Most of my readers know I've lost a substantial amount of weight since 2010 when I first entered Ironman Louisville. Unfortunately, it also came with a substantial loss in strength and my tone isn't great. Over the past couple winters, I've been promising to do some strength training. Well, it eventually got lost it seems. Whether it was preparing for the Dopey Challenge last January or doing an early season Ironman, I never quite got around to it.
The second problem was being completely out of my element when it comes to weights. Where do I start? What exercises should I do? How often? Can I use machines or would I need free weights? Like just about everything in 2015, I began by searching online for some tips or routines to try. But it was all too involved. I wanted simplicity. I wanted something I could easily track. But nothing seemed to meet that criteria.
As luck would have it, an Ironfriend from England was also trying to find the same thing and remembered a strength program from a book we both owned, "Be Iron Fit." Lo and behold, there was a list of strength exercises which also matched up nearly perfectly with the machines at my local gym. Perfect!
I've been doing the follow exercises twice a week for about a month. Takes me about 10-15 minutes so doesn't take too much time and it fits nicely into my normal routine.
Leg Press
Leg Extension
Leg Curl
Chest Press
Lat Pulldown
Bicep Curl
Tricep Curl
Given how quick it goes, I may try to keep it part of normal schedule once tri season rolls around again.
Monday, December 7, 2015
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Ironman Louisville 2015 Race Report
On October 11, 2015, I participated in Ironman Louisville. This would be my 6th Ironman and second in two weeks after doing Ironman Chattanooga on September 27th. Not my brightest idea ever but as I've heard, you never know your limits until you reach them.
The first hurdle, after Chattanooga, was to make sure I was recovered enough but at the same time, not completely go into hibernation and be a slug for two weeks. The day after Chattanooga, after riding in a car for five hours to get home, I was incredibly stiff so in addition to my daily one mile run (still streaking) I went out for a 12 mile small ring only ride with the Louisville Bike Club. Amazing how much moving around helps, even the day after an Ironman. I then took a day off outside of my normal one mile run and went back into my normal Ironman taper routine including about a 30 mile ride and 10K run the weekend before.
Another interesting aspect of this Ironman Louisville was that it would be the first Ironman I'd do from home. That is, I wasn't staying at a hotel the night before down near the action. I was sleeping in my own bed and having my wife drop me off downtown at the start.
Finally, the last pre-race concern was the weather. Ironman Louisville had always been held in late August, meaning almost 100% certainty of hot and humid conditions. This was the first October IM Louisville so me and all my tri-club mates were watching the weather closely.
I won't bore you with the check-in/expo details as you've read those reports several times. Things went smoothly, I picked up the normal athlete name t-shirt and got ready for the big day. One perk of having so many club mates doing this event was being in a bike rack with Louisville Landsharks only. It was nice to see familiar bikes and familiar faces during bike check in and all that.
Louisville is like Chattanooga in that it's a time-trial start with people getting into the water essentially one a time on a first-come first-served basis. Also, due to the October date, sunrise was much later than August so we would be starting at 7:30 instead of the customary 7 AM IM start time. Furthermore, this meant a maximum 16.5 hour time limit which would be shortened by any delay getting in the water. Since I was confident in a 14ish finish, I decided to sleep as long as possible, get to transition to get my bike/nutrition set up, then have my wife drive me down to the swim start. When I arrived I was surprised how close I was to the docks and ended up hanging out with several Landsharks in the swim line. Always nice to be around people you know.
The Swim
Due to the October date, this IM Louisville would be wetsuit legal. I'd never done Louisville in a wetsuit. I had done a 1:28 in Chattanooga so with the wetsuit and some good coaching, I was hoping to do Louisville in 1:20. Nothing really eventful happened except I was surprised how fast I was in the water. Even though I hadn't hurried down to the start and slept in, I was in the water at 7:32. Swim time was 1:18:49, by far my fastest IM swim ever. I was thinking I might be in for a good day.
