Back in June 2024, my running and Ironman friend Susan messaged me to ask if I had heard any rumblings about a new Ironman 70.3 race coming to the Midwest, specifically the Chicago area. We were trying to come up with which community had the best shot at it – Chicago? Crystal Lake? Maybe the North Shore area? I had not heard anything about a new race, but it started spreading excitement and it wasn’t long before Ironman made the announcement that Rockford, Illinois would be the newest race on the 70.3 circuit. Although I wasn’t really planning to do any more long distance triathlon racing, I was definitely interested. Once it was announced and sign-up opened, I decided to be among the first racers in this inaugural race.
Rockford is located about 90 minutes from me, so having a race that I won’t have to travel far to is a nice bonus. Once the weather warms up, I plan on driving out and doing the bike loop to see what will be in store for us on race day. I have run the now defunct Rockford Marathon twice – 2009 and 2010 – the prior being my return to marathoning after a long break from running that distance. So the return to Rockford for the 70.3 is somewhat befitting, since it has been four years since my last Ironman and eleven years since my one and only 70.3 in Muncie, Indiana. Time to get that adrenaline rush going again and enjoying triathlon training.
Rockford Marathon finish 2009
Rockford Marathon finish 2010
Two of my Gunner teammates will be joining in on the fun – Jeff, who is also planning on doing Ironman Wisconsin, and his sister Jan. This race might be the first half-iron race for them, but they are experienced Ironman finishers. There are also a few local friends doing it as well – Jennifer, who just rocks whatever race she does – Leah, who has officially dipped her toes into the triathlon waters and now is ready to do a cannonball into the deep end – and Chad, who I met last year on a local gravel ride and has since finished Ironman Chattanooga. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone. I think Susan opted to pass, but I’m sure I will see her on many of the training rides this summer.
I will be following the competitive 16-week plan in Don and Melanie Fink’s IronFit Secrets for Half Iron-Distance Triathlon Success, the same book I used for training before.
Monday is a rest day, and today, Tuesday called for a 45-minute Zone 2 run, which I did on the treadmill. I got through it somehow. Swimming will have to wait until closer to May when I open my pool up. I tend to just swim straight and practice some simple drills for 30-45 minutes, which should be sufficient for this swim in the current aided Rock River. Biking will be done on the stationary bike at work until the weather gets better. Which reminds me, I better get that tri bike out of the garage and give it a good going over. It hasn’t been ridden in several years. I know for a fact that the rear brakes need an overall, and the chain might need to be replaced. I will get on that soon.
So there you have it, back in the saddle for some more Ironman-ish fun!
I started running for the same reasons most people do – to drop some pounds, feel better, and give this bored guy something to do. Most people lose interest in running after a while, but I caught the competitive bug. I got to a point where I wanted to see if I could add an extra mile, if I could lower that mile pace time, if I could complete a 10K. When I started racing I was hooked and always looking to perform at my best.
Some people can enter a race and not actually race it, but not me. I need to know how I did against others, against the clock, and against my previous efforts. How else do you know how well you are performing if you aren’t comparing yourself to those parameters?
When I race I have found over the years that I will be in the upper middle of the pack, somewhere around 25-30% of the field. This plays out during the race and is very apparent in the results at the end of the race. I have finished in first place overall once, been a top-three age grouper in many other races, and have been squeaked out of a podium finish many, many times. There is always a post-race analysis of the finisher results for me. How did I do overall? How did I do against the other males? Against the other age groupers? Against my past efforts? But does the analysis make me feel any better? Generally, I’m happy to receive any award at all, and if I do better than the average then I am content. However, if I just miss out on getting on the podium, I am going to mull that over for a while. What if I hadn’t pushed too hard at the beginning of the race? What if I didn’t waste so much time in transition from swim to bike? Where could I have gotten faster?
I read an interesting article (Inc. Magazine – Haden, Jeff) today about how counterfactual thinking can affect your happiness. In the article, it points to a study in which the faces of the gold/silver/bronze medallists at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games were examined to determine who was the happiest. Of course, the gold medal winner was happy. But the big surprise was that the bronze medalists were almost always more happy than the silver medalist. The gold medalists came out on top and were super happy. The bronze medalist is the one who beat out all the rest to be in the top three. But the silver medalist is the one who will be thinking about what went wrong.
Counterfactual thinking is an interesting concept. Basically with counterfactual thinking, you find yourself wondering “what if?” in certain outcomes and play out alternatives in your mind. The silver medalists will use upward counterfactual thinking, judging themselves only against the gold medal winner according to the article. They will dwell on the second-place finish, thinking about what they needed to do to win. The bronze medalists often employ downward counterfactual thinking, comparing themselves to the others who missed out on the podium. They are elated not to be in that group. Whew! Pretty interesting concept.
Although I think I’m aging past the point of dwelling on my placement in the field, there’s still the old guy age group that makes a difference for me. But now I have a little more insight into how to make myself feel better about my performances. Being thankful to still be in the hunt is feeling pretty good right now.
A first-place a/g win and two second-place a/g wins at Manteno Triathlon over the years. I think I look pretty happy in all three!
