kenj triathletes in training - IM and HIM focused - Closed (Page 53)

Good luck all those racing this weekend!

I was supposed to be going to Vegas this weekend to watch the 70.3 Championships and have a little vacation. But my wife's best client called and needed her, so guess who's vacation got pushed back! I was going to go out on my own and leave my wife behind to meet me later, but she changed my flight before I knew it!

Glad you got in Ken! It would be great if that lessened the number wanting to do FL...who knows!

Ali - try to relax and remember to enjoy every minute of the experience. Wishing you speedy arms, strong legs and fast feet!!

Becky - nice tattoo! I'm skipping this ritual...had enough ink while I was in college!

I love the tatoo, Becky!!!

Well, I made it to Madison.

I had an early morning (6-7:00am) master's swim on Wednesday, then a Dentist's appointment (8:00am)(just a cleaning), then I hit the road. I drove from Winnipeg to Minneapolis and spent the night there. I continued on to Madison on Thursday afternoon. I checked into my hotel and drove to the Monona Terrace CC for athlete check in. I got my wristband and all my gear bags. It was like a ride at Disney World. They led you through a series of line-ups, filled out forms, got weighed (?), and picked up the gear. Then you exited through the gift shop. I made a deal with myself that I wasn't going to buy anything until I completed the race. I don't want to jinx it. I went for a swim in my wetsuit to test the waters. It was very choppy, but the water was warm.

Today I am riding my bike back down to the MTCC for the 2:00pm athlete meeting. I will do a quick run then attend the athlete dinner. I already have all my gear bags packed and ready to go. Saturday I have to drop the bike off and all the gear bags off. Saturday is going to be a long day of waiting. Sunday is going to be a long day of up early, eating, getting the shuttle to the MTCC and then the race itself.

My name is Dwayne Wheeler (there are 3 Wheelers in the race, weird) and my bib number is 2180 if anyone wants to follow along.

If I survive, I will post a wrap up on Monday or Tuesday.

Dwayne

Awesome, Dwayne, how exciting! I think you'll find that race day won't seem long at all! Saturday might, though, especially if your gear bags are already packed. I'll be checking up on you throughout the day, I wish you a most fantastic experience and race! Oh, and I did the same thing, no purchases in the expo until the day after--this was major for me because I am a sucker for race expos. Shelled out $250 the day after the race, though, and that did NOT include one of the coveted finisher jackets (since I rarely wear jackets in Florida). Found plenty of other stuff to spend my money on, though.

Good luck!!

I think it may take awhile to sort our the whole Chattanooga debacle...apparently they had something like 1000 pre-registered through some tri-club programs in the south. Those who pre-registered were told to keep it under wraps....just another day for WTC!! Hope it all work out for you Ken.

Good luck in IMWI ... I do admit to shopping pre-race. I was glad I did since the only thing I really liked (and bought) was completely sold out by Saturday. Plus they had some great $9 t-shirt for the family so everyone felt involved. You'd think my father-in-law had actually ran the race as much as he's worn his IMMT shirt.

Trying to convince some friends to do Chicago Marathon 2015 ...they've done like 10 HM over the past 3 years....and don't think they can train/finish a marathon.

We also need to wish Bill good luck tomorrow doing the SOS (since I cant spell the full thing out!)  That is an interesting race format so I am looking forward to hearing how it goes!!

Good luck in cow country Ali, Dwayne, Kathleen, Scott. I might be missing someone, but in this group its easier to remember who is NOT doing an IM this weekend. Rock it, one and all...

Thanks all for the well wishes! The winds are going to make an already very challenging course even more so. The weather report says that we are in for 10-20 mile an hour winds. UGH! Ali joined Carla, me and a couple of others at the athlete dinner. We then went out for frozen yogurt. It was a nice evening. Today was about getting the bike and bags to where they needed to be. My goal is to just make all the cut offs and get in before midnight, however as I learned from IMFL last year, anything can happen.
Thanks again!

Good Luck Bill!

Thanks for the updates!

Sorry to hear about the Chatanooga debacle. It seems really unfair, and unprofessional. I haven't been to a Ironman branded competition yet (even to spectate), but haven't been impressed with a lot of stuff that I've heard. Of course, my friend really wanted to have that experience so for our first HIM we are headed to Austin 70.3, so maybe I'll feel differently after that weekend. I hope so.

