Sun Tans, Group Ride, & Racing!

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 14 – Monday 6/3/19 – Sunday 6/09/19

You sure are getting tan.

A few weeks ago I started getting compliments on my tan. I never really notice getting tan because it’s a gradual progression for me, but others who are less tan than I seem to notice it quite easily, and are sometimes envious and will point it out. I guess getting sun exposure and developing a tan is easier for a runner or triathlete, as we are outside doing our thing a lot. But there are some downsides to getting tan. First, the danger of exposing yourself to the harmful UV rays is pretty evident. If I am heading out on a sunny day, I will always spray myself with SPF 50 or cover myself well. Even so, I will still start developing a good tan. The other downside is triathletes can develop some really strange tan lines. I generally wear mid-length socks that will protect my lower leg from the sun. Also, tri suits cover your thighs which leaves just a small portion of your leg exposed for tanning. That’s a weird look. Wearing a hat also adds to that weird tan line on your forehead, like pro golfers get.

It’s not like I seek out sunny days to exercise – I take whatever day I get and prepare for it. But when it is sunny, I make sure that I place more emphasis on protecting myself from the sun than getting that envious tan.

Group Ride!

Riding with my teammates and buddies is always better than going alone. Last week Dave was in town but I wasn’t, so we couldn’t do the Saturday ride together. But Dave ended up making a return trip to visit this weekend, and he coaxed Jeff to come down from the city and do our 3.5-hour ride, 1/2 hour run Saturday workout together. The weather turned out great for us, except for that pesky wind that always seems to be in our faces in the second half of the ride.

We turned around a little before making it halfway out from home because we thought we were going to need to fight the wind back home. But we ended up having about 15 extra minutes we needed to ride, so we took a trip through a local neighborhood called Prestwick, a neighborhood where STYX lead singer Dennis DeYoung used to live back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. We also saw an old neighbor Bill Goldschmidt out riding. He was a dad who lived on the street that Dave lived on and I virtually lived on and a long time rider. He was very excited to see us on the trail and we had a short but nice conversation with him.

We finished the ride and then headed out on a fairly easy paced 3.5-mile run that took us more than the 30 minutes the plan called for. They let me hear it for making them run longer than what the plan called for. Whatever, it’s good for you.

After a quick splash in the pool, some great conversation, and a nice lunch, we all headed back to our busy weekends.

The required post-bike selfie that I demanded they participate in.

Racing

On Sunday, I once again drove myself to Batavia, IL to race the ET Batavia triathlon and did quite well for myself. I ended up 27th overall and 1st in the Male 55-59 age group. I was very happy with that result. You can read my race report here:
2019 ET Batavia Triathlon Race Report

Week 14 Training Totals:

Swims: 3 total / 4600 yards > Rides: 5 total / 102 miles > Runs: 5 total / 25 miles

Gunners-2-1 — Almost halfway done with this! Here comes Week 15!

Bike Helmets are Instant Dork Makers

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

WEEK 13 – Monday 5/27/19 – Sunday 6/02/19

I need a new bike helmet! It’s always a cause for celebration when you need new stuff because you get to shop for new stuff! But shopping for bike helmets is not fun for me. They look good in pictures, not so good on my head.

I have two cycling helmets, an old one I keep around for a backup, and my current cycling helmet that is three years old. The styrofoam in the backup is showing classic signs of age degradation. It’s probably 8 years old and time to retire it.

I also have an aero helmet that I use to race with. It looks to be in pretty good shape but the date of manufacture sticker on it says it was made in 2012! Seven years is pretty old for a helmet. I’m thinking maybe I should replace it as well. Plus, as soon as I bought the helmet it became a relic, as the helmet industry sort of adopted a new design for aero helmets that were less dorky so to speak. Nowadays there are plenty of newer aero style helmets that look more like regular cycling helmets. I can essentially kill two birds with one stone and buy one of those newfangled models!

But it doesn’t really matter what helmet I buy, or how cool it looks online or in the store, as soon as I put it on my head I become an instant dork.

2014 Ironman Muncie 70.3 – Instant dork. It doesn’t help that I wear a skull cap type thing to keep the sweat from getting in my eyes. You can see Rebecca behind me laughing at her lame dad.

The only time this helmet looked good on me was in the photo at the top of this page, and the fact that the scenery of the Adirondack mountains in the backdrop keeps you from noticing how dorky I look.

I have always liked BELL helmets, mainly because after trying different brands I found that BELL helmets fit my head the best, were pretty common and could be found most places, and the fact that BELL kind of leads the way in testing and advancements in head protection. So naturally, I went to their website and looked to see what they had to offer. I found a really cool aero helmet called the Z20. It looked cool online. It made me an instant dork as soon as I put it on. It sits higher on my head than my old ones for some reason.

if9k6xhZSaWTsBflB%HJaA — New helmet, same old dorky guy.

