IM Date: 8/31/09 - Week 17 - 13 days and counting...

Wow...here we are, less than two weeks to go until race day. Things begin to taper this week, but we still have three swims on the program. Our long ride this week is just 3 hours and running mileage is way down. It will be tough to taper after training so hard for so long. But it is very important that we do.

Yesterday's long ride in very chilly temps has made me realize we need to both pick up some full-fingered gloves before the race. It very well may be a very cold morning in Madison.

This week I have my first of two "torture" appointments with Kelly at Dr. Nash's office in Hopkins to work on my legs to loosen them up (hamstrings/IT bands) before the race. Cramping up in the middle of a 2.4 mile swim in the middle of Lake Monona is not on my list of things to do. It will hurt, but if it keeps me going and feeling good on race day...it's all worth it.

That's all for today...I will continue to try and post every day until race day.

More to come...

8/28/09: 16 Days and Counting...

A sweet sixteen days to go until race day...

Happy Friday...had a good swim yesterday afternoon and again this morning. (Man I hate chlorine)

Arms are feeling it today...

Need a good massage.

My last intense day of training will be tomorrow. (Good because I'm taking Andrew to the State Fair tomorrow too–I sure do miss Jim & Joe's)

8/27/09: 17 Days and counting...

I'm just sitting,

waiting for an email

so I can send off a project

and get to a meeting.

Hoping that all of the confusion

doesn't interfere with my plans

to leave early (I was in at 6:30 am)

and get my long swim in this afternoon.

Feeling better though...

planning, training, eating, etc.

Where's that email?!?!?!?

IM Date: 8/26/09 - 18 Days and counting

18 days to go and just a quick post for the day. We read through the "Athlete's Guide" that was sent to us and all I can say is....Holy Crap! Lots of rules!

I had good ride (90 minutes) and run (30 minutes) this morning, and the weather was very nice out...which is always a plus. Planning to get some training later today at MMAA.

Need to get my head in the right place...too much stress with too many other things and it's getting close to race day.

Back soon...

IM Date: 8/25/09 - Week 16 - 19 Days and Counting

I planned to do a countdown from 20 days out, but was at a training seminar for work all day yesterday and didn't get a chance to post. Wow, less than 3 weeks to go...just 19 days. Lots of things happening as of late. We got our "Athlete's Guide" for the race and the schedule leading up to the race will be crazy-hectic to say the least.

There are some mandatory things that I hadn't accounted for and it looks like I will be driving to and from Madison twice before the race. It should be fine, my sleep shouldn't suffer much so sitting in my truck versus sitting my office chair isn't much different. As long as I'm there and ready on Sunday, I don't care how I get there. Like I said in one of my first posts, if I have to drag my limp body across that finish line I will do it.

As far as training goes, it's a full week with our last long day coming this Sunday with a 4 hour ride and a short, 20 minute run. Lots of swimming this week too. Then next week we really start to taper down...which will be tough to do after all this time training so hard.

I'm going to try and post even more frequently in this last 19 days...so stay tuned!

IM Date: 8/18/09 - Week 15

With less than 4 weeks to go, our longest rides and runs are now behind us (20 mile run Saturday and 112 miles on the bike a week ago) training starts to begin to taper now and we are on the "down-side" of the training program.

We have our bikes back from trailhead, nutrition pretty much dialed-in for race day and the rest of our equipment in place and ready to go. We just need to sit down and make lists of everything we need for each part of the race. There are check-points and drop bags we can leave at the half-way points of both the bike and run, which will give us a chance to "re-load" our supplies of food, hydration and any equipment or clothing we need.

This week's training is pretty much in-line with recent weeks, Swim 1.5 hours/run 1 hour, a two hour run, ride 30 min./run 30 min. and the longest day on Sunday riding 5 hours with a 40 minute run. Tapering can be hard to do after training this hard for this long...but we need to stay "on-program" and taper when it tells us to so we are not over-trained when we get to Madison.

Have a great week...

IM Date: 8/13/09 - One month to go...

I thought I would take a minute to recognize this day...we are now one calendar month away from the big day in Madison.

Let's all collectively hope for the following things:

- the rest of training goes smooth and injury-free

- the weather on race day is decent (I'd love to say "ideal", but decent will do)

- our bodies hold up throughout the event and we have a great race

that's not too much to ask...is it???

IM Date: 8/12/09 - Week 14

Just 5 weeks left and time is flying by. We got our longest ride out of the way and now our bikes are at our favorite bike shop (Trailhead Cycle - www.trailheadcyclingandfitness.com) for a tune up and some additional equipment. This will give us a few weeks to make sure everything is good-to-go before Madison.

This week sees our program begin to taper the distances, but we do more and more combo days of training two things together. I think one of the best things to come out of this experience is our much improved knowledge of nutrition and the ability to listen to our bodies to make sure we have the fuel and hydration we need. We've done a fair amount of research on these topics and it seems to be paying off in training...let's hope it continues through race day in Madison.

Tomorrow is August 13th, one calendar month away from race day...any additional prayers for good weather would be much appreciated!

As always...more to come!

IM Date: 8/10/09 - Update

2.4 miles swim - Check

26.2 mile run - Check

112 miles on the bike with "road-side maintenance" - CHECK!

Well yesterday we did knocked out our longest ride yet...112 miles. We rode from Hinckley to just past Carlton, MN yesterday. After a stormy Saturday night complete with Tornado warnings and everything, we were a bit nervous about what Sunday would be like. The skies when we woke up Sunday didn't help to calm our nerves much. It was very dark and cloudy as we headed out towards Hinckley, MN.

But as the morning wore on, the clouds broke a bit and it was a nice day weather-wise. We ran into some mechanical trouble just after we turned around at the half-way point and after not one, but two failed CO2 cartridges, we were down to just one left and the goofiest pump I've seen...but we made it work. And good thing, because we were more than 50 miles from our truck and in the middle of nowhere. But we finished out the ride and ended it feeling good, but happy to be done.

Just five weeks to go...

IM Date: 8/5/09 - Weeks 12 -13

Wow...time flies and I apologize for the lack of updates. Things have been crazy and time has gotten away from me. Let's see...where to start; the Chisago Lakes Tri went well: Jodee smashed her time from last year and Andrew's bike was AWESOME! He averaged 17.85 mph for the 22-mile ride. Incredible for just 10 years old. My swim was "blah" but my run was good and over all Andrew and I came in 7th in the relay division. Pretty good for an 10 year old and an old guy : ) Last weekend Jodee and I rode the Tour de Tonka ride and did pretty well. It was very hilly and very windy that day. But our over all time was good and we ended the 75 mile ride feeling good.

On the injury front, my arm is getting better and I almost feel ready to start lifting again. Hopefully I will be able to start lifting again soon.

This weekend Jodee and I have the longest ride of our training program: a seven-hour ride that will take us from Hinkley almost to Duluth and back to Hinkley again. Hopefully the weather will cooperate that day and we'll have a good ride.

More to come...and more often, promise!