Closing In

This is going to be a very rambling post.

WTC STILL hasn't posted the start list for IMCOZ.  WTF???  You can't put up a fucking list of people on the Interwebz?  I need to know who my competition is, so that I can either get excited about the possibility of a Kona slot, or I can relax, knowing it probably won't happen.

I am 8.5 weeks out from race day.  In case you haven't been fucking paying attention (oh, did I forget to say this post will be LITTERED with F-bombs?), here's the remaining training:

That is some hefty fucking training, eh?  I don't fear it, though, since I've done more than this in my build for Ultraman Canada.  I have to keep telling people that because they still look at me all cross-eyed when they see how much training I am doing NOW.  Either they don't have a fucking memory, or they have just recently jumped on the Crackhead bandwagon.  I know--it's a wild ride, isn't it?

I get almost a villainous laugh when faced with a training block like this.  Why?  Because to me it's ALL KINDS OF FUCKING FUN!!!

I get to test my mental toughness in a huge way, since it's likely I will be doing some very long trainer rides (I think my longest ever is 5 hours; I will go up to maybe 6:15 this time around), including 3 of what I am calling FUCK ME biking weekends:

• 10/19 4:00 hours, 10/20 5:30
• 10/26 3:00 hours, 10/27 5:00 hours
• 11/16 5:30, 11/17 4:00 hours

Thing is, I've done this shit before, only FUCKING OUTSIDE!!!  At least one, possibly all three, of these weekends will be trainer rides.  But you know what?  I don't fucking care.  For one thing, my homey Shelley (who I haven't seen in 4 years can't wait!) will be here for the first one, and her job is to tell me how fucking amazing I am, fetch fresh, cold bottles from the fridge, tell me what an idiot I am, take stupid pictures and post to Facebook, and commiserate with me in general.  I think we will be watching James Bond movies--I just got the Blu-Ray 23-disk set that includes Skyfall. Then we will consume mass quantities of food--I plan on sushi one night and Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket the other.

Also, on 11/9, I do my race rehearsal ride, which will most likely be 6:15 in duration, and Cortney will be here for a wedding, and she gets to perform Crackhead sherpa duty that day.  I've never met her in person, so this should be interesting.  Cortney is a budding Crackhead herself, so I am pretty sure we will have a great time!

My birthday (57 CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE IT???) is on 10/22.  Shelley will be here in close proximity, so we will no doubt celebrate.  I have already gifted myself of many things, and really don't need anyone to buy me stuff, although I joke about it all the time on Facebook.  I have been given nice things by nice people.  Gatorade is always appreciated, as are superhero action figures and gift certificates to Desoto and Zoot, hint hint.  Last year when I was so depressed, one of the irrational thoughts I kept having was that I am old and ugly.  Well maybe I AM old, but at least now I am OK with it.  I tricked my best friend, Susan, into believing that I would never race Ironman again, and that it would be a GOOD thing.  I have since notified her that I was crazy at the time, and that this training and racing is what keeps me sane, vital, vigorous, sexy, good at my job and just loving life!

As you already know, I've had my early fall illness already.  I still have somewhat of a cough, but I feel like I'm OK without the inhaler, except right before exercise. Yesterday was a drug festival, though, as I woke up after 5 hours of sleep, drank coffee, swam, came home and worked, took some Ambien to try to sleep, never slept, woke up feeling drugged, worked more, finally started feeling better and had a Coke, passed out around 7PM and woke up at 2AM.  I am just rolling with this oddball sleep schedule.  Tonight I may take the Ambien right before I go to sleep at around 8PM and hope I sleep until 3AM.

Oh--yesterday I went to this little boutique in town and bought some fancy ass clothes, including this dress:

It looks really good on me.  The owner is all excited about having me as a client since I'm pretty tiny and look good in all this designer shit.  Although I think I have a strange physique now--either I'm fat (I've put on about 3 lbs. last 2 months but plan on dropping it), or I am really carrying a lot of muscle.  My size 3 (ACTUAL SIZE 3 NOT WHAT PASSES FOR 3 NOW) jeans fit me just fine, even a bit loose, but my ass is huge.  I have rather big legs for such a small person.  I wonder whether with my thyroid function fixed that my metabolism is allowing me to keep more muscle on me?  Whatever, apparently I have been eating enough to put it on.  Yesterday I started an austerity program for the last weeks before IMCOZ--no more candy, no more Twinkies, Pringles and Cheetos sparingly, watch my beer intake.  That is all it will take to shed those 3-4 lbs. in maybe 4 weeks.  I feel really "thick" if that makes sense, which is a feeling of being solid, not jiggly, so maybe this is muscle.  I plan on getting my metabolism measured sometime after my next blood test, assuming my TSH level is where I want it to be which is between 1 and 2.  If it's higher, that means my thyroid continues to crap out and I will need to go on a higher dosage.  This is so much fucking fun, NOT!

That dress will be making an appearance in Vegas next March, where I and 2 girlfriends (maybe Shelley if she can get out of a stupid work trip) will be visiting Susan and running the Red Rock Canyon marathon, and then going out on the town.  I wish I had an occasion to wear it before then, but stupid men I fancy are afraid to get with all this.  I mean, look, I DO have time for social life, just the rest of my life is far from normal.  I manage to kick ass at a sometimes high pressure job, maintain a house and gardens, cook (WELL I might add) for myself, train for a fucking Ironman, manage to keep a few good friends, coach Brad, and be generally awesome. What is not to like about that?  I know people who ask me about my training are doing mental gyrations and thinking, "she can't POSSIBLY have time for a relationship," but that is just not true.  Sigh.  Well, I can't be concerned about the man thing right now.  If someone is brave enough to take the Crackhead challenge, great, STEP THE FUCK UP.  Oh, I guess with an attitude like that I can be a little intimidating.  GET THE FUCK OVER IT GUYS!!!  As my brother, Mike, says, "someone in the relationship has to be smarter."  Fortunately, I have a few friends that "get" me and aren't trying to hold me back or tell me to "tone down" or "be more girly" or "quit being so boisterous."  While I may have a foul mouth, I am quite girly, thank you very much LOOK AT THAT FUCKING DRESS!!!

Also, I am getting back on my strength training.  I got off kilter there for a few weeks with IMWI and then getting sick, but I'm back on the weights.  That is crucial for me, since it helps me to support my training and my life in general.  I figured out that the reason I was cramping (lower legs and feet) while swimming was due to the Evista I was taking for osteoporosis.  I've been off it for a week, and already I can kick like a mad fool and not cramp.  Leg cramps are a documented side effect, and since I can't tolerate cramping up during a swim, I stopped it.  I am working with my doctor to figure out what alternative I will take, but I don't plan on starting anything new until after IMCOZ since I don't want to fuck with potential side effects.

