an amazing run

Great Finish to Week 7

IRONMAN LOUISVILLE 2017 TRAINING

WEEK 7 – May 1 > May 7

Senior Recognition Day at Loras College with Kari, Ben and I.

Training for Week 7 went pretty much as expected. I noticed that some extra time was added to both the bike and run at the end of the week, but 15 minutes isn’t so bad, I guess. The hard stuff is coming, so I should be happy that I’m still in the Base Phase of the training. I missed one swim due to me deciding I didn’t want to do it. (lol) That happens sometimes, but I know my ability pretty well. I am experiencing a little swimmer’s elbow tendinitis, possibly from trying to pull too hard in a bent elbow angle. When I keep my arm straight, I hardly experience any discomfort.

The best part of the week was the weekend. On Friday, my wife, in-laws and I went to Loras College in Dubuque to watch my son Ben run his final home meet. He usually runs the Steeplechase in track, but conference is coming up, and coach had him running the 1500 and a 4×400 relay. He did well and made us proud. He has steadily improved throughout his four years of running cross country and track, and I am sure he has some great running experiences ahead of him.

fullsizeoutput_e7aa — My son winning his heat in the 1500M run.

After watching him run two events, my father-in-law Gary and I made the trip up to Minocqua, WI to bring up some of the stuff we have been buying for our new lake home. Gary grew up in the area and was anxious to see our new place. This meant I got the chance to do my weekend training in the Northwoods. I really love it up there.

I brought up my hybrid bike, a Trek 7700FX, to ride on the crushed rock Bearskin Trail. It has a little wider tire, and was a good choice for riding that trail. I left it up there for future rides on the trail, but I will probably also try to ride my tri bike on the roads up there as well in training for IM Lou.

Not long after starting my ride I noticed my butt was hurting. I took an assessment and realized my seat had slipped down about 1.5 inches. I stopped and adjusted it and found immediate relief for my butt pain. But the dumb thing wouldn’t stay up. I must have stopped a dozen times trying to get it to stay. I pulled it out and noticed that it had a little grease on it. Not sure that was something I did, but I tried wiping it off with an old cut up hat that had been run over by a mower that I found trailside. That didn’t work. I rubbed sandy dirt on it, stuck a sticker on the seat post, tightened the quick release lever several times, all to no avail. I finally rubbed the post on some concrete, scratching it up somewhat in order to provide some grip. That seemed to work the best, although it wasn’t permanent. It’s amazing how a little adjustment can make a huge difference in comfort and preventing injuries.

Hard to enjoy the beautiful scenery when you are dealing with a bike mechanical.

I was met on the trail by a guy running his dog who stopped to see if I was doing okay. Turns out his name is Blaine and he is a local race director who organizes the local marathon called the “No Frills Marathon.” It’s an out and back on the same trail I was riding. I will have to run it someday. He was also wearing a Boston Marathon shirt and I picked his brain about the race for 10 minutes or so. It was nice to meet him. I forgot to bring any sort of nutrition with me, and only had water to drink. Sometimes in training you make mistakes, and that was mine for the day. By the time I got home and added a quick post-ride brick run, I was approaching “bonk” status. Gary and I headed out to lunch after I showered and I quickly bounced back.

I also got in a 8.5 mile run on Sunday before packing up and heading home. It was chilly, but it was a beautiful sunny day.

All in all, a great way to finish a training week.

TOTALS:

1 Swim – 1600 yards this week / 13200 yards total

3 Bikes – 65miles this week / 353 miles total

7 Runs – 32 miles this week / 185 miles total

Gunners-2-1 — ***Did Week 7 in Northwoods Heaven!***

Focusing on the “A” Race

IRONMAN LOUISVILLE 2017 TRAINING

WEEK 6 – April 24 > April 30

I had never heard of the term “A” race until I started doing triathlons in 2012. As a runner I made every race I entered a priority and went for it each time. But when my buddies and I started our journey into Ironman races, I quickly picked up on the idea that the focus of your racing year should be devoted to the race that means the most to you, and in our case the Ironman. Pick your main goal race of the year, make it your focus, your “A” race as they say, and fit in all the other stuff around that goal. Sounds easy, but I’m terrible at it.

My biggest issue is the dumb running streak I started in 2015. I have yet to miss a day of running at least a mile. So when my training plan for my “A” race says no running on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, well I just cannot not run. So I do the bare minimum, usually just a mile and try not to derail myself. So far it hasn’t hurt me.

But a few other things have tried to dangle a carrot in front of me, trying to lure me away from the “A” race training plan. I found out my church is looking for members to play on a coed softball team. I would seriously consider it if it wasn’t for the fact that the last time I played I broke a finger playing 16″ softball, and gave myself a pebble infused skin abrasion sliding into third wearing shorts, a pain that lingered for weeks. It was easy to turn that down.

The hardest thing to for me to turn down is road running races. A local 5K runs right through my neighborhood, and the first running of it a couple of years ago I competed and finished 5th overall. Very tempting to run it this year, but it was only Week 3 of training. I skipped it. Later I found out that the winner won with a time I could have competed against. It’s not often that I get an opportunity to win a race. Oh well.

