Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 123)

Tony, we'll be here to help you through.  Wisconsin is a very challenging course.  Bring your compact crank and take it easy on the hills.  I mentioned this in your blog, but the hardest part of an Ironman is showing up at the start line.  It's along road with a lot of stress on your body.  Be smart and disciplined.

Samantha, definitely take the time to fully heal and don't sabotage your running for longer by getting overly aggressive as you recover.

Dirk, is it just the uploading to Garmin connect that's failing?  I've actually had that happen a lot when their site has some issues.  I haven't done any training the past few days or I'd try and let you know if I'm able to upload a workout.  Good luck.

Jonathan is a week and a half away from the big day.  Have a blast if you're reading this!

The U of M triathlon club (which I was never a part of) does custom orders every year to get race kits and other team apparel.  I'm not sure if they would take an order from a non-member, but it doesn't hurt to ask if it interests you.  There's contact information for their officers on their website: https://sites.google.com/site/universityofmichigantriathlon/

Some of the website seems a bit outdated, but I think the listed president/vp are current officers.

Honestly, I am slightly relieved for this week off I am giving myself.  Although it does not exactly make me happy to think that my half marathon would be better with a full week of running, I think I need the forced rest... I am really hoping I will be good to go by next week to get in 3 quality weeks of running before 2 weeks of reduction before race day.

That is an awesome T1 pic!   I mean, that really sucks.  At my last 2 races, what was really awesome is that each row was lettered.  For example, if my bike was in row C, all I had to do coming out of the swim go straight to the sign with row C, no counting necessary!  (Of course, once you get to the row, you need to know where your bike is...)

No that really does suck and I've done that before, it is infuriating.  I think all races should have this lettering system or something similar- you will never go down the wrong row again!  (as long as you remember your letter.)

First time I saw this was at my July race.  Just curious, is this the norm for others in your races?

Sounds like you need a break from the emotional toil of your training.  But I will point out for your consideration that if you want to "speed up the recovery" that cycling will dramatically speed this up.  So will a long pleasant walk.  And hot baths.

What you are feeling is something I'm very experienced with so I can sympathize.  I learned long ago to stop doing that to myself so I don't miss training.    But that's one of the perks of being old...you learn what things will do this to you and have the experience to know before you do it!

Yes it is the just the uploading that isn't working.  Ever since last week when it said there was a firmware update it has been choking.  It will start to upload and then about half way through it chokes  and won't finish.  It only gives me a message that the upload failed.  It is really frustrating because I have so much data I would like to be able to see and I can't really get a good look at it.

And Brenda, I have been called lots of things but patient has NEVER been one of them.  And NO!!!!!  I am not praying for patience!!!!!  I have enough trials.  I don't want or need anymore.

I checked the site out and maybe I'll see if they can order a tri kit for me next year or when I come into some money.  I have a feeling it is only for the athletes but I may give it a shot anyway.

I found the girl that raced on Sunday and she won her AG.  Nisa Penland is her name.  Yeah, I kinda had to stalk her a little bit to see if it was her.

Jo63 - 2012-09-11 6:39 PM Tony I am so excited for you that you are doing IMW! I am pretty sure I saw only foundation slots are available so I will be there to cheer you on no racing for me...if you have any questions about the corse let me know! Despite my not finishing I had a lot of fun the people of Madison are awesome the way they line up and dress up to cheer you on. Sam sorry to hear about your injury, hopefully recovery will be quick for you! As for me I am still fighting this crap....I stayed home today still with a fever a nasty sinus infection but my sore throat is almost gone, Hopefully I will be all better by this weekend so I can hop right into my MCM training

I spoke a guy tonight at the pool that volunteered at IMWI over the weekend and he waited in line for over 4 hours to register for next year's race.  He said they were so worried about the slot selling out with the weekends athletes, volunteers and the online registration opening up that they had to reserve slots away from the online registration to make sure they had enough for the "guaranteed" slots.  He said it was really crazy to see how many people there were on location that wanted into the race.

It sounds like Tony did the right thing by being online to get in position right up front!

This man also told me that he thinks I should volunteer before planning to complete an IM.  He said you can't possibly witness some of the things you do and NOT be motivated to do an IM.  I am already giving consideration to doing just that.  But I will have to talk Lis into letting me or helping me volunteer.

