Over the hump!

Ohhhhh the taper....it's a beautiful thing.

This weekend was peak training weekend which means I rode my bike 100 miles and ran 3 miles. Then on Sunday I ran 20 miles. It was hot....95 degrees hot. On one hand it was good to have a tough weekend of training just in case it is like this in Louisville. On the other hand it was a little miserable but I guess that just makes you stronger. After all of that training I'm tired but I'm also excited because this is the official beginning of "the taper." All of my training goes down in volume from here until the big day on August 30th. I can start catching up on sleep and getting my body all rested up for the Ironman.

3 weeks to go...our race numbers should arrive soon!

I'm back kids!

I'm back....healthy and ready to race!

Last week was my big comeback week after "the incident" with my arm and the ground that broke it. I was given the A-OK to swim with two arms and ride my bike outside last Monday so on Tuesday I took my bike down to Shelby Park and rode around for about an hour. I was a little wobbly at first but then it all came back...it's just like riding a bike...ha literally.

Wednesday I swam with two arms but I still used fins so I really kinda felt like I was cheating. On the other hand "lefty" is a little gimpy and could use some time to catch up in strength to my overpowered right arm.

On Friday I woke up at 4:15am and made it to my first 5am morning swim practice in weeks. I forgot how painful that hour of the morning can be. It still amazes me that on the radio "After Midnight with Blair Garner" is on air when I get up. That's just wrong. Practice was tough...I'm not gonna lie...it kicked my arse. Fridays are long-course which means it is 50 meters instead of 25 yards...BIG difference! I swam with both arms and no fins which basically made me feel like one of those water bugs where their arms go in one direction and their legs in another but they don't get anywhere. Going from 6 weeks of fins to no fins makes you feel like you're pulling a barge behind you. I survived practice, got ready for work, drove to the office, ate breakfast, and promptly took about an hour nap until 9am came around.

Saturday was my big day outside. I had taken my bike to ACME earlier in the week to get spruced up. Red tires...BAD-ASS is all I have to say! I had a 100 mile ride and 3 mile run on tap for the day. My normal training crew was in for the long haul as well. The ride went great...actually went much better than I expected. We averaged almost 17mph, the weather was fantastic, and 6 hours passed much quicker than usual. We knocked out a 3 mile run afterwards and called it a day.

Sunday was long...18 miles long....and felt as good as any 18 miler can feel. I was strong in the beginning, middle, and most of the end....it was those last 2 miles that almost killed me. I did it though and kept a steady 10:00 pace throughout.

I have one more hard weekend of training coming up and then the downward slope into race day begins. I'll need to get out to the lake and do an open water swim to make sure the arm is ready to go, test out my new bike nutrition again, and see if my planned race attire will be up to the challenge of Ironman Louisville.

The race is in 25 days...but who's counting!

Over Halfway Through Recovery!

Tomorrow will be 4 weeks since I toppled over on my bike and broke my arm. It is feeling pretty good...I'd say 90% there. It isn't quite as straight as my right arm and still kind feels a little wonky when I do certain things but I feel like I've been able to keep up with my Ironman training enough that I'll be ready by August 30th. I had to pull out of the half-ironman in Louisville next weekend but that's probably for the best since all of my training these days has definiltey been "injured reserve training."

Swimming has been interesting. My first practice, the Wednesday after I fell, I just did a lot of kicking and nothing hard at all. The next week, and every practice since then, I've done the same workout as everyone else but I've just done it with fins and one arm. My right arm is going to be super strong by the time this is over.

Running has come back really well. I had to take two weeks off from running but jumped back in big with a 12 miler. Dr. Stark said I should have started with maybe 5 miles....well maybe he should have told me that. He knows he's dealing with an Ironman athlete...we don't like to be limited by things. I did request that Dr. Stark give me a wrist brace for running and swimming because the ligaments, tendons, muscles or whatever it is that I sprained when I fell hurts when I relax my wrist and let it do whatever it wants when running or in the water. The brace helps keep everything in line so I can keep training without pain.