Saturday there was a local half marathon, a race that I finished 12th overall last year and 4th in my age group (That’s another story in itself! You can read it here: https://anamazingrun.wordpress.com/2016/04/30/2016-frankfort-half-marathon-race-report/). Another very tempting race for me to do. I remembered really enjoying myself running it last year, but I do remember how sore I was for a couple weeks after running it. I did not want a repeat of that, seeing that I have been dealing with a sore high hamstring in my left leg. So I decided to skip this race as well. I don’t need to pay $70 to do a training run, one that would be 5 miles longer than my plan calls for. And the rainy cold weather made the decision much more palatable. I checked the race results for that race as well – I probably would have finished 7th based on last year’s time. Oh well, again.

Knowing that there will be other tempting races to do, I learned that I can skip the ones that might not be in the best interest of my “A” race goal, and keep my eyes on the prize – another Ironman finish. Just wish it wasn’t so hard to do.

Week 6 Wrap-up

Two weeks in a row that I got all of the training in! A new habit and streak is forming! The weather was not perfect this week, and next week looks pretty uninspiring. I shared a swim lane with another Ironman that I know from the area. She did IM Wisconsin in 2010 and is doing it in the fall. Even with just doing one last year seems like starting over for me, so she must really feel like its all new again.

I got outside for the bikes and runs for most of the week except for the weekend. Did the two hour ride on a stationary bike while watching episodes of Breaking Bad. I hope my life never goes off the rails like it is doing for Walt. But I can certainly empathize with the guy sometimes.

TOTALS:

2 Swims – 3200 yards this week / 11600 yards total

4 Bikes – 60 miles this week / 288 miles total

7 Runs – 28 miles this week / 153 miles total

Balancing Life While Training

IRONMAN LOUISVILLE 2017 TRAINING

WEEK 5 – April 17 > April 23

As I wrap up Week 5 I feel a sense of accomplishment, mainly because it was the first time in a few weeks that I got all of the scheduled work outs in. But in addition to doing all the training, life really hit hard this week with it’s own agenda and responsibilities.

We are now fully into spring and my yard has made it clear that it needs mowing. My in-laws were in Florida, and I made sure to give their yard a trim as well before they return home this weekend. My youngest is wrapping up a very busy freshman year of high school, and is so involved that she’s got me running her everywhere. In addition to that, she also has her learner’s permit, which means I need to find time to help her learn that life skill as well. Soon I will open my own pool, which will require it’s own set of special weekly needs. I had to go get my boat out of storage Saturday. Lastly, I made sure that I didn’t drop the ball when it comes to getting some thoughtful gifts for my wife’s birthday on Saturday. What a week!

But fortunately for me, I am very lucky to have a supporting family and wife that allows me the time I need to train. On her birthday, she had no problem with me cycling for an hour and forty-five minutes. And I am very lucky to work a part-time job that gives me the freedom in the afternoon to do my thing. I do not take any of that for granted.

Training for Ironman is a commitment in and of itself, but when you realize you have other responsibilities as well, then you really become dedicated and focused. Learning to balance all of those things can be difficult, but seeing this is my third time training for Ironman, I have grown to adapt and really feel that I have got things in control and can tackle anything, especially 140.6 miles.

As far as training went, I got two solid swims in this week. The bikes went really well. I’m a little concerned about the high hamstring tendonitis and butt pain from running, but I will dial back the effort on running days a little, as I have a tendency to overdo it. And definitely spend a little more attention to stretching that area. Here’s to a wrapping up a great week of training.

TOTALS:

2 Swims – 3200 yards this week / 8400 yards total

4 Bikes – 76 miles this week / 228 miles total

7 Runs – 26 miles this week / 125 miles total

I Will Need Two of Everything

IRONMAN LOUISVILLE 2017 TRAINING

WEEK 4 – April 10 > April 16

I spent Thursday through Easter Sunday in our new lake home in Minocqua, Wisconsin with my family for the first time. It was awesome to get to spend the Easter holiday in our new home on the lake. I had a great six mile run with my son Ben on Friday, and enjoyed our somewhat new running routes. We had vacationed in the area for many years, so the Bearskin Trail is nothing new to us. But it is refreshing to be running on such a beautiful trail again.

Friday we all took a trip to the local Ace Hardware store to get some stuff for the house. We bought a ladder, a rake, and a bunch of other junk that we already own in our main home. But now that I have another home to care for, I need two of everything. And apparently that includes triathlon gear.

I came up for the weekend without my bike so I wasn’t able to get any riding in, and with buying two of everything else for the house, I started to consider buying another bike to have on hand up north. It didn’t help that I had Triathlete and Bicycling magazines on hand with several pages of guides to new stuff to look at. But just with all the other stuff with the house that I know we need, I have learned that we will have to pace ourselves with what we get next. The lake home bike will be a very low priority, but it sure would have been nice to have had one up there.

As for the rest of the training week, I only got one swim done, but it was a decent one. The planned called for a 1600 yard swim with a workout, but I decided to do a straight swim and ended up stopping at 2000 yards. Felt pretty good.

