After only making it to the pool once last week (and that was a pretty weak workout itself), I made swimming a priority this week. I swam at the pool 3 times, add that to the tri on Sunday, and this was my biggest swim volume week of the whole year. I also chose to make this a "running focused" week as well. At 34.3 miles, this was my second highest running volume week of the year. After finding time to do all the swimming and running, biking had to take a backseat for the week.
Everyone has been asking how the training is going, how many more weeks are left, if I am healthy, etc. Everyone pretty much gets the same answer: "It's going well, only a couple weeks left, everything feels pretty good, yes I know I'm crazy, yes I am tired all the time, yes I get to eat everything and anything." It's become my mantra. I really don't think people want to hear all the intimate details about how tired my legs are, how I really do go to bed at 9 or earlier, how hard it is for me to get myself to the pool for another 100+ laps of the pool, how I would just like to be able to go out and stay up past 11pm and be around people who talk about things other than triathlon, etc. The truth is that I love training, but thank goodness I can see the light at the end of the tunnel because I don't know that I can keep training like this much longer.
Week 4 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 7750 yards
Bike: 3 hours, 10 minutes
Run: 34.3 miles
Cross-Training: about 30 minutes of core and strength work.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Seven Months and GROWING!!
A few more pictures of my favorite neices...
Hanging out with Dad
A giggling Lauren
I think this is a clean diaper on Sophie...
Lauren and her cute little ears!
A playing Sophie is a happy Sophie!
I can't believe they can already sit up by themselves! I've got to get back out to see these sweethearts!!
Big Creek Triathlon
So, I thought that I wasn't going to do any more races until the Ironman, but at the last minute I got talked into doing the Big Creek Triathlon. It is the oldest race in Iowa. It's an Olympic distance race, and it celebrated its 26th year this year. The race director is one of the women that I ride with in Des Moines. The race is held at Big Creek State Park - the venue is great and it was a blast to get to race with tons of people from Des Moines.On Saturday night, I headed (back) down to Des Moines and met up with about 20 triathletes; I'd met probably half of them before. We had a great time, shared tons of laughs, ate some awesome Italian, and just hung out. We even had a couple of pro triathletes at the table with us.
Sunday was a great day for a race. The skies were overcast and temps were in the low 60's in the morning - cold enough for Sparkle to bring a blanket along... Of course, even with the air temps in the 60's, the water temp was 80 which meant no wetsuits. That was a big bummer in my book, but whatever. The water temp felt fine, but I nearly froze to death during the National Anthem. I was cold to the point of severe shivering and teeth chattering.
The swim start was on the beach, so we had to race into the water and then start swimming when the water was deep enough. However, the public beach at Big Creek is shallow for a LONG time. I'm guessing it was at least 100 yards of water running/walking before anybody really got into the water to swim. So when you finally get into the water to swim, it's really murky because so many people have been running through the mud before you... yuck!
For me that was just the start of a bad swim. For some reason, I was having a lot of trouble getting into a rhythm. My breathing was just off somehow, maybe because I was cold for so long before the start. It took me quite a while to get comfortable enough to breathe bilaterally. The last 200 yards in were shallow as well. The main problem with that was the seaweed that we were all getting tangled up in. I was just happy to be getting close to getting out of the water.
The bike was actually pretty uneventful. I think I was only passed by two women in my age group, but I passed two others for a net gain/loss of zero. The bike course was pretty flat and fast, and there wasn't much wind to deal with, so it was just a matter of keeping the legs turning over and staying aero.
Coming into T2, everything felt great, I had a decent transition and I felt pretty strong as I headed out for the run. The run course is pretty flat, with some small rollers and one small hill near the turnaround. I walked for just a few seconds at each aid station for water and felt stronger as each mile passed.
There weren't many people watching the race anywhere other than very close to the transition, so I got to run without very many distractions for nearly the whole 10K. I love runs like that - I felt good and I was in the "zone!" I crossed the finish line with a PR of 6 minutes less than my last attempt at the distance. The biggest boost for me was how good the run felt. That is a great way to end the "regular season" of racing. I'm ready for the Super Bowl of triathlons now! Bring on Ironman Wisconsin!!
Feeling Fine and Alive, In Week Five
While not a stellar week in many regards, I do feel pretty good about the amount of time I spent on the bike. I really think that is going to end up being the key to a good race for me. And it is the part that I felt needed the most work. The race will be about 50% bike and 50% swim/run, so it makes sense to focus a lot of time on that discipline. I went to Des Moines on Sunday for a 60 mile ride with the DM Tri Chicks. Sparkle and I got a quick 22 miles in on Wednesday, then I took Friday off of work and headed back to DM for another century. It's great to feel the difference between my first ride in DM just 6 weeks ago. I was pretty crabby and didn't feel very strong on all the hills, but the last couple times have been great! So, I guess the training is starting to pay off!
I didn't get myself to the pool more than once, and even that was a pretty weak attempt. I decided to do the Big Creek Triathlon kind of at the last minute, so that kind of screwed up my plans. My running was a bit abbreviated this week, too, but the one run I ran with Team Vardo. The group that I usually can't even try to keep up with was the group that I ran with for all 8 miles. And, the run felt great! Sometimes, just a confidence boost like that is all you need.
I skipped my long run on Saturday in favor of taking a very mini (one-day) taper for the Big Creek Triathlon the following day! Plus, I followed up the century on Friday morning with a trip to the Iowa State Fair on Friday night. Although I didn't get any pictures of me at the fair, I did take this fine photo of Sparkle with a dog who shares her name:
Week 5 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 2000 yards
Bike: 11 hours, 5 minutes
Run: 13.8 miles
Cross-Training: about 30 minutes of core and strength work.
I didn't get myself to the pool more than once, and even that was a pretty weak attempt. I decided to do the Big Creek Triathlon kind of at the last minute, so that kind of screwed up my plans. My running was a bit abbreviated this week, too, but the one run I ran with Team Vardo. The group that I usually can't even try to keep up with was the group that I ran with for all 8 miles. And, the run felt great! Sometimes, just a confidence boost like that is all you need.
I skipped my long run on Saturday in favor of taking a very mini (one-day) taper for the Big Creek Triathlon the following day! Plus, I followed up the century on Friday morning with a trip to the Iowa State Fair on Friday night. Although I didn't get any pictures of me at the fair, I did take this fine photo of Sparkle with a dog who shares her name:
Week 5 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 2000 yards
Bike: 11 hours, 5 minutes
Run: 13.8 miles
Cross-Training: about 30 minutes of core and strength work.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Sweating Like the Tropics, In Weeks Nine, Eight, Seven, and Six
It has been a long time since my last training post, but it’s only because I’ve been as busy as a one-armed guy at a salad bar. Between a trip to Chicago for Grandma’s birthday party, and then another trip back to Chicago on my way to Racine, I’ve been spending more time in my truck than at home. Training has been a bit sporadic. But, I still feel pretty good about what I’ve been able to accomplish on a slightly scaled back program. It was great to spend a bunch of time on my bike in Week Seven. Between the race in Racine, RAGBRAI, and a century ride, I managed about 335 miles on the bike in 8 days.
