We’re Going to KONA!!!!

Before I even begin to discuss my own Ironman Louisville experience there is a special person who needs her story to be told first. My sister came in first in her age group (F18-24)!!!! She qualified for the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii and accepted her spot. She trained for Ironman Louisville with the hopes of getting that one coveted spot in her age group to go to Kona and she did just that. She stayed focused over the months of training and never wavered. She just stayed strong and steady and got faster and faster. Her race plan was perfect and she executed it all the way to the finish. It gives me goose bumps every time I think of the accomplishment she has achieved. I am so proud of her setting this seemingly “impossible goal”, going out there and racing her race, and achieving it no matter what anyone else thought or said about it. She’s my hero.

Monica YOU are and IROMAN!!
Monica YOU are going to KONA!!
Monica WE are coming to KONA TOO!!

I can’t wait to be part of the “support crew” in Kona. Our tickets have been booked and we are counting down the days until we get to hear that oh so sweet “Monica YOU are an IRONMAN” again. You’re awesome....now go break eleven.

IM Louisville Race Report To Be Posted Soon

This past weekends Ironman Louisville was awesome! I will break the race up into three posts (swim, bike, run). We really got lucky with the weather. The high was around 87 degrees, which was better than 97 degrees (Louisville temperature two days before the race). I finished the race in 14hrs and 8min. A much improved time and overall experience from last years IM Wisconsin. The race was a great success, Ironman North America really knows how to execute these things perfectly. Check back for a recap of a great race.

Unusual Alternative Training

Last weekend I substituted traditional Ironman training for a little unusual alternative training...since you can not detect my sarcasm I will let you know that I am laying it on thick with that last statement. I actually did no swimming, biking, or running. I did do standing, walking, and throwing. What is this workout that I speak of? It is called working the merchandise tent at Lollapalooza music festival for your brother-in-law’s company, also know as slave labor. Actually it’s not that bad if you enjoy standing on your feet all day, pacing up and down a 100 foot path, and throwing t-shirts through the air as if you were working the Seattle Fish Market. This process was repeated for three days and it gets better every year that we go. Amid working in the hot merchandise tent, we were able to watch some great bands. The big names included Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals (viewed from the front row in the photographer’s section), Amy Winehouse, Muse, and the rock gods known as Pearl Jam...you may have heard of them. It was a fun and successful weekend and my legs felt as if I had run a couple marathons. We traveled home on Monday and traditional training commenced soon after our arrival. Back at it for a week until the two week taper...my favorite part of training.

Welcome the Pain

This past weekend was kicked off with a 5:00 am wake up on Saturday. I was headed out to participate in the Physical Therapy Plus Triathlon with around 100 other people. I was using it as a nice and easy run through for the Ironman, especially since I hadn’t done a race since last year in Wisconsin. So I go through all of my pre-race preparations, eat what I need to, get all my gear organized, etc., etc. Get to the race, get checked in, get set up in the transition area, get ready to go! The race goes great. I went nice and easy through most of the race. I will admit that I picked it up for the last part of the run, but nothing crazy. I finished and felt great and had plenty left in the tank, just where I wanted to be.

Sunday morning rolls around and I had to drag myself out of bed. I kept thinking, “Man two days in a row getting up at 5:00 am is not fun.” My body felt a little tight from the race the day before but nothing too bad. On the agenda for the day was another 80 mile ride on the IM course. However this weekend I would ride the 80 miles alone with plenty of time to think. The ride consisted of 2 loops on part of the course. The first loop I was trying to be conservative so that I would have some energy left in my legs for the second half of the ride. Unfortunately for me I don’t think it really mattered how I rode that first loop because about 10 miles into the second loop my legs were screaming at me...NO MORE!!! I had just finished one of the hardest/hilliest sections of the course and it took its toll. All of a sudden I felt like I couldn’t push the pedals anymore. Any slight climb felt like a mountain. Now the mental battle began.

First crept in some self doubt “I don’t know if I can finish this ride, I feel like crap.” Next I started to question my training “Did I go too hard this week? Did I race too hard yesterday?” Then I started trying to come up with good reasons why I should let myself stop “Well it wouldn’t be that big of a deal if I ended it short, I mean I deserve a break in my training.” Shut it up!! I could have gone on for the rest of my ride with thoughts like those. It finally just took me telling myself that I came out here to do a long ride and that there could be much worse things in this world than my body temporarily hurting. I thought of how lucky I was to be able just to be out that sunny morning. I thought of Rick and Dick Hoyt, who I had just seen on TV before I left that morning, and the adversity they go through everyday. I thought of how lucky I was to be given a chance to prove to myself that I could be strong enough to push through this discomfort. Now I could welcome the pain. Accept it, embrace it, love it...don’t ignore it.

