Saturday, December 19, 2009

Back in the game

so i got tired of being sick and feeling sick and decided to go run last night. Ran two miles and i knew that i needed to take it easy so i made myself stay at a 9 minute pace and finished at 17:52. it was rather cold but it felt nice to run. after that got to indulge in some exceptional paleo pot roast. that was awesome, i'll post the recipe soon so everyone can enjoy it. today i don't feel too crappy so i'm going to try to ride later this afternoon.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Learned Helplessness

So after spending my third weekend in a row sick i'm beginning to lose hope of even training for my next race. no matter what i do i can't stay healthy.i eat well, sleep as much as i can, and train conservatively. i was sick over thanksgiving so i rested and ate well and after my first workout back i started getting sick again so i rested. i ended up coming down with something very similar to the flu just without the fever for 4 days so i rested after that until i felt better. i did one workout last week on thursday. by friday evening my throat was sore again and i became congested. this weekend no workouts again because i have been sick since friday. i still feel like trash today but better than yesterday. if you are counting thats almost 3 weeks of sickness and 2 workouts total in 3 weeks. i can't firgure it out. i sleep every hour that i'm not working, eat as healthy as i can, and don't push my body at all. i was healthier when i slept 4 hours a night, ate crap all the time and worked out 20 hours a week. needless to say i'm falling into a helpless state with no light at the end of the tunnel. we'll see how i feel tomorrow, let me take a guess...bad

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

slacker

haven't posted in while, been sick most days out of the last 2 weeks and been busy playing catch up outside of the sickness that keeps bugging me.
ran today- 2 miles. ironman training was supposed to begin on dec 1 but as i said, i was sick. so already behind, no biggie though, i can catch up.
run felt good, knees flared up as usual but thats becasue i have taken some time off, they'll be fine. ride tomorrow depending on weather and schedule.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

filthy fifty

because yesterday went so well i decided to do another crossfit workout today. why not do another doozy, filthy fifity. 10 exercises, 50 reps of each, as fast as you can. sounds great, feels not so great by exercise number 7 and feels terrible by the end.

50 reps of
box jumps
jumping pull ups
kb swings
walking lunges
KTE
pushpress
back extensions
wall ball
burpees
double unders
25:44

notice all the leg movements. my legs shook or should i say spasmd for the entire workout, it was great fun. i feel i could have gone faster but i felt like puking the whole time, even after box jumps, so i finished well. my goal was 22 minutes and i missed by a few but was well under 30 minutes which was my last resort time.

Monday, November 30, 2009

what just happened?

i got my ass kicked today, and it ruined my whole afternoon, very unproductive afterwards. i did a workout( first cf workout in a week mind you) that i had given my crossfitters last monday, and of course altered it for the weather. i've been getting stronger so i thought what the hell, lets see what i can do. my mind doesn't really have a caution flag, kristen can tell you that, so what ensued was an ass-kicking. the workout was:

for time:
40 thrusters, i did them at 95#, I weigh 150 soaking wet
followed immediately by a 400m row.
took me 4:58 a good time i guess.

after thoughts:
i laid on the floor for about 10 minutes unable to breathe normally, sat up to stretch, almost puked. got water and stretched and drove home. i haven't ever driven drunk but if i did i think how i felt today would be what it feels like. i had to focus all my energy on driving because i was tired, nauseated, and couldn't see very well.
when i got into the garage i almost puked again. i walked to my apt. grabbed a blanket and fell asleep in the fetal postition with my dog next to me on the entryway floor for about 45minutes. the nap was not planned by the way i just couldn't do anything else.i just got up, still feeling horrible- headache, nausea, weak. apparently i could have used a little more food today that is my only idea of why that was so hard, oh and the fact that i haven't worked out in 8 days, that might do it too. now i know why everyone left dazed and confused on monday. now its time for some very non-paleo yogurt.

