Training while on vacation can be challenging, mainly because you want to be doing vacation stuff instead of training stuff. But fortunately for me, my family has a lake home in northern Wisconsin that allows me the opportunity to do open water swims, and run and bike on a beautiful trail. I can’t complain about that.
The training you do during the week while training for an Ironman is pretty unremarkable, and I find that the only thing I really remember about them when Sunday comes and I write this wrap up is the Saturday long bike ride. This week’s ride took place on the Bearskin Trail in Oneida County, Wisconsin, which is an old rail-to-trail conversion path. I have used this trail for most of my rides when I am up north because it offers lots of beautiful scenery and it is awesome.
I really had to motivate myself to do this ride. I was almost mad about it, but when I got to the trail, I realized how lucky I am to have this beautiful trail available to me. The ride was to be four hours long and just like the ride I did in 2017 when training for Ironman Louisville, I got to the 2-hour turn around point I decided to go just a little longer to hit 30 miles before turning around. I was feeling great, but I was getting low on water so I decided to ride by a couple of county buildings but found no outdoor water spigots. I rode a little further and found the Nokomis Fire Department building and a firefighter let me in to refill my bottles. Very thankful for that.
As I got to the three-hour mark I started to bonk. Not sure why that happened, as I was using gels and feeling good up to that point. But I limped it home in four hours and twenty minutes. Not exactly what the plan called for. I was also very sore from riding my hybrid bike on this crushed rock trail instead of my tri bike on the road. My muscles and butt just aren’t trained and used to that bike. I also made the mistake of trying to keep my pace on that bike equivalent to what I do at home on the roads, which caused me to push my effort pretty hard, only to manage a 14 mph average speed. It felt like I was averaging 20 mph by the effort I was putting out.
When I got home I hobbled down to the lake and waded into it while my somewhat concerned family watched. It took me a little bit to recover, but after a while, I was back to normal. They say being near the water restores the soul. It did that and a whole bunch more for me this week.
WEEK 19 TRAINING TOTALS:
Swims: 2 total, 2,035 total yards
Rides: 2 total, 72 total miles
Runs: 3 total, 20.5 total miles
Back to the grind next week. Getting close to being 2/3’s done.
This week was somewhat light for the training plan that I follow and boy was I thankful for that. July Fourth occurred this week which meant that once my daughter marched in her last Independence Day hometown parade as a high schooler we would be off to our vacation in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. So there was travel involved and vacation and hosting lots of family at our lake home. Even with all that happening I still managed to get in most of the training.
One cool thing that happened this week is that I got my new tri kit a couple of days before leaving for vacation. I chose to go with Jakroo this time around and the kits seem to be pretty decent for a lower priced product. The best things about this company was there were no minimum orders to meet, I could design the kit myself, the prices were affordable, and the turnaround was super quick. Here’s me with the tri shorts and the cycling jersey. The shorts were size Large but were a little snug. I may order an XL if I find these uncomfortable. I did one short hour long bike ride in them and they felt okay.
Me rocking the new GUNNER team kit.
The weekend called for an Olympic distance race according to the plan. Although I will race a 5K or triathlon during training I’m a little hesitant to race when training for an Ironman because I don’t want to risk crashing or otherwise injuring myself and throw away all the investment I made in training and other stuff, so I just usually do them at home on my own. And being in Minocqua offered a perfect opportunity to do just that.
First Annual Minocqua Olympic Distance Race For Chris Only Race Report
When: 7/7/2019
Where: Minocqua, Wisconsin
Time: 2:55:52
Results: 1st Place Overall – WINNER!
After a good breakfast of pancakes and bacon, I donned the wetsuit and recruited Kari to kayak next to me on the swim to keep me from being run over by one of the thousand wakeboard type boats on the lake. I’m exaggerating a little, but these obnoxious boats seem to be the boat of choice by beer drinking party animals who somehow have the money to afford such an over the top boat.
The Swim: 1562 yards / 28:49 / 1:51 per 100 yds.
Fortunately for me, I was seeded in the first wave and got ahead of the pack early. The wetsuit seemed a little restrictive for some reason, but I felt good. The water was warm, but the race director said that it was a wetsuit legal race. I decided that I would swim along the shoreline for 750 yards and then turn around, not realizing that 1500 yards didn’t quite equal 1500 meters, but it was close enough. I swam pretty comfortably and was surprised to see that I averaged under 2 mins per 100 yards, which was awesome. I reached the dock and like a dummy, I hit stop instead of the lap button, but I got it fixed quickly and I was off the change into bike gear for the ride. Nice to be first out of the water!
T1: 5:30
The Bike: 24.8 miles (40K) / 1:29:36 / 16.6 mph average
I decided that I would ride Highway J west toward St. Germain and make use of the wide bike lane on the road. I’m a little nervous about being on that road but the cars were giving me plenty of room. By a half mile into riding, I was regretting riding my hybrid bike in this race and not bringing my tri bike up to ride. My butt and left leg were bothering me and to alleviate the discomfort I shifted my butt as far back on the saddle that I could. Lots of rollers on this ride but it’s not too challenging. As I got to St. Germain I was very pleased that I was right at 12.4 miles and this out and back would be a perfect 40K. The ride back was smooth and trouble-free. Glad to average 16.6 miles on this heavy old bike. I was also very glad to be the first bike back and still in first place.