A lot can happen in three years. I certainly changed in that short period, taking time off from almost any type of race that involved going fast, and concentrating on going long and slow. But as I claw my way back into shorter and faster races, I find it difficult to get back to where I was. The Forge Gravel Triathlon has also changed since the last time I did it, adding a very technical (i.e. scary hard) section to the run course that involved a lot of walking and praying that I wouldn’t fall. I ended up with a time about 5.5 minutes slower than in 2021, which I can’t be too upset about. I’m actually somewhat impressed that I held it together through the last mile of the run. It wasn’t easy.
All set up and waiting for the start.
As I drove over a very potholed road into The Forge on Friday to pick up my race packet, I was reminded that this road is part of the course, and it was going to need my full attention on race day. I was up at 4 am on Saturday to get ready for the race. The drive to Lemont was an easy trip and I parked in my usual spot at Lemont HS and rode my bike into the park along the I & M Canal trail. Once there I racked my bike, set up my transition area, then started taking in the important Swim Out, Bike Out, and Run Out portions of transition. That led me to discover that the run-out now takes a narrow path, winding around and eventually dumping you on the trail. I decided a warm-up jog was in order, and headed down the trail to see what parts were changed and what to expect. I saw my friend Tony walking down the path and we exchanged pleasantries. He was there to volunteer as a lifeguard in a kayak, which is very much appreciated. He has a super-packed race schedule this year, so I was a little surprised that he finds time to volunteer for stuff like this.
Back to the warm-up jog, it led me to a very technical portion of the park that is used for mountain biking. It had steep drops and climbs, with many rocks and other gnarly stuff. I “jogged” through some of it until I finally decided I had seen enough and returned to prep for the race.
I saw another friend Leah, and I asked her husband Steve if he was wearing “the shirt”. “Oh yeah, I’m wearing it!” He wears this shirt that says “I DON’T DO MARATHONS, I DO A MARATHONER” to all her events and it gives me a chuckle every time. Leah and I chatted about our nervousness and then got ready.
Even though the water was 75 d. F. and wetsuit legal, I opted for my Roka swimskin, a sort of swim outfit that is supposed to reduce drag in the water. I love my wetsuit, but struggling to get it off after a swim can be a chore.
I was one of the first triathletes to head down to the swim start area and I found myself first in line in Wave 2. Looking at some of the athletes behind me had me thinking that I should probably move back, but I kept my spot and waited for the start. After the Elite Wave group of about 10-12 started, we all started to make our way to the dock and jump in, separated by about 5 seconds. It was a good swim for me – the water was a good temperature, I settled into my pace easily and had zero contact. I started to tire and felt a little out of breath on the last section heading back to the dock, but I got through it fine. SWIM TIME: 13:36
Into T1, I easily unzipped my swimskin and lowered it to my midsection, while sitting down, drying my feet, putting on socks/shoes, grabbing my helmet and bike, jogging to Bike Out, and then I realized I hadn’t fully taken off the swimskin! I stopped, leaned my bike against the fence, stripped it off, tossing it back to my transition area, and then off on my way to ride. T1 TIME: 2:32
I redlined the ride in true Gunner fashion. I was breathing heavily and my legs were screaming at me, but I soon found myself concentrating on my line on this twisty-turning trail and looking out for others as well. I passed a few and had a few pass me, but still felt like I was giving it my best effort. I knew that I wanted to press hard here and try to gain some time advantage because I knew I would be walking some of the run. BIKE TIME: 37:21
T2 was quick for me! It took me all of 44 seconds to rack my bike, take off my helmet and cycling shoes, put on my running shoes, grab my bib belt and visor while running to Run Out. I’m usually not that quick! T2 TIME: 0:44
A photo of the early part of the run course. The gnarlier stuff came later.
Once on the run I secured my bib belt, got my visor on, and carefully jogged through the opening path leading to the trail. It helped me settle down a little. As I got to the flat main trail, I started pushing pace and was doing quite well. Fortunately, a volunteer directed me over a bridge or I would have blown straight past her, cleaving off about 2/3s of a mile from the course. I was running pretty well on the flat trail and when I got to the technical part the walking began. There’s no way you could run up these little hills. On one of them, I was almost crawling up it. Fortunately, I didn’t have any mishaps and was about to finish that section when I heard a guy yelling about being confused about where to turn. I found that the run course was pretty clearly marked with arrows, but could understand how someone could get confused. He had been ahead of me, so I told him to follow me and got him going in the right direction again. I hit the gas for the last half mile back and finished pretty strongly. RUN TIME: 26:23
I was recovering a little past the finish line when I had a guy come up and ask me if my watch showed three miles. I informed him that it did and he said that he only had two miles recorded for the run. Five minutes later, a young lady also inquired about the run distance, saying she only had done two miles. Things were starting to get a little weird. It wasn’t long after the race that the race director grabbed a microphone and explained that somehow an arrow on the course had been moved, directing runners in the wrong direction. He advised that he couldn’t change the results, but if anyone in the crowd was aware that their run was short by a mile, to do the right thing and let him know. I didn’t see anyone approach him.
That somewhat explains the difference in my finish place compared to 2021. I finished 22nd overall in that race, and finished 60th in this one! And to add insult to injury, I placed 5th in my age group, but when I looked at the results, it was pretty clear that at least two of them had questionable run times. I should have been 3rd overall in the age group. I was robbed of an A/G spot!!! Oh well, it’s not that big of a deal. The bigger picture is that I raced well, felt good about my performance, and had a great time.
It was nice to get back to racing triathlon again.
