kenj triathletes in training - IM and HIM focused - Closed (Page 54)

Originally posted by Omahabritt Hello all, Ironman here! Made it back home safe and sound from Wisconsin! What a fantastic weekend!! Luckily, I was able to hook up with Kathleen and Carla (fantastic spectator extraordinaire)at the Athlete Dinner. My husband was in town, but busy wrangling our kids. I'll give a quick run down of the race, I'll try and do a race report later, but I'm terrible at getting them done! Race morning I woke up at 3:55, 5 minutes before the alarm. Got up, got some food, and my husband picked me up at 5 to drop of my special needs bags and get my stuff on my bike. My bike was waaay down at the end of transition, so I had to walk all the way down and all the way back. The plus side was that I only had to run a short distance with my bike and bike shoes on. I got in the water right after the pros started, and positioned myself to the left of the ski ramp. I'm a slow swimmer and wanted to avoid a lot of contact, so I was a ways back, but there were also a fair amount of people behind me. I also looked behind me to try and get in a decent spot so if those behind swam faster they would swim next to me not over me. We were off, unbelievably I actually passed some people!! I was honestly concerned I would be the last one in the water & how that would affect me mentally, having only wave starts in my HIM's and going fairly early. I received very little contact. I was so afraid of getting kicked in the head with a breaststroke kick that when I saw feet in front of me I made a note of what stroke they were swimming. This was harder on the long back part, as the chop was making it hard to sight. Sometimes people would stop completely to sight so they would kick wide. I still avoided them! I was able to follow some feet, but was always worried they weren't swimming straight, given the conditions! Took it easy and was glad to see the shore. Wanted anything under 2hrs and it was 1:53, so I was happy with the first leg! Felt good coming up the helix and into transition. Had to make a quick bathroom break and then was out on the bike. On the way out to Verona, I noticed a rattling sound. It wasn't until I was out of Verona and onto my first loop that I realized one of my aerobar armrests was loose!! I've never had a problem with it, and it was fine the day before. I was trying to rememeber exactly how it was set up without stopping. Of course, I normally carry my multipurpose tool, but I decided to put it in the bike special needs instead, since it's a little heavy. It forced me to remain aero the majority of the next 40 miles, for fear it would fall off. I thought about flagging down bike support, but honestly I didn't want to stop! I love, love this course. It is so pretty, and fun (Garfoot Road is such a blast!!) and the crowd support is fantastic. I made it to SN and fixed my armrest, which was such a relief. On the second loop I had some foot pain, and the hills were harder, but managible. I didn't want to have to walk up or stand up on any of the hills (I think there are 84 hills total), and I met that goal. The stick back to Madison was a bit windy, but I've done much worse, and I was headed back to town!! In T2, I saw Kathleen!! So happy to see her as I was thinking about her on the choppy swim, but she rocked it and was out of the water before me. The run was ok, mentally I was in a great place, but the first 5 mile I was having some issues with my feet. My goal was a 2/1 run/walk and I was able to maintain that (exception was I ran all the downhills and walked up Observatory Hill). The crowd support on State Street and most of the run was so great as were the volunteers. The first loop was done and on the the second loop. My legs were pretty sore by then and I had to slow to a 1/1 run/walk, but suprisingly my second half was only a couple minutes slower than the first. It was amazing how many people I passed by running every other minute on the second half, and I was running slow!! I took the time to make sure I was properly spaced for the finish chute, purposely walking for a couple minutes, letting two people pass that I could just tell might try and crowed the finish line. First goal was to finish, second goal was anything with a 15 at the beginning, and I knew I had beat that, so I wanted to take it all in. Ran it, high fived a ton of people, gave thanks to my Mom in heaven and finished in 15:40. The entire day I could not stop smiling!!! In all my pictures I'm smiling. It was fantastic. I was so blessed to have my husband, kids, cousins, dad, and 3 of my best girlfriends that were there cheering for me all day. I rented the MyAthleteLive tracker and I would HIGHLY recommend it. Not only was it much easier for those that were following me in person to find me on the course and know where to go, but also to those following at home. So many people said it was really exciting to follow me on the website. Plus my girlfriends did a great job posting videos and pictures (not my husbands strong suit-he had my phone all day and took 2 pictures, one before the race and one of some poodles that were shaved except for the M-Dot--but I have NO complaints, he was and is fantastic). My legs are a little sore, but not bad. Think I'll head to the pool tomorrow. Ken--online registration for IMWI doesn't open until next week, they said because of some online registation issues, which must be referring to your situation. Dwayne--so glad you had a good race. If you would have slowed down, I might have been able to say "hi"! There was food (Pizza and brats I think, but it was off to the side) I didn't see it at first, but at that point my stomach wasn't super happy, so I only had some chocolate milk and water.