They also might have some extra gear laying around from previous years that they are looking to get rid of, perhaps at a cheaper price.  (I once went to their informational meeting so I was put on their mailing list and haven't asked to be taken off, so I occasionally read their e-mails... I'm not sure if I wanted to admit that so shhh... )

Jo63 - 2012-09-11 6:39 PM Tony I am so excited for you that you are doing IMW! I am pretty sure I saw only foundation slots are available so I will be there to cheer you on no racing for me...if you have any questions about the corse let me know! Despite my not finishing I had a lot of fun the people of Madison are awesome the way they line up and dress up to cheer you on. Sam sorry to hear about your injury, hopefully recovery will be quick for you! As for me I am still fighting this crap....I stayed home today still with a fever a nasty sinus infection but my sore throat is almost gone, Hopefully I will be all better by this weekend so I can hop right into my MCM training

JoAnne I appreciate that and I have been doing my homework on the bike course and while I have a very healthy respect for it that S curve on Garfoot Rd. frightens me LOL so yeah I will probably be getting your take on the course since you've gotten to ride it. I also got the same offer from one of the guys I swim with tonight as well and I will certainly be taking you both up on that offer.

DirkP - 2012-09-11 7:04 PM

Jo63 - 2012-09-11 6:39 PM Tony I am so excited for you that you are doing IMW! I am pretty sure I saw only foundation slots are available so I will be there to cheer you on no racing for me...if you have any questions about the corse let me know! Despite my not finishing I had a lot of fun the people of Madison are awesome the way they line up and dress up to cheer you on. Sam sorry to hear about your injury, hopefully recovery will be quick for you! As for me I am still fighting this crap....I stayed home today still with a fever a nasty sinus infection but my sore throat is almost gone, Hopefully I will be all better by this weekend so I can hop right into my MCM training

I spoke a guy tonight at the pool that volunteered at IMWI over the weekend and he waited in line for over 4 hours to register for next year's race.  He said they were so worried about the slot selling out with the weekends athletes, volunteers and the online registration opening up that they had to reserve slots away from the online registration to make sure they had enough for the "guaranteed" slots.  He said it was really crazy to see how many people there were on location that wanted into the race.

It sounds like Tony did the right thing by being online to get in position right up front!

This man also told me that he thinks I should volunteer before planning to complete an IM.  He said you can't possibly witness some of the things you do and NOT be motivated to do an IM.  I am already giving consideration to doing just that.  But I will have to talk Lis into letting me or helping me volunteer.

Yeah you can. I volunteered at IM LOU last summer while Tiff raced. I even trained with her for all of the long swims and 3/4 of the long bike rides - still no desire to complete an IM for me. All I thought while watching the race was "These people are nuts, I never want to do this!" LOL Meant with the utmost respect of course .

Maybe we should get a Junkie group together and all go volunteer when Tony races next summer!

By the way Tony, not make you worry or anything, but all of my local friends who just raced Wisconsin say they are NOT going back!!

Samantha good luck with your week off. I'm pretty beat up this week too but of course can not let the workouts go. I did take one whole day off on Monday though.

I'm trying not to hit the NASIDS for every little thing since all the races are over for me and of course I started this on Sunday after I ran 5 miles for the first time in months. Sometimes I'm really brilliant like that. So Monday and yesterday I felt pretty rotten and decided no running. Well I did some aqua jogging after my swim yesterday but no road running. I am happy to say so far today I feel much better. This is a bigger challenge to me than anything I do with my training. I have some biofreeze for my back and other than that I am just trying to listen to my body and accept what it is telling me. I think it's just telling me I'm aging......

trigal38 - 2012-09-12 7:55 AM

DirkP - 2012-09-11 7:04 PM

Jo63 - 2012-09-11 6:39 PM Tony I am so excited for you that you are doing IMW! I am pretty sure I saw only foundation slots are available so I will be there to cheer you on no racing for me...if you have any questions about the corse let me know! Despite my not finishing I had a lot of fun the people of Madison are awesome the way they line up and dress up to cheer you on. Sam sorry to hear about your injury, hopefully recovery will be quick for you! As for me I am still fighting this crap....I stayed home today still with a fever a nasty sinus infection but my sore throat is almost gone, Hopefully I will be all better by this weekend so I can hop right into my MCM training

I spoke a guy tonight at the pool that volunteered at IMWI over the weekend and he waited in line for over 4 hours to register for next year's race.  He said they were so worried about the slot selling out with the weekends athletes, volunteers and the online registration opening up that they had to reserve slots away from the online registration to make sure they had enough for the "guaranteed" slots.  He said it was really crazy to see how many people there were on location that wanted into the race.

It sounds like Tony did the right thing by being online to get in position right up front!

This man also told me that he thinks I should volunteer before planning to complete an IM.  He said you can't possibly witness some of the things you do and NOT be motivated to do an IM.  I am already giving consideration to doing just that.  But I will have to talk Lis into letting me or helping me volunteer.

Yeah you can. I volunteered at IM LOU last summer while Tiff raced. I even trained with her for all of the long swims and 3/4 of the long bike rides - still no desire to complete an IM for me. All I thought while watching the race was "These people are nuts, I never want to do this!" LOL Meant with the utmost respect of course .

Maybe we should get a Junkie group together and all go volunteer when Tony races next summer!

By the way Tony, not make you worry or anything, but all of my local friends who just raced Wisconsin say they are NOT going back!!