Friday, November 13, 2009

max effort

maxed out on the deadlift, squat and shoulder press today, not ahppy with squat becasue i had to keep it lighter since i was working out alone. i think i have 20 more pounds in me but i need someone to spot me. deadlifts are getting better so thats great. press makes me feel like a total weakling becasue you just get stuck with the bar barely above your head and can't move.

deadlift-295
squat- 205
press-115

met con-
4 rounds of:
20 double unders
10 ring dips
20 squats
10 sit-ups

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

run

ran today because i've started to have running withdrawl. it felt great to put my running shoes on and a skimpy pair of shorts and go pund out some miles. my cadence and form has fallen off some since the time off so i had to focus on all the elements. the weather was great, about 65 degrees with a breeze, so perfect for going shirtless, whoop. surprisingly i was comfortable running fast. i guess all the other workouts have kept me somehwat in shape, which is the goal of course. knee flared up a little bit towards the end but then again when does it not? good run overall

3 miles
roughly 23 minutes

Monday, November 9, 2009

double duty

today i worked on my squats becasue my quad strength is still lacking.

back squat
3-3-3-3-3
185#

then rowed:
2k for time
7:26

my quads were absolutley gone. first time i thought i wasn;t going to finish a row. i was only 4 seconds off my last 2k for time and i haven't been rowing at all the past few weeks so i guess its ok. i almost puked becasue my quads hurt so bad/ were so tired. then as a bonus i had to workout with the on-ramp class because there was one person without a partner. so igot to row again... and i didnt feel much better

3 rounds of
200m
10 thrusters

kept my avg under 1:30 per 500m which is great, but my legs got lit up again, both on thrusters and the row. felt like puking again because i went all out. fun fun

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

work rest work rest

made up this wod a few days ago. crossfit is doing it so i tired it out.
3 rounds of
5 power clean and press
10 knees to elbows

2 min rest

3 rds of
15 push-ups
20 double unders

2 min rest

2 rounds of
5 power clean and press
10 knees to elbows

1 min rest

2 rounds of
15 push-ups
20 double unders

12:29, 95#pc&p

turns out it was tough, but different than most. if you don't push, it won;t hurt. i pushed hard and it sucked. i was able to link all the double unders together so that help alot with the time . girp strength went out from the clean and press so the knees to elbows were hard just in holding on to the bar. i think they'll like it.

Monday, November 2, 2009

client tribute

did a workout from crossfit central's workout that was named for a client of theirs. it was rough both mentally and physically. i'm glad i got to do a good snatch workout though because i've really been working on that movement.

every minute on the minute for 10 minutes
8 ring dips
6 power snatches (95#)

finished each round with roughly 4 seconds of rest consistently. hard to keep control of the barbell when dropping it from overhead to get ready for the next snatch, mentally challenging pushing on with 4 seconds of rest. dropped to 85# after 5 rounds due to loss in snatch form. better to scale than to get injured.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Murph

did "murph" today with charlie

1 mile run
100 pull-ups
200 push-ups
300 squats
1 mile run

46:48

murph was not fun. mainly becasue it isnt a workout where you can go "high intensity" per se. after a few reps of each exercise you are obliterated so your power output drops fast and stays low for the rest of the workout. it was however a challenge and charlie and i had to push each other to keep going. not one i could do alone. we performed it staright through so we didn't move on to the next element until we finished the current one. 300 squats suck, 100 pull-ups not too bad. mile run after the squats...a joke

Thursday, October 29, 2009

no title

7 rounds of:
5 deadlifts (185#)
10 ring dips
5:25

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Helen

today i did a short powersnatch set, 5-5-3-3-3, then did helen, a named crossfit workout.

"helen"
3 rounds for time
400m run
21kb swings (53#)
12 pull-ups
8:14

 i probably could have gone faster but my mind got in the way.i finally have gotten my butterfly kips down which helped speed the pull-ups and i did this workout for the first time with the prescribed 53 pound weight. i can tell i'm getting stronger which is great since that is my goal. need to lift more weight overhead though. very tired, oh and hands didn't rip which was great too

Monday, October 26, 2009

Weights

today was just a heavy lift day.worked on overhead squats first.

deadlift
3-3-3-3-1-1-1

185-185-225-225-275-275-275

Sunday, October 25, 2009

lazy

i did more workouts than christine last week but i was just too busy/lazy to write them on here so my bad. it was just heavy lifiting sets.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Christine

did a leg heavy workout today to again give my arms a break, still gassed from wednesday. named workouts are always rough, this was no exception.