Keep up the good work in Wisconsin everyone!!

I had my half marathon yesterday. I did not meet my 2 hour goal. I did have a pretty good run, but am annoyed with myself because my run was interrupted by a rather spectacular fall. Most of the race was on a Rails to Trails trail. It was not the smoothest surface. Just past mile 4, I tripped on some rocks and ended up strewn across the trail. I was embarrassed as everyone near me was asking if I was okay or if I needed help. A few people even stopped to check on me! I got up and eventually kept going. My right hand hurt a little, and when I looked at it, it was bleeding and scraped up. After looking at it, I realized that it actually hurt a lot! It was funny because after I ran a little bit, the throbbing stopped and I thought it wasn't that bad. People kept staring at me as I ran (it was an out and back) and a few more people asked if I was okay. I didn't understand why they were asking. The minute I crossed the finish line and stopped running, wow, did the pain return to my hand! Once I stopped, I had a chance to look at myself and I understood why I was getting weird stares. Both my knees were bleeding and there was blood running down my left leg. My entire right side was covered in trail dirt and dust - shorts, shirt, hat. My face had been covered in dirt, by my sweating had turned it to mud! My right elbow had also been bleeding and the blood was all over my shirt. And my hand is missing a serious chunk of skin. How can I do so much damage running? Biking would be one thing, but I feel like such an idiot! So, long story short, I skipped my OWS this afternoon. I don't think I can go to the pool for a few days at least, as I don't think they would appreciate my oozing hand and elbow in the pool. I am really mad at myself to do this at this point in my training. It is only 6 weeks to B2B. I am not sure how biking will go now, as I am not sure that I will be able to hold the handle bars. Any advice for a hand and elbow that won't stop leaking and oozing? Please, somebody tell me it will be okay!!!!! Okay, sorry for the whine. I am just a bit nervous about B2B in general, and this doesn't help! Oh, and I finished the race in 2:02:38. I didn't miss my goal by much, and would like to think without the fall that I would have accomplished my goal! I did have one highlight to my race. There were 2 guys running in front of me and I got close to them with about 1 mile to go. I tried and tried to pass them and finally did with about 1/2 mile to go. They promptly passed me back and pulled ahead. With maybe 50 yards to go I convinced myself that I had to pass them, and I managed to sprint past them, and finish just in front of both of them!
Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Karen

Karen- way to tough it out on you HM, and sorry it didn't go how you hoped. I would not worry about it affecting B2B. While i don't know the extent of the cuts, slip and fall type abrasions tend to heal quickly, at least enough to be functional with full healing taking a bit longer. If you are someone who hates to miss a workout, improvise. When I dislocated my shoulder right befor IMAZ training started, I found the joys of spin classes... but I'm sure you'll be able to ride in no time. Maybe throw on a pair of light gloves.

SOS tri - I'll post a report when results get posted, but it wont do the race justice. So I'll sum it up as Best Race Ever. Not my performance but the race itself. I haven't been getting a ton of satisfaction from racing/training for races lately, given the time it takes, and having some dark thoughts about stopping, until this race. I will just try to be more selective, and do this race for as long as I'm racing, or until I find a better one, which will be a tall order. If any of you are considering it (Ken?) Let me know, because it's fantastic, but it sells out in minutes on Oct 31, only fielding something like 150 racers.

I'm having a hard time tracking our IM folks in detail, but they all seem to be done biking some time ago.

Happy training all!

Way to stay in and finish the event. take some time and recover mentally and physically.

Great job getting through the HM Karen!

Bill - really looking forward to reading your report...I've heard about this race and just thought it's either a blast or a nightmare! Glad to hear you had a good time.

Todd, Ali, Dwayne, Kathleen and Ice, looking to hearing from all of you soon to hear how your race went!! 

Well, I am an Ironman.

By law there should only be one 3:00, and it shouldn't be in the morning. I was worried about parking, so I got up extra early and found a nice spot about 4 blocks from the finish line. I walked to the MTCC and began the wait until the start. I made it down the helix in plenty of time and got into the water about 20 minutes before the cannon went off. I watched the small group of pros take off 10 minutes before we did. I swam out to the start line and hung onto a kayak until the cannon went off. The wind was quite strong, about 15mph out of the NE which made for some high swells. The short section going out was fast going with the wind, but coming back was very tough battling the wind and the waves. About 20 minutes in I got kicked so hard in the face that I saw stars. I didn't lose my goggles, but I did take a rest for a couple minutes to clear my head. There were 2543 racers and by the end it felt like I had been kicked or punched by them all. I finished the swim in exactly what I had wanted, based on my training. Swim time 1:20:35.