Only two bike rides this week, both half hour spins with a brick run after each. I missed the hour and a half Saturday ride, so I will make that up on Monday of Week 5.

Runs will always total seven unless I break my leg or something. I had a nice uptempo 6 mile run with Ben, who told me that he has some pretty cool running ambitions after he wraps up his collegiate running career upon graduation in May. He’s come a long way as a runner, and I see a bright future for him as a marathoner if he pursues those goals.

fullsizeoutput_e616 — Easter Sunday in Minocqua

TOTALS:

1 Swims – 2000 yards this week / 5200 yards total

2 Bikes – 16.5 miles this week / 152 miles total

7 Runs – 25 miles this week / 98.25 miles total

Texting and Ironman Training

IRONMAN LOUISVILLE 2017 TRAINING

WEEK 3 – April 3 > April 9

fullsizeoutput_e604

During last year’s training for Ironman Lake Placid, our group of five buddies decided to get a group chat going through texting. Seeing that we don’t all live that close to each other, it was a good way to talk shop and build support for each other.

But it quickly turned into a competition. To be the first one done with the day’s workout was always a good feeling. And to send that text saying “Day Done,” was just as fulfilling as hitting the stop button on the watch at the end of the workout. It also became quite annoying when the late-night finisher texted “Day Done” at 11:58 pm. I finally figured out that there was a “Do Not Disturb” feature for the group and switched it to ON.

I thought that maybe we would not be as text happy this time around, but I was wrong. We must all have iPhones, because there is a new feature where you can add a response on a text, adding a thumbs up, or a couple of exclamation points, or even a “HA HA” if it struck you as funny. This just makes it easier to respond to a text when you might not have done so before.

The interesting thing about the texting is that we have a group of guys that are supportive of each other and keep each other honest in our training for another Ironman. We all know what the day calls for, but sometimes you can’t do it. And even though you get creative and arrange to fit it in another day, you still feel obligated to tell the group that you missed it or had to do something else. The text is sent, making it known to the others that you fully intend not to let the others down and will definitely get it done. We hold each other accountable, and we hold ourselves accountable.

It can get annoying getting a text from the group that their day is done, and yours is still in the works. But if it takes a text to get us to the finish line together, I’m all for it.

Day Done > send ↑

Week 3 Wrap-up

The weather is starting to get better, with the weekend climbing into the 60’s and 70’s. The pool was closed for Tuesday due to Election Day voting going on at the school. Not sure how that is sufficient reasoning to close the pool, but they did it anyway. And I was away at a conference Wednesday through Friday, so I missed the Thursday swim. So here I am being accountable once again for missing the swim training. Just like the texts we share with the group, it’s a just a little note to remind myself that I need to hold myself accountable and get it done. It’s early yet, and with the weather getting better, I will have my own pool open soon and won’t be at the mercy of the school schedule.

Cycling and running went well, with a few indoor runs and trainer rides. I am starting to get that sore calf issue again, along with some calf cramps that seem to be common when I start adding mileage. I know that it will eventually even out.

The last thing on my mind has been my weight. It seems like I struggled to keep the weight off in January/February/March, getting up around 175 pounds. I have never been that high ever. The puzzling thing is that I am still doing at least a run every day and watching my intake. But it just snuck up on me. After my long ride on Saturday, I weighed myself and was glad to see I was back under 170. I hope to see sub-165 soon.

TOTALS:

0 Swims – 0 yards this week / 3200 yards total

4 Bikes – 52 miles this week / 135 miles total

7 Runs – 27.75 miles this week / 73.25 miles total

Treadmills, Rocking my Brain, & New Digs

IRONMAN LOUISVILLE 2017 TRAINING

WEEK 2 – March 27 > April 2

The weather forced Friday’s 45 minute run indoors to the old dreadmill. I’m very grateful that I have access to two treadmills, and I am very glad to have that option when the weather is bad. But my goodness they can suck the life out of you.

I decided to use the treadmill at work for my run. The workout room has a TV, but it’s mounted on the far wall, hasn’t worked in a couple of months, and I can never hear it anyway. But we do have a rockin’ speaker system that I can connect my iPhone music to through Bluetooth. So I usually flip that thing on and crank up the classic rock that was once new rock when I first heard it. Maybe I’m classic now, too.

I pulled up a playlist and hit shuffle. The first artist was The Heavy, with a song called No Time. My kind of tune. After that came Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road. After that song came Runaround by Blues Traveler. It was at that point I decided to try to remember all of the artists that played during my run. I was surprised at first that I couldn’t remember the first artist. It came back to me and then I began repeating them over and over.

Next up was Lynyrd Skynyrd. Then came Billy Joel. He was followed by a band called Grouplove. After each new song, I would restart the process of repeating the artists in order, sometimes having momentary memory lapses, sometimes flipping Blues Traveler with the Boss, and often forgetting about Billy Joel. But it would eventually come to me.

The next groups were Pearl Jam, Genesis, Robert Randolph & the Family, and Jack White. Gerry Rafferty finished up my 5.25 mile/45 minute run with Baker Street.

