Journey of an Endurance Athlete

Xterra Richmond 21K Trail Race - FUN!

2011-06-12T18:09:00.005-05:00

Last weekend it was North Face, this weekend it was XTERRA. I signed up for the XTERRA Richmond 21K trail race this past Monday, got us a room and decided to bring the family down to Richmond for a weekend getaway. I did not realize what a great weekend it was going to be.

It all began when we checked into the hotel Friday night and they told me they no longer had the room I booked, so they put us in the executive suite. This room was great and had a spectacular view of the James river, bridges, trains, etc... all things my 2-year son thoroughly enjoyed!

I had no idea what to expect with this race as the website was not very descriptive. I brought both my trail and road shoes to the start and started asking people what is was like who did it in prior years and in no time, I immediately strapped on the trail shoes. Also, I heard last year they cut 4 miles out of the race because of the heat. Really??? If you are running in Richmond in June shouldn't you expect it to be hot??

Well HOT is was, and HUMID and HILLY. This course was tough and it was a blast! I started off a little too quick and backed off after the first couple of miles because I could just feel this was going to be a tough one. About two miles in we climbed "Mayan steps" which were these steep steps about 2' high each and were made of railroad ties. My quads just burned after that. Moving along, we hit this park that was up and down the entire way, it was loop 1 of 2 and that first loop felt it took forever. I was downing fluids like crazy. I was pretty much walking up the hills to save any energy I had left. Thank goodness the 2nd loop wasn't as bad. I just kept telling myself to stick to my nutrition and I'll get through it.

As we got through the 2nd loop, we were running along on some flats and than had to run across this huge river bed of rocks. It was gorgeous and once we got to the other side, we had to climb a small ladder that still zapped more energy out of me. Back into more trails for a while than for some more fun, had to take the ramps up to a high bridge to cross over the rest of the river, down the ramps and than to the finish.

So for 12.5 miles (almost a 21k) it took 2:27 (11:47 pace). Although I was 27 out of 31 in my age group, this race was more survival than anything. I drank over 1/2 gallon of fluids, had 3 gu's and 5 endurlytes. No cramping, just a steady effort.

After the race, we lined Thomas up for his first kids race. That was fun. Although he didn't run as much as the bigger kids, he did cross the finish line on his own.

The rest of the weekend was spend exploring Richmond and enjoying it with the family. This one goes on the calendar for next year!

North Face Endurance Half Marathon - Race Report

2011-06-05T19:16:00.004-05:00

Today I did the North Face Endurance Half Marathon located at Algonkian Regional Park in Virginia along the Potomac. The course was mostly trails with some paved sections and gravel roads on an out and back course. Overall, it was fun, but with 600 runners, it was crowded for several miles on the trails and when it finally started to thin out, you had runners coming at you when they hit the turnaround first. For the most part, the course was flat except one steep hill and one stream crossing, which was fun, that you hit twice.

After the 1st aid station at mile 1.7, the course turned into single track and I mean single track. There was no room for passing and the trails were covered with serious roots. Other sections we were running through fields with grass 6-7' tall on both sides of you. Between the roots and runners flying at you, you had to stay focused. It was great!

I had no watch as my Garmin locked up right before the race so I ran stickily by feel. For the most part, I kept a pretty steady pace and finished the race at 2:21 (10:49 pace). I was pleased with that and actually enjoyed not wearing a watch. I timed my nutrition based on the aid stations since there were about 3-3.5 miles apart. This worked out pretty well.

The highlight of the day is that I got to talk to Michael Waridian who finished 1st today, he finished 3rd yesterday in the 50-miler, and wished him good luck in Badwater 135 next month. Than I got to meet Dean Karnazes, got my picture with him and congratulated him on completing his run across America. The guy's amazing.

little dusting needed now...

2011-06-05T18:49:00.002-05:00

Let me dust the cobwebs off this blog now and start updating it. Since my 50k, I've been in hiatus trying to figure out what I want to do for my next event. Thinking, planning, trying to figure out but felt like I was going in circles. I felt like a lost boy trying to find my way. For endurance athletes, this is what happens, if no events are planned, than there is no direction. Week after week, I was struggling to get my runs in especially on the weekends.

Every Saturday rolled around and I struggled, because I didn't want to run when Thomas was awake, typically 6:30 am - 11:30am (goes down for his nap), and running during his nap time got tougher and tougher because of the heat. But I need the runs and need to start early so I joined Arlington Road Runners which starts at 6am - perfect! I can get my run in and be home by 9ish, spend a couple of hours with the little guy and than after his nap - have fun with him the rest of the day. And on Sundays I run with Thomas for 4 miles, than let him run for 30 minutes.

Next, I had to find some events to train for. After going back and forth for so long, I've come up with the following fall line up! I cannot wait!!

Sept 25th - National Capital 20-miler
Oct 2nd - Wilson Bridge Half Marathon
Oct 15th - Medoc Trail Marathon in Hollister NC
Oct 22nd - Tough Mudder in WV
Nov 13th - Potomac Heritage Trail Run (50k) - need to make sure I get in when registration opens.

The Medoc Marathon in October is going to be great. All trails! Turns out the race filled up on May 20th and I emailed the race director to put me on the waiting list and he opened up a slot for me right away. That was nice!

So - the events are planned, now it's time to get out there and have some fun!

So now what??

2011-04-03T18:27:00.003-05:00

It's been 2-weeks since HAT - feels like it was months ago. I have one rule that I always go by when I'm training for endurance events - Never sign up for any race until after I finish the race at hand because I will sign up for everything! I now have a 2nd rule, never sign up for a race within the week following an endurance event. Wow - I came close to signing up for a lot of races the days after I completed the HAT because I was so pumped after race. It was such an incredible experience. There is nothing wrong with signing up for other events but it is nice to get a little break from the training. So, I held off for a week and went from signing up for a 50K to a half marathon on June 5th sponsored by the North Face Endurance Challenge. Although not an ultra, this will be a nice 13.1 on trails along the Potomac. I'm looking forward to some easy running the next 2 months as I decide which Ultra I will do in the fall. : ) I had a nice weekend of running, not training. Yesterday I hit Rock Creek for 8+ miles and when I started it was sunny but halfway through, the wind picked up and then is started to POUR heavy rains and chunks of ice. It was at that point, the run became smooth and even more enjoyable. The rain lasted for about a mile or so and then it was cloudy and the run ended being in the sun - nice day! Finally, today I hit the roads for my urban run, running through Cleveland Park, the Zoo, Mt. Pleasant, Columbia Heights and then headed home (9+miles). Nice run.

HAT Run 50K - Race Report

2011-03-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

The conclusion of my journey to my first Ultra was incredible. I had such a good time the entire race and it seemed to go by so quickly. Don’t get me wrong, there were some low moments along the way, but you learn over time to expect them and just keep moving forward. Below is my race report for my first ultra and I hope you enjoy.

It was a week of many restless nights and different aches and pains but I arrived at the start healthy and jacked up. My Dad was kind enough to take to me the race and there was a surprise appearance by brother Mike and Marcy. Carol and Thomas were there along with her friend Lisa and Mark came up as well. So I had a great cheering team.

The morning was just right in the 40’s and partly cloudy. 400+ of us lined up at the start and then ran across the field. I hung toward the back to be conservative and felt pretty good. The course was absolutely beautiful. I fell in love with trail running all over again during this race and wondered if I’ll ever do a road marathon again.

The hills, and there were a lot of hills, were challenging and I took them one at a time. They were about 3x the elevation of what I trained on in Rock Creek but I stuck to my plan, walking up the hills to conserve energy.

The first 3.6 miles were mostly on paved roads and little trails to try and spread the masses (Pace 11:56). At the Steppingstone Pavilion we had our gear set there and I used that to drop off my long sleeve and grabbed a bottle of nutrition. After this, we got into the single track trails and ran about 4.3 miles to the Aid station (Pace 13:15). We had several stream crossings throughout the day which I just barreled through in water up to mid-calf. Some people were trying to jump across rocks to avoid getting wet. That looked like a disaster to me because I know I would have fallen. During this leg, I felt strong and was moving long at a nice pace.

The next leg was 4.1 miles to the aid station and this was the quickest pace (11:28) I ran the entire day. This section had a huge downhill on gravel/paved road and I just let myself go. I felt great getting into the aid station and saw the whole cheering squad again. The next 5.3 miles were tough, tough in the sense that it had some serious hills! I was dreading the fact that I had to do that section one more time as the last part of the race but I just kept trudging along. I still had energy, when I got back to the Steppingstone Pavilion but that section of the course definitely took something out of me. This was my slowest pace so far at 13:24).

After some refreshments, I took off for the next aid station and felt pretty good, But after a couple of miles I could feel the effects of the last leg and ended up slowing down quite a bit. It was 4.3 miles to the aid station and I averaged 15:35’s.

When I got to the aid station, Mark joined me for the next 4.1 miles and they were slow as well averaging 15:22’s. This was the lowest part of the day for me. I had no cramping, didn’t feel tired, I just could not keep running. So, I just grinded through those miles one step at a time. At one point on the course we were running on this road and I said to Mark “is it me or are those trees on each side of the road closing in on us”. I’m still not sure if I truly believed this at the time but my mind was wandering and I was looking for anything to distract me from that moment. Keep in mind this is the part of the course on the first loop I averaged 11:28’s so going almost 4 mins/mile slower I could tell something wasn’t right.

When I got to the last aid station, my friend Kirstin told me to try some salty fries. WOW! I never thought cold, salty french fries and a couple of cokes would taste so good! My dad kept saying for me to keep going and all I wanted to do was stay there and eat fries. As Kirstin said, this was pure ultra food. After I left the aid station I felt awesome! There was this new found energy. It reminded of the time when I did my first Ironman and discovered chicken broth. I knew at some point of this race today that there was going to be a low and that I just had to keep plugging along and I would get my energy back.

It was interesting running the 2nd half today as you can tell when someone was feeling great they would take off and then you would see that same person a little bit later on not feeling that well. Everyone just kept leap frogging along. So, heading back to the finish, which was suppose to be 5.3 miles, I knew would be the hardest part of the course based on the first loop. But man, I was so jacked up I was loving life. After I passed 22 miles for the day, I was excited because I have not gone more that 22 since Florida IM 2009, then I hit 26.2 and was like, WOW this is pretty cool because every next step is a step further then ever before, and especially being on top of this huge hill I just climbed with views of the river with no one in sight behind me or in front of me was just breathtaking. I was all alone and enjoyed every minute. I was having such a blast that I closed my eyes for a second and opened them up. Then, after a few minutes, I started thinking that nothing around me looked familiar. I saw a tree lying across the path that I had to go under and thought, this was not here before. A little further I get to an opening on a hill and said no way! I made a wrong turn. So I back tracked and got back to where I screwed up. Oh well, I was in such a groove that I didn’t care.

I got to about ¼ mile from the finish and there was Mark with a big smile and said “hey man, you going to sprint to the finish” and I said nope! I just wanted to enjoy that last bit to the finish and I did. The entire day was remarkable and I wanted to remember every step. When I crossed the finish line one of the race directors was there to hand me a hat and shook my hand. I was so happy with just one big smile – it was a beautiful day.

My total time for the day was 7:18, an average of ~14min/mile if you account for the “added” distance” Today, I truely embraced the experience. Trail races are not the same as road races. Only 412 people started the run and 356 finished. This is so different from the races I have grown accustom to that thousands attend. I enjoyed the moments of being completely alone or talking to other people, one guy who did Leadville 100 Leadville 2 years ago and comments that it was a tough race for an East coaster, or another gal who was doing the Hat for the 5th time doing and another guy who was his 5th time as well and I told him that in 5 years it will be his 10th and my 5th. And my friend Kirstin, who I learned did Vermont 100 a few years ago, got me into this from those night runs in Rock Creek and introducing me to the Ultra community. Between her influence and my readings of Born to Run twice, Bart Yasso’s book, Dean Karno’s Ultramarathon Man book and Ultra running magazines and now completing this race – I AM HOOKED! Nine years ago this month, I completed my first marathon and today, I completed my first Ultra. Grant it, the 50K is equivalent to what a 5K is to a marathon or a Sprint Triathlon to an Ironman.

Today, and maybe for a week or so, I’ll enjoy my accomplishment and then plan my next adventure. What will tomorrow bring?? I’ve got a feeling and one thing for certain – it will be on trails!

Race week

2011-03-18T06:49:00.004-05:00

Last week I ran 14 miles and so far this week I have run 2x for a total of 6.

This has been quite the week with respect to restfulness that I have ever experienced the days leading up to a race. In the earlier part of the week I discovered new aches and pains. Monday was IT day with IT pain in my right hip and Tuesday was left foot pain and right quad pain day. As Wednesday rolled around, there were no more aches - maybe because I ran Tuesday night to loosen things up.

