Ironman Lake Placid Photos

Yesterday kicked off 16 weeks to IM Arizona

Yesterday we started back on the training plan for IM Arizona with an easy 2 hour ride...we thought. We took a new route which you can see below and ended up having to really work. It took us two and a half hours to finish.



Today we meet at 4:15am at gym for our Monday morning swim and 40 minutes of abs and lifting. I think I already pulled a glut on the squat machine.

8/1/08 - We signed up for SOMA!!! - Chris

What's SOMA? Well this is our warm up race for IM Arizona. The race in a 1/2 IM distance race in Tempe one month before IM Arizona. The swim is 1.2 miles in the same lake, the ride is 56 miles on the opposite side of the lake but with a similar profile and the run is 13.1 miles that are close to the IM course.

This will give us a chance to gauge where we are in the training. I am hoping I can put together a sub 6 hour race.

7/31/08 Update from Chris

Once again my alarm went off at 5am this morning and I couldn't bring myself to jump out of bed. I laid there thinking that I can't believe it has been over a week and I am still so tried. I am wondering how I will get back into the routine of 3:30am wakeups in just four days.

I eventually rolled out at 5:30am and went down stairs for 3 sets of 12 pushups...still struggling with my strength and 125 reps of crunches and leg raises. After that I headed down to the community pool for my first swim since the race. I immediately noticed how tired I was with just a 500 yard warm up. I knocked out another 500 yard set and then ten 50 yard sprints...if I can call them sprints. So 1500 yards was it for the day, I was toast.

Here is a chart of my calories burned so far this week:

7/30/08 Update from Chris

I am definitely not recovered from the race yet. With 8 hours of sleep last night I still struggled to get out of bed this morning. I did make it up at 5:30am and went out for a 50 minute run around the neighborhood that actually ended up being a 65 minute run. I also did 150 reps of different core exercises.

Another goal for the next 16 weeks is to get in a core workout four times a week and at least two 30 minute sessions of lifting.

7/29/08 Update from Chris

I was up at 5:45am this morning for a bike ride on the trainer. This was my first ride since the race and it lasted for 45 minutes before I couldn’t take it anymore. Mentally I just couldn’t handle being on the trainer any longer.

I weighed in this morning at 204lbs. So only 19lbs to go!!!

Here is my food summary from the day:

Meal	Calories	Fat	Carbs	Protein
Breakfast	376	6.4g	64.2g	29.4g
Snack #1	400	9.0g	38.0g	43.0g
Lunch	349	4.6g	42.7g	35.6g
Snack #2	385	9.0g	46.0g	32.5g
Dinner	523	16.6g	51.9g	48.0g
Total Percentage of Calories 1	2033	45.6g 19%	242.8g 45%	188.5g 35%

7/28/08 Update from Chris

We made it back from IM Lake Placid last night. My mom, Christina and I spent the week after the race in Vermont visiting family and friends. I spent the week doing a lot of stretching as well as some light weight lifting, sit-ups and pushups. On Saturday I went for my first run. I returned our rental car and then ran back to the house. It was a hard 3.5 miles but my Achilles felt good.

We had a really long day of travel yesterday. We boarded a plane in Vermont for a 6am flight that didn't end up leaving until about 7:45am. This caused us to miss our next flight out of New York. So we had lunch and boarded our next flight at noon which was supposed to arrive in California at 2:50pm. As we taxied out to the runway a thunderstorm rolled in which stopped all out going flights. We sat in the plane on the runway for over five hours. The flight finally took off around 5:30pm. We landed in Long beach around 8pm and made it home around 10pm.

This morning I woke up at 6am still very tired from yesterdays travel, but wanted to get a small workout in. So I did some stretching and spent 30 minutes doing sit-ups and pushups.

I now have my sights set on Ironman Arizona which takes place in Tempe the weekend before Thanksgiving. I have an ambushes goal of breaking 12 hours this time. I went into Lake Placid much heavy than I hoped. I really struggled with my diet this time around. I just couldn't eat enough food. So I ended up on race day at 205 lbs. I have 16 weeks until Arizona to reach my goal weigh of 185lbs.

Ironman Lake Placid Race Results

It was a very long day of racing in Lake Placid. It poured the rain for 14 hours that day. Overall the race went well. I had an issue with my Achilles around mile 14 and spent the next three and a half hours walking in the rain. Dave caught me at mile 24 and we jogged out the last 2.2 miles.

FIRST NAME	LAST NAME	TOTAL TIME	RACE DIVISION	SWIM TIME	T1	BIKE TIME	T2	RUN TIME	RUN PACE
CHRIS	ELMORE	14:07:59	M30-34	1:11:24	8:37	6:34:31	5:38	6:07:51	14:03
DAVID	MILLER	14:07:59	M55-59	1:17:03	10:20	7:14:01	10:21	5:16:15	12:05

Here are some of the pictures from the race:

Ironman

Morning after the race.

The Last Leg!

They're off the bike! Chris came in first with a time of 3 hrs 28 min with a total bike time of 6 hrs 34 min. Dave came in with a time of 3 hrs 44 min and a total bike time of 7 hrs 14 min. We had a glimpse of hope with no rain but it looks like that hope is quickly fleeting. From the nice, warm pub we're currently residing in, there are some heavy raindrops falling.

More updates to come!

First loop of the bike!