I talked my cousin Mike into running with me in some amazing humidity the weekend we were all in Chicago for the big birthday celebration. We were soaked when we got back, and we got to see some interesting parts of LaGrange and LaGrange Park while we were out. The following day, Mike and my uncle Jeff volunteered to come out and help me with some bike training. I brought my tri bike, my road bike, and Roehr's road bike with me, and we loaded up Saturday morning and headed north for a ride that Roehr had done before. When we got to the park, there was another, much larger, group getting ready to ride. After some mechanical maneuvers, we were off. And, we only got lost once, er, twice. And, Mike only got one flat tire. We were thirsty, hot, and smelly afterwards, but it was still a great way to spend some time with family!
The following week was a pretty wimpy week of training. I was sub-par in all categories. But, I guess I can call it a mini-taper for the Spirit of Racine Half Ironman. You can read the race report below, but let's just say things went very well and the race was a big boost for my confidence.
Right after the SORT, Roehr and I headed back for our big week of RAGBRAI. That week was basically a quick swim before we met the team for the ride, 180 miles on the bike, and maybe a quick jog to find a port-o-potty, but no real running.
I went back down to Des Moines to train with the girls down there the Sunday after RAGBRAI. We started our bike ride at 6am because we knew we had a long way to go and it was gonna be humid and HOT! I have never drank so much water in one single day. I found I could drink as much as I wanted, whenever I wanted and I never had that slooshy feeling in my stomach. Whatever went in, came directly out of my pores. It felt like we were riding in a blast furnace. Plus, when we got done with the 100 miles, we still had a 40 minute run to do! Terri and I opted for the run 2min-walk 2min method just to get it done. We must have looked bad because we even had someone stop, back-up, and ask us if we needed a ride. Everyone in town knew this was not a good day to be out running!
It was a good way to clear my system of RAGBRAI and get back in training mode for the final 6 week stretch. Week 6 was better in terms of heat and training, but neither was great. Today I met up with Team Vardo. They had a 16 miler on the schedule, so I thought I'd go along for 12 or 14. We started at 5:30am (still dark here) and had a great 9 mile first lap on some new trails that we'd not been on before. It started to rain at the start of lap 2, and basically just poured on us the whole time. But I was feeling VERY good, so I held on and did all 16+ with them! The perfect ending was the breakfast Craig had made for us - eggs, sausage, pancakes, bananas, peaches, rolls, OJ, chocolate milk... YUM! And Kori and I got into the pool to eat our breakfast to cool our legs. Not quite an ice bath, but it worked!
Week 9 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 4450 yards
Bike: 7 hours, 20 minutes
Run: 20.7 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of core and strength work.
Week 8 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 1500 yards
Bike: 1 hours, 10 minutes
Run: 17.6 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of core and strength work.
Week 7 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 3900 yards
Bike: 14 hours, 15 minutes (236 miles)
Run: 21.1 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of core and strength work.
Week 6 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 5200 yards
Bike: 9 hours, 5 minutes (122 miles)
Run: 30 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of core, squats, lunges, and strength work.
I talked my cousin Mike into running with me in some amazing humidity the weekend we were all in Chicago for the big birthday celebration. We were soaked when we got back, and we got to see some interesting parts of LaGrange and LaGrange Park while we were out. The following day, Mike and my uncle Jeff volunteered to come out and help me with some bike training. I brought my tri bike, my road bike, and Roehr's road bike with me, and we loaded up Saturday morning and headed north for a ride that Roehr had done before. When we got to the park, there was another, much larger, group getting ready to ride. After some mechanical maneuvers, we were off. And, we only got lost once, er, twice. And, Mike only got one flat tire. We were thirsty, hot, and smelly afterwards, but it was still a great way to spend some time with family!
The following week was a pretty wimpy week of training. I was sub-par in all categories. But, I guess I can call it a mini-taper for the Spirit of Racine Half Ironman. You can read the race report below, but let's just say things went very well and the race was a big boost for my confidence.
Right after the SORT, Roehr and I headed back for our big week of RAGBRAI. That week was basically a quick swim before we met the team for the ride, 180 miles on the bike, and maybe a quick jog to find a port-o-potty, but no real running.
I went back down to Des Moines to train with the girls down there the Sunday after RAGBRAI. We started our bike ride at 6am because we knew we had a long way to go and it was gonna be humid and HOT! I have never drank so much water in one single day. I found I could drink as much as I wanted, whenever I wanted and I never had that slooshy feeling in my stomach. Whatever went in, came directly out of my pores. It felt like we were riding in a blast furnace. Plus, when we got done with the 100 miles, we still had a 40 minute run to do! Terri and I opted for the run 2min-walk 2min method just to get it done. We must have looked bad because we even had someone stop, back-up, and ask us if we needed a ride. Everyone in town knew this was not a good day to be out running!
It was a good way to clear my system of RAGBRAI and get back in training mode for the final 6 week stretch. Week 6 was better in terms of heat and training, but neither was great. Today I met up with Team Vardo. They had a 16 miler on the schedule, so I thought I'd go along for 12 or 14. We started at 5:30am (still dark here) and had a great 9 mile first lap on some new trails that we'd not been on before. It started to rain at the start of lap 2, and basically just poured on us the whole time. But I was feeling VERY good, so I held on and did all 16+ with them! The perfect ending was the breakfast Craig had made for us - eggs, sausage, pancakes, bananas, peaches, rolls, OJ, chocolate milk... YUM! And Kori and I got into the pool to eat our breakfast to cool our legs. Not quite an ice bath, but it worked!
Week 9 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 4450 yards
Bike: 7 hours, 20 minutes
Run: 20.7 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of core and strength work.
Week 8 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 1500 yards
Bike: 1 hours, 10 minutes
Run: 17.6 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of core and strength work.
Week 7 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 3900 yards
Bike: 14 hours, 15 minutes (236 miles)
Run: 21.1 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of core and strength work.
Week 6 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 5200 yards
Bike: 9 hours, 5 minutes (122 miles)
Run: 30 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of core, squats, lunges, and strength work.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
RAGBRAI 2006 - Team Satisfied Plays Rugby
Getting There:
After driving almost all day on Sunday to get from Racine to Ames (via Carol Stream, Bettendorf, and Sully), the last thing I wanted to do on Monday morning was get up and go for a swim. It’s a really good thing Roehr was there, or I would not have got it done. We did a 30-ish minute swim at Peterson Pits, then headed back for a quick shower before Roehr’s mom came to drive us to find the team. As we were driving in Arcadia looking for the team, we saw the first accident of the ride: the Team Bad Monkey bus backed their big purple and orange bus into a car.
Monday: Ida Grove to Aududon
We met up with Team Satisfied in the meet town of Arcadia. Sparkle had just finished about 40 miles, most of it into a brutal headwind. Roehr wanted to get a ride in, and I just wanted to experience the more social aspects of RAGBRAI: I wanted a beer. Quickly, we initiated Roehr into Team Satisfied by giving her an “official” RAGBRAI name: Screamer. After the rest of us got dressed into cycling clothes, we headed off in different directions. Screamer headed out on the road towards Audubon and the rest of the team headed the 0.67 miles back into Arcadia to find the beer garden.
