"The Hammer"

Over the weekend at the Spirit of Racine Half Iron-Man I was going to try to hammer the race, an "A" race for the year.

My version of "Hammering" was to try to go under 5:30 for a Half IM distance race. My PR at the distance was 5:38.

There was about 5 of us from the TRIclub racing, 4 of us are doing IMoo, so this would be the final tuneup before the Iron-Man race. So we tried to make it interesting. We were going to ante up $5 per discipline (swim, T1, bike, T2, run), the fastest time in each event would take home the cash. I honestly did not have a chance to win anything except the transitions times and maybe a good run. I might squeak by with some $$$ at the end..

It was a perfect day to race, mid 70's and for once, fairly calm waters for the swim. The pros started first and my swim wave started 25 minutes behind them. I started in the back and hung back while the fast guys went off first. The swim went well for me, I was swimming fairly straight and tried to push the pace for once. I did get hit alot trying to swim closer to the buoys and people would just cut right in front of me swimming all kinds of way. I must say, the fast ladies have no mercy, they don't care, they just hit you and just keep on going. Scary bunch I must say. But I thought I swam well, but my swim time did not show it at all, maybe I was trying to hard to swim a little faster.

So T1 I was in, trying to win a little bit of cash in the process, I saw my teammate 2 bike racks over and thought I had a chance to beat his time in T1. I know I was out of the T1 first because he passed me on the bike a few minutes later. Crap even with a 2:17 T1 he beat me by 7 seconds. Dang timing chip strap.

So the bike leg went okay for me, I just wanted to get close to my bike split from last year. I felt actually descent out there, but I made the mistake of not taking my 300 to 400 calories per hour on the bike. For some reason I'm still not comfortable riding on my TRI bike either, even getting professionally fitted, changing saddles, I still was getting back pain and hip pain. But I got thru it as the best I could.

So my T2 was fast, but again not fast enough, with a 1:41 time I came in second again also, Arghhh. Out of the money again.

So my last hope was my run. I was hoping for good things this year in my Triathlon running. After running a 1:51 at the RockMam Half IM 5 weeks ago in zone 2. I figures that was a much harder hillier run and this was a mostly flat run, no problem going under 1:51 I thought to myself.

But the "Hammer" fell on me and I lost it. I started out with a high heart rate and could not recover and not bring it down. My legs were tired and I was just feeling totally HAMMERED out there. So my run mostly consisted of running for a little bit and then walking, that lasted for 13.1 grueling miles. Not a fun thing, I was so discouraged and disgusted at some points, I really just wanted to stop and sit down. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that I didn't want my teammates to see me give up this way. So I went on and did a 2:05:51 run, pretty slow considering what I just did at the Rockman half IM a couple of weeks ago.

So finished I did, called my wife and told her of my disappointment and she just said to me, you "finished right," Well I guess I did.

2007 Race Stats
Swim ~ 47:05
T1 ~ 2:17
Bike ~ 2:51:57 (19ish mph)
T2 ~ 1:41
Run ~ 2:05:51
Total time ~ 5:48:50

2006 Race Stats
Swim ~ 39:09
T1 ~ 2:32
Bike ~ 2:49:51 (19ish mph)
T2 ~ 1:50
Run ~ 2:02:28
Total time ~ 5:43:19

Training more and getting slower, what's up with that?

So when I finally got home, I told the family we were going to eat at Old Country Buffet because my comfort food was awaiting me, ahh the little pleasures in LIFE. Actually just gave me heartburn later that night.. Oh well..

So what is on agenda until IM, I'm trying to think positive and eventhough I might be losing my time battles. I might hopefully win my WAR, a PR at IMooo.

I really need to work on my nutrition, regain my mental toughness, and formulate a race plan going into IM. Another training day on the IMWI course on Friday and yup my B-day run on Saturday. Meaning I'm going to run my age on Saturday or do a split Saturday/Sunday run to get all the miles in (Try to anyways)..

Yup I'll be 41 and maybe a Ultra 41 miler might give me some confidence back in my step again.

(quick update: kinda of injured so no 41 miler today, have to figure out something else, hmmm?)

"Ask yourself if you learn more when everything is running sweet and smooth or when you get your ass kicked and end up in the mud on your back" ~ Scott Tinley

I guess time will tell if I have learned my lesson. Until then I really need to call the vending machine people at my work. No "Bear Claw" danishes for a month now in the machines... I really need some right now. Argghhh..

"Attitude is Everything"

After a solid week of IM training I think I'm finally out of my slump or in other words the "Bubba FUNK" is finally leaving the building.

I was able to get my 2 mile open water swim in this weekend with an added bonus of 100 "team in Training" Triathletes trying to take up the same swimming space as you. Talk about race simulation.

But I must say, my "Bubba funk" has been hard to break the past couple of weeks!

I was tired of training, I did not have the zip in my training nor the passion in my heart. I had a bad attitude towards IM. For a long time I thought my year was just about Ultra-Running. Once my goals were completed I figure I just do some IM training and skate my way through the IronMan race this year. Not put pressure on myself, go through the motions.

