Dead Cold Winter

40 Weeks to IM Arizona.

I tend to mark out in my calendar the weeks to my Ironman Race so it is always fresh on my mind.  Sunday marks the 40 weeks to Arizona.  Not sure why that has significance but for me it really seems to have some kind of significance.  Maybe it is 4x10week blocks or about 9 months til the big day.  The anxiety starts to creep in at this mark.  A training plan for that period of time is what is weighing on my mind.  Being the anal person I am and I bet the other triathletes out there, we like to have a plan in place.

Life interferes with so much that one wants to accomplish.  Currently my life is playing havoc with a great training plan.  We are buying a house out in Stillwater, MN so this is a great thing to be distracted with.  Vacations to Playa Saladita, Mexico and work/vacation to the MTNs of Colorado are also great things to distract a person.  I am also working new job with 12 hour ER shifts that require about 1 hour of travel each way so that eats up a huge chunk of time.  I need more discipline at getting my training in with a schedule like that, but the new house will be closer and allow more convenient exercise access.  Hoping with the late season IM that I will perform more late summer training.

When the weather warms up some-it has been freaking cold all winter so far, I can do some running outside.  I love the pool/sauna/hot tub at the YWCA so getting that training in will be easy.  Bike training will be done indoor training and at NOW bikes class.

Tri-bikes.  What am I going to do about my bike needs.  A new bike is a great problem in my world but the cost can be quite prohibitive when you are buying a house and need to furnish it.

Just a short update cause hoping it will motivate me to draw up a plan.

Ironman Arizona.. I am in!

Well, I am back in another Ironman Race.  I was one of the few lucky online registrations that made it into Ironman Arizona 2014.  I was ready and waiting online as soon as the registration for IM AZ opened.  Both my brother and I were waiting online.  It was interesting and very stressful to get into the race.  Sat on the active.com website and clicked registration and a new page popped up saying I was in Q for registration but I stayed in this window for probably 30 minutes before the registration page opened up.  My brother had the same thing and was maybe 15 seconds behind me and didn't get in.  Many times I was going to walk away thinking I didn't get in but I did get in.  When the registration page did open I had something like 10 minutes to complete and pay for the registration so it was no rush.  Overall folks it is a stressful time but my advice is be online early cause I swear I got in Q a couple minutes before 12 noon.  If I waited til 12 noon I wouldn't be in.  Like I said my brother was 15 seconds behind me and didn't get in.

Why Ironman Arizona.  The weather is so nice in Arizona in November.  I know this cause my Dad lives in Sun City, AZ and I have visited there in November.  It certainly is not the best time for a Minnesotan to train.  Weather really starts to turn in Mid-October so that last few weeks could prove difficult.  Also since I am a hunter this is going to cut into my deer hunting.  Having done IM Wisconsin twice I was ready to try another race.  That being said IM Wis is an awesome race and so convenient for me.  Another reason for a race at a different time is that with young kids and family, I am hoping that by not having to put in those long rides in July/Aug for IM Wis I will be freeing up the valuable summer break with family.  For IM AZ I will be doing those rides when the kids are in school in Sept/October.

Ironman racing is really difficult on your family.  I have the support of my family and that helps tremendously.  That is not to say that my wife is super happy with me and the training.  The benefit is that I am a much happier/healthier person but she sacrifices by not having me around.  Ironman racing is selfish-I know that.  Hopefully the example I am setting is going to leave an impression on the kids.  Setting goals, working towards the goals with sacrifices and seeing the satisfaction of achieving them.  Liam and I made a pact that I will do my 10th Ironman with him after he turns 18!  This will be the 3rd IM overall for me in 2014.  He is 9 now.  So If I do 6 more races before he is 18 I can do it.  Liam is a really good swimmer and likes to ride bike, we will have to work on the running part.  It would be cool to see him start doing some Tri's but no worries.

Tri's and gear are always linked.  Some of my recent gear purchases are the Garmin Forerunner 220 and my initial impressions are it rocks.  I love the garmin connect online features and enjoy being able to see my pace/time/distance on my watch face.  Since my goals for this IM will be to run faster I am hoping this helps.  I will talk goals later in a post.  There is a new app from the Road ID folks that allows others to actively follow your training rides-like my wife.  Also it has a lock screen that can feature your name/medical issues/emergency contacts-check it out.  I will be in the market for a new TT bike as well this year.

Anyways-I am in at Arizona. Excited.  Feeling inadequate and not sure why I do it.  Doubtful.  All kinds of emotions.   Should be a great year!

