to run easy for 45 minutes, and tomorrow I'll probably do an easy hour on the bike. Friday we drive up to Galena, and the race is on Saturday. Sunday we plan on riding a bit more on the rolling hills before heading back to the City.

Hope your week is going well.

IM guilt

2009-05-11T07:56:00.001-05:00

This is going to sound silly to the uninitiated, but probably draw a nod of recognition from most triathletes, when I admit that I wasted a good part of the day yesterday bummed out because I blew off my workout. Sunday is, of course, long ride day, and week 12 had us doing a two and a half hour ride bricked with a 15-minute run. This Sunday was also, of course, Mother's Day and the annual cancer walk around Chicago's Grant Park, which typically draws several thousand participants to our little neighborhood. I knew going in that Drew, who typically rides with us on Sundays, was out because of Mother's Day obligations, so that just left Cath and I to hit the roads. The night before was probably a good indication of where this was going, because we both kept asking each other "what are we going to do tomorrow?" with the response always being "I don't know - what do you want to do?"

Long story short, the ride was unceremoniously canceled and we went to breakfast and did some errands instead. But I felt pretty lousy about it. I obviously wasn't motivated to do the ride, but the weather was nice and I had really wanted/needed to get in one more long ride in before taking it relatively easy this week (in preparation for this weekend's race). But laziness took over, and we chilled instead.

I felt better as the day went on - I'll do a slightly longer ride today, and otherwise put yesterday behind me - but the guilt was a bit of a shock. I'm going to take it as a good thing - proof that I'm serious about the training this year, and won't be so willing/eager to cut corners - but still try to keep the concept of training and race preparation in perspective. One more or less long ride won't make or break my race. But I won't make a habit of skipping workouts.

Small victories

2009-05-06T07:47:00.000-05:00

After Monday's rest day, which went by way too quickly, I was in the pool bright and early Tuesday morning. I decided to avoid the humiliation that comes with swimming alongside the Masters group, and instead swim in our gym's indoor pool. And it was my best swim in a very long time.

Every once in a while, the stars align, and I have a day in the pool that actually feels like I think it should feel every time I swim - fast, smooth, bouyant, effortless. Needless to say, those days are few and far between. I usually feel like I'm dragging a bucket behind me. But not on Monday - it was nice to feel like I was actually swimming well, and I'll file that small victory away for the next time 2500 yards feels like a death march.

My afternoon, post-work, session was a 45-minute run with a 5-minute pick-up (Z4, fartlek) stuffed inside. I ran out to the old Meigs Field, which is now a quasi-nature preserve/outdoor concert facility with a paved running/cycling path around the perimeter. It's actually a very tranquil and scenic place to run, but a full loop is only about one and a quarter miles. Perfect for a shorter set, though. It took me about 15 minutes to get there from our place, and I began the pick-up at the 20-minute mark. Whew. Yeah, that was hard. The five minutes actually went by pretty fast, and it was great to mix up the run and really test myself a bit. Hopefully, this kind of thing is what makes you stronger. Or leads to an early death. We'll see.

Today, I'm either doing an hour ride with another 5-minute Z4 segment or a 45-minute ride bricked with a 15-minute run. I'm going to wait and see how I feel on the bike before I commit to the run part.

Hope everyone's having a great week.

Summer, is that you?

2009-05-04T09:10:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a great weekend! The temps were absolutely perfect for exercise - a bit brisk in the shade, but wonderful when the sun hit, and there was plenty of sun. It seems like forever since we've had a day-ful of clear skies, and this weekend we got two (2) in a row. It's about time.

Saturday, Drew and I ran 90 minutes on the lakefront path (Cath had to work early, so we went stag). My legs felt a little fatigued for the first half, but the back end was great. Probably did 8:15 - 8:30s for most of it.