T2 – 3:21
The Run – 6.2 miles / 48:36 / 7:51 pace per mile
My back was a little sore getting off the bike but loosened up quickly. As I headed down my street I debated as to which way to run but decided to stick to my original thought of running downtown to the trail and then head back. I wasn’t planning on pushing the pace on this run because I had such a huge lead, but when I got to Hwy. 51 and saw the parade of backed up cars leaving town on the only road that takes them back south I did a little peacocking and was running hard. That was a bad decision as the pancakes were starting to wear a little thin. But I paced the out and back well, hit the water fountain a couple of times, and coasted home to a first-place finish. I kind of like winning. I might make this an annual tradition.
These past two weeks seemed like a whirlwind of training and life. Week 16 went really well, I even got in a 5K race which I placed 2nd in my age group. I had to do some juggling of the weekend workouts to fit them in around a trip to Minocqua to deal with some work around the lake home. I ended up doing the Saturday long run on Friday afternoon prior to heading to the Rolling Stones concert in Chicago.
Waiting for the Stones to take the stage. Glad I had a front row seat so I didn’t have to stand on tired legs.
When I left for Minocqua Saturday morning after the concert I decided to not even bring any of my workout stuff. Too much to do, like mowing the grass and cleaning the house and getting it ready for our 4th of July family get together.
Got the new (new to us anyway) boat in the water and on the lift. The water looked good enough to go for a swim. Didn’t happen though. Swimming sucks.
After that quick trip, I decided that I would make up the long Saturday bike ride on Week 17’s Monday/Rest day, which of course was done in the rain. I figured the safest bet was to stick to the local trail in case the weather got out of hand, but it forced me to ride more conservatively and slower due to the wet paved trail that was really slick from the rain and the trail junk. I probably should have ridden on the local roads instead, but I got it done.
Another wet ride meant I had to take time to clean the junk off of my bike post ride. Again.
The most notable part about Week 17 is that summer finally made an appearance. It started to get warm finally, but it brought humidity with it. On Friday I had a 75-minute run to do and it about KO’d me. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for me, it just wiped me out. It took me a couple hours of feeling pretty low after that to finally feel better. I did that same run again on Sunday and it went much better. No matter how much you think you know about running in hot/humid conditions, sometimes it reminds you that you can’t neglect what Mother Nature throws at you. And sometimes it throws Bambi at you.
Week 16 Training Totals:
Swims: 2 total / 4200 yards > Rides: 2 total / 29 miles > Runs: 3 total / 20 miles
Week 17 Training Totals:
Swims: 2 total / 4200 yards > Rides: 5 total / 151 miles > Runs: 5 total / 30 miles
The weather was finicky this week, forcing me inside for one ride and soaking me on another. The soaking came on the Saturday four-hour long ride. As I headed south into the wind I knew that I might need to ride a little farther than two hours before turning back home because the headwind would become a tailwind and the trip back would take less time than the trip out. But at about 1:45 into the ride I could see the dark storm clouds getting much closer. I made the choice to try to outrun the storm and head back home and make up any extra time needed to complete the four-hour ride closer to the safety of home. It didn’t happen. At the two-hour mark, the sky unloaded on me.
As it just started to rain, I stopped and tossed on the lightweight cycling rain jacket that I decided before the ride that I might need. I’m glad I brought it along, not that it was really going to keep my dry, but it would keep me from getting cold. I rode in this hard rain for about 30 minutes. Thankfully, the very strong tailwind had me flying along at around 23 mph or so, and the rain wasn’t pelting me in the face. When it let up from the hard rain, I just dealt with a light drizzle, wet roads and gunk getting all over me for the remainder of the ride. But as I rode I almost was having a great time. I felt like a kid again. It was fun.
There’s a saying in triathlon – “Embrace the suck” – meaning that things aren’t always going to be perfect, and dealing with these miserable moments can only build confidence. It’s easy to move a ride to another part of the day when you know a storm is coming at your planned ride time, or to run inside on a really hot day. But race day won’t offer you that trade-off. After finishing the ride, I ran for 30 minutes in light rain with my feet squishing and reminding me that it will be worth it. You can be physically prepared for an Ironman, but being mentally prepared is also a huge asset.
WRAPPING UP THE FIRST 15 WEEKS
Any milestone in a journey can be notable, and when you are on another 30-week quest to be prepared for an Ironman finish, getting halfway through the training plan is certainly a worthy accomplishment. I’m not fooling myself though, through 15-weeks I have finished 10-weeks of the base phase (pretty easy) and half of the build phase (getting tougher each week) with the rest of the build phase and the endurance phase yet to come. But this is my fourth go around training for an Ironman and I know from experience to put my trust in the plan, follow through with the workouts, and I should be more than ready on September 29th. Time to look back on the first 15-weeks of training! (Click on the link if you want to read the original post.)
Week 2 – Attitude is Everything I was struggling with this week, and complaining too much. It was time for an attitude adjustment.
Weeks 3/4 – Two For One Training Update A busy two weeks doing some college visits with my daughter Rebecca and wife Kari and trying to keep the training going.