Countdown to Moo

Oh boy!! Have finished up the long training with my long bike of 95 miles and 18 mile run and 2.5 mile swim.  The taper has started this week.  It is a relief but at the same time it is very difficult.  The thoughts of "I didn't train well enough"  "what would one more long bike/run hurt".  This is when the discipline will have to set in to not overdue the last few weeks.  It isn't like this is just short little training rides anyway.  This weekend I will still ride 70 miles and than run for 1 hour after the bike.  The next day I will swim 4000 yds again and run 6-7 miles.

The athlete guide was published and that gets a person really excited.  Now it is time to worry about weather/clothing and nutrition.  I still am not sure about what I will be wearing.  The swim is easy to decide but I am really thinking I am going to wear these breaking down bike bibs that are my favorite with an unmatched jersey on top during the bike.  Same goes for the run-I am thinking I will change into my 3-4 year old shorts and maybe keep the same bike top on.  I have ran in these shorts for years and they work-the only downside possible is they are heavy.  If it is cold or wet than I will have to rethink everything.

We took a 1 week trip to the Brainerd Lakes with family.  Phoebe became quite the paddle boarder on the day I rented them for Kelly's 40th Birthday.  We really like the SUP boards.  Kelly had a good birthday-we had 3 different cakes during the week and went out to eat pizza with the kids.  The weekend after her B-Day we spent the night in downtown Mpls and went to eat at Manny's Steakhouse.  Kelly and I stayed downtown at the Foshay Tower.

We are working and cramming in things here at the end of the summer before back to school.  Just hoping to have a good couple weeks with the kids and a good taper.

Test Run

Hello-been about 1 month since my last post.  Chisago 1/2 IM is this Sunday so that should be a great test run.  I will try out some new equipment this Sunday.  My new tri suit will be in and I will run/bike in it this week and try at the 1/2 IM.  I went out to Gear West and tried on a few.  Than I purchased one on-line.  Simplifying the transition should help-last time at Wisconsin I did full outfit changes.  Being able to just throw on the bike socks/shoes and helmet/glasses should make it easier.  I am not sure if I will change into a run outfit or not yet.  The pad interference with my legs will make that decision.

Now bikes made the switch for me this week so I can put the HED wheels on my tri-bike.  I took it out for a ride today.  Hoping I pick up some speed.  The wheels are much lighter, I can say that.  Hopefully that translates to speed.

Had a little set back this week.  I went swimming in open water at Lake Nokomis and I am quite sure I picked up some illness there.  I was fine at 11pm that night but when I woke in the AM I had a blocked nose, splitting headache and unrelenting nausea.  Took Ibuprofen/tylenol most of day and finally it went away but missed training that day.  Just read in paper that 2 more lakes have E.coli in them and the beaches are closed-Calhoun and Hiawatha.  So, it is likely that Nokomis has high levels but still open. GROSS!!  I really want to swim 1 more time in wetsuit before Sunday.  Need to have the wetsuit a little more stretched out.  I am really stoked to try to nail the swim-even though for me that is hopefully average.  Last time I did a 1/2 my swim was 48 minutes-SLOW, SLow, Slow.  If I could shave 8-10 minutes I would be really happy.  My bike was 2:48 and I am going a little faster now so hoping to shave 5-10 minutes again.  Hoping to run around 2 hours.  So I guess a goal of 5:30.

My nerves are a little up.  I haven't bike more than about 80 miles and I want to get 2 century rides in and finding the time is getting difficult.  I am hoping to get both rides done in August.  We will see.  I also have to run 18 miles twice.  I can do it.

My brother Chad has had a rough 3 weeks.  Took a recovery week and than 2 weeks of lots of work and moving house.  Hoping he gets back on the hog.

That is all folks.

Summer Heat

Seems the summer has finally hit us as the heat and humidity are upon us.  It has taken long enough for it to arrive.  The weather has still made it difficult to train at times due to the rain.  Everyone in Minnesota is hoping it will finally calm down before we have to build an ark.

The training is coming along pretty good.  I am swimming very well-quicker times when I do check which is not often.  No open water training at this point so there has been no use of my wetsuit to this point.  We are all headed up north to Aitkin so I hope to get in the water.  Ripping off 1 hour of lap swimming has been no problem so the fitness in the water should be there come September.  I think I can talk about goal times-my swim was about 1 hr 30 min in 2010 so I am hoping to shave off 10 minutes in the water.  It may be lofty but with better sighting and a better prep with more experience I think it is reasonable.  It isn't like I am setting records at that speed anyways.  I have been practicing sighting in the pool more frequently and watched some you-tube videos on it to help.

