IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 10 WRAP-UP – MAY 11, 2025
Week 10 of a sixteen-week half-iron distance training plan, and I finally logged a swim. It went about as well as expected. Although the movement through the water was efficient at first, I quickly got tired, and my legs began to sink. I checked my watch, thinking I was near halfway done – nope, only 8 minutes into a planned 30-minute swim. I did this swim after running eight miles, which was always the norm for me – why swim first? Jump in after a run or bike, cool down, then swim is my typical method. But seeing that I haven’t done a swim workout in about a year, I was low on energy and desire. Somehow, I got through the 30 minutes at a 2:20/100 pace, a pace that I will need to improve on in these last few weeks. I give this swim a C-, which is not great, but a passing grade nonetheless.
Then the foot cramps started. Oh, how I missed them. I’m sure that I needed to hydrate better, maybe take some electrolytes, and all that. But these cramps happen to people who try to do workouts that they haven’t built up to yet, and that is me to a T. I will add more water and electrolytes to my day, and keep swimming, hoping to build some swimming strength and avoid foot cramps.
I managed a second swim on Sunday, which went a little better. Form was better, strength was a tad better, and I didn’t drown. Moved up to a B-.
Overall, I have gotten stronger and regained some speed in my running and cycling over these last 10 weeks. I’m a firm believer that triathlon is one of the best forms of cross-training, as I am mostly injury-free and moving better. I keep saying that I’m quitting triathlon after this race, but the workouts have been great for me. We’ll see.
Speaking of quitting triathlon, I mentioned to my buddy Dave that as soon as Rockford is over, I intend to sell all my triathlon gear and quit this dumb sport. Dave, who is currently in year four of quitting this dumb sport himself, looked me straight in the eye and responded with, “Oh no, don’t do that. Don’t quit yet.” What the hell does that mean?! I can tell you right now that it means trouble for me. If he intends to jump back in, he’s not dragging my tired ass back into it. And I’m sure he wants to have all of us do an Ironman again. Nope, not going to happen. I’m retiring from triathlon as soon as that medal from Rockford gets hung around my neck.
Back to the hydration/fueling topic – Last week, I spent time traveling with my friend Karen to do the Rockford 70.3 course preview, and we discussed nutrition, with her saying that she likes to use Tailwind, a 200-calorie powder that you add to 20-24 oz. of water, as her main source of fuel and electrolytes. I’ve always stuck with gels, as they are 100 calories each (I take 2 per hour) and also contain electrolytes, and I can drink plain water instead. Plus, you don’t have to stop and mix the packet with water, a messy proposition for me. With liquid nutrition, you have to drink all of the bottle’s contents in an hour to stay on top of it, and I just never was one for drinking that much water. If it’s hot, yes, I will drink copious amounts of water. If it is cool, I may not drink a whole bottle in an hour. I tried another brand once, and it did not taste good at all. I can’t handle anything chalky tasting. But Karen insisted that Tailwind was just like drinking flavored water. So I ordered the caffeinated Raspberry flavor and the caffeine-free Naked flavor (or lack of flavor). The result – chalky, and it tastes just like the other brand that I didn’t like. When will I learn? But I decided that maybe I would give it a chance, and drank it as my main fuel/hydration source on the 13.25-mile run that I did on Friday, as well as the 71-mile bike ride I did on Saturday. I might be able to get used to it, or at least get through the forty packets of it that I bought.
The Saturday long ride was going great until it wasn’t. I had seen the weather forecast and knew that the wind direction would change mid-afternoon. I got on my bike for the planned four-hour, fifteen-minute ride around 8:30, hoping I would get it done before having to fight the wind. For 55 miles, I was going great, probably averaging about 17.5 mph. Then I turned for home and could feel the wind strongly in my face, as well as the temperature drop that came with it. At points, I was barely managing 10-11 mph. I gave some thought to calling my wife, Kari, to come get me, as I was nearly out of gas, but I had brought some gels with me and took one to help me power through the remaining 40 minutes. I was zapped when I got home, and decided to skip the 45-minute brick run after the ride.
It’s not uncharacteristic to start calculating and predicting how you might do in the race based on your current workouts, and mid-ride, I was thinking sub-6 hours maybe possible. After the ride, that seems like a big wish at this point. But I have roughly six more weeks to go to get myself dialed in. More swims, bikes, and runs to come.
Week 10 Totals: Swims 2/2650 yards – Bikes 3/107 miles – Runs 3/25 miles
an amazing run 