Tri-ing For Hailey

Swim, Bike, Run, Give Back

I Finished The Ironman

Sunday, September 12th is a day I will never forget!  My Ironman weekend actually started on Friday, when Pete and I drove up to Madison to check in and get our transition bags, timing chip and other freebies they were handing out.  Pete’s parents were kind and let us spend the weekend at their house.  It was great to have home cooked meals and a nice bed to sleep in.  That night we also went to the welcome dinner.  After hearing all the hype at the dinner both Pete and I wanted the event to be the next day.  We still had lots to do though.  On Saturday we slept in a bit and then went for a short bike ride to make sure our bikes were in good working order, then went down to drop off our bikes and transition bags.  After dropping off our stuff we went for a quick swim in the lake.  Saturday was a crazy day trying to get everything ready for the next day.  For both us an our family and friends coming to watch.

On Sunday we woke up at 4:00 a.m., had some breakfast amidst nervous chatter and then started out for the Monona Terrace.  We got down there a bit after 5, found our bikes, pumped up our tires, put food and drink on the bike and put some last minute supplies in our transition bags.  From there it was getting our bodies marked, putting our wetsuits on and heading down to the water.

The way down to the water was a mess.  People were so slow to get into the water as they didn’t want to have to tread water for a few extra minutes.  Ironman Wisconsin is a wet start which means you have to start in deep water.  We made it into the water just as the National Anthem was being played.  We tried to pay respect as we slowly made our way to the place we wanted to start.  As we got out there we had about 2 minutes then BANG, the cannon went off and away we went.

The start of the swim is an amazing site to see, but it is rough when you are in the middle of it.  We were about 6 rows from the front when we started and it was rough.  You could barely get a full stroke in without hitting someone or being hit by someone else.  About 100 yards in I was kicked in the face and my left goggle fell off my face.  I made the mistake of sitting up a bit to stop and try and put the goggle back on.  I was dunked over and over until I could get going again.  It was a little scary while that was happening, but after that I got in a good rhythm and finished my swim in what I thought was record time!  From there it was out of the water, through the wetsuit strippers, past all my awesome fans, through the transition area and onto the bike.

The bike was long, but it was great.  There was a bit of a wind that kicked up on the second loop but I felt great.  I rode hard, but kept it conservative so I could be sure to have energy on the run.  It was great to see my family and friends out there as I was riding through.  They looked great in their green Team Hailey shirts.  It was also really cool to see how many people were out on the course cheering us on.  There were a few hills where I could have thought I was in the Tour de France.  The road was so packed with people you had to go up single file.  When I got off of the bike and was heading out on the run I couldn’t have been more happy.  I felt fresh and if I could run the marathon I wanted I would finish in under 12 hours.  I was super happy so far.

That was all great until mile 4.  Around mile 4 I hit a wall of pain in my stomach.  It really hurt.  I could barley breath when I was running because it was cramping so much.  To make matters worse I couldn’t get anything down.  Water was about the only thing it could tolerate.  I would try to eat gu with ice cubes to make it seem less like food, but even that wouldn’t stay down.  I ended up walking about 18 miles total in the marathon.  The walking brought me down to a 13:48 min /mile pace, but I was moving forward and that was all that matter.  It was a really hard struggle in my head.  I had done the first two events so well, I had a lot of fans out there watching me and I just couldn’t go any faster.  I was pretty bummed.  Around mile 18 I caught up with a man named Joe.  He was doing the run and walk stuff I was doing and was running into similar issues.  The cool thing about Joe was, was that I ran with him during the half Ironman I did in Door County about 3 months earlier.  It was great to try and finish it out with him, but about 2 miles left I couldn’t keep up any longer.  I was beat and the running was making me so dizzy I was feeling like I was drunk.  I tried to make the the last two miles as fast as I could.  I knew I would finish and that helped lighten up my mood a bit.  Throughout the walk family and friends were there cheering me on and I wasn’t in the best mood because I felt like I was letting them down with my slow times.  They were great.  They stayed out until the end and Michelle even walked/ran with me for a little bit.  I finished in 13 hours and 43 minutes.  It was great to be under 14 hours with all the walking, but it was definitely not as fast as I would have liked.