Regarding sleep, or should I say lack of, has been interesting. Mon/Tues/Wed nights were all filled of flips and flops and body jumping. I woke myself up when my entire body seemed to jumped up and fall down. I told Carol about it the next day and she said that's what I had been doing for three nights (hmmm - good think I only remembered that one time). Needless to say, I got very little sleep until last night. Ahhhhhhh, so nice to have a good night sleep until my 4:30am calling to the bathroom.

So, I'm just over 24 hours out, sitting at my desk ready to bang out a few hours of work. The journey has been fun, difficult at times, but well worth it. Suppose to be 70's today, but 50's tomorrow - thank goodness!! Thanks everyone for all your support!!

Taper week..

2011-03-06T13:59:00.002-05:00

It was a pretty good taper considering I did not run at all during the week. Felt like I was fighting off a cold and staying away from my wife all week who was really sick! Also felt like I did not get much sleep as I tossed and turned every night this week. Barely motivated myself to run yesterday and took about 3 miles before I "woke" up and than the last 9 were fun - all trails. Today I ran 8.5 in Rock Creek in between the rain and felt pretty good.

Totals for the week:
20.7 miles
3:42 hours

less than 2 weeks to go..... : )

ahhh

2011-03-01T20:33:00.003-05:00

Well waking up yesterday, no mental thoughts would get me to run. My shins were sore and my toes were killing me. Last night I ended up doing some minor surgery and popped a few blood blisters around my toes - ahhhh what a relief! The pain immediately went away from my toes. This is good insight for those really long runs in which I need to relieve a some pressure, it is just a pinch away.

I stopped at REI and picked up some new trail shoes. Let's hope these are the answers to my prayers. La Sportiva - Crosslites. I'll take them for a test run this weekend, don't have much time to break them in.

PEAKED!

2011-02-27T20:18:00.002-05:00

Woooohooooo. Peak week is over and what a week it was and overall, amazingly, I feel pretty good. During the week I was suppose to run 20 miles over 4 days, but ended up running 17 miles over 3 days. I was just tired on Tuesday night and had to rest. Yesterday was my peak long run in which I knocked out 22.3 miles of all trails in Rock Creek Park. The best part about it, if my Garmin read it correctly, is between all the up and down hills, I climbed 9,300' total! That is great considering Hat Run is 9,800' over 31 miles.

For the most part, everything worked out well. I did about 7 on my own and then Mark joined for me for 12 and then I finished the last 3 on my own. Of course, the last 3, rather than take the flat road, I went right back onto the trails and continued the up and down hills. My nutrition worked out well in which I drank Infinite and hit my gu's every 45 minutes and one of the times woofed down pringles and PnJ sandwhich. Only thing I discovered is that my trail shoes are too small and I kept smashing my toes against the front. My big toe and 2nd toe are trashed on both feet and I'll be losing some nails pretty soon. I took a picture to post here but it was too disgusting so I deleted it. I'll be buying new shoes this week and will need to break them in.

Overall I felt good and solid during the run. We walked each of the hills and still averaged 12:20's overall. I guess to me that is pretty good considering the inclines. At the end I was getting tired, but never bonked and truthfully, if I had to, could have kept going.

Today, my legs were not sore, just my toes were busted up. I needed 10.6 to hit 50 miles for the week and finally felt like I was in a groove around mile 4. Than the miles just started to float by. As I got toward the end I just felt like I had to end today with even miles so I finished with 11 and averaged 9:43's (this time it was all paved path/roads, and ended the last 1.7 on a long up hill out of the park).

With all this running I was asking myself today, what is really holding me back from more miles, is it my body, or it is my mind. The bod felt strong, but the mind seems to hold me back from saying that's too many miles, or that's enough for the week. I feel like I'm getting too that point where it is time to just let go......I am close and it will come. soon...but for now - let's taper and be mentally and physically strong for my first 50K in less than 3 weeks!

Totals for the week: (never experienced these numbers before)
50.4 miles
9:14 hours

Hard to let go...

2011-02-20T19:18:00.003-05:00

Thursday night I banged out another 6 with Mark on a night run through Glover Park trails to the C&O canal. What a night, temperature was around 65 degrees. Friday was brutal as I had to go to NY for the day - there and back a tiring 10 hours of driving.

Saturday's long run turned out pretty well although the wind was really blowing. I was suppose to run 8 on my own then hook up with Brian to do 12 more but after a night of no sleep because Thomas was up all night, I couldn't get started at 8am as planned so I met Brian at 9:30 and we ran 12 miles through lots of hills in DC and then I did 8 on my own on the Custis Trail. Overall I felt well, but was getting tired towards the end, gee go figure - 1o hours driving on Friday, no sleep Friday night, then run 20 miles...hmmmm.

Sunday, after a 2nd night of no sleep - turns out Thomas is sick, I couldn't get in my run at 8am, Carol was gone most of the day and as I type this I have officially bagged my 10 miles I was suppose to do today. Not sure how I feel about this but it is hard to let go sometimes to just relax when you have a goal to hit a certain amount of miles and you don't. It definitely plays with you mentally. Well, time to move on and look forward to one last long week of miles!!

Totals for the week:
36 miles
6:15 hours

Routine

2011-02-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

So here was my typical schedule for the week

Tuesday
6:15am wakeup
7:30am arrive at work
6:00pm arrive home from work
60 minutes with Thomas
7:00pm put Thomas to bed, I fell asleep next to crib
7:20pm wake up
7:30pm treadmill for 50 minutes
8:45pm dinner, spend few minutes w/Carol
9:00pm shower
9:45pm asleep

Wednesday
6:00am wakeup to Thomas singing : )
7:30am arrive at work
6:15pm arrive home from work
45 minutes with Thomas
7:00pm put Thomas to bed, I fell asleep next to crib again
7:25pm wake up
7:40pm treadmill for 50 minutes
8:55pm dinner, spend few minutes with Carol
9:15pm shower
10:00pm asleep

Just trying to get it all in.

Today just felt right

2011-02-13T19:26:00.002-05:00

I met Mark at Pierce Mill today to bang out the last 10 miles for the week. It was a failed attempted in some regards as we hit the trails which at first appeared to be clear of ice and snow and after a couple of miles they just became a sheet of ice so we divered back to the dreaded pavement. To make things even more interesting right before we started my Garmin locked up and then just over a mile in, Mark's Garmin went blank - so for the rest of the run, we had to guess on how far we were going. I definitely want to hit that 10 mile mark to put the icing on the cake for a very solid week.

During the run, I felt pretty good, considering I did 18 yesterday. There were times I felt tired, but my legs felt pretty good overall. It was a nice feeling especially after the 16 mile run I did 3 weeks ago in which I suffered miserably on the day after run due to being sick. Today was a different story and toward the end I felt Mark needed a little pick me up so I picked up the pace the last .5 just for kicks. Such a nice run that just felt right.

So - did I get the 10 in?? I just plotted the route on Gmap-Pedometer and wouldn't you know - 10.1! Fantastic!!

Totals for the week:
42.1 miles
6:52 hours

2-more weeks to go before taper...

Don't minimize the upcoming race...

2011-02-12T19:20:00.002-05:00

People ask sometimes what I think about on the run and sometimes I think about nothing at all and then there are other times my mind just wanders from thought to thought. During the run today I kept thinking about the race and thinking it's only 30+ miles. WHAT?!?!?! am I serious?!?!?!? I have never gone this distance before. Sure it's only 4 miles more then a marathon but I have never done a marathon on trails, nor as hilly as this race is going to be. 9800 feet of elevation gain! 9800 feet! That is serious!

Part of my thoughts minimize the distance because of all the stuff I've been reading - between Bart Yasso's book and Dean Karnazes Ultramarathon Man book, the Ultrarunning Magazines, etc... and how 50, even 100 mile runs are the real ultras and the 50k is really the lowest of the ultra's. Just like comparing a 5k run to a marathon or a sprint tri to an Ironman, 50k is the lowest to lets say a 100-miler. However, these are baby steps and the 50k is a big step into this new adventure I'm exploring!

Had a moment on the run....

2011-02-12T19:12:00.002-05:00

SOLID! That's how I can describe today's run. 18 SOLID miles. I started at Roosevelt Island and did 8 miles, 4 there and back, on the Custis Trail and then met Brian and did another 10 on Custis Trail - all hills and felt good the entire time. But, I had a moment on the run. Around mile 16, running on this small bridge, I backed off on the pace and let Brian get a little bit ahead of me. During this time, I felt myself drift away a little, became totally relaxed, then looked within myself and then came back. It was an interesting moment and it didn't mean much to me until after the run, and even now, when I look back, that moment propelled through the last 2 miles and I felt could have gone further. It was a mental lift that I'm learning to tap into.

Total run time was 2:52 for 18 miles (9:30 pace). Quite pleased.

Ut oh! My first Race nightmare...

2011-02-11T19:08:00.001-05:00

That's right. Last night I tossed and turn thinking about the 50k race which is only 5 weeks away! I kept having these dreams of running a loop of the course and taking a break to go back to my car to put on a different pair of shoes. The only problem was I couldn't find my car in this huge parking garage and once I got to the car I remembered I left my key at the aid station. As a result, I lost over 2 hours before I could start up again. Keep in mind the first loop was only 4 miles and I had 27 more to go........

Needless to say, it was a restless night and I was pretty beat today at work...

Tough weekend ahead, time to crank some miles.

Social time or workouts???

2011-02-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

I should know better by now. This week I went to the hockey game Tuesday night and a work event on Wednesday night. Although I enjoyed both, it forced me to cram my workouts in. On Monday, which should have been a rest day after running all weekend, I was on the treadmill to crank out some miles. There was no time to run on Tuesday and Wednesday nights with my social activities so I had to double it up on Thursday and ran 4+ miles before work and 5+ miles after work. However, I didn't get to spend anytime with Thomas or for that matter spend much time with Carol for a couple of days. It's interesting now with Thomas in the picture, how I value his time more and more and when I do other activities that takes me away from our time together, it really weighs in on me. Typically during the week, I'll come home from work, spend time with him until he goes to bed and then jump on the treadmill for my workout.

As the training becomes more time consuming, the balance becomes more difficult and the need to spend time with family it very important. During these times, there just isn't much time for social activities.

Nice week back in the saddle...

2011-02-06T15:41:00.003-05:00

Considering over my half my miles were on the treadmill this week, this was still a very strong week for me. Especially after my outstanding performance of ZERO miles the prior week! So between Tuesday and Thursday, I got in 9.5 miles. Yesterday, it was cold and raining outside so I bagged running outside to avoid a repeat of getting sick and ran 7.5 on the treadmill. In order to get some hills in, every 8 minutes I cranked the incline up to 12% and fast walked uphill for 2-3 minutes. At one point I whacked my head on the basement ceiling - that didn't feel to good but good thing I was holding on when it happened otherwise I would have been laid out flat on the floor. : )

Today was great, sunny, 42 degrees, and got to run in shorts. Somehow I convinced Mark to do 13 miles today on a very hilly course. Man, he hung in there and I'm sure he will feel it tomorrow, but thankful for the company. Overall, I felt strong and steady the entire time and was pleased with this week's solid effort.

Totals for the week:
Miles: 30
Time: 5:07

It all makes since now!

2011-01-31T18:00:00.002-05:00

So Monday night was just brutal with fever and other things going on, I was spent. I went to work for a couple of hours on Tuesday and totally bagged Wednesday. This little virus wiped me out! My big concern was feeling better for our trip to Florida on Thursday and as my strength started to come back, I was able to enjoy our visit with Carol's family and returned on Monday.

It all makes since now that when I look back and reflect on the run last Sunday, no doubt I was sick. Interesting enough though, my legs felt good but my body was shot. And, after cranking out 38 miles for the week, I was not sore on Monday or the subsequent days. However, I did not get one run in this week and look forward to putting some miles back on these legs this week. So, another adjustment to my training schedule as last week was suppose to be recovery week. Well, I recovered from being sick, this week will be recovery running week and will do 30 then bump up to 42 next week.

Totals for the week:
0 miles
0 hours
(this was a first)

102 Degrees!

2011-01-25T11:22:00.000-05:00

So after my cold run on Sunday, I could not get warm. Late in the afternoon I had to crawl into the bed and crank up the electric blanket and finally warmed up after 30 minutes. As Monday morning came, I rolled out of bed and just knew something was not right. I went to work and again, could not get warm. I was in total denial all day saying I wasn't sick but as the day went on, my strength became less and less. I got home and laid around and took my temperature and wouldn't you know - 102! and then I passed out at 6:30pm.

Pure exhaustion!

2011-01-23T18:05:00.002-05:00

Today was one of the roughest runs I have had in a long time. I got no sleep last night because Thomas was up all night and all I did was toss and turn. I just needed 9.8 miles today because I got a little extra yesterday. It was cold and pretty windy and somehow I drummed up the strength to get out around 12:30pm. Run - heck, if you call it that. I made it down to Rock Creek and started to hit some trails and I immediately was slowed down to a walk. Nothing hurt, I was just tapped out. So for the majority of the run, all effort was concentrated to just keep moving forwardd, a combo of running and walking. I had negative thoughts and was so determined to just cut the run short and not hit my goal for the week but I kept pressing forward.