I must say that trying to remember the names of the artists was somewhat difficult, but also fun. If one of my coworkers had walked in while I was repeating them over and over again, they would have thought I was strange.

But I got my planned run in, exercised my body and my mind, and actually enjoyed the dreadmill for once. I think I will make this a habit.

The rest of the week was easy but also exciting. I wasn’t able to swim due to spring break at the high school and the pool being closed. That’s the easy part. The exciting part is that my wife and I closed on a lake home in Minocqua, Wisconsin. We were up there for the closing on Monday, and spent a couple of nights there. I got in a couple of runs on the local roads and trail, and scoped out the riding options that look to be very hilly. I can’t wait to get up there every month and do more training, especially some open water swimming in the lake!

Can’t wait to enjoy the training perks that the new lake home has to offer. Just need the ice to melt first.

TOTALS:

0 Swims – 0 yards this week / 3200 yards total

4 Bikes – 42 miles this week / 83 miles total

7 Runs – 25.5 miles this week / 45.5 miles total

Yay! Week 1 is Done!

IRONMAN LOUISVILLE 2017 TRAINING

WEEK 1 – March 20 > March 26

Very glad to have one of the 30 weeks of training in the books. I was excited to get started, and to once again be following a plan instead of just doing whatever certainly gives you a sense of accomplishment.

So if you are wondering what the first week of an Ironman training plan looks like, here’s how it went for me.

Monday – Rest day! But I ended up doing a 30 minute stationary bike spin and a 2 mile treadmill run.

Tuesday – A swim and run. I am following the easier “Just Finish” version of the swim plan in Be Iron Fit, so it was a 1600 yard swim today. 200 yard warm-up, 8×50 drills, 5×100’s with 20 seconds rest in between 100’s, another 8×50 drill set, and a 100 yard cool down. I was very surprised at how much my shoulders and arms were fatigued during the swim. I’m sure it will get easier within the next couple of weeks. I averaged about 2:02/100 yds. The run was supposed to be a 30 minute run in Zone 2, which is a light pace run. I gunned it instead, pushing to finish 4 miles in the 30 minutes. So much for following the plan.

Wednesday – The bike/run brick day. I always think of this day as an easy day, because it sort of is. 30 minutes on the bike with a 15 minute run and you are done. Beats Thursday, that’s for sure.

Thursday – 3-shower Thursday. I get up and shower before I go to work. Swimming was up first, and I was still sore from Tuesday’s effort, having not done any swimming in months. The fitness will come eventually, though. You swim, then you take shower number 2 to get the chlorine smell off of you. Then it’s off to home to spin on the bike for 30 minutes. And since I am a running streaker, I get to do a mile after that on the treadmill to keep my streak alive. Then it’s time for shower number 3 followed by a liberal coating of lotion so my skin doesn’t dry up completely and leave me itchy for two days. I don’t like Thursday.

Friday – It’s typically a run day, but since I was leaving town on Saturday to drive to Minocqua, Wisconsin I decided to do both Saturday’s 60 minute bike and brick the 30 minute run. If I hadn’t, I would have missed the bike altogether. Now I can do an easy mile or two before leaving on Saturday, and just do some easy running for the following three days after that.

Saturday/Sunday – An easy two mile run on the treadmill at home and then drove to the Northwoods. Sunday was an easy 5 miler around Minocqua.

So there we have it, Week 1 is in the books. Just 29 more to go.

TOTALS:

2 Swims – 3200 yards total

4 Bikes – 41 miles total

7 Runs – 20 miles total

30 Weeks to Ironman Number 3

HOW FAR IS THAT, AGAIN?

I was dropping my college freshman off at school after being home two weeks for spring break, and we stopped in at the local Culver’s for a quick dinner. The young man at the counter recognized that I was wearing a hat with the Ironman logo on it and asked me about it.

“How far is that again?” he asked. I had already anticipated the question, and I gave him the automatic response – 140.6 total miles – 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 mile bike ride, and a full marathon of 26.2 miles. Like most people who are slightly aware of what an Ironman triathlon is, they are almost always surprised to learn of the distances. In all honesty, knowing those distances, especially the 2.4 mile swim, was what had kept me out of doing the event for many years. I just couldn’t wrap my brain around the possibility. I could never swim that far. I was surprised initially at those numbers as well.

But as he was wrapping his brain around it, I was contemplating a much different number: 30. 30 weeks, actually. And not just the 30 weeks until my next Ironman race, Ironman Louisville on October 15, 2017. I was thinking about the 30 weeks of many miles of training to get to that point of being able to actually attempt the 140.6 miles in under 16 hours.* Last year I swam about 150,000 yards, cycled more than 2,600 miles, and ran over 1,000 miles in training just leading up to the 140.6 miles on race day at Ironman Lake Placid. So, is 140.6 miles far? Sure. But the mileage put into training makes 140.6 miles a piece of cake.

So yeah, an Ironman is a long way to swim/bike/run. And 30 weeks is a long time to prepare for the race. But if my past two Ironman races are any indicator, I expect that number three will be just as memorable and just as fun.