The boys have finished the first loop of the bike ride! Chris crossed the half way point at 3 hrs 7 min and Dave at 3 hrs 29 min. Chris was pretty alert and "happy" but Dave had a look on his face that said 'I'm miserable!' But they both looked strong and ready to take on the 56 mile bike ride ahead of them!

See ya in about 3 hours!

It's Raining, Its Pouring...

Well it's about two and a half hours into the race and the skies have opened up wide. It's been raining for a good hour and a half and now thunder seems to be on the horizon. Hopefully our men are ok on their bikes, they've been riding them for about 45 minutes.

More updates to come!

Bikes are ready

Adopt and Athlete interview with Mike Reilly

One of the biggest highlights of the weekend so far was getting interview by Mike Reilly "The Voice of Ironman" for our participation in the North American Sports Adopt an Athlete program.
Part 1



Part 2

Ironman Lake Placid Pre-Race Activities

Running in rain

We had a little rain on our last run. It poured for 20 minutes straight.

Now we must dry the shoes with the fireplace.

Packing our bags

We are back from the welcome dinner and just finished packing up our transitions bags.

Ironman Welcome Dinner

30 minutes and counting!

Nap Time

If a 30 minute swim knocked him out, imagine what a 13 hour race will do.

Interview with Mike Reilly

The thunderstorm passed so went down for a 30 minute swim in the lake. The water is great. It is clear and the temperature is around 70 degrees.

As we where getting out of our wetsuits we received the call to confirm our interview with Mike Reilly, "The Voice of Ironman". We will be talking about the Adopt an Athlete program we participated in. The interview is at 12:30 and should be posted on www.Ironman.com/ironmanlive later to day.

Thunderstorm!!!

It is currently 68 degrees and storming.

Thunder, lightning and rain....its going to be a fun swim this morning.

Making breakfast

Omelets & waffles for breakfast.

Hanging out at the pad

Watching Jaws and playing online waiting for Brent to arrive.

Weighing in a registration

Can I take my shoes off? It must be the altitude!!!

Made it to Lake Placid

The trip to LP took about two and a half hours. As I pulled into town Dave called and he was 5 minutes behind me. The downtown is small and crowded. We met at Quizos for a quick bite and then headed to the IM Village.

Registration was quick and easy. We then picked up our bikes and headed to the house.

More to come....

Lake Placid here we are! It's a gorgeous day in upstate New York, sunny and actually quite hot. We had to change into shorts and sandals as soon as we got here just to bear it. We're walking to the Registration tent at the Ironman village along with hundreds of other leg-shaven, socks and sandals wearing, brave/clinically insane men and women.

We've arrived in Albany! After a delayed flight due to a late pilot, we actually only arrived 15 minutes late rather than an hour late. I think the pilot knew he had an Ironman on board that does not like to be late! We're currently on I-85 N and, thanks to my gps, we have exactly 2 hours and 37 minutes to go!

Red Eyes Suck

"Red Eyes suck" says Dave as he munches on his chocolate donut and coffee. Breakfast of champions. We are now in Gate 11 waiting for our flight to Albany. We depart around 9 and arrive around 10:30 (that's 6am - 7:30am for all you California folk). We're so close I can smell the massive amounts of Gu And Gatorade.

7/17/08 - New York

Landed in New York at 5:30am east coast time. Flight to VT takes off at 9:40am.

I took one malentonen when I got on the plane and wokeup about 15 minutes before landing.

Now it's time for coffee.

7/16/08 - On the road

We're oficially on our way! Leaving the house at 7:07pm, we should be arriving at LAX hopefully in about an hour and a half. Lake Placid, watch out, because Dave and Chris are about to rock the town!

7/16/08 - We have our race numbers!!!

First	Last	Bib Number
Chris	Elmore	356
David	Miller	1871

Use the our bib numbers to track us during the race at: http://ironman.com/ironmanlive

7/16/08 - 3 Days and 22 hours

We did our last California workout this morning. It was a 30 minute run on the Santa Ana River Trail. It was my first real run in 2 weeks and my Achilles held up pretty well. As we returned to the gym we commented to each other that it feels like we have been slacking off over the last few weeks as the workouts have been slowly tapering off. That got me thinking. I decided to do the math on how many hours we have worked out and the number of miles we have travelled over the past 26 weeks.

Here it is:

Hours worked out over the last 26 weeks		Swim hours / miles	Bike hours / miles	Run hours / miles
337 Hours		66 hours / 75 miles	181 hours / 3,077 miles	90 hours / 540 miles
Over 200,000 calories burned

WOW and to think we have 16 more weeks of this intense training when we get back from Lake Placid. In a moment of weakness last May, we signed up for Ironman Arizona which takes place on November 23, 2008. That clearly puts us in the 'are you out of your mind' category.

Here is the race day forecast:

So today I have one last e-stem and laser treatment on my Achilles and a one hour massage to work out the last of my aches and pains. Then it is off to Long Beach for the red eye flight to Vermont.

7/15/2008 - 4 Days and 22 Hours....

Well we are just under 5 days out from our race. All of the training is done. We are just tapering our training this week. We swam our last long open water swim yesterday in Long Beach. We did a one hour spin class this morning and I tested out my Achilles for the first time in two weeks on the treadmill with a one mile run. For those of you who didn't know I had an unfortunate reoccurrence of an injury (small Achilles tear). I hurt it two years ago while training for my first IM, which I could not overcome in time to compete. The tear doesn’t seem to be as bad this time. I have been seeing a doctor twice a week for a laser treatment which seems to really be helping. Tomorrow morning we have a 30 minute run which will really test it out.

