Ok, so I promised to blog more often earlier this year and as it turns out that was the wrong thing to promise. Sorry about that. It could be that training for triathlon and Ironman this season basically took over my life more than I ever thought it possibly could, or it could be that I still am not used to the blogging thing, or…oh, well.
Excuses, excuses…right?
Tri season is over for me in 2008 with 2 IM DNFs and a improved finish (PB) at the 5430 EAS Boulder Long Course (Half Ironman) triathlon. The bottom line looks pretty bad (you know, the 2 DNFs); but to be honest, I did learn a lot this year about going long as well as acquiring an improved endurance base; so as I look to the 2009 triathlon season I am extremely optomistic.
I just need to tweak some things — especially in the area of nutrition and calorie intake when competing at the IM distance especially on the bike, improving my overall fitness, and getting down in weight a bit more to around 205 pounds – and I think things will go much better next year. I am also looking forward to racing more now every season. The first three years of triathlon for me (this year was my third full year in the sport) were a sort of “getting to know the sport and finding out what I can and cannot push” sort of period; but know I feel confident about getting in many more races every year. Time to take the training wheels off and now go into each year with a full schedule of training and races to compete in. I’ll have to check with my IM/Triathlon coach over the next few months to work out a schedule for next season. I’m looking forward to it.
After taking a week and a half off after IM Louisville, I got back to working out and my first run of the off season was excellent as my max speed dipped to a sub-6:00/mile pace for a quick spurt.
Well, that’s about it for now…and I promise to blog more often! Seriously, I promise…
Yep, IM AZ is over and I came up 1 loop (or 8 miles) short. I’m sort of getting more down as the days seperate me from the race but I actually raced until they had to pull me off the course. I never quit racing up until the end of the day when at mile 18.2 of the marathon I came upon the course closure. I had been racing extremely hard for 15 hrs and 44 minutes and my day was officially done at 10:44 pm.
April 10th (9:29pm)… Registration was a snap today down at Tempe Beach Park. I got everything a growing Ironman-to-be needs: race numbers, transition bag numbers, some extra nutrition, a last list of athlete instructions, some great IM souveniers, etc, etc., etc. I saw Paula Newby-Fraser doing some work in front of the camera for Ironman.com and when I found her again to get a picture of her with me she was heading off to lunch (with a just-purchased sandwich) so I didn’t want to bug her. I’ll have my chance in the future for a photo-op. I also had a chance to meet Michellie Jones — she’s just great BTW and as nice as she seems when she gets interviewed. I got a nice pic of her and I at the expo; I’ll post it soon. The expo wasn’t as large as I thought it would be (the Accenture Chicago Triathlon is still the largest event expo I’ve been to) but it was nice, though. It’s a thrill to just walk in an Ironman venue as an actual Ironman race participant knowing that come Sunday if all goes well I’ll be an official Ironman. Mary took lots of photos today and will post them soon. BTW, if you’re ever in Tempe, go get some food at The Pita Jungle. The food is outstanding and their hummus is some of the best and freshest Mary and I have ever had (served with fresh out of the oven hot pitas; yummy). That’s it for today; gotta go get some rest. Jeff
April 10th (10:40 am)…Hello from beautiful (and sunny) Tempe, Arizona. Mary and I finally arrived at our hotel in Chandler, AZ which is about 15 minutes from the IM race site at about 11pm last night. I skipped the extra swim practice in Tempe Town Lake as I thought it would be more important to get rested before all the activities start up later this morning at the IM site. plus, there is another practice swim tomorrow so I’ll still get a nice — albeit brief — open water session in before Sunday’s race. I’ve been doing great in the pool the last few months and I enjoy open water swimming as well as being very comfortable in an open water environment so the extra rest was crucial as I look forward to the next few days. I just completed a very successful 30 minute run this morning so that was just a lot of fun. I’ve had some great runs while in Arizona over the years and this morning was no different. I’m looking forward to a very successful run on Sunday as well — that is as long as I keep focused and stay in the moment. That’s it for now, I’ll post a little bit later today about the expo and packet pickup. I hope everyone has a wonderful afternoon and I’ll be in touch soon. Jeff
Ok, so this should be my last post before leaving for IM Arizona.
The forecast for race day in Tempe just keeps getting better and better…NOT! ;-)Temps are now supposed to be in the low to mid 90s! Mostly sunny too, so no cloud cover as originally thought. So much for mid 50s and partly cloudy. Holy cow that’s going to be nice and toasty, especially on the 2nd half of the bike and during the very short out and back, three loop run. Just like racing in the Boulder 5430 Triathlon Series last summer.
Just a final post before I leave for Ironman Arizona in Tempe, Arizona on Wednesday for the race on 04.13.08. It’s quite amazing how time flies and the event date is now just days away. My goal is to post to my blog while I’m in Arizona so please look here for IM AZ updates.
My taper has been very productive with some solid SBR workouts and I am ready as I’ve ever been for an Ironman. Actually, since I’ve never done one of these things who knows what awaits me during the 140.6 mile trip. All I know is what I have read about, talked to those who have done them before, and what I’ve found online.
It should be quite interesting.
I’m not going to predict any finishing times; as from what I’ve read, the last thing you want to do in your first Ironman is to start making predictions, especially of a timing nature. I definitely have an idea of what I’d like to do as far as finishing times for each of the three disciplines, and a overall finishing time; but I’ll let you know how my actual times stack up against what I think when all is said and done. I guess I’m superstitious that way especially for my first IM.
