It's Time?

Well I have been MIA for a long while in blogland. But it was time to write about something again?

What Time is it? IRONMAN LOUISVILLE time. Since I will be racing with a bunch of friends from our training/triathlon group it has been re-dubbed "IRONMANIA".

Yes on August 30th at 7:00 am. I will try to swim 2.4 miles without a wetsuit. Okay that alone is making me nervous in itself!!

Eventhough this will be my 4th IronMan distance in 4 years in a row, I do still feel the excitement of it all.

This has been a crazy and emotional year for me personally. With the birth of my daughter who is now a little over 6 months old.

The death of a IronMan friend, for whom I will wear a "pink" bracelet on race day to remember her by.

Then the realization that my parents will not "live" forever has been a emotional one to say the least.

But "NO" complaints here, that is just "LIFE" and you deal what it gives you and make the best of it.

On the racing front, it has been a good racing year for me.

A 5k pr of 20:30,
A Half IronMan PR of 5:10, even though you can add about 10+ minutes due to the shortened swim., but still a bike avg PR of 21.6 during an Half IronMan.. Woohoo.

Then I survived the "warrior dash"!! It had mud, climbing walls, and more obstacles, I got to do it with one of my "BFF" friends,


An epic crazy year it has been.

I'am hoping for a IronMan PR race as well. I know I can finish an IM these days, so going trying to go faster than I have before will be my major goal.

But no matter how I cross that finish line I know I will shed a tear or two, because evethough IM is just a race in all that matters, the training has given me the outlet to endure this year, so when it is over and hopefully cross that IM finish line, I will say to myself "IT IS A GOOD DAY, ANY DAY IS GOOD TO BE ALIVE"!!!

So folks I'm number 2030 on the IronMan Louisville athlete roster. Race day coverage will be at IRONMAN LIVE!!

"GAME TIME" is NOW!!!

Life is really too Short sometimes!!

In 2006, Michelle and me completed our 1st IM on the hills of Wisconsin.

Today my IronFriend lost her battle with Cancer.

I will remember seeing her on the IMWI bike course during the race, passing each other several times on the course. Battling through the wind, rain, and cold that day!! With a smile on her face she finished.

That is how I will remember her.

Rest in Peace, you will be missed.

July 21, 1967 - June 3. 2009

So how do I start?

I left the house after 3:00am for the 90+ minute car ride to the start of the 28th annual Ice Age 50/50k races. I was surprised I still had some time to spare even though I missed a few turns getting there. But I was able to say hello to some of fellow runners of the Chicago UltraRunning group.

At 6:00am the customary “ready, set, go” was announced. Once I started I had one game plan, not to hurt myself to much, go slow, and just run how I felt. The 1st section of around 10 miles was pretty much cold, windy, and rainy. But I ran with Brain and Torey, so it made the miles seem not to bad out there for the 1st section at least. But I was having some equipment mechanical problems in a major way. In the 1st mile or so I tried to take a drink from my “camelbak” type hydration pack and pop outs the top of the drinking valve. So after slamming it back in, I was still leaking fluid which was running down the side of my jacket. So I tried to make the best of it, because the hydration pack also contained the rest of my nutritional needs as well. So running along, I would just put my thumb on top of it to minimize the leakage and sometimes run that way.

But after the 1st section, I decided to keep the hydration pack on and just change into a running vest. I figure I could manage the leaking and run with it. But around mile 15, my whole drinking valve ejects itself into the foliage and I said “wholly crap” I'm not going put that thing in my mouth anymore after rolling around in the dirt. So I kept on moving with just a tube stinking out as my source of liquid.

So at times I would try to suck the stuff out to get a drink, but the funny thing was that if I leaned over, it would gush out like a facet, I think I got some strange looks when that happened. So after a couple times of that, I knew I needed to rely on the aid stations to get my hydration needs. Oh "Yeah" time for a little experimentation?

Second Section:

The 2nd section was about 20 miles, it is the hardest of the three sections. Lots of rocks, roots, little muddy, but I was actually doing okay until mile 28 that is. Then I started to crash & burn, also getting desperate for an aid station, but I just tried to keep focused and also get through the aches and pains of running 28 miles at this point so far. Then finally getting to an aid station I was relieved and started to bounce back. Shoving Oreo cookies in my mouth helped as well.

Last Section:

So once I started the 3rd section I felt I could finish, even though I had around 20 mile to go, I felt good about the whole thing and physically my ankle was getting trashed from the down hills, my legs were feeling pretty good. So I just tried to block out the ankle pain as much as I could. I actually wore low-end compression socks for the 1st time in a race, and they seem to do the trick, no cramping so far in my calves, WooHooo!!

Miles just seem to tick away and at mile 40 I met up with Brain at the aid station. He asked me to run with him and so I said “sure”, misery does love company right?

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, then with a half mile to go I was feeling strong, so I tried to get to the finish line as fast as I could. I pushed through everything and with a time of 11:09 I was done. It was far from my PR for me on that course, but I just wanted to finish, so it was a good day for me in spite of the gear problems I was having.

It is my 3rd time finishing on the course, always great volunteers, great support, great food afterwards, and now I have 7 more years to go to get my 500 mile buckle there!!!

With that, I feel my UltraRunning membership card is renewed now, for at least another year!!

This was a race I was not ready for but felt in my heart I needed to do, 10% physical and 90% mental, pretty much sums up my race day as well.

So until next time and yes there is another Ultra somewhere in this schedule to be added.

Maybe North face 50 miler?

For now, I need to rest my ankles, they didn’t like all this running and with the Rockman half IM in 3 1/2 weeks, I think I need to find my triathlete MOJO once again.

Howdy Folks, I figure I would blog about myself since my daddy has been busy trying to take care of me.

So what is my typical day in my life? After 10 weeks I'm sleeping a little better at night to the relief of my mommy and daddy. Still in the cycle of eating, pooping, having my diaper changed, and then going back to sleep, then of course repeat. I'm smiling a little more but still can't make the "DA DA" sounds which I will know will be my 1st words. But my mommy thinks otherwise.

Well daddy is still trying to train for his silly IronMan triathlon, Hmm, and my tender age, still don't see the point of all this exercise.

Then my daddy goes and register for this thing called an Ultra Marathon that will happen on May 9th. Something called the ICE AGE 50 miler. Still a little crazy in my book, but hopefully he will bring me home a shiny thing to play with. Plus it is always funny to see my daddy walk like a penguin after he does these crazy events.

So folks, It is time for cycle of sleep again, it was nice chatting with you and will catch you again when I wake up again. Being me is such a wonderful thing!

ONE Month Ago!

It has been exactly one month ago when this little rugrat has entered our lives. It has bee quite interesting trying to get used to having a newborn in the house again. Lots of peeing, pooping, eating, and sleeping. I think the only difference between me and the rugrat is the lack of sleep on my part.

I actually have been on 4 weeks of company paid paternity leave, YES, I said 4 weeks off from work. So I have been helping the wife with diaper duties and have not done a DAM thing constructive around the house. But the 4 weeks will be soon coming to an end.

I'm up about 15+ pounds in my weight and maybe being at work will help me not have the urge to eat all the time during the day.

Also it is time to start IM training again, IM Louisville is still on the race schedule so I need to get some training sessions in between all the family LIFE.

Not sure how the trail racing schedule will be this year, but see how it goes, but the Ultra's are calling my NAME.

Now time for a quick nap again.