RACE DAY REVIEW - The aftermath

In the end, both Jodee and I finished the 2010 IronMan Louisville...and that was our main goal.

As tough as the last 4+ months were, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't any sadness that it's over. When you dedicate that much of your life to something...it's hard when it's done.

We both agreed that the best description of the race and how we did were those two words: "We Finished."

We'll take at least one year off from the IronMan but I'm sure we'll put ourselves to the test again someday.

Thank you to everyone who helped us out and inspired us along the way. Without all of the help and inspiration...we wouldn't have been able to make this happen.

Most of all I'd like to thank Jodee always inspiring me to train hard and do better.

Better than I ever think I can...I love you.

So thank you all again...and until next time!!!

Bri

RACE DAY REVIEW - Finished!

Finally I was done!

My time: 13 hours 41 minutes and 2 seconds.

It was over.

I had climbed the mountain once again.

I got to hear the oh so sweet words: "Brian Hollenbeck...YOU...ARE...AN...IRONMAN!!!"

They never sounded so good!

Doing an IronMan pushes the human body to its limits and I was thankful mine held up enough to get me through it.

RACE DAY REVIEW - The Run

After "getting my head together" and again being covered in sunscreen in transition, I headed out on the 26.2 mile run to finish the race. I was feeling surprisingly good as I hit the streets of Louisville.

My first mile was sub-8 minutes even though I was trying to "take it easy." I figured even if I ran the same time as I did last year, I'd beat my time from Madison and if I could cut any time off I'd be within reach of breaking the 13-hour mark.

At about mile 3 the "wheels started to come of the bus" as I suddenly had a huge pain in my right foot. Had it been a lesser amount of pain I'd have thought I had a giant blister formed on my foot, but it felt more like the bottom of my foot had been torn open from the ball of the foot to the start of the arch.

Being only 3 miles in I wasn't sure how such a thing could have formed so quickly, but the fact was it was there and I just had to suck it up and deal with it for at least 4 more hours of running.

The temp for the day was at its highest - 96 degrees and humid - and it began to take its toll on nearly all of us. As I neared the first turn around point I began to see more and more people on the sides of the course and the sight/sound of the ambulance was a regular thing.

I was regularly alternating between running and walking at this point and had a couple of nice conversations along the way. Aid stations are located every mile of an IronMan run course (which rules!) and the first and last things offered at each one are cold, wet sponges. IronMan runners get to be very creative of how the hold onto their sponges and where they figure out how they can keep them attached to themselves. I myself took one set at the beginning and another at the end of each station and squeezed them over my head, back, chest and arms.

Beverages was about the only other thing I could take from the aid stations because the thought of eating anything solid was not a good one. I only choked down one gel on the whole run course. For the record, I should have had at least 4 or 5.

Much like the bike, the first lap of the run was never ending and after getting my special needs bag I was getting close to the turn around again. Much like last year we got frustratingly close to the finish line before turning around and heading out for lap #2.

Unlike last year, this didn't do as much to inspire me as I made the turn and headed back for my second lap. At this point I knew my hopes of cutting time were long gone and as I saw more and more medics treating more and more runners, I really just wanted to get through it.

I made my way back out to the last turn around as I continued to feel worse. I was able to keep alternating between walking and some kind of slow, running-type motion.

The sun had gone down by the time I crossed the mile 25 marker. Not long after I was "running" and as I stopped, a fellow runner yelled at me and said "C'mon, don't stop now! We're too close...let's run this thing out!" So I kept running and stayed just behind him as we made the turn onto 4th street and saw the bright lights of the finish line.

I somehow kept running through the chute before a volunteer helped me stay standing and gave me my medal, finisher's hat and shirt.

Final run time: 5 hours 25 minutes and 12 seconds - exactly 24 minutes slower than last year.

RACE DAY REVIEW - The Bike

After being covered in sunscreen by the volunteers, I headed out on the 112 mile bike course and I was feeling good. The air was warm, the first 10 miles were flat and everything was feeling good. We headed out of Louisville into what was some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen.

At about mile 14 or 15 we began to see riders coming back the other direction on the road we were on before starting a long decent between two rock cliffs on each side of us. There ended up being a series of 3 sets of long (.5 - .75 mile each) ups and downs before we turned around and went back through them again.