Sunday, the Plan called for a 2:30 ride, followed by a 15-minute brick, but Drew and I (Cath was, thankfully, unavailable to kick our asses again) decided to just do a straight three-hour ride and ditch the brick part. Again, I felt pretty flat for the first 15-20 miles (heart rate stayed firm at 129, despite feeling like I was working much harder), but additional nutrition along the way got me feeling a little more peppy. At least for stretches - it seemed like my energy was wholly tied to my gel-intake. Felt great after I had one, then would quickly sag again. Still need to do a better job of carb-loading the day before and/or getting a better brekky the morning of our longer training days.

The Plan backs off an hour of training this week, which is nice. Last week seemed to take a lot out of me. And it's a rest day today! And my beloved Pittsburgh Penguins play tonight!

Hopefully, it's the start of a very good week.

Phriday Phun

2009-05-01T16:20:00.002-05:00

Nothing too exciting going on today - swam 1,600 yards this morning before work (ladder: 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 100 CD) and did a bit of strength training afterwards. Tomorrow, Drew and I are running for 90 minutes along the lakefront. Sunday, the Plan has us riding for 2 and one-half hours and bricking it for 15 minutes.

I'm on the hunt for a new pair of running shoes. I was a devoted Asics guy for many years, specifically the DS-Trainer line, but they made a few tweaks to it over the years (don't they always!?) and I cooled on them. I currently switch off between a pair of Ascis Speedstar 3s (longer stuff) and Nike Lunar Racers (shorter stuff). Honesly, I'm not thrilled with either of them - they're fine, but not great. No pain, or anthing, just not "Oh, these feel so GREAT to run in!"

So, I poking around, thinking about changing to some other model/brand. I'd like to go back to Mizunos, which I had for time a few years ago, but the arches on those things were crazy high and ended up giving me plantar. Or I might go back to the DS Trainer (which went back to a former last, and is rumored to be much nicer than recent versions). Or the Lunar Trainer, which is just a beefier version of the Racer.

(See, I told you today wasn't very exciting).

Anywho, that's all I got - have a great weekend, peeps.

The blog-o-sphere

2009-04-29T08:03:00.004-05:00

I guess I really have turned into my dad, because I keep thinking of more and more things lately that have developed and become popular during my lifetime - CDs, DVDs, cell phones, the internet, etc., etc. An off-shoot of that technology is, of course, the blog-o-sphere. A year ago, I don't think I had ever read a blog, let alone maintain one of my own, although there are a couple of message boards that I keep up with on a regular basis (on one, believe it or not, I actually met my now-wife!).

I was thinking about this last night before my run, probably because I didn't really want to do it - I was up early to swim, had a pretty involved day at work, and the sofa was pleading with me to take a load off and relax a little. But I resisted, in part because I knew that somewhere, out there, bloggers I follow were no doubt leaving their sofas to get in a second workout of the day. They probably didn't feel any better than I did, but they'd be out there. And I'd read about it the next day. And it gave me a boost of motivation to get out there and get 'er done.

Perhaps it's a bit strange that people who I've never met - and will likely never meet - can provide inspiration just by documenting their triathlon or marathon journeys, but it also makes a ton of sense. Endurance sports are still not normal pastimes, despite the ever-increasing number of participants worldwide, and I think it's fair to say that most people I know think that training for an IM (especially after you've already done one) is just plain nuts. They don't understand why you'd ever devote this kind of time, effort, and expense to something so extreme and painful. Friends and family may be supportive, but, not being in it, their words can only bring so much comfort, especially when the Plan calls for yet another early morning swim session.

But there are people out there that understand. I read their blogs and post on the same message boards. And we appreciate each other's efforts, victories, and dissapointments in a way that others cannot. Because we've been there - the early mornings, the bricks, the intervals, the uncertainty, the pain, the joy. There's that shared body of human experience that creates a bond, despite never having shaken hands or said 'hello'.

So, I guess, even if other people think we're crazy, we can be crazy together. Out here on the internet.

