IronMan Wisconsin 2007

Signing up for IronMan Wisconsin 2007 started out rather innocently, several people from the TRIClub was passing e-mails back and forth about signing up.

Hmmm, I was not planning on it really, I haven't even completed my 1st IronMan yet. One, two, three, crap now at least 5 people are signing up. So I asked my wife days before IMWI 2006 if I could sign up for 2007. With a muffled acknowledgment she said "it's okay". So with the credit cards cleared out and the IM Wisconsin finishers hat on my head I was in line for round two of IM Wisconsin.

What was I thinking, It was a hard day out there for me, I still have to schedule my Hernia surgery by the end of the year. But sign up I did, with Greyhound, IronWill, SimplyStu, me, and Runningbanter, along with some other people I ran into.

I did talk to a guy while waiting in line, he was reading the Total Immersion swimming book while waiting to sign up, never did a triathlon before, not sure if he could even swim yet. I wonder about him sometimes?

So almost a year has passed since that day. More miles and sweat I care to think about. More Cliff bloks, gels, protein drinks, and powdered endurance drinks I care not to think about consuming one more day.

What has happened within this year since signing up for IMWI 2007 that day? Hmmm.

Within this year, my daughter has grown older, and hopefully more wiser. I had a conversation with a school administrator on her 1st day of school this week:

Administrator: "First day"

Bubba: "Yeah"

Administrator: "just let her go"

Bubba: ??? I might have to think about that?

Within a year, I've grown older, probably not the wiser.

Within in a year I've made friends with the same people I just used to call my TRI teammates.

Within a year I've ran on trails for the 1st time and loved it.

Within a year I've probably have ridden the most miles on my bike in my life and my sore ass shows it.

Within a year I've had hernia surgery or any kind of surgery for the first time. Waking up and knowing people are still working on your insides is a strange feeling I must say.

Within a year I've appreciated nature, the woods, the animals. What mother earth has to offer while running my Ultra-Marathons. It's a beautiful thing.

Within a year I had a better handle on trying to balance family life with my compulsive OCD endurance life. (Okay, my wife might not agree with me all the time on this one)

Within a year, I learned the most important thing about IronMan 2006, is just not the race, not the many miles traveled to get here. It is was the final moments of my 1st IronMan.

After crossing the finish line I gave the medal to my daughter and I cried. I realized this was the most important part of IM for me. To share it with the people most important to you.

So with IMWI just around the corner, the race is really just a race, to say to finish no matter whatever finishing time I get is not important, would be a lie, but to realize there are more important things in this world;

Within this IM year I've learned this most of all.

So the real taper has begun this week, going to cut out one of the best things in life for me. Ice Cream, doughnuts, and sweet danishes. Oh its going to be hard. But the bathroom scale says I need to.

So onward I go, trying not to get hurt for the next 10 days or so. Going to get my 1st ever massage today to help me hopefully get the kinks out of my sore calf, so I can be ready to run on race day.

The final countdown is on.

The last Long Ride and Then some.

So on Friday, me and two other TRI club folks headed out for IMooo to ride the course once again. The last long RIDE until race day (I think so anyways). Got there early and rode 20 miles before I met up with the two TRI folks who were planning to do 80 miles.

It turned out to be a great weather day. My plan for the day was to concentrate on my nutrition since I was adding fig newton bars in the mix now to get more calories on the bike. I think it went well on that front so I think I'm dialed in nutritionally, I hope so anyway.

The rest of the ride went okay, at times riding with heavy legs. After 80 miles I was getting pretty tired of riding or maybe just bored with it. Until I saw the group of riders who started ahead of our group. Hee, Heee, they don't know it, I'm going to attack and try to catch up. One by one I did, a hard effort at times but worth the effort just to wake me up a bit. Okay, they were a group of ladies who probably would kick my ass usually in any race, but I take what I can sometimes.

So with 103 miles in the bank this day, I was going to try to do a brick run afterward. I actually did not run the whole week to take care of my calf injury. Not sure how it would hold up. But after I started my brick run I had a strange feeling. WHAT? NO tightness and felt good. So let me run to the stop sign, okay, now I'm here, let me run there and then there. Wow I'm actually finished a 2 mile brick run. I was so excited, things have finally improved after 3 weeks concerning my calf ailments, IT'S ABOUT TIME!!

After I got home I was so excited in running again. I woke up early to get a run in before the kiddo's b-day party on Saturday. Okay, now it's going to get crazy. I planned for a bunch of kids playing outside for the party. But drip, drip. It rained most of the day. But it was a great party, I think even the adults had a good time. Well the kiddo crashed out after the party, now I know she had a good time.

On Sunday, more rain, a severe "thunderstorm watch" my wife told me. Asked if I was still going out to train. Um, yeah, kickstandpam twisted my arm (not to hard by the way) and we met at 5:30 am. Pouring rain and thunder in the background, we took off for a run along the Chicago Lakefront. In the beginning we did not see anybody running out there, hmm why is that, because I think we are a little nuts, ummm yeah!!

