Dave’s Triathlon Journal

I haven’t made a post for some time, except for a race report and I’m finding that I miss it.

So, even though my original plan was to stop this whole blogging thing after Lake Placid was over….I changed my mind.

I was recently asked to write a short piece about my Lake Placid experience for the charity I raised money for at IMLP.  They want to use it in their newsletter.  While I was writing it I felt the experience was very therapeutic.  I wrote a lengthy race report after Lake Placid, however, since then I’ve been through some ups and downs.   Ups when I think about the race, the weekend, the people I met, crossing the finish line.  Downs thinking that the experience is over for now, the training has dropped considerably and, oh yeah, I have to start back to a regular work routine.

As I wrote the newsletter article though it was a great way to go back and remember the experience, maybe even better than when I was there as I was forced to really focus on what I was thinking and feeling during the wild ride that Ironman is.

So, even though very few, if anyone will ever read what I may write from time to time, if the process of writing in this blog can help me to heighten, relive and learn from my experiences then it seems to me a worthwhile way to spend a few minutes of my day (and a nice distraction from work every once and a while .

We arrived in Lake Placid at around 3:30 this afternoon.  This event truly takes over the town.  No matter what route you take into town there are banners with the Ironman logo and the distances of the race.  75% of the store fronts have Ironman banners hanging outside their door and I’ve never seen more shaved arms, legs and fit bodies in one place!

Our hotel is right in the middle of town within walking distance to the transition area, finish line, Ironman Village and you can see the swim start from a huge window in the lobby of the hotel.

Once we unpacked the car I went out for a one hour ride on the run course and saw probably 100 other athletes doing the same thing.  My bike was running great and it was a gorgeous afternoon so it was definitely exciting to be out there on the course and see the mile markers on the course with the Ironman logo.  We’ll see how excited I am after 10 hours out on the course?!

The feeling in town is electric and it is only Thursday.  I’m anxious to see what town will look and feel like as 2,000 athletes arrive over the next two days.

Stay tuned…..

It’s weird how timing works out sometimes. As I’ve written before I’m working on raising money for Southeast NH Habitat for Humanity through the Janus Charity Challenge. As part of my efforts I’ve been pushing the topic with the local news outlets and they all decided to cover it today!

Our local newspaper did a story today at http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006107180222.

Also, our statewide television station picked it up and is running a story in their evening news!

Right now we are in third place by about $9,000 so I’m hoping the wide publicity net that we’ll be getting the next couple of days that we’ll be able to bridge that gap. Our 3rd place is pretty secure which would mean an extra $6,000 for Southeast NH Habitat for Humanity.

Here’s hoping for a generous NH population!

Rain is wreaking havoc on my training schedule!

Biking is tough for obvious reasons, but the not so obvious reasons are that most of the roads in the area are closed because of flooding. I think the trainer and I will be getting very close the next few days.

You would think that swimming would be immune to the pitfalls of New England weather?! Not if the pool sits next to a river which has flooded the parking lot. Today I begin to hunt for a new pool.

The timing of all of this is not good. I had a great training week two weeks ago which was capped off by a century ride around Southern NH. This past week was a recovery week so I'm ready to get back into the heavy training, until Mother Nature dropped 10 inches of rain on us over the past few days, with an end barely in sight.

Everyone, start praying for sun!

Yesterday I picked my new Serotta CXII (a.k.a. 112, appropriately) and boy is it pretty! I ordered it close to six weeks ago but it is a custom frame and took some time to build, particularly in this busy season.

In mother nature's way of expressing her irony, today was about 45 degrees and rainy and even with a brand new bike begging to be ridden it was just a little too unpleasant to do so.

I did ride it for about 15 minutes at the shop after making the final adjustments yesterday which was enough to feel how perfect a fit it is for me. I can't wait to get it out there for some longer distances, which there will be plenty of I'm sure.

I have to give some kudos to Fitwerx in Waitsfield, VT. This is were I was fitted, ordered the bike and had it built. They did an awesome job. It is a three hour drive for me to get there but it was well worth it.

Now, everyone pray for sun!

The training plan called for a busy weekend. Friday was 1 1/2 hours of hill workouts on the bike. Saturday was a 5 hour ride. Sunday was a swim workout followed by a 2 hour 15 minute run.

The thing that I'm most amazed with is that not only did I do it all but I felt strong on the last workout of the weekend, a 2+ hour run. While I was running I kept reflecting back to how much I hated to run while in high school. I would only do it in conjuction with some other activity such as basketball or soccer. Now I was doing 14 miles the day after a 5 hour bike ride?!

As I was finishing up my run I came to appreciate the building process that my coach has been taking me through. I must admit that the thought of completing an Ironman was (and sometimes still is) a little daunting. But, it becomes less so as I become more comfortable on these long weekend workouts. I'm getting more and more comfortable anyway that come July 23rd, I'll be ready.

Today marks 100 days to go before Ironman Lake Placid. I'm not sure why this seems like a big deal to me but it hit me when I saw it on the countdown timer I put on my computer desktop.

This week is a recovery week so my training volume is way down nad providing a nice repreive from the last three weeks of 14 - 16 hours a week.

With the nice weather apparently here to stay, I'm actually looking forward to the longer training weeks with more time outside on the bike and run. We'll see if I'm still saying this at my next recovery week!

I have any where from 10 to 12 workouts over the course of the week and after getting through Thursday of this week I realize what a feat it is to factor in all of the outside forces and still complete the workouts.

It's really a miracle when you think about it. Between work, family, weather and health, it is an art form to arrange and rearrange a schedule. The fact that we as triathletes can bring the kids to school, make that meeting for work, volunteer our time, have an occassional meal with our families, have enough energy to spend quality time with our families AND fit in the workouts we do while trying to avoid freezing weather, driving rain or windy conditions. It really is a miracle.

Can anyone relate?!

The winter time has always been a time of testing how cold it can be and still get a training in. In running, I've created temperature ranges to determine the number of layers I need to wear to be comfortable, how warm can it before I need a running hat vs. a winter hat, when can I get away without mittens, etc., etc.

This winter I started to explore cycling outside. In years past I would hang up the bike in October or November and dig it out in March or April and occassionally grind through a few indoor trainer rides in between.

Knowing I would need to keep up my fitness over the winter to be ready to hit the ground running for my Ironman training I decided to try more winter riding. Yesterday I set a new boundary for myself. It was 19 degrees and windy when I left yesterday. I had two layers on my legs, four on my torso and two on my hands. I was out for about 75 minutes and felt pretty good. However, today is the first day of spring and I have little interest in setting a new cold weather riding standard this year!

I took a much needed rest day today and slept in until 7:30! I've had a lot of work and family obligations over the past week so I've tried to not interfere with those obligations by doing early morning or evening workouts. This has made the sleeping schedule a tough one.

On another note, I'm going to be ordering a new tri-bike this week! I've been riding a modified road bike for the past three years but with at least one Ironman in my future I thought it was time to get serious about the 6+ hour bike ride I'll experience on race day.

It is a Serotta CXII (which appropriately stands for 112) and it is a completely custom fitted bike meaning I'll have to wait three to four weeks to get it. Hopefully it will be worth the wait.