So there you have it. Three different cycling helmets all having the same end result with me – instant dork. I’m starting to think it might be me.

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And now a Public Service Announcement from me:

WEAR A DAMN HELMET WHEN RIDING! I was running today and counted a dozen helmetless riders in that 7.5 mile run. Two adult cycling deaths in the nature preserve I run in since it opened and still there are people risking serious head injury on those steep downhills and blind turns. Plus not everyone out there is a good rider. Tons of knuckleheads and inexperienced riders riding without head protection. Don’t give me that crap that they weren’t around when you were a kid and you survived. You probably never left the neighborhood or street you grew up on on your bike. If they did exist back in the day, I’m guessing your parents would have wanted you to wear one. Seatbelts weren’t mandatory when I was a kid, but would you not buckle yourself in now?

Have you ever hit your head on something like a cabinet door or the like? It hurt like hell didn’t it? Now imagine slamming your head to the asphalt at 15 mph or more.

WEAR A DAMN HELMET WHEN RIDING! Even if it makes you look like a dork.

WEEK 13 WRAP-UP

I had a chance to head up to the lake home in Minocqua on Thursday to be there for the furniture that was going to be delivered on Friday, so I was fortunate to get some training in up north. A change of scenery can do wonders when the training routine becomes a little boring. Don’t get me wrong, I like the ride out to the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetary at home, I just get sick of doing that ride week after week. Minocqua was a breath of fresh air.

A huge tree fell over on the path and I didn’t get to ride the whole trail. Forced me to do some exploring and I found some decent paved roads to ride.

Week 13 Training Totals:

Swims: 2 total / 3500 yards > Rides: 4 total / 85 miles > Runs: 5 total / 26.5 miles

Swimming Sucks

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 12 – Monday 5/20/19 – Sunday 5/26/19

The pool is open and ready for swimming! Yay me! But I have a problem. I hate swimming. It sucks. It’s hard, it gives you cramps, it makes me sleepy for some reason, it makes me hangry, and I could drown. So there’s that. It’s the activity that kept me from being a triathlete for years until I finally took the time to learn to be decent enough to get through a sprint distance swim. I’ve always thought that swimming is just the necessary evil that is required to get to the two sports that I actually enjoy. A prerequisite of sorts. But it’s soooo boring.

I can’t believe that it is Week 12 already of my 30-week training plan and I’m just now starting to do my swim training for Ironman number 4. My last training for Ironman was in 2017 and my buds and I did Ironman Louisville, a course known for a pretty generous swim. I decided that the plan I follow is way too heavy on the swim training. Three swims per week, starting with 2500 yards per swim and progressing to 3500 yards per swim a week was too much for me, and I figured that if I can easily swim 45 minutes, how difficult is doing another 30-45 minutes? I gambled a little and it paid off. My swim times went from 1:30 at IM Wisconsin in 2013 when I followed the swim plan very closely, to 1:18 at IM Lake Placid in 2016 in which I was following the plan pretty closely but was starting to rebel, to 1:09 at IM Louisville in 2017 swimming only 45 minutes twice a week. So, if Louisville could produce a personal swim best my thinking is Ironman Chattanooga will be about the same or quicker, seeing that it is a downstream swim. That is if they don’t cancel the swim like they did last year. Which would be just fine with me.

On Tuesday I jumped into the pool after an hour-long run to cool down a little and begin my first 45-minute swim. It sucked. It wasn’t long until I could feel my arms getting sore and by 20 minutes into it, I was getting horrible foot and leg cramps. I stopped at 30 minutes and decided I had had enough. I got out, ate lunch, mowed the ever growing grass, and then to my credit I jumped back in and finished the last 15 minutes of my swim. It felt good not to give up on that swim, even if I had to break it into a couple of sessions.

When Thursday came around I figured I would do my swim after my hour-long bike. I fully expected to have a similar swim to Tuesday’s, but it actually went okay. No cramps and I was able to get the 45 minutes done.

So I will keep at the two swims per week, figure out a time when I can get to up to Minocqua and do a few longer open water swims this summer, and hopefully build my swimming confidence as the summer rolls along. I have lots of time to get better and maybe even start liking it a little.

I thought I had figured out my bike issue last week and was pretty sure I had it licked, but on Saturday’s long ride I could hear the rubbing again and for some reason, my rear brakes were really making a horrible scratching type noise. I stopped mid-ride and checked the wheel out and it looked like there might be some rubbing of the tire on the brake mechanism itself. I didn’t spend much time diagnosing the brake noise because there was a storm coming from the west and I was 22 miles from home, so I got back on the bike, limited myself to mostly using the front brake, and got home as quick as I could.

