I have been MIA for longer than usual this time...to be honest I just wasn't feeling great about a lot of things after the 100 mile tri and I needed to get out of my own head and out of my own way.
After the recovery week I had a solid week of training and did some things as I normally do and some a little different. I had a progression run at the group run, but it was different than the group workout and I was fine. I went for a group ride with Endurance House. I had my first flat in a really long time and that was embarrassing and frustrating. I did a morning solo brick. Ran a super humid 12 that I wasn't super proud of, but got it done. Rode 40 with lots of hills at Eagle Creek, including a little thunderstorm.
The second week I swam and lifted on Monday. Tuesday I went to the group run for the hill circuit and I had a panic attack on the warm up...that I totally didn't belong running with this group and I should stop pretending to be an athlete. I pulled it back together and I ran the hill circuit 10 minutes faster than I previously had. The nicer weather helped, but not quite 10 min worth. I rode a hard interval workout on Wednesday and did well. I tried to ride the Steelhead course on the Computrainer, but it wasn't to be. Rode 50 on the Cardinal Greenway with David and Swati, ran 10 before church and lifted in the afternoon on Sunday to close out the week.
Third week I ran with the group, rode and swam, and on Saturday I did a 30 mile ride/6 mile run brick. David took off on us, but had a lovely ride with Mary and then went for a run. Sunday I rode Crown Hill with David and Swati. Nothing special about any of it.
Then it was taper week. I also had some things going on at work that helped keep me distracted enough without being too distracted. I also met with a sport psychologist for the first time and started working through his startup activities. I did one more open water swim, ran a few easy, rode with the Endurance House crew, ran some easy miles at Eagle Creek, and did a mini brick shakeout. We headed up to Benton Harbor for Steelhead 70.3.
I had some great support from friends going into this one. I got to the athlete village and didn't have to gulp and brace myself the way I did for Muncie in 2014. I got checked in, went shopping, and started the transition area recon. It was windy and the waves were breaking 3-5 feet on Lake Michigan. It was really scary looking! Also...so much sand...everywhere. We decided not to do early bike drop because with the wind and the sand there was so much potential for sand to get in everything. We went to dinner and got everything ready...and went to bed early.
In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to parking...and walked my bike and gear to transition. Then I got my wetsuit on and checked out the, thankfully calmer, water. I swam a little bit and thought it was going to be ok. As we watched the pro men and pro women take off we realized how far out we were going to need to run before starting to swim without "bottoming out." Then we got in corrals. I picked somewhere between the 40-43 minute and 43-46 minute because 43 was my goal time. By the time we got in the water the waves had picked up a bit from earlier and it wasn't only challenging to the first buoy, but to about 3 or 4. And there were still some waves that caught me off guard. I had to stop and regroup a few times. The first time I stopped I had to talk myself into going on in the race. I survived the rest of the swim and shook my head when I was out of the water - over 50 minutes...and I wasn't convinced I wasn't dead. I made it through transition and got my wetsuit off pretty well. Took off on the bike. There were some people around me the entire time on the ride who had gear that was substantially above their skill level...which made me laugh. I rode more of this course in aero than any other race or training ride. I felt I needed to earn back the time I had "lost" on the swim. I rode well...took one stop to use the porta potty...stopped at aid stations to have my water bottle filled and toss trash. I was having some stiff/sore feeling in my neck and shoulder in the last few miles of the bike and was ready to be running. The last mile of the bike course is narrow and technical. T2 was generally fine and I headed out on the run. I thought I had put myself in a position where all I needed to do was run the plan, so I was in a good mindset. It wasn't hot and there was a breeze, but there wasn't a ton of shade and it was relatively warm for running (mid-70s). At the end of the first mile is a big hill...pretty much everyone was walking it and I decided that it would cost me more later if I tried to power through it than walking it. I used a fuel strategy that was a small amount of calories (either a Clif blok or 3 pieces of dried kiwi) every mile, with salt every few and a Honey Stinger waffle midway (walked to eat that). There was only one other big hill on the course, but it was on the loop part of the course that was done twice. I walked it each time. I didn't look at the overall time until mile 10 of the run. I knew to make my 7:30 goal I would need to be under 6:50. It was something like 6:34 and I swear I checked it a few times and then got concerned that the watch had stopped and restarted, losing some time. But I kept going. I was at 12 miles right around 7 hours (maybe 7:02) and did some walk/run for that last mile before running hard into the finish. When I saw that it was 7:16:40 and I had killed my 7:30 goal I was so happy. I got my medal and finisher hat and actually went to the official picture taking area because I was excited about it. Then I went to transition and started getting my wet shoes off and getting some Hammer Recoverite and some water in me. As I was packing up my stuff, David came and helped with my bike...we stopped so I could put on dry clothes and then walked everything back to the cars.
I want to thank everyone for the constant stream of positive messages over the past few days. I feel like the work has paid off, that I am making progress, and that there is hope for IMLOU in 2018.
I want to thank Matt Ebersole for planning my training, monitoring how things are going, and dealing with my constant stream of messages - some fairly mentally unstable. He's an incredible asset to this quest. And super excited for me and what I am able to do, even though I will never make a podium or some of the other "community goals" in our sport. Doug with the swimming, Sean with the open water swims, Shannon with the weights, Brian with the pre-hab exercises, Lindsay with the nutrition, Kristine and Toni with the yoga, and Chris with the sports psych all play a considerable role in whatever success I do have. As do training partners and team mates. And Tom and Trena in ways that are really difficult to explain. I love all of you. Big props to David who is a good training partner for riding, and the best tri sherpa/Ironman support crew partner ever. He may say I'm crazy, but he's by my side in this.
