Finally an Ironman

Ironman Wisconsin 2011

2011-09-12T20:32:00.001-05:00

I would be joking myself if I thought I could ever go at this alone and be successful. My wife Jenny has been the driving force and my rock when it comes to me going back to try this crazy thing called Ironman for a third time. I know for sure that I would never have made it without her. I could never tell her how much I love her. It wouldn't be enough. My family for being supportive and understanding. Especially my 2 boys who make me try to be the best dad ever. My brother in law Jeff for biking my slower pace and riding the course with me the few times and because it was his first Ironman made it fun. I was excited for him and it put a little extra fire in my belly. My AWESOME sister in laws, nieces and nephews. My mom and Jenny's mom and dad for taking an interest in a sport that is very boring to spectate at times.
Second on that list is the SWAT group. Alison Viemeister in particular has been awesome in supporting me and being the best friend anyone could ask for. She would run, swim or bike with me at a moments notice and many times movtivated me to run (especially on Tuesdays) when I didn't want to. She wanted this for me as much as I wanted this for myself and that says a lot. I am lucky to have a good friend and great athlete to help me achieve my goals. She has no idea how much that meant to me.
To the rest of the people in SWAT that made Tuesdays awesome and made one day a week a lot less boring with training, you guys were great. It was super fun to see how excited everyone was for Ironman. Phil and CJ who get so excited about everyone's efforts it makes you proud to have friends like that. Ann Huenink who pushed me on runs to run harder. Zach Carr and Jamie Snippen and Steve Knox and Jeff Wildes who came and biked hard sometimes and pushed me to be better.
My super cool friends, co workers, and internet friends, some of whom I have never met in person, who motivate me to be better. I felt like a rock star last night and today when I had over 100 facebook messages. Those who sent messages to me and Jenny before and during Ironman it meant a lot and I felt like I had the support of the whole world behind me. My high school classmates and friends I have had for over 30 years who tell me how proud and inspired they are by me. It has all meant a lot to me. There are now 4 class of 86ers who are Ironmen that I know of. Me, Johnny Brown, John Cherf and Jeff Ryder. Theresa Churchill Hineline is going for it next year and WILL join us. I encourage any of you that are crazy enough to give it a try. :) I can't tell everyone what their friendship has meant to me.
It's hard to thank everyone who has supported me the past 3 years and if I forget to mention anyone, it's just because I'm tired. :) I carried each and every one of you on those 140.6 yesterday.
Well here we go:
It is very exciting leading up to race day. The energy that builds up is pretty cool and part of what makes Ironman so addictive. You train, do events, and talk about Ironman for months and months and it just keeps building and building and finally the weekend comes and the tents go up and the expo opens and you register and rack your bike and fill your bags and BOOM. Game on. I got up there Friday morning and spent some time in line and got myself registered and got my packet and stuff and Jenny and I spent some time in the expo buying gear. They had shirts and some other stuff that was greatly reduced. Some stuff was half off. Jenny scored a few shirts finisher gear from last year at half off. But the line to check out was over an hour long. But it was worth it. We walked around State Street and the Capitol and ate some pizza and then went back to Janesville.
I spent Friday night in my own bed and slept like a rock. Jenny got up early and went to the volunteers meeting and then came back to town. I got all my bags packed, bike ready, and loaded the car. We dropped off the dogs at the dog sitter and went to Madison. We got checked into our hotel then went down to the Monona Terrace and dropped off transition bags and bike. Right at that point I got nervous. Up to then I was feeling pretty good. As soon as had everything dropped off, my stomach went to knots. We had friends from town who were in Madison that we met for lunch and met my son and his girlfriend who were at the Badger Football game. We ate and then went back to our hotel and hung out and swam and then we dropped them off and went back to the room and it was time for sleep.
One of the best things I did before this Ironman that I had not previously done was began to consume more water and Nuun electrolyte tabs 48 hours before the event. The past 2 years had been warmer and I always felt a bit dehydrated. Never going to the bathroom and having the dreaded fire pee during the run on the first year. I think this was one of the things that contributed to my being successful.
Up at 4:45 and to the Terrace by 5:45. Got my bike tired pumped, my nutrition loaded on my bike, and put the GPS tracker in my bag on my race belt. The GPS tracker was very cool and I would recommend it to anyone doing Ironman. My chip strap broke when I was putting on my timing chip. The stitching came right undone. I figured out where to get another one and got that taken care of before going in the water. Put on the wetsuit, saw some people, hung out with my brother in law and Steve Knox and then it was time to get in the water. Some guy who was racing sang the national anthem. It was freaking awesome. I saw the guy on the run and his shirt said "I sang the national anthem" or something like that. His voice was just incredible. Within a few moments we were hustled into the water and after about 5 minutes of floating, we were off. Mike Reilly always says that the only thing you really have control of is your attitude. I took that to heart. No bad attitude, no matter what. The nerves were gone and it was just like any other triathlon. I stayed in the mix and got beat and did my share of beating until the pack thinned out. I don't think I swam too bad but found myself outside a bit a few times. The swim seemed really long but was about average for me. 1:45:42. Out of the water and looked for Jenny who was wetsuit peeling. She helped me get my wetsuit off and like always, told me she loved me and was proud of me and sent me on my way. The run up the helix to transition sucks. I saw my son Lucas and Chelsea and others and tried to hustle but it was tough. I got into the change area and someone helped me get my stuff together and I changed and I left the transition area, got sunscreened and ran the full length of bike corral picking up my bike about half way. My Ironman transitons always suck. Always. But I needed to have everything I needed and 7 hours on the bike requires comfort. 14:37 Ouch. Didn't feel that long but the clock doesn't lie. Really should work on those at some point.

The bike was pretty fun. I saw my cheering section a ton of times and every time I beamed with pride knowing they were out there to make this a fun day for me. Saw Matt Prest in Verona twice and seeing everyone picked me up and I always tried to let them know how much I appreciated it. I followed my nutrition plan to the letter. One pouch of GU Chomps every 45 minutes, 2 salt tabs every hour, one bottle of perform or bottle of water per hour as needed. I wound up drinking 5 bottles of water and 5 bottles of perform. I drank another bottle of water at one aid station because some didn't have the caps on them and my aero bar mounted bottle cage had the bottle horizontal so it poured out. I was able to request capped bottles at every aid station so it was all good. I never felt thirsty or hungry and never walked my bike or cramped on the hills. I credit the extra hydration and salt. I even went pee once. That never happens for me on the bike. I did lose my salt tabs over some railroad tracks in Cross Plains but got them back while serving a penalty for drafting. I got too close to 2 girls riding side by side as I was eating and drinking on the second loop and not paying attention and the guy snuck up behind me and nailed me for drafting. Shortly after that as I was passing some guy, he swerved way over and forced me into a big crack in the center of the road. My tire and rim went way into it. I thought I was going to crash but didn't. The guy was sorry but I was angry because he almost ruined my Ironman by not paying attention. The little adrenaline I got from that helped me pass a few people. 10 miles into the bike I saw someone crash over some tracks. Pretty narly too. I hope she was o.k. I saw a ton of flat tires too. Way more than I ever remember. On the second loop I saw people sitting with their bikes under trees taking in some shade and resting. I saw some people obviously done and waiting for medical. They were over heated and unprepared for the hills. I just kept churning the pedals. Putting on the compact crank and 11-28 rear cassette was a HUGE reason I could spin up the hills and save some legs. It made a big difference in my bike. My feet got a little sore on the bottoms from never stopping and putting my feet down. So a couple times on the last 30 miles I stopped for 2 minutes to put some pressure on my feet in different spots by walking around a bit. It helped a ton. I rolled back into Monona Terrace. 7:23:20. 15.16avg. I had hoped to be more like 7 hours or less so I started to get nervous. Some fuzzy math told me I was going to be running a lot. I got changed and headed out. There were several people in the change tent that looked horrible and were either just resting to recover or were done. Not sure which. Well I wasn't done. I had people following me and watching me and I wanted this so bad.
Another crappy transition at 10:05. Just sucky but I wasn't letting it get me down.
Run goals were simple. Run the first half in between 2:45 and 3 hours and do whatever was necessary to get the job done on the second half. My stomach started to hurt so I went to a water only mode for a while. I stopped at the aid station by the Kohl center and went pee again. I was trying to hold a 11-12 min mile pace and figured out pretty quickly that I would be faster and more efficient going to a run/walk. I found a pace that was comfortable and it was about 13:30 per mile. So when my avg pace on my garmin said 13:32 I would run until it went to 13:28 or less. Then I would power walk until it went back to 13:32 and I would run. I did this for the entire first half. Ran a 3:01 first half at 13:45 pace. I saw my brother and niece at the half way. It was awesome as I had no idea they were coming up. It fired me up to keep pounding. I couldn't get my garmin to start at first for about half mile and I think that is why there was a difference in what I was seeing. My stomach was much better so I started taking in some calories with coke, bananas, oranges and perform. At this point I saw several people laying in the grass obviously dehydrated and hurting. I felt bad for them. Knowing how bad it feels to get close and not finish. I saw a ton of friends and people on the run. My wife and Alison were everywhere again. It was so awesome for me. Well now I did some fuzzy math at the turn around and somehow figured I might not make it. I started saying to myself "I can do this" over and over and it really helped to hear that from myself. In reality I had about 5 hours to do the second half. So when I ran/walked another 5 miles I finally did the correct math and knew I was going to make it. I was so stoked. I knew at that point I could walk 30 min miles amost and make it. My legs were killing me. I was in pain and wanted to be done. One of the guys I did Carmichael Training Camp with, Dave something, came up behind me and we ran/walked and talked for several miles. It made the time go by really fast. He ran off with about 3 miles to go. I got to the spot where you cross this mat and if people have typed in a message for you it comes up. Well I had one buddy, Mike Wolfgram, who left me the saying Kia Kaha. It means stay strong. It totally pumped me up. I ran the path back to the aid station, but that was about the last of the running. I walked the last 3 miles in. With about 2 miles to go I see Ann Huenink smiling from ear to ear. She is another very cool person who ran some with me this summer and pushed me to run better. Seeing my sons, more family, my brother and friends and getting to the last half mile knowing I was going to make it was awesome. I got a hug from a very inspirational friend and a high five from her husband. Michelle Wilkinson and her husband are just awesome. Truely great people. Phil and Cj (who I saw a ton of times and really motivated me and picked me up) walked with me up to the corner where I started my jog to the end. The pain goes away and I high fived everyone I could. I ran down the chute and TRIPPED and fell on the mat just before the arch. Who does that? I felt sort of like a dufus, but then I heard several people had tripped and the mat wasn't taped down good. I thought I just tripped because I could barely get my feet off the ground to run. I got myself up ran through the arch smiling away. I had done it. I completed Ironman Wisconsin.

I got my medal, t shirt, hat and just wanted to go somewhere and sit down. We hung out for a bit longer and watched the fireman in full turn out gear finish. Got some pictures with family and went back to hotel. Ate some real food, drank a couple more water bottles. And went pee again. This is the first Ironman I have done that I have not struggled with hydration. It was another key to my success. I forced the water in me, even when I didn't want to.

Other than a little chafing and one small blister on the side of my foot, I have no real issues. I'm sore as hell but that's what Ironman is.

To all the people I saw, Robin and Blaine Blackburn who got me up the hill in Mount Horeb, Michelle Alswager who I saw a few times, Rob Regan (his wife finished as well and I saw her only once on the run), Suzy Jacobson Koehn, The Wilkinsons, The Gredlers, Natalie Else and fellow competitors Amy Bauch, Mike Rodriguez, Johnny Brown, Mike Bieber, Jamie Snippen, Dave from Carmichael Training Camp and a few others I saw, I can't thank you enough for being there and supporting me. I saw Chris Bintliff, Robby B, Ryan Griesmeier, and Will Smith who all said a kind word. It means a lot. I know there are people I am missing and I'm sorry if I didn't mention you here. Every time I turned around or came by a section I heard "MIKE WIMMER....GO MIKE WIMMER". It was incredible.

All the rest of you who sent me messages, tracked me all day, and generally were interested in my well doing, I also thank you. I hope I can repay you someday with the same happiness.

Waupaca Sprint and Race the Lake

2011-08-21T18:14:00.004-05:00

Here we are 3 weeks from Ironman and up on the schedule was the Waupaca Sprint Tri. They call it the long course because they have a super sprint and a sprint. The long course is a half mile swim, 20 mile bike, and then the 3.1 mile run. I had signed up for this a long time ago. The race sells out and for sure is a favorite of any person I spoke to that had done it.

So Friday I loaded up the car and Jenny and I drove to Waupaca and got our packets and checked into the Village Inn. Cheap room, and just what you would expect for a cheap room. Not super comfortable but whatever. I slept awful. Tossing and turning and too hot, too cold, and just kept waking up. Bogus.

Up at 4:45, breakfast and loaded gear from hotel into the car and drove down to the park. Shadow Lake is the swim venue and it was looking very nice. Your race number was based upon when you registered and the waves were based on bib number. So it didn't matter what your age or sex was. Waves were 50 people every 2 minutes. Jenny and I were in wave 3. Alison in wave 4. My goal was to swim well and not let Alison get too far ahead of me, catch her on the bike and hold her off on the run. FAIL.

We set up in transition and see Will Smith from the aquathon. I knew right away he would win. The guy is fast. He has retired from being a pro because of injury but still races elite to stay fit. He talked with Jenny and I and is a very nice guy. I chuckle when he says "hey mate". He's Australian and his accent cracks me up. He even cheered Jenny on the run with a "Go Janesville". How cool.

So Jenny and I take off in the swim. Water was excellent. I decided to stay to the outside, Jenny goes inside. It was an out and back swim. Big mistake by me. I forget that sprint tri's are loaded with people who can't swim. It was a disaster. Every time I started to get going, there was another group of breast and side strokers and people just being in my way. These people, of course, were all on the outside and away from the pack. I had to breast stroke a few times to get out of traffic only to find more. I got pounded by people and just overall had a really crappy swim. I came across a group of about 5 dudes that were breast stroking side by side and talking to each other. COME ON MAN. I swam 200 yards shorter than the aquathon and it took me 2 minutes longer. A 20 minute swim for an 800. I was pretty frustrated at this point. There is a long run up the beach and I had to run all the way through transition to get to my bike. Jenny was already there, Alison was GONE. Jenny was gone way before me and I just tried to focus on getting my gear on and GO. 4 minute transition inlcluding the run up the beach and getting through transition.
Bike course was really nice. At mile 5 I passed Jenny. I passed quite a few on the bike and didn't get passed much. Not many hills and it felt like it was about 90 percent down hill. I just kept it cranking. About half way on the bike, I had to cough. I coughed several times and noticed I was wheezing. I tried to get the junk out of my lungs but it wouldn't budge. Not sure what the deal was. I wasn't wheezing badly unless I really got my HR up there on the hills. So I put my purse down and dealt with it. Never caught Alison. I rolled into T2 with a 58:30 bike for a 20.6 avg. My best bike split ever. I saw Alisons bike was there and her run stuff was gone so I knew I wouldn't be able to beat her or even be close.
2 minute T2 and started to run. The wheezing got a little worse but I could still run. Didn't have a great run. 10:58 per mile. I wanted to run sub 10 per mile. Finished with a 1:59:45 total. I passed 4 people on the run and got passed by 87. Seriously 87 people. My run needs work. Will Smith did win. He finished in 1:12.

I had fun. I wasn't last in my age group and I did a crazy dance for Jenny when she finished. She told me to stop it. Best thing was I didn't feel really gassed at all. My endurance is pretty good right now and really I could have gone and done it again.

Jenny and I went back to the room and showered and got checked out and went to a great food place. There was great pizza and they were cooking a BBQ that smelled amazing. We ate and drove to Fon du Lac and checked into our hotel, the Executive Lodge in Fond du Lac and then went and got our packet for Race the Lake and then napped. I needed the nap. I had gotten a bad head ache.. It was a big upgrade from our Waupaca hotel and the bed was super comfy.

We got up at 5, ate breakfast and rode down to the start. We started in wave 11 out of 12. We rode pretty good and had a lot of people pass us at first. Even with us averaging 18MPH, including a guy in toe cages and slippers. Seriously. Slippers. At mile 20 we came across a rider down being attended to by paramedics. It looked bad. We skipped the first rest station and stopped at the second one. The porta potty situation at the second rest stop sucked. It took 22 minutes in line to get in. Once we hit the 45 mile mark we stopped at the other rest area at High Cliff State Park. We did the first 45 miles in 2:30. There were a few more guys with serious road rash at that rest area. Sounds like quite a few guys got into wrecks. We had some doofus who kept passing us on the right with about a foot between us and the curb. Finally I told him to quit it and pass on the left. I was seriously ready to boot him into the ditch. Does he not know I'm trying not to get injured for Ironman?
So we kept on chugging along. The last 40 miles have some hills but nothing special. We did run into a nasty headwind with about 20 miles to go and we turned out of it a few times but mostly it was right there. Jenny and I started passing people who went out way too fast and didn't realize there were hills. Including slipper man who was hurting at mile 80. He was barely moving. At the finish he stopped and let out a string of vulgarity I won't repeat. And then it was over. I felt great. We had a moving time of about 5:30 for the 90 miles for about 16.5 avg. Good enough for me.

As much as I like this event, I probably won't do it again unless I'm training for Ironman. It's just not worth spending the night when there are so many other cycling events out there that are closer.

So now I need to have one more strong week with LOTS OF BIKING AND RUNNING and then it's taper time. I feel better, stronger, and more fit than I ever have.

Time will tell.

CTS training camp and some lessons learned

2011-07-18T21:33:00.000-05:00

So those who are in the know are aware that because after the last IMWI DNF I waited so long to sign up that I had to go to a Carmichael Training Systems camp in order to get an entry.

So last weekend on Friday was the first day of camp. I had to check in by 1pm for a swim in Monona. Once again, I had to take some time off of the job I have had less than a month. Even though I told my boss I needed days off as a triathlete, I never could have expected this. Very cool.

So I get to their host hotel on Dayton St with my bike (more on that later) and we all head down to Monona to swim in the lake. There was 10 of us and 4 coaches (more on the coaches later). The water was awesome. Perfect temp. I still hate the rocks and gravel at the end of the concrete ramp leading in. I just don't have Flintstone feet. That shit hurts.
We swam quite the distance. From Law Park down past the terrace and farther than where the IM buoys will be and back. We were in the water over an hour. My swim is what it is. I know I need to work on getting my hips up and pressing my chest farther down but unless I totally focus on it, I just swim like I always do. I'm not looking to make huge swim gains at this point. Just get in and get out alive. I still will focus really hard during the swim and try to stay long and rotate and pull water under my body and all that stuff. But the coaches were good at pointing out the defects in my swim. It felt good to swim solid for over an hour. I'm very convinced that I can swim the distance feel somewhat fresh out of the water.

Of course this had to be the weekend of my 25th class reunion and I needed to be back in Madison ready to ride the course by 7am. So Jenny and I went to the pre reunion party at a local watering hole coincidentally called The Watering Hole for a couple hours and saw some classmates I had not seen in 25 years. It was kind of fun and I really wanted to stay and hang out. But Ironman calls and I'm not missing this call. So I was home in bed by 10. I haven't had but only a couple drinks in Hawaii in the past 2 years and it doesn't bother me so I was good.

Up early and got myself there and ready to go. Having dropped off my bike Friday allowed their mechanic to go over my bike, fill my bottles, and have it ready to go for me. Pretty cool. We rode the stick and the loop and stopped every 20 miles and they provided GU products for us to use. I really liked the GU brew and the GU chomps. I think I may have to switch from Powerbar products. The ride went pretty well. I rode harder than I probably normally would as I didn't want to seem slow. Most of the ride was done at over 17MPH. We had 2 slow spots back in Madison in and out. I was pretty stoked. I have a lot of confidence about riding that course now. It doesn't seem as hard. After the ride they provided lunch and had a great talk on nutrition. The light bulb came on for me and I realized a few things.

1- I don't drink enough on the bike
2- I don't eat enough calories on the bike
3- I should be eating something right before going in the water and as soon as I get out
4- Water, water, water and less sports drink

I have tried a few things on my last couple long rides that have really helped. I eat more and more frequently and I drink 2 bottles per hour. One gatorade and one water. I have been feeling better and biking better.
And bonus their mechanic had cleaned my bike including the chain and lubing everything up.

After the ride and lunch and talk, some people paid extra to go have a swim stroke analysis done, but I didn't. I went home smiling and feeling AWESOME because I had just biked the course better than ever. I know the course now. I know where I can make up time and I know where to conserve energy. The compact crank I put on my bike and the 11/28 cassette worked well. The rest of the campers had tried to get me to come back to Madison at 6am to start running the course. I protested and agreed to 6:30am run. UGH.

So I got home and was feeling good. I got some fluids and relaxed and didn't go to my class reunion and instead I went to bed early.

Woke up the next morning EARLY (for me anyway) and went back to Madison to run. We all started as a group but I knew I would be falling back and I'm o.k. with that. I'm not a super runner. About 1/2 mile into the run on State Street, I see a young lady exiting an apartment still dressed in Saturday night's outfit with short skirt and heels and totally messed up hair and make up. WALK OF SHAME. I chuckled and was sure to make eye contact. She looked hungover bad. I laughed some more.
One of the coaches was biking and rode next to me for about 4 miles. It went by super fast. Pretty soon I was at 7 miles, then 10 and then at mile 11 I ran into some guys from the camp who thought they were lost and were walking. I stopped and talked to them and with about half mile to go I walked it in with them. I was very happy with how I ran. 11:30 per mile in almost 90 degree heat and I swear I could have turned around and ran the course again. Once again I was very happy.

Camp wrapped up with a tour of Monona Terrace and transition and another lunch and talk about race day logistics and pacing. And with that I now have my entry and as soon as I get the code I will be an official participant.

At first I thought these coaches were kind of a joke. I then took the time and looked them up and they are no joke. The girl who did the most talking has bachelors, masters, all sorts of coaching certificates and has coached some pros including Norman Stadler. She knows her stuff. Most of the other coaches have similar credentials. I picked up a few tips and I had a good experience. Worth the cost? Well I'm on the fence on that. It was very expensive but included the entry. I did get some tips, etc.

So I have a ton of confidence now. I need to work hard these next 2 months and get my endurance even better.

Game on.

IRON BALL 2011

2011-07-09T20:34:00.001-05:00

Well a quick report. Jenny and I drove down to Muncie Indiana for the inaugural Ironman Muncie 70.3 on Friday. I feel like a dick. I got a new job 3 weeks ago and have already taken 2 vacation days. But whatever. I love racing.

So we got here around 4 on Friday, got our race packets, and racked our bikes. Water temp was warm (over 80) and it was super hot (mid 90's). A bit worried I was. But I continue to tell myself to only worry about what I have control over.

So Ironman has a new twist on t shirts. The official T shirt you can buy (not the free one you get) has a big M dot on the back and the m dot is made up of every one's name who signed up for the race. DAMN COOL so I bought one.

Well here is the report.

Woke up 5 ish and got down to T1 about 6 (race starts at 8, but all roads are closed at 7-it's a closed course for both bike and run--very very cool). Checked bikes, pumped tires, and then the announcement that it was not wetsuit legal but if you wanted to wear one you could but you would go in the last wave. Well I just do not have enough confidence to race without it and I already knew there was NO chance I would ever qualify for awards so I opted to wear it and go in the last wave. After all this is fun for me and I wanted to have a good race.

So we get down to the water, which was awesome with no waves and pretty clear and really a great swim venue, and waves start going at 8. The 40 of us with wetsuits went at 9:03am.

Swim:

Went great, even though I was the last guy in the water. The very last guy. I swam well and it was over before you knew it. 52:12. I felt great. Long run up a big hill with carpet on it in to transition. It was already getting hot. T1 was uneventful. Went as fast as I could but didn't want to forget anything. 5:29.

Bike:

Went pretty hard. We had a good tailwind at first and I had rolled over 20 miles in the first hour. Then we turned into a really stiff head wind. I just kept pushing it the whole time. I passed a lot of people and finally caught up to a couple big groups and passed them. Being that I was close the back, I knew I wanted to get with some people. Had another big tailwind section and another head wind section that sucked. I ate and drank more than I ever have on the bike and it paid off. I felt hydrated and ready to run. 2:56:56 on the bike for a 19MPH average. I'm very proud of that. I worked hard, but I left something in the tank so I was smiling. T2 was pretty good and I actually had to go pee. That never happens for me. Saw Kathy Ball and Adam Ball which was totally unexpected and cool. It was awesome to have someone cheering for you when you expect no one to be. 5:00 T2 included the pee.

Run:

Africa Hot. Seriously hot (95 degrees and not a cloud in the sky) and not much shade and hilly. Not super hilly but non stop rollers and a couple big ones. I felt great. I had plenty of gas and I made a decision to not risk anything stupid happening with the heat. I ran all flats and down hills, ran up half way on the hills and walked the rest. I walked all aid stations (every mile) and filled my hand held bottle, ate oranges and bananas, got cold sponges with water, ice, and whatever I could. I believe had it been cooler or had this been my A race, I could have ran more and faster but I didn't.

My goals were under 50 for the swim, 3 hours on the bike and a sub 2:45 run. Met all goals except the swim. 6:44:01 for a half Ironman PR. I would love to go sub 6:30 which will mean faster swim and faster run at some point but I am very happy with how I performed. My endurance was better than it ever has been. I have done Racine 70.3 under similar weather conditions and did 7:30 and walked most of the run.

I'm hurting tonight though. My quads and hips suffered a little bit today. Not sure about my hips but they are a bit sore.

I'm going to bed with smile tonight.

2011 could be the year for me

2011-07-06T20:29:00.000-05:00

Well here we are just 2 short months from Ironman Wisconsin part 3. Last year seems so long ago. I can barely remember the months leading up to it. It still stings a bit and I believe that may be what has led me to this point. Things are going good this year and I'm pretty sure I know why.

First off I decided to lose a few pounds over the winter and thanks to a Facebook group and some accountability, I was able to get my weight back down into the 230's from the 270's. That has made a big difference.

Second I made a commitment to train over the winter and not just lay around and run or bike once in awhile. I ran or biked 6 days a week. I went to the classes at Michael's Cycles and did a bunch of Spinervals in my basement. When spring finally did come, I was able to hit the bike without the break in period like past years and I felt really good.

Third I am following a true training plan. One that has me putting in miles. Way more running than previous years and more frequent bike rides and long weekend rides. I try to do more run miles than the plan calls for. I know the run is my weak spot and I'm working hard on it.

Fourth I put a ton of events on my calendar in an effort to keep my focus up and my training miles high. I have done a 5K race, 8K race, 2-1oK races, 2 Half Marathons, a duathlon, an olympic distance tri, and 2 aquathons.

The bottom line is the results speak for themselves.

In the races I have done so far this summer I have PR'd in my 5K time, Half Marathon Time, Olympic Distance Tri, Aquathon, and Duathlon. I still can't break my 10K PR but I have been within 20 seconds in one race and 55 seconds in another.

I finally rode my bike over 20MPH average in a race and most of my solo training rides have been a lot faster. I also am feeling a lot stronger on the bike. I have ridden the meat of the Ironman bike course twice now, having done 86 miles last weekend and I left feeling pretty good. I rode 2 loops faster than I ever have in training or racing and I don't have the same feeling about the course as I did before. I know I can ride it and put more effort into it than past years. I just don't feel scared of it. I guess you call that confidence. I know I have to eat more and make sure I drink and take salts. Cramps have been an issue the past 2 years. My plan is to ride a lot of hills and ride them hard the next 2 months. I have a couple good hilly routes.

Up next:

Aquathon this Thursday, Ironman Muncie 70.3 on Saturday. I'm going to really focus on being uncomfortable on the bike and run at Muncie. 6:30 would be fantastic but my real goal is to smash the legs on the bike and then get off the bike and run a sub 2:45 half marathon. Lofty goals for me.

Then Carmichael Training Camp on the Ironman Course next weekend. Then another aquathon and Waunafest 10 mile run. Then Point to La Pointe 2 mile swim, followed by Waupaca sprint Tri and Race the Lake 90 mile bike race the next day.

Then a couple weeks of training and the big show.

I'm swimming about the same, biking better than ever and running better than ever. I just hope I can put it all together on race day. No matter what happens, I know how hard I have worked this year. I'm really focused.

I don't know

2010-10-23T01:00:00.007-05:00

It's been 6 weeks since my 2nd Ironman "setback" and my attempts to "get over it" and "nut up" have been less than successful.

Jenny and I spent 10 awesome days in Kona Hawaii and I'm not going to lie..it was a total blast. I haven't laughed or smiled or generally felt like that in a long time. Except for walking around the Ironman expo and looking at the gear and watching the World Championships (which were awesome), my whole time was spent not thinking about Ironman. It was nice. Being away from everything was great. It gave me some time to relax and be the old me. I didn't have to answer one question about what happened at IMWI. The only thoughts of the future was where we were going to hang out for the day and if we were going swimming or snorkeling.

Coming back to reality has got me to thinking about it again.

I have decided that until I finish an Ironman, I'm not going to be a poser and wear a bunch of M dot stuff. Truth is I didn't finish either time and I haven't earned the right to even be thought of as a finisher. I have boxed up all my shirts, shoes, jackets, visors and everything else for now and put them in the basement. It just doesn't seem right to be wearing the gear. It never used to bother me but it does now. I don't know why but it just does. If I fail again, all the stuff will get tossed and I will give up this goal, as hard as that might be to think about right now.

Since I have gotten back, I have been asked several times by several different people if I am going to sign up for next year and honestly, I don't know. I'm leaning towards signing up because I hate how I am right now. I hate how I feel sometimes.

There are so many reasons not to and only one reason to. I want it and there is only one way to get it. Waiting 2 years does not play out well in my mind. I find myself dwelling on it for hours a day now. I still feel incomplete right now. There is no reasons to do any triathlons for me unless they are training for or leading up to Ironman. The only fun part about doing them is training and hanging out with my wife and the anticipation of the event. One of the reasons not to do Ironman is that I am scared to death of not finishing again and going 3 straight DNF's. This has been hard.

I still get a crappy feeling hearing people talk about their IM experiences and seeing reminders of that day. I'm glad I got rid of all my mementos and all the pictures of me from that day. It helps not to see it or have to think about it. It sucks that I'm not a better person than that and that I can't enjoy every one's accomplishments. I try to not let it bother me, but it still does. Maybe it will get better later but right now I don't see that happening.

I know most people can't understand how I can let this bother me this much and wonder why I am being such a baby about it and honestly I don't know what to tell them. It does bother me and my attempts to act like it doesn't are failures. I was told that when you have big expectations and then they don't pan out, you get a big backlash of emotions from it and I think that pretty much summed it up perfect.

Every time I see any other local triathlete I just cringe because I know they are either going to ask me what happened at IMWI or will at some point ask me if I am signing up again. I try to look away from them or avoid them in hopes they won't talk to me. Maybe I need a Non-Finisher IM jacket. When you see people over the winter or during spring, one of the questions that always gets asked is if you are signed up for Ironman. It's the ultimate goal for me because I know that I will never see Kona as an athlete. It is the only goal for me. In fact I don't know a single triathlete that isn't an Ironman that hasn't tried to be except me. It makes me feel like a pretty terrible athlete and maybe I just am and should just try to accept that. Maybe Ironman is beyond me and this is as good or as far as I will get. I don't want to believe that but hey the truth hurts.

Part of me feels like I should keep trying over and over until I am successful because right now I don't see myself as equal to the other triathletes I hang out with. I am just the person who tried as hard as they could but didn't make it. Twice.

Am I going to try Ironman Wisconsin next year?

I don't know.

