The Hay is in the Barn

The hay is in the barn is a saying which means the training is all done and there is nothing more to do but execute on race day. I started training for this Ironman on December 1, 2008 and here are the training totals:

Bike 219h 51m 4231.48 miles
Run 151h 58m 1275.76 miles
swim 43h 43m 160,371 yards (91.12 miles)

16 rides over 90 miles, 10 of those over 100 miles, 5 of those over 115 miles.
34 runs over 15 miles
3 swims over 2.5 miles

Just need a little luck with the weather and the Ironman God's to be kind and I'm in good shape!

Where to Start?

Developing my starting strategy for the swim. Thinking far left inside buoy-line? What do ya think? :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLQUZwrH-kw&feature=related

In Need of Some Inspiration?

A couple clips to get the racing blood flowing! Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo-nbnw8zSI

If this next one doesn't get you going....check your pulse you may not be alive :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTn1v5TGK_w

Trainings All Done

I just finished my last scheduled workout before my taper begins for IMCDA. For those who don't remember what a taper is, it's when you back off your training intensity and volume to give your body a chance to fully rest. I do this before my "A" races. You can only effectively do a couple tapers a year.

All told the training leading up to this Ironman was:


Bike: 4136.68 Mi.
Run: 1225.46
Swim: 149107 yds.
Strength: 43.25 Hrs.

Now you know why they say triathlon is a lifestyle, there is no time for anything else :)

Some Last Minute Bike Tweaks

Completed some last minute bike tweaks today. The first was to replace my XLAB rear bottle holder with a new carbon Beaker Concepts hydro Tail. The theory (supported by wind test results) is that if you lower your bottles the wind flows off of your back cleaner. Results in wind tunnel = .5 mph faster over 112 miles, which is huge. Not sure I am completely drinking the koolaid on this one, but even .25 mph faster is over 4 minutes (.5 mph is almost 9 minutes). Either way that is serious time. Here is a picture of it. Notice how low the bottles are. My XLAB, the bottle were about 6 inches higher.

For those of you who read my Ironman Florida race report and several other race reports for that matter, you may remember my issues with salt tabs and my lack of a good system to store them. Well I've solved that. I added something called a "salt stick". I have one on now and another later today. Each holds 6 salt tabs. You just simply turn the end of the unit and out pops a salt tab for you to grab. I used it during my Half Ironman last weekend and it worked perfectly!

May's in the book's

The month of May was a huge training month. Swimming and running was nothing special, but it was my biggest month on the bike by over 350 miles. I raced 2 weekends in the month, which normally cuts into my training time as I typically train more hours on the weekend than a race takes up. These races were 'no taper" races so pretty much normal training resumes the next day. My Friday long run day's suffered though as I just can't race after a 24 - 30 running day the day before. This is why the running miles were not that great for the month. Here were the totals:

May's totals:
Bike: 60h 04m 56s - 1200.18 Mi
Run: 23h 11m 05s - 196.86 Mi
Swim: 9h 27m 03s - 35982 Yd
Strength: 3h 15m

I'm hoping the big bike month will pay dividends at Couer d'Alene! First week of June is a big training week, then I taper for the next 2 weeks (taper week 1 = 50% normal volume, week 2 = 25%). This sharp drop off in volume should have me climbing the walls for sure. Over eating will be a major concern. The amount of food I eat when the training is big like this is ridiculous. I have to try to pair the eating down with the volume, which is VERY hard to do.

Rock N' Rollman Half Ironman

First Half Ironman of the season. It wasn't quite as hot as it has been in recent years for the this race. It was about 85 degrees, where in the past it had gotten up in the low 90's. Ended up 12th overall, 2nd age group. I beat my personal best for this race (5th time racing this one), by 18 mins and last years time by 20 mins. Last year I won my AG (go figure 20 mins slower). I was fighting to catch a guy the last 2 miles. I didn't know if he was in my age group or not because he was about 100 yds ahead of me. I saw him keep looking over his shoulder so I knew that he knew I was coming, which isn't good. You want to sneak up on them and catch them off guard. I could tell he was fighting to keep the gap. I closed it to about 50 yds, but was running out of real estate as it was mile 12.5 (13.1 miles in this run). There was a hill coming up at about 12.75 and I was watching him for signs of weakness. If he struggles up the hill, I would put the hammer down the last 1/4 mile and get him. Well he powered up the hill. He was a smart runner! That sent a signal to me that if I pushed, he would just push and we'd be in the same place, only with a ton more pain and potential for injury. I was already running on the verge of hamstring strain as I could feel my right one tightening. The announcer said his name when he crossed the line, "John Stein". Could that be John from Eau Claire, whom I swam with for aver 10 years on the YMCA swim team? Well he was in my AG and it was John. I went over to him and re-introduced myself as we hadn't spoken in over 25 years. We chatted for over 30 minutes and plan on getting together during the Augusta 70.3 (Half Ironman) in September. What a small world. Was disappointed about taking 2nd, but was happy to behind John.

Overall I am happy with my race. This was a no taper race, which mean you train hard right up and through the race. My "A" race is obviously Ironman Couer d'Alene, so I couldn't taper twice so close. Fresher legs would have lead to a different result for sure.