"christine"
3 rounds for time:
500m row
12 bodyweight deadlifts (155# for me)
21 box jumps ( 24 inch box)

10:55

Friday, October 16, 2009

gassed

needed to give my arms a break so we did more motion based stuff. still wore me out for sure.

200m run
30 sit-ups
250m row
30 pull-ups
200m run
20 sit-ups
250m row
20 pull-ups
200m run
10 sit-ups
250m row
10 pull-ups

10:44

Thursday, October 15, 2009

wednesday

yesterday i lifted heavy uppper body then did a rediculous met-con

press
4-3-2-2-1
heaviest weight- 125
10 pull-ups between each set.

met-con
100 burpees for time
7:02

i am amazingly sore from yesterday. i had and am still having a hard time washing my hair and putting on deodorant. burpees are a full range of movement exercise that involves going from standing up to doing a push-ups, back to standing up then jumping up as high as you can. brutal

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

legs

today i did heavy deadlifts to guage where my legs are at and practiced front squats in order to improve them as well as my snatch, and cleans. all followed by a met-con.

front squat
3-3-3-3
up to 195#

deadlift
3-3-3-3
185-185-185-205#

21-15-9
kb swings (35#)
box jumps (36 inch box)

3:20 or so

Sunday, October 11, 2009

reality check

i was reading an article from the November issue of bicycling magazine titled "rites of passage" it talks about 109 occasions that happen in the life of a cyclist. among the 40+ that i could smile at because they have or do happen to me was one that made me laugh out loud:
# 81- explicating your training in exquisite detail on a blog, then realizing no one cares.

i absolutley loved that. have a good sunday

Friday, October 9, 2009

spur of the moment

i was challenged to rowing with my crossfit class today, so i did. no warm-up or anything so it felt amazing...not really. nothing like a suprise workout at 6 am.

row 2000m for time
7:22

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Heavy

today i lifted somehwat heavy on the legs. i approached with caution becasue i have had problems with pushing my joints before they are ready during this rest cycle. felt good to get back to the weights. i'll ease into it and hopefully see some real gains before all the mileage starts again.

deadlift-
3-3-3-3-3  (135#)

back squat
7-7-7-7-7  (115#)

massage

got a deep tissue massage yesterday. i became a huge believer in massage over my last training season as a way to recover and help my muscles heal faster. i have the same lady i go to all the time and she knows exactly what i need now, so when i go  we just call it the usual. anyway got one yesterday to help my back heal up and it worked yet again so i'll keep going about once a month until heavy training then its once every two weeks.

Monday, October 5, 2009

clean up

laced up my running shoes for the first time since louisville today. it was very nice. i love running and it feels great to be able to get back into it. knee was a little touchy so i'll take it easy for a week or two. i washed all the sweat and struggle off of my running sunglasses becasue they were inside my running shoes still from the race. its always kind of sad to wash and clean everything from the race. it took a lot of time and effort to get all that crap on my clothes and gear. but they need to be ready for another season so i will prep them. next i need to clean up my bike. it still has the stickers on it from the race.

workout-
2.5 mile run/jog
little over 20 min.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

weights

Started lifting weight today. it feels good to be doing olympic lifts again. i'm still working on my form for each so keeping the weight low is important.

 workout-
30 clean and jerks for time. 95#
rest 3 minutes
21-15-9
pvc overhead squats
burpees

Saturday, October 3, 2009

friday

long day at work yesterday but managed a workout at 7pm.