Dina I feel so much better knowing that now LOL. That is funny, there is one guy I have swam with this season who did Wisconsin and it was his worst IM experience. He had a bad race and he still did it in under 12 hours! I pressed him for details but he said he doesn't remember a lot of it and didn't want to LOL. He has done IM's in Cda, Arizona, Lake Placid etc. so it was not a ringing endorsement to say the least. However one of the other guys I swim with regularly has done the course and has offered to help me out when ready which I greatly appreciate. It would be very cool to get to see you guys there or maybe we can get the Junkies together as Dirk suggest for a race up Indy. That would be very awesome. 

Samantha and Dina I hope you guys are feeling better. I have been feeling very worn down myself lately. I didn't realize it until yesterday when I checked my logs but I have not taken a day off from training in 3 weeks! I didn't realize it until I looked, no wonder I feel the way I do. I went swimming last night and I didn't think I would be able to do the full mile but I did and it wound up being one of the best swims I ever had. I never felt so relaxed in the water. Not sure if it was the beautiful and tranquil evening, me being so tired or what but it was a great swim. I will try and squeeze one more very easy effort and short run and bike today and then tomorrow I am taking a day off. I can honestly say I need it.

Dirk I think Tracy had suggested this way back when but if the U of M tri kit doesn't pan out maybe you should think about putting together a Junkies tri kit with the colors of U of M. To be honest I am seriously considering doing some like that for IMWI. It would be very cool to represent and wear that on the run assuming I make it the far of course.

Tony, out of curiosity are you planning on heading to Madison before the IM at all to check out the course?  (I know it's far but thought I'd ask anyway...)

Dina, I would definitely consider volunteering at IMWI.  It does seem like it would be quite the experience.  Also I visited Madison for the first time last summer and I really liked the city.  It might have been more that I went in with no expectations, and so when I went I was really pleased, but there was just something about it that I liked.  Also the farmer's market was quite awesome and you got to sample lots of different cheeses.   That was on Saturday, so I think it'd be open during IM weekend too?

I have been thinking about whether or not I would want to do an IM... I think I need to do a marathon first just to see if I'd want to swim and bike beforehand!  I might do a spring marathon depending on how I feel after the half marathon in a few weeks.  Thinking about having to put in all those miles slightly scares me... as does the race itself.  I don't want to be suffering through it.

Samantha I would really like to get out there before hand and ride the bike course but I am not sure if I will be able to pull that off. I will have to see. I am also thinking I may just try and pick up a used computrainer so I can virtually ride the course and at least be familiar with it. I know I can train here on LI for it. We have plenty of hills so I am sure I that won't be a problem but nothing is better than getting to actually see and ride the course before doing the race.

Also if you are considering an IM I think it is a good idea to do a marathon before hand. It is quite an experience to run that distance. I would also have to agree right now I can't comprehend swimming and biking that long and then running a marathon. It seems all doable when you hear and read about it and then when you have to do well..........I just can't think about that right now LOL

I wanted to stop in and thank everyone for the prayes and thoughts of support on Monday.  It was an extremely difficult day and the decisions that my brother and I had to make were almost impossible.  To be able to seperate the selfish thoughts of not wanting to lose a loved one from what would be best and what the loved one would want is impossible.  Ultimately we decided that our Father would not want to be restricted to machines and a bed for any given time let alone the rest of his life.  On Monday at 1:05pm my father passed to a better place.  I have accepted this knowing that he is in a better place and can finally rest comfortably after several years of struggling.  During this process I was informed by a DR that he told Dad 3 yrs ago that his chance of survival then was slim.  Of course Dad did not tell us this and managed to fight through that which amazed the DR's.  Just shows the stubborn bullheadness that exists in him and his will to spend more time with the grandkids, which was his ultimate drive.

The sorrow of his passing has started to subside now as we move on to celebrating his life and achievements!

Thank you again for the support, even though I do not know each of you personnally it is nice to have a place to express my thoughts not only in training but in lifes struggles also.

I think this would look better

I volunteered for IMFL this year, Nov 3.  Not sure what I'll be doing as I have not heard back except that I was in.  I volunteered for security???  I heard that was the best cause you can walk around and do things.

No, I'm not signing up to do IMFL next year, maybe 2014???  but that is a LONG way away and I'll be 53 then, not sure if I can take it at that age...  I do know it fills up VERY fast!

Hope everyone is feeling better!

Matt my deepest sympathies and condolences to you and your family. I cannot even imagine how difficult that must have been for you and your family. Again my thoughts and prayers going out to you and your family and yes I agree while it is difficult you should be celebrating your Dad's life and his achievements as I'm sure that's what he would have wanted you do to.

Karl that is great and this is the first step towards doing it besides you already read the book "You are an Ironman" so you know after you experience it there in person you will be in line the next day registering for 2014.