The weakest link

2009-04-28T08:26:00.003-05:00

So, I'm not a big fan of swimming. I think I've mentioned that before, and it's still true.
Despite many, many attempts to embrace the calm and zen-like nature of the act, I still can't say that the swim and I are on good terms. If not for triathlon, there's pretty much no way I would ever visit the pool (except on vacation, perhaps, and with a drink in my hand). I'm not good at it, which might be a chief contributor as to why I'm not a fan, but I'd like to think that it's more than just that. I can't quite put my finger on the reason(s), but I've never been able to move past the "just tolerating it" point of the swim.
The reason I mention this is because Tuesday morning is swim day, per the Plan, and I arrived at 6:30 a.m. to find a Masters class warming up in our outdoor pool. I've been out at this time a couple times before (the outdoor pool opened at the beginning of the month), and basically had the thing to myself (don't be jealous), so this was a bit of a shock. Luckily, they let me take a lane to myself along the wall, and we each did our own thing (me: 2500 = 4x500, 2x200, 1x100).
However, even clositered in my own little lane, let me just say that I have very rarely felt so inept and unskilled in my whole life. These kids were kicking my ass in eight different ways. And I mean all of them - underwater, I could see four or five lanes of swimmers all passing me. And the strangest thing is, I can't understand why they're so fast and I'm so slow - I swear I'm doing exactly what they're doing, just not moving as fast. Pfft.
So, yeah, good times. At least no one kicked sand in my face.
Needless to say, while I'm happy to have put in the yards, my confidence is a bit low and my feelings about swimming haven't changed.
It still sucks.

Marc Herremans

2009-04-27T08:20:00.004-05:00

Ironman is such an incredible event, in large part because of all the amazing stories - almost the to the point of being unbelievable - that come from it.

I was watching an old NBC recap of the 2002 IM Championship over the weekend, and was reminded of Marc Herremans's story. Marc was a professional triathlete from Belgium, who finished sixth at the 2001 IM Championships, and had high hopes of someday winning the event (He had finished fourth at IM Australia earlier that year). Sadly, just three months after that race, while training in the Canary Islands, Marc crashed his bike and landed on some rocks, breaking his back. He was paralyzed from the chest down. Undaunted, Marc trained throughout 2002 for a return trip to Kona, this time to compete in the wheelchair division. He started that race, just 10 months after his accident, but was unable to finish. In 2006, Marc not only finished, but won the wheelchair division of that year's IM World Championship.

It's really an incredible story, and my re-telling of it here doesn't do it justice, but this is just one example of many where people have shown an incredible amount of resolve and determination in the context of an athletic event. There are, no doubt, similar stories throughout the world of sport, but considering how difficult an IM is for a Regular Joe, these stories always seem to put IM racing apart in my mind as something completely distinct from any other physical endeavor. If you've done one, you know this, and if you haven't yet, you will. It's truly something special.

Anywho, we had a great weekend of training:

- Saturday was a 90-minute run. I probably took it a little bit too hard (about an 8:15 pace for most of it), and it was warmer than I anticipated, so I was pretty tuckered out at the end.

- Sunday we rode 60 miles up to Highland Park and back. I put the new ride together, and, after making a few mechanical tweaks, everything felt great. Cath killed the pace on the way up, and I was hurting by the time we stopped for coffee, but felt great on the way back (even through the waves of thunderstorms that blew through). It felt nice to leave the trainer in the closet and get some "real" miles in. I need to work on the nutrition plan, though - I burned through my breakfast (PBJ on a wheat tortilla) well before we hit the turnaround, and the Infinit alone wasn't enough. I was way hungry by the time we stopped, but, luckily, the coffee and lemon loaf (thanks Starbucks!) totally did the trick. I either need a bigger brekky, or take in a gel or two earlier in the ride. Hmmm....

So, welcome to week 11 - today's a rest day, which I'm totally embracing. Hope everyone a great week of training.

A little food, a little wine...

2009-04-23T07:50:00.002-05:00

Well, our plan for an early morning brick before work fell apart. I had family in town last night, and I think I knew that a morning session was doomed when I ordered that first gin and tonic. Two bottles of wine, a (fantastic) filet, and dessert later, meant that I'll be going into the gym after work instead. We had a great time, though, and I'm again reminded how fortunate I am to have such wonderful, loving people in my life.