My gravel bike has been my riding choice this year, as it is more versatile and the tri-bike hangs in the garage, needing a tune-up and a reason to do it. Most of my weekday rides have been in the 20-25 mile range and I have stayed mainly on the local paved trail. Some of it is smooth as butter, but most of the portions of the trail have cracks and bumps, which are hard to avoid. And every bump lately has also come with a loud Ka-KLUNK! The sound was curious at first, causing me to wonder about it, but also to completely ignore it. But on my ride on Thursday, the sound was really bugging me.
The sound sometimes sounded like it came from the front fork, other times it was the back of the bike. But it seemed to echo through the carbon fiber frame of my bike. I tried coasting over bumps – Ka-KLUNK! I tried riding faster over bumps – Ka-KLUNK! I removed my water bottle – Ka-KLUNK! I checked and tightened all my screws – Ka-KLUNK! I removed the top tube bag which contains a bunch of stuff – Ka-KLUNK! One last thing to check was the saddle bag, which includes my flat repair tools – BINGO! No more Ka-KLUNK! It was a little surprising because it was tucked very tightly under the saddle and packed so full of junk that nothing loose could have been moving around. I added a piece of foam between the bag and saddle for now and have been riding Ka-KLUNK-free.
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I had gotten a couple of flats while riding on the tarred and chipped roads we have around here, and the inspection of my rear tire showed considerable wear on it. Little pointy rocks on the road and on the crushed limestone paths were easily causing small cuts and piercing my tube. I ended up buying a new tire to replace it. Replacing the tire was not easy. I got the old tire off easily enough, but the new tire was not going on at all. My son was called in to assist and we both struggled to get this tire on the wheel. We were eventually able to muscle it on, but it left me thinking about how hard it would be to fix a flat while out riding by myself.
I was scrolling through Reddit and saw a post on r/bikewrench from a guy who was having the same issue – couldn’t get the tire on the wheel. One guy responded that he could get it on in about 30 seconds. Others chimed in with the same advice the 30-second guy had and I was embarrassed to admit I had not heard of these instructions before. I bought a new matching tire for the front wheel and it went on much easier, and without having to call for assistance.
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One of the reasons to replace the front tire to match the back was to avoid looking silly, but also because I am doing my first triathlon in 3 years next weekend! Yes, I’m racing a gravel/off-road triathlon next Saturday and the tires I have added to the bike should make for good traction at this course. It’s a crushed limestone path with lots of turns, so hopefully I won’t have any problems negotiating those turns.
I found myself looking at the participant’s list, hoping to see if I knew any other locals racing, but couldn’t resist taking a peek at what the competition looked like in the M60-64 age group. There was one guy I found who had a very similar finish time to me and I figured he was my main competition. I searched his name and found that he’s a triathlon coach. Great. Well, I’m still going to give it a good effort and try to be competitive, despite trying to ease back into it after having hamstring injuries earlier this year. While I was on vacation, I was able to ride 10 miles in about 35 minutes and run 3 miles in about 25, so I’m not too far from my race pace effort.
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Speaking of coming back from injuries, I have been doing much better. After my above-mentioned 25-mile bike ride on Thursday, I followed it up with a 9-mile run on Friday. I fully expected to be sore and have to run a little slower on a rather warm and humid day. But I was surprised to be running very well and pushed a good effort through 6-7 miles before the heat made me dial it back. I’m glad that the stretching and smart training I have done has made a difference. I just got to keep it up and not do something stupid like racing.
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There’s a new Ironman 70.3 in Rockford, Illinois next year and of course, I had to sign up for it! Feeling good about riding and running again, and since this race is fairly close to me, I decided that this is would be a good reentry point. It’ll be a fun time!
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I haven’t told the wife yet, but I signed up for the Broken Anvil Backyard Ultra yesterday. The race director said it was filling up and was capped at 100 participants. So I checked and saw that it had 79 runners so far and figured why not sign up? The race falls about 3 weeks out from the Chicago Marathon, so I can use it as my last long training run before then. I really like the backyard format and this race has been fun the past two times I have done it. I got through 50 miles in 2022, and 37 miles in 2023, so I’ll play it by ear and try to have some fun without wrecking myself.
I’d better tell the wife that I signed up. She hates it when she finds out on Facebook. If I don’t break it to her soon, you might hear a Ka-KLUNK! from my skull.
I was on an ultramarathon Reddit page when I made a comment on a post about underestimating ultramarathons, mentioning how I felt ultras were more difficult than Ironman was for me. Then there was this reply to my comment:
“How do you know when someone has done an Ironman? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.”
This is an old joke, and probably pretty fitting for most of us Ironman finishers. The guy thought that he was pretty witty I guess, even though it wasn’t even an original joke. Some people just feel the need to belittle others. I initially took his comment as an insult and then told him to stick it, and he then confirmed his insulting nature by trying to belittle me some more. A bully hiding behind his keyboard that I didn’t waste any more time on.
But it got me wondering if it was true? Could I be a little over the top with Ironman pride? Yeah, guilty as charged. I’m proud of being an Ironman, damn proud of it actually. It was something that I never thought was possible for me. I couldn’t swim 100 yards in a pool without stopping, and the thought of biking more than a century and then running a marathon after all of that – used to boggle my mind. I would watch the Ironman race on television and think that these people were superhuman.