I was just happy to be on RAGBRAI; it didn’t matter to me if I was riding or not. And, truth be told, I was also pretty darn happy to be drinking a beer! I saw lots of old friends, both from previous years’ rides as well as from school and work. But, there was one group I hadn’t seen yet – the Atlanta Old White Rugby Football Club. I met them early in the week last year, and everywhere I went they were either there already or got there soon after me. I ended up having lots of laughs with them last year, so I was anxious to see them again.
After 2 beer gardens and about 3 hours, we finally spotted one of the Atlanta Rugby members which led us to the rest of the group. Now I felt like RAGBRAI XXXIV had finally begun!
Just as we found them, the State Patrol came through to shut down the party and urge everyone to get back on their way to Audubon. We rode back to the truck at the co-op (another 0.67 miles, bringing my grand total mileage for Monday up to 1.34 miles on the bike), got into the truck, headed to Carroll for groceries and ice, and drove to our host home for the evening to set up camp.
After we got everything set up and ate some dinner, we all donned our team shirts – tonight’s version was a red tank for the ladies and a red ringer T for Sid. The message was simple but eloquent: “I enjoy drinking beer.” Last year we discovered that it was a great idea to all dress the same when we went out at night. It makes us all much easier to find in the crowds. And, it makes for much better photos!
There were more friends to catch up with at Cliff's Bar, and we all did a little dancing and a lot of laughing. The rugby team - named Team Emerson for the ride - showed up late, but ready to have some fun, so Sunshine and I stuck around for a while longer, while the rest of the team headed back to camp. As the night wore on, the fatigue of the weekend began to wear on me, so around 1am, Sunshine and I began our long walk back to 711 Brayton Street. Somewhere along the line, we decided that it was too far for us to walk, so Sunny asked a nice police officer if we could have a ride. Normally, you'd think that this story would somehow end with us both being tossed in jail or some other horrible thing, but to our amazement, he said, "Sure!"
The only problem then was that he was driving a single seat 4-wheel ATV. Sunny jumps on one side in a relatively stable position, wrapping her one arm around the officer, and I just barely get one "cheek" on the other fender facing the wrong way when this guy hits the gas! Sunny quickly grabs me with her other arm - saving my life because I am in the least stable position you can imagine. I screamed the entire way back to our host home, with tears streaming down my face from both sheer terror and uncontrolable laughter!! Really the only thought that went through my mind was not if I fell off, but when I fell off, how I was going to fall in order to sustain the least harmful amount of injury. This fine peace officer drove his loud ATV all the way into the backyard and dropped us off inches from our sleeping teammates.
After driving almost all day on Sunday to get from Racine to Ames (via Carol Stream, Bettendorf, and Sully), the last thing I wanted to do on Monday morning was get up and go for a swim. It’s a really good thing Roehr was there, or I would not have got it done. We did a 30-ish minute swim at Peterson Pits, then headed back for a quick shower before Roehr’s mom came to drive us to find the team. As we were driving in Arcadia looking for the team, we saw the first accident of the ride: the Team Bad Monkey bus backed their big purple and orange bus into a car.
Monday: Ida Grove to Aududon
We met up with Team Satisfied in the meet town of Arcadia. Sparkle had just finished about 40 miles, most of it into a brutal headwind. Roehr wanted to get a ride in, and I just wanted to experience the more social aspects of RAGBRAI: I wanted a beer. Quickly, we initiated Roehr into Team Satisfied by giving her an “official” RAGBRAI name: Screamer. After the rest of us got dressed into cycling clothes, we headed off in different directions. Screamer headed out on the road towards Audubon and the rest of the team headed the 0.67 miles back into Arcadia to find the beer garden.
I was just happy to be on RAGBRAI; it didn’t matter to me if I was riding or not. And, truth be told, I was also pretty darn happy to be drinking a beer! I saw lots of old friends, both from previous years’ rides as well as from school and work. But, there was one group I hadn’t seen yet – the Atlanta Old White Rugby Football Club. I met them early in the week last year, and everywhere I went they were either there already or got there soon after me. I ended up having lots of laughs with them last year, so I was anxious to see them again.
After 2 beer gardens and about 3 hours, we finally spotted one of the Atlanta Rugby members which led us to the rest of the group. Now I felt like RAGBRAI XXXIV had finally begun!
Just as we found them, the State Patrol came through to shut down the party and urge everyone to get back on their way to Audubon. We rode back to the truck at the co-op (another 0.67 miles, bringing my grand total mileage for Monday up to 1.34 miles on the bike), got into the truck, headed to Carroll for groceries and ice, and drove to our host home for the evening to set up camp.
After we got everything set up and ate some dinner, we all donned our team shirts – tonight’s version was a red tank for the ladies and a red ringer T for Sid. The message was simple but eloquent: “I enjoy drinking beer.” Last year we discovered that it was a great idea to all dress the same when we went out at night. It makes us all much easier to find in the crowds. And, it makes for much better photos!
There were more friends to catch up with at Cliff's Bar, and we all did a little dancing and a lot of laughing. The rugby team - named Team Emerson for the ride - showed up late, but ready to have some fun, so Sunshine and I stuck around for a while longer, while the rest of the team headed back to camp. As the night wore on, the fatigue of the weekend began to wear on me, so around 1am, Sunshine and I began our long walk back to 711 Brayton Street. Somewhere along the line, we decided that it was too far for us to walk, so Sunny asked a nice police officer if we could have a ride. Normally, you'd think that this story would somehow end with us both being tossed in jail or some other horrible thing, but to our amazement, he said, "Sure!"
The only problem then was that he was driving a single seat 4-wheel ATV. Sunny jumps on one side in a relatively stable position, wrapping her one arm around the officer, and I just barely get one "cheek" on the other fender facing the wrong way when this guy hits the gas! Sunny quickly grabs me with her other arm - saving my life because I am in the least stable position you can imagine. I screamed the entire way back to our host home, with tears streaming down my face from both sheer terror and uncontrolable laughter!! Really the only thought that went through my mind was not if I fell off, but when I fell off, how I was going to fall in order to sustain the least harmful amount of injury. This fine peace officer drove his loud ATV all the way into the backyard and dropped us off inches from our sleeping teammates.
Tuesday: Audubon to Waukee
As is the custom with Team Satisfied, we awoke much later than we would have liked and got a much later start on the ride than we anticipated. The omelet and pancake breakfast prepared by our host hit the spot, and then Sparkle, Screamer, and I hit the road.
This being the 4th hilliest RAGBRAI ever, we got a good taste of the hills early on in the day. Our first stop was in Guthrie Center after 28 miles of hills, to pick up Sunshine, who had chosen to sag part of the day with Sid to avoid said hills. We found some yummy, yummy pizza and some shade. They were making the pizza from scratch (i.e. kneading the dough right there), and it was good! We would actually eat their pizza at least 3 more times by Thursday night.
We'd heard of a short-cut and an off-route party, and if there is one thing that Team Satisfied is about, it's short-cuts and parties! And, if the short-cut means no more hills for the rest of the day, well, sign us up!