The other thing about Evista is that it can increase your likelihood of DVT.  I was already planning on asking whether I should stop it prior to flying to Mexico, so at least I can take that off my to do list.  I was also experiencing some excess edema in my right calf, which MIGHT have been from spraining my ankle, but I think it was also related to the Evista.  One day last week when I was running I became paranoid that maybe I was experiencing DVT, but all that swelling is gone, so PHEW!

I should probably tell you how I've done against my planned training.  If you recall, I registered for IMCOZ on 7/22, and I quickly put together a training plan which has since become what my protégé, Brad, is being killed by...er...following.  It only took me about 3 iterations to eyeball it for making sense, being a reasonable progression, and getting me in top-top shape.  So here's how I've done against the plan so far:

Not too shabby for a working stiff, eh?  Also, since 1/1/2013, I am averaging 14.8 hour of training per week.  My highest ever was 16.3 while training for IMLP 2009, so I'm a bit of a slacker, but that's because I really didn't do much from January through early July.  As of 7/21, I was only averaging 13.7 hours per week, which is really nothing for me.

Now, if you look at my average training hours per week since 6/17, it's 17.8 as of the end of last week.  THAT is good, serious training!  I dropped off a bit from 18 due to being sick.   HUGE NUMBERS MAKE ME FUCKING HAPPY!!!

This week is a "rest week," meaning not much running--only 2.5 hours scheduled.  I will still swim quite a bit and bike like 9.5 hours, so other than running, this is still a solid week.  I know the rest is working its magic on me since yesterday I was going a bit crazy since all I did was swim.  So I finally got my weights on, at least a start on it, and I did some gardening, too.  I can already tell that I will go batshit crazy during my IMCOZ taper.  It's been awhile since I've been in this kind of shape, and soaring to the peak of fitness and then dropping out the volume to taper is sure to turn me into this:

But I LIKE that feeling!  There is nothing in the world like it!  When you are at the top of your game, all mental and physical systems in your body are in perfect synchronicity with your goals, WHO WOULDN'T FUCKING WANT THAT FOR THEMSELVES???

Yet, it can frighten the shit out of people.  I've already put myself on notice at work to watch my attitude, because I get pretty aggressive right about now.  DON'T FUCK WITH ME.

Here are the to do items I have left to go for my IMCOZ preparations:

• Try out my race clothes.  I hope to do this today, as the weather will be warm when I bike and run later.  You might guess I would wear zebra stripes or skulls or both, but actually I'm going with simple red and black.  Skull Kingdom has plenty of skulls, as does my aero helmet.
• Make my reservation with Tri Bike Transport.
• Have Magic Mike take another look at me in the pool.  I am not going to get any faster before IMCOZ, but I want him to check if my work the past few weeks has made a difference.  I DO plan on working with him on my speed beginning in January.
• Put new saddle on Death Machine and get cleats for new shoes.
• Figure out when the fuck I will have time to get my final bike tuneup before dropping it off for transport.
• Go insane and try to not commit any felonies.

Today I get to do a broken tri-ath-A-lon (as my friend, Mark, pronounces it, which makes me smile): 2900 swim in the AM, then 1:30 bike with :20 brick run.  I am SO looking forward to getting on the bike today!
Congratulations if you made it this far.  NOW FUCK OFF!!!!  Just kidding, have a wonderful day!

Big Week!

I am just back home from spending the weekend in Verona, Wisconsin to do a race rehearsal on the IMWI course and some other stuff. Please note I am drinking a glass of Grumpy Troll Amnesia Baltic Porter as I write this, so I may pass out or need to stop for awhile and go take a nap. OMG it is SO good!

I am going to back up to Thursday. My training schedule called for a 2:00 run, but fuck that, it's 3 weeks out from IMLP and I did a little over 16 last week, so I decided to go for 17. Since for once I didn't have any meetings in the morning, I let myself sleep in until 5:30, finished a Power Bar Triple Threat and a couple of cups of coffee, loaded a small cooler with (3) 12-oz. bottles of defizzed Coke, and headed for Waterfall Glen, where I was on the trail running at 6:45AM. Even though I arrived there what I would consider late for a weekday morning, I got the very first parking spot closest to the trailhead:

I thought I'd take a picture of the trailhead, too, since I have spent many, many hours here!



I wasn't absolutely positive that I would do 17 miles, since allegedly I didn't need to, so armed with 1 bottle of Coke, I started out. Since it hadn't been too long since I'd had breakfast, I didn't think I'd need any Coke for awhile. Whenever I do these long runs, I usually split them into 2 out and backs, but how much I do for the first leg is always unknown, and I just play it by ear, thinking how long I can go on whatever I'm carrying. I didn't want to run down into the hole (to Mile 5 and a little beyond) because I'd have to run out, but I didn't drink anything before Mile 4, so I figured why the hell not, and I ran down in there, meaning I'd need to run uphill out, but so what! On Tuesday, I'd done a brick run on a street near home that I'd never run, and it was a good one because it includes a 1-mile fairly steep hill that I just charged up, so I wasn't having too much trouble with the Waterfall Glen hills today, although I typically walk the first 2 in the first 2 miles just because it's warmup time, right?

Still, I was pleased that I was running fairly well, even with running out of the hole, and got the first 11 miles done feeling pretty great. I had run about 8 1/4 miles the day before pretty much all at tempo pace, and this was the day after the hilly brick run, so I was like what the fuck, I guess I'm running well!

As I was out there on the first leg, I kept forgetting how to do basic math to figure out how many miles I'd need to run on the second leg, but after I finished 11 and stopped briefly at my car to get some more Coke, my brain kicked back in and realized I only needed to do 6 more.

Those last 6 miles I slowed down about 20 sec. per mile, but that was fine, I shouldn't have been running that fast in the first place! Still, overall, I ran a little faster than I think I can run an open marathon to qualify for Boston for the full 17, so I have to chalk it up as a good run.

Hmmm...3 solid hard fast runs in 3 days...what's next? I hadn't fit in my strength training, so sometime in the afternoon I decided to get on it even though my legs were pretty shot. Still, I got in :55, and I thought that was pretty good after a 17-mile run.

