Here I Go Again...

I don't know where I'm goin'

But I sure know where I've been

Hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday

An' I've made up my mind,

I ain't wasting no more time

Here I go again, here I go again

Man, does this song say it all! I have it in my head to go forward with a 70.3 race in October. So my training plan will actually start Monday, and here is a news flash, I am actually looking forward to it. I am looking to go long again, but not 140.6 long, but a half is doable. So I went and designed my training plan and I will be putting on it the blog weekly to help me be more accountable.

I designed this schedule with the idea of a three week build with a one week recovery. I designed it to have 2 swims, three bikes and three runs. The reason I chose the 2-3-3 is because I think 2 swims a week will be plenty for me. I am pretty comfortable in the water and I think the opportunity cost of adding another swim would not benefit me in the long run, so 2 swims it is.

The bike during the week should be something that I can do on the trainer if needed, but I think I might be able to get out of the Greenline once in awhile. For me, the bike is all about being steady and consistent. I am not going to average 25 mph on the bike, but I want to ride steady for the 3:30 hours I expect it to take me.

The run is always my opportunity, and I think it will be even more of an obstacle with my knees. This is the main reason I am giving myself a rest day on Friday. It is basically like I am starting over with running. I am running a 5K tonight with the family that I will use as a baseline of where I am at. I am not expecting it to be fast at all, but we all start somewhere right?

So, I am excited once again. I know this will be a challenge for me and I know it is one that I know I can do! So, come on and follow along on this ride.

Redman 140.6 Bike Race Report

So back to T1 first. No one really told me much about the changing tent and what to expect. So after grabbing my bag and heading to the tent, I walk into see a much of naked guys changing and two old dudes helping them out. Yeah, was kind of weird. Anyways, I found a spot in the corner and dried off and got my biking clothes on, then I bagged everything up in the bag and realized they had bins for us to put those bags in the first place! Lesson learned on that one. I really felt like I was taking my time in T1, but it always seems I was in and out pretty fast. I did not rush, but I also was in no hurry.

T1 Time:  8:49

I grabbed my bike and walked her to the mount/dismount line and then off we went. Ready for 112 miles of bliss. I remember thinking "I am riding in an Ironman!!!" Great feeling! The first part of the bike was around Hefner Lake and it went by pretty fast. The next segment of the course was through some really heavy traffic, but Redman did a great job blocking off lanes and having plenty of police watching out for us (although I did hear about several people wrecking by hitting cones!?)  There was enough going on to keep me looking around and interested in the first portion of the bike that it went by pretty fast. The aid stations were every 10 miles or so, so there was plenty of water/Gatorade, which was great because all I had was my aero bottle. I forgot my other bottle back at the hotel. I was able to stick to my nutrition plan pretty well and never really felt hungry!

The roads at Redman were no joke because they were pretty rough. So rough that in some parts I could not get into aero position for fear of losing control of my bike. The back side of the ride, the last 12 miles before the turnaround seemed like it never ended. Most of the time I do like out and backs on rides, but at least I now knew what to expect. As I got back to the lake, the lady there was yelling out for special needs bags were just ahead, so I stopped and ate something. In hindsight, I should have kept going back to the turnaround and hit my special needs bag at he start of my second lap instead of at the end of my first lap, again a rookie mistake.

BIKE LAP 1: 3:20:53

The second lap was something I was not looking forward too. I took forever to get around the lake this time. At least I knew what was coming up so it did make it a little easier mentally, but I was still dreading it. I felt fairly strong on the bike, but just like in the swim, I was trying to manage the bike and not blow up. Knowing what I knew of the route, I am made sure I was in aero on the smoother parts of the road as much as possible. The second lap was much better than the first it felt like, just because I knew the route now and knew what to expect.

Coming back into the dismount line, I was soo happy to get off my bike!!! My butt was killing me! I was also thrilled to have zero bike issues! No flats, no nothing. Stella did awesome!!!  I knew I was 26 miles away from becoming an Ironman and I really a surge of motivation!