Originally posted by rquinn23 HOORAY, Dwayne and Ali! I am so excited and happy for you both! I loved reading your race recaps and look forward to your reports when you post them. Even though it's been over 2 weeks since Louisville, I'm still on an IM high and reading about your experiences made me smile wide with appreciation for what you went through and your successes...CONGRATS! Ken, I also have not been receiving any email updates except for the last two you posted--I've been waiting for the IM Wisconsin reports from everybody, so I'm glad I came onto the site to read them after seeing that you aren't getting email updates, either. I still have not gotten back into a schedule yet--have to stay out of the pool for a little longer because of the tattoo, will bike tonight, and I did a 7 mile run Saturday morning, which was my first since the IM. I think I was more sore on Sunday from running probably too far and too fast on Saturday than I was from the IM--crazy! Though I'm probably going to do a mid-length tri in October, I am now thinking about which marathon I want to run before next April to try to qualify for Boston. Have any of you done a marathon in Florida/Georgia/South Carolina that is fairly flat and well organized? I could probably do a late November/early December one, or anything in February and March. Suggestions? Happy training all!

Originally posted by Omahabritt

Hello all, Ironman here! Made it back home safe and sound from Wisconsin! What a fantastic weekend!! Luckily, I was able to hook up with Kathleen and Carla (fantastic spectator extraordinaire)at the Athlete Dinner. My husband was in town, but busy wrangling our kids.

I'll give a quick run down of the race, I'll try and do a race report later, but I'm terrible at getting them done!

Race morning I woke up at 3:55, 5 minutes before the alarm. Got up, got some food, and my husband picked me up at 5 to drop of my special needs bags and get my stuff on my bike. My bike was waaay down at the end of transition, so I had to walk all the way down and all the way back. The plus side was that I only had to run a short distance with my bike and bike shoes on. I got in the water right after the pros started, and positioned myself to the left of the ski ramp. I'm a slow swimmer and wanted to avoid a lot of contact, so I was a ways back, but there were also a fair amount of people behind me. I also looked behind me to try and get in a decent spot so if those behind swam faster they would swim next to me not over me. We were off, unbelievably I actually passed some people!! I was honestly concerned I would be the last one in the water & how that would affect me mentally, having only wave starts in my HIM's and going fairly early. I received very little contact. I was so afraid of getting kicked in the head with a breaststroke kick that when I saw feet in front of me I made a note of what stroke they were swimming. This was harder on the long back part, as the chop was making it hard to sight. Sometimes people would stop completely to sight so they would kick wide. I still avoided them! I was able to follow some feet, but was always worried they weren't swimming straight, given the conditions! Took it easy and was glad to see the shore. Wanted anything under 2hrs and it was 1:53, so I was happy with the first leg!

Felt good coming up the helix and into transition. Had to make a quick bathroom break and then was out on the bike. On the way out to Verona, I noticed a rattling sound. It wasn't until I was out of Verona and onto my first loop that I realized one of my aerobar armrests was loose!! I've never had a problem with it, and it was fine the day before. I was trying to rememeber exactly how it was set up without stopping. Of course, I normally carry my multipurpose tool, but I decided to put it in the bike special needs instead, since it's a little heavy. It forced me to remain aero the majority of the next 40 miles, for fear it would fall off. I thought about flagging down bike support, but honestly I didn't want to stop! I love, love this course. It is so pretty, and fun (Garfoot Road is such a blast!!) and the crowd support is fantastic. I made it to SN and fixed my armrest, which was such a relief. On the second loop I had some foot pain, and the hills were harder, but managible. I didn't want to have to walk up or stand up on any of the hills (I think there are 84 hills total), and I met that goal. The stick back to Madison was a bit windy, but I've done much worse, and I was headed back to town!! In T2, I saw Kathleen!! So happy to see her as I was thinking about her on the choppy swim, but she rocked it and was out of the water before me.