We put our bikes and gear on a truck on July 7th and they should have arrived in Lake Placid already....we hope. Dave and family leave tomorrow night on the red eye out of LAX into Albany, NY and I head out tomorrow night from Long Beach into Burlington, VT. We have rented a house about 2 miles from the race start. Our on site race support crew includes Dave’s wife and daughter, my wife, mom, dad and step-mom as well as Christina's brother and close family friend, Brent.

I arrive in Burlington on Thursday morning around 11am and will drive over to Lake Placid to meet Dave and crew to check into the race. Race check in, along with Ironman Village (a place where all of the vendors are setup) is located in the Olympic Oval. Check in is always fun...you show up at the table in a big white tent where they look for your name on the list. You then hold your breath hoping it is there. You then receive a bracelet which gets you into the transition area and Friday night’s pasta party. You then proceed to the scale to have your weight taken by the medical staff. From there you receive your race number, goodie bag and finally your timing chip.

Our plan is to drive the bike course on Thursday after check in to get a lay of the land. After that we will go back to the house and put our feet up for the rest of the day.

On Friday we will head down for the Gatorade swim in Mirror Lake. Rumor has it that you can’t hold the swim in Lake Placid due to the alligator incident that you may remember from the movies. After the swim we will take our bikes out for a short ride to make sure everything is working. We will follow this up with a short run.

That afternoon, we will be interviewed by Mike Reilly, official voice of Ironman, about our Adopt an Athlete program we conducted at Villa Fundamental Intermediate School in Ms Kato's health and fitness class. We took a very unique approach to the program and Ironman wants to celebrate our accomplishment via a live broadcast on their online network from Lake Placid. Look for us on the Ironman website. Friday night is also the Ironman Lake Placid 10th anniversary welcome dinner for the athletes and their families followed by the mandatory athletes meeting.

On Saturday we will do another morning swim and delivery our bikes and race gear to the transition area. When you check into the race you receive 5 bags labelled Swim to Bike, Bike Special Needs, Bike to Run, Run Special Needs, and Post Race. Each bag contains the items you need for the various legs of the race. The special needs bags contain items you may need to replenish on the course.

For those of you that want to check out some of the race coverage or track our progress you can go to http://ironman.com/ironmanlive or http://www.ironmanusa.com/.

We will be posting updates throughout the trip on the site so check back for updates.

For a reminder of why we are out here raising money checkout our Motivation Montage and this latest video of Taylor Warren.

Heroes Come In All Shapes and Sizes

All this time, our blogs have been focusing on ourselves as we prepare for our race in Lake Placid in July 2008. We have written about who we are, why we are doing this webumentary and many of the important milestones that we have accomplished along the way. During some of our long runs and bike rides, Chris and I have had a chance to reflect and we have recounted some of the more amazing things that have happened to us. It truly has given us a sense of pride and a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.

But, in those same conversations, we are quick to point out that there are others in our community doing just as remarkable things in their own right. I am so fortunate to be affiliated with such a group and I want to share their story. They are all my heroes for what they have done and will be doing in the month of June. Let me tell you about this team.

As I have mentioned, I have been fortunate to be a marathon and half marathon coach this season for the Team In Training group out of Yorba Linda. My team of runners and walkers started their journey 17 weeks ago in February. They came to Team In Training with all different backgrounds and all different shapes and sizes. They came to do the training necessary to cross the finish line of a marathon or a half marathon scheduled in June.

Most of our team had never done anything physically like this before. Most thought only elite athletes or crazy people ever did a race this long. But, lucky for TNT, they decided to take a chance and do something their family and friends thought impossible. Besides the miles and miles of training, they would also be asked to fundraise for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The funds they would raise would go to LLS to help the organization continue to fund research so that someday a cure for blood cancer may be found. The heart to give back to society and the tenacity to accomplish something this grueling physically clearly set these every day athletes apart from the crowd.

So for 17 weeks they progressed from a short 30 minutes of running or walking the first week to their longest day where they ran or walked from Yorba Linda to Huntington Beach, covering slightly over 20 miles. To make this happen, each of them made the commitment to add training to their already busy lives. And, if that weren’t enough, they went on a mission of asking their family and friends to support them in their quest by donating money to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Each of them personally committed to raising nearly $3,000. Seems impossible, but, not to this team!

Who were these people that would commit to putting their bodies through such rigorous training as well as raising funds through their own personal fundraising campaigns? Our team truly mirrored our community. We had family members such as, a mother and her daughters, as well as groups of sisters. We had the youngsters who were fun and fast. We had husbands and wives, and athletes representing the baby boomers. They came together as one team, with one very important goal, raise money to find a cure for cancer.

So, you can see why these are my heroes. This team not only will have a chance to showcase their amazing fitness prowess in the month of June, but they have collectively raised over $115,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. That is not a misprint. It is absolutely amazing!

So in the month of June, when all of you are enjoying your normal Sunday routines, I ask you to think of this team. Say a good luck mantra for our group of 37 athletes. They set goals for themselves and have individually accomplished them all. They have made staying physically fit an important part of their lives and they are helping to save lives through their fundraising efforts. And, someday, when a cure for cancer is finally found, these athletes will be able to say with pride, - I did my share in helping to fund the research that brought these terrible diseases to an end.- That is why they are my heroes! I wish them all the best race possible.