T1
Headed into transition for a full change. I wore normal swim jammers under my wetsuit so changed into my Landsharks tri kit. Since we had a cool October morning, in the low 50s, I was concerned about being cold but decided to suffer a bit for the first bit of the bike instead of overheating later.
I did have my first hiccup of the day in T1. Bikes are racked by hanging the nose of the seat on a bar. Most bikes are small enough to drop the seat off the bar and pull the bike through. This of course doesn't work so well when you're dealing with a huge bike like I ride due to my height. In a rush I rather yanked my bike under the bar, caught the seat, and my seat was now pointed down about 45 degrees. Not conducive to riding 112 miles!
Here I am looking quite shady in T1 but I was fixing my seat.
With the mishap, total time in T1 was 13:57. Not very good at all but good enough for a finish.
The Bike
Since I've ridden the IM Louisville literally dozens of times, I know every pothole and crack it seems. I also know what I can average safely without destroying myself. The only spot of difficulty was the temperature in about the first hour. Since I went with a normal tri kit with bare arms, I was indeed a little cold. Suffered through some goosebumps but soon warmed up. Again, nothing eventful and it was great to see so many Landsharks out there either racing or volunteering.
Here I am heading into T2 with a fellow Landshark, Geri, who I played leapfrog with for about the last 20 miles of the bike.
Total bike time: 6:21:02 or 17.64 mph.
T2
Another full change into running shorts and my Landsharks t-shirt as well as loads of Body Glide meant a T2 of 12:48. For my next Ironman, I'm contemplating staying in a tri kit for the run to see how much time I can save.
The Run
After a great swim and a good bike, I knew I had a PR in my sights if I could just keeping moving at a steady pace. I wasn't sure, however, how my body would react to another IM after just doing Chattanooga. My goal was to keep the miles in the 12s while walking through each aid station as I took salt, nutrition, and hydration. Keep this up at a good pace for the first 10K then I could hear a little whisper in my brain, "you have to be tired don't you? You have to be pooped from Chattanooga." Most of that is mental but since I wasn't going to be qualifying for Kona anyway, I did a bit more walking. Still had a decent marathon, finishing in 5:33:00 for a total of 13:39:36, a 30+ minute PR!
The Aftermath
Two Ironmans in 14 days and I was sore, but didn't feel completely wrecked. I did deal with a bit of a cold in the week after, which may have been the result of higher than normal algae levels in the river or perhaps from being in general run down and having a compromised immune system. But many have asked if it's doable and I'm living proof it is. I think the timing was also just about perfect. Not enough time between to lose fitness but enough time to recover and then do some short taper workouts.
The first hurdle, after Chattanooga, was to make sure I was recovered enough but at the same time, not completely go into hibernation and be a slug for two weeks. The day after Chattanooga, after riding in a car for five hours to get home, I was incredibly stiff so in addition to my daily one mile run (still streaking) I went out for a 12 mile small ring only ride with the Louisville Bike Club. Amazing how much moving around helps, even the day after an Ironman. I then took a day off outside of my normal one mile run and went back into my normal Ironman taper routine including about a 30 mile ride and 10K run the weekend before.
Another interesting aspect of this Ironman Louisville was that it would be the first Ironman I'd do from home. That is, I wasn't staying at a hotel the night before down near the action. I was sleeping in my own bed and having my wife drop me off downtown at the start.
Finally, the last pre-race concern was the weather. Ironman Louisville had always been held in late August, meaning almost 100% certainty of hot and humid conditions. This was the first October IM Louisville so me and all my tri-club mates were watching the weather closely.
I won't bore you with the check-in/expo details as you've read those reports several times. Things went smoothly, I picked up the normal athlete name t-shirt and got ready for the big day. One perk of having so many club mates doing this event was being in a bike rack with Louisville Landsharks only. It was nice to see familiar bikes and familiar faces during bike check in and all that.
