The Road to Louisville (IMKY 2009)!!!

End of Season Upgrade

2009-09-22T11:43:00.001-07:00

The sexiest bike in West Michigan got a little sexier last night. My Whisper Eclipse now has Zipp Vuka aerobars and, best of all, SHIMANO Di2!!!!!!!!!!! This is one fast, high-tech bike.

For more info on the Whisper/Jade products follow the links on the left hand side of this blog.

Later on.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Mission Accomplished

2009-09-16T16:34:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been two and a half weeks since the Ironman and I suppose I have had plenty of time to decompress. I have been putting off a blog post for awhile now because I realized right away that there is no way I can adequately describe my experience. To say that it was life-changing, although cliche, doesn't really do it justice but that is how I can best describe it. As it has gotten further away everything seems to have "blended together" in a way and I have a difficult time explaining everything... so I won't try to go into details regarding our time before and after the race but rather will stay focused on the race itself. What you should know is that I had incredible, incredible support from my family and friends. My Grandparents, brothers, Dad, and wife all made the trip down and it wouldn't have been the same without them. My friends and family who weren't able to make the trip checked in with Gwen to see how I was doing and sent words of encouragement both before and after the race and I couldn't have asked for anymore. I have truly been blessed over the last year to have the love, support, and encouragement of a such a great network of people. I would also like to reiterate how much it has helped to have those of you who follow the blog checking in on me... I only hope that I can do the same for those who have supported me.

So, that being said...

I'll start by saying, it was a long day. 13:11:07 to be exact. Gwen and I were up at 4:30 a.m. on race day to head down to transition and then to get into the line for the time trial swim start. I assumed that we would be there in plenty of time but as it turned out the line had started EARLY, EARLY, EARLY in the morning and I got into line towards the back 1/3. Really, it wasn't that bad because by the time I heard the cannon fire and the line started to move it only took about 20 or 30 minutes for me to get into the water. It was such a surreal feeling to walk under the inflatable swim start arch and then down the path to the docks where we all jumped in. It almost didn't seem real and it was crazy because the music was blasting, everyone was sort of run/jogging to the docks, and there were tons of people yelling and cheering. It was a really beautiful start to the day. The minute I hit the water it became real for me. I started churning away and was able to hit my stroke fairly quickly. The water was 80+ degrees and felt absolutely great. I was worried about the current prior to the race but I didn't notice it one bit. I felt really comfortable throughout the swim and didn't have any issues with people swimming over top of me, getting in my way, etc. The one thing about the swim that was difficult was when we made the turn and started to head towards the swim exit. The turn was quite a ways away from the exit but every time you looked up you caught a glimpse of one of the bridges in the distance (there are several bridges in Louisville and the swim exit happens to be immediately after one). By the time I got to the first bridge I thought I was free and clear only to realize that I still had at least 1/2 a mile to go. It was discouraging but it was way early in the day, and I was really jacked up so I didn't focus on it too much. Coming out of the water, once again, the barricades were absolutely jammed full of people screaming and cheering you on. I caught sight of my family and was really excited to see them. Gwen had made custom Josh is Ironman shirts which were really cool and made spotting everyone easier. I made it out of the water in just around 01:30:00 (for some reason I can't pull up my official times right now and I can't remember off the top of my head anything other than my finish time).

The transition tent was an animal all its own. There were dudes running all over the place naked, screaming, jockeying for chairs, etc. etc. Again, I was able to make it through transition without too much of a problem. I definitely took my time to make sure that I had everything with me and when I made my way out of the tent there were volunteers who smothered me in sunscreen. The bike course was absolutely beautiful. I don't know what else to say... there were a lot of rolling hills and maybe two or three climbs that were pretty challenging (where I had to get out of the saddle). I was able to keep a relatively high RPM and stayed right around my goal of 19.5 MPH for nearly the entire way. I was really staying up on eating (granola bars, GU, pretzels) and drinking and by the last 30 miles I really started to have to pee. I must have stopped three times to go but was okay with this because I was confident that I was properly hydrated at this point. As usual, I felt strongest on the bike. The one difficulty I had was on the big downhills I lost a lot. What kept happening was two lanes would form. The right lane would be the slower, less confident bikers and the left was the faster, more confident bikers. When you are hitting 45 MPH+ speeds you want to make sure you are in the right lane. Unfortunately for me larger riders, who generate more speed downhill, kept coming behind me on the downhill and I would have to move to the right side and then hit my brake to avoid riding up on someone. This happened all day and I wasn't really able to stay on top of it. Frustrating, but not a big deal in the end.

Off the bike I started the marathon. I absolutely blew up at mile 8 on the marathon and the story of the rest of my day was fighting the pain. I won't go into detail because ultimately the only thing you need to know is that I had to walk a lot and my stomach hurt. BUT, it worked out... and like I said before.... I did it.

So, what now you may ask? Well... IMLP is on the books for next year as is Ironman Kansas 70.3. As for everything else... I'm taking a couple of weeks to relax, enjoy Gwen's prep. for the Chicago Marathon, and then we'll see... keep checking back in when you get a chance.

For those who are interested here is the link to a Picasa Web Album with pictures from IMKY

So much to say, so little time to say it, so few words to describe it. I realize that this post/blog will never do it justice so I am not even making an attempt. IF anyone has any questions, wants to know more, etc. etc. let me know I'll try to give as good a picture/description as possible.

Later on...

IMKY

2009-09-01T11:36:00.001-07:00

It has been a crazy couple of days but long story short... I heard Mike Reilly say, "Josh Boeve from Holland, MI; YOU ARE AN IRONMAN" on Sun. night. It took me 13 hours and 12 minutes to get there but I made it and it was an absolutely incredible experience.

I'll post a full race report in the next couple of days once I'm actually back home (we were home for 30 minutes today before having to leave to pick up our dog from MSU where she had surgery last Fri.) and settled in.

Thank you so much for all the words of encouragement and support leading up to the race. Check back!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock...

2009-08-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

The clock is counting down. Gwen and I are here in Louisville and I'm definitely pumped up. I want to take a quick minute to thank everyone who has been checking in, leaving comments for me, and giving me encouragement. Wish me luck! I'll post following the race...

Later on...

Bring It On.

2009-08-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

Bib #'s were released for IMKY today. Yours truly will be sporting Bib #321. It's real baby and it is right around the corner.

The "Staple" IM Nightmare Blog... W/ a Twist

2009-08-13T10:27:00.001-07:00

First and foremost, I want to put it out there that if, after reading this post, you deem me to be neurotic and insane... you are probably only 1/2 right. The mental stress of IMKY's rapid approach seems to make itself evident in new and interesting ways every day but I'm happy to report that it has not driven me to the edge of sanity. Yet.

I think that I may have mentioned a time or two over the last several weeks that I have been having increasingly vivid, and strange, Ironman related nightmares. I am convinced that this is a common theme amongst those preparing for an IM, Marathon, etc. etc. My dreams started out as your run of the mill late for the race (similar to the late for your final exam variety dream), getting lost on the course, and other easily imaginable nightmares. From there I moved on to the more disturbing, being chased by a madman while trying to finish, and coming across a road that has been flooded variety. Each dream seemed to grow more intense, more vivid, and harder to shake in the morning. That being said, my dream last night is far and away the most creepy.

Before any of this I want to say that I know that your dreams are never as interesting to someone else as they are to you. I don't know how many times I have had to "act interested" when a co-worker explains their "crazy" dream and then spends what seems like forever pontificating about what it might mean. I won't bore you with my thoughts on what my twisted mind is telling me...

At any rate, here's the dream. Through a series of strange twists and turns in the race I somehow ended up in a massive sewer system. Disconcerting as it was to be totally off course I was more concerned with the "Freddy Kreuger-esque" gentleman that was chasing me. On foot I was having a terrible time staying ahead of him (and who is surprised by this when you consider my always slow run split?). I came to a portion of the sewer that was all chutes and ladders... (Probably something to do with my love for the video game Donkey Kong) and it was here that he caught me. I don't remember exactly what he said in the dream but as he wrapped his hands around my neck and started to choke me he said in a sinister voice "How do you like them apples... Ironman?" At this point I woke up gasping for air and trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I sat up so fast in bed that it scared one of the dogs awake and onto her feet. I could see her standing there staring at me wondering whether to run or lay back down. She's lazy and chose the latter.

So... there is the token "I have such crazy dreams during Taper Madness" post. Can't wait to see what the next couple of weeks will hold. Hope all is good.

L, P, and CG.
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Grand Cycling Classic and Final "Testing"

2009-08-09T18:57:00.000-07:00

Starting on Friday and ending today I had the last "testing" workouts of my training plan. I started out with a bang and ended with a whimper but in the end, I'm feeling good heading into my last two weeks of training before IMKY.

Fri. was a great day for my 10 mile bike TT. There was a pretty strong headwind for the first half of the ride but I tried to maintain a decent cadence knowing that I could make up some of the time on my way back. In the end I finished in 00:26:30 with an average of 22.6 MPH. This was my fastest testing TT yet and I still didn't feel like I was anywhere close to leaving it all out on the course. Coincidentally I finished the first 10 miles of Steelhead just under 25 minutes... so it's not like I am being overconfident when I say that I can still do better. I just have to put it all together. I guess that post-IMKY will be a good time for that.

Sat. I was at the pool to set my T-time for the last time. It took my 00:16:43 to swim 1000 meters and this was good enough to shave 4 seconds off of my previous best. The new t-time was 00:01:40. Again, I still felt like I could do better (although this hasn't been the case in the past... when I set my t-time last time I felt like I was giving it my all and then some). It is definitely encouraging to be this far into my training and realize that I still have room to improve. And, with that being said... here is a great example of how just how bad I CAN be at times...

This morning, Sunday, I hopped on my bike and followed behind Gwen while she did her long run for the week. She ran 10 miles in some pretty nasty heat and humidity. After her run I convinced her to come along to the track with me while I did my 3 mile TT. I was feeling pretty good and figured I didn't need a warm-up. This was probably the first mistake that I made. I started out a little hot but was feeling good. The first mile I finished in 00:06:59. I was feeling great after this lap and was staying super consistent running 00:01:45 laps. My second mile I came in at 00:07:01. And those were the highlights of the day. I blew up on my second lap of the 3rd mile and scrapped it for the day. I just absolutely died on this lap and figured that the point of the workout was to run a TT... and since I couldn't do anything respectable at this point... I called it a day. Anyway, live and learn.

So, onward and upward. This week I'm back to my training for a bit before IMKY. I'm nervous and excited but there is a lot of other stuff going on right now which is nice because it helps keep my mind off of IMKY. We are doing a huge renovation/remodel with our backyard/basement/driveway at home, Gwen's birthday is tomorrow (!!!!), and unfortunately our dog Hannah (the Great Dane) hurt her leg and has to go see a orthopedic vet. It is looking like she tore or ruptured her ACL. Anyway, with all this going on... I suppose it makes it easier in some ways.

So, before I sign off... I am going to post some photos from the Grand Cycling Classic that took place in Grand Rapids this weekend. Gwen and I showed up and were able to catch the last Masters Race and the Pro Race. Also, we ran into local legends Jim (from www.whispercycles.com) and Jeff (providing the best leadout in West MI for years to come), which was really cool. Anyway, the race was a lot of fun and hopefully you'll get an idea of some of the excitement from the pics. Hopefully this event will get larger in the years to come and I'll be able to continue enjoying it!

Alright all... hope your weekend was good. Check in later!

Above: The peloton comes racing in towards the finish.

Above: These are the bikes that the support crew would hand out if a bike couldn't be ridden anymore... too bad they weren't a Whisper or a Jade huh (sorry had to... check them out at the links to the left)!

Above: Race winner, Big Tom Zirbel of Bissell Cycling getting a taste of those famous GR "cobbles."

Steelhead 1/2 IM Race Report

2009-08-03T18:16:00.001-07:00

Pictured Above: Gwen and I post race

Sat. was my 2nd 1/2 IM of the year and yet another great experience. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed participating in Michigan's only Ironman sanctioned (and my first Ironman branded) event. Read below for the race report and check back over the next week to take a look at some of the "official" photos from the event. So, for those who aren't interested in reading the long report here is the info that "matters" :

bib number:	2098
age:	26
gender:	M
location:	Holland, MI
overall place:	943 out of 1660
division place:	100 out of 144
gender place:	751 out of 1181
time:	6:05:03
pace:	0:
swim:	36:42
trans 1:	5:36
bike:	3:01:28
trans 2:	5:10
run:	2:16:09

On Friday, Gwen and I drove down to Benton Harbor to attend the expo and to pick up my race packet. The expo wasn't nearly as big as I thought it would be but there was certainly anything one could want there. I resisted the urge to get carried away and ended up only buying a Steelhead Cycling Jersey and T-shirt. They had a ton of sweet loot there but I decided not to get too crazy as IMKY is coming up and I definitely want to hook myself up while down there. After picking up my packet and everything we were on our way back home and I was mentally preparing for the race in the morning. My plan going into this race was to take it really easy and use it as a long training day. I spent the rest of Fri. night getting ready for the morning and packing up.

Sat. morning Gwen and I woke up at 4:30 a.m. I grabbed a couple of slices of bread, a glass of OJ, and hit the road by 4:50 a.m. During the hour drive to Benton Harbor I listened to my usual pre-race mix of "This American Life," and Wilco/Band of Horses/Bob Dylan/Grateful Dead. Lately I've been listening to this kind of mix a lot as I find it helps to get me pretty relaxed. Once I got into Benton Harbor I had about 40 minutes before the transition area closed down. I parked, put some air in my tires, and was on my way. Right before I hopped on my bike to ride down a woman rode up and asked if she could use my pump... long story short, she blew her tube, needed help changing it, and based on all of this I got to transition with about 5 minutes to spare. I was able to get set up pretty quick and then grabbed my wetsuit, goggles, and swim cap and headed out towards the start line. The way that the swim start/finish was set up was really neat.

First off, the swim was in Lake Michigan which both scared me and made me really excited. To get to the swim start you had to walk 1.2 miles down the beach from transition. The walk was nice because it helped to get the blood flowing and also it was neat to take a stroll down the beach. The swim start area was awesome! Totally unlike any of the events that I have done before. It was a big party atmosphere with music playing, a huge inflatable start arch, an MC, etc. etc. I was the 2nd to last swim wave and by the time my wave got lined up in the start area we were all ready to go. Probably my favorite part of any triathlon (or one of my favorite parts) is that few moments before you actually hit the water. The nervous energy that comes out in the form of shaking arms, slapping of thighs, blowing into clenched fists, hands pumping in the air, and so on is beautiful! Once the horn sounded and we hit the water I was feeling great. We were swimming with the current towards transition and I was making my way around a lot of weaker swimmers. Once again, the buoys were lined up to the right of me (which makes it difficult for me as I sight/breathe to the left normally) but again, I was able to pace myself off someone else who I kept to the left of me. I exited the water feeling great and as I ran up to the transition area I spotted Gwen and my Mom (and Hannah) standing along the barriers cheering for me. I stopped to say hey and then made my way to my bike. I definitely took my time in transition (throughout the day) and Gwen was able to snap a couple pictures.

Pictured Above: Me coming into T1

Pictured Above: Taking a moment to say hi before hopping on the bike

Heading out of T1 I was feeling great and felt like I was going to try to put the hammer down on the bike. The first 33 miles were money. I was cruising at a really easy 23.9 MPH and was feeling like there was no way I would drop below 23.5 MPH overall. And then the proverbial "poop" hit the fan. My first problem of the day hit EXACTLY at mile 33. I heard a hiss coming from my back tire and realized right away that I blew a tube. Once I pulled over and hopped off the bike I realized that there was a knick in my tire that would potentially expose any tube I used to puncture. Luckily I was able to get inventive and threw in a $20 bill that I always keep in my bike bag between the tube and the tire. This added another layer of protection and would keep me on the road. Even though I thought I was moving quickly it took me around 7 or 8 minutes to complete this whole process. I hopped back on the bike and hit the roads again. Maybe now is a good time to explain that the roads for this bike course were terrible. Honestly, I can't believe that they used some of the roads... it would have been better to ride on the gravel shoulder half the time. Anyway, about 5 miles up the road I punctured another tube. I was freaking out because I had only brought one tube with me. As I stood on the side of the road I started asking everyone who was going by if they had an extra tube. Finally some incredibly compassionate, awesome, unselfish guy stopped and threw me a tube. I had to rip the $20 in half (I know... most expensive flats ever...) to "patch" the second hole in my tire. This was like another 10 minutes before I was back on the road. At this point I was just incredibly pissed. I honestly was thinking about calling it quits. And then I hit the headwind. The headwinds for the last 18 miles was R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S. People were literally moving at less than 10 MPH and I have heard that a ton of people actually missed the cut-off time based on this. Anyway, with all the above my bike time was ripped to shreds. I came in averaging an official 18 and some change MPH. Here's a pic that Gwen snapped of me coming into T2... I look thrilled aye?

T2 was a chance for me to cool off (literally and figuratively...). The rain started shortly before I got there and added another wrinkle to the day. By the time I left transition I was just ready to be done. Luckily the run was a welcome relief after all my drama on the bike. Normally I get bored with the run but it was a good chance for me to get into my own head and remember why I love this sport. The run course was set up with a couple of loops. It was neat because the run course was always full of people. By the time I was on the course a lot of people were on their second loop and this gave me a lot of motivation to keep on pushing. By the time I was crossing mile 13, and the finish line was in sight... I was feeling great. No big issues nutrition or otherwise on the run. Here I am coming into the finish line:

So, overall I had a great time. In the end, I was able to push through some less than ideal circumstances and remind myself why I'm doing this. Also, I had a great time preparing for IMKY which is now right around the corner. I was so happy that Gwen and my Mom stuck out the rain and cheered for me and that all the great volunteers and people cheering the athletes on stayed around. A great event through and through. Well... I guess that's it. I'm feeling great today and will be back to my training plan this week. Thanks for taking the time to read through all this!

IMLP 2010

2009-07-27T09:25:00.001-07:00

I'm IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Let the (mini) Taper Begin...

