Ironman Wisconsin : Official Thread (Page 6)

Michelle- I do not have a tri bike and probably won't because of the cost.  I will ride my 20+ year old ten speed (it's an Italian racing bike with very good components)!  Sounds totally goofy I realize but it's what I have.  I will probably add clip on aero bars.  My goal is to finish in a respectable time.  I plan to do a practice HIM distance event in early June.  If it turns out that a road bike is foolish, I may consider upgrading to an entry-level tri bike.

I am so excited for January 1 to officially kick off IMWI training!  Tomorrow I will complete a DIY heart rate test to figure out my zones. Clear out the 2012 data from my Garmin and Cateye and start fresh. 

Happy New Year, everyone.  Yesterday I did a 50 minute suffer fest on the mill to measure my max heart rate.  Silly me forgot to hit "start" on my Garmin so I didn't record any measurements.  Ugh!  I'm going to go with 165 as that is what I saw as the highest rate during the all our run portion.

I am all over sore from a strenuous cross country ski run on Sunday.  Yesterday was a solid swim workout and the treadmill run.  We went sledding last night so climbing back up the hill added a titch more to my overall soreness.

Today did P90X stretch and 45 minutes zone 2 on the Kinetic.  Plan to cross country ski again today and may hit the Y for a sauna break.  Tonight we have an annual New Year's Day part to go to.

So excited that today marks the first day of IMWI preparation!  Finally.  I will loosely follow Be Iron Fit Competitive program.

Name: DeVinci13.  Real name Dwayne.

What is your Ironman resume? Ironman virgin. In 2012 I did 5 Olympic distance tri's and 1 HIM. I did 3 half marathons. I did 4 mtb races, a 40km mtb race and a 66km mtb race.

Why did you choose Ironman Wisconsin? I chose IMWI because it was the closest race to Winnipeg, Manitoba. I will be driving down, so I wanted someplace that I could get to in a day or two. I originally wanted to do IM Canada as my first race. But, with the uncertainity of if there was going to be one in 2013 or what the location was going to be I signed up for IMWI after reading the many race reports about the great course and great spectators.

What are you goals for IMWI 2013? I want to survive and enjoy the day. I have a goal time in mind (13 hours), but I want to just enjoy the day.

What are you most looking forward to? I am looking forward towards the entire experience. I am coming down the week before the race so I can drive/ride the bike course, see the run and the swim locations. I want to see the helix, I want to soak up the spectators and the cheering on the climbs and the chute. I want to hear them say "Dwayne, you are an Ironman!" I am also looking forward to the drive home. I am going to stop in at Wisconsin Dells and enjoy a few days of waterparks.

Veterans any advice you can give early on? I am a rookie, so no advice from me.

I have hired a coach and joined a local triathlon club. With their help and experience I believe I will have an enjoyable time training and racing. I am 5'6" tall and currently weigh 133 lbs (racing weight is just under 130 lbs). I am 44 years old, single, no kids. So I have plenty of time and no commitments to interfere with my training. I am looking forward reading and contributing to this forum over the coming months.

Hello everyone:

How has training gone this week?  Any success stories this early on to share?

I continued to focus on MIW, swim efficiency, and strength.  Every single swim workout is hard!  My right shoulder seems to be a bit achy, too.

Biking and running are seriously lagging.  I ran five on the mill yesterday for a rare double work out day.  Spun twice.  For sure I need to kick up the consistency and frequency.

Today will be a bike spin day at best.  One of my kids has a swim meet this morning and tomorrow morning.  Swim meets are a blast, and it's so fun to spend the time with her.  She's ten and is number four of five kids.

I've got 5 kids at home too!  Mine range age 7 to 12 right now.  Workouts have been majorly lacking over Christmas holidays, but with school (ROUTINE!) starting up again on Monday, things will get back into gear for me I think.  I typically don't do too much until after New Years.