After a thorough wash down of the bike, I put it on the bike stand and tried to diagnose the issue. My son Ben was supervising and he pointed out that the tire was actually rubbing on the frame. I looked at the tire and could see that it wasn’t seated as far down on that portion of the wheel, so I let the air out of the tube and reinflated it. That worked and the wheel and tire spun just fine after putting it back on the bike. As for the brake, one of the brake pads had a little chunk of metal embedded into it, which explains the horrible noise I was hearing when braking. I dug it out with a metal probe and, voila! no more noise. I should probably replace the pads soon, they are getting pretty worn down.

On to Week 13!

Week 12 Training Totals:

Swims: 2 total / 4100 yards > Rides: 4 total / 90 miles > Runs: 5 total / 23 miles

The Uneasiness of Being Comfortable

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 11 – Monday 5/13/19 – Sunday 5/19/19

As I slid into Week 11 I found myself reflecting on being comfortable with where I was in the plan. It has kind of become routine – Monday rest, Tuesday run, Wednesday bike/run brick, Thursday bike, Friday run, Saturday bike, Sunday run – then repeat week after week. But on Saturday I finished my ride, put the bike away and got busy cleaning the swimming pool and mowing the grass and totally didn’t realize that we are now at a stage in training when Saturday’s long ride is followed by a run brick. I had gotten so used to the previous ten-week routine that I didn’t remember that the runs are added to the bike on Saturday. Oops. Oh well, I did have a killer of a Saturday long ride which kind of made up for missing that 15 minute brick run.

Speaking of the Saturday bike, I decided to join a local riding group that is primarily made up of people from the local running group that I have become familiar with. It was supposed to be a 2-2.5 hour bike ride averaging 17 mph. I was comfortable with that pace and length of ride, but I have certain expectations when riding as a group and as we rode a little I started figuring out who was on the same page as me and who wasn’t. I started to get a little uneasy and moved to the front of the group to avoid any issues. There was one stop in which a rider fell over. Not sure how he accomplished that as it didn’t appear that he was clipped in and was wearing running shoes. It has happened to all of us and I felt bad for the guy, but I made a mental note to stay clear of him. It wasn’t long until this group of cyclists and aero riding triathletes were on each others wheel. While training for Ironman, I usually avoid riding on the wheel of another rider because you aren’t allowed to draft at all during the race, but here we were. I was definitely getting out of my comfort zone.

My “Z2” ride was mostly spent in Z4! WTH?

We made it out to Elwood and the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and stopped for a quick restroom break and to refuel a little. I had some good conversations and then we were headed back. That’s when I got dropped. I was fighting like mad to keep up, but I was starting to wonder why I was killing myself. The group did eventually rejoin and I put myself ahead again to help control the pace a little. I was able to keep with them the rest of the ride. But this “easy” pace group ride was killing me!

When we turned around I noticed something was not quite right with my rear wheel. It was making a slight sound and I was sensing a little bit of vibration. I had ridden the bike on the trainer on Thursday and when I switched out the skewer I must not have had the wheel exactly straight. I stopped about 20 minutes from home and reset it the best I could and I didn’t feel the vibration anymore. When I got home I inspected the wheel and found that the tire sidewall was getting pretty worn, had started to bulge a little and it wouldn’t have been long before it failed completely on me. I was way too comfortable in letting that little warning sign of vibration and sound go on for too long. I should have dealt with it as soon as I noticed it. Stop being so comfortable! But I wasn’t the only one who should have been paying close attention to their bike. I noticed one strong lady rider who was about my age whose water bottle cage was wobbling so loosely that I thought it was going to fall off any minute. How do you not notice that?

All in all, I had a pleasant ride, learned that the cemetery has a restroom, learned a new route out to Elwood that bypasses a busy road, met some new people, had some good conversations and made it home in one piece. I will definitely join the group again but will not let the group’s ride influence my training plan for the day.

Next week I promise not to be so comfortable. I need to make sure I am executing the plan in the way I need to.

Week 11 Training Totals:

Swims: None > Rides: 4 total / 88 miles > Runs: 4 total / 25 miles

Week 10 Wrap Up: Fear… Parts I & II

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 10 – Monday 5/6/19 – Sunday 5/12/19

HOORAY! One-third of my Ironman 30-week training plan is in the books! It’s nice to hit that benchmark and put the base phase of training behind me. As I enter the 10-week build phase of the plan it is comforting to know that I did a pretty decent job getting prepared for it. The only issue that can come back and bite me is the fact that I did no swim training in that first ten weeks! But even though I stink at swimming, I am not really all that worried. I learned what I am capable of back in 2017 while training for Ironman Louisville, and I’m sure that the remaining twenty weeks will prepare me adequately. The weather has been the real issue this spring, being cold and miserable so far, and it has kept me from opening my pool so I can swim. Next week looks to have a gradual warm-up and I will plan on starting the process of getting the pool ready for summer. I may not like swimming that much, but I do enjoy a post long run/long bike cannonball to cool off.

