"The Weekend Of Centuries"

Kind of a interesting week reading IMoo bloggers. All planning a century ride this weekend. I had a 6 hour ride blocked out on my self coached schedule and decided to include my own little century ride in the mix.

Eventhough I have done 85 and 92 mile ride in the past couple of weeks, I have not gotten to that magic triple digit number until today. I actually had couple of options on a century ride but decided on the Metro Metric XXVII, even though it was a relatively flat ride I needed a change of pace, and after riding solo in the rain in Madison on the IMWI course last week. A nice easy long ride would do the trick.

So off I started at 8:00 am. The ride went well. Fully fueled and IPOD on play for this long solo ride. I must tell you these long solo training days are always hard to get used to. Not sure how these pros and elite Triathletes due those long training days year after year.

So I figured most riders would do the shorter route because of the oncoming heat predicted for this day. And I was not wrong. For some of those stretches on the 100 mile route, I did not see a sole and felt like I was the only one crazy enough to do this century ride this day.

Then something happened to break up the boredom. As I look ahead I saw a sheet of rain in my way. Nothing to do but buckle down and keep peddling. It came fast and furious. Rain that actually stung, But I must be lucky, the SAG stop was just around the corner and I joined the rest of the riders who had huddle down in the shelter..

As the rain was brief, I set off again in the sun. So a little under 6 hours I completed my 1st official century. whew....

Then I must say, I wussed out a little bit on my brick run and only did a 3 miler. To hot and still had an hour drive home.

Glad this week is a recovery training week.

Then off to the IMWI course for another long ride.

"GEEZER JOCK"

Today is the day I can feel right in subscribing to GEEZERJOCK magazine. I 'm now in the masters division in some races and in 10 years I can try to qualify for the senior Olympics. Ohh what fun..

Without much fanfare, I turn 40 today.

I guess when I turned 30 I jumped out of a airplane to celebrate that day, and in less than 7 weeks I will doing an equally crazy stunt and compete in my 1st IRONMAN.

I guess that is what my midlife crisis is all about. Pushing myself to the limit and see what I'm made of.

Some people by red corvettes, and I even thought about buying a motorcycle when I turned 40. Nowadays I have my eye on a Look 496 or Orbea Ordu TT bicycle. How things have changed in over 2 years.

What lies in my future? A crazy race they call an IRONMAN Wisconsin Triathlon and the surgery to fix my hernia. Both scary concepts but both events that must be followed thru and completed.

So back to the training grind I have come to love or at least gotten addicted to. Century ride and a 3 mile open water swim planned for this weekend. 3 hour run completed Wednesday and boy did that hurt. Maybe I'm not so young after all.. Just more crazier. And that's okay.

"Boy, I need to take a nap"

It has been a long 3 day weekend for me. 15 hours of sleep total from Thursday on to Saturday night.

Friday: I had this crazy idea to do a solo ride on the IM Wisconsin course on Friday. Soo I blew off work and headed to Madison around 5:am. Figure it would be good to get some solo riding in to complete my 6 hour ride that was planted in my little Ironman schedule. Two hours or so later, I arrive a Fireman's park, the scene of the WIBA ride I did with some really awesome folks. Arrive there, not a single car in the parking lot except for mine. So I head out for my 1st loop along the IMWI course. Actually a casual ride since I had to take my map out every 5 minutes to make sure where I was going. I must say, the hills seemed a little bigger and more of them it seemed. I guess when you ride with a group of people, it did make the pain of the hills go away.

So after my 1st loop, head back to the car to refuel. Okay, still no other car in the parking lot. Was I the only one out here riding the course today? Okay 2nd loop coming up.. Off I go, 10 minutes into this loop I felt rain drops, Oh, this is not good, then the rain comes after 5 miles out. Not a hard rain but a constant rain which I was soo not ready for. No rain gear and it was already a cool overcast day.. Rain, wind, & cool conditions is never a good mixture. So I sucked it up, smart move on my part, uh no.. But I was able to finish the second loop, rain and all. 6 hours and around 92 miles later, I was finished with my task. But riding 3 hours in the rain really sucked ass.. I was planning to do a brick run, but I was tired of the rain on my head, socks and cycling shoes soaked, and my bike looked like a mountain bike, full of mud and whatever else I picked up along the way. Plus I think I smelled like IMooooo...

