training – an amazing run

Oh Boy, Here We Go

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 15 & 16 WRAP-UP – June 16, 2025

As I wrapped up a really bad Week 15, I got busy focusing on this last week of training before the race on Sunday. Commonly called the “taper week”, this should really be called “madness week.” It’s pretty common to have some pre-race nerves leading up to the race, but man, everyone is freaking out, including myself!

Let’s rehash last week. I was up in northern Wisconsin and went out for my Tuesday run, an 8-miler, that has been the norm for the past several Tuesdays. It was cool, and I felt like pushing the pace a little bit. Welp, just before I got to the 6-mile mark, my right hamstring stopped me in my tracks. Yup, I pulled a hammie and had to walk the remaining two miles back to my truck. I got a little down thinking that I had just jeopardized my run race for the 70.3, but I spent the rest of the week laying off running, and it seems to be doing better. It didn’t affect my cycling at all, nor was it bothering me while working around the yard.

Then I tried an open water swim. I haven’t done an OWS in over a year, and silly me thought that it would be old hat. Nope. It was cold in both the air and the water temperatures. It was brutal, I’m talking the mid-50s. Garmin actually gave me the “Arctic Swim” badge after I hit stop on my watch.

A Garmin badge I never wanted and never intended to earn.

I started too fast, and quickly was out of breath. Fortunately, my wife Kari was kayaking alongside so I could take a break if needed. I took three, or maybe four, I don’t remember because my brain was frozen. My planned mile-long swim lasted 866 yards. It was not the confidence booster that I had hoped for. However, my coach-wife and I discussed it and tried to make it a positive experience instead of focusing on the failure. I was reminded that I need to start slow, very slow, and get myself under control. A lot of the high heart rate and being out of breath was due to the cold temperature, and my just not being able to focus on slowing down. But, I definitely won’t have to worry about it being that cold on race day because it’s predicted to be 94 FRICKING DEGREES FARENHEIT ON RACE DAY!!!

Oh boy, here we go again with another triathlon in miserable heat. Fortunately, I have experience in that area. I was a proud finisher of the 2019 Ironman Chattanooga race, a day that was in the mid-90s with a heat index in the low-100s. Somehow, I got through that non-wetsuit swim and the very warm ride and run. Maybe I should re-read that race report: 2019 Ironman Chattanooga Race Report I’m sure I can survive this as well, that is, if I just THROW AWAY THE WHOLE RACE PLAN THAT I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON FOR 16 FRICKING WEEKS!!!

Yeah, the plan was to go sub-six hours; have a great current-aided swim, not dawdle in transition, rock the bike like I stole it, then dial in for a sub-2-hour 1/2 marathon. Best laid plans… Now I will shift my focus to wrapping my head around the swim possibly not being wetsuit legal, and dialing it back on the ride and run to avoid heat exhaustion. And pray that my hamstring doesn’t flare up.

Time to stop focusing on what I can’t control, and get my mind in a better place. I’m off to sort through 13 years of triathlon related crap I own to figure out what I need to bring to the race. Next post will be the race report! Stay tuned.

Birds Of A Feather

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 13 WRAP-UP – June 1, 2025

I like birds for the most part. They rarely cause any trouble for me, and they are fun to watch. I gifted my wife a bird feeder with a camera for her birthday this year, and we have had fun watching the variety of birds stopping by for unlimited seeds.

But there is one bird I hate with all my physical being – the red-winged blackbird. This is the asshole of the bird world. Seeing that I live in Illinois and run through nature preserves on my route, I get to see these jerks on a regular basis. There are two of these birds that nest near a tree alongside the trail that I run on. First comes the hideous call, which is just the precursor to what comes next, the dive-bombing. I don’t regularly get an adrenaline rush while running, but these damn birds give me one every time. And they are very adept at staying exactly above your head so you can’t see them, squawking their little heads off and putting the fear of death into you until you are just far enough out of their territory. All I can do is take my visor off and wave it around, looking like a loon-atic (bird pun) until I am in a safe spot. I guess I can take comfort in knowing that it only lasts FOR THE ENTIRE SUMMER.

Photo credit to Charlie H., which I stole from Facebook without permission.