2009-07-27T05:57:00.001-07:00

Tapering for the Steelhead ½ (this Sat.) has officially begun! Last week was a full week of training and excluding Wed. I was able to stay on track and fit in all of my planned workouts. The "bulk" of the hours came Fri. – Sun. and although I was glad to get some good time in, I'm also glad that I'll have a little relief as I taper this week.

On Fri. I hit the pool for a 01:10:00 workout. I swam 3000+ meters mixing in a couple of sculling drills, the pull buoy, and a kick board… overall I was feeling good. Over the last couple of weeks (since Muncie) my pool workouts have been easier and easier to go to. I'm not exactly sure why my attitude towards the pool has changed but I'm good with it! After the swim I went out for a quick 00:45:00 run. The humidity started to get to me towards the end of the run but I was able to finish off strong.

Sat. I went out for a 04:00:00 brick workout. I headed over to the north side of Holland (I live on the south side and normally ride there) to get a bike ride in along the Lakeshore. It was an absolutely beautiful day for a ride. It was probably in the Mid-70's, sunny, really low humidity, and a light breeze rolling through. On the way out (I did an out and back) the wind wasn't really fighting me and on the way back in there was a small headwind but nothing too serious. I rode up to my Dad's house in Spring Lake where I was given a race recap of his Grand Haven Triathlon experience a week ago. In total I did just over 60 miles which I then followed up with a slow, but good, 3 mile run. Afterwards we had dinner at my Mom's…

Sun. Gwen and I went out for a long run. We ended up doing just over 12 miles together. It was the first time that we have run that type of distance together and it made a huge difference for both of us. It is so much easier to get a run like that in when you have someone to go along with you. Neither of us had too much trouble with the pace or distance but by the end we were definitely feeling a little tired. Gwen's knee has been bothering her and thankfully she bought a foam roller and has been having a lot of luck with that. At any rate, this was a great way to end the weekend and my longer workouts heading into my taper for Steelhead. I'm feeling good and although I'm excited about the race I definitely have IMKY in the forefront of my mind at this point. I'm not naïve enough to take my "eyes off the prize" as far as Steelhead goes (it'll be a big workout either way) but it is hard NOT to think about Louisville at this point. It is so crazy to me that 10 months of training is culminating and although I am confident and know that I have put the time in… it still doesn't take away the nerves.

Today I'm hoping that I'll be able to register for IMLP 2010… we'll see how it goes but wish me luck!

BLAH

2009-07-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

Headed home from the pool... only made it through 40 minutes of a 01:10:00 scheduled workout. Skipped my 01:00:00 run completely tonight.

On the bright side... Have done my workouts for the week up until this point. Tomorrow it is back on the bike so at least I have something to look forward to despite the fact I'm feeling lazy as crap right now.

Not sure what the deal is today...

blah.
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Photos

2009-07-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately things have not been as productive as I had hoped they would be following the Muncie Endurathon on Sat. Luckily, I have recovered quite nicely and would have been able to resume my normal training schedule had life not gotten in the way this week. If it wasn't one thing, it was another; and if it wasn't another, it was just plain laziness. That's how I have found myself sitting here on Thurs. night looking back at the week and realizing that I've only gotten one workout in thus far. It's always a crappy feeling knowing that you are missing precious hours of training but in the end I suppose it may (just maybe) work out for me. I think that I could probably have used the time off to help with my recovery from Sat. which seems complete but then again, you never know. So, I'm trying to to dwell on it too much. This weekend will again present another obstacle to my training plan as Gwen and I will be out of town all day on Sat. for a wedding. I'm planning on doing my brick tomorrow, long run Sat. morning before leaving, and on Sun. hitting the pool for one of my missed swim workouts. Should turn out alright.

With all that being said I felt as though I needed to do SOMETHING productive in regards to triathlon so I am posting up these pictures from both the Ann Arbor Triathlon (the first 3 photos) and from the Muncie Endurathon (the last 2). The pics from Muncie DO NOT give justice to the massive amount of rain that was coming down although in the finish line picture my crazy looking, Pat Riley hair may give a small indication as to what was going on. Enjoy!

Above: Sporting the Speedo on the run, bike grease all over my face. (Ann Arbor Triathlon)

Above: Coming into the dismount area still hammering away. (Ann Arbor Triathlon)

Above: Another pic from dismount area (Ann Arbor Triathlon)

Above: The finish line at Muncie. I was ready to be done as you may be able to tell. (Muncie Endurathon)

Above: Putting the hammer down in Muncie. (Muncie Endurathon)

Muncie Endurathon Race Report

2009-07-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

So, the Munie Endurathon is officially on the books. My first ½ IM (for those of you not "in the know" that's 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run; half the distance of a full Ironman. Thus, the ½ IM moniker) was a great experience and I am feeling great about it. Here is the official "line" on the event (i.e. the important numbers):

bib number: 745

age: 26

gender: M

location: Holland, MI

overall place: 257 out of 698

division place: 25 out of 44

gender place: 219 out of 507

time: 5:27:15

pace: 0:

swim: 43:08

t1: 3:18

bike: 2:30:46

t2: 3:04

run: 2:07:01

penalty: 0:

So, first off… to point out a couple of the "highlights" from above I want to mention the following:

• My 2:30:46 bike time (22.3 MPH avg.) was strong enough to place me 81/698 overall on the bike. This is certainly the "metric" from the race that I am most satisfied with.

• I was officially 22 minutes and 15 seconds away from being able to qualify for the National Long Course Halfmax Championships. This is a pretty huge time gap but definitely something that I may be able to achieve next year. Obviously my "Achilles Heel" is the run and I probably need to focus a little more on the "speed work" in my training.

Here's the "brief" rundown of my day.

Gwen and I drove down to Muncie on Friday afternoon/evening and got to the expo around 6ish. We hung out for a little bit and checked things out but there wasn't anything that made me feel like sticking around for more than the 20 minutes that we did. Following the expo/registration I had to go to a pre-race meeting where they covered the course, USAT rules, etc. etc. The meeting was actually pretty informative and gave me a much better understanding of some of the frequently violated rules of the USAT (for instance the rules regarding overtaking and being overtaken on the bike). After the meeting we went out to the Olive Garden where I absolutely stuffed myself. Got back to the hotel around 9:30 and watched a little of the TdF recap for the day and went to bed by 11:00.

We woke up around 4:30 a.m. on Sat. and started to get ready for the day. We were staying at the "official" race hotel so the breakfast was started early (at 5:00 a.m.) so that athletes could eat prior to heading out for the day. I ate an English muffin, hard-boiled egg, and mini omelet figuring that I had plenty of time to digest it all before getting to the course (and I did). We got to the course about an hour early and I had plenty of time to get set-up and make sure I was ready to go. The weather was beautiful (it was mid-70's and the sky was clear) as I got into the line for my swim wave.

At 7:15 a.m. (about 15 minutes after the first swim wave) my age group got into the water. As we were standing there I realized just how long the 1.2 miles looked. It was a little intimidating at the moment but I figured that there wasn't really anything that I could do about it. When the horn went off and we all started to wade in and swim I was feeling pretty "tranquilo." Luckily I was able to position myself fairly quickly into the first ½ of my age group. This made it a lot easier and I wasn't getting kicked and jostled around as much because the weaker swimmers were behind me. Most everyone in the front group swam a pretty straight line and sighted fairly well. Because sighting is something that I'm not great (and to make it harder, I breathe to the left and all the buoys were to the right so I couldn't use them to sight from) at I figured my best option was to get alongside someone and use them as a pacer and to sight off of. This worked really well for ¾ of the course. When we hit the 2nd, and last, turn was when I started to have some issues. At this point the faster swimmers from the age group waves behind us started to really have a presence. In addition to this I was starting to catch a lot of the swimmers from the first group to start out and it got really crowded. This had a kind of "traffic jam" effect and things slowed down a touch. Thankfully, we didn't have to go very far in this scenario. When I got to the exit zone I was feeling great.

When I got into T1 I had the top ½ of my wetsuit off and was ready to go. I ran into the bathrooms for a quick pit stop (not thinking about how nasty it was that I was barefoot in those porta-johns… *shiver runs down my spine*). When I got to the bike racks I was able to get the wetsuit off much faster than I did in Ann Arbor and didn't waste anytime getting my bike shoes, helmet, etc. on. Overall it took just over 3 minutes but I was happy with that because other than stopping for the bathroom I didn't feel like there was a lot of wasted time in there.

Coming out of T1 onto the bike course I was feeling pretty confident. I had been told that the course was fairly flat and that you had a chance to really put the hammer down if you are strong on the bike. One thing that most people didn't take into account was the fierce headwinds that were present throughout the course. I think I could have averaged a solid 2 MPH faster average had the headwinds not been so dominant. Anyway, I started out at a fairly slow pace. I was trying to stay around 18-19 MPH to begin with but once I hit the "rails to trails" section of the course (about 5 miles in) I was feeling like I could push a little harder. That section of course was easily the fastest for me. I averaged probably around 28-29 MPH through there and was passing a TON of people. From there we got out onto the highways (which were completely closed… very cool) for the remainder of the bike. As I mentioned in the beginning of this post I did well overall on the bike and was able to pass a lot of people while also managing to avoid BEING passed. And then it started to rain. At about mile 49 the skies opened up and to quote Muncie's newspaper, The Star Press, there were, "torrential downpours on multiple occasions…" This made the last 17 miles a little harder as it was extremely difficult to see at times with rain either getting behind my sunglasses or covering them completely so that I couldn't see out of them. Despite this I was able to keep pushing on. The last 10 miles of the course were awesome! The roads were complete crap and the rain was probably as hard as it got all day (my bike shoes literally FILLED UP with water). It felt like I was riding in Paris-Roubaix and it was crazy to see all sorts of people start to fade and crap out once the going got tough. At any rate my focus had already shifted to the run…

I got to T2 and was definitely a little disappointed to find that my shoes, and socks, were completely soaked. I knew that meant my feet were going to take a beating over the course of the 13.1 miles but figured there wasn't anything I could do about it.

The rain was probably a blessing and a curse for me. On the one hand it slowed me down on the bike due to limited visibility, big puddles, etc. etc. However, it helped me out on the run by keeping me cool and keeping my heart rate down. Despite the rain, I started to feel really "hot" internally by about mile 11. The run course was basically a series of rolling hills with some flat spots intermingled throughout. By the 2nd mile I wasn't even aware of the rollers (not to give the illusion that I was hauling ass or anything). I got into a comfortable pace and started to plug away. One thing that is disappointing to me is that I always save a little on the bike because I know that my run is so weak. Had I pushed a little harder on the bike though, I feel that I could have been top 50 AND still have finished the run in the time I did. In the end it wasn't my legs/lungs that hurt me on the run. It was my feet. I could feel a massive blister forming on the instep of my left foot and, sure enough, it WAS massive. By mile 8 I was having hard time ignoring it and putting it out of my mind. I had to stop and walk at several points because the chafing had gotten so bad. So, lesson learned. I need to make sure that I keep socks and shoes in zip lock bags (or something) while in transition. At any rate… I pushed on through and when I hit the finish line just under 5:30:00 (which was the bottom end of my goal!) I was pretty pumped. To top everything off Gwen had suffered through the rain and was standing there waiting for me at the finish line. Again, I felt like bursting into tears because there was a huge wave of emotion that hit me… but more than anything I was just excited to see her and proud of myself for getting out there and doing well.

Overall the day was a success for me. I finished under my goal time, felt strong throughout the day, felt that my nutrition was where it needed to be, and added another "distance" to my race accomplishments. Yesterday and today I'm taking as recovery days and then it is back to the plan with my mind firmly set on IMKY. It looks like I will more than likely be doing Steelhead at the beginning of next month although at that race I am not going to push the pace at all (look for an hour swim, 17-18 MPH avg. on the bike, and 11 minute miles on the run… just a long training day!). Once I get some pictures I'll post them up! Hope everyone is doing well.

Later on…

New (lengthy) Update....

2009-07-08T12:46:00.001-07:00

The updates have been pretty spare over the last several weeks due to
an increase in my workload at the office, an increase in the hours
training, traveling for work, etc. etc.

That being said, it has been a productive time for me and I am excited
for this upcoming weekend during which I will have my first "real
test" of fitness this summer. I will be racing in the Munice
Endurathon ½ Ironman on Sat. and although I am nervous for it, I am
also pretty confident. I think that realistically I would like to
finish somewhere between 5 ½ - 05:45:00. That being said, ultimately
this is just another training day in pursuit of the "big day," August
30 (IMKY). This week has been fairly relaxed with the training as I
am focusing on tapering and heading into Sat. feeling 100% (I have to
be honest I am 150% sucked into the TdF right now too so it hasn't
been too bad not having long workouts at night).

Here's a quick recap of the highlights from the last several days. I
have been spending a lot of time in the pool and actually am starting
to "fall in love" with swimming all over again. My workouts have been
moving along quickly and I am continuing to maintain my fitness level.
Running has been so-so; I've had a couple of decent runs but overall
nothing impressive. On the 4th of July I celebrated with a nice
04:45:00 brick. I did about 04:15:00 on the bike and made it 80
miles. A little slower than I would have liked but I was happy since
I felt strong on the run following it. I realize now that my biggest
issue is going to be the run in each event I do this year. I peaked
WAY too early in my running fitness this year and then had a period
where I actually lost fitness… so, now, I'm slowly building back to
the level I was at. This means that I'm for sure going to be doing a
good amount of walking when it comes time for IMKY (and probably
Muncie as well). This is disappointing but in the end my goals have
ALWAYS been about finishing and losing some time on the run is a small
sacrifice to pay to make it to the finish line.

As IMKY draws nearer and nearer I'm finding myself COMPLETELY
OBSESSED. It is becoming the thing that is always in the front of my
mind, on the tip of my tongue, and haunting my dreams. I have had IM
related nightmares for nearly 2 weeks now (missing cut-off times,
getting lost on the course, taking too long in transition, etc. etc.)
and it has been difficult to put it out of my mind. In a way it was a
double edged sword for me to head down and ride the course. I gained
a lot of confidence and was able to see the fruits of my labor meaning
I felt strong on the bike, fit overall, and my nutrition plan worked
flawlessly. With all that in mind I think that I became a little
overconfident and haven't gotten as much out of my workouts since then
as I should have. I'm really looking forward to Muncie because I
think that it'll kind of snap me back into reality and whet my
appetite for some competition.

Another product of my IMKY craziness is that I am becoming extremely
focused on my 2010 plans. I think that this is an attempt (along with
obsessing about TdF, biking gear/components, all the new tri
apparel/toys, etc. etc.) to keep my mind occupied for the most part.
At this point I am thinking about the following and trying to
determine what will work out/be realistic:
• IMLP (Lake Placid is said to be one of the toughest IM courses in
the States, if not the toughest. A great test of fitness… something
that I would REALLY like to do. One of the most appealing things to
me is that it is a mid-season IM so you don't have to wait until the
end of summer. The downside… it's nearly impossible to get into so
unless I somehow get lucky and it doesn't sell out this weekend I may
be SOL)
• IM 70.3 St. Croix (All I have to say is… THE BEAST. Possibly the
toughest 70.3 out there and most certainly in the top 3 in terms of
difficult bike courses. Biggest benefit, it's in St. Croix and early
in the year.)
• Rev3 Cedar Point 140.6 (Right around the corner (relatively
speaking) from home and I've only heard good things about the
inaugural Rev3 race in Connecticut. It's at the end of the season so
there is a lot of waiting…)
• Michigan Bike Racing Association races (I'm definitely going to
focus on the bike next summer… the question is how much. I'm not
exactly sure which races I'll focus on but find the opportunity very
appealing/interesting. I want to see how far I can take myself if I
were to focus on just 1 of the 3-D)

So… there's a lot to think about. We'll see how it all shakes out.
Obviously the main focus right now is on Louisville and August 30.
Send me a word or two of encouragement if you wish… or just wish me
luck in your head. I'll take all the help I can get!

This Week...

2009-06-28T13:25:00.001-07:00

This last week was a big week for my training. I had a lot going on at work and was worried that I wasn't going to be able to fit in my scheduled workouts but I suppose that I did a decent job. Wed.-Sat. I was in Kentucky for work and as I mentioned before, I was able to ride the IMKY bike course on my way back home (Sat. morning-mid-morning). It was an AWESOME experience. I was really worried about the hills and what they were going to do to me but I handled them pretty well.

As far as weekly totals, I'm not sure how long/far I went in the pool or running because I didn't keep very good track of it (oops). However, here are the weekly "totals" for the bike followed by a quick breakdown of the ride on Sat:

Totals:
Bike: 3 rides, 08:23:29, 146.5 Miles

IMKY Course, 112.5 Miles, 18.0 MPH Avg., 41.2 MPH Max Speed, 92 Avg. Cadence, 120 Max Cadence, ride time 06:14:55

The ride: I met up with a couple of fellow BT'ers for the ride on Sat. morning (Garret, David, and Amy as well as Garret's friend Kenny). We took off at about 6:30 a.m. and started with a fairly casual 17 MPH pace. I was wondering why we were moving so "slow" at first but once we started hitting the hills I realized why you need to take it easy on the flats. The hills were non-stop, steep, and long. It was crazy but I absolutely loved it. Without overstating my own effort... I would say that I was definitely comfortable on the bike as well as the hills. The course consists of an out and back and two big loops through some really beautiful scenery. I was loving all the new sights and it kept my mind busy. The nice thing about riding a hilly course like this is that you are constantly thinking about how you are riding and you don't get lulled into a false sense of security. I really really enjoyed myself. After the ride we did a quick 30 minute brick run... well, for me it was more of a brick walk/run. I was feeling alright but the heat (it was in the 90's and very humid) was definitely getting to me and I didn't want to push it. I knew I had a long car ride ahead of me and I didn't want to either dehydrate myself or pull any muscles or anything that would make the boring car ride any longer. At any rate, I am feeling much more confident in my abilities now and am even more excited for IMKY. It's going to be a great event and I can only hope that the race goes as well as the ride did on Sat.! And for anyone who was wondering... yes, it was really really scary hitting 42MPH on the bike... fortunately, that will probably be the only time I hit that type of top speed on the course. During race day I highly doubt that I'll try going any faster than that (or near that) with a lot of other possibly squirrely bikers around me!