I started to feel better and better as I pushed through each pedal stroke and started to pick up my pace again. I finished my ride and felt strong and knew that I had beaten the pain.

Mr. Pain you are more than welcome to ride with me again, but next time I’m going to go faster, see if you can keep up...haha.

80 Something Miles

Last weekend was a big training weekend for me. You see, when I did Ironman Wisconsin last year my longest ride I completed was 60 miles!!! Not exactly the smartest way to prepare yourself for one of the most “grueling endurance events” out there. This year my preparation for Ironman Louisville hasn’t been exactly by the book, but my training has been extremely consistent & I am happy to say that I have gotten multiple 50-60 mile rides in and am feeling stronger every week. Now it was time to do that little bit longer ride of 80 miles that I never did last year.

Once again the weather was being kind to us as we set out on the course. There were a ton of triathletes out riding, politely waving as we passed each other. Hey all you road racing peeps out there, I know it’s not “cool” to acknowledge other bikers as they pass...especially a bike with aero bars. I’ll still give you the head nod or flick of the wrist when I see you, or maybe I’ll just sit up and yell “good morning!”. All of us triathletes will always remember that YOU are the coolest ones on the road...haha.

Our ride finished up at about 83 miles, which included lots of hills, and I felt surprisingly good. We ran for 30 minutes afterwards and called it a day. Went home and hopped in a refreshingly cold pool for a little bit and relaxed. Only a couple more big weekends of training left.

mmmmm.......Brisket

What perfect day for a ride. The weather was perfectly clear and the temperature was just right. I was setting out again to meet the hills of the Ironman Louisville course once again. My ride partner would be none other than “Mr. Bobby Flay” (my brother-in-law). We did the loop and this time when we were finished I felt awesome. Not at all like the last time when I wanted to throw up after getting beaten up by the hills & wind. This time was different. This time I walked away with a little more confidence and a lot more energy. When I got home I still wanted to get after it, so I went for a run, expecting that the mid-day heat would quickly take its toll on me and I would call it a day, but not today my friends. Today I was strong and today I felt great.

The day would only get better because "Mr. Bobby Flay" was going to be serving up some smoked brisket...mmmmm. We sat patiently as it was slowly cooked to perfection and absorbed the masterfully crafted rub and mop sauce...the anticipation building. The moment of truth finally arrived and…..spectacular! A tip of the hat to Mr. Flay, your prowess on the grill is something to be marveled at.

52 Miles & Some Punches to The Face

I’ll just start out by saying how great of a Saturday ride I had. I didn’t want to do many hills since the knee was still bothering me a little from my Wednesday hilly Ironman course ride. I did the majority of the ride was flat with a few hills at the end for good measure. When the ride was over I had totaled 52 miles and my body felt great. I’ll be in Iron-shape in no time (well, maybe kind-of-Iron-shape).

The remainder of my day was spent chilling out eagerly awaiting my Saturday night plans. Dinner at my brother-in-laws house, who has earned the nickname “Mr. Bobby Flay”, followed by some gladiatorial combat in the form of UFC 73.

Good ride, great food, good fights, I say good day sir!

4th of July Ride

For the last six months I have been steadily training with my wife & her TEAM in Training group for their first Olympic distance triathlon. The constancy of my training was the best it has ever been. However I will not be doing an Olympic distance race in 8 weeks, I will be doing the Louisville Ironman. Note to self don’t train for an IM race using an Olympic distance schedule….haha. I’m sure all the die-hards & experts out there cringe when they hear of “my training methods”. So cringe away because I know it ain’t how things should be done, but I now have 6 weeks before the 2 weeks taper to make my situation a little better come race day.

So July 4th my sister, who is a tri-stud, & I go for my first somewhat long ride on the IM course. We set out from St. Francis School on 42 and rode the course loop back to the school totaling just over 40 miles. The ride was awesome. We rode past all kinds of horse farms, some deer ran along next to us for a few seconds, & turkey buzzard flew over us at one point. I’m not sure if he thought that once I got to the top of the hill I would keel over and he could get a few bites off me. If he was smart he would have show up at around mile 30 of the ride because that’s about when I felt like laying on the side of the road for the scavengers to pick me apart. I finished the ride well behind my tri-stud sister. She is an absolute monster on the bike especially when lots of hills are involved. I then topped the workout off with an easy 10 min run.

All in all, I am happy to have gotten out there today. Happy 4th & God Bless America. Now I’m going to watch all the Rocky movies on TV....truly American.