FEAR: PART I – Fear… Of Missing Out

Friday I took a day off from work so I could be at home to welcome carpet installers and new carpet throughout our house. The original appointment was for Friday and Saturday and I wasn’t really sure how long they would be here either day. So I got up and got dressed and hoped that they would leave me a sliver of the late afternoon so I could squeeze in my planned hour-long run. It didn’t happen. As I watched them progress I realized that they were going to shoot to get it all done in one day. They finished up sometime around 6 pm, and then it was time for dinner and get busy with putting everything back that we had to move. Fun times (not), but I didn’t get my run in.

So I spent the day worrying about missing my Friday run, an hour long 7-miler that I can do in my sleep. I spent a lot of time on Facebook while babysitting the carpet guys and saw that several of my local friends and acquaintances were complaining about their local pool being unavailable again. It seems like the maintenance at the pool has been neglected or poorly maintained, or that some kid left a “Baby Ruth” (Caddyshack reference, in case you didn’t know) at the bottom of it. Whatever the reason, they are paying for the use of the pool and have not been able to use it. They have a right to be a little upset about that. But I also think they are like me and fear that they might get behind on their training. I totally get that. A few of these friends are doing their first Ironmans this fall, and I can remember how I felt about missing a week training for my first Ironman in 2013 when I volunteered at my daughter Ashley’s marching band camp. In the end, though, missing a swim/bike/run workout or two, or in my case, a whole week doesn’t really matter in the massive amount of training that is done in thirty weeks. No need to fear missing a workout.

The other thing I have been thinking that I fear I have been missing out on is group rides with a local group of riders, riders mostly who are also involved with the local running club. They post rides all the time but I usually skip them because they don’t fit in with what my plan calls for. Saturday was such a ride, and judging from the photo posted to Facebook, it was a big group and it looked like they were having fun. I’m going to have to join them soon. A group ride might be an asset, as you will see below.

FEAR: PART II – Fear… Of GETTING MURDERED!

I was a little concerned about my Saturday 3-hour training ride. First off, the weather stunk once again, 48 degrees and a forecast of rain. After breakfast, I checked the radar and could see that there was a small window of opportunity to get my ride in, and so I layered up and got out there.

“I don’t think the heavy stuff is going to come down for quite a while.” (Another Caddyshack reference/quote)

I had a little trouble with my Fly12 bike flasher/camera again today. I had trouble with it last week and it didn’t record anything. I put it on my bike after charging it and it fired right up and started flashing. After about 20 minutes into the ride, I realized it wasn’t flashing anymore and I was not happy about it. I tried pushing the on/off button while riding but was having no success with getting it to turn on. I decided to stop at the next road crossing and fiddle with it. That’s when things got interesting.

I stopped at Ridgeland Road and took my gloves off and started fiddling with the dumb light. I got my phone out and opened the app for the device and manually hit record and figured if anything I would get it to video the rest of the ride. That’s when a guy walks across the street toward me and says “Sure is a nice bike you got there.” It wasn’t really what he said that gave me pause, but more of the way he said it like he was about to add “It’d be a shame if something were to happen to it.” I replied with “Thank you,” and watched him walk a little past the trail and kneel down and pull out a vape-type device and start puffing away. He was bearded, unkempt and kind of dirty looking, wearing a soiled Florida Gators sweatshirt, and I automatically started profiling the guy. That’s what you do when the only jobs you have ever had were in law enforcement and are pretty much skeptical of everyone you meet anyway. That’s when I silently said to myself “GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE NOW!” Thankfully my rear camera was working and caught the exchange:

Now, I don’t get spooked too easily, but this guy was sending me some big time warning signs. I put my phone back into my jersey pocket, pushed my bike to the shoulder of the road and started pedaling. It was at that point I went from riding a 3-hour Zone 2 ride to an immediate Zone 4 time trial. As I sped up the hill I kept looking over my shoulder to see if he got back into his truck. I thought that maybe I should have stayed on the bike trail, where he couldn’t have followed me. I also thought about where I might find some refuge up ahead if he did actually try to follow me.

I had gone to Bass Pro Shop last week to look at boats and found myself looking at handguns too. I don’t own any firearms (my three jobs in law enforcement have all been non-sworn), but I thought I would take a look at them. I often find myself thinking about how I would defend myself if I ever encountered a nut job. I haven’t ever really encountered a nut job, but in all seriousness, I FELT LIKE I HAD JUST ENCOUNTERED ONE. I was kind of wishing I had a handgun right now. Matter of fact, I wish I had like ten of the damn things. Our team name is GUNNERS for goodness sake! But instead, I would just have to pedal my ass off.

Although I spent the next 30 minutes riding damn hard and constantly looking over my shoulder, I never saw him again. Two hours into the ride my mind was totally focused on why I continually fail to remember to ride into the wind going out and with it at my back on the way home. That mistake cost me an extra 8 minutes. And by the time I got back home I wasn’t thinking about that dude or even thinking about buying a gun anymore. I’d probably accidentally shoot myself in the butt with it anyway. Now that would make for an interesting video.