4 rounds of:
250mrow
15 pull-ups
30 double unders (jump-rope)

Friday, October 2, 2009

working class

i've been so busy with opening our new facility and getting the programs off the ground that i haven't worked out all week! maybe this weekend... now i know why my clients always use the "busy" excuse. the only good thing is that the place is generating alot of interest which means expansion!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Fight gone bad and new facility

we opened our new crossfit facility on saturday and had a fundraiser workout called fight gone bad. turn out was great, raised $1300, and got the studio started off. at the end of the day some trainers and close clients did the workout to finish up the day. i posted good numbers, 353 total reps. yesterday setting up the rest of the studio however i tweaked my neck carrying kettlebells, so i am resting today and will do light stuff tomorrow.

fight gone bad-
wall-balls
sumo dl high pull
box jumps
push-press
row (cal)
1 minute at each, then one minute rest between each 5 minute round. 3 total rounds

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Form and function

yesterday i spent time working on and practicing the olympic lifts. i needed some skill work since it has been so long since i've done them. my back was a little tight after but i haven't done them in 3 months so i expected that. after ice last night it is fine today. rest today and tomorrow then another workout saturday. thank goodness for this cool weather.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Row your boat

yesterday i rowed on the C2 rower at work. workout was challlenging and i could still feel my ankles and hips being achy and unstable. rest today, stationary bike tomorrow.

2000m- 7:57
250m- :46.7
250m- :43.5
250m- :48.0
250m- :50.3

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Back to Work, hopefully

i feel healthy again, finally, after 3 full weeks of recovery i'll officially start back up this week with "off season training". this will be lots of weight training, mainly core and leg strength so that when i start hitting the miles again i'll be stronger and hopefully that will improve many apects of my performance. i'll start with stationary bike ride and rowing on the C2 to help my body ease back into the repetative movements. the weights will start with high reps to introduce some loads to the muscles again but my main focus will be heavy sets with low reps as i start to hit the end of my six week rest period. yes i'm getting restless, and its only been 3 weeks of rest. obviously i'm not very good at sitting still and therefore i can't hold off anymore, time to begin! i'll try to keep reservation in the back of my mind. i just hope my immune system doesn't fail me again.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Sick

ended up getting sick again, apparently my cold never went away so i'm resting again and napping every chance i get.  hopefully i will be working out by the end of the week.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Sore

yesterday my weight training started after my two week break from activity. amazing how much you lose in two weeks! my lower back is very sore today, from heavy power cleans. today is an off day, more weights tomorrow.

workout-
21-15-9 of:
Power cleans
ring dips

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Aftershock

many people have been asking me how long it takes to recover from one of these. i'm sure its different for everyone but for me i don't do anything for 2 weeks after besides some streching and walking around. i've noticed a few phases that follow these long races. first is the obvious soreness stage. it lasts for a few days and includes some good muscle tightness and soreness. after this race i got through this stage in the car for the most part which made it even more fun. after the soreness passes comes the joint pain stage. this is where i notice that all of my joints hurt. not intense pain but i notice, hey my knees certainly don't feel good. i think its more of a swelling and drainage effect coming from the muscle healing that gets backed-up in the joints. this is why i take so long off. after that it the tiredness phase where my body gets exhausted from all the healing and replacement its tring to do. i also eat alot during this stage becasue my body is using up so much energy to fix my muscles. after that i'm good to go. i'm in the tired stage right now and i have an awesome cold to go along with it. michael and dave both got colds too so i'm assuming its from the water and the decreases immune function that accompies that kind of exertion. i could feel the could lingering for a few days and yesterday my body finally lost the battle. Once i get well i'll start my off season training. lots of weights and flexibility stuff.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Photos


 
 
 

Ironman Louisville Race Report

Ah the race. They say "swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles, Brag for the rest of your life." That is so true and this race did a great job of driving that home. Please notice this isn't a review of the race so much as my personal account of the race. It’s a brief course description, reflection on strategy, expression of emotions, funny stories, and other random things I felt like writing about. When people ask me "how was it?" this is what I think of. It’s ridiculously long, gets sappy at parts, and is hardly grammatically correct. But I like it that way, so let’s go...

Pre-race and swim:
the day before the race you put your gear into bags according to the activity they will be used for. Such as bike stuff in the bike bag- like helmet, jersey, shoes, sunglasses, etc. once you have bike and run bags ready you take them and your bike over to the transition area, about a mile from our hotel, and drop them off for use on race day. The volunteers escort you through the transition to show you where to go after the swim, after the change tents, after the bike and so on. It was nice but unnecessary because on race day they just push you in the right direction since your mind is pretty much gone halfway through. After the drop off we headed back to the hotel to eat our "last supper". Mine was the five cheese ziti from olive garden. It has become a tradition now. After dinner I retired to my room, shaved my legs, and hit the sack.

