I Run Codes

Running Up a Mountain

2011-12-30T22:03:00.007-06:00

I'm in Colorado for a holiday vacation with my family and lets just say that the snow conditions are probably the worst that I can ever remember them. Clearly a far cry from the 70+ inches of base that was here last year at the same time. There is likely 4 feet less snow on the mountain and it is painfully apparent. The open groomed runs are getting a little crowded and I have had little interest in going into the trees to figure out what 20 inches of snow looks like...

So instead I have been doing a little mountain running. A couple days ago I ran from the base of the mountain up to the midpoint at the gondola house. I also went on a run to a shorter elevation. Having a little extra time and great warm weather today I decided to venture a little further up the mountain. In total I ran 7.2 miles, the first hour of which was entirely uphill.

Here is a picture of the overall course path that I took.

Here you can see the elevation change overall.

As I was on a mountain I was running in snow. Snow can be great when hard pack and tricky when soft. The soft snow felt as if I was running in sand, except there was no adjacent beach.

I paused to take a picture of the path that I took. You can see at the very top of the picture is the gondola house. That is the first peak on the elevation chart. I was also battling skiers.

The run was great, the constant climb was a great workout, and it was funny to hear all of the comments that people said on my way up the mountain. Some of my favorites were, "It is much easier to go down", "Way to make me feel bad" and "Be honest, how long has this taken you".

The fruit of the run was being able to take the gondola back down to the bottom of the mountain and enjoy a great sunset.

Rock N Roll Half Marathon Race Report

2011-12-05T22:45:00.010-06:00

(or getting really really close to a goal….)

This past weekend I flew out to Las Vegas to run in the Rock N Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon. Initially it started out as an excuse to travel to Vegas with several friends and enjoy a weekend away. In the past 2 months my training was really falling into place and I started to think that instead of just coming out here to run and hang out with friends that I was going to really push the envelope and see what sort of time I could throw down on race day.

The race is completely different than every other race that I have ever done. See instead of starting at some ungodly hour of the morning, the race start was at 5:30 pm creating an entirely different approach to eating, sleeping, and overall just getting prepared. The night race also added a new element of excitement which I just couldn’t pass up.

I had thought through every aspect of this race, the weather, the winds, the elevation, nutrition, and thought that I had a good race plan for pacing. I set my Garmin 405 to give me time, distance, and lap pace. I turned off the autolap feature as I figured the buildings, bridges, etc would intermittently interfere with the exact mileage and decided to use the clocks and mile markers instead. I used the vdot calculations which predicted a half marathon pace of 7:30, and then modified a little (SWAG) thinking that those calculated paces were based on shorter 5k, 10k races and not longer distances. Fudged for a goal pace of 7:38 and then +15sec for the first 3 miles and -5 sec for the final 10.1 Additionally, I made a home-made pacing band which gave me the goal paces for each mile as well as the clock time so I could see where I was in the overall timing of the race. The perfect race would have me crossing the line just prior to 1:40. (Note: I didn't notice the typo for mile 9 until I got there, 1:18:56 instead of 1:08:56...)

We were staying around a mile away from the start of the race, left the hotel 2 hours prior to the start, hopped aboard the tram from Excalibur to the Mandalay Bay and then started wandering around looking for the gear check. Luckily there were 40,000 other competitors all trying to do the same thing and we just followed the throngs of people. We wandered through the casino, out the front of the hotel, then around the back, into a parking lot and then finally back into the convention center where the gear check was located. Bag drop off was hastle free and then we found some ground to stretch, relax, and stay warm prior to going back outside. We headed off to the start with around 45 minutes to the start, stopped at the port-o-potties and then fought people, spectators, double wide strollers, other racers all moving in every single direction to get up to the start corrals. We finally met our destination, slid into the rear of the 4^th corral with about 20 minutes to the start and just waited for the gun. All 5 of us were here - Larry, Evan, Michele, and myself....silly me for not taking a picture of any of us or even myself with the strip int he background...I apparently had other things on my mind)

I started the race and the first mile was 7:47 which was timed well and just below my goal of 7:53 for the first 3 miles. I felt good, heart rate was in the low 150’s, legs felt relaxed, and I was honestly pretty excited to hit the time so close to the goal as I had never really tried to pace a race this closely before. Mile 2 was a total of 7:46 and mile 3 was 7:50.

Alright, first 3 miles done, time to drop to about 7:33 as planned for the remainder of the race. Mile 4 was 7:23, mile 5 7:19.

Then something really interesting happened for which I still don’t have a good explanation. While running mile 6 I was getting my average lap pace to tell me that I was running 7:34 which would have been perfect for the pacing that I was expecting. When I hit the lap button at mile 6 the lap time read out at 7:57. Crap. Where did I lose those 20 seconds? Looking back at the course this section only had a couple of turns that I tried to take as close to a straight line through as I could. I had banked a couple extra seconds in the first couple miles but losing 20 was going to hurt. Oddly enough, I felt like I was funning the same pace. Well I couldn’t go backwards, only forwards.

Mile 7 was 7:25, then I was pretty evenly paced for 8, 9, and 10 at 7:39, 37, and 38. At this point in my pre-race planning I had expected the wind to shift and at this point be blowing at my back, instead I think there was a persistent wind at my face and the subtle uphill combo was starting to wear on me. I knew I was really close to my target time but risking loosing more time so mile 11 I pushed a little more hit 7:29 and was happy. Mile 12 the same thing happened during mile 6 – my lap pace was reading out 7:38 and then at the end of mile 12 it read out as 7:50… Mentally that was tough, but I was still going to push as hard as I could.

Well only so much more I could do, I reached and pushed my silly little legs as hard as I could. Avg pace for mile 13 was 7:24, 13.1 was 7:05. I didn’t know how close I could get to 1:40 but I figured I would push as hard as I could.

I hit the finish line for an official time of 1:40:05. Average overall pace 7:35 for 13.22 per GPS and watch time of 1:40:10. with an avg HR of 160 (max 170 at finish line) and avg cadence of 88.

There are many things about this time that for me are just fantastic. First – this time is a 4:29 PR over my best half marathon time nearly 6 months ago. To essentially drop 20 seconds per mile is fantastic. Second – this race is the first race that I truly set out to pace and finish with a specific time goal in mind. The goal was to break 1:40. Honestly, finishing within 5 seconds of this goal is very exciting. The 1:40 was a pipe dream, and educated pipe dream, but a pipe dream nonetheless. Third – not only did I pace the race according to plan, but I ran a near even race without blowing up or falling apart at the end. Fourth – I had just a little energy in the tank for the final push, but not much. I hit the finish line and I was done. As you can see from the spike in HR at the very end I was redlining the engine and I was hurting. Fifth – despite my focus on my pacing, I was able to look up every now and then and enjoy the awesome chance to run on the Las Vegas strip at night with all of the lights glowing and people on the sidelines. What an awesome experience.

Here is a summary of the overall pacing, my HR and the elevation.

And here are the times:

So as I sit on the plane today heading back home I am quite happy with my race yesterday. The execution worked out almost exactly according to plan and while I didn’t break that magical 1:40 barrier I did have a race completely destroyed a previous PR. I am also thrilled that I met my pacing goals very close to the plan.

I am also thrilled at my overall finish, I’ll take a top 3% overall and top 7% any day of the week.

Then of course the post race festivities were great as well, nothing quite like post race hydration with an open container of beer walking down the Vegas strip on the way to the hotel for a nice warm shower!

One of the things that I enjoy about writing about my races is that it provides me an opportunity to think through what I could do better for the next time. Honestly, there isn’t much, I mean I kept everything together for a while and feel as if I executed the plan well for the duration of the race. I might have been too reliant on the pacing for the miles and I think that I what came to bite me in the end. There were two miles where the pacing said that I was going 20 seconds per mile faster than the time ended up actually being. If either one of those two miles had been matched for pace and actual time my pacing would have really been perfect.

This race also puts the longer distances into a different perspective. I don’t think there would have been any way for me to hold the 7:30 as my recent run tests might have suggested. I’m going to keep training at my current predicted threshold pace to get faster in the meantime as I find that I can hold that speed for the short distances and maybe in time it will translate to the long distances. 9 months to figure out how to incorporate all of this into the Ironman racing strategy.

Today my legs are still screaming and I can only imagine will be tight as well tomorrow. Time to get back into the training and take this great race and continue to build off of it. Next up is a relaxing ride to loosen up my legs and then hopefully back to the regularly scheduled work-outs.

Thanks for reading!

A couple thoughts on the race:

-For a full recap of the good, bad, ugly, and downright shocking go to the rock n roll facebook page here…..

https://www.facebook.com/RnRLasVegas?ref=ts

-Night time running is a different beast, but fun nonetheless

-40,000 people is a lot of people which requires well thought out and organized logistics. I heard a rumor that they might be considering increasing to 60k next year which in my opinion is just way too many people. If this course were to accommodate that many people they need to do a much better job of people movement before and after the race and corral assignments.

-For the life of me I just cannot understand why people would want to start at the front of a race if they are going to walk. It is hazardous to both them as well as everyone behind.

-Running the Las Vegas strip at night is an experience that everyone should consider, but maybe not the best race to shoot for a PR given the number of people and the impact that night running can have.

Sub 45 on a 10k

2011-11-24T22:26:00.004-06:00

Today I raced the North Shore 10k Turkey Trot in Highland Park. This was my first time participating in this race, and the first time that I have ever run a "turkey trot". Honestly, for as far as I can remember through residency I have always seemed to work on thanksgiving morning making doing any of these races impossible. Also, I have usually taken the October and November time period off from working out leaving me with little motivation to do any sort of running this weekend. Seeing as I wasn't going to be working this year and was going to be home for thanksgiving I decided to race, figuring it would either be for fun or for a PR.

I have continued on my path of more focused run training. I have been using the interval paces as suggested by my measured vdot of a couple of weeks ago. Also, I have been continuing with the long runs in preparation for the Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon next weekend. With the continued focus on interval training I have started to feel more comfortable with running faster.

This morning I woke up and felt relatively good. Monday was a day off as prescribed, tuesday was a hard hour ride in the morning and a 45 min run in the afternoon with some threshold mile repeats. Wednesday off as prescribed by the coaching plan. I drove to the race site, parked at my grandfather's apartment exactly 0.2 miles from the finish line (the 6 mile marker was right out his door) kept warm, ate breakfast, enjoyed the company and then left to head down to the start corrals.

I met the requirements to qualify for the A corral and figured that there really won't be that many opportunities to run with the fast people up front so pulled the trigger and signed up to be in the front pack. It was a little chilly this morning, maybe around 40 degrees. I had a hat, gloves, shirts, and tights and felt just about the perfect temperature the entire race.

As the gun went off I was amazed at how quickly I was able to cross the start line and how people spread out pretty quickly and there wasn't much jockeying for space. My suspicion is that they held the remainder of the corrals for a short period to allow a little spacing. The first part of the race is down hill. I think that with the adrenaline surging and the downhill I might have gone out a little too fast. I knew that I was going to be passed by a few of the corral B people, and I didn't want to let it bother me so I just kept running my race and watching the pace on my watch as I went along.

I hit mile 1 at 7:03 which was in line with my 5k run test pacing, but I had a hunch that it probably wouldn't be sustainable for the rest of the race. At the same time, I actually felt really good, I wasn't winded, my legs felt loose, I was having fun. I figured the real pace where I should be running was going to be closer to a 7:15. Somewhere between mile 1 and 2 I was able to look forward and see the front of the pack and quickly turned around and I was the last person before a gap between me and the next group of runners. Thinking as if I was in a pack of animals being chased by the predator, decided I didn't want to be the slowest fast person and picked up the pace a little to catch up to the people in front of me. Regardless of my mind tricks, I was having a lot of fun racing at the pointy end of the field.

The race continued on, I felt pretty good running, tried to hit the corners on the course correctly and was just generally enjoying my day. I knew that if I was able to hold that 7:15 pace for the whole race that I would definitely beat my previous PR from February of this year when I ran a 46:24 10k.

I hit 5 miles still feeling like all cylinder were running and decided to increase the pace a little and push to the finish line. There was one small hill on my way and continued to keep my cadence and pace moving in the right direction.

I hit the finish line at 44:37 which was awesome. I was hoping to break 46 minutes and even though my most recent 5k test of 22:00 min suggested that I might be able to break 45 minutes I hadn't really considered it a true possibility. Eager to better understand my race, I got home and downloaded the data from the Garmin which is below.

HR stayed relatively constant, nothing much to talk about there.

I think the cadence was just intermittently dropping. Unclear exactly why that was happening unless something weird was happening on the turns as it was basically a straight shot from the start line until mile 2 when we started to make turns on the course. Again after about mile 5.2 it was a straight shot.

I think the biggest area of potential improvement is in my pacing. I started off pacing at 7:03 and increased up to a max of 7:19. While this spread isn't horrible, I was hoping for a little more consistency. I also clearly can see that I went out a little too hard and then was basically holding on the rest of the race.

Next week when I race vegas I am going to have to pay close attention to this pacing issue. Starting out too fast will be hugely problematic. I might intentionally add a few seconds to my goal pace for the first mile to really try and maintain good pacing and if I still feel great after about mile 7 to then start to increase the pace.

Overall summary - I am extremely happy with the race today. I have been thinking about breaking 45 minutes for some time, but hadn't really thought it would a possibility until recently. My time today was good for a top 10 finish in my age group (10/59) and 57/437 for males, and top 7% overall. Also the time today resulted in an increase of my vDot to 45.59 which suggests that my marathon pacing could be 7:51...mmm...next weekend could be interesting as well as the last race of the 2011 calendar year.

I'm looking forward to the Vegas half marathon next weekend.

The training begins....week 1

2011-11-06T21:00:00.002-06:00

Well folks, here I am, the training, or at least the "off' season training has officially begun. I have entered into the next 20 week block with a new focus to build up a fast and stronger base on which to build the rest of the season. This week was filled with testing protocols to figure out the power and pacing to be used for the next several weeks of training.

There will be musings of races, paces, power, and leg destruction. Sometimes I might go into bizarre detail dissecting out the power numbers and I am trying to learn how to take advantage of all of these numbers. (translated - it might get technical and boring at times...I think I have avoided most of that this week)

As I mentioned in the post abou the chicago triathlon, one of my biggest goals this year was to learn how to become a stronger runner. This became evident in several venues. The first was cracking the 8min/mile barrier for a half marathon at the northshore half nearly 5 months ago. The second was running 7:44 min/miles for the 10K at the chicago triathlon which was a new PR for a triathlon. This week I had two other breakthrough runs as well. I went out and ran a 5k as a part of one of the testing protocols and hit 22:00 for a pace of 7:06 min/mile which is my fastest ever time and run split. I was simply in shock when I was watching the pace on my watch. Finally, I ran a 15k race yesterday and averaged 7:40 min miles good enough for 159/903 in my age group. After about the 3rd mile I started to negative split the race and ran a 6:59 for the 8th mile. (insert smiley face here) I'm enjoying the fast running and seeing the definite progress that I have made this year. Ultimately, I think there there is some good proof that my decision to hold off of the long distance racing this year and instead focus on becoming a faster runner might have very well paid off. The next step will hopefully be figuring out how to translate the shorter faster running into faster long distance running. While I have no expectation that I will be able to hold those 7min/mile paces for an entire marathon it will definitely help on my quest to build a faster run.

I've gotten back on my bike as well. The first ride was a little rough having not been on my bike for several months but my legs are getting back into the swing of things. I am holding the power (well the computrainer is holding the paces and I am along for the ride) and getting through the workouts. I have found that I seem to enjoy mashing the big gears at a low cadence to generate power. One of the things that I am trying to work on in the next several weeks is keeping a higher cadence 85-90 for me is a higher cadence while maintaining the correct power outputs. Perhaps by "retraining" my muscles to go faster it will be able to translate when I get back outside in the spring. One of the best parts is that I get to mindlessly watch movies and not feel guilty about it. This week's movies included GI Joe - fair movie at best and I am halfway through Transformers Part III - the main action sequences are yet to come.

Some data from the first week:

FTP week 1 - 189

Vdot Week 1 - 44.42

Time to rest before getting into the second week of busting my legs.

I'm registered...IM Wisconsin 2012

2011-09-12T17:18:00.004-05:00

Well there wasn't much doubt in my mind about how the weekend might end.

After a day of volunteering and then watching the runners on state street and finally meandering over to the finish line I went from 99% to 100% sure that I needed to be in Madison next year not as a spectator or as a volunteer but as an athlete.

I waited this morning in the volunteer line and as the line moved quickly it started to feel like I was going to an amusement park and just waiting and waiting and waiting to finally get to the front of the line. Once at the front of the line the people around me commented that there was still time to escape. For me, there was no escape, there is no alternative, registration for 2012 was going to happen.

After a couple of keystrokes, this appeared in my email.

And so, the journey back to the starting line for Ironman #3 begins.

Weekend in Madison @ IMMOO

2011-09-10T21:47:00.004-05:00

While there were many reasons to come up to madison this weekend, the most obvious was the event besides the football game that took over the town.