Week 5 – I’m My Own Worst Enemy I found myself doing dumb things in training that could easily sabotage my plan, like racing the local high school track team up a hill during their hill repeat workout. It wasn’t my fault, I can’t shut that off.
Week 6 – The Comparison Trap In Week 6 I once again realized how important it is not to compare myself to others. I have to relearn this every time.
Weeks 7/8 – I’d Be A Horrible Judge Another twofer update from me, pondering whether I like the idea of relay teams in Ironman races or not. Truthfully, I don’t, but whatever.
Week 9 – Week 9 Wrap-up A somewhat boring week with wet weather forcing me inside. But I did play around with my new Fly6 and Fly12 bike cameras and started designing a new tri suit for our team.
Week 10 – Wrap Up: Fear… Parts I & II It was a weird week and I got a little freaked out by a storm and a creepy guy admiring my bike. I survived both.
A few weeks ago I started getting compliments on my tan. I never really notice getting tan because it’s a gradual progression for me, but others who are less tan than I seem to notice it quite easily, and are sometimes envious and will point it out. I guess getting sun exposure and developing a tan is easier for a runner or triathlete, as we are outside doing our thing a lot. But there are some downsides to getting tan. First, the danger of exposing yourself to the harmful UV rays is pretty evident. If I am heading out on a sunny day, I will always spray myself with SPF 50 or cover myself well. Even so, I will still start developing a good tan. The other downside is triathletes can develop some really strange tan lines. I generally wear mid-length socks that will protect my lower leg from the sun. Also, tri suits cover your thighs which leaves just a small portion of your leg exposed for tanning. That’s a weird look. Wearing a hat also adds to that weird tan line on your forehead, like pro golfers get.
It’s not like I seek out sunny days to exercise – I take whatever day I get and prepare for it. But when it is sunny, I make sure that I place more emphasis on protecting myself from the sun than getting that envious tan.
Group Ride!
Riding with my teammates and buddies is always better than going alone. Last week Dave was in town but I wasn’t, so we couldn’t do the Saturday ride together. But Dave ended up making a return trip to visit this weekend, and he coaxed Jeff to come down from the city and do our 3.5-hour ride, 1/2 hour run Saturday workout together. The weather turned out great for us, except for that pesky wind that always seems to be in our faces in the second half of the ride.
We turned around a little before making it halfway out from home because we thought we were going to need to fight the wind back home. But we ended up having about 15 extra minutes we needed to ride, so we took a trip through a local neighborhood called Prestwick, a neighborhood where STYX lead singer Dennis DeYoung used to live back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. We also saw an old neighbor Bill Goldschmidt out riding. He was a dad who lived on the street that Dave lived on and I virtually lived on and a long time rider. He was very excited to see us on the trail and we had a short but nice conversation with him.
We finished the ride and then headed out on a fairly easy paced 3.5-mile run that took us more than the 30 minutes the plan called for. They let me hear it for making them run longer than what the plan called for. Whatever, it’s good for you.
After a quick splash in the pool, some great conversation, and a nice lunch, we all headed back to our busy weekends.
The required post-bike selfie that I demanded they participate in.
Racing
On Sunday, I once again drove myself to Batavia, IL to race the ET Batavia triathlon and did quite well for myself. I ended up 27th overall and 1st in the Male 55-59 age group. I was very happy with that result. You can read my race report here: 2019 ET Batavia Triathlon Race Report
Week 14 Training Totals:
Swims: 3 total / 4600 yards > Rides: 5 total / 102 miles > Runs: 5 total / 25 miles
Almost halfway done with this! Here comes Week 15!
Distance: Sprint: 400 yards (~.25 miles) Swim, 16.1 Mile Bike, 4.1 Mile Run
Results: 1:24:47 – 27th overall, 1/16 M55-59 Age Group
This race is one of my favorite sprints triathlons to race. It’s a race that is well executed, has a beautiful locale in the Western suburbs of Chicago, and it has the right balance of distances that play into my strengths as a triathlete.
I skipped this race the morning of the race last year due to a nasty storm that rolled through the area. I was even heading there in my car when I convinced myself that it was for sure going to be canceled. I came home and later found out that they eventually waited out the storm and held it anyway. I was mad at myself for bailing, so this year I was for sure going to race come rain or shine.
PRE-RACE WEEKEND
I really overloaded my weekend leading up to the race. I bought a used boat on Friday and was dealing with that new purchase (Fun!). On Saturday, my Ironman training plan called for a 3.5-hour ride followed by a 30-minute run that I did with two of my Gunner teammates Dave and Jeff (Fun!). And if that wasn’t enough, I went with my wife and friend John to see Cheap Trick in concert and stood the whole time (Fun!)! I was definitely setting myself up for a rough race on Sunday morning, especially after standing at the concert, getting to bed late, and having to get up at 4 am to drive to Batavia. I spent the concert thinking about what I will need to do to convince myself to get up at that early and go race a triathlon. I set the alarm and told myself to see how I feel in the morning.
RACE DAY MORNING
The alarm went off and I jumped out of bed. I felt great and was actually excited about racing. I checked the radar and could see that there was a chance for some rain, but not an orange and red blob on the radar screen like last year, just a friendly green blob. Green means GO! I got dressed, grabbed a scone that my daughter had baked and a cup of coffee and I was off.