In the end, I was able to get the 9.8 in and it took me just under 2 hours. It was a long 2 hours and all I could think about is this what I might feel like the last 9+ miles of the 50k and I just need to keep going. When I got home, I took a nice long shower and ate some oodles and noodles. I know I should have taken a cold bath but that hot shower with the jet sprays couldn't be passed up! Now I seem to have a shortness of breath from the cold air and I hope this passes shortly.

The satisfaction of the week is I hit 38 miles! and now get to enjoy a week of recovery. I just hope I can replenish my energy stores to get some miles in this week.

Totals for the week:
Miles: 38
Time: 6:27

Saturday - cold and solid

2011-01-22T18:01:00.001-05:00

Today was a pretty cold run. I was decked out in my new neck warmer and had a hand warmer as well. The wind wasn't bad so I warmed up pretty quickly. I met Mark at Pierce Mill today, I ran there, and Mark and I went 10 together and then I ran home and was able to get in 14.2 miles at a 9:33 pace. I'm concerned my pace was too fast and I'm going so suffer tomorrow but it was nice to finally have some company. It's nice to run alone but at times it's nice to have some company and it was appreciated.

Cranking along...

2011-01-21T19:56:00.003-05:00

For the past 3 nights, not including tonight, I was able to log in 14 miles on the treadmill. I'm a wus when it comes to running outside at night in the cold - just so much easier to do it indoors although it is a challenge to keep your mind occupied or better yet, release your thoughts.

The big thing this week was reading about how someone got lost on the trail during a practice run with the VHRTC and all the emails about what you should bring etc. As a result, I went to REI yesterday and was looking at maps, compasses, GPS Spot tracking devices and knives. I am also going to goto a map and compass orientation class at REI next week. I need to be prepared after what I read in those emails!!

Also - I went to the doctors yesterday for my routine physical and all is going well. I need to do bloodwork next week as routine, but my doctor said I am a specimen of excellent health and to keep it up. Nice to hear that at age 42. Goal is to hear that same thing at 82!

For the weekend, I need to get through my slightly sore throat so I can crank out a total of 24 miles tomorrow and Sunday!

Treadmill...

2011-01-16T15:03:00.002-05:00

The treadmill miles are building up. I just don't have it in me to go outside and run during the week unless I can sucker one of my friends to go do some trails, so this week I ran 3 nights on the treadmill for about 12.5 miles. Yesterday I cranked out a nice 16 miles, although not on trails as there was snow cover and I did not want to risk injury. I enjoyed the route in which I started from home, ran down Rock Creek to the GT waterfront, then headed up Wisconsin Ave to Friendship Heights and too Military Road home. I'll call it the 16-miler triangle. Today's run felt pretty good and I was able to get in just under 6 with at least half of them on trails. Another solid week.

Totals for the week:

Miles: 34.2
Time: 5:40

I thought trails were suppose to be easier on the body...

2011-01-09T14:59:00.001-05:00

...or maybe it would not have been so tough on me if the ground was not frozen. I did almost 14 in Rock Creek on the trails Saturday and on Sunday, I was spent. I put off my Sunday run until the evening and was able to close out the weekend with 6 more miles. I was pretty beat. However, the most exciting news this week was the next day after Mark and I run, Mark's wife had their baby boy Alexander. Congrats Mark! By the way, the total elevation gain for yesterday's run was ~ 4,500 ft (not even HALF of the HAT Run!)

Totals for the week:

Miles: 29
Time: 5:11

Night Runs...

2011-01-06T14:57:00.000-05:00

Such a nice time to run through Rock Creek at night under headlamp. Mark and I did just over 6 miles running the trails of RC. I'm too chicken, or maybe just too smart, to do the night runs alone I take advantage of it when I have someone to run with.

Recovery week

2011-01-02T23:59:00.000-05:00

Just completed Recovery week with 8 miles yesterday (Happy New Year) and 6 miles today. Yesterday the run was exclusively on all trails in Rock Creek and practiced walking up the hills. Today was a treat as the temperature got into the 50's. Overall I feel pretty good and and the aches I was getting in my right shins seems to have gone away for the time being. It was a good call to reorganize the schedule to get a recovery in this week.

Totals for the week:

Miles: 24.2
Time: 3:58

So, what have I been doing since Florida IM?

2011-01-01T18:22:00.000-05:00

I spent the most of the 2010 focusing on shorter distant tris including FinsWheelFeet sprint in May, DC Tri Sprint in June, Luray Sprint in August and Nations Tri Oly in September. Also in September I ran the Wilson Bridge Half Marathon and something just clicked with my running. It was the first run in ages where I just felt right, everything just flowed and it was the best feeling. Since then I threw the bike in storage and put away the swim suit and have been running since.

In October, I signed up for the Hat Run (50K) and been focusing on running. I did the Richmond Half Marathon in November which was great. It was a far cry from 2 years earlier when I did the Richmond Marathon and I was just fed up with running because of the crappy race I had. Also, doing Richmond Half brought back great memories being with my Dad last year when he completed his first marathon at 68. Truly inspiring! I conquered Tough Mudder in NJ the following week jumping in the frigid water, running through mud pits, climbing walls, ropes and running through fire. A very exciting and exhausting 13 miles!

My mileage has been ramping up within the last month or so having logged 22, 19, 29, 32 and 24 weekly miles. The 24 mile week was suppose to be 34 but I was feeling some pain in the shins so I adjusted the schedule to make that a recovery week. I often worry if I'm getting enough miles in but it's that balance of family, work and running. Sometimes I just can't get the miles in I want but am appreciative of the fact that I just keep going.

About me while training for Florida IM in Nov 2009:

2009-12-31T18:09:00.000-05:00

I am now 41 years old, married and have a newborn son. I took the journey to my first Ironman 2 years ago and had an incredible experience. During my training for Coeur d'Alene, I renovated my house and got married to my beautiful wife. For the most part, I took off from tri's last year and started back up this year with Columbia and Eagleman and had a newborn son in between, I am ready to continue this journey to Florida IM in November. It will definitely be a challenge balancing my time with my wife, baby, training and work. I hope you enjoy by blog

Ironman blues...

2009-11-26T08:52:00.003-05:00

Almost 3-weeks have past since that incredible emotional high of Ironman and the blues have begun. These days are filled with me wanting to go for a swim, bike or run but when it comes to the act of doing them, I lack the motivation to get started. I went back and forth on whether to do something as little as a turkey trot today but lacked the motivation to even sign up. As I write this I am thinking about a trail run once Carol wakes up, but I need the motivation to get started. Also, I have been trying to figure out what I am doing next year. I have no desire to do a marathon but have been leaning heavily on doing one to two half ironman's - but which ones and when? It's all kind of foggy right now.

These feelings are not new as I had similiar feelings after IM CDA. These feelings will eventually wear off and the motivation to get started will return. It's just going through the motions that sucks!! One thing I have been keeping up with are my crunches! I feel like I am a cruching maniac right now!! Pretty soon I'll have 6-pack abs but you won't be able to see them because I lacked the motivation to workout and my rock hard abs will be covered with a flabby gut!! LOL!!! I'm so dramatic!!

Have a great Thanksgiving All!!

2009 Florida IM Race Report

2009-11-22T16:43:00.010-05:00

For anyone that says "I just don't have the time to workout," you are wrong. There is always time and the rewards are unimaginable. It is up to you to do it. I hope you enjoy...

First off, I have to say this was a really fun and very rewarding day. When I started this journey a year ago, I was very apprehensive from the day I signed up until the finish line today. I was very reluctant to sign up in Nov 08 because Carol was pregnant and I knew the majority of my training was going to be with an infant. I carried this guilty conscious with me from that day all the way to the starting line of trying to be there as much as possible to help Carol and more importantly not missing being with my son. It was definitely a juggling act! From the early swims, to the late night bikes barely able to stay awake, the Sunday long rides and the quick runs and get home. Looking back, I did more races this year, than ever before. From the trail races and half marathon to 3-oly’s, 2-half IM and Florida. It was my busiest year with training, racing, being a husband and being a dad and after Florida, this awesome race – it was worth it! It is always worth it for now I completed my second Ironman! Below is the conclusion to this journey.

Pre-Race – well I definitely did not get much sleep last night as I tossed and turned all night. Finally 4:30am showed up on the clock and I was up along with Carol and Thomas. So nice to see them here. Started hydrating with water and ate my pop-tarts and bagel with a little cream cheese. Took a shower and shaved – have to look nice on IM day! Around 5:30am dropped off my special needs bags and stocked my bike with fluids and put air in the tires and headed back to the room. At 6:15am put on the wetsuit and headed down to the beach sporting a pair of insulated socks! Note – our hotel was right at the swim start and transition area which was awesome. It made logistics so much easier!

At the Team Z tent on the beach, took some group pictures and off to the swim pen area. So here I am, standing on the beach with 2500 other athletes looking out at the water. I’m back, over 2-years later, just taking it all in. I did deep breathing, standing in place and said a few prayers. Breath to remember and embrace. The water was clear blue and wavy. You can just feel the intense energy of anticipation from the athletes – 140.6 miles begins in just a few minutes. That feeling inside of just pure adrenaline, feeling jacked up becoming more and more intense and then a deep breath and BOOM, the gun goes off.

Swim:
I have to say that this was my best swim EVER! This was the most contact I have had in a swim from getting kicked in the face quite a few times to someone grabbing my calf and getting knocked around – I kept calm through it all with a steady stroke. This time, I did not line up along the buoys at the start, but lined up closer to the right side. The skies were clear and blue just like the water. The water felt great, my stroke was smooth and I just plugged along at a nice steady pace. The further from shore we got, the bigger the swells became. I had to time when to site the buoys because at the bottom of the swell I would look up and just see water, but at the top of the swell it was a clear site to the buoy. When we made the first turn and swam into the sun – what a site of athletes swimming, water splashing, going into the swells; it was almost like a sepia picture, then the turn to shore. I just kept swimming nice and steady. The first loop I knocked out in 34.5 minutes – I was very pleased and went out for the second loop and experienced the same – stroke, reach, pull, glide, breath, over and over again. When I made my last turn into shore I just embraced that moment that it took me 2+ years to get back here and not sure when I’ll be back, I kept saying breath to remember and embrace and that it was I did. I exited the swim with a time of just under 1:12, 4.5 minutes faster than CDA – unreal!

In T1, wetsuit was stripped off and into the changing area and it was packed. I changed into my bike gear got suntan lotion put on, grabbed my bike and off on the bike (T1 - ~ 12min).

Bike:
WOW!!! I cannot believe I averaged 16.7 on the bike for 112 miles. Now that may not be fast for others but for me, it was a great pace and I was quite pleased! Aside from numb fingers and my body almost rejecting my nutrition the last hour+ of the ride, this was a great ride for me! So hear it goes…

I’ll break this up to each hour of the ride. My goal for the ride was to keep my heart rate in Z2 and maintain. I was still scared from the ride a month ago in which I bonked on the ride around mile 65. Any time I felt I was picking it up, I backed off because bonking at 65 miles with another 50+ to go would be pure misery today. First hour I felt pretty good. I was taking in my nutrition (a bottle of Infinite) every hour and also one endurlyte. I could feel it start to warm up so I grabbed a water bottle at the aid station and sprayed it on the back of my neck and felt a sharp burn. Apparently I missed a spot on my neck with bodyglide and the salt from the water with my wetsuit rubbed a nice burn on the back of my neck. OUCH. On a side note, the next day I saw a lot of athletes with hickeys on their necks – either they had a heck of a night celebrating or they had the same problem I did.

So, back to the bike – 1st hour felt good, slight breeze behind my back, riding along the beach, beautiful views and turn into mainland (17.6mph). 2nd hour, feeling good, at mile ~22 we turned East and headed into the wind, speed slowed down, heart rate increased (16.5mph). 3rd hour, still heading into the wind, groups of people passing me drafting off each other which is illegal – jerks! Pass Team Z signs on side of road “Zoe says bow wow” (15mph). 4th hour – started at mile 50 in special needs stop. I really needed this stop as I was getting tired heading into the wind. Ate a bag of chips, switched out my nutrition and off I went and turned, finally to head south and speed picks up with less effort. Bee lands on me, oh no not again! Good thing I got to him before he got to me like his buddies did twice this season! (18.1mph). 5th hour – Team Z cheering station passed twice was great and a well needed boost as I started to drag a little especially between miles 70 and 74 going right into the wind. Saw Paul Baker going the other direction and he yelled just a little longer, I must have not looked like crap for him to say that and then at 74, made the turnaround with the wind to my back, ahhhhhhh, so much better (16.4mph). 6th hour – started to have problems taking in nutrition, switched to Gatorade and water, stomach was feeling blah. Speed was good with wind at my back. Stopped at mile 90 aid station and went to bathroom and stretched. Having a hard time shifting gears as my pinky fingers were becoming numb (18.3mph). Last 43 minutes, with 10 miles to go I just did the countdown. I could not wait to get off the bike.