Race morning began at 4 am with a delicate wake-up from my cell phone and my classic roll out of bed. I had a breakfast of oatmeal, yogurt, bananas, teddy grahams, water and rice krispies. I put on some warm clothes since it was about 60 degrees outside, grabbed my bike and run food bags and headed to the race site. Once there we checked tires, set up bikes with food, drink, anything you needed to do and headed to the swim start, a 3/4 mile walk, and sat for an hour and a half.

Swim- 2.4 miles (1:07)
The swim was interesting to say the least. As far as the course went it was a simple down and back. 1/3 of it was out into the current then you turned around and did the other 2/3 with the current. Yes it started and ended at different locations. The water quality was very poor. It was very murky, had a little stink to it, and was 80-82 degrees, so not wetsuit legal-boo! (water must be below 78 degrees to be a wetsuit swim). The swim start was also a "time-trial" start which means that we essentially started one at a time. This is why we had to sit in line for an hour and a half. Everyone had to line up for the start, so when you got there was when you started. to put it into perspective imagine a single file line of 2500 people and that’s what we were standing in. from the start of the race it took us about 18 min to get into the water and I’m sure the last few racers didn't get in until 35 minutes after the first person started. Anyway how it worked was we line up and ran and dove off a dock into the river (Ohio River) to start the swim. The swim was crowded. All levels were thrown together so Michael and I had to claw our way over lots of people throughout the race. The buoys were also very hard to see because of the sun and all the people and the fact that they were yellow buoys against a yellow sunrise. You would think someone might have thought that was a bad idea but I guess not. We had an extra adventure during the swim too that was unplanned. As I was swimming about a half mile into the course I noticed a swimmer waving his arm. I took a breathe and noticed he was not there anymore, then I breathed again and he was back with just his hand out of the water, turned out he was struggling to stay above water and breathe. My lifeguard instincts kicked into gear and when I got to him he was struggling pretty badly. Turns out he had stopped and was trying to the attention of one of the kayakers while also just trying to catch a breath. I grabbed him and yelled to Michael that I needed help so he stopped to and helped hold him up until we could get some help from the kayakers and get them to him. Once he was set I told him to relax and not give up then we went on our way. Don’t know if he finished the swim but we sure hope so. After that the swim was just a lot of splashing and thinking about the bike course coming up.