Friday called for a 3800m TT in the pool, and with some warmup and cooldown, it would make for a nice 3 mile swim. I wanted to swim outdoors, but got lazy again and slept in until 5:30AM, so I ended up driving to the Y to swim. I forgot how many yards an IM swim is so I just settled on 4400 yards, and I split it into 4x1100, alternating pull, and pull with paddles, so a real strength building swim, huh? I swam about even paced the full effort, even though my swimming sucks, but at least I felt like I have the necessary endurance to pull off a decent (1:15) IM swim, if you consider drafting. Still, the IMLP swim has way too many athletes, and I've seen my swim time go up the more people get added. I hate getting beat up. But who knows what will happen this year? Sometimes I think I'd just rather swim alone, because I know what I can do. Whatever, I digress. I did complete 3 miles of swimming.

I thought about running a little bit, but my legs were on the verge of not liking it, so I didn't. I packed for Wisconsin, and got on the road around 1:30, experienced some holiday traffic, but got there around 4PM, unloaded the car, chilled a little bit and then headed to The Grumpy Troll for dinner and to refill my 2 growlers that I had back from April when Jostein and I went up there to ride a few hours. I was going to fill one of them with Imperial Stout, but when my waitress told me it was $40 for it, I decided to get the other stout that I've had before, Spetsnaz Stout, and the second growler is the Amnesia Porter that I am still nursing. I had some spicy chicken/andouille sausage pasta thing and their usual good salad, and returned to home base, the Super 8 in Verona. Of course I didn't finish the entire dinner, and so brought a box back to the hotel, where I later basically ate the rest of the chicken, and had one more beer while watching highlights from past Tour de France's. Below is a pic of the two growlers I bought being iced, since we wouldn't want this good beer to spoil before I get home, now would we?


Alarm got set for 4:15AM as I was to meet a new friend, Ken, at Fireman's Park so we could ride the stick (the out and back section of the IMWI course) before meeting up with Ali to ride 2 loops. I slept rather fitfully, but still got in about 8 hours since I'd retired early, even though I awoke several times to fireworks booms.

I got to Fireman's Park with a few minutes to spare, and Ken was a few minutes late, but we headed out at about 6:15am. We rode to the Sheraton on John Nolen Drive, which is close enough to the beginning of the actual course, then turned around back for Fireman's Park. It was a cool, overcast day with 30-60% chance of rain depending on which source you consulted, so I'd worn a bike jersey and shorts and carried a rain jacket with me. We were fine for this part, and when we got back to the park, I called Ali, and he was 10-15 minutes out, so Ken and I decided to roll for a few more miles just to make sure we got in a full 112 on the day! So we rode out backwards on the loop for a few and back, Ali was just arriving with Deanna, whom I'd met a few times before but didn't recognize until she took off her sunglasses.

We all headed out on the loop, and we all knew Ali would take off ahead of us, which was fine. Deanna and Ken sandbagged that they were slow, but it turned out they and I were about the same pace, but we somehow managed not to draft one another much at all for the first 40-mile loop. I got ahead of them for a bit, but stopped at the Kwik Trip in Mount Horeb to pee, they both went by me, and then I caught Ken peeing by the side of the road at the intersection of J (or is it S?) and Witte Road. Ken got ahead of me for a bit, and then he launched some bottles on railroad tracks, and I went ahead, and then all 3 of us were pretty close the entire time.

We reloaded our bottles and headed out for loop 2. I had made (2) 3.5 hour bottles of Infinit, but we were 4 hours in and I hadn't finished the first bottle. That was OK since it was so cool out. I felt pretty good as on the first climb off of Paoli Road my legs didn't feel too bad at all, and this is always a marker for this course.

Somewhere before we got to Mount Horeb, I was ahead of Ken and Deanna and I didn't stop to pee at all, so I just kept going. As I was riding, I kept thinking, "hey this kinda sucks but not nearly as much as Horribly Hilly" and that kept me going. I was ignoring the power meter (which won't display speed right now, but who cares?) and just riding based on my breathing, so all was good. I never did take off my arm warmers, but unzipped the jersey a little as it did warm up a little bit.

When I got back to Fireman's Park, Ali was already running, and I had left my run stuff back at the hotel, so I needed to go back there. Deanna had cut a tire and so hadn't gotten very far into the second loop at all, and my car was packed up when Ken arrived back, and I told him I had to go back to the hotel, and thanks for the ride and all that.

I had only drunk 2.5 bottles of water and 1.5 bottles of Infinit for the entire ride, which seemed a little low to me, but oh well! My legs didn't feel all that bad, so I hurried up and got the bike back in the hotel and suited up to run. I knew it was actually warm out as I was pretty sweaty, and as soon as I headed out, I realized how humid it was, but still not too hot. I ran back to Fireman's Park in hopes of catching Ken, which I did, and he'd run 3 miles, but was headed home, and I continued on. I was supposed to run 6 miles, but I just decided on running about an hour whatever that would bring. On my way back to the hotel, I caught up with the Military Ridge Trail to run on which is nice crushed limestone.

I didn't know how fast or slow I was running until I got to a mile marker and then timed myself, and I was extremely please with how I was running! Plus, this was the best I can ever remember feeling running off of a 112-mile bike ride except maybe for a few IM races over the years. Still, this is not race day, so let's just get it done.

And I did. Here are a few pics from after I finished up the run:





I guess I'm a skinny little thing now, aren't I? When I was finished, I was famished, but I had to shower first and start in on my Endurox R4, which I did, and then since I was conveniently next to McDonald's, I just walked over there and got one of the new sandwiches I'd read about--the 1/3 lb. Angus Burger with mushrooms and swiss cheese, and small fries:

The burger was actually tasty from what I can remember since I think I inhaled it in like 2 minutes! I actually ate a bunch of fries on the walk back to the hotel and polished them off before I started in on the burger. And then I got to laying down to watch a replay of Stage 1 of the TDF wearing compression tights and laying down and generally moaning. My legs felt pretty well trashed, but I've felt worse, and I was pleased with the time it took me to cover the IMWI course and my brick run.

Finally, I motivated to stretch, and then I got in the hot tub:

for a little bit while watching some comedy on TV (I still haven't hooked up the converter box to my TV at home and hadn't watched any TV since June 12 or whatever that date was). The hot tub was blissful, and I polished off the last of 3 beers while in there before getting (or trying to get) to sleep early, as I was pretty tired.

I was pretty pleased with the 3 past days of training, having covered nearly full Ironman distance (OK so I was off on the running part by by 2.2 miles, fuck me, OK?) in 3 days (actually went over on the swim), and thought that can't be a bad thing, seeing as how I want to do double IM distance over 4 days. This made me think maybe I can do it, although I'll be doing it all brickie-brick style, which will be harder ;)

I slept fitfully, as there were more fireworks, my legs were throwing off all sorts of heat, and I'd had plenty of caffeine on the bike. Still, I think I managed about 8 hours of sleep, finally waking up around 6:30. I had thought about doing some more biking this morning, but knew I didn't need to, but I've had some significant training weekends this year where I've been able to do something the day after something where I'd normally take a day off, and it was a gorgeous day, so I thought, what the hell, what else am I doing, I'm here--may as well ride, right?