Ironman 2010

2010-09-22T10:01:00.004-05:00

WARNING: THIS CONTAINS PITY, FEELING SORRY FOR MYSELF, WHINING, BLAMING, AND GENERAL CRYING AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL READERS.

I'm not even sure where to begin this or even how to start it, so I will just start from the beginning.

I will start by offering a possibility of what happened on that day to the fact that I took my high blood pressure pill Lisinopril as normal but also added an Allegra D allergy pill (which I only take when I get allergy symptoms and for the past few days prior I had allergy symptoms). Who knows if this caused my problems or not but I'm mentioning it because I have no other answers. I also found out later that people who take Lisinopril are supposed to avoid too much potassium. Without drawing blood there is no way to know if taking endurolytes and Perform and bananas caused me to have too much potassium in my body which can cause weakness (it's doubtful but it happens). Maybe it was just me, but I don't have answers. Bottom line is I couldn't overcome whatever was causing my problems. It's possible that it was just me, and in fact is probable that it was just me.

Did everything same as last year except started the swim right in the middle of the pack. Swam the fastest 2.4 mile swim I ever have. After getting my wetsuit stripped, I stood up too fast and crashed back down and hit my head on some other guys elbow or knee and banged up my elbow and knee.

Got on the bike and after 5 minutes I knew something was very wrong. I was having trouble pedaling. I felt dead, no energy, I was having trouble even going slow. I tried everything I could. I ate, drank, tried numerous gear ratios, and everything I could including stopping and checking my bike. I was barely able to keep a 13 MPH average and I was sweating like crazy and generally didn't feel right. I tried to eat and keep drinking and taking endurolytes and keep moving. At some point I stopped eating because I felt weaker and just didn't feel good. I began leg cramping so bad about mile 75 that when they would start my whole leg would lock up straight out. I had to walk several hills. At this point to say my mental state went into the tank would be an understatement. I was very angry and overall feeling very down. I made the bike cutoff and started running which quickly turned into walking/running which turned into walking. I still felt weak and tired and at the turnaround point I thought I still had a shot to make it but quickly faded and never made the State St cutoff. I was almost the last person on the course at this point.

So I went back and watched Jenny finish with our families. At that point I felt happy and proud for her. At this point the reality still had not set in that I didn't make it. That would happen soon after getting in the car to go back to the hotel.

The last 10 days have been some of the worst I have ever felt emotionally. I said and thought things to myself I never thought I would ever do. It caused me to feel negativity, jealousy, and despise the one person in my life that loves me unconditionally, all because she finished and I didn't. It has driven us farther apart instead of the experience bringing us closer together. Every congrats to Jenny, every picture of her smiling only brings me down so Jenny sacrifices her joy of that day to help me get past it. It is the worst part of this whole thing. And it is just me being selfish. Instead of Ironman being a great experience like it was last year (even though I didn't complete that one either), it has turned into one of the worst experiences of my life. I need to put this in perspective and see the big picture and it's hard. At some point there has to be more to life than Ironman. I try to fight it every day and get my thoughts to go elsewhere and when I'm around Jenny I try my hardest to not be a royal jerk and be the person I was 12 days ago. She deserves so much better than me sometimes. I have thrown away all the things most people save, I haven't looked any any pictures that were taken. ASI takes photos of people around the course and I haven't looked at those either. In general Ironman 2010 didn't exist for me. I feel robbed and cheated and I robbed and cheated myself.

At this point I feel like if Jenny and I do another Ironman I would like to try to stay together the whole time. There are a lot of benefits to that and Jenny brings out the best in me when I am at my worst. I know she couldn't have helped me this time and I would have sent her on her way. The physical weakness I felt was not to be overcome by any mental coaching.

I am contemplating doing another Ironman next year by myself because this empty, incomplete feeling I have is killing me.

In the last 2 IMWI only 10% of the people DNF'd. 90% made it. That leaves me wondering what the hell is wrong with me.

So that's it people. Every day gets easier and I know that every week that goes by will heal me. Jenny and I are leaving to go on vacation in 2 weeks to Hawaii and I haven't even thought about that because I have been so consumed by my failure. There is more to life than Ironman and just because I failed at Ironman doesn't make me failure in life. I put way too much emphasis on the race and let it consume me. I can't even describe some of the feelings I have had.

Thanks to everyone who has tried to help me through this with your words and kindness. The pity party will be ending shortly so consider this last call. Drink up and get the hell out of here. It's time to go find my Mikeness and give my wife back the husband she deserves instead of this guy I am right now.

It's Aquathon Season

2010-05-22T22:23:00.002-05:00

Well the weather can't seem to make up its mind whether it is going to be cold or warm this spring. One thing for sure is that the water in all the swimming holes is still pretty cold.

We decided last weekend to take a dip in one of the open water swim spots. I was glad to be getting the wetsuit out and washed and putting it on. Well the water was pretty cold. Probably about 55 or less. It took several minutes of moving around in the water and getting used to it before I could put my face in. But after about 10 minutes I could go. Swam about 400 yards or so and then got out. I really just needed to get in the water because last Thursday was the first Aquathon of the season. I really like these events and will continue to do them as long as I can. They are a blast. 1000M open water swim followed by a 5K. The water was 58 and since I had just swam in cold water a few days prior, it really didn't bother me. I just made sure to spend some time in the water prior to the starting horn. Once the horn sounded and we started going, I was pretty stoked. It was a blast as always.

Last year I got cold on the first one and actually got out of the water and quit. No quit this year. I swam pretty straight for a change and when I got to the end and stood up, Jenny was right there. I felt good. Got out and got on the run. My goal for the swim/run combo is always an hour. Last year I had one that I went 59:37. This year I went 1:00:14. I had my best 5K of the 4 events I have done between last year and this year. My swim was only a minute off my best swim. So even though I finished last male and 3rd from the last overall, I was pleased. Always a fun and well ran event and I am looking forward to the one next month.

Training is banging along. I can't believe I am running a marathon next weekend. But I am. And summer finally decided to show up. 90 tomorrow and the humidity is rising.

But everything seems to be rolling along. I feel pretty good physically and I am in a good place mentally.

Half Ironman in 3 weeks. That will be a good test.

What does it take to run a Marathon?

2010-05-04T13:29:00.001-05:00

What does it take to run a marathon?

A exponetially amount less than it takes for a parent to have to bury their child. I can't even hardly type the words. I can't imagine, I don't know what it feels like, I can't even fathom the pain and the heartache.

But I can tell you this. For me personally, it takes an awful lot to run a marathon. At 265 pounds I will probably be close to the heaviest person running. I will not finish in time to enjoy any of the post race food or awards. I will be lucky to finish before the 6 hour course closure. I will struggle at times, I will suffer at times and I will for sure have moments where I want to quit and I will feel pain all over. It will not be easy for me, even though I have trained for it. Some people run marathons with ease. I am not those people. It's far from easy.

But I am sure it is nothing compared to what the Alswager's have gone through in the past few months. You see Michelle lost her son Jesse to diabetes, at age 13 just 3 short months ago. A disease that has no cure. I have known Michelle since high school, but really hadn't had any contact with her until I saw her profile on the Parker High School 1987 20 year class reunion page. I discovered that she had done an Ironman (which I had decided then I wanted to do). I ran into her at a 5K/10K run and talked to her and discovered she had pretty much dedicated herself to fundraising for Juvinile Diabetes Research. I don't even think the word dedicated comes close to her devotion.

Over the past couple years I have gotten to see her work first hand and see how much she really cares about others. The tireless work she has done and the thousands of dollars her family has raised to fund research. My wife and I were saddened when we heard about Jesse. My brother and his daughter (my niece) are both type 1 so this really hit home. Why do bad things happen to awesome people?

So what can I do? I'm not rich. I'm just one person. What difference can I make? WWJD-What would Jesse do?

So here is my chance to do something. On May 30th, I will run the Madison Marathon in honor of the young man who inspired so many and did more in his 13 years to help others than I think I ever will be able to do in my lifetime, Jesse Alswager.

I am not asking you for donations for me, I am not asking for you to feel sorry for Michelle and her family and I am not asking you to feel sorry for me. This isn't about me. Not at all.

What I am asking you to do is to do whatever you can to help find a cure. If you can donate money to the JDRF, then do it. If you can volunteer at a diabetes walk, or ride, then do it. If you can ride or run to raise money, then do it. If all you can do is keep them in your prayers at night, then do it. Support politicians that favor research.

On May 30th I will take a 26.2 mile run in honor of Jesse and his family. They have made a difference. I hope someday I can make a difference and inspire as much as they have inspired me. But this isn't about me.

Let's help find a cure.

Thanks for taking time to read this.

Godspeed Jesse.

Mike

A few overdue race reports

2010-05-01T19:48:00.002-05:00

Well things have been going in the right direction as far as IM training is concerned. My run miles are up compared to last year and my bike miles are also up. I feel comfortable in the water, I just need to get a little more swim fitness and I don't see that as being much of an issue.
A couple weeks ago I ran the Oshkosh Half Marathon. It is a Midwest Sports Events run. These guys put on awesome events. If you get a chance to do one, don't ever fear that you won't feel taken care of 100% of the time because you will. Fully stocked aid stations, easy registrations, and the course is always marked well.
We spent the night because the drive is about 2 and a half hours. We stayed in a hotel that was a block away from the Start/Finish line which was awesome. Also the check out time was noon which meant we had time to shower before the drive home. And they had a special deal of 65 bucks for the night. SCORE.
We went with the Viemeisters. Alison, Dave and Opie. Opie's the service dog in training. He got to go wherever we went. He's a great dog.
So the night before the race we go to Cranky Pat's Pizza. Everything hand made. It was amazing. I went to bed feeling pretty good and happy to be waking up to pretty good weather.
We got up and had a bagel and then went to the start line. It was pretty chilly. I had a throw away sweatshirt on and planned to dump it around mile 3 when I was warm.
There was a ton of people. 3,000 total. The course was awesome. The scenery was beautiful, the route was super flat and started and finished in about the same place.
I felt great the whole entire time. I ran easy and kept everything in control. Mile 12, I see Rob Regan, a blogger buddy who I have gotten to meet a bunch of times. Oh I should call him IRONMAN Rob Regan because he complete IMWI last year. I was stoked. I had no idea he was there racing (obviously done long before me and had been waiting) and had walked back to mile 12 to run the last mile in with me. Super cool.
Well I finished at 2:43. About what I had expected. I'm close to where I ran the Madison Half Marathon last year about 6 weeks later so I am actually ahead of last year.
The following weekend we did Crazylegs. 20,000+ running an 8K from the Capitol in Madison to Camp Randall. It is always really fun. This year it had rained a little off and on (nothing like last year's downpour) and actually during the run it didn't rain at all. Only during the walk to and from the start and finish. Jenny and I stuck together because it's seriously crazy at the end. Jenny ran about the same pace as I did and we finished in 1:02. 4 minutes faster than last year.
Then today (May 1) we ran the Lake Monona 20K. A nice run around Lake Monona. I debated taking a fuel belt and carrying some calories. They had 4 aid stations over the 12.5 miles and said they would have gatorade and water. I figured I should be o.k. FAIL. It was pretty sunny and windy. I could feel the sun baking me a little bit.
Jenny, Alison and I all rode up together.
There was 900+ people and all them together looked like they had less body fat on them combined than I did. I knew I would be close to last. But hey, I'm o.k. with that. I'm not a fast runner, I just try to keep forward motion until the finish line.
So we take off. First 4 miles are pretty hilly. I decide I'm going to run up them and see if I can push myself a little bit. I ran the first 8 miles about as fast I have ran 8 miles in a long time. I was keeping about an 11 min mile average. Which is way better than the 12:30/mile pace I did Oshkosh Half in. Well at each aid station I passed there was no gatorade. All gone. So all I had to drink was about 4 dixie cups of water so far. I can feel myself starting to fade. I just can't run 2.5 hours with no calories sweating as hard as I do. It was warm and I was sweating. So the next mile is spent at about a normal 12:30 pace. Mile 9 was the start of the downfall. I'm super thirsty now and I can feel the dreaded bonk headache starting. So I will myself to the end. I wound up running the same 12:28 per mile pace I did Oshkosh Half in. So I really faded at the end. We get done, I wait for Jenny and we go get some more water. Most all the food is gone at the finish except for some chicken wings (thanks to Quaker Steak and Lube's sponsorship). We get to the car and I feel crappy. We stop and get a Gatorade and I drink almost all of mine. I am suffering a little now. We get almost home and I start to sweat and feel like I'm going to puke. We get home and I double over in the yard but nothing. I go inside and go right to the bed. I know I need to lay down for a little bit. After about an hour I feel better.
Another lesson learned. Race Day Events races are ones I need to bring my own drink/calories. I sure wish I could have kept the pace. I was having a great run. But oh well. I got my long run in for the day which was awesome.

So now in 2 weeks from Thursday the aquathons start and the end of the month will bring the dreaded Madison Marathon. I'm really not looking forward to it. But I have a strategy. I really need to start slow. 13-14 minute miles for the first half. Then either maintain that pace or hopefully run a little faster keeping myself as fresh as I can. I need to do a 6.5-7 hour marathon at Ironman. No doubt about it.

So the wheels keep turning and I'm trying to keep myself motivated and running/biking as much as I can. I can tell by how sore my legs have been that I must be working them.

Ironman is a little over 4 months away. I still have a lot of biking to do. I hope the winds at some point will die down and the sun will shine a little more.

And so it begins (again)

2010-03-30T19:55:00.002-05:00

I firmly believe my blog served a good purpose at one point for me and I want to get that part of my life back again so I decided to resurrect it and pass along how things are going and where I am at in my life right now. I appreciate everyone that has followed it and I'm sorry I got away from it now.

Let's go back to 2009. I think back to last summer and the training I did and my journey to Ironman Wisconsin. The 17 hour goal that was not reached. But did I fail? I did for a while feel like I failed. I wanted it and it was in my grasp and I couldn't do it. Now that 6 months have gone by? Well actually I feel pretty proud of what I did and I learned a lot. I swam 2.4 miles. I biked 112 miles. I staggered 26.2 miles. In 17 hours and 16 minutes. I wanted to quit. My quads cramped up so bad on the bike and my feet blistered so bad on the run. What that taught me is that mentally I'm tough enough. The pain I felt was real and my will to overcome it was stronger. It was a great learning experience. But what did I learn? Let's break it down into what I feel are the 5 things I learned the most.

Training up to Ironman. I put in plenty of miles. But I didn't get enough quality miles. Not enough miles where I was outside the comfort zone. Not enough miles where I hurt. I also didn't ride the IM bike course enough. Living 40 minutes away there is no excuse for me not to know every inch of that course and how hard I can ride it. Too many run miles at an easy pace. Not enough miles where I feel like puking. Well hopefully I can remedy that in the next 6 months.

Swim: I actually won't put as much focus on my swim. It is what it is. I won't waste my time trying to make up 15 or 20 minutes on the swim by putting hours and hours in the pool. Swim will take me about an hour and 40 minutes. I will get some good swims in this year. A lot of open water and Devils Lake swims to make myself more comfortable. I feel good about the swim and how I did.

Bike: Too many easy bike miles last year. Won't be the case this year. This is where I think I can make up a lot of time compared to last year. I know I didn't go hard enough. I was too scared to fail or burn out. Well I did that anyway. I don't remember feeling worked on the bike. I will be in better bike shape this year. I didn't ride enough hills last summer. I will ride the hills this year. I will ride the Ironman course as much as I can. I want to know what I can do. I have changed over to speedplay pedals in hopes that fixes the feet blisters.

Run: Not enough long runs last year and not enough tough runs. I had such bad blisters last year I couldn't hardly run at all. I'm not sure I ran more than a mile or two. Provided my feet are not blistered, I'm running. If I get off the bike, I'll make it. I will run until I make it or they take me out on a stretcher. I have a pretty good running plan this year.

Nutrition: FAILED...BAD. No where near enough calories, no where near enough fluid. I just lost the desire to eat on the bike and even though I thought I was drinking enough, I wasn't. I never peed on the bike and afterwards it was just blood. I know now that came from the bladder being empty. Totally new strategy this year complete with a timer, plenty of water and nuun and less gatorade. I plan to eat calories too. I think that will help. Especially with the leg cramps on the bike.

Friends: I couldn't have done it without them. With facebook now, I feel like there are so many more people excited and I have heard several people telling me they will be there cheering us on. It really helped me. I saw people yelling my name and people telling me they followed my blog. I will never underestimate the power of friends. Everything helped me to keep going. I hope the same thing occurs this year.

Bottom line is I just didn't work HARD enough. I put in the miles but I just didn't go hard enough. I know I can get in better shape. I know I can.

Well let's move ahead to now. What have I done to help my situation.

I started early. I have been indoor biking for 2 months and have done 50-100 miles a week. I have been utilizing Spinervals at times to force myself to work hard. I have only taken a couple outside rides and they were both just miles. I'm hoping to get outside when it's warm and ride hard. I have a couple routes leaving from my house that I can do once a week. Hard routes. Plus doing single loops on the IM course at all out.
I have been running more than last year already. 20+ miles a week. I have already done several runs over 10 miles. Within the next couple weeks I will hit 15 miles. I plan to maintain high run miles by doing longer runs. Last year I did a lot of 5-8 mile runs. This year more 15+ mile runs. I haven't swam much and really that doesn't bother me. I have swam a mile in the pool once already and it wasn't too bad. I'm looking forward to swimming outside in open water in my wetsuit.

The bad (because there is always bad). I'm still about 6 pounds above where I did Ironman last year. I want to be about 30 pounds less that when I did Ironman last year so I need to lose about 6 pounds a month. I can't seem to stop shoveling crap food into my face. It's frustrating and I really need to get that part under control. It is something I can control but right now I am not. I have a couple nagging pains that I have never had before. My left heel is sore every morning. Today it was so bad I couldn't hardly stand up. It gets better during the day and I can run/bike on it. It just hurts the next day. So I guess just another mental hurdle. Also my surgically repaired knee that I have always known will someday hurt, has begun. Nothing terrible, but noticeable. My awesome wife has some tools to help me and has given me some advice.

My sons are now self sufficient. There is no reason to have to take care of them. I get home and it's my time. Once the sun starts to stay up and the temps are warm (in the next few weeks for sure), I should be able to get a few hours every night outside. Until then I'll use the trainer and the treadmill if I need to.

So here I am. A year older, and a year wiser. I am hoping to do things to inspire myself, my family and all of you that have followed me and cheered me on. Facebook has allowed me to connect with so many cool people that have inspired me. I want to pay it forward. Here we go people. I'm ready..

Now if I can just get the scale to stop lying to me.

Life on the short bus is FUN

2009-09-29T19:41:00.006-05:00

Where have I been, Where am I, and where in the world is this short bus taking me?

Wow. I feel a bit lost, confused and unfocused right now. My big goal event that was Ironman is now over. All the huge emotional and physical build up that has been going on since as long as my challenged memory can remember is over. I had a really fun and challenging year. I still can’t believe I did an Ironman event. In some senses I feel like a burden has been lifted off of me, and I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I do know that I am enjoying the little time off I have given to myself. Coming home and laughing with Jenny, cooking dinner for Lucas and Nick (when he’s around), looking at game film for Lucas’s next football game, napping, and really getting some good quality rest. It has been a long time since I have taken a couple weeks off and just let myself slip back into normality. I had always told myself that after Ironman I would take a few weeks off and rest and focus a bit more on life outside training. I feel like I have done that and having these few weeks to focus on other things has been really fun.

I am at a point right now where I really understand what I can do to get myself in the best possible shape for IMWI 2010. I would like to get myself to an all time low adult weight. I graduated high school at 219. About 40 pounds from where I am. Jenny has ordered us a couple bodybuggs (like what the biggest loser contestants wear) and that will help to determine what our base metabolic rates are and what we are actually burning for calories. Diet will be the focus of the winter. I did it before and I can do it again. This tool will help to determine how much of a calorie deficit really exists each day, week and month and how it translates to the scale. As much as I used to love the treadmill, now I hate it. As we transition from summer to fall I will need to try to take advantage of nicer days to do stuff outside. If this years weather so far is any indication of our winter, it could be long and nasty. I know my swimming can be faster. Up to this point it has been about survival in the water. Just moving forward and not challenging myself to go faster but just to get in and out of the water. I think by losing some weight and actually trying to swim faster will help. I would like to be under 2min/100 at some point. Right now I hover closer to 2:30/100. Indoor biking sucks too. I used to think it was good but it is nothing close to outdoor biking. The only thing it does in my opinion is to help with endurance, keep some of the biking muscles from going totally limp and keep the ABC region tough. (ABC is ass ball connector). I thought I rode a lot of trainer miles last year from Jan-Apr and once I went outside, I realized you can’t simulate hills and the changing terrain on a trainer. Sometimes it felt like I had not done anything to prepare myself. But what else can you do? Trainer miles will be big all winter. If nothing else, it will help the aerobic base.

What’s in store for me next? Well I have been doing a TON of thinking on this. Where I need to be and what needs to be done. I am constantly looking for a good training plan, one that I will actually follow. I really tanked when it came to doing the stuff on the training plan. I put the time and miles in but did not do much for intervals, hill work outs, or tempo stuff. I just have a tough time getting myself outside my comfort zone. One of the reasons I will probably never be more than a back of the pack guy. But I’m o.k with that. I would just like to see if doing any of that makes any difference and I am sure it will. I am looking at doing some really fun stuff in 2010.

Madison Marathon: The full marathon (hopefully in around 5:30)

At least one half Ironman (maybe Kansas?)

Point to LaPointe 2.1 mile open water swim across Lake Superior from Wisconsin into Michigan. This looks so fun. I wish it was tomorrow.

Aquathon Series again. Really helped develop my open water swimming so I want to go back and keep doing these. They are a great mid week workout.

Beloit Wellness Biathon. It pretty much is a requirement now. Early and fun.

IMWI 2010. The funnest punishment ever.

Would also like to squeeze in an Olympic Tri, at least 2 other half marathons, and loads of biking miles. My early plan is to now ride the IM bike course at least twice a month (2 loops from Fireman’s Park each time), beginning as early as possible. Although I rode the course a few times last year, I never really did more than just ride it. I want to ride it hard and with enough intensity where I will be lucky to make it back to the car. Outside the comfort zone. Comfort zone riding got me a 7:45 bike split. Not acceptable. Not for as much biking as I had done.

With both kids being over 18 as of July 2010, they will now be responsible for their actions and not us for the most part and we will have to worry less about what they are doing in their spare time. More time to worry about training.

Another positive note is with all the gear we bought this year, we don’t need anything for next year. We are all geared up.

So you could say my goals are to lose 40 pounds from my already too short frame, spend my winter on my feet and not my butt (unless I’m biking indoors), and train to get faster, not just to build endurance.

I am really enjoying being me right now. Life is really fun. I have so many options and so many things I enjoy doing now. Plus Jenny loves to do the same stuff I do so we have spent the last 3 years attached at the hip and doing everything together. We are closer than ever. I guess it’s supposed to be that way. I am going to continue to make it fun because that is how I do things.

This time next year we will be preparing for our trip to Hawaii to volunteer at the 2010 IM World Championships and enjoying a 10 day vacation. This will be our first vacation together where we actually went on vacation. We have typically used our vacation time to spend time with our families and go visit them or whatever.

The 20 Year Anniversary Post

2009-09-23T00:00:00.004-05:00

I just can't believe it has been 20 years since we got married. Seems like just yesterday we were making out in the Escort listening to Master of Puppets. Oh the memories.

I'm sure that there are other people out there who are surprised that we made it this far. But I'm not surprised. We always get along and I'm pretty sure the last thing we fought about had something to do with the way I fold laundry, and lasted about 20 seconds.

I tried to come up with 20 of the cool things about you or things I like about you in honor of our 20th anniversary.

1- I have 2 awesome kids that because of you, use their powers for good and not evil, that know they are cared for, and that have always had everything they could have ever wanted (except for the go kart--my bad)

2-I would still be a 400 pound unhealthy person half in the grave had you not decided to make a change for the better. I probably would be even larger today. I know you are not into super skinny guys so I have tried to maintain a little chub just for you. :)

3- I did a freaking Ironman. For sure that would not have happened without you. I doubt I would have ever considered doing it but somehow being married to you makes me do dumb things sometimes. Wierd.

4- I signed up to do another freaking Ironman. See last sentence of #3. Still wierd.

5- I have a nice home and live comfortably because of how hard you worked to get your education and secure a good job. You have always tried to provide for us. And for every dollar you make, I try to spend 3. Not usually successful but thanks for providing for us.

6-I have someone I can talk to and who shares many of the same interests as I do. I'm sorry I don't have a farm on farmville. Only because I know that you would stay up all night in order to have a better farm than me. The things I do for you that you have no idea.

7-You have always treated my family like your family. Now only they can determine if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Pretty sure it's good though.

8-At least once a day you do something that makes me laugh. You either say something funny, do something funny, or are just funny. Makes it fun. What hole in the garage wall?

9-You have supported me in my career path(s). Every one of them and there has been a lot.

10-You have prevented me from going outside in what I thought was a good look and helped me phase out the black concert T shirt wardrobe. Thanks for letting me keep the Iron Maiden shirt though.

11-You gave me free mowhawk haircuts with the same clippers as you use on the dog. Now that's love.

12-Whenever I feel sick, you are the first person to ask me if I have taken anything to help me feel better. If I haven't then you ask me why not and show me where the medicine is.

13-You always know when I'm grumpy and even if I say I'm not, you keep asking me until I am. It's so cute.

14-You help me find stuff I misplace by asking me where I put it. Super helpful. Almost always works too.

15-You make me feel like I am the most important person all the time, even when I'm not.

16-No matter what we are doing together, you try to make it fun. Even when we are biking and I follow too close, or don't give you enough room to get out of traffic, or stop really sudden, or if I have to yell to hear you and you think I'm yelling because I'm angry.

17-I like it that you think it's cool I call our house the Batcave and think that we are superheroes.

18-You have helped me become a good dad to my sons. (Or good buddy-however you look at it).

19-I like it that we do everything together. "Attached at the hip" I think is what you call it. It's sweet.

20-You have always let me be me. Even when it embarasses you. Sometimes I think that it is a lot.

21 (extra bonus)-You know I'm only joking when I say the best money I ever spent was the money on the wine coolers that got you to say you'd marry me right?

All joking aside, I would have never become the person I am today without spending the last 20 years of my life with you. It has been awesome. You are for sure my best friend and companion. I am very lucky to be married to you. You complete me. We really are like peas and carrots Jenny.

Love you

Mike

IMWI Race Report

2009-09-14T14:07:00.004-05:00

Wow. Not really sure where to start so I'll just start from the beginning.

We got up at 3:30 to leave by 4 to get up to the Terrace. I hadn't been too nervous up to this point but all of a sudden, I was nervous. We dropped off our special needs bags, went to body marking and let Bob Kincaid mark us, got our bikes all set to go, put sleeveless jerseys in our bike bags and went and hung out waiting. Nerves were terrible. Saw Robert who also confessed he was nervous. Soon more and more people were showing up. We saw CJ and Phil, Jenny's mom and sister, Brenda and Kitty, The Stenzels, and Alison (more on her later) and others. Soon it was time to go down and get into the water so we put the wetsuits on and went down and got in. Tiffany Storms saw us and got our picture all ready to go. I am sure I looked terrified because I was.

I still had not decided what my strategy was going to be. Jenny and I found some open space and when the cannon went off we just started going. It was not too bad at first. I then decided that I was going to get into the scrum and stay close to the buoys. I could feel the pull as the other swimmers were dragging me along. Mike Wolfgram and Bigun were right on the money and I was glad that I had decided to take their advice. I was getting knocked around and I was doing some knocking around too. This lasted for 3/4 of a lap and then the crowd was gone. There were a few people swimming my pace and we were all grouped up. I had some goggle problems. I used the no fog solution on them and that worked great, except that sweat somehow pooled in the bottom of the goggles and ever so often would sting my eye. I would have to stop and drain that out. This happened 3 or 4 times. Otherwise no problems. I thought I did a great job of sighting and thought I was swimming quite straight. I was really enjoying myself at this point. I was in an Ironman. Got around the last turn and I could hear the crowd and see the swim exit. I swam directly to it and got out of the water. I saw I was around 1:43 and I thought that was cool. I got my bearings and saw Steve Stenzel. He pointed me to the wetsuit strippers and soon I was sitting down. Someone who helped me said, we know all about you and Jenny and will be following you all day. One of the many things cool that happened all day. So now I am in my swimsuit running up the helix with a zillion people screaming and ringing cowbells. I see Michelle Alswager yelling at me. I finally get to the ballroom to get my bag and get to transition. I find a chair and someone comes over and asks to help me. He dumps out my transition bag and sets everything out. I dry off, change clothes, put spray sunscreen on (super smart thing) get all my stuff and get outside. I have to pee and right now I am in my socks. I looked at the porta floor and decided I had to put my bike shoes on to go in there. The floor was not sock friendly. So I pee and go get my bike. I see Brian Holmes and he gives me a man hug and I was glad he was there. Always nice to see someone you know. I see Steve Knox and he takes my picture. I see my son and his girlfriend and they are in home made T shirts and have signs. It was awesome. I see Jenny's sister and mom too. I get my bike and get to the mount line and start. Really a very cool experience.