Louisville is like Chattanooga in that it's a time-trial start with people getting into the water essentially one a time on a first-come first-served basis. Also, due to the October date, sunrise was much later than August so we would be starting at 7:30 instead of the customary 7 AM IM start time. Furthermore, this meant a maximum 16.5 hour time limit which would be shortened by any delay getting in the water. Since I was confident in a 14ish finish, I decided to sleep as long as possible, get to transition to get my bike/nutrition set up, then have my wife drive me down to the swim start. When I arrived I was surprised how close I was to the docks and ended up hanging out with several Landsharks in the swim line. Always nice to be around people you know.
The Swim
Due to the October date, this IM Louisville would be wetsuit legal. I'd never done Louisville in a wetsuit. I had done a 1:28 in Chattanooga so with the wetsuit and some good coaching, I was hoping to do Louisville in 1:20. Nothing really eventful happened except I was surprised how fast I was in the water. Even though I hadn't hurried down to the start and slept in, I was in the water at 7:32. Swim time was 1:18:49, by far my fastest IM swim ever. I was thinking I might be in for a good day.
T1
Headed into transition for a full change. I wore normal swim jammers under my wetsuit so changed into my Landsharks tri kit. Since we had a cool October morning, in the low 50s, I was concerned about being cold but decided to suffer a bit for the first bit of the bike instead of overheating later.
I did have my first hiccup of the day in T1. Bikes are racked by hanging the nose of the seat on a bar. Most bikes are small enough to drop the seat off the bar and pull the bike through. This of course doesn't work so well when you're dealing with a huge bike like I ride due to my height. In a rush I rather yanked my bike under the bar, caught the seat, and my seat was now pointed down about 45 degrees. Not conducive to riding 112 miles!
Here I am looking quite shady in T1 but I was fixing my seat.
With the mishap, total time in T1 was 13:57. Not very good at all but good enough for a finish.
The Bike
Since I've ridden the IM Louisville literally dozens of times, I know every pothole and crack it seems. I also know what I can average safely without destroying myself. The only spot of difficulty was the temperature in about the first hour. Since I went with a normal tri kit with bare arms, I was indeed a little cold. Suffered through some goosebumps but soon warmed up. Again, nothing eventful and it was great to see so many Landsharks out there either racing or volunteering.
Here I am heading into T2 with a fellow Landshark, Geri, who I played leapfrog with for about the last 20 miles of the bike.
Total bike time: 6:21:02 or 17.64 mph.
T2
Another full change into running shorts and my Landsharks t-shirt as well as loads of Body Glide meant a T2 of 12:48. For my next Ironman, I'm contemplating staying in a tri kit for the run to see how much time I can save.
The Run
After a great swim and a good bike, I knew I had a PR in my sights if I could just keeping moving at a steady pace. I wasn't sure, however, how my body would react to another IM after just doing Chattanooga. My goal was to keep the miles in the 12s while walking through each aid station as I took salt, nutrition, and hydration. Keep this up at a good pace for the first 10K then I could hear a little whisper in my brain, "you have to be tired don't you? You have to be pooped from Chattanooga." Most of that is mental but since I wasn't going to be qualifying for Kona anyway, I did a bit more walking. Still had a decent marathon, finishing in 5:33:00 for a total of 13:39:36, a 30+ minute PR!
The Aftermath
Two Ironmans in 14 days and I was sore, but didn't feel completely wrecked. I did deal with a bit of a cold in the week after, which may have been the result of higher than normal algae levels in the river or perhaps from being in general run down and having a compromised immune system. But many have asked if it's doable and I'm living proof it is. I think the timing was also just about perfect. Not enough time between to lose fitness but enough time to recover and then do some short taper workouts.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Ironman Chattanooga Race Report
(Photo courtesy of Carrie Kiefer)
First post in a very long time, but first official race in a long time...
I had previously signed up for Ironman Louisville, but when Ironman Chattanooga didn't sell out in five minutes as it had for the first edition of the event, I bowed to some peer pressure and yes that means I would be attempting two Ironmans over fourteen days.