I saw a post from the local riding group that I ride with by my super-stud friend Charlie, who advised that he was doing a “chill” ride with another rider named Amy for 3.5 hours. A “chill” ride for Charlie should be taken with caution, as he normally has two speeds: all-out and stopped. “Chill” could easily mean 19 mph for him. But I got the sense that Amy was not going to be going super fast, and I decided to join in. I’m glad that I did because it was a fun ride, and I enjoyed meeting Amy. She is doing Boulder 70.3 in two weeks and seems to be experiencing some burnout, just like me. When you get to a certain point in training, you just want to get the race over with. I’m getting close to that point.

Coming back from that long ride, I was stopped at a railroad crossing waiting for a freight train to pass, and just behind me was a 1963 Buick Riviera. As I backed up to ask him about his car, he was instead wanting to know how much riding he would need to do to look like I do! I was a little flattered, as I am as fat right now as I have ever been, but I told him that I was 63 miles into my ride and had about 4 to go. His jaw dropped. Then came the words that I could have anticipated – “I need to do what you do, but I just don’t have the time.” Non-exercisers always have some excuse, and any conversation I have with people who are surprised at how much work I do running and biking will always have that caveat – I don’t have the time. Oftentimes, it is the desire to do the work, but a lack of time is a common excuse. I said to him, “If I had more time, I would be driving around my classic car instead of doing this!”

Training went well this week for me, and I had two strong swims to help boost my confidence a little bit. I have no doubt that I’m prepared for the bike and run, but my swim could use a little more work. Thankfully, my race in Rockford, IL will be current aided, and I am counting on that to not make me work so hard.

Week 13 Totals: Swims 2/2726 yards – Bikes 3/100 miles – Runs 5/35 miles

Break Time

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 12 WRAP-UP – MAY 26, 2025

Sometimes the plan I follow gifts you an easier week, sometimes you have to take it. It was the latter for me this week, as the midweek workouts suffered from the cool and rainy days, forcing me inside to do my workouts, which can be a big downer for me sometimes. This spring has been really weird, and summer seems to be taking its time getting here.

Memorial Day weekend also means a trip up to our lake home in northern Wisconsin, where there is a bunch of chores and work to be done. So, the training this week took a backseat to the weather and the responsibilities of owning a second home.

But that doesn’t mean I sat around doing nothing. Although no swimming was done, I did get in the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday workouts. Thursday was a run that I managed to get outside for and push myself a little too hard. That resulted in some sore hamstrings and a reminder that I need to not race in training. I can sense that I will show up to the 70.3 in four weeks with some soreness that can easily be prevented if I just would have taken it easier.

Friday was a rest day, if you consider sitting in a car with sore legs for 6 hours “resting”. Saturday was for working around the yard, raking leaves, mowing grass, and dragging the deck furniture out of the garage. I also took time to wash our snowmobiles and will need to “summerize” them in a couple of weeks.

Sunday was the gift day, a nice ride on the Bearskin Trail down to the town of Nokomis. I didn’t bring enough water and couldn’t find anywhere to refill the bottles when I arrived. So as you can probably figure, I suffered on the ride back home. Fortunately, the beauty of the Northwoods helped offset the suffering.

I’ll be back at it this week at home, hopefully getting back outside again, and also doing some much-needed swimming. I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend as much as I did.

Week 12 Totals: Swims 0 – Bikes 3/91 miles – Runs 3/16 miles

Wind/Pollen/Dust – Oh My!

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 11 WRAP-UP – MAY 18, 2025

Classic Rock lives in my head, and this week was a little rocky, so here’s the playlist (more like earworms) of this week in training.

Bicycle Race – Queen

I’ve been riding my e-bike pretty regularly to work and back the past couple of weeks. The temps have been warmer, and it hasn’t rained. But my bottom bracket on this bike has been creaking and making popping noises so much that it just can’t be ignored any longer. Thursday did, however, look to possibly have storms in the afternoon, so instead of trying to ride home and then hop on my tribike for an actual workout, I opted to extend my ride commute home and use the e-bike for the workout. I powered it down to the lowest level and rode 20 miles on it, making it home in time to also get in a swim. The storm? It may have rained for 10 minutes in the late afternoon. I took my bike into the local bike shop to have it looked at, but come Monday, I will really just want to ride my bicycle again, even if it is to work and back.