I had been swimming a lot prior to holidays, but will pick up the biking/running now in the new year... Monday will kick off my training plan this year.  I can feel that I'm ready to really get into things!

michlmead - 2012-12-26 12:01 PM Hi All: OK, I bought a great new/used road bike - it fits great... all carbon Specialized Amira Expert, got the Zip 303's with power tap. Total weight about 17.2 with areobars bottles cages etc. Thoughts on the hills of Wisconsin... do I need a Tri Bike? I know it can be a personal choice, would like to hear some input from people who have done the race? Thank you, it will be my first full. Michelle

Technically hilly courses are better on road bikes so no, a tri bike isn't necessary. I've ridden the course on both and I prefer a tri bike for Ironmans simply because of the distance of the race, but prefer riding that course on a road bike. There is so much up and down that you don't get a lot of time in aero anyway so a road bike is just fine as long as you train on it and are comfortable on it!

LazyMarathoner - 2013-01-05 6:16 PM

michlmead - 2012-12-26 12:01 PM Hi All: OK, I bought a great new/used road bike - it fits great... all carbon Specialized Amira Expert, got the Zip 303's with power tap. Total weight about 17.2 with areobars bottles cages etc. Thoughts on the hills of Wisconsin... do I need a Tri Bike? I know it can be a personal choice, would like to hear some input from people who have done the race? Thank you, it will be my first full. Michelle

Technically hilly courses are better on road bikes so no, a tri bike isn't necessary. I've ridden the course on both and I prefer a tri bike for Ironmans simply because of the distance of the race, but prefer riding that course on a road bike. There is so much up and down that you don't get a lot of time in aero anyway so a road bike is just fine as long as you train on it and are comfortable on it!

Use the bike you're most comfortable on. Both times I have done IMWI I used a tri bike and spent very little time out of the aero bars. Climbing the two hills and through the parking lots in the first few miles were the only times I felt it necessary to come out of the bars.

Here's a late Christmas gift from my wife that finally came in the mail today.  I think it is pretty awesome to say the least.  I can't wait to toe the line for my first IM.

JR:  I hope 1981 is not the year you were born!  That is the year I graduated from high school.  My kids range in age from 20 to four.  Junior in college to preschool.  We have four girls and one boy, who is #2 and a senior in high school.  Did  you pick up your training this week?

Lazy:  It’s good to read your thoughts on a road vs. tri bike for IMWI.  I will most likely ride on my road bike.  It’ll have to do.  We live in MN so the plan is to ride hills in western WI this summer.

Bevie:  Very cool and thoughtful gift from your spouse.  She must be so supportive of your hobby.  Is IMWI your first full IM? 

This week was a good swim week for me.  Managed to do four Masters workouts.  They are the easiest part so for because they are at an established time and the coach does an excellent job structuring the workouts.  Every single one is hard.  Ran three times (including today’s eight miler) and had a few solid bike spin sessions.  Plus made it to an ab work out at the fitness center at my work.

Does anyone lift weights regularly or do other dry land training?  I am going to start doing pushups, ab/core strength training, and maybe some weights.  I need to strengthen my back and shoulders to improve my power swimming.

Susan, same as what Chris said in regards to the strength training. I have been trying to do 2 to 3 times a week for like 30 to 45 minutes. Just upper body (chest, arms, back and shoulders) not really doing anything with my legs I feel like I get enough of a workout biking and running but there are proabaly exercises that would be beneficially I just don't have the time to do all that.

You got it... 1981 would be the year I was born... 

I got into some regular workouts over the past 2 weeks, and will pick up the volume gradually over the next month.  You sound like you are doing great, and are on track with the workouts! 

I got on the bike for the first time since my foot injury in IM Canada and it was ugly in more than one way.  Lost my endurance, flexibility and core strengh.  My bike also broke,  the chain got caught up on the front ring while shifting and wrapped up hitting the derailer and bending it.

My training can only get better from here.

Just started my "official" 34 week training program yesterday. Yes.....that's right, only 33 weekends left before race day I learned a lesson the hard way in 2011 to take it easy on the bike if you want to run the run. Had a good swim and an enjoyable bike, but I recall feeling really beat once I left the Verona loops heading back to town. Run started good and then an EPIC MELTDOWN at mile 10 on the run.