Bike: I rode fairly good from the Terrace out to Verona and the first loop. I wanted to go pretty easy so I did. I still saw my heart rate staying pretty high. I started to get warm and I began my nutrition plan. A couple electrolyte tablets every hour, gatorade as needed, a bottle of water per hour and 200 calories of either shot blocks or sports beans. I felt like I was taking in plenty of fluids but in hindsight, I don't think it was enough. I never felt sloshy and I should have. I know I was sweating a ton as I could feel how sweaty I was. It was 85 and sunny with little or no wind. I was able to average about 15.6 MPH for the first loop which was right on what I wanted. I passed Jenny at mile 32. She looked fine and we talked for a few minutes about how we were doing our dream and that it was cool. People lined the course like the Tour de France. It was amazing. All these people who want to see you succeed. I got cheered on by so many people. Some I knew and some I didn't. I kept smiling. I was taking in everything and was proud that I was competing in an Ironman. Things began to go south after the first loop quickly. I began to get hot spots on the bottoms of both feet right in the center of the balls. It would come and go at first. I stopped to get my special needs bag on the bike and got the pb and j sandwich and the chips and soda. I drank part of the soda and the chips and put the sandwich in my back pocket so I could get going. I was pounding the gatorade now and was worried because I still had not peed on the bike leg. But I never felt like I had to go. So I kept drinking. I began to see participants sitting on the side of the road every so often and even saw some people getting taken out. My guess is because of the heat and the hills. IMWI bike is notoriously hard. It lived up to that for me yesterday. About mile 80 I started getting leg cramps which NEVER happens for me. I got 2 or 3 cramps in different spots on the same muscle. It really caused me to slow way down to avoid the cramping. I was able to climb all of the hills but 1. I cramped up about half way up and got off to walk and stretch. I saw a lot of friends on the bike. Johnny Brown, Kathy Ball and her husband, (they were so awesome. He had done it in the past and was giving me advice and she was asking how I felt, and what I needed..just awesome and at that time I needed that), Tawyna, Martin and Dominc on motorcycles, Alison, Brenda, CJ and loads of other people. I was hurting now. No doubt about it. I was giving a high effort and getting nowhere. I knew my 4:30pm return time goal was going out the window. I saw more people waiting for sag. I was forced to stop again and take my bike shoes off and walk around the grass at an aid station to stop the hot spots on my feet. As I turned onto Whalen road, I began to feel a bit better. I knew there was only 16 miles to go. I passed a few people on the way back in. I was so happy to see Monona Terrace. Rode up the helix and dropped off the bike. It was about 4:45 so I was a bit behind. Saw Michele, Lucas and Chelsea, Kitty and Brenda and Alison. Alison had my bike to run bag and handed it off. She told me to get moving that I could make it. I got in and changed my clothes, took a water bottle and dumped it into a towel and wiped off the grime all over me. It cooled me off and made me feel much better. I saw Bob Kincaid again and he asked me how I was doing. I told him the bike was harder than I though it would be. I had a soda in my bag and drank some of it. It made me feel better too. I went out and began the run. At the sunscreen staion, 4 awesome ladies put sunscreen on me and they sunscreened my legs. It was like a mini massage and I realized right then that my legs were hurting. I felt like I had to pee and was so happy. I went into the porta and I swear I peed fire. Only a couple squirts of pure fire. I wondered what the hell was going on but I felt o.k. so I went out on the course. It was really hot again and my goal was to run. I saw Jon Purinton and he was on his second loop so he was doing awesome. So I started to run but after about 5 minutes I felt like my bladder was full again. So full it hurt to run, so I walked to the next porta and had another 2 squirt fire pee. This continued for 10 miles. I was forced to walk because my bladder felt full but nothing was really coming out. About mile 10 my feet began to get the balled up sock feeling on the bottoms. I looked at them and the sock was nice and flat. I knew that the hot spots from the bike had now become large blisters on the run. Nothing I could do at this point but continue. I saw so many people on the run cheering me on. The volunteers were so awesome. Every aid station was stocked and anything I wanted, I got. Ice water, soda, gatorade, ice and cold sponges. I really wanted to run. I wish I could have gotten over that mental hurdle. I was very close to being on pace to make it how I was moving so I figured I would just keep pushing on. I did the fire pee thing about 15 times and at one point I noticed red on my hands but I thought it was just gatorade. I took 20 miles before I realized that they weren't serving anything red. I believe now that I was peeing blood for the whole marathon so far. Now if I had seen this earlier and figured it out, I would have stopped and sought help. I had no intentions of suffering permanant injury to be an Ironman. I saw Mike Wolfgram a few times on the run and he was super helpful. He was pushing me and getting me to try to realize how far I had come and how close I was and that I should do everything I could to get there. At the State Street turn around, I saw Suzy Jacobsen from high school and a few other people. Some very nice group of girls saw me and started screaming. We read your blog and we think you and Jenny are so awesome so keep going. In fact they were so boistrous, that the girl walking next to me took notice of my number and said she now needed to read my blog. On my second time through Camp Randall, a very nice lady (I was pretty tired and I missed her name) came over and asked if she could walk with me. She asked me my name and I said Mike and she asked if I was Mike Wimmer and I said yes. She said she knew of mine and Jenny's story and she thought that what we have done was amazing. She reads our blogs too. She told me to keep pushing and if I could run to run and if not then walk as fast as I could. Very cool. All day I had nothing but great experiences to off set the pain and trouble I was in. My legs began to cramp and the blisters on my feet were now excruciating. I didn't care. I wasn't quitting. I got to mile 22 and just made the turn around cut off on the bike path. Alison was EVERYWHERE. She found me a bunch of times and kept motivating me. I knew I was going to be close. I wanted to run but now with the leg cramps and the blisters, I couldn't make the pain low enough for my mind to tolerate it. I was walking and hoping. Mike Wolfgram found me and continued to motivate me and walk along the sidewalk pushing me. At Camp Randall at 3 miles to go, I knew that I couldn't make the cutoff. Paul Huddle from Ironman, came by and asked how I was doing. I told the truth and told him badly. He said if I couldn't run, I wouldn't make it. It was over for me. I asked him if I could walk to the finish and turn in my chip and he told me that he would rather I run and make it but if that is how it was going to be then he was o.k. There was a group pacing the last finisher in front of me but there was no way I could keep up. Mike Wolfgram asked if he could walk with me and Paul told him absolutely. I was glad to have someone with me at that point. Especially Mike because he has such a great way of looking at things. Strangely, I thought I would be really emotional at that point but I wasn't. I was very proud of what I did. I was very proud of Jenny. We never quit and we gave it all we had. At the last aid station a couple kids asked if they could walk back to the Kohl Center aid station with me and I said o.k. When we got there, there was about 30 kids who had made a chute for me to go through and they were clapping and cheering. I am pretty sure they knew I wasn't going to make it and they didn't care. I felt like the whole Ironman day was always all about me. Like I was the only person out there. It was one of the best experiences of my life. All the pain and training and suffering was worth it. Even though I didn't finish by 12.
So we get about 4 blocks away and Steve Stenzel comes walking up. I told him I wasn't going to make it and he said it didn't matter to anyone and put his hand on my shoulder and gave me the Steve in a Speedo smile and I was glad to have another friend to walk with. Then Paul Huddle comes up with some other guy and tells me that Mike Reilly is holding the finish line for me, another guy in front of me, and a lady behind me and is keeping the crowd there. They will let us run down the chute and even though I will not be an offical finisher, we can cross the line. I thought that was cool and suddenly I could run the 4 blocks. I am not sure even now how I did it. When I got my chance to run down with the crowd freaking out, I felt no pain. It was very cool and Ironman and WTC did not have to do that for me. I didn't make it. Bottom line. I didn't make it. They gave me a medal, t shirt and hat too. Right now it doesn't feel right to have it and not have made it. But I went the distance. I finished. Just not before midnight. Jenny's mom and dad, my 2 boys, Chelsea, Michele and Jacob were there cheering me in. About a half hour after I came through, Jenny showed up (she didn't make it and walked the rest of the way too)-and they gave her a medal and shirt and hat too. What a class act. I was very impressed.

I had a great time. One of the greatest times of my life, and one of the most challenging. I am more mentally strong than I ever gave myself credit for.

The aftermath:
Well after coming home and verifying that I was indeed peeing blood, I decided to give it a day to see if it works itself out. Today is better and I actually don't feel like I have to go every 5 minutes and seem to have more volume. Still fire a little bit though.
The blisters I was forming are the biggest I have ever seen. The are pretty much from the middle toe all the way to the arch and a couple more on the balls of my feet. I can't really stand on them yet excpet for short periods to get to the bathroom. I shuffled around to get my pictures at the Terrace this morning and it was excruciating. My legs are sore and I can feel where every cramp I got was. Probably the worst my legs have ever felt after any training or working out. My fingers are swollen a little and my hand tries to cramp up if I do the GI JOE kung fu grip position. I'm exhausted and it is going to take a few days for my feet to get well enough to walk.

The coulda, woulda, shoulda:
Well looking back, how could I have shaved the time off. Nothing really in the swim. Not have grabbed my special needs bag, pushed a little harder on the first loop when I felt good, suffered more with the hot spots and not stopped...But at the time you do what you can just to make it through. I honestly thought I was going to be able to run at least half the marathon. The most disappointing thing for me is that I didn't run much on the marathon. If I could have hardened up and ran through the pain, I would have made it. Even if I could have just ran 8-10 miles. But I couldn't. And now it is what it is. Regrets? Hell no. Not one. You live in every moment at Ironman and do whatever you need to so that you get to the next moment.

What I learned:
Just because you can swim 2.4, bike 112 and run 26.2 does not mean that you can do them all on the same day. Mother nature is a bitch. Coldest spring and summer ever so I never got to train in the warm and my body suffered in the heat. Riding and running is not the same as training. Just putting the miles in doesn't count. It is very hard at 260 pounds for me to do an Ironman. Next year I need to be 220 or lower or I may have the same result. I need to toughen up my feet. I need my feet to be able to not blister on the run. That may have made all the difference. But who knows.

What I know:
I have the greatest group of family and friends. Some I have met and some I have not. I opened my email today and had 230 facebook messages and e mail. I can't tell you how much all that support means to me. All you people that recognized us on the course and yelled and screamed for us that was awesome. Very inspiring.
We never expected all of you to be following us so closely yesterday and we really appreciate each and every one of you. We hope to return the favor whenever we can. Thank you all.

Steve and Sarah Stenzel and Brian and Kari Holmes (and crew)-There for us all day. Saw them a bunch of times and they always seemed to be there when I needed it. Seeing a friendly face after a couple hours of being alone is awesome. I am forever grateful.

Mike Wolfgram for being there on the second half of the marathon for me. I hadn't really had anyone to talk to for a while and it helped get my mind off the pain. I may have quit at some point if not for your motivation.

Lucas and Nick are great kids. How they turned out so great with my as their dad, I'll never know. For them to be there and for Lucas and Chelsea to have made signs and shirts without my knowing was so cool. Nick drove us home and there was no way I could have driven. Neither kid cares that we didn't make the cutoff. They still love us.

Michele for taking pictures and being so supportive and bringing Jacob. That was great to see him. And for co ordinating everyone. You are awesome and when you do your Ironman, I'm there for you.

What to say about Alison? She took care of everything all day for us. Called my mom to update her and what was going on, let us know where each one of us was, and seemed to be everywhere on the course cheering. She has done 2 IMWI and finished both. She knows how hard it can be. One of the times I was hurting she told me that it's not called powder puff...It's called Ironman. She was our Saint yesterday and made the day be great. And she walked Jenny in at the end. And then hung around and made sure we were o.k. She is one unselfish person and I will forever be in debt to her for all she did yesterday. Oh and she got up and went to work today after staying up there until 1 am. Thanks will never be enough.

Jenny, who never gave up and kept smiling all day. I wouldn't have even attempted that yesterday without her. Amazing woman. I'm lucky.

I now have unfinished business there. 15 stupid minutes. I know what it feels like and I know what needs to be done. I have 364 days and counting until IMWI 10. Stay tuned.

A Thank You to my friends and family

2009-09-12T17:55:00.001-05:00

As I sit here nervously thinking about the day tomorrow, I can't help but think back to the journey and how I got here. I know tomorrow will be hard. It's supposed to be hard. Athletic people may disagree about how tough it is, but for an every day Joe like me, it's going to be hard.

As hard as it is for an athletic age grouper to qualify for Kona is how hard finishing seems to me right now. The unknown is killing me.

I did not get here by accident. It took a distinct series of events to get me here. I did not get here alone either. A group of people helped me to realize that I can do anything I set my mind to.

To all my classmates from PHS 85/86/87 who have offered me support and have sent a kind word or message, I say thank you. What a great group of adults we have become. I am amazed at where some of you landed and how well things have worked out. It has been great re-connecting with everyone. I enjoy the laughs that some of you post as we all go through our daily lives. I look forward to more. The well wishes and blessings and advice have been priceless. I don't even want to try to name names. You guys all know who you are. Thanks for the support.

To all my Internet friends near and far, some of whom I have met and some that I look forward to meeting. I could never have prepared for this without you guys. From the Ironman training plans I stole, the many magazine and Internet articles you linked me to, to the advice on swimming when I couldn't, to the kind words when I had doubts, and the people I have had to chance to watch compete. It has been something to keep me motivated. When I first lost weight and was seeking running advice, there were 3 guys who always commented on my blog. Dan in NJ, Pat in AZ and Jeff in MD. These guys really helped me a lot in those months when I needed it. I always felt the need to keep pace with them and it really fueled my passion to be a healthier guy. Those guys would post what they ran for the day and I always wanted to keep pace, even when I didn't want to. Marc and Di in FL, and Brian and Misty and Debi and Jane in NM. Always getting it done and everything they do sounds FUN (except the doucheman triathlon..haha). Following Marc on his ride to IMCdA was awesome and seeing him high five the fans on the chute as he ran down and finished made me want this. Going and watching Marc and meeting Di in Chicago and as uncomfortable as it was meeting new people, she came over to us and made us feel like we have known her forever. Too cool. Finally meeting Misty and Brian and following them as they do about every event ever and knowing that if you ask them something, chances are good they know the answer. To everyone else I just can't say enough. Steve and Sarah, Brian and Kari, Jay and Aimee...couples who share a lot of the same values and passions that we do, thanks.

To my friends...old and new. It has been great to have the support of my friends outside the triathlon community. Friends that knew me when I really was big Mike. I never in a million years thought I would be here and I know they probably didn't either. Being able to escape for a few days a month to a world where I am not concerned with bike splits, heart rate, and running shoes helps to keep me going. Steve and Jeff are 2 guys I have known for 25 years and have been true friends. Thanks.
I have met so many new friends through triathlon that have been great. My "Madison" connection of Mike, Robert, Chris and all their families and friends. My new Janesville SWAT family, Alison and Dave who have become great friends and Alison who has held us accountable for early morning stuff and making it fun, Darin, Brian, Brenda, Kitty, Jen (who will be a Kona qualifier some day - this I am convinced of) and Mike and the other Janesville connections of Steve, Bob and everyone else. Way too many to list and I'll probably piss people off by forgetting them. My most sincere thanks for the support. I hope that when you guys did your Ironman, I was as supportive of you as you have been of me. What a great cycle. I know I am forgetting people here too. It's hard to remember everyone that helped me along the way.

My family...I love you guys dearly. I know for sure that I would still be a 400 + pound guy in the poorest of health had Jenny not decided to make our lives better forever. My kids that I have been proud of for 19 years and are growing up to become great people. I wish I would have set a better example for them early on. I hope tomorrow I can make them as proud of me as I am of them. Jenny is the best friend, wife, fellow triathlete, ever. For us to be doing this as a couple makes it super cool. I know it wouldn't have happened any other way. We always want to be doing what the other one is doing so it works out. My mom and my brother have always been supportive and I know they are proud of me. Jenny's family treat me like I am a blood relative. They'd do almost anything for me. Thanks.

So you see that from my perspective I can't fail. Ever. In anything. No matter what. Because no matter what happens in my life, I have friends and family that could care less whether or not I have an Ironman finishers medal or any medal for that matter. Even people I have never met are rooting for me. How cool is that.

So as much as tomorrow is about me..it is about you too and what you all have done to help me get here. So when I cross the finish line I hope you feel a little bit responsible for getting me there and I hope that you stand up and shout and feel as good for me as I did watching all of you.

Let's do this thing. (Insert handshake, high five, fist bump, hug, the finger point and nod, or any other goofy ass gesture here). I can't thank you guys enough.

Mike

And there you have it

2009-09-07T17:02:00.002-05:00

So here we are. 6 days until the big show. I guess I should be nervously worrying about every possible scenario..because that is the type of personality I have. Most always I HAVE TO be prepared for everything or anything that could possibly happen. But right now, not so much. I guess I just figure that whatever is going to happen is going to happen. I have the tools necessary to get myself from the start to the finish. But I still am a bit afraid of the unknown. I don't know how it will be during the swim. I don't know how my legs are going to feel after the bike. I don't know how much it will take to get the run done after the bike. But I am going to find out.

I have a plan:

I plan to eat when I get up at 3:30. I will eat again in the car on the way to Monona Terrace (we are staying at home as we are 38 minutes from our house to Monona Terrace). A little water before the start but not too much. Maybe between 300 and 500 calories total.

Swim:
I don't have a clue. I do not want to be jostled all over so I think my plan will be to start out by the turn buoy and be towards the back. Once I get to the first turn buoy, I'm going way outside away from everyone. I don't care if it means an extra couple hundred yards of swimming total. In the grand scheme of things for me, comfortable is more important than 5 minutes. If I can find a spot amongst others where I have space and can swim closer I will. But this is a learning experience for me as well. I know that I am a slow swimmer. I swam the course a few weeks ago in 1:45 so to think I will be substantially faster is not realistic. Survive the swim. Get away from any chance to take an elbow or a foot to the face. Survive the swim, make the cutoff and get out of the water. Survive the swim. If the swim is choppy then for sure I am getting out away from everyone and being by myself. Could be a 2 hour swim if the water is rough.

T1:
Once again, no clue. I will try my best to hustle up the helix and get into T1. I will have my bag set up so that I can get my socks, bike shorts, jersey, helmet and shoes on. Chamois butter up and get going. I know that transitions can be important for pro athletes and top age groupers. For me it is about getting my heart rate to come down, getting all my clothes on straight and not forgetting anything. Calming thoughts, visualization, focus, and smiling because I just finished the Ironman Swim. I have a biking rain jacket in case it is raining. I will put it in my jersey pocket if the forecast calls for rain and it is not raining when we start the bike. I didn't pay much for it so if I gets chucked at some point than so what.

Bike:
I think rule number 1 will be to resist the urge to go out hard. I will be excited and at this point I need to settle myself into the fact that I will need to be smart to make it to the end. Small chain ring only for the first 56 miles. Spin easy up the hills, coast the downhills and keep it smooth and consistent on the flats (which there are very few spots of). No stupid moves. Keep switching from aero to upright and staying comfortable. After the first loop (56 miles into the bike) I will decide at that time how hard to go. Depending on what time it is, how I feel and where my legs and mental state are at this point. I would like to think I will be about 3 hours and 45 minutes into the bike at this point. Maybe longer but I hope not. If things are going o.k., I will begin to push harder, use the big ring when I can, stay aero all the time, pedal the downhills and really get tough mentally. Bottom line is you have to make the bike cutoff to get to the run. So no point in saving anything for the run if you think you may not make the bike. My only fear is not going hard enough the first loop. I will use my Edge 305 to be sure I am averaging 15MPH. If I am going slower I will need to pick it up. Now don't get my wrong here. I think I am a strong enough biker to make the cutoff. But anything can happen. Weather conditions can play a major role in my speed. Strong winds or rain will hurt me. My mental toughness has been a question mark for me. But at the mid way point, I should have a good idea of what's left in the tank and where I am. No lofty goal for the first half of the bike. 15-16 MPH average would be great but I will take whatever the day is giving me. Second half needs to be faster than the first half. I would like to be off the bike in 7.5 hours or less. That would be a 15MPH average. 4:30PM if I was on the bike by 9AM. I need to be on the run to have hope to make it by 12. Make the bike easy. Ride the course and don't let the course ride me. Stay mentally tough. Know that I am going to have moments of anger and doubt and overcome them. Smile and enjoy the day. I just need to get into a rhythm and let the miles fly by. Only worry about what I am in control of. Make the bike and let the run take care of itself.

Bike nutrition will be simple. Nothing but a few sips of water/nuun for the first half hour to allow my body to get into bike mode. Then 20 oz of gatorade endurance every hour, a few gulps of water/nuun every hour, a couple electrolyte tabs every couple hours, and shot blocks (probably 200 calories per hour-more if I start to feel hungry at any time). If I need something else, I will take a banana or something from the aid station. Plus I plan to have something in my special needs bag. Some salty chips or a cliff bar or something in case the shot blocks are not agreeing with me. But they have worked in training so they should work for the race. Many times on the bike this year, I don't think about eating so I don't until I feel hungry. I know this will not work for me so I need to eat them every hour no matter what. I am taking a bit of advice from XT4. If I have to get off my bike for 10 minutes and walk around with my shoes off or stretch or sit down and eat something else, I will. 10 minutes is not going to break me and if it fends off a bonk or a bad stomach then it is well worth it. If the winds are strong or it is raining, I may pack a towel and dry off and change into some dry socks at the half way point. Nothing but small sips of water for the last 40 minutes on the bike to allow the volume to go down so I am not sloshy on the run.

T2:
Not sure how I will feel at this point. I will need to motivate myself to get in and get out. Change into tri shorts and tri top (with either short sleeved or long sleeved shirt underneath). Lube up the feet, new socks, shoes, hand held water bottle with a bottle of water/nuun in it. And just go. I know this will be a tough mental point for me, especially if something has happened during the bike and I am later than 4:30. 5:30 would only give me 6.5 hours to run the marathon and while I think I could do that, it would mean a full shuffle the whole time with no walking. Mentally that would challenge me. So hopefully things work out on the bike and in T2.

Run:
While I have ran more this summer than ever before, I am still a 12 min miler. I am breaking the run up into 2 half marathons. 2 loop course so it only makes sense for me. My plan for the run is to run the first half and be somewhere between 2:45 and 3 hours. The second half plan is to run as much as I can. If I can run the whole thing, I will. Ignore the pain in my quads and feet which will be inevitable. Stay tough mentally, hope for no physical breakdowns. If I am reduced to walking (which can easily happen)-I know that I can walk the loop in 3:40 as long as I am not suffering other physical problems. Stomach, feet, cramps, etc. We walked it a few weeks ago just to see about what the time would be. Even though I know I could walk the half in 3:40, I don't want to go that route. The more I can run at my slow pace, the faster I will be done and actually sometimes walking seems to hurt more than running.

Gatorade, and water/nuun on the run. Shot blocks/fruit for nutrition as needed. I won't take the soup broth or the coke as these are untested for me and I won't chance it. I know what works. Special needs bag is going to have a small can of diet mt. dew in it. Gatorade doesn't always quench my thirst and leaves my spit really thick. The diet dew will get my mouth watering and should make that better.

Get to the end by midnight. No stupid unrealistic time goals. Really no pressure on me either.

Not becoming Ironman does not make me less of a person, does not mean the sun won't rise again, does not make my wife and kids love me any less, does not mean I lose friends, does not mean I failed, it just means that things did not go right this time. Life goes on. Ironman is not a race for me, it is a physical challenge. Can my mind and body work as one and overcome? If that happens then nothing can stop me.

Some random thoughts on Ironman

2009-08-30T16:45:00.003-05:00

Well here we are...2 weeks away. 2 weeks away from something I have been working towards since last September. Back then it seemed like I had all the time in the world to get ready. All the time in the world to get myself physically and mentally prepared.

I sit here now and wonder where the time went. How did it come so fast? I think back to April when I started my training plan. It seems like it was only a few weeks ago. I know now that I have many of the same fears as many first time Ironman participants. Did I swim enough? Did I bike enough? Did I run enough? Why didn't I focus more and lose some more weight? How am I ever going to get to the finish line? Will I make the bike cut off? Can I swim with 2500 people? Nothing but fears and uncertainties for me now until I get through the race. Will mother nature deal us up good weather or will she make us suffer? I can only imagine how many times I will check the weather starting next Sunday.

Here is what I know.

I went from not being able to swim and fearing open water to being able to wetsuit swim in open water and be comfortable. I have swam the 2.4 mile course on Lake Monona. I am more comfortable in the water than I ever thought I could be. I enjoy swimming. I really do.

I have biked a lot this year. Probably not as many 100 mile rides as I should have. But I have done plenty between 60-80. My bike fitness is as good as it has ever been. Hills I used to fret and struggle to climb now don't seem so bad. The bike has become my friend and I still really enjoy biking most of the time. It's just fun to bike. It makes the bike part less stressful having biked the course a few times and knowing what to expect. I really hope to enjoy the bike and keep a smile on my face the whole time. Biking is fun. Biking is fun. Biking is fun. Over and over. Even when it's not fun.

I have ran more runs over 13 miles than I ever have. I probably don't have the big 20 milers that I should, but I feel good when I run and I have done several half marathons with no trouble. I know the marathon at the end of Ironman hurts. I know that it is more of a shuffle than a run. I know that I will have to walk some. I will run some of the marathon provided I make the bike cutoff. How much? Who knows?

Mentally I continue to visualize myself in each discipline. I continue to tell myself that I am ready. I continue to fight off the negative thoughts of the pain, the anguish, the frustration and the possible DNF that can come from things that are no fault of my own. I'm the conductor on this train and it ain't stoppin until we cross that finish line. I know the mind can make the body do amazing things. Things that you would have never thought possible. My mind will be in control of my body for that 17 hour stretch. I paid good money to suffer and damn it, I am going to enjoy it!!!!

I know on paper I can do it. But just because it should be, doesn't mean it will be. Am I ready for that? I'd like to hope so.

If you have read my blog, you know my story. Being able to train and start the race already makes me a winner. I am in the best endurance shape I have ever been in. I know I am not fast, I know I am still overweight, and I know that others probably wonder what the hell I am doing at this size doing triathlon. I have no answer other than I am addicted to the feeling of being in a triathlon. Knowing that I am out there competing. Hearing people cheering you on. Crossing the finish line is the most addictive thing. Knowing I did it.

When people look at me and wonder what a fat guy is doing at the start of Ironman, they need to know one thing...I'm not fat, I just have a lot of heart. So much so that it is bursting out of me. Don't ever under estimate someone's heart. Heart can get you to the finish line.

Race plan, nutrition plan, and other strategies to follow.

Thanks to everyone who has said an encouraging word, rode with me, ran with me, swam with me, helped me to believe that anything is possible, gave me advice, picked me up when I was down, and to those who have completed Ironman-thanks for the inspiration.

Marc Taylor had a blog post once where he emotionally wrote that if anyone can ever put together the money and the time to do an Ironman they should because of what it does to the human spirit and how great the experience is. That resonated for me and from the moment I read that, I knew that I wanted to be an Ironman. The training experience has been everything I thought it would be. Ups and downs and hard work.

Ironman Wisconsin here I come.

Aquathon/MOWS/Last training week

2009-08-23T08:24:00.005-05:00

Tuesday was our last SWAT outdoor workout for the season. Rockport Pool closes Aug 23 and that leaves us with only indoor lap swim. So we swam, biked and ran and gathered for traditional pizza eat in the parking lot afterwards. Another great summer is almost gone.

Last Thursday was the final aquathon of the season. These consist of a 1000M open water swim followed by a 3.1 mile run. As we were driving to Madison to get to Warner Park Beach, I could tell by how hard the wind was blowing that there was a chance that the water was going to be rough. If you remember from a few posts ago, the last aquathon had a lot of waves as well and I was a little scared to swim but I did it. Well this time the waves were worse. They were probably about 2 foot swells and they were actually breaking sometimes. I got my wetsuit on and got in and swam around and I was thinking that this was going to suck. But I had done the last one and even though this one was worse, it was not that much worse. We are waiting on the beach and the race director says that anyone not wearing a wetsuit or is not a strong swimmer should not go in the water and that we should all be looking out for each other. Well usually I don't see much of others but I was mindful of it. And we were off. It sucked. I really didn't have a lot of trouble swimming, but I was all over the place and I couldn't see the orange buoy with all the waves. The waves were coming in as we were swimming out so it was right in your face. It seemed like it took forever to get out to the turn. Made the turn, swam the second leg, made the turn home and swam in to the beach. It was the toughest swim I have done so far. Actually had a pretty good run of about 11:40 per mile pace. Finished 1:02. Found out that our SWAT team mates Alison took first for the season in her division and Jenny took 3rd. I did not do so well. I would have scored a lot better had I not chickened out on the first one when the water was so cold.

Friday we went to Sheboygan and watched Lucas play football in a scrimmage. It was a long drive but it was entertaining. I stopped at Dunhams in Sheboygan and they had a great selection of swim goggles so I bought some to replace the old ones I have. I already own about 5 pairs of goggles but only have one brand and one style that seem to work the best. The others are just ones I bought because I wanted to try them and they sucked. But I still keep them for "emergency goggles" in my swim bag.

Saturday we got up early and went to Monona Terrace for the Madison Open Water Swim. You can choose either 1.2 mile wetsuit or non wetsuit and they have 2.4 mile wetsuit and non wetsuit swims. It is the Ironman Swim course so it is a perfect chance to swim with support. I have never swam that far. In the pool, I get too bored and usually can't stand to lap swim that many laps. In open water, I don't usually have the support where I would feel comfortable going that far. So we get there, get marked, get last years swim caps (because they ran out of the cool green ones they were giving out this year), get in the water (it is a mass water start) and get ready. We got to the front of the line to get in the water so we would have a few minutes to swim around and get used to the water. IT WAS SWEET. Almost like glass and the water temps were mid 70's. After treading water for like 5 minutes the horn blasted and we were off. Almost instantly some guy tried swimming over me. I stopped swimming and kindly removed him from my back and told him to swim elsewhere. After that I started doing a really nice kick until I got into a more open spot. Only some slight banging around for about the first 20 minutes and then I was pretty much on my own. Nothing really to say except it was long. After about 45 minutes of swimming I could tell that the water was getting a bit more choppy. Turns out the winds had picked up a bit (got really windy after we were done). Nothing to really worry about as I had just swam in the aquathon that was worse. After I turned the far corner buoy for the last time, I had about .6 miles to go I decided that I really had been swimming too long in my comfort zone (which is slow) so I picked up the pace for the last bit and got done. I felt a bit like barfing at first getting out of the water, but it passed. One hour and 46 minutes of straight swimming with no problems. I was pretty happy. My new goggles were awesome except I think I built up some sweat on the inside. They never fogged but right towards the end, I had some liquid in them and it burned my eye. I am pretty sure it was sweat from when I picked up the pace towards the end. Not sure what to think of that. We then took off and power walked the run course to get somewhat familiar with it. 13.1 miles in about 3:30 all walking. We got off track a couple times but I am sure it will be better during the race and I hopefully will not be power walking but running.

Last big week before taper. I am not sure how much tapering I will be doing. I don't have any big runs or ride set up but I still will do some riding and running so I don't forget how. Probably some boring lap swimming (in a 25 yard pool-oh joy) too. We are 3 weeks away now.

But more about that when we get closer.

Spectators Guide to IMWI 09

2009-08-16T20:36:00.008-05:00

Spectator Guide
Wimmers Do Wisconsin
September 13, 2009

http://www.ironmanwisconsin.com/

Mike Wimmer ~ Athlete #
Jennifer Wimmer ~ Athlete #
Race Start: 7 AM from Monona Terrace

The Swim: 2.4 miles/3.8K (2 loop course) in front of Monona Terrace

Parking:
If you wnt to see the start, you’ll need to get there early (like by 6:30) There is no parking at the Terrace and parking in the downtown ramps may be tough. You can park at the Alliant Energy Center and take the free shuttle to the Terrace.
Where to watch:
There are several options here. Be aware that these areas are all quite crowded. Think early about where you want to be watching from and ease your way into position.
from the sidewalk along the lakefront in front of Monona Terrace. (Good lateral view of the swimmers as they pass by twice)
From the top of Monona Terrace (great view of the “washing machine” from above and there are vendors there selling breakfast items and drinks)
At the swim exit chute (you can watch swimmers exit the water and get wetsuit stripped)
If you want to watch the swim exit, please get there right away after the start. This fills up very fast and gets very crowded once the athletes start exiting the water.

Anticipated Finish Times:
Mike: 8:45 AM.
Jenny : 8:30 AM (about 90 minutes @ 2:15/100)

T1 swim to bike transition: wetsuit stripping and run up the helix into the Terrace and dress for the bike
Roughly 10 minutes??

The Bike: 112 miles/180K start ~ 8:45AM

The course goes from Monona Terrace out to Verona where we do two 40-mile loops before heading back to the Terrace for the run.

The easiest place to watch is probably Verona at the High School aid station. That is roughly mile 50 so there is plenty of time to get there. The riders come by very quickly so it may be difficult to spot specific riders, but it is very spectator friendly here. There are usually area service groups that sell concessions, grilled sandwiches, etc here so bring a few bucks to eat lunch.

There is a free shuttle by the Terrace (Wilson St) that will bus you to Verona. You could also drive to Verona and park by the library.

Good spectator spots on the bike course:
Verona HS aid station
Mt Horeb HS aid station
Timber Lane – very steep hill (the 2nd of 3 hills known affectionately as “the 3 Bitches”) This is the best option but it fills up fast. Athletes go by very slowly here and it is really easy to see them. You have to park in the residential neighborhood and walk down Timber Lane.

Lunch: `You have lots of options here.
In Verona, you can eat at the stands along Main Street in Verona, or if you head south you’ll find some places to eat. If you are in the mood for pizza, I’ve heard that Avanti’s pizza is quite good. If you head up the hill to the corner of the course, there is a gas station in walking distance where you can buy a cold soda or snacks.
I recommend that you pack a few snacks and water in a backpack to bring with you. It is important you stay hydrated and nourished – it’s a long day for spectators too.

