Athletes, that still gives me a chuckle, as I don't really see myself as an athlete. Couple of years ago, I don't recall which triathlon it was, I was walking into triathlon with my gear getting ready to race, a volunteer at the entrance was repeating "Athletes only in transition". I walked on in, feeling like I was getting away with something devious, sly smile on my face.
Anyway, the participant list for IMMT has been posted. Link here. I have been wanting to see this list since the moment I signed up. First, to make sure my name was on it, and second, to see how many people from Wisconsin were signed up. Eleven, including myself. Not a whole lot, was hoping there might be somebody local I know, nodda. Hoping maybe I could find someone local to train with also doing IMMT. Verdict is still out on that, but with only 10 in the pool, the odds are not good.
The list as a whole isn't that surprising, some of the stats:
2550 athletes registered
33 countries represented
1,427 from Canada
903 from the US
102 from Mexico
41 US states represented
110 from NY
77 from CA
Not surprised at all at the numbers for the US and Canada, Mexico is kind of surprising. After Mexico, only the UK and Germany had double digit quantities of participants.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
52 weeks
I had the thought last night in bed that in 52 weeks, just one short year from now, I would be beginning my taper for Ironman Mont Tremblant. Turns out I was likely wrong, I think it is 53 weeks from this coming Monday, assuming a three week taper, but that's not the point..........
I've forgotten how much Ironman can completely consume every thought you have. Seems that every moment not completely consumed by something totally unrelated, Ironman thoughts creep in to fill the void. I'm not nervous or anxious at this point by any stretch of the imagination, but I think about it, constantly.
Last weekend didn't help, spent it up in Door County watching triathlon, after triathlon, after triathlon. I'm just about tri'd out. Saturday morning it was the Door County sprint triathlon, Saturday afternoon both kids participated in a kid's tri at the local Y. Sunday was the Door County half which G took a run at for the second year in a row. Sunday was hot, stupid hot, and watching competitors struggle to deal with the heat and actually run only accelerated the thought processes on one critical topic, how do I get off the bike actually ready to run?
I don't have an answer yet, but I know on race day it has to do with the bike, pacing, and nutrition. How exactly to train myself properly throughout the year to execute that on race day remains the big question.
a) Bike more frequently?
b) Bike longer (over distance)?
c) Bike harder?
d) Race more?
e) All the above?
I'm leaning towards (e). Thankfully I've got another 6 months or so to figure out a plan before training begins. And if you're wondering why none of the options on how to improve my Ironman run have absolutely nothing to do with running , it stems from this simple belief of mine. It doesn't matter how good of a runner you are, you could be an olympic medalist, but if you get off the bike physically unable to run, whether it's trashed legs or a digestive system in complete revolt, it just doesn't matter.
So my plan for IMMT, both for training and on race day, do everything possible to get off the bike as fresh as physically possible. Simple as that.
I've forgotten how much Ironman can completely consume every thought you have. Seems that every moment not completely consumed by something totally unrelated, Ironman thoughts creep in to fill the void. I'm not nervous or anxious at this point by any stretch of the imagination, but I think about it, constantly.
Last weekend didn't help, spent it up in Door County watching triathlon, after triathlon, after triathlon. I'm just about tri'd out. Saturday morning it was the Door County sprint triathlon, Saturday afternoon both kids participated in a kid's tri at the local Y. Sunday was the Door County half which G took a run at for the second year in a row. Sunday was hot, stupid hot, and watching competitors struggle to deal with the heat and actually run only accelerated the thought processes on one critical topic, how do I get off the bike actually ready to run?
I don't have an answer yet, but I know on race day it has to do with the bike, pacing, and nutrition. How exactly to train myself properly throughout the year to execute that on race day remains the big question.
a) Bike more frequently?
b) Bike longer (over distance)?
c) Bike harder?
d) Race more?
e) All the above?
I'm leaning towards (e). Thankfully I've got another 6 months or so to figure out a plan before training begins. And if you're wondering why none of the options on how to improve my Ironman run have absolutely nothing to do with running , it stems from this simple belief of mine. It doesn't matter how good of a runner you are, you could be an olympic medalist, but if you get off the bike physically unable to run, whether it's trashed legs or a digestive system in complete revolt, it just doesn't matter.
So my plan for IMMT, both for training and on race day, do everything possible to get off the bike as fresh as physically possible. Simple as that.
Monday, July 11, 2011
WWTPD
What would the peloton do? This thought passed through my head tonight on my ride home from work. I was approaching the base of a smallish hill, completely gassed (I was over 10 miles into my ride) and trying to figure out how to best get up the hill as quick as possible with the least amount of damage.
What would the peloton do?
I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have blinked and just kept on going. It wasn't a big hill. But those guys in the Tour de France, sorry le Tour de France, Anyway, they are amazing, and frankly, I'm not sure how they do it. During one of the first stages the announcers were going over a lot of the riders heights/weights. Amazingly, not all that different from me. Probably 5'-10" to 6' on average, 150-160 pounds. Pretty much my height and weight, well, race weight anyway.
Except of course I lack the ability to accelerate from 30 mph to 40+ mph as necessary, hold speeds in the high 20's for hours on end, and climb like a billy goat. Then do it again, day, after day, after day. Ridiculous.
Watching le tour makes me feel like I don't know how to ride a bike, at all. Like I must be doing something wrong to be this slow.
What would the peloton do?
I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have blinked and just kept on going. It wasn't a big hill. But those guys in the Tour de France, sorry le Tour de France, Anyway, they are amazing, and frankly, I'm not sure how they do it. During one of the first stages the announcers were going over a lot of the riders heights/weights. Amazingly, not all that different from me. Probably 5'-10" to 6' on average, 150-160 pounds. Pretty much my height and weight, well, race weight anyway.
Except of course I lack the ability to accelerate from 30 mph to 40+ mph as necessary, hold speeds in the high 20's for hours on end, and climb like a billy goat. Then do it again, day, after day, after day. Ridiculous.
Watching le tour makes me feel like I don't know how to ride a bike, at all. Like I must be doing something wrong to be this slow.
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