Most finishers feel the accomplishment is worthy of celebration. We buy the gear – and wear it. We refuse to take off the athlete wristband for weeks after the race is over. Some follow a long-held tradition of getting the “M-dot” tattoo, usually on the right calf. Talk about telling others that you are in an elite club.
But this is not the first time I got the feeling that I need to dial it back. After my first finish, I took to wearing my new Ironman Wisconsin hoodie, the one with the athlete names on the back of it, every chance I could. Another dad, who liked to raze me, mentioned that I was wearing that hoodie – AGAIN. Touché, but did I dial it back?
Heck no! One Ironman finish became two, then three, four, and currently I am up to five. I wear the finisher jackets, the Ironman hats, t-shirts, and hoodies. I drink my coffee from my Ironman race mugs. I started this blog to document the training and the racing, but there’s definitely some level of pride going into it. I want the memories to be there for me when I am older. Although I write them for myself, others visit the site, looking for race insights and maybe some inspiration. I like to write about running, triathlon, and Ironman, I’m not making any excuses for bragging a little.
At home, it may even be worse. I have a room dedicated to running medals, race posters, and memorabilia. I have a similar shrine to myself in my office at work. Guilty, guilty, guilty.
My shrine to myself at work.
I’m not sure if there are many more races in the cards for me. I may not earn another Ironman finisher medal, jacket, name t-shirt, hat, or plaque with pictures of me working hard to earn those things and that title of Ironman. I’m going through some injuries right now and realize that I will get over them, but at 60 it’s not getting easier. So I will look back on those five Ironman finishes and cherish them, and maybe brag a little about it.
As they say, “Suffer for 140.6 miles, brag for a lifetime.”
It’s hard not to like this race. The course is trail and is varied and is a ton of fun. The race directors are top-notch. I had looked forward to it for months. And then I ran it and it beat me up, not like last year by falling on the fifth loop, but physically wore me out by the time I finished the first loop. But I enjoyed every minute of it.
Fortunately, I had my crew chief/wife Kari with me to help me with all the junk I brought and to make sure that I wouldn’t end up like last year. We opted to stay at a nearby hotel for the night to avoid the hour-long drive in the morning. We had plenty of time to get up, have a great breakfast, and then head to the race to set up our tent.
Looking good one mile into the race. Totally beat after one loop. Loop 6 and I was cooked.
Ringing the Did Not Finish bell of shame.
Time to sit and watch the others come in.
DNF’d loop 7 is way better than not starting it.
The course was very much like the year before. A little bit of sloppy and muddy conditions, but nothing a trail runner hasn’t ever dealt with. By the end of loop 1, I felt pretty beat up and I was already calculating how many loops I might be able to complete. The goal was to do 8-12 loops, but the course forced me to reconsider that. I was now hoping to do as well as I did the year before and get at least 5 loops finished.
I had some great conversations with some of the other runners. Cody, Ashley, and Robert were great to run with, as well as many of the others. Everyone was having a great time.
The weather was pretty good this year as well. Last year was a little colder, but we were all in shorts this year.
After finishing the sixth loop in 57 minutes, I didn’t leave myself much time to get some food and I had decided that I would start the next loop but probably wouldn’t finish it. I made my way back into the corral with a fresh water bottle and started walking when the seventh loop began. As the others pulled away, I gave a half-hearted effort to keep up, but it just wasn’t happening for me. I was done. I decided to walk up the hill and back down the next which would put me near camp. Kari met me at the bottom of the hill and I told her that I was taking a victory cool-down lap. We decided to walk up the next hill and around more of the loop and ended back at the camp, with an additional but unofficial extra 1.5 miles. I walked up and told the race directors that number 159 was dropping from loop 7. I rang the bell and thanked everyone for the well wishes and congratulations. Then Kari and I began packing up.
I could make a dozen excuses why I dropped out when I did, but it all really boiled down to being uncomfortable running across the highly technical rocky terrain on tired legs. It lead to me falling last year, and I just didn’t want to repeat that. So, I’ll take my 25 total miles, my awesome WausaUltra race swag, and my finisher medal, and live for another race. Time to heal up and begin training in the summer for the fall races I have signed up for.
I was reading a race report in which the blogger talked about a race being in her top-five favorites of all time, and it got me thinking about what my top-five races would be. I call my blog “an amazing run” because most of my runs are pretty amazing, but if I could choose my favorites (oh boy, this will be difficult!) here they are:
NUMBER 5 – WINNING MY FIRST-EVER TROPHY
I grew up in an era that didn’t give out participation trophies, you had to earn them. Now, I’m not against participation awards, medals, or trophies, especially when it comes to running and triathlon. I’ve got dozens of them proudly hanging on my wall. I appreciate them for what they represent to me – a reminder and reward for the effort I gave to be handed one. Those that say that anyone can have one are simply mistaken. You have to at least get off your butt and complete the task. But when I was a kid, I never earned a trophy. But on July 4, 1993, I ran a 5K in a local race and decided to hang around for the post-race award ceremony. I don’t remember much about the race other than it was hot, and my wife and in-laws were there. But my name was called as the 2nd place winner in the Male, 25-30 age group category. I was 29 years old when I earned my first-ever trophy.
Isn’t it a beauty!?