Biking-have been riding the new road bike lots but when riding the tri-bike there hasn't been much adjustment needed.  I will put more saddle hours in this summer when I am on the long rides so again I should be use to the bike.  Since I am working so many evenings/weekends I have been riding during the day and not much opportunity for group training but the Now Bikes seems to have a good Tri group this year.  Group riding is so beneficial for training.  Was considering riding the Road bike on the course but after reading some on the net I will stick with the Tri bike-the consensus was Tri Bike from my reading.  Although I have not been riding the longer distances yet(longest ride 76 miles) I am riding longer more frequent rides on the bike.

Run-Really feel I have an excellent chance to better my run this time.  I was pretty darn slow last time around and feel it was due to not putting enough time into running more long runs.  I am up to 15 miles this weekend and will go to max of 18 miles.  I am also clipping off frequent 8-9 mile runs mid week.  I know I have to ride smart to run well so I am staying realistic.  If I can bike the same time or slightly better(conditions were ideal in 2010) I am going to be confident about running around/less than 5 hours.

My goal time is anything with a 12 hours on it.  I don't care if it is 12:59.

Madison weekend-My brother Chad and I headed down to Madison the first weekend of June.  We rode the course on Saturday-man-oh-man is it hilly.  I had forgotten or what is more likely is that I was so focused on race day that I forgot how many hills there are.  Up/down, up/down, left/right-so very few flat straight areas on the course.  Chad was a little freaked out by it but it will be good for him and me to have done the course.  We rode out to the loop and 1 lap on the loop than back.  Sunday we ran the course for 13 miles and got to see Observatory Hill which was under construction in 2010 so I didn't run it.  Not that bad of a hill-I will walk/shuffle that hill for sure on race day.  Good weekend.

Crash-well had my first ever accident on the bike.  Was riding in a rain storm but not intentionally when a car that was suppose to be turning right from the right turn lane changed her mind and went straight.  I was next to her but as I was keeping an eye on her I swerved-drilled a pot hole and blew out both tires, rode my rims for a number of feet, hit my chest on my handlebars, and thanked the lord I didn't go down.  My new HED Jet 5 Express wheels were damaged-actually just the back wheel had road gravel divots on the rim and needed trueing.  It was minor but I was near tears.  FYI-she kept driving.

Racing-I only plan 1 event pre-IM.  I am doing Chisago 1/2 IM end of July.  Hope that works.  No Pigman this year.

Not much else to say about Tri's.

Life-Liam is swimming like a champ, playing tennis at Macalester in St Paul Urban Tennis league, and soccer with HGRA.  He is a great kid.  Phoebe had her end of year recital and did wonderful-she is beautiful and graceful.  She is also swimming(no fear jumping off high dive), soccer and tennis as well.  Kelly is applying for a new job at Hamline Student Health as ER work with me starting full-time ER work in Sept is too difficult to coordinate.  The Hamline job has the potential to be a great job.  I am finishing in Glenwood ER today and than work UC next 2 months before the ER work in Wis starts.

Cheers,  Brett

Weather Blues and Gear Bliss

April 10th-Well the training is coming along.  Not sure how I feel about the training.  I feel like my training is lagging behind 2010 but again I feel like I am on a better build up to Ironman fitness.  In 2010 I was extremely fit by this time but probably not on the appropriate curve to peak fitness.  I peaked in the summer and maintained thru the end of summer.  It worked but this year I feel like I will be constantly building throughout the summer until peak in September.  I guess we will see what works.

Swimming-I have been able to swim straight for 1 hour, so about 3300yds at least.
Biking-spinning for 2.5 hrs max and outdoor ride about the same.  I will need to build this but plan to do that outside.  Weather has not cooperated.  Tomorrow I will drive home 2.5 hours in the snow!!
Run-up to 9 miles max distance run but I am running 6-8 miles every time I am out.  I will work on long runs but getting the daily milage up.  I plan to increase to max of 20 miles or 3 hours this year.  I did max 2.5 hours last IM and I need to run better to decrease my overall time.  marathon 5:30 in 2010.
Cross-probably my biggest problem has been I am hitting the weights too much.  I am too muscular.  I need more lean muscle mass.  My weight is stuck at 195 but I feel this is due to my bulk cause my body appears lean.  Hopefully the muscle strength helps!

