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:
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.
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!!!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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
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.
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" 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.
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!
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.
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.
