Funked Up Triathletes - Season 2 - Olympic/Sprint Focus - Closed (Page 24)

Okay, request sent! I haven't been posting any pictures yet at all. - I will wait until I actually finish the race (hopefully finishing..). Not many of my friends even knew I was doing this until one of my friends posted something and tagged me. I'm a "fly under the radar" kind of person.

Got it. That's cool. I can relate to that. Very few people know my wife is training for IM too. I post some tri stuff on FB, but very rarely will post anything workout related. We always have a good laugh about some people we know that post about every 1.62 mile run they do and portray themselves as fitness experts. Looking forward to seeing how this whole thing goes and what the "game day" prep looks like.

Hahaha, I absolutely have friends like that.

Marni (trimarni.com) is there. Her husband races and is going for a Kona slot at the race. She's posted some pictures of the town. Looks pretty awesome!

The town is GORGEOUS and we will definitely come back both in the winter to ski and is love to do the 70.3 here. 2017 is already sold out so maybe I'll try for 2018.

Trying to hold down dinner. Bike and transition bags have been dropped off. Crap weather moving in...just for Sunday, Monday is beautiful. Temps look great but 1"-2" rain expected during the race with lightning. Also forecast fog in the morning so we shall see if that happens. Hahahaha. It is truly an Ironman.

So post-race the discussions started. I saw multiple bike crashes on the first loop, particularly on Chemin Duplessis there were multiple ambulances and police cars. I saw bodies on the ground. My sis in law said on her second loop there was another accident in the same spot and also out on route 117 involving multiple people; she saw lots of blood on the ground and a guy laying there in a torn up tri kit all bloodied. Apparently on Duplessis there was a 15 cyclist crash - I heard that from a few people. Crazy day.
With all that being said; the venue is amazingly beautiful and I will return. The course is challenging but very fair (though I have nothing to compare it to for long distance). My husband and others are trying to convince me to do IMMD now since it's not closed and I'm essentially trained. I would very much miss having someone to "do" the race with. I'm up in the air. I'm looking at a HIM on Labor Day weekend I've been wanting to do.
The experience was great and I've learned to not trust forecast temps AT ALL. I get cold easily and I would have had no problem if I had been wearing my thermal arm and leg warmers - but who thinks of that when it's forecast to be in the mid 70's (it never came close to those temps).
Not finishing is very raw with me right now as I have never not finished something...ever, and I've gone over and over if I could have continued on. One girl I've spoken with did continue on by wearing a garbage bag on the bike but she was vomiting on the run and ended up in the hospital (just released this morning) after finishing in 16:33. Hmmm. I'll be back, count on it.
I stopped with the beginnings of hypothermia - lips and hands and feet were blue/white and I was shaking uncontrollably. I couldn't stop pedaling on the downhills as my legs were shaking so badly I almost went down a few times. It was interesting.

Man, what a bummer. I was tracking you periodically throughout the day and had planned to watch live when you finished.

Tracking an Ironman is a weird thing (I was tracking another friend who was at CDA):
-morning working out: check on athlete...swimming
-at church: check on athlete....swimming
-at church (at the end): check on athlete....bike
-eat lunch: check on athlete....bike
-get ready to go swim workout: check on athlete....bike
-done with swim workout: check on athlete...bike
-start up the grill: check on athlete....you get the picture....

ha ha. It's weird how life goes on and all these things happen....while friends are griding away for hour-after-hour.

I was gutted when your time didn't update. I wondered if it was a glitch, but then I started seeing other athlete times and thought something was up. As you said, the splits looked good. It sounds like it was wretched out there.. I've read lots of reports and have heard about many bad accidents.


It's good to hear that you've still got your fight though. I think maybe you hubby is right: it's expensive...but maybe you should give IMMD a go. Or.....you could see us i Louisville the next week LOL. It's not sold out, either. I will tell you, before we signed up for IMLou, I looked into MD, FL and a few others. The consensus is that MD is a real pain for getting accommodations. Just a heads up, you may look into that as before you sign up.

I am sure it is tough, and you're not in a real happy place. Keep your chin up. I know you will battle through this.

