From Demoralized to Motivated - Cycle 25

Well, it's official, my Ironman training has completed consumed my life.  Yes, you heard me correctly, I have no life outside of work and swimming, biking, and running.  Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining - in fact, I'm enjoying it.  Normally, I start my weekly updates with a few paragraphs about what all went down, outside of my training life.  So, as I sat down and started to think about what I was going to write about, I drew a blank.  "Why can't I remember what I all did this past week?"  I pulled up my Google Calendar and found out why I couldn't remember what I did this past week.  I didn't do ANYTHING - nothing, nada, zero, zip, zilch.  Pathetic, right?  My work week all started on last week Monday.  Sarah and I were kept up all night with Maya who either ate too much Orange Leaf frozen yogurt on Sunday night, or came down with some short lived bug.  From the time that we gave her a bath and put her to bed she was complaining of a belly ache.  Then it happened, around 11 she threw up all over our bathroom.  She was up until about 3 vomiting.  I was scheduled for SWAT training on Monday morning and Sarah was unable to stay home from work due to being short staffed, so it was daddy's turn to call in sick and stay home with the girls.  Maya didn't eat a lot on Monday, but by the end of the day, she was feeling nearly 100%.  I then went back to work Tuesday night and Rock USA began on Wednesday.  Rock USA is the rock & roll version of Country USA music festival.  The only difference between the two events (other than the music) is Rock USA is 4 days as opposed to 5 days.  I was still out there for 11 hour shifts from 7pm-6am.  I was fortunate that all 4 days of the festival fell on my regularly scheduled shift, so I did not have to work on any of my off days.  My weekend fell on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and spent the entire weekend either training for the Ironman or at SWAT training.  I did reach an exciting milestone this cycle though.  I reached 100 total miles of swimming since I started my Ironman Training in Mid-December.  Exciting stuff, right?  Haha

Brief Recap

I planned this cycle to have less training volume while I was working out at Rock USA due to the added stress of being on my feet all day/night and working 11 hour shifts overnight.  One of my key workouts of this cycle did fall while working at Rock USA, however.  I had my 5th Swim Fitness Test on day 4 of this cycle.  Without going into super detail about the test, I killed it!  I swam my 400m time trail swim in 6:19, 10 seconds faster than my previous best time.  My 200m time trial swim was completed in 3:05, which is actually a second slower than my previous best.  But, a second is negligible and I was happy that it was remaining constant.  After my last swim test, I made it a point to improve my 400m swim time, which I did, by a lot.  I was extremely happy with where my swim fitness has come, not only over the past 8 months, but since I first started swimming 7 years ago.  The remainder of my work week was relatively easy, but enough training stress to not loose fitness.  I did swap out a workout from my original plan.  I was scheduled to bike 40 miles the morning after my last night out at Rock USA and then catch a quick nap before heading back out for a 16 mile run.  To be honest, I was just too physically and mentally drained from a long and busy 4 days at Rock USA.  I swapped out that workout for the workout I had planned for day 9.  So instead, I did a short 15 mile bike followed immediately by a 6 mile brick run and did the long brick workout after SWAT Training on Tuesday night.  

My second key workout was my trip down to Verona, WI to bike 100 miles on the Ironman bike course.  I was anxious to see what all the hype is about.  The Ironman Wisconsin bike course is claimed to be the most difficult full Ironman bike course in North America, if not the world.  I headed down to Fireman's Park in Verona early Monday morning.  I started riding around 9:30 and was taken back by the difficulty of the course.  It was a humbling experience.  The temperatures were hovering around 90* throughout majority of my ride and there were winds averaging 12mph with gusts up to 27mph, which obviously had a direct impact.  The course is extremely hilly and technical.  There are hundreds of turns and bends and you are never on a single road for more than 5 miles, with most stretches of road being in the 1-3 mile range.  The course is extremely picturesque, as most of the course is set in the rolling farm fields of northwest rural Madison.  There were about 3 hills that left a lasting impression in my mind.  One of those climbs seemed to go on for miles, even though it was probably only 3/4-1 mile long.  I finished the ride after a total of 101 miles in 5:26 with an average speed of 18.6mph.  That speed and time does include me getting sort of lost for a little bit and stopping after each lap to refill my water bottles and grab more fuel.  My honest guess is that my speed of actual riding was right around 19mph.  To say the least it was rather demoralizing.  I had hopes of being able to ride the bike leg of the Ironman at 20mph.  I was beat down, sore, humbled, and exhausted after my first attempt at the Ironman bike course.  To be honest, I was rather taken back and was left wondering what the hell I got myself into.  Below is a link to my Garmin Connect info from my ride.

