Bike drop off - done!

Got a 20-mile ride in this morning on the trainer and packed up the gear and brought it to Bonzai Sports. Tritransport will be bringing my bike and gear down to Florida so I do not have to deal with it myself with the plane. One would always hope this to be a free service but that's just not reality. Cost - $ 275, but worth it since there should be no hassle! We shall see.

Today is Halloween so HAPPY Halloween. Holy Crap!!! I'm one week away!!!!! breath, just breath! I'm definitely feeling a little tense these days. Snapping at my wife about absolutely nothing. I need to be really nice to her during this time if I ever want to do another ironman again. It is just real intense. I feel like all I watch on TV now are repeats of the KONA ironman.

I'm still washing my hands like crazy. I will probably wear a dusk mask and have rubber gloves on for when tricker treaters come so they don't infest me with H1N1 flu or any other little sicknesses they may have! Is it wrong to wear a mask on the plane??? I'll bring one just in case.

breath.....ah.................YIKES!

Feeling beat up...& flu paranoia

Man, I am still feeling beat up. I was grouchy last night to my Dad and Carol. My right IT is a little tight, my body is a little aching. I blew off swim this morning just so I could get a little sleep. I feel a little better this morning.

This is the period of training - taper - in which I become paranoid of getting sick. If I have a little sniffle or a sneeze or a random cough - I automatically think am I getting sick. I am washing my hands constantly. I'm opening doors with my sleeve and touching elevator buttons with my sleeve. If I'm in a room and someone appears sick, I leave. I was in the deli this morning and there was this lady hacking who looked liked she had a nurse outfit on. Come on lady you should know better, stay home or put a mask on your face! Her being unattractive seemed to intensify my thoughts. You listen to the news and every single day you here about the flu or H1N1 flu. The media has got me paranoid to have any human contact until after Ironman. Worse of all things is we still have to fly to Florida! I cannot imagine what kind of germs will be on that plane, a nice enclosed area! I'M PARANOID!!

Final long swim - DONE!

Well we got to the pool this morning for our 5am swim start and the workout was simple - "Swim for 90 minutes". So we swam for 90 minutes. Now, one may ask, what does one think about staring at the bottom of a pool for 90 minutes? Well, you think about the person in front of you and person in back of you. Am I holding up the person behind me or I need to get in front of the person in front of me. You think about your stroke over and over again. Extend arm on reach, don't begin pull until other arm comes around, stroke, glide, extend, pull, breath, stroke glide extend, pull, breath, over and over again. You just keep thinking about this, always trying to work on your stroke. And then, next thing you know, you are DONE! As we got out of the pool, Maggie, who swims in my lane says 190! I corrected her and said that we swam 90 minutes and she corrected me saying we swam 190 laps! I'm not sure if I was more amazed at the fact she was able to keep her counting straight or that we did 190 laps. Typically I lose count at 10. Well, this came out to be about 2.7 miles!

OH!! And the goggle saga is over! My 3rd new pair of goggles in 10-days did not leak a drop!! Glad I bought 2-pair.

Tonight, I was on the bike around 8:30 and rode for 40 minutes on the computrainer.

I thought we were tapering....

Weekend Wrap-UP

Yesterday I biked for 3+ hours on my Computrainer and did the Florida 1/2 ironman course. First time I have been on the trainer for that long but the time went by pretty quickly as I watched Defiance - good long movie for long rides on the trainer.

Today I ran ~13 miles and my Dad did 21!!!!! WOW, my Dad did 21 miles - just had to say it again. He is ready for his Richmond marathon. I think I am more excited about his race then Florida - well, I would say equally as excited but it is amazing how strong he has been. Still can't believe it.

Of course I wrapped up the week with 200 crunches as I have done every night this week.

I'm still feeling pretty beat up even though this was a taper week. For some reason I do recall feeling this way during my taper for CDA. I just need to continue to believe that I will feel more and more rested as I get closer to Nov 7!