I plan on taking it day by day. As they say in Ironman, just keep moving forward.

* (IMLOU only gives you 16 hours to finish it, unlike the 17 hours for the others.)

GOALS AND PLANS FOR TRAINING FOR IRONMAN LOUISVILLE

Not long after finishing Ironman Lake Placid in July 2016, I was already thinking about the next one. Like a day after finishing the race. Lake Placid was quite a haul from the south Chicago suburbs, and I was kind of hoping to try a race closer to home. I briefly thought about doing Ironman Wisconsin again, and as much I love that race and locale, I thought that maybe a race that isn’t full of hills that are referred to as “bitches” by the triathletes would be better. I was hoping for a flatter bike course. After consulting with my buddy Dave, we settled on Louisville. It’s pros are a mostly downstream swim with the current, a bike course that consists mostly of rolling hills much like those where I live, and a run course filled with crowds and an exciting finish line. But the biggest factor was that the race was moved from August to mid-October. Can you imagine an Ironman in Louisville, Kentucky in the middle of August? I’ll take mid- October, thank you very much.

The cons: My wife is a UK grad! And we bleed BLUE, not red! The race also conflicts somewhat with the Chicago Marathon, a race that I have grown to love and hate to miss, especially since it will be the 40th running. Also, my youngest is in a highly competitive marching band and has the state championship on the Saturday before the race. Hopefully, they can make it down to watch me finish.

The training plan I am using for this race is the same one that I have used for the past two, “Be Iron Fit” by Don Fink. I will be following the Competitive plan for the 30 weeks with a couple slight changes. I really don’t like swimming much, and my confidence in my ability to swim has grown. So I plan to follow the “Just Finish” plan for the swim and see how it goes. I’m well under the cutoff time for the swim, so I think I can cut back on it without any problems.

The other issue I have is that I am still enjoying a run streak that I started on January 1, 2015. Now that I’m 2+ years into it, I would hate to have to kill that off. I made it through last year running every day training for IMLP, so I think I can manage it okay.

My preliminary plan for the race is to hopefully shoot for a new personal best. Actually, that’s every race I do. But I think IMLOU will be much faster than the hilly IMMOO, and the mountainous IMLP. Hopefully the current of the Ohio River will produce a fast swim time for me, somewhere around 1:10. Many of the race reports I have read indicate that the author had a great swim. I also hope to take advantage of that bike course and shave 30 minutes off my current 6:46 bike PR. I may even use my full disc aero wheel for this one. I have yet to race with it. And if the temperature for the run is in the 70’s, I really hope to be around 4 hours or under for the run. I will work hard at those goals, but the weather is the biggest factor.

I started on my triathlon journey with my two life long friends, Dave and his brother John. And last year we added another very close friend Jeff, and Dave’s son Alex to our team of Gunners. John has a newborn, and claims he’s skipping this one. But I never believe John. He’s a poker player with a great poker face. Since IMLOU doesn’t seem to sellout anymore, I’m not betting against John joining us at the midnight hour. Alex has indicated that two of his college Tri-Hawks teammates from the University of Iowa may join us this year as well.

Hopefully the summer will be filled with Gunner get togethers for group rides, open water swims and lots of great conversations through our hilarious group texts. I’m hoping for a memorable and safe 30 weeks of training for all of us.

So, Day 1 of Week 1 is in the books. It’s a rest day. I rode a spin bike for 8 miles/30 minutes, and ran two miles on the treadmill. So much for resting.

2016 Running & Triathlon Year in Review

28 YEARS!

28 years of running are in the book! I say “book” in the literal sense, seeing that I have been logging my runs since 1989 and keeping them in a notebook. It’s becoming a behemoth! 28 total years and a crazy 21,867 total miles is what I currently stand at. I’m very proud of that. I’m glad I started logging them down back in 1989.

As it is the usual custom for me, I like to sum up the year and take stock of my accomplishments and create goals for the following year. I started doing triathlons in 2012, so I now include notes about my triathlon season as well. So here’s my 2016 Running & Triathlon Year in Review!

2016 REVIEW

2016 was Year 2 of the running streak that I started in 2015. I really wanted to see if I could run every day for a year, but once I got past that first year, I just kept it going.

I managed to log 1824 total miles in 2016. This is 288 less miles from last year, which surprises me a little, seeing I did both an Ironman and the Chicago Marathon in 2016, and only the marathon in 2015. Both 2015 and 2016 were years in which I ran every day. I think the main reason for the smaller year end total was that in November 2015, I started to wonder if I could get over the 2000 mile mark, and once I did I kept it going hard until the end of the year, running a lot of 8 and 10 milers until I reached the 2112 mile mark. (Being a die-hard Rush fan, how could I not shoot for that number?) This year I developed a nagging foot issue in December and really cut back in hopes of making it to the end and keeping the streak alive. Now that I have completed the 2 year streak, I think I better take some time off and let the foot heal. Plus, running a mile the day after an Ironman and a marathon was a very hard task. I have a huge year ahead of me planned for 2017. You never know with me, though.