I arrived in Madison on Friday evening and could sense that Ironman was in town. The barricades were starting to go up, the tape was on the street to mark the course, and people were walking around state street with their participant wrist bands. As I was walking up state street I started reminiscing about the last time that I was moving up the street headed towards the capital.

Nearly 2 years ago I was in the exact same spot, trying to muster up the last bits of energy that I had left to get across the finish line after a rather brutal marathon. In the time span of that marathon I experienced the full spectrum of emotions. I started running and felt great and thought that I might be able to absolutely fly through the marathon. Less than a mile later my hopes were dashed and I was frustrated and ready to quit. Somewhere around mile 18 I sat down for a little bit hoping that I would magically just get to the finish line. I kept moving my body through forcing small amounts of fluids and grapes until I could finally get to the end.

Finally, after over 5 hours of a death march I finally reached state street and again became overjoyed that I was finally going to finish. There was something comforting about seeing the dome of the capitol building lit up as the sky was turning darker shades of blue.

I decided that I was going to take a year or so off from Ironman to give my body a break, to give my mind a break, and to figure out when or if the long distance races would return back to my schedule. In the past 2 years I have spent some more time working on my running, figuring out how to train smarter, and take care of some professional obligations as well.

On Saturday I rode the loop of the bike course. I started out feeling great and I remembered every turn on the course. I remembered most of the technical aspects of the ride including the climbs after turns (and staying in low gears) the downhills (and tight turns at the end), and the never ending false flats. There were some parts of the course that initially didn't trigger immediate recollections but after some time fit right in.

Most of my mental markers on the course hadn't changed. The sign for blue mound which indicates the start of the never ending climbs into Mt. Horeb (which I think is the second most irritating climb on the course-only behind Witte Rd) was still there and I got the gearing just right. I had fun climbing the "3 Bitches" - old sauk pass rd, timber lane, and midtown rd, and was interested to watch my power as I pushed up the climb.

For having only done about 1 ride over 60 miles this summer and minimal hills, I was rather pleased that my legs help up during the ride. I averaged 18.0 mph for the loop which was quite interesting. It was about 20 minutes faster than I rode the course the first time 4 years ago, as well as when I rode the course in June of 09 in preparation for the last IM that I did here. 2 years ago when I raced the IM I averaged 18.67 MPH for the entire course. Overall, not too far off and better than expected. Overall, I was rather excited when I was able to look at the data in comparison.

Several months ago I decided that I was going to volunteer for the race for several reasons. #1 - I thought that it would be fun to volunteer on the bike course, #2 - I wanted to come and ride the course, #3 - it is a way to get a guaranteed entry into the race the following year.

On Sunday morning I woke up at 5:30, got in my car and drove off to the cross plaines aid station. I picked this spot because it is the aid station right before the 3 climbs described above and I figured it would be fun to motivate people at this point.

The moral of the entire story below, setting up and running an aid station is difficult work, and everyone at some point who races in triathlons should volunteer at an aid station.

Immediately after arriving I went to work, we started unloading the truck filled with water, ironman perform, food, and the works. Honestly it was quite depressing to see an entire truck filled with pallets of water, sports drink, and everything else. the sad part is that they went onto the truck with a fork lift...but we didn't have a fork lift to unload the trucks.

It took quite a while to unload everything, get all of the water bottles and sports drinks ready to go and nearly 3 hours after starting everything was set up and we awaited the first competitors.

The first pro athlete came blazing into the aid station and barely slowed for his hydration. I was the lucky person to be the first in line to hand off water to the first pro athlete. It was kind of a rush and then it only got busier from there. The day was absolutely fantastic. I met some really nice people, and it just felt great to help the athletes on a journey that I know from previous experience can be rather mentally challenging at times. I am thrilled that I had a chance to volunteer and should the timing be right in the future is definitely something that I would consider again.

There are a couple of things that I saw which really made me happy as a volunteer:

When the athlete called out what they wanted and pointed directly at me, I was able to get the water into their hand every single time. The only time I missed a hand-off today was when some lady stuck her hand out at the last minute and magically expected that I would be able to read her mind.
When riders slowed (at little, not to a grinding halt, but a just a little) as it made the hand off much easier.
Of course when athletes said thanks, or my favorite of the day, "awesome technique" after I had run up with one of the riders to ensure a good hand-off.

After nearly 10 hours in the sun we packed up the aid station and I returned back to Madison. Walking on state street is always a fun time with all of the runners. It was kind of neat that I could recognize some of the faces that I saw out on the bike course at various points on the run. After dinner I strolled over to the finish line and watched for a little while.

Needless to say, the finish line is always an exciting place to be and thinking about racing in another ironman definitely made the entire situation all the more exciting. Soon it will be my turn again.

Chicago Triathlon 2011

2011-08-30T19:42:00.010-05:00

Well, this blog has been dormant for quite some time and I figured that there would be no better way to resurrect the site than with a report of my most recent race this past weekend - the Chicago Triathlon.

The morning started off as all others have in years past with an excessively early alarm at 3:45 to get to the transition zone before the crack of dawn. I arrived at the transition area and amid all of the hustle and bustle of people arriving.

I got my transition area set-up and was chatting with a couple of people around me. Most were participating in one of their first couple of triathlons and doing several in a summer was a foreign concept to them. I just soaked in the surroundings and let them take care of some of their nervous energy. I saw one of them again just prior to getting in the water and then again during the first transition. At 5:45 when transition closed I made my way over to the start and found a nice piece of grass to relax on for the next 2.5 hours.

The day was shaping up to be perfect, temperature forecast was perfect in the mid 70's but the wind was picking up from the north and was starting to kick up the water. It was much nicer to wait for the race to start with cool temps than the hot weather from the prior years.

Finally after waiting for the time to start I was finally able to line up in the corral and join the other masses of people getting ready to start the race. Wetsuit and swim cap on, and then off into the water.

Here is wave 38 getting ready for the gun to go off. It doesn't really look like that many people, but apparently there were around 150 people treading water with yellow caps on just waiting. As more and more people jumped into the water a current developed and pulled everyone towards the buoy. I tried to find some room and waited.

Shortly after getting in the water the gun fired and the race began. I'm somewhere back a couple of rows behind the front. A couple of seconds after this shot I got a foot to the face that partially dislodged my goggles, a quick readjustment and I was off again.

The swim south towards the turn around was great, between the current generated by all of the swimmers and the north wind propelling us southwards we were flying. I reached the buoy much faster than I can ever remember. However, as soon as I turned around and started to head north I could feel the north wind. From the buoy all the way north to the exit it was a battle against the wind and people. I can't remember seeing so many people brutalized by the wind and the water. Evan caught a great picture of the wind kicking up the water as I was swimming through trying to battle the current and the waves.

Honestly, while the swim took a little extra effort and was a little longer than expected, the swim wasn't really that bad. I have been swimming in open water all summer in all sorts of conditions and a little extra current and waves didn't really bother me at all in terms of comfort. It just goes to show that training and practice really can make a big difference. Finally after around 32 minutes I finally was out of the water, with a long run to transition my time for the swim was 34:11 good for 545/3321 for the international distance.

As I headed out on the bike I knew that I was going to be in for a special treat on the bike. The wind was blowing hard from the north and as soon as I made my way up to lake short drive I could feel the wind howling and blasting at us. I battled the wind all the way up to the north turn around at Foster and noticed that I was close to holding around 20mph the entire way up but it took a while for my HR to settle. I turned south and then took advantage of the wind at my back. At times I was moving around 28 MPH and really enjoying the time out on the bike. Below is a shot of my pacing on the bike, its evident the areas where I was going north fighting the wind and south with the wind at my back.

I was out on the bike course in the middle of the day and it was crowded. I was passing people many of whom couldn't quite figure out that if they weren't the fastest people out there that they needed to stay to the left. Anyway it made for some interesting passes and tight areas on the course. After 1:11:28 and averaging 21.1 mph on the bike I was done finishing 355/3321

I quickly moved through T2 realizing that my initial goal of breaking 2:30 wasn't going to happen because of the battle with the wind but I still had great aspirations. Over the past year I had been training with a power meter. While on the bike I was watching my HR, my speed, and my power with a general idea of where I should be in order to give myself a chance for a good run. One of the biggest battles that I have fought ever since starting triathlons was figuring out how to be a runner and how to not totally implode during the run. I have thrown together great starts to races with a great swim, a fantastic ride only to have everything completely fall apart on the run. Take last year's chicago triathlon for example, a great ride of 109:22 and then a complete disaster of a run. This year I wanted to see if things would work out a little differently.

I started the run and felt great, my legs felt fresh and I was moving, quickly out of transition and I started to pass people. Just over a mile and I made the turn around the Shedd Aquarium and Evan captured this great picture of me running with the Chicago skyline in the background.

I continued my journey south and my legs still felt great. Of course I knew that I had a nice wind pushing me as I headed south to the turn around at 3.5 miles. My first 3 mile splits were 7:41, 7:38, and 7:45. After the north winds started to have their impact the splits slowed a little.

I came back to the Shedd, where evan caught another picture of me and made the final push to the finish line averaging 7:00 min/mile for the last .2 miles of the run to finish in 48:02 with a 7:44 min/mile pace and finishing 387/3321 finishers. The run turned out to by my fastest 10K split in a triathlon. It has taken me several years of racing in all distances but the extra running this year has clearly made a difference and I feel as if I raced from start to finish and put together a great race without any regrets.

With an overall time of 2:40:12 it was good enough for a 49/403 place in my age group and 304/3321 of all finishers for the international distance which is good for a finish in the top 9.2% of all competitors.

Despite not meeting my original ideal time goal, I was extremely excited with my overall performance, especially the run. Compared to last year, when my run pacing was nearly 2 min/mile slower and finished 1100/3859 I was very pleased to have such a strong run that felt really good.

So with that race, the 2011 triathlon season comes to a close. The main goal of the season this year was to get faster on the run and I think that I have accomplished that task. In July, I was able to average 7:57 for the 10K and now for this race I took another 13 seconds per mile off for a pace of 7:44 min/mile. Next up a short rest and recovery before the training continues for the 3rd half marathon of the year - the Las Vegas half marathon in December. The goal is to continue the run training and continue to build upon what I have been able to do this year.

Until next time, hopefully it won't be so long.

First outdoor ride of 2011

2011-05-02T17:55:00.008-05:00

Well, a combination of the lack-luster weather in Chicago for the past month with my challenging work schedule has resulted in an inability to get my bike off of the trainer. Finally my schedule aligned and I was able to get outside and enjoy a nice spring day on the lake front. The wind was present but not too strong out of the south west and for the most part was overcast.

The weather was also beautiful over the weekend and I was able to go for a nice relaxing 8 mile run on the lake front path. I ran south from downtown and while there might have not been as many people to look at, it was nice to see a different part of the city as opposed to the typical Belmont to North ave run.

Today was also the first time that I was able to ride outside with my new power meter.

The cool part is that when I get back from the ride, I plug in my Gamin 500 to the computer and all of the data immediately downloads to my computer. I can then look at all of the squiggly lines. The truth is that I am still trying to figure out how to interpret any of this data.

Here is the first screen shot with HR, power, speed and cadence....

I can also just look at the time that I spent in different zones. I was hoping to spend the majority of my time in zone 4. I was creeping into zone 5 for a little and dropping into zone 3 as well. The truth is that I was just looking to see what might happen. I also hit some high watts a couple of times on the ride as I was trying to see what I could do sprinting up some hills. It becomes apparent though that those efforts were very short-lived.

One thing that I have quickly learned is that if I am going to go out and ride based on power I will need to pay much closer attending to what is going on instead of just riding based on feel. It is also really difficult to maintain a specific wattage for any extended length of time as there are always things on the path that interfere (crosswalks, people, construction, wind gusts, etc).

I'm going to keep reading the Training with a Power meter book that I have been trying to read. Maybe I'll go back to the beginning of the book and see what I can learn with more data in hand and try to figure out how to better plan outdoor work outs now that I can't just set the watts on the computrainer.

1 Year Ago....

2010-09-12T19:37:00.003-05:00

One year ago, at about this time, in a small little square in the capitol of Wisconsin, I was crossing the finish line of my second IM. The weather had been great, although a little warm. The wind was calm, the sky was perfect. The swim and the bike were better than planned and the run turned into a painful death march. It is hard to believe that it has been a year already.

The wheels are turning and the motivation is returning to do another race. I needed a year off from long distance racing. I'm glad that I took the year off. This morning as I was watching some good friends race a half marathon and I was having a blast being a spectator, I realized I missed the circus that is an IM. Now, I want to get back to the starting line. The other races this summer were fun, challenging, and a little different, but I want to get back into the big game. Despite the run still being a little issue and the marathon being such a mental and physical challenge, I want to do it again. It's not logical, it's somewhat perplexing in fact, but I want to go back. It's time to start planning.

Where did that heat come from...The Chicago Triathlon 2010

2010-08-30T21:06:00.006-05:00

I would like to think that I have been generally prepared for most anything a race can throw at me. The one thing that really caused me to fall apart this year on two occasions however was the brutal heat. First back in May down at the Florida 70.3and now this past weekend in Chicago for an olympic distance. I mean really, where did this heat come from. The day tied the record for the hottest day of the summer. The weather people were a little off on this one. Well, it will make for an interesting story to tell nonetheless.

The day started off as a typical early morning wake-up call to get down to transition at the crack of dawn for the Chicago triathlon. This was my 5th time participating in this race, and I will say that the early morning arrival doesn't get any easier as the years go by. I'm glad I arrived at transition early too, there were some people that arrived pretty close to the end and they were struggling to find a place to put their stuff. The only more amusing part were the people that had taken up several places with their towels who were getting apparently rather frustrated when they had to condense space.

Anyway, I got all of my gear set up, and left transition for my 4 hour wait until my heat started.

I found a find a grassy place to watch the sun rise, and then kept waiting for my heat to start at 9:30. I got a little sleep just lying on the ground and was doing my best to stay relaxed and let the time pass.

The morning was quite pleasant to start, in fact there were a couple of times that I almost wished that I had some long pants to stay warm. That however, would all change. Around 8:30, 1 hour before my wave started, started to feel a little warm and was getting a little worried.

Finally the hours moved along and I got my wetsuit on, and stood in the corral waiting the start of the race.

So I have raced in two ironman and have been in the "washing machine" that is the start of that race, and let me tell you something, the ironman has nothing on the brutality that was the start of my heat. Not only was there the requisite kicking, inadvertent punching, and feet grabbing, there was no clean water to escape the onslaught of humanity. It probably took about 2/3 of the way to the first bouy before I finally found some water to swim in and escape the crowds.

I kept moving along and found a really good rhythm and had a really good swim.

I was out of the water in about 27:45 which I was really happy with and might be a new PR for the olympic distance swim. Overall swim time of 30:14 including the run to transition was good for 533/3859 finishers.

Next was the 1/4 mile run to transition and then running through transition to my bike and a quick change and off on the bike. I felt very comfortable on the bike, was holding upwards of 22 mph for a good portion of the ride and was passing lots and lots of people. It felt great to be one of the faster ones out there. Sure I got passed, but I felt as if I was moving along. The last mile I had to slow down a little for the uphill over the river and then sharp descent and turn into transition. Overall time 1:09:22 good for 21.9 MPH and 427/3859 finishers.

Back to transition, I changed into the running gear and moved on out to the run. I felt really good for the first mile. I kept looking down at my watch and was averaging around 7:30 minutes/mile for a pace. I didn't really feel as if I was working that hard either. But that was all about to quickly change.

I started to head around the aquarium and further south and the apparently 90+ degree heat with no shade really hit me hard. I don't remember seeing a race in Chicago with so many people walking and utterly debilitated by the heat - myself included. And so I watched as my great pace turned into a run/walk and then a death march looking for any hint of shade that I could find.

The worst was getting to an aid station and wanting some water but they had run out of cups...uh oh...not a good sign. So I drank from one of the gallon jugs and just kept on moving. One thing I have learned in all of these races is that the finish line doesn't get closer unless you make forward progress. I have no other words to describe this run other than completely brutal and painful.

In all of the olympic distances I have ever raced (including the first one where I could only train for a couple of weeks for the run) I think that this may be the absolute worse run I have ever had. At some point there needs to be a bad run, but I was just hoping that it wouldn't have been yesterday. I had everything set-up for a great race. I had a great swim, a great bike, felt great getting off of the bike and then was simply felled by the heat. There is not much I could have done to fix that problem so the fact that I finished and had a great bike and swim made the day at least a partial victory for me.

I finished the run with a fantastically slow time of 1:01:00 good for 1100/3859 finishers. More importantly I finished 62/474 men in my 30-34 age group. Even with a bad run, I am happy to take a top 13% finish.

So with that I likely end my season. While not as perfect as I would have hoped it leaves the door open for more improvement next year. Of course the biggest problem with starting to think about next year is that the wheels start turning and the possibilities of what to do and where to go seem endless. A couple more days of relaxing and recovery.

Thanks to Evan for coming out, taking some great pictures, and supporting me when the heat got really bad!

Ironman #2 Success!!!

2009-09-20T13:19:00.005-05:00

Well, i have given myself about a week to relax and reflect after the race last weekend and hopefully will have something interesting to say.