Saturday, headed out to the Chicago lakefront to do some open water swimming. Planning to do 2 miles, but only managed 1.5 miles due to the rough open water and trying to avoid getting slammed against the breakwall.. My swim in choppy waters was not pretty.

Sunday: Racine Half IM. Plan was to have a relaxed race swim, go a little harder on the bike to test my legs and IM pace on the run.

My race swim was god awful, almost got my swim goggles taken off by getting slapped on the face at the first buoy. After that I was pissed and kinda swam my old way. Single side breathing and it was not pretty. I think I managed a 46 minute swim time, slow ass, and I was pissed at myself for loosing my composure in the water.

Okay now the bike, I figure I would up the tempo a little bit without my Heart rate watch beeping at me every minute telling me my HR was above 150. So I managed to do that except on some minor hills and did a 19.8 mph avg for the 56 miles. Wanted to get above 20 mph, but today it was not meant to be.

Then the 13.1 mile run, plan was not to go above 160 on the heart rate and run at hopefully my projected IM pace. Managed to do a 9:21 minute pace. But running at that rate or faster after riding 112 mile will be a tall order for me. But, I have to get some more Long runs in before IMWI, that is for sure.

So total Half IM time was 5:43:19, and they put me in the 40 yr old age bracket, don't they know I still have a week left of being 39. WTF

So that's end of my long 3 day weekend for me. I think I accomplished most what I set out to do.

Have a solid Half IM. Check

Ride the IMWI course, Check, but maybe next time ride with a buddy, it gets lonely out there. plus next time bring rain gear. Check.

Now I will take my nap now. Check..

To Taper or not to taper? That is the question??

Big week this week, for me anyway.. This week is my big brick or let's call it the Racine Half Ironman.

The main reason I did it again this year was to prove to myself I can have a descent race at this event. I felt in a way kinda of cheated last year. The day was the hottest day on record in the Midwest for that year. Upper 90's with a heat index of close to 115. Out of 1500+ people signed up, only 1000 made it to the finish line. Another 500 decided not to show up or DNF altogether.

But at least I made it across the finish line in one piece.

So this year I just want to have a solid training race and make peace with the course.

So I guess, I should be tapering for this race. Sold out race with stiff competition. Like I would place anyway. But after my heavy training last weekend, I'm looking to suffer somemore..

Today was a complete rest day.

Tomorrow (Friday) off to Madison and another IMooo bike adventure. 2 loops and then some, to fill up my scheduled 6 hour solo bike ride. Plus 50 minute brick. Oh yeah, this might hurt a little bit. Hopefully I will not get lost along the way.. That would suck out there.

Saturday, 2 to 3 mile casual swim at lake Michigan with all the beautiful people at TRI beach.

Sunday, Racine Half Ironman..

Then, I think I really need to take a nap.. Well hopefully I can pull all this off without a hitch. Practice nutrition and IRONMAN pacing during the race. Plus practice my mental game. I know of some people racing the half IM this weekend. Hopefully I can keep my competitive pride in check.

"SUGAR HIGH"

Kinda of a wierd training week for me this week. After my not so recovery week last week which included a bike ride on the Ironman Wisconsin course with the WIBA crew..

I totally had a great time. Not just riding the course but sharing the experience with people whom I never met before and have them understand what your going thru without even trying to explain yourself. A cool feeling.


(1st pic of the local sag stop on the Lakefront bike/running path)

Now, I wish I could figure out how to download pictures from my phone from the WIBA ride.... One day I will figure this out and I will post them..

The training week has been kind of slow.. I feel I'm not doing enough if I don't do 2 or 3 training sessions per day.. But hopefully this weekend I can make up for it..