Bike- 112miles (6:13)
In short the bike course was long and beautiful. It was also technical and challenging.
It started out deceivingly flat. The first 10 miles we pancake flat and most people took them relatively fast. I spent that time playing catch up. I was extremely dehydrated from the swim due to the length and water temp and all the walking and standing before hand. So I took 5 endurolytes as soon as I got on the bike and drank a whole bottle of water. I could tell I needed to recover first or the bike was going to be rough. At the first hill I hit a snag. Somehow my tube holding my electrolytes had worked itself out of my back pocket and when I made a move to pass on the hill it they fell out. I heard something hit the ground but ignored it for a second. Then I reached back and felt the tube was gone. I spent the rest of the hill thinking about what to do. I figured I could go on without it and get another tube at my special needs bag at mile 65. But that was 55 miles away. So I thought I’ll just use the Gatorade on course. but I knew from my training that Gatorade wasn't enough for me, I had bonked many times using it and that’s why I was using my endurolyte tabs. I kept thinking and rationalizing until the top of the hill. Finally I said, damn, it’s going to be a long day why make it harder. So I turned around and went back down the hill, flying into oncoming vehicle traffic until I saw the tube lying in the middle of the road. I stopped, picked it up, turned around and stood up all the way up the hill again to make up time. Once I had my bearings again I settled in for a long ride. My strategy for the bike was slow is steady, steady is fast. So I did that. I held back on every downhill, climbed moderately every uphill, and took the flats with caution. It worked great, made it through the first big uphill around mile 20 with a HR around 170 which means I wasn't pushing too hard. The course did a turn around and we headed back down at lightning speed. I ran out of gear in my bike ring and had to resort to coasting like everyone else. I remember looking at my garmin and seeing 38 mph. it was a very fast downhill. Once off the first turn around we hit the second aid station, roughly mile 25. I took a bottle of water to refill my aero bottle and a Gatorade to supplement my tabs for some extra sugar and electrolytes. The next few miles passed by and I hit the main loop of the course. It takes you from roughly mile 50 to mile 90 before sending you back on your way in. I continued picking up food, water, and such along the course while eating and timing my water. Drink every 10 minutes, eat about 100 calories every 30-40 minutes, and take endurolyte tabs with food. Calories came in the form of energy gel (complex sugars), bananas, and granola bars. I followed this like clock work the whole ride. 20 oz of fluid an hour and between 200 and 300 cal in the same time. At mile 50 I almost got pissed on. Didn’t see that coming did you? Yep it’s true, and a first for me. In a ride like this you see the same people over and over again. I’m a hill climber so I climb faster than most people on the hills but they catch me on the downhills and flats again. So we do what I call "jockeying". Well I jockeyed with one lady named Catherine. Our names are on the race bibs we must wear on our backs on the bike so that’s how I know that. Anyway Catherine decided she needed to pass me on a 2 mile long downhill. Then she decided she needed to stand up and pee since she didn't have to pedal. I noticed when she assumed the position so I pulled left right as she began painting the road and proceeded to pass her. I was obviously angry so I yelled at her as I passed to please give me more warning next time she was going to do that. What an experience. I continued on. I decided to stop and pee about mile 55, I tried to make it to my special food bag at mile 65 since I knew I would stop then but once I could no longer lean over to get into my aero bars because my bladder was so full I decided it was time for a break. I stopped, did the deed, and proceeded on after grabbing new bottles. There was a neat little town somewhere along this loop where my family got to see me. They had constructed a shoot similar to the tour de France. Metal fencing with banners and people on either side yelling like hell for people they don't know. Talk about a boost. I felt great running the shoot because it was downhill and loud as a jet. Lots of fun and we got to ride it twice, much needed. The road following the shoot was terrible. It was up and down rolling hills, pretty farms that made you want to quit and relax in the grass like the horses that grazed there, and the road had cracks all the way across it every ten feet. Imagine an old highway that bumps constantly or a bridge with sections that don't quite match up. Now imagine doing that on a bike, horrible. At 65 I stopped to grab my special foods. I needed to refill my tabs, grab another granola bar and shoved half a peanut butter sandwich in my mouth. I then thanked the volunteer who grabbed my bag and took off. A 2-3 minute stop in all which is pretty fast. Miles 65-90 were much of the same since the course was on its second loop of that area at that point. At mile 90 we took off towards the finish of the bike. It was 80% downhill which was awesome with one last big climb to keep you honest. I saw my parents at some point on the way in again because they had gotten lost in the Kentucky countryside and had somehow wound up on that part of the course. This was their first clue that I was doing great because I swerved to the side of the road and gave my mom and little sister a high five. I never do that in races, ever. Usually I’m tired, pissed off and don't want anything to do with anyone but as I found out this day was different. I finished the bike as hard as I would let myself go. Steady 20 mile per hour push on the flats and let it go on the downhills. The last 12 miles was shady and flat. Perfect riding if you ask me. I remember hitting transition, throwing my bike to a volunteer and actually jogged into the change tent. The whole time on the bike I thought I was behind my buddy Michael so I was constantly in catch up mode. I would later find out I had passed him, which I figured was why my family was so ecstatic to see me at mile 90. In reality I think they were just pumped to see how well I was doing and feeling. Anyway I changed shoes, put on my hat, grabbed some supplies like gels and tabs from my bag and took off out of transition.