Alright, check back later this week!

Catching Up

2009-06-22T07:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just thought about the fact that it has been a couple of weeks now since I have blogged. I figure now is a good time to give a quick update on what's been going on.

The last couple of weeks since the triathlon have been pretty busy. Gwen has been out to Oregon and back, we've done a lot of work around the house, and, of course, I've been training. Here are a couple of the bigger "highlights":

-swam 3200 M. in 01:10:00 at the pool. Felt good. They had the lanes at the pool set up as 50 M. lanes which made this a lot easier to do (less turning which makes me feel like a rat on a wheel).

-This Sat. I had a 03:00:00 brick. I rode for about 02:15:00 and was feeling pretty good. It was a lot hotter than it has been lately and it was nice to get out in the sun. I rode 50 miles and finished off with a 45 minute run. Definitely felt good when it was all said and done.

Other than that my workouts have been pretty basic. This weekend will be exciting because I will be in Louisville to ride the IMKY bike course. All 112 miles! I have to be in KY for work and it worked out that some BT folks will be riding the course on Sat. so I've hopped on board and am super pumped about it. Check back this weekend for pictures and a course report!

Wish me luck. IMKY is coming up fast and the Muncie Endurathon is only 3 weeks away! Time is flying by!
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Ann Arbor Triathlon Race Report

2009-06-07T19:01:00.000-07:00

This morning was the "official" beginning to my triathlon season. Once again Gwen and I found ourselves on the east side of the state for a race. The triathlon was held at the Pinckney Recreation Area just outside of Ann Arbor. When we woke up this morning in Ann Arbor it was thundering and lightning and I was pretty worried that the race was going to be delayed and/or cancelled but by the time we got out to the rec. area the sky had cleared and it looked like beautiful weather for a triathlon! This tri was a sprint with the following distances:

Swim- 1/2 mile
Bike- 14 miles
Run- 5 miles on the Potowatami Trail

There were just under 400 participants who raced the triathlon and another couple of hundred that participated in the duathlon. Compared to the other races that I've done this one definitely seemed more competitive. There was a strong showing from U of M's triathlon team, MSU's triathlon team, etc. etc. All in all it was a really well run event (Elite Endeavors were the organizers and I highly recommend checking out some of their upcoming races) on a well put together course.

Pictured Above: My wave coming in from the swim (green caps)

To break everything down I'll start with some stats. My finish time was 01:44:25. That was good enough to put me 14/28 in the Male 25-29 age group and 120/368 overall. Here is a breakdown of each individual leg:

Swim- 00:15:57 (14th in age group, 134th overall)
T1- 00:04:14 (really long here. I was having trouble getting out of my wetsuit and into my tri top... more on this later)
Bike- 00:39:43/ 21.1 mph (8th in age group, 54th overall... puts me in the top 15% of all bikers! )
T2- 00:01:42 (again, really long. For some reason I'm very slow in transition)
Run- 00:42:52/00:08:35 minute miles (17th in age group, 159th overall)

A couple of interesting (at least I think) notes on the race and the above. I was in the bottom 1/3 of my age group in terms of transition times. Had I been able to cut 3 minutes overall (this should have been easy to do) I would have ended up 3 or 4 spots higher.

Pictured Above: T1. Wetsuit off, helmet on, having trouble getting my gloves on.

Pictured Above: T1. Why was I slow? To answer that I'll ask another question... why did I feel the need to fold up my wetsuit and reposition it several times before taking off?

My bike time would actually have been a little faster than the above however as I crossed the timing mat with my bike out of T1 I noticed that my chain had fallen off. I took a little bit to get it back on and then get on my bike and take off. My bike computer actually read closer to 22 mph.

Pictured Above: Coming in off the bike... feeling good.

Finally, my run... I missed a couple of the aid stations and was hurting a little (started to cramp) because I hadn't taken in any fluids throughout the race (outside of a couple of sips of water on the bike). This was dumb. I feel like I could have been a lot more comfortable had I gotten some water and this probably would have led to a bit quicker time. The run was on a really nice trail and I was happy to have a chance to run through the woods and up some hills... made for a nice finish.

Pictured Above: Crossing the line. Feeling great!

Overall I'm really happy with my effort out there today. I think I could have done a little better job overall with transitions, etc. and I probably would have cracked the top 10 in my age group. I was super happy on the bike... felt very strong. There wasn't a single person who passed me on the bike and I feel like I was definitely in that group of stronger bikers (I feel like being faster than 85% of the field is an indication of this) and that is for sure the biggest thing I can walk away with. Like I said, it was a great "training day" for me and as always I learned more about the sport and what not to do/what to do.

Oh, I forgot to mention... I was one of 2 dudes who rocked the speedo only tri. The other guy was in his 60's or 70's... I think he may have actually looked better in his. Anyway, the Whisper Cycles speedo is pretty hot aye? Hope everyone had a great weekend and thanks for checking in! Later on...

Last Weekend (May 29-May 31)

2009-06-02T07:04:00.001-07:00

This last weekend was a big one for Gwen and I. Gwen ran her second 10K of the year in Ann Arbor, and I got in some decent workouts.

The Dexter-Ann Arbor was Gwen's 2nd 10K of the year. We left on Sat. afternoon and headed to Ann Arbor where we stayed with Gwen's cousin, Christina, who was also running (she ran the 1/2 Mary in a very fast 01:44:00!). Sat. evening we were able to catch up with some of the crew from Wilmot... woot woot, and then it was off to bed (after watching the Wings win Game 1!!!). Sun. morning we woke up early and I drove Gwen and Christina to the start line where they had to catch buses to drive them out to their respective start lines. After that I worked my way towards the finish line and set up camp in the PERFECT spot for some sweet finish line photos... unfortunately, as luck would have it, I MISSED GWEN as she crossed the line!!! I still don't know how this happened but she finished in 01:06:00 and we were definitely excited! Post race Gwen went and got a massage (which I should mention was one of the many great "perks" of this race. Very well run. Huge turnout, lots of spectators, etc. etc. Can't say enough about it...). Following the massage we made our way back to the finish line just in time to see Christina cross! Overall it was definitely a successful trip.

After my ride/swim on Fri. I was definitely still pumped. On Sat. prior to leaving I went out for my "long run" of the weekend. I was out for 01:1500 total and my goal was to run negative splits. I BARELY did this, but was super happy with the workout anyway. I did a big loop along Lake Macatawa and towards Lake MI. It was a beautiful day for this with awesome weather. On my way out I ran 3.4 miles in exactly 30 minutes which put me at 8:47 per mile. On the way back in I ran 4.01 miles in 35 minutes which is 8:43 per mile. Add in the time I took to stop and buy a gatorade along the way and you get my 01:15:00. Despite the fact that the "negative" in my negative splits was so small that it was almost non-existent, I was happy to have it. By the time I showered, packed, and ate... we were ready to go.

Sun. when we got home from Ann Arbor I was dead tired. Gwen and I both fell asleep on the couch until like 6 pm. I was pretty bummed at that point b/c I had a 03:00:00 Brick planned and figured I would scrap it. BUT I decided that I needed to get it in so to make it more "efficient" I set up the bike on the trainer and decided to do the run on the treadmill. It worked awesome! I put in a big effort and my reward was how great I felt post-workout. I even did some simulated climbing which really felt great (about 25 minutes worth when it was all said and done). I felt awesome on the run (which was 30 minutes long... after 2 1/2 hours on the bike).

So, that was the weekend in a nutshell. My first official triathlon is this upcoming weekend in Ann Arbor and I'm super excited for it. Check back this week as I have a couple of "new" workouts which should be interesting.

Thanks for all the support. Hope everyone is doing well.

Later on...
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Friday... the new Sat.

2009-05-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

Last week I was officially cut back to 4 days at work which means that Thurs. is the new Fri.! This is a short term deal but I'm taking advantage of the new found time to get some stuff done around the house and, of course, to get some longer workouts in.

Today I woke up to our new refrigerator being delivered. My brothers came over to help me move it in this evening and let's just say that the installation was not without incident. That being said, I got it in finally and now we have ice cubes again! Besides putting the fridge in I spent some QT in my yard this afternoon mowing, raking, etc. So now my triathlete's lawn is not so "triathleteish." The bigger part of my day consisted of my workouts...

This morning I headed over to the pool for a big swim. My plan called out for a 3100 M swim broken down into the following:

-6x50 M. each 25 increasing in pace.

-The following at T-Pace:

-300 M. easy to cool down

Because I have been slacking in the pool lately I upped the ante a little and did 1000M to cool down instead of 300 which put me at 3800M total... which is just over 2.3 miles. Definitely a great workout. From there I hopped on the bike and went out for an hour long ride. Here are my bike computer metrics:

Time- 01:00:00

Avg. Cadence- 93

Avg. MPH- 21.3

This was my first ride in the big chain ring (for the most part) and I was able to keep a decently high cadence which meant that my avg. MPH were higher! I was really happy with this ride and felt comfortable throughout.

Tomorrow is a 03:00:00 Brick and I'm looking forward to getting in a really good workout to start the weekend. Gwen and I are heading to Ann Arbor for the weekend as she will be running in the Dexter to Ann Arbor race on Sunday. She's doing the 10K and I'm really excited for her!

Alright... that's all for now. I need to relax a minute!!!!

Hope everyone is well.

Tight Leg!

2009-05-26T19:17:00.001-07:00

Laying here watching the Magic vs. Cavs and my left calf got super tight on me. Luckily Gwen was willing to play masseuse for me tonight and is working on the huge lump in my leg. Definitely a result of training on Sun. and Mon. which I suppose means that I was working hard enough.

Yesterday I went out in the morning with the Mon. Night Ride group. We headed south towards Saugatuck/Fennville and had a nice little ride. My bike computer read:

Total Distance: 41.3 miles
Avg. Mph: just under 19 MPH
Avg. Cadence: 88

After the ride I went out for a quick run. I was out for about 20 minutes and ran just under 3 miles. Considering the effort already in my legs from the ride I was pretty happy. Following the Brick Gwen and I spent some q-time with her family in Saugatuck and then saw Ryan and Ali before heading home for the night.

On Sun. I had my "long run." I ran for just under an hour and went between 7 and 8 miles. I was feeling great and despite the hot weather I finished strong. Following the run I went out to the local disc golf course to hit the links with the boys (Nick, Will, and Ryan). Had a lot of fun and definitely want to make it out again soon. We'll see how it goes!

Today I used as a rest day and plan on getting back to it tomorrow. My first official triathlon of the year is in just about 2 weeks and I'm curious to see how it's going to go. Either way it'll be nice to see the fruit of my labor.

On a separate note I have some exciting stuff going on with my bike and Whisper/Jade cycles. Once everything is all said and done I'll post some pictures. Gwen has been loving her new Jade and is getting used to riding a road bike. Pretty soon we'll have her out in the group ride! Also, Gwen starts training for the Chicago Marathon soon! She'll be running the marathon for the Girls on the Run Solemates program and we're both really excited about it! I'll keep you posted on her progress and any news that she may have.

I've been watching the Giro d'Italia consistently online and I have to say that watching bike racing is quickly becoming one of my favorite spectator sports. Todays was a rest day but we'll see what tomorrow holds.

That's all for now. Keep checking back... Whisper/Jade uni's will be in this week and once they're in I'll post some pics... they're sweet!!!

Hope everyone is doing well.

Later.
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Gwen's New Bike!

2009-05-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

I had mentioned awhile back that for Gwen's graduation I bought her a couple of gifts. Yesterday I was finally able to give her the 2nd gift that I had bought... her first road bike! Yesterday afternoon we went into Jade/Whisper Cycles and she got fitted for her new ride. Gwen isn't super comfortable on a bike so this gift was probably more "for me" than for her but I'm really excited to get her out on the road and riding. There is a church down the road from us that has a massive parking lot that is set up really well for a short circuit course and that's where we'll be heading to get her started. Below you'll find pictures of the bike... green is her favorite color and Jim hooked it up with the cool silver decals.

So... this gift was definitely a little "selfish" for me to buy (especially since I have a pair of shoes that fits the pedals... but that's purely coincidence). Based on that I decided to also give her another gift. This is something that I had been planning on giving her for awhile and it seemed like the perfect occasion...

So, ladies... which would you want? I already told Gwen that between these two gifts I think I have the next couple of years worth of birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc. covered... we'll see how that works out though. I figured worst case scenario I've at least set myself up to build up a bike or two someday!!!

Training this weekend is going to be good. Today I was supposed to get out on a 2 HR. Brick but instead ended up on the couch (after watching the Giro online) taking a 2 HR. nap. Looks like last night we ended up staying out a little too late. With a bunch of our friends back in town for the holiday it's pretty hard to motivate and get out training alone but this is a big weekend for me and I need to make sure to stick to it. That being said, because of today's missed workout I'll be bumping my "recovery day" on Mon. out of the schedule and replacing it with either the Brick I missed today or tomorrow's scheduled long run. All in all it was worth it to have some rest today and then have a great dinner with Gwen and my Phil (my father-in-law) for Phil's birthday. Tomorrow I'm planning on getting out early to do my workout and then in the afternoon we have lunch for my Grandma's birthday and then I'm going disc golfing with my boys Nick and Ryan... very excited for this. That means tonight I need to be a little smarter about how much imbibing I do (always difficult when everyone is in town). Loving life though...

Hope that everyone else is doing well.

Later on...

Ride of Silence Today

2009-05-20T13:01:00.001-07:00

Today is the Ride of Silence which, as some of you may know, is a slow paced ride to honor cyclists injured or killed on public roadways. This is a really neat cause and I would really, really encourage anyone who has a local ride to get out and support/ride along tonight. Check out their website @ www.rideofsilence.org

This is eerily topical as this afternoon I just read an article from a local Grand Rapids news source that spoke about a cyclist killed by a city dump truck in GR this morning. Really sad news...

Alright, just wanted to give an FYI on this as it is a really important and good cause.

Training this week is going alright. I'm feeling good and have a lot of different "irons in the fire" that I'm excited to post about(new gear/equipment, Gwen's big surprise, etc. etc.). Hopefully I'll have some time to share more this week. Until then hope everyone is doing well.
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MI Beginner Triathlete Training Day at ILRA

2009-05-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

Alright, first and foremost... today was awesome! Gwen and I had a blast out in Brighton at the Island Lake Recreation Area with a bunch of other folks from Beginner Triathlete. The weather was beautiful (a little chilly but pleasant) and there was a great turnout... around 20 people. Here's a group pic... I'm on the far right squinting. Makes me look like Sloth from "The Goonies."

There were two "courses" set up for the day; Sprint and Olympic. In addition to that people were doing all sorts of things; aqua-bike, duathlon, run only, bike only, etc. etc. I chose the Olympic Distance course and although we didn't have an "official" clock I came in somewhere around 2 1/2 hours. Granted, there were a couple of stops in there and T-1 and T-2 took about 15 minutes total... but I was still pretty happy with the time.

To start the training off we all jumped into Spring Mill Pond. Most of us were wearing wetsuits although there were a couple of brave souls that went sans protection and toughed it out. The water was probably 55-60 degrees which isn't so bad when you consider that the air temperature was about 50 degrees. At any rate, I came prepared with a wetsuit... and despite it being the first time that I've swam in a wetsuit I felt very strong. Gwen told me that I was looking quite strong... but she's my wife and she's supposed to say that type of thing (just like my Mom telling me I was the cutest boy in school). I was a little worried pre-swim about having a tough time adjusting to the fit/feel of the wetsuit while swimming but it wasn't bad at all. I had one brief moment where I felt like I was having a hard time getting air but it passed quickly and I stayed calm throughout. Below is a picture Gwen took of me getting out of the water and heading to T-1:

It's been a long time since I've come out of the water and hopped on the bike and it took me a minute to gather my legs (and wits) about me before heading out for the 24 mile ride. Once I got out on the road I was feeling great and it was a really nice course. It was basically a circuit with some decent little hills and chances to pick up some speed on the flats. There were a TON of roadies out while we were riding and it definitely seems like a good place to get out and train... if it were closer than 2 1/2 hour away. It was great to see a seemingly strong biking community and it was cool because there were a lot of people who noticed the Whisper and asked about it. Hey, what can I say... if it looks good, rides good, you know it's good! Coming off the bike I was feeling a little tired but was definitely ready to run. Here's a pic Gwen took of me in T-2:

After I took some time throwing my shoes on and making sure I was ready to go Gwen joined me for the run! We set out at a steady pace and made our way back out onto the course. Again, I can't say it enough how impressed I was with the course today. A big up to Coop from BT for taking the time to scout the course out and make sure we had the right distances to make this enjoyable for a wide variety of folks. Gwen and I made it 4.6 miles (1.6 miles shorter than the official Olympic distance... but it was a great run nonetheless!). After the run we took a minute to say goodbye to everyone and then were on our way! It was a really great way to end the weekend and I would definitely encourage anyone who hasn't checked out Beginner Triathlete to do so. It's a great resource with a lot of great people.

So, next week doesn't hold anything as exciting as this weekend but I'm looking forward to building off of what I accomplished this week. I'm definitely going to try to get out and do some more OWS (open water swim) in the near future. I much prefer it to swimming laps in the pool... but I don't think there are many who DO prefer the pool.

Hope everyone had a great weekend...

Later on...

Big Weekend

2009-05-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend is shaping up to be a big one. Today I did a TT on the track at the middle school down the road and then a 10 mile TT on the bike. The winds were hellacious today but I was happy to see small improvements overall. Tomorrow I will be heading towards Brighton with Gwen to train with some fellow MI Bt'ers (beginnertriathlete.com). There will be a sprint distance and olympic distance course mapped out and we're all going to head out and get a nice day in! I'm really excited about this as it will give me an opportunity to break in my wetsuit as well as do my first triathlon of the year. I'll throw up a post tomorrow reviewing it and will have some great pictures I'm sure.