Back to my fans.  I can’t thank everyone enough.  I couldn’t have done it without you guys.  The 36 weeks of training were hard, I had to miss a lot of events, but when I got through that finish line and saw everyone there with smiling faces even though I was two hours late was amazing.  My mood sucked, but they were great.  I couldn’t have imagined doing this alone.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that helped me out and donated to our cause.  This is a memory that will last my lifetime.

Adam

Estimated Times/Locations for Ironman

T-11 hours until Ironman begins!  Here are some estimates I put together for spectators about where I might be at what time.  These are based on my paces in 2008 – I would be happy to be able to match them!  I hope to see you there!

7:00am – SWIM START

8:30am – SWIM FINISH

8:30am – 8:40am Transition

8:40am – BIKE START

9:35am – Bike: South side of Verona (#7 on map, 15 miles)

10:20am – Bike: Mount Horeb (#1 on map, 29 miles)

11:21am – Bike: Timber Lane & Midtown Rd. (#2 on map, 47 miles)

11:40am – Bike: Downtown Verona (#3 on map, 53 miles)

11:55am – Bike: South side of Verona (#7 on map, 57 miles)

12:43pm – Bike: Mount Horeb (#1 on map, 71 miles)

1:45pm – Bike: Timber Lane & Midtown Rd. (#2 on map, 89 miles)

2:02pm – Bike: Downtown Verona (#3 on map, 94 miles)

3:04pm – BIKE FINISH

3:04pm – 3:14pm Transition

3:14pm – RUN START

8:00pm – RUN/IRONMAN FINISH!!

-Pete

My last long workout in the books!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

This past week has been full of great workouts.  My workouts included:

• 30 mile ride that I finished at 19.7 mph
• 3800 yard swim that I did at 1:40 / 100 yards
• 4300 yard swim at 1:45 / 100 yards and then a 7 mile run with Michelle where we pushed hard through miles 3, 4 & 5
• 14 mile run where I didn’t stop at all and averaged 8:28 min /mile
• 3800 yard swim at 1:45 / 100 yards

I wanted my last long workout to be something strong and something that would give me some confidence going into my two weeks of taper.  For this workout I decided to do a 112 mile bike ride.  I haven’t done anything over 100 miles and I wanted to see what those extra 12 miles felt like.  I also wanted to do it on a route that had some good hills.  The route ended up only having about 200 feet less of climbing than the Ironman course so I was pleased with that.  The morning of the ride was nice and cool, but about 3 hours into the ride it was very hot, even with a 10 – 20 mph wind.  I thought going east and west would be good since the wind was coming out of the south west.  Going out I knew I would have the wind at my side and at my face for most of the ride, but what I didn’t expect is that the wind would shift a bit and be at my face on the way home too.  I only got about 11 miles where the wind was at my back which made for a long ride!  I could tell the wind was getting bad when I reached a hill I had gone down before.  Last time I went down it, I hit 43 mph, this time I only hit 26 mph.  I was pleased with the ride, but a little sad I didn’t bring more food along with.  I could have used about two more powerbars.  You can check out the output from my bike computer here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/46619799.

Looking Forward…

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve posted!  That should tell you, without a doubt, that training is in full swing.  There’s no way I could possibly recount the last two+ months, but here are a few highlights:

• My 27th birthday!
• Door County Half-Ironman – delayed due to lightening, crashed on the bike going through an aid station
• Open water swims in Lake Michigan with 4+ft swells
• My good friends Kyle and Erica’s wedding
• A week away from a bike and pool in Washington DC for work
• Lots of quality time with my family and girlfriend Trisha!

This summer has been a blur, but a fantastic one.  It has been great to look back and savor the peak moments, and especially the quiet moments of calm, which are rare and precious.

As I read the count-down timer on the front page of triingforhailey.com, 16 days until race day, I can’t help but to look forward.

• I’m looking forward to the taper – the next ~2.5 weeks will bring some much needed rest as the workouts shorten to repair for race day.
• I’m looking forward to the Monona Terrace – the Friday and Saturday before race day will be bustling with excitement, loads of beautiful bikes, and fellow racers.
• I’m looking forward to the weather forecast – the last time I raced Ironman in 2008, the weather was absolutely perfect.  Low to mid 70’s with a slight breeze.  There’s no way this year could possibly be so perfect, but I hope its close.  I feel like the last task on my training plan will be to mentally (and equipment-wise) prepare for the race day weather.

