ironclm's tri world

After some thought, here is the proposed race schedule for 2004.

January 1: either a trail 10 mile running race or the San Bruno Hill Climb (bike)
January 18: San Diego Half Marathon
April 3: Ralph's Half IM
May 22: California Man IM
June 28 - July 15: Tour de France trip
August 1: Half Vineman
September 25: UltraMax (probably)

Also, throw in some other running races (maybe) and some bike racing to round out the schedule.

A very sore right quad yesterday! Tried to run in the morning, but my quad really hurt, so I turned around and came home and took the day off. Got up today and it felt a lot better, so I ran an easy 40 minutes. No problem until the very last couple of blocks. My buddy Gordo (see his link to the right) suggested ramping up my running to 6x per week, since I really need the running help. It's a definite limiter. I had four sessions last week, a couple of them only 20 minutes, but I'll aim for 5 sessions this week. Frequency over long distances right now. As I told my friend Pieter, today's run wasn't effortless (far from it), but at least it didn't suck. That is an improvement.

Mizuno Wave whatever shoes are just fine for a 40 minute run. That was me yesterday....no socks, but I ended up doing 40 minutes in the sun and heat (90F) and had nary a problem. No blisters, not even a hot spot. Yesterday's run gave me 4 runs for the week, on my way to building up to 6 sessions a week. I ~will~ become a runner!

Changed gyms this week (lost the good outdoor pool, but gained more locations, better weight lifting facilities and lots more options re spinning and yoga) and today I went and had my free intro session with one of the trainers. Turns out Michael is an ex-roadie! And, he used to live in Boulder and ride with Tim De Boom before TDB became a kick-ass ironman. Perfect!! I hadn't lifted since pre-surgery and I'd forgotten how much I really like to do it. Also did a short run on the treadmill. Gotta get going on the run so I can work up to the Gordo-advised six times per week base run program.

Some good training set for the weekend.....swim/bike the Treasure Island course tomorrow and swim/run on Sunday. Don't forget to change your clocks!!

Resumed training this morning. A 25 minute run, which felt pretty good. I'm going to build up my running frequency over the fall/winter.

Kerri's pictures are here:

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=c0mu4ql.16rkjcb9&x=0&y=rxl868

I'm home. Too bad, but it's now time to train!

Kona pics are here:

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=avr6ezf.az8gxz33&x=1&y=-7fiauj


Hopefully they will give a flavor of how much fun we had.

What a day yesterday!! Boop, Kerri's and my day began about 3:10 AM with the alarm and then we headed down to body marking. It was crazy for awhile as they were using the rubber stamping method instead of writing numbers, and, we got to mark a few of our friends, which is always nice. A little confusion and big crowds getting everyone into the water, but finally, the cannon about 7AM.

We saw a little of the race on the big screen, but spent most of the time out on the course in various places. We started out on the pier and watched the start and the beginning of the swim. That is always so exciting--the churning of 3,400 arms in the water, the helicopters overhead, the crowds lined 5-6 deep along the sea wall and on the pier. An awesome sight! We then headed to Palani Road, where you see the bikers at two points--about 1.5 miles in on a downhill (and moving fast), then coming back on the uphill about 10-12 miles into the race. We stayed there until everyone was out of the water and onto the bikes, then it was to the finish line where they had a big screen showing live action with Bob Babbitt and Paul Huddle doing commentary and Roch Frey out in Hawi checking in there. It was a hot and sunny day in Kailua-Kona and it seems the winds weren't too bad on the bike course.

After watching the action for a bit, we headed back to the condo for a shower and a change of clothes, then it was time to chalk the road outside our condo. We were at about mile 1 on the run, so we stuck around there for a few hours. The first to come running by was Normann Stadler, one of my favorites!! About 2PM, we were starving, so we walked a few hundred yards down the street to Lava Java for cold coffee drinks and lunch. This was a great spot, as we saw running in both directions. After an hour or so here, it was time to head to the hot corner.

The hot corner is the spot where you can see people 3 times if you sit there long enough. The first time is at about three quarters into the start of the run, then about 18K coming back, and then about 1/4 mile to the finish, where you watch people come down the hill to make the last curve onto Alii Drive and to the finish line. We sat here for a good long stretch and we'd look up people's number in the program and shout out their name as they'd run by and they would smile or high five us. One pro from Australia (never heard of him) even blew me a kiss. Later, we went to the finish line to watch the guys we know finish since they were all within an hour of each other. Then, we went to a restaurant on Alii Drive for dinner and beers and had a table overlooking the street where we could yell at people. Then, we ended up back at the finish line until midnight. There were two or three people missing the cutoff, one by only about a minute and a half. The last guy was 15 minutes past midnight and everyone had started walking back up Alii Drive (you only go one way basically to get to all the condos/hotels), and when he came around the last corner, hundreds of people moved to the side of the street, stopped walking and cheered him on. It was totally cool. I've been here four times now and it always gives me a thrill to see the last finishers come in and all the earlier finishers sitting in the stands cheering them on.

About the race itself--we heard it was great and I can't wait to see it on the TV broadcast. Our day was more about cheering on our friends and all the athletes all day long instead of following the pro race. We saw our friend Hillary this morning and she thanked us for cheering for her and said she heard us multiple times throughout the day and that it helped. That is nice to know.

Today there are some stiff legged people walking around and lots of sunburns of varying shades of red. We swam this morning and the water was so clear, but there were lots of cold spots. Lava Java has been packed all day and no one is moving too fast. Tonight is the Awards Banquet, followed by the after-party. Should be quite the time.

OK, computer time is hard to come by and a little expensive, so I'm a bit behind on the updates.