I went to the hotel lobby and fixed myself a waffle, which was just the thing I needed plus 2 cups of coffee, and before I could think too much about it, I had most everything in my car and was on my bike by about 8:10AM. I was going to wear bike shorts, but since it was so sunny, I decided on panties, and as soon as I started, realized what a good choice it was. It was so beautiful--I should have taken my camera with me the sky was so perfect, and all the crops so green--this is what I live for--to bike in an area like this with this kind of weather! I rode pretty well considering, and I think it was the right thing to do.

Here's my trusty Bitchie after this morning's ride. She did me proud this weekend, and I decided I still love her, even though I wouldn't mind another tri bike in my stable!


And here's me with Bitchie.


I wanted to keep riding, it was such a nice day, but alas, I need to start thinking about actually tapering for IMLP, so I'm going to review my past records to see what exactly I will do. I am in my run taper for sure, but I think I can knock out one more solid week of biking before I drop off.

I feel so great now, which means I am definitely peaking. I just want to keep training. Training is what I love. Training well is what I love. Training well in the company of other good athletes is what I love. It's all good. But I guess I'm signed up for this damn race, so I had better get my head in that game, right?

Hope everyone had as great a weekend as I did!

Rest of Pics are up from Race Rehearsal

Click on the post title to see them.

I'll write everything up tomorrow probably. I need to lay down!

Tonight's Dinner Preparing for Race Rehearsal

Click on the post title for pics.

I had a pusher bartender at the Grumpy Troll who let me basically try everything! They were all pretty good, and I had a great dinner, and now I need to lay down and relax for tomorrow. It's supposed to be gorgeous. In fine tradition, I'm sure I'll have a bit of a hangover--no matter--who the fuck cares? Not like I don't know how to ride a bike or will gain much fitness tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to my day tomorrow--and then another great dinner at Heiney's in Black Earth!

Ciao!

Ironman USA Lake Placid Race Report--The Bike and T2

Bike
Predicted Time: 6:45
Actual Time: 6:59:05

In some respects, the bike ride is one big blur. Biking is where I’m pretty focused on watching my power, not running into stuff, and not getting hit by stuff or other athletes. I did see a couple I know, Bill and Cathy Taylor, right at the bike exit, which was really cool.

My predicted bike time is based on a race rehearsal ride that I did on the Ironman Wisconsin course, which took me about 7 hours. I thought I’d be about 15 minutes faster at IMLP, but then again, I rode the Wisconsin course a little too hard, and so what I ended up with was just fine. As a side note, when I did Ironman USA in 2001 as my first Ironman, my bike split was 7:44:12, so I definitely have become stronger on the bike!

I was sort of excited to ride this course again, because back in 2001, I sucked so bad in general (and should not have been doing Ironman at the time), and now I enjoy riding hills, and think I’m a pretty decent cyclist. Riding in an Ironman, though, you aren’t riding anywhere near what you can do when you don’t have to run a marathon afterwards.

I didn’t really like putting 6:45 down on paper as my predicted bike split, but I knew that was reality, and so that was my going in assumption. While I was riding, however, I never paid attention to how long I was on the bike; rather, I paid attention to my nutrition, watts and stuff and people around me, which is what you are supposed to do. Bike splits can vary dramatically based on weather and other things.

One of the things I rarely have trouble with in any race is my nutrition. Why? Because I’ve had my RMR (resting metabolic rate) measured, which then enabled good estimates of my burn rates, which bore out back when I used to use a heart rate monitor. Given this data, I’m able to manage my intake to match my output. I take in about 50% of calories burned while biking, and about 30% when running (I don’t remember the source where I read that you only need to replace 30% when running). But do these numbers work for everyone? No. They work great for me because I have made it a point to become and stay very lean, and I also monitor my nutrition in training so that I am always taking in carbs to keep my brain happy and blood sugar elevated, which can help to spare glycogen and encourage fat burning.

This year, I finally got a custom blend of Infinit made for myself, and surprise, surprise—the calories per hour delivered are right about at 50% of my bike burn rate. Actually I wasn’t surprised when I read the nutritional content—I was quite happy it matched what I knew to be my personal truth.

I loaded 2 bike feed bottles each with enough for about 3.5 hours of concentrated nutrition. I carried one on my seat tube (my Griffen’s down tube is too bladed for a cage, so it lives on the seat tube) and put one into special needs bike bag. I had a water bottle in one of my XLAB cages (short enough so it wouldn’t create any aerodynamic drag), and so my nutrition plan was to sip from the feed bottle and chase it with water. I ended up replenishing my water at just about every aid station on the course just so I could have cold water. I think this is an important fact. Cold liquids are absorbed better by the gut, and so even if I was only halfway done with a bottle, I chucked it at the aid station and got some cold stuff.

OK, so now you know my general nutrition and pacing plans. All that’s left to talk about is actually riding! The way I’d describe the bike course is that the first third of the loop sucks, and then the rest is nice, even the major climbs. The reason I don’t like the first third is that there are a lot of false flats. On the first loop, I dropped my chain twice because I should have just stayed in the small ring, but I was a dumbass and went big ring and then I’d start climbing and I was screwed. But I know that when you drop your chain this way you just shift into the big ring and it goes right back on, and then you are stuck in the big chainring, but at least you don’t have to stop.

After the false flat crap you get the nice descent into Keene. On the first loop, I hit 42MPH (I didn’t look at the speedometer), and on the second, only 28, because there was a headwind and I had to pedal! That descent is really fun! When I did the race in 2001, I was so afraid of descending and I remember I was braking a lot. Not this time! I have learned to become more comfortable, I have to say, from riding La Gazza Ladra (my Pinarello road bike). That thing descends like a champ, and it’s very stable while doing so. Even though a tri bike is not quite as nimble as a road bike, riding a road bike can teach you to stretch your definition of comfortable speed on a descent. So I was really happy that I didn’t chicken out. Don’t get me wrong—that descent can be a bit white-knuckling—but on the whole, it’s tons of fun, as long as you don’t have too many people to get around. I look forward to doing it again next year!

After the descent into Keene, you make your way into Jay, and that’s actually a really nice part of the ride. Not too hilly, and actually quite a good bit of flatness. At some point, you start heading to Hazelton and the out and back. Right before Hazelton on the first loop I saw Rich riding the opposite direction. I shouted, but I wasn’t sure he heard me, but later he said he saw me.