Most of all, I’m looking forward to seeing you, in the middle of a sea of bright green Triing for Hailey Ironman shirts, at the finish line.  Please come cheer Adam and me on in Madison on Sunday, September 12th.  I sincerely look forward to seeing you there!

-Pete

Almost Taper Time!

Starting this coming Sunday (08/29/2010) I will start my two week taper.  I have been busting my butt for almost 34 weeks now and the two week taper will allow me to hopefully heal my sore muscles and rest up.  This doesn’t mean that I will be sitting around doing nothing, I am just not going to being doing brick workouts and pushing myself super hard.  During these two weeks I hope to do some good speed workouts with short distances and also work on my transitions.  Thats the future, this is what I have been doing over the past week or so.

4300 yard swims with 6 mile runs

4300 yard swims with 7 mile run.  This run was hard as Michelle and I pushed super hard through miles 4, 5 & 6.

30 & 40 mile bike rides during the week.

3800 yard swim with a 50 mile bike ride on the weekend.

2 mile open water swim

I am looking forward to finishing up this week hard with a 14 mile run, 3800 yard swim and a 90 mile bike ride with a 10 mile run.  I am really excited it is not 90 and super humid any more.  At least for now!

4 Weeks Left

Pete and I have been training now for 32 weeks.  We have 4 more left to go!  Two hard weeks then two weeks of taper.  I am getting more and more excited and nervous as the days go on.  Over the past week I have done:\

19 mile run (about 16.5 of running, 2.5 of walking…. It was hot)

70 mile bike ride w/ 1 hr 23 minute run

30 mile bike ride w/ 5 mile run

4300 m swim w/ 3 mile run

2800 m swim w/ 3 mile run

6 mile runs

30 mile bike rides indoors on the trainer

11 mile run

The weeks are getting tough as my body is really starting to feel the toll of working out so much.  I hope I can hang in there for the next two long weeks without injuring myself before the taper period.

It’s Getting Close

Looking at our site I noticed two things.  One is that we only have 37 days left until the race and the other is that I have not posted in a while.  I can’t believe how time consuming training for an ironman is.  Lately it has been a part time job.  I have logged 16 – 19 hours a week in workouts over the last 3 weeks.  I am happy this week I have a rest week.  Over the past few weeks I have been doing a lot of biking and swim / run brick workouts.  Pete and I have been working on our open water swimming by cruising up and down the Lake Michigan coast around Oak Creek, WI.  The open water swimming has been great practice.  I am getting nervous about the race since I only have 3 more weeks of hard training left.  I need to hit these next 3 weeks hard to make sure I am as prepared as possible.  I hope to keep this blog a bit more up-to-date in the next few weeks!

Update On Hailey

Today, Brian posted an update on Hailey.  Unfortunately the post did not have much good news.  They received the results from Hailey’s MRI and found out her tumor has grown as much as 20%.  They are not sure exactly how much it has grown, but that was their initial thought.  The good news in the post was that Hailey’s ventrical has gown down to a normal size after her surgery.  Please read Brian’s post at www.teamhailey.org to get all the details.

Under Two Months Until Ironman!!

It has been a long time since I have been on here to post something.  These past few weeks have been very busy and when I have had downtime, I just wanted to do nothing.  Over the past few weeks I have accomplished a lot with workouts and races.  With the countdown around 50 days, I am happy where I am both physically and mentally.  Here is what I have been up to lately:

My week days have been almost as tough as my weekends.  During one week I did 4 miles of swimming, 23 miles of running and 150 miles of biking.  My weekends consist of long bike rides followed by a run or long runs.  All of which are followed by a nap and relaxation.

Besides long workouts, I also competed in the Door County half Ironman. 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run.  I completed the race in 5 hrs and 43 minutes.  I am pretty happy with this time.  Overall I felt good, but I kinda blew up on the run around mile 8.5.  I was on pace of about 8:55 min/mile before then, and by the end I was at 9:46 min/mile.  I hope this doesn’t happy so quickly in the Ironman race.

I’m looking forward to the next 50 days of training & hope I can stay healthy throughout.