Ah....good to know about accommodations..
I haven't looked at the one your wife is doing, I wonder if it is closed; I'll have to check. It may coincide better with my college's October break.... Hmmmm, thanks for the food for thought. I think now that my husband has seen an IM branded race he is fired up - he knows my mentality and how hard it was for me to not finish and is encouraging me to sign up. He even wants to get into some tri's now!!! Unheard of!! He just said I need to find him a bike with a comfortable seat. Hahahaha. He's has a swimming background so that will be his forte. I will say the IM brand race - you really get what you pay for without a doubt.

That's awesome! I can say, without doubt, Triathlon has been more fun since my wife has gotten into it. It has made scheduling more a bit tricky at time, but also better too. She has always been very supportive of training, but now, since she's doing it too, she has a real good grasp of what the training plan looks like and why certain aspects of it are important. I love it. Even this IM training thing...we're starting to count down the days until life is "normal" again, but it's still fun ( I say this while at work knowing she's on the tail end of a 4 hours training ride + 90 minute run. Ha!).

Okay..so I just signed up for a HIM next weekend...because...why not.
I've also booked a hotel for IMMD on October 1st in case I pull the trigger and sign up.
I'm a little nutty and irrational right now but I'm pissed I didn't finish IMMT.
By the way...you guys MUST go up and do either the full or half there sometime...it's gorgeous. And stay a few days after the race so you can actually enjoy it.

That's cool. What HIM is it?

Yesterday, I took the day off and wife and I rode 100 miles. That's by far the farthest I've ever ridden. I don't think I've ever rode over 65 miles before.

I could definitely tell she has IM training in her legs, and I've got HIM training in mine. About mile 50 I feeling fatigued and she was alot stronger. Actually, by mile 100 I wasn't feeling too bad and she did great also. I would love to do IMMT or 70.3 someday. The atmosphere seems awesome. That would most likely be a flying event, so would have to carefully plan that.

I saw the school pic of your boys. I knew you had 2 boys, but didn't realized how close in age they are to mine. I've got a 6th grader and a 5th grader. (plus K and 3 year old).

Keep up the training! Eager to hear how the IMMD plan works out...if it does....

Half iron tomorrow... Nervous. Don't forget, I started a taper 5 weeks ago....haven't run over 6 miles in 5-6 weeks....have done one swim in 2 weeks...have a strained ham/glute/pelvic floor thing going on.. Aquabike would have been a good choice here. We shall see how it goes though!

Based on what I was seeing on FB....sounds like you had quite a good race. How was it?

Official time was 6:00:32 - good enough for 2nd in my age group. I kind of laugh because that wouldn't get me 10th in my age group in Tupper Lake. I also chuckle because there are so many places I could have shaved 32 seconds off to get sub-6 hours. During the run I stopped twice to offer help to two different people who were having some issues - one girl was having a bad leg cramp. Another older gentleman just seemed to be struggling so I pulled up next to him and walked with him for a bit and chatted to just kind of check in with him. I wasn't really paying too much attention to my overall time as I was running with a strained piriformis muscle in my left leg so I was walking the uphills and couldn't use my leg at all on the swim. At mile 9 the piriformis decided it would prefer to no longer do this race. hahaha. So I was relegated to really walking all of the uphill sections and hobbling/jogging the flats and downhills. I was very close to having tears in my eyes it was so uncomfortable. Then I reminded myself that that just wouldn't do and I only had less than 4 miles to go at that point. It's all good. I'm happy with my time and happy I did the race. I had some friends there too and finished early enough to be able to cheer two of them in (from a chair). As soon as I crossed the finish line my hubby had to become my crutch out of the shoot. The leg just shut down. I'm slowly on the mend. With lots of Advil I can hobble on my own now. This too shall come to pass. Obviously this means I won't be going down for IMMD this year. (so glad I hadn't officially signed up yet!!)

Next up...I'd like to get in a late fall marathon. I've never done one and would like to have it as a confidence builder for IMMT next year. :D
Yes, I want to finish what I started.

Your wife is getting close!!! Taper mode yet??? I forgot the date for her race.. She will be great! I'm sending positive vibes and good weather vibes!!

Edited by aviatrix802 2016-09-07 7:18 PM

are you (or should I say, your wife) in taper mode yet? I have to check dates of when her race is. So exciting!!!

WELP, I'm in taper. Last week, and then this week. My race is this Sunday. It's turned out to be a disappointment.