NUMBER 4 – THE DAY I RAN 5 MILES
I had toyed with running for a few years, but it was hit or miss for me. Like everyone else who tries running for the first time, it can suck, and I was no different. I just never stuck with it. After graduating college and finding a job, I relocated about 75 minutes north of my hometown and found myself living in an apartment bored out of my mind. My friends were back home or away at college, and I was too broke to afford golf or bowling. I bought a pair of cheap Macgregor running shoes at Kmart (remember, I was broke) and decided to try running again. The first few efforts were around the apartment complex. I was a fair-weather runner and my runs were typically after work and not any longer than a mile or two. But one lap turned into two and I also was getting a little faster. One day I decided to branch out into the neighboring subdivision and meander around. I felt great and I knew that I was going farther than I had before. When I got back, I jumped in my car and retraced my route, and I was excited to see that I had gone 5 miles! But the most exciting feeling was not just covering 5 miles, it was knowing that I could have run farther. I look back at this day as the day I became a true runner.
NUMBER 3 – WINNING A 5K RACE
You really never know what can happen unless you show up and give it your best. The Lindenhurst Police and Park District 5K was being held for the first time in Lindenhurst, Illinois, the town in which my new bride Kari and I had bought our first home, and was being held along with a little fall festival the town was having. I found this race listed in the local weekly newspaper, as the internet hadn’t really taken the world over yet. Most local racing was listed in the local papers. Since it was being held in our town, I figured why not run it?
When I got to the start line I could sense that not many people had seen the race listing in the paper, with only about a dozen runners nervously pacing around. I started to wonder if I had any competition. The girl in her twenties looked pretty fast, and so did the guy in his thirties. There were a few others, but I keyed on these two for some reason. We toed the line and off we sped, following the police chief in a police car. A weightlifter-type dude shot out to the lead like a rocket, which was somewhat surprising, as I had written him off prerace. But by a quarter-mile into the race, the girl, the guy, and I had reeled him in. My plan was to pace with them for a little while and it wasn’t long before I realized the pace was too slow. I hit the gas around mile one and took off. As I ran I actually overtook the chief in the pace car and I got a little nervous because I had no idea where the course was heading. No worries though, as he quickly got ahead and stayed there. There was a left turn about a quarter-mile from the finish and I took one quick glance back and saw no one within a distance that could catch me. I glided downhill, turned right, and broke my first finish line tape in first place overall. Show up and race all-comers, you might find that you are the best of the field that day.
NUMBER 2 – QUALIFYING FOR BOSTON
Early in my running days, I knew what a marathon was but it was never on my radar. I was happy to get around the block a few times. Marathons seemed impossible. But I finally got the urge and ran my first marathon in 1991. The Lake County Races Marathon ran from Zion to Highland Park, Illinois and it was very local for me, seeing that I worked and lived in Highland Park at the time. When I finished that first one, my reaction wasn’t the euphoria that I had anticipated, I can clearly remember thinking “That’s it? Where’s the fanfare?” I was handed a medal, which I have since misplaced (I’ve looked everywhere!), and ended up in the medical tent getting an IV.
The finish didn’t kill my enthusiasm for marathons, and I ran many more. But there was one that I wanted to do but figured I would never be able to, and that was Boston. Boston has a qualifying time requirement, and I was more than a half-hour away from it in my 30s. It seemed unreachable. But I got older, faster, and wiser, all of which would lead to me getting within striking distance of getting that elusive Boston Marathon qualifying time.
In 2015, I qualified by just a few minutes, but it wasn’t enough. When I crossed the finish line I was elated and deflated at the same time, because even though I had just run a personal best of 3:28, I knew that my cushion time might not make the cut. I missed it by 28 seconds. You can read about it here: 28 Seconds…
The following year I was much better prepared and had an awesome weather day. I cruised to a 3:25:08 finish and felt pretty good about my performance. Now the wait began.
After applying the following year, I got notice that I was in! That’s when the run became special. It took a while to get it validated.
You might ask why isn’t running Boston the high point? The 2018 Boston Marathon was miserable – I was overtrained, and it was a day of constant rain, wind, and cold temperatures. All of that makes for a great memory, but what I cherish most was accomplishing the hard part – qualifying.
Enjoying the latter miles of the race, kind of knowing I was doing well.
NUMBER 1 – CHRIS HEDGES – YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!
I had watched the network coverage of Ironman for many years and was always in awe. I couldn’t even imagine what it took to do what they did. My experience taught me that marathons were hard, how do you do that after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles?! Fortunately for me, I have friends who pushed me into it. It’s easy to say that you can’t do it when you have never even tried. So I tried. Swimming was hard, but I eventually got it down. Biking had its own struggles, but I became a better rider. And running just had to be adjusted to make sure I didn’t push too hard.
I had no idea what crossing that Ironman finish line would do to me. It was empowering. Ironman’s motto is “Anything Is Possible” and that is a sentence not lost on me. After finishing an Ironman you do feel like anything is possible.
Each of my five Ironman finishes are special, but I will always remember that first Ironman in Madison, Wisconsin in 2013. It sent me on a path of new adventures and gave me a feeling that I could do anything.