We are Back.... Weekly Update 5/19/08

For those of you that have been visiting our website looking for weekly updates, let me be the first to apologize to you. Chris and I are realizing how difficult it is trying to hold down full time jobs, train for this event, fundraise for LLS, coach on Saturdays’ for Team In Training, and still maintain our all important family relationships. We are being pulled in every direction.

Suffice to say, our training has been going along with only a few hitches. Luckily, nothing serious that some rest, Ibuprofen and Bio Freeze can’t resolve. We are in week 17 of the 26 week program. The countdown has begun. Our training time has exponentially increased since our last recovery week. We are training an average of 2.5 hours during the week and the weekend bike rides have hit 4 plus hours.

This week, we will be swimming three days covering 3,200 to 3,400 yards per workout. Our running frequency has increased to 5 days per week. Some are only 30 minutes long following a swim or bike ride but our long run planned for Thursday will be 16 miles. I still don’t know how we do our long runs and then go to work for a full day. Mid- day forces us to decide between eating lunch or taking a short nap. I try to get both done over my hour break.

We are riding 3 days per week as well. Our Tuesday ride of 1.5 hours is on a stationary bike that drives our heart rates through the roof. Friday is our fast interval ride of 3.5 hours. During the ride we will put in 20 minutes at race pace followed by a short 5 minute recovery before repeating over and over again. We end the week with our Sunday long ride. For the past 5 weeks, we have been driving to Glendora, Ca to ride 44 miles into the mountains to Mount Baldy. It is all climbing to the ski resort for the first 22 miles. The ride back to our cars is very fast as it is all down hill. Last Sunday, we varied our routine and rode from Yorba Regional Park, over Santiago Highway, down El Toro Road to Laguna Beach, up PCH to Huntington Beach and back the final 21 miles on the river trail. It was 74 miles start to finish. Sorry for those of you not familiar with the area but it is a mix of fast flats and lots of big hills. We were pleased with our average of 18.5 miles per hour for the 4 hours. We are both faster on our bikes than our last Ironman.

We have visited our middle school kids with the ‘Adopt an Athlete’ program a couple of times. The last visit we discussed running technique and equipment then we ran with the kids. They are doing great in fulfilling their personal goals. One student has reported losing 9 pounds by making healthier food choices. Another student wanting to improve his mile time from 8 minutes to 7:30 per mile was recently timed by Ms. Kato at 7:00 per mile. How exciting it is for us to see these students working hard to achieve their own ‘Ironman’ goals.

Well, time to get to bed so that I am not dragging during my workout tomorrow. Again, thanks for checking in with us and we will try to do a better job of keeping you informed as we come down to the final few weeks.

Recovery Week Is Coming To An End

Every three weeks on our schedule we are afforded the luxury of a recovery week. This was such a week. What a nice break from the grueling schedule of 14 to 18 training hours per week. The recovery week is designed to give our bodies a chance to do just that, recover.

We only had one swim day this week. I did mine today. It was a 1,000 yard time trial swimming at race pace. This is designed to check our progress in the water. Are we actually getting faster? For Chris, I know he is getting faster. I see it every time we swim. Swimming is Chris' strength. He has also been doing all the swim workouts. So the big question is, how am I doing? Well, I was happy to see a 12 second improvement on my 1,000 yard swim from 4 weeks ago. Though that doesn't seem like much, it is over 1 1/2 minutes faster than when I started 11 weeks ago. So I am making some nice progress in the water.

We cut our running mileage back this week but did run the big hill course that always manages to take our heart rates up to max. Again, no sane reason why we do this to ourselves as the run course at Lake Placid is reported to be fairly flat.

Cycling through the week was reasonable, but this weekend, I will be riding from Glendora, CA up to Mt. Baldy. Any time there is a Mt. preceding the name of the place, it usually means you need to go up to get there. I did this ride last weekend. It is 22 miles of continuous climbing at grades from mild to "are you kidding me" severe. It took me 2 hours to climb to Mt. Baldy and 1 hour to get back down to my car. That should tell you something about the ride. This week Chris is out of town. Next week, we will ride this together for my third week in a row.

Thanks for keeping up with our journey.

Another Week of Ramping Up Our Training

Sunday started another week in our build phase of the training schedule. I have decided not to look too far ahead by day as it tends to both scare me and depress me. Sunday, we planned our 2 ½ hour bike ride on what we have dubbed the Brea Loop course. It takes us to Diamond Bar, through Phillips Ranch- Pomona and back through Chino Hills to Brea. It is loaded with steep hills that are helping us build a stronger cycling base.

One thing I have learned training with Chris all these years is that there is never an easy path when it comes to deciding where to do our training each day. This day, we found ourselves barreling through the course at incredible speeds. I pushed us up the hills and he lead the way on the down hills and on the flats. What should have taken us 2 ½ hours to complete, we pulled into the parking lot in just under 2 hours, a PR for us on this course. We transitioned into our running shoes and took off for a 30 minute brick. It was starting to get hot. In the back of my mind I was thinking that the dirt trails we were running just might have a rattlesnake or two out sunning themselves. It wasn’t more than a few minutes after that thought passed when we heard the distinctive rattle warning that drove both of us straight up in the air. Chris flung me to the left as we passed this 5 foot, red and yellow rattlesnake hanging out enjoying the day. Once our heart rates returned back to normal, we hurried back to our cars and called it a day.