After getting off the bike, I entered T2 with a nice easy walk and just enjoyed those few minutes of being off that bike seat! Went into changing area and changed clothes enjoying the comfort of the chair. Headed out of T2 and saw Carol jumping up and down on the balcony cheering for me. So good to see her!

Run:
You know, I was quite pleased with the run. I went into training for this race emphasizing more bike workouts then run workouts knowing that I would run/walk the marathon and that’s exactly what I did. Some miles had more running then walking, others had more walking then running. I just knew to keep moving forward and do proper nutrition to not cramp up. One of these days I’m going to run the whole marathon during IM, but for today, it was all about moving forward any way possible.

I loved this run course and would come back again just to do the run. We ran through lots of neighborhoods, along the beach and through a park. My pace varied throughout between 10 and 16 minute miles. At different times I ran with Henry, Andy, Matt and Bryon; I saw other Z’ers out there – Carolyn, Kate, Maggie, Pete, Mark, Joanna, Roy, Brian, etc….. So nice to see so many people you know to continue and encourage you. Some memorable moments included ditching my fuel belt and water bottles around mile 6. The Infinite was not going to well and I was being weigh down, so I went back to basics and drank cola and chicken broth – that was what was going to get me through this marathon and it did.

The run was two loops and as I came in after the first loop we passed the Team Z tent – UNREAL! But no signs of Carol and Thomas. So back out for loop 2 and pace was both running and walking. The time we got to the park it was pitched black and I walked through most of the park with Matt and Andy. It was surreal, peaceful and I loved it. I was at peace with myself, just taking it all in. No other sounds, just footsteps. Then we get to the IM energy zone and I get a message on the board from Thomas saying “Get’er done Daddy”. That put a smile on my face even though I was the one who wrote the message a couple of days ago. : ) . Out of the park and heading back with 6 miles to go. Pace starts to pick up about 1-2 minutes faster than before.

I realize that I am running a little more now and feel pretty good. I get closer and closer, mile 23, mile 24, then pass mile 25, it is happening again, that feeling that emotion, 140.6 miles is about to come in, breath to remember and embrace, crowds are cheering louder and louder, hit the main road, see Carol with the baby and I was all smiles, it’s happening, make that turn, I start to choke up, there it is, the finish line, trying to take it all in, taking my time this time to run to the finish, the crowds, the cheers, chills running up my spine, tears welling up in my eyes, the finish line coming closer and close and then the sweet announcement “ From Washington DC, Jerry Ricciardi you are an Ironman!” I threw my hands up in the air with the biggest smile on me! I did it! And so, as soon as I crossed the finish line I did my little shuffle dance and enjoyed! This was an amazing race!!

Not only did I do it, I shaved off almost an hour from CDA. I was expecting to do a little better then CDA because Florida is flat, but not expecting to shave almost an hour off. This was a great day. Everything went the way I trained for even though I lacked the confidence in the days leading up the race, I need to remember to have faith in my training as it proved out today!

After the race, I celebrated with Carol and had a double cheeseburger prepared especially for me by Coach Ed, headed back to the room, showered and came back out to cheer on the remaining athletes in the stands. It was the best way to end this awesome day!!

Ironman eve

2009-11-06T18:33:00.000-05:00

Got a good night sleep last night and woke up early, on my own. Met Mark, Roy, Linda, Joanna and Kate for our brick (15/30/15). For the swim, the water felt really good but it felt like a long time in between buoys. However, after I got started and warmed up, it seemed to go quickly. Still hard to believe that I am going to do 2.4 miles tomorrow plus a bike and run! After the swim, jumped on the bike and discovered my cadence was not working and turned out I was adjusting the wrong sensor. After the bike, went onto the run and ran with Roy. I felt very good on my feet and running with Roy was very helpful. To say the least I was felt very different about this race in completely unsure on how I was going to do. Roy helped me relax and no doubt I was very appreciative.

Once the swim was over, we dropped off our T1/T2 bags and racked the bikes. Then I went back to the room and just hung out and then left to get Carol and Thomas. So excited to see my family arrive safely!!! From there, we went to the Team Z dinner and took some group pictures. Definitely a different feel with the Team from 2-years ago. At CDA, the team felt more intimate and close, this time around, there were so many people I didn’t even know half of the athletes. Was the feel different because I wasn’t around as much for the group workouts or because things have changed? Not sure but I was glad to be there and had a good meal. It also helped me a lot that Carol and Thomas were there as well.

Days are dragging....

2009-11-05T18:31:00.001-05:00

Woke up this morning to the sound of blowing wind. I have a beautiful view of the water and watched them set up the swim course. The sky is clear with the sun shining but just a little breezy right now. Starting to get flashbacks from CDA but know that it won’t be like that. Since I was feeling more ready today, : ), I checked in and received my Ironman gear. I also went shopping and bought some gear. Went to lunch with Mark and Sara to Hammerhead Fred’s and then went back to the room and started to get my gear together. I definitely felt more streamlined this year with respect to getting my gear bags ready. However, I still did bring a lot of crap down to Florida! For dinner, Mark, Sara, Brian and I went to Pineapple Willies.

I'm in Florida!

2009-11-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

Today I arrived after an almost uneventful flight. Except!!! on the second flight this woman sits down next to me and whips at a mask and starts coughing! UNREAL! My paranoia just became my reality. She tried to engage in a conversation with me but I just didn't. I did not face her or look at her for the hour long flight. Then I heard other people hacking on the flightt as well. Man - if you got the flu - stay home, please!

So, got the car - check out my ride! Feeling pretty sporty with this car. Picked up my bike and gear from Tritransport - very convenient. I was going to pick up my packet but wanted to wait until I go with with some of my friends. Makes it more special when you are with others then by yourself. I'll go tomorrow. Went to Walmart and got all the baby gear and had dinner tonight with some team mates.

Race Week has begun!!!!!!

2009-11-02T07:33:00.001-05:00

Wooooohooooo. Two more days of work then I'm off to Florida!!!!

Taper continues

2009-11-01T22:00:00.000-05:00

Woke up this morning to a chilly and rainy day so decided to run on the treadmill instead. So, ran for about 5.5 miles at a nice easy pace. Then tonight swam for about 60 minutes and felt nice and relaxed in the water.

I found out yesterday one of my teammates, Paul, fell on the bike ride and is pretty banged up. He is suppose to do Ironman Florida and he's not sure if he will be able to do it. I hope he can do it. It just goes to show you that anything can happen and the hardest thing to do is to get to the starting line healthy. I hope I see Paul out there on Saturday!

Totals for the week:
Swim: 3.9 M
Bike: 30 M
Run: 5.34M
Total: 39.3M, 5:34 hours

P.S. - As taper week ends, I was talking to my father today and he was asking me about my workouts this week. Since he is now in taper for his marathon debut, he commented that my taper is his full week of workouts. I laughed and said no not really and then realized how what used to be a hard week of workouts for me, is really less then a typical week of training for me. : )

Bike drop off - done!

2009-10-31T15:15:00.003-05:00

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

2009-10-29T06:44:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-10-27T22:00:00.001-05:00

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

2009-10-25T19:00:00.001-05:00

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

$$$$$$$$

2009-10-23T16:25:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-10-23T16:20:00.003-05:00

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

2009-10-20T22:00:00.000-05:00

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....

2009-10-19T18:43:00.002-05:00

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

2009-10-18T18:38:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-10-14T16:00:00.003-05:00

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!

2009-10-11T20:45:00.002-05:00

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

2009-10-10T14:26:00.005-05:00

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......

2009-10-09T20:11:00.005-05:00

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

2009-10-08T20:41:00.000-05:00

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!!

2009-10-05T20:40:00.000-05:00

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

2009-10-04T22:00:00.000-05:00

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!

2009-10-04T21:00:00.000-05:00

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 ?!?!?!?!?

2009-10-02T19:31:00.003-05:00

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!

Bike at Roy's

2009-09-27T19:24:00.000-05:00

This morning I went to Roy's house to do the bike ride on his computrainer so he could replace my seatpost with a new, more forward seatpost and readjust my bike fit. The purpose of the new seatpost is so I can get better angle with my riding and be overtop my aerobars. Roy also adjusted by aerobars since they were too close together and it helped spread my shoulders apart a little. These were some major adjustments and I rode for 20 miles on the bike as he looked at how I was riding. It typically takes 4-6 weeks for the body to fully adapt to the adjustments which is about the timeframe until Florida. So, let's hope that these adjustments were right and I feel comfortable during the next two weeks of long rides. Roy is awesome to spend this time when I know he is busy with his own training! Thanks Roy!

Summary for this recovery week:

Swim: 5.3 M <--nice week!
Bike: 34 M
Run: 6.4M
Totals: 46 miles, 6:43 hours

Chesapeake Man Swim Fest

2009-09-26T19:28:00.002-05:00

This was a fun event. Part of the Chesapeake Man ironman distance race, the director started just a 2.4 mile swim event and a swim/bike event. Today, Mark and I did the swim portion and it was a solid swim. For all my races this season, each time I get in the water, it just doesn't feel right, that is the open water swims. It seems like I get a little anxious when that has never happened to me. So today, my goal was to be smooth, steady and calm.

The race began at 7:00am in Cambridge at Great Marsh Park and there were about 350 participants. Most were doing the full ironman distance and others were doing the relay, just the swim or just the swim/bike. If we had time, we would have done the swim/bike (2.4m/112m) becuase it is great training preparation. The course was 2 loops, water temp was 72 degrees which was perfect, and for the most part I had a good swim. I still need to work on swimming on the line of the buoys and be more aggressive. The current was pretty strong on both return legs and there were white caps but I was able to cut through pretty good. Probably the most difficult part of the swim for me was it was tough to site the buoys going into the sun, waves and chop. My time was around 1:18 which is about 2 minutes slower the my IM swim 2 years ago. I was quite pleased with this time as it was just for me to continue and stay comfortable in the water.

Busy week!!!!

2009-09-25T19:18:00.001-05:00

These weeks are just crazy. I have been slammed at work and it is next to impossible to get all my workouts in. I started the week out on a good start and had a solid 6.5 mile run Monday night. Tues am I had a good swim at 5:30am and then that night biked onthe trainer for about 50 minutes. Then Wed rolled around and I was suppose to run but I ended up mowing the lawn and the time Carol got home from work (8:15pm) I didn't run because I wanted to make the swim tne next morning. So Thur made the 5:30am swim and ended up working until 9:30 that night so missed my bike workout. Being up since 4:30am and not falling asleep until 10:30 or so that night - I was exhausted. But, when I got home, I packed my stuff so I could leave for Cambridge on Friday after work. Friday, ending up getting out of work a few minutes early and went to Cambridge for the Chesapeake Man Swim Fest on Sat. Just got to keep going!

Nice ride today

2009-09-20T18:24:00.002-05:00

What beautiful weather today for a bike ride. Low 70's, cool air, sunny, it does not get any better then this. Today we did the Southern Maryland ride and rode 85 miles in about 5:30 hours. I felt pretty good for most of the ride and brother Mike and his girlfriend Marcy came out to do 30, so it was nice to see them. Only drama today was a bee sting to the neck! What are the odds? I saw this bee coming right at me and I tried to duck out of the way and the sucker landed right on my neck and went to town like a little vampire. The sucker got me good too!

In addition to the whole 3 workouts I did this weekend - I did get in 3 days of stomach exercises. AND spent 2 great days with Carol and the baby in St. Michaels, MD for her birthday. I tell you, it is definitely a balance to keep things on an even keel between training and family!

Totals for the week:
Swim: 1.1M
Bike: 95M
Run: BIG FAT ZERO!
Total: 106 miles, 7:45 hours

Goal for next week: run run run!!!! Need to get those runs in!

Losing steam....

2009-09-17T06:29:00.002-05:00

I am losing steam!! This now is the hardest part of training where you just lack the motivation to get the workouts in. Actually for me, it is finding the time to get the workouts in which is killing my motivation when I do the workout. I feel worn out and know that I need to snap out of this and have a good weekend of training. I feel pretty good about my swimming and biking progress but am concerned on the run because I am not getting enough run workouts in. It's a tough balance keeping up with everything as I constantly feel behind on things. The next 4 weeks are going to be tough training weeks. I have complete support from my wife and family and friends. Basically, I need to stop whining and get it done. I will get it done!

Nation's Tri - Awesome!

2009-09-13T20:08:00.000-05:00

Real quick before I get to Nation's, yesterday I ran 13 miles in Rock Creek, 9min run/1min walk and averaged 10 minute miles. The weather was perfect. My dad, who happens to be training for his first marathon, did 16 miles and did extremely well!

Okay - on to Nation's. What a great race. I was always so skeptical of doing this race because of swimming in the Potomac but this was a class A race. Over 5000 people did the race and it was extremely well organized! I have to thank Scott Talbot for pushing me to do this one!