The out and back is pretty fun. Why? Because there are no draft marshals. I’m not saying I was blatantly drafting, but since the road is congested, the athletes are pretty much in there like sardines, so you almost have no choice but to get on someone’s wheel if they are in front of you. I used this to my advantage to save watts here and there. I also saw some idiot crash right before the aid station upon entry to this part of the course. One thing you must do in this section is pay attention. You can ride like the dickens, but you still need to be very aware of athletes all over the place. The aid stations in the out and back are OUTSTANDING! They had music blaring and all the volunteers were great. Now, remember, I’m only taking water, but I have the whole docking sequence down like clockwork: Identify my person, point at them, shout, make sure they know THEY ARE MY PERSON, hand out with strong fingers, dock that water bottle, and keep riding. Some people just don’t know how to do this. So you need to be careful when rolling through the aid stations, too, so you don’t have a collision with some spaz.

After the out and back, you begin the major climbing of the loop. First, there’s “Heartbreak Hill,” which is just a warmup for Whiteface Mountain. Heartbreak Hill really separated the climbers from the rest. In most Ironman races, drafting will not be called on these climbs. I know this having been a draft marshal last year at Ironman Wisconsin. We don’t want to penalize people for doing what needs to be done, and you shouldn’t be forced into a pass on a major climb just because the person in front of you is a slow climber.

After Heartbreak Hill, you are wondering when you will hit the Whiteface Mountain climb. You don’t climb the entire mountain, but there’s a good, long climb where you are definitely going up, up, up! And that means you are nearing the end of the loop, except for the group of 5 hills at the end—Little and Big Cherry, Baby, Mama and Papa Bear.

When I finished the Whiteface climb, there were 2 guy spectators on the side congratulating us for making it up, and I yelled at the one guy, “Where are the fucking Care Bears?” I just thought to call them that, and the guy just burst out laughing and told me they were just a few miles up the road.

Truthfully, when I got to Little Cherry, I didn’t even know I was on it, it just wasn’t that bad, in contrast to 2001 when any little thing felt like a major climb! And then I didn’t even notice the Big Cherry, and the fucking Care Bears really weren’t that bad, either. They were just short and a bit steep. Nothing major, though, but I knew they might feel differently on Loop 2.

At the end of the first loop, I was just happy I was done with 56 miles, and I wanted to get busy on the second loop.

The beginning part of the second loop sucked as much as the first time, only this time I didn’t drop my chain. The descent into Keene sucked because we now had a headwind, and I had to pedal my way down! The leg into Jay was still nice.

On loop 1, there were 2 guys, named Bill (first name) and Rench (last name). The first time I saw Rench, I said, “You’re missing a ‘W’.” I figured he got that all the time, and he laughed. I told him the correct response would be, “I’m not a tool.” We had a good chuckle about that, and it seemed we played cat and mouse for a long time. I saw him stop to pee near Whiteface Mountain on loop 1, and then I just didn’t see him for a long time. At some point, he passed me, and then I caught back up to him on loop 2. When I did, he said, “I was wondering when you’d be back.” I took that as a compliment, and we stayed in the general vicinity of one another for the rest of the way. I check the results, and I beat him by 20 minutes. I guess he was riding too fast for a decent run!

Bill was wearing a bright blue 2XU race suit. There were a number of men wearing these. Bill and I enjoyed Heartbreak Hill together on the first loop, and we were together heading to Jay on the second loop, and finally, I decided I needed to stop and pee. I hadn’t peed since the T1 incident, and I wasn’t worried about it, but now I needed to go, and I didn’t want to pee in my new (this year) shoes, so I started hunting for a place to stop. I am not one to need porta-potties, so when I saw a sign for a little park, I decided this was it. Well, it turns out this was the choice of at least 5 guys, so I found a spot that wasn’t even secluded, pulled down my shorts, announced loudly that, “I’m a girl and I’m peeing don’t make a big deal about it,” and I peed I think like 2 gallons, which felt really good. I got back on my bike, and not too long later, I caught back up to Bill. I rolled up next to him and said, “Hey, Bill—I stopped to pee, read a magazine and took a shower.” I knew this would make him laugh, and I was happy to get his spirits up. Not that we were feeling badly, but I don’t care how you cut it—112 miles is a looooong way to ride, especially when you know you still have a marathon to go.

There was another Dutch guy whose name I don’t remember that I also played cat and mouse with. The first thing he said to me was, “Somebody wrote the wrong age on your calf.” I was so tickled he would say that, and we shared a bit of conversation every now and then. I know I passed the guy in the marathon for good, so I hope he finished okay.

On loop 2, when I got to the out and back, I found myself with this guy named O’Byrne (last name). We were riding about the same pace, and I knew the tricks of the out and back, so when we got in, I yelled at him, “Hey, O’Byrne, let’s make some time here.” I led it out and we just slingshotted past a bunch of riders, and throughout this time I kept thinking to myself, “We’re ROCKING the out and back.”

On both loops there, I saw Cindy a few miles behind me, and each time, we recognized one another and she’d yell something like, “I need some CRACK.” She told me later that athletes around her looked at her all funny, because why would they understand? One time I told her I’d give her some, but I couldn’t get across the road.

On loop 2 on the way out of the out and back, some guy’s chain broke, and he was WALKING down the center of the road because a spare link had rolled backwards! I told him to get the hell off the road that it was dangerous (which it was), and that I’d send tech support back, which I did when I saw them. What a dufus!

The second time up Whiteface wasn’t bad. There was a girl (Newsome, last name) that I heard complaining of her IT band hurting, and as I rolled past her I told her to raise her saddle a hair. I think she thought I must be some kind of idiot or something by the look on her face, and I told her that I know for a fact that it will work to alleviate the pain. Well, about 10 minutes later she is back right behind me thanking me, telling me that it worked!

Once again at the end of the Whiteface climb, I encountered the spectator guy I had seen on loop 1, and once again, I asked him, “Where are the fucking Care Bears?” By this time, I knew where they were, but I figured he could use a good laugh, and he just about fell over.

So you see that even though I am focusing on my riding and watts and such, that I manage to have a good time out there. I suppose if I was way faster that I wouldn’t be able to do it, but for now, this is what works for me, and I really enjoy helping lift the spirits of other athletes and talking to the spectators when I can.

At the end of the Care Bears, I was definitely ready to get off my bike. By this point, I had crotch on fire, feet on fire, and I was sunburned. I expect my feet to start hurting by about mile 80, but on this day it didn’t happen until about mile 90, so that was good, but when they began to hurt, they really hurt. I acknowledged that they hurt, and that if I wanted to I could stop and take a rest, but I didn’t want to, so I just said, “Fuck you, feet!” to myself and kept pedaling. For the crotch on fire, again, not much I could do, so what I did was just tell myself it would be OK once I started running. Aside from those two problems, everything else felt fine! My nutrition was spot on, and I didn’t feel too bad for the wear.

