Ironman Lottery

I signed up for the Ironman Hawaii lottery. There are 150 spots that are awarded. So, I threw down the $90 for a chance to get in. The likely hood of me hitting a qualifying time is slim.



If I get selected, by some miracle, the date is October 9th, 2010. Wisconsin is September 12th, 2010.... then three weeks later I would have to do it again in Hawaii. Not an ideal plan for my heart and ligaments and such.

I didn't write much this week. It was so gray and depressing mostly. I log all my activities in a training log (left at work) so I can't remember all that I did this week...not as much as I planned to do. This morning I road hard for an hour with the Men of Steel Racing club, then I swam hard later - 800 SKPS, 4 x100 IM, 4 x 100 FREE...held 1:00 on the 100's free, not so bad.

Yesterday I took the dog on my run. Running with a puppy is a 'whole-nother' story, as they say in Indiana (maybe it's a Midwest phenomenon?). He tangles the leash around my legs, darts suddenly at the sight of squirrels, stops abruptly to smell the yellow spots in the snow, sometimes runs hard to point of strangulation, and other times trails behind lackadaisically. I let him off leash a few times and he ran along surprisingly well. The weather was horrible - cold and blowing snow. We did sprints together across the wind-swept barren golf course near my house.

Week 8 - end of Adaptation Phase

My training plan is broken down into 4 phases:

Adaptation

Aerobic

Endurance

Competitive


This week is the last week of the adaptive phase. Saturday I road 33 miles. Sunday I road 30 miles, then ran 10 miles (3 hour workout). This morning I swam an easy 1,500 yards.

Yesterday's brick workout was challenging. I road hard on my trainer, and starting out running hard (in the rain) but had to slow way down at mile four. I literally think my lungs cramped up. Likely a diaphragm cramp, or stress, or over-use. I had to walk a bit to get my breathing back. Weird - has never happened before. I still ran another six miles, and the last two were my fastest.

The cold conditions caught me off guard, when I stopped running. It rained the whole time and I was slightly underdressed. To add to the chill, upon completion, I iced both knees for 20 minutes to kill the mild pain I was feeling. And then drank two glasses of wine - my form of ibuprofen. Looking forward to this week - I'm going to try to hit it hard, next week is a 'rest' week - 1 hour workouts daily, but all easy.

Friday: Feels like Spring

I swam 4 x 500 freestyle Wednesday. A 500 free is such a good distance (20 lengths of the pool). You have to work hard to keep the pace. In terms of physical exertion, a 500 free in the water is the equivalent to running hard for 3/4 of mile. Depends on your efficiently as a swimmer I suppose.

I dared the weather Thursday morning and ran 9 miles. There was not a soul at Foster...it was dark and early. Not even a hint of any wildlife. I appreciate these moments of peace and uninterrupted running - as I know the Canadian geese are soon to return. I've seen them lately, wandering the skies in their pretty little V formations. In the spring, I think they all eventually land at the park near my house to propagate and chase runners.

Today I hit the pool again. Swam 2,500 yards. IM workout (Individual Medley - fly/back/breast/free). A dear sweet woman got in my lane and after a while asked if I was a swimmer, then guessed that I was in my 20's! I did eventually break down and tell her the truth. 38.

Tuesday 2-16

This month is slipping by quickly, as they all do.

This morning I ran 4 miles, treadmill, YMCA. Hated it. I did manage to retrieve the only fan on the floor and position it so that it was blowing exclusively on me. Normally that feat is carried out by a woman a row ahead of me - she's quick and crafty with 'her' fan. Not today.

I did a few sets of leg raises then cooled down with a 500 yard swim. Swam a few laps of all out butterfly to show off for the life guard and get the blood flowing.

Monday I did not work out.

Last Sunday, 2/14, Valentine's Day, I woke up early and did my first planned brick workout. "Brick" workouts were termed by triathletes I think - it's when you stack one effort on top of another. So, I road 35 miles, then immediately ran 5.5miles. I started at 5:45am and finished up around 9:00am. The miles I road stationary in the basement flipping channels trying to keep my eyes off the clock. The run was cold...colder than usual I thought. The river I run by looked like the surface of the moon...the ice was jagged, heaved into the air, crushed and desolate looking.

The transition from cycling to running is an odd experience, it's difficult to find a good running rhythm after cycling for a couple hours. I was more exhausted than normal after that workout - had to nap later in the day. I think my flu of last week was still lingering.

Saturday Morning Spin

Got up and went to Summit (local bike shop) to ride this morning. 7:00 start time.


I hate packing my trainer and bike into the Subaru, then digging it all out, repacking, etc. But riding with a group is much more engaging than spinning alone in my basement. So, I went through the effort again this morning.


My breathing was a little off - we did sustained 5 minute max effort time trials, followed by 5 minutes rest between each. Following that was a 10 minute sustained effort, then we did some high gear work, 50 rpm, standing out of the saddle stuff...represents hill climbing to a degree. I would cast aside all the group camaraderie for one good solo ride outside. There's something inherently right about forward motion on a bicycle that I'm starting to miss. Trainer blues I suppose.


I picked up my time trial bike today - it's been in the shop all week. The new bars are now on. They look a little unusual, bigger than the slim Easton carbon one piece I had on there before. But, it looks a bit more comfortable. Ironman distance (112 miles of cycling) is equally about aerodynamic comfort as it is aerodynamic speed. You've got to hop off the bike and run a marathon- so being aggressively positioned in a slightly painful aero position is not a great idea.