Monday is our first swim day of the week and clearly is the easiest day we have. One workout of 2,800 yards and we are sipping our morning coffee at 6 AM. That day, we had a date with our amazing Villa Fundamental Intermediate School class that has ‘Adopted’ us! We met the class at 8:10 AM and took them through a goal setting discussion and then spent the remainder of the class time involving the students with everything we could bring related to the cycling portion of the Ironman. It was so cool seeing how engaged these young boys and girls were with everything we had to share. It became a science lesson as we brought in discussions of aerodynamics related to cycling and why our bikes can go faster than the BMX bike we had to compare ours with. Chris and I walked out that day high on life having again the opportunity to share with these great kids our love of triathlon, and feeling a sense of pride that we might be touching their lives in a positive way with our visits.

Tuesday was a 30 minute run followed by a 1:15 minute cycle class. There was nothing outrageous this day.

Wednesday was another 4:30 AM 2,800 yard swim followed by a 1:00 hour run up some very steep hills in Anaheim Hills. This workout tends to take a lot out of us. Besides its difficulty, it is the 3rd day of getting up at 3:30 AM and we are just tired.

Thursday is our long run of the week. This week we added another mile and covered 13 miles. We also included 4 - half mile pick-ups along the way. Chris just couldn’t settle for a normal 13 mile run. We worked very hard through this run and probably overdid the pick-ups in terms of speed but, what else is new?

Friday, it all finally came crashing down as today we struggled through a 2 hour bike ride followed by a 30 minute run. It was tough keeping focus but we made it. At our daily coffee shop this morning, we both knew we were registering zero in the tank. Lucky for me, I am off today so I will be home most of the day napping.

Saturday, Chris is off to Cancun for some R&R with his wife and I will be with my marathon team as they do their 13 mile run/walk. Once they have completed their training, I will finish up the day with a 2,800 yard swim.

So, it has been a great week, a tough week, and a week where we continue to get stronger and stronger. Total workout time for the week was just over 14 hours. We are only in week 11 of a 26 week training program. Stay tuned this coming week for a glimpse into our classroom experience as we should have our videotape ready of the remarkable students at Villa Fundamental School.

Good Days and Bad Days

As a marathon coach, I am always talking to my athletes about how some training days are picture perfect from start to finish. Likewise, some training days you'd be better off hanging out in bed watching I Love Lucy re-runs. Understanding this concept really makes you appreciate the good days and at the same time tolerate the bad ones.

Great advice, you say, to help my athletes be prepared mentally for either situation and to learn to cope. Sure it is, but, secretly to myself, I am thinking, 'that really doesn't apply to me' in my training for this Ironman. All my days will be good ones. So much for that philosophy!

Good Friday was a 3 1/2 hour bike ride for Chris and me and let me say, it was anything but 'good' for me. It started out perfectly with the sun shining a warmth that we hadn't felt since a day in October. We could actually wear our bike shorts without 2 layers on the top. I popped on my new tri shoes and off we went for a hilly route that would test our conditioning.

It wasn't long into the ride when I noticed no matter how hard I tried to keep up with Chris, it just wasn't happening, and we hadn't even hit the hills yet. The first hill I was spinning my way to the top right with Chris, and maybe even slightly ahead of him. Needless to say, that was the last time I saw him the rest of the morning. I soon found myself struggling with those demons inside telling me that 14 miles per hour was my top speed for the day so I had better get used to it. I felt so bad making Chris wait for me and couldn't understand why this was happening.

Of course, to top off this nightmarish ride, I ended up crashing into Chris while he was patiently waiting for me on Santiago Canyon Road (please don't ask how that actually happened). Let me say, I crashed but he remained upright. When I finally scraped myself off the road, I had what cyclists call road rash all around my left knee. Unfortunately, I've done this so many times, there isn't much skin left on the knee so the repair time is extensive.

I finally finished up the ride, threw my bike in the truck and headed home. I was dejected, not feeling much like an athlete training for an Ironman, and dreading the cleaning of the asphalt from my knee. But then it hit me; maybe this was exactly what I have been preaching for all those years. For all the good days, you are bound to have a few bad ones. That somehow put things back into perspective. Instead of selling my tri bike on eBay, I went home, took a long hot shower and set out my workout clothes for the next day's training.

Vo2 Max Testing by Fitness Engineered & Body Fat Testing

140.6 Miles receives a Proclamation from the City of Brea

Meet the Miller Support Team

It is a given that Mario Andretti has his pit crew, Bill Clinton had his cabinet, Wilt Chamberlain had 1,000 plus girlfriends, and, I, have Team Miller. Without this support team, I would never be able to take on the challenge of training for an Ironman.

It all starts with my soulmate. Imagine reading this advertisement for the position:

Incredibly good looking guy for his age (what guy doesn’t think that way about himself) looking for a soulmate. He is financially secure, has a great job, and resides in Yorba Linda, CA. He rises every morning, rain or shine, at 3:30 AM to train. You will not see him from 2 to 8 hours depending on his daily training schedule. He eats constantly and likes to think he eats somewhat healthy foods. He takes vitamins, voodoo supplements to keep colds away, and has huge canisters of powder all over the kitchen for his fluid fuel used for his workouts. He is extremely quiet around the house after 8 PM as that is almost always his bedtime. Parties like a rock star until 10 PM on the weekends and has been known to fall asleep in the middle of a conversation at a party.

What women out there wouldn’t sign up quickly for this amazing life partner? Well, enter my wife Dawn, a highly successful school administrator. She has become Team Miller Captain. She is the most supportive and understanding wife an Ironman triathlete could ever hope to find. She rarely complains about the training, takes care of me emotionally and physically and come race day, she is my biggest cheerleader for all 13 ½ hours. How lucky am I to have found her?

