I was having a great week, I really was. Then Sunday came along and I’m not sure that I am wanting to do this anymore.
I’m going to cut to the point. I pissed off an asshole driver for the simple reason of riding my bike. Not once, but twice – by the same fucking driver 3.5-hours apart. It seems that this driver doesn’t want to share the road with a cyclist, which was me. Pulled up behind me both times, blasted her fucking horn and then passed by so close that I could touch her damn Nissan Juke. The second time she pulled in front of me and slammed on her brakes. Nice. Whatever the fuck she needed to do – what could it be? Go to the grocery store? Go get gas? whatever – it was more important to her than my fucking life. I have some video of her doing this, but not of the slam on the brakes part because my camera battery on the front of my bike had died. Oh well.
You can see in the video that I’m blocking a little because there are a curb and a median right after crossing the tracks and if I even hint that there might be enough room to pass me, my experience is that they will try to do it. She must have been really pissed to have to deal with my old ass not once, but twice.
I could quit riding roads and stick to the trails, but guess what? That’s even worse. The people on the trail are ten times riskier than car drivers and no one polices the trail.
Most of the time I feel pretty safe, but it only takes one time, one instance to make me question doing this at all.
I will take the video to the local police tomorrow and show them, but it probably won’t do any good. I’m guessing they probably hate old dumb ass guys on bikes too.
WEEK 28 TRAINING TOTALS:
Swims: 1 total, 2800 total yards
Rides: 3 total, 100 total miles
Runs: 5 total, 32 total miles
There’s no future in dying according to my buddy Carl.
The Dreaded Week 27 is over! And two days ahead of schedule. I have followed this training plan four times, and I should know by now that yes it is hard, but I always get it done, and it’s usually no big deal. It’s just that after the previous 26 weeks of training, I get to the point that I have had enough. But it’s done, and it’s time now to start pulling back and coasting into the race on September 29th.
I’m not sure how I keep track of anything going on in my non-triathlon training life right now, but I’m writing this wrap-up on Sunday evening as usual and I don’t even remember much about this week. Life here in our household is insanely crazy, and it’s not going to get any easier until late October!
The Dreaded Week 27 is dreaded because it is the longest and most difficult of the 30 weeks of training in my Ironman training plan. The weekend workout calls for a six-hour ride with an hour-long run right afterward on Saturday, and then it’s followed by a three-hour-long run on Sunday. But guess what? I had to move them to Thursday and Friday because I needed to go to my lake home and get my boat out of the water and do some winterizing of the boat and house. There are literally no free weekends to take care of that responsibility until after Halloween, so it had to be done. It was kind of a blessing actually because I didn’t have two extra days to fret about doing that long ride and long run.
The weather turned cool and the 20-mile run went pretty well. The plan just wants you to get in three hours of running, but I decided that I would shoot for 20 miles regardless of the time it takes me. Fortunately, I felt pretty good and got out and back on my route in 2:53.
I took the day off from work on Friday and hit the road by 7 am. It was another cloudy day but not as cool as Thursday was. I was a little worried that my legs would be a little tired trying to ride 100 miles after running 20 miles the day before, but they felt fine. It was my butt that didn’t like it.
Taking a break at 2.5 hours into the six-hour ride to refill my water bottles and give my butt a rest. Does it look like I’m dreading the rest of the ride?
My butt hates me. I’m not sure if I am capable of making it happy. I have been training as much as I can in the tri suit that I bought for this event, and even though it is comfortable enough, I’m not sure the chamois pad is working for me. I’ve tried creams, lotions, band-aids, silicon type spray, etc. and nothing seems to make the miles less strenuous on my sit bones. That’s the real issue. You can’t really distribute the weight around on a tiny tri bike seat. Most of the contact is made in a small spot and the constant pressure and movement of my legs end up causing the discomfort. It’s not that I can’t ride 100 miles or the 116 miles of Ironman Chattanooga this way, it’s just not going to be enjoyable.
Anyway, the bike ended just at 100 miles and just a couple minutes below 6 hours. I had to really give myself a strong pep talk to change shoes and go for an hour-long run, but once I started out the door it was over after 6 miles. Nice and easy run at a pace I described as “I don’t want to do this run” pace.
Proof that I am crazy.
