I’m Not Going to Kona...Yet

My brother & sister had purchased me a Kona lottery slot as a Christmas present & as many of you Ironman junkies know, this past weekend the 150 Kona lottery winners were announced. I unfortunately was not one of them. I can’t believe I didn’t get a spot! I mean I was only going up against about 8,000 other people. Seriously though it was pretty fun thinking about the possibility of racing in the Ironman World Championship for the last three & a half months, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I’ll get there one day, someway, somehow.

After keeping track of my sister’s Ironman Arizona race throughout the day this past Sunday, I finally got back in the mood to really start training again. So thanks Monica. I also believe that watching a live Ironman finish line video feed cures all “I-don’t-wanna-train-itis”. If you really need to up the motivational factor, wait until the last 30 minutes that the course is open to tune in. If that doesn’t help then I don’t know what will get you into training. That's all for now. Consistency is key.

Iron Endurance

So here is my shameless little plug for my sisters recently made official coaching company, Iron Endurance. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and is working towards a Master’s in Business Administration (Dec. ’08). She is a Certified Personal Trainer through the American College of Sports Medicine and is a USA Triathlon Certified Level 1 Coach. She has been training/coaching athletes for over three years and racing in triathlons for over four.

As a triathlete, Monica specializes in Ironman distance races. In 2007, she placed 1st in her age group and 20th overall in Ironman Louisville, which earned her a slot to compete in the Ironman World Championships. Be on the lookout for her in 2008, as she’s training for a breakthrough year!

Monica is one of the most driven & focused people I have ever met & I’m so happy for her that she has been able to combine her passion with work. Her clients will benefit greatly from her guidance & knowledge. It’s actually pretty nice having a triathlon coach in the family. I’m pretty sure that means all immediate family members (me) get free coaching. Good luck with the biz Monica, you freaking ROCK! & good luck this weekend at Ironman Arizona, you’re going to ROCK that as well!

I Strongly Dislike Influenza

F-ing influenza!! That stuff is brutal this year. Last week I was lucky enough to contract it, so I was able to watch all the 1^st round NCAA tournament basketball games. That was really about the only cool thing that I got out of it & I would have gladly given that up to feel better. I even got a flu shot this year, but we’ve all been made aware that those were pretty much worthless. So I’m thinking I should get a refund or something. Oh well, I’m on the mend & will back to full strength soon.

St Patty's Day & The Beer Mile

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all! I already started the celebrating this past Saturday night by visiting a local Irish pub & consuming many delicious Guinness beers & a few Irish car bombs while listening to an authentic Irish band. Good times were had by all...except for the people who had a few too many car bombs way too early in the evening…you know who you are.

So last night my family was discussing the fact that we are of Irish decent & that we should really celebrate this years St. Patty’s day in some sort of incredible fashion. You know not just your boring green beer kind of celebration. So my sister suggested the Beer Mile. Which I thought was a spectacular idea. We then spent the rest of the evening tying to figure a way to get my parents to participate. We came up with some possible options for the people who might not actually be able to complete a “true” Beer Mile, but still want to combine sport & drinking. One idea was drink a half beer for every lap, another was to have a two person relay team and the last was a 100 yard dash, drink a beer followed by the ol’head on the end of a baseball bat & spin around 10 times. We’ll see if any of these ideas actually get put into action…I can only hope. Happy St. Patty’s Day & be safe.

There are many good reasons for drinking,
One has just entered my head.
If a man doesn't drink when he's living,
How in the hell can he drink when he's dead?

We Are All Hamsters

Finally the weather here is starting to break. It's kind of funny saying that 2 days after we got a foot of snow dumped on us, but the last couple of days have been sunny and near the 50's which seems like summer after some very cold months. So I am praying that it continues, because I just can't be holed up in a house or a gym anymore. I am more than ready to get outside on a regular basis after having to spend many training days in the gym or on the trainer. So here is a picture to celebrate the upcoming spring & summer, & to say goodbye to regular visits to the treadmill. Get out and enjoy it people.