One of the stats in the photo above is the average pace of 8:47 / mile, which surprised me quite a bit. It was 8:12 / mile in 2015, and I have always been more concerned with pace than distance. But since I trained for both Ironman Lake Placid and the Chicago Marathon this year, I logged a lot of long, slow distance runs. I’m not one to remember the weather, but I do seem to remember a lot of long, hot runs which may have also slowed me down. I will review it again in 2017 and see if I’m still slowing down. At 53 years old, I kind of expect it. But after setting another marathon PR this year, I also question it.

2016 RACES

As far as racing goes, I took it a little light this year, only doing five races, which is two less than in 2015. I have included a link to my previous race report blogs.

4/30/16: Aurelio’s Pizza Frankfort Half Marathon – 1:35:16 Finish Time – 7:16 ave./mile – 4th in AG – 12th Overall. Race recap: 2016 Frankfort Half Marathon Race Report

6/12/16: Batavia Triathlon – 1:18:15 Finish Time – 3rd in AG – 29th Overall. Race recap: 2016 ET Batavia Triathlon Race Report

6/15/16: Short Run on a Long Day 5K – 20:52 Finish Time – 3rd in AG – 17th Overall. Race recap: 2016 Short Run on a Long Day Race Report

7/24/16: Ironman Lake Placid – 12:52:01 Finish Time (PR) – 59th in AG – 812th Overall. Race recap: 2016 Ironman Lake Placid Race Report

10/9/16: Bank of America Chicago Marathon – 3:25:08 Finish Time (PR, BQ) – 7:49 ave./mile – 201st in AG – 3159th Overall. Race recap: 2016 Chicago Marathon Race Report

Here is the running data from 2016:

2016 Running Year Summary – Running Stats

Month / Runs / Miles / Hours

January / 31 / 119 / (22.25 ave.)

February / 29 / 127

March / 31 / 137

April / 30 / 154

May / 31 / 159

June / 30 / 187

July / 31 / 180

August / 31 / 185

September / 30 / 204

October / 31 / 135

November / 30 / 128

December / 31 / 109

Total: 366 Runs / 1824 Miles / 267 Hours

Weekly Runs Average: 7 / Monthly Runs Average: 30.5

Weekly Miles Average: 35 / Monthly Miles Average: 154

Weekly Hours Average: 5.1 / Monthly Hours Average: 22.25

Total Lifetime Runs: 3975 (as of end of 2016) ~ 142 runs/year

Total Lifetime Miles: 21,867 (as of end of 2016) ~ 780 miles/year

Total Lifetime Hours: 2884 (as of end of 2016) ~ 103 hours/year

Notes: 2016 was a leap year, adding an additional day to the year. The averages are based on 28 years of running data.

2016 BIKE AND SWIM

The bike and swim went well for me this year. I more than doubled my bike mileage from last year, which was expected thanks to all the training I did for the Ironman. Swimming was way down from my other Ironman year of 2013, somewhat due to pool issues and also due to me thinking all that damn swimming wasn’t that necessary for me. I did 67K less yards this year and still took off about 12 minutes from my Ironman 2.4 mile swim time.

For 2017, I will swim about the same or maybe cut back just a little more. I think the training plan is a little too swim heavy, and I am completely fine with being able to swim the 2.4 miles in 1:20 or so. I will keep an eye on how I am progressing throughout the year and adjust it if necessary.

I’d like to get my bike average up to near 17 mph or more for Ironman Louisville in 2017. I think that is doable. IMWI and IMLP were very challenging bike courses, and I am hoping for a faster ride at Louisville.

2016 SUMMARY

I think 2016 went really well for me in my running endeavors. I was glad I was able to complete my streak, running at least one mile every day for two straight years. I also set two new personal bests in 2016 in both the Ironman and marathon.

I thoroughly enjoyed training with my Gunner teammates Dave, John, Jeff and Alex and completing Ironman Lake Placid with them. It was an awesome day. I also got to race with my son Ben in the one 5K we did together. That was a hot race.

But I think the most notable thing for me this year was once again qualifying for the Boston Marathon with another personal best at the Chicago Marathon. I lowered my time by another 3 minutes, and gave myself a BQ-4:51. Not quite a slam dunk sub-5 minute cushion, but with the cutoff to get into the race sitting near 2 minutes under the qualifying time, I think I have a pretty good chance at getting into the 2018 Boston Marathon.

2017 GOALS

The “A” race for 2017 is Ironman Louisville on 10/15/17. I look forward to 30 weeks of training with my buddies and sharing this experience. I also have the Batavia Triathlon sprint on the schedule, and will probably add the Chicago Triathlon too. It’s been suggested that we try the Triple Challenge again, and knowing my Gunner teammates, that’s probably what we will do. The Chicago Marathon is a no go this year, as it falls the week before the Ironman. Even I am not crazy enough to attempt that. I’m regretting it a little as it is the 40th anniversary of the marathon, but I will make sure that I maintain my legacy status and make sure I can run the 50th.

Other than that, I hope to stay healthy, and out of harms way out on the roads training for my planned races. See you in 2017!