Week 10 Training Totals:

Swims: None > Rides: 3 total / 86 miles > Runs: 3 total / 18 miles

Week 9 Wrap-up

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEK 9 – Monday 4/29/19 – Sunday 5/5/19

Not much of note for the week as far as training. The miserable wet weather we have been having in much of the midwest forced me inside to do a couple of my ride and run workouts, but I can’t complain about having that option. Overall, the week went well and I’m starting to build a little speed on the bike again.

Speaking of the bike, for Christmas last year I asked for a flashing light/video camera device for my bike. I had heard several people talking about Cycliq and the Fly6 rear and Fly12 front cameras, so I put them on my wishlist and Santa delivered.

Since I hadn’t really had an opportunity to ride outside with them during winter and most of the early spring, I realized that the time to add them to my bike was ideal now that the weather is trying to get better. First and foremost, they are hi-viz flashers so that you are seen, and they certainly do that job well. But the most recent camera updates to the devices produce a pretty decent video of your ride. I guess the idea is to have proof of the offender should you be driven off the road or driven into, but I don’t really want to think about that.

The issue I had was finding space on my very crowded aerobars to mount the device. I finally was able to attach it so that it wasn’t in the way and I could easily access it. The rear device mounted very easily to my seat post.

Fly12 Front Camera

Fly6 Rear Camera

After working out some bugs with my son’s help and figuring out how to use them I gave them a try. I tried using them both for Saturday’s long 2-hour 45-minute ride but had a couple of issues. First, the Fly12 (front camera) gave me a notice that the battery was low about 1.5 hours into the ride and it didn’t produce any video for some reason. Had to be operator error of some sort. Secondly, the mount bracket came loose and the camera was just bouncing around on my aerobars. Minor issues that I can easily resolve. The rear camera produced some great shots though. Here is an example of the footage it will capture (Note: Turn the volume down):

The wind noise is horrible. I’m trying to figure out if that is just a fact of life with the Fly6/12 or there is some feature that I can turn on to make it record sound better. Interestingly enough it does not pick up the crazy conversations that I carry on with myself, which is a good thing, because they are usually profane laden rants.

So I will be interested in doing a group ride someday and capture some of my teammates riding together. That would be more interesting footage to watch than seeing the truck that runs me over.

The last thing of note is that I am trying to find another company to make team triathlon racing kits for our small group. The trouble is we are somewhat of a small group and most of these custom companies have minimum order numbers that we can’t reach. The company we last used upped their minimums by a few and also declared that the order all has to be of one sex, which stinks because we have added Gunner Jan to our group. I looked into another company that initially looked promising. They had promised to work on our project in April, and when I hadn’t heard from them I started emailing them with no response. I figured the guy was swamped or something, but it turned out that his company got bought out by another company from Mexico. No wonder I wasn’t getting any response from him. So I went back to the internet and found another company called Jakroo, which might be our best choice. They have basically no minimums, will assist with kit design, and you can order in both male or female sizes with no penalty, and I can add cycling jerseys, bike shorts, and other items, not just tri suits. They had a semi-custom design it yourself feature and I played around with it. Here are a couple of designs I came up with:

I ordered a kit that I made and will ride in it a few times to see if the quality meets what we need. I’m starting to get excited about having some new team kits!

Week 9 Training Totals:

Swims: None > Rides: 3 total / 76 miles > Runs: 4 total / 24 miles

I’d Be A Horrible Judge

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

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WEEKS 7 & 8 – Monday 4/15/19 – Sunday 4/28/19

Ironman makes announcements all the time and I usually don’t give them much more than a quick glance. But this was shared on a couple Facebook group pages and it caught my eye:

The reason I didn’t pay much attention to it at first is that it looks like your standard “Register Now” announcement for Ironman, and I’m already signed up for it. But then I read a few comments and realized this was for a relay. Say what? An Ironman relay? NO!!!

Immediately I made up my mind that I hated this idea. A relay for Ironman? C’mon man, this shouldn’t be. Triathletes that do Ironman do them for the challenge of doing three tough events in one day, 17 hours typically. To do just one part doesn’t make any sense to me. The whole purpose of Ironman was to prove an argument as to who was the toughest athlete of three disciplines, the swimmer doing a 2.4-mile swim, the cyclist racing a century or more, or the runner running a marathon. Do all three events in one day and find out! – was the reason behind creating Ironman. (Note: It’s the runner if you are wondering. The strongest swimmer never wins the race. And if you followed Ironman Texas this weekend you witnessed Andrew Starykowicz destroy the bike course only to be caught on the run. And Daniela Ryf made up a significant time gap on the run to win the women’s title. Always bet on the runner. Unless the runner is me, then bet on my buddy Dave. Actually, always bet on Dave, he’s 3-0 in our Ironman racing.) But seriously, what are you proving by just doing one segment of the race? After the swim leg, what do you do while the rest of us are still busting our butts? I better not hear you call yourself an Ironman.