The race is about 4.5 hours away, near St Louis, MO. The past 2 years, I've taken the fam and we made a little weekend out of it. Year 1, I had a PR for 70.3 and last year really wanted to build on that. I took several steps backwards as it was super windy and I really struggled and burnt myself on the bike. I made the mistake of chasing a certain time/speed regardless of the circumstances and it really hurt me. That was a tough one to swallow.

After wife signed up for IMLou, I decided to pass on Savageman (happened this past weekend) and go for Border Wars again, and look for some redemption. Due to a number of circumstances, it's not going to work out to take the family. I have some big things going at work and it's a terrible time to take an additional Friday or Monday off. So, my long race weekend/family time is turning into a quick trip by myself to do the race and then come home the same day.

Now...to make matters worse...the RD announced on Saturday that they had to cancel the swim. According to the RD, they "confirmed that the water is NOT safe for swimming. Both E Coli and Fecal Coliform were too high for safe swimming. " Yuk. So, now my big 70.3 is a duathlon. And the course is changed substantially. It's now a 3.1 run, 56 bike, 13.1 run. Ha ha. So much for redeeming last year's race!

Wife is close to taper. She' in a tough spot with 3 weeks out. She is a nurse and works 7pm-7am, but only 1 shift every few weeks. Due to some weird scheduling circumstances, she had to work 2 nights in a row this weekend. This really threw off the schedule. Plus, her training plan called for a 3hr run on Friday. She did a 70.3 5 days prior and the nutrition coach I work with advised her NOT to do that run. She said that at this point, that run would hurt her, not help her.

So she has a week of hard training left, and it's sort of messed up due to schedule. I know she's feeling a bit overwhelmed and uncertain, and many people on the IMLou FB page are talking about big workouts this week that I know she's not going to be doing. I'm sure you know very well the balance between feeling under-trained / trying to rigidly follow a schedule, and listening to the body.

Both of us (but her to a higher degree) are Nazi's for following a plan. If she has a pre-written training plan (1 year in advance) that calls for a 3 hour run in week 6, day 4....she goes insane if that doesn't happen. Regardless of how the body feels.

So...that's the current situation here. I'm going to taper this week, try not to get too fat and race my best. Then it's shift in focus to my back-to-back Half marathons (still no idea what I'm going to do on that, race strategy wise) and also focusing on getting her ready for IM.

BTW, how would you race a 3.1R/56B/13.1R? Really, I'm not sure how to tackle that first run leg? Normally, on a 5K, I go hard the entire time. Completely different circumstances here.

I haven't been on here in forever. Have you already done the race? Hahaha. I think for the first 5k I would start slowish the first mile to warm up and streadily increase speed to a moderate/hardish pace but certainly not all out because now you have the bike. But that's me and you have different strengths than I do.

So IMLou is almost here!!!! Woohoo!!!

The race was last weekend. Overall, it was a pretty good race. The race has gotten smaller each year and it's kind of sad. But it was still a fun event.

Super quick recap:

5k - I ran a bit above the pace that I wanted, but I felt good. My pace was 9:14/mi. This is much slower than what I can feel good running a 5k in, but it was at around what I hoped my HM race pace would be. Mentally, it was hard to hold back, because I was in the back 1/4 of runners at that pace, and I knew lots of people were running too quick. So I held back, but I didn't hold back enough.

bike - felt really good and strong. I was passing passing passing. MPH was about 21 for the leg. I was trying to ride easy and did so for the most part. About mile 50, I started to feel it and also started looking at the clock. I think I burned a few matches as I was still passing people at that point and starting to chase a fictional target I started to create. Overall, felt good.

HM run - I started off feeling good, but the heat was there. I ran the first mile in about 8:54 and was feeling really good, but then my heart rate went crazy. I actually felt a bit of chest pain (never felt that before) and it scared me. I knew I was hot, so I walked the water station and tried to cool myself. It was pure carnage from there. This run takes place on a levee next to the river. No shade, no protection. You're just out there for about 12.5 miles of the 13.1. I started to melt.

This is in St. Louis area....4 hours from my hometown in KC. KC was in the mid-60 degrees with rain the previous day. Race time temps were in the mid 90s. My garmin shows the ambient temps for my run between 93-102 during the run. I tried to manage it, but just did more and more walking. About mile 9, quads hammys and calves all alternated cramping. In fact, everyone was hurting. I looked at the overall times, and only about 8 people averaged under 10min miles.