I know how to drive to Batavia, done it many times. But I set my GPS for the location I usually park just so I didn’t have to worry about it. What did I do? I completely missed the exit ramp for I-88 westbound to Aurora! I had to drive an additional couple of miles up to Butterfield Road and turn around. I’m so dumb. I think I was distracted by a radio program that was talking about “This Day in History” and it was pretty interesting. Anyway, I realized my mistake soon enough and there was no harm, no foul.
I found a spot to park, unloaded my bike and made my way to transition to get body marked, which I will always contend is the dumbest thing ever. I will be wearing a number 60 written on my shoulder and my age on my left calf in Sharpie for the rest of the week. Maybe I will try some of my daughter or wife’s make up remover wipes.
I was pleased to find that my bike would be racked in the second row of bikes, really close to Swim Out. I like to rack next to the legs of the bike rack, it keeps another bike from being too close on that side and gives me some extra space to throw my transition bag down, because I am still bringing too much junk.
My bike and all of my junk. I thought it might rain, so I put my backpack into a garbage bag. The Ironman bag had my wetsuit in it.
After setting up the bike and my stuff I took a bathroom break and headed to the swimming hole to check out the water. We were told that the water temp was 70 degrees, and it felt slightly cold to me. I don’t usually wear a wetsuit for this race because it is short and the water last time was about 74 degrees. I decided that after dipping my toes into the water I would wear the wetsuit. I put it on, all by myself for a change, and swam a couple easy laps as a warm up. I always try to warm up for the swim to get used to the water and to remind myself of the pace I want to keep.
The swim is two loops in a smallish park district swimming hole, which was a former small quarry of sorts from what I can gather. The bottom is all sand, and on the backside of the loop, I found my hands hitting bottom. In the past, most people will just start walking this part of the swim and I have done that too. I try not to run it because it raises my heart rate too high. I made a mental note that I would probably walk it and then I got in line for the time trial start.
RACE TIME!
SWIM
Time: 6:15 – 1:25min/100 yds. – 3rd place AG
PRE-SWIM STRATEGY: Start easy, don’t go too fast, relax
SWIM REALITY: GUNNED IT AS HARD AS I COULD!
The race asks you for your predicted time when you sign up and I usually put 8 minutes because I typically swim at about 2 min/100 yds. When I seeded myself in line I saw a sign for 6 minutes and just joined in. I knew I would be wearing a wetsuit and might be a little faster, but I wanted to get the swim over with quick and get out on the bike course before it got too crowded.
The race started promptly at 6:30 am right after the National Anthem, and we slowly started getting fed into the water at about five-second intervals. I was pretty calm and relaxed before getting in, but as soon as my face hit the water after about ten strides I was GUNNING it hard. Why do I do this?! It’s like doing an interval in the pool without the benefit of a break afterward! Anyway, I did rein myself in a little bit, caught a little bit of my breath when I walked a small portion and then calmed myself for the second loop. I must admit, I was expecting a lot of swim traffic, seeing that it’s a two-looper and that there are roughly 30-40 swimmers in the water at one time. I didn’t have much contact at all. A few tickles on my feet, but pretty much contact-free. I got up on my feet on the shallow part a little sooner or else I would have swam into a bunch of walking swimmers ahead of me and started unzipping my wetsuit and made my way out to T1.
I’m glad I seeded myself where I did, and I was a little surprised to see that 6:15 finish. But I was wearing that wetsuit and it definitely did make me quicker. The swim finish put me 3rd overall in my age group. The two triathletes faster than me were 45 and 30 seconds quicker. Not too shabby of a swim for myself.
T1 – SWIM TO BIKE
TIME: 1:38 – 3rd place AG
PRE-T1 STRATEGY: Don’t waste time, be methodical, get out quick
T1 REALITY: GET PUZZLED AS TO HOW THE WATCH I HAVE OWNED FOR TWO YEARS ACTUALLY WORKS, WASTE TIME DRYING OFF FEET TO PUT ON SOCKS ON MY TENDER FEET, GET ANXIOUS ABOUT HOW MUCH TIME I WAS WASTING!
As I ran out of the swim and crossed the timing mat I realized that I needed to hit the button on my watch signaling the change from swim to T1, but I couldn’t remember which button to press! I guessed and it was the correct one. Next up was getting the wetsuit off, which typically does not go quickly for me. But I was using my new XTERRA wetsuit and it’s a little bigger than my old Blue Seventy. I got it down to my ankles and just gave it a swift pull with my hands. Came off pretty easy.
For some reason, I don’t fly through transition. The race announcer was jokingly chiding many of the age group award runner ups who had lost positions to those ahead of them by one or two seconds that they should have spent less time in transition. I took that to heart. I need to stop messing around. The wetsuit is a major time sucker, and then I take the time to dry my feet, attempt to pull on socks over wet feet, and put on my cycling shoes, glasses, and helmet. I need to forget about socks, not wear a helmet and leave my shoes on the bike and just do a flying mount. Yeah, two of those three won’t happen, as no helmet gets you a disqualification, and flying mounts are not something 55-year-olds should be taking up. There’s a reason there are so many folks spectating at BIKE OUT, it’s to see crashes and the stupidity that goes on! I guess I could bike without socks like some uncivilized knuckle dragger.