As I read through the many comments I was seeing a lot of similar reactions to this announcement and I was hitting the “like” button for every comment that I agreed with.

“Give me a break. It’s an Ironman! This cheapens it. The last thing I want is some fresh-legged relay athlete zip past me as I’m actually enduring an Ironman. Save the relays for the Olympic distance. I’m not ripping on the athletes, but the Ironman has been the one true test for individuals in triathlons. That’s the beauty of it. The individual challenge mentally and physically.”

“It’s called Ironman, not Ironmen.”

“It’s about that adversity. I’m signing up for the relay as “me” doing the swim, “myself” on the bike, and “I” for the run!”

But as I sorted through those comments others started making valid points.

“Embrace it. It is good for the preservation of the sport or these races go away. Those who do the relay many times will do the full.”

“This opens the door to people who have injuries or are thinking of working up to doing a full one day to experience it. The more people outside doing something, the better! Run your race, meet your goals and let others do the same!”

“Sad that people rip on the relay! I’ve done two full Ironmans and now knee injury. This is a great idea. And for all those who knock it, I hope you always stay injury free and continue being able to do fulls. Not everyone is that lucky!”

So now I am conflicted. I definitely will defend the tradition of the race and what it means to be an Ironman. But if we can get more people involved, I’m all for that too. I don’t really know what to expect when I will be racing Chattanooga in late September. If I see a faster cyclist fly by will I assume he’s doing the relay? When I’m gassed on the run and someone trots by like they haven’t done the previous 2.4-mile swim and the 116-mile bike ride, will that make me angry? I’m not sure. A few commenters mentioned that everyone should do the race their way and not worry about the other group. I guess I will need to focus on myself like I usually do. This is why I would make a horrible judge. If both sides made valid arguments, I wouldn’t be able to make a decision on a winner.

TRAINING FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS

Last week was Easter and we had out of town plans, so I did some creative moving of my workouts and got the job done. And since I was out of town last weekend I didn’t have time to write my weekly wrap-up of training. So here are the details from the last two weeks.

Week 7 was jumbled around a little. I had the opportunity to run with the local running club F’NRC in a group run on Wednesday, which meant I ran twice that day. It was fun running with the group on a nice weeknight. I ended up skipping the long bike ride up north in Minocqua on Saturday, as they still had snow and ice on the bike path up there. Instead, I opted for doing the Sunday run on Saturday as I had a long drive home on Sunday with an additional trip to Valpo to take Ashley back to school.

Week 8 was looking to be a normal follow the plan training week. But the forecast for the weekend weather was terrible. A record-breaking late April snowstorm was predicted for Saturday, so I moved my Saturday 2-hour long bike ride to Friday and made it a bike/run brick, keeping my 1-hour run that was scheduled for Friday. That reminded me how tough brick workouts can be. I was pretty low on energy after that. My Gunner teammate Jeff asked this week as to when we start using gels on our weekend rides. I laughed at him because he’s a two-time Ironman and should know the answer by now, but I now found myself bonking because I didn’t remember that I should probably be adding more energy replacement into my workouts. Jeff’s not the dumb one, it’s me. At least he’s trying to be prepared for it. Although Saturday’s weather was crappy, we didn’t get anything more than a few ice pellets/sleet type stuff. I took Saturday off and had a great 1-hour run on a beautiful Sunday morning. So in all, the week ended well.

Week 7 Training Totals:

Swims: None > Rides: 2 total / 29 miles > Runs: 3 total / 22 miles

Week 8 Training Totals:

Swims: None > Rides: 3 total / 65 miles > Runs: 4 total / 23 miles

The Comparison Trap

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

WEEK 6 – Monday 4/8/19 – Sunday 4/14/19

I’m on a few Facebook group pages devoted to running, triathlon and some of the races I’ve done, and I have seen people post training and racing results that others will compare themselves to. I have done that in the past as well, but I learned that when you have a large group of athletes, there are going to be some that are really fast and some that are at the other end of the spectrum. I usually warn people, especially beginners to avoid comparing their times to those of others who may have been high school or college athletes, or who are twenty years younger than they are, or just simply more gifted athletically. But this week I kind of fell into that trap as well.

There was a guy who posted on a local cycling page that I was recently added to who claimed that he was going to ride on Saturday and asked if anyone wanted to join him for the two-hour ride. I was tempted to join in until I saw that he intended to ride at 18-20 mph. Really? Is your name Lance? Last week I rode very hard and out of my planned Z2 heart rate zone and could only barely manage 16 mph. Then others were commenting on his post like they would join him if they hadn’t already ridden earlier. I was taken aback by these people and their apparent ability to ride fast. I commented, “You all can go that pace?!” I really had trouble believing that some of these people could average that pace this early in the spring. I’m a 3-time Ironman dang it! Why can’t I do that too? So I got on my bike again and tried to see what I could do on a pretty windy day. My results were pretty much as I expected, 33 miles in 2 hours, averaging right around 16 mph, and way out of my Z2 training zone.

