Do You Want A Nutty Bar?

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 26 – Monday 8/26/2019 – Sunday 9/1/2019

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.

Screen Shot 2019-09-01 at 5.03.00 PM.png — 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.

6j69UhPxS9SsrtaA+Oo74Q — 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.

WEEK 26 TRAINING TOTALS:

Swims: 1 total, 2800 total yards

Rides: 3 total, 131 total miles

Runs: 5 total, 45 total miles

Gunners-2-1 — The Dreaded Week 27 is looming…

I Got the Moods

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 25 – Monday 8/19/2019 – Sunday 8/25/2019

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.

WEEK 25 TRAINING TOTALS:

Swims: 1 total, 2800 total yards

Rides: 3 total, 140 total miles

Runs: 5 total, 43 total miles

Nips, Sores, and More!

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 24 – Monday 8/12/2019 – Sunday 8/18/2019

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.

fullsizeoutput_1325c — 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.

68664072_2565994856753898_4365574518236774400_n — 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.

Click here to see a picture of my saddle sore: Saddle Sore – NSFW!!!

WEEK 24 TRAINING TOTALS:

Swims: 2 total, 3500 total yards

Rides: 3 total, 135 total miles

Runs: 4 total, 33 total miles

It ALMOST Beat Me

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 23 – Monday 8/5/2019 – Sunday 8/11/2019

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.

WEEK 23 TRAINING TOTALS:

Swims: 2 total, 4200 total yards

Rides: 4 total, 89 total miles

Runs: 3 total, 24 total miles

Switching It Up & Getting It Done

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 22 – Monday 7/29/2019 – Sunday 8/04/2019

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.

CJTpn8WER2y7VNaN1+UO5w — 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.

Zm4YmoGtTsKztpkPVn+m6Q — 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.

6+0mqTO3RJeq3tFMDflMxA — I spent my afternoon with my son Ben enjoying the Cubs beating the Brewers. A great way to end the week.

WEEK 22 TRAINING TOTALS:

Swims: 1 total, 2100 total yards

Rides: 5 total, 162 total miles

Runs: 5 total, 40 total miles

Getting It All Done

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

WEEK 21 – Monday 7/22/2019 – Sunday 7/28/2019

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:

Race Report: 2019 Manteno Triathlon

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.

WEEK 21 TRAINING TOTALS:

Swims: 3 total, 4682 total yards

Rides: 4 total, 86 total miles

Runs: 5 total, 28.5 total miles

It’s Heating Up In More Ways Than One

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

WEEK 20 – Monday 7/15/2019 – Sunday 7/21/2019

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

I Won a One Man Race!

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

WEEK 18 – Monday 7/1/2019 – Sunday 7/7/2019

This week was somewhat light for the training plan that I follow and boy was I thankful for that. July Fourth occurred this week which meant that once my daughter marched in her last Independence Day hometown parade as a high schooler we would be off to our vacation in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. So there was travel involved and vacation and hosting lots of family at our lake home. Even with all that happening I still managed to get in most of the training.

One cool thing that happened this week is that I got my new tri kit a couple of days before leaving for vacation. I chose to go with Jakroo this time around and the kits seem to be pretty decent for a lower priced product. The best things about this company was there were no minimum orders to meet, I could design the kit myself, the prices were affordable, and the turnaround was super quick. Here’s me with the tri shorts and the cycling jersey. The shorts were size Large but were a little snug. I may order an XL if I find these uncomfortable. I did one short hour long bike ride in them and they felt okay.

The weekend called for an Olympic distance race according to the plan. Although I will race a 5K or triathlon during training I’m a little hesitant to race when training for an Ironman because I don’t want to risk crashing or otherwise injuring myself and throw away all the investment I made in training and other stuff, so I just usually do them at home on my own. And being in Minocqua offered a perfect opportunity to do just that.

First Annual Minocqua Olympic Distance Race For Chris Only Race Report

When: 7/7/2019

Where: Minocqua, Wisconsin

Time: 2:55:52

Results: 1st Place Overall – WINNER!

After a good breakfast of pancakes and bacon, I donned the wetsuit and recruited Kari to kayak next to me on the swim to keep me from being run over by one of the thousand wakeboard type boats on the lake. I’m exaggerating a little, but these obnoxious boats seem to be the boat of choice by beer drinking party animals who somehow have the money to afford such an over the top boat.

The Swim: 1562 yards / 28:49 / 1:51 per 100 yds.