Anticipated Finish Time: 8 hours (@14 mph avg) ~ 4:45-5pm ~ This is a total guesstimate.
Mike is hoping to be off the bike by 4PM.
T2 (Bike to Run Transition): roughly 5 minutes to change clothes/shoes

The Run: 26.2 miles / 42K ~ start 5pm

The run will be more spectator-friendly than the bike. This is a 2 loop course and you should have several opportunities to see us if you move around a little. The finish line is near the Capitol. You can watch runners there, along the square, or down State Street. State Street is great because you see the athletes pass down and back. Once you see us running toward the Capital the last time, you will have time to get to the finish to watch us cross the line.

There will be a lot going on in this area, especially in the afternoon and early evening. Find somewhere to eat some supper; there are more options than I can list within easy walking distance. I recommend Ian’s Pizza (sold by the slice) on State Street, especially the Mac & Cheese pizza – YUM!

Realistically, we are looking at finishing the run between and 11pm and midnight, so find a place to entertain yourself, and be sure to find time to sit and rest – it’s a very long day! As the race winds down and it gets darker outside, the spectators usually start to move closer to the finish line and you probably should too. (There can be a shady character or two out there at night, so be safe!)

With all that said, anything can happen and times can be way ahead or behind. Ironman can get the best of people on the bike or more often on the run, so don’t get worried if we get off schedule.

The Winners:
The men’s winners will probably be finishing about 3:30-4:00pm. Women’s winners will likely be 45 minutes or so after the men’s winner.

Foofy Stuff:
Unless you are totally into the triathlon scene, spectating is kind of boring. There is a tent by the finish line where you can make signs or you can bring chalk and write encouraging messages on the State St like “only 6 hours left” or “stop puking” or “you paid to do this??”
There is also an IM shop in the Terrace where you can look at or buy mementos or overpriced gear. Let me know if you need my wish list and sizes J

Tracking your Athlete:
They have computers available in the Terrace where you can check the athlete tracker on www.ironman.com (click on Ironman Live and it’s in the lower left) and type in our numbers if you lose track of us – or if you can’t make it. They are also showing it live on www.ironman.com so if you can’t come and you’re interested you can watch the live feed and see some fo the race and the finish line.

Taking care of yourself for race day:
Wear comfortable shoes with good support and cushioning. You will do a lot of walking; flip-flops or cutesy shoes will not serve you well.
Get a good night sleep.
Pack a backpack with a few snacks, a water bottle, some money for snacks/meals, sunscreen, a disposable rain slicker, a light jacket for evening. Remember that you will have to carry it all day, so pack light!
Be sure to get enough to eat and drink. This is an endurance sport for the spectators too!
Take time to rest and relax. Find a park bench or piece of shade and get off your feet.
Enjoy the ambience of the day ~ it can be very uplifting and exciting!
VERY IMPORTANT- We can receive no outside help so please do not help us. Do not hand us anything, including water, a jacket, hat, food, or anything. We may be suffering but it is our choice. This could cause a disqualification. We paid good money to suffer so let us.

DON’T FORGET YOUR COWBELL BECAUSE YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH COWBELL!!

Many thanks to Mike Wolfgram from whom I pirated the majority of this guide, with some minor adjustments for pacing as he is far faster than we are! http://ironmike08.blogspot.com/2008/08/spectator-guide-146.html

Updates/Festival of Summer/Sheboygan half marathon

2009-08-10T21:27:00.007-05:00

Well Ironman training is going pretty well. Been doing long runs, century rides (or rides over 80) and swimming when I can. I feel good about every part right now. I am not sure that is a good thing. I know I will be suffering at some points, but I feel confident that I can do it. My biking and running right now are probably as good as they have ever been endurance wise. I feel like I could go long anytime. I get into a good running rhythm and I feel like I can hold that pace for a long time. It's not fast but it will get the job done. When I bike, I find that after a good hill I can catch my breath faster than I ever could and my heart rate drops rapidly and before long, I'm back feeling strong. I have done some long boring pool swims and I long for the Madison Open Water Swim in 2 weeks. I so want to swim long in open water. I have done the half ironman swim and olympic distance swim in open water and I feel so much better in the open water than I ever have. I don't fear it at all and it took me well over two years to feel this way in the water. The panic has been replaced with confidence.

We did the Elkhorn Festival of Summer Century bike ride Aug 1st (it was nasty out in the AM-30 MPH head winds, a few sprinkles, and clouds for the first 50 miles). It took us over 7 hours. But it was a great mental test. It sucked and I dealt with it. It hurt to ride into the head wind and I dealt with it. It got hot towards the end and I dealt with it.

Then we heard that Geek Girl and her husband Brian were going to be in Chicago and planned to do a run in Sheboygan. A half marathon run. I have been wanting to meet them for the past couple years. Brian has shared a ton of information with me over the years on equipment, racing, and other triathlon related stuff. So with no prep (who needs prep when you are IM training anyway) Jenny and I went. It was a point to point. You get dropped off at this pavilion 13 miles away from Sheboygan in Plymouth and you run a paved trail next to the interstate almost the whole way back.

Jenny and I drove up there Saturday after the rain (stupid rain and lightning wrecked my OWS that morning too) and got registered and then met the dynamic duo. We chatted for a couple hours and went to the bus pick up and soon after we were at the pavilion and then we were off. It was humid and I should have taken a water bottle to run with. I know I didn't drink enough. I ran 11 miles on Wednesday so another 13 on Saturday makes for a good week of running. I did about 2:47 on the garmin and 2:50 on the clock. I did stop to take a wiz at the porta and that may have stopped the garmin. I got done and I could tell that I was SOAKED. I grabbed my shorts at the bottom and they poured water. It was like I just got out of a pool. Seriously. Hands down one of the sweatiest times of my life. Had a great time and Brian and Misty smoked us. Maybe next time :)

Hoping to nail down my nutrition plan in the next few days. Got a couple new pieces of gear and clothing on order,got my Southern Wisconsin Area Triathlete kit (I will be wearing this for IMWI and will post pictures so everyone knows what to look for)...Going to drop the bikes off in 2 weeks for a good once over. Riding the IM course one last time this weekend (hopefully-weather permitting). A couple more long runs and it's show time. Funny but I feel excited and happy instead of nervous and fretting. I hope that's a good thing.

Ironman Training both physical and mental

2009-07-26T19:58:00.002-05:00

Well this past week was a pretty decent training week physically. Mentally I'm not so sure.

Last Sunday I did the Spirit of Racine 1/2 Ironman and Monday and Tuesday I was super sore. More sore than I have been for other 1/2's. This got me wondering if maybe I am not doing enough or have not done enough preparation and how bad Ironman is going to HURT. I'll be in the hurt box for sure and I'm not sure mentally I like that.

Monday I swam a bit at lap swim just to do something and get some kinks worked out. Didn't really do much and spent a lot of time soaking in the cool water. Tuesday it rained and was crappy outside so I go some other stuff done and I was still sore (and still wearing my finishers medal:) )

Wednesday I ran 9 miles and it felt pretty good. Thursday Jenny and I biked 30 and kept the pace up. Friday was another rain out so we went and visited someone in the hospital who had some surgery. Everything good.

Saturday I biked 32 and ran 6 and today I biked 80. So for the past 7 days including the 1/2 iron tri, I got about 200 bike miles, 28 run miles and about 2 miles of swimming. I think that is pretty good for 7 days. But is it enough?

Mentally I have so much crap going on. I thought at the tri last Sunday I did a good job of keeping the negative stuff out. I tried to keep my thoughts clear and focus on form and things other than pain or the bad stuff that sometimes goes on in every one's head when doing a tri. "this sucks, never again, why did I sign up for this-and on and on" I had no thoughts of it.

Today riding the IMWI bike course, I really had some high expectations that I would find it to be a little easier than last time. Not so. It was tough. So tough that I let it get in my head that maybe I can't make the cutoff, or won't get back in with enough time for me to shuffle through the marathon. Or worse yet, I won't have any legs left. Stuff that for sure can not be allowed to be in there. Positive thoughts and extreme focus only.

I'm lining up on Sept 13th and I'm giving it all I got. Leaving nothing out there. I'm riding the first loop in the small chain ring only. Second loop will be small chain ring on the uphills , big chain ring on the flats (in which there are very little) and on the downhills and whatever happens, happens. I know I need to be off the bike with at least 7 hours to run the marathon safely. I want to run it in 6 but after today's bike, I doubt I can run the whole thing, but who knows.

I am a bit scared of the bike course again. I do plan to ride it again before Ironman, this time leaving from Monona Terrace and either doing one loop and coming back to the Terrace or riding the whole 112 miles. See how it goes. This next time there will be no bike ride/run the day before and I will try to ride a bit more focused. I'm hoping some of the problems I had today were either related to the brick I did yesterday or that fact that it was windy.

You know the bike is overly hilly when you don't even care that the wind is whipping because all you can focus on is the hills.

Spirit of Racine Half Ironman Race Report 2009

2009-07-19T19:22:00.002-05:00

Well as I stated last night, I had 2 goals. Swim the whole swim and run the whole run. Let the chips fall where they may.

We were up at 3:20-OUCH. On the road by 4. Alison had some super secret stealthy way to go to Racine and we pulled up at 5:15 and parked. No kidding. Unloaded the car and headed over to transition to get stuff set up. Used the porta john before the line got full.

Set up all my crap...Bike helmet, shoes, glasses, NEW ADA TOUR de CURE jersey, towel, etc. Got wetsuit half way on and we headed to the swim start. Water temp supposedly was 64 but I think it was a bit cooler. Still nothing like the 52 of last year. It was Jeff, Jenny, Alison, Phil, Mike Wolfgram and Bob Kincaid.

Jeff and Mike's wave went before mine. Soon we were off and swimming. The buoys were pulled way in so that you could touch the whole way if you needed to. I think for a sprint maybe that would be fine but if you sign up for a half ironman, you should be able to swim and the buoys should have been moved out. I was swimming and about 75% of my clydesdale wave was aqua jogging faster than I was swimming. But I wanted to swim the whole swim because I need the confidence. Swam with no problems. Once my goggles leaked and I reached up and pushed the lens tighter to my face. It worked but there was water in. I wound up having to stop and quickly empty the lens and push it tight again and get moving. I sort of swam all over the place but did o.k.

Swim time 33:59 including run up the beach.
Last years swim time 44:23

I shaved 10+ minutes off my swim. The confidence shows.

T1 5:14 Not as good as it should be
Last year I took my chip off at this point and left it in transition so I never got a transition split.

Bike
Same bike course. Very flat and fast. Tried my hardest to focus on form and taking in gatorade and eating. I don't remember the roads being so poor. So many big bumps and bottle launchers. Saw gloves, arm warmers, bottle cages, pieces from aero bottles, tubes, CO2 and all kinds of stuff strewn about on the course. I passed and got passed and really tried hard to go sub 3 hours. Didn't happen.

Bike time 3:02 for an 18.5MPH avg.
Bike time from garmin last year was 3:05

Shaved 3 minutes off bike split. If I was a better runner, I would go harder on the bike. But if I don't save some legs, I suffer and walk. Until my run gets faster, this may be about it for the bike unless some fluke thing happens. Either way, it gets the job done and that's not a terrible bike avg.

T2 4:49 should have been faster. I couldn't find my run socks. I don't like to run 10+ miles with bike socks on. I'm not fast enough to worry about taking another minute to put good socks on. Took bike jersey off and ran in my 2 piece profile design tri suit and bike socks :(.

Right away on the run I saw Jen Brady (who won the Athena group with a 5 hour time-awesome), Jeff, Jenny, Alison, Robert, and Phil. I looked for Bob and never saw him. Turns out he crashed his bike (arm slipped off the aerobar and sent him out of control-bad road rash all over-even on his lips and his day was done and he got checked out at the hospital).
I started on my run trying to keep myself in control at a 12 min/mile pace. I ran the first half the run and never walked. 1:25 at the turn around. I was totally happy with that. Last year it was so hot and I walked almost the whole run. I just couldn't get it going.
After the half way point, I did walk some on the hills and when I was drinking or eating. I walked some of the water stations too. About mile 9 my ankle started hurting like my laces were too tight at the top lace. It was a dull pain but it hurt and continued to get worse. If I stopped and walked it got way worse. If I ran..it was o.k. and I could manage so I kept running. Saw CJ cheering me in as I finished.

Run time this year 2:59:05
Run time last year 3:28:14
about a half hour faster.

Waited for Phil and Jenny to finish and enjoyed my water and finishers medal. Jenny was faster this year than last year too.

Results are in
6:45:05 (last year I finished 7:34:57 so I shaved about 50 minutes off my time)18 out of 20 clydes in this division. I must add that there were Clyde 1 through 5. When I signed up for the race, there was only 1 clyde division. I would have qualified for Clyde 5. So I did o.k. I'm never going to win a half iron race because I can't run 8 minute miles. Never could and never will.

Jenny and I gathered our stuff and went and got a Rocky Rococo pizza. We earned it.

Overall thoughts.
It was hard and I'm sore. I'd like to think if I went easier on the bike, I would be able to run farther at the 12 min/mile pace. During the run when I was hurting, I told myself that in order to do and Ironman in 6 weeks I better get this mental part of it figured out. Today I never let bad thoughts into my head. I kept myself positive and forward moving at all times. I was able to overcome some pain and suffer to keep running. It was a good test of where I am at for IMWI. I am happy. I need to run more long runs and do some longer rides. I felt so good on the swim that I am not concerned about the distance. Only the washing machine created by 2500 people taking off at once. They say nothing you do prepares you for that. I may have to start on the outside and find my spot.

One other thing that I thought about A LOT today was Tri Dummy's advice on my facebook status. RUN YOUR OWN RACE. Really that means a lot. Run your own race. Don't chase people down because you think you should be faster than them. Don't waste energy. If you think you are going too hard, you probably are. Run your own race. You train, you know what the pace you need is. It makes great sense. My Ironman race will be my own. Today I ran my own race and shaved 50 minutes off my time from last year..

What difference a year makes

2009-07-18T19:45:00.003-05:00

Well tomorrow is Spirit of Racine half ironman triathlon (1.2 mile swim/56 mile bike/13.1 mile run). Today Jenny, Alison, Jeff and myself went over to Racine and got our packets (first time ever that we have not gotten a race number to wear on the run-HFP racing does not use them anymore). We looked around the expo and then went and racked our bikes. We then went down to Lake Michigan and Jenny and I swam a bit. The water temp had gone down since last weekend and now is about 60. Not unbearable but still a little cold. I was able to swim around and it felt pretty good. Got out and got our stuff together and came back to town. We are leaving at 4AM tomorrow to drive over.

Today when I was standing on the shores of Lake Michigan, I actually thought back to last year when I was scared to death about the swim. I was so afraid that it is all I could dwell on. I remember getting to the Lake and hoping the swim got cancelled. I survived it. I always felt like this swim was a bit of a fake. I could walk last year so I did. The water was 53 and I just couldn't do it. If the water was deeper, I don't know as if I would have made it. I feel like I need some redemption.

This year...I am looking forward to the swim. I want to swim it. Even though the buoys are close enough into the shore that you can walk the whole swim, I won't. I will swim the whole thing as fast as I can. I will be focused on slicing my hands into the water on every stroke. Dropping my shoulders as my arm fully extends and getting onto my side as much as I can. I will breathe out controlled and my forearms will scoop as much water as they can as I propel myself past each buoy on my way to the swim finish. I will enjoy each and every moment of the swim because unlike last year, I have confidence. My mind will not be thinking of ways not to drown but ways to make every stroke more efficient. As I leave the water I will have the same joy I had last year but it will not last long. Transition will be waiting for me to get myself on the bike as fast as I can where I can reflect on what hopefully will have been a meaningful swim.

The confidence to swim is making all the difference in the world for me now. Sometime in the future, I will attempt to swim without a wetsuit. But baby steps for now.

WIBA/PEWAUKEE TRIATHLON/AQUATHON #3

2009-07-17T08:29:00.003-05:00

Been a bit since I updated. A few things have happened since.

WIBA. Jenny and I went over on Saturday and rode a loop of the Ironman course with a group of about 100 people June 27th. We got up there and did an open water swim in Monona on the far side of the lake so we could see Monona Terrace. Man was it weedy. A couple times I got so wrapped up I started to freak out a bit. But I survived. I got to meet all kinds of FB people and Blogger buddies. Steve Stenzel, Sarah Stenzel, Chris, Brian and Kari Holmes, and others as well. Then we went to Firemans Park in Verona and did a loop of the IM course. It sucked but it didn't suck as bad as I remember. After 40 miles I felt pretty good still. We only did one loop and then went and enjoyed the cook out with these guys. We had planned to come up and run 13 miles that Sunday but we have not slept in for weeks and we were both pretty tired so we slept in and I ran 10 miles on my own.

Pewaukee Tri. Last Sunday while Jenny and her sisters did the Trek (formerly Danskin) Tri in Pleasant Prairie, Alison V and I went over and did the Pewaukee Tri. It started at 6:30. Ouch. We left at 4 and got over there in plenty of time to get our stuff set up and go in for a little pre swim. The water was warmer than the air temp and it felt good. The lake was very dark and murky and you couldn't see very far down. The buoys looked very close. First time I think I have ever said that.

SWIM PART-400M swim-We were in wave 20 and as we waited and watched the other waves I was shocked at all the non swimmers. With no wetsuits. There were several who instantly dog paddled or flipped on their backs as soon as the water was deep enough where they couldn't touch. Some swam directly over the row boat and hung on. I was thinking that these people may have bitten off more than they could chew at that point. We saw a rescue boat go and grab someone out of the water about half way through the swim. Turns out he died. Not sure yet if it was from drowning or heart attack. We did not find this out until that night after we were home and I read it in a paper online. Waves of 50 every 90 seconds sure created a lot of people in the water. But IM is going to be even more crazy. My wave went off and I have felt pretty good swimming lately so I just did it. I had to dodge people not swimming for the whole thing. Never had any problems, except the last 75M my goggles leaked and that sucked. Swim with run up the beach, across the street and into T1 was 10:33 for about 2:30/100. T1 was uneventful and a little faster than normal for me. 3:32 (I was wearing a wetsuit)

BIKE PART-16 Mile bike-Bike went well. There were some uphills and screaming downhills. I tried to catch Alison as I knew she was at least 5 minutes in front of me. I did pass a ton of people on the bike and I felt like I was moving right along. Never caught Alison. 50:06 (18.7MPH). T2 was pretty good for me as well. 2:17

RUN PART-5K-Run was actually pretty good, even with uphills. My legs still felt good and once I got into a rhythm I just went with it. First is uphill, second mile is flat and 3rd mile is downhill. I wound up with each mile getting faster. Saw Alison on the run and she was still about 5 mins in front of me. 36:27 on the run for an 11:45 pace.

OVERALL-I finished about mid pack of the 1300 people and 49 out of 79 big boys. I would do this tri again because it was pretty fun and the course wasn't super easy but wasn't overly challenging. I was bummed to hear that someone died, but we all know the risks. Open water swimming is not easy and should never be taken lightly.

Aquathlon#3
Last night was #3 in the series. The first one I gave up because I couldn't handle the cold water and open water. The second one I finished.
We got there about 6 and the wind was howling and there was 2 foot waves. They weren't breaking but they were still pretty good. The people who set the course up said at one point they were 3-4 foot as they were putting out the buoys. They couldn't get the sighting buoys to stay so they just put corner ones out. I was scared. I have never swam in waves like that. They were coming in toward the shore too. Alison and Jenny had more confidence than I did that I could do it. But I needed to know if I could mentally handle it. I know I can swim. I had a wetsuit on (some super freaks did not and I give them all the credit as that would have been tough). So we gathered on the beach and we were off. I walked out until I was up to my chest and then just started swimming. The waves were bobbing me up and down. I sort of felt a slight rhythm and starting timing my breaths with the waves. As I could feel a wave coming over, I would try to stay long and slice through it. It was working pretty good. I tried to sight a couple times and got destroyed by a wave. So since there were other people next to me I used them as my compass. I did get close the buoy and grabbed someones leg. IT WAS JENNY. I said sorry but I know she didn't hear me. We turned the corner and I felt relief. That leg of the swim was a mother. I started to feel pretty good and began to think in my mind "I'm an open water swimmer". I came up for a breath and got nailed and sucked down some water. I had to stop and cough it out. I kept my back to the waves and calmly started swimming again after a few seconds. Turned the corner for the leg back and the waves were really pushing us in. I felt like I was really swimming fast. I got to where I could stand up and did. Right next to me was Jenny still swimming. I looked at her and I was really surprised that she stayed with me the whole time. Ran up the beach into T1. 20 minute swim or about 2:01/100. Fast for me. The run was like always and everyone passed me but one guy and Jenny. I ran my usual 12 min/mile pace. I finished in 59:37. That was 5 minutes faster than the last one. I wanted to break an hour and I did.
Saw XT4 and Erin Cellelo there along with Robert and his wife. We went to Chipotle and I got the burrito bowl and so far so good. It was tasty.

Up next Spirit of Racine half ironman on Sunday.

My goals: First and foremost is to NOT TAKE MY TIMING CHIP OFF AFTER THE SWIM AND THEN NOT PUT IT ON FOR THE BIKE.
Swim the whole swim comfortably and easy as I can. OWS is becoming second nature now and I don't ever even think about it. I love my new wetsuit. QR superfull is amazing.
Bike with heart rate in the 120's to 130's. Last year my bike was a little over 3 hours. I think I can come close to that but it took a lot out of my legs and it was hot last year. I walked almost the whole run. This year I want to run the whole run without many or any walking. A huge challenge for me. But weather is supposed to be mid 70's with light wind and party sunny. Much better than the mid 90's of last year. And the water temps are mid 60's and not low 50's as before.

7 weeks until IMWI. Things are looking up. I was mostly concerned with the swim and after last night's swim I feel like I can do almost anything now. I now just need the hilly bike miles and a few 15+ mile runs to seal the deal. Mother nature is also making me think that we may be in for a cold September. Let's hope not.

IMG00168.jpg

2009-06-27T15:05:00.000-05:00

Having a great time at WIBA. Anyone recognize this guy?

Thank you for using Picture and Video Messaging by U.S. Cellular. See www.uscellular.com for info.

Aquathon #2

2009-06-19T10:35:00.002-05:00

Well if you read my blog regularly, you know I gave up on the swim at the last aquathon. It was my first open water swim of the year and it was cold..blah blah blah excuses excuses. Anyway last night was aquathon #2 (I know I just said #2. LOL)

So J-Wim (master swimmer and all around good wife) picks me up from work at 5. We leave my car at work (this becomes important later on) and take her car and head up to Warner Park Beach. We get there super early, which is good because I now realize I need warm up swimming. Just something to help me relax and get a good comfort level in the water. Alison, CJ, Kitty, Jenny and myself all were there along with another 100 or so folks. We get set up in transition and get suited up and head to the water. We see fellow blogger Robert and his wife getting ready too. Robert just did IMKY 70.3 last weekend and did great.

Get in the water and swim around and the buoys seem really close. Nothing like last weekends 1500M swim. I feel pretty good. The water had some floating stuff on it and the bottom was sort of nasty and that can be a little gagging at times but whatever. Swim around some more and I am starting to realize the water is choppy. This will be my first swim where the water is choppy. I can not remember doing any other OWS where the water was not very calm. Shouldn't be a big deal. It wasn't terrible.

Beach start. Oh joy, walk through the rocks and crap into the water. You can walk quite a ways before you get over your head. I only walked until it was about waist deep and then started swimming. Everything seemed to be going good. Jenny was swimming right by me. CJ actually said hi to me as she swam past. Does she have superpowers? How I ever heard her I don't know but I did. Get to the first buoy and realize that swimming against the waves is a little harder than it seems. I also usually stay away from the pack but I did catch a lady who was breast stroking and she nailed me. First experience with that. It wasn't bad. I actually felt bad for her because I think she was struggling a bit. I said sorry. I turn the corner and decide I need a little break. I start to breast stroke and take a full face full of water as I am breathing in. That sucked. I coughed a bit and actually was able to deal with it instead of flipping out (like normal). It seemed like I was there for 5 minutes but was probably only about 20 seconds. I got myself going again and swam to the last buoy and turned the corner. I seemed a little overly tired for some reason. I stopped again for a few seconds and then swam the last 300 or so until I could stand up. I stand up and there is a 2 foot dead carp floating a foot in front of me. That was nasty. Done with the swim. 2nd to the last person out of the water. But that's o.k. because I was pretty much almost last when we went in because I know I would rather be a few minutes slower and have less traffic.

See J-Wim in transition and she is just leaving. I think I swam like 22 minutes for the 1000M. About the same or a little faster than the 1500 I did on Sunday. I get my shoes and visor on and get going. I am not sure why but I was wheezing a bit. Maybe from the water I sucked in? I had a rough go on the run for the first 2 miles. I couldn't really catch my breath as well as I normally can at the same pace. But I'm having fun right now and I didn't really care. I pass J-Wim and now I'm about 4th from last. Some girl passes me and now I'm 3rd from last. About mile 2 I started to feel better and was able to breathe better and started to get into the IM shuffle rhythm I have been practicing. Then I'm done. It felt good. A lot of bugs this time. Swarms of the little nasty ones and we ran right through them. I ate a bunch, lunged a few and got several in the eye on different occasions. Hey last guy gets a 15 dollar gift card to Quaker Steak and Lube (restaurant with good food from what I hear). So Jenny gets one too (one for last guy and one for last woman). With last aquathon's gift card, we not have 45 bucks in gift cards. I figure after the next one we could have 75. Might have to take some friends out for food after the last one.

I was soaked. I mean dripping wet. Must have been the humidity. I had some spare clothes so I went to the car and changed. I opened the front and rear doors and made my own little changing area, stripped down and put some dry stuff on. Someone suggested we go to Chipotle and get some food. I'm always down for food.

Good food. The burrito I had was awesome (I have not eaten a burrito in a very long time). Had some chips and hot salsa too. Then we drive home. It's pretty late now too. Around 9:00 or a little later. About mile 30 of the 40 mile ride I get the small pains in my lower abdomen that signal Mr. Burrito is done digesting. No emergency yet. I get closer to the house and am confident at that point of making it home. Then I remember I have to get my car. Remember that from the beginning? Now I'm doubting myself. We speed out and get my car and on the way home I'm starting to get more and more uncomfortable. You guys know the feeling. We've all been there. About 10:25 we roll into the garage and I hunchback style walk, stumble to the bathroom. No more chipotle burritos for this guy.

Shower, shampoo the wetsuits and hang in garage, get all my sopping wet clothes to the washer, slam some more water and it's now 11. Damn I have to work tomorrow. Go to bed and the stomach is making noises I haven't heard in a long time. I read more magazines from the throne last night that I have read in a long time. Finally start to doze off at 12 ish. 1AM tornado siren. And the siren is 50 yards from my house. It's loud. Rattle the windows loud. Oh joy. Then again at 1:25. Both times I investigated and found the storm cell to be in a different part of the county so I went back to bed. Fell asleep around 2 and slept until 6:30.

Um I want to know how long this burrito is going to affect me because I don't know how much longer I can take this. I think I'm re-naming that place Shitpotle.

Aquathon=great....Stomach ache..not so much.

Capital View Olympic Tri Results

2009-06-14T16:29:00.007-05:00

Oh man where do I start with this one? I had heard pretty good things about this event from last year. Great support, not so hard bike, good swim, and run "wasn't bad". I'm going to find out who told me that the run "wasn't bad" and I got a news flash for you. The run is BAD. And it sucked worse that any other 10K run EVER. Jenny and I signed up for this quite a while ago. As race day approached, I was fretting the open water swim. Like always. We had done some OWS in Storrs Lake in Milton and I guess I am starting to feel more comfortable doing them. But after the first Aquathon debacle, I still have the doubt monster in the back of my mind. Also with the little fluid in the lung thing, I was a bit concerned. When we first bought wetsuits, we bought the cheapest we could. We figured it really didn't matter. Well the suits have always been tight and very constricting. It always felt like I was cramming 25 pounds of crap in a 15 pound bag. So after some review and a little bit of checking stuff out, we found out that higher end wetsuits are nothing like the entry level ones. The rubber is a lot more stretchable and much more forgiving. So I went and bought a Quintana Roo Superfull Wetsuit. Wow what a difference. I can get it on and almost zip it myself. And I don't feel like I am going to die or have lack of breath. We went to packet pick up yesterday too and Jenny wasn't switching from the Oly to the sprint so neither was I. I had thought about it several times. Just a bit freaked on the swim. We got back with our wetsuits. Tested it out in Storrs Lake and I was able to swim from the boat landing all the way across and back with ease. SWEET. Came home and got everything ready to go for the race.

Up at 4:30, get dressed and take off. Wanted to have some time to swim before the start of the race. Got up there and got chips (no not the ones you eat, timing chips that go on the ankle) and racked our bikes and got transitions all set up. Saw a bunch of people we knew. Michelle Wilkinson, Steve Knox, Bob Kincaid, Tom Peterson, and I am sure I am forgetting people.

Put the new wetsuit on with ease and went down to the water. The buoys looked a LONG WAY out. Oh well. I felt pretty calm and after swimming around for a few minutes I knew it was going to be O.K. I was shocked at how far you could walk out. You can touch for the whole sprint course. We got grouped in waves and soon it was time to swim.

Stroke, stroke, breathe...stroke, stroke breathe. Was easy. Soon I was at the first buoy, then the second and then back to the beach. I swam out away from the group hugging the line. I probably swam a little farther but the waves they were making were fierce. So I stayed away. Got into transition and saw that Jenny hadn't finished yet. She started 2 minutes behind me. I was hoping she was o.k. and expecting her to be there already. I got everything on for the bike and got ready to go. I didn't see her. She said she saw me but I didn't see her. So I rode off.

Bike sucked. I couldn't get anything going. Hills right away. Even the flats felt uphill. I swore a bunch of times and called myself a lazy fat fucker a lot. I sometimes do that and I don't know why. I got passed way more than I passed and it pissed me off. Finally got to a point where it seemed like the bike got easier and I got into a rhythm and pedaled hard.

Bike profile. Click it to make it bigger. Not flat. I say again..not flat. But whatever. I am pretty sure I averaged about 16mph which is not what I wanted. It was starting to get hot and I was sweating pretty good. I was drinking Gatorade so I felt o.k. I had some legs left and was looking forward to the run.

The run can suck it. Seriously...WTF were these people thinking. 6.2 miles of mountain bike trails. Nothing single track but all double tracks. Up and down and up and down and up and down. 1300 feet of climbing on the bike...1000 feet of climbing on run. In 6 miles. Well you can imagine how that worked out for me the non good runner.

It took me about 3 minutes longer to bike 25 miles than it did to run 6. Hot, tired and feeling funky, I finished. About 4 hours I think. The clock said 3:57 but I think that was for the first wave and I started about 8 minutes after them. I am thinking 3:50 ish. OLY PR. Wait that is the only one I have ever done.

I watched Jenny finish and talked with Bob Kincaid (who can run good) and he said the same thing. The run course can suck it. We didn't get finishers medals for this either and I was hoping to get one. I love finishers medals.

It's o.k. to challenge yourself sometimes. It makes you faster. But I will NEVER be in the shape to be able to run that well and that doesn't make it fun. I won't be signing up for this tri ever again, unless it is the sprint. I will say one thing though. GREAT organization, GREAT support, GREAT volunteers. Probably one of the best run Tri's I have EVER attended or done. These guys did a great job. But the bike and run course are just too hilly for me to want to do that to myself again.

Came home and showered and took a 2+ hour nap. WHERE'S THE BEEF? I'm starving.

UPDATE: Here are the results

230 out of 237 overall-oh joy. At least I finished.

The Great Evansville Duathlon 09

2009-06-07T08:39:00.008-05:00

Well after some obvious forgetful thinking (as in what the hell was I thinking) I talked Jenny into signing up for the Great Evansville Duathlon. We had done this race in 07. Remember this picture?