T2: 3:39

I dismounted my bike without incident and began running to the bags again. This was a much shorter run than the one from the lake to T1. I got my bag, got in the tent and began doing my thing. I had a fresh pair of socks in the bag, which I wavered on putting on, but my awesome volunteer told me I’d appreciate it, and I had pre-lubed them with Body Glide and there was talcum powder in them, so I knew my feet would like it. My volunteer was absolutely wonderful—she caught on to everything I asked her to do, and I was in and out relatively quickly.

Time to run!

Ironman USA Lake Placid Race Report--The Swim and T1

Swim
Predicted Time: 1:15-1:20
Actual Time: 1:23:19

Well, holy fucking crap, Batman! This swim start was unlike any other Ironman I’ve ever done. It was immediate and total congestion, body contact and really not so much swimming but jockeying for position. I could feel myself wanting to hyperventilate, so I just kept telling myself that it would clear up and to just keep moving forward somehow. I don’t know how to train myself for this shit. It really isn’t swimming at all—most of us were nearly vertical in the water, and yet we were being sucked forward. I actually let some people go by me because I just wanted to find a 2-foot area of clear water, if that was possible.

I have no idea how long it took before I was actually able to swim, but even then it was constant body contact, and not always the nice variety. I just tried to keep my face out of other peoples’ feet and try and not get my arms ripped off. I was pulled, hit, kicked, punched, you name it. OK I can understand the ratio of men to women is quite high, but some of the super-aggro people were FEMALE. What the hell, ladies? When did we take to a cage match mentality?

I tried my best to stay off the buoy line (there’s a yellow rope underwater for kayak races that you can see in a radius of about 6 feet), but whenever I would get slightly away from it, the draft would just suck me back in. Note to self: next year wait about 30 or 45 seconds to let the fucking Ultimate Fighting crowd get on that line.

Once you get sucked into a particular pace group on the buoy line, it’s tough to get out, so my swim was going to be whatever these people were doing. It certainly felt like once we got going that we were moving pretty well, but again, unless you are extremely aggro (which I’m not in the swim), you get what you get.

It was particularly unnerving to reach the turn buoys (the course is laid out in a rectangle, and you do the loop twice), because this is where you typically encounter super heavy body contact. Well, I didn’t even need to point my body around the turn buoys because I just got sucked around, and actually here was an opportunity to claim a little bit of open water. I used this to my advantage as best I could, but then found out there were still many other swimmers around me that wanted to hit, punch and kick.

I tried valiantly to get away from the buoy line, and I don’t have difficulty swimming in a straight line, yet I still got sucked back in. Oh well, time to stop fighting it and move on.

I was never so happy to get to almost shore when I saw the weeds. I was hoping that starting loop 2 would be a better experience. I stood up and ran wherever it was I was supposed to run to get back to the start of the second loop. I saw a lot of people taking their time waltzing back into the water, and I wanted none of that, so I just dove in and now I deliberately tried to get on the buoy line so I could make some time (hopefully).

Lap 2 wasn’t as bad as Lap 1, but the same issues existed, only there was a bit less body contact, but not by much. I got kicked in the face on Lap 2, but my goggles didn’t come off completely, and even though they developed a slight leak, it was no big deal because I was on the final loop back.

I have never before swallowed water during an Ironman swim, but this time I took on a good amount—nothing I was worried about, but you always have these flash thoughts of whether the water will make you sick. But I didn’t feel bloated or badly when I got out of the water, so I figured I’d be OK. I actually negative-split the second lap by a little bit, but I was disappointed in my time, but it was a done deal, so it was time to move on.

T1: 7:08

First things first—find a wetsuit stripper. I tried to get a hottie, but in the interest of time, I pointed at the first available guy on my left. He did a great job, and I got up and started running. There’s a rather long run (maybe ¼ mile) to get to the transition tent, and since I wanted to keep making forward progress, I kept running.

There were athletes who were taking their sweet time, and I would try my best to be polite, saying, “Excuse me,” or, “On your left,” and I think I got a few nasty stares. Come on, people, it’s a race! The faster I get on my bike, the faster I can begin tackling the bike leg and getting on my nutrition.

I got into the bag area and it was easy to make my way to my bags (being in the end zone ON THE GROUND and all), and I was shouting out my number just to be sure someone would grab my bag for me, which I got and ran with into the changing tent. I picked a spot in the corner on my right and sat down. Well, I must have swallowed quite a bit of water, because my body decided it needed to pee, and RIGHT NOW, and I mean I couldn’t even get up and run to a porta-potty. It was all water anyway, so I just had to let it go and move on with my day. I know that sounds disgusting, but once the floodgates were opened, there wasn't much I could do.

I had put a towel into my T1 bag so I could at least dry my feet (which is all that needed drying) before putting my socks on. I already had on my top and bottom and arm warmers, so all that was left to put on was my number belt, shoes, sunglasses and helmet, and after directing my volunteer what to do with the wetsuit and sunglasses case (she wanted me to take the case for some reason), I stood up and ran the hell out of there. There were a lot of women in there in various states of disorientation, so I got out as quickly as possible and began the run to my bike.

I got lucky even though I didn’t need someone to unrack my bike for me, a man did it, and I was pretty happy to get it and now I could run from the end zone back to the other side of the field and get onto it.

The mount line was fucking crowded, so I watched carefully, because I’ve seen people crash or tip over at this point in a race many times, so I jockeyed for a safe position and got on Bitchie. Boy, I was never so glad to get on my bike!

Weekly Workout Totals 06/25/2007-07/01/2007and Surviving Ironman Training

So, the ride yesterday didn't go as well as planned. 1) I decided to stop and take pictures. 2) I was "thinking" a bit too much. Even though I'm bummed, it is what it is, and so I will let it go and move on. I'm riding 100 miles on Wednesday, and so I have another chance to see how well I do, although I wasn't given any pacing guidance, so I will most likely hammer it! I plan on riding my disc just for shits and grins, panties, the whole outrageous kit! What the hell, it's the 4th of July, gotta celebrate!

