Read All About It!

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 14 WRAP-UP – June 8, 2025

The Athlete Guide is here!

Something to get excited about, I guess.

Last week, I touched on feeling a little burned out with training. I could sense it with a fellow rider who is doing her race soon, and to be honest, I was feeling it as well. Enough with the 4.25-hour rides every Saturday, and the 2+ hour runs every Sunday. Enough with this damn saddle sore that I’ve been dealing with for weeks now. Enough with this crappy weather, especially the Canadian wildfire smoke that seems to be lingering far longer than it should. Enough with just the general blahs of going through the swim/bike/run training to prepare for the race. I’m ready, already. Let’s get it over with.

But now my attitude has done a reversal because the Athlete Guide (AG) is out! The AG is often eagerly anticipated, and usually is forwarded to the athletes a few weeks out from the race. Smaller races may skip an AG, or have a shortened version, but bigger races like marathons and long-distance triathlons usually do. When the AG comes out, excitement builds, as it is a signal that the training is almost over, and the race is here.

So, what’s so exciting about the AG? Nothing really. 😄 Ironman typically just cuts and pastes the guide from year to year, with some editing for new rules and such. It’s always good to review the rules, though. There have been some changes to the penalty cards since I last raced, and the amount of time spent in the “penalty tent” when you get shown a card. Yes, you have to go to the penalty tent when you screw up, that is if they catch you. I haven’t been in the penalty tent before, but I haven’t been caught either. I’m a good sport and follow the rules for the most part, but the bike drafting rules are easy to break.

But I do have a favorite part of the athlete guide:

“RUN COURSE RULES – 1. Athletes may run, walk, or crawl.”

This rule always makes me chuckle, then wince a little. They tell you specifically that you can crawl in this event, not out of fun, but out of necessity. I’m guessing that it has something to do with Julie Moss in 1982 (see here) or possibly Sian Welch & Wendy Ingraham battling it out in 1997 (see here) – a battle not for the win, but for fourth place. Fourth place. Those two instances were in “full” Ironman races, so hopefully, no one will have to crawl across the finish line. I’ve had to walk plenty of times in races, but I’ve never had to crawl. Let’s hope I keep that streak going. I’m surprised that “rolling” is not listed in that sentence. There’s plenty of rolling going on, too.

~~~

Training this week went well. Wednesday was done inside due to some much-needed rain for our area, but the other days were done outside. I got my e-bike back from the shop, so I was also able to get some cheater bike workouts commuting back and forth the eight miles to work. They may be pedal-assist rides, but I’m spinning my legs nonetheless.

I moved my Sunday long run to Friday and got in twelve miles in about an hour and 51 minutes. That’s a good sign for possibly going sub-2 hours on the run, but I will need a smart ride to accomplish that. I’m also hoping for a sub-6-hour race overall. I’m hoping that the river swim will push me along quickly.

The plan had another 4.25-hour ride on it, but I had other plans. I opted to just ride for the race distance of 56 miles, heading out for 28 miles, then heading home to see how long it would take me. I held a comfortably hard pace, and the day was not bad. I held an 18 mph average, so that was a good sign.

Since my fellow competitor Karen and I rode the bike course and she suggested that I try Tailwind as my nutrition, I’ve gotten to the point where I’m comfortable using it. I also have been using GU Roctane powder, and neither has resulted in feeling drained while working out. I plan to use them during the race, but will bring some gels just in case.

I’m off to the lake home in northern Wisconsin this next week to get our boat out of storage, as well as putter around the house doing odds and ends. I’m looking forward to being on different trails and routes for a change. Plus, I will bring my wetsuit and get in some open water swims, which is often a benefit for the mind, getting comfortable in swimming in water that isn’t a warm, non-moving pool. I’ll fill you in next week on how that goes, but for now, I’ve got to dive into the Athlete Guide!

Week 14 Totals: Swims 1/1300 yards – Bikes 3/91 miles – Runs 4/31 miles

Week 14 Hitting Hard

2021 IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA TRAINING

WEEK 14 – June 6, 2021

Most of my subject matter for these weekly write-ups comes from the long Saturday bike ride. That’s when I do most of my thinking, as I sit on a bike and sweat through 3.5 hours of riding. But when I sit down on Sunday to wrap up the week, I sometimes can’t recall anything about what I was thinking about on the previous days’ ride.

There were a couple of notable things about this week. I added an 8.5 mile run on my off-day Monday because I was traveling last Sunday and decided to push it to Monday, so Week 13 is short one run, and Week 14 added an extra one. Not a big deal, but that meant I would be doing back-to-back run days.

On Thursday, I raced a 5K, which beat me up a little. And also lead to moving a planned ride to Friday, which would precede the long ride on Saturday. So basically, I was messing with the structure of the plan and screwing up built-in recovery between bike and run efforts. On Saturday, I could feel some fatigue in my thighs when I started.

I made a couple of tactical mistakes on Saturday. The ride was to be 3.5 hours long, so I needed to ride out for an hour and 45-minutes, but thankfully the wind was in my face heading out, so I figured I’d add an extra 5-minutes into the wind to compensate for the easier and faster return trip. That was a pretty good estimation, but as I kept hitting 20mph riding back home I thought I would need to add a little more extra time to the return trip. As I got closer to home I could tell that I should have skipped the extra couple of miles. I finished the ride in 3:37 instead of 3:30. Again, not a big deal, but I realized that if I ever need to add on to make time, it’s better to do it nearer to home instead of out in the middle of the ride.

The second mistake was not drinking enough to replace what I was sweating out. It was a hot day, and although I thought I was drinking enough, I really wasn’t. I have to learn this lesson over and over every time I train for an Ironman. When I finished the 61-mile ride, I was suffering and was contemplating skipping the 30-minute run that I was supposed to do. Somehow I found the strength to get it done. Afterward, I wondered and marveled at how I was able to handle the heat at the 2019 Ironman Chattanooga, which was a much longer day in much tougher heat. I guess that is what training, building, and acclimating are for. Live and learn, and drink more!!!

~~~

I have to brag on my son Ben for a minute. He came down for a visit on Friday and mentioned that he thought about running the 5K that I had run but instead, he opted to run a 3K (I know, weird distance) in Rockford because there was a $300 prize for the winner like he was sure that he could win. He won and later said it was an easy win. 5:08 min/mile pace is what he averaged. I wish I had some of that speed! Well done, son!

Swims: 2 – 3000 yards

Bikes: 3 – 92 miles

Runs: 6 – 33 miles

Sun Tans, Group Ride, & Racing!

IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

gi_143462_logo_ironman20chattanooga1

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!