In Panora, we stopped at a happening little bar (the name of which escapes me), with a ton of other cyclists. Sunshine thought she had spotted the love of her life in the form of a tall blonde drink of water. He sat down in the booth behind her, and we began the first round of the "over-the-booth sticker war." It all began with Sunny's placement of a Team Satisfied sticker on the back of his head, to which he countered with a sticker from his own team (the name of which is not appropriate to publish here) on her shoulder. She returned with a couple business cards down his shirt collar, which garnered 2 more stickers, this time one on Sparkle and one on Sunshine. This went back and forth for quite a while with no real conversation between Sunny and the LOHL, although communication did come in the form of inflatables and other "fun" items.
The rest of the ride into Waukee was flat, because we found a converted rails-to-trails path to take for at least 20 miles. We made our way into Waukee and struggled to get to our host house because of unforeseen road construction and a slight lack of communication. It was a good thing we got there when we did, because when we were LITERALLY 2 feet from their driveway, a huge bolt of lightning struck very close by, and within seconds, the skys opened and it poured as we made our way into their dry garage! God was certainly looking out for us at that moment. I think He had it timed perfectly.
Sunny's parents were in Waukee, so she went out with them. Screamer and Sparkle wanted a nice away from the beer garden, and I went out for a real dinner with a friend. It was still raining when we all met back up, so the tent campers headed inside for the night, while Sparkle and I headed back to the Hilton (aka the trailer). The thunder and lightning and rain continued all night, and at about 1am, we had deja vu from Sheldon last year. In the distance we could again hear the warning coming over the loudspeaker telling everyone to seek immediate shelter inside because a big storm with very strong winds was coming. Great for us, we know the drill of how to secure the trailer half-asleep, in the pouring rain, and we ran into the house, just like last year. Not so great for the thousands of tent campers who have to do the same, but then crowd into a gymnasium or church for the remainder of the evening. It turned out to be a long, loud night, but we were dry and safe.
Wednesday: Waukee to Newton
Our sag driver stayed out a bit too late on Tuesday night and wanted to sleep a lot more than he wanted to drive, so Sparkle took a turn at the controls of the truck. Sunshine continued her week-long commitment to ride only in the afternoon, so Screamer and I were the only two to head out on Wednesday morning. Of course, the day started out with more and more hills to Granger. Our first goal of the day was a beverage at the Landmark in Polk City, a local watering hole frequented by cyclists and motorcyclists due to its proximity to Saylorville Lake. To get there, we all rode across the Mile Long Bridge over Saylorville. There were a lot of boats parked by the bridge just hollaring as we all rode past. We rolled into Polk City around 10:30am to the sounds of a great Irish band playing covers of everything. We squeezed our way into the Landmark, followed by 5 Elvi (the plural of Elvis), I made sure to get our sticker on the banner on the wall, Screamer secured 2 (vodka) lemonades, and then, without any prompting, leaned across the bar to slap another sticker onto the bartender! I think that was the moment I knew Screamer was into the full spirit of RAGBRAI.
We sat in the park and ate oatmeal (Screamer) and fresh egg rolls (me), talked to the people, and drank a refreshing lemonade. It was one of those great moments when you realize it's Wednesday at 11am and everyone else in the "real world" is at work and you are sitting out in the sun, drinking, and having the time of your life. It's also one of those times when you want to pick up the cell phone and call all those "real world" people to rub it in! But, we didn't, and we realized that we'd better get back on the road because we were only 22 miles into a 70 mile day.
After 11.5 more miles and the crossing of I-35 (universally known among RAGBRAI riders as the unofficial halfway point of the ride), we headed east into Elkhart to meet up with the team. As was becoming our custom, we found the team trailer behind the co-op, but no team members. As founding members of the NGSA (National Genius Society of America), we knew right where to find them. And, it wasn't hard to believe that Team Emerson was right there with them! We all had one (please keep in mind that we are drinking water at at least twice the rate we are drinking any other beverages...) at the bar, then, in a first for Team Satisfied, we invited the entire membership of Team Emerson back to the trailer for a cold one out of the cooler. I think the funniest part of that event was that they all unanimously chose Keystone Light above Miller Lite. Now, that is our kind of team!
Sid was looking a bit better, but not yet anywhere near 100%, so Sparkle stayed with Sid to help navigate to Newton while Sunny saddled up and hit the road with Screamer and me. And Team Emerson. Little did we know what we had gotten ourselves into...
Little did we know that Team Emerson basically rides in a pace line from town to town, decreasing the time spent on the road and increasing the time spent in town. We jumped into the pace line and soon we were cruising up around 24-26 mph. If you've not spent a bunch of time on a bike, you'll not recognize just how fast that really is. But trust me, it's fast! Then suddenly, from the front of the line came a "Slowing!!" As it turns out, there was a sweet corn stand ahead, and let me assure you, Team Emerson does NOT pass up sweet corn in Iowa. I think they were a bit confused by the fact that Screamer, Sunny, and I didn't have any, but they didn't realize that it's not quite the novelty to us... But, we did learn more than we could have ever wanted to know about model airplanes. Just ask Sunshine.
After the sweet corn stop, we continued on to Mitchellville, Iowa, home of the Iowa Women's Correctional Facility. It's always fun to see what kind of "damage" 10,000 extra people can do to a really small town, but Mitchellville had one strike against it already. The storms from the night before had damaged the water tower, allowing all the water in the tower to leak out. Now, not only was the town over-run with people, but it also has NO running water what-so-ever. Rather than contributing to the water shortage, we headed to the bar for some alternative drinks. At Dick's Place, Sunshine made friends with a potential prison escapee who danced barefoot in the street for her. We shared a lot of laughs with Team Emerson there, but as the day wore on, the temperatures creeped higher and higher, so we hit the road for some more lung burning pace rides with T.E. Screamer entertained the Emersons with both her pulling ability as well as her hollering (hence her name) to slower folks ahead to get the heck out of the way!
Thankfully, 7 miles later we arrived in Colfax. There was a fabulous beer garden there. On the way to the beer garden, the Team Satisfied girls were drawn away from Team Emerson by the same fabulous pizza vendor we'd found in Guthrie Center. We had big slices of pizza and large Gatorades under a big shade tree. Soon the draw of the beer garden could no longer be ignored. Turns out that the beer garden was the best place to be on that hot, hot day. The fire department had the fire hose hooked up (thankfully, the town of Colfax had LOTS of running water) and they would just drench the entire crowd every 5 minutes. Annoying, yes, but very necessary. We'd all be cooked carcasses on the cement without the periodic drenching from the hose. Colfax was also the site of Screamer's first RAGBRAI tattoo, installed ceremoniously by the members of the Donner Party. There are pictures of this big event, but it is unclear if Screamer will release these for public viewing.
Then in the cruelest of all planning, we got on our bikes and came around the first corner, and what did we see?? The biggest, longest, steepest hill of the week. It's one thing to have big hills on the route, but it is jsut plain cruel to have a huge hill at a point where you have no momentum AND a condition we've coined "Beer Legs." We tried to hang with the Emersons for a while, but finally they lost us on one of the final hills coming into Lambs Grove, right outside of Newton. We headed to our host home to shower and eat, then sat down in front of the TV to watch Lance Armstrong's "speech" on stage in downtown Newton.