This week was a decent week overall. My total hours were down for the week because of the "testing" that was called for in the plan and this was a welcome change. My allergies have been killing me lately and it doesn't seem like the medication I'm on is doing anything. There is a constant "tickle" or soreness in my throat/chest and it is driving me absolutely nuts. That on top of a constantly stuffy nose makes for lovely training days... at any rate, I'm hoping that it will either get better or that I'll get used to it in the near future.

I set my T-Time in the pool again this week. I dropped 10 seconds overall from my time which equals a 1 second drop in the t-time. I'm sitting at 00:01:44 right now. The pool that I swim at has been closed (or has changed hours) the last couple of weeks to accommodate some work that has been going on so I haven't been in the pool as much as I would have liked. Because of this, I'm pretty satisfied with my new time.

This morning I woke up and jumped onto the internet to watch the Giro d'Italia. I'm glad that coverage is available online but kind of bummed out that the American networks aren't covering it at all. Anyway, I watched that and then got ready for my running time trial. I may have explained this before but basically I run 3 miles on the track and log the time it takes for each mile. My time this week improved by over 10 seconds from the TT last month so I was pretty happy about that. Here's the breakdown:

Mile 1- 7:20

Mile 2- 7:22

Mile 3- 7:25

Overall- 22:07

I'm still running a little slower than I want to be at this point. The main thing that I am concerned about is that I have a really hard time running negative splits unless I really back off on the first mile. This is something that I'm going to have to continue to work on.

The 10 mile TT on the bike was done about an hour and a half after the run. Typically I break these types of "testing" days into two separate workouts (at least that is what my plan calls for) but because of the tri tomorrow in Brighton I smushed them into one day. This may have had an affect on the overall time on the bike but I think that the biggest factor in my time today was the hellacious winds. On my way out I had a vicious crosswind that was pushing me all over. On the way back in the crosswind became a headwind. Overall, my time was about half a minute faster than it was last month... so again, considering the conditions, I was pretty happy. Here's the breakdown:

Time- 00:29:21

Avg. MPH- 20.5

Avg. Cadence- 93

So... that's it for now. One more thing though... yesterday Gwen signed us up to volunteer at the Girls on the Run Celebration 5K. It was cold, windy, and rainy and I didn't really want to do it but once we got out there it was a blast! What an awesome, awesome, organization GOTR is. Those girls were so happy to be running the 5K... and it was crazy to see them do it! These are 3-5 grade girls (the majority)!!!! Over 500 participants showed up yesterday and it was worth it to cheer them all on. On a side note I saw a lot of familiar faces there as Jade/Whisper Cycles was providing support on the bikes. They did leadout/follow-up for the girls. At any rate, it was really cool and I was excited to be a part of it (even for only 1 day). Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Check back tomorrow evening for the MI BT Tri post!

Mother's Day Brick... (and the Speedo Debut!)

2009-05-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

Above Left: Pre-Brick

Above Right: Hour 1

Above Left: Hour 3

Above Right: Out of the Saddle and Climbing!

Above: Post-Run, Hour 4. Happy Mother's Day!

Hope all the Mom's out there had a great Mother's Day today! Today's workout was a tough one but it was totally worth it. Not only did I do my longest brick to date but I was also able to work on my nutrition (although today will probably fall into that "what not to do" category). Also, the speedo made it's debut. Ladies and small children... please avert your eyes!

To begin, wearing the speedo was a little odd to say the least. Truth be told, I've never worn a Speedo prior to today's brick. It felt strange at first but I had to get over that pretty quick as I kept telling myself that I'll be rocking the speedo only tri in less than a month. I'm thinking maybe I'll have to tan before that... look at how crazy white my legs are! Anyway, once I was sure that everything is in place, and wasn't leaving, I hopped on the bike and got to work.

Because my speed sensor is attached to my front fork I wasn't able to get a speed or mileage readout for this workout. That was a little disappointing since this was my longest ride of the year and I would have liked to have known where I was at distance-wise but I guess it was on the trainer so it would have all been relative anyway. Anyway, the metric I used while riding was my cadence. My goal was to stay above 90 RPM for the entire ride and I was able to do so with a couple of brief exceptions. The ride itself wasn't very hard but the fact that I was doing it on the trainer made it pretty boring after the first hour. To keep myself motivated I threw on the Ironman 25th Anniversary DVD. Riding while watching these DVD's is such a great experience... it's like you are constantly reminded of why you're on the bike. Once that finished I threw on some music and rode, rode, rode some more. Gwen was around to keep me company for the last 45 minutes or so and it made things a lot easier!

Following the ride Gwen and I went out for a 30 minute run. I was really, really surprised at how good my legs felt. When we started out it felt as though I hadn't been riding at all! We made our way over to the local middle school track and ran a couple of miles each. I was feeling really good and today has been a huge confidence booster for me!

The one thing that I learned today was that although my aspirations may be to be an Ironman... my stomach will probably never be "iron." Today I decided to try using Accelerade instead of my normal 50/50 Gatorade/Water mix. Instead, I mixed in one scoop of Accelerade per 12 oz. of water. My plan was to drink one bottle of water for each hour of the workout. In addition to this I took one packet of GU each hour. The first 2 1/2 hours went great but after that I started to have some major GI issues. I'm guessing that what I did wrong was to consume the Accelerade too fast. The first 2 hours I spread it throughout... However, the last 2 hours I basically slammed it. There was basically an immediate effect. Each time after that anytime I took a drink or used GU I felt like I had to run to the bathroom. It definitely made for an interesting end to the training. In the end, I was able to control everything but I know for the future that I really need to spread out the Accelerade. Surprisingly, I didn't mind the flavor of it too much... which I figured that I would but it works great! I definitely feel like I noticed the "power" that I get when I use nutrition in the right way!

Alright... this week should shape up to be a good one. I'm really excited as I think that Team Uniforms for Jade/Whisper Cycles will be in at the end of this week and I will be able to unveil the new speedo (the special Whisper Cycles speedo) in conjunction with the new uniforms! There will also be plain old tri shorts which I plan on wearing more than the Speedo... so friends/family/acquaintances don't worry! Don't run and don't be scered. And, for the record... I would like to say that Nick Gerrits totally hit the nail on the head when he made fun of me for starting a blog. He called it out that eventually there would be a day when suddenly pictures of me in a speedo came online... unfortunately, he is so right!

Alright all... hope the weekend was good.

Later on!

(oh... and two more things... or, three more things:

1. if you haven't already... go out and buy Ben Folds Presents: University a Capella!

2. why the heck isn't there coverage of the Giro d'Italia in the States?

3 it's Mother's Day for goodness sake... make your Momma proud and buy a Whisper! www.whispercycles.com

2 Days of Riding...

2009-05-06T19:28:00.001-07:00

So I tweaked my training schedule a touch this week to accommodate the Jade/Whisper group ride tonight. In the end I think it will have been worth it especially b/c tomorrow it's supposed to rain.

Here are the readouts from my computer for the last two rides:

05/05/09- time 00:56:27, distance 18.8, avg. mph 20.0, max mph 29.5, avg. cadence 94

05/06/09- time 01:39:06, distance 32.8, avg. mph 19.9, max mph 32.4, avg. cadence 93

This week has been pretty good and I'm looking forward to finishing the week out strong. It has been crazy busy around Holland this week b/c of Tulip Time. Luckily this has meant that the roads that I bike have been less busy lately. Hopefully the same will be true at the gym/pool this week as well.

In other exciting news it looks like Gwen may have some hot prospects for a job coming up so we are pretty excited about that. All in all, things are going really well.

Thanks for checking in. More later!

Later on...
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Weekend Workouts

2009-05-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a great confidence builder for me. After a lot of trepidation about whether or not I would be on, or near, form I was able to prove to myself that I'm still making progress. As I have mentioned over and over and over this week... this was the first week that I was back on my training plan.

I had mentioned earlier that I was going to post some of the information that I went over with my nutritionist... and then, I failed to post it. That being said, I learned a lot of good stuff from her and feel like it has really helped my energy levels and recovery times so far this week. Basically, the long and short of it was that I found out that I haven't been eating enough. I have been letting my body get nutritionally deficient during the day and then when night time rolls around I'm looking to pound down as much food (especially Gummi Bears and Jelly Bellys lately) as I can. By tweaking my eating schedule and learning about which foods will help me "carbo load" I've been able to avoid this type of semi "binge" eating this week. I've also been practicing my race nutrition and this weekend was the first big test for me. I used 50/50 Gatorade/Water mix and Gu gels on the bike and felt great throughout. Again, I didn't have to binge post-workout because I didn't let my body go "deficient" during the workout. So that's it for nutrition for now, on to the workouts...

Yesterday I did a nice 03:15:00 Brick. It was AWESOME! Here is the readout from my bike computer for my ride yesterday: ride time- 02:56:05, distance- 55.7 miles, avg. MPH- 18.9, max MPH- 33.0 (that was on a flat stretch too!), avg. Cadence- 93. Like I said, I felt great to get out and do that distance on the bike and also be able to practice nutrition, check out some new routes, etc. etc. Post ride I went for a QUICK run. I spent 20" running around the block and went about 1.7 miles. My legs felt great and my lungs/heart felt good too. Overall the day was a real boost for me. As the weather is getting better I'm looking forward to having a lot more days like this.

Today I went out for an 01:20:00 in the Saugatuck Dunes State Park. Again, it was a really awesome day. This was my first long day in the Dunes this year and it felt good to push myself. I love the SDSP because there is a lot of hill work, loose sand, dunes to run up, and BEAUTIFUL views. Today was the perfect day to get out and let loose. I started out on the trails that I run all the time and just went. I ended up picking up a deer trail and just following that until I got lost. It was a really cool feeling to just be able to get lost out in the woods following this deer trail until I hit the road. Once I hit the road I was relieved to see I hadn't gone TOO far out of my way and I spent the last half hour of the run on the road. It was a really nice way to end the run and I realized again how lucky I am to live in this area where there is a lot of really great scenery to occupy your mind while training.

Looking forward to the start of another week. This upcoming weekend is the annual 5/3 River Bank Run in Grand Rapids, MI. I wasn't planning on doing this race but am thinking about going for it now. It's a 25K and I've run portions of the course before... we'll see if I end up doing it or not. I'm a month away from the Ann Arbor Tri. My official race uniform is 50% completed... I have the much talked about Speedo and now am just waiting on my Whisper Tri Top. It sounds like my Whisper Uniforms will be in, in a couple of weeks and I can't wait. I'll post pics of the new kit when it arrives... who knows, maybe the Speedo will even make it's way onto the blog... I apologize ahead of time!

Alright, hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Back On Track

2009-04-29T17:22:00.001-07:00

So I think it's safe to say that I am back on track! I'm back to my training plan and am feeling great at the midpoint of this week. I eased back into things on Mon. with a pretty standard recovery workout. I did 30" in the pool and a 30" run. I was really excited to make it through the run without any pain or anything off going on in my legs!

Tues. I made it outside on the bike for a decent 1' ride. My bike computer read 21.9 miles averaging 19.9 MPH, with an avg. cadence of 95. Once again, I made it through the ride without getting into my big chain ring. I felt really good on the bike and am so excited for the weather to continue improving. When I got home from my ride I lifted and then called it a day.

Today I swam 2000 meters. I'm feeling good as I swam at my t-pace the entire time (including drills!). So, this week has been a success thus far. I'm excited to be back in the swing of things and can't believe how quickly the weeks are going by. I'm only a month away from this season's first triathlon (which, of course, will be a "speedo only" tri)!

Gwen came down with a nasty case of strep throat and made it into the Dr. today. She's on some hardcore antibiotics and will hopefully be back in the swing of things soon. As I mentioned before, her graduation went great and we're super excited for the opportunities she'll now have!

Alright... last thing... I met with my nurtritionist on Mon. and am really excited about all the information we went over... I'll write a brief post tomorrow outlining the different things we went over but now I gotta jet and eat!

Peace.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The Real Pandemic

2009-04-27T08:40:00.001-07:00

Swine Flu has been saturating the news over the weekend. As I was driving to a jobsite inspection this morning it was all I heard about on NPR and, being the simple minded person I am, I started to think about other "pandemics" that affect my life more directly.

Now that the weather in MI has changed for the better I am starting to see a lot more bikers on the roads. In years past I have been guilty of complaining about all the spandex clad cyclists riding on the road. Since I have started to bike more seriously I have taken note of just how many people share my previous outlook. People constantly complain about bikers being on the road. It has become (or has been) socially acceptable for drivers to talk about yelling at bikers, throwing things at them, or joking about running them off the road (or ACTUALLY doing it in some cases). The amount of time we cyclists, triathletes, recreational bikers, etc. spend on the road makes us particularly susceptible to bad drivers and road rage prone individuals. I feel fairly confident in saying that by the time the Swine Flu story has faded away there will be less people affected by it than those affected by biking accidents on the road.

I'm not really sure why this popped into my head this morning... other than what I wrote above. However, right after I started thinking about it I noticed the "Share The Road" sign which I posted above. I've seen these at Jade/Whisper before and I know that a lot of the bike shops have donated these signs to different municipalities... so thank you! I figure with all the time on the road I'll have this year maybe this sign will directly benefit me, and hopefully others as well. I guess the important thing is that safety is the shared responsibility of both automobile drivers AND cyclists... we all need to make sure we aren't being stupid. So, I guess that's all... just wanted to throw up a quick post as I was thinking about this.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this weekend was Gwen's graduation. It went awesome and we had a lot of fun. I'm super proud of her and know that she'll be a great nurse. I bought her a couple of graduation gifts, 1 that I knew she would really like, and 1 that I really like... I'll post pictures of the one I like this week when I get it! With all the craziness behind us, and my body finally reaching 100% following the marathon, I will finally be getting back to my training plan. Luckily I start slowly with a 1/2 hr. swim and a 1/2 hr. run today! Can't wait.

Two things before I jet: 1. I meet with a nutritionist/dietician this evening to go over my IMKY nutrition plan. I'm super excited about this and will share details. 2. My boy Nick Gerrits ran his first 1/2 Marathon in Nashville this weekend so big ups to him!

Alright hope your week is starting great! Later on...
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

"This is Only a Test..."

2009-04-25T07:33:00.001-07:00

Alright, this is my first attempt at using my BlackBerry to post to blogger.com. So, bear with me...

Today's training plans have been shot to heck! I was planning on getting a brick in this morning prior to today's festivities (Gwen's graduation!). In the end though there is too much for us to do and it looks as though training will have to take a brief hiatus. Tomorrow I'll be running in the Dunes with Roy (and possibly Gwen) and am looking forward to my first "substantial" run since the Town Crier.

Next week will be the official "Return of the Training Plan" and I'm looking forward to getting back on a "normal" routine. It has been up and down since the Martian Marathon but I'm finally back to 100%. Or at least pretty darn close!

My last post outlined some of my recent experiences on the bike. I have been feeling strong and yet, at the same time, a little slow. After sitting around and thinking about it the other day one thing I realized is that I haven't even been into my big chain ring yet! I'm not sure how much of a difference this is going to make but I have a feeling that when I get to the point where I feel like I am comfortable pushing a bigger gear I'll surprise myself!

I'm posting a picture of me wearing my sweet Eddy Merckx shirt... don't act like you aren't impressed. And, yes... I'm rocking the chin strap (the baby version since I can't grow real facial hair).

Alright... hope everyone has a great weekend.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

First Day Back...

2009-04-22T18:47:00.000-07:00

Baby steps... baby steps... baby steps. That's all I could think today during the Jade/Whisper Group Ride. It was my first workout since last week Friday. I've been down and out with a sinus infection and my prescription of antibiotics was a welcome relief yesterday. I felt like I needed to get out and get the legs pumping and thus... the group ride.

The ride overall was alright. It was decently windy and I spent a lot of the ride working by myself off the main group in the aerobars. Here are the vitals: 1:40:35 total ride time, 31.9 miles, 18.9 avg. MPH, avg. cadence of 95. Overall I'm alright with this but I wish that I had kept the pace a little faster and worked within the group a little more. Lessons for next time I suppose... like I wrote... baby steps.

Last week Fri. was my 2nd TT outdoors for the season. It was a 10 mile TT which I finished in 29:33, with a 20.3 MPH avg., and an avg. cadence of 97. It was a big improvement over my last TT and considering that this time I threw some hills into the mix I felt pretty good about it. Next TT is a month or so away and I can tell that I'm getting stronger on the bike. Loving it.

That's it for now. Check back later this week!

Whisper Cycles 5x5 Promo and New T-Time

2009-04-16T18:53:00.000-07:00

Pictured Above: The Exclusive Whisper MS 5x5 Decal (for more info read below)!!!

This week has been going great thus far. Despite what I wrote in a previous post... the first "official" Jade/Whisper Cycles group ride happened last night and it was a blast! We went just over 30 miles and averaged around 18.5-19 MPH. It was good to get out on the road in a group setting and see how the dynamics of a group ride go! Needless to say I ended up going out a little hot and getting dropped BUT I was able to fight my way back to the main group and I'm actually quite proud of this. I feel great today and although I haven't tried running my knee is feeling good.

Today's workout was to set a new t-pace in the pool. I swam 1000 meters in 00:17:32 which works out to 00:01:45 per 100 meters! This is an improvement from my previous t-pace of 00:01:58. I definitely feel much slower than everyone in the pool (and out of it for that matter!) but it's good to know that I'm improving. Tomorrow is a 10 miles time trial on the bike and I have a feeling I'm going to blow the doors off of my last time. Stay tuned for a report!