I have been quietly putting in the running miles for Tunnel Hill 100 in November. As I run, I have a lot of time to think about the enormity of running 100 miles – the training, the race, the external needs, etc. I attempted the 100-mile run in 2021, but ultimately dropped at the 50-mile finish and was allowed to accept the 50-mile finisher award. I was warned as a 100-mile registrant to resist the urge to quit at 50 by many different people but quit I did. I’m not ashamed of it at all, as completing 50 miles is a pretty impressive accomplishment. But as all of the people warning me indicated, I would regret it sooner or later. For me, it was sooner. By the time I had gotten to the hotel, cleaned up, and had some food, I was already regretting it. I felt that I let myself down, my son and my daughter-in-law who had come to pace me, and my wife who was there for support and provide all the dumb things I needed to go 100 miles. They were there and ready to do their jobs, I just didn’t do mine.
Continuing past the 50-mile mark while attempting to hit 100 should have been a no-brainer. I often say that the hardest part of any run is taking the first step, as once you get started you often will finish the job. But I just didn’t take that first step past the halfway point. I spent miles 30 to 49 debating with myself as to whether to drop at 50 0r keep going. I vacillated back and forth many times, but at the time I was worn out, tired and sore and felt that going on would have been rough on me. I guess I was afraid of what was to come and getting the 50-mile finish was a pretty good consolation prize. Until it wasn’t.
I have spent many a training mile thinking about the mistake or mistakes I made last time, but I am reluctant to call them mistakes. I think that making improvements on what happened would be more productive, so I am focusing on the positive and trying to make improvements. Here are some of the things I have been thinking about improving upon.
DO THE APPROPRIATE TRAINING – My first attempt at Tunnel Hill in 2021 became a secondary event to Ironman Chattanooga when Covid-19 messed up my plans and put the two races in the same calendar year. Nothing I could do about it, but at the time I chose to make Chatty my priority, and focus my training on the Ironman and hope that it would be enough to get me through the ultramarathon. I’m not totally convinced that the Ironman training I was doing wasn’t enough to get me through 100 miles, but it’s really hard to substitute swimming/biking/running for just long-running. This time I decided to focus my training on just doing the ultra. I haven’t even raced a sprint triathlon or 5K this year, I’m just doing long, slow distance running.
TRAIN THE BRAIN – Ironman can be emboldening, making you believe that “anything is possible” (a motto of theirs), so I thought that if I can finish an Ironman (or now five of them) I can easily get through an ultra. Boy, I underestimated the ultra distance and what it took mentally to get through it. Pushing on was something I wasn’t able to do. How do you get over that mental hurdle? I’m still trying to figure it out, but for now, I keep pushing myself out the door when I need to do so. In marathon training, you typically build to one 20-mile training run before the race. I’ve done several 18-milers and a couple of 20-mile runs so far, with many more to do. I need to get those distances in not only for my legs but for my mind as well. I’m guessing with the miles I run and the time I put into them, my mind will get used to being along for the ride.
Right now it’s summer and it’s been a hot and humid one too. I have to resist the temptation to judge where I will be in November based on where I’m at now. My brain sometimes tells me that I’m going to struggle with this, but it’s all because I’m currently struggling with heat and humidity. Got to get through the plan and get close to race day, then I will know where I stand.
USE THE GADGETS – I acquired what I thought I might need to run long distances – shoes with more cushion, shoe gaiters, trekking poles, headlamps, portable watch and phone chargers, and other odds and ends, but I haven’t really used them much. Last year I did use the lights from about mile 35 to 50, but I wasn’t used to running with them. I did very little training running with lights, and they can be kind of weird. Some runners say that the bouncing movement of the light from a headlamp can make them feel a little unbalanced. I didn’t really have a problem with that, but I can see it having a strobe light-type effect. I did practice with the watch charger in training last year, but having a new watch with better battery life might make them unnecessary. I think the watch will last the full 100 miles. But I should probably refresh myself on how to use them while running.
DO SOME NIGHTTIME RUNNING – My wife Kari “coaches” me often with thoughtful suggestions, and one of them that I could benefit from is doing some nighttime running. Tunnel Hill starts at 7am in November and you had daylight until about 4:30pm, so not even 10 hours of sunlight. The majority of the race will be run in the dark. Last year it was so dark in southern Illinois that without the light I couldn’t see anything. There were people coming back to finish 50 miles without lights and I had no idea how they were staying on the path! Some practice running at night with lights would be a good idea. But I think she is also suggesting that I run at night when it’s the time of day that I’m getting tired. I don’t really remember feeling “sleepy” tired last year, thanks to caffeine, more of a fatigued muscles-type tired. But it is a good suggestion. I will suggest that she join me.
RE-EVALUATE YOUR EXPECTATIONS – Last year I had no idea what to expect and just going off of what my training leading up to the race was telling me, I foolishly thought that a sub-24-hour finish was probable. Heck, I was averaging 5.5 miles every hour in training and thinking a sub-20-hour finish might happen! Man, did that race teach me a lesson. I did happen to finish the 50 in 11 hours and 32 minutes, but there was no way I was going to be able to do another 12-hour 50 miles. The experience from last year has made me adjust my expectations a little. I’m still going to shoot for around 24 hours, but the overall goal, and one I can’t overlook, IS TO FINISH THE DAMN DISTANCE!
WHAT THE PACE? – One of the crucial elements of running 100 miles is going at a pace that won’t kill you too soon, and I think I blew this part of it last year. That’s a surprising statement seeing that my local friends all went out much faster than me for the first 25 miles of it. It was quite a shock to be bringing up the rear when I was holding a sub-20 pace myself! With the exception of Leah, who turned in and impressive 22:54, Jim ended up slowing and dropping out around the 70 mile mark, and Jodi seemed to run out of gas as well, but added another exceptional finish to her ultra running resume. I think that they tend to run until they can’t any more, and then walk some to recover. I try to build walk breaks into my miles by run/walking, essentially running four minutes and then walking for 2. But am I doing enough walking?