Fortunately for me, I was seeded in the first wave and got ahead of the pack early. The wetsuit seemed a little restrictive for some reason, but I felt good. The water was warm, but the race director said that it was a wetsuit legal race. I decided that I would swim along the shoreline for 750 yards and then turn around, not realizing that 1500 yards didn’t quite equal 1500 meters, but it was close enough. I swam pretty comfortably and was surprised to see that I averaged under 2 mins per 100 yards, which was awesome. I reached the dock and like a dummy, I hit stop instead of the lap button, but I got it fixed quickly and I was off the change into bike gear for the ride. Nice to be first out of the water!

T1: 5:30

The Bike: 24.8 miles (40K) / 1:29:36 / 16.6 mph average

I decided that I would ride Highway J west toward St. Germain and make use of the wide bike lane on the road. I’m a little nervous about being on that road but the cars were giving me plenty of room. By a half mile into riding, I was regretting riding my hybrid bike in this race and not bringing my tri bike up to ride. My butt and left leg were bothering me and to alleviate the discomfort I shifted my butt as far back on the saddle that I could. Lots of rollers on this ride but it’s not too challenging. As I got to St. Germain I was very pleased that I was right at 12.4 miles and this out and back would be a perfect 40K. The ride back was smooth and trouble-free. Glad to average 16.6 miles on this heavy old bike. I was also very glad to be the first bike back and still in first place.

T2 – 3:21

The Run – 6.2 miles / 48:36 / 7:51 pace per mile

My back was a little sore getting off the bike but loosened up quickly. As I headed down my street I debated as to which way to run but decided to stick to my original thought of running downtown to the trail and then head back. I wasn’t planning on pushing the pace on this run because I had such a huge lead, but when I got to Hwy. 51 and saw the parade of backed up cars leaving town on the only road that takes them back south I did a little peacocking and was running hard. That was a bad decision as the pancakes were starting to wear a little thin. But I paced the out and back well, hit the water fountain a couple of times, and coasted home to a first-place finish. I kind of like winning. I might make this an annual tradition.

WEEK 18 TRAINING TOTALS:

Swims: 2 total, 3,662 total yards

Rides: 3 total, 56 total miles

Runs: 5 total, 24.7 total miles

Another Two for One Training Wrap-up

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 16 – Monday 6/17/19 – Sunday 6/23/19

WEEK 17– Monday 6/24/19 – Sunday 6/30/19

These past two weeks seemed like a whirlwind of training and life. Week 16 went really well, I even got in a 5K race which I placed 2nd in my age group. I had to do some juggling of the weekend workouts to fit them in around a trip to Minocqua to deal with some work around the lake home. I ended up doing the Saturday long run on Friday afternoon prior to heading to the Rolling Stones concert in Chicago.

Waiting for the Stones to take the stage. Glad I had a front row seat so I didn’t have to stand on tired legs.

When I left for Minocqua Saturday morning after the concert I decided to not even bring any of my workout stuff. Too much to do, like mowing the grass and cleaning the house and getting it ready for our 4th of July family get together.

am++82q8Q12pQGof6ljBxQ — Got the new (new to us anyway) boat in the water and on the lift. The water looked good enough to go for a swim. Didn’t happen though. Swimming sucks.

After that quick trip, I decided that I would make up the long Saturday bike ride on Week 17’s Monday/Rest day, which of course was done in the rain. I figured the safest bet was to stick to the local trail in case the weather got out of hand, but it forced me to ride more conservatively and slower due to the wet paved trail that was really slick from the rain and the trail junk. I probably should have ridden on the local roads instead, but I got it done.

FzsNGOQNR6GZ8IhKcDdmkw — Another wet ride meant I had to take time to clean the junk off of my bike post ride. Again.

The most notable part about Week 17 is that summer finally made an appearance. It started to get warm finally, but it brought humidity with it. On Friday I had a 75-minute run to do and it about KO’d me. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for me, it just wiped me out. It took me a couple hours of feeling pretty low after that to finally feel better. I did that same run again on Sunday and it went much better. No matter how much you think you know about running in hot/humid conditions, sometimes it reminds you that you can’t neglect what Mother Nature throws at you. And sometimes it throws Bambi at you.

Week 16 Training Totals:

Swims: 2 total / 4200 yards > Rides: 2 total / 29 miles > Runs: 3 total / 20 miles

Week 17 Training Totals:

Swims: 2 total / 4200 yards > Rides: 5 total / 151 miles > Runs: 5 total / 30 miles

Training is Halfway Done!