I woke up race morning to perfect weather. the alarm went off just before 4 am and i was up eating breakfast and washing down with the first bottle of sports drink for the day. i didn't really sleep all that well the night before so waking up wasn't really that big of an issue. i gathered the last of the stuff i was going to need that morning and headed into downtown madison.

we parked in the garage just a block from the finish line and started to head down to transition. the first stop i made was to get my numbers applied for the day. i'm not really sure what purpose the numbers serve in an ironman especially because are bike are numbered (and we have a helmet number) and on the run we have our race belt...but i think there is something ceremonial about getting your numbers on race morning. besides affixing your chip to your ankle, and arriving at the race site, the race numbers truely signify that the race has arrived and provides your identity for the day.

next i strolled into the transition area for some last minute preparation with my bike. i pumped up the tires, loaded up on nutrition, got my bearings one last time before saying goodbye and going onto the next steps of preparation

i have never really been all that great at putting all of my thoughts down on paper. it is especially difficult to think of everything that was running through my mind in the hour before the race started. there are challenges that all athletes face on the morning of the race...there is a need to find a bathroom, to stretch, to arrive at the starting line resting, mentally prepared and ready to go. finding a bathroom this year was a bit of a challenge...not really sure why, but we ended up going to the basement and ultimately found some peace and quiet. after that we sat down to get our final thoughts in and think about the day ahead.

here my uncle mike seems to have found some peace of mind and is visualizing the race ahead.

i on the other hand am just a ball of nervous energy. the morning of the race i just felt rushed, and without any good reason. maybe i just wanted the race to start, maybe i was just anxious, maybe i was excited. i knew, however, based on last year, that those thoughts of self-doubt, concerns about preparation, or fears of what the race might bring would melt away as soon as the cannon fired, i just needed to get to the start line.

the walk down to the swim start is the first exposure that you get to the helix on race day. it is incredible that it is already lined with spectators getting ready to cheer on all of the athletes...but all of those people do make the journey to the start line a little longer. at the bottom of the helix i saw my parents and evan and we were able to say good morning/goodbye and make our way to the water.

many people have written all sorts of things about the swim start at an ironman. some are true, some are completely exaggerated, and others, well i guess there is some truth in a lot of what people have to say. we swam out from shore to the mass of people. i positioned us about 5 rows back from the start and smack dab between the ski jump and the red turn bouy. i figured i would be far enough behind the initial malay yet close enough that i could get a good draft. well i was half correct. at 7 am the cannon fires and the calm serene waters turn into a sea of flailing arms, kicking legs, and swarming people.

we are all moving to the same goal, we all have the same objective...some people just have interesting ways of getting there. i knew it was going to be a little physical, but i wasn't expecting the pummeling that i was about to receive. i got kicked in the face, had my ass grabbed (several times), felt someone's fingernails dig into my feet, not once, but at least twice, had others swim directly into my side, and at the end of one stroke got my funny bone nailed by the swimmer adjacent to me...not the sensation you want about 300 meters into a 2.4 mile swim. met a huge log jam at the first turn bouy, got kicked a few more times and then started to move trailing a nice pair of feet for a while. as expected i settled into a very comfortable rhythm, often breathing every 4th and just cruising along. i didn't feel as if i was exerting myself and after the field spread out a little was actually enjoying the swim and letting the pre-race jitters work their way out.

i got out of the water in 1:11:04 good for 92/260 in age group and felt great. i hustled up the helix through transition, got everything for the bike, on the bike and through T1 in 8:29. swim plus T1 time faster than year before. sweet! unfortunately on of the many attacks i sustained during the swim the timer on my watch got a stopped and i really had no idea where i was. add that to the fact that my watch is somewhere around 5 or 6 minutes fast...it was going to be interesting.

i made my way down the helix, no need to ruin the race in the first minute of the bike and start off on the ride. i saw my friends and family who were spectating, as i went flying by them. i headed out on john nolen drive leaving the capitol in the background and getting ready for 112 miles of riding. the bike course presents its own challenges, but on a picture perfect day like sunday, i was ready to ride hard and have a blast.

my game plan was to take it nice and easy all the way out to verona, spin up the first couple of hills, then settle into a moderate pace all the way to the first real hill and the climb into mt. horeb. i was racing my own race, not getting sucked into the people going by and settled into a nice comfortable pace of about 20 mph or so all the way to mt horeb. i didn't feel as if i was pushing it at all. spent some time spinning in the small ring up front, didn't stand up, and just kept up with my nutrition plan and game plant. i had the benefit of having ridden the course numerous times in training, and more importantly having raced the course as well. i knew when to be in an easier gear, i knew when to be patient, when to coast down hills, when to downshift in preparation of he next hill. i felt great, my legs felt loose, my back relaxed, and mentally i was in a really good place without any self doubt.

i make it through mt horeb, up and down the rollers on witte, up the unforseen hill on garfoot #1, fly down garfoot #2, and cruise all the way into cross plains. i average 19.7 miles per hour for the first 40 miles and feel fantastic. now it is time to climb the 3 big hills on the course. at the top of the 2nd hill my family is again waiting and capture some great pictures of me cruising up the hill.

i continue on the first loop and make a quick stop at the half way point to refuel and make a pit stop. after a brief pause i am moving again. then something great happens. as soon as i started the climb out of verona last year i was slowed by an unforgiving nagging pain in both of my knees....this year...nothing. onward and upward. i keep on cruising, feel good, start pushing the pace a little, but really trying to stay seated as best i can. physically i feel great. around mile 70 i look down at my stomach because it feels as if my jersey is tight...it really was odd, my jersey usually is never tight, and i don't really have a big belly...hmmm...i switch from a combo of water and my sports drink to gatorade and my sports drink....if only i had known what this might have been suggesting...

i begin the ascent up the 3 hills again after cross plains and still feel great. my knees are cooperating, my legs still feel fresh, my spirits are high. i guess the 3 century rides this year, and the countless other 80-90 mile rides were paying off.

here i am at the crest of timber lane on the second loop.

after coming off the top of the hill i settle back into an aero position and keep on cruising back to verona.

i pull back on the throttle a for the last 10 miles, still keeping a decent pace but relaxing a little, just to get the legs a little looser, and get my body ready for the marathon that is to come.

overall i was ecstatic pulling into the helix at the end of the 112 mile ride. my time was 6:02:33 for a pace of 18.5 MPH. i dropped just under 30 minutes total and averaged 1.35 MPH faster for the duration of the ride. i was stoked, flew through transition and started the run with high hopes for a great marathon.

I started the run feeling spectacular, much better than last year. i was relaxed, not pushing the pace at all...and i cruised the first mile at 8 minutes...alright slow down a little, second mile was about 8:30....ok...slow down a little more... then somewhere around mile 3, just before camp randall stadium the proverbial wheels fell off the truck.

i'm not completely sure what happened, i thought i had been following my nutrition plan, i thought i had consumed enough fluids, enough energy, enough of everything, i felt as if i held a reasonable pace on the bike, didn't blow up too much, knees felt fine, legs felt refreshed....the problem it turned out was that my stomach just didn't want to cooperate. i was nauseated, felt bloated, and could barely get anything down. not how you want to feel with another 23 miles to run...

so i trudged on, a little walking, a little running, trying to drink whenever, whatever i could, walk again, run again...repeat....one mile after another. it was rough.

the look on my face basically tells the story, i was miserable. physically besides my stomach i felt fine, mentally, i was coming back to the turn around wondering if i had it in me to make it back around the loop for a second time. mentally it was also heartbreaking to watch a great first 2/3 of the race slip between my fingers and the chance to completely destroy my time from the year before slip out of reach. but i figured i had made it this far, and no one ever said that doing an ironman was easy, so i just kept pushing, one foot in front of the other, one step at a time.

around mile 25 despite not really having had much in the way of intake for probably the 10 miles before i decided that i just needed to dig in and finish the damn race. after pausing to let my stomach settle one more time i made the turn up state street for the last time. i could see the glowing dome of the capitol building in the distance and knew that even though the rest of the course basically was uphill, that i was there, that i was going to finish the race. apparently i wasn't as dehydrated as i thought as i could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. the tears of joy of the people cheering and and the knowledge that just a couple of blocks away was the finish line. one last turn around the capitol and the finish line and finisher's chute comes clearly into view. there is no one else around. and then just like the year before, only a little more sweet this year after not only beating my time but also fighting through an unbelieveably tough marathon i hear what i have worked so hard to hear....

"David Salzman, a 31 year old physician from Chicago...

YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!!"

it was a really special day and i felt lucky to spend it with my uncle who won his age group and qualified to go to Kona in 2010. what a fun season, it started with the 2 of us down in orlando at the florida 70.3 and ended in madison with the 2 of us racing again.

and just as fast as it had started the race was over. one of these days i'll likely go back and race an ironman distance race again. i had a tremendous season this year. i had PR's at every single race that I did. apart from the marathon at the end of the ironman i significantly dropped time on each of the run segments of every race. hopefully i will be able to carry forward the running training and learn how to be faster, more efficient, and a better runner next year. maybe with a year or two of short course racing i can develop some speed and then transfer that over to longer course racing. we shall see what happens. i have no races in the books for next year...yet....but i've already started looking. a little more time of enforced rest and then i'll gently get back into working out again. just not yet.

thanks for all of the support this year!

this is it....it's time to race!!!!

2009-09-12T20:00:00.006-05:00

Well this is it. The last post before the start of the race. The last post before the adventure begins again. I know the race is brutal, it is mentally and physically challenging. But really, I think I have accomplished one of the most challenging parts of the ironman. I have managed to make it to the starting line. I am here, healthy, not injured, haven’t destroyed too many relationships, I have a job, friends, family, and I still love this sport. Really I figure that is 99% of the battle. There would have been too many times where I could have folded, not gone out on “that” training ride, or run, or swim. Other times when I could have stayed out late and slept in later. But I am here. I have soaked up the entire pre-race energy. I am ready for the race. Whatever happens tomorrow, happens. I have done everything I could have done to prepare for the race, and still have a somewhat balanced….alright fine, completely lopsided life. However, I am here, I didn’t overdo it, I got to travel around the world, run along the pacific coast, Turkey, Argentina, ride and run in the beautiful northwoods of Wisconsin. My races have taken me to florida and Wisconsin. I have completed 2 half ironman and one Olympic races. I have lived and breathed triathlon and I can’t wait to race again. The other amazing feat is that I am returning to the starting line just one year after finishing my last ironman. I have figured out a way to stay healthy for almost 21 consecutive months. I am ready to race, I am ready to get back on the course, I am ready to toe the line and get to the finish.

pre-race day

2009-09-12T13:47:00.005-05:00

with one day left until the race begins, i spent the majority of the day today getting the last steps accomplished for the race. after a quick and easy swim in the lake with beautiful 75 degree water temps, i brought my bike to the transition area and got it all squared away. below is my bike sitting in the hotel hallway before we left for the morning.

after dropping off the bike we dropped off the bags into the transition areas. my swim to bike bag is where the 3 people are gathering in the upper left part of the picture.

finally, we had a great brunch, wandered around the capitol square at the farmer's market. tomorrow night this is where all of the action will unfold. the day is almost here.

first sights of madison

2009-09-11T21:57:00.004-05:00

here are some quick pictures of day #1 in madison

seeing the arch is a true sign that this is getting real.

my racer number

the pre-race dinner

the capitol illuminated at night. what a great sight

tomorrow the support crew arrives which includes evan, the fearless leader of the crew and my best friend. he has put up with my countless hours of training, the even more countless hours of pondering training, the smelly clothes, wetsuits hanging in the bathroom, and general state of disarray. he deserves more thanks than is possible, and far more than is ever given. without him, travel to, and even participation in many of these races would have been very lonely. i couldn't have gotten here the first time without your support, and the second time without your encouragement and even greater support. thanks for being there for me.

along with him my mom and dad also arrive. they instilled the desire to achieve greatness and to keep pushing myself beyond limits that i thought existed. although it may have taken me a while to find a sport in which i could excel i was always encouraged to try new things and explore. with this encouragement, and lots of food, (especially the great home cooked meals, the frequent replenishing of costco food has made everything easier and fueled my ability to get here. i look forward to trying to find you on the course on sunday.

my aunt also arrives, and while i fully anticipate her support, she will have plenty of requirements to cheer on my uncle who is also racing...so i wont' put too much pressure on her, but i am glad that she is here to join in the fun.

and of course to everyone watching at home. i hope you enjoy the race as much as i will.

returning to the start line

2009-09-11T12:01:00.001-05:00

So it is with great excitement and trepidation that I get ready for the start of this years ironman. I remember the peace and serenity of the minutes before the race started last year. despite the crowd yelling from the shore, the music blaring over the loudspeakers, and the people splashing in the water there was a complete peacefulness that existed in the water. Floating in the water, lying on my back, looking up at the sky, just relaxing and soaking in the entire experience. It is quite bizarre that in a mass of people fuelled with energy both physical and emotional that I could be so relaxed. Of all of the parts of the ironman that I have been looking forward to repeating for the past year the start is definitely one of the few incredible moments in my mind. I can envision the walk down the helix, walking through the masses of people, then wading into the water to sit and relax while awaiting the blast of the cannon and the rapid change of the calm water into a massive collection of flailing arms and legs churning the water as the race starts.

My memories of the swim are one giant blur. I remember looking off my right shoulder and seeing the thousands of spectators hanging over the edges of Monona terrace, sitting on the edge of the shore, and looking out the windows. Despite being in the churning water you can feel the energy from the shore. After a quick swim, out of the water, wetsuit stripped off, and the run up the helix.

What a brilliant race design, the helix in itself is really intimitading. Just think, having to run up the equivalent of 4 stories after just finishing a 2.4 mile swim. But the turns move quickly with the hundreds of spectators cheering you on.

There are a couple of thoughts that stick out in my head from the 112 mile bike ride from last year. the first was my excitement as I hit the first hill after turing off of paoli. I was smiling and said, alright hills…bring it. And with that, the race began. Little did I know that 40 miles later I would be cursing those same hills…but that is experience. I loved climbing the hills near old sauk pass. It is so much fun with people cheering you on and banging drums. Despite being in a lot of discomfort for the last 30 miles of the ride, I still remember somewhere around mile 100 some people holding a sign indicating that I would be “saved”…um yea, right….

Things that I will try to remember this year are the following: don’t try to go fast the first loop and you will pay for it on the second loop…but don’t go too slow…or you will be paying for it for the rest of the day. More sitting the first loop on the hills, the second loop then perhaps think about getting out of the saddle and going. Don’t carry around the empty bottles or extra bottles of Gatorade just in case…it is just extra weight that I have to get up the damn hills.

Also…don’t sit around in transition, just keep moving

The run, well, I remember how excited I was at mile 20 of the run last year. I knew that I was just 6.2 miles away from finishing…a walk in the park really. I also loved giving the volunteer at the turn around a high five. I am going to make sure that I do that again this year. that was awesome. I am going to try to run more, walk less, keep my head up, soak in every minute, and get to the finish line with nothing left.

And of course the finish line… how could you ever forget the finish line. The sun had just set, the lights were on, the crowd was cheering, and it was just me, all alone, running down the finish chute, arms above my head. YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!

Let’s do it again.

thanks

2009-09-10T17:00:00.000-05:00

I really do think that one of the hardest parts of getting to the starting line is the challenge of balancing work, friends, family, travel, and everything else. I simply wanted to give my thanks to many, many people who have helped me along the way. I am greatly appreciative of my colleagues at work who have been able to switch shifts to allow for my travel, race, and training schedule to fit in with my work schedule. I also can’t forget the egging on that I got about 2 years ago from another one of my colleagues that got me on this crazy journey in the first place. I am thrilled that my family has been able to come to races and join me as well. Being able to spend the race knowing your family is at the sidelines and then going to get brunch afterwards really makes racing a lot more fun. Specifically it has been fantastic to be able to race with my uncle this year…and by race with him I mean to be on the same course at the same time, because in reality while we might be on the same course he is clearly in a different league. My friends have also been far more understanding than I could have ever expected, from going home early on nights out to get up early the next day and go on another long day of training. Thanks for your understanding. Well there is one more race to go, one more big push, one more big chance to show that the extra training, the extra time away from everything, the extra time spent getting ready for the race is going to pay off. I’m really looking forward to the start, thanks for all of the support along the way. And bring your sunglasses on Sunday…..it looks like you are going to need them J

getting ready to race

2009-09-09T21:15:00.002-05:00

so today was one of the first days when it really hit me that the race is coming up...and by coming up...it is this weekend. i feel ready, i am excited for the race, really hoping to throw together a fantastic day. i have prepared physically, i am resting this week, i have gone through the entire course in my mind. i have a nutrition plan that worked last year. i have legs that are stronger. i have race experience. i am planning on a great day.

in other news the weather just took a change today....um...well how do i put this....i guess, without sounding too happy, i am pretty excited. now i know that it is still 4 days out, and a lot can change, but there aren't any remnants of hurricanes coming our way....and well, the chance of precipitation just went down to 0%. hey, i'll take that, even with a slightly higher chance of rain, say 20 or 30%. granted it will be a little warmer but the winds aren't forecast to be that strong...i'll believe it when i experience it on race day.

in the meantime, more rest and getting ready to head to madison for the big race.

as I get closer to the starting line and am spending less time training I have plenty of time to think about other things. Instead of trying to figure out how far, and where, and when I am going to run, ride, or swim, I have instead been thinking about the past year of training. There is no doubt that I have covered some amazing distances this year. clearly not to the level of a pro, but a lot of distance none the less.