Now, onto the topic at hand: How do you (an average age grouper) keep your sanity while training for an Ironman? It all comes down to the following equation:

Sanity = x * (time you want to train to achieve your outrageous goals) - y * (time actually available to train) - z * (unpredictable life crap) + q * (value of your support network, and be honest) + s * (genetic giftedness) + t * (amount of training planning you actually do or coaching you receive) - v * (amount of unnecessary crap you engage in that doesn't contribute towards your training/racing goals) + r * (your knowledge of the art and science of triathlon training in order to cope with all the other shit)

The variables x, y, z, q, s, t, v and r are very important and very individual, and are subject to change at any given time! Considering that "sanity" will reflect your ability to execute on race day, it's very important to be honest about the variables. Things get even more complicated because many people are unable to self-assess to the extent required to keep things in balance and keep things real.

What about me? I am subject to the same stressors as the next guy or gal. Sure, I'm not married and don't have kids, but hey, cut me some slack. I do EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING for myself. I work, and if I lose my job, I have noone to lean on to support me. I pay the bills, take out the garbage, tend to the house and yard, do the laundry, cooking, dishes, repairs, anything you can imagine.

BUT, and this is a very important BUT, I do everything possible to ensure that I can get in the training that I want to do to achieve what I think is possible for me. So I eliminate crap that doesn't need to get done, and while I make incessant lists, many things never get done because they just aren't truly necessary. If I want to go out drinking with a friend, I know in advance the price I will pay and whether I will be able to execute the next day's workouts. I knew that by stopping to take pictures and "thinking" too much yesterday that I was jeopardizing my race rehearsal ride. Sure, I'm still pissed, but it was a choice I made, and in the end, I still had fun doing it, I still got in a good workout, and the experience will still contribute to my race day execution. At least I did the workout, you know?

I am by no means a talented athlete. I got where I am by sheer determination, discipline and hard work. Nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes my sanity equation gets out of whack, and I just try to sit back and figure out what needs to give.

Right now, for example, I'm sort of at the edge of my own sanity. I feel incredibly fit, yet I am subject to the odd poor workout. I also need to be aware that as I've aged that I may have reached my inevitable peak and begin to decline in ability any day now. It's all I can do right now to do the workouts, maintain some semblance of "regular life," do my job and begin planning for a race that happens in 3 weeks. It's fucking nuts! I would be totally remiss to say it was anything less than that.

Yet I know that to some folks, I appear totally cool, calm, collected and all that shit. Oh, boy, there are things I could talk about going on in my head that would make YOUR head spin. Let's just say I have an extremely active fantasy life right now. My brain is constantly scrolling through all sorts of scenarios, not just for the present, but for the near and far futures. I am constantly testing myself against what I think I am, what I think I know, what I think I want, and all possible combinations. Sometimes I think it's a miracle that I can concentrate on a single thing, like writing this post. Am I unique in this regard? I don't think so. I bet that if I could get other would-be or already Ironmen to comment on these feelings that they would concur.

It's a fantastic thing to bring your body to this point--where you are a finely honed machine that is constantly chomping at the bit for the next challenge. In fact, that's how I like to schedule my entire training calendar for a year. Most of the time it works like a charm, but there's always something different about an impending Ironman.

At this time, what I try and do is draw heavily upon my support network, and by that, I mean those people closest to me who really know what this is about in terms of ME--they don't need to know the ins and outs of Ironman training or racing--but they need to know ME and just be there and reinforce my sense of self and confidence and in the end, that's really all any of us needs, right?

But sometimes my support network doesn't see through my external shell of She-Ra strength and attitude, and I need to remind them that I am just as vulnerable as everyone else. It's OK to ask for support when you need it, and it's OK to be a little selfish in these last 3 weeks. Of course, that's with the assumption that I'm giving back to my support network. I try my best to do so, and I am regularly surprised at all the nice things other people do for me throughout the year. I never think I am doing enough for others, which is a personality fault of mine. I'm a doer, plain and simple. That's what I do; that's what I get satisfaction from. Even when I may feel overwhelmed at all the "doing" that I've committed to, in the end, that's what makes me a happy camper. When my schedule is overflowing with stuff, to me it all just becomes a juggling act that is yet another skill for me to master.

So now, here's what I did last week. I have one more big (20-hour or so) week, and then it's taper time! I'm feeling very much on the edge right now, but I just need to bear with it and then it should all come together. I'm heading back to Wisconsin this Friday with Rich to conduct an IMWI training camp, and I'm looking forward to that. To me, it will be a ton of fun, assuming I don't frighten off the other campers! And then I'm looking forward to meeting up with old friends at IMLP, so no matter what happens, it will all be good!


Weekly Workout Totals 06/25/2007-07/01/2007
Swim: 15215 yards (8.64 miles) in 5.12 hours; 24% of weekly workout time; approx. 1790 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 180.54 miles in 10.32 hours; 48% of weekly workout time; approx. 4584 calories burned
Run: Approx. 31.75 miles in 4.82 hours; 23% of weekly workout time; approx. 2177 calories burned
Strength: 1.03 hours; 5% of weekly workout time; approx. 258 calories burned
All Sports: Approx. 220.93 miles in 21.29 hours; approx. 8809 calories burned
Sleep: 7.07 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.23 hours. Massage: 1.5 hours

Oh, and if you haven't looked, see what's blooming for this past week: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8737154@N04/sets/72157600496071836/

Edit (Monday morning): I woke up at 2AM (as has been happening pretty much daily for the last 3-4 weeks--notice the correlation to the number of training hours I'm putting up) this morning. I was hoping it was later, but my curiousity got the better of me and I looked at a clock. I was like, oh fuck, this is even earlier than my usual 3-3:30AM wakeup. But whatever. I've learned not to obsess about this, figuring that as long as I am horizontal, it's all good in terms of giving my body a rest. So I took stock--I was, as always, hot, even though my bedroom temperature was 73 (my bedside clock has a thermometer in it--I told you I like to measure stuff!) and I had a fan blowing on me all night and I sleep naked. I went to the bathroom and turned on the light, looked in the mirror and thought, "I look disgusting." Guess most of us don't look so hot at 2AM, huh? And this is why we invented alcoholic beverages... I washed my face, got pissed about a zit on my chin (I mean what the fuck, I'm 50 and I still get these things? Oh yeah, I ride a bike and drool all over my face while sweating like a pig.), turned off the light and got back in bed, knowing I would lay there for awhile wide awake thinking, or should I say "scrolling." I just let my mind do it, because trying to stop it is futile (much like the Borg). What was cool was that I went into a lucid dreaming state--I went through 4 dreams, where I had them and then immediately became fully alert and awake, knowing I had just had a dream (trust, me, they were all good ones), feeling like my mind was having some fun, and then I dropped back into sleep only to repeat the sequence. Sometimes I just have to let my brain run wild, and this can be the happy result. I ended up with 8.5 hours of sleep, and I feel great, rarin' to go. There's a link on my sidebar to a dream interpretation site. I taught myself to recall my dreams many, many years ago, and also this ability to stare at the ceiling (during daylight hours) until I am not "seeing" at all. It's sort of like what happens when they give you that shot of sodium pentathol to put you under before surgery and you see the bright white light that collapses into nothing and then you are out. The purpose of doing this? Achieving the feeling of nothingness and everythingness all at once. Being there and being gone. I think it's a fleeting glimpse of that thing they call "Nirvana."