I started riding my trainer just a few days after I fell. I wore a sling, had people help me set my bike up, and rode one armed. Now I can ride without the sling and can lean more on both of my arms which helps balance things out a little. I still have some trouble changing the gears and squeezing my brakes but it is getting better. If anything the time on my trainer has taught me a significant amount of mental toughness. There's nothing like doing 4+ hours on a trainer. Imagine spending 4 hours on a treadmill...going nowhere.

The first weekend after I fell a bunch of us went to Knoxville for the Cherohala Challenge. I had already planned to go so I didn't want to miss out. While the group (John, Bert, Kathleen S, Kathleen J., Dana, Rolf, and Lisa) went to ride the hills of East Tennessee I was set up poolside for 3 hours at the Siler's house on my trainer. It was pretty nice actually. I can't complain about the setup but I did miss my buddies and it was hard to sit back and listen to all of the stories from the day and not able to contribute. The weekend was fantastic though and it was nice to get away for a few days. Here's my setup at the Siler's house...not too shabby at all.

The next weekend I was back to Easty Nasty on my patio while everyone else was riding the Harpeth River Ride. I rigged up my laptop and watched "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Marley and Me" which took me to about 4 hours and 10 minutes. It was hot...about 98 degrees outside. You forget how much of a breeze you get while riding outside...there's no breeze on a trainer!

Last weekend I was at the Frame household in Summersville, WV. The weather was awesome...low 60's. I didn't get any heat acclimation that weekend but I certainly enjoyed a break in the heat. It was an "off" weekend so I only had to do 2 1/2 hours on the trainer and a 5 mile run and then the next day I did a 10 mile run. It was tough to find the mileage in a small town but it is always nice to have a change in scenery....and a nice lake to recover in after a good workout.

Tomorrow I'm back on my patio in East Nashville. Nothing glamorous about that but this will be a true test of mental toughness. I have 4 1/2 hours on the trainer ahead of me followed by a 2 mile run. Then on Sunday I have a 14 mile run...luckily back with my training buddies. If anything this Ironman will have a good story associated with it. When I'm getting tired during the race I will just remember how many hours of training I did with a broken arm on that stupid trainer. That has to count for something doesn't it?

FINALLY....something interesting to blog about...

I FINALLLY have something interesting to blog about! Not that I wanted this to happen but life happens and now I'm sitting here with my left arm in a sling and a cracked radial head. How you ask? Well....

On Saturday (the 13th) I started out with a big group of my training buddies from the Maryland Farms YMCA. People were going all different distances....I was going to go 92 with Rolf, Lisa, Kathleen, and Bert. The ride was fantastic. We went a route that I had never gone before which was rolling hills and several flat stretches of road. We ended up in Murfreesboro and then we headed back towards Nashville. At some point we got a little lost. We ended up going down a road named Gosey Hill Rd but we went the wrong direction so at the end we stopped at the bottom of the hill and talked to a farmer who was outside. After several minutes of conversation we knew our error and realized we needed to go back down Gosey Hill the way we had just come down.

When I turned my bike around to get started again I forgot that my gearing was in downhill gearing so when I clipped in and tried to go up the hill my feet wouldn't turn the pedals over. I couldn't get my feet out of my clips either so I pretty much fell over to my left and caught all 170 pounds of me and my bike on my outstretched left arm. I think at the time my pride hurt worse than my arm...but I did have a "moment of silence" while I was trying to figure out what I had done and if the pain in my arm was bad news. I knew I had done something to it but I really thought I had just jammed it hard. Nothing had popped or cracked and nothing was sticking out of the skin so I thought I was ok. I got back up on the bike (in the correct gearing this time) and we started down Gosey Hill Rd. I was ok for a while laying down in aero position but then I realized I couldn't squeeze my brakes or change my gears. When I tried to sit up on my bike I couldn't put any pressure down on my handlebars so the better position was down in aero position.

After about 8 miles or so we got to a major intersection where the light had turned red. I hopped off my bike, thankful for the rest, and then the light turned green. I went to hoist myself back up on my bike and pain shot through my arm that made me say some words that I won't type here. And that's when I cried. It hurt but I was also afraid of falling again. I had no control over the bike and braking was an issue. About 2 miles later we found ourselves at a Food Lion. I cried some more and then my training buddies took good care of me. Lisa was already on the phone to find me a ride...Kathleen was buying me water and calming me down...Bert was on ice duty....Rolf was on Advil duty. Liz Wilson came to my rescue and picked me up and took me to the Vanderbilt Walk-in Clinic. They all took great care of me when I needed it...not that I expected anything different....they are awesome people.