100 Mile IM Course Ride - Details

After getting home Monday night, I cooked dinner for the girls and was in bed to get up early for SWAT training on Tuesday.  It was a range day.  A full day of wearing all my SWAT gear on the rifle range in the sun.  Don't get me wrong, these are some of the best days of training and the weather could not have been nicer.  It's just not what I would have ideally done the day after biking 101 miles.  But I packed my own lunch and opted out of our group lunch at Red Robin and stuck to my nutritional plan to get my 2nd long weekend workout in before going back to work on Wednesday night.  After getting home from training, it was back on the bike for 40 miles of riding and right into a 16 mile long run.  It was a long ass day but completely worth it...

Favorite Workout

My favorite workout was not my ride on the bike course, even though that was an experience I'll never forget.  It was actually my workout the day following my long bike ride.  My plan was to attend SWAT training from 7am-3pm, pack my own food to insure no GI distress during my workout, and head out the door for at least 4 hours of training in the evening.  I was a little hesitant due to being so sore from my bike ride on Monday and spending the entire day Tuesday on my feet in all my SWAT gear.  I was out the door by 4:30pm for my 40 mile ride.  I took it easy on the ride with hopes of setting up a strong run following.  I did just that, I stayed very relaxed on the bike and finished with a total of a little over 41 miles in 2:02 (20.2mph).  I came off the bike feeling sore but good.  I got right into my run.  My strategy was to run four 4 mile loops and take a short walking break every 2 miles to refuel with gels and grab a sip of water.  I stuck to my plan exactly.  I finished the run in 2:09 (8:04/mile).  I also experimented with refueling with Coca-Cola, which worked really well.  I have heard that Coke can be like a drug in the late stages of the Ironman Marathon due to it's high sugar content combined with its caffeine.  It is served at the aid stations on the run course.  I have never fueled with Coke before, so I want to be 100% confident that it will work for me, in case I opt to utilize it on race day as an emergency pick-me-up on the 2nd half of the marathon.  I was thrilled with my run time, considering the breaks and the overall condition of my legs.  Majority of my miles between breaks were in the 7:45/mile area.  My heart rate rarely jumped over 140 bpm and I felt GREAT.  It was the exact type of workout I needed to reassure myself that my training is properly preparing me for the 140.6 mile journey that is an Ironman.  Evidently it was the exact workout I needed to go from demoralized to motivated overnight.  The weather was ideal during my run with temperatures in the upper 60's-70's.  It was one of my first long runs where the temperatures were not near 90.  It made me realize that even though many of my previous times from past long workouts were slow, I am putting in the time and effort and my body will be ready to rock Ironman Wisconsin, there is no doubt in my head.  I also need to keep in mind the fact that my body is carrying over a ridiculous amount of stress and soreness which is also directly impacting my training times.  But that's good, that's what is supposed to happen.  The goal of the training plan I put together was to be under a near constant stress from the previous day(s).  I am training my body excel and be fast in an extreme state of fatigue.  So I say bring it on!  I will be ready to kick ass on September 8th!