On an unrelated note, I tried the other day to post a video from YouTube, but messed it up. (Stupid technology). It's here, and it's a great piece of inspiration for those days when my motivation is lagging: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSe_ZQJQoNU

Hope your week is going well.

Things are picking up

2009-04-22T12:56:00.005-05:00

Whew, it's been a bit of a whirlwind, training-wise, this week.

Monday is actually took the prescribed rest day, mostly because I was a bit pooped after going a couple of weeks without one. Tuesday I swam 2500 yards in the morning before work (4 x 500, 5 x 100) and ran an hour after work (tempo, probably around 7:30 pace). This morning I did 50 minutes on the trainer before work, alternating between intervals of 100+ rpm, seated climbs, and standing climbs. Tomorrow, we plan on riding an hour before work, to be bricked with a short (15-20 minute) run.

This is the last week in the base phase of our training plan, and it starts to get hairier from this point on - 12+ hour weeks, with an increased emphasis on strength and speed. This next period (the build) goes for another 10 weeks, and includes an additional swim session (the third) and another brick (the second) per week. I'm excited to mix up the intensity a bit - so far, the plan has us training consistently at Zone 2, and, frankly, it gets a bit boring (hence today's mixed session and last night's tempo run). My only concern is the scheduling - it seems that IM training comes down to one part physical effort and one part time management, with the time part often being the harder of the two.

Anywho, my new ride is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, and I'll (hopefully) have it ready to go this weekend. Now, I just need the weather to cooperate...

You've gotta have Spring before Summer

2009-04-20T08:19:00.003-05:00

The weekend was a bit of a mixed bag, weather-wise, and the training was both great and blah depending on the day. Saturday was glorious - the first shorts and a t-shirt day of the year - and we had an amazing run along the lake path (1 hour, 15 minutes). Absolutely fantastic running weather, with just a little bit of a chill in the air when we took off at 7:00 a.m., and no wind at all. Later on, Cath and I took our boys (a miniature pinscher and an Italian greyhound) to the dog park and loafed while they cavorted with their oh-so-happy-to-be-outside peers. Lovely.

Sunday was another story. The rains came in overnight and our plan to join a group ride in Barrington was unanimously scuttled at 5:00 a.m. Instead, Drew and I hit up the Keiser bikes at the gym for our 2:45 ride. Surprisingly, the time went by relatively quickly, with Drew and I chatting the time away about topics big and small. I am, however, hoping and praying that the weather improves enough this coming weekend that we can actually get outside - week 10 calls for three hours in the saddle this Sunday, and, despite the good company, I'm not sure I can handle it on a stationary bike.

The crap weather is still here today, but all I have on the agenda is a swim, so no worries there. And it's my mom's birthday today - happy b-day, Ma!

My pops

2009-04-16T08:14:00.003-05:00

So, my father is a bit of an anamoly, as far as most/many dads go - he was never the "sitting-on-the-couch-drinking-a-beer-and-watching-football" kind of guy. He didn't get together with the boys to play poker on Friday nights. I don't recall him spending the weekend in the garage, puttering underneath the hood of a car. (Not that there's anything wrong with these activities or the people that do them).

No, my dad has always been very active - he was part of that first wave of running popularity in the late '70s and early '80s, and would regularly run at lunch with a regular group of guys in downtown Seattle. He completed three marathons - two in Seattle and one in NYC - each in less than three hours. When his running buddies started coming down with various (and dibilitating) overuse injuries, my dad saw the writing on the wall and switched over to cycling. In the years since, he's completed a variety of long-distance riding events, including RAMROD (which goes around Mt. Rainier National Park), Seattle-to-Portland, and at least a couple of two-day MS rides. He and I were also part of a cycling tour that twice went to follow stages of the Tour de France, and were lucky enough to ride some of the most noted (and difficult) climbs in professional cycling. Dad will be 62 this year, but he gets out most weekends to ride with his friends and hasn't slowed down a lick.

Needless to say, it's been a great and special gift to have a father who enjoys the outdoors and physical activity as much - or perhaps moreso - than I do. It has brought us closer and provided a great number of special memories that we often chat about, even years later. I recognize and appreciate these experiences because they belong just to us, our own shared memories of sweat, hard work and good times.