Totals so far

75 miles swimming

2750 miles bicycling

645 miles running

total: 3470 miles

so what does this mean…it is about the equivalent of ORD to LHR, or just short of the round trip from ORD to LAX, or almost from Chicago to anchorage on the ground…yea it’s a long way, but there is still another 140.6 miles to go.

motivation

2009-09-07T08:14:00.001-05:00

There are really just 2 types of people, those who say I can’t, and those who say I can. These people have been summoned here, by themselves for their 1700 different reasons. Their unity comes from their mantra, I can. And their destination, a place they absolutely have to get to. What they will do to get there is monumental by anyone’s standards, even their own. The unknown we all fear it, and right now there is an ocean full of it. This is also about limits, reaching them, exploring them, exceeding what you thought yours were, or maybe, coming to the conclusion that there aren’t any limits.

This is the Ironman.

Ironman is a swim, a bike, a run, its what I do every day of my life. It becomes almost addictive once you’ve done it once you want to do it again. Sort of like a drug in a way, Ironman is the drug.

Limits, what limits. There is no can’t in Ironman. Anything is possible, I can, I know I can.

A 2.4 mile swim, 112 miles on the bike, then a marathon. The man who started this said, you can quit and they don’t care, but you will always know. This is the Ironman.

t-10 days

2009-09-03T20:37:00.002-05:00

well, i am getting closer and closer to the start date. they released our racer numbers yesterday and i am racer #503. i like the low number, but then again it is only a number. it is the area code for portland and refers to a http error code. it appears as if the numbering started again with the youngest age groupers and then progressed up to the older people....clearly not based on expected finish order.

so tomorrow the 1st weather prediction arrives on the 10 day forecast. friday and saturday look nice, hopefully the trend will hold out. those couple of days will be cool, so the prospect of a huge heatwave coming in overnight is unlikely, and hopefully no rain. it might juset be a perfect day for racing.

i got my bike back from the shop after its pre-race tune-up. as expected i needed a new chain. i also found out that when i bought my bike they installed the "wrong" front derailleur which is why i have been throwing my chain and having trouble shifting as of late. my guess is that it worked for a while but the combination of the tired chain, the loosening or stretching cables made the incompatibility more pronounced. oh well, another small cost that was slightly unexpected but will hopefully the bike will run better. after the tune-up i had my race wheels installed, brakes fine tuned and and the shifting dialed in. i know that it is not all about the bike....but it helps to have a bike in sweet working order. tomorrow i will take it out for a ride, all decked out in race wheels and new gear. it looks ready to go, hopefully it will feel nice and smooth on the ride tomorrow. it needs to ready to go 112 miles in 10 days.

i am well into my taper at this point. i have gone on some short quick runs, some more swims and a shorter bike ride. this weekend and the week ahead has another medium swim, a medium/short ride, and a short run. then just a couple more quick bursts at the beginning of the week, an opportunity to let the legs rest, and yet stay focused and ready to race.

keep your fingers crossed for the weather

T-36 Days

2009-08-08T17:40:00.002-05:00

today i accomplished a big feat. i ran 20 miles in the heat, humidity, and slight misting rain at the start. the run started off at a nice and even pace with a little mist in the first 2-3 miles and I finished in the first 10 miles in around 1:32 and change with a couple of short stops for water. i turned around, the clouds broke the sun started to shine and the heat index kept rising. i kept pushing myself, trying to hold a steady pace and not let my heart rate blow up in the heat. i drank about 32 oz of gatorade, 2/3 of a cliff bar and lots of water from the water fountains. at the end of the run, 20 miles later i made it back home

the difference a year makes - this year compared to the same time last year i have run 122 miles more. an what a difference a year makes. last years 20 mile run was about 3:36 with 20 more minutes of stopping at water fountains, stretching, etc. this year - 3:08 with about 15-20 minutes of stopping at water fountains. there is no doubt that the extra running has had a difference, my run times at all the races i have done this year have been faster than before. with any luck the faster run today will pay off in another 5 weeks...

T-52 days

2009-07-23T16:53:00.002-05:00

Today I got out for a great ride. 101 miles in total. The week has had its ups and downs. Fantastic race last weekend, good day of training on tuesday with 70 miles and 2 miles swimming. yesterday was a complete waste of a run. wanted to run 8-10 miles, got to 3 and turned around to go home, ended up walking the majority of the way back. i usually have about one or two of those days a year when i think that i should go for a run but my body has other ideas. oh well, it was a nice walk.

today's ride made up for yesterday. 101 miles and I negative split the second 50. its not so much that i went faster the second half, but rather that i had a game plan to go out smart, and leave enough in the tank to get home feeling good. mission accomplished. notes when compared to last year's century ride around the same time - no knee pain, went faster this year. while going faster is nice, i am more excited about how my knees feel right now. last year at the end of the 100 miles every stroke was painful....fast forward to the ironman last year....every pedal stroke after about mile 70 was irritatingly painful. maybe this is a good sign.

i have spent the past hour eating and rehydrating...i love these long work outs. i'll try to run again tomorrow.

Spirit of Racine

2009-07-20T14:06:00.009-05:00

This race was the fourth half Ironman distance I have raced in the past three years and my third time completing Racine. Overall, I thought the race was spectacular, I cut some pretty impressive time off of my prior races, and raced a pretty well balanced race.

Overall: 4:54:11 46/102 in age group, 316/1174 total participants
Swim: 26:55 - 30/102 age, 317 overall
Bike: 2:34:53 21.7 MPH - 48/102 age, 355 overall
Run: 1:47:23 - 49/102 age, 328 overall

I woke up on race morning to mostly cloudy skies, almost no wind, and a temperature in the low to mid 60's. Perfect condiions for some quick times. I put on an extra layer to stay warm, packed up the car and drive from the hotel t the race site. My bike had been checked in the night before so I just had to re-inflate tires and get the rest of my gear set up in transition.

The swim in Racine is a point to point, which means a nice long mile walk along the beach to get to the swim start. Once there I tried to get used to the water and waited for my heat with the rest of the competitors.

I was in the third heat and 6 minutes after the first wave left we got up to the start line to begin the race covering 70.3 miles.

After the siren fired we ran into the water and began the swim.

I will have to admit, although the water was reported to be 64 degrees on race morning those first couple of strokes felt a lot cooler. Really I doubt there was any way that the temp was really 64. I think there was a nice little current pushing us along as well. I stood up from the swim in the shallow water and looked at my watch ~ 25 minutes. I thought 1.2 miles highly unlikely but oh well on to transition.

Change out of wetsuit, into bike shoes, etc and onto the bike.

The ride was pretty uneventful. 56 mikes basically through the county roads surrounding Racine. Most were genearlly smooth, although some bumps here and there. The best part of the bike course is the incredible police presence at every single intersection. It really was quite impressive. The winds stayed at bay for the majority if the race and really only started to pick up in the last 10 miles or so. At that time it was generally a north wind which just helped to push me back. There were a couplebof big packs out there this year. I think I did a pretty good job of riding my own race and not being sucked into the draft fest. 56 miles later and a new PR on the bike I was back to transition. Compared to last year i took off about 2:30 from my overall bike time and my speed increased by 0.4 mph and compared to the Florida half earlier this yesr my speed also increased by 1.2 mph. It is probably due to a couple of key factors. 1. More miles this year. 2. absolutely perfect conditions with minimal wind and perfect racing temps. 3. I hear this rumor that race wheels help people go faster as well.

I was able to get through transition and despite riding faster my legs felt pretty fresh. I start on the run thinking that the lack of heat, mostly cloudy skies and and legs that felt better than expects might turn into a great run.

I ran the first 5 miles at about an 8:05 pace which I thought was spectacular. I slowed every other aid station to hydrate. I felt great making the turn at the half way point if the run.

I looked down at my watch and saw 4:00:00 at the turn around. With this and the first 6.55 miles behind me I started to think that there was going to be a great probability of breaking 5 hours and destroying my best prior half marathon time. I kept running and surprisingly felt much better for the last 6.55 miles than I had expected. My pace slowed a little as I made sure to keep hydrating at the aid stations. I ran through the last aid station with my sights set on the finish line and a sub 5 hour finish. Overall run was 1:47:23 at a pace of 8:12 minute/mile, by far the fastest I have ran that distance. That is just over 7 minutes faster than the year prior and almost 20 minutes faster than my Florida time from this year. While I can clearly thank the cool weather and the cloud cover, I think the biggest factor is the nearly 100 more miles that I have run this year compared to the same point the year before.

I got to the finish line with arms up in the air very excited for improvement on the run as well as the overall race.

I packed everything back up and headed back down to Chicago. It really is fun to go fast, and to go faster than prior years. Thanks to my parents for driving up for dinner the night before despite having some conflicts the day of the race and to Evan for being the support crew and and usual taking fantastic pictures. Now, a day of rest and then the last final assault before the big race.

For more pictures from the race go to:

http://salz.smugmug.com/gallery/8974533_KntpX#596459720_5rHNZ

8 more weeks until Madison. See you there.

all dressed and ready to go

2009-07-17T18:23:00.004-05:00

here is the bike with its newest addition. a couple of weeks ago i got myself a brand spanking new pair of race wheels. the aerodynamic profile of the wheels is supposed to help me go faster. 2 weeks ago I raced an olympic distance and it felt as if i was going faster. maybe that is part of the advantage...just thinking that you are going faster.

but i think that there might really be something to these wheels. this morning i cleaned the bike. i wanted to get the chain nice and clean and re-lubricated and in the process took off a nice layer of dirt from the rest of the frame. once everything was nice and clean and put the new wheels on just to make sure they would rotate smootly. and smooth they were. i didn't time, but the bearings have very little resistance compared to my regular training wheels and just kept on spinning, and spinning, and spinning.

this weekend i will have another opportunity to see how these wheels work. i am racing up in Racine, wi at the spirit of racine half ironman. this race, like florida earlier in the year, is flat and fast. it looks like i am starting in the 3rd wave, which is nice because it is early, but it looks like there will be some serious potential for massive groups of people because all of the men under 40 are starting within 9 minutes of each other. my guess is that it is going to be rough to find some clean road for the first 20 miles or so...unless of course these wheels have some built in rocket boosters....

i'm looking forward to this race. its my last big race before wisconsin which follows 8 weeks later. i had a great week of training last week with 1.4 miles of swimming, 243 miles on the bike and 26 miles running for a total time of 19:30. this week has been a little slower, as i have tried to cut down the mileage today, and tomorrow will be an off day in preparation for the race. however, i will get some more miles on sunday with the race. then i hope for one more big week next week before going away for a week when ineveitably the numbers will be down.

well i have been a little derelict in posting updates to this blog. it is really hard work to be on vacation. hopefully an update from the race to come next week with pictures and then some intermittent updates leading up to madison part II.

a picture perfect day for a ride

2009-06-22T22:46:00.003-05:00

the hardest part about the chicago weather this year, apart from being demoralizing, has been the lack of good days to train when i am not working. that all changed today. low and behold, i come home from a weekend of working overnights and all of a sudden it is summer. not just any old summer, but high 80's with massive humidity. ahhh, the chicago summer that i have missed...

anyway, came home from work this morning and got a quick 4 hour nap. then packed the nutrition onto the bike and off to the lakefront path for a 60 mile ride. i couldn't quite decide if it was going to be a run or a ride today, but when i woke up the rain had stopped, the sun was shining and it was absolutely beautiful outside. the winds were calm and it was wonderful to feel the sun and the warmth again. i can do this, another couple months training in weather like this will be completely tolerable. 3:13 for the 60 miles. sweet. i might have been a little faster but the last 5 or so miles i was starting to feel the heat, i thought i had planned my liquids well, but my guess is that it was just a little hotter out there than i am used to for training.

in other good news the pool is open for swimming. by pool i mean lake michigan. and by open i mean the water is conducive to swimming. the lake officially opened several weeks ago but it looked just too damn cold. first i knew it was cold by watching the weather sites, but more importantly i saw people getting out of the water. there is nothing better to tell you that the water is cold that watching 2 guys wearing sleeveless wetsuits get out of the water with very red/purple arms...and it wasn't sunburn. anyway, the water was perfect yesterday, minimal waves, hardly any current to fight. a trip out to the bouy plus another 400m for 2000 meters made for a nice evening swim before going to work.

my running is really feeling good right now. i am consistently running faster and feeling good. the next objectives are not only to continue to increase the mileage but also to increase the frequency. slowly of course.

this upcoming weekend is the second race of the year - the bigfoot triathlon in lake geneva wisconsin. 6 days out the weather looks good, i'll keep my fingers crossed that it will hold true.

this week marks the last week of residency. 5 more shifts to go.

july will be a big training month, lots of miles, lots of hours, lots of improvement to be had.

oh yea, i got new race wheels. i opted for the flashpoint 60 front, 80 rear. they look pretty sweet. mounted the tires tonight. hopefully will take them out for a quick spin later in the week just to get a feel for the wheels before racing on them next weekend. pictures eventually.

welcome back summer!

really????

2009-06-09T07:28:00.002-05:00

the weather this summer has been sub-optimal. rained yesterday, wasn't supposed to rain today, just be cloudy and overcast but instead i was greeted with a nice wet sheen over everything when i woke-up and it is still misting. throw yet another wrench in the training plan. looks like it is swim this morning and if i get lucky and have time and the weather is any better i'll ride later.

the upside is that i am running more. in the last 3 days i ran 23 miles. might have overdone it a a little but suprisingly my legs feel alright today. maybe giving them a little rest and delaying the ride until this afternoon is a good thing.

last week i managed to make it up to madison to ride the course again. i rode the loop. the 1st 2/3rds were tolerable. the last portion i started to get hungy, tired, and just wanted to get off of my bike. my legs felt fine, i think i was just run down. unfortunately it is not too easy to just "turn around" on that course and go home. overall i felt pretty good, better than i thought i would. not a couple more months of training and i will feel even better.

graduation is tomorrow night. i am hoping to keep up my tradition of going on a long bike ride the day of graduation. but oh wait, what is the forecast for tomorrow? yup you guessed it. rain.

yea, its still raining, even delaying just a little by trying to write this didn't really seem to help. oh well. maybe later. i guess i'll do a nice rainy day activity and try to sort through some of my pictures from my last trip.

Florida 70.3 Race Report

2009-05-18T20:21:00.010-05:00

I just got back from a fantastic weekend of racing the Florida 70.3 in Orlando, Florida. The weather gave us a slight break…at least from the originally predicted temps and the time spent down there was fantastic.

My weekend started on Thursday with a warm-up/training day with my uncle in Atlanta. We went on a gentle 31 mile bike ride so I could dial in my fit and get used to his extra bike. After that was an easy 4 mile run and walk through a trail in the woods. Finally a quick 600 meter swim in a lake. The day was just enough to loosen me up and get me used to upcoming weekend of racing.

Thursday night we had a great home cooked meal thanks to my aunt and uncle. We packed the car including the bikes and got a good night of sleep in preparation for the drive the day ahead.

Thursday morning we got an early start and headed off to the airport to drop off my aunt. We then continued our journey down I-75 from Atlanta through the southern portion of Georgia.

We stopped for a quick picnic lunch once into Florida and then finished the drive down to Orlando. While the drive did take around 7 and a half hours it really didn’t feel that long because we are able to divide the driving duties.

Upon arrival to Disney we went straight to athlete check in to start the weekend process. The transition area was being set up and was still quite empty without any of the bikes dropped off yet.

We spent the next 24 hours as kids in Disney World. Our first journey took us around Disney via the monorail to see all of the different sites and parks from the outside. A side trip over and around epcot completed the monorail journey. After a good sushi dinner it was back to the hotel for another good night of sleep.

The next morning we woke up early to go to Universal for some roller coasters and other adventures. We got there just before the park opened and we were able to ride 3 roller coasters and one water ride within the first hour of being at the park, without having to wait in a single line. We then transitioned from Islands of Adventure to Universal Studios for more roller coasters and other rides. While it might have not been the most “classic” of activities to do the day before a race it was surely worth it. After all, I had never before been to Disney and it sure made sense to go on some adventures while I was there. After the day at Universal we settled down for a Pasta dinner with one of my friends from Chicago who just happened to be in town for the weekend.

The next morning we awoke at 4:00 AM, got dressed, checked out of the hotel and drove off to the Magical Kingdom. Upon arriving the parking lot was filling up quickly and the line for people to get on the busses was growing, but moving quickly.

I arrived at transition and got everything set up in the dark for the race day ahead. I found a hidden set of bathrooms and strolled right up without having to wait in line. (note, it is these little things on a race morning that really make a world of difference). Mike and I wished each other luck and we headed down to the swim start. The sun started to rise and provided a glimpse at a generally clear sky with just a faint breeze, seemed like it was going to be a perfect day for racing.

