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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.