Summary of this weeks training:
Swim: 4.5M
Bike: 72M
Run: 18M
Total: 95 miles, 10:47 hours

$$$$$$$$

I am spending some serious money now to get ready for the Ironman - here is a quick run down in expenses just in the last 2 weeks:

Massage that felt great - $ 80, Long Sleeve wetsuit because i'm getting tired of renting - $ 170, new running shoes (because my old ones felt like I was running in barefeet - $ 90, water bottles for fuel belt - $ 20, bike parts and tires, etc... - $ 100, Chiropractor - $ 10 (thank goodness for insurance), leaking and non-leaking goggles - $ 30, short sleeve wetsuit because I just found out the water temp is higher then expected - $ 100 and of course hair product - PRICELESS (hey - the curls need attention as well!)

This of course does not include the lots and lots of hundreds of dollars I have spent on airfare, hotel, bike transport, car rental, etc..........

I need some CASH!!! My ironman deficit is accumulating!!!! Sorry baby Thomas, I have to reuse some of your diapers if they are not too dirty because Daddy needs some cash to do this race!!!! I promise I'll make it up to you...........

Leaking goggles - again!

So, yesterday I returned my new leaking goggles and bought a different pair. The guy at the store was useless as he did not know that you had to take goggles out of the box, stick them on your face and if they stick for a second or two, then they wouldn't leak. So, used my new pair this morning at the 5am swim (only 1 more of these earlier swims!) and one eye was good, but the other one leaked! So, all day again, I walked around with one eye blood shot this time. FRUSTRATING!!

So, I contacted my buddy Laurie who referred me to this swim store in Rockville. They were great as they had over 25 pairs of goggles out of their cases that I tried on and found a pair that fit just right - so I bought 2 pair. I'll try them out next week.

Tonight I went to the chiropractor as I was in serious need of an adjustment. - It was heaven after he adjusted me. My body feels great now!

Came home and ran outside in the dark with a flash light though Rock Creek - so peaceful! Ate dinners, spent time with Carol and CRASHED!!

another busy day!! and I thought we were tapering.....

Leaking goggles

Made the 5am swim this morning but seemed to have problems with my new goggles as I had some serious leaks going on. Not sure what was happening because I bought the same pair I had before and they just didn't work. I got so frustrated 1/2 way through the swim, I went and got my old pair in the locker room. However, with the old pair I could barely see because they were so scratched up - just a minor frustration. All day I had blood shot eyes but hey - got the swim in!

Around 8:00 tonight, I jumped on the computrainer and got an hour ride in and finished the night off with 200 crunches.

Taper has begun....

Yesterday Team Z had an Ironman prep seminar. There were about 18 people there and only 2 of us did an ironman before. I find those talks very useful and always get something out of them. The next two weeks the workouts will get shorter and shorter and in theory, the energy levels will begin to get higher and higher. Also, these next 2-3 weeks will involve a lot of mental preparation leading up the race and also on race date. It takes a lot of time to get all your thoughts, gear and nutrition together, especially when you have to fly to your race. I have already started laying out my bike gear in the basement and will slowly add to it these upcoming weeks. I will also continue to put together my preparations for the three days leading up to the race and my race plan.

I'm starting to get excited about this and know it will be here before I know it!

+ 100+ crunches today - skipped run, need to make swim tomorrow. 3 more 5am starts. so far have made 2 out of 3.

Definitely a week of fatigue

Well, I was able to get my swim in Thursday morning and actually felt pretty good. Sometime on Thursday was the first day all week that I actually had some energy. Since it was pouring down rain on Saturday, I biked indoors on my computrainer (20 miles) and banged out the run on Sunday outside (5 miles).

Totals for the week:
Swim: 2.2M
Bike: 30M
Run: 9M
Totals: 41miles, 5:27

+ have been doing the 100+ crunches every day this week as well.... now onto Taper weeks...

Serious Fatigue!

Man, I am wiped out!! I have some serious fatigue and at one point I thought I was getting sick but have no symptoms. The reality is the fatigue was from all the training this past weekend. You forget that when you run 20 miles and than bike 108 the next day, that it takes a toll on you.

