70.3 Race, Friday Run, IM Bike Course…No time for ...
This time of the year it’s hard to keep everyone up to date on “the happenings” around here because there is seriously not enough time in the day. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…it’s very hard to fit 26 hours of crap into the 24 hours provided. Here is a quick update on my recent happenings…
High Cliff ½ Iron (6/20/09)
This was my third attempt at the 70.3 distance, and it was very uneventful. We had some pretty bad chop during the swim, and I zigzagged a bit (the buoys AND kayaks were orange creating a sighting problem). For the first time ever I thought I might actually drown, as I was crushed by a wave while coming up for a breath three times in a row! Got punched, which is not unusual, but this one actually left a visible battle scar (a small shiner the next day). After all that, I finished 4 minutes faster than last year – which had me excited to hop on the bike.
The bike was 3 minutes slower than last year, and I don’t want to talk about it…
The run was 1 minute slower, but I felt great through the first 9 miles and think I’m making progress here. I had to walk during the last 3 miles quite a bit, but I wasn’t too discouraged. After looking at some of the run times, it looked like everyone struggled with the heat on the run. I ended with a 5:19, which was a whopping 1 minute faster than last yearJ.
In addition to the race, I finally took a day off of work that Friday and had a nice weekend of camping to compliment the racing…
My Friday Run #3 (6/26/09)
I made the trek home from work again after “failing” my last two attempts. I started out slowly, hoping to simulate my Ironman pace and wouldn’t you know it…it worked! I didn’t have any major problems through the 23 miles and felt pretty good when I arrived home about 3 hrs and 20 minutes later. In fact, I felt good enough to walk 9 holes the next day and have a little night out with some friends! The best feeling is conquering something you have previously failed at…it was GLORIOUS!
IM WI Bike Course (7/3/09)
This one was a disaster from the get go! J & I met up with “The Diesel” to make a go at the course. J wanted to complete one loop & Vin and I were going to throw down the double (~84 miles). The first loop was decent – nothing too exciting – but during the first ten miles of the second loop, I bonked. And not the “I’m kinda getting tired and this is difficult” bonk. I mean full blown, single digit mph, I think I’m going to vomit, do I even have legs anymore, that girl just past me and she was RUNNING bonk!! It turns out my nutrition experiment in the morning had really been ill-received by my body. The experiment included a yogurt and a StarbucksJ I know, I know – not ideal. But I am determined to somehow work that Starbucks into the pre-race meal!! The good news is my stomach handled it just fine! The bad news of course was the lack of calories ingested before a 5 hour workout. It was oh-so eloquently pointed out to me that a total of 700 calories throughout the morning (this is because I did manage to squeeze in a Cliff bar during the ride) was not sufficient to fuel me when I was burning 3,500 calories. No worries though…I’ll get it figured out before September.
So, that’s pretty much the last month. I’ll be racing the Pewaukee sprint triathlon this Sunday and will hopefully post something a little sooner following that race.
Cheers,
-=Berserker Poke