August 2007 Archives

Inspired by Bolder's post, here's where I'll be come Ironman weekend:

• Saturday, September 8
• 8:00 AM: Volunteer Meeting -- Kris & I are the captains for the wetsuit peeler volunteers. At this meeting we meet everyone to hand out t-shirts and credentials.
• 11:30 AM - 3:00 PM: Organize gear bags -- I'm pretty sure I get to help athletes place their transition bags in the proper room and then in the right spot. Trust me, it's very complicated.
• 4:00 PM: Saturday afternoon meet-up -- I'll meet with volunteers that can't make the morning meeting.
• Sunday, September 9
• 7:00 AM: Race Start -- I'll be watching the athletes churn the waters as they make their way through 2.4 miles of swimming
• Approximately 7:45 AM: First peel -- For the next hour and a half, we'll peel approximately 2,000 athletes out of their wetsuits. It great fun.
• 10:00 AM: Bike Course -- Kris and I will hopefully have time to get out to the bike course to cheer everyone on.
• 12:15 PM - 5:30 PM: Run Course Marshal -- We'll be right at the run start to make sure all the athletes get out of the Monona Terrace and on the run course.
• 5:30 PM - 12:00 AM: Run Course -- Following our stint as marshals, we'll probably head to State St. to cheer all the runners on to the finish line. Closer to 10 PM, we'll head to the finish line to party and cheer everyone across the line.

Feel free to meet up with us at any of these places. If you'd like to meet up before Saturday, drop me a note and we'll set something up.

Since the WIBA weekend four weeks ago (when I squeezed eleven and a half hours of training in three days,) I've exercised a total of nine hours and fifty minutes. Two hours and twenty minutes of that has been in races. That leaves seven and a half hours of actual training hours. Most of those have been running, but inconsistent and irregular. I am inundated at work, and unfortunately, training has taken a back seat. How much this hurts I would fully realize at the end of Aquathon #4.

Before the race, there was a lot of discussion on the use of wetsuits. The very humid conditions and mid-80s conditions made it a dicey call. But, since it's a laid back race, there was no hard and fast rule on what water temperature prevented you from wearing one. Many people decided to utilize the advantage and wear one. My main swim competitor didn't. I wore mine. I later regretted doing so.

SWIM
The swim was warm. I was out of the water first and quite surprised to have no one breathing down my neck. I quickly took off the wetsuit and stuffed my feet into my socks and then shoes. I left with my Forerunner in hand. It read 180+ heart rate. Hmmm....

RUN
I didn't get passed until going up the hill. So for approximately one minute, I was leading the run. Random people that just happened upon the event actually cheered for me. My first, but hopefully not last, time. The good times were short lived. My heart rate never dropped despite my best efforts to calm down and just run. As the miles wore on, I never recovered from the heat of the swim and wetsuit. I dropped all the way to fifteenth overall and was a full 1:30 slower on my run. I was sucking wind coming to the finish line. Fans (okay, my wife and her friend) said that I did not look happy. I saw stars and really had a hard time breathing at the end. I stood under the hose and sucked in as much liquid as possible.

I hope that I can run more before the next race, but it doesn't look good. A full week on vacation, with a very busy work schedule after that is going to make it tought. Add to that the loss of swim facilities. There's a good chance I will show up at the next race with no more training that I have right now. Bring on the pain.