As I mentioned above, I could hold 5.5 miles/hour fairly well, which gave me the expectations of easily going sub-24, but I tired and ended up slowing down in the last 15 miles pretty dramatically. I settled on a 4-minute run/2-minute walk method in order to give me a break and keep me from overdoing it. But I think it was still too fast. Since I hit the 5-mile mark around 50 minutes, I have tinkered with walking the remaining 10-minutes of every hour. This will give me an additional extended walking break, and still keep me on track. I will see how this goes.
GET THE NUTRITION DIALED IN – In my five Ironman races I have been fortunate to have been pretty consistent with my in-race nutritional needs. For some reason, I just struggle with it during training. Lately I have been a little better, but on race days I tend to skip eating solid food when I shouldn’t. Sometimes what the race is offering isn’t all that appetizing to me. Sometimes I don’t eat enough. My two Backyard Ultra races this year I struggled both times with getting enough food, even though I was trying to do better. It’s tough to run on a full stomach, so I might have to experiment with eating more over a longer period of time, rather than just scarfing down a bunch of food in a 2-3 minute break.
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So there you have it, I’m sticking to the plan, trusting it, doing the work, and trying to avoid the mistakes. I just hope I’m not overthinking it. Future updates to follow, I’m sure. Thanks for reading.
I got some new shoes the other day and immediately felt faster. I wasn’t actually faster, but I felt like I was. I could think of a couple of reasons that made me feel that way.
First, I have been running in black colored shoes. I used to avoid black shoes because they had the opposite effect on me – they made me feel slow for some reason. Black just seems clunky in my head. But black goes best with my winter running gear, and I guess I just carried black shoes over into the summer. My new shoes are a light grey and when I started the run I felt like an Olympian, running with speed and grace.
The second reason is a little more obvious, they were new, felt springy, and I was bouncing along with seemingly less effort. Feeling faster from a new pair of shoes should make it easier, I suppose.
After that initial fast-feeling run, I was surprised to see that I really wasn’t any faster than most of the recent runs I had been doing.
The faster Hoka Bondi 8 on the left and my old and slow Hoka Bondi 7 on the right. Basically the same shoe.
There are other times when I felt like a piece of gear made me “feel” faster. Going from a road bike to an aero bike surely made me feel faster, and when I stay in aero I should definitely be faster. I noticed once that I was riding on the trail with my friend John, sitting upright and having a chat and traveling at the same speed, but when I went down into aero without changing my cadence, I slowly started to edge ahead.
Sticking with the bike, I added a set of FLO aero wheels to it and immediately felt fast. Aero wheels make your bike look fast standing still. They just look cool – and fast! FLO makes good wheels and the price is among the least expensive in the aero wheel market, so buying a set made me definitely feel faster and part of the cool kids club. How much faster are they? My combo set of wheels will save you maybe 6-10 minutes in an Ironman, according to the FLO wheels website. https://blog.flocycling.com/carbon-wheels/how-much-time-will-flo-wheels-save-me/ Not exactly blazing speed, but you believe it makes a difference. Still worth it, even if looking cool makes you feel faster.
I also bought an aero helmet, which I had read once that can make one faster for a lot less than a set of aero wheels. I’m wearing the dumb thing in the picture at the top of this blog. I have to admit I don’t really feel faster wearing it. I feel rather silly, actually. I will toss it on for sprints, but I’m not sure the aero advantage of it outweighs the overall protection of a regular cycling helmet in the event of a crash. My aero helmet just seems less protective. The dumb things that are on my mind while just riding and racing a bike are sometimes pretty deep.
What else can make you feel faster? A new racing kit? For sure. A new pair of socks? Yes sir. But do they actually make you faster? Well, sometimes you just got to go with what makes you feel like you are.
I’d love to hear what makes you feel faster. Add some suggestions in the comments below.
Started 2021 with some trail running. Found out I loved running trails.
What a difference a year makes! After just going through the motions last year, running and biking without any racing, it was such a joy to have racing back again in 2021. As I write this, December 2021 is starting to feel more like 2020, and I definitely do not want to go back there, but I think the ship will right itself again.
2021 saw a return to racing for me. I tried to not go overboard with racing, and there were some changes to how things were done, but we were allowed to push ourselves once again.
On the triathlon front, I got in two events – the first being an “off-road” sprint triathlon that was a lot of fun, and resulted in an age-group placing. And I completed my fifth Ironman in Chattanooga with my friends.
The Gunner Gang the morning of Ironman Chattanooga 2021.
It was also a year of new adventures in running for me as I trained for and ran a couple ultra marathons. I found training for the ultras to reinvigorate my passion for running. I also found that going slower can also be fun. I learned quite a bit about myself on those training runs and during the events as well. I’ve already signed up to do the Big Hill Bonk event, as well as another attempt at the Tunnel Hill 100. I’m an Ultra Runner now!!!