I tried to relax after that and wait until Kari came home. She’s been swamped at work and our planned trip north to Minocqua didn’t get started until 7 pm. We decided to drive up to Madison and stay the night. That was a good move. We got there Saturday morning and got so busy that training and my butt didn’t even come into my mind. I think being up there also improved Kari’s mood too. That’s what lake life can do for you.
One last boat ride before pulling it out of the water for the season.
The Dreaded Week 27 is over. The boat is out of the water and winterized. Nothing more to dread until race day.
WEEK 27 TRAINING TOTALS:
Swims: 1 total, 2800 total yards
Rides: 2 total, 119 total miles
Runs: 4 total, 37 total miles
The totals are a little less than last week but I lost two days of training when I moved Saturday/Sunday to Thursday/Friday.
I went by Madison, Wisconsin today and didn’t even have time to stop and watch Ironman Moo!
Dave came to join me for the Saturday long ride, a planned 5.5-hour ride with an hour-long brick run right after. As he was getting ready I saw that he was doing a little pre-ride carb-loading with what looked like a Little Debbie Nutty Bar.
“Is that a Nutty Bar?” I asked. “Yeah, do you want one?”
Do I want one? That’s like offering a junkie a fix. That’s like asking a dog if he wants a bone. That’s like asking a fisherman if he wants to go fishing. That’s like asking… well, you get the point. At one time I was addicted to the dang things. I would buy a box weekly and have one for my mid-afternoon snack. When I go on car trips and stop for gas, the snack I look for is a Nutty Bar or a Payday if the gas station is dumb enough to not stock Nutty Bars.
So back to the question – did I want one? You bet I did. But seeing that I had just eaten breakfast and also was dealing with a pre-ride nervous stomach, I didn’t want to chance eating one and regret my decision. So I very reluctantly took a pass.
Little Debbie and her Nutty Bars sponsor Ironman Chattanooga.
So onward we rode heading south and west on the route I take because it’s the safest and best riding from where I live, but that can be an issue if the wind is not in your favor. We could tell that the wind was going to be in our faces coming back as we rode out with ease. But as we turned around, it didn’t seem to be too much of a struggle.
Dave complying with my mandatory selfie.
At the turn around we filled up our water bottles and Dave texted his brother John that we would swing by his house to pick him up. John had done Wisconsin and Lake Placid with us, but his growing little family has now taken priority in his life. So we were looking forward to riding with him.
We finally got to his place and I could see he was having some issues with his bike. He showed us his chain and it looked like he had tied the chain in two knots. Quite a head-scratcher for sure, but we got it sorted out and hit the trail for home. When we got to downtown Frankfort, this younger guy on a mountain bike asked as we passed if he could join us. I don’t think any of us said yes to him, but he grabbed on to us as we were trying to meander our way back through Frankfort that was extremely busy with the annual Labor Day Fall Fest. Dave and John both rode up and told me that this guy was behind us, so I pushed the pace and tried some different routes to see if we could drop him or get him to get bored with us, but he hung on. We finally got close to my house and stopped and told the guy the ride was over. I guess that was all it took and he said he’d ride around Mokena for awhile. I got to hand it to him, he kept up with us at times doing 25 mph or so on a mountain bike.
John opted out of the run, so we snapped another mandatory selfie before Dave and I started the run.
The run went well and we both came back ready to be done with the day. I offered Dave the opportunity to jump in the pool for a cool down, but he declined. He loaded up his gear in the car and we said our goodbyes. As I walked away, he said: “Hey, do you want a Nutty Bar?” I reluctantly declined again, this time with a chuckle. I didn’t think a Nutty Bar sitting in a warm car would be very tasty, and I kind of wanted some real food so once again I reluctantly passed.
They better have Nutty Bars at the finish line of Ironman Chattanooga.
Granted, I’m a pretty moody SOB to begin with, but this week I was in a funk. After training for four Ironman events, I should know by now that come about this time during training that I can get moody. Week 25 in my thirty-week training plan is usually when I am sick of the training and just want to get it over with. I’m not alone in that, plenty of triathletes get that way judging from the posts I read on Facebook this week.
It started last week really when I had sort of a rough Saturday long ride and run workout. It wasn’t bad, but I felt like it wore me out more than it should have and that I should have my hydration and nutrition better dialed in by now.