Dust In The Wind – Kansas

Friday was hot, and lately the pollen around the Chicago area has been off the charts. I came home and headed out for my 8.25-mile run. When I got home, there was a weather alert on my phone for a potential dust storm. That storm was something we hadn’t had here, well, in like ever. Fortunately, I only had to deal with the pollen on the run and not the dust, as it would have been miserable.

A screenshot of the brown dust storm heading into Chicagoland.

Against The Wind – Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

Me wondering why I didn’t listen to my wife on this crazy windy day.

My “coach wife” Kari was looking at her phone and said, “It looks like your best day for biking this weekend is Sunday.” Great. I have had to move my weekend schedule around so much this training cycle that I was dreading the swap. It means moving the bike to Sunday, which is no big deal, but it puts the typical Sunday long run on Saturday and makes it a back-to-back hard run effort after the Friday run. Did I listen to my wife? No, I chose to ride on Saturday, a day that was cold and windy. Fortunately, the wind would be in my face heading out this time, unlike last week when I suffered trying to make it back home after a long ride. Going out toward the west was hard, but coming back, I was flying. I put in 55 miles on the ride, and then followed it up with a 5-mile brick run. Sometimes you just have to take on the day as it is presented. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, as race day is always a gamble.

The turnaround point for many of us is the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, IL. It’s hard not to be thankful for the service to our country these lives once gave us when I am here.

Lust For Life – Iggy Pop

I was running that 5-mile brick run and caught up to a runner I see on the trail all the time, and we always share a wave and hello. This time we were running in the same direction when I caught him, and we introduced ourselves and talked about our running plans for the year. Tom, as I learned, is newish at running, but has three marathons under his belt and had a ton of questions about fueling for me as he was trying to figure that part of it out. It really was a high-energy conversation that I enjoyed, and it ended quicker than I wanted it to, as my trail home went opposite of his. He definitely had a lust for life and running, too.

Running On Empty – Jackson Browne

Sunday came, and I was still sore from the 60-mile effort on Saturday. A lot of the time, getting a run workout done when you really don’t want to is to just get dressed and take the first steps out the door. And that’s what I did today. Put my foot outside the door, paraphrasing Robert Plant on Led Zeppelin’s The Ocean. But once out, I could feel the strain of running on tired legs. Running on empty, for sure. I kept putting one foot in front of the other and ended with a nice 10.75 miles. Just get out there, and you might surprise yourself.

That wraps up the soundtrack for the week. I’m sure I will have something in my head next week.

Week 11 Totals: Swims 2/2600 yards – Bikes 3/88 miles – Runs 5/35 miles

Life Happens

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEKS 7/8 WRAP-UP – APRIL 27, 2025

Sometimes the best-laid plans of a triathlete in training often go awry, to paraphrase poet Robert Burns, and the past two weeks have been that way for me. Last week, I took a trip to Florida with the family over Easter to visit my in-laws, which made for a nice escape, and that included an escape from my training. I ran a couple of times over that extended 5-day excursion, but did little else other than enjoy my family being together and enjoying a break from our busy lives.

This past week also had some conflicts: my wife Kari’s birthday, a memorial service for an old friend, an appointment to have my sprinkler system fixed, and the ever-changing weather around here causing disruptions to the training plan. Somehow, I managed to get back at it until I got derailed again with a very sore throat at the end of the week. I could feel it coming on, and thought that maybe it was just a reaction to the bad pollen levels we are experiencing. Nope, it turned into a cold.

Wednesday’s call for a bike/run brick workout that I normally let myself push pace, but found that my calf muscles were not happy about that, cramping up occasionally while I tried to get through 45 minutes of biking followed by a 30-minute run. I grabbed a Gatorade after the bike and took a big swig from it, hoping that a swig of electrolytes would set me straight, but I thought that I better bring it with me. I’m glad I did. Normally, I never cramp while running, but the bike effort had already done its damage. Nevertheless, as I moved forward slowly, sipping away at the Gatorade, I was able to find my stride again. It was a wake-up call, though – I need to focus on hydrating more and making sure that I’m taking in enough electrolytes.