Run- 26.2 miles (4:14)
The run was a different course than I’m used to. It was basically a straight 2 loop out and back. Literally straight out a road, turn around and run back, do a loop around one city block and do it again. It took place in the nice downtown district, the older rundown forgotten downtown, the low cost housing of a university and old neighborhoods mixed with the elderly and young couples. The first 3 miles or so was different at the beginning but it was nice. It started with a run across a bridge and back with a slight incline. This was good because it made me go slow which is vital to my marathon running. I have always liked running slower the first half of a run or race than the second half. Even though it’s dumb, I have always told myself while running to "close like a freight train" meaning run hard the second half so no one can catch me. People often ask me what I do on 10- 20 mile runs and that is my secret. I come up with dumb sayings to keep me going and dream up stories of being untouchable in the back half. So I started out slow. And ran what felt slow for a long time. Through the first 8 miles I held back in a big way. People passed me early and I was ok with that because I planned on running my race and hopefully catching them in the end. I knew I needed to keep eating and drinking because it was still, what I imagined at the time, 5 hours til I finished. At this point I had no idea I was about to run the race I was running. I used the method of running to each aid station and walking through them to get my water. This would a) give my legs the slightest break of 10-20 seconds and b) I cannot for the life of me drink water from a cup while running. I choke on it or spill it or end up just carrying it instead of drinking it. At the turn around I still felt great which I have never felt before. My garmin (GPS) had died at this point so I was running solely off of feel. I saw Michael while I was at about mile 10, or should I say he saw me. I asked him what lap he was on and he said his first. He was only at mile 7 which was when I realized I had passed him on the bike. Finally I at least knew what was going on. I was so confused as to where the other guys were. Turns out I had passed our other friend at mile 4 too but never saw him in passing. I continued on and the magnitude of how I was doing started to creep in. I picked up my special needs food at mile 12 instead of 23 because I did not want to give myself an excuse to stop that late in the race. I ran for a few miles with a lady who was at the time second place in her age group and was doing her 13th Ironman. She was very nice, talked to me like I was her childhood friend and ran an unwavering pace. After a few miles I dropped her at an aid station and continued on my way. Mile 13, 2:05 half marathon, not bad. At the first loop turn around, I think mile 14, I saw my family again. This was the only time I really felt like I would struggle the rest of the way. Again they were ecstatic. They could not believe I was running like I was and I remember how encouraging they were and how excited and amazed my dad looked. No one knew at this point I would hold that pace until the end, even myself. I handed off my dead gps and HR monitor to my mom who sent me on my way with support and encouragement like she always does, I made the loop around the block and began the 6 miles out to the turn around to come home. Their encouragement made me believe I could do it, I could hold that pace. Those next 6 miles were the longest. I knew I had to hold back but struggled to. I feared I would break too early and held back. I wanted to just get to mile 20 and head home. The course had a few small hills when it crossed under other roads and I ran the uphills cautiously. The spectators were great the whole time. People had chairs out with canopies. They enjoyed the spectacle and encouraged every athlete. Kids would pretend to be in the races and friends of the athletes would chase them for a hundred yards or so. It was hard to make myself stop at each aid station the second half but it was still vital. There was lots of room left for mistakes and I would find out later how close I would come to crashing. At mile 21 it hit me. I had a chance, a small piece of a chance at least, to break 12 hours. I knew I had 13 in the bag but 12... Holy shit! 12 has been my goal for 3 years. 3 long years. 2 failures so far, 13:48 and 13:55. 2 halfs under six hours added to the goal and made me sick. Surely if I can do a half in under 6 I can do a full in under 12 but no, hasn't happened yet. Like either a little baby or someone who had been moving for 11 hours already I cried. I knew I had to nail the next 6 miles but I knew how close it was. I didn't ever look at my total time on my watch. It was there, counting from the start of the swim, ticking away but I never looked, I couldn't jinx it and didn't want to see how close it would be. I don't know how but I didn't look. I kept running, forcing myself to stop and drink and eat at each aid station. The strategy had worked so far, why mess with it. I had taken in about 700 cal on the run. A good amount for how sour my stomach was getting. At mile 23 somebody made a comment to me about the bike and social law kicked in so I replied. Turned out it was a guy named mike. Mike was great; he was from New Orleans doing his first race, and his wife had attended UT. We ran together all the way to the finish. I pulled him through the last 3 miles, and in return he pulled me through the last 50 meters. Those 3 miles flew by. We stopped at mile 24 but didn't stop again. We were possessed. 2 guys who seemed like they had run together for years, stride for stride in perfect cadence for 3 whole miles. Not once did our march break time, it was funny to hear and we both noticed it at about the same time. the finish could be heard about half a mile out. Mike and I knew it and we dropped the hammer. if you want to know what a sprint feels like after 11 and a half hours or motion put a person in charge of each quad and each hamstring on your legs and ask them to punch their area for an hour straight as hard as they can. Then go sprint an 800. It will at least give you an idea of how our legs felt. 50 meters left and it happened. I broke down. I had nailed everything perfectly and finally my body just said nope, you are done. My calves cramped worse than ever before. I was running in my toes, literally. They were curled under my feet and I was pounding on them. But mike kept me close; he told me I couldn't stop then, not yet. So I ran, I pushed, I yelled and adrenaline hit, 20 meters and we entered the finish shoot. It was long and glorious. The crowd roared the lights were on and they called my name. I had finished. I yelled, flexed like a caveman who had just made fire and then started falling over. Luckily a volunteer was right there to hold me up.Poor lady, after I finished I was pretty of out of my mind and kept trying to wander off from her. The problem is that the volunteer isn't allowed to let you go until a family member has you. She kept telling me that but I didnt listen. I can't imagine what else they have to deal with.  Kristen ended up finding me in the chaos of the finish line and I hugged her and cried again. Probably mostly from fatigue but I was also so damn excited at what I had just done. Then my dad and Patsy found me and we went to go start my recovery with food, chicken broth, ice and tons of water. The race had been great, weather was perfect, the stars had aligned and finally I was able to put all my experience to work for me and broke that stupid 12 hour mark. I have to thank everyone who helps to feed this addiction of mine. My parents always travle to see me do these and they help me when I need a little "sponsorship". My in-laws always keep me honest about workouts, and give me hard time when i slack off. My younger sister is always excited to hear about my efforts and travel to these things. My older sister and her husband make me feel like what I do is the coolest thing in the world. Michael suffers through these just like me because I talk him into training for and doing them. Poor guy, he is just as crazy as I am. And lastly Kristen, even though no one knows it, is the reason I train like I do. She gets all of my bottles ready for every ride and has been known to lay out my clothes if I ask her to. She also lets my buy all the equipment I "need" whenever I feel that I need it. So thank you again to all of them and I can’t wait for Coeur d’Alene in Idaho summer 2010. Any questions, comments or anything please let me know.