Then I read the local sport magazine "WindyCitySports:"

Article: "Attitude is Everything" ~ your legs can only take you so far in accomplishing your goals"

"At the 2002 Boston Marathon Expo, a large banner hung from the ceiling. It said, simply: ALL YOU NEED NOW IS TO WANT IT BAD ENOUGH"

That is what I was missing, the hunger or even the addiction of an IronMan race. Crap, I paid $475 to enter this crazy race and I just want to skate by. What's the logic in that, I thought to myself. So now I'm hungry, not just to show up, but to go for a huge PR this year.

RACE against myself and put 110% out there on race day.

So my test will be this weekend at the Racine Half IronMan. It's going to be one of my "A" races now for the year. A sold out race with 2000 Triathletes.

Do I have the right Attitude?

Do I really want it bad enough?

Do I want to PR or I will fold to the pressure of trying to go faster?

I know one thing I will surely try and after eating a "LONG-JOHN" doughnut this morning, my fix for the week is now complete and Tapering has begun (sort of).

So I should be good to go for now. You think?

To be a "WIBA"

So on Saturday morning, kickstandpam and me headed off to the Madison, WI to participate in the 2nd annual WIBA training adventure.

So once we arrived, we got ready and headed to the swim area for the 1st adventure.

A 1 hour/1.2 mile open swim was about to begin.

After waiting for the coordinators to arrive we all took off. No buoys to guide off, just head to a fishing dock and swim back. That should give you around a 1.2 mile swim. The swimming went well for me, after 3 1/2 years, the fear of open water swimming has dissipated within me. A great feeling these days, still can't tread water worth a crap, but as long as I go forward I know I will eventually get to my destination

After that, it was time to saddle up for a long bike ride. The game plan was to ride the whole IM course. I started with the 112 mile pack, chugging along. But after several miles, my training partner was not feeling the cycling MOJO. So "twist" my arm why don't ya, I just rode 133 miles 2 weeks ago, so a crotch numbing ride was something I could do without also. So we decided to wait for the second pack and just ride with some of the 70+ mile crew.

They say if you finish the Horrible Hilly Hundred, the IM Wisconsin course will be not to bad. You know, they are right, as I climbed the hills, the monster IronMan hills have become tamed in my eyes. But its still 112 miles and the heat was getting to me a little bit out there.

So after the 70+ mile ride, I just did a short 50 minute run along the Madison Lakefront. I was actually pretty disappointed with my short brick run. So with my usual "anal" self, I ran 2 hours in the AM this morning to make me feel better. Ah, now that was a little better.

So the main goal this weekend was to work on nutrition on the bike. So after this weekend, I realized it is still a work in progress. I also learned I need to work on heat acclimation. If you get a chance listen to the latest podcast on TriTalk, great info of how to get heat acclimated.

But the highest priority was to really see for myself if Steve in a speedo was truly that hairy.. Okay lets give an AMEN to that.

Met some new and old bloggy friends. Always a good time.

Pictured is Steve S., Pharmie, TRiAL, Marty, TriTeacher, and me at one of the pit stops during the ride.

So whats next?? The Racine Half IM in two weeks, time to figure out how to get my potential to become my reality. Another 200k bike ride with the same elevation as Horrible Hilly Hundred. Then another bike ride or two on the IM course. Then I should be ready to go for IMooo.

Oh, I almost forgot, an Ultra Birthday run to match my age at the end of the month. I'll see if I can pull this off, because I'm not a spring chicken these days anymore.

"WANNADO"

It was hot and humid in Florida, but what do you expect in Florida during the summer.

I was able to do a 8 mile run during my short trip and some early morning trips to the health club. I saw a bunch of roadies and triathlete on their morning ride. I wished I was one of them that morning. No potholes to deal with and long flat roads to ride. But I think I would get totally bored riding on a flat course all the time.

So were do you take a kid on vacation, lets see.. Hmm, WANNADO CITY, where kids pretend to be grownups. They can be RUNWAY models, fireman, policeman, doctors, and work in a miniature grocery store, getting paid in play money so they buy cool stuff like beaded jewelry. The bad part is the theme park song is stuck in my head now. At least some of the Wiggles songs has been replaced by this.

So back to training. Heading out to WIBA and meet up with some fellow bloggers for some IronMan training on Saturday. Me and kickstandpam are going to play with the big boys/gals and plan to do the whole itinerary for the day.

1.5 hour open water swim

112 bike ride (the entire IM Wisconsin bike course)

45 minute brick run

So it will be a long day and mid 90's too. But it's the second annual and I was there last year and had a great time and got to meet some way cool blogger people.

So "BRING IT" I say..The real training begins for IM!!

Time to test everything out. Gear, nutrition, clothing, and even how much butt creme I should apply.

Almost forgot the highlight of my trip to Florida. You guess it, Cuban pastries, the only thing better than cheese danishes are guava filled pastries. Yum.. Yum..