My start time was 68 minutes after the first heat of professionals started. Mike was in the 4th heat…I was in the 20th.

The Swim: 1.2 miles 41:52, 115/295 in age group.

The race started off great. This was the first open water swim I have ever done without a wetsuit. It didn’t really feel all that different from the pool training that I have been doing all winter, but I really could feel a difference compared to the other wetsuit races that I have done prior. I kept trying to find a pair of feet to sit on, but more the majority of the race seemed instead just find a lot of open water. It got clustered around the turns as it usually does. Nothing too exciting. I caught up to some of the heats in front of me and tried my best to just get around them. The swim was just a little slower than my prior 1.2 mile open water swim (when measured correctly), but then again this race was 8 weeks earlier with no open water swimming done yet this year.

T1: 5:05

I then got out of the water and felt as if I was doing the Chicago triathlon again. A nice looooooong run from the water to transition. I got all of my bike stuff ready and headed out on the bike

The Bike: 56 miles 2:43:50, 20.51 MPH, 108/295

As Lance Armstrong has so eloquently stated, “It is not about the bike”. Well don’t get me wrong, the bike segment is a really important part of the day. I spend just about half of my day on the bike, and blowing up on the bike and overshooting on the bike can really screw up the rest of the race. It is a challenge to stay within a good zone while racing at the same time.

Preparing for this race was rather challenging. The weather in Chicago had not been too cooperative so getting outside with nice warm weather was a bit challenging. Luckily, I had spent a good amount of time on the trainer this winter and I had at least gotten some miles under my belt. This race added a new dimension as well, I was using my Uncle’s Tri-bike. Now, there is nothing wrong with this bike, in fact it clearly works well as it took him to Kona.

The nice thing about the course in Florida is that it is flat and fast. The downside…it is flat. I started off the ride feeling very comfortable with my pace. Luckily the roads were relatively open, there weren’t as many people at first to get around as I had been expecting. Sure, there were people to pass, but there weren’t huge trains of bicycles to fight with for space on the road. I spent a good portion of the day passing people, primarily people in earlier waves, but passing nonetheless. I got a kick out of flying by someone riding with a disc. My nutrition plan worked out well, the aid stations were well stocked and I got water and Gatorade and I felt as if I fueled just right. Coming back to Disney it had started to warm up and the wind was starting to pick up right in our faces. The intersections were very well patrolled with officers. I got back to the end of the bike course feeling well hydrated, not too burned and ready for a run.

T2 : 3:10

The Run 13.1 Miles 2:07:56, 9:45 min miles, 90/295

I have to admit, this was the one part of the race that worried me the most. While I have run many more miles this year compared to last year at the same time, and have been running faster, all of those miles have been in temperatures and humidity much less than predicted for the race. Also given the weather and work schedule hadn’t gotten too many bricks under my belt (… only 2) I started off the run feeling pretty good, my legs actually felt fresh. I ran the first mile in 8:15, pulled back on the speed a little bit and kept running the first loop. I started to get a little warm on the second loop, was putting ice cubes in my hat and pouring water on top to act as a personal air-conditioner. Worked for a while until my shoes got too wet…

Mile 11 was the toughest. Long, straight, seemingly endless, blazing hot sun, no coverage from the trees, seemingly forever to the finish line. I took a little time to rest, and walked a little, trying to regain whatever energy I could muster. The last mile was in site and I tried to run as best as I could into the finish line, down the chute, arms up in the air, finishing the race.

Overall 5:41:53 91/295 Overall in Age Group

Final Thoughts:

I was very happy with my time. This is one of the first races that I can remember that I have been able to really gain ground on the run. I was very please with the swim and the bike, but I really don't think there has been a race that my run has clearly been the strong point of the three. Looks like the training is paying off and hopefully this will be an indicator of more great things to happen this year.

It was great to spend the weekend racing and going on adventures with my Uncle, it was wonderful to see him take second in his age group.

2009-05-16T14:12:00.003-05:00

Quick update from florida-

made the trip down safely to orlando yesterday, nice long car ride with a picnic lunch in the middle of the ride. didn't seem to take nearly as long as it actually did.
wandered around universal this morning, rode some great roller coasters, saw some fun 3d shows, simulator experiences, etc.
now getting ready to drop of the bike, have dinner and go to sleep

Florida 70.3 tomorrow - the finish line awaits

first look at weather

2009-05-08T08:08:00.002-05:00

the first prediction for the weather is now available for orlando next sunday

high 90
partly cloudy - fantastic
chance of rain 10%

a little warm

motivation

2009-05-07T21:44:00.003-05:00

when the training gets tough, work is bad, motivation runs thin, the weather turns south, or the doubts start to creep into my mind... there is always this, and then i just can't wait to get back to the starting line. i can still feel the calm of the water, see the sun rising over the lake, and hear the quiet anticipation of the day ahead

thanks to the original poster for putting this up.

training season

2009-05-05T21:07:00.002-05:00

signs that the true training has begun
-taking 3 showers in one day
-planning doubles
-seeing real human beings out on the lakefront, and lots of them
-the sun stays out later and is still light when i get home from training
-washing work-out clothes more frequently despite having a pretty large arsenal

-going faster
-greater endurance
-eating more food

that is all for now

Getting ready for Florida

2009-05-04T21:27:00.002-05:00

several months ago i was trying to create a race plan for this summer and thought that starting the season off with an early race would be a great thing to do. well don't get me wrong, i am very excited to start the season about 6 weeks earlier than last year. however, when i was making the schedule i apparently forgot about one key factor. THE WEATHER. unfortunately, in chicago, the weather is pretty much guaranteed to be unpredictable (read: awful) until sometime in may. well now it is may and the weather is finally getting better.

today i was able to get outside on a nice long ride. a 60 mile ride up and down the lakefront path with relatively little traffic. the winds were relatively calm and even though the weather channel was convinced that the wind was coming out of the south i am pretty convinced that whatever wind was present was coming from the north.

i looked that the forecast for the next 10 days for orlando....yeah, this is going to be interested. so here in chicago it has been nice and cool. my ride today was probably around 65 degrees. beautiful riding temp, nice sun. anyway, orlando, 90 degrees. so in an attempt to acclimate to the heat today i wore what i thought would be some extra clothes...nope, just enough to keep me at the right temp.

so i am still plotting my last week of training before florida. not much time for bricks, i will just have to take it as it comes.

but the good news is that i have hit all of my milestones. i got up to 12 miles running last weekend, outside riding 60 miles this week (not including the 100 mile ride last weekend in california), and have overswam the distance several times.

speaking of last weekend, i had a great ride with my sister. the chico wildflower is a 100 mile ride (or at least pretty close to 100) that is generally a flat ride with 3 climbs. i really had a lot of fun going up the hills. i can definitely say that the time that i have spent on the trainer this winter has really made a difference. i forgot my HRM but i can tell you that i generally felt really good climbing. but, i will say that going downhill on a bike that is not mine is not a fun experience. i had a great time out there riding and hanging out with my sister.

my training plans again got screwed up for this week. i need to get back in the pool, hopefully will find some time tomorrow. have stuff to do in the morning, then going to the cubs game in the afternoon with grandpa. i think the weather will be perfect.

i'm watching the replay of the 70.3 world championships in clearwater last november. it is good motivation to get excited about florida in just under 2 weeks.

another run or two, (although nothing too long) another couple medium rides, hopefully a couple of swims and then a mini taper on my way down to florida.

a week of transitions

2009-04-04T14:39:00.002-05:00

this past week was a week of change, mostly moving forward...

it is hard to believe that the first episode of ER aired 15 years ago. shocking that it has been on television for half of my life. now granted, i haven't watched the show in years, but wierd to think nonetheless that it is over. the odd part of the last episode on thursday night was that it coincided with my last official shift at evanston hospital. after 6 years of training there between medical school and residency, it is quite fitting that the same show that opened my eyes to life in the emergency room would dim the lights for the last time the same night that i finished my education at evanston. i don;t remember many of the story lines in the show. dr. greene dying was always sad, romano getting his arm severed by the helicopter might have been what caused me to give up on the show. that or maybe all of the cast leaving. but after working in an er now for the past several years the ability to come up with new bizarre stories never ends.

i added mileage to my training this week. got in a 50 mile bike ride...and when the scenery doesn't move on the trainer, and there is no coasting, you work for every last mile. today i logged a 10 mile run. felt nice and relaxed. kept the heart rate average just under 150. it was a georgous sunny day in the high 40's, beutiful running weather. this week i also managed to get in my first brick. 30 mile ride, 4 mile run.

i am in the homestretch now of the residency. 3 more blocks to go, 1 elective month and 2 in the downtown ED. it is hard to believe that it has been 4 years already, hard to believe that there is so little time left. but soon it will be on to the next stage which i am sure will bring many challenges and exciting opportunities as well.

time to go enjoy the rest of my day off.

could it possibly be?

2009-03-25T21:08:00.002-05:00

sure signs that spring is here?

-i am temporarily done with the dreadmill. no more ice, the trails are open for running
-the mooring cans are in the harbors
-it is still late when i get home from work...well at least when i work the day shift
-we have flirted with 70's, it has been in the 60's, back in the 30's
-high of 65 does not mean much with an easterly wind...
-more people are out excercising
-i have hung up the heavy winter coat
-start to think about riding outside on a more regular basis
-seeds for the outdoor vegetables this summer have been planted inside
-it is still cold outside...and it isn't summer yet...but soon

the first ride outside

2009-03-16T17:51:00.002-05:00

today i was able to free my bike from the death grip of the indoor trainer and get outside for a long peaceful ride. i had great hopes when it said the temperature was 57 degrees. dressed myself in layers, felt nice and warm. however, i think the slight east/south/east wind was pulling some cold from the lake and dropped the temp just a little bit. needless to say, the changing scenery was far better than anything inside.

somewhere around mile 25 i paused to take some pictures of the sky line and partially frozen lake... just to prove to any naysayers that i was actually outside today riding. well here i am. and there is the frozen lake in the background. it really was a spectacular day, completely blue sky, slight wind, very relaxing.

out on my ride i ran into several of my friends who were out running and enjoying the weather as well.

maybe this is a sign of things to come, maybe the weather might actually be warming up...but then again it is still march in chicago which means that we are probably still in for another snowstorm.

time to go find some toe covers for my shoes, and maybe some warmer gloves, everything else stayed nice and toasty warm.

moving forward

2009-03-02T19:09:00.002-06:00

the foot is feeling better. not sure exactly what was wrong, but a day or so later was walking without any pain. it has been 2 weeks now since i last run, since clearly not a bony injury with no xray findings and no pain any longer, will probably start to play on the eliptical soon.

i have been trying to make lemonade despite the minor set-back that was thrown at me. i have taken this opportunity as a chance to try to swim more and get on my bike. the mileage on both has jumped up in the last week. i swam 120 lengths last week - around 53 minutes, and it felt great. i'll just keep adding distance and time. i could feel that i was getting stronger and faster, and the times proved it. i think i took about a minute off of my 100 lap time earlier in the week, which is why i decided to add some distance. the cycling has increased too. i have been holding >20 mph on the trainer, the last two rides i have gotten in 40 mile rides. as a result, i have finally caught up with my distance from last year. unfortunately i had been lagging behind the benchmark i set last year. i am still clearly behind in the swimming department in terms of distance, but i feel better and faster in the water this year. and well running...at least i had the mileage before the brakes were applied, but hopefully that train will leave the station soon as well.

in other news it appears as if spring might be on the horizon, they are predicting 50 degree days soon...it is hard to believe when i drive into work and see the ice covered lake michigan. there is always hope, and it is still only the first week of march.

dinner time, i am hungry.

challenges

2009-02-20T16:04:00.002-06:00

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which
difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish."
--John Quincy Adams

roadblocks are often created for a reason. i don't like roadblocks, i don't like it when things get in my way and wreak havoc with plans. at work we refer to obstacles as "work-arounds." in fact, in emergency medicine we have become so adept at figuring out ways around obstacles that the obstacle itself persists but we have forged a way ahead without fixing an (often insurmountable) obstacle. i have learned to deal with work, after all, it is work, and if obstacles didn't exist it probably wouldn't be half as interesting as it currently is.

but things get different when it involves personal time. i recently made the decision to go race in florida with mike. after many years of trying to get some time and the training i was finally able to book a flight, register for a race and start planning. the whole prospect of an early season race in may clearly threw a big giant wrench in my traning plans. maybe wrench isn't the right word, maybe the better way to deescribe it is adding some grease and a big giant push to the wheels of training. i quickly realized that to get to florida i was going to have to train with a purpose instead of just train to train. well somewhere along that road my foot started to bother me.

wierd discomfort, not quite anything that i have encountered during my training in the past several years. anyway went to see ortho today, xrays are reassuring, might be tendonitis. well i can deal with that. a couple weeks of ibuprofen, no running for the time being. given the green light for swimming and cycling. well foot feels better already...which makes you wonder just how much of this was in my head.

but this posed a big giant obstacle for my training. at first i had to ramp up training, now i have to ramp down training, then gingerly get back into the swing. the season is long, i have another 6 months to go before madison. i need to be careful and smart. i need to get back to the starting line healthy, happy, well trained, and ready to go.

so i will take this obstacle and use it as an opportunity to work on swimming and cycling. i will increase mileage and keep the engine strong so that when i can get back to running all of the different parts are ready and the journey to get trained can be a safe and healthy one.

its going to be a big season, if all goes according to plan two 70.3, one full ironman, and an olympic just for completeness sake. i fell better now, thanks.

the training continues

2009-01-25T14:18:00.002-06:00

this month has been challenging for training. unfortunately i have about a 50 minute drive from my house to work. it turns my 10 hour work day into a 12 hour day and makes getting a work-out any longer than about 45 minutes rather challenging. i finally had a day off today, no work, no moonlighting, nothing to do, nowhere to be, no worries. it was nice to wake up without an alarm. i had a relaxing breakfast then went to the gym to work out.

i have been trying my best to run as much as i can this winter. i don't have enough time or a regular enough schedule to run every day, but i am trying my best. as such i have spent many days at the gym swimming and then going for a run immediately afterwards. it makes the drive to the gym a little more worth the time. also it makes the day a little more exciting. so today i swam 2000 meters, felt pretty good the whole time and maintained a constant pace. i then got on the dreadmill and ran 4.5 miles. i am methodically ramping up mileage. goal #1 is to stay healthy. goal #2 is to run faster, run smarter, run better.

i have bigger aspirations for madison this year. most of them all revolve around a faster marathon. i think it can be done. but to get there i need some more training and quicker legs.

the daylight is slowly lengthening, a true sign that spring must be on the way...and then i face the cold reminder that it is still january and the temps are still hovering around zero. until then i will continue to be a gerbil and run on my dreadmill.

i got a job

back in the water

2008-12-07T20:33:00.002-06:00

well, almost 3 months later i have finally dragged my behind into the pool. oddly enough, it felt great. granted my arms were a little tired, but i will attribute that to the lifting that i did two days ago and not the fact that i haven't swam in 3 months... the first swim was a nice relaxing 1500m swim, swam basically the entire distance with only a short stop at each 500. which by the way is far better than i have ever been able to do at the start of swim training earlier in the year. i guess i still have a somewhat decent foundation in place, or at least preserved the technique. another month of decent base creation and then come january to increase the load. about 10 months to madison, there is plenty of time, plenty of time.

anyway, i have spent the past several weeks trying to become a runner. trying to develop a more consistent schedule, more frequency. i was doing alright, it is a heck of a lot easier when the weather is nice. running inside on the perpetual hamster machine is a bit challenging mentally at times. but, it will be another several months before i can really start to think about going outside again. the temps don't bother me, but rather i am not really in the mood to destroy an ankle, or even a wrist. so, i will just have to find a way to make the running more exciting. i might try to learn how to run intervals, or maybe even add an incline, maybe oneday i will just let the computer pick a work out for me.

this week i was back on my bike. went for 2 rides. hopefully more rides this week. and more rides of course means more movies, because really, apart from actually getting in shape, watching movies in the winter is seriously one of the best benefits of training on the bike.

oh yea, i got new shoes today. i think it was about time. not sure how many miles they had on them but there was definitely a marathon in there somewhere....

back to more productive endeavors

8 years ago

2008-11-03T18:47:00.002-06:00

8 years ago i was sitting in a library studying for classes during my last semester of college.
8 years ago i was watching the polls wondering what was going to happen in an election. the watching and waiting then continued for several more weeks as chads were counted, and recounted.
8 years later, i am closer to finishing residency. closer to trying to find a job.
8 years later, i am watching the polls again, wondering if the country is going to get "right" this time.

the several weeks following the ironman were rough. between being on call at county...q3 should be abolished, it really just cannot be good for the body in any fashion - and the total body destruction involved, and the physical recovery following the race, and just wanting to chill out, i did approximately no physical activity for about a month and a half. this past week i have started to get into training again. i have gone running the past 4 days in a row, not huge miles but somewhere around 3 miles a day. i feel great. i have been smiling, running with friends, getting back into the swing of things. i am looking forward to putting on the miles again. next step is to start riding my bike again, the trainer is itching to be used.

