Louisville – Page 4 – an amazing run

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

Gunners-2-1 — **Week 6 – 1/5 of the way there!**

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

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