BIKE LAP 2: 3:36:02

TOTAL BIKE TIME: 6:56:55      Average: 16.1 MPH

I was totally thrilled to be under 7 hours for the bike because I projected my ride to be closer to 7:30! Manu people have asked me what I did on the bike for 7 hours? What did I think of? well, here is a short list of what I thought of:

• I wondered what Emily and Jake were doing in OKC
• I wondered about Jared an Jesse were doing at Grannies house
• I wondered how many people were tracking me
• I thought about all the comments I have gotten on my blog posts the last few posts
• I counted how many people were coming back toward me, that had already made the turnaround. I stopped counting at 100.
• I prayed. A lot. I prayed for a lot of people by name, just as their name popped into my head. Some of the names were people I know and some were people I have met from the triathlon world.
• I sang songs.
• I had some very short conversations with other racers. I found that a lot of people were only doing the aqua bike as a warm-up for IM Florida.
• I wrote out blog posts, which I can't remember.

So I had a lot going through my head. I also had some killer ideas that all of mankind would benefit from, but I can't remember a single one. Stay tuned for pictures and the run report. Also as a bonus feature, my bride is going to add a blog piece as her view and thoughts as I ran!

Oh Yeah, There Is A Run Involved!

This may be a rookie mistake, but I have been so focused on my biking for Redman, that I feel like I have neglected my running. This is not to say that I have not been running, I mean I hit almost 60 miles last month, and will probably go over that mark in August. What I am saying is that my longest run to date has only been 11 miles!!  And that is starting to concern me.

My concern is this: I wanted to be so ready for the bike because I know bike fitness is very important on the run. No bike fitness, no run finish is the way I see it. So I have really been concerned with my bike miles and time on the saddle. Worse case scenario is that I end up walking a majority of the run. This is not what I want.

Now I plan on walking some, I am not in an unrealistic state of my fitness. I just want it to be a planned walk rather than I hafta walk. So I figure I have 3, maybe 4 weeks of training left before taper and here is what I want to accomplish.

1. 100 mile ride on my Specialized Transition Elite
2. 15+ mile run in my Brooks Glycerin
3. 4500 yd swim with my Zoggs goggles
4. medium bike/short run brick using my Timex Global IM Trainer

This is all doable, and when I hit these marks, I know I will feel more confident at exactly the right time going into Redman.

***I have a couple 4000 yd swims done already, I have an 11 mile run and a 71 mile run already under my belt, so don;t worry about me going to far too fast***

This Ironman Stuff is Tiring...

I admit I have not been blogging much lately and that is because I have been early to bed, early to rise lately. I have all these great ideas I want to blog about and they always come to me out on the run or bike, but by the time I get back to the house, blogging is not a top priority. Here is just a sample of things I blog about in my head while I am running:

• July was my biggest training month this year, but I expect August to be bigger!
• The other day some random dude pulled up on my wheel while I was out riding without even letting me know. If I had not looked back, I do not think he was going to say anything. Not Cool
• The rain, we have had lots of rain lately and it makes it sticky hott here in Memphis.Many times I have said "screw it", I am running even though it is raining, only to have it stopped raining and get miserable, but I can't imagine running 9 miles on a treadmill now.
• I have determined that if I walk when I see people and run when there is no one around, I will get a lot more running done.
• An hour swim is nothing anymore, I already have hit over 4,000 yds in the pool, and while boring, it's not a big deal.
• My confidence is growing, not growing to the point of being on the podium or anything, but growing as in I can do this.
• I automatically wake up at 5:05 AM now days.
• It's weird that I am feeling leaner, but not really losing any weight, I am staying around 183.
• We dumped Direct TV and got U verse for cable TV recently
• School starts at 7 AM for my boys this year, that's a big change
• I am learning to become quite the mechanic. Me and a buddy have changed out a fuel pump and I recently learned to change my oil. Auto repair places are there to overcharge you, and I am not giving them any money anymore!
• I really want to look into an athlete tracker for my wife to use to track while I am racing.
• 6 weeks to go!!!!

So see, while I have not been putting things down on the blog, there is still a lot going on, but all I want to do is eat and go to bed. So don't forget me blogosphere, I am still around!!!