Then on Wednesday, I realized it was the 40th anniversary of my father’s passing. I spent some time reflecting on that for some reason. Truthfully, I don’t really remember mourning his passing when I was 15 years old and usually, the day passes by without me even noticing. But I did remember this week and got reflective about it.
The following day I had a work event in the evening that I wasn’t really excited about doing. The event was just not my thing, but I went and realized that I was silly to feel the way I did. My coworkers appreciated my effort even though I was in a mood, and I realized the people there were fighting things in life that I had no idea about. I’ve written about attitude before and reminded myself about being more understanding and appreciative of others and their personal battles.
But on Friday I had a good day. The weather got cool – temps in the ’70s for late August made for a great 1.5-hour run. Saturday was also beautiful. My 5.5-hour bike ride was awesome. I dialed back the effort a little and found that I didn’t wear myself out as much as I usually do. I think if I plan to ride about 17mph in the race it will be a good tempo to leave me feeling good for the marathon. I never felt dehydrated or without energy, and the hour-long run afterward went great. Sunday was another great weather day and the 16.5 miles of my 2.5-hour run seemed to float by.
Why didn’t I just ride an extra mile or so and make it a perfect 100-mile day?!
The weather certainly made a huge difference in my attitude. I am really hoping this trend continues to race day. A great day will make for a much better mood for me. Five more weeks of training and I am now kind of looking forward to it.
I took a little time to refuel at the turnaround and realize that I am lucky to do this dumb sport.
I was expecting to get back on track this week with very little deviance from the plan after swapping the past two weeks of training around and making a concession here and there. But life sometimes throws you a curveball or two.
I’m getting really tired of having nipples.
It was a nice day, somewhat cooler than the past few and I only had an hour-long run to do, so I skipped covering my nipples. Big mistake. One got chaffed and started bleeding halfway through the run. Why do men have nipples anyway? It’s not like we use them for anything. They aren’t even that interesting in my opinion. But if you are a male runner that isn’t rail-thin, you are bound to one day experience the dreaded bleeding nipple. After thirty-plus years of running, you would think that they would have calloused over by now, or somehow adapted so they don’t get chafed. But sadly no. So I guess I will start covering them with Bandaids for every run, so buy some stock now.
Boo hiss. People look at you funny when your nipples bleed.
Ashley’s back at Valpo for one last year!
Ashley may not have been excited about returning to Valpo for one final year, but it’s only one more year! Check-in at the apartment where she stays was on Saturday, so that meant if I wanted to help move her in I needed to somehow get my important Saturday long bike in, so I moved the Sunday two-hour and 15-minute run to Friday to free up Sunday for the bike. Doing the long run on Friday meant I would have to try to make up Friday’s normal run another day. Yeah, it didn’t happen.
Two of my loves enjoying the move-in day.
Why can’t summer storms come in the middle of the week?
I had moved my Saturday long ride to Sunday so I could have Saturday free and what happened? It decided to storm like crazy Sunday morning. I had planned to be out on the bike before 8 am but with the heavy rain and lightning, I waited until the radar showed that it was past. I hit the road at 10 am and was amazed by how much water had poured on us. I was soaked from the waist down from just riding through the puddles and the standing water on the roadway. I explored a little on the ride to avoid the bike trail because when the leaves and junk on the trail get wet things get a little scary. Thankfully though the ride went smooth, I had no wind going out and a tailwind coming back, and I stayed on top of my hydration and nutrition today. I only felt a little low on energy getting back home, but as I switched to my running shoes for the hour-long run, I downed a Gatorade and the run went well.
Hello Saddle Sore, My Old Friend (with apologies to Simon & Garfunkel)
Hello saddle sore, my old friend
It’s not nice to see you once again
Because you are literally a big pain in the ass
And it’ll take you at least a month to pass
And the cries of my pain could be heard along the road I ride
Thanks to you, you damn saddle sore.
What’s the deal with saddle sores? I use the butt cream. I use Body Glide. I make sure that anything that can chafe will get some attention. But this past couple of weeks the damn saddle sore I always get from riding showed up again. It is actually bothering me just sitting on this cushy chair right now. And don’t mistake it for a zit, because it is definitely not a zit. Matter of fact if you try to squeeze that sucker, it’s going to let you know that he’s the Captain now. Touching it hurts!!! So I generally will just coat it with some Neosporin and a Bandaid (again, buy some stock now!) and let it be. Some day when this Ironman race is over it will go away because I can guarantee that I won’t be letting my butt sit on that bike again until next year.