It was about this time that I figured the "rolling" hills I had heard about were more than just "rolling" - they were going to be long and they were going to be hard.

We started our first "loop" of the middle of the bike course as the sun began to pound down on us. The first loop seemed to be never ending. It was just hill after hill after hill. The biggest thing was that none of the downhills seemed to "feed-into" any of the uphills. At every aid-station I dumped a bottle of water over my head before drinking some of it.

Finally the first loop ended and not long after I reached mile 65 where my "special needs" bag was. I loaded back up on gels and energy drink and headed out to complete the second lap. By this time I couldn't look at another piece of bar and the thought of having any more gel was almost unthinkable.

I managed to choked down my gel every hour and drank my fluids like I knew I needed to.

The temperature continued to climb as the ride went on. The medical vans and ambulances seemed to be more and more of a common sight as the ride went on and on. I wondered how many of us would finish the day.

Finally I reached mile 90 and it was time to head back towards downtown Louisville. My time was good in spite of my pace slowing down. The last 10 miles or so of any long ride are ALWAYS the longest. It was at this point I really began to feel like crap and even thought my overall time was good I began to wonder how I'd feel when I started the run.

At about mile 105 or so a cyclist came flying past me and all I could think of was: "Wow...who the hell can have THAT much "kick" at this point in the ride on such a hot and humid day?" As I looked down at his leg where they mark your age I was further humbled to read "62" on his calf. I began to think to myself that I was pretty impressed, until about a half mile later I saw the same guy laid out on the road side with two EMTs working on him. Then I was thankful I still had the sense not to push it quite that hard. (or so I thought?)

I came back into the transition area and was happy to see I was in earlier than last year, despite the heat and humidity. As I got off my bike it hit me that maybe I went a little too hard and the lack of nutrition on the course was catching up to me.

When I took my first step off my bike I was a little "wobbly" which in and of itself was not that out of the ordinary. Your legs and hips tend to get stiff from doing one motion (in this case biking) for more than 6 and a half hours straight. But it was the rainbow spectrum of colors that I saw in my peripheral vision that told me something wasn't quite right with me.

Two different times the volunteers asked if I was okay but I didn't want to get taken out of the race or held up with a medical exam (like Jodee did last year) and thought if I could get to the changing tent, take a seat and get some water, that I'd feel better.

I was right and after a healthy 14:00 minute transition, along with 3 big cups of water, I was headed out to the run. All in all, this bike course was harder and much more grueling than Madison last year.

Final bike time: 6 hours 35 minutes 30 seconds - more than 10 minutes faster than last year.

RACE DAY REVIEW - The Swim

The 2.4 mile swim started here at a marina in downtown Louisville. We jumped into the Ohio river every 2 seconds and headed up-stream between an island and the shoreline.

The water temp was a balmy 85 degrees so it didn't take long for the swim to get just a little uncomfortable.

Of course the locals who asked us: "y'all swimming in the Ohio River??? You better not open your mouth!" didn't help with the comfort level either.

But as we headed up-stream we went past the end of the island, which was where the course map showed we then turned, but we headed up a bit further (about 3 water buoys extra) and finally began to turn left to get out into the main part of the river to head back down-stream.

Right as I was making the turn, the sun popped up from the horizon line and for a moment I thought how beautiful it was. It was to be this same sun that would have quite an affect on not only myself, but many of the 2,996 racers that day in Louisville.

I made it down-stream, under the two bridges we swam under (very clean bridges I must say) and finally made it to the end of the swim feeling pretty good. No major physical "altercations" like last year; except for the freak who grabbed my leg and held on for a second or two early-on in the swim which was a little weird.

As the volunteer pulled me up out of the water I looked down at my watch as was happy to see 1 hour 17 minutes and change. I knew this was at or under my time from last year. Being this was a non wetsuit race versus a wetsuit race last year, I was very happy.

Official swim time was 1:17:16 - 42 seconds faster than last year.

Onto transition #1 and the bike.

RACE DAY REVIEW - Race Morning

Well, 2:45am came pretty early but we needed to be out of the room by 4:00am so Jodee could get down to the swim start (over a mile away) by 4:30 to get us in line. I had to wait until 5:30am for the transition area to open.