game on

314 days to go

just for fun

2008-10-16T18:44:00.002-05:00

today i went back to my roots.

the sun was out, wind gusting from the north, mid 50's, leaves turning yellow, lake front deserted. i took out my old mountain bike. a 1998 gary fisher hoo-koo-e-koo (in blue) and wandered all along the lakefront. in and out of parks, over hills, and under trees. i had no planned route, no spedometer, no place to be. just a relaxing ride with my old friend.

it felt great to be out riding again. i had taken out my tri bike earlier in the week for a ride when the weather was a little warmer. today i had a grin the entire ride. sometimes it is fun to just do things without a purpose, without a plan, without a goal. just riding for the sake of riding.

best of all, the urge to start training is coming back. i knew it would, just had to wait for the body to tell me it is ready.

looks like it is time to start planning for madison 09...

the greatest adventure

2008-09-11T20:57:00.016-05:00

I will try to capture my thoughts from the day and incorporate pictures to tell the story of the culminations one of the greatest adventures i have ever undertaken. unlike prior race reports this one will not have a short version...sorry.

however, before i begin i wanted to thank my support crew who were out on the course with me for the the entire day moving from place to place. following me with the GPS tracker i had, relaying messages to the rest of the family at home, and always in the right place, at the right time, cheering me on.

my alarm goes off at 3:45 on race morning. i wake up and start to eat breakfast, mix bottles of nutrition, and feverishly log on to the internet to check the weather...can it be true, has the chance of rain really gone away. wow...i feel like the luckiest person in the world, forecast is for the high 60's, no rain until late, but some steady wind from the west building around noon. i can deal with that.

i finish my bagel with peanut butter, cliff bar, and bottle of nutrition, pack up the rest of my stuff, grab a banana, diluted gatorade, and head to the car. i was staying northeast of madison and as i drove into the capitol the illuminate dome of the capitol building appeared and the excitement started to build.

i dropped off my special needs bags, headed for transition to get my numbers, pump my tires, lube the chain, load the bottles, gu etc. i figured at this point i would lose my friend so i said good-bye to evan. little did i know that i would see him again about 15 minutes later.

i wandered through monona terrace making a pit stop, stretching a little, and then putting on my wetsuit. at about 6:25 i started to head down to the water. there was a fantastic sunrise on the opposite shore.

as i approached the lake i started to hear the announcer encouraging everyone to head on in. i reset my watch with the race clock and headed into the lake just before 6:45. as i got closer to the start line i found a bit of open water and floated on my back. i was just staring up at the sky trying to minimize energy spent and think through my race. i realized that the hardest part of the race had already occured. up until that point the hardest thing was sticking with the training plan, preventing injury and balancing work with training. i was ready for the final part of the adventure. i looked back to land and was amazed by the sheer number of people lining the waterfront. i ended up floating about 1/2 way between the ski jump and the big red corner bouy. with ten minutes before our start the pros begin.

the national anthem is sung, the clock ticks down. the water is calm, the air is cool, the sun is rising over the opposite shore. there is a sense of anticipation in the air, an eager anticipation for the journey that was to lie ahead. then the cannon fires and the calm water is turned into a sea of flailing arms, kicking legs, and organized chaos.

i start swimming and feel great. i hardly feel like i am working at all to move forward. in the first lap it remained pretty tight. i got kicked in the jaw, punched in the side, jammed my finger on someone's hip, had someone grab my leg, and got into a total cluster around the bouy. i reached the 1.2 mile mark around 34 minutes. i had no idea that i was moving that fast, but i felt completely relaxed and was breathing every 4th stroke so i figured i would keep on going. somewhere on that first leg heading out from the 1/2 way point the crowds in the water thinned out and i found some nice water where i could swim without constantly bumping into people.

i got out of the water in 1:10:46, got my wetsuit stripped off and then started to run up the helix.

i saw my family there and gave them a big high 5. i was thrilled and somewhat shocked that i was out of the water that fast. i think the picture shows my utter confusion. i cruised on up the helix, which wasn't as hard as i thought it would be, with a huge smile on my face.

i get into t1, get my arm warmers on (by the way, the absolute best purchase of anything that i bought the entire year), socks, shoes, helmet, sunglasses, gloves...time to rock and roll.

i head down the helix, apparently miss my friend taking pictures (sorry) and head out on the bike ride.

i really felt good on the first part of the ride. i was trying to not go full out on the stick leading out to the loop. i figured i would have plenty of time to ride later in the day. i tried to stay as relaxed as possible, stay in the saddle as much as i could while climbing, and stay true to my nutrition plan. everything seemed to be working well. i had a good cadence, a nice pace, and felt really comfortable. i was having a great time on the course. tackling the hills, keeping a really positive attitude, and cruising along.

i reached cross plains and decided that it would be a good time for a quick stop to unload the bladder. i then headed off to my favorite part of the course. the 2 climbs that end with timber ln are just fun. the first, unknown to me was lined with people cheering us on. it really had a fun and festive atmosphere. then i reached timber lane and felt like the most important person in the world. my uncle ran a brief section with me and i was able to give him my thoughts on how i was feeling to relay back to the family.

i head back to verona, feeling good, notice the wind has picked up a little but excited that the first lap is just about done. i stop for special needs and begin the second attempt at conquering the loops.

well the second loop did not go as well as the first. i never felt tired, my muscles never were fatigued or sore...but my knees started to blow-up. it got to the point where every pedal stroke was starting to hurt. i tried standing, moving back in the saddle, sitting upright, basically anything i could to try to feel better. the climbs up the hills by timber lane, and then again later were not as much fun as before.

even cruising through verona was not enjoyable. i reached a dark point between miles 90-112 where i wasn't sure if i was even going to be able to finish the race. i started seeing people i had passed a while back catch up with me. i made a conscious decision to pull back a little on the bike to try to save whatever i could to make it through the marathon.

bike time 6:31:54

i make it up the helix, get off the bike, head to t2, change, make a quick stop in the port-o-potty and start to make my way out of t2.

i am standing at the start of the marathon trying to convince my body that running would be a good thing to do. my body is just not listening. i think mostly because i was scared that my knees would kill and the race would be over. i hear someone either a spectator or a volunteer yell..."hey david...try to find your rhythm." something inside of me obliged and i started to get a cadence and run. and would you believe it, my knees felt great. whatever i was doing on the bike that caused the irritation was gone and i was moving.

i saw my family again in mile one and stopped to give my mom a big hug before continuing on with the rest of marathon.

i had planned to have one cliff block every mile of the marathon...let's just say that plan fell apart at mile 2 when my stomach did not like them anymore. instead every aid station was some water, some gatorade, some grapes....they were really good, a couple pretzels here and there, some oranges, and water soaked sponges in the front of my jersey.

i walked up the big hill both laps...was walking almost as fast as some of the people were walking. i started to get my usual knee discomfort somewhere between mile 16 and 18, at that point i just kept running when i could and walking when i couldn't.

i reached mile 20 to hear a spectator say, "you only have a 10k to go." the miles started to melt away, 6.2 turned into 5.2, and before i knew it i was winding my way back up to state street and around the capitol.

i made the turn to MLK drive and saw the people, the lights, the ironman arches, and could finally see the finish line. as i was moving toward the line i heard the line that exactly one year prior created chills and a sense of awe in all of the competators. my hands were above my head, fists pumping in triumph.

i had covered the 140.6 miles, i had made it to the finish line. i heard mike's voice over the loudspeaker say "David Salzman, a 29 yr old physician from chicago....YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!" i crossed the finish line, the happiest person in the world.

my finishing time was 12:50:24. it was 10 minutes faster than my goal time of 13 hours. i ran my first ever marathon in 4:49. i completed my first ironman.

i spent the rest of the night trying to rehydrate (being a doctor with access to IV's does have it's benefits...), get my appetite back, and hang out with my family. sometime around midnight i got my appetite back, wolfed down a cheeseburger and fell back asleep. the day was done, the journey had reached its finish line, but the memories will last for a long time.

thanks for reading, but an even bigger thanks for supporting me along this crazy journey over the past year.

I AM AN IRONMAN

2008-09-08T21:19:00.003-05:00

the starting line

2008-09-06T06:21:00.003-05:00

well, the time is here. it has been 1 year since i stood in line on the cold rainy monday morning to get my golden ticket to participate in this event. and all i can say is that the journey to get here has been amazing. it has had its ups and downs with compromises that have been made, but overall the journey has been memorable. i think the hardest thing i have done so far is to train for the event. trying to balance work, sleep, eating, training, and hanging out with friends has been taxing, yet rewarding.

i spent yesterday soaking in the ironman ambience. at registration in the morning there were people that have all done similar things to get here. we probably all have different reasons for racing, different traning plans to get us to the starting line, different goals to get us to the finish line, but in the end we are all here to race, to have a good day, and to finish the race. i couldn't believe all of the stuff on display. i felt like a little kid in a candy store....with a credit card. luckily i did exhibit some restraint, but i wonder if i should have gotten more...

the opening dinner was good. there was a good video, some interesting discussion with some people. oddly enough it was not as anxiety provoking as i thought it might be. i didn't really spend much time thinking about other people. the truth is that lots of them will be faster than me. lots of them will have spent lots more time (and money) on training and toys. i am going to race my race tomorrow. i've got no one to beat, just that little clock at the end as it starts to tick away. and, there is only one thing that i can control...and it's not the weather, and it is not the 2400 other people racing...

all of my transition bags are packed, stuff is ready to go. my T1 bag is kind of funny, it has all of my usual T1 stuff (not really that much) plus a long sleeve shirt, windbreakers, and full fingered gloves. those are in a separate bag inside the big bag just to help organize. at the athlete dinner last night paula newby-fraser basically said, if you brought it along, put it in the bag...with the weather forecast changing as many times as it has over the past several days, i figure it will be race morning decision.

my family arrives this afteroon, that should allow for enough time for dinner, making signs, going over the course, etc. until then, breakfast, a quick swim to loosen up, bring in the bike, bring in the transition bags, relax a little this afternoon.

140.6 more miles to go.

lets put this in perspective...the distance from my house in chicago to madison is 143 miles.

see you at the finish line

final preparations

2008-09-02T13:13:00.003-05:00

each day brings me one day closer to the race. each day is one less day of waiting, one less day of trying to be a meteorologist, one less day of preparing, one less day of worrying that i am not doing something right, one less day of wondering.

each day i look at my watch during random times of the day and try to envision where i will be on race day. that is a part of the taper, to "visualize" the race. i remember lying on the bleachers in highschool preparing for the conference meets and visualizing each stroke, each flip off the wall, each race. this time things are different. an ironman is a little too long to visualize each movement during the course of the day.

on today's bike ride i envisioned i was heading out to the loop. keeping a nice relaxed pedal stroke, trying, yet failing miserably to stay in my seat, and most importantly trying to loosen up and feel ready. i felt a little tight when i first started which quickly improved.

unfortunately with extra time you notice things. i felt a little twinge here, a little twinge there and was wondering if it meant anything. wondering if at mile 88 it would come back and be more than just a twinge. wondering if it is all in my mind.

but some things are for sure. sunday is coming. there is no turning back the clock. the weather systems will do what they want to do, despite my continued encouragement to go in some other direction. the cannon will go off, and i will race. it will be tough, it will hurt, there will be points where i might just want to quit, but i will keep going, and i will have a blast in the process.

waiting

2008-08-31T22:00:00.002-05:00

well all there is to do now is to wait. the days are passing one at a time, and i luckily have work to act as a distraction. unfortunately i get very frequent access to the internet to observe the 10 day madison forecast. the damn weather has changed 10 times today. first it was raining, then cloudy, then sunny, then raining, then sunny, now raining again. at least now it says scattered storms with a big sun in the background. maybe i will get lucky. it seems the weather will be dependent on gustav and no one can figure out where it is going. ... at least it looks like it will be cooler...

ok, no more weather checking for me, at least for tonight

more tomorrow

T-6 days 9 hours

IMMOO

2008-08-29T22:37:00.000-05:00

I am racer number 415

my new lucky number

can it be true?

2008-08-29T06:55:00.003-05:00

Madison weather forecast

Sun
Sep 7 Partly Cloudy (mostly sunny)

73°
52°

20% of rain

From the West Northwest 8mph

Race starts 9 days from right now

my fast "new" bike

2008-08-27T20:34:00.003-05:00

i got my bike back from the shop today. best money i have spent in a while. it rode so smoothly this afternoon. the brakes are very responsive. the shifting is spot on. brand new chain. all clean. and the bike was soooooo quiet. not a single little squeak or sound to be heard. i felt like i was riding a brand new bike, despite the fact that basically everything is the same. yipppeee

my ride this afternoon was nice and relaxing. 40 miles. spent a good portion of the ride talking with someone else which kept my speed reasonable and allowed me to spin. my leg felt a little tight when i started to ride but then loosened up. i spent a good 20 min stretching after my ride. felt refreshed. now tired

i'm testing my watch today. i started the stopwatch just after 7am. so far we are doing good just over 13:30. i want to see how long it will go....just in case.

race numbers are apparently going to be posted on friday.

10 days and 10 hours to go

the calm before the storm

2008-08-25T21:10:00.003-05:00

today i went swimming in the lake. it was kind of an eerie experience. to begin with, the wind was howling out of the north creating 2-3 foot waves, some intermittent white caps, and really impeding my ability to see where i was going, and at times get a good breath of water. regardless i had a blast. even more interesting was the fact that there was no one else swimming. ok maybe i saw one or 2 other people in the water the entire time i was there. granted yesterday was the chicago tri so i am sure that the majority of the people are either done with their seasons or taking the day off. regardless it was just me, the lifeguards, the random onlookers on the path (it seemed like there were a lot of those today) and the waves beating me up.

i got out of the water feeling refreshed, well as refreshed as i could be for having worked overnight and then slept for 4 and a half hours....

the bike is in the shop now. hopefully they can get shifting will a little tighter. i liked the feel of the new tires on my ride the other day.

the t-shirts came in today. i am pretty happy with the way they look. here is the image on the back. nice red shirt. i'm thinking they will stand out better than the original grey design so i can spot people more easily.

one day closer, T minus 12 days

uncertainty

2008-08-24T08:48:00.003-05:00

the problem with a big event for me has always been the fear of the unknown. in the first competitions in high school sports i never quite knew what to expect. after the first event things got better, i settled into a pattern and felt much more comfortable for the second race. i thought i knew what to expect for the ironman, now everything is confused.

have i trained enough? or more importantly have i done the right type of training...were my long rides long enough, or too short? did i do enough long runs or was the last one too early? did i do enough bricks? have i done an adequate job of testing my nutrition plan before the race? will my body hold up for an entire marathon after the 8 hours of swimming and biking before? will i be able to eat enough on the bike? will i get the crap kicked out of me during the swim, or will i escape unscathed? will i get to the start line feeling relaxed and ready?

i'm sure the majority of these concerns are born out of uncertainty. after seeing the race, i know it is possible to do. i have a mental image of the swim, transitions, and bike. i have watched video of the run, and seen parts of the course. it can be done. i just hope it can be done in a relatively tolerable fashion and that all of my preparation was adequate.

2 weeks from now i will be somewhere on the bike course, the day will have just begun, let's keep our fingers crossed for good weather and a start just like last year...

It's TAPER TIME

2008-08-22T17:20:00.002-05:00

i am going to try to chronicle my thoughts in the last 2 weeks of my journey to the start line, check back often these next two weeks.

well, after a long 10 months of training, it is time to put the machine into autopilot and pull back on the intensity. time to focus more on rest, stretching, relaxing, and less on destroying my body. i remember back in highschool when i swam that we would always look forward to the taper, probably because it meant that after a season a hard work we would not have to work as hard. now it is just the last step along the journey.

i think a lot of theory of tapering comes from the idea that very little aerobic benefit will be obtained from anything that is done in the two weeks (or so) preceding a big race. instead much greater benefit will be obtained through allowing the body to get enough rest.

the ultimate goal for the next 2 weeks... to show up to the start line feeling refreshed, rested, loose, pain free, and ready for a great race.

the bike is going into the shop this week, this will serve two purposes. first, it needs a tune-up. need to fine tune the rear der shifting, and fix a little on the front as well. a nice cleaning of the drive train will make it even more shiny. second, it will keep me off my bike for a little.

i think the best part of the taper is that i have earned it. i have worked hard for 10 months, i have endured the long work-outs, the long days, going home early from bars to get up early the next morning to work-out, or go back to work and then work-out.

but the next 2 weeks will not be easy, my work schedule will keep me busy, and it will be a challenge to really pull the throttle back on the intensity. in the end if there is a decision between sleeping late and training the answer will be to sleep.

i will be rested, i will be loose, i will be ready to go in 15 days.

it's gonna happen

2008-08-09T22:04:00.003-05:00

so i have been away from blogging for the past 2 weeks due to training. i have had 2 phenomenal weeks of training, 22:28 and 19:49 respectively. I have ridden 370 miles, swam 11k meters, and run 52 miles.

the greatest accomplishment capped off the two weeks of training with a 20 mile run this morning.

the three big mental barriers to starting the race have now been taken care of, a 4K open water swim, 100 mile bike, 20 mile run.

the race is 4 weeks away. i can't wait to get out there and tackle the course.

i've laid down a great foundation, cemented it the past several weeks, now it is just time to fine tune the little details and and get some rest

a bike and a run

2008-07-28T22:11:00.003-05:00

i am trying to add more miles

60 mile bike

4.5 mile run

and i just hit the wall

time to sleep so hopefully i can get in a long run tomorrow

take that lake michigan

2008-07-27T21:39:00.002-05:00

4,000 meters swimming today.