I realize I give away some precious seconds to others in transitions, but I was slightly surprised to see that I was once again the 3rd fastest in my age group. They were 37 and 9 seconds faster than me.
BIKE
Time: 46:46 – 4th place AG
PRE-BIKE STRATEGY: GUN IT AS HARD AS I CAN!
BIKE REALITY: GUNNED IT AS HARD AS I COULD!
I hopped on the bike and off I went. There are some plywood covered speed bumps that you have to navigate over right at the start that requires being a little cautious with, and then it’s a left turn and up a short, sharp hill. This hill surprises a lot of first-time racers at this course, but I had the right gearing and spun up easily. Then it’s flat and fast for the most part. There are some hills here and there but they are pretty short-lived, and the downhill portions more than make up for it.
Bike elevation. The tough climb came around mile 13.
There was a girl who was ahead of me wearing an ITU tri suit with her name on the back and I attempted to keep pace with her. That lasted maybe 3 or 4 miles and she started to pull away. Her calf showed she was 43 years old, which was certainly impressive to me. I hoped to catch her later on the run.
With that first hill climb, and the adrenaline of starting the bike I was maxed out on my heart rate and breathing pretty hard. It wasn’t long though until I settled into my comfort zone and was riding comfortably hard. I passed a ton of riders in the first half of the ride and had a few overtake me in the second half, but overall I think I did pretty well on this ride. I had misplaced my bike computer and so I was racing without really having my speed available at a quick glance. It was kind of a blessing riding by feel and not getting caught up in my pace. I was a little surprised to see at the end that my watch was showing about 19 mph average, but the official race results have me averaging 20.1 mph. I’ll take it!
The bike course is usually about 14.5 miles long, but due to construction, they added a detour that increased the course to 16.1 miles. I didn’t notice it at all really.
Coming back into transition there are some sharp turns at the end of some hills, so you have to have a little caution with that, but I gunned it on in any way.
I dropped to fourth place on the bike segment, with only about 70 seconds separating me from the first place age group bike finisher.
End of the bike ride, coming in hard and fast.
T2 – BIKE TO RUN
Time: 1:27 – 3rd place AG
PRE-T2 STRATEGY: Don’t waste time, be methodical, get out quick
T2 REALITY: Didn’t waste time, was methodical, tried to run on rubbery legs
Nothing surprising here, rack the bike, take the helmet and cycling shoes off, put on running shoes, grab the visor and race belt and put them on while exiting transition. The only thing I did that robbed time from me was I had a gel flask lying there and I took a quick squeeze from it and a swig of water to wash it down. There were only 18 seconds between the first place guy and me. Not too bad. I’m always quicker in T2, as long as I’m not messing around with socks.
RUN
Time: 28:41 – 2nd place AG
PRE-RUN STRATEGY: Try to hold 7-minute miles, pick off runners one at a time
RUN REALITY: Held 7-minute miles! But I got passed by as many as I passed myself
I left T2 and hit the trail and got myself up to a comfortably hard race pace. I checked the watch a couple of times and saw 6:55/7:05/7:10 pace looking back at me, which I was content with.
Not more than a half mile or so out on the run course there was a turtle on the side of the path taking stock of the parade that was passing him by. There’s been a lot of turtles this year for some reason. My first thought was to not get snapped, and then I thought how fast can a turtle be? I decided to press on as the hare, and stop thinking about the wildlife.
The turnaround on this out and back always seems farther away than it should, but it was about 1.5 miles out. After turning around and picking up my pace again I saw the girl that had pulled away from me on the bike course. By mile 2 I caught and passed her, just like I had hoped. I realized at this point that she was racing the duathlon and not the triathlon, so I wasn’t really competing against her. She was the overall female winner of the duathlon. But I had reeled her in just like I had hoped to do. ALWAYS BET ON THE RUNNER!
It was about 3 miles into the run when a guy sporting a 59 on his calf blew by me like I was standing still. He was either a duathlete or he had a really slow swim and/or bike. Since I was second overall in my age group for the run, I assume the guy ahead of me was this 59 year old. He did, in fact, have a pretty slow bike.
I started kicking around 3.5 miles and finished strong. The official results have me averaging 6:59 min/mile pace! Win!
After averaging 4th place or so on the different stages of the race, I moved up to the top spot in the age group after the run. ALWAYS BET ON THE RUNNER!
I was spent at the end of this one. It might explain why I came home and immediately fell asleep on the couch.
FIRST PLACE 55-59 MALE AGE GROUP! ALWAYS BET ON THE RUNNER!
Here’s the link to the official results: Race Results
I need a new bike helmet! It’s always a cause for celebration when you need new stuff because you get to shop for new stuff! But shopping for bike helmets is not fun for me. They look good in pictures, not so good on my head.
I have two cycling helmets, an old one I keep around for a backup, and my current cycling helmet that is three years old. The styrofoam in the backup is showing classic signs of age degradation. It’s probably 8 years old and time to retire it.
I also have an aero helmet that I use to race with. It looks to be in pretty good shape but the date of manufacture sticker on it says it was made in 2012! Seven years is pretty old for a helmet. I’m thinking maybe I should replace it as well. Plus, as soon as I bought the helmet it became a relic, as the helmet industry sort of adopted a new design for aero helmets that were less dorky so to speak. Nowadays there are plenty of newer aero style helmets that look more like regular cycling helmets. I can essentially kill two birds with one stone and buy one of those newfangled models!
