OYM Tri's and '10 Part 3.........Adventures in Mad Town

It was the second week in September of '10.  With the aid of my Mojitian soccer teammate Kyle Hawley, I secured two tickets to the Wisconsin vs. San Jose State.  Operation volunteer Ironman Wisconsin was in effect.

On Friday September 10th I picked up Chris and hopped on 75 to 74 westbound to Indianapolis.  The ride for the most part was pretty uneventful.  We more or less talked about life and the adventures to come.  Chris is an energy auditor by trade; got very excited when were driving through Illinois and there were wind turbines for as far as you could see.  Me on the other hand.........all I come think of was that movie called "Mac and Me".  It is one of those random movie I remember seeing as a kid.

After being in the car for around 7 hours we finally reached Madison.  The town was absolutely electric.  We parked our car by Machinary Row Bike Shop; which by the way was the biggest freaking bike store I have ever seen.  You walk in the place and there are thousands and thousands of bikes or all flavors.  It was pretty special. 

The bike store was the closest we could get to Monona Terrace, which is IM Wisconsin headquarters......see below:

After checking out the bike store we made our way to Monona Terrace and walked around the expo.  At this point it is around 7pm and we needed to figure out a place to camp.  So we ran back to my car and drove to the grocery store to pick up some supplies.  While there we asked some people where a good place to camp would be and they suggested Lake Kegonsa which was about a half hour from town.  At this point it is around 8pm and we are losing daylight fast.  When we finally got there is was dusk and there were 2 camps sites left.  We totally lucked out and set up shop immediately...........see below:

and secured our mountain bikes: 

The next day was the Wisconsin Badger football game.  After a light breakfast we made our way back to Mad Town.  The town was bleeding red and white.  The entire student body was out in full force for the game.  There were multiple house parties going on and tailgates at every corner.  Thanks to Kyle Hawley, we had a spot in the "Non drinking" lot, which was close to the stadium.  As much as I would have liked to tailgate.........I was pooped.

The game was awesome.  Wisconsin........sorry Buckeye fans....is by far the best college football atmosphere I have ever been around.  The stadium is constantly singing and cheering.........the student section does choreographed dances and last but not least they are an FU cheer.  Good stuff.  Here is a pic of the stadium below:

After the game we hopped on our mountain bikes and rode the run course/toured Madison........which by the way was very easy because of all the bike lanes..........Madison is by far the most bike friendly town I have ever visited.

After our tour we got back in my car and made our way to the Blue Mounds which is about 30 minutes outside of the city.  Made a fire, ate, and set our alarm for 6am to wake up and see the big race.

To be continued....................

All right back again.  I have decided that I need to keep these posts short and brief if I am ever going to stay current.  So here we go......

IM WISCONSIN '10

1.  Chris and I rode our mountain bikes into Madison
2.  Got a prime view of all the swimmers exiting the water

a.  Found the athlete I would cheer for the rest of the race..........John Flanigan.  Had the fastest swim time of 44:45.  That is holding 1:09/100m.  I could have done that in college........not soo much now.
3.  Saw Goertemiller exit and was in 15th in his AG after the swim
4.  Went to Starbucks................then went to a Sports Cafe to watch the Bengals Game/Follow Scott on my Phone.
5.  After the Bike, Scott was 3rd in his AG.  Saw Scott at mile 4 of the run and he looked like he was in trouble already.
6.  Scott passed us again and he was really hurting
7.  Rode on our bikes by Scott to the Finish line and he finished under 11hrs
8.  Enjoyed the festivities at the Finish Line.

9.  Decided I was going to sign up for the race
10.  Hightailed it to the volunteer aid stand at the Kohl Center.
A.  The coordinator for our aid station was a total babe.  See below:

Shana Martin:

11.  Next day....per Shana's instructions we got to Ironman sign up at 7am.  Good thing we listened to her.........the line was.......I kid you not 2k people deep in the next 15 minutes.
12.  Signed up for Ironman Wisconsin '11.............Boom

OYM Tri's and '10 Part 2

So at this point my addictive personality has taken a hold of me and I wanted to race some more......

After some recruiting, I got Mike Keefe (long time swim buddy) to sign up for the Houston Woods Triathlon.  For preparation I kept in the same routine.  I would swim Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at Xavier and on Tuesday and Thursday I would go out with the Resers crew.  I would sprinkle in running and stadium stairs after swimming at UC.  Then on Saturdays I would make a day of it at Gettler Stadium with a track workout then do two laps of stadium stairs at Nippert. 

Things we gong great, I was getting stronger on the bike........I was able to hold 1:25/100m in the pool with consistency and I wasn't walking as much on the steps.  At this point I am down around 210.

Segway:  About two weeks out of Houston Woods (occured at the end of August), I was chatting with my cousin Sue on FB and she invited me to do the Escape to Miami race with her.  After some thought, I decided to sign up.  This race would occur at the end of September.

Back to Hueston Woods.........

A week out I decided to take my efforts for long training day up at Hueston Woods.......oh soo many fun memories there. 

Segway:  When I swam for Miami we would often venture up there for our annual "Tour de Chimps"......a bike ride that would start at the Rec center......go out to Brown rd to Hueston Woods......do the loop there and circle back.  We would also do trail dogs (trail runs) there as well.  It is so beautiful and peaceful there. 