I had a GREAT race!! I PR'd my oly time by several minutes and finished in 2:43. This course was flat and it sure was fast! I was 13 minutes faster than Columbia in May(a hilly course) and 23 minutes faster than Luray in August (also a very hilly course). Putting the hilly oly's in the past aside - it was a solid race. It was the first time and quite sometime where I was not passed by the world on the bike, avg 19.4, and kept a solid pace on the run, avg 8:18 with a 7:50 the last mile. On the bike, I kept thinking there was a head wind when actually it was just me moving : ). Here is my write up in my journal:

"Very pleased with the race. Felt strong the entire time. Swim - goggles fogged up and I almost cut out a buoy - a total rookie mistake that cost me at least 2 minutes on the swim. had awesome bike as my heartrate was mid zone 4 the whole time. Run was very strong and steady. Kept positive attitude during whole race especially on the run! Really enjoyed this one! Feel like I am getting my legs back as well."

Also, my nutrition was RIGHT ON using Infinite bike mix for the 1st hour on the bike, then switch to my run mix for the last 16 minutes on the bike and then used the run mix on the run. Worked out well!

Totals for the week:
Swim: 4M
Bike: 58M
Run: 24M
Total: 86M, 9:09 hours

This week's events...

2009-09-10T17:49:00.004-05:00

Monday - stomach exercises, and made all travel arrangements for IMF. Broke up the 5 gallon water jug change jar to cash it out to pay for the trip.
Tuesday - 5:30am swim - 1-hour, 9:00pm run - 40 minutes treadmill
Wed - Bike 40 minutes on trainer
Thur - Swim, 5:30am - 1 hour, Bike in pm 1-hour!

Busy busy busy. Woke up in the middle of the night last night in a pool of sweat. I have been roasting lately getting hot flashes. I feel like I'm going through menopause! Although I am in denial, one symptom of overtraining is sweating at night and I should cut back. However, there is not time to cut back since I already feel like I am not getting the workouts in that I need.

My swims this week have been pretty solid. I was getting some coaching tips from the pool deck coach that I hope will help me getting a little more efficient to see if I can make a move up a lane in about 2-3 weeks.

by the way - already cashed out $ 500 from change jar and only half way through!

Weekend events

2009-09-06T17:45:00.000-05:00

To continue on with my recovery week routine, on Saturday I did a brick work out. Spent 23 miles on the bike and then went to a 6 mile run. During the bike I was not feeling that motivated to do the run but forced myself and ending up having a nice solid run. Total workout time was about 2.5 hours.

Totals for the week:
Swim: 0 (big fat zero)
Bike: 48 miles
Run: 12 miles
Total: 60 miles, 5:38 hours

Back to the massage table!

2009-09-04T18:48:00.003-05:00

As I continue on this nice recovery week - bike Wed night, bike Thur morn and run last night, we capped off the week training with a nice sports massage to loosen me up for the next 2 weeks of training. This definitely helps me and my performance in workouts, no doubt. Tomorrow I have a brick workout and then things ramp up again next week.

Just a quick note on recovery week. Not only does it give your body time to recover, it also gives you some time to do the other things you have neglected the past 2 weeks of your life. Such as spending time with your wife and 3 month old son, run errands, pay bills, make travel arrangements, etc... It's tough to get everything in as you need more sleep from the training and your window of getting anything done becomes smaller and smaller.

Stomach - what's that??

2009-09-01T21:00:00.000-05:00

Man - do I hate doing stomach exercises but it's time to solid up this muscle in preparation for IM. So I dedicated my recovery week to start doing stomach exercises. One of my exercises is the plank which I used to be pretty good at and now just a minute was tough tonight. I was with Thomas and I laid him on the ground next to me. As I began, both Thomas and I were smiling at each other. As the minute progressed, my facial expression started to strain more and more and as I continued to watch Thomas, I must have scared him because he was down right crying when I finished my minute of plank. Carol said I scared him, I like to believe that he was helping me to not strain so he could continue to smile. We'll have to keep practicing.

Rehoboth Beach - FLAT - ride

2009-08-30T20:01:00.003-05:00

Well, Hurricane Danny turned out to be a no show. So under cloudy skies, some heat and of course, humidity, it turned out to be a nice day. It was a brutal drive down to the hotel Friday night as traffic was horrible trying to get over the bridge, but after that it wasn't too bad. Got to the hotel around 11:00pm and I was asleep at 11:30 and got a SOLID 6-7 hours sleep. Needless to say I was WELL rested for this ride. Up at 7 and on the bike around 8:30am.

Overall, it was a solid ride to complete a solid 2 weeks of training. After feeling pretty exhausted throughout this past week, I felt it did not affect me on this ride. The ride was 3 loops, 49M, 33M and 22M for a total of 104 miles! Yeeahhhh. Finally broke the century mark and the first time at this distance since IM CDA. We averaged 17.6, 16.9 and 17.6, respectively, for an overall average of 17.4 or total time of just under 6 hours. Heck - I'll take it. In fact, if I can average just over 16 for Ironman Florida I will be quite pleased!

After the ride we rested for a little bit then headed to Dewey for dinner and fun! Who knows what time I went to sleep last night after a "few" beers, but I was up at 7am and on the road 15 minutes later to get home to Carol and Thomas. I missed the little guy - and of course the wife too.

Here are the totals for the week:
Swim: 3 miles
Bike: 129 miles
Run: 6.6 miles
Total: 139 miles, 10:32 hours.

Didn't get the runs in this week that I wanted to. Need to keep working on that. This week coming up is recovery week - thank goodness! Time to catch up on life.

Moving on up!!

2009-08-27T15:59:00.001-05:00

This mornings swim was good and solid. Although sleepy at the start, I was able to move up a lane, yeeeeeahhhhhh!!!!!!!! and am back to the lane I was swimming in over 2 years ago when I was training for CDA IM. For those of you who don't do master's swim - the lanes are in order from slowest to fastest and I am now 2 lanes away from the fastest swimmers in the team. I think there are a total of 10 lanes but can't remember. Anyways, it was good swim and we ended the workout with 8 x 100m at Zone 4 (hard effort) pace. That was tough!

Tonight's run was just painful - at least just to get started. I was so tired that I came home from work and took a nap, woke up and forced myself out the door. And interesting enough, I had one of the best mid-week runs in quite a while. It was a solid run where I just flowed. It's amazing on the day's I'm most tired and it is the hardest to get started - they turn out to be the better workouts!

This weekend we are headed to the beach for a nice 100 mile flat ride. We just need to dodge some Hurricane Danny coming up the East coast. should be fun!

Not feeling the love in these workouts!

2009-08-26T18:27:00.002-05:00

Yesterday morning's swim I just wasn't feeling the love. Nothing like slugging through the water at 5:30 in the morning. The workout ended up being a pretty good one as I was swimming with some faster swimmers and able to keep up. In total, we did 2600yds (~1.5miles) in the hour. In a few weeks the 5am swims will begin - can't wait for those.

I rode home from work last night and my legs felt like lead, must be the left over feeling from the weekend workout. I had a pretty good pace but felt slow, even though I was keeping pace with previous workouts. I stayed in the big ring the entire time which was good on the hills. Worked out roughly 50 minutes.

This morning I rode to work and took a nice easy pace. Rode for about 40 minutes (shorter route) and did stomach exercises in the gym in the building. Skipping run tonight so I have some energy to get up tomorrow and do the swim - but will definitely need to run tomorrow night.

These mid week workouts get harder and harder as you try and recover from the weekend and try not to overdue it so you will be ready for the following weekend. It's a balancing act - but a lot of fun!

Reston 3/4 Century Ride ?!?!?!?!?

2009-08-23T18:57:00.002-05:00

So we skipped the nice, FLAT, Easton ride for the hilly Reston Century Ride. The plan for Mark and I was to do the Century today, all 100 miles, but after Taylortown hill - and it was one very long STEEP hill, we decided to make it the Reston 3/4 Century ride. It was an interesting day with me and bugs as I ate one while riding - flew right into my mouth, got nailed in the cheek but a very large bug and then later on got a bee sting on the lip while riding. Quite the drama! The ride was very organized and glad we did it. Definitely will be on my list for next year. The ride took just over 5 hours and I averaged 15 on the bike.

I tell you what though - my legs are really tired - 16 mile run today and 76 mile hilly bike today. Tonight will be a Tylenol PM night so I can sleep. The last couple of nights I have gotten much sleep. Another tough week of training this week then recovery.

Summary of the week:

Swim: 1.4 miles
Bike: 108.4 miles
Run: 25.1 miles
Total: 135 miles, 12:38 hours

I was able to get my runs in and got an extra bike in this week, missed one swim but that's okay.

Run is done!

2009-08-22T13:19:00.002-05:00

After a tough night last night with Baby Thomas - I was up every couple of hours with him, I finally got start this morning around 8:15 and ran in Rock Creek. The weather was very humid and it was pretty warm. I ran 16 miles and averaged about 10:35's doing my run/walk approach. It took 2:50 hours and I ran 9' and walked 1'. My pace was consistent the entire time and I used my new mix from Infinitsystems and used no gu's or electrolytes! This stuff is awesome!! No cramping and no fatigue and did not have to worry about pills, gu's, etc. Just a simple cocktail drink of this stuff. After my run I took a nice cool bath and iced my lower back to get ready for tomorrow's ride!!

Busy weekend ahead!!

2009-08-21T15:27:00.002-05:00

Right to the point - biked home last night from work and the bike felt fast and the legs did what they could to keep up. It was hot! Got up this morning at 3:30am to feed Thomas, back to sleep at 4:30 and up at 6:30am and biked to work. I took it easy though because big weekend ahead. Tomorrow I have a 16 mile run and Sunday 90 mile bike! I'm pretty tired now so I hope to get to bed early tonight so I am a little rested for tomorrow's run!

Metabolism is in Overdrive!!

2009-08-20T06:25:00.002-05:00

We will get to my metabolism in a second. First, a quick update - got in the 40 minute ride workout Tuesday night, got my first speed workout on the run since February last nigth and smacked the swim this morning!! I am starting to focus more on increasing my weekly milage since I believe I have figured out my little injury or some would say pain in the ass - literally! We'll see how it goes as this injury has been hampering me for over a year now and trying to figure out what causes the pain and how to get relief. So far I have determined that getting a massage of the high hamstring, lower back area is key to relief! I was not able to get a massage last week but will do so shortly.

Now, onto more interesting stuff - my metabolism. When I'm training, my body goes through 3 periods. At the start of training season, I'm burning some calories and my weight stays about the same or slighly increases, somewhere in the middle, I start burning more calories and I start trimming down - NOW, it has just started, where I can not eat enough food and need some serious calories. The is the best part because you just keep eating eating and eating, and I still can't get enough food. Problem is the more fit I get, I stay away from all the good greasy foods because it affects my workouts. So I'm eating more and more healthy foods instead of the nice greasy food like Five Guys - I really like Five Guys which I have about once a year. Chipolte is good for you - right? And chocolate - I just can't get enough of it!

Sleep or Swim??

2009-08-18T20:30:00.000-05:00

Got a nice run in last night for about 50 minutes and then made Carol and I a nice salmon dinner with asparagus on the grill - YUM!!!

I have been extremely tired lately and have not been sleeping that well. Last week was recovery week and I felt I did not get the sleep I needed. Since Luray, I have been tossing and turning each night and this morning it finally caught up to me. I was up around 3:30am with Thomas for a little bit and went back to sleep. The alarm went off at 4:30am and I knew it just wasn't going to happen. It's a challenge sometimes and I know I need the swim practice but I felt sleep was more important. Now I await Peapod for the grocery delivery so I can go workout on the bike.

Catching up

2009-08-16T19:20:00.000-05:00

Well last week came and went. Being that it was recovery week, I took it easy and seemed overly tired. I got a morning swim on Tuesday and a morning bike in on Wednesday. Couldn't seem to get a run though as the week just flew by.

Saturday was Luray Oly and I did okay. I took off early from work on Friday and went down to Luray, VA with Mark. We did all the things we would not normally do with our women. We ate dinner at the Luray firehouse where they had a great spaghetti dinner for the triathlete. Then afterward we went to see District 9 - some scifi movie I knew nothing about but turned out to be one of the better movies I have seen in a long time - note that Carol continues to rent chick flicks and the latest being I'm a Shopoholic - so District 9 brought me back to reality.

The race on Saturday was at this park in Luray. Water temp was 80 degress so I swam no wetsuit and had a slower swim time then usual. This was due to no wet suit and me still struggling on my stroke technique. The bike course was hilly and it was hot but bike split was a little faster then columbia at around 16.7mph. The run course was again hilly and it was roasting and I averaged about 9:13's but it seemed slower then that. I had good transition times and my overall time was 3:05, about 7 minutes slower then Columbia in May.

I need to start getting move of my runs in and continued to work on my stroke technique. My biking is coming along but there is always room for improvement.

Totals for last week were:

Swim: 2.2 miles
Bike: 33.6 miles
Run: 6.2 miles
Total: 42 miles, 4:42 hours

Next two weeks are going to be tough!

I think this ride left a scar...

