Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Detour

On Saturday the alarm went off way too early for my liking. It certainly would be nice to sleep in one of these days. Anyway it was another early morning to go ride the course for the Chisago Half Ironman this weekend. Kimmi and I met a couple others from the team to ride. Ms. R was feeling under the weather so she had to stay home and get health. She wasn’t happy about this because this will be her first Half Iron and her big race for the year. So getting sick hasn’t been the greatest for the nerves.

The course is actually a really nice course with some scenic roads down by the river. The only problem was that we took a little detour early in the ride. One wrong turn and we were 7 miles off course. After asking a friendly runner where we were, we back tracked the right way to finish off the ride. Not that the extra mileage is bad for me or anything, but when you have in your head that you are riding 56 and end up going 70, you want nothing more then to be done. After getting though the bumpy road down by the river and finally climbing back up the valley we finally arrived back at our starting point. It felt really good to be done. Yes it was good to do the extra miles, but at the time I was having none of it.

We spent the rest of the weekend outside of my hometown for a family reunion. Nothing like seeing aunt, uncles, and cousins who you haven’t seen in probably a year or so and who all of a sudden have kids of there own. There were at least a dozen little ones running around or being held by various family members. There was a good showing overall with about 60 people making it to the main meal on Sunday. After spending some quality time with the fam is was time to head back to the cities to end the long weekend.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

P.A.T.S

It may be self diagnosed by I feel that I have the symptoms of a possibly chronic disorder know as P.A.T.S which stand for premature alarm termination syndrome. Symptoms of this disorder are noticed when one is scheduled for an early morning workout yet turns off the alarm in a semiconscious state after it has sounded not knowing that this action is taking place. This debilitating condition has massive repercussions when trying to train for any major endurance event say an Ironman. The workout lost is rarely made up since little time is available for training in the first place. Scientists are working around the clock to find a cure for this condition. Endurance athletes who are very heavy sleepers or are functioning on inadequate sleep are very prone to this disorder. Progress was thought to being made with the alarm across the room and bucket of water on the head treatments, but no fool proof cure has yet to be discovered. Public opinions are always desired to aid scientists is solving this crippling condition. So please blogland, submit your suggestions and help prevent early morning workout loss. The endurance athlete community thanks you…

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

What a weekend!

The big day for the team has come and gone but they certainly went out with a bang. The alarm went off at 3:00 AM on Saturday morning has the team started to gather at 4:30 AM when transition opened. (earliest start for a non Ironman race that I’ve heard off) Come race morning our team was a sight to see as 132 Team in Training triathletes gathered before the race. This was the biggest team MN has had and they raised a record 328,000 dollars for the society. It was pretty special to be apart of the largest team from MN in both numbers and dollars raised. Race morning was full of nerves and last minute hiccups that were all settled before the race started. I even had to shoo out the more relaxed ones to start their warm-up. For the next few hours I watch team kick some major butt as they came and went through transition. For many including myself it was an emotional day. The team did so well and we have all but three people finish the race. I was so frickin pumped and proud of each and every one of them. It was absolutely amazing seeing this great group of people finally race.

After the last team member finished it was finally time to clean up and pack up. When we arrived home it was time for food and a shower before a quick nap. I only got about an hour and I could have used about three more. The reason for the short nap was that we had to go to the victory party. So we headed towards downtown Minneapolis where we ate, drank, and celebrated with a majority of the team. At about midnight we headed out for some more food to calm our hungry stomachs. The night finally ended when we arrived home at about 2:30. So it pretty much was a 24 hour session, but it was an amazing one.

Go TEAM!

Pictures coming soon…

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Where is WaldoWalchka?

You may not believe it but I am in fact still around, though I know I haven’t made much of a showing in blogland lately. It would have been nice to chronicle all that has been going on, but there just hasn’t been any time. I’ve been spread pretty thin the last few months between all my responsibilities. At the top of the list has been work and coaching for TNT. Other items, including my own training, have had to take a back seat. Not exactly what I how I planned going into my first Ironman, but the team came first and that’s a choice I’d make again. The TNT season is almost complete as the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon that they are racing is this weekend. It will be great to get that time back for my own training, but I will miss coaching and helping others meet all the challenges that I triathlon brings. We have our final team workout last night and the pasta party is on Thursday before the big race on Saturday.

With the weekend off from coaching I was actually able to turn my attention to my own big race by heading to Madison to train with the WIBA crew. Overall it was a great weekend and I met a lot of nice people. There are more details to share, but this weekend told me how much work I have yet to do before September 9th. Not a lot of time, but I know have a better idea of what it is really going to take to finish an Ironaman.

Ironwil, Simply Stu, and everyone else who helped to put WIBA on did an amazing job. I can’t thank them enough for all the opportunities that they provided in a jammed-packed weekend.

Weekend Recap:
Friday - SafetyBob picked me up early in the morning and we were on the road to Madison by 7:00 am. About 4.5 hours later we arrived in Madison and checked in to our hotel. After a trip to the bike shop and some food it was time for the activities to start. First up was a 2 hour session on the Cycle Ops bikes working on max power. I don’t think I was quite ready for an all out 2 hour session. The Cycle Ops bikes are pretty sweet, but I was drained afterwards. Lucky for us it was just the beginning as the bike was followed up by a 30 minute swim and a 20 run. So nothing like being in a car all morning and then doing a triple workout. Bob and I were beat afterwards, but rebounded a bit in time for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. We talked with others from the group including MN’s own TaconiteBoy. The food was great and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Saturday – After the long day on Friday we skipped the swim to get a bit of extra sleep before the big ride. It was the right choice considering the ride we were about to have. Basically the 75 miles on the course was the hardest ride I’ve ever done. The 100+ heat index didn’t help while riding the very hilly and challenging course. I’ve never had to change my gears so many times in one ride. The only bit of joy was arriving at the three stops to refill our water bottles before heading out again. I think I went through 7 or 8 water bottles in the 4.5 hours that we were out. I rode ¾ of the ride with TaconiteBoy which was fun. We had a small group that suffered together. Getting lost once and adding an extra hill didn’t make the day go by any faster.

Sunday – We were schedule to do half the marathon course with the group. Saturday’s bike had some lingering effects and I woke up with a nasty headache. Bob’s legs were suffering as well so we decided to play it smart and skip the run. It would have been nice to run the course, but the body just wasn’t ready for that. After a good breakfast we packed up the Jeep and headed home.

Overall it was a great weekend and I’m really glad we went. Again a big thank you to everyone who played a part in making WIBA happen. The weekend provided me with the list of things I need to work on before the race. Some parts need a lot of work, but I’d rather know now then be surprised on Sept. 9th.

Hopefully after this weekend I’ll be back full steam in my training and blogging. Until then it’s back to coaching and to all those last minute things before the team races on Saturday.

Take care…