There's also another benefit of having a tough-guy dad - the killer hand be downs. Yes, my dad - like most men - likes his toys, and his cycling obsession has brought with it a garage-ful of really nice toys. Toys that I couldn't afford on my meager government salary. Luckily for me, dad and I share similar physiques, and I have been the happy recipient of more and one "pass-through" road bike. In fact, my very first "real" bike was a LandShark, an awesome steel-framed bike handmade in Oregon that dad passed down to me when his garage was getting a little too crowded. And I am currently riding a Look road bike that he sent my way just last year.

Well, apparently I am being rewarded for those annual Fathers Day cards once again, because my pops is giving me his 2006 Scott CR1 Team road bike, which I was lucky enough to ride when we went out there last Fall for the Western Washington MS ride. It's a great bike, top-of-the-line from the ground up, and I'm fortunate and grateful to be on the receiving end of it. I'll post a pic when it arrives and I get it set up. It should provide many, many hours of cycling enjoyment.

Anyway, thanks pop - not just for the new ride, but for always being an amazing and dependable teammate.

Galena

2009-04-13T07:57:00.002-05:00

Well, we're one short month away from our first race of the season - an extended sprint in Galena, Illinois (northwest of Chicago) - which just also happens to be the first tri I ever...well, tried. This was back in 2003 (yikes, how time flies...). We were ready to do it again in 2004, but the race was cancelled on race morning due to bad weather. We haven't been back since, but it's a great start-of-the-year race - short, with a hilly bike course, and beautiful scenery.

Reading other blogs has got me itchy to start racing, and May 16 can't come fast enough.

This weekend's training was great, although the chilly temps and (relatively) short distances kept us from going out to the suburbs. Saturday we ran along the lakefront for an hour, and Sunday was a two-hour ride along the same (but windier) lake path. We're into week 9, and we gain an hour of training time. I'm swimming at lunch today.

Hope y'uns had a good weekend.

IM nutrition

2009-04-09T08:03:00.006-05:00

So, my bold new plan for IM WI 2009 is an (almost) entirely food-free nutrition plan. Or, rather, solid food-free. As the training distances/times increase, I'm going to experiment with an all-liquid fuel plan, which, given the proper mix of carbs and protein, should get me through the race with an adequate number of calories but without having to eat any bars, gels, pbjs, or other cumbersome solid food products.

The genesis for this idea is from the fact that I am notoriously bad at triathlon nutrition. Like, really bad. Like, I-just-don't-eat-during-a-race-bad. Which, of course, leads to bonking, stomach upset, and/or general unpleasantness. For example, during IM WI 2006, I probably ate a grand total of 300 calories during the ride. For some reason, I just wasn't hungry. I had programmed my watch to beep every 15 minutes indicating it was time to take in more calories, and I fell behind almost from the beginning. It wasn't intentional, I was just so into the experience, and the time just slipped by, and...well, I think the calorie deficit may have played a role in my having to walk a good portion of the marathon due to severe muscle cramps. Very Bad.

IM AZ in 2007 was much better - again, I was down on solid food (mostly because I don't like fumbling around on the bike with wrappers, baggies, etc.), so decided to go with the gel-and-gatorade-and-water nutrition plan. Sixteen gels, to be exact, divided into three flasks taken over the course of six hours. Yes, 16 gels. You can imagine how pleasant that was. But it worked, although I ran most of the marathon with a bloated belly (not sure if it was related to the gels or not). I took in enough calories, and generally felt much better all day.

Now, because I can't stomach - literally - the thought of another 16 gel afternoon, I'm going with Infinit (http://www.infinitnutrition.us/). If you don't know about Infinit, you should check out their website - they have pre-formulated blends of liquid nutrition, or you can create your own based on your body's particular needs during exercise. I've read many, many stories of people who have been unable to tolerate most of the popular brands of liquid nutrition, but love Infinit and sing its praises. Personally, I've just used it a few times so far this year, but it seems to sit fine with me, and I'm hoping I'll become one of those who think it's the cat's meow.