Lastly, I got an email that I wanted to share with everyone. This is a really great deal that Jade/Whisper Cycles is offering on the Whisper line of bikes (the type of bike I have... so you know it's cool) that will also benefit a really great cause. Jade/Whisper has been teamed up with the MS 150 ride for several years and has even done a couple of seminars with the MS 150 folks ( The Famous "Fix a Flat in 2 Minutes or Less" Seminar). Whisper has committed to offering a 5% discount on all Whisper bikes purchased by registered participants of the Bike MS, Great Lakes Breakaway (sorry out of area folks... check them out anyway...). On top of that 5% of the purchase will be donated to the MI Chapter of the National MS Society. This is THE perfect excuse to buy a bike. Last thing... these bikes will all have a special decal on them. Check out the website (below) for more info (and see the decal above).

http://www.whispercycles.com/whisper_5x5.html

Massage=Drool

2009-04-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

My plan today was to jump back into my training plan for IMKY. Unfortunately, things do not always go as planned. I was still feeling a little sore (specifically my right arch and left IT band area... my knee) and figured that I would probably benefit more from a day of rest and a massage than I would my workout. I called and booked a massage for this evening and was feeling pretty excited.

Right before I got to my appointment my throat started to get really, really sore. Like to the point where now every time I swallow it hurts. I have no idea why this is but it is a royal pain (I've taken a bunch of Nyquil so hopefully it'll go away soon). Anyway, I digress. I let the massage therapist know that I thought I really would benefit from some focus on my legs and feet. Thus, they did their thing and I left feeling much better. I think that overall I made the right choice today. Oddly enough, during the massage I got super relaxed (no, not THAT relaxed). Twice, while face down, I realized that I was drooling all over the place. Like huge amounts of spit falling out of my mouth. That was a little embarrassing. During the last 15-20 minutes of the massage I fell asleep. That probably isn't a big deal except that when I woke up it was like when you fall asleep in class and suddenly pop your head up like you just heard an explosion... yeah, needless to say I freaked myself, and the masseuse, out for sure. So, here I am now pounding down a bunch of water and hanging out!

My plan is to pick up my workouts tomorrow with what was supposed to be today's workout. This will work well as there is a group ride at Jade/Whisper Cycles on Wed. that I really want to go to and although doing "3-a-day" workouts isn't anything new it isn't necessarily something that I want to do right now. So, it will be a normal "2-a-day" workout. I think that I've mentioned before what I do in terms of daily workouts but I'll throw it up for anyone that is interested. If anyone would like to know specifics about workouts let me know... I've been doing "2-a-days" since Oct. and definitely feel like I'm staring to master it... or at least get the hang of it. A typical week looks like this:

Mon.- Swim and Run (typically "recovery" workout)

Tues.- Bike and Weightlift (usually a drill on the bike (ILT, spin-ups, etc.), sometimes instead of lifting I do Yoga)

Wed.- Swim and Run (moderate time/distance usually drills in the pool)

Thurs.- Bike and Weightlift (moderate time/distance, usually a greater intensity bike)

Fri.- Swim and Run (long swim and moderate run)

Sat.- Brick or Long Bike

Sun.- Long Run

I have to admit (and I'm sure anyone who reads this blog on a semi-regular basis knows this already) but I definitely miss workouts on occasion. I think that right now I am at about 85-90% in terms of sticking to my plan.

I saw on the Beginner Triathlete website today (in the IMKY 2009 forum) that we are now 20 weeks away from Ironman Louisville! It's crazy that it's coming up this quickly and although I know that I'm going to be absolutely freaked out when it gets here, I'm still very excited! Alright, off to finish "resting up" and then tomorrow it's right back at it! Stay tuned.

Saugatuck Town Crier 10K Race Report

2009-04-11T15:17:00.001-07:00

Pictured Above: Josh pre-race

Pictured Above: Gwen pre-race

Well folks, it's over. In the books. Finished. Today's Saugatuck Town Crier 10K was the first time that I have run since the Martian Marathon and I have to say that I am pretty satisfied with my performance. I ran a 00:50:49, which is a 8:12 pace, and was good enough to put me dead last in the M25-29 division and 77/160 overall. Normally I would be a little distraught by the fact that I ended up so far in the back but I feel like I kind of have a trump card over everyone in that I ran a marathon less than a week a go. So there. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

The race was well represented by two groups near and dear to my heart. The Satya Yoga Center had a good turnout with impressive performances by all (Gwen, Mary-Lynn, Veronica, Tony, and Michele all repped). Mary-Lynn pulled down a "W" with a 2nd place finish in her age group. Gwen did an awesome job considering this was her first time running in a really long time due to school. She was a little disappointed with her finish time but she did me proud... 60 hours+ a week for nursing school and she's still out there busting her butt (not to mention that in terms of distance this was a "first" for her). The second group that was represented was Jade/Whisper Cycles. Matt Smith pulled down a solid 2nd place finish overall in both the 10K AND 5K. I talked to him for a little bit before the 5K (following the 10K) and he was telling me that a group of guys he was with had actually ridden their bikes TO THE RACE and yet, he was able to put out a super solid performance (I should note that for road races Matt is sponsored by Striders running store... google them, they are great!).

The weather out this morning was decent. When we stepped out of the car this morning I looked at the thermostat and it read 34 degrees. I don't think it actually stayed that cold but it was pretty chilly. I didn't pre-plan very well so ended up running in shorts (wish I had worn tights) and didn't have gloves. Needless to say my fingers were numb at about mile 2. The mileage definitely took a toll on my body today and I was sore when Gwen and I got home. My left knee especially was bothering me and I think that this week I'm going to have to keep a close eye on this to make sure I don't do any actual damage. That being said, I didn't really have any aches and pains beyond the normal stuff while I was running. The course was really nice. The start and finish were in downtown Saugatuck and the course brought you along the river into the hills, woods, and neighborhoods of Saugatuck. Very cool. This is definitely a run that I'll be doing on my own this summer and I encourage anyone local to give it a try.

Following the race I went out for a ride with Jim and Jeff. I figured that a nice recovery ride/spin was in need of and we had a great ride. It was pretty windy out today and that definitely affected me however I was pretty satisfied with the ride overall. Jeff/Jim both worked with me on group ride etiquette/technique and despite the fact that I almost took Jim down a couple of times I think things went well. Final ride readout from my bike computer was: distance 38 miles, 17.7 MPH avg. speed, top speed of 26.1 MPH, avg. cadence of 88. Almost 40 miles... you ask me this is the best way to recover!

This week will be a good week for me to jump back into my regular training. It is a "smaller" week with a couple of "testing" days. I'll keep everyone posted.

Alright, Gwen and I are getting ready to go hang out with Nick who is back in town for the weekend! Everyone have a good Easter!

Opening Day for Jade/Whisper Group Ride

2009-04-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

Tonight was a great night. I was planning on doing an easy recovery spin on the bike but on my way home I was feeling a little lethargic. As I was driving back I got an email from Jim @ Jade/Whisper Cycles letting me know that a group ride was on tonight (the first one of the year). Yes, today was officially "opening day" for the Jade/Whisper group ride. Granted, there wasn't a lot of fanfare... no beers and hotdogs (for another week) but I think that there was plenty of excitement. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it in time but I raced home and grabbed my bike and gear and headed out for the shop.

I started changing clothes on the way because I knew I was going to be cutting it close. Fortunately I showed up just in time for the ride. We left the shop around quarter after 6 and headed south out of Zeeland.

According to my bike computer we rode for 01:40:02. Total distance was 31.7 miles during which time my average speed was 18.8 MPH with a top speed of 30.1. My average cadence was a pretty solid 95. I felt great when we got back and my legs are feeling awesome right now. I feel like that was about the best recovery ride that I could have had. The best part is that had I gone out by myself I wouldn't have pushed it at all and I would have just had another mediocre training ride. Riding with Jim and the rest of the guys (tonight it was Joel and Dean) is really great for me because I am picking up a lot of things that I don't know about because I haven't done group rides in the past. They showed me how to ride a pace line, we talked about finding the "sweet spot" in a draft, and the constant encouragement keeps you going! The great thing about all this is that they are all willing to take the time to teach me how to do this stuff.

So...here I am 3 days out from a marathon and I feel really good. The one "ache and pain" that has been lingering is the soreness in the arch of my foot. The ride seems to have loosened my foot up a little and it's not hurting at all now. We'll see how it feels tomorrow when my legs tighten back up a little. At any rate, I am really happy with how the recovery is going for now. I am still going to hold off on running since Gwen and I will be doing a 10K this Sat. So, for the next couple days I'll stick to the walking, swimming, and ride routine. Weight lifting will be on a hiatus for now as well... don't want to strain the muscles too much as they are trying to recoup.

One last thing... I mentioned yesterday that I had something in the works regarding a neat opportunity for some people to try out a Whisper Eclipse. I am still in the process of getting the plan together but check in over the weekend for details. Between now and then if anyone IS interested please leave a comment with an email address... or some way to get in touch with you. Basically I'm trying to work a "try before you buy" program for the Eclipse. The biggest limiter though is that the only bike I'll be able to use is my 54 cm. so folks would have to be pretty close to this size frame... anyway check back for the full plan over the weekend and like I said; if you are interested let me know!

Recovery "Run" (and Swim)

2009-04-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

So... a couple of things going on between Sun. and today. First off, recovery has been going really well. I am feeling great and the pain/soreness have gotten progressively better. At the moment my worst pain is in my inner thighs and wrapping around to the back of my thighs. Today my workout was focused on recovery.

I started out with a walk on the treadmill. I flirted with the idea of jogging for awhile but learned right away that, that wasn't going to happen today. Once I figured that out I set the treadmill at 3 MPH (weak I know...), incline at 1.5, and started walking. I made it up to a speed of 3.7 MPH but that was as far as I got. It felt a little embarrassing to be walking on the treadmill like that but at the same time it was very satisfying to know that I was back at it after only a couple of days.

From there I made my way over to the pool for a 30" swim. The swim felt pretty close to normal since I don't typically kick a lot. I felt a lot better following the swim. My legs were feeling pretty loose and warm and I seemed to have lost the "hitch in my giddy-up" that has been there since Sun.

All in all I'm feeling pretty good. The compression tights, attention to nutrition, and rest have been good to my body for the last couple of days. I'm hoping that after a "slow" week this week I'll be back to my normal training routine next week.

In other news... yesterday I made the plunge. I picked up a old school, banana hammock, grape smuggling, weeny sling, speedo. The thing is crazy! Typically I swim in "jammer shorts" but figured that it was time to make the leap. After thinking it over I decided that I'll be wearing the speedo for the Swim, Bike, AND Run of my first and last triathlons this year. They are both sprint distance tri's so the risk of chafing is much smaller than it would be if I were to do this on one of the longer triathlons. I talked it over with Jim, at Jade/Whisper, and we're going to throw a logo and the website on the speedo so that it will work out with the rest of my uniform. I'm really excited about this for some strange reason. I should point out that the reason I'm going this is as an homage to my favorite triathlete, Faris al-Sultan! Check out his website by googling his name... it's in German though so you may have to get someone like Gwen to translate it for you! So... expect some pretty funny, pretty goofy pictures coming out of the triathlons this year (especially the "speedo only" tri's)!!!

Last thing... Gwen's graduation is coming up. She hands in her capstone paper this Thurs. and then we will be going to the Whitecaps opening game that evening with Griff and Roy. We're all looking forward to getting out to the park and having a good start to the opening of the Whitecaps baseball season. Make sure to get out and support your local sports scene. Speaking of this I have set a goal for myself this year to try to help Jim get 10 new customers (i.e. encourage 10 new people to buy bikes). There are a lot of reasons for doing this but the bottom line is that Jade/Whisper Cycles are a product that I really believe in and the service/relationship that I have with Jim and the Shop is extremely important to me. This being said, I want to make sure that I'm doing my part to get the word out! If anyone who reads this blog would like to learn more about the bikes/services that are offered please let me know.

Stay tuned for a really cool opportunity that I'm going to be throwing out there in the next couple months regarding a bike from Whisper. This is something that I am putting together and haven't even let Jim in on (so I guess I'm kind of leaking some info now but the "formal" idea won't be together for a bit yet. I need sometime to figure details out.)! Needless to say it's going to be sweet... that being said... those of you in the market for this type of bike (full carbon, aero TT) and riding a 54 cm. please contact me if you are interested in a "unique opportunity." The only limiting factors are that you need to be within the Great Lakes region, seriously considering purchasing a bike, HAVE the money to purchase this type of bike (check out www.whispercycles.com for pricing... either the Whisper Eclipse or Whisper Eclipse Elite), and obviously that you ride a 54 cm. bike.

Alright all... keep checking in. I'm hoping to get back on the bike tomorrow if only for a short recovery spin but looking forward to it nonetheless! Thanks for all the positive feedback that I've gotten and the encouragement that I got pre-marathon!

Martian Marathon Race Report

2009-04-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

Pictured Above: getting the blood flowing on the way home

So... I did it. I finished the Martian Marathon and I did it better than my goal pace! What an experience. I have so much that I want to write about it but feel like I can't really convey what went down. That being said, here's my attempt. A couple of things prior to getting into the actual "race report" that may make this a little easier to understand: 1. Gwen was not going to be able to attend the race because of school; 2. Apparently when you are putting yourself through something so physically demanding your mind starts to find "motivators" for you. I'm sure I'm not the only one to have done an endurance event like this who has claimed that something "spoke to them." I just want to point this out so that everyone knows up front that I'm not crazy and I understand that my brain was looking to create order where there wasn't... but it doesn't make it any less cool.

Alright. That being said... here goes.

Pre-Race

I drove into Dearborn on Sat. and picked up my race packet, shirt, etc. etc. I took some time to walk to the start/finish line and get an idea of where I was going to have to park. After I did this I went to grab lunch at a restaurant called "Pizzapolis." They have the most awesome mini deep dish pizza's and I definitely enjoyed one. After his I decided to drive out to my hotel to check in and get organized (I also did some secret "business" while out there... bought Gwen's graduation present... more on that once I actually give it to her but it's awesome!). at the hotel I laid around and tried to keep myself busy as I was getting pretty nervous. I spent most of my time getting everything laid out for the race... clothes (winter wear since the weather report said it was supposed to be cold), shoes (which I had forgotten at home when I left. I only made it 20 minutes away from home before I realized it), and race #'s. Once I got done doing this I decided it was time to head out and grab some food. I drove out to Buca di Beppo's in Bloomfield and picked up some spaghetti and meatballs to go! Went back to the hotel, ate my dinner, and watched Charlie Wilson's War on HBO. Went to bed early, then the alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. I felt tired but forced myself out of bed and into the car.

Got to Dearborn right on time and met up with some fellow BT'ers (members of http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/) to say hi. Prior to the race I checked my phone for emails and had a couple from Jim at the Shop (http://www.whispercycles.com/ or http://www.jadecycles.com/) pumping me up and wishing me luck! This was a huge motivator and I can't explain how much it means to have someone like this in "my corner." Can't say enough great things about Jade/Whisper Cycles. after checking the email we walked to the start line together and got ready to run! It was definitely cold out but I was dressed weather appropriate (tights, light jacket, gloves, and a baklava (which I didn't end up using)). As I was waiting in the corral I threw my iPod on. First song to play, Akon- "Locked Up." Perfect song... the gun went off and from where I stood it took about three minutes to make my way to the starting mats. The whole time I was feeling like a rubber band that was bound up and ready to explode (thus the song being perfect). I crossed the start line and started on my way.

Miles 1-13

1- 9:46, 2-8:56, 3-8:37, 4-8:35, 5-8:51, 6-8:36, 7-8:29, 8-8:57, 9-9:02, 10-11:04, 11-9:12, 12-9:06, 13-9:33

I started out feeling pretty good. Each time I hit a mile marker and looked down at my watch I realized that I was moving a little faster than I had anticipated (my goal was to do 10 minute miles). I kept at the pace I was going though, because I felt that if I moved any slower I'd basically be walking. I think that was probably the adrenaline. For the first 13 miles it was pretty tight. There were a lot of people and a lot of jockeying of positions. I had my cellphone in the back pocket of my tights b/c I was planning on twittering to keep Gwen posted on my whereabouts. At mile 3 I realized this was a bad idea as the weight of the phone kept making my pants sag. I felt like I was running with my butt hanging out and was constantly hiking my pants up. I ignored it for the time being and kept pushing on. By the time we hit the turnaround for the 1/2 marathon the crowd had dispersed. Prior to that point it was difficult to keep my own pace because I was constantly slowing down/speeding up to account for those around me. When I hit that halfway point though it was entirely different. I felt like there should have been a sign letting me know that I was "leaving civilization." There was a lot of open road around me and I knew at that point that this was for real... I ended up making it to the turnaround at just about exactly 2:00. I felt like this was pretty decent as my legs, lungs, and body all felt pretty good. At mile 10 I had stopped to use the restrooms and to post to Twitter. It was my slowest mile in the first half...

Miles 14-22

14-9:44, 15-9:54, 16-9:38, 17-10:36, 18-10:00, 19-10:28, 20-10:45, 21-10:31, 22-10:52

The first mile after the turnaround I started to notice that my pace was slowing and it wasn't intentional. I still felt pretty good at that point but mile after mile I started to get slower. I spent a little longer at the aid stations making sure to grab an extra water/Gatorade and Gu and letting my body take a brief break. It was during this portion of the race that I was really thankful that I had my iPod with me. I was covering ground that I had already been past once and there just wasn't anything that interesting to look at. Overall these were pretty "insignificant miles." Nothing great, or disastrous, happened. At mile 22 I took the time to send out a tweet.

Mile 23

23-11:52

They say that everyone who runs a marathon, does an Ironman, etc. etc. ends up "hitting the wall" at some point. Either your body or your mind (or both) decides that it's done; it can't go any further. For me this was Mile 23. I never felt like I was going to give up (I didn't have much choice... I had driven myself out there and needed to get back to my car so it was a no brainer that I had to make it to the finish line) but I certainly struggled with whether or not to just stop running and start walking. During this mile my body started to fight back. My shins, thighs, ankles, and feet all started to feel really sore. I could tell that I wasn't doing any damage to them but the overall ache that was going on was NOT a pleasant feeling. It was during this mile that I realized my mind is capable of a lot. I kept repeating my race mantra (which I don't really know why I use this mantra... but it works) "I'm your huckleberry, I'm your huckleberry, I'm your huckleberry..." refusing to let myself stop to walk (although I was moving at a walking pace at this point). Each time I looked at my watch I realized that I was falling further and further off my pace and the mile seemed like it would never end. Then a couple things went down that helped me push through:

1. I saw a couple of geese hanging out on the side of the road. I don't really want to get into a lot of detail about why this is significant for me but the long and short of it is that it reminded me why I started training for IMKY in the first place.

