34 Weeks in the Books

Well my training for Ironman Wisconsin is all but over. There are two weeks of progressive taper left before race day, Sunday, 13 September. It will be a small miracle if I can avoid driving myself or my family insane between now and then.

Today I ran the 28th annual Woodbury Country Mile (half-marathon). This was my third. When I did it the first time, I was not sure what a country mile was. Well, a country mile is an informal term meant to mean a great distance, significantly longer than a real mile. One possible origin of the term is that when one travels over unfavorable terrain the perceived distance between two points seems much longer, which fits this race very well. Not that your running through a corn field or anything, but the coarse meanders through the biking/walking trails of Woodbury, MN. There are lots of turns and plenty of short steep inclines and declines.

It was a cool start to the day (49 F), and I over dressed. It gave me an opportunity to practice my hydration strategy which I'm still fine tuning.

I parked at the club (Lifetime Fitness) about a mile and half away from the start line so I'd get a nice warm up and cool down in for the day. It would also allow me to get a short recovery swim in afterwards.

The race today produced a new Woodbury PR (-5:00 min from last year) and a new half-marathon PR (-3:00 min from New Prague earlier this year). My legs were tired from the start but I was able to find and maintain a rhythm. On a less positive note, I strained my right achilles, hopefully nothing a little R.I.C.E. won't fix; I'm sure looking forward to my two week taper.

Next stop is Madison, WI... all aboard!

Good Advice

The one consistent piece of advice that I have received from people I've talked to that have done Ironman Wisconsin is "Ride the bike course before the race". Well I'm not one who usually takes advice. I have a bad habit of doing things my way which typically means learning things the hard way. But this advice was something I planned to listen to. I just needed to work out when I'd get down to Madison to execute it.

I had the opportunity this weekend. It worked out that not only would I ride the bike course but swim, bike, and run the Ironman course. US Master's Swimming has been holding an open water swim in Madison for the past seven years. It is the same course as the Ironman course. So when I found this out I put together a plan to get there.

My plan consisted of doing one loop, 1.2 miles, of the swim (there was also the full 2.4 mile swim available), one complete loop of the bike, 72 miles, and one loop of the run, 13.1 miles. My plan was to swim and bike on Saturday and run on Sunday.

The Swim - 1.2 Miles
The swim course is a big rectangle. You swim it counter-clockwise, which is ideal for me since I favor breathing to the left. It was an in the water start, my first, same as Ironman. If you wanted your time to be an official US Master's time wetsuits were prohibited but the event allowed wetsuits and 85% of the swimmers wore them. My guess is that about the same number were using this event as a training day for Ironman and could care less about having an official time.

My goal for the swim; stay relaxed and warm up for the bike. I swam an acceptable pace but did not push at all. I focused on keeping my stroke long with good form. I know that the swim three weeks from now will be completely different. There were 350 swimmers for this event. There will be 2500 for Ironman and the bump and grind will be extreme (so I'm told). The water temp was a pleasant 71 degrees.

The Bike - 72 Miles
The Ironman bike course is a lollipop shaped course. You ride the stick 16 miles from T1 then ride a 40 mile loop (twice during the Ironman race) before returning down the stick back to transition.

I could not get over how many people were out riding the course. A lot more than those that did the swim earlier in the morning, that's for sure.

There are 87 turns on the bike course and I'd guess less than a few miles of flat sections. I only made the wrong turn FOUR times (sure could of used a TomTom). The course is continually rising and falling. I would not describe it as gently rolling, more like moderate rollers. If you like roller coasters you will love this course. There are not many huge hills up or down but there are few significant ascends and descends. You can not put it in cruise control physically or mentally anywhere on this course.

I was not impressed with the quality of the roads. I did not flat but I'd guess that there were several throughout the day. The course is made up of primarily older rural farm roads and there are some pretty bumpy sections. Anyone for a nice butt massage...

I've debated a bit about renting a set of ZIPP race wheels for the race. I've been hesitant to commit because I'm still not completely comfortable with cross winds when descending. I've experienced a few scary moments even with my TTR3 40mm deep wheel set. This weekend's ride has sealed the deal. No race day wheels for Miles. It was not a real blustery day but had to brake and be cautious on several steeper descends. I'll stick with my stock TTR3 wheel set this time.