Gear-I should post a picture of my new road bike-Felt F3 Limited with HED Jet 5 Express.  A very sweet ride but now my TT bike is not as nice but will look good with the wheelset.  Maybe I should ride my road bike?
Shoes-made a way too late decision to upgrade my shoes.  I bought some Giro Factor road shoes that are way more comfortable.  My previous shoes had hot spots and caused pain on long rides.
Helmet-see above really.  More comfortable both resting on my head and most importantly much improved chin strap.
Wetsuit-not so much an upgrade.  Needed to get full wetsuit vs my sleeveless suit.  After surfing all last year with the full suit I will be much more comfortable in full wetsuit.  Xterra vector pro had a 50%+ discount on the suit so scooped that right up. Had to exchange once for larger size but that was fine.
Bike gear-Xmas brought a very nice wind proof jacket that is getting used and keeps me warm and holds gear.  Have rain gear but haven't used it this year yet.

Training schedule:
Attempting a training schedule some of which is a repeat of previous years.  Thinking
April 27-28  combo of Mn Ironman bike ride and Get-n-Gear 1/2 marathon.
June 8th Liberty 1/2 IM
July 28th Chisago 1/2 IM
Hoping to do a trial weekend in Madison on June 1st weekend.

At this point really getting excited for some nicer weather as I am enjoying running outside.  Recently I have been considering joining a local triathlon training group run out of the local bike shop.  I am hoping that they get good participation as running with other people increases my pace dramatically.  Training rides with the group out of the bike shop helps as well.

Family is good.  Kids are doing well in school.  Kelly is working a bunch this month and than she has a pretty free May so we are thinking of another road trip-South Carolina this time.  Hoping the truancy people don't come after us if Liam misses more school.  Apparently he has missed his unexcused alotment of days.  Oh well, he is smart and is doing good so I won't worry.

Not much else to report.

Tell next time-happy training.

9 Month mark

Well,  it is a new year-2013-and this marks the beginning of the 9 month push to Ironman Wisconsin 2013.  It seems that many people training use a 9 month program to set up their training for Ironman.  I have been going to the gym as much as I can this past 2-3 months.  I have been focusing on basic swim fitness-doing basically lap swimming, getting my run fitness up-trying to mainly keep heart rate <150 and="and" bike="bike" core="core" get="get" legs="legs" my="my" not="not" p="p" position="position" really="really" riding="riding" strengthened.="strengthened." to="to" toned="toned" trainer="trainer" training-i="training-i" was="was" weak="weak" weight="weight">
I am working on some plans for training.  I am going to try and do some yoga 1x/week in January and February.  I have a groupon for some yoga at a local studio.  I am also going to sign up for a swim coach that meets every other Sunday for 2 hours of swim instruction.  We also get video taped and given instruction on better technique.  My kids swim in their kids programs.  The local bike shop has some group training indoor and doing that as well should help.  Anyone have any other group training tips?

It has helped having my brother start training as well.  He is all in with a trainer at his health club, a program for training set up by her and he is buying a bunch of gadgets.  We are trying to get some races on the calender although I don't plan on doing many races as training should require enough of my time.

The Hyatt Place in Madison where we stayed last time has some rooms open so I am looking into booking their.  It was close to the race, had parking, and all the amenities like pool/hot tub/breakfast.  The rooms were super big as well so all the kids can hang out during race day and it gives Chad and I plenty of space.

Some things I am going to purchase for the race this year include a new wetsuit so I am awaiting the new years arrivals.  Not sure what I will get-I have been happy with my but after surfing in New Zealand last year with a full wetsuit I am definitely going that way not the sleeveless one I have been using.  I would also like to get new comfortable road bike shoes-mine have never been the greatest fit with some toe numbness on long rides so I need to remedy that.  The bike bibs were a huge improvement and I recently splurged on a super comfortable helmet(why didn't I try that years ago) so my comfort on the bike should be vastly different.  Christmas brought leg/arm warmers and a wind proof zip off sleeves jacket so this should make spring biking much better.  The big contemplation is do I splurge for a new road bike-I would like to upgrade but not sure I can afford it-may have to work more shifts.

My job changed this past month as well.  I now work 5 shifts of 24 hours per month in the Emergency Room.  I love my new job-so challenging and exciting.  The change has been awesome.

I will keep updating and hopefully more often as it gets me exciting to write about it.