I looked up Mr. 18-20 MPH on Athlinks, a website that basically will show the results of races for anyone who has signed up and raced. Although he didn’t have any cycling results on Athlinks, he did have some running results. Those results were what I expected; a couple two hour half marathons and a nearly 5.5-hour marathon. I now doubted his ability a little more. But I know another guy on that page that struggles with running but can definitely kick butt on the bike. I reminded myself that generally cycling doesn’t make you a better runner, and running doesn’t make you a good cyclist. However, it did make me wonder what I am doing wrong that I can’t do that tempo as well. Then I realized that I fell into that comparison trap where I am comparing myself to someone I really have no idea of how fit he really is on the bike. I need to just worry about myself and progress slowly for 30 weeks to complete my goal. His goal isn’t mine, and I just need to remember that.

3OP3yT+oSFis7WPCg%A — I took a road I never use and ended up getting turned around a little. I took a quick moment to document my dumb self.

The weather this week was crazy. Some of the days were very spring-like and yet old man Winter would remind us that he’s not done yet and dump snow on us again. My Sunday run was forced indoors due to a crazy mid-April snow storm. Summer needs to get here fast!

Week 6 Training Totals:

Swims: None > Rides: 3 total / 61.6 miles > Runs: 4 total / 23 miles

One of my favorite running quotes: “Comparing our performances to the performances of other runners is not nearly as constructive as comparing our performances to our own potentials.” – Jack Nelson

I’m My Own Worst Enemy

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

gI_143462_Logo_IRONMANChattanooga[1]

WEEK 5 – Monday 4/1/19 – Sunday 4/7/19

When it comes to training sometimes I get too competitive with it. What starts out as a simple training workout, straight from the training plan, it often goes right out the door when I actually start the workout. I’m like a dog out for a simple walk until I see a squirrel, then the chase is on and I’m no longer interested in the simple walk.

Case in point for me this week was my Friday easy run. When I say easy I mean that it was a Zone 2 out of 4 heart rate based run, for 60 minutes. Essentially, this is a run that is done at a conversational pace, meaning that you should be able to easily carry on a conversation while running, rather than a Zone 4 race pace. That’s what the plan called for, but I had other plans. It was a nice day, and I had realized that the marathon that I had already decided to forego was coming up next weekend. I had planned on skipping the race due to a couple of injuries that prevented me from training sufficiently and the fact that I had decided to do Ironman Choo with my buddies instead. But I was curious about how far off my conditioning was, or if I was even capable of holding my 8 minutes per mile marathon race pace. So I headed out the door and started running comfortably hard, essentially Zone 3 on the heart rate scale to see if I was even anywhere near the ability to race a marathon. This is essentially a bad idea and I probably should have known better.

I was feeling pretty good. My continually sore legs weren’t really bothering me, and I felt no soreness in the upper thigh area where I had just recovered from the second of two muscle strains. About 1.75 miles into the run the squirrel appeared in the form of the local high school boys track team running hill repeats on the trail ahead of me.

Now, I’m not shy about challenging myself on this hill. Someone made it a Strava segment, and I currently sit at a tie for 10th place on this segment. My brain can typically shut down my urges, especially when I’m 1.75 miles into an 8-mile run, but this time there was a squirrel, several of them.

They were standing on the other side of the bridge at the bottom of the hill and as I hit the bridge they could hear me coming and turned to look with a surprised (who the hell is this guy?) look on their faces. I had already decided to race them up the hill, but that wasn’t enough. I shouted, “DON’T LET AN OLD GUY BEAT YOU UP THIS HILL!” And with that one kid yelled “NO WAY!” and the race was on.

I guess that there were about a dozen of shirtless boys that I started with. By comparison, I was wearing a long sleeve tech shirt and long sleeve windbreaker over that. Plus I had the disadvantage of being 40 years older than them. I overheard a kid tell the coach at the bottom of the hill that this was his 7th and last hill repeat, so I guess it was kind of an unfair fight, but that equates to about the same distance I had run to get there, and I hadn’t taken it easy either.

I started picking off kids, which I found easier than I thought it would be. A few could hear me coming and kept looking behind to see how close I was getting, but they would get caught. About halfway up the hill, my heart felt like it was about to leap out of my chest. The kids I was slowly passing seemed like it wasn’t even bothering them that much, but their effort said otherwise. As I got to the top of the hill there was another coach there waiting for the group. “I just outran half your team up that hill, coach!” I told him between heavy panting. He smiled and laughed. I continued on to the nearby intersection and was glad to see that I would have to wait for the light to cross the street so I could get a much-needed rest. To my surprise, I was able to continue most of the remainder of the hour-long run around my marathon pace without much difficulty, but I knew that continuing on for a full 26.2 miles would have been a challenge.