But it doesn’t really matter what helmet I buy, or how cool it looks online or in the store, as soon as I put it on my head I become an instant dork.
2014 Ironman Muncie 70.3 – Instant dork. It doesn’t help that I wear a skull cap type thing to keep the sweat from getting in my eyes. You can see Rebecca behind me laughing at her lame dad.
The only time this helmet looked good on me was in the photo at the top of this page, and the fact that the scenery of the Adirondack mountains in the backdrop keeps you from noticing how dorky I look.
I have always liked BELL helmets, mainly because after trying different brands I found that BELL helmets fit my head the best, were pretty common and could be found most places, and the fact that BELL kind of leads the way in testing and advancements in head protection. So naturally, I went to their website and looked to see what they had to offer. I found a really cool aero helmet called the Z20. It looked cool online. It made me an instant dork as soon as I put it on. It sits higher on my head than my old ones for some reason.
New helmet, same old dorky guy.
So there you have it. Three different cycling helmets all having the same end result with me – instant dork. I’m starting to think it might be me.
And now a Public Service Announcement from me:
WEAR A DAMN HELMET WHEN RIDING! I was running today and counted a dozen helmetless riders in that 7.5 mile run. Two adult cycling deaths in the nature preserve I run in since it opened and still there are people risking serious head injury on those steep downhills and blind turns. Plus not everyone out there is a good rider. Tons of knuckleheads and inexperienced riders riding without head protection. Don’t give me that crap that they weren’t around when you were a kid and you survived. You probably never left the neighborhood or street you grew up on on your bike. If they did exist back in the day, I’m guessing your parents would have wanted you to wear one. Seatbelts weren’t mandatory when I was a kid, but would you not buckle yourself in now?
Have you ever hit your head on something like a cabinet door or the like? It hurt like hell didn’t it? Now imagine slamming your head to the asphalt at 15 mph or more.
WEAR A DAMN HELMET WHEN RIDING! Even if it makes you look like a dork.
WEEK 13 WRAP-UP
I had a chance to head up to the lake home in Minocqua on Thursday to be there for the furniture that was going to be delivered on Friday, so I was fortunate to get some training in up north. A change of scenery can do wonders when the training routine becomes a little boring. Don’t get me wrong, I like the ride out to the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetary at home, I just get sick of doing that ride week after week. Minocqua was a breath of fresh air.
A huge tree fell over on the path and I didn’t get to ride the whole trail. Forced me to do some exploring and I found some decent paved roads to ride.
I took Old Blue out for a ride.
Week 13 Training Totals:
Swims: 2 total / 3500 yards > Rides: 4 total / 85 miles > Runs: 5 total / 26.5 miles
The pool is open and ready for swimming! Yay me! But I have a problem. I hate swimming. It sucks. It’s hard, it gives you cramps, it makes me sleepy for some reason, it makes me hangry, and I could drown. So there’s that. It’s the activity that kept me from being a triathlete for years until I finally took the time to learn to be decent enough to get through a sprint distance swim. I’ve always thought that swimming is just the necessary evil that is required to get to the two sports that I actually enjoy. A prerequisite of sorts. But it’s soooo boring.
I can’t believe that it is Week 12 already of my 30-week training plan and I’m just now starting to do my swim training for Ironman number 4. My last training for Ironman was in 2017 and my buds and I did Ironman Louisville, a course known for a pretty generous swim. I decided that the plan I follow is way too heavy on the swim training. Three swims per week, starting with 2500 yards per swim and progressing to 3500 yards per swim a week was too much for me, and I figured that if I can easily swim 45 minutes, how difficult is doing another 30-45 minutes? I gambled a little and it paid off. My swim times went from 1:30 at IM Wisconsin in 2013 when I followed the swim plan very closely, to 1:18 at IM Lake Placid in 2016 in which I was following the plan pretty closely but was starting to rebel, to 1:09 at IM Louisville in 2017 swimming only 45 minutes twice a week. So, if Louisville could produce a personal swim best my thinking is Ironman Chattanooga will be about the same or quicker, seeing that it is a downstream swim. That is if they don’t cancel the swim like they did last year. Which would be just fine with me.
On Tuesday I jumped into the pool after an hour-long run to cool down a little and begin my first 45-minute swim. It sucked. It wasn’t long until I could feel my arms getting sore and by 20 minutes into it, I was getting horrible foot and leg cramps. I stopped at 30 minutes and decided I had had enough. I got out, ate lunch, mowed the ever growing grass, and then to my credit I jumped back in and finished the last 15 minutes of my swim. It felt good not to give up on that swim, even if I had to break it into a couple of sessions.
When Thursday came around I figured I would do my swim after my hour-long bike. I fully expected to have a similar swim to Tuesday’s, but it actually went okay. No cramps and I was able to get the 45 minutes done.
So I will keep at the two swims per week, figure out a time when I can get to up to Minocqua and do a few longer open water swims this summer, and hopefully build my swimming confidence as the summer rolls along. I have lots of time to get better and maybe even start liking it a little.