The weather is starting to look warmer here in the Chicago area, and I started thinking about opening the pool. Closing and opening a pool both include a fair amount of work, but there’s definitely more cleaning up with the spring opening. So while the sprinkler guy worked on the sprinkler valve, I gathered my pool opening supplies and read through my notes. Even though I have opened my pool by myself for almost 20 years, each year I forget how to do it. I’m losing it.

I held out hope for feeling good by the weekend, and on Saturday morning, I decided that I felt good enough to run. I planned to take it easy and just run and walk through the 1:45 run, but I felt good and changed my mind, running it straight through. I felt pretty good, but after getting home, my body didn’t like that. I was drained, and now my sore throat was accompanied by a cough. Time to take some medicine.

I opted to skip the long ride this weekend, and instead I filled the time opening the pool and mowing the grass. The pool was pretty clean, and didn’t take much time to vacuum and start the heater going. I should be swimming by Tuesday, or maybe Thursday.

So, life threw some curveballs at me this past two weeks, but experience has taught me not to worry about it. I will pick the plan back up this next week and keep moving forward.

Week 7/8 Totals: Swims 0 – Bikes; Far too few – Runs: Nowhere near enough

Comfort Zone/Danger Zone

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 6 WRAP-UP – APRIL 13, 2025

I put in some good work this week and was feeling pretty good about it. I had not had any nagging issues or pains to deal with for a few weeks now, and I knew better to tempt fate by declaring myself back to normal. What is normal, anyway? I’m not sure if people who put themselves through this type of training for this dumb sport are ever normal. But, I was feeling good and taking notice of it.

I have a usual running route that I take almost every time, and I had noticed that someone had painted little mile markings on the trail. I later realized that these markings were for a local 1/2 marathon race that I have run a few times in the past. As I was running my 6-mile run, I was feeling good and started to think that maybe running that race again might be a good test for myself. I began to push pace, and as the run was winding down, I could feel myself tiring, and the hamstrings started to bark at me, reminding me that any “feeling good” effort could lead to bad things. I decided that pushing myself at this stage of training was not in my best interests. Stay in the comfort zone and avoid the danger zone.

I was tempted to swap my long Saturday ride and long Sunday ride as that Sunday group ride was becoming a fun time for me. But I thought the best riding conditions would be Saturday, so I stuck with that. I was glad I did, because Sunday was a windy day, to say the least.

I overdressed a little for the sunny ride, but I wasn’t uncomfortable. Since the ride was a three hour, fifteen minute ride, I figured I would ride to the west and add on out there if I needed more time/distance. I realized that 3:15 would be a time near that 70.3 bike of 56 miles, so I decided that 3:15 or 56 miles would be a good ride and might be a good way of telling me where I stand at this point of training.

I felt great, and the miles were flying by. I don’t know if riding the gravel bike as I have been doing lately was just harder for me and I didn’t realize it, or if the tri bike was just that much faster. It seemed effortless. Most of the ride felt great, but the comfort zone of the first 2/3’s of that ride started dipping into the danger zone in the last 1/3. I made it home with a 56-mile split of 3:16, not too far off of where I thought I could be, and I think that there is time to get a little faster. I’d like to be somewhere near three hours for the bike portion of the race in June.

2-hours into the ride and a little stop for a nature break and a stroopwafel. Nice day for riding!

The plan called for a run right after the ride, so I changed into running gear and was out running within 5 minutes. The bike was causing numbness in my left foot, and I hoped that it wouldn’t affect my running, but it did. But it seemingly didn’t affect my pace. I felt labored and couldn’t believe that I had an 8:40 first mile split. I pushed on and could sense that I was definitely entering the danger zone again, feeling like I was about to run out of gas. I made it home with a 3.25 mile run and a need for some Gatorade and nourishment. Seems like I went a little too far into the danger zone. The 59-mile day was a wake-up call, letting me know that I am not quite ready to tackle the half-iron race distance. But I’m getting closer. Back at it next week, and back to the comfort zone, I hope.