About ten days before the event, I found myself with some pain in my groin area so ended up in an urgent care center with a urinary tract infection and some antibiotics. This may have had an impact later, but I'll get to that.
I drove down Friday morning with a fellow Louisville Landshark, right into a rainstorm. It rained for most of Friday and Saturday, which had us concerned for Sunday. It made for an interesting outdoor Ironman Village on the grass as we were a couple inches in mud during packet pick up and all that.
Did a little shopping, where I bought my usual event shirt with the participant names on the back. I didn't however, buy any other pre-event gear as I already have so many tech shirts, cycling jerseys, etc. and the design didn't blow me away. It takes something pretty spectacular to add to my collection.
The rest of Friday and Saturday was meeting up with a couple other Landsharks for some local dining, the underpants run, and a practice swim. Saturday's pre-race dinner was Fazoli's (Italian) for some carb loading and then off to bed about 9:30-9:45 for a 4 something AM alarm.
We had been uncertain on the wetsuit status for the swim but with cool, wet weather, we figured the temp would drop even more to give us a wetsuit legal swim. Well, we were all wrong, and the first news I got when I woke up was a wetsuit optional swim, which means going to the back of the swim line if you wear one. I decided to pass and swim in my jammers. The other uncertainty was the river current. In 2014, the current was very fast, meaning super fast swim times. The practice swim also had a heavy current so we were hoping for another fast day in the water.
Ate a Clif bar, had some Gatorade, and kept eating a little while I waited the hour or more in the swim line. Got in the water pretty quickly, and we were greeted with almost no current. Not entirely sure why, but we all had to deal with the same conditions. Felt ok in the swim, but admit I was a bit demoralized by the lack of current. Total swim time was 1:28:56. Had a decent haul to get to the changing tent, where I changed completely into tri shorts, tri top, fresh socks, etc. Stopped for a quick hit of sunscreen and was on my way in 13:18. Slow, but a full change with a wet body is never fast for me.
I had done one lap of the bike course several weeks ago so I knew what to expect. I never felt out of gas or like I was pushing it too much. The course seemed very flat to me, even though there is a decent amount of overall elevation gain, so I figured I was having a good day. The only downside to the Chattanooga bike course is the length. A typical Ironman bike is 112 miles but this one is 116 miles, which at my speed, adds another 14-15 minutes to the total time. Even though it was cool, I ate and drank regularly as well as took regular hits of Base Salt so I could keep the cramps away. Finished the bike in 6:34:16 or 17.65 mph. I knew I had more in me, but didn't want to destroy myself and have to walk the entire run.
T2 was another full change: running shorts, fresh socks, tech tee, etc. Not quite as slow as T1 but it included a bathroom stop. Total was 9:40.
My goal going into the day was trying to PR (my previous best was 14:12) and to possibly break 14 hours for the first time ever at this distance. The first bit of the run course is slightly uphill-ish then flattens out as you hit the turnaround. My plan was to run each mile, walk through aid stations, and repeat. I was pretty successful for the first 6 miles or so then I picked up an absolutely wicked stomach ache. I was forced to walk for most of the next 14 miles. It wasn't bathroom related as far as I could tell, but it had me completely drained. I think it might have been UTI related or the antibiotics but I wasn't sure. Another racer advised me to drink a lot of cola at each aid station to hopefully settle my stomach. Finally, after some Tums another racer gave me, along with loads of cola, chicken broth, and Gatorade, I felt well enough to try to run about mile 20. Unfortunately, it was on the second half of the loop, which is brutally hilly. I had previously decided to walk those hills as it was, so stuck to my plan. My first Ironman featured a 6+ hour "run" so even with all that walking, I finished the run with a 5:44:07.
I knew my chance at a sub-14 was gone, and probably a shot at a PR as well. But as I crossed the finish line and looked up my total time it was 14:10:17, nearly a 2 minute PR!
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