I thought I had figured out my bike issue last week and was pretty sure I had it licked, but on Saturday’s long ride I could hear the rubbing again and for some reason, my rear brakes were really making a horrible scratching type noise. I stopped mid-ride and checked the wheel out and it looked like there might be some rubbing of the tire on the brake mechanism itself. I didn’t spend much time diagnosing the brake noise because there was a storm coming from the west and I was 22 miles from home, so I got back on the bike, limited myself to mostly using the front brake, and got home as quick as I could.
After a thorough wash down of the bike, I put it on the bike stand and tried to diagnose the issue. My son Ben was supervising and he pointed out that the tire was actually rubbing on the frame. I looked at the tire and could see that it wasn’t seated as far down on that portion of the wheel, so I let the air out of the tube and reinflated it. That worked and the wheel and tire spun just fine after putting it back on the bike. As for the brake, one of the brake pads had a little chunk of metal embedded into it, which explains the horrible noise I was hearing when braking. I dug it out with a metal probe and, voila! no more noise. I should probably replace the pads soon, they are getting pretty worn down.
On to Week 13!
Week 12 Training Totals:
Swims: 2 total / 4100 yards > Rides: 4 total / 90 miles > Runs: 5 total / 23 miles
As I slid into Week 11 I found myself reflecting on being comfortable with where I was in the plan. It has kind of become routine – Monday rest, Tuesday run, Wednesday bike/run brick, Thursday bike, Friday run, Saturday bike, Sunday run – then repeat week after week. But on Saturday I finished my ride, put the bike away and got busy cleaning the swimming pool and mowing the grass and totally didn’t realize that we are now at a stage in training when Saturday’s long ride is followed by a run brick. I had gotten so used to the previous ten-week routine that I didn’t remember that the runs are added to the bike on Saturday. Oops. Oh well, I did have a killer of a Saturday long ride which kind of made up for missing that 15 minute brick run.
Speaking of the Saturday bike, I decided to join a local riding group that is primarily made up of people from the local running group that I have become familiar with. It was supposed to be a 2-2.5 hour bike ride averaging 17 mph. I was comfortable with that pace and length of ride, but I have certain expectations when riding as a group and as we rode a little I started figuring out who was on the same page as me and who wasn’t. I started to get a little uneasy and moved to the front of the group to avoid any issues. There was one stop in which a rider fell over. Not sure how he accomplished that as it didn’t appear that he was clipped in and was wearing running shoes. It has happened to all of us and I felt bad for the guy, but I made a mental note to stay clear of him. It wasn’t long until this group of cyclists and aero riding triathletes were on each others wheel. While training for Ironman, I usually avoid riding on the wheel of another rider because you aren’t allowed to draft at all during the race, but here we were. I was definitely getting out of my comfort zone.
My “Z2” ride was mostly spent in Z4! WTH?
We made it out to Elwood and the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and stopped for a quick restroom break and to refuel a little. I had some good conversations and then we were headed back. That’s when I got dropped. I was fighting like mad to keep up, but I was starting to wonder why I was killing myself. The group did eventually rejoin and I put myself ahead again to help control the pace a little. I was able to keep with them the rest of the ride. But this “easy” pace group ride was killing me!
When we turned around I noticed something was not quite right with my rear wheel. It was making a slight sound and I was sensing a little bit of vibration. I had ridden the bike on the trainer on Thursday and when I switched out the skewer I must not have had the wheel exactly straight. I stopped about 20 minutes from home and reset it the best I could and I didn’t feel the vibration anymore. When I got home I inspected the wheel and found that the tire sidewall was getting pretty worn, had started to bulge a little and it wouldn’t have been long before it failed completely on me. I was way too comfortable in letting that little warning sign of vibration and sound go on for too long. I should have dealt with it as soon as I noticed it. Stop being so comfortable! But I wasn’t the only one who should have been paying close attention to their bike. I noticed one strong lady rider who was about my age whose water bottle cage was wobbling so loosely that I thought it was going to fall off any minute. How do you not notice that?
All in all, I had a pleasant ride, learned that the cemetery has a restroom, learned a new route out to Elwood that bypasses a busy road, met some new people, had some good conversations and made it home in one piece. I will definitely join the group again but will not let the group’s ride influence my training plan for the day.
Next week I promise not to be so comfortable. I need to make sure I am executing the plan in the way I need to.
Week 11 Training Totals:
Swims: None > Rides: 4 total / 88 miles > Runs: 4 total / 25 miles
HOORAY! One-third of my Ironman 30-week training plan is in the books! It’s nice to hit that benchmark and put the base phase of training behind me. As I enter the 10-week build phase of the plan it is comforting to know that I did a pretty decent job getting prepared for it. The only issue that can come back and bite me is the fact that I did no swim training in that first ten weeks! But even though I stink at swimming, I am not really all that worried. I learned what I am capable of back in 2017 while training for Ironman Louisville, and I’m sure that the remaining twenty weeks will prepare me adequately. The weather has been the real issue this spring, being cold and miserable so far, and it has kept me from opening my pool so I can swim. Next week looks to have a gradual warm-up and I will plan on starting the process of getting the pool ready for summer. I may not like swimming that much, but I do enjoy a post long run/long bike cannonball to cool off.
