I thought I'd share some thought on where I've come in my athletic career to give a little background on my accomplishments, a closer look at 2014 and then looking towards the 2015 season.
A history lesson-
As a kid I was outdoors.... a lot. Sandbox, climbing trees, riding my bicycle.... riding it some more... and then some. I guess competition was in my blood. I'd set up a obstacle course in our little asphalt driveway and see how fast I could ride it. I wore out many set of tires doing this. If there was a patch of gravel on the road, I'd lock up the rear and slide it around. When the creek behind our house froze, I was on it...yes, on my bicycle, seeing how fast I could ride on it.
Around 10, I got a Montgomery Wards 21 speed 26" mountain bike. I beat the crap out of it riding in the woods near our house and all over. Later at 14, I purchased my first rode bike, A Schwinn with Wow...14 speeds (maybe it was 12). I think it was around $300, which was quite a bit in 1992. and rode the crap out of it that summer. I'd go for 2-3 hour rides. I think honestly, that's where it really started. I had a need for speed, liked to ride hard, and go far. It unfortunately got stolen later that year. That was a real setback, but it wouldn't keep me down. I went out for track and field that winter/spring. I figured out early I wasn't too bad at this distance running thing. I kept dropping time, earned my varsity letter and was one several "most improved" athletes that season.
That Fall I of course, went out for cross country. It was a rebuilding year for the team having graduated most of their fast runners the previous year. I finished 7th on our team in my first race. I think I ran a 23:xx. Not bad in my first 5k I think. I never finished outside the top 7 on our team in 3 seasons. Consistency was probably my trade mark. I either had OK races or great races. I can only remember 2 times in 20 years, both racing bicycles in college, having a bad day and abandoning. But that's tactical racing, not a timed race, so a different animal really. ONce was in Inidiana, another at yup.... Wisconsin, near Mt. Horeb.
Later that Fall my friends convinced me to join the swim team. The rest I guess is history. I was very good at both sports, but never great. Little league baseball was that same. I was near the top, but not great. But I hated baseball deep down, since as a bit of a perfectionist, I had trouble with the concept that you could fail 2/3rds of the time and still be "good" as a batter. That sucks!
Following HS, I quickly missed training and competing. I joined the IM swim club and we went to a couple "Swim meets"... which were really excuses to party. That was fine with me. My path would take a major turn that next Fall. I did an internship in Fort Wayne, IN and a attractive young co-ed was a serious runner and convinced me to train for the Chicago Marathon with her. I was 19 and single.. so of course I agreed. First runs was a 8 miler, having not run for probably 6 months. It about killed me. But it got easier and another big milestone of running more miles was adapting my run form. I started running a higher cadence and noticing that it was easier and smoother. I completed the race with no real pacing strategy, no nutrition strategy other than drink something every mile, and bonked and hit the wall around mile 23 and walked a bit that last few miles. I finished in 3:38 and was ecstatic. That was a sringboard for me. I was swimming regularly and did a little indoor triathlon that winter and killed it., That was it, I was hooked.
A fractured collarbone while mountain biking slowed things down a bit and after recovering, I focused more on cycling the next 4 years of college. I worked up to Class "A" (Cat 1,2,3) in road and MTB after winning that Class B regional race my first season... in .... guess where? at a course in Mt Horeb!!!
My last year of college I got hooked on motorcycles. I got fat... but learned a LOT about handling a 2 wheel machine getting in a lot of track time and burning through many sets of tires over a 2 year period.
I later moved to Keokuk, IA for a new job, got back into riding and running and joined a masters swim team that winter. I finally did a triathlon in 2006. I got engaged later that year. 2007 I did my first 70.3. I did well, finished around 5:30 but vowed that "I'd never do a full IM". I got fat the year my wife was pregnant, got fatter during a labor dispute at my workplace where I put in 70 hour weeks for 3 months working on a shift rotation. I reached nearly 210lbs!!! ... for the 2nd time in my life. 2011... I went on an aggressive diet, sold my motorcycle and bought my trek speed concept. I was lean and mean, down to 160lbs, and running as fast as any time n my life. Won the amature division at the Trizou spring in Columbia, MO and never looked back.
THe next 3 seasons I trained progressively more, kept getting faster, did my first 1/2 marathon in the fall of 2012 and did really well. SO well that I decided to do a 70.3 again. I'd take on Pigman a 2nd time. I ramped up my training in 2013 and by mid summer, decided I was ready to attempt a full Ironman. MY daughter was 4y/o so I had a window before she got too involved in school events and hopefully sports. I crushed my 2nd attempt beating my swim and bike goals and despite GI issues, gritted out a 1:31 run and went 4:25... over 1 hour faster than my first 6 years earlier! There I was, just a notch behind some of the fastest AG athletes in the midwest. I heard them talk of Kona, and thought, wow, maybe I have a real shot.