Anyways, I went out there and checked out the bike and run course.  Thank goodness I did........I would have had a rude awakening if I had waited till race day.  The bike course proved to be very hilly and technical and it was good to get a practice run in.  As for the run course, the map online did not do a good job with the exact location....so I ended up jogging around the lake. Once the day was complete, I rewarded myself with a Wamo from Bagel and Deli.

Race Day......

Mike Keefe and I got up there about an hour before the race.  We got checked in, got dressed, and downed some coffee/food, hit up the facilities and we were ready to go. 

We decided to swim in the lake to get warmed up a little bit.  The freaking lake very warm, almost like bath water.  Mike and I started looking around and we couldn't believe all the people that had on wetsuits.  There is no way it is Wetsuit legal.  Immediately my suspicions rose against HFP.......

They are the directors of the race.  The only thing Mike and I could think of was that they didn't want to deal with anybody drowning.  With that said, I am under the opinion, if you can't swim, you shouldn't be doing the race!!

Anyways, Mike and I are in the second wave and we watch the first wave go off.  These soo called Pro's start running down the side of the beach, damn near 200 meters before they start swimming.  I asked the announcer if they were going to DQ those people and he just shrugged his shoulders.  I told him that was Bullshit.  So, before my wave he made the announcement to swim out to the deeper water.  Nice try trying to save face.

Apparently this didn't sink in........athletes in my wave did the same thing.  Oh well..........I ended up swimming with Mike and we caught them about 5 minutes into the race and dusted them.  I ended up having a good swim and was 2nd out of the water behind Mike in around 19 minutes.  Not to shabby for being out of the water 6 years.  We zoomed through transition and started on the Bike.  The Bike was freaking brutal........the course goes back into Oxford and circles back out to some country roads........then back to Hueston Woods.  What makes this course hard is that there are tight turns at the end of each downhill; so you can't use your momentum to go back when there are rollers. 

See Bike Map:  http://www.hfpracing.com/images/stories/09_maps/09_crs_hwtd.pdf

Hills are not my strong point and a bunch of people ended up passing me on the bike.  By the end my legs were gassed and the run proved equally as challenging.  The run begins with a 45 degree trail run and tapers off to some rollers.  Needless to say, my run was more of a walk.

I ended up finishing the race in 2 hrs and 52 mins......and surpassed my goal of 3 hrs.......I was psyched.  Exhausted and overheated I collapsed into the lake to cool off.........

OLY Tri's and end of '10 part 1

Its been a while since I blogged and I have a lot of recapping to do.  What better way to spend my day off then with my computer and my thoughts.

Continuing on from my last entry I found that my athletic talents translate well into the world of Triathlon.

The day after my race at East Fork, I started telling Scott G (guy I swim with at XU) about my race and how great it felt to compete again.  It something I missed dearly.  He told me that I should sign up for Lake Placid with him for '11.  I told him that I am not ready for that and replied that online registration is that Sunday and I should try to sign up.  Another guy we swim with Bryan; actually went up there to Volunteer.  If you volunteer for the race you are guaranteed a spot for the following year.  Good to know right.

Anyway, that Sunday came and went.  I didn't register, but it was in the back of my head.  I knew Scott was competing in Ironman Wisconsin, so that Monday I threw it out there that I would come up to watch him and see what the event was all about.  I knew I needed a wingman to go up to Madison with me, so I started asking some friends to see who wanted to go up to Mad town.........4 day trip......camping, mountain biking, man time.  There were a couple of bites, but the only guy that stepped up to the plate was Chris Dwyer.  He competed in IM Louisville in '09 and completed the race in 11hrs and 48min........actually did that race because he did not get into Wisconsin.  Once he got the go ahead from his wife, he was in.  That night we signed up to Volunteer for Ironman Wisconsin.

What drives me

So I am finally entering the blogging world.  What has brought me here......well I could say insomnia.  But in all seriousness, I have committed to doing an Ironman and wanted to document my journey.  The last time I did any sort of journal entry was during my trip overseas to New Zealand, Aussie, and Fiji.  In looking back on my best entries I found that when I incorporated my senses and what I felt during a given situation is when I was at my best.  Going on that theme I will attempt do the same on here.

On September 11th, 2011 I will be competing in Ironman Wisconsin, the insanely grueling event that entails swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and-as if that's not enough- running a marathon (26.2).  So what drives me??  I'm a very competitive person  and very determined.  When people tell me I can't do something, it really motivates me to do it.  Also, I love battling when my back is against the wall.  A prime example of that happened last year.......

So last spring I was in the worst shape of my life.  There were many contributing factors such as women, beer, fast food, and no set goals.  I remember sitting at my desk at work and I started to have chest pains......thought I was freaking having a heart attack.  Not really a big fan of doctors, but bit the bullet and went in for a check up.  Thank goodness I did........come to find out that I had packed on 50 pounds and started to develop some health issues.  That faithful day in June I decided enough was enough and it was time to get back in shape.

With a little motivation from my boss Steve, I joined Xavier Sports Center and started to swim again (had not touched the water in over a year).  June of '10 was a rough month, but the weight started to come off and started to get back into swimming shape.  But knowing myself I knew that would not be sustainable without some sort of athletic goal.  So I decided give the sport of Triathlon a whirl and signed up for East Fork Lake. 

The next month consisted of swimming at XU, riding with Resers, and running stadium stairs-track work at UC.  When East Fork came around I really didn't have any expectations besides trying to break an hour and 30 minutes.  I ended up really surprising myself and went 1:19:00 and got top 10 in my age group.   This got me thinking maybe I have a future in this crazy sport.