Wednesday: I took the morning off from swimming since my back was hurting a bit. We had to be down to work registration early and ended up working all morning and until about 2PM. I sat out in front and checked photo ids and USAT memberships while Betty and Kerri worked in the main room going over the registration packets with the athletes. It was a fun time since we got to talk to a lot of people from all over the world and I ended up meeting in person, a guy from Australia who I'd known through email. We also got pictures with the "Jen sign" with Lori Bowden, Julie Moss, Normann Stadler and Macca! The Jen sign is becoming well known around town.

Wednesday afternoon we picked up the Corn (aka Dave) and drove out to the Energy Lab and parked and ran that section of the course. I ran 2 miles and the other three ran a little further. It's a slight downhill and it didn't feel too bad (considering it was 4PM). But, when we hit the turnaround and started running back, it was like an oven (and it was even overcast!)....no breeze and sweat just poured out of your body. We all decided it was a good thing to do to kind of experience what the athletes will experience on race day.

Wednesday night was an early dinner with a group of triathletes from an email list I'm on. That was fun since it's always nice to put names and faces together. It was an early night, and I ended up back at the condo to find Betty and Kerri watching "The Bachelor".

Thursday--We started the morning at Lava Java and had pre-arranged with our Cali friends to wave at them on the surf-cam. That was fun. Dan Empfield and Roch Frey came by, so they ended up in Jen sign pictures. We then went to swim and did our long swim--probably 3,000 yds or so. A great day with pretty calm water. I love swimming here. We finished the swim just in time to view the Underpants Run, but unfortunately, did not get any photos. The rest of the day was: return the rental car, lay by the pool, shop, go to the Ultrafit bash (and meet Joe Friel), more shopping, walk through the expo, get Tomas Hellreigel with the Jen sign, dinner, then drinks at an open air bar on the water. A very full day.

It's now time for coffee, then a swim, then we have a full day of working. Bike and bag check-in is today, then we help Dan Empfield with his bike count.

Got up and hit Lava Java (of course). Then, went swimming and the water was pretty wavey again. Back again to Lava Java, then we decided we would go lay by the pool. Did that for a couple of hours, then we did go shopping. Then, went and got my picture taken with my favorite woman pro...Natasha. We made up a sign that said "Hi Jen....Wish you were here" for our friend Jen who emailed and said she'd give us $5 for every pro that kissed us. Instead, we got people to hold the sign and we took their picture. Started with my buddy Hal's friend, then Natasha, then the publisher of Triathlete and Whit Raymond, one of the announcers, then we really got going. We watched the parade and asked all the pros who were in the parade to hold the sign, and they did. There was a guy standing next to us who then started stopping the parade so we could get pictures and telling us who to approach. Come to find out, he is the producer of the NBC coverage of the Ironman. It was entirely too fun. We got Wendy Ingraham, Scott Molina, Mark Allen, Shingo Tani, Cam Brown, Bill Bell, Sister Madonna, the Fig Newton Guy, Paul Huddle and Heather Fuhr and I can't remember who else. Time for bed cause we work tomorrow.

WHAT A GREAT FREAKIN DAY YESTERDAY WAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Started the day at Java Lava (the local coffee place and IM hangout), swim, drive to Hawi, drink more java in Hawi, drive back, shop, phone call from an ironman hottie, Java Lava again, sit and watch it rain with my friend Boop (Betty), meet up with our other roomie Squirrel (Kerri) and then go to Hard Rock for dinner, meeting the Corn (Dave) and G (Joe) our two buddies who qualifed at IMC, dinner for five, photo taken, walk over to check out the Dairy Queen (didn't eat any) a Normann Stadler sighting (about the 5th of the day and always appreciated), then to the computer and to bed. Oh yeah, talked to Scott Molina yesterday and he looks ready to go! And, he likes the saying, "NEVER NOT RIDE!" which means he actually reads my stuff on slowtwitch.com.

This morning was another Lava Java run, then swimming and chatting and taking pictures (including one bare butt of a man with very little body fat). I love Hawaii!!!

What a beautiful morning in Kona! I arrived yesterday, on the same flight as Huddle and Paula NF and Mark Allen and his son. Plus, a tour group coming to the IM from Begium, I think. Good flight and hot and steamy when we landed with dark black clouds lying low over the mountains. The radio reported rain so hard over on the Hilo side that some car races were cancelled. Picked up my friend Hal later at the airport and we had lunch and walked around some shops looking for any bargains. No purchases. Last night was dinner at Huggo's with some great grilled ahi, then early to bed.

Lots of people already here and out riding the Queen K or running up and down Alii Drive. Curious to see how many will be swimming this morning at the pier.

Awoke with a start at 4:00 AM thinking it was time to get up, but instead, went back to sleep for a couple of hours until my phone rang with my friend Kerri calling to tell me that Dave Scott is on her flight. I pick her up in a few hours, then later we pick up our friend Betty and our buddy G. G is racing here after qualifying at IMC. But first, a swim and a meeting for registration to learn all the details of all the changes in procedures.

Aloha!

The emphasis on this week is "ease back into training", so after 10 days of NOTHING, I headed out this morning for about 30 minutes. I had that itchy, "wanna work out" feeling and today's run was nice and easy, but it felt pretty good! I'll go a little farther tomorrow. Saturday I leave for 10 days in Hawaii where I may run a little, but we do plan to swim every day. Saturday the 18th is the Ironman World Championships, where we will volunteer. I can't wait. Being in Kona for the Ironman always gets the motivational juices going.

And now, I'm itching to get back training. I believe that tomorrow will be the day.

Why is it that virtually none of the women in Saturday's race speak or encourage each other? There were a couple of gals who did, who were in the back of the pack like me. This is very much unlike nearly ALL the men in the race--fast, slow, young, not so young--who all had "way to go", "keep it up", "you're doing great" comments all during the run. Just wondering.