At 5:30 I got in, pumped up our tires, filled our water bottles and then walked back to the hotel to drop off the pump before heading down to the swim start to find Jodee in what was already a massive line.

This picture here is what the beginning of the swim start looked like...what you can't see is the line that wraps up and around the block, down the street with 2,996 racers.

RACE WEEKEND REVIEW - Arrival to Louisville

We rolled into Louisville on Friday, August 27th and got settled into the Galt House Hotel as quickly as possible.

The Galt House was also the "host" hotel for the event, which meant most of the registration, expo, medicals, etc. were all done there.

After we got in our room, brought the bikes up, etc. we went down for check-in. This was much quicker than in Madison last year.

Next we had to go through our "medicals"; get weighed, check our body comp, hydration levels, etc. (amazing what a week of carb-loading will do to your weight!)

We then stopped at the IronMan store for some quick shopping and headed out for some dinner. We treated ourselves to sushi (rice is good carbs) and were back for the participant meeting at 7:30pm. The meeting was probably longer than it needed to be, but we we did learn all about the rules of the course, met a woman who lost more than 100 pounds training for the race as well as the guy who has competed in every place there has been an IronMan. (can you say too much time and money???)

We were in bed early as we looked ahead to Saturday's prep of all our equipment and bikes for race day.

IM Date: 8/25/10 - Travel Day #1

All stretched and ready to go!

Yesterday I had my last appointment with Kelly to work on my legs and neck before we leave. It was quite a bit more painful than the last one...but hopefully, like last year, well worth it. A 2.4 mile, open-water swim is NOT the place you want to cramp up.

Today is travel day #1 and we'll be heading out in just a few hours. TRavel time is a almost 3 times as long as it was to Madison, but still drive-able.

We'll be cruising down in the LifeTime Run CLub vehicle, which will be cool. We'll and get it as much visibility as we can while we are down there.

It's a Toyota HIghlander with run club graphics all over it.

I'll try and snap some pictures of it and post them...it's pretty cool.

Anyway...I will try and post again before race day and then of course a full (and hopefully happy) re-cap.

The race-day forecast has dropped a degree to a high of 89 and a low of 68 with a 0% chance of precipitation. Hmmm...I'll focus on the fact that we hopefully won't have any rain ; )

Back soon...

Bri

IM Date: 8/24/10 - RUN PREVIEW

IronMan Louisville 2010 Run Course Preview:

Saving the "best" for last...of course that's assuming by "best" we mean the "hottest". By the time we get out to the run it should well have hit 90+ degrees on Sunday.

The course is mostly flat and like Madison was, it is a 2-lap "out and back" that once again will take us frustratingly close to the finish line at the end of our first lap before turning us back around for another time around the course!

I have to admit that last year this same situation gave me as much inspiration as it did frustration...to hear the crowds of people yelling, etc. was amazing. Plus last year I actually passed the overall winner as he was heading in to the finish as I was heading out on my run...which was very cool to see.

The biggest surprise last year on the run was how much I learned that I liked coke when running...it was the best thing, way better than water or gatorade, to cut through the "gunk" in your mouth after going hard for 9+ hours already that day. I look forward to that...and the ice they hand out which feels so good just to hold in your hands as you run.

Funny what is comforting in an extreme situation like that.

But in the end, all I hope is that I get to the run in plenty of time and feeling as good as possible. The rest of it will take care of itself from there.

Back soon with updates!

Bri

IM Date: 8/23/10 - RACE WEEK

Well, here we are...it's race week. Just 6 days to go.

As of right now, the forecast for race day is a high of 90 with 61% humidity and a low in the morning of 70.

Basically of our training is "in the books" and aside from one day (either today or tomorrow) our workouts this week will be very light as we rest and eat as "clean" as we can to prepare for Sunday.

Tomorrow I have my last "stretching" appointment before the race as well. Hopefully this one goes as smoothly as the first one did!

Wednesday will be our first travel day as we head south. Wednesday I'll begin to slowly "load" my system with carbs which will be converted into glycogen...which is one of the most important things I will need come race day.