The New Year The New YOU

Ok my last post was November 12th, 2007 and at the end I said “more Kona experiences to follow.” Here it is more than two months later and I haven’t posted another single “Kona experience”. I think it is just time to move on and just post something...anything! I’ll close my thoughts on IM Kona 07 with this. It was unbelievably awesome and I might actually be racing in it next year since my brother & sister gave me a lottery entry for Christmas. I guess I’ll know if I need to really start training come April 15, 2008 when the winners are announced. Besides the possibility of racing Kona, 2008 will be "The Year of the Half" for me. Currently I have two half's that are for sure. Other than those, the schedule is open.

For now though I haven’t been doing any triathlon related training and it’s been a nice break. Instead I have been doing some weight training to get ready for the upcoming year and for something completely different I have taken up Muay Thai. It’s great too! For an hour & half you get beaten & bruised. It also gives you a heart pounding workout. I’m starting to get used to the movements & the pace, but after the first couple of weeks I was hurting bad. I’m signed up until March so we’ll see if the beatings will continue when we get there. For now I’m back...hopefully more consistently this time...I think I’ve said before...oh well.

The Big Dance, The Promised Land, The....You get the Idea

Do you like triathlons? The training, the lifestyle, & just about everything associated with the sport? I have found the most unbelievable place to experience all of this. It’s a little race on the Big Island called the Ironman World Championships, you may have heard of it. Oh yes, it’s one of the greatest places on earth. If you are a triathlete, then you must experience Kona the week of the Ironman World Championships at some point in your lifetime. Even if you never get the chance to race in it, you MUST just experience it.

So, my parents & sister got to Kona a few days before my wife & I. We had to listen to them describe all of the awesome sights for 3 days before we got there.

After a couple of connections and many, many hours after we left home, my wife & I touched down in Kona, Hawaii. The amazing journey had already begun. During our layover in Honolulu’s airport we met a pretty awesome athlete that would be competing in the race. Her name was Kelly Bruno & she was a 23 year old, single leg, below the knee amputee. She had qualified at the IM Arizona & was competing for her first time in Kona. She was a really down to earth, cool, & inspirational person. We ended up running into her many more times throughout the week & cheering her on during the race where she finished with a great time.

On our first full day in Kona I went for a swim in the bay with my sister. There are athletes everywhere down at the pier. Who ever said it’s the best place in Kona to see & be seen was absolutely correct. If you are into people watching this is the place to do it. The water was crystal clear and you see all kinds of wildlife below you. Sometimes the wildlife was right in front of you. On our way back to shore we almost ran headfirst into a large sea turtle swimming along the surface of the water, which was absolutely awesome.

After we got done swimming we headed over to the expo where we met all kinds of cool people. We ran into Sara Reinertsen, 1st female, single leg amputee to finish an Ironman. We also got to meet the “Flying Nun” Sister Madonna Buder, the 77 year old Sister for Christian Community who has been coming to the Ironman World Championships since 1985! She was a really nice lady who is an icon in the Ironman community. We listened to Mark Allen answer questions from the crowd & talked with Dave Scott for a few minutes. It was all just surreal seeing & meeting these people that you read about & see competing on TV right there in front of you. I was doing my best not to be starstruck, which was actually pretty easy because everyone was so down to earth. It was a great first day on the Big Island & the rest of the week would only get better. More Kona experiences to follow.

The "Short" Version of Ironman Louisville

I’m back from a long time away. Lets see….Oh yes Ironman Louisville is where I left off. I had planned on writing a detailed race report, but since it has been just over 2 months since the race I will just give the short version. First off there is nothing like doing an Ironman in your hometown, period, end of story, it’s awesome!

The Swim
Self seeded/time trial swim start was a pretty cool way to start out the day. I started with my sister and we wound down the dock until it was time to jump in. A quick hug and then into the lovely brown, warm, Ohio River water we jumped. The swim was nice because you could find your own space and get into a rhythm rather quickly. The swim was also pretty fast since over half of it was downstream; the other portion was in a channel that gave us some protection from the current. After 2.4 miles of swimming I got out of the water in 1 hour, 11 minutes & 50 seconds, only 29 seconds apart from my sister. That was the closest I would be to her all day since she’s a triathlon stud.