2009-08-09T18:45:00.004-05:00

Man, it was hot and humid today on the bike! We did the Apple Blossum ride, same one we did back on May 6, 2007. Just read my posting from then and it looked like I had one of the best rides at the time before CDA. However, at that time, we did 112 miles and the temp was between 40 and 50. Certainly not the case today. 95 degrees hot, sunny and humid! I was doing well, had a good pace but felt groggy the whole time. I started to push the pace around mile 70ish, thinking we only had 8 miles to go and wouldn't you know - we missed a turn because of a slight error in the cue sheet. At mile 79 we came to the realization - where the hell are we and how far do we have to go? I was spent, Mark was wiped, and Brian was definitely shot, but we were lost. So after riding in circles for a little bit, we found a few others from the team and they lead us back to the school and we ended up doing 83 miles. Yeah yeah, I hear ya, how bad could it have been to go 4-5 extra miles - Let me tell you - IT WAS TOUGH AND LEFT A SCAR!

However, overall my pace was better then two years ago, granted the distance was less, but the weather was worse. I am quite pleased with today's ride, no euphoric feeling like in May 2007, but it was solid. Also, used new nutrition for the ride - www.infinitnutrition.com where you mix your own formula and you don't need gu's or any other food. I think it worked well today and I avoided cramping however, I think need some solid food. I'll call them this week and find out what they recommend.

Totals for the week:
Swim: 2.7 miles
Bike: 118 miles
Run: 8.4 miles
Total: 129 miles, 11:24 hours

This week coming up - RECOVERY WEEK and Luray Oly on Saturday!

Slighlty bruised...

2009-08-08T14:28:00.002-05:00

To catch up - Had a good ride home Thursday night but skipped the run. Therefore, I got no weekday runs in for the week, but at least I was able to spend time with Carol. I rode my bike to work Friday morning and was taking it easy until I passed this guy and he started drafting off of me so I picked it up - why is that?

This morning I did a trail run with Kerri and ran just under 9 miles. This trail is beautiful and takes you right along the Potomac that has waterfalls, rock climbs and even a switchback that make your legs burn! During the first few miles of the run I just happened to trip on a rock and fell and landed on my left hand/shoulder. The shoulder is okay but the palm of my hand is pretty bruised up. nothing seems broken, which is good. Trail running definitely beats your body up in a different way, but it is so much fun. To go 9 miles, it took us 1:50 minutes because of the hills, climbs, etc... What an awesome workout. It will be interesting to see how tomorrow goes - it is going to be brutally HOT and HUMID and I hear it is a tough route - 80 miles, my longest in since CDA!

solid swim this morning

2009-08-06T16:16:00.001-05:00

Couldn't get my run in last night so no work out yesterday. The time I got home, watched Thomas, made dinner and Carol got home at 8, knowing I had to get up this morning for swim, i decided to bag the run.

Solid swim this morning as I focused on extending my left arm out. Got in roughly 2200 yards with some good zone 4 work. now going to bike home and possibly try to get in a run.

Yesterday's workouts

2009-08-05T06:38:00.002-05:00

Up at 4:30am to make swim at 5:30am. On the way, called Mark to make sure he was up - just like old times. Got a pretty good workout in expect I kept pulling myself under water when I went to breath (had coach Ed look at my stroke and it turned out I was pulling to soon with the left arm - need to work on that). Swim was an hour, shower, and head to work.

At the office by 7:30 and worked to 4:00, left early today to get home by 5 and check on Dad watching Thomas for the first day since Carol just went to work part time. Watched, played, fed, hung out with Thomas, made dinner for Carol and I. When Carol got home at 8, I jumped on my trainer for a 45 minute bike workout, showered, ate dinner and in bed by 9:30pm.

It was a busy day!

at

Just add a little soap to this WET ride!!

2009-08-03T07:11:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning, waking up. Uggggggggg. 5:30am the alarm goes off - sore, knowing I need to go ride 75 in a couple of hours. I forgot these mornings. Legs are sore, body is aching but somehow I get up, pack the car and head to the ride.

Today’s ride was pretty solid, although I felt like a wet rag for most of the ride as it rained except for the last 30 minutes or so. The rain actually felt pretty good since it was warm outside and it beat being under the hot sun and then getting a lecture from my wife for not putting enough sun tan lotion on. I rode the first 55 miles on my own since there was no one at my pace that I knew of and my buddy Mark, who I was suppose to ride with, DOGGED! But that’s okay – it was good for me mentally. Around mile 55 I did start riding with the couple, Ron and Courtney, who I guess got lost and ended up next to me. It helped big time the last 20 miles because I was getting tired and the rain really started pouring for the next 10 miles and then it started to clear up. With 5-6 miles to go, I totally slowed down going up this hill and they slowed down for me to catch up, I almost waved them to just go, but then I dug deep and caught up telling myself, just keep up, I don’t have that far to go. It turned out to be a solid ride today. In total, I averaged about 16.3 on the bike today and was pretty consistent the whole ride.

Totals for the week:

Swim: 1.4M
Bike: 101M
Run: 19M
Total: 121 miles, 10:32 hours

Saturday's run...

2009-08-03T07:10:00.001-05:00

Saturday’s run was good, be it hot and very humid. I stuck to my plan of running a mile, walking a minute for the entire time and averaged 10:30’s. I never thought I would be pleased with an average of 10:30’s on a long run. It seems my run time has slowed down about a minute per mile since last year. Not sure what the cause of it – maybe because I have not been running as frequently or other issues. In any event, I would be very happy if I can average 10:30’s on the run during Ironman.

So, after a nice long run, how do you spell relief? I C E B A T H! Ahhhhh, I took a long ice bath in my Jacuzzi tub and listed the Grateful Dead on XM for about 30 minutes. Aside from the shrinkage, it felt really good to get me ready for the next day’s ride.

Made the AM Swim!

2009-07-30T06:42:00.002-05:00

Well - I made it to swim practice this morning - 5:30am! yeaaaaah. Walking on the pool deck and there was Mark, just like old times! I knew Roy and Linda wouldn't be there because they had an excuse - just did IMLP. Harriet - where was she? and did see Banks and Jen and Paul - everyone else - know idea who they were as they looked as me as I was a newbie.

Well, one thing I had going for me this morning was Thomas never woke up in the middle of the night for a feeding so now the next challenge will be to wake up in the middle of the night, feed my cute son and THEN goto swim. Until that time, I will enjoy the fact that my workout is done, focus on staying awake at work and feel guilty because my wife will not be able to sleep in a little today.

churning along...

2009-07-29T07:12:00.003-05:00

Had a great ride home from work last night and kept in Z4 for most of the ride. Got home about 6:30, ate dinner, spent a little time with Thomas and then worked on my fitness room in the basement until 9:15, read a book to Thomas for awhile and feel asleep around 10pm. Woke up at 4am to feed Thomas, back to sleep around 5ish, up at 6:15 ish, and had a steady bike to work. Showered and now ready to start my day at my deck. I tell ya, you do whatever you can to fit it all in!!

Tomorrow morning's goal is to wake up and make the 5:30am swim practice. I have yet to do it this season but did so religiously 2x per week when I trained for CDA. Heck, if I can get up at 4am to feed Thomas, I can just stay up and leave for swim at 4:50am, right???

Hot & Steamy!

2009-07-28T02:02:00.003-05:00

It is going to be a hot and steamy week this week. I ran just under 5 last night and it was pretty humid! Man, what is the deal with me running and having to go number 2. AGAIN, last night in the middle of my run I am scurrying around for a bathroom! I finally got to one and RELIEF!!! I need to make sure the system is cleared before I go running again because there will not always be a bathroom!

Congrats IMLP!!!

2009-07-28T01:58:00.002-05:00

Congrats to all those who raced in IMLP on Sunday! You guys did awesome! It was great tracking the race online and wish I was there to cheer! Also, on TV was the Hawaii IM world championship from 2008. I seem to get all choked up watching these races and watching everyone cross the finish line. It reminds me of when I volunteered for Florida IM last year and worked the finish line. It was an amazing experience watching racers cross the finish line and realizing they just completed their dream knowing the time and sacrifice they put into training to make that moment possible. It is an incredible moment that one cannot fully appreciate it until it happens as it did with me in CDA.

Drama!!

2009-07-28T01:55:00.002-05:00

Well not to go into too much specifics here but apparently I need to watch what I say to people. At least that was the message to me in a very surprising email from a friend of mine. Now I know that at times I just so happen to say the wrong thing or have been known to "stir the pot" so to speak. But in the case, I can clearly say that I was being supportive in my actions. Emails like that are touch to receive because they just cause tension later on. We shall see.

Recovery week

2009-07-28T01:51:00.002-05:00

Ahhhhh, the beauty of recovery was last week although I certainly didn't feel like i was recovering. I realized on Thursday/Friday that I was over tired and was not getting enough sleep at all. I suppose 3-weeks of good training combined with getting up in the middle of each night to feed Thomas caught up to me. On Friday night, both Carol and I passed out on the couch at 8:00pm we were so tired. Needless to say, I was able to catch up on some sleep and feel a little well rested.

Over the weekend, instead of doing run on Sat and bike on Sun, I just did a brick on Saturday so I could hang out with the family on Sunday. In total, I rode 20 and ran just under 6 on Saturday and ran into Gayle and Harriet in the park.

Here are the totals for the week:

Swim: 1.5 m
Bike:45.2 m
Run: 5.7 m
Total: 52.4 m, 5:04 hours

A nice solid week!

2009-07-19T18:50:00.003-05:00

Had a good week of training and felt like I'm starting to get into a groove as I got in 6 workouts. I was able bike to/from work one day this week. If I can do that one to two days per week it would be huge to get those bike workouts in like that! I try to go hard and keep it in Zone 4 so I feel like I am getting a little speed workouts in. Thursday I woke up at 4am to feed baby Thomas and after I got him to bed, I put on my running clothes and went for a run at 5:45am! That was a first for me but I need to keep doing that to get my workouts in. Yesterday I ran 6 miles and today biked 61. That was the longest I have gone since Couer d'alene! Today's ride was in Gainesville, VA and was pretty hilly. The scenry was beautiful and the weather was perfect with low humidity and in the 80's. It feels good to be out there training again and still be home enough to be with Carol and Thomas.

So, next week is recovery week already! AHHHHHHHHHHH. Here are the totals for this week:

Swim: 1.7 Miles
Bike: 86.4 miles
Run: 11.7 miles
Total: 99.8 miles, 8 hour, 32 mins of training!!

Decent swim last night

2009-07-14T04:16:00.003-05:00

Finally - a decent swim at the pool and a busy night. Swam at Takoma Swim Center and got in about 2700m as it was a nice workout with a little speed work as well.

Parents! They just don't understand...

2009-07-14T04:07:00.003-05:00

SO this past Sunday we went to my mom's house for my dad's birthday and we had a nice time UNTIL I made my announcement that I am training for Florida IM. You talk about a party killer, you think that I told them that I was moving out of the country and never returning. Their reaction still really bothers me as they were grunting and moaning asking why I want to do this and I'm never going to see my son because of the training - blah blah blah. They didn't want to listen how I plan to train to maximize my time at home. Man I was and am still pissed. You know, it's one thing not to have their support but to act like that is beyond me. How about a response like, hey, that's great, we know you will do well. I tell you, it is reactions like that, the naysayers that motivate me more to do it. It's always at the hardest part of a workout or towards the end where you need to push yourself just a little more that the naysayers come into mind and forces you to push harder and go a little further.

Sunday's Ride

2009-07-14T04:03:00.004-05:00

Today's ride was nice as we did the Harwood route through Southern, MD. I always enjoyed this ride in the past. The humidity was somewhat low but you definitely felt the heat and the hills towards the end. We road just under 50 and the sag support was awesome. I rode mostly with Mark and his new tripped out tri bike! Below are the totals for this past week:

Swim: 1.3 M
Bike: 59.5 M
Run: 18 M
Total: 79 M (7:40)

Trying hard to get those workouts in

2009-07-11T15:52:00.004-05:00

Monday - went to swim and was only able to get just over a mile in before the life guards closed to pool down for some unknown floating object - i didn't stick around to see what it was. Not sure if I'm going back to that pool again.

Tuesday - nothing - had to work late and wanted to get home to see Thomas.

Wednesday - ran the hills of Rock Creek - got in about 6 miles

Thursday - early am - woke up at 4am to feed Thomas and after I got him back to sleep at 5:30 I jumped on the trainer and rode an hour. Glad to get the workout in! Also, I went to the Doctors to get a physical. Carol is worried about my health and getting ready to seriously abuse my body the next 4 months. Doctor said I'm in great shape and wished all his patients were this healthy. Nice smooth heartbeat, low blood pressure - so far so good - i get blood work next week.

Friday - massage - awwwww felt so good. My hamstrings, quads, etc... were very tight and I still have this issue with my lower back. May need to get a massage more ofter to keep things lose.

Saturday - long run. Finally got started around 9am so it was little warm and sunny. Ran in Rock Creek doing 1 mile run, 1 minute walk and averaged 10:10/mile. Not bad but I could not keep my heart rate down. Need to keep working on that.