The run up the helix was amazing. You run up 3 levels of a cork-screw parking garage on-ramp. There are literally thousands of people all the way up cheering and clapping and screaming. It is an amazing feeling. I had some stomach issues in T1 so I spent a few extra minutes in one of the porta-potties. But, overall T1 went well. It is strange, and a bit awkward being helped into your gear, when totally naked by some random volunteer. But he was very helpful and made sure I got everything I needed and none of my gear got lost.

I never pre-rode the course. I knew there were some hills, but I wasn't expecting that. To give you some perspective, when I go for a 100 mile training ride back home, the elevation gain is 62 feet. The "popsicle stick" portion is relatively flat and was fast because we were going with the wind. Then the first loop happens. I went out too fast, all the support, especially on the climbs, gives you that extra boost. I felt like I was in the Tour going up the Sauk climb. It was single file, people on both sides of the road, devils chasing you up the road, the music, the cheering, it was amazing. Then reality hits. The second loop. I slowed down and tried to conserve what energy I had left. I finished about 15 minutes slower than I wanted, but I was basing my time on my 112 mile training rides back home. So, overall I was very pleased with my bike. I had no mechanicals. I followed my nutrition and hydration plan perfectly and had to make 4 bathroom stops. I saw one person peeing on the bike. I had never seen that before. I have to drive 800 miles home after this race with the bike in the back seat, I don't need to be smelling that for the next 2 days. Bike time 6:35:39.

T2 went very well. This transition is always a bit slower for me because I wear a brace on my left ankle and it takes awhile to tie in up and do all the velcro straps. Again, a very helpful volunteer got me my gear and got me on my way with no delays.

I did well on the run. My goal was not to walk any of the course, and I made my goal. I ran the entire race. I stopped twice for bathroom breaks, but other than that I ran through the aid stations and refilled and drank on the run. When they say the fan support on the run is outstanding, there are not kidding. The toughest part (outside the hills on the university campus) was running through the bar district with bars and restaurants on both sides and people eatting nachos and drinking beer while you are running by. The number of people around the capital building was amazing. It was deafening. When you cross the finish line and they call out "Dwayne, you are an Ironman" there is no better feeling. All that money, time and effort towards a single goal, and you have done it. My run time was 4:16:03.

My total time was 12:31:22. This was my first Ironman, and first time at this distance. I worked with a coach for 8 months prior to the race and with his help I had plenty of confidence that I would finish the race. We developed a plan and trained towards the goal and I think I executed it perfectly. My goals for the swim were 1:30, bike 6:30, and run: 4:30 for a total time of 12:30. I was pretty much right on the mark.

I really couldn't have asked for better weather. Saturday was sunny and 90, and Monday was sunny and 90. Sunday was cloudy and 77. That would have been an even tougher race if we had weather like the day before or after. Over all it was an amazing experience. The volunteers were simply amazing. The only thing I was highly disappointed with was the lack of food at the finish line. I got a chocolate milk and there was water. I did not see any "real" food anywhere. I have been to a lot of olympic and HIM distance races and they all have had amazing food at the end. I got a t-shirt, a hat and my medal then got my photo taken. Then they shuffled you out as quickly as possible. Seemed odd. I know they want to keep the finish line clear. So why not set up food in the MTCC?

I was thinking about doing another IM race next year, but I am having second thoughts about that. My body feels pretty beat up right now. Maybe in a few weeks I will get the itch, but for now I am just going to enjoy the feeling and sense of accomplishment.

Edited by DeVinci13 2013-09-09 4:13 PM

Congrats Dwayne! I loved reading about your race. Sounds like you executed everything perfectly and exactly as planned. Great job IRONMAN! How did our other Ironmen do?

I am still mad at myself, cranky, and tired! My hand still hurts a lot. It looks really disgusting as a good chunk of skin is missing. I have it covered with that self sticking ace bandage stuff just so people don't have to look at it! I really want to swim, but am waiting because it is still oozing a good bit and I don't really know how to protect it. I am going to try my bike tonight and see how it feels.

What is everyone else up to this week?