Moving Forward

It's now right back to training.  Coming off a long day of SWAT training and a 4.25 hour workout, I have to get up early on Wednesday morning to get in the pool for a 4,000m swim block and back on my bike (again) for a quick 15 mile ride.  After that workout, it's back to short training blocks throughout the work week.  My 2 big key workouts this cycle include a "Redemption Ride" on the Ironman bike course.  Only this time, I will get to see what it feels like to run after climbing all those damn hills.  The next day I will follow it up with a long run brick workout of 40 miles on the bike and 20 miles running.  I only have 3 more cycles to get through until my taper starts.  I am excited and thrilled to race Ironman Wisconsin in just a mere 45 days, but to be honest, I want my life back and am looking forward to seeing my wife and kids again!  Just 45 more days of working my ass off and staying positive, motivated, and crushing it!

Be fast, be strong, and carry on!

The support crew t-shirt came this week and turned out awesome!

Hey look!  I made more homemade almond butter this week.

Another picture from my ride on the IM course.

A quick look at the IM bike loop from my Garmin watch.

Sore as Hell - Cycle 24

On July 3rd I was talking with my uncle Dale before we walked over to Memorial Park in Appleton to watch the Fireworks.  Dale finished Ironman Wisconsin in 2009 and has always been an role model for triathlon racing for me.  We were discussing my training and how things have been going for me thus far.  One of his questions were how I was feeling physically.  I responded with a simple, "Great!" And to be honest, I have been feeling great.  Nothing out of the ordinary from my previous years in training for half Iron distance races and marathons.  He was surprised, because when he was training for IM Wisconsin he was constantly beat up, he remembers feeling stiff and struggling to walk up and down stairs.  Evidently, he asked me that question a week too early.  Either that, or I jinxed myself, because this past cycle, I've felt like a beaten horse.  I was constantly tired and my legs literally hurt.  I would wake up out of bed and just dread putting my feet on the ground, knowing the pain that would ensue.  Inversely, I would look forward to crawling into bed, as it was the one place I felt remotely comfortable.  I'll talk a little more about why I was so sore and how I coped with the soreness in my Brief Recap, but first, let's talk about what life brought me this past week, in the minimal free time I had.

Happy Birthday Lucas!

My first night back to work was July 6th, Lucas's 1st Birthday (Pat and Melissa's child).  It was also the end to our weekend stay at the cabin on Lake Poygan.  I got up early that morning and swam 2.65 miles in the lake (did the first 2.4 miles in 1:06 (faster than goal race pace)) and then hit the bike for a short 20 mile ride.  After my workout we packed up the dog and girls and it was back home to unpack quickly to get up to Green Bay for Lucas's Birthday Party.  1st Birthday party's are the best, first there is always great cake and desserts, but you get to watch a kid destroy a birthday cake!  After the party, it was back home for a long nap and back to the grinds of 3rd shift.  The week of work was a usual rotation at work with a 4 hour block of overtime on my last day of work.  My weekend was July 12-14th, a rare Fri-Sat-Sun weekend for me.  

A month or two ago we made plans with our old high school friends for a reunion over the weekend.  It pissed Sarah off, but we had to work around my training to make it happen.  It all worked out for everyone's schedules though in the end.  On Saturday we had an "adults only" dinner at Pullmans, on the Fox River in Downtown Appleton.  After dinner we went to Sarah's parents house for fire.  Sarah's parents were the on-duty babysitters for our kids and Molly and Josh's kids, so to keep things simple we just had the fire there.  We were up late, at least for me - 12:30am!  I drank a whopping 4 beers (including 2 with dinner) and still woke up with a headache.  I guess that's what happens when you just stop drinking.  On Sunday, we all got together and went to the Timber Rattlers game in the afternoon.  The Timber Rattlers are the Class "A" affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.  We met up early to tailgate before the game and then had grass seats for the game which was perfect for 5 families and 6 kids.  It was a HOT HOT HOT game, but it was a lot of fun to get together with everyone again.  It was awesome that it worked out for all families.  It was the first time that we all got back together since we graduated high school in 2002, at least since I can recall.  