Training for an IM is something I could never have attempted while trying to raise my family. Sorry guys with young families but there is no sport more selfish than this one when it comes to training time. So I waited until my kids were grown to even attempt this. But, I am blessed with an incredible immediate family that motivates me out of bed every morning when the alarm goes off. My daughter, Linsey, and son in law Manny are the oldest. Linsey is a successful special education high school teacher and Manny is just a month away from his MBA from USC and has a terrific management position in pharmaceutical sales. Linsey has completed 2 marathons (I know to make her dad proud) and together they offer encouragement and support in everything I do. Their biggest accomplishment as a couple to date was providing me with the most adorable and precious granddaughter a “papa’ could ever ask for. Her picture is with me always on every ride tucked into my bento box and when I hit one of those bad patches on my bike, I open up my box and I see Makenzie and everything bad, turns good.

Next in age is my son Adam. Adam is a recent law school graduate and is working in Costa Mesa for a prestigious law firm as an associate. As a former high school and collegiate runner, he is my role model when it comes to that sport. Someday, I’d like the pleasure of crossing a finish line with him just like we did when he ran his first 5K.

Ali is my youngest daughter and she has a half marathon under her belt. A sophomore at CSU- Fullerton, she helps keep her mother occupied so that my time away training doesn’t seem so outrageous. As a psychology major, she also analyzes me constantly and now that she is studying abnormal behavior has me pegged for at least three of the more extreme illnesses.

Last, but not least is Grams, my mom. She has been my biggest supporter all my life and has stopped looking at me with those strange facial contortions when she hears about my latest venture. She instilled the quest for excellence in everything I do and a sense of pride and accomplishment that has centered me all my life. Now, at age 85, she supports me at events whenever the date doesn’t interfere with her busy social calendar.
.
So if becoming an Ironman is on your list of things to do… my first piece of advice; either become single or surround yourself with a pit crew just like I have described in Team Miller.

Weekly Review

I am sitting at the computer half asleep and half energized about my bike ride today. I had to venture off without Chris today due to our weekend scheduling conflicts. I took the day off from work. Today's ride was 3 1/2 hours and like an idiot, I went straight for the hills around our area. I haven't done much outdoor riding for the past few weeks. I figured it was time to make myself work hard. I did just that.. doing our Brea loop ride with various hill repeats thrown in to make me suffer even more. Self inflicted suffering... what was I thinking?

I covered 47 miles and didn't quite get in 3 1/2 hours. It was more like 3:10. It was slow going up these rather steep hills. I kept telling myself this was a good thing. But, in the end, my legs were shot. Could the day before have something to do with that? Thursday, we ran 11 miles. Of course, it was supposed to be the slow long run for the week. But somehow we managed to push the pace to 9:14 per mile. OK, stop mocking us, I know that's a pedestrian pace for some of you but plenty fast enough for us.

Maybe the workout on Wednesday could have also contributed to my fatique today. Wednesday, we did our 2800 yards in the pool which for me is like a root canal without novacaine. If that weren't enough, we followed the swim immediately with a 5 mile hill run. It took us 43 minutes and we knocked this all out before 6:30 AM.

Tuesday was a bit more civilized with only a 25 minute run followed by a 1 hour spin class. We push ourselves hard in the class though. In fact, we take the bikes in the very back of the class so the instructor won't be able to see that we aren't doing one routine she is barking out. I bet spin instructors really hate people like us. Oh well....

Monday, the start of the week was the easiest of them all. Only 1 hour in the pool covering 3200 yards. The only hard part about this workout was the call time. My alarm clock went off at 3:45 AM and I begin to drink clorinated pool water at 4:30 am. There are lots of open lanes in the pool if anyone out there would like to join us.

So, in the end, this weekend will end the last week of another 'build' phase of our training. What that means exactly is anyone's guess but it sure makes me sound smart using the term. Thankfully, next week is our recovery week and we will have 3 days off. You gotta love recovery weeks.

Some things to look for this coming week: Monday, we will be doing our first VO2 Max test conducted by Pepper Erlinger and her fine company. Chris and I had this done six months ago but we wanted to re-evaluate our base line before too far into the training. Tuesday, we will be dunked into a tub for our body fat evaluation. Again, not new for us, but something we wanted to benchmark early into the training cycle. Chris would be actually writing his own blog today but I understand he has retreated to some fitness spa for the weekend trying to rid himself of those final fat pockets. We will be filming both of these sessions so stay tuned for what might NOT be a pleasant site. You might want to restrict young children from viewing these videos.

Lastly, I'd like to report about our first class encounter with Ms. Kato's amazing 7th and 8th graders from Villa Fundamental Intermediate School. They have 'Adopted' us as their athletes for the semester. We have some really great plans for our visits to the classroom. This time, we played a short Ironman video to show them what it is we do. In addition, we introduced ourselves, gave them a course outline for the semester and all our fun activities planned, shared with them our IMLP goals and some of the steps needed along the way to ensure we are successful.

After that, we introduced the SMART goal setting concept. Our purpose was to have each student develop one health or fitness goal they would like to accomplish by the end of the semester. Next time we meet, we will help them finalize their goal, identify their personal obstacles that might get in their way, and give them individual action steps needed to get them to their desired result. Each time we come back, we will review with them our progress on our IMLP goal and do the same with theirs. At the end of the semester in June, we will celebrate their successes with a huge class party. We are so excited that Ms. Kato and the principal, Mrs. Miller, gave us this opportunity to interact with these outstanding students. What better way to share our love of triathlon with young students and to hopefully, touch their lives in a positive way. We can't wait to share our next visit results with you.