We started packing over the weekend and I think I just have to make one more stop at the bike shop before we leave. There's always a lot to bring to an IronMan, and even more this year since we will be gone for a week around the race.

I will be posting my final preview before the race, the run preview, very soon.

Back soon!

IM Date: 8/20/10 - BIKE PREVIEW

IronMan Louisville 2010 Bike Preview:

From all accounts the 112-mile bike course at Louisville looks to have it unique set of challenges. Most reviews I have read talk of lots of "rolling" hills. The one person I have gotten an eye witness account from agreed but said there is one monster hill a roughly mile 14 or 16.

No matter what the hills are like, 112 miles is a long ways to ride in the Kentucky heat in August.

The only thing that passed the time for me last year was the constant re-fueling I had to do to stay hydrated and full of enough salt and electrolytes, etc.

This year Jodee and I have both moved away from sandwiches and will use PUREFIT bars as our source of solid food during the ride. Gels will be taken as well as electrolytes, salt and plenty of water and Hammer Perpetuem endurance drink.

The biggest factor yet to be determined is heat.

I am hopeful for 3 things with the bike:

1) Good weather

2) No mechanical problems

3) No accidents

If we are lucky enough, we will exit the bike feeling good and in plenty of time to have a good run and finish strong.

Maybe I'll start praying now...

IM Date: 8/16/10 - SWIM PREVIEW

IronMan Louisville 2010 Swim Preview:

Unlike all other IronMan races, the swim at Louisville is a time trial start. The cut-off time starts when the last swimmer has entered the water, so Jodee and I plan to get down there as early as possible!

We swim in the Ohio river and start the race (yep, you guessed it) swimming up-stream for the first part of the race. We then make a 180 degree turn around an island and finish the rest of the swim down-stream.

It will be interesting to see how strong the current is. As much as I don't want to fight it at the start, it would be a nice help for what looks like the last 2/3 of the race.

But I guess we'll find out soon enough. We'll see if we do a test run the day or two before the race. We'll be in Louisville two full days ahead of time so maybe we will.

I'll preview the bike soon...

Bri

IM Date: 8/16/10 - Week 17

With less than two weeks until race day things are getting a little tense. I can tell both Jodee and I are getting towards the end of the training program and I have to say that after 16 weeks...I for one am getting close to "burn out."

We had a good, long run on Saturday but our long ride yesterday was very labored. There were 20-30 mph winds and it just wasn't any fun from start to finish. The long rides are probably the hardest part of IronMan training. They consume so much time, between getting all the food prepped, everything loaded, etc. and then comes the actual ride! And after you spend that much time in the sun, you're pretty wiped out for the rest of the day. It will be nice to have our Sundays back in a couple of weeks!

This week sees things really begin to taper down in terms of duration of workout. Our "long" ride is only 3 hours this weekend which will be nice. I'm going to try and get an open water swim in this week if I can work it out. It would be good and the chlorine is really starting to bother so I hope I can fit it in.

I will also be posting previews of each leg of the race...first up: THE SWIM.

IM Date: 8/13/10 - Meet the "U-Bee"

After getting hurt I had to try and find something help me work my upper-body since I couldn't lift like I usually do and swimming was kind of "iffy" at best...so I found this: the SCIFIT Upper Body Exerciser or the "U.B.E."

As I described it to Jodee, it's me new favorite thing I love but hate at the same time.

It's been a great help as I have had to nurse my ribs back to health.

On another subject, I have my first "stretching" appointment today with Kelly and soon I will post my first preview of the Louisville race course.

Back soon...

IM Date: 8/11/10 - Injury update

Today I tried to swim for the first time since the injury and it went okay. I could certainly feel it, but I got through an hour of laps which I was happy with.

I ran afterwards and then worked on my new favorite torture machine: the SCIFIT U.B.E.

More to come on that soon...Bri

IM Date: 8/9/10 - Week16

Well here we are...less than 3 week until race day and I sit here, in pain. Yep...sure enough, it happened–just as I was planning to take the last 3 weeks off from grappling hard/sparring at the Academy to make sure I stayed healthy before the IronMan...I get hurt 3 1/2 weeks out!