2. "Til I Collapse"-Eminem came on my iPod. The perfect song at the perfect moment.

I kept pushing through and before I knew it I saw the marker for Mile 24.

Miles 24-26

24-10:55, 25-11:00, 26-10:47

After overcoming the mental drain of Mile 23 and the physical toll that the race had taken on my body up until this point I was feeling pretty good. The last couple of miles I just stuck to a slow, but steady, pace. As I got closer and closer to the finish line I could feel the adrenaline kick back in. I was surprised at just how excited I was to finish. I knew that I would be happy but figured that since this was just a step towards the goal of finishing IMKY that it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I was wrong.

The last .2 Miles

.2-2:06

The last two minutes of the race, as I was coming towards the finish line, I went through nearly every emotion possible. I went from feeling so overwhelmed that I thought I would cry, to being so happy I thought I would cry, to being in so much pain I thought I would cry, and yet, I resisted the urge to cry. That is until I crossed the finish line and looked over and saw Gwen standing there cheering me on. Her cousin, Christina, had driven her out to Dearborn that morning so that she could be there when I finished. She decided to forgo her school work to be there and I can't explain how much that meant to me! It was the perfect end to the race for me. Everything I could have wanted in my first marathon.

Total Time- 4:17:59 Pace- 9:50 per mile

Post Race

After the race I walked around with Gwen for about 20 minutes trying to keep my muscles from clenching up. We walked over to a nearby gas station where I bought 4 bags of ice. We then hopped in the car and drove out of Dearborn while I iced my thighs, knees, calves, and ankles. We stopped at an Olga's to binge... and it was excellent. At that point I also threw on some compression tights (which I am still wearing) to help in recovery. Then, on the ride home, I was able to keep my feet elevated to get the blood back to my heart because Gwen was driving! Overall I'm feeling pretty good today. Sore but good. My focus now is on recovery and back to my training!

So, all in all, I feel pretty good. I achieved the goal I set out to do, finished my first marathon, fought through "the wall", proved to myself that I AM mentally tough, and realized how lucky I am to be surrounded by a great wife, friends, family, and fellow athletes!

Alright... check back in and I hope that everyone had a great weekend!

Taper Madness and "The Grass is Always Greener"

2009-04-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

Pictured Above: pic from Trainer ride yesterday

Pictured Above: Whisper Eclipse Elite (for details read below)

Taper Madness. I had heard about this but haven't ever experienced it until the last couple of days. Basically TM (for me) has exhibited the following symptoms: extreme doubt, hypochondria, massive overeating, fatigue, nausea, anxiety, constipation/diarrhea (that's right... both), and the overwhelming sense of dread! So, as you can probably tell this week has been a "peach." On top of all of this work has been a little hectic so actually I'm looking forward to the weekend and the marathon in a big way. The last couple of days have been easy workouts with a day off sprinkled in yesterday. Today I did a quick loop around the block for 30 minutes and then hit the showers. I feel alright although my knee and shins have been acting up in what I can only assume is a carry over from the TT. Anyway I will be good to go by the time Sun. rolls around.

Yesterday I did a really short ride on the trainer (the weather was too crappy to get outside) and I'll post a pic from that ride. Ignore the fact that I have my shirt off... I apologize BUT you have to admit... the impulse to look away may come a little slower than it did a year ago!

On a separate note I got an email from Jim at Jade/Whisper today letting me know that he had a Whisper Eclipse Elite built up if I wanted to stop by and check it out. Basically the EE is the newest version of my bike. It has a little less meat on the downtube, a little more meat/"aero" design in back (where the wheel meets the frame), and it has the integrated seat post. It's a beauty. Despite the fact that I love my bike like crazy... these new bikes are really nice. The picture posted shows a custom design (the Maple Leafs) as well as some new decals that Jim has worked on... obviously whomever this bike is for Jim loves way more than me! At any rate, it looks awesome. Alright, well that's all for the moment. Hope everyone's training, work, and lives are going well (pick one of the three or any combination).

One last thing... I'm going to try my best to post to Twitter during the marathon... hey, it's not like I'm setting any records out there so taking the time to "tweet" a moment isn't going to kill anyone. Look for live updates on how it's going... I'll probably post before then and will remind anyone who cares to check it out. Take a look at my twitter updates on the left side of this blog and add me if you are on twitter (shoot over a direct message and let me know where you found my profile!).

Fisk Knob TT Race Report

2009-03-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

Pictured Above: Bella giving Hannah a massage last night.

Pictured Above: Me this morning. Notice the snow.

Alright all, I had a blast at the Fisk Knob TT. I didn't finish as well as I would have liked but I did alright overall in a tough age division (the top 5 in my division were clearly another caliber from the rest of us... there was a 5' gap between the 5th and 6th place!). Ultimately I think that no matter what I'm doing... marathon, triathlon, road racing (bike and run) etc. etc. I probably am not going to be one of the top performers and, in the end, that's alright with me. I'm just having fun doing it! I keep thinking back to where I was about 8 months ago... I between now and then I've dropped almost 60 lbs., made a huge jump in my fitness, learned a ton about triathlon, cycling, etc. etc.! So basically what I'm saying is that it's worth it!

I woke up this morning around 7:30 a.m. and ate a couple waffles for breakfast. I then gathered together everything I needed for the race. By the time I actually took off it was around 9:30 a.m. It was snowing pretty hard in Holland this morning but the further north (towards Cedar Springs) I got the better the weather was... relatively speaking. Once I got to Cedar Springs the snow had basically stopped but the wind was pretty nasty and the temperature was 31 degrees. If I could go back and do it all again there were two major things that I would have done:

1. I would have left the house much later. The "pre-race Athlete meeting," wasn't held until 12:30 p.m. I arrived over an hour beforehand with nothing to do because milling around outside was not an option as it was uber cold out.

2. I would have brought a trainer with me to warm-up on. I looked at it this morning before I walked out and thought, "Nah, I'll just ride on the road to warm up." The thing about riding on the road when it's that cold out is that the wind numbs up your feet and fingers pretty quickly. By the time I got to the start line (1:36 p.m.) I couldn't feel my fingers. That's always great...

Anyway, by the time the race started I was definitely ready to get on the road and start riding. A couple of the other guys sponsored by Jade/Whisper Cycles were supposed to be there but I never ended up finding them pre-race. I spent some time talking with people about the race and there were definitely a lot of people interested in my bike who had questions. Despite this, I was ready to get the blood flowing. The first couple miles of the race were basically downhill. Because of the wind blowing across my front tire I wasn't able to really put the hammer down... or rather, I didn't feel completely stable/comfortable doing so. In hindsight this probably cost me. At any rate I was able to ride fairly strong through the first 12 miles of the ride. The wind was a factor but not nearly as bad as I thought. Looking back there were two primary issues that slowed me down:

1. the turnarounds. I basically came to a stand still while maneuvering around the turnarounds. Any momentum I had was lost immediately. Not a huge deal as there were only a couple of turnarounds and a couple of right hand turns on the course but I definitely lost some time there.

2. Hills. They weren't that bad on the way out but on my way back they definitely posed a problem. I was having a hard time finding my "sweet spot" in terms of gearing and by the time I hit the "major" hill that you climb to the finish line... I was pretty much out of gas.

Overall I finished the 17.13 miles with a time of 00:53:59.58. That's a 19.4 MPH average (.6 MPH slower than my goal for this race... so close) and that put me 71/120 overall and 9/13 in my age group. Obviously I would have liked to have done better but I met a couple of the guys who I beat prior to the race and they were definitely decent riders so I'm not too ashamed. In the end it comes down to the fact that this was just another "training day" for me. The big picture is all about IMKY!!!!

So, that's that. Now I shift gears and focus on my running. Next weekend I'll be in Dearborn for the Martian Marathon. I'm really looking forward to this race. It'll be strange because this week will be a "semi-taper" week for me meaning that my training schedule will be a little lighter (similar to the last couple of days prior to Fisk Knob with either a minimal workout or no workout). However, after that I'll be right back on track with my planned out training schedule!

Carbo Loading...

2009-03-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

Pictured top: me holding the beautfiful cake Gwen made this morning.
Pictured above: my baby, the Whisper Eclipse, waiting to be unleashed on tomorrow's TT!

So one interesting effect of Gwen's preceptorship and limited sleep came to light this morning! Apparently when one works all night and has limited sleep they have semi-strange cravings. Gwen's craving this morning... cake. I woke up around 7:30 and talked to her as she was on her way home. By the time that she got home it was around 9:00 after she ate she decided to bake a cake before she went to bed. Of course Gwen being Gwen meant that she baked the cake, ate two bites, and then went off to bed. Which left me sitting there with that cake all day... tempted... very, very tempted. Luckily I was able to resist the urge to eat that thing in one sitting. Would that have been considered carbo loading? We went out to dinner tonight to eat the standard pre-race meal of pasta... I opted for Spaghetti, not sure if that's the best choice but it definitely tasted good. When we got home from dinner Gwen had to do some school work and I briefly "prepared" for tomorrow making sure that my bike was ready and that all my gear is somewhat organized (meaning I made sure it was in the closet and said to myself, "I'll grab that tomorrow"). Check back tomorrow evening for a race report and hopefully some pictures. The weather outside is absolute crap right now (it's raining pretty hard) and I am hoping that by race time tomorrow things will look alright even though the forecast is calling for snow.

Thanks for checking in... also, as an FYI for those who are interested... tomorrow on the Vs. network at 5:00 pm there will be coverage of the Criterium International (cycling)!

Prep. for Fisk Knob

2009-03-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

Above are a couple of pics taken post ride. It's funny because I can remember a time when I thought that the last thing I would ever be caught dead in were bike shorts, tights, goofy jerseys, and certainly not that crazy looking helmet... man how quickly we change our positions!

The last couple days have been decently eventful in my prep. for the Fisk Knob TT on Sun. I went out and drove the course to try to get an idea of the direction I needed to head, condition of the road, etc. etc. I'm really glad that I drove the course and it looks like it's going to be a pretty nice ride. The road was in decent condition except for a couple of spots that were pretty torn up but now that I know they are there I can prepare myself for them.

Coincidentally my scheduled workout yesterday fit in perfectly with my pre-race plans. I did a 1 hour ride in HRZ's 3-4. Due to the cold weather lately I haven't been wearing my heart rate monitor but am using perceived rate of exertion and that seems to be working out well. At any rate, I averaged 19.8 MPH for this ride. This certainly isn't going to get me onto any podiums anytime soon but it was exactly where I want to be for Fisk Knob.

After looking at last year's results I noticed that my age group was split in 1/2 between riders who rode 20 MPH or faster and riders who were slower than this. Obviously the first group made up the top 50% of the age group. Thus, my goal was to be in the top 50%. Looks like I am on track for this but we'll see how it goes. The important thing is that I use this as a "training" race and continue to improve while working towards my ultimate goal of IMKY. It's difficult because one side of me is very competitive and wants to go out and push myself to the breaking point every time I ride. The other part of me is the side that realized everything I'm doing is another step towards finishing IMKY. Ultimately I need to stick with that "reserved" mentality but it can be difficult... especially because it always seems like there is someone who you feel like you can beat out there! But... I need to remember to be patient and save myself to race another day!

Today was another day off in my "mini-taper," and tomorrow will be a lighter workout. I want to make sure that I have a decently fresh set of legs come Sun. while also keeping in mind that a week from now I'll be running in my first marathon! So, there's a lot on my plate these next couple of weeks and I just need to be sure to handle it well and listen to my body to make sure that I'm not pushing beyond my limits. The last thing I need to do is injure myself and miss several weeks of training. That type of setback would be very difficult to deal with right now.

So... a final note about the race. The weather the last couple of weeks has been amazing. BUT, living in MI one learns that you should never count your eggs before they hatch... Sun.'s forecast is snow. Odd that my first bike race of the year will be accompanied by snow and wind! The upside is that everyone has to deal with the weather out there... it doesn't affect just one rider!

Alright all, if you see Gwen around (or if you don't) wish her well... maybe shoot her an email. She has been running on all cylinders, and then some, with her preceptorship beginning this week. She has been juggling the preceptorship (3rd shift), school, her capstone, and me all at the same time. I give her all the credit in the world for not having pulled her hair out and lost her mind by now! Definitely a testament to how determined, smart, and strong she is...

Thanks for stopping by! Leave a comment or send me a message...

Day Off

2009-03-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

Today I took a day off from the training schedule. With Gwen's preceptorship starting this week neither of us has been able to get very much sleep (she more than I... at least I don't have to put a full day in and then do 8 hours in the hospital and 2 hours of driving!). So, I felt that perhaps it would be a good day to hold off on the training (especially since it was a swim workout today) and just relax together.

As I've been mentioning in recent posts the weather here has finally turned for the better. It looks like the trainer is won't be making it's way out of the storage closet anytime soon, unless there is some really terrible weather outside. The last couple of rides I've been out on have been pretty windy which has been a blessing in disguise in a lot of ways. When it's windy out I'm forced to really concentrate on my handling of the bike, my efficiency, etc. The other day at the shop Jeff, one of the "uber" cyclists, said something along the lines of, "We don't have hills or mountains in Michigan. We can't train on the Alps. We have wind." This is definitely the case and it helps when you look at a stiff headwind as a training technique instead of a barrier. It sounds like group rides at the shop are going to be starting fairly soon and I'm really excited to get out with them and try to absorb as much info as I can.

Today the start times for the Fisk Knob TT were posted online. Looks like I'll have a 1:36 PM start. I'm trying to remember that I'm not necessarily out at this event to "race" but that it's another fun wrinkle added into my training. That being said, I spent a lot of time today obsessing over the #'s of the race (i.e. what the average speed of the top 50% of my age group was last year, how many individuals from my age group last year have signed up again, etc. etc.). Bottom line... I want to represent for Whisper Cycles. In the end though I need to remember that I'm in this for the long haul and I can't blow my wad on one early season race that should be used as a fitness gauge. I'm also reminding myself that Matt Smith and Joel Nemes, also from Jade/Whisper, will be out there representing and they're both fast.

In other news... our Whisper/Jade Tri jerseys and shorts and Cycling bibs and jerseys have been ordered. Jim showed me the design a couple of weeks ago and needless to say they are absolutely awesome! They're sweet enough that part of me is tempted to try to wear them in my everyday life...

Gwen and I received our new running shoes from Brooks (see the picture above). I'll be running in the Brooks Beast and Gwen will be using the Ariel. Neither of us has had the chance to put any serious miles on them yet but after my initial "test run" all I can say is that these are some seriously beefy, supportive, and comfortable shoes. I haven't ever had a shoe that feels like it was made "custom" for me but this is certainly the closest that I've been. It feels like the shoe kind of wraps around my foot... like it is molded to it. At any rate I'll continue to provide feedback as I get some more use out of them. They'll be the shoes that carry me through my first marathon which, coincidentally, is in two weeks! I'm really excited about getting out and getting an indication of where my running fitness is at. Again, same thing as the TT, it isn't about racing but finishing and making sure I'm feeling good and fit! I've heard from a couple of other members of the Brooks Inspire Daily program that they'll be out there as well and I'm hoping that we'll get a chance to meet and say hi!

In general training is going really well. It's been a constant struggle for me to learn what I should be worrying about and when I should let things go. There is so much uncertainty at this point but the most important thing is that I feel like I'm taking steps forward each day. Hope that everyone is doing well!

'Til next time...

3 Mile TT (run)

2009-03-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

Just finished up with my 3 Mile TT. I ended up running over to the nearby high school track to do this. In the past I have done my TT on the treadmill but it sort of defeats the purpose but it was winter and cold and the best I could do. Here are my splits:

Mile 1- 7:33
Mile 2- 7:33
Mile 3- 7:23

I felt good afterwards but had the feeling that I could have ran a little faster had I done a better job of warming up. This is something that I probably need to start doing in general. I don't feel like I'm anymore injury-prone when I don't warm-up (although this is the case for most everyone) but I do feel that it takes me a little longer to "hit my stride." Anyway, warm-up is the word of the week.

This upcoming week I step back up in terms of the actual hours I spend working out. This week was a little lighter because of the various TT's and "testing" that I had scheduled. Work this week will be busy as well so I'll have to juggle the two as best as possible. Gwen starts her preceptorship this week at the hospital so she'll be doing some overnights. I guess the "silver lining" of that deal is that I will have some time to workout later in the evening so I don't have to rush it in after work. Other than that today will be spent relaxing. I got about 1/2 of my yardwork done yesterday and the rest will be taken care of next weekend...our yard was never pretty but this Spring it's downright ugly. I'll have to work on that but I think that this Summer my yard will be suffering from "Triathlete Yard Syndrome" (i.e. it's going to be pretty nasty). We'll do what we can...

Alright, have a good one!

10 Mile TT

2009-03-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

Today was my first outdoor TT/LT test on the bike. I did 10 miles and it was much better than my last testing. I figure that this is because I was riding my Whisper instead of my old bike as well as the fact that I have another month of training under my belt. It still felt a little slow but I figure that when the weather gets better out it'll be a little easier (or at least more enjoyable). It was 30 degrees out when I left the house and I was riding into a headwind for a lot of the ride. Needless to say my hands are still de-thawing! Overall though I'm feeling great.

I've been on top of all my workouts this week and I suppose I can now officially say that I'm back into the swing of things. The next couple of weeks are going to be pretty crazy for Gwen and I. Next weekend is my first TT of the year. It's a 17 miler at Fisk Knob in Cedar Springs, MI. The following weekend I will be doing my first marathon, Martian Marathon, in Dearborn, MI. The weekend after that Gwen and I will be doing a 10K in Saugatuck. THEN the biggest event of this month is following all of this...Gwen will be graduating from Nursing School! We're both really excited for this and it's a really big deal.