I've had it... my eyes are closing and it is only 4 PM. Take care and thank you for following our journey and for supporting our cause.

Wow...how much do you get to eat?

One of the common things I get asked about training for an Ironman is "how much food do you get to eat". So I though I would post an image of my food log. As you follow along with our site you will start to see that many triathlete’s (definitely Dave and I) are Type A personalities.

A few of the Type A characteristics are being impatient, excessively time-conscious, highly competitive, and incapable of relaxation.

So how do I exhibit these characteristics?

• Impatient: I am what I am…I really have very little patience…mostly with myself, but I am working on it.
  
• Excessively time-conscious: I hate being late for anything…I pride myself on being at least twenty minutes early. You know that thing called “The 20” at the movie theater where they show all the advertisements…I usually get to see it twice.
  
• Highly competitive: All I can say is I don’t like to lose and I don’t like being passed on a training ride!
  
• Incapable of relaxation: There is always something I can be doing…like training
  

So by looking at the food diary you can see that I don’t really eat much more that 2000 calories a day plus my workout calories. There are days where I splurge if we workout for more than three hours, but because I am constantly trying to lose a few more pounds I stick to a pretty strict diet.

Workout calories are calculated based on the amount of time we train that day. I typically try and take in 240-300 calories per hour once we exceed a 1 hour day. Once we stop working out, I try to get in a recovery drink like Endurox, Slim Fast or low fat chocolate milk. After a hard cardio workout, you always want to replenish your muscle glycogen levels. It will help increase your next-workout performance and reduces post-exercise muscle damage.

The Morning Run

Today was a long run day. We ran 9 miles this morning. Each week we will add a mile to our longest run for three weeks in a row. The fourth week we cut it back by 40% for the recovery week. Next Thursday will be 10 miles.

We ran a 9:50 minute per mile pace today. This lines up with our goal to run the marathon portion of the race at a 10 minute per mile pace. The weather held out for us this morning with only a few sprinkles here and there. I was not looking forward to having to run that distance on the treadmill.

The article written by the OC Register that ran on Saturday was also printed today in the local Brea paper and is supposed to show up in the Yorba Linda Star.

Dave and I are both excited about a meeting we had with Villa Fundamental Intermediate School in Santa Ana, CA on Tuesday. With the support of North America Sports' Adopt an Athlete program and Amie Kato, health and fitness teacher at the school, we are putting together a series of lessons for a health and fitness class. We will have the opportunity to interact with 7th and 8th grade students regarding the sport of triathlon, staying active, eating healthy, as well as setting and achieving their personal goals.

With the overwhelming use of computers and the internet, video games and television, children are spending less time participating in physical activities which is causing child obesity to rise. Our goal is to serve as positive role models for the class by sharing our knowledge and past experiences with the kids to show that participation in sports can lead to improved physical, mental and social well-being as well as a positive self-image.

Getting iron-strong will for a good cause - OC Register

Hey, we made the paper. Check out the article on 140.6 Miles in the Orange County Register.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/miller-elmore-society-1981374-training-iron

A week in Seattle

I spent the week in Seattle for work and had a great time, but my training schedule was way off track. Luckily I found a hill right by the hotel and I did hill repeats for two days. My legs where toast after the second day. The weather was great, it wasn’t to cold and it only rained a couple of times.

The plane on the way home was almost two hours late, but that’s not a surprise. We sat at the terminal for an hour as they tried to figure out in the left engine had an oil leak. Eventually they decided it was good and we where off. As we taxied down the runway a passenger noticed that the crew had forgotten to latch the engine cover down…so back to the terminal for another 45 minutes. Here is a short video of my trip>>>

I also wanted to wish Taylor and her family good luck tonight. They are hosting a charity event for Taylor tonight for 250 people in St. Louis. They are going to be playing the video we made for Taylor. Check it out here>>>

We have two new profiles added to our Motivation Montage this weekend. The first is Lucia, she is 17 years old and from Blackpool in the UK. She is 17 years old and was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on the 29th March 2005. See her profile here.

Our second new profile is of Chris and he is Manchester, UK. He is 38 years old and is in remission from Hodgkin's Lymphoma. See his profile here.

Do you need a little motivation to make a difference?

We have another new member in our Motivation Montage named Taylor Warren. She is 5 years old and living with High Risk B-Pre Cell ALL since September 2007. You can visit here profile to learn more about here by clicking here.

You can also get a taste of what Taylor is going through by checking out her video by clicking here.

Fun at the gym

Today was a swim/run day, fairly easy. At the gym at 4:30am and got in 2000 yards and then a 45 minute run on the treadmill. The pool was empty and a little warmer today, which is unusual but good.

No major events other that an uncharged iPod, an exploded toothpaste container in my toiletry bag (good thing I just shaved my head and I didn't have to try to get all the toothpaste out of my brush) and a one pair of MIA running socks.

We also have a new member in our Motivation Montage. Bianca is the cutest 4 year old little girl from New Zealand that is living with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia since June 2007. Read more about Bianca by clicking here.