It happened last Thursday grappling with my friend Tom...one wrong twist and OUCH!!! My ribs were hurting like crazy and I couldn't breathe. I later learned the cartilage that connects to the bone has become "displaced"...ouch!

This past weekend we rode the "Tour de Tonka" and the ribs didn't seem to bother me too much. Of course my mind was somewhat distracted by the pouring rain, wind and cold.

Update: it's better this week. I ran (slowly) for the first time this morning and I went to the doc at lunch and he worked on them which has helped even more. While the appointment was painful, I can breathe a little easier.

I hop this week sees the pain fade even more, but we'll see. Te only thing I haven't attempted yet is swimming...I'll keep you all posted!

Back soon,

Bri

IM Date: 8/3/10 - Week 15

Wow the last month is here, less than 4 weeks until the IronMan. Last weekend Andrew and I ran the TWINS 4K before Jodee and I did our last long ride from Hinckley. We logged 85 miles that day and got to ride back into a nasty head wind and got poured on from the rain. This week is the "Tour de Tonka" which is 65 miles and we'll go down more and more each week until we leave.

I plan to do a long swim this week and next before tapering that as well. I've been doing a lot of reading of preview, reviews and blogs about Louisville and it sounds like it will be an interesting and tough day of racing. I'll preview each part in the coming weeks...

Back Soon!

Bri

IM Date: 7/28/10 - "It's gonna hurt!"

Well, I know it's getting close because I just made my appointments to "get stretched" each of the final two weeks before the race. I did this last year and I think it was worth every penny...however painful it really is.

I've had issues in the past and continue to with things like my calves cramping from being "too tight" so this is a good thing.

That's all for now...back soon!

IM Date: 7/26/10 - Week 14

Just 5 weeks to go...and it's time to crank it up before the taper starts. Last week I had to take a couple of rest days due to over-training. But I feel a bit better today so hopefully this can last until week 18.

Swim times will increase over the next couple of weeks and we are going to do one last long ride this Sunday after Andrew and I run the "Minnesota Twins 4K" run downtown Minneapolis. We'll head back up to Hinckley and probably get 85 - 90 miles in. The weekend after that we'll do the "Tour de Tonka" ride which is 65 (if I remember right) and then the time begins t drop down to 3 - 4 hour rides.

Speaking of events, yesterday was the Chisago Lakes Tri. Jodee did the half-IronMan distance and Andrew and I did the sprint course. It was his first full-length race and he did well. He had some struggles with the open-water swim but he pushed through. His bike was okay and then he had a great run...so he ended the race on a positive note.

We were both very proud and even though he said that parts of the race "really-sucked" he's ready for more next season. I laughed...but I totally know the feeling ; )

More to come!

IM Date: 7/21/10 - Week 13

Okay...so I'm kind of late this week with my post. I was off on Monday and yesterday went by in a blurr! So here we are in the last 1/3 of the training program and after one more long ride, things really start to taper down. I can't believe we are really at this point already.

This weekend is the Chisago Lakes Triathlon and will be Andrew's first, full length, adult triathlon. He's trained hard and Jodee and I are very excited for him to take this next step in his training and competing. I'll be doing the sprint course with him while Jodee will be doing the half-IronMan.

More to come...

IM Date: 7/12/10 - Week 12

Wow...what a week. I'm glad week #11 is over with, 'cuz I'm tired! After getting more than 200 miles in on the bike last week, along with the 2010 Lifetime Fitness triathlon as well as all of the regular training, etc. I am tired.

But today starts a new week of training and I'm feeling surprisingly good. This week sees us cranking up the biking a little more than before while everything else pretty much stays the same. I may get out and try some mountain biking this week, so if that materializes, I will give a full review!

Have a great week!

IM Date: 7/10/10 - LTF Tri Results

The first triathlon of the year is in the books...the 2010 Lifetime Fitness Tri was Saturday and I am happy to say it went well. My finish time was 2:35:53, about 3 minutes faster than last year. All of which came from my run time.

The biggest change from last year to this year was last year we were wore our wetsuits and this year we did not. A wetsuit increases your buoyancy which will give you a better time. But the lake was a balmy 81.7 degrees and we thought it would be a good idea to try out our speed-suits before we get to Louisville in August. So it was the perfect excuse. I was a little worried about how the speed-suit would be in comparison to the wetsuit, but it was great. It felt almost the same.