2014 Ironman Muncie 70.3 Race Report

Note from me: I originally posted this on a blog site called iamtri.com. Unfortunately, that website is no longer valid, but through some magic performed by my computer knowledgeable college son, he was able to recover my posts. I am sharing them here so that I may preserve my memories from my first Ironman 70.3. Chris

2014 Ironman Muncie 70.3 Race Report

July 12, 2014

My First IM 70.3!

For my third triathlon of 2014 and designated “A” race this year, I decided to pick a 70.3 distance, and since I live near Chicago I had three really popular choices to choose from: Racine, Steelhead and Muncie. After hearing about a horrible swim in Racine in 2013, and seeing Steelhead is in the same Lake Michigan body of water, I opted for a reservoir/lake located in the middle of Indiana – Muncie! The only negatives that people had about this location was that the run course was hilly, and that it was hot. Aren’t they all? Signed up in February and goaded my buddies to join me.

Location

The race is held just south of Muncie in the Prairie Creek Reservoir. It is very rural and peaceful. The lake is pretty large, with a great swim area and a new facilities building for washrooms and showers. After hesitating on booking a hotel in Muncie, we opted to stay at the Hampton Inn in Anderson, which was a popular choice with many of the other racers. It was about a half hour away from the race site, but the town had plenty of dining and other options.

I watched this helicopter fly in and land on Thursday night. I wish I knew there was helicopter parking, I would have flown in myself! (Just kidding – triathletes can’t afford a helicopter.)

Friday/Race Day Eve

I got to Anderson late on Thursday and checked in. My friends and I met up on Friday morning and started planning our day. We opted for a short 20 minute run to settle our nerves and knock the cobwebs off of a rest day on Thursday.

We hopped into our cars and headed to the race expo. We decided to take advantage of the optional bike racking on Friday to avoid one less issue on Saturday/Race day morning. After picking up our packets, we stuck the stickers on our bikes and wheeled them into the transition area.

The KX5 all racked and ready to go.

After checking out the expo, buying the expensive Ironman event merchandise and grabbing something to eat, we sat and listened to the race talk. There were hints that the water temperature may be just cool enough for an unusual for Muncie, wetsuit legal swim.

Race Morning

Wetsuit legal! Just barely, but many of us were relieved. The wetsuit for me has become a security blanket of sorts, although I have done races without one. Anytime I spend time looking at a big body of water, I get nervous. Wetsuits take that anxiety away for me.

We got up at 4am and hit the road at about 5am. I slept well, thanks to taking 1/2 of an Ambien that my physician buddy gave me. But I did wake up twice due to stomach issues. Spent a lot of time in the port-a-potty line, and was able to get things taken care of.

I set up my transition, pumped up my tires to 120 psi, and took some time to visualize the trip from the Swim Out to Bike Out.

It has taken me some time, but I’m starting to see the benefit of not bringing all my junk to transition.

The race started at 7am, but my wave didn’t start until 7:55, so I had plenty of time to watch others and my other racing buddies start the race.

Bride and bridesmaid. I had my buddy Dave help me zip up an obviously too tight for me wetsuit.

Can you tell which triathlete needs prescription goggles to see? That would be me. Dave and I picking our swim line.

1.2 MILE SWIM

The water was a perfect temperature. Usually I don’t do well in cold water, but this water was perfect. I chose to swim the inside of the buoys until the turns and had no issues at all with other swimmers. Zig-zagging was minimal. I did start to get a calf cramp in my legs about 2/3’s of the way into the swim. I just slowed down, kicked a little less and was fine. I started to notice that I was catching the white and pink capped swimmers that had started in waves 5 and 10 minutes ahead of me, respectively. That was a positive sign for me that I was having a good swim. Toward the last four or five buoys to go, I decided to pick up the pace. I could see some athletes were standing, but I swam until my fingers hit bottom.

Out of the water declaring “Piece of Cake!” It really was the most uneventful swim.

After getting out of the water I sat down and the volunteer wetsuit strippers (or peelers, as they prefer) yanked off my suit and it was a slogfest up to T1. It was uphill on a rocky path, which was covered with thin carpet. But everyone seemed to be walking. I was like, “Hey, get out of the way! This IS a race, right?”

SWIM TIME: 42:17

After getting by the field of swim zombies heading to T1, I got to my bike and quickly dried my feet and head off and changed into the cycling gear. Heading to the exit, I spied the toilets and went in. I had to go while I was in the water, but just couldn’t do it while I was swimming.

T1 TIME: 5:48

56 MILE BIKE

Everything I heard about the bike course at Muncie was that it was flat and fast. Nope. I will give you fast, but it wasn’t flat. I guess that I’m just too used to the flat rails-to-trails trail that I constantly ride at home. That is flat. The portion of the course that leads to and from the looped highway is 16 miles of hills, turns and potholes. The race announcer said at the course talk that when prepping the bike course, they normally go through about 3 bags of cold patch asphalt. This course required more than 30! Admittedly, it was a little rough, but easily rideable.