Gearing up....

2009-07-05T17:09:00.002-05:00

I traveled down to Florida last November and registered for Florida IM 2009. At the time, I knew Carol was pregnant and was on the fence as to whether I should sign up. I knew with a newborn coming in May, training was going to be difficult. Somehow I managed to train for Columbia, then 2 days later Thomas was born and 3 weeks later I'm in the water at Cambridge at the start for Eagleman Half Ironman. Both races went well for me and somehow, I was able to fit in the training. For the past few weeks I have been experimenting with my training, figuring out ways to work out and still be home to see my wife and son. I have come up with schemes to bike to and from work, go for a run or swim in between Thomas taking naps and still trying to figure when I can get my long runs and rides in let alone be able to sleep. My wife is on board, but remains skeptical that I will be able to keep up with everything. Most important to me is spending time with her and Thomas as I train the next 4 months!

This past week, I rejoined Team Z, and signed up for Luray Oly and Bassman 1/2. Now that I have gotten my schedule squared away, its time to get in some serious training. This past week was a recovery week for the Team. I used this week to continue my base work. Below are my totals.

Swim: 1.6 m

Bike: 69 m

Run: 13 m

Total: 83.4 m, 7:39

One Year Later...

2008-06-24T21:24:00.002-05:00

So, it is now one year later and not a day has gone by in which I have not thought about IMCDA and how I can manage my time to do another Ironman. Carol asked me the other day why do I feel the need to do another Ironman and my response was simple, "the distance calls for me." In other words, once you have been there, you just can't wait to do it again and again and again. Currently, I am only running and training for two fall marathons as I do not have the time to swim and bike but hope to be in the next few months. Will 2009 be an opportunity for a second IM or will I need to wait until there is more time to train. We will see. In the meantime, I will keep running, staying in shape and looking forward to training and crossing that Ironman finish line. Good luck to all of Team Z who is going to Placid in July. I wish you the best and I will be thinking of you every moment of the day.

2007-07-29T21:03:00.001-05:00

This picture was taken by Dan Hicok - the team photographer who does an amazing job capturing the moment. For the rest of the pictures, check out his website at http://www.danhicok.com/ and click Team Z.

Seeing me like this gets me thinking about an IM in 08. hmmmmmmm, Placid anyone?? TBD

Ironman Race Report

2007-07-08T20:08:00.000-05:00

First and foremost there are many thanks in order. Thank you thank you thank you to my wife who sacrificied the most and being patient with me during the hours and hours of training and early weekend nights. And thank you to my parents for coming to Idaho to cheer me on and the endless support from brother Mike and all my friends.

Most of all, I would like to thank Ed Zerkle, Coach of Team Z who guided me to fulfil this dream. Team Z is an incredible Team and I would not have been able to do it without them. Thank you to all the Z'ers and families who organized everything - I am forever greatful!

Okay - here is my race report. I wrote this sitting in Seattle airport on the way back from CDA. Is it very long. I tried to cut it down but realized that I couldn't, as these were my thoughts that day during the race. All I can say is that if you ever have an inclination to do an Ironman, join Team Z, sign up and DO IT! The unimaginable will come true. I hope you enjoy.

My final times for IM:
Swim – 1:16:34
T1 – 10:35
Bike: 7:45:02 (Averaged 14.5 mph)
T2 – 5:33
Run – 5:24:16 (Average 12:20/mile)
Total: 14:41:58 (140.6 miles)
Overall Place 1628/2200

Pre – Race

My day began at 4:00am which wasn’t so bad because my body felt as if it were 7am, still on Eastern Time. I started hydrating around 4:45 or so and found Mark lying on his duffel bag outside my room waiting for a ride. Carol took Mark and I to the start and dropped us off around 5am.

I dropped off my special needs bags, pumped up my tires, put my fluids on the bike and walked around shooting some videos. There were so many athletes it was very impressive. When I was in line for the bathroom there was a man and woman. The woman said this was her 8th IM and the guy said it was his 9th, both were using this as a “training” IM for another later in the year. I turned around and said “you guys are killing me” and smiled. They could tell this was my first IM and congratulated me because they knew I soon would be an IM as well.

I found Carol and we went back to the Team Z tent set up on the hill overlooking the swim start. The wind was blowing strong and the water was very choppy. I wrapped myself in a blanket to keep warm and laid down on the ground next to my teammates, closed my eyes and listened to a little OAR to take me a way for a minute or two.

At 6:30am we took the group picture, got on the wetsuit and headed over to the start. The wind was blowing pretty strong and there were 2’ waves. The air was pretty cold, say around 50 degrees and I found out later the water temperature was 63 degrees.

10 minutes before the start, the MC announces that athletes have a choice to opt out of the swim because of the rough conditions and do a duo. Or, if swimmers make the first lap and want to get out, they can still do the duo. All I thought was NO WAY!!! I’ve come this far and I’m going to do it. The MC finished up his announcement saying that we are all in this together. I found out from Mark later on that they almost cancelled the swim. It was a nice announcement to freak out Carol and the family but they knew I was not going to turn around and skip the swim. I have come too far.

Swim
Dave, Jen and I lined up right on the buoys for the mass swim start. As the National Anthem was playing, I looked around and was amazed at the number of swimmers there were about to go into the water, the majority of which were to the right of me.

The announcer began to announce the start and his microphone went dead, and then I heard the GUN! And then he announced the start. WOW – you talk about an adrenaline rush!!! I was so PUMPED up!

I wore a sleeveless wetsuit with just the swim cap and as soon as I entered the water, I put my head under and came up and did the breath stroke a few times just to catch my breath from the cold. I had to switch to freestyle because the waves were so high I kept taking in water each time I went for air.

There were people everywhere! The first leg out to the buoy was the hardest swim of my life. Between the 2’ waves, the cold water and the swimmers converging on me – it was pretty overwhelming. It took everything I had to remain calm and try to keep somewhat of a swim stroke as people hit me from behind, me hitting people in front of me. I was trying so hard to get a clear spot but could not move. There were hundreds of swimmers around me and they were all converging on the turnaround buoy.

I passed one guy who was panicking in the water and next thing I saw was him grabbing for something – I’m glad it wasn’t me, then I saw him lunge for a buoy and just hold onto it gasping for air. That almost put me into panic mode and I thought if it made sense for me to get to the side and take a break. I looked around and there was no way I could get to the outside as there were way too many people – so I pressed forward.

At the first turn, you could have stood up on someone’s head and just walked straight across the water with no problems as there were so many people just treading water trying to get around that turn. Hundreds and hundreds of people. One guy started panicking and saying we turned too soon.” Come on buddy!! Start swimming as there were hundreds of people coming up on us on the rear!”

Once we made the turn, the waves were coming in on the right side of me and the sun was glaring directly in front of me. The only good part was this was the shortest leg. We rounded the next buoy and headed back to shore. Ahhhhhhhhh, swimming with the current. The packed spread out and I finally got into a groove. My breathing was good and I wasn’t out of breath. Next thing I knew it I was at the shore and as my fingers glazed the sand I stood up, had the biggest smile on my face and ran over the mat, under the canopy, heard my name called several times by Team Z’ers , saw my time for the 1st leg at 37 minutes, (37 minutes – NO WAY, I thought, under those conditions, I thought I would have been around 40+ or so), anyway, a little excited, I took my time going back in for the 2nd lap. I looked around and tried to soak it in.

The 2nd leg had its own set of challenges as the field was pretty spread out and I didn’t have to worry about hitting anyone, however, the waves appeared much bigger. The only way I knew there was a wave is when I would look ahead of me and I would see two swimmers above me, like dark shadows underwater as I was in the trough of the wave. So, I just kept thinking “cut through the wave, stroke by stroke”. Going back out it did seem to take longer.

When we turned left for the short leg, the kayakers were yelling to go right as the current was blowing people downwind of the next turn. So, I cut across several swimmers to get up wind and then drifted into the turn which seemed to work pretty well. As we rounded the last buoy to head to shore, I just rode the waves and started singing to myself “everybody’s gone surfin, surfin USA” from the Beach Boys. The waves were definitely bigger.

As I approached the shore I started to kick my legs because they felt a little cramped but never locked up. Once my hand touched the bottom I jumped up and started to run for the canopy as someone plowed into me from behind and pushed me to the ground. GREAT! It took a lot of energy to get up the first time now I had to do it again, and I did with a HUGE smile on my face! The swim leg was done. The intensity of the crowds cheering and hearing my name from Z’ers was simply amazing.

Transition 1

I ran into the stripping area towards two women that asked if I needed to get stripped. I dropped to my back lifted my legs way up and said “take if off baby”, they both laughed pushed my legs down and yanked my wetsuit off!

I grabbed my transition bag and ran into the changing tent. WOW, hundreds of people in there and it was hard to find a seat. I sat down, got situated and as I was putting on my gear I started talking to a guy next to me who got pulled out of the swim. I felt so bad for him. He was not feeling too well as I tried to encourage him. He actually helped me pack my swim stuff in my bag and I shook his hand wishing him a good ride. Running out of the tent I went right for the bathroom, took a quick wiz and then as I was going to my bike, my number ripped off one corner from the race belt. MAN that always happens. So as I was fumbling with that, I ran past my bike aisle as Carol and my mom were yelling my name. I got a little confused with all the excitement going on. Once I regained my composure, I got my bike situated, waved goodbye and off I went to the bike course.

Bike
112 miles to go……..the bike leg has begun. In the beginning we rode up Lakeside and I knew the Team Z tent would be on my right in about a ½ mile. As I approached the tent I could hear the roar as I pumped my fist in the ear. It was awesome and electrifying!

Overall the bike course was beautiful as we rode the first part along Coeur d’Alene Lake as an out and back. There were two climbs but nothing too bad. My heart rate was hovering in Zone 3 and I knew I had to get it down. In fact, I fought my heart rate the entire ride in which I would be in Zone 2 and then it would creep up into 3 and then 4 on the hills. I tried to slow down thinking of the misery in Lake Anna, but I felt comfortable.
There was a water/Gatorade supplies every 10 miles, along with porta johns and at the 10, 20, 30 miles marks I was off my bike going to the bathroom. Fortunately, I was well hydrated.

There was a nice stretch of flats as we left CDA and headed toward Hayden Lake. I was cruising, but still trying to keep my heart rate in check. I can’t remember how fast I was going but during the flats it had to be 16+, and even still, hundreds of bikers were passing me. No worries I kept thinking, I could not get caught up in their traffic. I had to do my own race.

Hayden Lake is where the hills really began and I think it was between miles 25-50 and 81-106, on the second loop. The hills were short and steep and there were quite a few of them. And then when I got through those hills, they became very long rollers. So I plugged along. Probably the hardest part during the hills was that I knew I had to do it again on the second loop. That was tough!

As I was biking, I remember some Z’ers passing me including, Kerri, Brian and then Casey came zooming by. I also remember when I started the ride Justin came flying by as well – he was having an awesome ride!
As I got through the hills, the first time, I headed back to CDA on the flats, but going INTO the wind so I couldn’t take advantage of the wind. It felt so nice to get through that first loop, but sucked knowing I had to do it again.

During the 2nd loop, I never felt exhausted but was getting a little tired. Some memorable moments include my right nut stinging around mile 80 as I had to stop, get off the bike and readjust. I have never had that happened before! I talked to Mark after the race and he said he had the same thing happen to him. It was weird. On some of the very steep climbs my heart rate shot up to Zone 5 so I jumped off my bike and walked up the hill. It was a good plan because my heart rate dropped down and I actually got up the hill quicker.
Around mile 80, Roy finally caught up to me and we traded places for awhile along with Suzanne as well. In fact Suzanne passed me and later on I zoomed past her around mile 95 because I was getting excited the bike was almost over. I also remember trading places with Kim and Dave. I write this now not because I was competing with team mates, but to remember how nice it was to have familiar faces around as we went
through this grueling event together. It really helped a lot.

I saw Mark when I was around mile 100 and him at 80. He complained to me that he was worried he wasn’t going to make the cutoff. I yelled at him and told him he will make it and to keep pedaling. Then a little later I saw Linda, woooooo, that was another story. I knew she was going to be close. Even Roy was worried as well.
There was no doubt I was going to make the cut off as I rode into town, that last 2 miles did seem endless and the mere thought of going to run 26.2 miles was very overwhelming, even at that point.

Transition 2

As I made it into T2, I believe the time was 4:30pm, 9.5 hours into the race! I averaged about 14.5 on the bike which was pretty impressive for me, but I was really worried that biking out of zone was going to hurt me on the run. However, I knew I had 7.5 hours to complete the marathon. That was doable.
When I got off the bike, it FELT SO DAMN GOOD! All I could do was be thankful that leg was over. A volunteer took my bike and I went right for the bathroom, again. Man, I sure did pee a lot today!
I grabbed my transition bag and into the tent I went. I sat next to Dave as we got ready for the run. This time the tent was pretty empty as I figured it would because the entire field was ahead of me from the bike. It was nice because I actually had a volunteer help me out.