That's basically what's going on right now. Check back in over the weekend for some new posts.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Start of the Week...

2009-03-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

Started the week off the right way today with a 00:50 swim doing various drills, paces, distances, etc. I felt a little sluggish in the water and felt like there was a lot of resistance/drag today but I finished it off strong! After the swim I got a 00:30 run in outside. Again, the weather was beautiful today which makes training much easier. Did just over 5 1/2 miles which I was pretty happy with. Tomorrow I'm going to try to work out in the morning as I'll be out of town for work during the day and at night I'm hoping to drink a green Michelob Ultra or two! Speaking of St. Patty's day and the color green, check out the new bottles I got from Jim today. They're Jade Cycles bottles (www.jadecycles.com) the other brand that my bike sponsor, Whisper Cycles (www.whispercycles) makes! They're the short stubby bottles which are primo. I'm pretty pumped up to have a couple of new bottles.

The water bottle that I had been using had started to develop a black...moldy type material in the bottom. I think that it has something to do with the chemicals from the pool (since I always use that bottle while swimming) and the fact that I often throw my locker key in the bottle so I don't lose it. At any rate it was extremely disgusting and no doubt unsanitary. I won't be repeating that mistake again. Please check back in the future for "product review" type posts. I'll periodically be posting regarding products from my sponsors...for instance, I should have a new pair of running shoes within the next couple of weeks (as will Gwen!) and I'll post a review. I'm super excited to have picked up the quality of sponsors that I have and I definitely feel very fortunate! Now I just have to do them proud this year.

Two more things quickly. First off I've added a gadget that shows my last 5 Twitter posts. It can be found on the lefthand side of the blog. Check it out and add me to your Twitter! I'm definitely a new Twitter devotee...it's fun and helps to break up the day (plus I get all sorts of cool updates from friends and news sources that interest me). Secondly, I've been using www.mapmyride.com and www.mapmyrun.com. Both sites provide really valuable tools for the cyclists or runners out there. I'm able to accurately gauge how far I've gone and it helps me to set a goal (i.e. I have x amount of time to run...let's try to make it x amount of miles). Check them out...map your workouts and post a link up in the comment section of my blog for other to check out! Alright all...Gwen and I are going to enjoy the rest of the night. Do the same!

Weekend Recap

2009-03-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a great weekend and as it draws to a close I am feeling tired but more importantly I feel like I'm back on track. Since coming home from vacation it has been up and down...a great workout one day and I bonk the next or just don't have the energy to even start but after this weekend I feel re-energized.

On Sat. I had a 3:00 brick. It was the first time that I was able to get outside with my bike and it felt absolutely amazing. I rode into Saugatuck and back to our place and then cruised around the neighborhoods around here. I did about 30 miles which isn't huge but considering the time that I spent stopped to mess around with my speed sensor (which quit working) it felt pretty good. Once I started the run I could definitely feel it in my legs and was glad that it was only a 00:30 run. My heart rate was all over the place and it was difficult to keep it in the lower zones but I figure that with it still being pretty cold out, combined with it being my first ride outdoors, that this won't be a typical thing. I was all geared out with cold weather cycling clothing and the only complaint that I have is that the gloves I was wearing didn't seem to be insulated enough...it was a beautiful day out but the wind was a killer! Wasn't able to get any pictures but will do so next time out!

Today I did a 1:45 negative split run. Basically what this means is that the first half of the run was slower than the second half. I did just over 11 miles. I felt good afterwards, tired but good. I was a little unhappy about the distance which I ran...I figured I would be closer to 13 than I was but over all it was a good feeling. I was smart enough to bring a Gu with me to give me some nutrition and I brought some cash in my shoe to buy some water at the halfway point. Thank goodness b/c I needed the water! I felt kind of bad handing over a sweaty $5 bill to the attendant at the gas station...but what else was I supposed to do?

So, the weekend is winding down. Gwen is busy hammering away on some essays for school. I'm watching the coverage of the Paris-Nice race on Vs. I'm really thankful that they are covering the races this year but wish that it was not as limited (they are only televising the last stage of this race...). Loving the cycling! On a separate note they're showing a special on the Iditarod following the coverage of Paris-Nice (which for those of you who don't know is something that I'm super interested in!). So, a good day to watch a little tv I suppose. Hope everyone is doing well...'til next time...

Learning to Tweet....

2009-03-12T06:19:00.000-07:00

I'm finally a "twitterer." Check me out... my handle is jboeve! Have a great day!

Roller Report and Disappointment...

2009-03-10T18:06:00.000-07:00

Roller Report. Finally busted them out. Wish that I had Gwen use the video camera, or normal camera, to capture this crazy moment in time. The picture to the left is of my bandaged right hand. Here are a couple of tips I learned today while trying out my rollers:

1. Position the rollers away from glass objects such as the glass coffee table covered in glass crap.

2. When you fall try to unclip your cleats from your pedals. If you do so you may get lucky and get your feet on the ground before plummeting to the floor.

3. When people say, "Put the rollers in the doorway it's much safer," they are lying. All this means is that instead of falling and breaking glass you slam into a small, cramped, doorway. It's like getting stuffed into the trunk of a Mazda Miata.

4. Learn to laugh at yourself ( because even if you don't your wife will)!

So...the initial attempt at the rollers didn't go as well as I had hoped. I'll probably hop on them again tomorrow, and the next day, and so on and so forth until I get used to them. They are going to be a great tool in my training... even though I'll be moving outside shortly! Can't wait to get the hang of them though. They're definitely fun.

With that being said... today's workout was a big disappointment. I was only on the bike for 30-35 minutes of what was supposed to be a 1:30 ride followed by lifting. I just couldn't get it together today and I'm not completely sure why. Today was a complete s-storm at work and I know that tomorrow will be as well so that has been on my mind but I think that it's a "vacation hangover," that I'm suffering from today. At any rate, tomorrow will be much better! I'm getting back in the swing of things so it is what it is...at least I worked up a sweat and spilled some blood!

A couple of weeks to the Fisk Knob TT and then a couple more and it's my first marathon... Martian Marathon! It's going to be a big month for me and I'm just happy to start taking the first big steps in my path to IMKY! Weigh in, wish me luck, give me some words of wisdom!

'Til next time...

Wii Be Fit and Return from Vacation

2009-03-08T13:09:00.000-07:00

Gwen and I returned home from vacation this morning and what a great week it was! There was so much to do and we had such a great time I can't do it justice by writing a blog. Needless to say though the weather was great and it was a nice chance to recharge. I didn't work out as often as the training plan called for but I'm looking forward to a big week this week. I have my legs back and feel 110%. The couple of times that Gwen and I did get out and run I was able to gauge, somewhat, the effect that "hot weather," has on me while working out. I wasn't too drained by it but am sure as ever that I'll need to be very careful making sure that I'm properly hydrated.

Prior to leaving I found out that Brooks (makers of shoes, clothing, etc.) will be sponsoring me through their "ID," (Inspire Daily) program. I'm really excited about this opportunity and in the future I'll keep you informed of how everything is going. In the meantime I'll be adding a link to their home page as well as the Inspire Daily page. Take a look when you get a chance. Also, take a look at the pages of my other sponsors and if you have any questions let me know!

I'm also posting pictures from right before I left of Jared and I "working out," with the Wii fit. We were playing Mario and Sonic Olympics which was pretty fun. As dorky as it sounds using the Wii provides a semi decent workout. Don't get me wrong, there's no substitute for actually performing real exercise but I guess the Wii is a better alternative to those fitness conscious individuals than the standard video game console has been (although maybe the track pad from old school Nintendo offered a decent "workout"...). Anyway, the pictures are pretty funny. I have to say that we basically split our victories. While I dominated the Track and Field events Jared was much more skilled at Swimming and Trampoline routines. Who would have figured?

So, like I mentioned above, this week is an important week for me to get back on track and take advantage of the break that my body, and mind, have received. I got my rollers last week so my first ride of the week (on Tues.) I'll get a chance to try them out and will throw up some pics as well as a initial "review." So look for updates. We're excited to be home and are looking forward to a good week.

--As a little bit of a humorous aside here is a bit of a funny exchange that Gwen and I had via text message on Fri. Prior to our leaving I ended up dropping my bike off at the bike shop for the week and suffered a bit of separation anxiety! Thus, the following:

Me to Gwen:

I ended up dropping my bike off and I feel like a parent leaving their kid at school for the first time. I am having serious separation anxiety. I love that bike.

Gwen to Me:

yikes that's weird. bet you love that bike more than me...

Me to Gwen:

No, but it's close...so don't make me mad.

Obviously, I don't love my bike more than Gwen... and I don't think I'll make the mistake of joking about it again since she wasn't too happy about it. Anyway, 'til next time...

Climb, Climb, Climb

2009-02-23T18:34:00.000-08:00

Today I had a 1:00 ride scheduled. Normally this would be a Tues./Thurs. workout but as I mentioned in a previous post I'm shifting around this week's schedule to accomodate our early departure for vacation on Sat. morning. The workout today was to stay between HRZ 2-4 while doing some long climbs (I did 2" on the short end and 8" on the long). Since the weather outside is frightful I can't actually get out and climb so I simulate this by shifting gears on the trainer. I definitely felt like I was climbing when I got out of the small chainring, so it was worth it. It's always good to walk away from a workout feeling like you accomplished something!

Today I added a couple more events to the schedule. Gwen and I will be doing a 10K together in Saugatuck. It's the Town Crier 10K and from everything we've heard it's a really fun event so we're looking forward to it. This is 2 days after Gwen's capstone for nursing school is due so we're going to use it as a celebration run! I also registered for the Fisk Knob Time Trail which I'm really, really, really excited for. I'm going to try to add in a couple of TT's throughout the rest of the year depending on where they fall in regard to the rest of my race schedule. However, if I'm not able to do them this year then hopefully next year I'll be able to focus a little on the cycling. At any rate it'll be a fun couple of weeks for sure. If anyone is interested in either of these events the websites are:

Fisk Knob TT- https://www.sportsbaseonline.com/Item.aspx?item_id=3169
Saugatuck Town Crier 10K, 5K, Kids' Dash- http://www.saugatuckdouglas.com/towncrier/

Finally, the Martian Marathon will be a go. It took me a minute or two to decide but I think that it's going to be a great indicator of fitness, a chance to work on nutrition, and a challenge for my mental toughness. I feel like I am fit enough for this so we'll take a shot! Wish me luck...

2007 Ironman

2009-02-23T18:20:00.000-08:00

Watched the '07 IM today during my workout. Definitely made the workout seem to go by quickly. For those of you with short memories, or who haven't seen the '07 IM before, Macca (Chris McCormack) put the hammer down during the run and took his first victory in 6 tries. My boy Craig Alexander (who I am not ashamed to admit is one of the man crushes in my life) came in 2nd in his first attempt. Impressive!

On the women's side Chrissie Wellington absolutely dominated in her first IM on the big island. I would say that at this point she is probably the "face of the sport," as far as most people are concerned.

There were a couple of really neat "human interest," stories on this DVD. A couple of the stories that they covered were a 60-something, blind, grandfather making an attempt (success!), a guy from Georgia who didn't have any feet (He had the same set up as Oscar Pistorious... the "cheetah" runner from the paraolympics (success!)), and a 20-something who had been on the verge of death a couple of years earlier after a terrible carwreck (again, success!). I can honestly say that watching these types of stories makes training a lot easier. The montage that they do at the end of each IM DVD is one of the most crazy inspirational things there is. John Tesh's cheesy narration comes across as non-cheesy and the slow motion footage makes you want to get out and get active immediately. It's the triathlon version of March Madness' "One Shining Moment."

So, all-in-all 2007 was a great year for the IM DVD.

End of the Week/End of ToC

2009-02-22T18:29:00.000-08:00

Today I finished out the end of the week with a :50 Aerobic Time Trial on the treadmill. I had to warm up for :20 and bring myself to the middle of my Heart Rate Training Zone (around 130 BPM). Then, I ran 3 miles at the top of heart rate zone 3/bottom of heart rate zone 4 (between 145-150 BPM) logging my time for each mile. Finished with a brief cool down. It was a nice way to end the week out and I'm getting ready for a busy, busy upcoming week.

We leave for Barbados next week Sat. morning. Because of this I have to juggle my training schedule around this week. Tomorrow is normally a recovery run for me but I'll be skipping that and jumping right into my Tues. workout. Each workout will be done a day "earlier" and this way I won't have to skip any. Undoubtedly, the following week while on vacation I will have a couple of missed workouts but I'm going to try to stay on it!

Training has been going pretty well and this week I'll be getting some rollers (as I mentioned in an earlier post). I'll throw some pictures up when I get them in and set up... hopefully it'll be this week, but with the limited amount of time I may not even get on them until we're back from vacation. I'm also hoping to get in another "IM DVD Review," this week if I have time. Next week will be great as well since I'll have a chance to get some beautiful and scenic runs in! Gwen and I will have a lot of pictures and I'll make sure to throw some up on the blog.

Today was also the finish of the Tour of California. Levi Leipheimer was able to bring it home and get his 3rd consecutive win in CA. It was really neat to see as I've been following the Tour since the start. This is the first time that I've really been tuned in to a bike race and it reminds me of how I felt after being glued to the TV for last year's U.S. Open to see Tiger pull out a huge win. I'm hooked. There is so much strategy and excitement in bike racing that I wasn't aware of. After watching the first couple of days of the race I picked up an issue of VeloNews at Barnes and Noble and have been enjoying it over the weekend. I have to say that compared to most of the triathlon magazines I have read I prefer VeloNews... Inside Tri is still on the top of the list though!

Hope everyone has a great week!

LT Test on Bike

2009-02-19T19:36:00.001-08:00

Just a quick one...I did my LT test tonight on the bike. It was a little rough since I had to use the road bike, Specialized POS, which felt completely uncomfortable. I felt too strectched out, really inefficient, and pretty uncomfortable in the nether regions. However, I muscled through it and I'm glad I did. Either way, my next one will be 100x better since I'll be able to use my baby...the Whisper Eclipse. I'll be getting set up with some rollers early next week. It's a little late in the season (at least it seems to me) to be getting on them, but better late than never. I need to work on my balance and this will be a great way to do so. Plus, like I mentioned earlier, I'll be able to get a speed read-out. I haven't been able to thus far because my speed sensor is attached to the front fork and the front wheel is stationary when using a rear wheel trainer...so....exciting times for sure! This week has been good thus far. I'm feeling strong and don't feel like my body is breaking down.

2001 Ironman

2009-02-19T19:26:00.000-08:00

I was a pretty big fan of the '01 DVD. It was neat because there were a couple of cameo's of athletes from the '91 DVD. Mark Allen and Paula Newby-Fraser (who competed in both...which is pretty amazing). The leaps and bounds that were made in technology are pretty spectacular but obviously since we "are from the future," we knew that it would be so. Tim Deboom took this one home which was neat to see as it was an emotionally charged year what with the attacks on the WTC being only a month prior to the race. I'm not going to lie though I was pulling for the cyclist turned Ironman, Steve Larsen. He had a crazy fast bike just dropping people left and right but couldn't bring it home on the run. Win some, lose some. They showed some neat footage of a memorial that was held prior to the World Championship and I thought it was fitting.

This was one of the year's where they focused on the "human interest," stories. There was the story of a marine who lost several members of his unit in a training mission, a nun, etc. etc. It's really inspiring to see the different reasons that people do this race, or any race, and I think that ultimately it helps to keep me motivated!

Triathlon Seminar @ The Shop and Workout Update

2009-02-18T18:01:00.000-08:00

So it's been a minute since I've thrown a post up. This week at work has been pretty busy but I'm happy to report that I've kept up with my workouts. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, this week is all about testing/checking my progress and thus far it's going well!

Last night at Jade/Whisper Cycles Jim (owner) put together a "triathlon" panel to discuss their training techniques and answer any questions that we lesser experienced, less fit people may have. There was a lot of good information and again I'm thankful to have The Shop to rely on for motivation, information, equipment, etc. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera so I couldn't take any pictures but I'll start remembering to throw it in my pocket before I take off!

The rest of this week should be pretty good. Tomorrow I'll be throwing up another review from the Ironman DVD series. I'm going to kind of skip around so tomorrow's DVD will be from 2001. It'll be like a time warp going from '91 to '01... I'm guessing there will be significantly fewer mullets and neon colored clothing but I'm sure there will be a huge increase in barbed wire tattoos. Hope everyone is doing great! Check back in tomorrow!

1991 Ironman

2009-02-15T18:31:00.000-08:00

This weekend I recieved my Ironman DVD collection! I'm going to give a review of each year's DVD (17 years worth!) for anyone who is interested.

First off, it's funny to see what television was like nearly 20 years ago. Everything about it is hilarious! The graphics, music, and generally everything else is really hokey. This was also a time when everything was "cutting edge" (as described by the commentators). Whether it's the mix of Gatorade to achieve the correct amount of electrolytes and carbohyrates, the bikes, or the heartrate monitors, everything is "state of the art." I guess that hasn't really changed that much but it's funny to see how far the sport, and technology in general, has advanced since then. One thing that I never realized before is that John Tesh is the narrator. I recognize the voice now that I know it's him but I thought that was pretty funny. Not exactly the guy you think of when you picture hardcore athletes. Anyway, moving on...

The DVD focuses primarily on the elite athletes. The more recent IM coverage I've seen has a really strong emphasis on those "human interest," type stories. I'm not sure when this started happening but I assume that it was probably close to the end of the 90's. Anyway, the race was basically between Mark Allen (USA) and Greg Welch (Australia). I found myself rooting for Greg Welch and I'm not really sure why but in the end Mark Allen broke away and whipped everyone! What amazes me is that despite the advances since then in technology the finishing times are extremely close. Allen finished with a time of 8:18:32. In 2008, champion Craig Alexander finished with a time of 8:17:45. To me this is a indicator of just how fit the athletes in the 80's and 90's were. Despite all the advances in aerodynamics, equipment, etc. there hasn't been a huge jump in performance. Mark Allen's bike sponsor? Huffy. How many triathletes are riding Huffy's now-a-days?