After 3 hours at the walk-in clinic I was told that I had cracked the head of my radius which is the biggest bone in your lower arm. The crack is basically in my elbow. The good thing is that I have very dense bones (thanks Mom) and the doctor said that had anyone else fallen like I did their arm probably would have snapped. I walked out of the walk-in clinic with a sling and a brace from my wrist to my shoulder...and to see Kathleen, Lisa, Bert, and Rolf waiting for me. We immediatley notified the masses via Facebook of my fall and the outcome which started the phone calls to stream in. Technology is amazing!

I went to Dr. Chris Stark yesterday at the Bone & Joint Clinic to get the verdict on my arm and training. Luckily I don't have to have a cast put on and i'll just be in a sling for a few weeks. I can ride my indoor trainer immediatley, I can run in 1 1/2 - 2 weeks, but I can't use my left arm to swim for 6 weeks....but I can use the rest of my body to swim so I'll figure that out. I've talked to all of my coaches and everyone thinks I'll be ok for Ironman Louisville in August. I'm a strong swimmer so I'm not worried about missing 6 weeks of practice. I could probably use the extra bike time anyways. I trust that my coaches and Dr. Stark (who is a fellow triathlete) will know what is best for me so I'm just going with what they say. The only other thing that hurts are the significant bruises on my inner thighs where I apparently squeezed my legs together as I was going down. When I hit the pavement my bike seat bruised the heck out of me. It looks like I have been pelted with softballs on my legs...very cute look if you ask me.

So that's that....I was complaining about not having much to blog about and this is what I get! We'll see how I settle into this modified training...just have to keep plugging along and hope for the best!

50 mile ride....in pictures...

I rode 50 miles with Kathleen, Lisa, and Julie today....it was a great ride with wonderful weather. Here are some photos I took along the way...

This is me in Boston....Boston, TN that is. That store is the only thing in Boston...

Hanging out at Puckett's...

Lisa entertaining us with her stories....

Lisa's bike taking a rest at Puckett's

One of my favorite roads...Cotton Lane...

Kathleen's bike being speedy...

My bike being speedy (yes I took these while riding)...

My front wheel going round and round...

It's that "second child" syndrome...

You know when parents have their first child and they take all kinds of photos and document every moment of that kid's life and then they have a second kid and that doesn't so much carry on with them? Well that's how I feel about Ironman Louisville. IML is the second child that I'm kinda of ignoring in the blog world. It's not that I care less...I'm doing the training and getting ready but it's not my first so I guess it is just different. I'm going to try and be better.


Today I did a fun short race called the Mach Tenn Triathlon in Tullahoma, TN. It is one of my favorite races in the area and is a reasonable distance to where you feel like you did something for the day but still have enough energy left to do stuff afterwards. The race is a .6 mile lake swim, a 16 mile bike, and a 4 mile run. I did this race in 06 and 07 and finished in 1:56 each time.


The weather was perfect today and I couldn't have asked for a better day for racing. Just what I needed after the Gulf Coast debacle. I felt great and finished in 1:41...15 minutes better than my past times. I placed 1st in Athenas and took home a snazzy piece of pottery to go with my 07 award. This year's awards were small plates that kind of look like ashtrays....which will be great when I say "screw this" to triathlons and start smoking...ha. The 07 award was a cup. So now I have a nice place setting!


Tomorrow is back to IM training. 50 mile bike ride and possibly a lake swim if I have time...and energy. A bunch of us are headed to Knoxville in two weeks for a crazy bike ride that I will blog about later. The weekend after that is the Harpeth River Ride...which is always challenging but fun.


Off to nap!!

Getting to my fightin' weight...

This month is "Diet Month"...

For the month of May I'm on a strict diet from Mari-Etta so that I can lose about 15 pounds before Ironman training starts up full swing.

It hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be but I've learned a few things in the process...
1. Tuna salad without mayo is not worth eating
2. I can eat pretzels any day, any time, with any thing...which is not good when you're only supposed to have 1.5 servings as a mid-day snack.
3. "100 Calorie Packs" are all packaging and a teeny-tiny bit of food...otherwise known as a big fat rip-off.
4. At desperate times those "100 Calorie Packs" are the best things on the planet.
5. My favorite snack is a Granny Smith apple with a Tbsp of peanut butter...it's heaven.
6. I eat a lot of egg whites...seriously...way too many.
7. Teddy Grahams are no longer allowed in my house unless they are prepackaged into individual servings. An open bag is just disaster for me...because I can justify "finishing the bag off" very easily....and I did....last night.
8. "No room for cheating" is crazy talk but I'm trying.
9. I'm learning that fresh food cooked at home tastes soooo much better than frozen food and entrees....who knew!!?
10. My new best friend Trader Joe's is going to get me through this...

And when I've reached that goal...I'm having pizza...no lasagna...no a burger...please? :)

The photos say it all....

I just got my race photos from Gulf Coast... the first one pretty much explains it all...

The Great PCB Adventure...

What a crazy weekend!

This past weekend was the Gulf Coast Half Ironman in Panama City Beach, FL. I decided that this would be a good one to do in preparation for Louisville because it can be hot...very hot.

Julie and I headed south to Florida early on Thursday morning. The weather was crazy around Montgomery, AL so we got stuck in traffic, saw cars stuck in a flooded lake, and almost got in two car accidents. Finally once we got into Florida the skies cleared and we were at the beach! We had traveled down with this year's TNT team so once everyone arrived and checked in to the condos we all went down to the beach for a quick swim.

When I did this race two years ago the Thursday night swim was choppy. This year was no different. The waves were about 5 feet and it was not an easy swim especially because I was overheating in my wetsuit. Decision...no wetsuit for Friday's practice swim to see how that goes. Surely the water will be like glass in the morning....ha.

I stayed in a condo with Rolf, Lisa, and Rob. Compared to where we stayed last time this was like the Taj Mahal. It had a great ocean view, two bedrooms, full kitchen...very nice!

Rolf, Lisa, Julie, and I went to dinner Thursday night with the TNT group at the Boat Yard. It was an ok meal. I think I learned that I shouldn't get a hamburger at a seafood place.

Friday morning we woke up early to swim, bike, and run. The ocean wasn't cooperating and was still very choppy. I swam without my wetsuit though and was much more comfortable than with it. Surely the water would calm down for Saturday's race....ha. After our swim we had a great pancake breakfast from a local Baptist Church. A nice old man told me "these are pancakes from the Lord." They were quite tasty!

After carbo-loading was done we biked the run course where I found out that my rear brake was completely rusted in the front housing. Awesome. Brakes? Who needs them!? Luckily my front brakes worked so I wasn't too worried but still it wasn't something I wanted to deal with the day before a race. AND I paid $150 to have all of my cabling fixed this winter...seems like they missed one. Bah! After a quick run a couple stopped me in the lobby and asked me if I had swam that morning and seen the large 5 foot bull shark in the water. UMMMM.....no. Not only did I not see it, I really did not need her to tell me about it. Great....seasickness-worthy waves and bull sharks.

A bunch of us went to Spinakers for lunch after the run. The beach view was great and it was just nice to relax! Julie and I checked in for the race and did a quick walk through the expo after lunch. We picked up all of our numbers, bought some race merch that I probably didn't need, got a great deal on socks (woo hoo!), and took care of a Father's Day present for Dad (love that he's into this sport now!). I went back up to the condo and got all of my race stuff together. This is my favorite part of the sport besides crossing the finishline. Organizing! By then it was dinnertime so Rolf, Lisa, Bert, Kathleen, and I checked our bikes into the transition area and went to Carraba's for takeout.

Rob arrived while we were out so when we got back he and Rolf went down to check in for their relay. After a lot of drama that is too long to include here they finally found "Chrissy the runner" in Panama City Beach to round out their relay. Rob was swimming, Rolf was biking, and Chrissy was running.

Saturday morning was race day! I expected to wake up to those calm seas that I swam in two years ago but again....no luck. It was choppy...and windy....and sunny....and hot. It was going to be a tough day. I went downstairs and setup my transition area thinking that seasickness was in my future. I know that I'm not supposed to think those thoughts and that I'm supposed to stay positive but I know myself. I can get seasick in the stupidest ways. I headed down to the beach to get ready for the start. 6:35am was my start time.