I biked last night on the trainer and plan to run tonight for a little bit. Let's hope I have some energy to get up at 4am tomorrow to make that swim because it sure didn't happen yesterday! : )

Epic Weekend is Done!

This morning, up at 5:30am and off to Easton for our Epic ride. That's right, up at 5:30am on a Sunday, just like last weekend - actually it was earlier last Sunday. I felt pretty good after yesterday's run, my legs were not that sore and I felt somewhat rested, only waking up a couple of times from Baby T. The weather was perfect, cold at the start but warmed up to about 65 degrees with a slight headwind for some of the ride.

Well, let's just get right to the point, the ride was great up until about, say mile 58 and then my body just started to shut down. The legs were find but the insides was not right. My stomach was fine but something wasn't working. It was a pure struggle after mile 58 that it got so bad around mile 63 I actually turned around to talk to a sagger. I was ready to head back but I got a gu and endurolyte from him (I was just taking anything to get my body back). I was thankful he was there but I told him I wasn't doing to well and he said that if today's not your day then head back - or something like that. That certainly didn't help motivate me. So I left him and kept heading out, struggling like I have never struggled before. I got to about mile 68 and ran into Kim Larson, another sagger. I pulled over and she asked what's going on. I told her it just wasn't my day. Kim - in her New Jersey way just set me straight - "Look", she says, "I went through the same shit you are feeling right now for 8.5 hours in Placid, you just need to deal with it". Now that's what I needed to hear, then she suggested I draft off Matt Wolfe, who is like a windshield riding behind, and then there was Matt pulling up. (Now keep in mind drafting is not legal in triathlons and I frown upon it in workouts but I had not choice if I had any chance of completing this ride) So, I drafted off of Matt, using less effort and also to get my mind off of feeling like crap. After about 15 miles, I was able to ride next to Matt for the rest of the way back and finished doing 108 miles. THANK YOU MATT AND KIM!!!!!! The course was two loops of 54 each, I was not going back out to get the last 12 in for 120. If I made it through this ride, I'll fight through IMF!

It's amazing, going from feeling like you can't go anymore and biking another 45 miles or so. It's mind over matter when it gets to this and a good reminder for during ironman. Anything can happen - you just need to be prepared for this - today was a good mental day.

In retrospect, I made a rookie mistake yesterday. I was so pleased with my 20 mile run that afterwards I treated myself to some Arby's - yum!! and then for dinner i had shrimp fried rice. Note to self - don't eat Arby's and shrimp fried rice after a 20-mile run knowing that there is a long bike ride the next day. I never replenished the carbs I burned on the run yesterday. THAT A HUGE MISTAKE!!

Good thing though is the Epic weekend is over. Now recovery week this week and then taper. Ironman is upon us and just a few weeks away!

Totals for week:
Swim: 2.3M
Bike: 120M
Run: 25M
Totals: 147M, 13:47 hours

Solid 20-mile Run

Absolutely a solid 20-mile run. I am very pleased with this run in which I averaged 10:05's overall. I was very consistent with my splits and did the 9 minute run / 1 minute walk throughout the run. I honestly felt that I could have gone on for another 6.2 miles, but maybe just a little slower. I used the Infinite Nutrition run formula and it worked great! No gu's, no endurolytes, just the drink mix.

My last long run was 16 miles 6 weeks ago with a couple of 13 long runs in between - I was a little concerned on how I would do today. I am no longer concerned. This was a great confidence builder given the low run miles I have been able to log during this training season. Now I need to knock out bang out 120 mile bike tomorrow!

Emotionless......

What's going on? It's the night before "EPIC" weekend and I feel like I'm not even stressed about it. 20 mile run tomorrow + 120 mile ride on Sunday! I should be jacked up or something, instead I just feel emotionless. This was how I felt last weekend the night before Bassman. Is this my new approach in being relaxed before mega events or something else? It just feels like everything is a blur and getting through each day and trying to get the workouts in is a lot of effort and always being tired doesn't help either. Almost there - just a month a way!