Last week my training buddies and I opted to switch training Weeks 22 and 23 so that we could do Week 23’s long ride together. So this week I went back to Week 22 in the Be Iron Fit training plan and did the work. Week 22 is sort of an easier week ending in a half Iron distance race, which I always do on my own instead of opting for an actual race. I am a little afraid that racing against a thousand or more other athletes could lead to an accident or other injuries that could jeopardize all of the work I have been putting in up to this point. I just prefer to tackle it on my own.
Last time I did this workout was in 2017, leading up to Ironman Louisville. I had a pretty decent day that day and had a good swim and bike. It was the run that beat me. I ended up having to cut it short and get an unofficial DNF (did not finish) to my one-man race. That day I got beat. You can read that recap here: It Beat Me
I was determined to do this one a little smarter and not suffer like I did in 2017. I looked at the weather and saw that Sunday had some rain forecasted, so I opted to do the practice race a day earlier. Saturday started out beautiful. The temperature was in the 60’s, it was overcast, and there was no wind or breeze to speak of. I jumped into the pool and got going.
I swam pretty strong, pushing myself harder than I usually do. Since my watch won’t read correctly in my pool, I just based my distance on what I have done in actual half Iron distance swims in the past. I swam for 40 minutes and then got out and prepped myself for the bike.
After reapplying Body Glide in the usual locations and fiddling with my bike and gizmos, I hopped on and hit the road. I hadn’t ridden west to Elwood in several weeks, so I decided to go that route. I knew that I would probably have to add on some extra miles, and when I got to the cemetery out there and after I looped through it once my odometer showed about 25 miles. I needed an additional 6 miles or so. I decided to explore a little and added a quick extra three miles on a nearby road or two, then started heading back.
I was keeping track of my sweating and with a couple of nature stops, I was pretty sure that I was doing pretty good with keeping on top of my hydration and fueling. I was fortunate to not have really any wind heading out and I seemed to pick up a tailwind as I was heading back, which was really rare for me. I was moving along well.
This doggo provided some entertainment toward the last third of the ride.
At about 47 miles into riding, I saw another rider coming up on a side road and eventually passed me. I could tell he was on a mission to pass me and make it known that he was Top Dog on this road. I started studying him a little – he seemed like a typical cyclist, who liked to climb out of the saddle (which I hardly ever do) and had a nice Willier bike. He was pulling away going up a slight uphill, but when we started the downhill after cresting, I pulled him back in thanks to being more aerodynamic than he was. He kept looking over his shoulder and finally slowed down and let me catch him. We chatted a little bit and he turned off on another road and I went straight toward home.
Upon getting home, I was pretty close to hitting that 56 mile ride on the nose. I ended up with an additional .75 miles due to overestimating a second out and back of about 3 miles. I came inside, downed a Gatorade, toweled myself off, switched to a running singlet, grabbed my running stuff and hit the trail.
I felt pretty good heading out until I didn’t. My route starts and ends with hills. The middle is all flat, but it was sunny now and getting warm. I was sweating a lot and with only one water bottle, I was being a little too miserly with drinking. Fortunately, I was heading toward Frankfort where I could refill my water. But I was now running on fumes. I had been consistent with eating my gels and taking a salt capsule, but the day was certainly starting to become very much like the last time I did it in 2017. But I refused to let it beat me. I started walking more, sought out more shade when I could, and just kept moving forward. The plan was to be under 2 hours for this run, but I thought early on that that was an ambitious goal. I ended up getting back home in 2:09. That’s probably pretty close to Ironman run race pace, so not quite what I wanted for a half Iron distance race pace, but more in line with what to expect in seven weeks.
I spent some time in the pool to cool off, downed a couple Gatorades, started shivering and ended up taking a 20-minute hot shower to warm me back up. I got out of the shower and jumped into bed and napped for a little bit. I was actually feeling a little worse than I did after last week’s 5-hour group ride. This was not how I expected the day to end, especially after having a really good swim and bike. Now I know not to hammer the bike too hard and to drink more. Lots more.
I was determined to not be beaten like I was in 2017, and I wasn’t. But it wasn’t pretty either. I have seven more weeks to dial this in.
We pulled the old switcharoo with the plan when Dave advised that Alex would be in town this weekend, so the training plan for this week was swapped with the one for next week.