I hit the water and immediatley felt like I was in a salad spinner. Not that I've actually been in a large salad spinner but I can imagine that it feels much like I did on Saturday morning. The waves were about 6 feet and we had two riptides and a strong current. We had to swim 950 yards out, 200 yards across, and 950 yards back to shore. It was awful. I am a strong swimmer but when waves are involved I kinda suck. The waves would pick people up and throw them back on you. Then on the way back to shore I just kept seeing the buoys and buildings go in and out of view because the waves were so large. I just wanted to get out of there but obviously my only way was to swim. Coming back in was much faster but that's when I really got motion sick. Once my tiptoes could hit the sand I was up on my feet. I needed stable ground! I immediatley saw Coach Kathleen and she asked me if I was sick...ha...yes...yes I was. I never throw up when I get motion sick but it's almost like it would be better if I would get it out of my system.

The bad thing is that then I had to get on another moving object...my bike...and ride for 56 miles so I still couldn't "get over" being sick. I spent most of the windy bike trying to get my stomach to settle and trying to take in whatever fuel I could. The last thing you want to do is eat Hammer Gel and solid food when you feel gross. I had pretty much decided that I was going to DNF at about mile 35 on the bike. I was ok with that. I would just finish the bike, put on my run shoes, turn in my chip, and spend the rest of the day by the pool or hanging out with Rob and other relay people.

When I got back to the transition area I doused myself with a waterbottle full of water but it wasn't water...it was Gatorade. Disgusting. Sticky. I put on my run shoes and as I exited the run area and again there was Coach Kathleen. I started to breakdown and she said to smile...I wasn't smiling....I was tired of feeling gross. I was 4 hours into this thing and I had 13.1 miles to run in 95 degree heat with no shade. I was sunburned and just over it. The reason Coach K is great is that she got me going and told me to keep moving and I would feel better. She was right and by mile 4 I felt good. Not great...but good. Kathleen said this would be good training for Louisville...EEK!

The most miserable part of the run was feeling like my skin was boiling...I was so sunburned. I put 50 on before the swim and after the bike and then tried to cake myself in it at several waterstops along the run. I did everything to just cover it up. The run wasn't too bad but I definitley took my time. I crossed the finish line in 6:40 which isn't great but the conditions were tough. I immediately went to the medical tent and got a nice cold towel and 2 IV's. IV's are awesome....I felt so better almost immediatley! I need to figure out how to do IV's at home.

We all survived the race (even though there were sharks lingering not far from the race site) and had a great party afterwards at Spinnakers. Several Nashvillians placed in their age groups so that was great to see. Another great thing to see was Rob after he'd been drinking since his swim on the relay team that morning...hysterical by midnight! I actually had a Miller Lite at Spinnakers and it was the best beer I've had...probably because I was so exhausted and dehydrated but oh well...it was all fun nonetheless!

On the way home on Sunday Rolf, Lisa, Julie, Rob, and I caravaned through Seaside for lunch.

It was a long 8 hour drive home but it was fun. Dinner was at Whataburger which isn't the best thing I've ever eaten but not the worst. I rolled home to the East side at about 10:00 and ended our Panama City Beach adventure. It was a great trip overall...minus the race...next year we're all doing relays so we can have more beach and pool time. I'm taking suggestions for team names now.

Don't try this at home...

This weekend was fantastic! Friday night I was at Ronnie Dunn's house until the wee hours of the morning and didn't get to bed until 2am...and then had to get up at 5:45am for a 50 mile bike ride and 4 mile run. Nothing like doing all of that on less than 4 hours of sleep!

The ride was beautiful! I took some photos along the way while I was riding. Maybe not the safest thing I've ever done but I got some cool shots....

Lisa, Kathleen, Shelly, Dana and I stopped at Puckett's and met up with Rob and his friends. We hung out there for a while and finished off our 50 mile ride.

After the ride we knocked out the 4 mile run and had some lunch at the Nashville Triathlon Club picnic. A good day all around! Two weeks until Gulf Coast!

Why do I feel 82 when I'm only 28?