My heart rate monitor started chirping at me right away. I was trying to stay in Z3, but was well into Z4 for the first 45 minutes or so. Finally got it settled down and locked in. The two loops were done on a closed highway, which was new for the course. Two twenty mile loops. The two aid stations rocked, helping me reload my bottles while I used the bathroom again. Peeing was a good sign for me, as I was sweating quite a lot. Since I was in a later start wave, I had a lot of fast riders zipping by me on my first loop as they finished their second loops. It was a lot less crowded on my second loop.

Heading out of T1 for 56 miles of “flat” riding. Yeah, right. My son and daughter are behind me in the green and pink shirts.

Around 40 miles I had an issue. A little before I had taken a drink of Gatorade and got back into an aero position and had a little acid reflux. Nothing too bad, but gave me some discomfort. But the real issue I had was I tried to eat a GU and I swallowed it a little rough, causing some coughing and throat irritation. I dealt with that for at least ten miles. I couldn’t get my throat cleared, and it was to the point I was gagging. Finally got over it, but it was not fun.

The last of the second loop on Highway 35.

The sun had finally made an appearance on an otherwise cloudy day. I knew with the run coming up, having the sun out would not be good. Fortunately, the skies cloudy over again.

My kids watching the action on the bike course. Well, Ashley was watching with her eyes closed.

Coming in to T2 I had that feeling that 56 miles was hard. Even though I had done a full Ironman less than a year before, I couldn’t fathom having to do another 56! Glad I was coming in for the run.

BIKE TIME: 3:01:31

The second transition was quick. I grabbed the water bottle that I had in transition for rinsing my feet off, and used it on my head. A good sweat rinse felt great. I downed another GU, put on the visor, bib belt, and running shoes and I was off to get some sunscreen and run a half marathon.

T2 TIME: 3:16

13.1 MILE RUN

I was concerned I had pushed too hard on the bike and would suffer a little on the run, but in reality I felt great. I got to the first aid station in 7:45 according to my watch. I told my self to back it off. I hit the first of several really great aid stations and hit the water, ice, cola, and pretzels to get me going down the road. The aid stations are about a mile apart, and were well stocked and manned. The volunteers were once again, pretty awesome.

At every aid station I would take ice and shove it into my trisuit to get my temperature down. Seemed to work pretty good. Take some ice water, drink the water and then shove the ice in my clothes. I took a banana a couple of times, but mainly stuck with my eating a GU every half hour, plenty of fluids, and a salt capsule every hour or so.

Around the 5.5 mile area, I spotted my buddy Dave ahead and started to catch up. Just before seeing him go by, his brother John was passing by heading back to the finish. Big boost to seeing him. John started in the wave before us with a 5 minute head start. I knew I had work to do to try to catch him, so I gently started picking up the pace. I passed Dave right around the turn around, and started in on the hills back to the finish.

The hills were brutal. A lot of athletes were walking up them. I just kept my turnover going and powered through. At mile 9, I decided to start pushing. I passed a lot of people those last 4 miles. In all, I can only remember getting passed by one guy on the course, who was younger than me, and he had a good pace going. The only other runner that passed me was a younger girl who outkicked me in the chute after I had already passed her a 1/2 mile earlier.

I had driven to the event site several times on that run course, so I knew I was getting close. The few sprinkles that had started were more of a relief than a bother. I was already soaked. My feet squished when I took a step. I got to the final climb and really pushed through that last hill, feeling relieved to see the tents and finishing chute. I could see my family and hit my watch to see that I had easily broken 6 hours in my first 70.3 attempt.

RUN TIME: 1:53:18

FINISH TIME: 5:46:10 (PR)

RECOVERY AND POST RACE

I knew I was spent and just wanted to walk a little. I met up with my family and sat down in a chair. After a few minutes I decided to head to the medical tent to see if I could get some Perform to drink, and after talking with the staff, I decided to enter and sit down. They got me a wet towel and I put it around my neck, and started drinking the cold Perform. Thank goodness it was Lemon-Lime flavor. Before I knew it they had a blood pressure cuff on me and advised me that I was 100/70. A little low, but not dead. I told them that I had hydrated well, and had taken a salt capsule every hour. The doctor offered an IV, but I turned it down as I was starting to come around.

Once out of the medical tent, I met my buddies who now had all finished. We swapped stories and race recaps and ate a little from the athlete food tent. After laying around for a while, we claimed our bikes from transition and headed back to the hotel in Anderson.

THANKS

Thanks go once again to my great family, who spent their weekend watching me do my thing. It is truly a blessing to have such support. The photos my wife and kids took were awesome.

Thanks also to Carla for setting up our hotel for the weekend and being such a great planner and photographer.

And finally, I know I wouldn’t have as much fun doing these tri’s without my lifelong friends, Dave and John, and also Dave’s son Alex. I love the fun we have, and certainly the friendly competition. Alex, being only 19 and on the U of Iowa Tri-Hawks team, will always come in first. But with the finish order this year – John, me and Dave – we now have each had a race in which we have won. That is pretty cool.

Another awesome triathlon experience, shared with my best buddies and family. I am blessed.