Race Rehearsal in Pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8737154@N04/sets/72157600573824079/

My ride was slower than expected, but my run was faster than expected, and I refused to swim afterwards. But I did accumulate and will write copious notes about the course and how to ride it. And I think I looked good out there.

I think I've been training A LOT. Here's the last 11 weeks, and keep in mind I plan to swim :30 tomorrow:

17.91
19.13
19.45
20.08
18.31
20.78
16.54
21.08
20.84
22.23
20.62

Am I ready for a taper or WHAT??? Right now, I'm the world's cheapest date.

Hope you enjoy the photos--I had fun taking them or asking others to take them!

Live from VERONA, WISCONSIN....IT'S SATURDAY...er...FRIDAY NIGHT!!!

I'm here in Verona, after a nice dinner at Avanti for pizza (I decided to start with the lucky topping mix from Horribly Hilly and add a few more) and Bell's Oberon. The head waitress recognized me from 2 weeks ago. After that, I headed to World of Variety and scored some fire power and some other things that will make an appearance at IMLP, went to Walgreen's to complete my juggler's set of light-up rainbow ball things, and back to the hotel, where I convinced the front desk girl to take some pics. I warned her ahead of time!

Sorry the "I HEART Endurance Sports" thong pic didn't show as much as I had hoped, but maybe there will be a retake tomorrow after all the riding, running and swimming. I'm thinking about doing a "pantie ride," where I'll wear a swimsuit bottom, because I am SICK AND TIRED of the fucking bike shorts tan lines (I browned up my thighs a bit when I swam 4800 yards in an outdoor pool last week and to a lesser extent at Triple T). After all, I have a reputation to uphold. And I always say, that when I look bad dressed that way, please let me know and I will CEASE AND DESIST. I'm more than happy to call "fashion police" on others, so I expect no lesser treatment of myself. Too bad all you Anonymous bloggers can't bitch and moan about how narcisisstic I am and blah, blah, blah. Are you doing 8 hours of workout tomorrow? No? LOSER.

Now I have some "homework" to do in order to get my head on straight for tomorrow. And I need to apply the customary temporary tattoos (I hope to find more in Madison tomorrow--you can basically get anything there). Other than that, I'm all shaved up and fed with no place in particular to go until I head out the door about 7:30AM tomorrow. The Incredible Hulk beckons!

Time to Wind it Up!

First, I made it through 10 consecutive days where I either biked or ran or both, including 5 days in a row of cycling (last Friday through Tuesday), 3 brick workouts, 2 long runs (2:15 and 2:00) and boatloads (20,400 yards--HOLY CRAP!) of swimming. My 2:00 run yesterday went quite well, even though my quads were pissed off at me from the get-go. Too fucking bad, I told them, we need to run.

I ran in Waterfall Glen, and started at 6:00AM. We had storms roll through the day before that finally dropped the temperatures, but the humidity remained in the early hours. I had "governors" of sorts while there, because there were a few cross country teams (half-naked young men, thank you very much, and a few girls) doing intervals on the trail, and I also saw this pair of runners that I believe must be ultrarunners because of how skinny and chiseled they are. So you know the rule--you can't slow down or look bad or walk a hill when there are other runners within eyeshot, and this got me to charge a few hills that I would have otherwise taken easy. My average pace was 8:58/mile, which is a teensy bit more than my alleged open 1/2 marathon pace. Considering that only :40 of the run was supposed to be at 1/2 marathon pace and the course has some serious hills, I feel like I ran pretty well. Cool weather helped!

Today begins the official Race Rehearsal weekend. I take these things pretty seriously. This morning, I'm swimming a 2.4-mile TT (the total workout will be about 3 miles), and then I head up to Wisconsin where I'll ride the full Ironman course tomorrow followed by a 6-mile run. I'm doing the swim in an outdoor 50-meter pool, which will be nice, because it's only 55 degrees right now, and the pool should be COLD and I'll wear my wetsuit. Bonus--less laps to count!

I set up Bitchie, as you can see above, with her race wheels, so she's a bit lighter than usual. I mixed my bottles of Infinit, Ultrafuel (aka "gag juice"), Endurox R4, and I have a can of Ultra Violence defizzing that will be used for the run. I'll be staying in Verona rather than Madison, just because I like the hotel that I stay at in Verona, and it's right on the bike loop. I will begin my ride from there, and do the out-and-back part (to and from Madison) first, and then I'll ride the loop twice. I'll stop back at the hotel to pick up my second bottle of calories at some point.

When I finish riding, I'll run right from the hotel on the Military Ridge trail, which is pretty sweet. Technically, this doesn't mimic race conditions since it's crushed limestone, but that's OK.

This will be my first time riding the Wisconsin course this year. Some summers, I'll ride the thing maybe 4 or 5 times. This year, I'm riding it tomorrow, part of it again next week at my coach's training camp (you can still sign up for it!), a little bit the day before Ironman Wisconsin (where I'll be officiating on the back of a motorcycle driven by Rich again), and then if I decide I'm still in, the following weekend will be a full-course ride as part of an unsupported Ironman "race." Horribly Hilly included parts of Garfoot Road in the reverse direction from the Ironman, and that ride is MUCH harder than the full Ironman course. Triple T was also much harder riding that the Wisconsin course. And I believe the Wisconsin course is tougher than Lake Placid.

So we'll just have to see how well I ride. My FTP is a bit down from its high last year, but yet I seem to be riding faster than last year. I know my CdA is probably pretty low, which always helps, and I no longer use the aerobottle, as I think it's kinda gay. I also believe that my CdA is less without it, although someone pointed me at some alleged study that said they improved it. All I know is that when I ride without it, I seem to go faster. Go figure!

Cindy was going to join me for the weekend but can't make it due to family commitments. That's OK, since I need to ride my own ride anyway, but I'll miss her post-ride. No worries--I know the Madison area pretty well, and I will just enjoy a weekend away from home, and no doubt I'll spot friends and they will spot me while I'm up there. I could come home tomorrow night, but I'm going to stay and chill, and then drive back early Sunday when traffic will be light.

Enjoy your weekend and I'll update you when I'm back about how it all went!