So overall it was a good race and I felt good throughout. We get one weekend off and then we head to Chisago, MN for the Chisago Lakes Triathlon on the 25th.

IM Date: 7/9/10 - Race Week

Tomorrow is the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon. And while I do not feel very good going into it, it will be a good gauge of where my training is at. Jodee and i are both doing the Olympic/International distance which consists of: 1.5 k (.9 mile) swim, 40 k (about 25 miles) bike and a 10 k (6.2 miles) run. While I don't really like the course very much (it's by far my LEAST favorite swim of any triathlon I've ever done - yet the one I do every single year) I do like the event as a whole. The best part is seeing the pro racers in action...they are amazing.

Looks like it will be a warm one!

IM Date: 7/6/10 - Week 11

Okay...so it wasn't quite this bad, but yes...I had a little crash yesterday. Jodee and I decided to take our day-off and get in a 100 mile "century" ride. It was right as we were getting going and thanks to some sand I met the pavement with a "thud." But after

Apparently we had a breakdown in our communications because about 1/4 of the way through the ride it became apparent that she wasn't planning on the same ride I was. But she was a trooper and gutted it out for the full 100 miles.

And just like last year, we rode from Hinckley towards Duluth making it just outside of Carlton, MN before we turned around. We rode past the spot where we had our" breakdown" last year and were both glad we were better prepared for such a situation if it happened again this year. It was a long, windy and hot ride. At times you could feel the heat radiate up off of the pavement. By the time we were about 6 or 7 miles out from the end of the ride we were greeted by a nice downpour of rain.

But alas, we got through it. We'll do another long ride later this month and we'll probably do a very similar route on the same trail.

More to come this week as we get ready for the LifeTime Fitness triathlon on Saturday!

IM Date: 7/6/10 - Red, White & Boom Results

It was a wet one! But pretty good overall. Not my best, not my worst. Both Jodee and I finished with a time of 1:43:19. And after dealing with the wind, rain and heat...I'll take it.

Back soon!

IM Date: 6/30/10 - Week 10

We are past the half-way point now and the biggest change we will see over the next month is in our cycle training. Our "long rides' get longer and longer, building up to our 7+ hour ride at the end of July.

Speaking of cycling, last weekend we rode in the inaugural LifeTime Gran Fondo ride. It was a 100k (62 mile) ride that started and ended in Mound, MN and wound around through towns like Delano, Watertown and Minnetrista. It was long, it was hot and it was VERY hilly. It was a great training ride.

This weekend is the 4th of July and we have a race coming up...more on that soon!

IM Date: 6/21/10 - Week 9

Week #9 is upon on and all I can say is: "...holy crap am I tired!" I feel like I'm still kind of recovering from running Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago. This past weekend's long run (Saturday) and ride (Sunday) were tougher than they really should have been and I felt it again when we ran and lifted lifted this morning. This week we up our long ride to 5 hours, which we will do as part of the Lifetime Fitness "Gran Fondo" (which I believe is Italian for "big ride") ride on Sunday. It will be nice to do a long ride in a new place...the trails of Elm Creek are starting to get boring. But starting this week the time/mileage increase and we will start having to travel to find longer trails for the next month or so anyway.

So hopefully I'll shake this fatigue this week and things will get back to normal! After this week we'll be at the half-way point of training. It's going fast!

More to come...

Bri

IM Date: 6/15/10 - Week 8

Week #8 of 18...almost half way through training...yikes! The legs are finally starting to almost feel normal again after the marathon. This week our long ride is only 3 hours on Sunday, but we add an additional 2 hour ride during the week.

I'll be curious to see how lifting all the way through the training program affects my performance in August. Last year I stopped lifting a few months out, partly due to injury and part to just not having the time. But this year I plan to lift all the way through.

The weather has kind of sucked as of late, which has forced me to do more indoor training, but hopefully that will change soon. Riding the trainer is fine...but it doesn't really compare to attacking a real hill at the end of a long ride.

Oh well, we'll see how it goes.