The day was absolutely beautiful, calm water, sun out, blue sky, warm water.

It was great, now time to sleep so i can ride again in the morning.

Spirit of Racine - Last Stop Before Madison

2008-07-21T16:18:00.004-05:00

The short version:
I had an excellent race this past weekend at the Spirit of Racine. Second time for the event 5:11:36. I felt like I really went out to race the event this weekend, and had an absolute blast. Still one of the best courses and well organized races I have raced.

The (really) long version:

Well the “fun” really began for this race about 3 weeks ago when I got a phone call from the hotel that I had made reservations at in april calling to kindly inform me that they had to cancel my reservation due to overbooking. Great, thanks. Quickly went to the internet and found the next closest hotel, just south of the Milwaukee airport.

Saturday-

It is overcast and raining here in Chicago. The 10 day weather forecast for Sunday had changed several times every day ranging from 20-60% chance of rain. The before leaving it seemed as if the weather might hold at least until the afternoon. So I drive up to racine and complete registration. I learned that the water was a balmy 56 degrees. Sweet, it’s a great thing that I have a full sleeved wetsuit, but 56 is still chilly. I had trained in Lake Michigan here in Chicago earlier in the summer when the temp was in the high 50’s, but lately it has been beautiful approaching the high 60’s. I head down to the transition area and check-in my bike. Cover the drive train, handlebars, seat with plastic bags and say goodnight to the bike.

Next we head up to Milwaukee to the hotel, and rest for a little before going to dinner. The original plan was to go to an olive garden for the breadsticks and salad. So we drive about 15 min, find the olive garden and learn of the 60 minute wait. Jeez, I mean seriously 60 minutes. So we walk outside and right across the street is another Italian restaurant. So we cross 6 lanes of traffic and get seated right away. The food was great, and we were done eating by the time we would have gotten food across the street.

Back to the hotel, watch the weather channel, there is a huge line of thunderstorms in Iowa / eastern Wisconsin moving on toward us. Off to sleep.

Sunday-

4:20am, the alarm goes off, and it is time to wake up, get dressed, pack the car, and drive to the race. Look at the radar one more time and whatever is left of the storm is out over the lake, nothing left to the west. Sweet.

Arrive at the race and find a parking spot about 3 blocks away, excellent, this will make the end of the day much better. I bring my race stuff to transition area. The temperature is comfortable but the visibility is horrendous, maybe 200 feet, and getting worse as we get closer to the lake. I make the requisite stop at the port-o-potties and then head off to transition to unwrap the bike and set up all of my stuff.

As everything is set and I am ready to go the race director announces that there is a 15 minute delay due to the fog. The coast guard won’t let the race start until the visibility is a little better at the shore. Apparently, they are unable to see the last buoy before the turn into the shore. Luckily the buoy’s were only 50-100 feet off of shore or the race might have never started. I look at my numbers and realize they have already started to wear off so i ask for some family help in reprinting them.

The masses start the mile walk down the shoreline to get to the swim start. The sight of athletes disappearing into the fog was quite surreal.

When we finally get to the start we are informed that the rolling start delays have continued. An hour later at 8am the race directors were given the go-ahead for the race and the pro wave took off. After that just like clock-work on 3 minute intervals each heat started the journey.

At 8:12 the horn sounded and I ran into the water to begin the race along with the rest of my heat. We were able to run about ¾ of the way out to the first buoy before starting to swim. And then crap was that water cold. 55 degrees. The two swim caps really helped to dampen some of the chill. After the first several minutes of swimming my body was warm enough that I could tolerate the water. Then I was able to settle into my swim, switch from breathing every 2 to breathing every 4 and find some feet to swim with. Sighting was definitely interesting as the visibility was so poor. It was also a challenge because there was a guy about 20 meters in front with a bright yellow cap that I kept confusing for the buoy. I keep swimming and make it to the final turn and head for shore. There were a bunch of people that missed this final buoy. I get out of the water and look at my watch. Huh? 10 minutes faster than last year…really…how is that possible?…is the watch still working?…did I miss part of the course?...was there a really strong undercurrent?...am I just that fast?

I trudge my way through the sand up to transition. My hands and feet are still a little chilled from the swim so it takes me a minute to get coordinated to put on shoes, socks, and gloves. Helmet and sunglasses are on, and we’re off. Start the odometer and I am off up the hill and onto the course.

The first 10 miles of the bike felt great. I was cruising around 21-22 mph and really enjoying my time despite the fact that I couldn’t see much due to the fogging of my sunglasses. There was still some fog that was lifting and it was overcast. There were a lot of people out there up until mile 35. I had to fight for clear airspace several times, making some passes that required a little extra energy but I just didn’t like the idea of sitting behind someone. There were A LOT of officials on motorbikes and I didn’t want to get caught up on one of these big packs. So I let a couple go by, I found some road and enjoyed my ride. I saw a couple of people on the side of the road. One looked like a blown tire. I saw some guy take a corner a little too tight and wiped out. He slid sideways into the drainage ditch, popped out of his cleats, rolled one more time, stood up and walked away from the crash. Looked like some road rash but hard to tell as there were a bunch of people all around as we were turning. There was a cop at the intersection who was talking to him and made sure he was ok. I kept riding around people and then around mile 35 the course entirely opened up. There was no-one out there. There I passed someone and chatted with them for a little around mile 40 then trailed someone else by about a ¼ of a mile for a while. Didn’t really see many others until back on main street. I guess the huge crowds had managed to get in front of me and my pace of around 21-22 was holding off the others. I cruise down the final hill and manage to get off the bike unscathed ready for a run.

Bike time 2:37:28 avg speed 21.3

Back into transition, change shoes and socks, out to the run. Wait, first things first. Mandatory stop in the port-o-potty. Off to the run. By now the sun had come out, the clouds had cleared, the fog gone, and could see beautiful blue sky. I am out running and really feel good, it takes a little to get my legs working again, but I feel much better than I thought I would have after the 21.3 mph ride.

I complete the first lap and look at my watch. For the first time all day I start doing the math. I am at the turn around pretty close to 4:15. I had run the first 6.6 miles in under an hour. I start thinking that if I can keep close to the same pace I will break 2 hours for the half marathon and have a chance to beat last years time by 30 minutes. Wow, where am I going to get this energy from. Let’s just hope that the new nutrition plan on the bike of consuming nearly 700 calories in the 2 hours and 30 min that I was out there was going to be enough to start.

I keep running, I find someone that I tag along with from about a mile, I like his pace and he is motivating me to keep running. After a little I leave him and keep running. One last turn around and I keep trying to push back home but it is a challenge, I walk through a couple of aid stations, try to get fluids, salt, tabs, some solid gels as well. Finally mile 12 and I am excited to finish. I ran through the zoo with some other guy and we talked about all of the food we were going to eat once we got to the finish line. The burgers on the way home, watermelon, anything really. We ran down the last hill together and I let him go.

I hit the final stretch and start to hear the crowds and music. I look back down at my watch and realize that I am about to smoke my time from last year. I turn around, no one else around, head into the finisher’s chute smiling from ear to ear with excitement.

Run – 1:58:02 avg 9:01min/mile

Total – 5:11:36

440/1360 finishers

52/121 30-34 age group

Overall it was a great day. I am trilled with my time, ecstatic about the run, and happy that the nutrition and hydration seemed to work out. Thanks to my family and friends that came out to watch, and take pictures. I think they are all getting practice for how to be a spectator in Madison.

One day later I am not too sore, will probably try to walk around a little later and maybe swim tomorrow. Then one last push for some big miles before Madison.

goals

2008-07-15T21:16:00.003-05:00

so i had originally started the thought for this blog over a year ago. it was sometime around then that the idea was planted in my mind to try and do a half ironman. i was sitting in the MICU one night on call waiting for stuff to get done when i decided to create the blog. the original title was "the journey begins". that was great when i created the blog as the journey had just begun. however, i never actually started blogging until much later. then i decided that since the journey had long since begun, it was time for a new name. i hope to continue to write for the next 50 some odd days until the big dance.

4 months ago i sat down with a calendar from march through september to plan my attack on madison. i didn't plan exact daily work-outs, just general goals. between my work schedule and the weather it is often too difficult to make plans too far ahead of time. so instead, i wanted to have distance goals that would keep me on track for the full race. i hadn't looked at the original plan in several weeks because it seemed as if things were moving along well. so, much to my happiness, i looked at the plan this afternoon and noticed that i am ahead of my intended goals.

my training this year has far surpassed last years. i have more than doubled the total training hours. compared to last year i have ridden 1300 more miles, run 150 more miles and swam 50k more.

i am about to enter the last big couple weeks of training. but first, the last several days of rest. i am going to do a mini taper over the next several days in preparation for the spirit of racine. the race is on sunday. one or two short swims a short run or two, and a quick ride. some time to clean and prep the bike. then i am off to racine on saturday for the race.

the weather prediction is now down to 40% chance of rain, better than the 60% earlier in the week. let's keep our fingers crossed

a run and an ear infection

2008-07-12T22:01:00.002-05:00

16.5 miles running today

it felt pretty good, in fact, the best i have felt on a run.

one week until spirit of racine. still a 60% chance of rain. but that looks better than yesterday when it was going to rain both saturday and sunday....

time to go to sleep and go back to work tomorrow morning.

oh, and i have an ear infection...where did that come from. last night i thought it was just water stuck in my ear after my swim. but this morning when it was still there and the ear hurt and the noise was slightly muffled i figured it must be something else. so i had someone look at it...ear infection, fascinating. not swimmer's ear, but an ear infection. i don't know if i've ever had an ear infection before. its probably related to all of the allergies i have had lately and is just backed up... i'm on antibiotics, anti-histamines, and during the day some decongestants. i'll get this all cleared up by next weekend.

the first nightmare

2008-07-11T21:19:00.002-05:00

so the nightmares begin...

i have read all about the nightmares, the self doubt inducing, anxiety provoking, angst creating nightmares. well, i had my first one last night.

i was sleeping pretty well, typical of my usual night, head hits pillow and asleep within about 30 seconds.

then the dream begins, i will try to pain the picture. it is sunday morning, ironman day. it is 6:30, i stare at the clock wondering why the hell i am still asleep when the race begins in 30 minutes. crap, i somehow make it to the terrace, but the problems begin. i had forgotten all of my hydration and bottles at the hotel. even worse the security won't let me in the the transition area because somehow my athlete band had been cut off. i looked down and my ankle to find that my chip was missing. so i can't get to my bike in transition, i have no water, no chip, and no band. but somehow manage to have my wetsuit and goggles around my neck. great, at least i might get to race. i look over the terrace into the water to see people warming up. great, at least i am in the right place...but why is it still dark out, the sun should be out by now.

i go to put on my wetsuit, it wont go on. so i run over to where i think the start of the race should be. usually it is a nice calm walk into the water. not last night. there was a giant jump off of a cliff to get into the lake.

i am standing on the edge of the cliff, ready to jump....my alarm goes off.

57 days
crap
double crap

the spirit of racine is coming up this weekend. 8 days out with 60% chance of rain....lets hope that forecast gets changed. otherwise it will be a great training day in the rain. last night i commuted home in the rain, that was actually a lot of fun.

hopefully a long run and a long swim this weekend, one more long ride, and a psuedo-taper into the weekend.

that's all for now, this really starting to become real instead of just a pipe dream.

100

2008-07-03T16:28:00.002-05:00

one hundred miles today on my bike

i'm going to sleep before i have to work tonight on the busiest day of the year in the ER.

millions of people coming to watch fireworks.

good night

breakthrough race

2008-06-22T19:12:00.004-05:00

the day started off picture perfect. the sun rising out of the east striking the clouds turning them a bight red....red sky in morning, sailors take warning...

i got to the race site and my support crew pulled in right behind me. my grandparents and mom were able to make it up to the race to cheer me on. they helped me unload the car and then i made my way over to the transition area. after a quick stop to get my numbers and then my chip it was time to set up my space. no problems here. continued with my pre-race nutrition game plan and then the pit stop. races like this really need more portapotties, i mean seriously, you know that everyone is going to want to pee or crap before the race starts....oh well. mission accomplished, back to transition to get my wetsuit and down to the lake. i said goodbye to my family and they found a place to watch the race.

i started in heat #1...i have never started in heat #1. there were some pretty fast people that i recognized from other races in my heat and knew that my time at the front would be non-existent. the gun goes off and we start for the bouy. i get caught up in the initial fight for space and end up tailing the lead group. this was great and all, except they were headed on a really wide path. so i ditched them and caught another set of feet on a better course. i turned the far bouy and pretty much had the water by myself with 2 other people. i swim on back to transition and get out of the water in 27:44 which i think is a new PR for me on the 1.5k swim. off to transition,
my wetsuit just wouldn't come off. finally get off wetsuit and run out with my bike.

after about the frist 1/2 mile i get my legs back and i am starting to feel pretty good. i keep looking down at my speedometer and can't figure out why my average speed is only 10mph. i know i am going much faster. the current speed is correct but the average is just way off. after about 5 miles of trying to ride faster to get the average up it occurs to me that i had reset the computer at the car and then walked it to transition screwing up both the time and the distance. oh well. i figured i would get to transition when i got there. somewhere around mile 2 or 3 we turned heading straight south. i was staring at a massive thunderhead, black as night, with rain pouring from the clouds...and oh yea, bolts of lightening. oh well. i figured i was pretty safe, being fully insulated on my tires...luckily the storm stayed south and didn't impact the race. (what i found out later was that this same cloud, and same lightening could be seen while we were swimming, my mom wasn't too happy i was in the water) there was a fierce headwind as we were heading west which ultimately cramped my riding speed a little, but nonetheless i managed. on the way home i was holding around 26-28 mph...yeeehaaa. that was was fun, i was flying. back to transition in 1:15:09. a little slower than usual, but i will take it with the wind and the hills.

second transition was a little better, despite the fact that i had to tie my shoes because i forgot my speed laces. (at least this year i didn't forget my bike shoes...) i start running out of transition and actually feel pretty good.

there is a new run course this year because of all of the storms that we have had recently, too much mud, too many trees falling, etc. i made it to the 1/2 way point and look at my watch 24:45...holy crap. i am flying. i figure it i keep up this speed i might have a chance to break 50 min a wall that has since i started racing triathlons been unbreakable. i decide i am going to keep pushing for the finish line. i cruise past the turn around, wave to my support crew and keep on going. no time for smiles now. i keep going, up one last hill and then i see the finish line. i really dig in to find whatever energy is left to get me across the finish line.

run time: 49:22 for 7:58 min miles. not only did i break the 50 min barrier but i also broke the 8 min mile barrier. i couldn't believe it. i was just thrilled.

total time 2:35:59. a new personal best

all in all it was a spectacular race. the weather held out, i got to spend some time with my family, and i had a great race (well probably my best ever).

i guess that all of the extra training this winter and spring, even if not speed training, has really paid off. i am starting to have high hopes for racine.

this race is just what i needed to regain my motivation for training. madison is in 76 days. bring it on.

off to the races

2008-06-21T08:38:00.003-05:00

yea!!!!! I finally get to race this year. after a 3 week delay due to travel and work commitments i am ready to hit the starting line. i am racing tomorrow morning up in lake geneva at the bigfoot triathlon. i have done this race during the last 2 years and really enjoy the course and the venue. latest weather predictions suggest that the rain will hold off until the afteroon with low winds in the morning. sweeeeeeet.

i think the race will go well. i have trained my butt off this year, but the majority of the training has been geared at long distance endurance. it will be interesting to see how my times stack up this year when i need to go short and fast. i'll probably have it in me. there is also a chance that i will be starting in the first heat...i've never had that happen before...however, little chance of sitting in front for any of the race.

i'm looking forward to having my grandparents at the race with me. it should be great.

i'm going to head up there today to relax, get my packet, try and find something to eat, get some work done. now i am off to finish packing, get the bike ready, eat some more, and drive back up to wisconsin.

by the way, i checked my fuel mileage yesterday when i had to refill my tank. 39.2 mpg, how about them apples.

oh yea, cubs win, take that you silly southsiders.

tackling madison

2008-06-17T21:37:00.002-05:00

with a forecast for perfect weather i drove up to madison to ride the course. i had just finished nights and knew my sleep schedule would be rather screwed up. so i woke up at 5:45am without an alarm and was out the door by 6:15 after eating a bowel of cereal.

after a very relaxing drive of just under 3 hours, and 2 bagels later i was in verona. ah the memories of last year when i tried to do this. let me take you back. it was the sunday of the ironman. i didn't really have much to eat for breakfast, hadn't slept well the night before, had barely had any liquids during the day. all in all the perfect set up for one of the worst headaches i have ever had. that coupled with trying to ride on all of those hills and pay attention. equals BAD...very bad. i think i had to stop about every 5 miles last year because i felt like absolute dog poo. well not this year...different story all together.