Our night out in Newton was pretty uneventful. The bigger the town, the less fun it is, so we didn't stay out late. We did meet up with Team Emerson and had quite a nice chat with the group. It was a relatively quiet BG, so I had a chance to get to know some of the guys I'd not previously known well. Rather than staying out late drinking and carrying on, Sparkle, Screamer, and I hit the grinder stand, the pizza stand, and then the Dairy Queen right at the stroke of midnight for some more calories!
Thursday: Newton to Marengo
We slept in (again), and in the morning, all 4 of us headed out on our bikes. It was hazy and REALLY humid and that pretty much made for some miserable riding. We stopped for breakfast of bagels and OJ in Reasnor and all was well. 10.2 miles later when we pulled into Sully, everything had gone bad. Not only were we dropping Screamer off there (she needed to get back to Chicago), but Sparkle's ride had been less than stellar, and she, too, wanted to go home. Not in a day or two, not in a couple of hours, she wanted to go home NOW.
Last year, I believe it happened on Wednesday; this year, it was Thursday. But it seems like once a year, after living in such close quarters for a number of days, we all suddenly hated each other. I know it's just going to be a passing thing, but it really sucks when you're in the midst of it.
In the midst of all the "team dynamics," we realized that Lance Armstrong was on his way to Sully for a piece of pie. RAGBRAI is famous for the homemade pies all along the route, so when it was announced that Lance would be on the ride, one of the first questions he was asked was what was his favorite kind of pie. He likes coconut cream, so women everywhere have been making cc pies in the hopes that Lance will stop at their booth for a sample. As we sat on the street (not speaking to one another), we say Lance speed past us and stop at a "famous" Sully cafe for an orchestrated dessert stop. He was swarmed with bikers as he rode in, swarmed by photographers as he entered the cafe, swarmed by locals as he ate, and swarmed by more cyclists as he rode out of town again. That is my Lance sighting in a nut-shell.
We got Screamer (kind of) squared away with how to get to her vehicle. Clearly, Sparkle's ride was over for the day (although we did talk her into staying another 24 hours). Sunshine was unhappy but getting over it. Sid and I were fairly indifferent. As wise Sid once said, "If it doesn't affect the price of beer, it makes no difference to me either way." I couldn't have said it better myself. Sid and Sparkle hit the road in the truck, while Sunny and I forged ahead with a goal of completing another 19 miles. After more brutal hills, Sunny and I finally arrived in Montezuma. This town gets my award for being RAGBRAI friendly. They had tons of volunteers handing out free lemonade and iced tea right as we got into town. I had 2 of each!
As one would expect, we went looking for more to drink. Sunny was particularly interested in finding Team Emerson (I think it's 'cause she still hated Team Satisfied). We saw one bar on the town square, but ruled that out because it looked dead. We instead headed to the beer garden. It was pretty lame, but the drinks were cold, and we had no interest in riding anymore. And we knew we had quite a wait until Sid and Sparkle could come get us. We watched a new game that we believe was invented as we sat there. Basically it was like curling, but with apples and empty plastic beer bottles and other assorted trash. There were a couple of very enthusiastic drunk guys who got a bunch of other drunk women to become enthusiastic about the game as well. It did nothing but annoy us.
After one beer, we started to like one another again. After the second, we were back to being good friends. As we were finishing the second, I spotted a Team Emerson shirt out of the corner of my eye and sent Sunny after it. We were very bitter to learn they had been in the dead-looking bar the whole time we'd been in Montezuma. They were on their way out of town when we spotted them. Bummed by this news, we headed down to that bar to check things out. Aside from the thick clouds of smoke, it turned out to be a good little watering hole. We stayed and chatted with some other riders until Sparkle called to tell us she was in town to get us.
Thankfully, we were done riding for the day. So, the whole team (plus one member of Team B&BIL) stuffed into the truck and we drove the remainder of the miles into Marengo. We made our way to our host home, and that's when things started going downhill. This was the worst host we've ever had. Not only would they not let us in to shower, but they wouldn't let us in to do anything... never have I been so thankful that we had a camping toilet in the trailer! I shouldn't say they wouldn't let us shower there because they would, just not in the house. They had rigged a garden hose at the driveway, so I shaved my legs on the curb and showered in my clothes on the side of the street with most of RAGBRAI going by. I did get a chance to finish up with a "real" shower with the solar shower (filled with ice cold water out of the garden hose) by the trailer. Sparkle and Sunshine paid $4 to shower with 8 other women at the Marengo Fire Department. I'm pretty sure they'll just never speak of that incident again...
Although we were all clean and dry, the heat (still well over 95 degrees at 5 pm) was cooking us. There was literally no breeze at all, so we all sat around, trying not to expend any energy at all, sweating like pigs. We sucked down water bottle after water bottle just trying to stay on top of the dehydration. At one point I even tried to climb into the cooler to save myself. After 3 hours of sitting in pools of our own sweat, the temp finally dropped enough that we could dry off and head into town.
Armed with our Team Brewhaha Bar Guide (this team researches and publishes a guide to every bar in every town along the RAGBRAI route every year - very handy), we wandered around downtown Marengo in search of the best bar in which to spend our final night on the ride. We found a local bar that was not very hospitable to riders and a bar that turned out to be a sit-down restaurant. There was one more bar on the list but we were having trouble finding it. We were looking for the typical neon signage, but we didn't realize that it would be inside an old stone building that used to be the Marengo Bank. We hit the jackpot, running into more friends on the inside. The only thing that was missing was the Emersons. Sunshine and I left the bank bar in search of our friends.
Sunshine was convinced that they'd be in the beer garden, but I knew better. I knew they'd be hanging with the locals. We did a quick run through of the beer garden to appease Sunshine. After finding no one there, we ran smack into them right inside the local establishment. We stayed for one there then headed back to the bank. Upon returning, one of the female patrons mangaed to tear the bathroom sink off the wall, shattering it and showering water all over the floor. To RAGBRAI'ers, this is just a good excuse for beer slides on the floor of the bar. Team Satisfied declined.
We had another very fun night with the Emersons. We all headed back out to the town square in search of more food. Our favorite pizza vendor was still serving. As soon as Sunshine and Sparkle had their slices, Sparkle backhanded Sunny's slice across the street. Thankfully, the Emersons bought another slice for Sunshine. We said our goodbyes to Team Emerson for another fun year and headed back to camp for the night.
Getting Home:
Friday morning we loaded up our stuff, headed to Team B&BIL's camp to load up their stuff, then headed to Coralville to drop off Team B&BIL's stuff at their next overnight host. We hit the Hy-Vee for breakfast, enjoying some of the first really good A/C of the week. We inhaled everything we could get our hands on, then hit the road for Ames, bringing an end to RAGBRAI 2006. Only 51 weeks til RAGBRAI XXXV!
Monday, July 31, 2006
Spirit of Racine Half Ironman
I completed one of the last big hurdles on my way to Ironman Wisconsin. The Spirit of Racine Half Ironman was held on Sunday, July 23rd, and we couldn’t have asked for any better weather. July in the Midwest is usually brutal at best, but 70’s and low 80’s were forecast and that’s what we got!