Online Charity Aution Is Almost Here

We have begun to collect the product for our online auction. We have received a ton of support from the triathlon and running suppliers. We hope to have the auction up the first week of March. Here is a sample of the products you will see:

Tri-Swim and Trislide productsYankz Shoe Laces (qty. 6)
Core Performance Book sign by Pro Triathlete Jessi Stensland
Runner Core DVD and Audio CD by Coach Al Lyman
Beacker Concepts HydroTail
Beacker Concepts SpeedFold
Beacker Concepts VasoSocks
Headsweats Ironman All Terrain
Headsweats Ironman Fast Splits
Rocket Science Sports Espresso/Ice Blue Elite Transition Backpack
Rocket Science Sports Red Real Jane/Joe Backpack
Rocket Science Sports Transition Mat
Rocket Science Sports Timing Chip Strap
Rocket Science Sports Red Race Belt
Rocket Science Sports Thermal Swim Cap
Rocket Science Sports Dimpled Water Bottles (2)
Clif Bar products
Trigger Point Plantar Fasciitis Kit
Road ID gift cards (qty. 2)

Road ID Firefly Super Nova Light
Coffee Bean Gift Basket
Kynesis Gift Basket
Motor Tabs products (qty. 6)
Endurance Films DVD’s
Nuun hydration tablets for a year (36 Bottles)

Sport Skirts BikeGirl Skirts (3 pair)

Spinervals DVD's (qty. 6)

Thanks again to everyone who has donated to our charity auction. If you are interested in donating a product of any type (does not have to be triathlon related) to the charity auction please contact me at chris@140miles.com.

You know you're in a hurry when....

...you are late for a ride and you change in your car....hmmm, something just doesn't feel right...whatever, I got to get going. About 10 minutes into the ride after sitting down from a climb you notice that your bike seat feel's really hard today...BAM, that's when it hits you. You are 3 miles out on a busy highway with no cover around for miles and you realize your bike shorts are on backwards.

What do you do? Well about 16 miles later I found a park with a bathroom. Won't make that mistake again...I hope.

Pool Tournament

All I can say is I lost in the first round to a girl who had never played before. At least I sank myself by dropping the 8 ball.

This is proof that I spend all my time training and not playing pool.

Dinner time!

We rode for 2 hours and 30 minutes today in Santiago Canyon. The weather was great. We both agree that we are out of hill climbing shape.

I was busy all morning and really didn't eat much all day, so tonight I am inhaling a whole lot of sushi. We are having a little crunch roll, baby lobster roll, spicy tuna roll, magic roll, and some tuna sashimi.

I fell pretty pathetic after watching this

So last year while training for Ironman Coeur d'Alene Dave and I would go down on Friday mornings and swim in the bay in Long Beach. We would get started around 5:30am just as the sun was rising. The water is always so cold but really glassy at that time of day.

It started off like any other morning with a slow shimmy into the water. I was swimming just ahead of Dave as I rounded the buoys and was now swimming into the sunrise. It really is an awesome sight seeing the sun glistening off of the water. About 300 yards in as I was coming up for a breathe I see a massive animal (this could be an exaggeration...I tried very hard to erase this from my memory) come busting out of the water about an arms length in front on me. I have never seen anyone transition into a backstroke and scream as load as I did. I think I woke the entire city of Naples.

As I began to hyperventilate I dunked my head into the water to see what it was. As I tried to look around I couldn’t see anything beyond eight inches of my face. So I made a mad dash for the shore and as I came running out of the water an Asian man walking on the shore had seen the whole thing. Very excited he shouted at me shea…shea….shea. A shark I said…no, no…shea. He had such an accent I couldn’t understand him. I eventually came to the conclusion that it must have been the local seal that hangs out in the bay.

They funny part was Dave never knew what happened. He just kept on swimming and I wasn’t about to get back in and tell him.

Later that day Dave told me he found the ancient Chinese definition of Shea on the internet. Shea: The act of screaming like a girl….ha, ha, ha.

So know you can watch the following video and see why I feel a light pathetic...

140.6 Miles will kick off with a Super Bowl Party

Well the time has gone by so quickly. It feels like we just got done training for Coeur d’Alene and it is already time to start the Ironman journey again. Goodbye to sleeping in and late nights…hello 3:30am wakeups, dark morning rides/runs, and 9pm bed times (not that I wasn’t asleep on the coach at 7pm already).

Monday starts our 24 week training plan for the IM Lake Placid which takes place on July 20th. The plan that we are using is by Rich Strauss over at EnduranceNation.us averages between 14 and 17 hours of training per week with a recover week every forth week (yeah…we get two days off every 4 weeks).

So to kick it off right we are hosting a Super Bowl charity party this Sunday. This will be our last chance to party it up, because after this it is strict dieting...at least until we get to the 4-6 hour bike rides or the 15-20 mile runs. I eat whatever I can get my hands on those days, so don't get to close.

The party agenda includes a football pool, billiards tournament, a Wii challenge, bingo and a shave Chris' head donation.

Starting on Monday we will be training for 4 weeks before our first day off from training...I am already looking forward to it.

The training plan pretty much goes as follows:

Monday 4:30 am Swim
Tuesday 5:00am Abs / Spin Class / Run
Wednesday 4:30am Swim / Run
Thursday 5:30am Long Run
Friday 4:30am Long bike / Run
Saturday 6:00am Swim / Run
Sunday 7:30am Long Ride

Cadence - The Tri Dog

We got a new dog last week. We went back-and-forth on the name and finally came to Cadence - The Tri Dog. She is a 3 month old Labrador. She gets along great with our 14 month old boxer named Sage. Now if we can only get her potty trained!!!

Check out the video>