The Bike
Transitions always seem to be a blur & even more so this time since the Ohio River had completely jacked my right contact lens up. I thought it would go back to normal after a while (more on that later). As I ran my bike out to the mount line, I saw all of our family members there cheering. Once again, Ironman “cheerers” should at least get a t-shirt or something. I mean they are out there all day, running & driving from point to point so they can give us a “WAHOOO!” as we go flying by on a bike. Anyway, the bike course is hilly, which was no surprise since we only rode the thing all summer long. I was just happy to be finally riding with some other people around me. I settled in for a long ride and found my rhythm, trying not to go too hard on the early hills. My contact lens that I mentioned earlier never really cleared up so around mile 30 in LaGrange I saw my brother, told him to call my wife, who was about a half mile up the road, and have her get out a spare contact lens. Our “pit stop” worked perfectly. I pulled off to the right of the road, she was ready and waiting with the contact lens, I pulled the old one out & popped the new one in, got a kiss for good luck, & off I went, all in about 45 seconds. Other than that the bike went well. My nutrition sat well, for the most part, in my stomach & my legs felt pretty good. Coming back to the city & to transition you get about a 12 miles downhill grade which is welcomed considering you just rode about 100 miles of hills. Sure enough there was the family waiting as I came around the last turn to the transition area, cheering like crazy….awesome.

The Run
I handed my bike to one of my wife’s Team in Training teammates who had volunteered & gave him a high five. Man, was I glad I didn’t have to sit on that damn bike seat anymore. Jogged down the chute& tried to “find” my running legs. I grabbed my Run Bag and went into the hot, steamy changing tent, & did my best to change quickly. I was finally ready to leave the tent when I looked up and saw my brother-in-law. He was ready to go out to the run as well so off we went. We saw our families just as we came out of the transition area, said hi to everyone and kept on truckin. We quickly realized that it was going to be a very hot & muggy run so we took full advantage of the ice sponges. As we came back past transition there he stood in all of his glory, my brother. He was wearing an extremely oversized sombrero, a homemade t-shirt that said “Go Monica, Sean & Matt”, & to finish off the outfit he was wearing my sisters Team USA Speedo tri shorts, which of course were way too small especially since the kid is like 6’3” tall. Hilarity ensued and it gave Matt (brother-in-law) & I something to talk about for the next mile or so. After the laughs wore off we realized we were in for a long run. We had been running for about 5 miles when we decided it was time to start the run/walk routine. Both our stomachs were not happy, so that is the plan we stuck by. I found that pretzel sticks washed down with water was about the only thing I could stomach. We were almost to the turn around when my sister went flying past us & gave me the “runner butt smack”. Apparently the rule is if you know someone on the course and you pass them, you smack their butt. I didn’t get to smack any butts & had mine smacked by my sister…not cool. She was looking strong & as she pulled away from us I yelled at her “Go break 11 hours!” She came close, finishing at 11 hours & 20 minutes. As Matt & I came to the halfway point, which is about 2 blocks away from the finish, the crowd was covering the street. There was only enough room for the runners to fit through in single file. It was awesome! You still had a half marathon to run, but it was a great send off. Matt & I repeated our run walk bit and sure enough we were right back at that same block were everyone was going nuts, only this time it was a little darker. We approached the finish chute and there waiting for us was Matt’s wife & their 2 children, & my wife. Matt scooped up his son & grabbed my niece, & our wives ran in behind us. We crossed the line and finally after 14 hours, 8 minutes & 45 seconds I didn’t have to keep moving forward. All of our family was there and we saw a bunch of our friends that had volunteered and we just hung out in the finisher’s area and talked about the race for about 20 minutes. Well, Matt didn’t talk much because he was ralphing his brains out, but that’s another story.

Overall the race was great. I totally redeemed myself & and vanquished the demons of the horrible Ironman Wisconsin experience. This time it was much more enjoyable, although I’m not sure if you can actually describe 140.6 miles & use the word enjoyable in the same sentence.

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.