Although this run could have easily sabotaged my week, it didn’t, but I never seem to learn from these dumb challenges. My Saturday long bike ride resulted in me pushing myself again. This was my first effort outside after spending my winter bike training on a spin bike indoors. Those indoor rides would make me sweat, but never really tire me out. I was essentially doing high spin rides and conditioning my butt to a saddle more than working my legs hard. But I wanted to prove that they were equal to my outdoor rides, so I tried to ride the same speed outside that I was doing inside. Big mistake. It was a challenge for me to keep my average speed above 16 mph, whereas indoors it was my typical easy ride. That just goes to show that riding indoors, whether it be a bike on a trainer or a spin bike, is not on the same level as being outside dealing with wind and a variety of rolling terrain. It’s still better than not riding at all.

I finish these efforts and often reflect as to how close I was to the actual workout, and often times I am shooting myself in the foot. Even with my constant achy legs and what seems like quickly diminishing ability to go fast at 55, I can’t seem to remember sometimes that the goal is to pace myself throughout the 30 weeks of training so I can adequately pace myself through 140.6 miles, or at Chattanooga 144.6 miles. I gotta stop being my own worst enemy.

Week 5 Training Totals:

Swims: None > Rides: 3 total / 51.6 miles > Runs: 4 total / 21 miles

Two For One Training Update

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

gI_143462_Logo_IRONMANChattanooga[1]

WEEKS 3 AND 4 – Monday 3/18/19 – Sunday 3/31/19

I am a little behind in the weekly logging of my Ironman training due to leaving for spring break and not having access to a computer, as well as not having any desire to post about it as I was trying to enjoy my vacation. So I will wrap up the past two weeks with one post.

Week 3 was going just fine until I strained another high leg/groin muscle, this time in my left leg. This left me very sore and unable to run. The same injury happened a few weeks ago in my right leg, which left me unable to get in the mileage I was hoping to do while training for a spring marathon. Due to that lack of training due to injury, and the fact that I had signed up for this Ironman, I decided to pull the plug on attempting to run another marathon and try for another Boston Marathon qualifier. I ran Boston for the first time in 2018 and it was really all I needed to accomplish with it. I found the journey of getting there to be more rewarding than actually running Boston. By the time Boston rolled around I was overtrained, tired of killing myself, and thanks to one of the worst weather days in the history of the race, it wasn’t much fun. The emotions of finishing my first Boston Marathon were special, especially on that day, but I will cherish the effort it took to get there more than the race itself, as I ran it much like a victory lap that I couldn’t really enjoy due to the weather. Enough about Boston. I pulled the plug on the upcoming marathon because there was no way I would be ready, and I didn’t want anything messing up my Ironman training. Boston will have to wait until a time in the future when I really want to do it again. I will get to enjoy watching my son and his girlfriend run Boston for their first time instead of running it with them. Actually, running it “with” them isn’t even a possibility, as they are much faster than I am.

So in Week 3, I was only able to get in one 5-mile run. Biking wasn’t affected and I was able to get in what I needed to. I rode the Saturday 1 hour 45-minute ride on Friday instead because I was leaving on vacation Saturday. One thing I was able to accomplish with my bum leg was to work on a small portion of my running path that is plagued with potholes. I took a shovel and filled them in and was proud of my work.

Week 4 was a week for touring the Confederate South, as my wife and I took our daughter on a college visit tour of two southern colleges, Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee, and the University of South Carolina in Columbia. On the trip back home, we also stopped in West Lafayette, Indiana for a look at Purdue University. There was a lot of walking involved in these tours, a lot of sitting in cars, and not a lot of great opportunities to workout. I did squeeze in a spin bike workout in the hotel gym with a short two-mile brick added to it on Tuesday and decided not to worry about missing anything else.

We did a 4.5-mile hike in Gatlinburg, Tennessee through some relatively tough terrain. Lots of uphill walking, stones, and climbing. It was a good alternative workout. I’ll take it.

yKcNK8SCR5SqxrXM8d82lA — Becca and I hiking in Tennessee

We walked a ton during the tour of Purdue. It was a big campus and the tour guides walked us everywhere.

Upon getting back home on Friday, I was able to do the planned 90-minute bike workout but chose to do it on the spin bike at the gym instead of outside. After having some decent weather on our trip, I was a little disappointed to find Illinois was rainy and colder. Sunday’s 60-minute run went well on a windy but sunny 30-degree day.

So I think I will benefit a little from taking a little break to get back on track. I had originally planned to follow the “Just Finish” plan but I have given in to peer pressure a little from my training buddies who are all following the competitive plan. I will make sure to stay in the planned zones and not overdo it.

On to Week 5!

Week 3 & 4 Training Totals:

Swims: None > Rides: 5 total / 87.75 miles > Runs: 3 total / 14 miles