This is the classic "Can we go now?" moment. Jenny had gotten an award for 2nd place Athena and I got totally dominated by everyone else, and I was ready to go home. Jenny however, was not. I was happy for her, I just didn't show it in this picture.

Forward to 2009. The memory of 07 was erased except for the moment of that race where I was beaten down enough on the bike where I had to walk it. This bike course is pretty hard for a big guy. 2500 feet of hills in only 19 miles. 3 of them are pretty hard. 2 come after 90 degree turns so you start out with 0 momentum and are just forced to climb.

Well the weatherman around here has sucked. All of them can not be trusted right now.
We signed up early to save some $ but if it was going to rain then I was bailing. The bike course would not be good wet. 30 bucks is not worth getting hurt or wrecking my good bike. But as of 10PM Friday, no rain forecasted until after noon.

We got there with my brother in law Jeff and got everything ready to go and I was so glad I packed all my stuff because it was cold. 53 degrees and some wind too. I went with a tri suit, tights, arm warmers for the first run. We got our headsweats visors and race numbers and put our gear in transition.

Listened to the pre race instruction guy and went to the start. No chip timing here so the gun went off and everyone goes. No waves, just everyone at once. They took a picture for the website and it was on there when I went and checked the race results. I have on the orange and black and Jenny has pink sleeves in the back of the pack.

Woot Woot. NOT. I hate running sometimes. Even though my form is better and my endurance is better, it still takes a lot of conscious effort to get into a good rhythm where I feel like I am giving it but not going to die after a mile. Brenda Slatter from our SWAT group was doing the race too and she is a better runner than I. I got myself about 20 yards behind her and told myself I would try to stay there at her pace. I was able to do that. Pace was right around 10 min miles. Got into transition and of course there were 4 bikes left in there. Brenda got on hers and then there were 3. Guy was right behind me and he was getting on a mountain bike so he didn't have to put bike shoes on..he leaves and now there are 2 bikes. Mine and Jenny's. These are the times I wish I could run 7 min miles. But I can't so I deal with it. I decided to put on my new yellow bike vest because I was cold. Of course the zipper comes apart because I didn't have it lined up right. Oh joy. I fix that, get the helmet and shoes on and take off. Still only took me about a minute, but the Garmin auto paused so I bet I was in transition closer to 3 minutes. Oh joy for that too.

On the bike I was able to catch a few people and pass them but not as many as I would have liked. The hills reduce you to being in your easiest gear and standing up. I seriously think if you could hop off your bike quick, take your shoes off and carry your bike, you could run up the hills faster than biking them. That thought entered my head several times. The bike was hard but I didn't walk any hills which was one of my goals. I saw Jenny right after the turn around and she looked very cool on her pink bike with pink race helmet and pink sleeves on. I tried to say something but I bet it came out all jumbled because I was sucking wind big time.
I noticed on my way back I started to feel stronger. I don't know if wind direction was a key or if I started to really get warmed up but the last hill was easier and I seemed to be in a bigger gear keeping a good cadence. I put some space between the people and I passed and myself.

Rolled into transition and there were some guys already done. This event draws out some seriously good athletes. One thing I have always thought was great about the multisport community is how these guys don't ever let you feel like you suck. They were high fiving me and giving me encouragement as I changed out my shoes and took off. Seriously cool guys.

Goal on the last run was to not let people I passed on the bike catch me. FAIL. A few of them did and a few of them didn't. Tawnya Hagen (whom we know through SWAT) caught me on the run. She's a much better runner than I so I didn't feel bad. I tried to keep her in my sights but she blasted away from me. I think she finished 2 minutes ahead of me. I know I didn't run as fast on the second run, but I did run the whole way and I kept around 11 min miles which I didn't think I would be able to.

I came chugging in and my sister in law took a seriously good picture of me where I don't look like a small beef cow in spandex. Well maybe I still do.

I was done. 2:21 on the garmin which was 4 minutes faster than 07. They had me at 2:24 which is possible because I think my garmin was on auto pause and in transition it would have stopped which makes sense. That puts me a full minute faster than 07. If the goal is to be better than I guess I succeeded. I think my runs were a bit slower than 07 and the bike was a bit faster. They don't chip time anymore so it's hard to say. I watched Kitty, Brenda and Jenny finish and then had some gatorade and some other stuff.

We hung around for awards (because Jenny probably was getting one and I wasn't). But I got to thinking...there were not many "husky" guys here. Maybe I have a shot. Jenny got 2nd place Athena and what do you know...I got first place Clydesdale. I think I was the only guy there over 220. But that's not my fault and I'm not going to have any shame from feeling good. I got a hand made one of a kind plate and it made the leg pain go away for a little while.

This race tears me apart. It's cheap, it's pretty fun (the run course is not well marked and never has been and if there is no one in front of you it's easy to get lost), but the bike course can just pound your confidence down to the dirt. I had so much sweat pouring off my face climbing the hills it was like my bike was leaking oil and I was leaving a trail on the pavement. There was a time when I seriously thought about getting off my bike to see if the brake was rubbing but I knew it wasn't. The course just does not allow you to get any momentum going and it makes you dig DEEP for the mental toughness to keep pedaling. Jenny says we won't do this event ever again. I'm on the fence.

It's hard not to want to go back when you know you have a chance to score RACE HARDWARE (even if you are the only guy in your division)

And as soon as we got home it poured rain.

Panic attack

2009-05-31T21:19:00.004-05:00

Last week was a sort of sucky week for me. Even though I had some days off and got a nice days rest on Memorial Day after running the half marathon Sunday. Tuesday I took the day off as well and wound up taking a nice 27 mile ride on the tri bike at a 18mph pace. It kind of still hurt from Sunday's run. Wednesday was spent screwing around and getting stuff ready for the first Aquathon in Madison on Thursday. We got up there Thursday with just enough time to get the wetsuit on and hop in the water for a test. It was cold. I had psyched myself up. The buoys did not look very far out and I was thinking about how I was going to get it done. I knew I had put the time in the pool and this was going to be good. Water was 56. It was cold. I had the cap and boots on so the water temp wasn't really bothering me yet. We didn't have a lot of time to warm up swimming. We got on the beach and the guy said go. I got in the water and got up to my neck and tried to swim. I couldn't put my face in because of the cold and I couldn't swim with my head out of the water. Soon I was out where I couldn't touch. Stupid open water panic took over me. I couldn't think straight, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't swim, I couldn't do anything but panic. My flight or fight response took over and instead of fighting, I half assed it back to where I could touch as all the other participants swam on. I got to where I could touch and I sort of stood there dumbfounded. I felt like crying at that moment. I have spent so much time in the pool, worked on my stroke, my breathing, and I thought my confidence was there. All of that didn't matter at that point. I swam a few strokes in the water just to prove to myself I could do it. The event basically was over for me at that point now anyway. I walked it back into the beach and out of the water. My first DNF. Ever. I am not going to lie, it crushed me. I had so many emotions I was trying to deal with. I went and got my wetsuit off and changed into my dry clothes and turned in my chip. I just couldn't believe that I was not mentally tough enough to find a way to get it done. I felt about every bad emotion possible. Frustration, anger, sadness, and embarrassment. Worst of all I felt like I let Jenny down because I know I didn't give it my all. I got all my stuff together and left the transition area and just felt sick.
Jenny was able to go on, along with Brenda and Alison from the SWAT group. I saw Jenny in transition as I was coming back from putting my stuff in the car. I couldn't hardly look at her because I knew that even though she understands, I still felt like I let her down. She has worked very hard to help me with the swim.
As she left transition and went on the run, my mind began to doubt I will ever be able to open water swim again. I felt lousy.
I hung out and watched her finish and I tried to be a good sport and be supportive but my mind was gone at that point. All doubt, regret, frustration and a bit depressed. Jenny gave me a pep talk and a hug and I was glad that she didn't feel like I let her down even thought I did.
I spent the next 24 hours (at least) in a funk. I can't believe how bad that bothered me but it did. I learned from it. I need to open water swim more and less pool swim. Pool swimming helped me get a bit faster and refined my stroke but did nothing for the fears of swimming in open water. I now have some sort of game plan with Alison and Jenny to do some open water swimming. If I don't get this licked, IMWI will come and I will run the risk of having a panic episode and my day is done. NO CHANCE to rock the bike and run if you can't get the swim done. No lies...I'm nervous about it. I can sit on the couch all day long and tell you I can do it and have all these positive thoughts but get in the water over my head and it's another story. Something else to overcome. I'm going to do my best.

Friday was a nice 15 mile ride with some SWAT folks and a cook out at my house. We hung out until 10 and we kicked everyone out. We woke up early and headed to Madison for the ADA Tour de Cure 62 mile bike. I was raining and cold. Jenny had the biggest and ugliest pair of crabby pants on I have ever seen. I almost turned around. We got there, got registered and hung out. Put some rain jackets on and headed out. Jenny and I sort of hung in the back at first and got passed a lot. We didn't stop at the first rest stop. After the first hour it quit raining and about a half hour after that it was almost full sun. We stripped off the jackets and kept going. The ride was nice and the rest stops were o.k. I wish they would have had cookies. But I ate some fig newtons. We hit the 30 mile point and began to head south right into a 20MPH headwind with higher gusts. We hunkered down and got aero and actually began passing people on a regular basis. We passed about half the participants in the last 30 miles. We got back and it was good to get out of the wind. We ate some of the free food, drank a couple sodas, and headed back to Janesville.
Sunday morning we met for another 45 mile ride from Palmer Park in Janesville to Albion and back. It was Alison, Jenny, Brenda, CJ, and Phil and me. It was cold we started but it warmed up nice. The ride was great. My legs were a little tired and my ass was a bit sore but not bad. Could have gone more. Spent the rest of the day chillin.

Bike miles in the last 5 days-148.6

I need to swim and run some this week.

Evansville Duathlon next Saturday with a wicked bike. 3 big climbs and I walked my bike last time we did this event up the last hill. That has bothered me for some time.

Only 2 weeks until the Capital View Triathlon (it says you can touch bottom on the swim the whole way so I don't fear this swim and in fact it may be a good confidence builder if I can swim the whole thing without touching).

Long post. Hope it gives you a sense of where I am at physically and mentally right now.

Long way to go for me to be Iron worthy.

Staying out of the hurt box

2009-05-24T21:20:00.002-05:00

Well today was the year anniversary of the Madison Marathon fiasco last year where the wheels fell off the bus and I resorted to walking half the marathon and pulling Jenny down with me. This year we signed up for the half marathon instead of the full. I'm not going to lie..I was glad.

Picked up packet yesterday and walked around the expo. Saw some gear and other stuff but didn't buy anything. Went to the farmer's market on the square and gave some money to the spicy cheesebread guy, Amish cookie guy, asparagus guy, spinach lady, and the rhubarb oatmeal breakfast bar lady. SCORE!!!

Got home and tried on the T shirt. Too small. I am not sure why but the T shirts for the Madison Marathon always seem to run really small. Oh well, it's just a shirt. Took a big nap in the afternoon. Pants off and under the covers kind of nap. Drooling on the pillow kind of nap. It felt great. Made it hard to sleep last night though.

Woke up at 5AM this morning and got ready and headed to the half marathon in Madison. We got there a little early and found Jenny's sister, her husband Jeff, and some other friends. We walked to the starting line and noted how long the porta lines were. Just seems like there always is a lack of porta pottys at the starting line for this event. After some standing around we were off.

Did my best to keep at 12 min mile pace the whole time. That is what I feel I will be doing IMWI at. Hopefully anyway. I wanted to feel good at the end of this run and still have some gas in the tank. Which I did.
Wound up running in 2:40 which was a 12:09 pace. Real close to what I wanted. And I ran the last 6 miles faster than the first 7. My last 3 miles were the fastest 3 miles I ran during the whole half. So I felt good about that. I wish I was a 6 minute miler but I'm not.

Ran into Mike Wolfgram during the run. He was watching the run from the sidelines. It was great to see a friend during the run. He took my picture and then took off running faster than I was (he had jeans and a t shirt on too). I think he was going somewhere where he could get some better pictures.

Saw Gary Clark from the SWAT team run a 3:28 marathon and qualify for Boston. That was pretty sweet too. Also saw my brother in law run his first marathon at 3:50. Went to brat fest and had a couple brats and then picked up my bike from the shop and came back home. A little sore, a little tired, and really happy that things went they way they did.

Ready for Memorial Day. Hope the Parker Band doesn't wake me up tomorrow at 7am practicing for the parade.

My wife is an animal on the bike

2009-05-19T14:07:00.005-05:00

Official results are in from the Biathlon (duathlon).

Me
2 mile run 18:39 (best I've done in a long time) 124th out of about 155 people (a bunch of jack-rabbits at this event)
10.1 mile bike 38:09 (included T1 where I screwed around with my garmin after it errored and wasted time trying to get it to re set) 44th place
2 mile run (including T2)22:13 (probably at least 1 minute transition) 120th place (nice to know I moved up 4 spots)
Overall 4th out of 7 clydes
87th out of 155.

My wife's bike time with transition was 37:04 (over a minute faster than mine and 34th place overall out of 155). If I couldn't run faster than her she'd have chicked me too. I was screwing around with my garmin but that's no excuse. Time is time and it's not her fault.

This is the second time now she's posted a better bike time than me during an event. At the Evansville Duathlon 2 years ago she whipped up some domination on me then too.

Great job Jennifer. You still should have worn the aero helmet. I'm still proud of you.

Race Report (first one in a loooonnnnngggg time)

2009-05-16T18:58:00.002-05:00

Well today was interesting to say the least.

Got everything ready last night for the Beloit Biathlon (duathlon that they still call a biathlon). Put the race wheels on the QR earlier in the week and took it for a quick spin on Friday. We didn't ride hard or fast but I could tell something was different.

Woke up this morning at 6:30 to some coffee and oatmeal. Emptied out and looked outside and saw the trees about bending in half. The wind was coming in such a direction that the ride was going to be tailwind out, headwind back. SWEET. I love it when that happens. At least it wasn't raining. Got all loaded and headed to Beloit. Picked up shirt and race number and then decided it was too cold for what I was wearing. So we drove 100MPH back to the house and got tights and my bike jacket and drove 100MPH back to the Beloit hospital where the duathlon was going to start. Got to see my friend Mike Wolfgram and meet Steve Knox for the first time. Both guys looked ready to race for sure.

Jenny and I set everything up and used the porta quick on our way to the start.

I love the Beloit Biathlon. It is so well run, and flat, and fast, and it is just a good event. It's cool to see some of the faster guys race too.

Well the elite wave went off and I saw Mike Wolfgram run to the front. Each wave goes off every 4 minutes and Jenny and I were in wave 2. The wind was howling but at least the sun was trying to shine. And we were off.

2 mile run-amazingly enough I felt pretty good. I didn't feel like I was out of breath or like I was worried about the distance. I seemed to keep pace with a few of the others. Got to transition in around 19 minutes. Stellar for me. Saw Wolfgram on the run and he was about 20 seconds in the lead. Saw him again as I was getting in as he was going out and he was cranking the bike pretty good.

Transition 1-Garmin decided to give me a lap full error because it was full and I just shut it off. Put on my new Aero Helmet (sweet) and hopped on the Lucero. I probably was pretty slow because I was screwing around with the garmin and my helmet felt funny, but who cares. Mounted the bike and started cranking.

Bike-
Only got passed by 1 guy on a brand new Felt B2. The bike I was looking at to buy before I bought the QR. I tried to stay with him but after a couple miles, I couldn't. The rest of the time, I did the passing. The wind was just plain stupid. I stayed aero as much as I could and just went all out. My legs were burning when I climbed the hills some and on some of the times with a headwind. Man that bike is fast. It was so comfortable to ride and seemed like very little effort got it going. I was even able to pass during headwinds. Got blown around a bit with cross winds. I was pretty happy with the bike. No idea of the time but it seemed to be pretty quick for me.

Transition 2
Came in off the bike and saw Mike Wolfgram already chilling out as he was done and won. I waved and racked my bike, took off the bike shoes, took a chug off the water bottle and put running shoes on and went.

Run 2
Took a half mile to open the stride up. Saw Jenny finishing the bike and she was cruising. She did awesome on the bike. Legs weren't tired but just the different muscles being used made it tough. Kept it going and it felt like I was actually running. Got passed by almost every one I passed on the bike I think. Man my running sucks. I run 10 minute miles and most people run 7-8 so they make up 4 minutes per run on me. But that's me and whatever. Ran it in and finished in 1:18. Last year was 1:25 on the same course with less wind.

I got 4th Clyde. I was only 3 minutes away from medaling. Mike Wolfgram won, and Steve Knox took second in his age group. Jenny got 3rd Athena. She shaved 5 minutes off her time from last year.

Excellent post race spread, and what a great event. Anyone thinking of doing something mid May should consider doing this race. It is so well run and FUN. And that is what it is all about. FUN.

I had a blast. Congrats to Jenny, Mike Wolfgram, and Steve Knox. You guys did great.

Weeks are flying by........

2009-05-10T21:24:00.004-05:00

Wow the time is sure flying by. But super cool thing is that events are starting now and that gives all the training some purpose.

Weekly
Ran 20 miles. 8 mile run and a 12 mile run. Both runs felt really good and I have been working to keep the heart rate in the 130's-150 max. I feel like the aerobic base is starting to get good. My legs hurt a little from the 12 miler, but I think they are supposed to.

Biked 78 miles. 3 rides this week and they all were pretty good. Going to start doing 50+ mile rides every Sunday starting next weekend. I feel pretty good on the bike and I am pretty sure that I need some long rides in now. Hour and a half rides are o.k. during the week when I work, but really should be more like 2-2.5 hours as soon as the sunset gets late enough.

Swam- Swam 2 nights at Masters swim of about 2000 yards per session. Really working my ass off at Masters swim. It is certainly not easy for me. I need to get swimming at least one more night a week and try to go 2 hours at get as many yards as I possibly can and use it as a long swim night. But overall, since I couldn't swim one length of the pool at this time last year, I am very happy with my swim.

I am down 29 pounds since I started IM training at the end of March. I need it. With 120 days or so to IMWI, I think another 30 pounds is reasonable.

Beloit Biathlon next Saturday where I am hoping to see if I can't keep my heart rate in the red zone for an hour. If not then oh well. I am also going to ride the Lucero with race wheels.

End of the month I get to don the wetsuit and do the aquathon. I'm a bit excited about that.

Just trying to get there

2009-05-03T21:08:00.002-05:00

Man, sometimes it's tough to get up and get the SBR that you know you are supposed to be doing. Finding that out the hard way.

This week was not stellar but a couple good things happened.

15 miles of running. Ran my 6 mile loop this week faster than I have in almost a year and did a 9 mile long run and negative split the second half.

2 miles of swimming. Masters Swim is totally rocking my world. I actually get sore and exhausted from swimming. I have been able to swim farther and faster than I ever have.

60 miles of biking. I was able to do a hilly 26 mile route and keep an 18MPH avg. Sometthing I really want to be able to do more of.

I am feeling like my aerobic fitness is as good as it has been in a long time. Keeping the heart rate in the 140-150 range means I can go a long time and feel pretty good too. Get the heart rate in the 160-175 range and the amount of time I can go drops considerable.

I feel like I am making good progress and I am right where I want to be right now. I'm not overly exhausted, but I do feel tired. I am not overly sore, but I do have some pain. I think things are going good.

It helps that the weather has co operated a little bit this week. Not every day was torrential rains and 30 mile per hour winds.

I'm done whining about wind and weather and all the other crap. It is what it is. If it's nasty out, I'll swim, if I can bike- I will. Running should be a given in any weather as long as it's not dangerous.

Hoping to ride the IM bike course within the next month. Maybe even 2 loops.

UPDATED Schedule

2009-04-26T18:11:00.002-05:00

Well here is what I have finalized. Most of the stuff I have already registered for. I plan on extending the Pie Ride 62 mile ride into a century. I also plan on doing a longer run after the Pleasant Prairie Open Water Swim.

May16th Beloit Biathlon
May 24th Madison Half Marathon
May 28th Fleet Feet Aquathon
May 30th ADA Tour De Cure 62 mile bike ride
June 14th Capital View Olympic Distance Tri
June 18th Fleet Feet Aquathon #2
June 20th Rotary Pie Ride 62 mile bike (riding extra to get 100 miles in)
June 27 - Prairie Springs Open Water challenge - Pleasant Prairie. (long run afterwards)
July 12th Pewaukee Sprint Tri
July 16th Fleet Feet Aquathon #3
July 18th Spirit of Racine Half Ironman Tri
August 1st- Festival of Summer Century Elkhorn, WI
August 6th Fleet Feet Aquathon #4
August 16th Pleasant Prairie International (olympic) Tri
August 20th Fleet Feet Aquathon #5
August 23 - Madison Open Water Swim. 2.4 mile open water swim around the IM course (running part of the IM marathon afterwards-or biking the IM course-or both)
September 13th Ironman Wisconsin-The big daddy.

Race schedule/Training

2009-04-20T20:01:00.005-05:00

Well I think I have figured out what I am going to do for events (I would call them races except I am really racing myself-I would love to say I am racing other people but right now I'm just happy to finish).

Along with these events, I still need to find at least 2 or 3 100 mile bike rides that fall on weekends where there are no other events.

May16th Beloit Biathlon
May 24th Madison Half Marathon
May 28th Fleet Feet Aquathon
May 30th ADA Tour De Cure 62 mile bike ride
June 14th Capital View Olympic Distance Tri
June 18th Fleet Feet Aquathon #2
June 20th Rotary Pie Ride 62 mile bike
June 27 - Prairie Springs Open Water challenge - Pleasant Prairie.
July 12th Pewaukee Sprint Tri
July 16th Fleet Feet Aquathon #3
July 18th Spirit of Racine Half Ironman Tri
August 1st- Festival of Summer Century Elkhorn, WI
August 6th Fleet Feet Aquathon #4
August 16th Pleasant Prairie International (olympic) Tri
August 20th Fleet Feet Aquathon #5
August 23 - Madison Open Water Swim. 2.4 mile open water swim around the IM course
September 13th Ironman Wisconsin-The big daddy.

Sounds like a lot but really it isn't. Most of it falls right in line with my Ironman training program anyways.

The aquathons are good open water swim practice and good practice stripping off the wetsuit. A few got cancelled last year because of blue-green algae and I suspect a couple will this year as well.

Training the last couple weeks has gone pretty good. I have gotten my mileage in. Just need to keep going.

Test

2009-04-18T20:47:00.002-05:00

Well folks let's see if this works. Blogging from my blackberry. Very interesting.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Nice week

2009-04-18T20:26:00.002-05:00

Well the totals are in

Run 22.47 miles
Bike 72.32 miles
Swim about 2 miles

For Ironweek 3 I think I am coming along pretty well. Hope to see some longer runs and longer bikes. Once Rockport pool opens up this summer, I will be able to swim in the 50 meter pool and that should lead to longer swims. Right now, swimming in a 25 meter pool pretty much sucks.

I had a couple longer runs this week and it hurt. I am looking forward to when they don't.

My weight is getting better. I am down about 25 pounds in the last 6 weeks. I still have a ways to go in all areas, but I'm getting better.

5 months to Ironman.

I'm so happy.....very very happy.

2009-04-03T23:52:00.002-05:00

I'm ready to ride now.

I need your help

2009-03-24T20:08:00.004-05:00

Jenny and I have decided to ride in the ADA Tour de Cure. It is a bike ride to raise money to help cure diabetes.

My brother Paul has been a Type 1 diabetic (insulin dependant) for about the past 6 years. His daughter (my niece) Sarah has been for about the past 8. She is currently a 6th grader. She has been giving herself insulin shots for more than half her life so far.

I am trying to raise 150 dollars (at least..but the minimum donations needed at 150) so that I can ride in their names at the end of May in Madison.

I appreciate everything everyone has ever done for me and I am very happy to have my health. I know times are tough and I don't want anyone to feel like they have to donate. I will ride whether I get enough donations or have to put my own money in.If you can give, please do. It tax deductible.

Here is the link to donate.

http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC318018030?px=4660838&pg=personal&fr_id=5604

My brother Paul and my niece Sarah. Some day there will be a cure. It might be your 2 bucks that does it.

Another week down already?

2009-03-22T19:50:00.003-05:00

Well it's Sunday again so it's time for the update: Let's get to it. No, wait.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT VOTED FOR ME IN STEVE'S CONTEST.

I am pretty sure I won. Steve will have results up tomorrow. Thanks.

Monday we biked outdoors 24 miles.
Tuesday I walked my dogs 3 miles
Wednesday, 4 mile run and then swam
Thursday indoor biked 20 miles
Friday/Saturday I didn't do much. We had a dinner party Saturday and prepped and cleaned.
Today I ran 6 miles.

I am down another 3 pounds so I have lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks. Right on target. I took more days off last week than I wanted to. Probably should have gotten a run in or something on Saturday. But that's how it goes.

I went to the bike shop today to see about my bike and it sounds like I should be expecting a delay. Seems that Quintana Roo is having a hard time meeting demand in our area. My Lucero may not be in for a couple more weeks. I did make sure that everything would be there and we would be able to get everything done.

Made some other decisions on the bikes.

Jenny is going to use Flash-point FP60 rear and FP40 front. I am going to use FP 60 for both front and rear

I am going to keep using the Shimano Ultegra pedals. I like them and they are what I have always used. Jenny is going to switch to Speedplay Zero pedals on both her bikes.
We are going to go with 105 rear cassette with 12-27. Should make it handy to have that extra gear for the hills if needed.

Going to run Michelin Pro Race Ironman tires on the Flash-points wheels.

Now the stuff just needs to come in so we can ride em

Numbers for the week to keep me honest-AND VOTE

2009-03-15T17:05:00.002-05:00

Here we go for the week Mon-Sunday

Run 20 miles
Bike 45 miles
Swim 1600 yards

Weight is down 6 pounds from last Sunday.

Finally went and got in the pool for an hour today. It went pretty good. I was able to sustain my stroke for a few hundred yards at a time and only stopped a couple times. I lunged some water and had foggy googles.

Running is starting to be good to me again. I think I will start doing 6 instead of 4 on days I can go outside. Biking is hopefully going to start being outside. Starting tomorrow. But I do anticipate some miles on the trainer for the next month too.

Oh and I am so ready for my new bike. 09 Quintana Roo Lucero with flash-point 60's for wheels. Should have it set up and ready to ride by April 1.

Would like to keep the weekly run at 20 or more and get the bike up to 100 within a few weeks. I will be swimming a couple miles a week for now too.

Things are coming around.

Oh and thanks to everyone who voted for me so far..remember to go to www.iwannagetphysical.blogspot.com and vote for me.

Mike is Lucero. AND I NEED YOUR HELP

2009-03-14T20:43:00.006-05:00

PLEASE READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH BECAUSE AT THE BOTTOM I NEED YOUR HELP.

Well the bike show went great. Jenny bought a 09 Quintana Roo Dulce LTD. It is in pink camo and it is sweet. We were able to bring it home.

Really nice bike.

I also picked up a 3 bike carrier Saris Bones rack. Now I can carry bikes on my car too.

And I rode a bunch of bikes myself. I rode all the ones I wanted to ride and the best cockpit was the Quintana Roo. It felt great. There will need to be a few adjustments with the stem and the aerobars need to be raised a hair.

I wanted the Caliente. But they said they couldn't get one for 2 months. So they did something very cool...the sold me a Lucero for the Caliente price. It was not in stock but will be in 2 weeks.

I also shelled out for 2 pairs of Flash Point FP 60 race wheels, cassettes and tires. I still need to buy pedals but all and all we should be all set.

IMWI. Here come the Wimmers.

HERE IS WHERE I NEED YOUR HELP.

Steve Stenzel has a virgin athlete contest and I wrote a small story about Jenny and myself and it made the top 10. Please go to his site starting tomorrow and vote for us to win. We have the chance to win 24 pairs of drymax socks.

You can either click here to go to his blog or go to www.iwannagetphysical.blogspot.com

Thanks to all.

AWWWWW CRAP

2009-03-14T08:43:00.002-05:00

Just when I thought I had it narrowed down, I find this on the net last night.

Now I have 4 bikes I need to ride to narrow it down.

Decisions.

2009-03-13T19:51:00.009-05:00

After deciding to buy a tri bike, I now have it narrowed down (I think).
We went to the bike o rama today and looked at some and after reading some on what's out there in my price range, I think these are the candidates.

08 Trek Equinox TTX 9.5

Pros- Excellent in the wind tunnel. One of the best. Very good for climbing. I have the same Aerobars on my Madone and I love them. I already own a Trek and have been impressed. Internally routed cables
Cons- It's 3 grand and it doesn't have race wheels. It only has Ultegra components. This bike would be 4 grand with race wheels.

08 Trek Equinox TTX 9.0

Pros- Same frame as the high end TTX. Good Aerobars. The price is great and would afford me the chance to buy race wheels and perhaps upgrade the rear derailleur. Internally routed cables.
Cons. Very cheap components. Shimano 105. The wheels would be good training but are not race wheels.

08 Orbea Ora

Pros- Middle of the road components. Ultegra. Price is right on to buy race wheels. Has the saddle I already love on it. Profile design brake levers.

Cons- Rates worst in wind tunnel. Wheels are not race wheels. Cables are not externally routed. Aero bars are too flat. I would want the bull horn style.

09 Felt B 12
This is the stock picture. I didn't see one at bike o rama.
Pros- Has everything. Ultegra components, race wheels, same frame as the 10 grand B2. Would not have to buy race wheels as this bike comes with it. Highly rated bike by many. This bike is not a left over either. It is an 09.

Cons- Aerobars are not very adjustable and are way too close together for me. They would need to be changed out to ones that fit me better. I would also have to buy some training wheels as I would not want to ride around here with any nice race wheels. The roads here are too bad. But training wheels are cheap.

Here are the race wheels I am looking at getting. The bike shop that has these bikes said they would do just over cost or close. Oh by the way that litespeed that the wheels were on was AWESOME.

Here is the bike Jenny saw and has not stopped talking about since we got home. Plus there are about 10 pictures of it.

Any of you tri people that can help me out with reviews, experiences, or know someone that knows someone that has these bikes, please let me know.

Right now I am leaning towards the Felt, but I am going to ride them all first. Fit is more important than anything and I know that for sure. Can't put thousands of miles on a bike if it is not comfortable.

IMWI here I come.

Weekly totals

2009-03-08T19:41:00.003-05:00

Sunday 17.45 miles on the bike
Monday 12.41 miles on the bike 2 miles run
Tuesday nothing
Wednesday treadmill 3 miles
Thursday 4.2 miles run outside
Friday 4.2 miles run outside
Saturday 1 hour elliptical

So I got 30 miles on the trainer, 13 miles of running and an hour of cross training. It's a pretty good start.

Today I did 22 miles on the indoor bike. I thought about going longer but I didn't. My legs felt fine but I stopped anyways. I get really soaking wet and my bike shorts stick. Hope it gets nice outside soon so I can ride outside. Always seems like I can go longer and its funner outside.

Eating has been good. Lost 5 pounds this week.

It's a start. Now I need another good week. Shamrock Shuffle for fun next weekend.

Keeping it in perspective

2009-03-05T19:00:00.002-06:00

Have had the crappy lung jelly, stuffy, achy crap but tried hard to shake it off. This is week 1 of my efforts toward IMWI. I did a really rotten job of it. I will admit that I have stuck to my diet VERY WELL. We shall see come Sunday when I step on the scale again how I did. Was able to get a couple indoor rides in this week and I think I did a treadmill run as well. Today it hit 60 out so I wanted to run WITH NO GLOVES OR HAT ON. I overdressed again with 2 shirts and a running jacket and running tights and running pants on the bottom and was roasting. Probably needed no jacket or no running tights.