In a concentrated form, I should be able to sip on Infinit, chased with water, and take in enough calories to get me through the ride (I'll most likely feed/drink from the course during the run). Although, I'll probably have a few solid treats packed away in my special needs bag, just in case I'm dying for something to gnaw on, I'm hoping this will solve my race nutrition isssues. We'll see. I'm going to experiment with this scheme during our longer rides throughout the summer.

Training-wise, I biked an hour after work yesterday, and Cath and I are running together tonight. Tomorrow's a strength day, and this weekend we're (hopefully) invading the suburbs to run/ride.

Cheers all!

Running and riding in the suburbs

2009-04-08T08:42:00.006-05:00

This is a peek at where we do our runs out in the suburbs, about 20 minutes outside of Chicago. Weather-permitting, we'll be out there this weekend. I think we're all dying for a little variety in our training, and getting out of the city for a bit might be just what the doctor ordered.

Ah, Spring...not

2009-04-06T08:11:00.005-05:00

Well, the crap weather just doesn't seem to want to move on yet - another weekend, and another snow day, means my weekly long ride was on the trainer. Again. This week, though, I busted out every distraction that I could find - magazine, iPhone, and television (hockey game) - and the time went by pretty quickly. Well, about as quickly as 2.5 hours can go on a stationary bike set up in your living room.

The weird thing about a trainer - and I don't know if I'm alone in this or not - but I'm never really sure if I'm getting a quality session in or just (literally) spinning my wheels. I'm not doing intervals or anything that would usually kick my ass, so it's kinda hard to tell if these are quality "miles" or not. I do try to mix up the shifting - typically settling in on repeats of 5 or 10 minutes per gear, within a three-gear range - and I'm usually fatigued at the end, but mostly bored and sporting a sore ass. I guess that's just another reason why I wish the weather would break and I could get some real miles in on the road. Although I'm told that trainer "miles" are actually tougher than road miles, I still don't think there's any comparison to the real thing, training-wise. Oh, well, that time will come...it always does. Eventually.

So as to not be a total Debbie-downer, I should mention that our run on Saturday - one hour and 15 minutes along the lakefront with Cath and Drew - was beautiful (sadly, scheduling issues prevented us from riding that day), with clear skies and brisk, but not cold, temps. It was wonderful, and the company - as always - was terrific.

Today marks week 8 of The Plan, and get to back off an hour of training (yay!). I feel good today, so am (seriously this time) thinking of swimming at lunch so as to avoid the Tuesday double. We'll see. I'm always the most energentic when the morning coffee hits, but lunchtime is still a bit of a ways away still.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

The week so far and beyond IM

2009-04-02T08:15:00.009-05:00

Yikes, work has been a huge mental drain this week, so the workouts have actually been a refreshing respite from all the crazy.

- Monday was a rest day, and, no I didn't mess it up by swimming.

- Tuesday I swam 2100 yards before work (had the gym's outdoor pool all the myself for 90 percent of it, which was pure bliss) and ran for an hour after work at about an 8:30 pace.

- Wednesday I biked inside for 45 minutes and bricked it for 15 minutes on the treadmill.

- Today I'm back in the trainer for an hour, and tomorrow I'm doing my weekly strength session (and maybe a swim).

More exciting than the training, though, is this - we're fixing to hike the Grand Canyon from rim-to-rim-to-rim in mid-October! Almost 50 miles and 21,000 vertical feet of climbing. I haven't hiked/climbed anything since Mt. Rainier in '03, and I'm looking forward to once taking on a physical challenge that also includes amazing vistas and wide open spaces. I've never even been to the Grand Canyon, so I'm incredibly excited about this opportunity, even though it comes roughly a month after IM Wisconsin. (Oh, well, I figure we've got all winter to recover...).

Cath and I will be part of a large group of family and friends, several of whom did IM Arizona with us in '07 (and will be doing IM WI with us this year), and climbed Mt. Whitney last year. They're great people, and we're excited to be part of this latest adventure.