Alright, stay tuned for the next review. It'll probably be awhile since I'm trying to space these DVD's out. If I let myself I could spend an entire day and watch them all back to back but I'm trying to save them. I'm sure by the time I hit IMKY I'll have watched these things multiple times apiece but I'm trying to savor them.

Finish Strong

2009-02-15T18:00:00.000-08:00

So I've come to the end of another week of training. I always try to end each week the way that I end each individual workout... strong. Sunday's are my "long runs." I did 1:30 on the treadmill today which equaled out to around 8 1/2 miles. Felt strong today, didn't push too hard and didn't get too bored. I was a little worried that my knee might give me some problems today as it was a little "squishy," yesterday but it didn't act up. I definitely feel like I am fit enough to handle the training workload that I have but you never know...

On a seperate note... a couple of days ago I applied for a sponsorship from a couple of different companies. As I've mentioned before I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to ride for Whisper Cycles (http://www.whispercycles.com/) earlier this year. However, with the cost of this sport being so great I've been looking to pick up a couple other sponsors to help subsidize my costs. With that being said I heard back from Rudy Projects, http://www.rudyprojectusa.com/ (makers of sunglasses, helmets, etc.) and they offered me a limited sponsorship. I haven't yet signed the "offer letter/contract," that they've sent over but am planning on sending it back in the next couple of days so look for upcoming reviews, news, etc.!

Today I also watched the TV coverage of the Tour of California on VS (the banner above is an advertisement from TOC's website). I haven't ever really gotten into watching cycling on TV but it was actually pretty exciting. Coverage is going on for the rest of the week so I'm looking forward to following it. Check out the website for details: http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T19:21:00.000-08:00

Workout today was a 2:45 brick. Felt a little rough at the end. My knee started to feel a little puffy but once I started the run it went away fairly quick. Not sure exactly what it was all about but I'm thinking that perhaps I didn't get enough fluids in. I'll be experimenting with nutrition over the next several months trying to dial in my system so stay tuned!

Gwen and I went for dinner tonight at the Kellogg Manor House somewhere near Plainwell. Dinner was really, really good. Sitting at the house I remember hearing that not only was Kellogg a cereal magnate but also a huge promotor of sanitariums... as well as some borderline crazy stuff. Not completely sure on that but I'll have to Wikipedia it sometime and see if I'm right. At any rate, he did well for himself, obviously, as was evident by the beautiful house. It was a good time and Gwen and I were able to enjoy some quality time. Unfortunately... triathlon/training (or nursing school for that matter) is not always "for lovers," but Gwen has been very supportive and understanding and I like to think that I've been able to reciprocate. Hope everyone has had a great Valentine's!

Jade/Whisper Bike Maintenance Seminar

2009-02-12T19:40:00.001-08:00

Today was the Bicycle Maintenance Seminar at The Shop (www.whispercycles.com or www.jadecycles.com... check them out they are absolutely great bikes! I'm sure everyone knows how picky I am about the things that I use a lot. Whether it's my MP3 player, laptop, cellphone, golf clubs, running shoes, etc. so you KNOW it's got to be a great product!!!!). Got out of Thurs. Manager Meetings and booked it over there. We started promptly at 6 and Jim gave us a rundown of pretty much anything that I would ever be able to do myself on the bike. A lot of the information was over my head but I was definitely thankful for the opportunity to learn some more about my bike, and bikes in general. This is going to give me some peace of mind the next time I feel like there is an issue and as always if there is something I can't figure out Jim is there to take care of it! We all received a copy of the "Park Tool Big Blue Book of Repairs," and there is a ton of information in it. I've perused it a little this evening but haven't been able to really get into it.

The seminar took just about 2 1/2 hours and so I didn't make it home until just before 9. I'll say this without going into great detail... Guinness is definitely sick... luckily Gwen, being the great wife she is, took care of his issues and her Mom is going to bring him in to the vet, again, tomorrow (which is really, really helpful and much appreciated). Anyway I ended up hopping on the bike a little late and busted my butt with a "muscular endurance workout." Then I lifted weights (although I use the word "weight" loosely). Like I mentioned in an earlier post, this week is definitely intense but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Alright, off to enjoy the rest of the night. As an aside; I'm going to try my first "survey." I've been tossing around the idea of doing a marathon at the beginning of April to kind of open the season up but am not completely sure if I should or not. Weigh in on it and let me know (I'm leaning towards yes at this point). It looks like a really fun, low-key event. Check out the website (www.martianmarathon.com) and then let me know what you think! Rock out.

Higher Ground

2009-02-11T18:54:00.000-08:00

So I was in Midland for work most of the day which meant a lot of driving. Luckily I was able to hitch a ride with a coworker and didn't actually have to drive. Got to see Cody... he's working out there for a bit now. Needless to say by the time we made it back home it was pretty difficult to drag myself to the pool. You would think that being stuck in the car all day would give me some sort of desire to bust out but unfortunately that's not always the case.

Long story short I was able to make it to the pool and get my swim in (1:15 basically doing sets of 300's/drills/kicks/etc.). On the way home I was struggling to motivate and make it on the treadmill (again... 1:15 run). I was basically resigned to miss a workout tonight when "Higher Ground," by the RHCP came on! One of the ultimate motivators for me and my saving grace I guess! Once I blasted this song in the car I was re-motivated!!! I came home threw on the shoes and started the run. So now here I am loving life, hanging out with Gwen and the dogs, taking in some X-Files, and getting ready to train tomorrow morning (have to get an early sess as we have the Bike Maintenance Seminar at The Shop tomorrow). As you may have noticed by all of the exclamation points I was really excited about all of this.

The downer for the night was post workout Guinness peed in the crate after he ate his dinner tonight. Never a fun time trying to wash a three legged dog in a shower where he can't get good footing but between Gwen and I we were able to take care of it. He's been so sick lately between his skin issues, losing weight, etc. that it's hard to get mad at him. Plus, he's so cute.

Gwen has been studying hard so we'll be glad to spend a nice Valentine's Weekend together... stay tuned for training and weekend festivity updates...

Recovery Run/Swim

2009-02-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

Couple of cool things going on today... today was Dad's birthday. The original Boeve triathlete is enjoying another year and hopefully another summer of triathlons!

Today was my "recovery" day. That means 1/2 hour run and 1/2 hour swim. Distance-wise I did about 3.25 miles on the treadmill and 1 mile in the pool. I felt really good today which was nice after the weekend. The rest of the week will slowly increase in time and volume each day so by the end of the week I should be feeling pretty good. On Thurs. this week I'll be attending a seminar at The Shop to cover bicycle maintenance. I'm really looking forward to learning some techniques for taking care of the bike and fixing those "minor issues" that pop up every now and then. Hopefully I'll be able to take some pictures and throw them up for everyone! Stay tuned.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be hovering around 60 degrees. There aren't many days where the temperature gets that high in a MI Feb. I don't have a run in the schedule (Tues./Thurs. are Bike/Lift or Bike/Yoga or Stretch days) but may try getting out for a short one to get some fresh air in the lungs.

I guess that the 2009 "race season" has officially begun for me with the first 5K this last weekend. I think that Gwen and I will probably do another shorter run like that sometime soon (although she is definitely feeling under the weather right now so maybe it will be later rather than sooner). We'll keep you updated...

Upcoming Week

2009-02-08T08:42:00.000-08:00

The picture to the left was taken last night... late last night. Needless to say today is a little rough. Gwen and I have been lounging around and are going to take advantage of the nice weather and just enjoy the day!

My legs are definitely a little more tight than I would have expected this morning but I'm guessing that running at a moderate race effort and then following that up with a brick has something to do with it. Today will definitely serve as a "recovery day" in more ways than one.

Looking forward to next week's schedule see that it's going to be a long week. I have 14 hours "booked" which is one of the longer weeks that I have had thus far. The following week is shorter time-wise but I have an aerobic time trial run, lactate threshold test on the bike, and will be setting my t-pace once again in the pool. All in all it's shaping up to be a decent couple weeks of training.

I don't think I can overstate how ready I am to be able to get the bike out on the road. I'm chomping at the bit and will be glad to throw in some hills and get a chance to really push myself. Alright, wish me luck.

Snowmelt Shuffle and Brick

2009-02-07T11:09:00.001-08:00

Pictured Above: Gwen and I

Pictured Above: Roy and I

Snowmelt Shuffle Race Report:

The weather today was beautiful. Pretty rare for February in Michigan. Perfect day for a 5K. It was almost 50 degrees out and the sun was definitely shining. It was really windy out today and it made running down 8th St. seem almost like you were running through a canyon. The headwind was an added challenge for sure but it made it a little more interesting. The run itself went pretty well... I think that it's safe to say that Gwen, Roy, and I all were fairly happy with the times that we ran. I ended up just over 23 minutes which was fine with me. Post race we enjoyed some breakfast at The Windmill. No better way to cap off a morning jog than with some eggs and toast.

Brick:

My brick today went really well. Definitely my favorite type of workout. I had Gwen take a couple of pictures so that I could get an idea of where my aero positioning is. I have gotten a lot more comfortable in the saddle and am starting to get the position I need. I'm feeling great now and am glad to have my workouts for the day over with. Gwen and I are going to watch a couple episodes of Twin Peaks and then who knows... alright, off to enjoy the rest of the day!

Inside Tri is here!

2009-02-06T16:54:00.001-08:00

It's finally here! My issue of Inside Triathlon came after a lot of anticipation and multiple days of checking the mailbox. The photo above does this sweet tri rag no justice. The cover photo is a shot of his Lanceness hammering down in the San Diego Low Speed Wind Tunnel.

Tomorrow morning Roybert, Gwen, and I will be participating in Holland's annual Snowmelt Shuffle 5K. Immediately following I have a 2:15 brick to do! Brick workouts are by far my favorite workout. I'll throw up a race report sometime after the workout. Wish us luck!

The Search for the Ultimate Playlist

2009-02-06T05:59:00.000-08:00

Living in Michigan at this time of year means that I have to log a lot of training hours on the treadmill or on the trainer. This can result in a really, really boring and monotonous workout. To combat these effects I do one of two things: a. I listen to my iPod or b. I throw a DVD (usually the X-Files… unless it’s dark in the basement… you’d be surprised how easily your mind begins to wander and the next thing you know you feel like someone is standing behind you… but that’s a different post altogether). As a general rule I don’t like to workout with the iPod… or any other electronic device. It breaks things up but I think that it can be really distracting and in the end most events don’t let you use one anyway so I figure it’s best to train without. However, I haven’t found a good way to break up the indoor workouts without watching a DVD or listening to music so I guess it’s the lesser of two evils.

A couple of nights ago while watching “Twin Peaks” our DVD player crapped out on us. This meant that when doing my bike workout yesterday my only option was to throw on the iPod. I have a couple of playlists that I created for working out but I’ve listened to them so many times that I have started to hate them. As a result of this I typically hit shuffle and hope for the best. This can either be really great (when “Fight Like a Brave” pops on while I’m in the middle of working my way towards my max rpm or “Killing in the Name Of” at anytime) or really, really, really bad (nothing is more deflating than Tom T. Hall coming on in the middle of a sprint… and don’t ask why I have Tom T. Hall on my iPod).

In lieu of this I am working on creating the ultimate workout playlist. I firmly believe that this is one of those unachievable dreams. I’ve been down this road before and I always end up putting on a song I think is great but just doesn’t work for me (i.e. Metallica’s – “Enter Sandman”). There is also the overplay effect which I mentioned above. But alas, I’m trying. So help a brother out and leave a comment and let me know if you think I should add something in!

When 1:45 = 2:30

2009-02-04T19:36:00.000-08:00

I was definitely ready for my workout this evening. I spent most of the day in the car driving just to Mundelein (just north of Chicago) for work. Needless to say when I got home I was ready to hit the gym and get it over with... you can't look forward to all of them.

I had been planning on doing just under 2 hours... 1:15 swim and :45 run... but I didn't look at the schedule close enough. It was 1:15 of each. This may not seem like too much of a curveball but let me say that when you are planning on a certain time it can be tough to swallow an extra :45. But for every workout that I dread there is the feeling of satisfaction when it's over. There's something about gritting through the pain, boredom, soreness, fatigue, etc. that makes you feel like you've really done something worthwhile.

On a separate note, I would like to put it out there... swimming is definitely my least favorite of the 3 disciplines. A quick list of reasons why swimming is not my favorite thing:

I have the feeling that whenever I jump in the pool I am swimming through other people's urine.
My hair now has the consistency of straw.
Can you say "Ashy?"
Awkward locker room convo's.
The many, many children that go to the aquatic center each night.
The feeling that I'm like a hamster running on a wheel...

Alright, a couple of things quickly before I "sign off."

Last night there was a "meet and greet" at Jade/Whisper Cycles... or "The Shop" as it will now be known. I got a chance to meet some of the other athletes that Jim is sponsoring. In particular I was pretty excited to speak with Matt Smith, a local uber triathlete. He gave me some advice on nutrition which I will now start experimenting with trying to dial everything in. He also gave me some reassurance that sticking to my training plan will get me where I need to be! Thanks Matt!

Secondly, I decided today that I won't be registering for Tri Del Sol. Instead, I'm going to do a Half IM... the Muncie Endurathon. I think that it will be a better prep. race for me. It'll give me an indication of where I'm at and the biggest thing is that I'll have an idea of where my nutrition is at. For those of you who aren't aware, nutrition is huge for longer distance racing. You need to make sure that you are staying hydrated, getting enough electrolytes, carbs, etc. etc.

Last and most importantly is something that I forgot to mention yesterday. Most of you know that Gwen is in nursing school now and will be done this Spring. She's been extremely, extremely busy... busy in a way that I couldn't ever imagine. Anyway, I think it goes without saying that without her support and understanding I wouldn't be able to even begin to think about doing an IM.

Alright, until next time...

It has begun!!!

2009-02-03T11:22:00.000-08:00

Hello blogging world. This is it... the first official post to my blog. I guess it feels good.

Where to begin? Where to begin? I suppose I should start by stating my purpose. From there I'll give you a brief background and catch you up to speed on what you need to know, and then I'll fill you in on where we go from here.

Why is Josh doing this?

Basically, this is a good way for me to let those who care know how my training is going. I'm sure that at some time or another most everyone I know has asked me some sort of offhanded question about how training is going and the next thing they know it's hour 2 of the "Josh Boeve Triathlon Lecture Series." Honestly, I feel bad when I go off on a tangent so I suppose this is a way for me to try to get things on the table without monopolizing a real life conversation. That being said... don't be surprised if I still monopolize the conversation (whether or not I'm talking triathlon training).

The "Self Performed Background Interview"

Josh: So, Josh, tell me what possessed you to register for a triathlon in the first place... and of all things an Ironman?

Josh: Well... I first got involved in this when my youngest brother, Jared, suggested that we challenge the old man (Dad) to a sort of gentleman's contest. That is, we sign up for a triathlon together and talk endless amounts of smack (mostly between myself and Jared) and figure that the guy who comes out on top is the "real man" of the Boeve family (Dad won, but I think that I'm still the "real man"). Training for that triathlon (Reeds Lake) was a lot of fun. I loved the feeling that I had when I was done riding the bike or running. I definitely felt like I was pushing my body to the limit and with every day, week, and month gone by I could feel myself getting stronger and more fit.

The feeling I get from pushing my body like this is incomparable. It is the ultimate feeling to push yourself beyond your perceived capabilities. So, for me the ultimate goal is an IM. There isn't anything I would have thought to be further from my physical capabilities.

The last thing I would mention is that for my family and I there was a lot of loss last year. Triathlon is my way of celebrating life and the physical abilities that I have been given.

J: So how have you planned for this?

J: The first thing I did was read through the Triathlete's Training Bible. This gave me an understanding of the ins and outs of training, periodization, base training, etc. Then, after reading that and realizing there was still a lot I didn't know I went out and found someone who put a plan together for me (Tom Trout- Tom Trout Coaching). I've been using that plan as the template for my training. It tells me each day what workouts I need to do, how long they need to be, etc. This has worked really well for me thus far. I started in October and will be training through the end of the September. The second thing I did was work on surrounding myself with people who know more than me. Specifically, I joined beginnertriathlete.com and began using it as a resource and motivator for my training! I also was lucky enough to get a bike sponsor, Whisper Cycles (www.jadecycles.com or www.whispercycles.com). Jim DeGracia, the owner, has been a great resource and has helped me gain a lot of knowledge and ability.

J: So, sounds like you're pretty confident about all of this huh?

J: I am. I mean, it's hard because you don't want to be too overconfident going into something like this, but at the same time you have to believe in yourself! One thing that I've found out is that there are a lot of skeptics out there. That being the case, you have to be sure of yourself. Of course I still have a lot of respect for the distance and apprehension about my ability... but I know that no matter what, this event, and the training leading up to it, have changed me for the better.

When I look at it on a smaller scale I like to give this example: a year ago I was nearly 200 lbs. (it took like 5 or 6 years for me to blimp up like this... slowly but surely). I remember when I started running I figured that I would never be able to run more than a couple of miles at a time. I also remember thinking that if I could just get to 175 lbs. I'd be happy with that (despite the fact that it was still like 15 lbs. heavier than I should have been!). I couldn't imagine anything else. Now, I'm sitting at 155 lbs. and a couple of miles is a recovery run! So... my point is that it isn't just physical preparation and fitness that will get you through. Mental preparation, fitness, and most importantly toughness is just as important!

J: So what keeps you going?

J: My family, my friends, and the idea that if I can accomplish this... I can accomplish anything.

J: Josh, you've been a great interview. You are extremely intelligent and funny.

J: Thanks Josh, you aren't so bad either.

Where do we go from here?

Basically I'm hoping to post on a regular, to semi-regular, basis. I'll let everyone know how training is going, my goals, my fears, etc. I'll probably throw out a gear review every now and then for anyone looking for advice and commentary on what has worked for me. Alright... until next time...