Brief Recap

As I hinted at earlier, this past cycle left me more sore than I can ever recall.  In my last update, I pointed out the 2 biggest challenges in my upcoming cycle; 3 straight days of two-a-day workouts, and my first of two "Big Day" trainings.  Well I hit the nail on the head with my predictions.  The 6 workouts in 3 days left me begging for rest.  I pushed through, though, knowing that Ironman training is all about training your body to be efficient and learning how to swim/bike/run on tired legs and arms.  I did it smart though.  I did not go out and hammer each workout.  I took my time and just focused on putting in the time.  I did not focus on my paces or times, I strictly listened to my body and watched my heart rates.  On Thursday July 11th was my first day with just one training session, a 7 mile run.  I never felt so happy to have just one workout.  It almost felt like a rest day.  On Saturday I had my first race simulation workout.  It was a full day of training.  1 hour of swimming, 5 hours of biking, and 2 hours of running, all done with 1.5 hours rest/recovery between sessions.  I got the idea from a triathlon training book written by Joel Friel, a prominent triathlon coach.  He calls these sessions "Big Day" trainings.  The idea is to train your body to be active for an entire day without all the stress of actually training all day.  It's a balancing act of training stress and avoiding potential injury.  The day went great and left me confident for the remaining 8 weeks of training.  My next "Big Day" of training is on August 10th, which will be more race specific with each event done at goal race paces.  The last day of this cycle was an off day to allow full recovery from my "Big Day."  This cycle had 2 rest days, which means I only actually worked out on 7 of the 9 days and I still saw an all time high in training volume with a total training time of 17.25 hours (average training time of 2.46 hours per day of training)!!

Favorite Workout

My "Big Day" plan.

How do I not chose my first ever "Big Day" training for my favorite workout.  Hell, it was by far the most challenging session I have ever done, not only physically, but mentally.  My day actually started the night before, with getting everything all set up so I do not need to worry about anything during the day.  I wanted the day to go flawless and be able to stick to the strict schedule not only for the training benefits, but also for the fact that we needed to drop our kids off at my in-laws at 6pm so we could go out to eat.  It took me a good hour and half to get all my nutrition, hydration, gear, clothes, and shoes ready.  My strategy for the day was to remain focused on my efforts and just take it relatively easy.  I did not want to focus on my distances, but rather just get out for the prescribed times.  I wanted the day to focus more on the mental aspect rather then the physical.  My goals for the day were to gain confidence that I can mentally survive a day of 11 hours of being on my feet rather then hitting certain paces and times in each respective discipline.

Everything I need to survive 11 hours of training!

I was up at 5am and on the rode at 5:30 to get to the YMCA and got into the pool at 6:07am.  The day started with a full hour of swimming.  My plan was to swim a full 1600 meters (1 mile) non-stop and then swim the remaining time until I reach 60 minutes.  I did just that, I did it that way to keep my focus and not loose track of time.  I swam a total of 1550 meters (1.96 miles).  During my 90 minute break, I rinsed off and drove home.  On the drive home I ate a bowl of my favorite oatmeal recipe consisting of milk, banana, walnuts, raisins, chia seeds, flax seeds, honey, peanut butter, and cinnamon (all for about 650 calories).  I also rehydrated with a water bottle of water and a Hammer Enduralytes Fizz (a calorie-free electrolyte tablet).  After getting home I got my bike ready and changed clothes and it was out the door by 8:30 for my 5 hour tour.