I got into Racine around 2:30 in the afternoon, checked into my motel, and headed down to the beach for registration and bike check-in. It was a good thing I got there when I did, because I thought the line looked pretty long. After waiting in line for about 45 minutes, I finally made it through. By the time I got back to my truck and grabbed my bike the line was about 4 times as long as when I went through!
The group from Des Moines had made dinner reservations at a little local Italian restaurant, and I joined them for that. We ate a ton of pasta, but still had room for an ice cream cone from Baskin-Robbins on the way back to the motels. Roehr drove over from her long training day in Madison to be my race-day “sherpa.” And, I put her right to work!
Her first job was to mix my race nutrition – not an easy job in a motel room without any utensils. I was VERY thankful to have an experienced triathlete (yes, that’s what you are now, Roehr…) there to help! We headed down to the race site around 5:30am and got my transition area set up. There were over 1600 participants registered, but I thankfully, had a pretty easy spot to find.
My sherpa carried a bike pump and my sandals, took lots of pictures, listened to me ramble (a common pre-race practice of mine), and gave out lots of encouragement. I needed lots of encouragement as I looked out over the swim course. Unlike a lot of races that use a triangle- or rectangle-shaped course, this was a point-to-point. So, we had to hike about a mile down the beach to get to the start. I stuck my toes in the water to check things out, and it was pretty cold, but thankfully, I’d done much colder. There were also some waves, but, again, I’d also raced in worse.
The pros went off first, then waves of age-groupers for the next 45-60 minutes. I went off at 7:24am heading due east, so all we could see was the sun, right at the horizon when we looked to site. Even that wasn’t so bad when compared to the little waves I thought I had seen on the shore that had turned into monsters as I swam in them. I can only compare the experience to swimming in a washing machine. Between getting kicked and grabbed, and the waves throwing you all over the place, I had a couple moments of near panic. Soon, we rounded the first buoy and headed south, so now the waves were rolling us side to side, instead of smacking us in the face. Having grown up on water and even working summers on the water, I didn’t think I’d ever get sea-sick, but I sure came close during that 40 minute swim. Let’s just say that I think the wetsuit might have been my most valuable piece of equipment that day!
I got a slight cramp coming out of the water, but I didn’t really care because I was, well, out of the water! Sherpa Roehr was near my transition area cheering loudly, and I grabbed my bike and headed out. There wasn’t a ton of wind, and the course was relatively flat, so I just tried to get into a rhythm and get the 56 miles taken care of. This race was to be kind of a dress rehearsal for the Ironman, so I wanted to practice my nutrition, pacing, mental strategies, etc. I got about 8 miles into the bike, only to notice that my bike computer had died. Not completely, just enough that the only valuable information it would give me was cadence. I couldn’t tell speed, mileage, etc, but that wasn’t that big of a deal. I really needed cadence more than anything, so I just kept plugging away.
After about 40 miles, my nutrition wasn’t tasting all that good, I was getting hot, and my back had started to cramp. Overall, I was just getting cranky. By mile 45, I just wanted off the bike. My legs felt good, and I started to dream about getting off the bike and onto the run. There were even brief times that I thought about getting off the bike early and just running in my cycling shoes to T2, but instead, I dug deep and tried to do some weird stretching on the bike, and survived my way back to the transition. I asked my sherpa if it was a bad thing to run on feet I couldn’t feel. She basically told me to get out there and start running. No sympathy from my sherpa!
This was one of the first races that I felt really good right off the bike. That was a big encouragement to me since 13.1 miles is a long way to run if you feel like crap! The run course is a two-lap out-and-back course along the shoreline, up the tallest lighthouse on Lake Michigan. I really like the course because it broke up the run into bite sized pieces. I basically looked at it as four 3.25 mile legs of a race. And, I could see all of the people I knew a bunch of times during the run. There was an aid station at every mile and lots of nutrition and cheering from the residents of Racine. By this point in the day, it was getting pretty toasty, so I took advantage of the various sprinklers and hoses that people would spray to keep us cool.
After the first 6.5 mile loop, my old hamstring started cramping. It was to the point that I could only run on totally flat surfaces or declines, and only walk on the uphills. That slowed me down a bit, but mentally I was still in the game, and I think that is 85% of the battle at that point. I cheered on some friends that had great days, and friends that had pretty miserable days. As I hit the last little downhill section to the finish line, I felt great. My goal was to cross the finish line with a smile on my face, and I crossed it running, smiling, and very happy!!
I didn’t know it at the time but I finished the 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run in 5 hours, 59 minutes, and 17 seconds. In the back of my mind, I wanted to break 6 hours, and I did it!
Actually I think the toughest part of the day was still ahead of me – the drive back home to Ames!
I got into Racine around 2:30 in the afternoon, checked into my motel, and headed down to the beach for registration and bike check-in. It was a good thing I got there when I did, because I thought the line looked pretty long. After waiting in line for about 45 minutes, I finally made it through. By the time I got back to my truck and grabbed my bike the line was about 4 times as long as when I went through!
The group from Des Moines had made dinner reservations at a little local Italian restaurant, and I joined them for that. We ate a ton of pasta, but still had room for an ice cream cone from Baskin-Robbins on the way back to the motels. Roehr drove over from her long training day in Madison to be my race-day “sherpa.” And, I put her right to work!
Her first job was to mix my race nutrition – not an easy job in a motel room without any utensils. I was VERY thankful to have an experienced triathlete (yes, that’s what you are now, Roehr…) there to help! We headed down to the race site around 5:30am and got my transition area set up. There were over 1600 participants registered, but I thankfully, had a pretty easy spot to find.
My sherpa carried a bike pump and my sandals, took lots of pictures, listened to me ramble (a common pre-race practice of mine), and gave out lots of encouragement. I needed lots of encouragement as I looked out over the swim course. Unlike a lot of races that use a triangle- or rectangle-shaped course, this was a point-to-point. So, we had to hike about a mile down the beach to get to the start. I stuck my toes in the water to check things out, and it was pretty cold, but thankfully, I’d done much colder. There were also some waves, but, again, I’d also raced in worse.
The pros went off first, then waves of age-groupers for the next 45-60 minutes. I went off at 7:24am heading due east, so all we could see was the sun, right at the horizon when we looked to site. Even that wasn’t so bad when compared to the little waves I thought I had seen on the shore that had turned into monsters as I swam in them. I can only compare the experience to swimming in a washing machine. Between getting kicked and grabbed, and the waves throwing you all over the place, I had a couple moments of near panic. Soon, we rounded the first buoy and headed south, so now the waves were rolling us side to side, instead of smacking us in the face. Having grown up on water and even working summers on the water, I didn’t think I’d ever get sea-sick, but I sure came close during that 40 minute swim. Let’s just say that I think the wetsuit might have been my most valuable piece of equipment that day!
I got a slight cramp coming out of the water, but I didn’t really care because I was, well, out of the water! Sherpa Roehr was near my transition area cheering loudly, and I grabbed my bike and headed out. There wasn’t a ton of wind, and the course was relatively flat, so I just tried to get into a rhythm and get the 56 miles taken care of. This race was to be kind of a dress rehearsal for the Ironman, so I wanted to practice my nutrition, pacing, mental strategies, etc. I got about 8 miles into the bike, only to notice that my bike computer had died. Not completely, just enough that the only valuable information it would give me was cadence. I couldn’t tell speed, mileage, etc, but that wasn’t that big of a deal. I really needed cadence more than anything, so I just kept plugging away.