i get the bike all set up, chain lubed, water and gatorade loaded, and i am off. there is a little wind from the northwest which is building and the sun is out. not a cloud in the sky. i have the cue sheet in my back pocket and use it for the turns on the first loop. i definitely remembered almost all of the first 2/3 of the route from last year.

what i didn't remember was how annoying witte road about 1/4 of the way into the loop and midtown road were. i just forgot how punishing those hills were. i remembered all of the other hills, the climb into mt horeb, old sauk pass, timber lane, but the midtown climb just caught me off guard.

after the first loop i stopped at my car, refueled my bottles and headed out for the second loop. i think i was going about the same speed, maybe just a tad slower but it felt much better. it was probably an 80-85% effort throughout the day. two loops 86 miles, 5 hours.

during my 5 hours of riding i passed 3 bikers going in my direction and around 5 going in the opposite direction, sure different than my usual training day on the frightening path.

i felt really good at the end of the day, my neck was a little sore and i was tired of sitting.

so i changed, packed the car and headed back home. 3 hours later i was making myself i nice ribeye steak to get in some protein to help build me some big climbing muscles.

things to take away from today
-i have no idea how fast i was going down garfoot, when i finally mustered the courage to look at my spedometer i was going 32.
-if i remember correctly i was above 35 a the end of timber lane
-climbing timber lane will be so much more fun when it is lined with people
-it is much easier to ride this course without a headache
-oh yea, i think i am glad that i won't have deep wheels, that wind was pushing me around all over the place, i think i might have ended up on my face with a disc...
-i feel much better about being ready to really take this thing on in september, but feel great knowing that i could do it today

what a day, what an absolutely perfect day

milestones

2008-06-13T12:39:00.002-05:00

i guess it has been too long. i have been spending most of my time either eating, sleeping, training, or working. the past week has been tough as i basically worked every single day, was getting home late from work, and was just tired.

but nonetheless it was a big breakthrough week for me. in past 5 days i have upped the ante with my riding and running. this week marked the longest distances so far - 15.5 miles running and 83 miles on the bike.

the ride was actually really nice. started out in glenview and headed all the way north. eventually ended up across the state line in wisconsin. i have always wanted to ride my bike to wisconsin, now i guess i can check that one off the list. a little less anti-climatic that i thought it might be. riding back was into a nice little headwind. somehow we missed all of the storms because when we got back there was an evil line of storms at the wisco border. oh yea, that was yesterday, i'm still hungry.

the 15.5 mile run was earlier in the week. i had tried to go for a 13.2 the week before but guessed wrong on the distance. crap. i was mad so i just figured i would overestimate a little to ensure that i didn't miss the miles this time. managed to keep an average HR around 144 for the entire run which was the lowest that it has been all year. i hope that is a good thing

i still have to get into the lake. yea it will be cold but i just need to get into the lake. maybe this evening if it isn't raining. i guess if it is raining then i will just swim inside. i need to loosen up after that 83 mile ride yesterday.

um 85 days.

um, need to figure out nutrition

um, what have i gotten myself into

luckily no nightmares or lying awake in bed not being able to fall asleep yet.

3 overnights of work, training is usually sub-optimal on that schedule, we'll see what happens.

bicycles, hemlet, and bandits

2008-05-26T08:18:00.003-05:00

yesterday i did bike the drive. while many people treated it as a chance to get out and ride their bicycle on lake shore drive, i viewed it as a great training day. I woke up at dawn, got dressed and headed out just as the sun was rising over lake michigan. really cool to see, the sky was red, and winds had changed from the night before and were coming from the south. by the time the day was done (9:30am), the sun was bright blue and it had warmed up to the mid 60's

i rode the course 2 and a half times for a grand total of 72 miles. i was cruising coming back up north with the wind behind me. i was cruising around 22 mph sometimes even 24 without really pushing myself too hard. the downwind was a little harder, i think i was working to keep 18. anyway over the time I was out there i averaged 19 mph on the bike over the course of the 72 miles. it felt fantastic, but probably can't use speed as an indicator for MOO as lake shore drive is essentially flat as a pancake (it even includes all of the holes you see on pancakes).

so the good news about the drive is that people seemed to be a little smarter this year than in the past. i didn't see a single tricycle in the left lane, which is good because it would have been a disaster.

the one thing i still just do not understand is the challenge that people face when it comes to wearing bicycle helmets. i mean seriously folks its just plain stupid. i was also shocked at the number of people not wearing helmets when the instructions specifically said they are required to participate. i just looked online. the cost of registration was around $40, there are helmets, and ones that are somewhat stylish on sale for $20. doesn't make sense. and please don't blame gas prices for your stupidity.

also, i just wanted to say a big "you're welcome" to all of the people who were out there riding without numbers, while i am sure that some of the numbers had blown off in the wind, i am sure there were a decent number of people who were out there without paying. i'm glad you had a good time, next year, play along like the rest of us.

yesterday afternoon walked around for a couple of hours to try to loosen up the legs. and then slept for 12 hours last night.

last week: 11:53 total training time, it was a good week.

7:21 min/mile running

2008-05-23T13:22:00.003-05:00

so last night i ran in the JP morgan chase corporate challenge. someone from work wanted me to run, so why not. anyway, i have not done any speed work for training this year, it has all been long distance. i couldn't quite decide how fast i was going to run, i felt as if somewhere between 7:30 and 8 would be about right without killing myself. apparently NO ONE else could figure out how to seed themselves either. granted there were over 22k people there, but seriously folks. i can't tell you the number of people that i passed in the first 1/2 mile who were either walking, talking on phone (no joke) running with back-pack, running with jogger, etc. it was ridiculous. i didn't go out to try and get a personal best or to shatter some record, i just wanted to run and push myself.

anyway after about a mile things thinned out a little. but that might have just been due to the number of people cutting corners, running on sidewalks, or ignoring fences. usual race protocol i am sure.

i finished the run in 25:44 after i crossed the start line. that boils down to 7:21 min/mile which is clearly faster than i have ever run before for an extended period of time...sweet!!!

i was supposed to ride this morning but it is too damn cold. 49 degrees the weekend before memorial day, are you kidding me. al gore be damned. so instead it will be a swim today, running tomorrow and then a nice leisurely (well not really) 60 mile ride on sunday. then lots of running and swimming when i am out of town next week.

ok, back to finishing some work.

lessons learned

2008-05-20T17:33:00.002-05:00

well, i have had a great week of training. the mileage is starting to add up and i'm feeling a little bit more confident about where i am...not so much a week ago

anyway, rewind a week. i get back from a great 2 week vacation to south-east asia. sightseeing galore, picture taking, eating food, wonderful. then i get back in the pool. ha, what a joke. i felt like a ton of bricks. nothing worked, each stroke was a fight against the water, i cursed the pool with every stroke i took. i found it hard to believe that i had lost so much touch in the water. now, about a week later and several trips back to the pool i am starting to get my feel of the water back again. times are pretty close to pre-trip, but i just want to feel like a swimmer again. lesson learned - don't ever (at least until september) not swim for 3 weeks

over the weekend i went on a 13 mile run. well actually just under 13 miles, 12.89 according to mapmyrun, but i am sure that the extra turns to get to the drinking fountain added up to a grand total of .1 miles to get to 13. the run felt great. had my HR pegged just over 150, was talking with some people the whole time. legs generally felt good. the best part was running with others... but that only gets me to the turn around. and then i have to go and do it all over again. eeek. lesson learned - keep running, making good progress, but keep running.

today i rode 50 miles in 2:44. a little chilly but otherwise a good ride. i took 9 minutes off of my 40 mile time from last week. it is nice to go on these long rides during the week when the path is empty. i thought i had a decent nutrition plan today, 2 bottles of gatorade, one bottle of water, a huge lunch before i hit the road. well that worked until about mile 45 when i just got tired. i hadn't even had all of my liquid. i am going to have to do a better job drinking and eating on the bike if i want to have any chance of finishing this race come september. it looks like i have some more learning to do.

the end of the week will get exciting. thursday is a 3.5 mile run, i have no idea why i signed up for this other than someone else is paying for the event...sunday is bike the drive. aiming for 60 miles. then i am out of town and in DC for the majority of next week. hopefully i can find a pool and a place to run.

dinner time

training resumes

2008-05-10T22:01:00.003-05:00

so with jet-lag totally destroying me over the past several days i decided that the only way to win was to train more. i figured that it might just help to flip my body back the 12 hours that it needs to switch.

yesterday i was planning to ride 30 miles. luckily i was on my trainer. i got to mile 15 and was dead. i just couldn't convince my legs to go any further. it's as if my body was laughing at me. "haha, you went away for 2 weeks and just thought you could train again, you fool." well maybe. so i decided to take it easy, give my body one day to get used to being punished before taking it for a whirl. so i got off the trainer and watched the cubs game instead.

today got back on the trainer for that 30 mile ride. I got to 26 miles before my body decided that it was tired, and then kept pushing. finished in 90 minutes. sweet. then i changed quickly to go out for a quick 3 mile transition run. i didn't want to start too hard, and the 3 mile run felt great. no pain, maybe a little slower than i would have expected but i got through the run. yippee.

i am going to push the miles over the next 3 weeks, with the goal of getting up to 60 miles for bike the drive. its time to get back on the trusted steed and get moving.

119 days eeeekkk

i am going to try to sleep soon. with any luck i won't wake up at 3 in the morning again. hell, i would settle for even 4 am... i shouldn't get too greedy

i'm making progress on my photos. one more group of photos to narrow down, then labeling and posting. i'm moving faster than i thought i would.

i'm back

2008-05-08T17:37:00.002-05:00

after 17 hours of flying today i saw two sun rises on the 8th and with any luck will be able to stay awake long enough to see 2 sunsets...

i had a fantastic trip, somewhere over 25oo pictures that i am starting to sort through

its good to be home, but the vacation sure was fun

my bags are packed

2008-04-25T03:48:00.002-05:00

i am off to south-east asia. it is a really long way away. the flight later today is around 15 and a half hours. luckily i haven't really been able to sleep today as i worked from 2-12 (well really 1 by the time i was done) then came back, packed and cleaned up a little. now i am just going to have a little snack and then get a short nap. sleep on the plane.

let's hope the weather gets a little better. i looked at the radar today, it is kind of wet. maybe by the time that i get there in about 2 days it will improve. let's hope so.

oh, so my random thought for the day. so, there is a law in chicago, and I assume the rest of the country that when your dog or other animal takes a crap on the sidewalk that it is your responsibility to pick up said crap. why then, is it permissible for cops to ride around on their horses and allow them to crap all over the side walk without even blinking or thinking that it might be a good idea to clean up after them. they are little land mines when running or biking and i am sick of playing dodgeball with the little turdlets. it is just reprehensible.

that's all for now. i will try to update from the other side of the world.

talk to you soon.

happy passover

2008-04-20T18:52:00.002-05:00

i already dislike matzoh, arrgh its going to be long week. maybe i just won't eat any. well the people that i really feel sorry for are those that are running boston tomorrow. trying to carbo load with that stuff...they might never have a bowel movement ever again. the things we do for religion. and by religion i mean triathlon or other endurance sports.

it looks like the weather is taking a turn for the better in the next couple of days. i worked last night, slept 6 hours, woke up, ran 7 miles, slept 2 hours, woke up again, now getting ready to go to work. i think i might liberate my bike from its trainer wheel tomorrow and take it back outside. should be about 70. that will be after a short nap in the morning.

8 hours and 8 minutes this week...i am going to have to add on some serious time when i get back from vacation, anyone know where i can find some free time? if you happen to find any for me please let me know, i am looking.

ok, back to work, cross your fingers that it will be decent. but it can't be too bad, i am going to ride my bike to work, just like elementary school when everything was good...

cubs win again, holy cow

tale of the numbers

2008-04-19T01:12:00.002-05:00

1 - cub games i have gone to this year
2 - lenses for my camera i have bought recently (just a tad bit of buyer's remorse right now but i am sure that will change when i actually have it in my hands and am taking pictures halfway around the world)
3 - days until dinner with family
4 - shifts to work until i go on vacation
6 - days until i get on a plane to fly half way around the world

i went on an 11 mile run this week. 11 miles, i didn't run 11 miles last year until the middle of july. felt great afterwards, even the next day too. i am a full 3 months ahead of my training from last year and i haven't really even been able to log than many consistent outside miles. the best part of the run...the sun was out, it got up to 70 degrees, it was almost as if it was summer. but not to get my hopes up too quickly it got cold again the next day. soon, soon, in due time it will be consistently good weather.

its late, i am going to sleep. i work overnights on saturday and sunday. i'll see what training i can do over the weekend, it is always hard when working a string of nights and my body gets confused. hopefully a ride on monday (mostly sunny and 70), maybe try and get in a swim and a run before then. any workout would be a bonus. hard to ride on the weekend especially if the weather is nice as too many randoms out there.

hopefully work will be decent this weekend, we shall see, maybe i'll have a good story come monday

cubs win (10 and 6)

I've Been Busy

2008-04-14T21:24:00.004-05:00

i've had a busy couple of days. work has kept me out of trouble, but has also kept me away from the computer.

yesterday was a 3K swim and today a 40 mile bike ride. so this whole global warming thing...anytime now, it is mid april and 40 degrees, i mean seriously. i'm out of new movies to watch on the computrainer and i just want to be outside. the ride today was great, averaged 2omph and was flying the last 15 minutes, HR averaged 135.

i'm just about finished planning my trip to southeast asia. today i made one more trip to target to get all of the medications and other sundry stuff that i will need on the trip on the other half of the world. did you know that they made mosquito repellent with 100% DEET? i thought that high of a concentration would just melt off the skin. needless to say i did not opt for that version. the 30% will work just fine.

my new lens arrived on friday. i had a chance to take it out for a test drive today. i haven't had a chance to closely look at all of the pictures but so far the ones i have been able to view appear really sharp. the color is good. next test is with less light to see the full capabilities of the f/2.8 and the image stabilization. i think i am going to get a bunch of keepers from this trip.

i brought the lens on its first assignment to wrigley field today. the light was just a tad bit harsh, oh well. i really just wanted to find the brick, after hearing about it for so long i figured it was the perfect mission for the camera. and i think it succeeded. anyway, for those of you farther away than me (2 blocks) here is a picture of the brick

not much to say

2008-04-07T21:12:00.002-05:00

good day of training
7 miles 1:01:03 - 8:43 min/mile
the fastest i have run that distance, and it felt good
heart rate monitor stopped transmitting half-way through the run... or my heart wasn't beating...yea not likely, maybe it is time to seriously look into that new HRM i have been thinking about getting anyway.

cubs win

riding to work

2008-04-06T20:46:00.003-05:00

today i finally was able to ride my bike to work. i felt like i was in elementary school again. i packed my bag the night before, donned my helmet (i don't think we had those things when i was in elementary school), turned on my lights, all 4 of them - 2 in front, 2 in back, and out the door i went. now one might say that 4 lights might be a little much, but i was going to be seen. needless to say, despite my candlepower, some moron in an SUV almost didn't see me. anyway i get off of the streets and onto the bike-highway, aka the lakefront path. no traffic today for my commute. now granted i left my house just after 6. the path was peaceful. over lake michigan the sun was rising. a picture perfect orange hue glowing over the far side of the lake. a couple people were out taking pictures, some running, i think one walking home from last night... about 3/4 of the way i was able to turn off my front lights. i got to work and took the best parking spot, (well for a bike at least), right outside the front door. it definitely made work more relaxing and calming today.

on the way home the ride was just as nice, this time with the wind at my back and the path scattered with chicago's finest. today i met "i'm important so i will run down the center line", "i'm going to wait for oncoming traffic before i decide to turn my child in her stroller across the path". i'm thinking of trying to find a way to jury-rig my camera to my handlebar to capture some of the mayhem, i'll work on that for some other time.

training
today was a recovery day. i'll count my ride to work as something. more mileage tomorrow.

cubs win

finally some nice weather

2008-04-05T21:30:00.001-05:00

i was finally able to get my bike off of my computrainer today. high 50's, sunny, warm, wind from the south, couldn't have asked for a much better day. apparently nor could the rest of the city. i swear everyone came out from the woodwork. the path was crowded, i guess i forgot my old mantra to never ride on the path on the weekend. anyway, it was still a perfect day.

brings the grand total for the past 3 days to
9 miles running
71 miles cycling

tomorrow i am going to try to commute to work on my bike. it's all tricked out with new lights, a new lock, and a fender. i've got some windpants and a windjacket to help fight the cold on the way downtown tomorrow. just trying to hold off filling my gas tank for one more day...

now i just have to find some people to read my tangential and often random thoughts.

cubs win

getting my act together

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

i have been trying to create this blog for a while. mainly it has been stalled due to a lack of creativity. however, i am going to give it a shot. i mean if silly famous people can have a blog then why can't i? it might turn into all things triathlon, or maybe even a place to show some photographs from upcoming trips. who knows...

welcome, and enjoy