Like I said, I did not want to stress out over my average speeds so my plan for the bike was to complete about 5, 20 mile loops to fill the full 5 hour session.  I planned on fueling with Ultra Fuel (a liquid calorie source), Bonk Breaker Bars (a gluten free carbohydrate bar), and flavored almond butters (just for a change of pace energy source).  I also added electrolyte tabs to my water as a source of electrolytes.  It was a windy day for sure with winds coming out of the SSW at 11mph with gusts up to 25mph.  That definitely did not help my cause.  But, I remained focused on things I can control (my thoughts, my pace, my pedal cadence, my body position, etc) and kept things that are out of my control out of my mind (the heat, the wind, stopping for traffic at intersections, etc).  I finished my bike in 5:02:54 and covered 100.12 miles.  It was the first time I broke the century mark on the bike.  I was trilled with how well I felt throughout the entire ride.  I averaged 19.9 mph, it is what it is, I guess.  I came away with some new knowledge that I plan on implementing on my future long bike rides and hope to implement in my next "Big Day" training.  First, the addition of electrolyte tablets to my water was genius!  It really helped with my hydration and I believe it aided in staving off cramps which plagued my last long bike ride last cycle.  Second, I think I need to cut out the almond butters from my fueling strategies.  I think it is just too much and is too "heavy."  I am thinking I will just up my calories from both the Bonk Breaker Bars and the Ultra Fuel and might experiment with a sweet treat of some sort to act as a "carrot at the end of a stick" for the later miles of the ride.

After my bike ride, I came back inside and ate a sweet potato with salt and honey along with another water bottle with an electrolyte tablet and just relaxed until it was time to get back outside for my run.  At 3:00pm it was back outside for my run.  By this time of the day the temperatures were over 85* and it was just flat out HOT.  Again, I did not worry about my paces or how many miles I covered, but just focused on running for the 2 hours and just getting time in on my feet.  My plan was to run as many 4 mile loops as I could until I got close to 2 hours and then finish the last few minutes running around the neighborhood.  The longer I was out running, the more tired I got.  The heat really got to me and I felt as though I could not drink enough water.  I fueled with Hammer Gel for the first 8 miles by sipping on a flask every 2 miles.  I wanted to experiment with Coca-Cola as I have heard that this is like a "drug" for some triathletes in the last 6-12 miles of the Ironman Marathon.  Yes, believe it or not, they actually serve cold, flat Coke on the IM course!  I've heard that the combination of sugar and caffeine feels like throwing gas on a weak fire in the final miles of the marathon.  So, I wanted to try it in training in the event I resort to Coke to get me through the last 10k of the marathon on race day.  I finished the run in 2:00 and ran a total of 14 miles.  It was tough run, physically and mentally.  I had a strange feeling of fatigue during the run.  I felt as though endurance and energy wise, I could have kept going and maybe even gone faster, but physically and soreness-wise, I was exhausted.  I don't know if it was the heat or the fact that I swam 2 miles and biked 100 miles before, but more than likely a combination of the 2.  Either way, I had finished the "Big Day."  It was a success!  I came away with new strategies in fueling and pacing, and most importantly a new confidence in going LOOOONNNGG!

Moving Forward

We have our second big event at work during this cycle.  Rock USA comes to town on July 17-20th.  Lucky for me, all 4 days of this event fall during my normal rotation at work, so there are no days of event patrol during my off days.  I do, however, have 2 separate days of training, one on my first day back to work and then a second on my last day off.  The oddest day of training will be my first day off (day 7).  I will get done with work at 6am and then have a 40 mile bike test scheduled.  After my bike ride, I will get to bed, sleep for a 3-4 hours and then wake up to run 16 miles.  I need to be done running by 4:30-5:00 in order to attend out Fantasy Football Pre-Draft meeting at 5:30pm that night.  I also, want to be tired enough to get back to sleeping at night for my next couple of nights off.  It will be a balancing act of getting enough sleep to finish the 16 mile run after the morning 40 miler, while not getting too much sleep to keep me awake all night.  Ahhhh, yes, the joys of being an endurance athlete while working 3rd shift.  On Monday, July 22nd I have a 100 mile bike ride scheduled.  If I am able to arrange child care that day, I will be heading down to Madison to do this bike ride on the IM bike course.  In looking even further ahead in my training plan, it looks like this cycle is my last "hectic" cycle.  With Rock USA and two, 8 hour SWAT training blocks, all on top of 17.5 hours of training, if I can get through this cycle, it should be smoother sailing ahead.  All I have in future cycles are cycles with only 1 day of SWAT training to work around.