Back soon,

Bri

IM Date: 6/8/10 - Week 7

Lucky #7...and back to "normal" training this week. The race Sunday went well, I broke my PR by 14 seconds, and the 3:50:00 mark, which was nice. Jodee and I ran the entire race together (aside from my 'pit-stop' at mile 5) and felt pretty good. It was a bit hotter than I expected, and even more hilly than Jodee warned me about. But again, it was a good race and I look forward to going out even more aggressive at the Twin Cities Marathon in October.

But like I said it's "back to normal" now for Iron Man training. We'll lay off the running until the weekend (I think), and Sunday we'll do a 4 - 5 hour ride. I'd like to get in the pool twice this week and we'll start lifting again on mid-week.

That's all for now...back soon!

IM Date: 6/4/10 - This thing is amazingly cool!

Wow...this thing is cool! No headphones or ear buds of any kind...just these things that clip on your goggles and WHAM!!! Great sounding music! I have to say I was very skeptical of how these were going to work and how they would sound. But it's cool. Very cool. And they will make long swim training just a little easier.

Rock on!!!

IM Date: 6/1/10 - Week 6 - Race Week

It's RACE WEEK!!! I can't believe it's taken until June for us to do our first official "event" of the season! So this week, being a week in which we need to taper down, will see us straying away from the IronMan program a bit. I'll still do all of the different kinds of workouts, just nothing very long or hard this week.

The Minneapolis Course this year looks pretty tough...lots and lots of hills, along with the chance of it being a very warm and humid day. So comparatively I will take it "easy" this week and try to rest as much as I can. Later this week we'll start to get more carbs in each day...hopefully close to 500 grams.

I'm also excited to try out our new mp3 player we got for swimming...no headphones, it works through the bones in your face. Freaky, huh?!?!? I plan to swim in the morning and will give a full review ASAP!

Until then...have a good one!

Bri

IM Date: 5/27/10 - Week 5

Whoa! The week is getting away from me and I realized I haven't posted yet! Last week, while crazy was good despite the bad news from the doctor. We had a good ride Sunday, pushing for more than 4 hours and I think the rest days did me a lot of good. I know I don't take enough rest days and it just finally caught up with me.

This week and next will be a little different as we taper down before running the Minneapolis Marathon on Sunday June 6th. Training sessions won't be too long or too terribly hard leading up to the race. Thankfully there really isn't anything we need to miss in these early weeks.

It is definitely nice to be riding outside again and the weather has been nice the past couple of weeks. I need to find some new shoes to train with so I can leave my good tri-shoes just for races. As our rides get longer we will start to travel a bit to find longer trails. Elm Creek is great, but for anything more than a 4-hour ride...it's just not long enough. We can always go back up to the trails in North Branch or Hinckley like we did last year. Plus we found some other trails in Fairbault and up in St. Cloud. They both have more than 60+ miles of trails so we could do any of our rides...even the 7-8 hour (112 mile) ride.

It might be nice to see some new scenery on those long rides!

Here's to a nice Memorial Day weekend...

IM Date: 5/20/2010 - Depleted??? Who knew?

OKay so I admit it...lately I've been feeling kind of crappy in the mornings, a little slow to get going. But I always do. I mean, I kind of chalked it up to the fact that it's May and I've logged over 900 miles running this year alone. Not to mention swimming, biking, jiu jitsu, etc.

But yesterday I mentioned this feeling to the wonderful Dr. Paul Nash...my favorite Chiropractor/nutritionist/"voodoo doctor." I only joke about that last one because sometimes I am amazed at how he tests for things and how testing something in one part of the body will show an issue with something in a completely different part, etc.

I figured I needed to detox again, but after some tests, etc. I was told: "wow...you're 'depleted', your immune system is very weak right now." He told me I was at risk to develop Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

I guess this situation is common with endurance athletes; which makes sense. So I got a nice new bag of supplements to bring home and hopefully this will help. So I took my "handful" of pills along with my new and improved shake this morning and we'll see how it goes...