Week 6 Totals: Swims 0 – Bikes 3 rides/85 miles – Runs 5/27.6 miles

Character Building

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 4 WRAP-UP – MARCH 30, 2025

I was a little concerned about the weather for the weekend, so I thought I might have to shuffle things around again to make sure that I got the important weekend workouts done and not skip them. Sunday looked to be the worst of the weather, so I moved that long run to Friday and did two hours of easy run/walk through 10 miles. Friday was a good day to do it; a little windy, but otherwise, very comfortable.

That left Saturday for the bike as usual. My plan indicated that I was supposed to do two hours and fifteen minutes of riding. A day or two earlier, Jim, a local friend who admins our local bike “club,” posted on Facebook that he was planning a 3-hour gravel ride on Saturday. Three hours was a little more than the 2:15 ride I was supposed to do, but I figured it wouldn’t kill me. I replied that I’d be there and crossed my fingers for good weather.

I normally would have ridden to the normal meet-up location, but since the ride was going to be three hours, I didn’t want the extra 40 minutes of riding. I loaded my stuff into my truck and drove to meet Jim. As I backed out of the driveway, I could see sprinkles of rain on the windshield. It was raining consistently when I met up with Jim and another rider, Dave. I invited Jim into my truck, as he had ridden the half-mile to the school from his house, and we checked the radar. The rain let up enough to begin the ride, but since Jim’s house was on the way, we stopped for him to get some extra riding gear to handle the weather. I was starting to think that this ride was going to be a character builder – one that you don’t want to do, but if forced to do it, you would get it done.

As we began again, the rain had stopped, but what was on the road was spraying our legs, feet, and butts. But it wouldn’t be long before we would dry out from riding and enjoying a nice gravel ride through the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. We had no overall plan other than to get to Midewin and then wander through the park, exploring different abandoned roads and trails that none of us had explored before. Jim had realized that his front tire was going flat, and I just so happened to have brought along my new electronic pocket pump, which filled his tire quickly, and thanks to his tubeless tire setup, I think the tire probably had enough sealant in it to stop the leak.

Upon riding through Midewin for a while, we arrived at a newly re-opened trail that had been closed for the past couple of seasons. Jim suggested that we ride over Route 53 and then loop back. I looked at my watch, and it showed 1 hour and 50 minutes of riding. The Gilligan’s Island theme song popped into my head – “A three hour tour, a three hour tour.” If we kept riding further out, this was going to turn into a much longer than a three-hour ride. It was a good thing that I had a stash of extra gels in my bike top tube bag.

Of course, the first bridge we got to said “CLOSED DANGER” or something like that. We crossed it anyway. Building character. The next little bridge we came to was also apparently closed, as it had mounds of crushed limestone piled in front of it. The ground next to it looked wet but possibly passable, so we dismounted and walked through the wet stuff, just barely sensing some water seeping into our shoes. More character building. We rode a little further and came to another bridge that was impassable due to a creek, and we just weren’t ready for that type of character building, so we decided to turn back. Upon getting to the swampy bridge that we had previously just passed, I said screw it and rode my bike through it. It might not have been the most sound idea I have had, but I must have picked the correct gearing to get through it without sinking. We gathered again, and up ahead of us was a single rider stopped, looking at the ground. She was looking at a snake she had narrowly missed and then said hello. After a brief introduction, Kristen said that she was from South Carolina and had recently relocated to the Chicago area and was exploring the preserve. She was headed for the direction we had just turned back from, and she decided to join us as we found an alternate route. Kristen wasn’t any new rider; she shot ahead with us three older guys trying to keep up. She wanted to see the bison, so we headed that way, and we weren’t disappointed. The bison were out grazing in the prairie, and Kristen found them to be worth the trip to the area.

Kristen decided to visit the park’s visitor center, and we parted ways, deciding to head back to our cars. We got a little turned around, riding a little bit out or our way again (more character building), then finally into the town of Manhattan. We decided to pick up some fuel, but the little eatery that Jim wanted to stop at was now closed. A trip a little bit down the road found us parking our bikes in front of a Dunkin’ Donuts and heading in for a brief refueling. Then it started to sprinkle.