Well, that’s it for now. I hope to keep you up to date while I’m in Tempe as that is the plan. BTW, temps are supposed to be in the mid 80s. It was 32 degrees (F) in Boulder today — about a 50 degree difference; give or take a degree! The warmest temps I trained outside in has been 72 degrees (F).
As I write this there is only 20 days remaining before I toe the line — or I should say; seriously treading water — at the start of the 2008 IM Arizona in Tempe, Arizona on April 13, 2008. The cannon will fire at 7am for us age groupers to start our Ironman quest and then after a little hot and heavy swim, bike, and run action — and all goes according to plan – I should become an Ironman!My training is going well; and I’m putting in the miles in the pool, getting better average speeds and harder daily efforts on my CompuTrainer over much longer distances (as it’s still winter here in Colorado), and running like a madman outside by trying to get as many running miles under my belt as possible before the madness and excitement start on April 13th.A great jumpstart to my IM training was the Counterpart Coaching Winter Triathlon Camp I attended in SoCal last month. What I personally accomplished in Yucca Valley during those 10 days helped push my confidence beyond the point of just wanting to finish my first-ever Ironman to seeing how fast I can actually accomplish my IM finish on my first-ever IM attempt. Since I’ve returned to cold and snowy Colorado. my IM training has been pushed into overdrive and I haven’t looked back since.All in all it’s been a great journey so far and I look forward to more of these journeys as I look past IM Arizona in less than 3 weeks to IM Louisville at the end of August and beyond.
I’m finally back home in Highlands Ranch, Colorado after participating in the Counterpart Coaching Winter Triathlon Camp featuring Chris “Macca” McCormack in Yucca Valley, California; and all I can say is that the camp was a complete success for me. Personally, I was able to accomplish absolutely everything I set out to accomplish and then some before arriving in Yucca Valley. I got the work done, got to meet some great coaches and wonderful campers, and I got to meet and eventually got to know Macca as well as Kerry Classen.
My total distances for the camp were as follows: 12.6k Swim (7.83 miles), 422.81 Biking miles, and 26.70 Running miles. The total training distance for myself during the 10 days of camp was 457.34 miles.
I purposely got into camp a day early to settle in, meet some of the coaches and staff, and to take full advantage of the extra workout before camp started — and I’m definitely glad I did. The pre-camp camp workout on Friday, February 1st (a 32.93 mile bike ride in Joshua Tree National Park followed by a 5.55 mile run) got me 100% focused and energized on how to mentally approach the camp when it started the next day in addition to helping me to begin to prepare myself for the tough physical and mental challenges and heavy workload I knew would be coming as the training camp wore on. It was also very nice to get the body in motion after a long travel day before camp officially started. This was my first-ever camp of this type (I think only one other camper was also a first-timer) and although the schedule looked pretty tough at the start; the way everything was arranged by Mitch and Company at Counterpart Coaching made the scheduling doable for a first-timer.
In addition to getting the work done, which included a 107.48 mile bike the last day of camp for the Tour de Palm Springs Century Ride, meeting and then getting to know Chris (Macca) and Kerry was a tremendous experience. I really learned alot — and that is an understatement to be sure – from these awesome pro triathletes that will not only help me in training and competitions as I get ready to go long at the IM distance this year; but for many years to come as I work hard to improve myself in this great sport of triathlon.
The training workload was difficult at times (as expected, of course; it wouldn’t be any fun if it was all easy, would it?!?!) as we were on the move every single day for the entire 10 days. Although the emphasis was on biking with almost every day in the saddle, we got plenty of swim and run workouts in as well. Mitch really got the most out of all our quality training time as we split training locations between Yucca Valley, Palm Springs, and San Diego, CA. Also, the Counterpart Coaching Staff were always accessible, friendly, and very effective in motivating all the campers to get the most out of our efforts. I cannot say enough good things about Mitch, Linnea, Scott, Billy, and the entire coaching staff at Counterpart Coaching. With that being said, I highly recommend any of the Counterpart Coaching (CPC) Camps if you really want to push yourself and to really improve yourself in the sport of triathlon.
It was a fantastic 10 days of training.
For more information on any of the Counterpart Coaching Camps, the friendly CPC staff, to get some great triathlon training tips, and to join the ever-growing CPC community, please visit CPC at http://www.counterpartcoaching.com/index.php.
I leave tomorrow for the Chris McCormack/Counterpart Coaching Winter Triathlon Camp in Palm Springs CA. Mitch and Counterpart Coaching has put together a tremendous schedule and the camp should just be a blast! In addition to training with Macca for the week — as well as my fellow campers – professional triathlete Kerry Classen will be joining our group for the week as well. This is going to be epic!
I won’t be carrying my laptop with me so I’ll post a recap when I get back to Colorado.
Ok, first off, I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything on my blog in quite awhile (read: almost forever) as I keep forgetting I have a blog (and there may be some people who might want to read the goings-on in my life — one can only hope, you know!). I promise I will try to be a better blogger in the future.
Anyway…I just signed up with the Chris McCormack/Counterpart Coaching Winter Triathlon Training Camp in Palm Springs CA from February 1-10, 2008. Yep, I will be training with the world champ in just over 12 weeks (the webpage for the camp is located at http://www.counterpartcoaching.com/camps/winter2008.php).
So if that’s not a bit intimidating, I don’t know what is!!! The main thing is that whole camp is going to be a great learning experience being able to train side-by-side not only with other triathlon-dedicated campers, but Chris “Macca” McCormack himself. It should be hard work, but a lot of fun. I can’t wait…and I better get myself on the bike before February…alot!