After the recovery week I had a solid week of training and did some things as I normally do and some a little different. I had a progression run at the group run, but it was different than the group workout and I was fine. I went for a group ride with Endurance House. I had my first flat in a really long time and that was embarrassing and frustrating. I did a morning solo brick. Ran a super humid 12 that I wasn't super proud of, but got it done. Rode 40 with lots of hills at Eagle Creek, including a little thunderstorm.
The second week I swam and lifted on Monday. Tuesday I went to the group run for the hill circuit and I had a panic attack on the warm up...that I totally didn't belong running with this group and I should stop pretending to be an athlete. I pulled it back together and I ran the hill circuit 10 minutes faster than I previously had. The nicer weather helped, but not quite 10 min worth. I rode a hard interval workout on Wednesday and did well. I tried to ride the Steelhead course on the Computrainer, but it wasn't to be. Rode 50 on the Cardinal Greenway with David and Swati, ran 10 before church and lifted in the afternoon on Sunday to close out the week.
Third week I ran with the group, rode and swam, and on Saturday I did a 30 mile ride/6 mile run brick. David took off on us, but had a lovely ride with Mary and then went for a run. Sunday I rode Crown Hill with David and Swati. Nothing special about any of it.
Then it was taper week. I also had some things going on at work that helped keep me distracted enough without being too distracted. I also met with a sport psychologist for the first time and started working through his startup activities. I did one more open water swim, ran a few easy, rode with the Endurance House crew, ran some easy miles at Eagle Creek, and did a mini brick shakeout. We headed up to Benton Harbor for Steelhead 70.3.
I had some great support from friends going into this one. I got to the athlete village and didn't have to gulp and brace myself the way I did for Muncie in 2014. I got checked in, went shopping, and started the transition area recon. It was windy and the waves were breaking 3-5 feet on Lake Michigan. It was really scary looking! Also...so much sand...everywhere. We decided not to do early bike drop because with the wind and the sand there was so much potential for sand to get in everything. We went to dinner and got everything ready...and went to bed early.
In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to parking...and walked my bike and gear to transition. Then I got my wetsuit on and checked out the, thankfully calmer, water. I swam a little bit and thought it was going to be ok. As we watched the pro men and pro women take off we realized how far out we were going to need to run before starting to swim without "bottoming out." Then we got in corrals. I picked somewhere between the 40-43 minute and 43-46 minute because 43 was my goal time. By the time we got in the water the waves had picked up a bit from earlier and it wasn't only challenging to the first buoy, but to about 3 or 4. And there were still some waves that caught me off guard. I had to stop and regroup a few times. The first time I stopped I had to talk myself into going on in the race. I survived the rest of the swim and shook my head when I was out of the water - over 50 minutes...and I wasn't convinced I wasn't dead. I made it through transition and got my wetsuit off pretty well. Took off on the bike. There were some people around me the entire time on the ride who had gear that was substantially above their skill level...which made me laugh. I rode more of this course in aero than any other race or training ride. I felt I needed to earn back the time I had "lost" on the swim. I rode well...took one stop to use the porta potty...stopped at aid stations to have my water bottle filled and toss trash. I was having some stiff/sore feeling in my neck and shoulder in the last few miles of the bike and was ready to be running. The last mile of the bike course is narrow and technical. T2 was generally fine and I headed out on the run. I thought I had put myself in a position where all I needed to do was run the plan, so I was in a good mindset. It wasn't hot and there was a breeze, but there wasn't a ton of shade and it was relatively warm for running (mid-70s). At the end of the first mile is a big hill...pretty much everyone was walking it and I decided that it would cost me more later if I tried to power through it than walking it. I used a fuel strategy that was a small amount of calories (either a Clif blok or 3 pieces of dried kiwi) every mile, with salt every few and a Honey Stinger waffle midway (walked to eat that). There was only one other big hill on the course, but it was on the loop part of the course that was done twice. I walked it each time. I didn't look at the overall time until mile 10 of the run. I knew to make my 7:30 goal I would need to be under 6:50. It was something like 6:34 and I swear I checked it a few times and then got concerned that the watch had stopped and restarted, losing some time. But I kept going. I was at 12 miles right around 7 hours (maybe 7:02) and did some walk/run for that last mile before running hard into the finish. When I saw that it was 7:16:40 and I had killed my 7:30 goal I was so happy. I got my medal and finisher hat and actually went to the official picture taking area because I was excited about it. Then I went to transition and started getting my wet shoes off and getting some Hammer Recoverite and some water in me. As I was packing up my stuff, David came and helped with my bike...we stopped so I could put on dry clothes and then walked everything back to the cars.
I want to thank everyone for the constant stream of positive messages over the past few days. I feel like the work has paid off, that I am making progress, and that there is hope for IMLOU in 2018.
I want to thank Matt Ebersole for planning my training, monitoring how things are going, and dealing with my constant stream of messages - some fairly mentally unstable. He's an incredible asset to this quest. And super excited for me and what I am able to do, even though I will never make a podium or some of the other "community goals" in our sport. Doug with the swimming, Sean with the open water swims, Shannon with the weights, Brian with the pre-hab exercises, Lindsay with the nutrition, Kristine and Toni with the yoga, and Chris with the sports psych all play a considerable role in whatever success I do have. As do training partners and team mates. And Tom and Trena in ways that are really difficult to explain. I love all of you. Big props to David who is a good training partner for riding, and the best tri sherpa/Ironman support crew partner ever. He may say I'm crazy, but he's by my side in this.
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