Only 8 more weeks to go and 5 more updates to write about!  I'm starting to see the light at the end of tunnel!  Just have to remain focused on each day and each cycle and stay healthy!

Be fast, be strong, and carry on!!    

The girls at the Zoo, which I unfortunately missed, due to my "Big Day" training.

Maya and Jack at the T-Rats game.

Maya's new wheels!

My new running shoes for the Ironman - flashy, eh?

Believe it or not, Maya actually did want her picture taken
with the players, I guess it was just too hot to smile.

Delaney at the Zoo.

Delaney playing in my parents back yard.

Who else gets to push two princesses in a
their chariot around the neighborhood?

Delaney rocking Molly's sunglasses.

Another of Maya at the Zoo.

Post Race Plans - Cycle 23

I realize that the race is still about 2 months out, but I already have the entire 2 weeks surrounding the race planned.  September 8th (race day) falls on day 2 of my 6 day work week.  Which more specifically means I have off beginning on September 4th, am scheduled to work from September 7-12th and then have off from the 13-15th.  I took a full week of vacation to have off the 7-12th and now have a full 12 days off from the 4-15th and go back to work the night of the 16th.  My brother-in-law and family have a home in Milton, WI, which is about a 45 minute drive to the race site in Madison.  They are kind enough to allow me to shack up with them in their basement for the few days before the race.  My plan is to head down there on Thursday around noon, get checked in and all set for the race that day.  On Friday evening there is a mandatory athlete briefing that I will attend.  Saturday, is a day of relaxing and reflection as well as a mandatory bike and gear check-in.  That night, I will be staying in a hotel about 3-5 miles from the Monona Terrace and will hopefully get a good nights rest.  Sunday is obviously the big day.

As far as what my family was going to do from there has been up in the air.  Sarah had vacation all set for Monday through Friday after the race as did I.  We discussed renting a cabin on a lake in several locations throughout the state, we discussed staying in Chicago for a while, or heading up to Door County.  We also discussed the possibility of just laying low and doing absolutely nothing at our home.  But, as of this past week, we made our final plans....  We booked a 6 day trip to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico!  This will be the 4th time Sarah and I will be down in Mexico, but the first time with our girls.  We are very excited for the chance to spoil our girls and let them play in the beach all day and just relax and spend quality time as a family.  Sarah and I have been to Cancun, Riviera Maya, and Puerto Vallerta, and now we will be staying just outside of Playa Del Carmen.  We have been to the city before and absolutely loved it.  In fact, we loved it so much, we made a retirement goal of owning a condo or time share right in the city to spend our winters when we are both retired.  

This trip was much more my idea then Sarah's and took some sweet talk from my end to convince her.  Not that she doesn't want to go, but more along the lines that it isn't her ideal Mexican vacation.  But, in my eyes, this will give me the chance to show my appreciation to her and the girls for all the sacrifices and inconveniences I have put upon them over the past 9-10 months due to my training for the Ironman.  It will also give all 4 of us to just get away and spend some alone time as a family with no training, no special diets, no workouts, no planning, nada...  Just the four of us with no plans and no cares.  I am so excited for the opportunity to watch my kids eyes light up when we get to the beach for the first time and watch them just play in the sand for hours on end, while Sarah and I get to relax in a beach lounger soaking up the sun.  It will be the perfect way to cap off a long year of hard work and success, all while spending time with the ones I love the most.

Our plan is to shack up with my parents in their hotel room on Sunday night after the race and then drive to Milwaukee on Monday morning and take the girls to the Milwaukee County Zoo for the day.  After the zoo we will spend the night at a hotel just outside of the Milwaukee Airport and fly out for Mexico early Tuesday morning.  We will return from Mexico on Sunday evening and then it's back to reality on Monday.