The run was ok, mentally I was in a great place, but the first 5 mile I was having some issues with my feet. My goal was a 2/1 run/walk and I was able to maintain that (exception was I ran all the downhills and walked up Observatory Hill). The crowd support on State Street and most of the run was so great as were the volunteers. The first loop was done and on the the second loop. My legs were pretty sore by then and I had to slow to a 1/1 run/walk, but suprisingly my second half was only a couple minutes slower than the first. It was amazing how many people I passed by running every other minute on the second half, and I was running slow!!

I took the time to make sure I was properly spaced for the finish chute, purposely walking for a couple minutes, letting two people pass that I could just tell might try and crowed the finish line. First goal was to finish, second goal was anything with a 15 at the beginning, and I knew I had beat that, so I wanted to take it all in. Ran it, high fived a ton of people, gave thanks to my Mom in heaven and finished in 15:40.

The entire day I could not stop smiling!!! In all my pictures I'm smiling. It was fantastic. I was so blessed to have my husband, kids, cousins, dad, and 3 of my best girlfriends that were there cheering for me all day. I rented the MyAthleteLive tracker and I would HIGHLY recommend it. Not only was it much easier for those that were following me in person to find me on the course and know where to go, but also to those following at home. So many people said it was really exciting to follow me on the website. Plus my girlfriends did a great job posting videos and pictures (not my husbands strong suit-he had my phone all day and took 2 pictures, one before the race and one of some poodles that were shaved except for the M-Dot--but I have NO complaints, he was and is fantastic).

My legs are a little sore, but not bad. Think I'll head to the pool tomorrow.

Ken--online registration for IMWI doesn't open until next week, they said because of some online registation issues, which must be referring to your situation.

Dwayne--so glad you had a good race. If you would have slowed down, I might have been able to say "hi"! There was food (Pizza and brats I think, but it was off to the side) I didn't see it at first, but at that point my stomach wasn't super happy, so I only had some chocolate milk and water.

Originally posted by gadgetlaw

Time is indeed flying by Eddie! It sounds like you have a good schedule coming up! I am hoping to get a 2 1/2 hour run on Saturday morning before we head to the football game and a 5 1/2 hour ride on Sunday hopefully followed by a couple mile run. No swimming for me yet. I thought I would post a picture of my lovely hand so everyone can understand what a true clutz I am! Like I said, swimming is probably out for a bit yet, riding in aero is do-able but out of the bars is a bit of a challenge!

Originally posted by gadgetlaw Time is indeed flying by Eddie! It sounds like you have a good schedule coming up! I am hoping to get a 2 1/2 hour run on Saturday morning before we head to the football game and a 5 1/2 hour ride on Sunday hopefully followed by a couple mile run. No swimming for me yet. I thought I would post a picture of my lovely hand so everyone can understand what a true clutz I am! Like I said, swimming is probably out for a bit yet, riding in aero is do-able but out of the bars is a bit of a challenge!

Originally posted by ramiedd Wanted to update everyone on where I am with 6.5 weeks to go... Life and training became a little more complicated this week as my wife is out of town till Friday. that means that I have to take care of the boys 24 hours of the day. Fortunately I have made it to the pool yesterday and today which I needed badly to get some time in. As I mentioned before, soccer for my oldest started, but I did get an 11 mile run on Saturday and over 60 on the bike on Sunday so not much lost for the week. This weekend (if I can get permission from the wife) I am going to try a long swim Saturday of two miles after soccer and then 80 miles on the bike on Sunday followed by a 6 mile run. Sunday will be my first race rehearsal where I will test the bike/clothing/nutrition etc... I will do another one three weeks before the race.. Time is flying by....

Originally posted by trei Finished Ironman Wisconsin 12:47:43 (15 minutes or so after Dwayne). Race plan went off without a hitch other than I forgot my usual nutrition on the bike. Luckily the back up worked just fine. Great venue. Definitely going to do it again sometime, but need a one year break. (you people who do them every year are animals!). I'll hopefully get a race report up sometime, but feeling really lazy now. - Todd