At one point I remember sitting on a curb as the sun was setting with no desire to even get back to the Capitol building. But since my wife and friends were waiting, I just started walking and eventually the smog cleared and the smile returned. So glad I didn't quit. This year's motto: RFP (relentless forward progress) well, that and bike my a$$ off in training this year. Good luck everyone, can't wait to ride the course when the snow melts!

Still in "prep phase" right now.  I've narrowed it down to about March 25th is when I go into the whole build phase and so forth.  Right now my long runs are only 90 minutes or less and biking has just been around an hour on the trainer(need to get some 2 hours just can't force myself to on a trainer!).  Hopeing for a warm February/ early March so I can get on the road instead of trails with my mountain bike.  Swims are about normal for me right now.  2500-3000 yards 3x a week.

Hope training is going well for all of you.

Hey, everyone:

This was a mediocre week for me.  My spouse has been out of town all week to be with his mother, who unfortunately passed away on Friday.  Not unexpected but still tough nonetheless.  So that meant no early morning swims because of a.m. and p.m. daycare duty.  Did manage a few treadmill runs and some solid spin sessions plus yoga and abs.  This coming week will be equally sketchy for training since he is still with his family and the kids and I will set out on a 14 hour drive to join them later in the week for the funeral.

So here's my dilemma that all of you experienced folks may respond to.  I am trying to follow the cycling heart rate program here on BT.  A daily workout may say, for example, warm up for 10' at 65%, then 5' alternating 30" 85% and 30" 70% and so forth.  So far so good.  But the issue is my heart rate does not change on a dime like that.  Moreover, I always thought one was supposed to spin at 90+ RPMs at all times.  I just can't manage to marry all three:  changing heart rates up and down and keep the RPMs high.  What am I missing here?  The biggest concern is that my heart rate does not change so quickly.  Will that come with more training? 

I hope everyone had a good week and inched a titch forward toward success on Sept 8, 2013!  I still can't believe that I will ever be strong enough to pull off this crazy, hair-brained undertaking.

Susan sorry to hear about the passing of your mother-in-law. I've had a down few weeks in my training as well. I sort of took a recovery week and then got sick. I also got a new 8 month old lab puppy this past week. She has been comsuming a lot of my time. In any case I did get back on track this week. I've completed 7 weeks of Jorge's winter cycling program and I have definitely seen a difference in my 20 minutes test. I think I was up 8 to 10 watts in my avg power.

As far as the cycling program using HR goes I didn't go that route because I thought I would have the same problem. I can never get my HR up enough on the trainer or so I thought. I am doing it with power instead. I have noticed though I definitely get my HR up now. Jorge's training plan will do that to do you. I have not worried about my cadence much to be honest but I think if you want keep your cadence up you could switch gears to allow you to do that. I pretty much stay with the same gear for each workout.

Hello everyone my name is Beth, I'm not racing IMWI this year, instead I'll be volunteering and cheering on all of you!!!! I'm out for this year due to a hip/pelvic/knee injury so I figured that I might as well use my down time to support others who are racing. If all goes well I hope to challange IMWI in 2014 so this will be a good time to get a lay out of the course.

Anyway, wanted to take a minute to introduce myself. I'll be there to support you on race day!

Thank you Beth! Looking forward to all the support I can get!!

HI Everyone!

I am back to the training, and doing this for my little boy Ian who was born still born on 1-17-13 very premature.  We ran a marathon together in October and doing this for my little fighter. I contemplated pulling out of the race but know this will be the best thing for me to do for myself and for him.  I plan on starting a consistent training regimen within the next few weeks and filling up my summer with a variety of races.  This is my 1st IronMan and look forward to the training and the challenges ahead. 

What training programs do you all follow?

Allison

Hello All! I hope your training is going well. I'm a 2012 IMWI finisher and I already have IM envy for this years participants. With that said, my wife and I will be volunteering this year and wanted to know what are the some of the best areas to volunteer at? Wetsuit stripping? Finish Line? Run or Bike course? Registration?

Thanks and Good Luck!