FEAR: PART I – Fear… Of Missing Out
Friday I took a day off from work so I could be at home to welcome carpet installers and new carpet throughout our house. The original appointment was for Friday and Saturday and I wasn’t really sure how long they would be here either day. So I got up and got dressed and hoped that they would leave me a sliver of the late afternoon so I could squeeze in my planned hour-long run. It didn’t happen. As I watched them progress I realized that they were going to shoot to get it all done in one day. They finished up sometime around 6 pm, and then it was time for dinner and get busy with putting everything back that we had to move. Fun times (not), but I didn’t get my run in.
So I spent the day worrying about missing my Friday run, an hour long 7-miler that I can do in my sleep. I spent a lot of time on Facebook while babysitting the carpet guys and saw that several of my local friends and acquaintances were complaining about their local pool being unavailable again. It seems like the maintenance at the pool has been neglected or poorly maintained, or that some kid left a “Baby Ruth” (Caddyshack reference, in case you didn’t know) at the bottom of it. Whatever the reason, they are paying for the use of the pool and have not been able to use it. They have a right to be a little upset about that. But I also think they are like me and fear that they might get behind on their training. I totally get that. A few of these friends are doing their first Ironmans this fall, and I can remember how I felt about missing a week training for my first Ironman in 2013 when I volunteered at my daughter Ashley’s marching band camp. In the end, though, missing a swim/bike/run workout or two, or in my case, a whole week doesn’t really matter in the massive amount of training that is done in thirty weeks. No need to fear missing a workout.
The other thing I have been thinking that I fear I have been missing out on is group rides with a local group of riders, riders mostly who are also involved with the local running club. They post rides all the time but I usually skip them because they don’t fit in with what my plan calls for. Saturday was such a ride, and judging from the photo posted to Facebook, it was a big group and it looked like they were having fun. I’m going to have to join them soon. A group ride might be an asset, as you will see below.
FEAR: PART II – Fear… Of GETTING MURDERED!
I was a little concerned about my Saturday 3-hour training ride. First off, the weather stunk once again, 48 degrees and a forecast of rain. After breakfast, I checked the radar and could see that there was a small window of opportunity to get my ride in, and so I layered up and got out there.
“I don’t think the heavy stuff is going to come down for quite a while.” (Another Caddyshack reference/quote)
I had a little trouble with my Fly12 bike flasher/camera again today. I had trouble with it last week and it didn’t record anything. I put it on my bike after charging it and it fired right up and started flashing. After about 20 minutes into the ride, I realized it wasn’t flashing anymore and I was not happy about it. I tried pushing the on/off button while riding but was having no success with getting it to turn on. I decided to stop at the next road crossing and fiddle with it. That’s when things got interesting.
I stopped at Ridgeland Road and took my gloves off and started fiddling with the dumb light. I got my phone out and opened the app for the device and manually hit record and figured if anything I would get it to video the rest of the ride. That’s when a guy walks across the street toward me and says “Sure is a nice bike you got there.” It wasn’t really what he said that gave me pause, but more of the way he said it like he was about to add “It’d be a shame if something were to happen to it.” I replied with “Thank you,” and watched him walk a little past the trail and kneel down and pull out a vape-type device and start puffing away. He was bearded, unkempt and kind of dirty looking, wearing a soiled Florida Gators sweatshirt, and I automatically started profiling the guy. That’s what you do when the only jobs you have ever had were in law enforcement and are pretty much skeptical of everyone you meet anyway. That’s when I silently said to myself “GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE NOW!” Thankfully my rear camera was working and caught the exchange:
Now, I don’t get spooked too easily, but this guy was sending me some big time warning signs. I put my phone back into my jersey pocket, pushed my bike to the shoulder of the road and started pedaling. It was at that point I went from riding a 3-hour Zone 2 ride to an immediate Zone 4 time trial. As I sped up the hill I kept looking over my shoulder to see if he got back into his truck. I thought that maybe I should have stayed on the bike trail, where he couldn’t have followed me. I also thought about where I might find some refuge up ahead if he did actually try to follow me.
I had gone to Bass Pro Shop last week to look at boats and found myself looking at handguns too. I don’t own any firearms (my three jobs in law enforcement have all been non-sworn), but I thought I would take a look at them. I often find myself thinking about how I would defend myself if I ever encountered a nut job. I haven’t ever really encountered a nut job, but in all seriousness, I FELT LIKE I HAD JUST ENCOUNTERED ONE. I was kind of wishing I had a handgun right now. Matter of fact, I wish I had like ten of the damn things. Our team name is GUNNERS for goodness sake! But instead, I would just have to pedal my ass off.
Although I spent the next 30 minutes riding damn hard and constantly looking over my shoulder, I never saw him again. Two hours into the ride my mind was totally focused on why I continually fail to remember to ride into the wind going out and with it at my back on the way home. That mistake cost me an extra 8 minutes. And by the time I got back home I wasn’t thinking about that dude or even thinking about buying a gun anymore. I’d probably accidentally shoot myself in the butt with it anyway. Now that would make for an interesting video.
Week 10 Training Totals:
Swims: None > Rides: 3 total / 86 miles > Runs: 3 total / 18 miles
Nothing to fear from here on out. Happy Mother’s Day!
an amazing run 