Thursday, I actually took the whole day off from work to go to see my foot doctor, a 5 minute appointment I must say, but took the chance to play hooky in the morning to get a 50 mile bike ride along the Chicago Lakefront and followed that with a 30 minute brick run.

Actually the ride was not pretty, you should never eat a Burger King sausage breakfast sandwich before a hot bike ride.. I was not feeling good the whole time, totally bummed and after the 3 hours, that runoff was a relief.. But I did some big gear training on a flat course. Saw the pretty people along the Lakefront, running and cycling.. I was actually inspired by this lady who was running fast.. But she had the IRONMAN hat on, which made me push on telling myself hopefully one day soon I will be that person proudly wearing my Ironman hat..

(Ohio street beach, AKA TRI beach)

Oh, the rest of the week is going to suck,,,

Oh crap, I actually planned to do a 2 to 3 mile open water swim, a century ride, and I still have to get a 2 hour run in there somewhere. And it is supposed to be frickin hot this weekend.. Mid 90's with a heat index close to 100.. Wholly crap..

I guess I will see what I'm made of...

"The Big Ride"

Saturday was the big ride on the Ironman Wisconsin course.. I must give a shout out to "Iron Will" for putting together the IMWI ride.. I had a great time riding with fellow bloggers and Podcasters... It was really great meeting Robby B. (our guide), TriSaratops, Elizabeth, and of course how can you forget Simply Stu .. There was a group of 10+, everybody was great, IronMan vets and Newbies in the mix.. All with great advice and very helpful.. Made the long ride very enjoyable...

Okay, I have gotten some confidence after riding the course.. A challenging course..Really makes you think.. Actually less hilly than I thought it would be, but riding that second loop will totally suck ass if you don't pace yourself the first time around.. Rolling hills and fast descents that maxed my speed to
38 mph on my gps watch...Kinda of fun, but scary thinking of other people around you who will be going that fast on race day..

The 3 major hills was not to bad.. The first one was a gradual ascent, the 2nd, short and steep.. But the 3rd one really "WTF" sucked, not because it was a hill, but more that it was an unpaved gravel hill, my legs burned climbing it because I stayed seated thru the whole ascent.. I really hope they fix that before the race (probably not) because it will be dangerous climb, plus a possible blowout to boot...

All in all, I think I have been training on my bike ride properly, more hill work for sure needed.. But I think I'm on a good training path.. And racing hilly triathlons over the past 2 years has helped me alot get ready for this big event "IRONMAN"..

Things learned on the big ride:

1) all the sports drink, water, and Gel packs, does really taste like crap after riding for a couple of hours in the sun..

2) Pacing is the key to a good Ironman race.

3) I finally rigged my Aero bottle properly so it does not splash all over me when I ride.

4) If my legs burn to much from the climbs, I was able to stop for a couple of seconds and then continue on with no problem...

5) Ironman vets tip.. take it easy on the way out of T1..

And lastly, I think I will do just fine on race day..

I'm lovin it.

"The countdown"

A picture of my daughter running in a tot race a couple of weeks ago. She surprises me every week with every obstacle she overcomes.. Today, her first pony ride. Previous attempts have been met with kicking and screaming...

Okay, this weeks is a recovery training week.. Trying to get some sleep and do some easy training sessions... Got in a 5 hour 80 mile ride and 40 mile ride in last week. With a comfortable brick run afterwards... Felt great..

Okay after talking to 2 surgical doctors and one sports doctor about my "Hernia", they gave me the green light to race, or should I say precautionary yellow flag for IM Wisconsin.. The sports doctor even prescribed physical therapy that might help me eliminate the need for surgery..

Okay my 2nd surgical doctor consult (unofficial consult) told me the sports doctor was a load of "crap" . But all I want is a chance to race, eventhough I will have to take a easier training schedule and pace myself more during the race...

But IRONMAN WISCONSIN here I come.. Knock, knock on wood..