My neck hurts. My shoulder hurts. My body isn't happy with me this week.

Here's the thing....I don't like to stretch. I know it is good for me and that I should do it with all of the training that I do but I'd rather just be done with my workout or I'd rather just sleep in. This routine of not stretching has been working in my favor for the past several years but now I think my neck, back, and shoulders are pissed off. Pissed off from not being taken care of and enduring a 55 mile bike ride on Saturday after not riding that long in six months.

I'm biting the bullet and going to see Josh Renkens next week. www.therenkenscenter.com. I think I've sufficiently screwed myself up enough that Josh will have plenty to work on. He does ART which is "Active Release Therapy"...I had it done in Lake Placid and LOVED it. He also has other therapies to put people back together so we'll see what happens.

On the schedule for this weekend is swim in the morning at 5am....no, waking up at 4am has not gotten any easier. Saturday is a 50 mile bike ride with a 4 mile run at the Nashville Triathlon Club picnic. Sunday I'm running 8 and possibly going to swim practice...but more likely going to take a nap after all of that.

Here we go again!

Well....I've done it again...signed up for another round of Ironman training. I sucumbed to a little bit of peer pressure and a little bit of "feeling left out" during Thanksgiving weekend and I signed up for Ironman Louisville. It has the potential to be hot...very very hot. The race is August 30th....pretty much the end of the hottest part of the year.

Since my last post I've competed in the Half Ironman National Championships in Las Vegas which were great but I was very happy to cross that finish line and end a very long season. I took some time off and then around the holidays I started training for the ING Atlanta Marathon. I wanted to set a new PR of at least 4:30. Kathleen Siler and I trained for this race together which was great. We ran circles around the Vandy track on a weekly basis doing speed work to get faster and faster. As painful as those workouts wer it is amazing how effective they are. We used the Tom King Half Marathon as a training run and added 4 miles onto the front so we could knock out our 17 mile training run. It rained....no...poured...and it was FREEZING! Lisa King and Julie Koh were also training for ING and were going to do the half marathon.

The Atlanta Marathon was on March 29th so we caravaned down to Atlanta the day before. We stayed at The Omni Hotel which was the host hotel. It was a perfect location since the start line was just out the front doors. On Saturday we all went to the expo and did the normal pre-race routine. Lisa was staying with her dad that night so Julie, Kathleen, and I went out in search of a good Italian restaurant. The Omni suggested Il Localina which was 2 miles away. We jumped in a cab since it was so close....so we thought. $20 cab ride later we are much further than 2 miles away and have been dropped off on this hidden residential street where the restaurant was located. The food was fantastic and the restaurant was great...a hole in the wall...always good! We had an issue getting back to the hotel since this street wasn't a normal route for cabs to pick people up so flagging a cab down was not an option. After calling a few times we finally got a cab and we were headed back to the hotel.

Race morning was pretty business as usual except the great thing was that we could stay in our room until about 6:55 since we were right outside the start line....the race started at 7:05!! I like staying at the host hotel! We knew going in that Atlanta was going to be hilly...we had no idea it would be as hilly as it ended up being. Kathleen and I had trained in Percy Warner Park and we had done our speed workouts so we were on track to do a 4 hour marathon. We were on pace for that until mile 18 when I just couldn't hold it anymore. There were way too many hills and my legs were toast. The hills were long....very very long. Kathleen went ahead because she felt better than I did. I just walked, shuffled, ran my way to the end and finished in exactly 4:30. Not the 4 hours I was trained to do but 4:30 was what I wanted! Kathleen did awesome and finished in 4:12. Julie and Lisa also did great on their half marathon.

This was my 8th marathon (if you count the one in Lake Placid)....and I think it will be my last. The only way I'll do another marathon is if they are in Ironman races or if i'm somewhere really cool like Hawaii. If you are going to be miserable you might as have a great place to recover afterwards...the beaches of Honolulu sound good to me!

Now that Atlanta is over I look forward to my next big race which will be Gulf Coast Half Ironman. I'm excited about going back down to do this race again. I rode my bike yesterday for the first time since October and it went surprisingly well. Now I just have to keep that enthusiasm up for the next 22 weeks until Ironman Louisville...no problem!