The Run - 13.1 Miles
I bailed on the Ironman run...the run course is not ideal for a Sunday morning run. It is on mostly downtown Madison city streets and I'm sure will be a lot of fun on race day. So instead I ran around Lake Monona. I followed some markings on the pavement "LMR". I guess it stands for Lake Monona Run. It is a half-marathon course. Most of the markings were visible and I avoided the numerous wrong turns I made on yesterday's bike. A very enjoyable Sunday morning run in near perfect weather conditions.

It's hard to believe that there are only three weeks left before race day; one more full week of training followed by a progressive two week taper. Can anyone say butterflies? The butterflies have awakened from their cocoon...the question is can they fly?

GCT - Greater Cleveland Triathlon

When I was planning my race schedule last fall for this past weekend I penciled in the Cleveland race or Shoreview's Turtleman race as my two options. This race would be my final triathlon tune-up prior to Madison. I wanted a mid-distance (Olympic) race and both fit the bill. The final decision was whether we would make the annual trip home to Cleveland that week. When we finalized our vacation schedule, the Cleveland race was firmed up.

Last year, the swim was canceled due to rough water conditions. The race was changed to a duathlon consisting of a 1.25 mile run, 24 mile bike, 10k mile run. The Coast Guard is responsible to make the call. If they do not feel they can adequately monitor and keep the swimmers safe then they have to cancel or modify the swim. The main problem with this area is that there is no break wall and with Lake Erie being the shallowest of the five Great Lakes, water conditions change rapidly. This race has a MO of not getting the swim in. I guess that since it's inaugural year in 2003 the swim has been canceled or modified more times than not. This year was no exception.

A couple of friends were participating in the Shoreview race this year which was held on Saturday 08 August 2009. The swim was scheduled to be modified because of water levels in the lake. It was being shortened. Well, due to extremely poor weather conditions on Saturday the swim was replaced with a 50 yard water run. I have not had a chance to talk with my friends directly yet but I'm curious what exactly a 50 yard water run is? I did hear that the weather was so bad that the race was stopped before all athletes could finish. A strong thunderstorm rolled in while a significant number of participants were still out on the run. From what I've heard, maybe the race should not have even started. It seems to be just one of those crazy weather years.

For the Cleveland race, the forecast was for very warm, windy, and humid conditions, but most forecasts were calling for clear skies. Well guess what, the forecast was off by several hours and a strong cell was still over the area when we arrived at Mentor Headlands State Park at 05:45. It was warm, about 75 degrees with high humidity and was very windy with thunder and lighting and rain. You could sense that the swim was in jeopardy, but it had not officially been scratched.

After picking up my race packet and getting into transition, the inevitable announcement came that the race format was being changed to an Olympic and sprint distance duathlon for all. The Olympic distance would consist of a 5K run, 40K bike, 5K run. The sprint would consist of a 2 mile run, 12 mile bike, 2 mile run. The event was scheduled to have both a triathlon and duathlon, so the change was easy for the race directors, and everyone would be doing the duathlon.

The First 5K Run
Last year's Cleveland's race was my first duathlon experience. This year's race format was different again. As I stood at the starting line contemplating my strategy I was unsure on how to approach the first 5K. How hard should I push? The course forced the issue for the first half mile. The run starts on a 6 foot wide path. I did not start far enough up in the pack and was trapped behind some slower runners with little option but to bide my time. When the course opened up I pushed forward and settled into a pace that I could maintain.

The Bike (24 miles)
The bike course was the same as last year. The roads were wet, but the sun was out. The course heads south out of the park; the wind was out of the southwest and was a minor nuisance. The course is on good roads (mostly), and is up hill for the first half or so with a couple of ridiculously steep climbs. The climb at about mile 11 is fun (23% grade). These steep climbs are very short.

The Second 5K Run
A second chance; the run is identical to the first. It is an out and back run course. Nothing too exciting to report. This time traffic was not a problem. Legs felt a little heavy but I quickly got into a rhythm. Carried a water bottle and drank most of it over the 3.1 mile run. It was in the mid 80's with near 100% humidity.

Overall I was pleased with the result. My track workouts are starting to pay some dividends. I'll never be Usain Bolt but have definitely made some improvements. I was disappointed that for a second year I did not get to swim in Lake Erie. But the MO in Cleveland when it comes to sports is "There's always next year".