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 15– Monday 6/10/19 – Sunday 6/16/19

EMBRACE THE SUCK!

The weather was finicky this week, forcing me inside for one ride and soaking me on another. The soaking came on the Saturday four-hour long ride. As I headed south into the wind I knew that I might need to ride a little farther than two hours before turning back home because the headwind would become a tailwind and the trip back would take less time than the trip out. But at about 1:45 into the ride I could see the dark storm clouds getting much closer. I made the choice to try to outrun the storm and head back home and make up any extra time needed to complete the four-hour ride closer to the safety of home. It didn’t happen. At the two-hour mark, the sky unloaded on me.

As it just started to rain, I stopped and tossed on the lightweight cycling rain jacket that I decided before the ride that I might need. I’m glad I brought it along, not that it was really going to keep my dry, but it would keep me from getting cold. I rode in this hard rain for about 30 minutes. Thankfully, the very strong tailwind had me flying along at around 23 mph or so, and the rain wasn’t pelting me in the face. When it let up from the hard rain, I just dealt with a light drizzle, wet roads and gunk getting all over me for the remainder of the ride. But as I rode I almost was having a great time. I felt like a kid again. It was fun.

There’s a saying in triathlon – “Embrace the suck” – meaning that things aren’t always going to be perfect, and dealing with these miserable moments can only build confidence. It’s easy to move a ride to another part of the day when you know a storm is coming at your planned ride time, or to run inside on a really hot day. But race day won’t offer you that trade-off. After finishing the ride, I ran for 30 minutes in light rain with my feet squishing and reminding me that it will be worth it. You can be physically prepared for an Ironman, but being mentally prepared is also a huge asset.

WRAPPING UP THE FIRST 15 WEEKS

Any milestone in a journey can be notable, and when you are on another 30-week quest to be prepared for an Ironman finish, getting halfway through the training plan is certainly a worthy accomplishment. I’m not fooling myself though, through 15-weeks I have finished 10-weeks of the base phase (pretty easy) and half of the build phase (getting tougher each week) with the rest of the build phase and the endurance phase yet to come. But this is my fourth go around training for an Ironman and I know from experience to put my trust in the plan, follow through with the workouts, and I should be more than ready on September 29th. Time to look back on the first 15-weeks of training! (Click on the link if you want to read the original post.)

Week 1 – Ironman Chattanooga Training Begins! I started with some excitement about chasing Ironman for the fourth time.

Week 2 – Attitude is Everything I was struggling with this week, and complaining too much. It was time for an attitude adjustment.

Weeks 3/4 – Two For One Training Update A busy two weeks doing some college visits with my daughter Rebecca and wife Kari and trying to keep the training going.

Week 5 – I’m My Own Worst Enemy I found myself doing dumb things in training that could easily sabotage my plan, like racing the local high school track team up a hill during their hill repeat workout. It wasn’t my fault, I can’t shut that off.

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Week 6 – The Comparison Trap In Week 6 I once again realized how important it is not to compare myself to others. I have to relearn this every time.

Weeks 7/8 – I’d Be A Horrible Judge Another twofer update from me, pondering whether I like the idea of relay teams in Ironman races or not. Truthfully, I don’t, but whatever.

Week 9 – Week 9 Wrap-up A somewhat boring week with wet weather forcing me inside. But I did play around with my new Fly6 and Fly12 bike cameras and started designing a new tri suit for our team.

Week 10 – Wrap Up: Fear… Parts I & II It was a weird week and I got a little freaked out by a storm and a creepy guy admiring my bike. I survived both.

Week 11 – The Uneasiness of Being Comfortable I became aware that I was being a little lackadaisical about training and losing focus.

Week 12 – Swimming Sucks A reminder of my love/hate of swimming.

Week 13 – Bike Helmets are Instant Dork Makers I bought a new helmet that looked great online but made me an instant dork.

AWP_0513 — I guess it’s not so dorky after all.

Week 14 – Sun Tans, Group Ride, & Racing! I wrapped up Week 14 with a great ride with teammates and a 1st place age group finish in my sprint race!

Here’s to the next 15 weeks!

Week 15 Training Totals:

Swims: 2 total / 4200 yards > Rides: 4 total / 108 miles > Runs: 5 total / 32 miles