But that's enough of looking forward, I still have a lot of work ahead of me over the next 2 months and in fact still have a lot of fun stuff to look forward to with friends and family all before the Ironman.  This past cycle was a prime example of all the fun stuff that summer brings when you have kids.  I worked a full 6 day rotation with the first 3 days being the final 3 days of County USA, which was one of the busiest 5 days I can recall being out there.  It was nice to get back to normalcy coming off a hectic 5 days out there.  For the first time since becoming an officer, I had the 4th of July off.  Not only did I have the 4th off, but my weekend fell perfectly around the holiday, as I had the 3rd, 4th, and 5th off.  My holiday weekend started on Wednesday night by getting dinner at my favorite restaurant (Stone Cellar Brewpub) with my good friends from college, Erik and Dana and their son Landon.  After dinner we brought the kids to the Appleton fireworks.  

For the 4th, Sarah's aunt and uncle who live near Buffalo, NY, came to town and rented a cabin in Crivitz for the week and invited the entire extended family for a get together on the 4th.  We then went directly to my family's cabin on Lake Poygan after the get together and spent the next 2 nights on the lake.  Until heading back home on Saturday so I can get back to work Saturday night.  It was a nice little get away.  The girls had a blast playing with their "cousins" that they do not get so see often (if ever) and play on a sandy beach on the river.  The girls then got to spend some quality time with grandma and grandpa Kohl at the cabin and do some swimming and boating.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous and a perfect way to spend the 4th of July.

Brief Recap

First, coming off of a hectic work week out at County USA, I had arranged my training to accommodate the extra work load.  I only had one day with a AM and PM training session and everything was moderately short and lower intensity.  As for my weekend, it was all about putting in the necessary time and effort that's required to race a successful Ironman.  As you read from above about my holiday weekend, our family was extremely busy.  So in order to get in all my training I had to be a little flexible and even a little creative.  I had to rearrange my training plan a little to get in all my long blocks of training and to be able to be there with my family at all the get-together's.  Crivitz is about a 70 mile trip by car from Kaukauna and I had a 90 mile bike ride followed by a 5 mile run scheduled for one of my long workouts this past weekend.  I figured, why not just plan a little longer route and bike to Crivitz and then run once I get there.  That is just what I did.  I planned a 90 mile route and opted to bike there and just meet Sarah and the girls there shortly after they got there.  The next day, I just did my workout from my parents cabin on Lake Poygan.  It actually all fit in about as good as I could have asked for with all the things we wanted to cram in those days.  My long run brick workout I did at the cabin was scheduled to be a 40 mile bike ride, followed by an 18 mile run.  I nailed my bike workout and came off feeling fresh.  I didn't get out as early as I would have liked due to staying up a little later the night before.  By the time I was out running the temperatures were just under 90* and a lot of humidity.  My plan was to take my time on the run and just focus on maintaining a low heart rate (in the range of 145-155).  I stuck to my plan well for the first 14 miles, but by that time I was beginning to slow significantly and began feeling woozy.  I don't know if it was my hydration or nutrition or just the heat all together, but I felt like I was going to faint.  I was walking just to get the distance.  Normally an 18 mile run would take about 2:15-2:20 but I was at 2:30 for 16 miles.  At that point I decided that the risk of continuing outweighed the benefits and called it quits.  I figured I had already been on my feet longer than I had anticipated even though I was still 2 miles short and know that I was not going to gain anything if I pushed through the final 2 miles.  For the first time ever, I cut a workout short and had no issues mentally with doing so.