Ohhh a Biker...

I can't tell you how many time I see a little side of the road bar that says bikers welcome, and I want to ride my bike and walk in and order a coke!

This is the weekend I am planning on getting out on the road to log me some miles. I am looking forward to this!  No trainer!!!!

It Doesn't Always Fit...

I always worry about missing a workout, I guess I am a little anal about it, but I figure that if it is in a plan, then I need to get it in. That is the way I approached all my races in the past. Maybe I am getting more seasoned, and more willing to focus on what I need to focus on.

For example, Now, I am ok with moving my days around. I used to think if Monday was a swim day, then I WAS swimming on Monday. No questions asked, and if I could not swim on that day, then I just skipped it. Life Happens right?

This time I know I am going to miss some scheduled workouts due to vacation and work, but I think it will do me the most harm to miss bike workouts. To me, the bike is going to be a major factor in how my race will go. I need those miles, I need the bike fitness to have any shot of having a decent run. And, let's be honest, I am shooting for 10-11 minute pace on my run, so I want to have the legs.I would prefer to run most of the run.

So gone are the days when I worry about missing a workout. I have already switched up this week, but going forward, I do not want to miss any bike workouts. At least that's my plan!

Zoggs Winner!! And Tapering Thoughts

This morning I tallied up how many entries each person got and then numbered them 1 through whatever. I then went to the random number generator and had the computer come up with a number and the number that was matched to the list was deemed the winner! The computer spit out number 12 and that number matched:

Bradleyd3 from Texas!

I know Brad is fixin (ain't that the way they talk in Texas?) to run Ironman Texas in 12 days! Congrats Brad, and best of luck to you on the Ironman, I know you are ready and will have a great race!! Plus I will be able to know his time when I do mine, therefore giving me my time goal! LOL Thanks to Zoggs goggles and everyone who entered the drawing! 

As far as my next race, well it is 13 days away as of today. How do I feel about it? Uncertain.I feel like I know I will finish the race. I am not worried about the distance. I am not worried about the swim. I am just worried about my time. I really want to go sub 2:45 this year, and I think I can do it, but the unknown factor is my bike. True, I have logged over 40 hours riding my bike, or about 700 miles on it, but those have all been trainer rides. I am hoping that my bike speed will be faster once I am on the road, but part of me wonders. Does 90 minutes on the trainer really equal 90 minutes? Or does that equal more since I am constantly pedaling? Will it help me ride harder?  My goal time on the bike is 1:11 for 25 miles. In 2010, I did the bike in 1:18 2011, I did the mileage in 1:14, in 2012 I did it in 1:12:41, so a 1:11 or faster is in my future.

The real key to me having a good race will be the run. The 10K has to be under an hour. Simple as that. I have a goal of 56:30 for the 10K, which is achievable. I know I can go faster than 56 on a 10K, but after the swim and bike, this is will help me reach my goal. My wife put it in perspective for me when we were talking about this and she said to remember this is a warmup for Redman, your big race, so don't worry about the time. Which is good advice, but I want to always improve. the 1st time I ever did the MIM Tri, I finished at 3:56, and that was 4 years ago. Anything in the 2:40 range will be great, but sub 2:45 will be better!

This Is How I Roll Now... BIKE PORN!

June 23, 2011, I walked into Gearhead Outfitters, back to the bike area and I saw my new bike, standing there. I stood there gazing upon it when a clerk asked if they could help me, and I said "That's mine!" Next, I remember hugging Ted! as we headed back to start the fitting, I told him that I wasn;t sure if I was good enough for this bike and he said "You're not, none of us are!"

My new weapon that I will be attacking triathlon courses all across the Mid South and Branson is the Specialized Transition Elite. It is awesome. I really like this bike. I can't wait to race it. Here are some pics of my new ride, which is unnamed at this time.

I really thought this was the way I was going to get a TT bike, one piece at a time!

Gently out of the car...

There is the rest of her...

All together, ready to roll...

That is awesome! I don't care what anyone says...
I know, no helmet, but I couldn't resist!