Set Back

I caught some flu type bug from my son...I was horribly sick for a good 5 hours Wednesday night. That really puts the brakes on training.

I'm still dehydrated almost 48 hours later.

Hopefully this weekend I can get back into it, slowly. So I missed two days of my plan, and likely will only get a light run in tomorrow, if I'm lucky. That's life. Sometimes we get sick. Even at the peak of health some little germ can take us completely down.

Snow Storm Training

I've been continuing to train through this weather - although it's harder to roll out of bed when everything is blanketed in snow, and still.



Since my last post: Road my trainer 75 minutes (21 miles) on Sunday, Monday night I did P90X, Ab Ripper, which is horrible. Tuesday morning ran only 2 miles on a treadmill then did my lower body weight routine at the Y, Tuesday night I had a great bike trainer session with the Men of Steele cycling team (21 miles), this morning I swam 3,000 yards.



Last night I road next to some guy with a nice Cervelo R3. We worked off each other - it was fun. I wanted to beat him and he wanted to beat me, so we both pushed ourselves to nearly total exhaustion. We did super spin sets- where you pedal as fast as you can. We were hitting 180 RPM: that is spinning fast. Spinning like that causes all kinds of weird pains. I thought we were finished after that, but they put in another 30 minute CD where we got into the real good stuff - 90 seconds sustained, all out X 7. I was dizzy after that and drove home intoxicated on exercise in the snow storm. I couldn't have walked a straight line had I been pulled over.

I broke my scraper trying to get the ice and snow off the windshield this morning. Not many cars in the lot at the downtown YMCA - but there were two guys in the pool, struggling.

I swam my normal 800 SKPS, then 4 x 100 IM Kick/Swim, 4 x 150 Free building up to max on last 50, 4 x 50 Free, 200 easy, then hit 4 x 250 yards free hard. 3,000 yards total. Started to fall apart on the 250's.

I'm starting to feel fit...my recovery time between workouts is improving. No long-term pain after weights. This exercise thing is working.

Saturday - Run 10

Ran 10 miles yesterday. I couldn't bring myself to run on a treadmill for that long, so I ventured outside. It was a rough run - felt like trail running - the snow made each step slightly unbalanced. It was a beautiful sunny day, but a little slushy, with a cold wind.

My legs are still sore from the plyometrics of Thursday night. After running 10 I was hurting yesterday. Actually felt a little faint at one point when I stood up a few minutes later after running. I didn't eat any lunch, which may have been the cause. Or I have some undiagnosed heart problem? I'm a total hypochondriac.

This morning I got up and road my trainer for 75 minutes. 95% effort during commercials, 65% effort during the 'show'. The boys and I found some action movie on AMC that we agreed on, anything other than Spongebob or ICarly. That AMC channel has some long commercial breaks - thought I'd faint and fall off the bike before they'd end.

I'm planning to put some time in the water this afternoon. Then later I'm going to force myself to be a proper American father, sit down on the couch with soft drinks, popcorn, maybe some other cheesy-meaty appetizer, and watch football with my children.

Friday - Run 6

Lifted weights Wednesday morning at the Y. Did lots and lots of leg raises and squats. Road my trainer 30 minutes alternating 1 min 100% max output with 1 min easy last night. Then did plyometrics - jump training. It's no fun jumping laterally and vertically until you can't jump any more. I walked with soreness today at work. After that the boys and I watched Survivor (which they love). I laid on the floor and did sit-ups, leg raises, and push-ups. My son spelled out the words O-v-e-r-d-o-i-n-g i-t to me. Not sure where that came from, but it was funny. The boys jumped down next to me and attempt some push-ups.

This morning I ran 6+ miles on plyometric tired legs. It was dark and cold. I meandered through Southwood Park for four miles and then did a lap at Foster....a nice easy run. I'm planning to up my run mileage for the next two days....but there is one fierce snow storm outside right now: this could lead to treadmill running. Great.

This morning I could feel the wind coming from the East, and knew the storm was on it's way. The wind is always from the West unless strange weather is coming.

Tuesday, 2.2

Ran 7.5 miles on Sunday, road 60 minutes hard Monday morning on my trainer, swam 2,800 yards Monday night, and went to a spinning session with my cycling group tonight - 60 minutes of interval work. A good series of quality workouts. I was a little off tonight - I haven't eaten much in the last 24 hours.

Mostly no matter what I do I weigh 185 pounds. That's been my weight since I was a freshman in high school. My diet consists mainly of pretzels and cheese singles. An occasional banana. Oatmeal for breakfast. 3 Rivers Natural Food Co-Op for lunches, or Subway, or Deli 620, or the local sushi place (Asakusa). I normally have a balanced dinner thanks to my spouse. I need to drink more water. My liquid intake consist of coffee, coke, beer and wine. Not your normal Ironman fair I suppose. Water. I always seem to forget about water.

I do follow-up most high level workouts with Hammer Nutrition's Recoverite. I think it does have some restoritive benefits - maltodextrin does pop you back quickly from post-workput flatness.

Tomorrow morning - run and weights, and then I'm going to take a day off I think.

Addendum: for full disclosure and honestly I do hit fast food now and then.