Oh yeah and final time- 11 hours and 52 minutes.... finally

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Travel and weekend wrap up.

so i made the round trip to Kentucky. 14 hours of driving alone and 16+ with a copilot, which adds up to over 30. either way it was brutal. hopefully I'll never have to drive to another race like that. i'll start my fund raising for idaho right now and hopefully within a year i'll have the funds for a flight. All the equipment fit just fine in the truck however and the trek went off without a hitch. "looeyville" is a very nice city, we stayed downtown and got to experience the heart of that area. everything was within comfortable walking distance and besides the roar of the ambulances 4-6 times each night due to the hospital next door it was great. I could see how it could get iffy at the wee hours of night but it looks like the city is trying to re-do the downtown area and they are doing a very nice job. 4th street live is the entertainment district and from what i saw seemed to be really fun. night life was not my top priority however so i can't elaborate much. lots of bars and restaurants i'm sure with live music and what appeared to be weekly events. I certainly wouldn't mind another trip to kentucky but it will have to include a flight and some beers.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Brand New day

i was told this weekend that i need to start one of these so people can keep up with my training and what works/ doesn't and so people can get in touch with me, such as clients and other triathletes. so i did. Maybe i'll keep up with my workouts too this way. either way here i go. What better timing too, the tuesday before my third ironman. i can cover my prep for the race, travel to it, and write my post race report which kristen's dad had been recommending ever since the first one. slowly i'm catching on that people may be interested in what i do and why in the world i do it. Anyway today i'm forming my packing list and putting together the pile of supplies necessary to complete this endeavour as best i can. since completing two irons and 2 halfs now i should be a pro at packing but i still struggle to remember everything and have to resort to lists, which i hate. it will get done however and tomorrow will begin the 15 hour trek to lousiville kentucky, completed in two days with a pit stop to pick up michael, the only person as crazy as i am to do multiples of these races. let the games begin!