The weather was pretty great this week, often just barely getting into the low 80’s, but it gradually climbed through the week and was pretty warm on Saturday and Sunday. I was glad for the cooler temps as I was volunteering for a second week at the high school band camp. Our band no longer goes to an actual camp, but rather opts to stay at the school and learn the competitive show for the fall season without the distractions of being away from home. Camp was a success, and I was still able to get in my workouts.
My daughter Rebecca going through the paces at band camp. I took tons of photos of the kids.
On Saturday I drove out to Dixon to meet with Dave and Alex and we started our ride around 8:30 am. I like riding out there with them as it provides a different type of riding and scenery. Dave says the same thing when he joins me on my routes.
Trying to take a picture of us riding requires skill that I lack.
The plan was to ride out for 2.5 hours and back. At the three hour mark, we stopped at the town of Lanark and filled up our water bottles for the remaining two-hour ride back.
Alex and I goofed around while we waited for Dave to fill his bottles numerous times.
Dave joined us for one final selfie before heading out.
I was glad for that little break and we hit the road to head back. Not much longer after that Alex started getting a little nauseated, and truthfully, I was getting dehydrated on this warm upper 80 degree day. We kept at it but by the time we got back, we were beat.
Alex did about 10 minutes of the 45-minute brick run, but I summoned some extra will and joined Dave for 4.5 miles of post-ride running. I was glad we got it done, but I was bonked. It took a while to rehydrate but after a shower and some refueling at the local Subway, I was feeling better again.
I spent the drive home and the evening thinking about skipping the two hour Sunday run, but I woke up and decided to hit the trail. I felt pretty good, got in 12.5 miles at an easy Z2 pace, and patted myself on my back for not bailing on the run. Sometimes you want to quit on a workout, and this one would have been excusable in my mind, but when you pull on the shoes and get out there it really builds your character. I didn’t quit on myself, and when the hard part of the training and the race comes, I will remember that.
I spent my afternoon with my son Ben enjoying the Cubs beating the Brewers. A great way to end the week.
Triathletes joke around about how everything gets neglected when training for an Ironman and typically cutting grass is one of the first things to get behind on. Fortunately for me, I have plenty of time to cut the grass, take care of the pool, and the other stuff that I am usually responsible for. However, I volunteered to chaperone at band camp this week like I have done the past several years and that takes three hours out of my afternoon to do things like the above. But band camp is two weeks long, and it is worth my time to watch my daughter and her group practice their way into another awesome award-winning field show. Certainly looking forward to chaperoning again this next week. Fortunately, I was able to catch up with chores on Sunday.
With the chaperoning duties to do, I did a little shuffling around with the plan to get things done.
I did my Tuesday swim on my Monday rest day. On Tuesday I got my run in on a very nice day. Wednesday was the typical bike/run brick workout that went just fine. Back to cycling on Thursday, but I pushed the swim until Friday. On Friday, I did a brief two-mile shakeout jog and then did the swim before heading to band camp. I didn’t want to overdo it because I was racing a sprint triathlon on Saturday.
Saturday was race day, and I did very well! I nabbed 2nd place in my age group and was 17th overall. You can read about it here:
After the race, my training buddies Dave and Jeff rode to Manteno to meet me after the race and then we did a group ride back home together. So cool that they came out to ride with me when they could have just ridden on their own. Although I didn’t quite get in the mileage or riding time that the plan called for, I was happy with what I accomplished.
Sunday was a long run that ended up being about 11.5 miles. I felt good on that rather warm and humid run. I got a surprise when I saw Dave’s son Alex running at me and calling my name, with Dave not too far behind. Heck, if I knew that they were still in town I would have joined them!
After that run I jumped in the pool, rehydrated, and then started catching up on my chores. First was mowing the grass, and then I did some more power washing the sidewalk that I didn’t get to a couple of weeks ago.
There’s time for training, family, and chores when training for Ironman. You just have to be resourceful.
Third time racing in Manteno and I am sure I will be back again. I have done this race two times before and it is super fun. It’s a great way to start a Saturday.
The required transition set-up photo.
I talked with some of the great people I know from FNRC who were there to do the race, then I got my transition area set up and had Kari snap a picture and then it was time to get ready to race.
I offered James (right) some advice for a first-timer and met with Dan (left) for a quick photo.
