Back running again...well, kind of

After a good appointment with the doc, I was told I could "ease back into" running again.  So I was finally able to run last Friday (Boxing Day).  I got 5 miles in and it felt good.  Then I went and over did it a little the following day riding the trainer and doing some rolling at the academy.  And by Saturday evening it was swollen again...but through the wonders of ice and ibuprofen, the swelling is gone today.  I see the doc again today at 12:15...so hopefully I will get another good report.

More to come soon...

Injury Update: One week down...one more to go.

Well a week into the injury and things are getting better.  The doc is working on my ankle weekly and I hope to be running in another week or so.  If not I will end the year with just over 1,300 miles run for 2008.   It has been nice having the new trainer to ride the last week, while running has been a no-no.

If I don't post again before Christmas...I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

Ouch...a Bump in the Road

The brace you see above is now keeping me from running for upwards of a week...which sucks.  My ankle got "popped" about 3 years ago training jiu-jitsu and apparently did not heal correctly.  So now I sit for a while and wait for it to heal.  We'll see how long I can actually stay off of it.

The Real Thing

A little while ago I posted about my new bike, but didn't have a picture of my actual bike.  Dear-father was kind enough to look through his archives and find a picture of the bike for me. (because yes, it would have been too much effort on my part to just take a picture of it myself)

Rock on...

IM Date - 12/16/08

Well another purchase is in the books.  I broke down and bought myself a trainer for at home.  Aside from the fact that it is a lovely -15 degrees with a -25 below zero windchill today and riding outside seems a long time away, I really can't keep using Jodee's.  And plus, mine came in a really cool green color!  (Well, cool if you like classic Mopar cars or Arctic Cat snowmobiles.) 

So last night we braved the sub-zero temps and went to visit our favorite bike shop:  Trailhead Cycle in Champlin.  We of course got a great deal and it is now set up at home, ready to go.

Another HUGE thank you goes out to dear-father (and Sue!) for yet another "contribution" for the cause.  And while giving  a check as a Christmas present may not be very much fun...it has certainly been put to use–even before Christmas.  Maybe I'll bring it up and put it under the tree come Christmas morning.  This will hopefully conclude the major purchases for the race..I hope.  More to come...

My New Ride...

Wow...here it is; my new bike.  The picture you see isn't the exact one, but one I found on line.  This is the bike the T-Mobile team rode in the Tour de France.  The exact bike.  I have to give a huge thanks to my dad...who sold it to me and gave me a better deal than any year-end sale would've.  It's way more bike than I ever thought I'd have..all carbon-fiber, all Dura Ace components and all-cool.

I won't put this on the Iron Man expense list, I'd have bought it whether I was doing the race or not.  I may re-stripe it...not that I don't love pink, I mean magenta (sorry Dad), but a nice yellow may be cool.  Dearest father has also volunteered to be our follow car on the 112 mile  bike course in Madison.  Jodee and I quickly accepted that offer as well.  Somehow I'm thinking this will make the 112 miles go by a little faster than on my Bianchi.

Hmmm...now comes the training, I guess.

Peace.

Year-end sales were good to me

Well, I got it...the wetsuit I will wear next fall in Madison.  A trip to White Bear Lake, some time in the changing room, a hearty-helping of "suit juice", a bit of procrastination and $316.25 with a 25% discount and I have it.  Pretty nice I have to say.  I guess I should have had one sooner.  I think I was the only person the half-iron man I did this past summer that did NOT have one on.  And I've been assured by everyone I have talked to that I won't be able to believe how much easier it will be to swim with it on.  Which is good...I'll take all the help I can get.

So on the expense list it goes.  Maybe I really don't want to know how much we spend on this race after all.

Twin Cities Marathon - Wet But Good

Well this past weekend was the Twin Cities Marathon and the TC 10 mile.  Jodee had a new PR time in the marathon and qualified for Boston again.  Amazing...even through the driving rain, she did outstanding.  I had a good race as well.  I did the TC 10 mile for the first time and finished in 69:26.  A pace of 6:57/mile.  Very good for a slow and aging white guy from Anoka.

Going wet suit shopping this week...hopefully I will find some good deals since it's the end of the season.

IM Date 9/23/08 - Good News

Good news...my buddy Adam (from Jiu-Jitsu) has offered to help me with my swim.  Which, to be honest, can use some help.  Of course getting a wet suit should help as well.  I just ran into my buddy "Dr. Ross" and he bought a wet suit this past year as well.  But the help with my technique will go a long way during what will surely be a long 2.4 miles in the lake with more than 2,000 other swimmers as well.

More to come...

IM Date 9/17/08

Well, this week we finally got our emails from the race so we could register.  I took care of registering both Jodee and I and now there's no turning back!!!  I have set up an expense log for this race.  I'm sure at the end of it I will look at how much we have spent and ask myself "what the hell was I thinking???  Do you know what we could have done with that money???"  But oh well...you only live once.  And it was not that long ago that I wouldn't have thought it would be possible for me to run a marathon.  But Jodee assured me then, that I could..."no problem."  She hasn't told me that in this case yet...not that she will and not that I'd believe her.  But if I train like I should and my bike holds up over the course of 112 long, hilly miles...I will finish.  Dammit if I have to drag my broken and exhausted body across the finish line...I will finish that race.

So on what would be exactly a year before the race, this past Sunday morning Jodee and I did a nice 22 mile run in the hills of Champlin, MN.  Kind of fitting...since in a year from now we'll see 26.2 miles of hills in Madison.  We finished it fine...rain and all.

So as of today...the expenses are at a cool $1,279.45...basically our registration fees as well as the gas and food from our trip to WI to register.  I still need to purchase a wetsuit and I'm sure there will be many other training expenses before race day.

And the fun continues...

And the journey begins...

After doing various triathlons over the past few years, I completed my first half-Iron Man distance triathlon.  After the race, my thoughts of doing a full-Iron Man were different than before the race.  Even though I raced well and finished well ahead of when I thought I would or could...it was tough.  Plain and simple.  My wife, the person I blame (just kidding...kind of) for getting me into triathlons, running, etc. started to get some pressure from her training partners to do a full iron man.  I told her she was nuts, that they were nuts, etc.  But somehow the thought of "...well if you're going to do it, I'll do it with you" came from some deep, dark place within my brain where things like logic and reason apparently do not live.

So after rescheduling appointments at work, taking a day-off and playing a gig with my band the night before, we woke up at just after 2:00am on September 8th and drove to Madison , WI to register for the 2009 Iron Man Wisconsin.  After a 5 hour drive we got to stand in line (in the cold and rain...no one said the line was outside!!!) for 3 hours to walk up, show my ID and put my name and address on a piece of paper.  That was it!!!  We didn't even actually register!  We then turned stood in another line (indoors at least) for another almost hour to reserve a hotel for next year.

We then turned around to drive right back home.  The adventure was under way.