I now realize I have to get out and put some miles in. My running is in the tank. Big time. Hills I used to run up and paces I used to be able to keep are gone. GONE. My heart rate was way higher than it should be. I realize it was a tough winter and my weight has gotten a bit out of hand so in perspective I should be happy. I need to take this one week at a time. I had no problems keeping a slow pace and making forward progress. When I got to some of the hills I let my weak mind take over and either slow to a walking pace or walked. Not a lot of walking but more than I want to.

No swimming. I had planned to swim 3 times this week but the pool got closed because of cloudy water and it did not respond to the chemicals. This sucks. They moved it to another pool tonight but it was 60 out. I was running outside. I already missed a week of swimming so we'll scrap the swim for the week. Next week will be 3 times.

In a way I am sort of pissed off. I worked so hard to lose weight before and I actually was able to run a lot and liked it. I did a half marathon in 2:20 and I was disappointed because I had gas in the tank at the end. I ran a 10K in a little over an hour. I could run a 28 min 5K. I could run an 11 min mile pace and keep my heart rate in the low 140's. That stuff is gone. I couldn't run a half marathon right now. I can barely do 5 miles. My heart rate stays in the 170's. I just want to punch myself in the face repeatedly.

I let the old eating habits creep back in and my lazy attitude has brought me back to a place I said I would never go to. I am frustrated and it gets to me. I am nowhere near mentally as tough as I need to be. I am starting to wonder if I am mentally strong enough to complete an Ironman. But for now I'm putting that part off in the distance and I will deal with the weight and getting in shape part first. The rest may fall in line.

If you see me running be sure to yell at me to get my ass moving and quit slacking. Apparantly I need the motivation.

Its on like Donkey Kong

2009-03-01T18:44:00.003-06:00

Well the time is now here for this guy to get in Ironman shape. In the past 3 years since I lost a lot of weight, I have fallen into some of the bad habits of old and even though I have kept fairly active (doing 2 half ironman tri's and a marathon last year), I have not done the things I know I need to do to get where I need to be. Workouts this winter have been almost non existant. A run here, couple hours on the bike there, another few miles on the treadmill here, a few swims, not near enough.

So there is no more excuses, no more not caring what I shove in my mouth, no more blowing off work outs, no more. It's done. I have a new focus now. I know what needs to be done. I have let my weight creep back up closer to 300 than 200 and that's not cool. I have approx 26 weeks until IMWI. 26 weeks. It's time to rock.

Ironman isn't supposed to be easy.

An hour on the trainer. 17.5 miles. Avg. Cadence 80

Duct tape and wire save the day

2009-02-21T10:55:00.007-06:00

Well woke up to a few inches of snow and then decided to go and snow blow. Got outside and fired up the Craftsman and after one pass, the cable for the drive broke.

I tried everything to get the two pieces back together to hold, I tried glue, epoxy, tape, and all kinds of stuff but it would keep pulling back apart.

Found some stranded wire and duct tape and went to work.

Sweet and even though the cable stretched it still got the job done.

Saved me a butt load of shoveling. Moral of the story...keep duct tape and wire handy at all times.

Tuesday/Wednesday

2009-02-18T20:48:00.002-06:00

Tuesday I was feeling like I was going to get sick, so I rested and relaxed. Wednesday I felt better so I did one hour on the treadmill at an easy pace. Once again I am not concerned with the distance, only keeping my heart rate fairly low and being able to feel good. Well I did feel good and I could have kept going but right now that's not in the plan.

Training

2009-02-16T20:05:00.003-06:00

Well I have started this week off pretty good. I will try to update more on here now that I have began to get down to some sort of business.

Goals for the week:

At least 6 hours on the bike-2 aerobic base building sessions and one hard one.

At least 15 miles of running

At least 2 days in the pool.

Don't eat crappy.

Last night I got a little over 2 hours on the bike at a heart rate between 140-150 the whole time. I was glad to do something to start the week.

Tonight I ran 45 mins on the treadmill. Not really concerned with distance but wanted to keep heart rate in the 150's. After that we grocery shopped and even the walking around was nice.

Eating has been pretty good. 700-900 Calories during the day and between 700-900 at night followed by popcorn. This does not include any G2 or other sports drink I consume during workouts or after.

Going to do my best to get more serious. I have a 10K this weekend with the SWAT group (just a friendly get together). Going to do the Shamrock Shuffle in about 4 weeks. Madison Half Marathon in May.

On another note.. I am loving my Blackberry. Jenny found the google mobile app and it works awesome for the reader and the google calendar. Anyone with any other good helpful apps, let me know. I want to get the most out of this device.

I am really looking forward to getting outside on the bike. 5-8 inches of snow tomorrow night and Wednesday.

The Blackberry that almost wasn't

2009-02-08T16:55:00.003-06:00

Well Friday I went to US Cellular with my wife and son (the other son was working). I had jokingly told everyone earlier in the day that I was taking a gun and if they were out of stock, someone was getting capped.

So we get there, get set up, tell her what we want, give her our old phones and she says come back in half hour. We go buy micro sd cards at Radio Shack and hang out for a few more minutes and go back to the store. She tells us that they only have 2 red ones left. I need 3. My wife and son think this is soooo funny. I tell everyone that nobody gets to use their until I get mine. Turns out there was another US Cellular across town that agreed to sell us the phone and let us do the contract at the other location. The wife went and got it. So everything turned out good. But for a little bit I was bummed. I thought I was going to have to wait.

It a pretty cool phone. And I can do facebook on the go now.

Outside Run

2009-02-06T14:30:00.003-06:00

Did the first outside run of 09. 4 miles in 50 minutes and that included a lot of slowing down, stopping and avoiding all the unshoveled and iced over walks. It sucked. I hate breaking rhythm and then trying to get going again. People that don't shovel are dicks. People that don't even try are big dicks. I know some of the ice can't be avoided because the snow melts during the day in the sun and then freezes at night. I wouldn't expect people to go out and break the ice off every day but some people have not even shoveled. They just let the snow get packed down by people walking. What a joke.

Heart rate way too high for a 4 mile run. I think it spent most of the last 3 miles in the high 150's or 160's. I know over time it will come down as I drop some kg, (impressed I threw out some british). I'd like to see my heart rate in the 140's at about a 10 min mile pace. Back in 07 I did a half marathon in 2:19 and kept my heart rate in that zone and felt great. I need to get it back to that point again.

I'm not running outside again until it is more clear. It was nice, don't get me wrong, but not safe. I skidded around about 10 times and almost went down twice and once was really close. I thought I hurt my bad knee too but it only twinged for a little bit and then stopped.

Trying to keep up to date and keep myself honest with the blog. My eating was great today too. Under 700 cals so far.

Update

2009-02-05T20:12:00.002-06:00

Well I see this blogger thing has gone by the wayside for me. I really have been doing more facebook stuff. It's easier and doesn't require a lot of effort. I like it. I have reconnected with many of my Parker High School classmates from 1986. It is great to see where some of them have landed. They are all over the country.

I have started to "rebuild" my base a bit in the past couple weeks after taking it pretty easy the last couple months.

I got back in the pool last night and swam 40 minutes. Just to get acclimated back to the pool. It was tough, I can't lie. I am looking forward to swimming more now. I have done a few treadmill runs and hope the weather breaks soon so I can get outside. I have a tough time running when the temps are cold. It hurts my lungs and I hate running with a thing over my face. I feel pretty good running. I know I have gotten a lot slower and I am o.k. with that for now. Slow and steady. The indoor biking has been pretty consistant of at least once a week and the last couple weeks I have stepped that up a bit and done a few times a week. I really feel good on the bike. I have been able to get my heart rate way up and maintain it. I hope this translates over to running.

On the weight part, I have not done great. I have let my weight creep back up but the last couple weeks have been pretty good. I try to eat 700-900 calories during the day and then between 700-1000 calories between dinner and popcorn. I also do all my working out at night so I think that helps. I have felt better in the last couple weeks and I look forward to taking these pounds off.

220 or under is my Ironman goal. I would really like to be 200 and I think that is possible. After the diet in September 06 I got down to 219. That was the lowest I have been. I graduated high school at 218.

Discipline. Right now I need discipline. I know I have 220 days until Ironman. I have a 26 week plan that starts in April.

I will continue to use my blog now to update my weekly workouts. You can follow me on facebook too.
Send me a friend request and let me know you are a blog reader and I will accept your friend request.

So far this week I have 7 miles of running, 40 minutes of swimming, and about 60 miles of running. My eating has been spot on. I will be getting on the scale at the end of Feb and start tracking my weight. Right now I want to focus more on my workouts and my eating and not my weight. Come March I will start thinking more about my weight and watching how it is effected by the workouts.

Long time with no post

2008-10-24T09:39:00.002-05:00

Time goes by fast.
Winter is closing in on us too. Starting to get pretty cold and it is dark by about 6pm now. I have been swimming a couple times, outdoor biked a couple times and outdoor ran a couple times but it looks more and more like indoor workouts will be taking over. Except the swimming which I will try to do twice a week but will probably be more like once a week.

I know everyone is dying to know so I will let you know that my son's football team failed to make the playoffs. They needed 5 wins to qualify and only got 4. They finished the season at 4-5.

Lucas was able to start and play every offensive snap in the past 5 games. I think if you were to ask him, he would say that overall he played pretty good. His team really struggled at times to get any offensive rhythm going and had a real tough time stopping anyone on defense. They had a few chances in a couple games to win but fell short.

Still a great season for him as a junior to start almost every game and earn his letter. I'm proud. I know he has the "team" mentality and while he might give himself a little slap on the back for making varisty, he would gladly sit on the bench and cheer his team if it meant they would have gone to the playoffs.

I took some film of him playing in every game and now I have to put it all together. I will post some of the highlights on my blog when I get it done.

J-Wim's 39th birthday is Saturday. I tease her that it makes her triathlon 40 after Jan 1st as you have to count your age at the end of the year during the season. Is that wrong?

V......V.... Victorious

2008-09-27T09:29:00.002-05:00

Last night's football game turned out to be an offensive battle. Lucas started at right guard and played every snap on offense.

First half was a struggle for Parker to get it going. We were able to score once but missed the extra point and went into the half losing 17-6. Sun Prairie thought they had the game in the bag at that point as they were running and passing at will on us and we seemed to have trouble making holes for the offense. Lucas said he was so nervous at first he couldn't focus and didn't know who he was supposed to be blocking at first.

Second half was a whole other story. While we still had trouble stopping them (they wound up with over 500 yards total offense), we kept them out of the end zone but intercepting one in the end zone and recovering a fumble.

Our offense got it going. Lucas and the rest of the O-line starting throwing people around and giving us time to throw too. But mostly we ran. We have a great running back combo with our fullback Tyler (who seriously lays people out when he blocks them) and Lavelle (who is fast and scored TD's on runs of 80,63,15 and 4 yards) in the second half. With the game still to be decided in the fourth quarter, Sun Prairie came back to within 5 points with 4 minutes to go but we took posession of the ball and on the first play Lavelle went 80 and Sun Prairie was done.

You can either go to www.vikeswtst.com or www.gazetteextra.com and read about the game and see some pictures.

Lucas played very well overall and for the first time ever I saw him get really emotional on the side line when the offense was struggling. He was just doing some primal screaming to let some of his anger out. Football is a game of emotions and it is tough to keep yourself jacked up and ready.
I think he did a good job of keeping himself fired up and it showed in the second half.

With the game out of reach I saw the smiles that we are used to seeing from him and Parker needed this win badly after losing its last 2. Sun Prairie defeated Middleton last week so there are no more undefeated teams in our conference. Parker needs to beat cross town rivals Craig next weekend. I hope things play out and Lucas stays in and does not go back to the bench. I am unsure of the status of the injured guys he replaced.

Final score Parker 35 Sun Prairie 23.

Conference standings:
Middleton 4-1 (play them at our house last game of the year week 9)
Madison West 4-1 (we lost to them already in week 3)
Verona 4-1 (we lost last week to them week 4)
Parker 3-2 (and moving up)
Craig 3-2 (we play them next weekend week 6)
Sun Prairie 3-2 (we beat them last night week 5)
Beloit 1-4 (we beat them week 1)
Madison East 1-4 (we beat them week 2)
Madison Lafollette 0-5 (we play them week 7)
Maison Memorial 1-4 (we play them week 8)

Schedule is in our favor the rest of the way as we play Craig (we both play at Monterey so it is basically a home game even though we are the away team)

2 teams Lafollette and Memorial that are struggling (one home game, one away game) and then conference leader and the 8th ranked team in the state Middleton at our house for the last game of the regular season.

We just need to win and let everything else shake itself out. It will be a great game next weekend and I hope we can win. 6-2 at the end of the year and conference champs would be sweet.

The payoff

2008-09-25T19:43:00.004-05:00

When you work really hard, good things are supposed to happen. Everyone always tells you to keep your head up. Work hard, and don't ever give up. You can reach your goals.

My son has busted his ass for 3 years starting the summer before his freshman year. Weight lifting all summer, football in the fall, weight lifting all school year, football camp (two per summer), Sunday night passing league football, weight lifting and conditioning 4 days per week in the summer for the last 2 years. Track in the spring throwing the shot and still lifting weight after track practice every day. Always willing to do whatever needed to be done. Willing to sit on the bench and cheer his team mates on. And I know it was frustrating at times to sit on the bench but he did.

Tomorrow night at 7:30pm my son Lucas will be the starting right guard for Parker High Schools varsity football team.

Have fun Lucas. You have worked harder for this than ANYONE. You totally deserve to start. You can be as great as you want to be. Don't worry so much about letting your team mates down, don't let yourself down. Play like the champion you are.

Work hard. Keep working hard. Every down, every play.

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."

Lance Armstrong

"It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it."
John Wooden

"Losers quit when they're tired. Winners quit when they've won."

Take it to em tomorrow night and no matter what...We are proud of you.

Bike Time Trial #1

2008-09-24T19:59:00.002-05:00

I have decided to start doing time trial bike rides once in awhile for training. To be honest, sometimes when I bike it just feels like biking and not really training. I know base bike miles are important so even though I don't feel like I have been productive on those days, I know I have.

Anyway, tonight I mapped out a 27 mile route. Fairly hilly, with some nice long straights thrown in there.

Mineral point to Willowdale road, west to Rockport, Rockport to Hayner, Hayner to Tripp, right on Tripp, left on Kessler, left on Johnson, left on Plymouth Church, left on Afton, left onto Tripp and then right on Hayner and then Rockport to Willowdale to Mineral Point and back to the hizzouse. 27 miles with just over 1000 feet of climbing. Really short hills but most are pretty steep. Especially on the way back. It is all uphill for the last 15 miles for the most part.

I felt pretty good and actually gave enough effort where I thought I was going to puke once. I averaged 18 MPH which is really good considering that I have only biked twice before in the last month.

I know I really need to become a better hill climber. I totally concentrated tonight on sweeping at the bottom of the pedal stroke and also at the top of the pedal stroke. I think it helped. I was able to maintain some speeds around 22 for extended periods. Overall very happy with my ride.

I am thinking of doing a time trial every couple weeks from now until it gets too cold. Same route.

Now I need to get the running going. I probably should have bricked tonight but I didn't.

It's been 19 great years-Happy Anniversary

2008-09-23T01:00:00.005-05:00

Wow I can't believe it has been that long. Oh how things have changed (and stayed the same)

I really was pretty sure that you were not going to marry me. You looked amazing in that wedding dress.

Yep you just pretty much said I do, I will and now I have just glued myself to you.

One of the billion times we have kissed over the years. They have all been pretty awesome.

As the years went by we stuck together and I can't even tell you how much fun it has been.

I can't believe we kept a straight face during that wedding. Remember? We were laughing pretty hard right before this picture was taken.

Remember the Mr. Magoo weddding? !!!!!

Over the years we watched your sisters and my brother and some of our friends get married. It was sort of hard to watch some of them get divorced too. (except for Michele and Jeff-must be because I set them up:))

And we kept on plugging along. Together. The years went by pretty fast at times and some dragged on and on and yet we seemed to continue to get closer.

Losing all the weight with you was pretty amazing. I think that brought us even closer.

And now it has grown into athletics too. Once again bringing us closer and giving us even more in common than we already have.

Sometimes I tell myself this achievement award was for you putting up with me for all those years but it really was because you dominated me on that course that day. (At least on the bike).

You have given me more fun and a life I could never have had if you had said no. It probably would have been wiser for you to marry someone with a job and who wasn't living in their mom's basement....but you said yes and I am glad you did.

You have been the best mom to both our sons and they would not have turned out to be good kids (so far-LUCAS) without your love and support and willingness to do whatever it took.

I totally am still in love with you and I am not sure how I got so lucky. But I did.

Happy Anniversary J-Wim.

I can't wait to see what another year brings. I will do my best to make you laugh as much as I can. Oh and we signed up for this thing called IRONMAN. Right before our 20th anniversary.

You're the best.

It is all relevant

2008-09-20T11:04:00.008-05:00

Last night after work and picking up our favorite nephew, we headed up to Verona (yes right on the IM WI bike course) for Parker High Schools varsity game. As we got into the car to go, I asked J-Wim about bringing the camera/camcorder. She said that if he was to get in, she would rather watch and enjoy it than worry about getting pictures (it is kind of hard to follow what else is going on in the game when you are only focused on your kid). I agreed.

So we drive up there (and totally are thinking all about Ironman bike course) and we get our seats and our nephew stocks up on candy and pop (cause good uncles make sure there is never a shortage of pop and candy on my watch) and we settle in for the game. My nephew was awesome at foot stomping in the stands to fire up the team. He yelled and screamed for Lucas when he was in there too. Fun times.

Anyone who has followed this blog knows my son does not play much varsity. He is good enough and if someone ever comes out, he goes in but most of the time it is for a shoe coming off or a helmet part breaking and then he comes right out.

Lucas had informed us that Parkers starting center (a 6'1 245 pound sophomore) took a line drive from a softball to the face in gym class (and after seeing the damage on this kid it must have been a direct hit to the nose/eye area cause it's nasty) and could not practice or play for at least 2 weeks. I asked him if that meant he was in. Nope. Another senior kid (who is good and can play center and Lucas has never played center) was starting.

Verona takes their first 2 drives in for TD's. One was a 84 yard run too. Parker struggled on offense at first. I see Parkers center start to limp a little bit. Soon after I hear one of the coaches yelling for Lucas. He's in. They tape up this other guy's ankle and he goes in for one play and he's done. Lucas is in and not coming out. This is the thing I have been telling him all year-be ready. When your number comes up, don't give them a reason to take you out.

He played the rest of the game at right tackle. Parkers starting right tackle (who is very good and pretty big) moved to center.

Yes I know it looks like he is blocking in the back but he let up because this kid beat him on this play (which Lavelle #28 the running back broke #84's tackle and ran loose for a score)

We drove down and scored, missed the extra point, went down and scored again and missed the 2 point conversion. Lucas played a very very good game. He matched up against #84 and #88 (who was listed as 6'2" and 240 and was a senior captain) and won a lot of the battles. In fact they ran the ball 5 or 6 straight times behind him and the tight end (who Lucas calls Mr. Upper body because the kid has biceps like a body builder) and they would double team #88.

We lost 14-12 and I am not going to say we did not have chances to win because we did, but the refs in this game were probably the worst I have ever seen in my 20 years of watching prep football. Here are my reasons:

1- At the start of the game as we were set to kick off, they just stopped the action and waited...for nothing. They just stood there waiting. For minutes and minutes.

2- They did a do over. That is right. A do over. Verona tried a fake punt that failed and got fumlbed out of bounds and they couldn't figure out what to do (there was an obvious illegal man down field penalty as well) so they let them punt again. A do over.

3- There was twice in the game where they took an offical time out and it took so long, they let both teams take water. Both times we had momentum. Neither team had called time out. They just stopped the action. It was 50 degrees out and not hot. It's not like they needed a water break.

4- I have never saw so many messed up measurements for first down. It seemed like they did it almost every first down that was within 3 yards (and some were that far away). Make the call already and quit making the offensive teams lose momentum and giving the defense time to rest.

5- There was a so called fumble that was in no way, shape or form a fumble. The kid was down, whistle blown, everyone stopped and a Verona kid rips the ball away and one of the refs let the fumble rule stand.

6- So many missed holding calls (for both teams), blocks in the back (see above picture) and other times where the penalty was obvious.

7- I swear these guys stopped the action and had a conference at least 15 times during the game when there never seemed to be any reason.

I know these guys do their best and maybe they just had an off day and I understand that. I am only stating that the refs did a very bad job last night and someone should have to at least go through the tape and explain what was going on to someone. It was bad. Lucas took the loss hard. Especially since the so called fumble came after we recovered a fumbled punt and we were driving to score (we were inside their 20).

But today was the JV game and Lucas was told not to play. He lifted weights, and cheered on the JV team when he was done (JV played Waunakee and got destroyed. Waunakee looked like they were from a whole other level. I bet they had 400 yards rushing today).

Coach told him he watched film on him last night and saw some good things, and some things that needed work but to be ready because they were probably going to need him come next Friday vs. Sun Prairie here at Monterey Stadium.

So needless to say he is on cloud 9. His last 10 years has been all about Parker Varsity Football. Congrats Lucas.. you have worked hard and earned it and I had several parents come up to me at the JV game and had noticed he got in and commented on how good he did.

"Don't give them a reason to take you out."

Good news is all the undefeated teams in the conference lost last night so there are 4 teams at 3-1 and we sit at 2-2.

PS Thanks Ron Shelton for the pictures. You can go to http://www.vikeswtst.com/ to see more pictures and a link to the story from the local paper on the game.

Well it happened

2008-09-18T21:21:00.002-05:00

J-Wim started a facebook page and then I did. More addicting, time consuming, blogging on steroids. I had no idea what to expect. Now everyone wants to be your friend, you shoud be their friend and there are all this little gadgets and games. And people you have not thought about or have seen in years that all of a sudden pop up.

Pirate said it best. "Welcome to the crack house"

IMWI Volunteer Report 2008

2008-09-10T17:54:00.016-05:00

Warning this sucker is going to get LONG.
Well my mother from North Carolina arrived Friday (she wanted to volunteer as watching IM Live last year on the PC totally made her addicted to IM) and since I have not seen her in 9 months it was nice. I worked until 5 and after work we hustled to Madison to watch my son's varsity football game (which they won). I saw the sign up for McCoy Road exit being closed Sunday so I was already seeing signs of IM and loving every second of it.

We got back about 11 and crashed and got up early Saturday to go the volunteer meeting. We got there and found our spots and listened to the instructions and got our shirts and wristbands. Cool shirts too. We then wandered around Monona Terrace (bought a cool shirt that says Triathlons are for people who can't handle drugs and alcohol) and looked around. Heard someone say "blogger?" Turned around and holy smokes batman...none other than the great Taconite Boy himself. In town to strip evil from Madison (and hot Iron Maidens from their wetsuits).

Here is said Taconite Boy at his assigned volunteer duty station. Notice said cool shirt too.

Had a chance to talk and he said he was here to cheer on his buddy (who I believe qualified for Kona) and do some volunteering at his specialty.

We then headed out to the farmers market and walked around, ate spicy cheese bread, cheese curds, and cookies from the Amish guys. Continued to walk around and check out stuff and watched more athletes arrive and check in their bikes. We met some folks and their families for dinner and after a long day went back to Janesville to sleep and prepare. Who am I kidding. You don't sleep much the night before Ironman. You just don't. So up early and head to Monona Terrace to get a good spot for the swim start. Got to see Brian and Alison before the swim start. Alison got her Wimmer hugs in before the race and we told them how awesome it was going to be to watch them. We went over by the bike path and got a spot for the swim start and BOOM off they went.

We went up top and watched above for awhile and then headed to the swim out to wait. I suck at finding people and missed everyone but Alison and Johnny B. Heard Mike Wolfgrams name right as he was coming out. I looked at my watch and smiled because I knew he was right on time and had a pretty good swim. Alison at the swim finish.

After we saw Alison, we moved to a spot where we could see their faces coming out of the water and I still missed everyone else. Got to see Taconite Boy in action and let me tell you ....AWESOME. That guy peeled people out FAST. I saw him grab his hammy and thought maybe he needed some 911 but hell no...he kept at it.

Superhero Fo Sho.

After we missed a bunch of people we headed up to watch Kitty come out of the bike out and send her on her way.

We drove the few minutes out to Timber Lane (one of the bigger hills) so we could watch our "flock" come up and be slow enough to encourage them and take some pictures. Right when we got there, the leader was heading by already. We hung out for about 3 hours and got to see everyone once. Darin, Brian, Alison, Jeff, CJ, Kitty and I even saw Mike Wolfgram go by. Of course I got pictures of the front of everyone except Mike. I had his number transposed in my head and when he got like 2 feet away from me I said "I know that guy" to myself and then I realized it was him. I yelled to him to keep it going. He was cruising pretty good, even uphill. The guy is a great athlete.

Darin on the bike

At 1:30 we went back to Monona Terrace for our bike catcher duties. It was a great job. I got to run bikes out to the racks for an hour and a half and then I moved up in line and starting handing bikes off from people taking them from the athletes to those who were actually doing the racking. I saw a few of the people I was watching come in. I yelled at Alison (who did great on the bike-but she didn't hear me-the music was really cranking). I grabbed this one guys bike and pushed it to the rack and the rear tire blew as I was racking it. How lucky for that guy. I didn't do anything to cause it to pop and that sucker went HISSSSSSSS. I GOT TO TOUCH ALL KINDS OF KICK ASS BIKES. I was coveting so bad. Of all the bikes I lifted, I would have to say the Orbea Ora was the lightest. I bet 60% of the bikes were Cervelo and about the same percentage had Zipp wheels on them. I wonder why? Then one of the coolest things I have ever seen happened. It was like 5:28 (Cut off is 5:30) and the head of our volunteer department went to the helix to see if there was anyone in the helix and THERE WAS. One guy at the bottom. All of us went NUTS. I never yelled so loud in my life. I thought my throat was going to burst. It was quickly decided that they would let the guy ride his bike over the mat because it was going to be CLOSE. He got to the top of the helix and everyone was waving and yelling and he put the HAMMER DOWN and crossed with 2 seconds to go. He locked up his brakes and stopped and we were all cheering him into T2. It was just unreal cool.

We saw all our SWAT friends cross except Kitty. She did not make the bike. She trained so hard and this was her 3rd attempt at IMWI and all 3 times she just could not make the bike cutoff. I felt really bad. She is such a great lady and she trained really hard.

We finished our shift and headed over to State St. to get some pizza. We had not hardly eaten all day. As soon as we started walking over there I saw Darin completing the first part of his run at the turn around.

We went into the cool pizza place (they have mac and cheese pizza and it really has mac and cheese on it) and got a couple slices and I was hoping we would not miss anyone and just then Brian goes by. So I ran back outside and got pictures of Brian, Jeff, Alison who were all with about a half hour of each other.

After a while, I see a EVO TRI singlet go screaming on by. It was none other than Michelle "RURAL GIRL"

We yelled "Go rural girl" She probably thought we were drunk but we weren't. Just getting tired.

After awhile, CJ came by (she did the whole IM with a torn labrum and she finished with 6 minutes to spare). She had nothing but the biggest smile on her face the whole day. It never changed. It was so cool.

Finally everyone started coming by for their last mile. Jeff, then Darin, then Brian, then Alison and then CJ. What an amazing day for them.

I was shot. I took over 500 pictures and walked a lot and stood a lot and I was ready to drive home and get some sleepy time. So we did.

My mom did awesome at helping and I think she got a lot out of the experience.

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS COOL.

We the volunteers got first priority to sign up for IMWI 09. So we got up and went back to Monona Terrace (we drove back and forth to Madison like 5 times over the weekend) got in line in the rain (just like last year-IMWI weather was awesome and the next day it was 15 degrees cooler and raining). We signed up. It is official. BigMike and J-Wim will spend the next 12 months swimming, biking, running, wondering what the hell we signed up for, loving my bike, hating my bike, loving to run, hating to run, swimming good, swimming poor, and everything in between.

I need this experience. So many of you have it and Bigun summed it up and that did it for me. He said that whatever it takes to be able to take that journey you need to do it. It is something that if you can do it, you should. The way he wrote it and summed it up for him sealed the deal for me. I want to be able to say I did it. I want to be an Ironman (and J-Wim wants to be an Iron Maiden).

As soon as I signed up this funny voice in my head said "Richard, what'd you do?" I'm not really sure but I think I just signed up for IMWI.

IMWI 08.....IMWI 09

2008-09-09T16:49:00.005-05:00

Well just a short post and I should be able to get everything together for my volunteer review and I have over 500 pictures I took.

A huge shout out to Taconite Boy who was there stripping wetsuits and doing an amazing job. This guy has sick skills at wetsuit peeling. Except he pulled his hammy a little bit.

Another shout to Roman and his wife. She completed the course and I ran into him on State Street while watching runners go by. That guy doesn't age. Every time I see him he looks identical to the last time.

A big congrats to all the SWAT folks who got it done. Ric, Johnny, Darin, Jeff, Brian, Alison and CJ (who did the whole thing on a torn labrum and made it with 6 minutes to go..yeah that's one tough lady)

The volunteering was SWEET. I won a 50 dollar Dicks Sporting Goods gift card at the volunteer dinner last night and my wife and my mom keep trying to get me to say I love Dick's but I won't do it. They somehow think that is one of the funniest things ever.

Anyway just to let everyone know. I got my ass in line at Monona Terrace at 9AM and J-Wim and I are signed up. I want to see just what everyone has gone through and I want to experience that too.

So IMWI 09 here we come. I'll be ready. We'll be ready. I heard it sold out in like 30 minutes after being opened up on line.

Give me few more days and I'll get some pictures up and get my thoughts together.

SHOWTIME!!

2008-09-03T20:00:00.003-05:00

Well a quick update:

Parker dominated Beloit on the varsity level last Friday night. 28-6. Lucas was hoping to rotate in with the varsity line but it was not to be. He got in on special teams for extra points and then when the score was 28-0 he got in for a few series in the fourth quarter with some of the varsity guys. Not was he was hoping. I know he has worked very hard and there is a fine line between jv and varsity. But he did get in and in there happened to be an injury or someone is playing very poorly, who know. He is only a junior and I know that football is really fun for him no matter what. If he gets into the varsity starting line up then so be it, if not this year then I don't see how he can't be next year. So we got up early Saturday and headed down to Monterey Stadium and watched him start and dominate in JV. Parker ran the ball behind him and some other kids and really took it to them. 48-6 was the final score. They did a lot of running behind #55 and he had a good game.

ONTO TRIATHLON

Well folks, Sunday is IMWI. Lots of people rolling in, course getting set up, and there are stories in the news every day. I have all my ducks in a row for volunteering and the SWAT folks doing IMWI are all ready. I can't wait. My mom is coming in to volunteer and we are going to do a bunch of stuff on Saturday too. Last year was great and I learned a lot watching others. Some of what to do and some of what not to do.

All systems seem go for sign up IMWI 09. I can't lie that I am scared about it. I really need to focus and really prepare hard. This is no joke. You can not fake your way through an Ironman. My physical fitness needs to be great. My weight needs to be less than 215. My training needs to be thorough. I can't only be comfortable in fair weather and no winds. I have to thrive in waves and heat, or rain or wind. I must be totally prepared. I should be o.k. for the swim, the bike is scary and if I do not have a stellar bike, then I may not have enough time to do the run. I see many, many, many bricks in my future. Some very long ones too.

I will take Mike Wolfgrams advice and use Joel Friels training bible. I think I just spelled his name wrong too, sorry. I will come up with a training plan and I will stick with it.

I KNOW I CAN DO IT and now it's time for my mind to put up or shut up and make my body do what needs to be done.