SWIM:400 Yards, 9:45, 4th in A/G, 57th Overall
I don’t bother bringing the wetsuit to transition for this race because the past two years it has been a non-wetsuit race. I found the water to be pretty warm and comfortable during the brief pre-race swim. I waited for our silver cap wave to start and then waded into the water.
Two things usually occur for me when I start a triathlon swim: I either freak out about the pace, start hyperventilating, and then pray that I will finish this swim, or I will start thinking about my bike strategy. After passing around the one turn buoy, I found myself thinking about the bike. Much better than thinking about drowning. I must have been swimming at a good pace.
I swam strong and as I sighted into the sun for the Swim Out exit, I pushed the pace a little harder. I was a little surprised that I was a little slower this year than last year, but not too bad of a swim for me.
Exiting the swim always makes for a pretty happy camper.
T1: 1:07, 2nd in A/G, 29th Overall
I ran pretty quick to my bike and messed around with socks, again. This time was a little better because I used the little no-show type socks and they went on pretty quick. I felt a little under pressure because there was someone spectating by the fence watching me go through T1. Maybe they were trying to pick up pointers and learned that wearing socks on the bike is a waste of time.
BIKE: 11 Miles, 30:44, Average speed 21.5 mph, 3rd in A/G, 18th Overall
Hammer time!
I had decided while swimming to bike as hard as I could, so I hit it hard out of the gate and quickly pegged my heart rate to the max. It wasn’t long until I realized that I better back off a little, and fortunately, there was a strong tailwind heading out aiding in my bike hard plan. My bike computer was showing 25 mph and I was like – wow, this is fast. I passed a couple of riders who were just a little slower, but a lot younger than me. Whenever I pass someone I always wonder if the gauntlet that I am throwing down will be picked up and have my face slapped with it. This time I did get passed back by these two riders just before the first turnaround before the third mile. But here’s where they ran into trouble. The first guy did this hairpin u-turn in a hard gear and struggled to get back up to speed while I had planned for that and easily passed him again. The other guy was a little more ahead of me but his issue was he was riding a road bike and we were now riding into a pretty strong headwind with me taking full advantage of being on an aero bike and riding with a full rear disc wheel. My speedometer was showing 18 mph now. I passed him and I figured if he lasted this pace he might catch me on the run because he looked pretty fit. I never saw the other guy again. This is where aero makes all the difference.
T2: 0:46, 2nd in A/G, 18th Overall
I forgot to hit my Lap button on my watch but I realized it right as I was running out with my visor and race belt in my hand. The reason I forget is mainly due to my hands being busy holding the handlebars of my bike and I would have issues if I tried messing with my watch while running with my bike. But in the end, it was one of my fastest bike-to-run transitions.
RUN:3.1 miles, 22:06, 7:07 per mile pace ave., 1st in A/G, 16th Overall
I settled into a comfortable pace and tried to keep working on catching the next runner ahead of me. Within the first half-mile, the guy that I had passed twice on the bike caught me and passed me hard. There was no way I could go at that pace. He was moving. The running was going well. At the first aid station, I grabbed a cup of water and threw it on me, which startled the little kid that handed it to me. I did manage to grab another and get a quick drink. I did the same thing at the second aid station and got a similar reaction from the teen that handed it to me. #winning
At about 2.5 miles into the 5K, I saw my nemesis – Michael B. – ahead of me. I was catching him. But at the next turn, he took a look back and saw me and then the race was on. I was slowly reeling him in, but as we passed the 3-mile mark, I had nothing left and he crossed the line four seconds ahead of me. I had spoken with him before the race and asked him if he was “going to kick my butt again.” He started in with some lame excuse about some lame running injury and I just said to keep your excuses, Mr. Soul Crusher. I wonder where I could have saved four seconds? He’s a much faster swimmer than I am, we are pretty even on the bike, and I was a minute and a half faster on the run. Then it dawned on me – socks.
Me and my 4 second stealing, low-cut socks trying to chase down Michael.
My second place would have been third place in the age group this year, but the guy who was tops in the M55-59 A/G was the overall Masters M winner, so he was taken out of the A/G standings, thank goodness. Four minutes separated me from the guy next to me.
Week 20 is finally over and two-thirds of the training plan is in the books. This week though – wow did it get warm.