Back soon,

Brian

IM Date: 5/18/10 - week 4

Wow...week 4 already. The time is flying by. Last week's 22 mile "run in the hills" was tough...good, but tough. Our ride Sunday was beautiful! Finally some warm weather, the spring has been kind of crappy the last month or so. But this week's long ride looks to be even warmer; probably in the mid 80's. We'll do another 50 - 60 miles on Sunday. Nothing too crazy this week...the longest run is 14 - 16 miles, which after last week seems nice!

This week I'll stretch my swim out to 2 hours and combine it with my ride on Sunday. I need to replace my waterproof mp3 player. It's down to just one functioning ear bud, which is better than nothing, don't get me wrong. But having two again would be very nice : )

Take care and I'll be back soon to post more!

Bri

IM Date: 5/12/10 - Week 3

Welcome to week 3! Training is going well...nothing too crazy yet. We didn't get out for our long ride last Sunday...the cold and rain kept us inside on the trainers. The weather for this Sunday's 3-4 hour ride looks promising and should be our first outdoor ride of the year. Let's hope the weather-man is right! The weather so far this May has basically sucked.

I do have my last long run in my training program for the Minneapolis Marathon this week, so Friday I'm going to take most of the day off to go do 22 miles in the hills of Elm Creek and then make it over to Lincoln for what will be Andrew's last "Track & Field Day" of elementary school.

So it's back to the pool tomorrow and out to the hills Friday...

More to come!

Brian

IM Date: 5/4/2010 - Week 2

Wow...week #1 is "in the books" and here we are at week #2 already. August will be here before I know it. It was good to get back into the pool again and with a little help from Andrew's swim instructor and hopefully at some point from my friend Adam, my swim time can improve from Madison last year.

This week is a lot like last, no big distances...we do go up to 3-4 hours on the bike this weekend. If the weather holds out we'll get out on our first outdoor ride of the year – on Mother's Day. The almost 3 hours I spent on the trainer this past Sunday was long enough. But it kind of paled in comparison to our 22+ mile run last weekend in the hills of Elm Creek Park. It was a very good run...but very long and hilly. Which will be good prep; especially before the Minneapolis Marathon on June 6th.

That's about all I got today...stay tunes, more to come!

Bri

IM Date: 4/26/10 - Week 1

Wow...here we are, week #1 of 18. It's all starting over again. After a good "off-season" (more than 700 miles run already this year) it's time to put aside thoughts of "down-time" and get back to it. This week starts out pretty easy in terms of the training program.

Nothing too crazy, the biggest change will be getting back into the pool regularly. We do have a 20-mile run this weekend for marathon training in preparation for the Minneapolis Marathon on June 6th. This year, unlike last year, I'll be running a marathon before the Iron Man in August. (plus another 2 more after, in the fall)

Stay tuned for (at least) weekly updates, news, etc. And let us all start thinking "good thoughts" for good weather this August in Louisville!

Back soon...

IM Date: 3/9/10 - A New Year, A New Race

When we first decided to do IronMan Madison, back in September of 2008, I think it was kind of a one-off idea. You know, climb the mountain, plant the flag and be done. And you know, immediately after the race last year...I was pretty sure I was "all-good" with doing any more IronMan events.

(If you want to read about last year's adventure you can go to: http://brianironman09.blogspot.com/)

In fact, when we could have registered the day after the race...we thought: "no...we're good; we'll take a pass on doing this again".

Yeah Right!

It didn't take long for us to have some remorse about not signing up and not too long after that I ad the "great" idea of doing all of the IronMan events in the US. So we hurried and looked through the list and picked IronMan Louisville. It is the only other event that is realistic to drive to from Minnesota, plus it had open registration spots left for 2010. So we plunked down our registration fees, reserved a hotel and BAM! It all started over again.

This race will have some new challenges that IM Madison did not. Two big ones come to mind: 1) the heat (Kentucky in August is HOT!) and 2) the current of the Ohio river (the swim course is in a river not a lake...and you guessed it, the first part of the swim is UP stream).

More to come on the race course, etc. and once the "official" training starts I will do weekly (or more) updates on what's happening, etc. For now...I'm starting to work with a swim coach to help refine my swimming a bit. We're also planning to do a number of events before the IronMan. I broke the 400-mile mark for the year last week and running has been going well (knock on wood).

Anyway...stay tuned, there's much more to come!