The sprinkling led to consistent rain, and it wasn’t looking good. We opted to ride a busier road as it was a more direct route, but other than the driving rain, we had no further issues.

I had mentioned this character-building ride several times to Jim as we kept making dumb decisions, and each time he said he didn’t need any character building, as he was already a “character.” Aren’t we all?

But the ride did provide a couple of insights for me. If I need to ride in weather conditions that I would normally avoid, I can do it. And, after logging nearly 56 miles, I don’t have to worry about covering that distance in my upcoming race. Twelve more weeks of character-building to go.

Week 4 Totals: Swims 0 – Bikes 3 rides/84.5 miles – Runs 4/23 miles

Settling In

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 3 WRAP-UP – MARCH 23, 2025

As I headed out the door to wrap up the week with an 8-mile run, I had a couple things on my mind. First, don’t overdo this run. Find a nice, easy pace and settle in for the duration. And second, get this run done before it starts raining!

I found that the comfortable pace I started out with was good, right in the zone of not overdoing anything. But as hustled across the street with the green light, my pace quickened, and the next thing I knew I was running at my usual running pace. Once I was a mile into the run, and also into the hills, I realized that this was not the original plan, I reigned myself back in and got back into a more casual pace.

If you are a runner, you probably have a pace that you run, one that your body just falls into and feels natural. Most people walk at the same pace every time or talk at the same rate as well. Running is no different. Although I am saying pace, what I really mean is cadence. When my buddies and I were training for our first Ironman in 2013, we were wrapping up a long bike with a short run together, and one of them commented that I took a lot of steps. I quickly replied, “Yes, 180 steps per minute.” That I knew how many steps I took per minute was a surprise to him, but unknowingly I had settled into my usual cadence. I was a little faster of a runner than they were at the time, and I had shortened my stride to run with them, but that same cadence or leg turnover remained the same. I had settled into that cadence.

As I wrap up Week 3 of training, I have also found myself settling into the routine of training for a 70.3. That feeling of being in the right zone is where I need to be right now.

Week 3 Totals: Swims 0 – Bikes 3 rides/53.5 miles – Runs 6/26 miles

It’s All Coming Back To Me

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 2 WRAP-UP – MARCH 16, 2025

This week was a little turned around for me. The weather was cool some days, then it shot up to the mid 70s and turned windy. Plus, I had to testify in a big local case that ate up my Thursday sitting around waiting to “speak the truth,” as a former coworker used to call testifying in court. I hadn’t testified in a criminal case in probably 15 years, and that one was a huge case. I admit I had a little bit of nerves, as well as just not having the best start to my week in general. So, following the plan meant making some adjustments this week.

My tri bike hasn’t been ridden with any regularity since I raced my last Ironman race in Chattanooga in 2021. Occasionally I would get it down, pump up the tires and take a short spin on it, but it really has just been literally hanging around in the garage from the ceiling. I have been mostly riding my gravel bike, which gives me the option of riding more than just paved trails and roads. It is a comfortable ride and has been pretty dependable. Since signing up for the Rockford 70.3, I knew that the tri bike would be the better choice for the race.

Some people give their bike a name, like “Leroy,” or “Black Beauty,” but I have always referred to my tri bike as my “Pile of Money.” Not very catchy, I must admit, but it is true – tri bikes are stupidly expensive. I lifted it off the hooks where it hangs from the garage ceiling, gave it a good mechanical going over, pumped some air in the tires, and waited for an optimal day to ride it. Since Saturday is my typical long ride day in my plan, the weather looked to be better on Friday to do the ride. It was a warm day, but the winds were straight out of the south, maybe a little southwest, but I figured that once I got to the east/west trail, I wouldn’t need to worry about the wind.

I fired up all my gizmos, put my water bottle in the cage, and threw my leg over the seat to head out. Wow. I have forgotten how uncomfortable tri bikes are. I can’t believe that I have ridden this thing through 5 Ironman races and thousands of training miles. My butt had immediate memory recall. That seat is nowhere near as comfortable as the one on my gravel bike. The gravel bike isn’t as nimble but the tri bike reacts to me doing the smallest little movement. It took a little time to get used to that feeling again. I also couldn’t believe how much faster I felt like I was riding.