I first noticed the heat on Friday, a 75-minute run. I do my runs smack dab in the middle of the day when I get off from work. I was seeing heat advisory warnings early in the week, and of course, I scoffed at them. The Tues./Wed./Thur. workouts were really the typical summertime heat stuff, but Friday came and I started the run with pretty warm and humid conditions. I felt pretty good for the first three miles and I was thinking I would just do an out and back on the bike trail, but when I got there it offered no shade and I was feeling the heat pretty well. I decided to head to the other forest preserve trail and make it a loop run instead, hoping that the shade would keep me cooler. It did, but the hills and humidity were starting to get to me. I ended up walking quite a bit and kept thinking about getting more water.
I finally got to the park district office and was really feeling the heat at that point. Sort of shuffling along and walking. I went in and basked in the air conditioning in the lobby for about ten minutes and refilled my water bottle with cold water and rehydrated myself. I was about a mile and a half from home and started out with a newer outlook on finishing that portion, but when my watch hit 75 minutes, I decided to walk the remaining 3/4 miles home. Glad I did.
Feels like 104 degrees was pretty spot on.
Saturday came with a prescribed 4-hour bike ride followed by a 45-minute run. I was a little concerned about that, and decided to get up at 4:30 and hit the trail by 5:30. After making sure I had all my gels and extra water bottles, I hit the road. The skies were overcast, so I was very grateful for that. But it was still 80 degrees and humid and would get worse as the day went on. Fortunately, on the bike, you get the wind cooling you down, but I was sweating within ten minutes of the start. Two hours into the ride I did the same dumb thing I did last week and went a little bit further so that I would hit 35 miles, making the total trip 70 miles. But I knew I had been riding into the wind, so the little bit of extra riding would equal out in the end.
The tailwind was awesome and the remaining ride home was mostly enjoyable. Somewhere around the 3:15 mark things got interesting, and I was no longer worried about the weather.
First up was a flock of geese crossing the road, and they couldn’t just turn around, no, they had to walk right in front of me.
Next, my chain fell off the big ring and landed on my crank by my right shoe. I was cruising down a hill and had some good speed going, so I just figured that I would coast until I slowed down and then I would stop and fix it. But as I looked down it looked like I could reach down and grab it, so I decided to risk crashing and try to get it back on. I did it! Here’s me celebrating my achievement:
After getting the chain back on I came upon a farm tractor going down the road. Usually, 100% of the time I’m the one getting passed by a vehicle, but not this time! I was catching it and thought I had a chance to pass it. I had to wait for an oncoming car and then I made my move.
As an added bonus, up ahead was a group of cyclists waiting for the light and I could see that it was about to turn green as I approached. When it did turn green, I hit the gas and put the hammer down leaving them in my dust. That was fun!
When I got home I was feeling pretty beat, so I opted for the treadmill in the basement for a 5-mile run. I kind of felt guilty about that, but I think it was a sound decision. I would rather live for another day than suffer through a real feel temperature of 105 degrees after four hours of biking.
I rested up and rehydrated as best as I could on Saturday afternoon because I was volunteering to punch tickets for the Joan Jett and The Blackhearts concert in New Lenox that night. It was hot at the start of the event, but we had water and the temperature did come down a little as the evening progressed.
The volunteer band boosters
Joan Jett
Sunday was supposed to bring some relief with the temperature but after breakfast and a quick look at the weather to check for possible storms, I headed out the door to find that it was still warm and humid! I planned to run 6.5 miles out for an hour and then turn around. I was sweating like crazy again! I refilled my water bottle at the turnaround and popped a salt capsule to replace the electrolytes, but I was starting to suffer. I think my critical mistake here was the sweat-fest I had the prior two days as well as not rehydrating enough before this run. I dragged my butt back and finished 12.5 miles of the 13.1 I had hoped for. Oh well, live for another day, again.
Looking ahead to the next ten weeks left of training and things are certainly going to heat up, not just with the weather but also with the intensity of the workouts. I am going to have to be more cognizant of the weather as we head into the heat of the summer and the longer bike rides and runs to come. It’s starting to heat up in more ways than one.
WEEK 20 TRAINING TOTALS:
Swims: 2 total, 2,400 total yards
Rides: 3 total, 108 total miles
Runs: 5 total, 36.5 total miles
Time to relearn the things I have learned in regards to the heat.
an amazing run 