Out of the tent, two women lubed me up with sunscreen and as I ran onto the course I heard my Carol say, “oh good honey, you have your sunscreen on”. Now, here it is 4:30 in the afternoon, I have been going for 9.5 hours and she is still worried about my sunscreen. How can I not love her, she is so cute!

Run

26.2 miles………No doubt, I was tired. I started to run and knew that I would only be able to go so far before I had to walk. I think I ran for about 4 miles and then started to walk/run.

As the run began I realized that I forgot to take off my bike shorts and my hutchie was feeling pretty cramped! So I stripped it off my bike shorts and handed it to a volunteer who put it in my special needs bag. Ahhhhhh, much better. (I had my team z tri shorts underneath).

I remember going up the hill toward the Team Z tent and the roar of the crowd. It was awesome as I swirled my hat in the air above my head, seeing all the people cheering I was all smiles. I saw my parents cheering and it was very exhilarating and uplifting.

I think I made it to about mile 7 where the walking really started to occur. Between miles 8 and 14 I was walking a lot. Around mile 9 I passed the Team Z tent again and Carol interviewed me with the camcorder. I was tired. However, my legs were not sore, they were not locking up. I could not put my finger on it, but realized I still had 17+ miles to go! During Carol’s interview, I told her, “This was it and remind me never to sign up for another IM again”. I was tired, but not in pain! I continued on. I was looking for Ed but couldn’t find him.

As I walked down Lakeside toward the start and back on the path Dave caught up to me. Dave was kind enough to walk with me a little and then he took off. The lowest of the lows was beginning.

Then, each aid station I remembered what Brian said about chicken broth, so I decided what the hell, I had to try something. I had to get some strength back and I couldn’t handle the GU because I was sick of it and pretzels were so dry. So, I think at mile 13 I had some broth and it tasted SO GOOD. It was warm and felt just right. When I hit my special needs bag at mile 14 or so, I stripped off my water bottle belt and grabbed my long sleeve shirt. I knew I was going to need it as I would be running in the dark.

I saw Dave at special needs and walked by him saying hello and he smiled as he was putting on a fresh pair of socks.

It was now time to do the 2nd loop. I felt like my energy was slowly coming back. After special needs I tried to run a little and saw Kathryn, Ilene (Dave’s girlfriend) and then who I thought was Carol. I was confused; I thought Carol was up the hill by the Team Z tent. Oh well, I got so excited that I went to go for a kiss and realized at the very last second it was Kitty! OOPS!!! We all started to laugh. It was pretty funny.

As I continued my walk up the hill I saw Carol again and she walked with me. I told her I felt my strength was getting back and hoped to be running. Then I saw my mom and them Carol left me and did the hand off to my Dad. I had such great support from my family and friends. I needed it at that moment. As I rounded the corner, there was Coach Ed, right there smack in the middle of the street waiting for me. I told him I was tired and he looked me in the eye, grabbed me and said, “Jerry, it’s an Ironman, it’s suppose to hurt, now get to it, get to it!” I got choked up a little bit and that was all I needed it because then my walk became a slow trot and I could hear Ed and my Dad yelling. It was time.

That was around mile 15 and I knew I had 11 to go. My walking now became more running than walking, a
little at a time. At the rest stops I sucked down chicken broth and water and I was able to get a GU down also. As I made it out of town and along the lake I picked landmarks to run to and then walk some. Then I realized that there were some Z’ers ahead of me and I used them as landmarks to run to.

I keep saying this as I was not competing but having people you know that I could run to was what I had to do
to keep going. First there was Suzanne, who I saw several times on the bike and who passed me on the run early on. I said hello as she told me I finally caught her and I told her she would catch me soon, she then told me what I did not believe at that time was that I was on a roll. I then saw Henry with that cool hat and then Justin as the sun began going down. Next thing I knew I passed mile 20 and was walking up the last steep hill. When I got to the turnaround, I ran down the hill knowing that Mile 21 was at that bottom.

I started to tell myself over and over again that “I want to be an Ironman, I want to be an Ironman” as I have done during so many training rides and then it happened, that moment, somewhere around mile 22 I started to say, “I am going to be an Ironman, I am going to be an Ironman”. I was getting pumped up after some 14 hours into the race – it was unreal! It was that moment, that change in thinking. I saw Dave shortly thereafter and I mumbled to him, “It’s gut check time Dave”. He told me the next day that I looked mad, like I was on a mission.

Soon thereafter, I saw Roy, Kim and Mark, going in the opposite direction, and Mark said “look at him, he is still running”. I was running, not very fast but I was running. I was not going to leave any effort behind. I was putting it all right there. My walk breaks were shorter and shorter. As I passed mile 23 I saw my name on the board come up and my message to myself said “Keep Movin Jerry Curl”. I also saw the clock say 14:09. Then, my mind woke up, if I did 14 minutes miles, I could break 15 hours. Now all of a sudden I started thinking about my time. What was happening??

During the water stop at mile 24 I grabbed some water and poured it on my head to straighten out the hair - I wanted to look good for the final picture crossing the finish line! ; ). As I started running again I looked ahead for my next landmark to start walking and then asked myself, why I want to walk, just keep running, there is no reason to walk. So, I ran.

At mile 25 I could not believe that I had 1.2 miles to go to become an Ironman. 1.2 miles to go. All the training, all the sacrifices, all those moments came rushing to me. It was going to happen.
I then made the last turn and a volunteer told me, you’ve got 6 blocks to go. As I ran down the hill I began to cry as I whispered to myself that I was going to be an ironman, I was doing it. It was like tunnel vision watching the finish, I ripped off my long sleeve shirt, fixed my number, played around with my hair. All I could see was that finish line, the lights, the camera flashes, the roar of the crowd and sound of the MC. I was only 4 blocks away and I saw a Team Z cheering crowd, threw them my long sleeve and just kept going. I made sure no one was around me as I approached the chute. I saw Carol in the street jumping up and down waving her hands yelling my name and heard my parents as well. I was so happy!!!!. The crowds were unreal, I lifted my hands up in the air they roared louder, the flashes were coming from everywhere and then I heard it, what I have been looking forward to hearing for 2 years when I began this quest, what I have dreamt about during hours and hours and miles and miles of training, what I have seen in the Ironman videos, that electrifying announcement, “FROM WASHINGTON DC, JERRY RICCIARDI, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!”

There was ED, right there and I gave him a big ass hug. He was so choked up as well as I and he looked at me and said I did it. It was GREAT! He put a medal around my neck and gave me another huge hug. God I hope I remember this moment forever. Please don’t ever take that moment away from me.

After Ed, a volunteer grabbed me and handed me my finishers hat and t-shirt and also some water. He asked me if I needed to go to the medical tent and I told him no way, I was good. I then said to him with a smile – “I am an Ironman” and he replied, “Yes you are!” I waited in line for the picture and then I saw Carol and gave her a huge hug and then my parents. My turn was up for my picture and I adjusted myself with the biggest smile and got my picture. I just can’t get over it, still as I type this now and I’m sure as I read this years from now. How can I top this moment?

Carol had the camcorder going and she asked me if I had any last things to say, so I told her, “Yes, I’m ready to sign up for another”

2007-06-25T19:06:00.000-05:00

I AM AN IRONMAN!!!!!!

My time was 14:41:58

I'll be posting my race report soon, there is a lot to tell!! Keep checking back. And thank you for all your support. This was one of my greatest days!!

IT'S TIME!

2007-06-24T06:24:00.000-05:00

It's 4:25am and time to go do an Ironman. Last night, we had dinner with the team and families/friends. There were over 90 people there. During the dinner, Coach Ed prepared a great speech, slide presentation and motivation talks. If anyone out there ever wants to do an IM, this is the team to do it with. I walked out of there almost in tears it was such an inspirational. It almost got me to the point where I'm ready to sign up for another IM. I had a pretty good night sleep considering and now I need to go get some food because I have a long day ahead of me.

Thank you for all your support - see you at the finish line!!

Remember to track me online!!

2007-06-23T15:31:00.001-05:00

Track me online at www.ironmanlive.com/ironmanlive

My bibb number is 1009.

The race will start at 7am Pacific, 10am Eastern, and will end at 12 midnight, or 3am Eastern.

...

2007-06-23T15:23:00.000-05:00

This morning Mark and I drove the bike course and got a reality check by the number of hills out there. Part of me is like do I even want to do this?? The hills will be no harder then what we have done in our training rides, but it seems all the emotions and doubt are all coming at me at once. It's amazing how much energy I am spending today fighting those doubts! I'm ready, I just need to get to the start!

Today, I packed by transition bags (swim to bike bag and bike to run bag) and prepared my bike for the big day. We dropped off the bags and bike at the start. It is incredible how much preparation is needed for an IM as opposed to a marathon where you just show up with shoes and a number. Here, you have transition bags, special needs bags and warm clothing bags.

We have a Team Z dinner tonight and then I will prepare my nutrition bags. Tomorrow we will be waking up around 4am to start nutrition and hydrating.

My right knee is feeling better today, however, my neck popped in my sleep last night so my kink is back, but not to bad. I'm sure all these aches and pains are all in my mind but they sure do hurt!

Well, off to some more relaxing and WAITING!! 4 am will be here before I know it!

Anticipation...

2007-06-22T23:23:00.001-05:00

This feels like a game of waiting and keeping busy just to get to the start line. I keep reminding myself it will be here soon enough.

This morning we went down to the lake about 7am and did our brick workout. 15/15/15 - 15 minutes each for the swim/bike/run. The water was still pretty rough as the wind was blowing into the shore and man was it cold. It took me about 5 minutes to get used to the temperature so not to bad. On Sunday, I will need to remember to get in the water before the start and get the "shock" over with. I felt good throughout the workout, however during the day, my right knee started acting up. I'm a little worried because right now it hurts for barely a short workout. I even went to RiteAid tonight and bought a knee brace to put in my goodie bag on the run. I'll get the goodie bag around mile 13 so if my knee really hurts, I'll put the brace on then.

After our workout, CJ and I drove around the lake and looked at the scenery - so beautiful. We came back and I took a 2 hour nap because I felt exhausted. Tonight we went to dinner with my parents.

Right now at this moment, I feel very grateful for all the support I am getting right now. From my wife, parents and friends - your emails and phone messages are great and they will give me something to think and use to get me through on Sunday.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day as we have to rack our bikes at the transition area, pack our bags and drive the bike course. So much to do!!

Coeur d'Alene Idaho - We have arrived!

2007-06-21T18:27:00.001-05:00

We have arrived!!!!! We got in last night around 11:00 Pacific time so I was pretty tired. We picked up our low rider station wagon at the Spokane, WA airport and used my new Garmin navigation system (b-day gift), we made our way to the hotel. WOW, I'm finally here!

Today, we did a practice swim in the lake. MAN, was that lake cold, but absolutely beautiful. I warmed up after about 10-minutes in the water. Also, the water was a little choppy with the wind blowin into shore. The course is counterclockwise and two loops in which you swim out (against the waves) turn left and then come back get out of the water briefly to run over a mat and then back in and repeat. So, if this winds keeps up it will be tough going out but nice and easy coming in. I just need to keep reminding myself that no matter what, keep my heart rate and level of exertion down! It's going to be a long day and I certainly don't want to blow it on the swim!

After the swim we went to packet pickup. I cannot remember the last time I went to pick up my packet and smile so much. I was so happy showing my ID, signing my life away with waivers, weighing in (even though I was 10lbs heavier), having a volunteer go through my packet with me and leaving the tent. I was all smiles. I am so excited, so happy at this moment. It is such a good feeling to have. I have worked so hard for so long to get here.

After packet pickup we went through the expo which was okay and then headed over to get a bite to eat at the Coeur d'Alene brewery. After drinking about 5 beers and eating 2 cheeseburgers and fries, we went grocery shopping and stocked up on Gatorade, pop tarts, pretzels and water. Now I'm just chillin in the hotel room trying to remain calm and force myself to take it easy because I really excited!!

p.s. - i really had a chicken wrap for lunch and a coke ; -), what do you think I'm crazy, I've got an ironman to do!

Birthday & PACK!

2007-06-19T18:19:00.000-05:00

Today's my 39th birthday!! woohoo. This morning I went to swim and we had a nice easy workout. We swam about 30 minutes and just hung out. It was a nice change from the last 5 months of swim practices pushing it hard every workout. Just to relax, joke around with my teammates I've trained with for so long and enjoy the moment. So close.

As I rushed throughout day going to a zillion meeting and making sure everything is covered before I leave, I got home around 5:30 and met my mom, brother, dad and of course my wife to enjoy a nice birthday dinner. It was nice to have everyone over and it was unexpected. I felt weird about it because I missed mother's and father's day because of all the training and that they took the time to come over for my birthday. In some ways, I felt a little guilty because I couldn't be there for thier days, but it was nice to see them on my b-day.

After everyone left, I was up late packing my bags as we leave for Idaho tomorrow after work!!