Then I hit the cross winds. Riding my tri bike with aero wheels is a little like carrying a piece of plywood on a windy day. But that got sorted out pretty quickly.

Then came the calf muscle cramps! Let’s not forget about how fun those are. People will ask why they get cramps when riding, and many will offer dehydration, or lack of electrolytes, and suggest drinking pickle juice for some crazy reason. Sure, I guess those could be things to look at. But for me, Charlie Horse-type calf cramps always occur at the beginning of a training cycle, when my calf muscles just aren’t ready for the workload yet. There’s a reason why we ease into training with a base phase. It reminded me of when I used to coach youth baseball. At the first practice, I would pitch batting practice and end the day with my arm dragging on the ground. I could never remember to get my arm ready for the season. But by the end of the season, I was in no need of a reliever.

Coming home, a nice tailwind that pushed me up to 30 mph. That was exhilarating somewhat, and definitely put a smile on my face. That is one memory jog that made me feel good about riding the tri bike.

While I was testifying, I soon found the questions to be very familiar and could easily predict where the discussion was heading. I settled in and got through it. And with the tri bike, they say that you never forget how to ride a bike. That might be true, but there is a little more to it with getting comfortable again riding my “Pile of Money.” I’m sure getting reacquainted will be quick. I hope I get reacquainted with swimming as easily.

Week 2 Totals: Swims 0 – Bikes 2 rides/35 miles – Runs 3/14.5 miles

Ironman 70.3 Rockford Illinois – Let The Fun Begin!

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 1

Back in June 2024, my running and Ironman friend Susan messaged me to ask if I had heard any rumblings about a new Ironman 70.3 race coming to the Midwest, specifically the Chicago area. We were trying to come up with which community had the best shot at it – Chicago? Crystal Lake? Maybe the North Shore area? I had not heard anything about a new race, but it started spreading excitement and it wasn’t long before Ironman made the announcement that Rockford, Illinois would be the newest race on the 70.3 circuit. Although I wasn’t really planning to do any more long distance triathlon racing, I was definitely interested. Once it was announced and sign-up opened, I decided to be among the first racers in this inaugural race.

Rockford is located about 90 minutes from me, so having a race that I won’t have to travel far to is a nice bonus. Once the weather warms up, I plan on driving out and doing the bike loop to see what will be in store for us on race day. I have run the now defunct Rockford Marathon twice – 2009 and 2010 – the prior being my return to marathoning after a long break from running that distance. So the return to Rockford for the 70.3 is somewhat befitting, since it has been four years since my last Ironman and eleven years since my one and only 70.3 in Muncie, Indiana. Time to get that adrenaline rush going again and enjoying triathlon training.

Two of my Gunner teammates will be joining in on the fun – Jeff, who is also planning on doing Ironman Wisconsin, and his sister Jan. This race might be the first half-iron race for them, but they are experienced Ironman finishers. There are also a few local friends doing it as well – Jennifer, who just rocks whatever race she does – Leah, who has officially dipped her toes into the triathlon waters and now is ready to do a cannonball into the deep end – and Chad, who I met last year on a local gravel ride and has since finished Ironman Chattanooga. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone. I think Susan opted to pass, but I’m sure I will see her on many of the training rides this summer.

I will be following the competitive 16-week plan in Don and Melanie Fink’s IronFit Secrets for Half Iron-Distance Triathlon Success, the same book I used for training before.

Monday is a rest day, and today, Tuesday called for a 45-minute Zone 2 run, which I did on the treadmill. I got through it somehow. Swimming will have to wait until closer to May when I open my pool up. I tend to just swim straight and practice some simple drills for 30-45 minutes, which should be sufficient for this swim in the current aided Rock River. Biking will be done on the stationary bike at work until the weather gets better. Which reminds me, I better get that tri bike out of the garage and give it a good going over. It hasn’t been ridden in several years. I know for a fact that the rear brakes need an overall, and the chain might need to be replaced. I will get on that soon.

So there you have it, back in the saddle for some more Ironman-ish fun!