Favorite Workout

I have to say my favorite workout from this cycle is the brick session from the 3rd of July.  I did a 90 mile bike ride and followed it up with a 5 mile run right off the bike.  As I mentioned above, I made some adjustments to my training plan in order to fit in my long training blocks.  I originally had my 40 mile bike and 18 mile run scheduled for the 4th and my 90 mile bike/5 mile run scheduled for the 5th.  But in order to get my workouts in AND spend time with my family and my wife's extended family in Crivitz, I planned a point-to-point bike ride from Kaukauna to Crivitz.  There are some definite considerations when planning a ride like this.  First, anything that I will need for hydration and fuel I need to carry on my person, as opposed to doing multiple shorter loops where I can reload at home.  Second, I had to make sure I was traveling on safe roads.  So, In order to carry all my necessities with me, I used an 80 oz camel pack for my water, and used two water bottles with calories along with 2 Bonk Breaker bars and 2 packets of almond butter.  I packed a gear bag with my running clothes and shoes to change into after arriving in Crivitz that Sarah brought with her in the car.

I left around 8:30am and I was extremely fortunate to have a light tail wind out of the West-Southwest.  But any benefits that I would receive from the winds seemed to be negated by all the rolling hills.  Yup, it was much hillier than I had anticipated.  I almost felt as though I was always either climbing up a hill or coasting down one recovering from climbing the previous hill.  It was a tough bike ride and is the longest bike ride I have done to date.  My legs began cramping at mile 75, which threw in an added challenge.  I just tried my best to ignore the cramps and just tried to keep my legs moving to not allow my legs to lock up.  It was a hot day with temperatures in the upper 80's and considerably humid to go along with the high temps.  I drank a lot of water, but found myself rationing the little water I had left for the final hour of my ride.  I am not sure if this is the reason I began to cramp or not, but like I said this is one of the drawbacks to doing such a long point-to-point bike ride.  I did stop at a gas station (the first and only gas station I passed) at mile 76 with hopes of topping off my water in my camel pack, but they did not have an option for water in their soda fountain selection, nor did they have a bubbler...so I was SOL.

After getting to Crivitz, I covered a total of 90.09 miles in 4:19:30 (average speed of 20.8mph).  I was really happy with my time and speed.  I finished my 5 mile run feeling really good, especially for how hot it was.  I did a total of 5.04 miles in 40:08.  It was exactly what I needed mentally for my upcoming workouts!

Moving Forward

As I continue to move forward in my training my workouts become more and more specific to the Ironman race and the also continue to get longer and longer.  My last training cycle had a total training volume of just under 16 hours with 1 rest day, while my upcoming cycle has a training volume of about 16.5 hours with 2 days of rest.  When looking at cycle 24's plan, I see two big challenges.  The first being 3 consecutive days of two-a-day workouts on days 3, 4, and 5.  The second being my "Big Day Training" day on day 8.  This day is my first of two race day simulation workouts.  The goal of this day is to put my race day nutrition plan to the test and to see how my body handles a full day of working out.  The day will start in the pool at 6am sharp with an hour of swimming.  I will then take 1.5 hours of rest time to refuel and then will head out the door at 8:30am for 5 hours of steady state biking.  I will then take another 1.5 hours of rest time to refuel and then it's back out the door at 3pm for 2 hours of running.  I will then be done at 5pm.  It's a total time commitment of 11 hours, with 8 hours of training.  It will be a serious mental challenge that will mimic the Ironman without all the physical stress.  I am actually very excited for the challenge ahead!  

But like I said, I know I have my life pretty much planned out.  Now, all the way through September 15th.  It is so easy to catch myself looking ahead, but I need to remain focused on the next workout in the schedule and take everything just one day at a time.  

Thanks for reading and as always - Be fast, be strong, and carry on!

A campsite at Country USA - disgusting.

Lovely tans lines...

Happy 4th of July!

A evening rainbow and my girls.

Maya loved the rainbow.

My 2 princesses at the cottage on Lake Poygan.

Maya and I watching the sunset on Lake Poygan.

Delaney at the cottage.

Just relaxing after a long weekend of training.

More from Appleton's Fireworks.

The sun set over Lake Poygan.

Maya on the pontoon.

More lovely tan lines.

Sarah and Delaney on the pontoon.