More later.

Hope your week is going well!

The (long) weekend

2009-03-30T08:35:00.002-05:00

I took Friday off from work, for no other reason than I just didn't want to be there for a fifth straight day, and had a great weekend. Friday I swam (the gym opened it's 25-yeard outdoor pool early, and the 25-yard indoor pool is also fixed and ready for action) and did some "stength" stuff - and let me just say that IM training does nothing if not break you down into a weak, sad little shell of yourself. I have the physical strength of a 12-year old right now.

Saturday Cath and I ran for an hour along the lake path, which was lovely. A bit windy, but it was so nice to be outside. And then the snowstorm came in. Yes, I said the snowstorm. Hmphf. So, Sunday's two-hour outdoor ride turned into Sunday's two-hour indoor trainer session. I had forgotten how crappy it is to be stuck on the trainer for two hours. I got settled on a routine of 10-minutes easy, followed by 10-minutes hard, repeat, until it was over. Not much more to say about that, except to say that I hope winter is now officially over.

Oh, we got out compression stuff in the mail last week - Cath's pair, of course, fit perfectly, and she loves them so far. Could be a little tighter in places, but the overall quality appears to be very high and, hopefully, she'll see some long-term recovery benefits. Sadly, I had to send my own pair back because the fit just wasn't quite right. Instead, we went to our local running place and I picked up a pair of the 2XUs, which fit me much better. I wore them for most of the day after my ride yesterday, and they felt good. Not as sqeeze-ey as the Zoots were, but moreso than just regular running tights, so I'm hoping the benefits they claim are still there. We'll see. If anyone is considering a pair, I'd try the Zoots first - they just seem a lot more advanced than the 2XUs (or the Skins, another brand I was considering).

Anywho, we're now at week 7. Today's my rest day, but - as usual - I'm considering doing tomorrow's swim today so as to avoid the much-dreaded double on Tuesday. And, as usual, it's likely that I'll just take today off. But, who knows, maybe I'll surprise myself.

Cheers!

Zoot

2009-03-24T08:29:00.003-05:00

So, we did our part to stimulate the economy by ordering a couple pairs of these guys last night. They're Zoot recovery tights, and from the limited amount of internet "research" I did, they seem to get high marks for doing all the right squeezes to promote ample recovery (must be the nifty stirrups!). We'll see. I'm excited to try them out.

Sixty-minute run this a.m., with just a touch of high hamstring pain (last year's nemesis). I'm a little scared that this condition is again lurking in the background, but am hopeful that consistent stretching and ice packs will keep it at bay. I would be totally crushed if I had to pull out of another IM, so I'm not even allowing myself to consider such a thing. Mind over hamstring.

Cold bath, part 2

2009-03-23T09:51:00.005-05:00

Well, thanks to the very good advice of more-established ice bathers (thanks, Kristin - wearing socks was key), my second foray into cold water recovery was a great success. While, it's still no picnic sitting in a pool of frigid water, it was much more tolerable this time and the positive effects were (again) huge. My Sunday ride following Saturday's hour run - two hours along the lakefront path with Cath and Drew - felt great. I'm a true believer. I just wish sitting in a bubbly hot tub worked as well.

The weeks are quickly rolling by, and our volume is steadily increasing - it's week 6, and we're at 9 hours, the highest so far. So far, I've been pretty good at following the plan. I skipped Friday's 45-minute run in favor of a strength session (I'm a little leery of taxing lasy year's gimpy hamstring too early), and I'm probably swimming at about half the volume that the plan has prescribed. I'm not too worried about the swims, though, just because I know from past experience that it's probably the least important leg of the race, time-wise, and it's probably best to not over-tax this year's gimpy shoulder too early. I figure that, once the lake warms up, we'll be out there plenty.

Monday is a rest day, but tomorrow we're looking at a swim session in the a.m. and an hour run after work. I'm debating doing the swim tonight after work, as the pool at home is back online, but I may just wallow comfortably in my rest day. We'll see how the day unfolds.

Hope y'uns had a great weekend!