I did a run focus that Fall, and started getting in some longer rides and increasing my swimming. On a tip from Daniel Bretscher who I had looked at using for coaching, but just couldn't come up with the money for any coach...he was quite reasonable really, I read the THe "Training Bible" and signed up for Trainingpeaks, and ordered a Stages Power Meter at Christmas time.
I used to their Annual Training Plan and virtual Coach to put together the periodization and fill out a weekly training schedule around where I had time to train. The best schedule ended up being riding in the mornings, swimming at lunch and running in the evenings. I mixed things up a little but overall that was the plan. The basic formula in this order of priority was 1) Run 6 days a week (BarryP plan), 2) ride 6 days a week with 1 long/longer ride and 1-2 quality rides and the rest whatever I could handle to fill the weekly target training load. Mostly zone 2-3. 3) Sleep in 2 days a week 4) fit in 5-7 swims where ever I could. It might be a short 25 minute swim during my daughters swim lessons, or a swim at lunch. Later in the summer when I had to use my neighbors pool, I would do swim/run combined workouts.
The rest is history and well documented in my blog posts.
2015 Plan -
NO running until late next week along with 1 more week on unstructured training, then I'll do mostly maintenance for 4 weeks with a run focus, doing a 5k and a 1/2 marathon.
Next 2 months will be weight control, and probably continue to run focus and swim focus with a long ride on weekends and shorter, higher intensity rides during the week.
Next 2 months will be a bike & swim focus and give my run legs a bit of a rest, especially since it will be crappy weather to run in. I'll probably do Tour of Sufferlandria maybe 2-3 times. Might even just keep doing it in order 5-6 days a week plus a long easy ride. All this time doing strength and core training 3 days a week.
Then I'll start my more formal training heading into my first "A"-ish race... probably NOLA 70.3. Not a full build and taper, but close. Fun to have a early season race to focus on. Plus I figure if disaster strikes, I at least had a chance to test my fitness at some point that season. Then it will e a long series of sprint races through the sprint and early summer. Come summer, it's time to hunker down and hit the serious IM training. Take advantage of the heat to run in the afternoon and get used to roasting. Then Steelhead and/or Pigman, then a final training block and my taper leading to Kona.
KONA -
We're thinking now of flying in Sunday and get the full experience the whole week. Get in some swims, bikes and runs, adapt, enjoy the commradarie and atmosphere. This could be the only time I get here, so why do it half assed. They even have a Ironkids "Dip and Run", which I think is a swim off the pier and a short run from there. Too cool! We'll rent a condo or house for the week ideally not too far from town along Ali'i Drive.
Tentative Race Schedule - I haven't verified dates or checked for conflicts. I might also look for a
Ironman 70.3 New Orleans or Texas
Trizou Sprint, Columbia, MO
Galena Sprint/Du - Galena, IL?
Bridge The Gap 1/2 marathon
Pigman Sprint?
Holiday Lake Sprint, Brooklyn, IA?
Keokuk Y-Athlon (need to find a date) Might make this a super sprint or switch to a multi-lap format to be more spectator friendly and a different challenge.
Steelhead 70.3?
Pigman Long Course (70.3)
Great River Road Run 1/2 Marathon
Ironman World Championships - Kailua Kona, Hawaii
I'm thinking NOLA.. or Texas, might be a fun guys only road trip. My buddy Josh wants to race this and I wonder if we can con Daniel to come along too depending on his race plans. Split gas and a room and it could be fairly cheap overall.
Final Thoughts:
I still can't believe how far I've come and how well my day went, especially nutrition. For a 1st timer, it's really an unknown. But I also can't reenforce how important it was to focus on fitness and training load and pay little attention to particular distances and workouts. The long rides were and important element, but not more important that consistent training load. I also want to mention that my last 2 long runs pushed me over the edge and nearly derailed my training at the end. They presented FAR more risk than any reward and I would never recommend a run over about 16-18 miles.
I'd like again to thank everyone for their support and the kind words. The last week I've felt like a Rock Star. It makes all that hard work worth it and I hope I cna share what I've learned with others, so they can reach their goals and achieve their dreams. The thought of doing some less formal coaching has crossed my mind.
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