The run should be interesting tomorrow since I have not been putting in the miles that I need. However, if I have a strong run doing run/walk, I know I will be ready for Florida. If not, than I will need to regroup.

The bike on Sunday - new seat position for 120 miles! And after doing 20 mile run the day before. I'm going to be hurting on Monday! It will be interesting to see what different muscle groups will be sore. I noticed after Bassman, my hip muscles were sore (from the new bike position).

Maybe I'll get some emotion in my sleep!!

Can the swim get any earlier

What's that sound?? Oh, it's my alarm clock at 4am waking me up for our first of six 5am swims. Oh boy!! The 1.5 hour swims have begun! Only good thing was I got to bed last night at 9am so I got somewhat of a good night's sleep with the baby only waking up once. Did get a good workout in and swam 2.3 miles.

Epic week!!

This is it!! The PEAK week and then taper!!!!!!! Big weekend ahead, longer swims start this week - just need to keep pushing through.....

Bassman 1/2 Ironman

Since Mark and I were staying so close to Atlantic City, the night before the race, we went to AC for a couple of hours. We went to the Borgata Casino, ate some dinner, lost some money and hung out at the Gypsy bar. Hanging out, we had one beer each, listened to live music and started to think, maybe we should just stay here and drink the whole night and let that be a better story then doing the race tomorrow - than the band broke for a few minutes and we bolted out there. We were back at the hotel at 8pm and lights were out at 8:30pm. That beer sure did taste good though!

Bassman 1/2 ironman was today, well I should call it Bassman 1/2 Ironman Plus?? as the swim was longer than 1.2, bike longer than 56 and run longer than 13.1. I'm not sure the actual swim distance but everyone's time was a little longer, bike was 58 miles and run 13.22 (just a little longer). If this was an actual 1/2 distance I would have bettered my Eagleman time. My total time today was 6:09:42.

Swim went well, kept a nice straight line to the buoys as I was very pleased with this. For the bike, I had rented Zipp 808 wheels from the front and back fron Conte's and I just flew. My heartrate was bursting and I knew if I kept that pace it was going to be a gut wrenching run. It seemed with the 808's that I had to keep a certain speed otherwise if I slowed down to much, it was more effort just to pedal them. Because of this, most likely I will not be renting Zipps for IMF. The run was just as I predicted. Things were going well up until almost halfway when I just feel apart. It didn't help that I left my fuelbelt at home so I only had enough nutrition for half the run and the 2nd half I only had water from the course. Still, I pushed through and still had an okay time. It was a good experimenting race to continue and see where my limits are. I exceeded them today : ).

Totals for the week:
Swim: 2.6M
Bike: 70M
Run: 18.2M
Totals: 91M, 9:51 hours

INSPIRATIONAL!

What's more inspirational than me completing a half ironman this weekend???? My Dad doing 18 miles on Saturday! Truely inspiring!! Weekend wrapup will come in a day or two.

100 crunches / day ?!?!?!?!?

That's right! I started this on Sunday. I am doing 100+ crunches per day, every day up until a week before Florida Ironman. In addition I will be doing the plank both front and 2-sides to try and strengthen my core muscles - my least favorite group to workout.

I have been super busy at working longer hours by getting in the office earlier than usual so I could get my workouts in after work. So far this week: Monday - ran 6.5 miles and felt great, Tuesday - skipped swim in morning and biked 50 minutes on trainer around 9pm, Wed - skipped, tired, Thurs - swim in am - felt pretty good, need to work on staying smooth on my stroke and thurs pm, ran 5 miles and it was solid. Of course, each of these days I was knocking out 100's of crunches.

On Thursday I rented 808 Zip wheels for my bike for Sunday's Bassman 1/2 ironman. My bike is tricked out after Roy's adjustments and the zips - the bike looks fast - now I need to be fast otherwise it will be an embarrassment to get passed by tons of people when I have zips on! I'll have to take a picture of my modified ride and post it on here!

Hard to believe Ironman is just over a month away!