I will keep you posted on signing up. Right now it's a go. IMWI 09. Big Mike and J-Wim. (Oh and IMWI 09 is on Sept 8 and our 20th anniversary is Sept 23 next year)

Now we need to enjoy the next few weeks, then get a good plan and start training. Everyone on my blog roll, all those who have posted during their IM adventures, and those who have allowed me to train with them have really inspired me. I have the desire to complete IMWI. I want it. I need to feel what some of you have felt and caused me to wonder how it feels and what you went through. I need it.

Stay tuned.

So you think you are mentally and physically tough?

2008-08-27T09:56:00.002-05:00

Go check this guy out. Now I have not done an Ironman yet, but I firmly think I would rather do Ironman any day than this.

www.clydeologist.blogspot.com

Be sure to watch the video at mile 80.

Scrimmage report/Open water swim race

2008-08-25T09:01:00.003-05:00

Friday (early) we headed to Mequon, WI to watch the 4 team scrimmage. 20 plays of offense and 20 plays of defense against each team.

Weather was supposed to be raining and cloudy and it actually never rained and only was partly cloudy.

Parker did it's best to hold it's own and I think overall they did pretty good. Coach used this as a player evaluation only because he only ran very basic plays. Nothing fancy. Runs up the middle, runs off tackle and a few pass plays. Parker was better than Kettle Moraine, about even with Sheboygan South and Mequon showed why it went to the state title game 2 years in a row having won 2 years ago. They were pretty good and already looked very sharp.

Lucas held his own, got off the ball good, had very good footwork on passing plays, and did pretty good on running plays. A penalty for block in the back (that upon review of photos and video I shot-really was a bad call) and one play where some guy with long ape arms got his arms on Lucas and was able to shed the attempted block and make the play. Right in front of the coach too. Lucas just couldn't think fast enough to knock his arms off him. Learning experience and it won't happen again.
Lucas subbed in with the 2nd team and hopefully he gets to play more on Friday night with the varsity. I think he will.
This Friday it all counts. Parker at Beloit at 7:30. We have no more non conference games in our conference since we went to 10 teams. Every game counts.

I KNOW coach Dye will not use basic plays Friday night. We will do some different things.

I'm freaking fired up for football.

Saturday we went and watched the Madison Open Water Swim 2008 race. They set up the Ironman swim course and have a 1.2 mile non wetsuit race, a 2.4 mile wetsuit race and a masters 2.4 mile non wetsuit race where you can get nationally ranked if you do well.

Alison, Brian, CJ and Phil did the 2.4 mile wetsuit. It was really calm and very nice out. It did drop rain for a few seconds and there was some distant lightning but nothing terrible.

Alison did 1:09 and finished 7th overall and 2nd woman. The winning guy was 51 minutes. He was way out in front of everyone.

The winning 2.4 mile masters swimmer was at 46 minutes. 46 and no wetsuit. That was pretty amazing.

Took several big naps this weekend. My body was tired. Slept in on Sunday too. Have not done any training this week. After 2 half irons I needed a break.

Now I am starting to shift into Fall mode a little bit. Starting to really watch my diet beginning this week and going to start to do more run focus. Also have looked up some swim drills to start working on my form and speed at the 25 yard indoor pool. The bike is what it is. As long as I put it on the trainer this winter we will be good. We do have another 100 miler set up for end of September so I am not done biking outside yet, just going to do more running and the lap swimming is easy and pretty fun so I enjoy going there as often as I can. Plus now it is going to get cold in the evenings. Daylight savings is just around the corner so darkness will start to effect what we can do outside.

Man the summer went fast.

Time for Friday Night Lights

2008-08-20T09:56:00.005-05:00

Well...Here we go again. This Friday at 10AM the Parker Vikings travel to Mequon to take on Mequon Homestead(state runner up), Sheyboygan South (perennial powerhouse) and Kettle Moraine in a 3 way scrimmage. (I, of course, took the day off work to go and watch and get some more video and photo of my 16 year old).

I have been very proud of how hard my son has worked in the past year to be ready for this season.

He ended last year at 5' 10" and around 210. He grew to 6' and was able to put on almost 20 pounds of muscle. He lifted weights and did conditioning 3 days a week for 2 hours a day during the winter and in spring he did track and after track practice was over he stayed after practice to lift. During the summer he participated in the summer workouts which were 2 hours a day 4 days a week.

I used to be able to pick him out so easy on the field. He was one of the smallest kids on the line (J-Wim to this day still can't ever seem to pick him out and in fact she would put some sort of marker on him if she could) and I never had issues with being able to tell what was going on.

Now he is one of the bigger kids and in his pads, I can only tell if it is him by the 55, his number. It is kind of strange to have to work so hard to pick him out of a group. Something I am not used to.

He has been fascinated with playing varsity football since he started in Janesville Youth Football in 4th grade. Going to watch Parker football on Friday night was really fun for us to do as a family. We watched Parker lose to a Kenosha team back in like 03 or 04 with a trip to the state title game on the line. Everyone was crushed. That team was great and had a very good running back.

2 years ago when he was a freshman, we watched Parker (which was ranked #1 in the state) get beat after fighting so hard to take the lead (on 2 unreal 4th down plays that I will never forget as long as I live). Another crushing blow. Last year as a sophomore he got to dress for the playoff game that they lost to Kenosha Bradford. He saw some of the seniors get very emotional and I think he realized how much some kids put into a sport that will end with high school for most kids.

Lucas has been his own personal motivator (even though he is only a junior)- this is something he has been preparing for and as a kid, I never had this sort of motivation or desire to do anything but hang out with my friends and go lookin for chicks. It makes me very proud that he has a good work ethic and success is suppose to happen for people who work hard.

I jokingly ask all the football kids I see if they are going to win state. I know J-Wim hates it, but Lucas and I have watched Friday Night Lights about a hundred times and that line is in there over and over. My point being...you first have to believe that you can accomplish something. If you doubt or waver from that, you have opened the door enough where you may start thinking you can't do it. Then you have to put the time and effort into making yourself ready. Then have the confidence.

Lucas believes he will be varsity and they will win state. No question about the time and effort. He keeps telling me he can kick my ass so the confidence is there (at least attempting to beat up a 41 year old guy-not sure about 17 and 18 year old linemen).

I know Lucas will be focused and is ready to do whatever it takes. Only time will tell.

I will keep everyone posted.

Pigman Half Iron Race Report

2008-08-18T12:45:00.014-05:00

Friday night we got all our stuff together for the most part so that we could double check everything over Saturday morning. I washed the car and cleaned out the Diet Coke pop can mountain (just kidding dear) and washed the windows good. Saturday we got everything together, got the dogs dropped off at the sitter (yes we hired a dog sitter) and got on our way to Cedar Rapids IA about 11AM. 3 hour uneventful drive (for me anyways) and we were at the Marriott where packet pick up was and where we were staying too. We checked into the hotel and took our stuff up to the room and went to packet pickup. Water temp 79. We got a lot of stuff in the bag. A cool dry max T shirt, water bottle, some other coupons and a hammer gel and some weird breakfast cookie and other stuff. We decided to go down to the venue and check it out.

We drove the 10 miles to the race in Palo, IA and went down to the water. We put on our swim suits with the intention to swim. We got in the water and it was warm. It felt great and looking around the lake, I felt pretty good. We did not swim but just got our feet wet and walked around. We then went out and decided to drive the bike course. I thought it looked really bad. Very hilly and I don't know if any of you have ever been to Iowa, but out in the country, there are highway roads that are paved with gravel shoulders and then the side roads are all gravel. So this meant that we were biking on highways with no shoulders open to traffic. SWEET. I was a little freaked at all the hills. I knew I wanted to save some gas for the run so I was already coming up with a strategy. Little chain ring most of the time and coast the downhills. I hoped it would not set me back too far. I did a 3 hour bike in Racine and wanted to try to do the same. Based on what the course looked like, I did not see it happening.

We got back to the hotel and went and met Blog Royalty Tri-Dummy and his wife and kids. It was nice to see them again. I had not seen them since IMWI last year. We had a very enjoyable dinner and hung out for a couple hours. I wanted to get back to the room and get everything prepped so we agreed we would see each other tomorrow in transition.

We went back to the room and got our bikes ready (no check in the night before which I thought was strange). I got my food packed (uncrustable PB&J, and some strawberry newtons and some gels). No fridge in the room so I made water bottles and put them in a cooler and got it full of ice. We surfed the net for a while (at 10 bucks a day-Marriott sure knows how to charge you-they had a litre bottle of water on the counter that said "Go ahead and drink me but it will cost you 4 bucks if you do") and then tried to set the alarm clock. That thing was super hard to figure out. J-Wim set her phone and we sacked out. She woke me at 4:40 saying that none of the alarms had gone off and she just woke up...YIKES. I was sleeping pretty good so I don't think I would have gotten up.

Got everything loaded in the car and settled up for the room and we went down to the venue. On the ride down there it hit me. I know why I am so afraid of the swim. Not because I don't think I can but because I am afraid to fail. I would rather not try than try and fail and have to face my family and friends only to tell them I gave up. In that few minutes it all became pretty clear to me that I need to get over feeling like I can't tell someone I failed. I know all my friends and family will still feel the same about me if I don't succeed. I felt a lot better about myself in the 15 minutes we were in the car. I pretty much gave myself my own psychology session. How weird is that.

Got body marked and transition set up. I was wearing my wetsuit no matter what so I got that out too. Then an announcement came over that said water was 77 and wetsuits would be allowed. COOL as now I won't be the only one wearing mine. I went and looked at the swim course and instantly began to feel insecure. We went and talked to Tri-Dummy and check out his bike and get his thoughts. He was pretty relaxed. We wished him luck and went and got the suits on. Went down to the water and got in and swam around for a little bit and I was really surprised at how buoyant I felt. It was nice to swim in warm water. The course seemed really big but here I was about to do the swim. No turning back. We listened to the pre race meeting stuff and it was time for elites to go. They started in one big wave and the rest of us were going to go every 3 seconds. We got corraled into big waves based on your age or division. Clydesdales and Athenas all went next. That would include me. I got lined up. J-Wim was right in front of me and there I was in the water now. Start swimming. I felt really good. I was not scared about not making it and I just swam. A bit crooked at times. J-Wim yelled my name once and I was going way off course and was able to correct myself. I got to the turn buoy and just kept going. I had a great swim. My fears and doubts are done. One time I did get a nasty gas/oil exhaust taste but that may have been from the jet ski that the volunteers were using to keep us safe. My goggles fogged so I was bumming on that but I could see good enough. After what seemed like a really long time, I turned at the last buoy and started for shore. I did it. 53:30 for a 2:32 per hundred pace. Not fast but I did it. I ran up to transition.

I AM NOW A TRUE TRIATHLETE.

At transition I saw J-Wim. She was about a full minute ahead of me. I was so discombobulated at this point. I was trying to focus and really couldn't. I got my stuff together and got on the bike 8:45 transition. Not really sure except that I had a trouble with the wetsuit and I just felt all fuzzy. No big deal. I'm only racing myself and for this distance, I need to be sure I have not forgotten anything. Nope. All good.

Bike really was not as bad as I thought, but still bad. It was really hilly and I really tried not to go too hard. I should have gone harder though. I wanted to be able to run the whole run. So I little chain ringed it for almost the whole ride. I ate a PB&J, some newtons and drank a ton. The bike course was on highways (not closed to traffic) and had no shade. It started to get hot. The bike always goes so fast for me. But not today. By mile 50, I wanted off my bike. My profile design seat mounted drink holder lost a screw and one bottle was hanging upside down rubbing my leg. So I grabbed that bottle and held it for the last 6 miles. I was a little bit disappointed in my bike performance. I should have gone harder and saved less for the run. I rolled into transition and the announcer says "Here comes Mike Wimmer from blah blah blah and he weighs 140 pounds and says he is wearing his wetsuit no matter what". WTF. I filled out some questionnaire and led him to my blog. He missed the point for sure. Bike time 3:32:34-15.8MPH average. A full half hour slower than SORT half iron bike. I was hot as F at this point too. I had already drank down 6 -24oz bottles of endurance formula Gatorade and Powerade (which was provided and tasted amazing by the way). I took forever to get going on the run but I knew it was going to suck. Transition 2 was 6:56. Not stellar but I was already watching people finish so I knew where my place was. I just needed to be ready. Put on SPF 15 sunscreen in T2 and I am not sure I used enough or was too sweaty or what but it failed big time.

The run went pretty good. I was able to run the downhills and flats (slowly but faster than walking) and kept a heart rate of between 140- 155 the whole time. I knew if I didn't I would be walking. There was a ton of stinky rotten roadkill that we had to run by. At least 10 unidentifiable piles of bones and flesh that smelled sooooo bad. I wish they would have picked them up. We went out 6.5 miles and then back. I got to mile 4 or 5 and saw Tri-Dummy and wished him well and told him to have a safe drive home. I asked him how he was doing and he said tired. I think the heat got to everyone that was still on the course after 5 hours or so. I got to the turn around and J-Wim was only a mile and a half back of me. Yeah. It was nice to see her. It was so blasted hot. I was drinking a 24oz bottle of powerade with ice in my water bottle every mile. So I downed about 12 more bottles on the run. Never went pee until I got home at 8pm. So I drank 18-24oz bottles of fluid and did not pee once. YIKES. THAT IS OVER 3 GALLONS OF LIQUID. We're good now though. I'm like a fire hose today. I only was able to run 10 miles and had to run/walk the last 3. I was done. Run time 3:24:50 for a 15:39 pace. If I could have done anything different, I would have hammered the bike more. I saved a lot and my run pace was just slightly above walk/run pace and I think I could have had a better overall time. But I was just glad to see the finish line and run through it. J-Wim came through a little later and I was so happy to see her. I got a little worried with it being so hot.

Overall 8:06:33. A full 36 minutes slower than SORT that I did a month ago.

I finished 454 out of 460 and 23/25 Clydes

Looking back..really glad with the swim. I know I need to work on speed, sighting and being able to go wetsuit free if needed. Most all swims in our area are wetsuit swims so I guess that is not a big deal. I love my wetsuit.

I really felt tired. At mile 40 on the bike, I could have called it a day. It was hot and I was just tired. I don't know if getting up at 4:30 and all the driving and stress about leaving the kids and dogs or the heat or what but I felt tired. Maybe 2 half irons 3 weeks apart was not smart but it was great exercise!! It was a big deal for me just to finish.

I would not do this race again for the fact that the bike was so hilly and on the highway and the run was on the highway (without them being closed to traffic) and there was no sun protection anywhere. It was well run and they gave away some great stuff. And did I mention the swim was GREAT. I never thought I would feel like the swim was the best part of the day but it was.

Next up I think I might either do the Dousman Duathlon or the Devils Lake Sprint. Might be sort of funny to do something that doesn't take me all day to finish.

Pigman Half Iron Triathlon

2008-08-17T21:44:00.003-05:00

I'll post a race report later because I'm tired. But a few things I know:

1) I love my wetsuit. It is awesome. For an inexpensive wetsuit it is totally awesome. Highly recommended by me
2) IOWA has a lot of hills- and their roads are a mess. Only the major highways are paved, everything else is gravel-which means when you do a tri there you bike on the highway and they are open to traffic with no shoulders
3) Roadkill stinks and runners should not be subject to numerous rotten roadkills on the run-they should be removed
4) SPF 15 is a joke
5)Tri-Dummy and his family are great.
6) Marriott hotels are awesome (except they need fridges and microwaves and you need a degree in engineering to figure out the alarm clock-I'm dead serious)
7) Gas boat exhaust sucks to swim in
8)Chamois butter + my butt never will equal chafing and that is a good thing
9)Half Iron triathlons make you HURT
10) Pizza is the best post race food ever.

Results are not posted and after racing all day and driving back and having to work tomorrow, I'm getting some sleep and I'll post tomorrow.

I thought the course was very challenging for a novice like myself. The swim was perfect. No other way to say it. Time trial start, no waves, clean water (for the most part), and just a great swim course. It seemed a bit long but probably was just me zig zagging all over trying to swim straight. The bike was on a few major highways and had almost no flat. You were either up or down and that took it's toll on big Mike for sure. Several close calls with cars too. NOT COOL. Plus the run was out and back and had a couple hills on the ends and my lack of run training really showed again. Oh and it was 86 and sunny and neither the bike nor run had more than about 10 feet worth of shade.

But I finished, my second half iron in a month.

1,000 miles

2008-08-13T13:07:00.003-05:00

J-Wim says by her calculations (you don't ever really want me to calculate anything) I have biked over 1,000 miles since the brutal winter of 07/08 ended this spring. I think that's pretty cool for me. All on my new bike.

Anything I should start looking at after 1,000 miles of biking?
Chain, brake cables, getting my wheels trued, anything special I should be looking at? I have washed and cleaned it about 5 or 6 times and cleaned the chain about 10. Everything looks fine and it shifts and brakes fine too. The wheels still look true and don't have any taco effect.

Or do we just go till she blows? (Always my choice-and that's why everything I have has been fixed a million times)

Hoping to see at least 1,500 bike miles before Old Man Winter wakes his self up and does his magic.

My favorite part of the year

2008-08-12T20:56:00.002-05:00

We are getting to the season of the year I enjoy most. End of summer and fall. A couple reasons:

High School Football. My son plays on the high school team as a lineman. 6 foot 225 pounds and he just turned 16. I was hoping he could put more than 15 pounds of muscle on over the summer but it didn't turn out that way. That's o.k. because I can tell his is much stronger physically than he was last year. I hope he is more aggressive. He was about 210 at the end of football season last year. He did put on a few inches too. I believe that they have a good chance to be very successful this year. I really enjoy watching him play football.

Cooler weather. I seem to want to run more in the cooler weather. I have not really wanted to run much this summer. I have really put emphasis on the bike and swim. Since this is only my second season of doing triathlons, I think it falls into my plans. I have years to keep doing this stuff and need to take it one summer at a time. I really need to stop taking on events that are a bit above my level right now. I should be doing sprints and Olympics and for some dumb reason I signed up for 2 half irons. I probably shouldn't be considering an Ironman for next year but I am.

Ironman Wisconsin. I will continue to volunteer every year that I can. It is one of the most amazing things I have ever attended.

I have been very inconsistant in training the past couple years. Last year I could not swim at all. I tried and tried and it just wasn't happening. So I ran more and biked more often but lower bike miles-I only did one bike over 50 last year. Now I have figured out the swimming for the most part. I need work but at least I can swim and have some confidence and won't need to spend as much time trying to figure it and now I can get down to getting better technique. Since I swam more this summer, I ran less and biked less often but did longer mileage-I have done several bikes over 50, one century, and several bikes right at 50. So I feel like I have increased my bike, increased my swim (from nothing to something), but the weight has gone up slightly and the run has suffered.

Now it is time to tie it all together for next year with equal amounts of running, biking and swimming. I hope to come up with and stick to a plan.

Right now for me working out is just going out and doing stuff. Swim the same pace for an hour, bike the same pace for 4 or 5 hours, or run a couple hours at the same pace. I see other people's workout journals with stuff about intensity, and so much at this effort and some days you go hard, some days easy....Not sure about what plan I will use or where I will come up with workouts but I am sure there are things out there. I just have to look. I know that working out and using heart rates and intensity will make me better and increase endurance.

I know if I plan to attempt Ironman Wisconsin next year, I will need a good workout plan and I will have to be disciplined enough with my diet. These extra pounds I got need to go and I know that by shedding them, it will really help. A weight around 200 would be great but under 215 would be good enough.

But like I have said before my life will not be defined by whether or not I have completed an Ironman or any other event for that matter. I know what kind of husband and father I have been and I would rather be defined by that. I'd like to think I have become a pretty good friend to some folks along the way too.

Keep things in perspective. That's what life's all about.

IMWI Bike Course

2008-08-10T18:53:00.003-05:00

Well some of the SWAT folks wanted to ride the IM course. For those who are not familiar with it, it starts at Monona Terrace on Lake Monona in Madison, WI and rides west and then north out through Verona, Mt. Horeb and Cross Plains and then heads south back to Verona (where you can take the second loop and add about 45 miles). We just did one loop which basically covers the whole course but we did not do a second bike loop. We ended up with 63 miles but we started a few miles west Monona Terrace already. It was Alison, Jen B., Brian, J-Wim and myself.

Anyway we started out at 7 and it was chilly. I had arm warmers on and it helped. After about 10 miles, I noticed J-Wim was sagging behind. I was not sure what was going on but she for sure was not her usual self. I know there are some days when you just don't feel it and I figured it was one of those days. We plugged on and waited when we had to. After about 25 miles we stopped at Kwik Trip in Mt. Horeb to use the bathroom and I discovered her front tire was rubbing on the brake. She was getting frustrated riding and I could tell. After the fix, she was right there and it made a big difference.

About the course for those who might be doing IMWI. It is hilly so make no mistakes about that. The loop we did had almost 4000 feet of climbing in the first 63 miles. The 3 big hills are everything as advertised. No downhill to build momentum. They just come up on you and are there. They are all within about 10 miles of each other too so they make the last one seem even worse. The first one is really long and the other 2 are just steep. Plus there is another hill on Whalen road that I think is every bit as tough as the other 3. Especially since it is so close to the end. I am sure there has been A LOT of swearing at the top of that hill. Someone had painted on there...Way to go...Last Hill....You made it...NOW go Run or something like that. Another cool thing was there was a cooler on the side of the road that said "Free bottled water for bikers. Ride safe and Have Fun" That was totally cool. We were all set for water so we did not stop but that could be a saver for someone. Also someone else had a hose laid out to the road with a sign saying take all the water you need.

The good of the course is that there is a lot of screaming downhills and there is quite a bit of shade in case it is hot.

Here is the map and the elevation profile for one loop. The first 10 and last 10 miles are the ride from Fitchburg out to the loop.

Click on it and it will open in new window bigger.

I was able to ride up all the hills on the first loop. Not sure what would happen on the second. I would like to think that I could ride up them again. I also would like to think I could pick up the pace some. My quads were sore after the ride. We did not average a good pace either so I am a bit concerned about that. Not even 15MPH. We did stop several times and I don't shut the Garmin off (it has an auto pause but every time you move your arm or walk around, it come back on) so maybe our overall avg was a little better but still not smokin. I thought overall the roads were pretty good except for the end of Seyene Road. It was pretty busted up and it is going to be a bottle launcher, bone cruncher for sure on both the way out and way back.

I would say this course would be classified as somewhat challenging. Not impossible and not totally challenging but you are going to feel the hills. I know if I hope to tackle IMWI next year, I will need to be better on the bike. I know I could complete the bike but how much will it take out of me? And can I get off the bike and do the run?

The more I view what it takes to be an Ironman, the more I realize what a commitment it is going to be.

Thoughts on THE PIG

2008-08-07T07:54:00.002-05:00

Well Pigman 1/2 Iron is next weekend. I have some issues.

First is the fact that the water temp is supposed to be over 78. So no wetsuits. However, USAT rules state that wetsuits can be worn up to 84 but I would not be eligible for awards (not that there is an award for last place). I am very doubtful that without my wetsuit "security blanket" that I could make the swim without freaking out. So I plan to wear it and have tons of people at the start telling me that I can't wear a wetsuit and have to explain a billion times that I can and I will. I just hope that it doesn't cause anyone hassles to the race director or other officials. I am not trying to be a pain I just want to do the event. Sounds kind of stupid to want to do the event with no chance for reward other than the fact that I get the finishers medal and I can say I did it. Wierd feeling.
I am really looking forward to winter this year because I am going to swim almost every day I can (M-F lap swim at the middle school) and plan to really focus on becoming the swimmer that I know I can be. The freaking mental thing is killing me. I need a head shrinker or something. I can go swim an hour in the pool but getting into a lake or whatever I just totally lose my confidence. Sucks.

Bike- No issues. I have put some good quality miles in this summer and it is showing. I have ridden some rides that were very hilly and I feel good about my biking.

Run- Is going to hurt. I have done some running since Racine Half and actually the run feels good. I know it is going to hurt and I probably will not be able to run the whole thing but I am going to try to not walk at all. This is another spot that will get extra work this winter. Treadmill runs 5 days a week.

Honestly signing up for 2 Half Irons within a month sounded really fun but I wish I would have signed up for stuff closer to home. There are a ton of sprints and olympics going on around here right now and I wish I would have signed up for some.

I would still like to do either Devils Lake Tri or Dousman Duathlon the second weekend in September and there is a late bird Tri with a pool swim in October.

After that it's time to get serious about diet and swimming and running. I do plan to do at least 75-100 miles per week on the trainer/spinner over the winter too.

Like it or not...PIGMAN here I come.

For my wife

2008-08-06T11:21:00.000-05:00

When I said Raggedy Ann... This is more what I was thinking.

Just sayin.

Info GOOD or BAD

2008-08-06T07:46:00.003-05:00

Got word about our volunteering for IMWI. All is good. Set up to be a bike catcher between 3-5 PM so we get to see the average back to middle of the pack people. Those people will need the most support and I am ready to give it. Here is the where I need help. For those who got off the bike and were ready to cry, give up, or in general felt like poop, I need to know what do I say to help keep you going?

Do I give a "great job! you made the bike...now go kick it on the run"

Or "Whoo Hooo you did it!..Nice job (and not say anything about said marathon still ahead)

Or "Don't give up.. Don't ever give up"

Or "The med tent is over there if you need it"

I know there are people who get really offended by the cheering and people being peppy and I want to be super supportive and I want these people to know how inspiring it is for those of us who are less than iron (for now). Finishing the swim and bike IS A BIG DEAL. Even if you can't make the cutoff or don't get the run for other reasons. I want these people to know that.

We also heard from the head of volunteers (so I am not making this up) that volunteers are getting front of the line sign up rights Monday morning after the race. Still wavering a bit as to if I am going to sign up or not. I don't fear the bike, nor do I fear the run. I still totally fear the swim. Not for the distance but for the water conditions on race day. The wind, the chop and the waves to be more specific. We were at Lake Monona a few days ago and it looked like crap. It was very very green and there were a ton of white caps. We even saw a swimmer and he was getting pounded. I am not so sure I could handle that. But I have a year to work on it.

We shall see.

Bow chicka WOW WOW

2008-08-05T20:34:00.005-05:00

Went to work and left a woman that looked like this.....

Came home to this!!!!!

Love the red. Bow chicka WOW WOW.

SWEET.

Elkhorn Festival of Summer Bike Ride

2008-08-02T16:33:00.011-05:00

Today was the 100 mile Elkhorn Festival of Summer Bike Ride. Jenny and I have been looking forward to this all week. This morning we got up at 4:30 (we had everything ready last night) got breakfast and then SWAT folks started showing up to Caravan over. CJ, Tawnya, Kitty, Jeff H., Jenny and I. We were meeting Brian and Alison over in Elkhorn.

We had said 5 AM. At 5AM the phone rings and it is Jennys work. She has to go to work and can't get out of it. She needs to cover a shift from 6-6. We are bummed. I HATE doing these things without her. She makes them more fun and we get to have more experiences together. So I tell her that I won't go and if something comes up and the shift gets covered, we can go over and ride the 66 mile. She said that it was likely that the shift would not be covered so I should just go. I didn't want to. I just wanted her to go too. She made me go because all the SWAT people were here and I had made the plan to meet here. She said if she could get over there, she would drive my car and meet over there. Well I went outside and I didn't know what to do. I really didn't want to go. But I did anyway. I pretty much knew she wasn't going to meet me. We all got over there, met up with Brian and Alison and registered.

We got our schwag bag (which I have not even looked in yet), everyone got sun screened, chamois lubed, bottles filled and started riding. I was still wishing Jenny was with us. Alison was bummed too. She likes riding with Jenny a lot. Just didn't feel right the whole time. Jeff got the duties of sun screening Kitty.

Alison, Brian, CJ, and I got in front of the others and soon they were out of sight. Then Alison and I dropped Brian and CJ. The route was pretty well marked (except in a couple spots-it was not marked well at all) so we figured they would be o.k. Alison wanted to push the pace and keep it around 16 for the whole century. I knew that would hurt me some but as long as we did not hill climb too much, I should be able to do it. Pretty uneventful for the first 40. Except for these

stupid steel bridges.

Here is a picture of typical Wisconsin countryside.

Then we stopped at the aid station, got gatorade, some food and water and took off. The route left the aid station and did a 20 mile loop over to south of Beloit and back to the aid station. It sucked. It was nothing but hills in my opinion. I worked harder those 20 miles than I did the whole day. We stopped back at the aid station to get a PB and J. No bread. While we were gone those 20 miles, the savages riding the 30 and 66 mile route ate it all. That sucked. We got water, gatorade and stuff and rode on. I took a sweaty self portrait with my camera.

15 miles later, I got a front tire flat. Weird too because I did not hit anything or run anything over. Change the tube, get out the CO2 and fire it up. It hisses out the tire. Now what? Alison has 650 tires on her bike so I'm stuck. We try another CO2 and it is obvious something was wrong with the tube. It was not pinched and there was nothing in the tire. So Alison calls the SAG hotline number (luckily she programmed it in her phone at the start) and she rides and I wait....and wait......and wait... and about 40 minutes go by and an old guy pulls up with a bike rack on the back and he asks if I called for SAG. Yep. Sure did. He puts the bike up on the rack and I am just about to get in when Brian and CJ pull up. Brian is not about to let me take the SAG wagon back after 75 miles. He gets out a tube, CO2 and we go about ripping the tire off and checking everything twice. We put the new tube in and fill it and it holds. SWEET. So I started riding with them now. We got to the last aid station and that my friends was stocked. PB & J, cold water and gatorade, cold orange HI-C (I freaking love orange HI-C) and other snacks. I'm so hungry I could eat anything so I eat some food, drink some drink and after too long we ride the rest of the way back. My guts were sloshing and I wasn't feeling right. I drank too much liquid there. I should have sipped and I gulped.

We made it back. 103 miles in 6:46 of moving time. I get to my car and Alison left her shirt from her schwag bag there for Jenny. I thought that was pretty cool.

I know Brian, Ann and CJ ride a little slower and I was o.k. with that. I just wanted to be able to say I rode the century. Alison kicked some tail today. She is so ready for Ironman WI. I am sure that she avg right around 16 or better for the whole thing. I just wish I would not have flatted and broke her momentum.

Got back and we had tickets to a Brat and sweet corn feed downtown that came in the packet. I thought it was on the same grounds as the ride but it was not. The guys at the bike finish said there was no place to park and we should walk down there a few miles away. I say F NO. I am not walking anywhere but to my car to get a cold Powerade and drive home. Not walking 6 total miles for a Brat.

Remember when I said my guts were hurting. Well I drove about 7 miles towards home and my stomach ache wanted out the back door. NOW. Luckily I was driving past the porta where the last rest stop was and it totally saved my shorts.

Good things:

Chamois butter. This stuff is a MUST now on every ride. First time I used it. Awesome.

I did a 103 mile bike ride

My new Nike shorts totally rule for long bike rides

Alison being cool about the stupid flat

Brian and CJ saving the day. THANKS A BILLION.

Bad things:

I won't do any other event ever that my wife is not there (as long as she is alive anyway) I missed her all day and it sucked

Flat tires-Yeah they suck. I need some better kevlar tires or something. I am using Michelin Pro Race tires and they are supposed to be great, but I have had several flats now on them.

Hills- Those 20 miles of hills took my spirit away for a bit. They just came at a bad time.

No bread at that one aid station. If I could have eaten something other than cookies there, I would have felt better.

I for sure am sore. Would be very challenging to get off the bike after that long and start running. I need brick workouts.

Stay off the sidewalks- Warning- Danger

2008-07-29T21:36:00.001-05:00

The Dub got his license today for real. This is his new ride (well it actually is my ride but he gets to use it provided he does not be a knucklehead). He nicknamed it the Hulk. Don''t make it angry....You wouldn't like it if it was angry.

Good job Lucas.