After about 40 miles, my nutrition wasn’t tasting all that good, I was getting hot, and my back had started to cramp. Overall, I was just getting cranky. By mile 45, I just wanted off the bike. My legs felt good, and I started to dream about getting off the bike and onto the run. There were even brief times that I thought about getting off the bike early and just running in my cycling shoes to T2, but instead, I dug deep and tried to do some weird stretching on the bike, and survived my way back to the transition. I asked my sherpa if it was a bad thing to run on feet I couldn’t feel. She basically told me to get out there and start running. No sympathy from my sherpa!
This was one of the first races that I felt really good right off the bike. That was a big encouragement to me since 13.1 miles is a long way to run if you feel like crap! The run course is a two-lap out-and-back course along the shoreline, up the tallest lighthouse on Lake Michigan. I really like the course because it broke up the run into bite sized pieces. I basically looked at it as four 3.25 mile legs of a race. And, I could see all of the people I knew a bunch of times during the run. There was an aid station at every mile and lots of nutrition and cheering from the residents of Racine. By this point in the day, it was getting pretty toasty, so I took advantage of the various sprinklers and hoses that people would spray to keep us cool.
After the first 6.5 mile loop, my old hamstring started cramping. It was to the point that I could only run on totally flat surfaces or declines, and only walk on the uphills. That slowed me down a bit, but mentally I was still in the game, and I think that is 85% of the battle at that point. I cheered on some friends that had great days, and friends that had pretty miserable days. As I hit the last little downhill section to the finish line, I felt great. My goal was to cross the finish line with a smile on my face, and I crossed it running, smiling, and very happy!!
I didn’t know it at the time but I finished the 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run in 5 hours, 59 minutes, and 17 seconds. In the back of my mind, I wanted to break 6 hours, and I did it!
Actually I think the toughest part of the day was still ahead of me – the drive back home to Ames!
Grandma Turns 100 in a Grand Fashion
Over 100 years ago, my grandmother, Ruth Klein, was born. It was Friday, July the 13th, 1906, when the second of 4 Hevenor girls was brought into this world. She is a constant source of inspiration, encouragement, and amazement to all who meet her! She is truly loved in this world (and beyond), and we tried our best to show her on July 15th, 2006. Over 50 family members flocked to Plymoth Place in LaGrange Park, Illinois for a big ol' party! We had cake (and more cake and more cake... yum!), looked at pictures, played Sudoku, worked crosswords, inhaled Mike's "famous" guacamole, and shared some fun times with Grandma. And, she didn't miss a minute of it!
She is beautiful! And, I'm so thankful that she is my grandmother!! Happy Birthday, Grandma!
She is beautiful! And, I'm so thankful that she is my grandmother!! Happy Birthday, Grandma!
Sunday, July 09, 2006
6 Months Old!
The babies are still unbelievably cute and GROWING! Today, they are 6 months old! And tomorrow, they move into their new house! I can't even start to think what it's like to move with 6month old twins to deal with at the same time...
Sophie "reading" a magazine
Lauren "eating" dinner
Workouts are almost Zen, In Weeks Eleven and Ten
It has been another insanely busy 2 weeks of training and in general life... I can't really complain; I think I like it better when I am busy, but it sure makes it hard to squeeze all these workouts in!
It is SO hard to believe that IM Wisconsin is a mere 9 weeks away. Back when I started training, I really thought the day would never come. As I go about the training, it's really become more of a way of life rather than a means to some end. But now, as the weeks click away, I'm almost sad to see the day move closer to reality. It's been a lot of work (and a lot more work is yet to come), but I've just had so many great experiences and met so many good people, I'm just not ready for it to be over.
The last 2 weeks have been a bit more introspective for me as well. I've started to realize just how much I've changed since September. I think I am just starting to learn the athletic potential of my body. I've just never really challenged myself this way. I know I've run a couple marathons, a bunch of half marathons, and blah, blah, blah, but I've finally started to find that "next gear," the gear I never really believed existed.
My mom will kill me for saying this (as will a few other people in my life) but I've had more than a few passing thoughts about doing this again. I think this is really one of those times in life where the journey means way more than the actual destination. In fact, I could skip the actual race and still feel like I got more out of this experience than I expected to. However, I am NOT skipping the race! It's just going to be the sweetest icing on the cake!
After the wedding on Saturday night, I got up and ran with a couple new friends in Des Moines for about 90 minutes on Sunday morning. It was a good way to clean out the cobwebs of the race (and wedding reception) the day before. I was pretty wiped out after that, but I felt ready to tackle the new week. Truth be told, I came away from the race feeling like I had been a bit of a slacker the couple weeks before with all the racing. It's hard to train hard and still be able to perform decently at the races, so I picked a slightly lighter load to be fresher for the events. The panic attack caused by realizing there were only 11 weeks to go fueled my fresh start!
I hit my workouts with a renewed vengence, making training the priority of the week - to heck with the "real world!" So, I ended Week 11 with the highest run mileage of any week so far. I got two long swim sessions in, and my mid-week brick workout (that had been neglected for quite some time) made a return! It felt good to be able to hit all my workouts and not have to cut anything out. That was a good way to head into Week 10!
Week 10 turned out to be my biggest week of total hours of training so far! It was a great week of training, even though I miised another swim workout. The 4th of July weekend actually made it harder to get all my workouts in... and I thought days off of work were supposed to be great for training!
The week started back down in Des Moines, training with some of the DM Tri group, including a IM Wisconsin age group winner in 2004. Jan is a great triathlete and a wealth of information. I took advantage of having her there and asked lots of questions - at least for as long as I could keep up with her! It was a great overcast, cool day with a few drops of rain. We rode south out of Des Moines on the Great Western Trail to the city of Cumming, then jumped on a great, bike-friendly county road to Winterset and back. This route was a great practice ride in preparation for the IM, as it was quite hilly the majority of the way.
The goal was 90 miles for the day, and that meant a couple additional out-and-back loops from the trailhead for us, but we got our full 90 in before we changed clothes for the brick run. The trailhead we used was right across the street from Des Moines' Water Works Park and that turned out to be a great place for our run. Thankfully, it was flat and had little traffic, but the highlight had to be the (huge) wild turkey and 2 young deer that we saw as we made our way through the park. I was a little cranky after all that time on the bike, but, once again, I was very thankful to have this DM group to encourage me along the way.
After the run, I got in my truck to drive back to Ames. I think I must have really burned some serious calories on the ride/run because I started to eat anything and everything within arms length almost all at the same time! I'm sure the other drivers on the Interstate must have thought I'd lost my mind, but I put away a ton of food on the drive home - pretzels, recovery drink, bagel, granola bar, applesauce, water... and about 2 hours later a BIG dinner!
After the big weekend of workouts, I took Monday off and helped out with the National Special Olympics. My job wasn't very exciting, but it was fun to meet all the people from all over the country and (hopefully) help them out by answering questions, etc.