But we ran for 2+ hours. Then took the other crazy task of trying to do an open water swim in choppy and cold conditions. With the thunder from the sky gone, raining off and on, we put on our wetsuits and took the plunge. Halfway through, we saw a very fast TRi swimmer we knew walking back. He had enough and got a little sea sick from the choppy conditions. Now I was thinking about all the hamburgers, bratwurst, and fried chicken I had the night before from the b-day party. Okay, now I do not need to see the chummed up version in front of my eyes right now. But onward I went, at times felt like I was swimming in place because of the crazy current. But 2 miles I got in, it took forever, but I was happy in reaching my goal.

So I guess my official taper begins, I guess so, since I really don't have a training plan this year. Still might do a semi-long bike ride, try to get more of running legs back with some slow long runs, and maybe get a chance to do a longer swim. Now If it could only stop raining around here

Hmm, less than 3 weeks left, I must be feeling it, because I think I would start getting really emotional if I saw the movie "Rudy" right now. Quite now, remember that is between you and me okay.

The Bike, The Run, and a Half-Hearted swim!

The Bike

Saturday was the Dairy-Land Dare, around 14,000 feet of elevation to climb on the agenda. I drove 3 hours that morning to the start line. Six of us from the TRIClub set out to do the 200k and 2 others did the 100k route.

It actually started out well for me, I was geared up so I would not make the same mistake here I did at the Horrible Hilly Hundred. By running out of hydration 10 miles from the finish, total "Bonking" is not fun.

I think I also dressed appropriately, the black and white IMooo COW jersey made me feel at home in Moo Land.

The plan was to ride at my own bike pace and ride how I felt. Everything was going okay then 12 miles from the start, I go over a little bump then pop. Crap a flat tire, took out my inner tube, so strike two, I had a tube for my 650 Triathlon bike, that's not going to work. Okay, I packed another tube somewhere else in my camelbak. Phew, I found it, finally the right size ~ 700c. I'm glad I was not a total bonehead. Okay now where is my bike pump, DOUBLE CRAP, I left it in the trunk of my car. Now I'm a total bonehead, no way to pump my tube after I change it. So I waited around and flagged down one of my teammates coming towards me. So after I fixed my tire, we went on our merry way. I figure I should stay with at least one of them since another flat would totally suck out here, no pump and only a patched up tube as a backup in case I got another flat. I was a little nervous thinking about getting another flat again so far from the finish.

Let just say the DiaryLand Dare is not an easy ride, the evil twin of the Horrible Hilly Hundred. There was some crazy climbs and one spot that had a danger sign with crossbones posted saying "get off your bike, washout". Let's say I did not do that and got thru that section somehow. I never said I had any sense when I trained. But the DairyLand Dare was a great organized ride, better food and service than the Horrible Hilly Hundred.

On to my riding, I think I rode well, I climbed all the hills, stayed in my saddle on all of them. Even-though my legs burned on some of the long climbs I put my head down and climbed until it hurt no more, which meant I was at the top. Boy it did hurt, my back got really stiff after mile 80, my arms where fatigued as well. My ASS, well, it was not a pretty feeling. I was getting really tired after awhile and wanted to get off my bike. I was not a happy camper from mile 90 to 110. But at mile 111 I felt great, maybe because I knew the end was near.

Riding in the rain the first couple of hours of the ride and then the heat for the rest of the day made things a pretty crazy adventure I will not soon forget. But I finished on top of my bike, no walking up the hills, and my calf held up..Woohooo

Ride Stats:
8 hours 53 minutes of actual ride time

A little over 125 miles total.

Avg speed 14.1 ~ Max Speed 48 mph

Elevation Gain (ft) +13,608 / -13,562

My TRI Teammate asked me If I felt better riding today than before. All I could say was, "NOT SURE, EITHER WAY THIS WAS A LONG ASS RIDE"

The RUN

So for Sunday I had this great idea, after riding 125 miles Saturday, a half marathon would be not to bad. Put another 7 miles in to make it a 20 mile training run. Sounds like fun right. The funny thing was I got two other TRI club people to join me in this little crazy adventure, Kickstandpam and Caroline. So we met up early and ran to the race, approximately 3 miles.

Then the half marathon race started at 6:30am. My goal was just to test out my calf. Actually the rest of my body was hurting as well from the 200k bike ride. But I actually ran well the first 4 miles of the race, cautiously thou. The calf was tight but tolerable, then I did another bonehead thing, or as I was reminded a "Rookie Mistake". I tried cutting across some people, just then, my cell phone flies out of my pocket, I turn back, some guy kicks it actually towards me, then I was on my way again. But after that my calf got really tight and I needed to slow down. So I just took it easy and thought about one step at a time. Walked thru the aid stations and took one or two stretching breaks for my calf. But I finished and actually was pretty happy I got through it not screaming in pain. I was happy with my 2:07 finishing time. I proved to myself I still had some running fitness in me still.

Should I have run it, Hmm, hard to say, but I had to test my calf out and see what I could do. That was my goal, nothing more.