In the spring I began my training for Ironman Chattanooga, which I made my goal “A” race, and would train for the other stuff around that training. Although it prepared me well for the Ironman, I think the training wasn’t quite adequate for the 100-miler, and that became clear to me when I decided to drop at the halfway mark and take the 50-mile finish. I felt no regret about stopping at 50 miles at the time I did it, but it wasn’t long before I was regretting it a little. I will prepare myself with a little more ultra-specific run training and arm myself with what I learned from the race to give it another try in the fall.
Summer saw me entering my first race of the year and first time back at racing since Covid shut down everything in 2020. I was urged by a few of my coworkers to run a local 5K and that was a fun return to road racing. The course was hilly and tough, and the warm day didn’t lend to a great 5K time, but I did okay-ish. Here’s the race report: 2021 Chasing the Sun 5K Race Report
Had some fun swim training with Tom in Lake Michigan. He’s caught the tri bug.
Next was a new, local triathlon that was “off-road,” which basically meant it was on a crushed limestone trail for the bike and run. I was excited about that because I got to actually race my gravel bike for the first time. You can read about it here: The Forge Off-road Triathlon Race Report
Coming out of the water at the Forge Tri.
In August the Big Hill Bonk – Wisconsin’s Backyard Ultra race finally took place after a couple of postponements and it was a ton of fun. This race format of running multiple 4.16 mile loops every hour is still kind of new, so I found myself learning as I ran. And what I learned is that I had a lot of fun running through the woods and into the dark of night. It was a great experience and I look forward to doing it again in April 2022. Eight laps, or “yards” netted me 33 total miles. The adventure can be found on this post: Big Hill Bonk – Wisconsin Backyard Ultra Race Report
Fake running for the photographer, but having a blast at Big Hill Bonk.
Next up was a return to Chattanooga for my fifth Ironman with my Gunner teammates Dave, Jeff, and Jan. Weatherwise, race day was much better than what we experienced in 2019, a dreadfully hot and humid day. This race was wetsuit legal, a first for Chattanooga, I believe. Even with an extra four miles on the bike course, and the run course being one of the hilliest ever, I turned in my second fastest IM time. Here’s the report: 2021 Ironman Chattanooga Race Report
Doing my part to promote pathetic triathlonism.
I had about a month and a half to work on building some mileage for my first attempt at running 100 miles. I worked on pacing and in-race nutrition while logging lots of weekly miles in training. Race day came and I felt prepared, but my body was aching a little and my mind wasn’t quite prepared to tell my body to keep going. Thankfully, at Tunnel Hill you can get the 50-mile finisher award if you decide to drop at the half-way point, and that’s what I did. I’ve never run that far in one day ever, and I’m pretty proud of that. Read about Tunnel Hill here: Tunnel Hill 50 Mile Run Race Report
Finishing 50 miles of running and calling it a day. I had a Forrest Gump moment and didn’t feel like running anymore.
One little note about the Boston Marathon. I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2019 and got my third Boston qualifier, albiet barely. I was thirteen seconds under the qualifying time and even though I was proud of that, I knew that a BQ-13 would not be quick enough, and I didn’t give any thought to applying to run it again. I was wrong. Boston announced that there would be NO CUTOFF FOR 2022! I could have made it in! Oh well, I’m not sure I wanted to run it on such short notice anyway. Running Boston in 2018 was such a miserable experience (!) and great memory for me, I might not ever want to run it again!
So that wraps up 2021. What’s in store for 2022? Well, it seems that I’ve gotten myself entangled in a hodge-podge of events that I will have to figure out how to train for. Plus, I have to keep the calendar clear for a couple reasons: Kari and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in September and we are hoping to go on a trip. And my son Ben and fiance Emily are planning a summer wedding, which doesn’t quite have a concrete date yet. I’m looking forward to both of those non-running, non-triathloning events!
But I have already committed to running the Big Hill Bonk in April, which I have sorta started training for now. I’ve also added the Manteno sprint tri for the end of July. I’m toying with adding the Chicago Triathlon for the end of August. And since the Chicago Marathon notified me that I have legacy and can sign up for the race, I did so. It may end up being another attempt at a Boston qualifier, or it may end up being a training run for Tunnel Hill 100, which I committed to just 2 hours ago. Yeah, I have some unfinished business there. And I’m a glutton for punishment.
So here’s to 2022 and a happy and healthy racing year.
RUNNING STATS
JANUARY – 21 Runs / 140 Miles / 35 Miles per week
FEBRUARY – 15 Runs / 79 Miles / 20 Miles per week
MARCH – 19 Runs / 85 Miles / 21 Miles per week
APRIL – 15 Runs / 78 Miles / 19 Miles per week
MAY – 17 Runs / 91 Miles / 23 Miles per week
JUNE – 18 Runs / 98 Miles / 24.5 Miles per week
JULY – 18 Runs / 120 Miles / 30 Miles per week
AUGUST – 20 Runs / 180 Miles / 45 Miles per week
SEPTEMBER – 18 Runs / 124 Miles / 31 Miles per week
OCTOBER – 21 Runs / 242 Miles / 60.5 Miles per week
NOVEMBER – 14 Runs / 158 Miles / 39 Miles per week
DECEMBER – 13 Runs / 95 Miles / 24 Miles per week
2021 TOTALS – 209 Runs / 1490 Miles / 28.6 Miles per week
LIFETIME RUNNING TOTAL
29049 Total Lifetime Miles / 5190 Total Lifetime Runs / 33rd Year of Running
an amazing run 