A good friend was coordinating the volunteers for a local 4th of July race in Ames, and so I volunteered to help out with race morning stuff for that, too. As it turned out, she only needed me for a very brief time before the race, so I was free at race time and able to compete. The Four on the Fourth offers a 4K or 4 mile race, so I signed up for the 4 miler. I thought I'd just see what all this long, slow distance training had done for me - I kinda figured it would just be a long, slow 4 mile run... But, once I got out there I seemed to increase my pace every mile, and I ended up getting third in my age group! And my first "hardware" ever in a running race! And a pretty decent pace for me! It was pretty encouraging to run well and know that even though the training runs have been long and slow, I've still got some speed, and that big endurance base means that I can run faster for a longer time. Sparkle and I headed out for a 2 hour ride after the race, then got to work preparing the "Hilton" (the trailer) for RAGBRAI, which starts in just a couple of weeks.
The rest of the week I hit most of my workouts and took advantage of the great weather we've been having to get out and put a few more miles on the bike. The next couple of weeks should go back to being pretty crazy. I'm heading to Chicago for my grandmother's 100th birthday party, and that will be a great time! All of my cousins and their families will be there, along with family from all over the place! I am really looking forward to it. Hopefully, some of the family will also be joining me on a training ride somewhere, too, as I need another good, solid long bike ride before the following weekend, which will be my first half IM distance race in Racine, Wisconsin. Then, the day after the half IM, I'll be joining the rest of Team Satisfied for RAGBRAI XXXIV, until the following weekend, when I think I'm headed back to Madison for another training weekend on the course! Whoa! I'm gonna be busy!
Week 11 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 6550 yards
Bike: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Run: 36.7 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of core and strength work.
Week 10 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 3850 yards
Bike: 9 hours, 30 minutes
Run: 23.7 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of core and strength work.
It is SO hard to believe that IM Wisconsin is a mere 9 weeks away. Back when I started training, I really thought the day would never come. As I go about the training, it's really become more of a way of life rather than a means to some end. But now, as the weeks click away, I'm almost sad to see the day move closer to reality. It's been a lot of work (and a lot more work is yet to come), but I've just had so many great experiences and met so many good people, I'm just not ready for it to be over.
The last 2 weeks have been a bit more introspective for me as well. I've started to realize just how much I've changed since September. I think I am just starting to learn the athletic potential of my body. I've just never really challenged myself this way. I know I've run a couple marathons, a bunch of half marathons, and blah, blah, blah, but I've finally started to find that "next gear," the gear I never really believed existed.
My mom will kill me for saying this (as will a few other people in my life) but I've had more than a few passing thoughts about doing this again. I think this is really one of those times in life where the journey means way more than the actual destination. In fact, I could skip the actual race and still feel like I got more out of this experience than I expected to. However, I am NOT skipping the race! It's just going to be the sweetest icing on the cake!
After the wedding on Saturday night, I got up and ran with a couple new friends in Des Moines for about 90 minutes on Sunday morning. It was a good way to clean out the cobwebs of the race (and wedding reception) the day before. I was pretty wiped out after that, but I felt ready to tackle the new week. Truth be told, I came away from the race feeling like I had been a bit of a slacker the couple weeks before with all the racing. It's hard to train hard and still be able to perform decently at the races, so I picked a slightly lighter load to be fresher for the events. The panic attack caused by realizing there were only 11 weeks to go fueled my fresh start!
I hit my workouts with a renewed vengence, making training the priority of the week - to heck with the "real world!" So, I ended Week 11 with the highest run mileage of any week so far. I got two long swim sessions in, and my mid-week brick workout (that had been neglected for quite some time) made a return! It felt good to be able to hit all my workouts and not have to cut anything out. That was a good way to head into Week 10!
Week 10 turned out to be my biggest week of total hours of training so far! It was a great week of training, even though I miised another swim workout. The 4th of July weekend actually made it harder to get all my workouts in... and I thought days off of work were supposed to be great for training!
The week started back down in Des Moines, training with some of the DM Tri group, including a IM Wisconsin age group winner in 2004. Jan is a great triathlete and a wealth of information. I took advantage of having her there and asked lots of questions - at least for as long as I could keep up with her! It was a great overcast, cool day with a few drops of rain. We rode south out of Des Moines on the Great Western Trail to the city of Cumming, then jumped on a great, bike-friendly county road to Winterset and back. This route was a great practice ride in preparation for the IM, as it was quite hilly the majority of the way.
The goal was 90 miles for the day, and that meant a couple additional out-and-back loops from the trailhead for us, but we got our full 90 in before we changed clothes for the brick run. The trailhead we used was right across the street from Des Moines' Water Works Park and that turned out to be a great place for our run. Thankfully, it was flat and had little traffic, but the highlight had to be the (huge) wild turkey and 2 young deer that we saw as we made our way through the park. I was a little cranky after all that time on the bike, but, once again, I was very thankful to have this DM group to encourage me along the way.
After the run, I got in my truck to drive back to Ames. I think I must have really burned some serious calories on the ride/run because I started to eat anything and everything within arms length almost all at the same time! I'm sure the other drivers on the Interstate must have thought I'd lost my mind, but I put away a ton of food on the drive home - pretzels, recovery drink, bagel, granola bar, applesauce, water... and about 2 hours later a BIG dinner!
After the big weekend of workouts, I took Monday off and helped out with the National Special Olympics. My job wasn't very exciting, but it was fun to meet all the people from all over the country and (hopefully) help them out by answering questions, etc.
A good friend was coordinating the volunteers for a local 4th of July race in Ames, and so I volunteered to help out with race morning stuff for that, too. As it turned out, she only needed me for a very brief time before the race, so I was free at race time and able to compete. The Four on the Fourth offers a 4K or 4 mile race, so I signed up for the 4 miler. I thought I'd just see what all this long, slow distance training had done for me - I kinda figured it would just be a long, slow 4 mile run... But, once I got out there I seemed to increase my pace every mile, and I ended up getting third in my age group! And my first "hardware" ever in a running race! And a pretty decent pace for me! It was pretty encouraging to run well and know that even though the training runs have been long and slow, I've still got some speed, and that big endurance base means that I can run faster for a longer time. Sparkle and I headed out for a 2 hour ride after the race, then got to work preparing the "Hilton" (the trailer) for RAGBRAI, which starts in just a couple of weeks.
The rest of the week I hit most of my workouts and took advantage of the great weather we've been having to get out and put a few more miles on the bike. The next couple of weeks should go back to being pretty crazy. I'm heading to Chicago for my grandmother's 100th birthday party, and that will be a great time! All of my cousins and their families will be there, along with family from all over the place! I am really looking forward to it. Hopefully, some of the family will also be joining me on a training ride somewhere, too, as I need another good, solid long bike ride before the following weekend, which will be my first half IM distance race in Racine, Wisconsin. Then, the day after the half IM, I'll be joining the rest of Team Satisfied for RAGBRAI XXXIV, until the following weekend, when I think I'm headed back to Madison for another training weekend on the course! Whoa! I'm gonna be busy!
Week 11 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 6550 yards
Bike: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Run: 36.7 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of core and strength work.
Week 10 Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 3850 yards
Bike: 9 hours, 30 minutes
Run: 23.7 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of core and strength work.
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