Oh by the way, insurance is so expensive we have to cut back on some things. Only the things you and your brother want though. I still can afford the things your mom and I want.

And for the rest of you... if you see "The Hulk" please honk and give him the thumbs up.

Goals

2008-07-26T09:13:00.002-05:00

Starting thinking about goals for over the winter. I have the Pigman 1/2 iron in August, either the Dousman Duathlon or Devil's Lake Triathlon in September, some 10k in October, 10K on Thanksgiving and then that's it for the winter until March when the Shamrock Shuffle is.

Here is what I have come up with:

Goal 1) To reduce the amount of gravitational pull on my body. I have not shown enough discipline and it shows. I am looking for a number that is less than 220. Won't be easy but I'm pretty used to that.

Goal 2) Be able to breathe comfortably out of either side on the swim and learn to sight. Outdoor swim ends in September and then we go back to M-Thurs 6-8 at the local middle school pool. Sucks that they are only 25yard pools but so what. I don't want to lose what I have gained. I actually like swimming now and look forward to it.

Goal 3) Get running again and make it a priority. I have not logged squat for miles. The dog has more miles running around my small back yard that I do running around the city. I have to learn to like running as much as I did last summer. I would like to see a 10K time around an hour by next summer. I almost achieved this before when I ran a lot. Even if it means running the treadmill every day before work in the winter, I will.

Goal 4) Log at least 75 miles per week on the bike trainer/spinner. I did not do squat for biking the past 2 winters and I think I need to step that up. Especially since it is convenient. I get to spring and then it takes a few weeks to get my bike fitness going. I would like to get to spring with some level of bike fitness already. Maybe get a spinnervals DVD or something. Don't even ask me to ride outside in the winter because I won't. Once it goes below 50 or so, then it can be too cold if the wind is blowing.

Goal 5) Do Ironman Wisconsin in 2009. This is not a for sure thing yet. I still have some doubts as to my physical fitness. I know everyone always says "You have a year to get ready" but I am a super procrastinator and the year will fly by like 2 months. If I do decide to do it, it will be all out. My friends and family will not see much of me because I will devote the time to do it. I want to be able to go into the event prepared. Right now I don't feel like any event I do that I am as prepared as I need to be. I know that can be a bad thing because it can make you over train. I do not want to fail due to lack of effort on my part. A lot to think about and I have 44 days to decide.

Monday-rest day, Tuesday I swam about 3/4 of a mile in the pool (it felt good to move around and helped me to feel less sore), Wednesday-rest day (I still have a couple blisters on my feet and with another 1/2 iron looming in 3 weeks I'm going to let them heal), Thursday was a 40 mile bike ride with 3000 feet of climbing, Friday we took Lucas out to eat his free burger at Red Robin for his B-Day which is Monday (16-and takes his drivers test on Tuesday). I am working from home right now and this afternoon we are going to Madison to walk around and tri shop. Then a possible run later. My blisters seem gone for the most part but if they hurt, I'll just walk until they heal good. Tomorrow is 50 mile bike and maybe 4 mile run afterwards. MAYBE being the key word. I am lazy and I am sure I can convince myself the 50 mile bike was good enough. We shall see. Damn stupid mental Jedi mind tricks that I play on myself. I hate that.

The wife, by the way, is having a tough time finding the right tri/bike shorts. They all seem to suck so our goal is to find good ones at all costs. We are on a mission and we have a plan.

Good Luck Steve and Pharmie tomorrow on the Chisago Tri.

Spirit of Racine Half Ironman Race Report

2008-07-20T19:32:00.013-05:00

Let me start out by thanking everyone for their well wishes and for being so supportive. If you just want the race report scroll down and skip all this other crap.

During the week KT had blogged that Orbitz has cancelled her hotel so J-Wim and I offered up our extra bed. I think she felt a little uncomfortable taking the extra bed but we INSISTED.
More on that later.
So KT texted us saying she was on her way and would be there about 3. I was about as nervous as I could be so we got up and got our stuff ready and we took off. The weather here was nice. I had polished up my bike Friday, cleaned the chain, got the brake goo off the rims, the whole 9 yard clean up. We took off around 10:30 in hopes of getting to the expo and getting our stuff, going and racking our bikes and taking a swim.
On the car ride over it started raining. Not hard but misting and occasional drops. Just enough to dirty up my bike on the rack on the back of the car. I was a little grumpy about that. We got over there and went into the expo, got my packet, and looked around. The expo had several vendors but they were packed into a space about as big as someones garage. It sucked. But I did get some Nuun and a race number belt that I forgot to pack. The whole talk at the expo was how cold the water was. I could not get away from it. I wanted to scream "SHUT UP ABOUT THE WATER TEMP-THERE IS NOTHING ANY OF US CAN DO ABOUT IT" so I hurried J-Wim to find some shorts and get out of there. I did not want to wreck my swim confidence.
We went to the hotel and tried to check in but we were about a half hour early and the room was not clean so we went down to Rocky Rococo and had a slice (mine was not good and the fountain soda was made with nasty Racine water and it tasted bad). After that we went and checked in. KT texted and said she would be about an hour. Some of the SWAT team started showing up at the hotel and we got our rooms. They were nice rooms too. Funny that the manager of the Hotel said breakfast started at 7 and I turned to Jenny and said "Kitty (one of the SWAT members) must not have talked to him yet" Kitty can be very persuasive. She talked the manager of the hotel last weekend for Danskin to put breakfast out at 4 and I was sure she could get this done here too. Turns out she did as later in the evening she informed us that breakfast would be out at 4 and it was. SWEET.
We went to rack our bikes and get our timing chips.
We bagged our seats in case of rain overnight (which it did and it actually T stormed-next time the aero bars will get covered too). We got them into transition and walked down to the beach. UBER foggy. You could not hardly see out into the water. We took our wetsuits to swim but we both forgot suits. We threatened to go naked underneath but I'm not sure that is smart so we just put our feet in and watched people with blue lips come out of the water and everyone bitch about how cold it was. Not 50 feet away were a group of 3 girls about 10 laughing and playing in it. They were in there for more than half hour and only had little girl swim suits one. Kids are so resilient. It really made me realize that if you love to be in the water then the temp of the water shouldn't matter. I had a big smile on my face seeing those kids and listening to these adults complain. We walked around and started to leave and all of a sudden KT shows up. We talked for a few minutes and got introduced. Meeting bloggy peeps is always sort of wierd. It's like you know them but really you don't. She was super cool (and has a SWEET bike). We went back to the hotel and she racked her bike. We finally met up with her at the hotel about 5. We had a dinner reservation with the SWAT team at this restaurant Infusino's and we invited KT but she had plans with some other people so we left her.

We were on our way to the restaurant and the Garmin told me to turn and I missed it. So we went down another street and I thought there was an alley so I turned and took it. Pretty soon there were little signs on my left and a dashed yellow line. HOLY SMOKES I'M ON THE BIKE PATH!! I got off it on the road we were supposed to be on so that worked out sweet.
We got to the restaurant and went inside. There were all the SWAT people plus Mike and Cheri. It was great that they showed up. I had invited them before but I did not know if they were going to show up and they did.

We ordered up and let me tell you, this place kept the food coming. Bread, salad, soup, entree and water/soda. My plate of food was bigger than I have ever seen.

It was amazing. Mike and Cheri got spaghetti with meatballs and I seriously have never seen that much pasta come in an order.
We ate and got ready to go. The waitress brings our bill. 15 bucks. FOR BOTH OF US. 15 bucks. Jenny had some fish thingy. I will tell anyone going to Racine to eat there. It was cheaper than taco bell and was one of the best pasta dishes I have ever eaten. I only ate half because I was STUFFED. We said good byes and went back to the hotel room where we hung out with KT and laughed and laughed. Let me say that she was one of the most like able, considerate and funny people I have ever met. She was super cool. It was great that we could help her out and even better that she was such an awesome person. I don't think she wanted to get up at 4:30 but us Wimmers are old and need extra time in the morning. We filled water bottles and put them in the fridge, talked some more and hit the hay. I was pretty tired and had some trouble falling asleep.

ACTUAL RACE REPORT: (and why I am a dumbass)
We got up at 4:30 and realized it rained and that sucked. We got everything together. I said something about one of my main goals not getting chafed and we all got a good laugh. Loaded up the car and went back in for breakfast thanks to KITTY. One of the swat guys said there was a dense fog advisory on the lake and that made me wonder what was going to happen. Speculation was running rampant. No swim perhaps?
We got down to the race and got transition set up and found out that there was going to be a delay, then another delay, then another delay, then another delay. It was really, really foggy. The Race Director made a smart move in my opinion and moved all the swim buoys in where you could see them from shore. It meant the swim was going to be in shallower water but at least anyone in trouble would be able to go 10 feet in and would be able to touch bottom. This ensured a safer swim and I was glad for that because you could not see from buoy to buoy. I got in the water and realized it was not that bad. Loads of other people were bitching but I thought it would be o.k. I got the wetsuit on and got everything together and soon the waves started.

THE SWIM:
The guy said go and I told myself to be calm, get to the back of my wave and be prepared. I walked in up to my neck, opened up my suit and let the water in. Yeah it was colder than I thought. I got a little panic stricken. But not bad. I started swimming. I tried to put my face in and breathe out and my body kept doing that little breathing flutter when something is cold. I had a hard time getting going. I thought about freaking out but didn't. My goggles fogged right away so I swam over to a row boat and the guards let me hang on and take my goggles off and I rubbed some spit in them and they were clear again. Time to swim. I started swimming when I could and breast stroking and whatever else I needed to do when I got cold. We were in close enough to touch bottom so there were a lot of walkers and I rammed a few of them and got all screwed up and wound up walking some to get away from them to start swimming. The cold water only bugged me for the first 400 yards or so and after that I found myself SWIMMING IN OPEN WATER CONFIDENTLY. I sighted, I swam (slowly and I did have to do some other strokes because my face got cold). J-Wim started in a wave 3 minutes behind me and soon caught me. She was happy that I did not give up (some people did swim over to the shore and give up due to the cold water). We swam together for a bit and it was great seeing her because it really helped me. I used her to sight off of for a bit and soon after- WE WERE AT THE LAST BUOY. We had gone off course a bit because all the people just super spread out and we wound up closer to shore and had to swim out around the last buoy and she left me in her wake and powered through the rest of the swim. I got around the last buoy and knew I made it. I was really happy. But when I got out of the water I felt drunk. Not sure if it was the waves or the cold but I didn't function quite right. I walked to T1 and started taking off the suit. Not sure yet of the swim but J-Wim figures under 40 minutes.

T1- Here is where I really did something dumb. I took off my timing chip to remove my wetsuit and got all my other stuff done. Put on helmet, gloves, socks, shoes, garmin, bike shorts over my wet tri shorts (this was not a great idea- it worked but it kept the pad of my tri shorts from ever getting dry and the 2 pads kind of moved around a bit-I will buy better tri shorts with a thicker pad and use them only for races so the pad doesn't get smashed down). Well I forgot to re attach my timing chip to my leg and left it in T1. I didn't notice it until about 5 miles down the road on the bike. Since I did not really care about my time and more about finishing, I left it and did not go back for it. I am sure my on line race results will probably be messed up and I may even be disqualified but I don't care. I know how I did and that's all that matters. Lesson learned.

BIKE- Plan was to just ride hard. Do my best. The bike course was about same as they all are. Some hills, some flats and it seems to go by too fast. I did start the Garmin so I know I did the bike in 3:05 for an 18.1 AVG. I drank a lot on the bike and the sun came out and it got hot. At least 85 and sunny. I was getting warm. I rolled back into T2 and was very pleased. I wanted a sub 3 bike and came really close.

T2-Reattached the timing chip to my ankle (first thing I did) took off the bike shorts, put on running shoes, grabbed a bar, got a water bottle and got moving.

Run- One words sums it up: SLOW. It was hot. I started drinking water. All I could. Taking salt caps, jelly bellys, enduralites, HEED, and water. The run was a double out and back and they only had 3 water stations that you passed each 4 times which was plenty. AND THEY HAD ICE. I filled up a standard water bottle over 10 times and drank every drop. No shade on the course either. I got super fried. I did a run/walk strategy because it was too hot. I knew I couldn't run the whole thing. After about 4 miles I got the worst headache. Just throbbing. This was before I started on the HEED and salt caps and enduralites. I was only taking ice water. I started on the HEED and salt and by mile 9 the headache was gone. I passed J-Wim who was gaining on me. She was determined to make the cutoff as was I. 13.1 miles in 3:22 for a painfully slow 15:37 minutes per mile. I know my run needs work. I made the decision to spend more time working on my swim and the run suffered as I just did not have time to get the run miles in I need. But I had to do it so I don't regret it. Now the run will get more attention and I will work on getting more base miles in per week and the run will get better.

BOTTOM LINE: WE DID IT AND MADE THE CUTOFF. I came in around 7 1/2 hours and J-Wim was about 10 minutes behind me. Cutoff was 8 hours. Big bummer is they ran out of finishers medals and are going to mail them. So I don't get to do GeekGrls thing where you get to wear your finishers medal until the pain stops.

Medical report. Sore legs and feet, sunburn, a few small blisters on the feet and some chafing from the tri pad staying wet all day. A few layers off the ABC but we'll survive.

Overall feelings: Excellent volunteers, excellent aid stations, every corner on the bike was well manned with sheriffs. A very well run event.

I will go to bed tonight with a smile on my face because I conquered something that at 400 pounds was never attainable to me.

Thanks again to all those who gave me the good advice. I tried to do a drop kick at the finish line but I was too tired. Hope Blink understands. And thanks to Blink for lending KT his neoprene cap. She must have had a great race. I never saw her once and when we went to get in our car, she was gone.

Great weekend fo sho.

The waiting is over

2008-07-19T10:12:00.002-05:00

I have thought about this too much and I am sick and tired of having fear of the water. It's time to put this to bed. Tomorrow I will swim a mile and a quarter in water under 60 degrees in less than an hour and fifteen minutes. From that point on, my fear of the water will be gone. For anyone who has ever had a swim fear or an open water fear, you know how much of a big deal this is for me. But none of you can do anything about it. Only I can.

"First say to yourself what you would be;and then do what you have to do."-Epictetus (a greek stoic philosopher)

I will be an ironman. This half ironman is one step on the ladder to the top and I have to do this in order to get to where I want to be.

Time is short and I am scared

2008-07-15T20:58:00.006-05:00

Well Sunday is the Spirit of Racine Half Ironman event. Part of me is really excited and I can't wait to line up and participate. Part of me is scared to death. The swim part of me. I don't know if I am scared or just nervous because I have not a lot of experience in open water swimming. I know I can swim. I have worked very hard on my swim for the last few months. Swimming 4 or 5 nights a week. The past few weeks I have swam over a mile every time in the pool with very few breaks. In fact the only time I stopped was to unfog my goggles.

Swimming with others in COLD open water is a whole different animal. I do have a strategy.

1) Let myself start near the end of my wave and get myself to the outside or inside line.
2) Not to panic or freak out over the water temp (it was 53 last Sunday but has warmed to 60 as of today) and remain calm no matter what. Even if it means doggie paddle, breast stroke, side stoke, roll over on your back and back stroke until I calm down enough to front crawl.
3) Focus on everything regarding technique and not allow myself to think of anything else. I want to try to simulate what I do in a pool swim. Think about my exhale, hand entry position, body rotation, and maintaining a long body line and not trying to swim too hard.
4) Not to panic. Not to panic. Not to panic. Stay calm and just swim.
5) Breast stroke every minute to sight and check my position. (Sighting needs to be worked on over the winter for next season).

I really don't know what I am nervous or scared of. I won't drown. I am in a wetsuit and I would only have to swim 50 yards to get where I can touch bottom and there will be plenty of support people in canoes etc. I have the physical fitness to swim the mile without feeling too tired or like I physically can't do it. I have done it at least 10 times in the pool. I know the water might be cold but not cold enough to kill me (only to be uncomfortable). So why do I feel so uptight and all freaked out? Just a mental thing I guess from not being able to swim all these years and spending years being afraid of drowning every time I went in the water. Things most people get over as kids or young adults I never did. I always had a back of my mind fear of water. It's actually pretty cool to have some swim confidence now when I used to have none. I know I have come a long way and I have a long way to go to be able to go 2.4 miles.

I have a personality that sometimes allows my brain to give in and give up before my body has a chance to prove my brain wrong. I'm working on it. I can talk myself out of things pretty easily. I'm working on that too. I need to stay strong.

The first step comes this weekend. Get in the water and do it. No thinking about it, no over analyzing, no negative thoughts. I see this as a test that there is no way to fail. I have an hour and 15 minutes to get it done. Somehow I just need to get it done.

After I get out of the water (positive thinking at work) and get myself to transition, I plan to go hard on the bike. I probably will turn the garmin on and put it in the pocket of my jersey because I don't want to see it. I want to go by feel. I know what feels too hard and when I am loafing. I don't need the garmin to tell me that. Solid effort 100% of the time. 3 hours is my goal and I think that is very achievable. That is only an 18.6 avg. and I think I can avg 20.

Off the bike and onto the run which has really become a bad spot for me. I have not ran much since the marathon. My pace has really gotten slow for most of my runs recently. 3 hour half marathon is probably what I am looking at running. 7 hour half IM. Not impressive to anyone but me and at this point in my life that's good enough.

Thanks to everyone who e mailed wishing us luck. It means a lot. To have fellow seasoned triathletes giving out advice and knowing that they were in my shoes at one point and they can say they know how I feel and actually do know how I feel. I am a person who tends to listen and learn a lot from others. I take advice and use it because I know that I am a triathlete who knows very little and I know that trying to figure out things on my own doesn't work as well as simply taking advice. So keep on giving it. I appreciate it.

Blink says to kick it Wimmer style. I say hell yeah with a flying drop kick.

Open water swimming...and lessons learned

2008-07-04T21:42:00.002-05:00

Today we loaded up the Yaris with wetsuits and stuff and went to Lake Ripley to do an open water swim. My first since I sidestroked the entire 400M of my first triathlon a year ago. Since that point I have been working on my swim. We met Martin, Tawnya and Kitty there and Jeff an Michele went too (except their kids were not having fun so they bailed early). Anyway we got in the water with the wetsuits on and the Lake is set up pretty cool. There is a swim section about 75 meters wide and 300 meters long that is marked off with buoys so no boats are allowed in that area. You can touch the bottom about 3/4 of the way out too so that helped ease my fears a bit. Man o man did I get tossed around. I also figured out that I can't sight. I swam out towards the outermost buoy and turned right to go down the 300 meter area. Then I somehow left turned again and started swimming out of the swimming area. It was crazy. The more I tried to go straight, the more I swam all over the place. Never in the direction I wanted to go. I decided to stay in farther from the buoys and try to swim across that way. It still was a challenge to go straight but at least I stayed in the swimming area and did not go where the boats were. We swam about half mile or more back and forth. There was quite a bit of chop because it was 80 degrees out with bright sun and a TON of boats making waves. That was o.k. because it was good practice. We got out for awhile, ate, chit chatted, got sunburned, and then got back in. The second time was the best for me. I was able to go straight and swam down and back twice pretty easily. More confidence built up for me.

Here is the good: I swam. I put my head down and swam. I always felt comfortable and I never felt tired or out of breath or anything. My stroke was good, my body position was good, my breathing was good and I hardly ever kicked. I really think a mile swim will be a challenge but I can do it. I have confidence. Both Martin and Kitty said that the waves we swam in today were worse than what I can expect in the tri and I had very little problems with the waves. NO MOTION SICKNESS EITHER.

The bad: I can't swim straight and sighting was very hard. I got a face full several times with the waves trying to sight. I decided to stop swimming and do a few breast strokes to sight and it worked o.k. I know in the upcoming half iron, I WILL GET SWAM OVER SEVERAL TIMES and this part is a bit scary. I am not a good enough swimmer to recover from someone taking me under. That part I am worried about.

J-Wim swam amazing and looked totally natural in the open water. I am not sure what the heck she has been freaking out for. She will totally serve me up the biscuit in the water. (And I will return the biscuit on the bike-I hope (if I survive the swim))

I decided that we need to swim as much as possible in the open water between now and the 20th so we are going back at 9AM tomorrow to swim for 45 minutes or so straight and since boats are not allowed until 10, there should be no chop and I will swim out to the far buoys where I can not touch bottom and swim the best I can.

Right now that is all I can do is the best I can. I hope it is enough.

Random Training

2008-07-03T21:44:00.003-05:00

Well I think the training is going good. Much better prepared then I have ever been for an event and it is still 3 weeks away. Swimming is really coming along. I have swam over a mile in the pool several times. I have been using these zoomer fins on my feet and they have really helped my kick. I don't need them and most of the time while I am swimming, I don't kick much. But the bottom line is I feel a lot more comfortable in the pool and I actually feel like I can swim when before I always felt somewhat scared in the water. The confidence has made a big difference. Tomorrow we are wetsuit swimming in open water and I am bound and determined to beat whatever fear comes at me tomorrow. I know I can swim and I don't need to be able to touch the bottom.
The biking is going great. I really like my new bike. I feel a lot more comfortable on it and I seem to be able to climb hills better. We have been doing 100 miles per week the last few weeks with a 50+ ride on Sundays and a 20 miler on Tuesday. Then we have started doing another 25 miler during the week where just Jen and I ride and we go race pace (or as hard as we feel like pushing). I averaged around 18MPH tonight on the ride. I was messing with my garmin and forgot to restart it at an intersection (right at where we have the best down hills) and lost 4 miles of data. Oh well.
The running has sucked. I don't like it as much as I used to. It seems harder now. We bricked after the ride tonight and did 2 miles. I guess the running has felt better as of late but not as great as it did last year. We have been doing 3 miles with the SWAT group on Tuesdays, running after swim at least one other night a week and now the brick after the race pace ride.
My garmin 305 had crapped out and was turning itself off and on so I sent it in and guess what? They sent me a new one. SWEET. It works great and now I have my training buddy back.
If only they could get the heart rate monitor to work better.

3 weeks until my first half iron. I feel good about the training. I hope the weather is nice and if the swim goes well, I hope to be around 6:30.

Been busy

2008-06-26T21:03:00.003-05:00

Wow. It has been a couple weeks since I posted. I did not realize that time had slipped away so fast.
Got a lot accomplished in the past couple weeks.
The week of fathers day I got a cool camera and video taped myself swimming. Something kind of funny happened (for the good). I noticed a few things that looked just plain dumb. Things I was doing in the water that really we not needed. So that week, in that brief moment, I figured out how to swim and I have not looked back. Swam a couple times in my wetsuit (to see if it still fit as someone shrunk all my clothes over the winter) and then every day since. That weekend on the 14th we did the 100K pie ride. We left at 7 as a group of about 10 SWAT people and then a few of us broke away from the pack and rode a little harder. It was really fun and it was good to get the miles in. I would really like to go and ride that route again in full race mode to see what I can do. The route has a good mix of hills and flats with about 3000 feet of climbing over the 63 miles. We finished in about 4 hours. I think we averaged around 16 MPH. We did stop at a couple of the aid stations for gatorade. The last 20 miles were into a stiff headwind. I hunkered in the aero position and rode hard. It was tough, but fun. I learned a few things about my biking too. I know a lot of guys use the smaller chain ring and spin faster to keep the blood moving and the legs fresher. I guess I am a masher. I keep it in the big ring and spin a little slower but seem to make up a lot of ground. Now if I can do that for 100 miles, I don't know yet. But it feels good to me. If I stay in the smaller chain ring, I feel like I am working like crazy to go slower than I am if I keep it in the big ring and spin slower. It probably will be something I need to change in the future, but for now I'm mashing.
The following week we swam every day. Tuesday SWAT workout week number 2 came so we did the swim/bike/run thing. We went a different route and I did not flat which was sweet. I was able to ride pretty hard and got in front of everyone for a while. I even ran the 2.5 miles route after the bike (had a garmin issue too-more on that later). I swam almost a mile on Tuesday and then Wednesday and Thursday I did a mile each day. It is getting very easy now. I am not focused on my breathing and worrying, I am just swimming and now it feels very natural. I focus more on my swim form and it has been great.
That Saturday we had my sons grad party. It was nice to see some relatives I have not seen in a while. We planned on lap swimming after the party but we had some late comers and they stayed until it was too late. Sunday we went on another 50 mile bike ride to Whitewater with the president of our tri club. It was fun and it was a nice ride. We avg about 16 MPH again. I am glad to be getting between 80-100 miles per week right now.
We got home in the afternoon and settled in to watch all the bloggy bloggers do CdA. It was great. We so wanted to be there but with money and the kids grad party and the lack of planning on our part meant we had to make the choice not to go. It looked like a great day. We watched everyone finish up to about hour 15 and then it was past midnight here and being a work night meant we had to get some rest. YOU GUYS WERE AMAZING. All of you, sherpas included and being able to see pictures and read accounts of what happened have been great. I got up early in the AM and check to be sure Geek Girl made it and when I saw she did with 45 minutes to spare, I quickly woke up my wife and we both were very glad.
This past week has been a big swim week. We also did some running again which is good. I have been able to swim over a mile when we have time and my confidence in the swim is getting good. Now for a couple open water swims and I should be good. I know I can swim now. I know that I can concentrate on my form and I will get from point A to point B. Before I was scared, now I accept the challenge.
We did a hard bike on Tuesday for SWAT. We did about 26 miles with a couple thousand feet of climbing. My legs felt it. We had done a swim/run on Monday and my legs were getting tired. After the bike we did another 2.5 mile run and it felt o.k. My garmin puked. It keeps turning itself off and it was acting weird and telling me it was not charged when it was. I sent it in to garmin and let's see if their customer service is as good as it is reported to be.
Tonight we swam for half hour and went to Dunhams to buy a new swim cap for the wife. I saw a sweet NIKE running jacket (winter one) and it fit great. It was a stinkin hundred bucks. What a rip off. I would have bought it if it was about 40 but not a C note.
My 15 year old son is at Football Camp from 5-9 last night, tonight and tomorrow. He said it is hard and I tried my hardest to explain to him that good things in life come hard. You have to pay the price for things you want. He has worked so hard up to this point and football is 10 weeks away. He wants to be varsity and has worked his tail off. He has not missed any of the weight training all school year and now it is 4 days a week in the summer. I told him that as hard as he has worked, now is the time to show the coaches what you can do. Don't get frustrated, listen to what they say and focus on technique. Sort of triathlon related. Same way I feel about myself.
Tomorrow we volunteered to ride the bus and help out and there is a running track there so maybe we can get a ten miler in.

Only 24 days until the half iron. I need to get my run up to speed and I think I will be ready. Funny but I was really worried about the swim and now I am more worried about the run.

Water, water everywhere...so I swim

2008-06-12T20:55:00.004-05:00

Well since last Friday I have to say there has been some really messed up weather here. It has rained and rained and stuff has flooded and lakes have found ways to make their own drain to rivers (search lake delton video and watch mother nature at her finest). But it hasn't been all bad. Saturday we got up and met another SWAT member and took at 45 mile ride. Not at super race pace but just to get some miles. Sunday was nap and clean day. Monday we went to the local pool as it opened up. We took wetsuits so we could check them out. It was pretty cool. There wasn't hardly anyone else there (in fact there was only 3 of us at 6PM when lap swim was over) so they kicked us out after 20 minutes. Tuesday was the first SWAT triout. We showed up in wetsuits again and this time we swam. I got 900 yards of continous swimming. It was pretty cool. I still felt like I was not getting around like I should but things were for sure coming together. Then we took of on the 20 mile bike part. The first 10 went great. We hammered it out in about half an hour. We stopped to turn around and waited for the others. When we went to take off I HAD A FLAT. First one. At least it was a front tire. Got it changed out quickly. I did not notice there was anything in the tire. Got about 4 miles down the road and it flatted again. That sucked. Then I found a chunk of rock or something sharp in the tire. It took a few minutes to get it out. It was wedged in there hard. Put a new tube on an got it going. We got almost back and found another SWAT memeber had flatted. So we got her going and made it back. Not the greatest of rides but it was still riding. Bypassed the run. It was already getting late and we were chatting with some new folks. Wednesday it was sort of raining so we quick ran out to the bike shop for tubes and CO2 then went to swim. I had a major breakthrough. The whole time I have been trying to swim, I have just been going through the arm motions but not really trying to pull. I guess I never really thought it should be hard to pull. J-Wim told me to try to swim through as small a space as I can and to really pull with my arms. I also was not entering the water by my eyes with my hands. So I did some testing and trying stuff out and I got it. I was able to finally make myself glide in the water. I never even had to kick. I swam almost a mile (I did use the pull buoy some). After the swim we ran a pretty slow 3 miles. I have not ran at all in 2 weeks since the marathon so it was time to get it going again. I was really happy about the swim progress so tonight we went back and I was able to duplicate it. I did over a mile. I only swam a few hundred yards without the pull buoy, but that will come. I know now that as long as I can get over the open water fear, I should be able to wetsuit swim the mile. I am actually getting confidence about my swimming. I know that is a good start.

I also got a really cool Father's day gift.

A HD mini video camera. It rocks. J-Wim and I took some video of us swimming but I don't know if I can upload an HD video onto the blog. But I will try.

More wetsuit swimming tomorrow and biking/running this weekend. 6 weeks until the half iron

Pomp and Circumstance

2008-06-08T09:37:00.003-05:00

Let's let the pictures speak the thousand words. Should be a thousand words squared for all the drama we incurred to get this far.

But not a prouder set of parents will you find than us.

Random Miscellaneous Stuff

2008-06-08T08:50:00.006-05:00

After last weekends bike rides, not a whole lot got done during the week. It was the last week of school for the kids, and the weather here is not being very nice. Also we had some minor prep work to get done for my eldest sons graduation (more on that later as that deserves it's own separate post). I did get 2 very productive swims in. Someone told me that as a beginner swimmer that eventually the switch comes on and it will feel more natural and you will be able to start to swim longer and with less effort. Well we have come to that point I think. I got into the pool and just did it. I felt very comfortable. I was able to breathe very good and I was able to go farther than I ever have without stopping. I am really looking forward to the challenge of the open water swim when I was terrified before. My wife has really pushed me and helped me to swim and I am grateful. Now my next project is to get in the open water and swim with my wetsuit on (I put it on the other night and forgot how much fun it was to get on-especially if you are sweaty). Survive the swim- that's my motto. I don't care about being ultra fast or have perfect technique. I just want to get my 1.2 mile distance over.

Yesterday we went on a nice 45 mile bike. We rode with another SWAT person and left at 7. The weatherman should be shot. It was supposed to be sunny and hot and instead it was foggy and muggy and the sun did not come out until long after we were done. But it was over 2000 feet worth of climbing and some of the hills around here really challenge you but that is the way most of Wisconsin is so we just have to downshift and deal with it.

Felt good to ride that far. We have decided that we are going to do a 50+ mile ride every weekend and if we can ride by ourselves we are going to hammer it like we are racing. I don't think the half iron bike will be a problem for either of us that this point. I'm not saying that biking is easy, I just feel like my bike fitness is up to where I would like it to be for a half iron. I am hoping for under 3:30 for the 56 miles. It would be nice to do closer to 3:15 but that will depend on a few things.
No runs this week. That is going to be the focus of next week if it stops raining. We have had rain and thunderstorms and tornadoes all over around here yesterday afternoon.

I also got some cool SWAT gear.

Dri fit shirts and hats. I also got an orange shirt with black letters that is not sleeveless.

Yesterday I got some cool bike stuff too. I have been wanting a bike stand forever. J-Wim got me one yesterday along with an aero bottle. I think that will be sweet as well.

Getting a better bike has sure made a difference for me as a biker. It makes it easier to ride and more fun and because the crank is larger than my old one, it goes faster with a lot less effort. Goal for next year is to save up for some race wheels.