The Half-Hearted SWIM

So after the race, the 3 of us jogged along to TRIbeach for hopefully a open water swim. Let say, I felt sooo tired even trying to put my wetsuit on. The water was a little choppy, but my goal of a 2 mile open water swim was not going to be. I had no form and I think if I doggie paddled I would have been faster in the water. So just a 30 to 40 minute open water swim for the training log this day.

Weekly stats (08/06-08/12):

21.76 hours of training,

206 bike miles,

31 running miles

Some swimming

Dang I'm tired.. So what's on my A.D.D schedule now? More bike riding, I really can't run right now, so more walking on the treadmill. Hopefully a very long open water swim this weekend. Then prepare for a dozen screaming kids to invade my home for my daughter's b-day party this weekend as well.

But for now, I'm going to try to figure out why everybody likes watching the "SINGING BEE" on TV.. I really don't get it.

Rest, Rain, and the weekend Double..

So I think Bubba's back for now..

My calf pull, strain, or whatever it is behind my leg, is still on the nagging side. But a 6.5 mile run at an easy pace I was able to do after my 2 mile swim on Saturday..

Actually ran in to a fellow Ultra blogger LOraRuns on my run. With hundreds of people training for this and that I was able to spot her pacing her half Marathon group.. But I think I opened my big mouth and told her I'm contemplating the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler, she is planning to do the 50 miler... Oh, I guess I have begun the first step and now the wheels are in motion for this now..

It was a good recovery training week for me thou, I resisted the temptation to train hard, and took it easy... On Sunday with 7 other crazy folks, I rode 52 mile in the pouring rain (I didn't say anything about NO crazy training just easier). But some of the dedicated Tri club folks did do another 30 miles after I was done.. I'm glad I was in a recovery week..

So feeling somewhat rested albeit feeling a little slower, it's time for some heavy volume training the next two week.. First up is the 200k Dairyland Dare (126 Mile bike ride), it's supposed to be at the same level as the Horrible Hilly Hundred I completed in June.

Hmmm, total elevation exceeding 14,000 feet.. At least there is not a 2 mile uphill finish for this one, unlike the Horrible Hilly Hundred.. Oh my ass is going to be numb for days again...Ouchy!!!

Then on Sunday, The Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon... Since I don't want to do something extremely foolish and hurt myself more by racing it. It's going to be a training run + 7 or more.. I going to start really early and run around until I get in at least 20+ miles for the day. Actually something I did last year as well.. Hey, aid stations and some"Bling, Bling" on a training run. You can't beat that..

So that concludes the double for the weekend. Hopefully I can pull all of this off with some other things on my agenda, Because it's time to get my Bubba groove back after limping around for the past two weeks, that dance I care not to do again anytime soon.

One way to celebrate a birthday..

So last weekend was supposed to be my big birthday run of 41 miles..

Let just say it did not happen :(I have been nursing a calf strain or something like that for the past couple of days. So the run did not materialized, I was a little disappointed at first, but I realized that I was doing the things I loved and spending time with the family is really more important that running 41 miles in the span of one day (or two).

But I was able to get some training in over the weekend nonetheless.

So on Friday, about 4 of us from the TRI club headed out to tackle the IronMan Wisconsin course once again. We headed up early in the morning; the weather was kind of crazy at best. It was pouring rain most of the way up to Madison, WI. But I think either way we all determined to ride that day and hoped for the best. But things changed when we finally got to the starting point. No rain during entire IMoo cycling adventure.

My goal for the day was to work on my race nutrition. Try to lay off the salt tablets because I think that was the cause of getting a thirsty and salty taste in my mouth during my long races during the year. Pacing was also on top of the agenda. I tried not to care who was ahead of me or riding behind of me in the group.

“Keep a high cadence and just ride within myself”, I told myself. Even though my calf was pretty tight and I did feel it most of the bike ride. I felt pretty good out there. So 101.30 miles completed on the IMWI course, not a bad way to start my b-day weekend.

Saturday I was still determined to try to run. Woke up early, headed to the Chicago Lakefront to attempt a long run. It started out fine; the calf pain was there but would subside after I got going. But at the 5 mile mark the pain increased, so I figure I better just walk and call it a day before I hear snap, crackle, and pop, at the back of my leg. I Ran 5 and walked 5, Ohhhh, it was hard watching all these people running. Really hard!!!

So the rest of the day, some friends came over for a little b-day party. Most of the them non-runners/triathletes. Joking around about my crazy endurance adventures. But with all that, they know I have this Badwater UltraMarathon fixed in my head (130+ mile Ultra Marathon in Death Valley). They joked around in a serious way how to crew for me if I ever do it, Ahhh, true friends indeed.

So Sunday was the last hooray for my B-day weekend. Another 52 miles on the bike, so 208.6 cycling miles for the week for me. The most I have ever done in one week ever.

Then it was time to relax and hang around the swimming pool with my daughter later that day. Sometimes I do forget what really is most important than all the miles I did this week.

So this week is my time to rest and hopefully heal up. I think I must be getting a little wiser in my 40+ age now. Maybe some junk food is in the works as well.

That is a form of recovery week I’m sure… Well at least in my mind.