So, while it wasn't "great", looking back I am realizing that sometimes circumstances are such that it's not a "PR" day, and it's out of your control.

Also, looking back, I'm kicking myself for some strategic mistakes: I ran a little fast in leg 1. I didn't stay disciplined on the bike the entire leg. Only 90%, but I'm sure it hurt. I also did not plan properly for the heat. I drank extra the day before, but I didn't take salt, or a few other things. Part of it is that because of changes to the race format, the change to the race weekend (by myself, little fan fare) etc, I just didn't plan properly.

My race season is done, except for back-to-back half marathons in a few weeks. I'm not sure how I am going to do that. It's 3 days after the race, and I can still barely walk down stairs. I'm feeling like a dummy for signing up for those.

IMLou is next week, so now all planning is going toward leaving for Louisville next week. Exciting times. Wife is VERY nervous and is now officially in taper.

It sounds like you did the best you could under the odd circumstances with having to run first. That would totally screw me up. Heat just creeps up on you and wham, it's like hitting a wall. I think you did really well on a mid-90 degree day! Holy smokes! Yuk on heat. I'm glad you didn't have any major problems like I've seen people have on the run in the heat. That can get dangerous for sure.

I am so excited for your wife, I know she's nervous but the hay is in the barn and this is the fun part!!
I've been following 3 people doing IMMD today and that race has had its own issues. They cancelled the swim and shortened the bike to 100 miles for a section of road about a mile long that yesterday had 6" of water standing on it. Crazy. They haven't had horrible weather today, maybe a few intermittent showers, but temp is 71 right now with overcast skies - you can't ask for better than that. It looks like in another couple of hours there will be a line going through with t-storms but a thin line and everyone should be off the bike by then. One guy on the IMMD FB site opted to not start and signed up for IMLou next weekend. Ouch on the costs.

Good luck on those back-to-back HM's! You're a beast!

I have not been able to do a thing since my HIM on Labor Day weekend. That muscle pull has done me in for a bit. I still walk with mild pain, can't stand on my left foot -to put a sock on for example - without major pain. I really tweaked the piriformis. It's coming along but I feel like all of my hard-earned fitness is sliding away and I'm going to have to start from square one again. I really could do something - like core work and swim with a pull buoy and maybe upper body strength training. I have been working my butt off flight instructing and teaching a course at the local college this semester (which I've not done in the fall semester before). Hubby travels a lot during the week so it's just me hauling kids to multiple venues for different sports. I love watching them play (heading to a night football game for my 9 year old in about an hour) but for sure my "free-time" is non existent this fall and I am still up at 5:30 in the morning without exercising!

I do still hope to get a late fall marathon in - or something of good distance soon so I'm antsy for my leg to get better....then back into IM training in February for Mont Tremblant again!! Damnit, I'm bringing a full insulated Gortex suit to wear on the bike this time! hahahahaha! I want this race bad. Plus it's just so beautiful there. You guys need to consider putting that race on your bucket list.

What is your wife's bib #?? I'd love to follow her! I'm hoping none of the weather reaches you guys there!
Good luck to her and I wish her skill, patience, and endurance!! Rock it, girl!!
Good on you, Dave, for supporting her!

Bib 867. We're here in Louisville now. It's a great town and awesome atmosphere. Pretty cool. I'm really excited. She's a little nervous but excited too. I'm volunteering at the swim start. After my Post is. Finished... The drinking will start And I'll be one of those Crazy cheerers. Should be lots of fun!!

That's awesome that you're volunteering - very cool. Are you guys watching IWC today for a little inspiration?! I've been sitting here streaming it live.
Good luck to your wife tomorrow!! I hope she has a blast!!!

Yup, bike is checked. Now, we're just at the hotel relaxing. Her sister flew in this morning as a surprise.

Ok, hopefully you saw all the facebook stuff. Ironman was awesome! Jamie did great and her recovery is amazing. What a high we've been on.

Back to reality. We got back on Monday night. Tuesday night, the transmission went out on one of our cars. It's 15 days out of warranty. I have to fight that battle. My knee is broken. I think I tore my ACL again. I knew about it late last week but didn't tell wife because I didn't want her stressed. Visit to Ortho today....waiting to get in for an MRI. So, both of my half-marathons are cancelled. I had a pre-booked room in Des Moines that is non refundable.

When it rains it pours. Ugh!