IRONMAN FLORIDA - The Easiest Thing You'll Ever Do - Run

RUN - 26.2 Miles

As I headed to the first turnaround for the run (about ¼ mile from the start) I saw Trevor and my dad once again taking pictures. Trevor yells at me “Easiest thing you’ll ever do!” I’m not sure if this was sarcasm or not. I mean, yeah, a marathon following everything else isn’t easy, but it’s also like, yeah, this is it and I’m an Ironman. So really, it’s not THAT hard. And the first mile, that’s exactly how I felt.

Then the gas came back. And worse this time. I suppose deluging your guy with pain killers, energy boosters, heavily processed gels and snack bars and sugar drinks may not be the BEST thing for your digestive track. So I suffered my way to the first aid station a little past mile 2, and decided I’d take as long as I needed to make the gas go away. Outhouses on a sunny day aren’t the funnest places to be. You tend to sweat a little, Throw in that I’d just biked 112 miles and run about 2, and had put massive amounts of thermogenics in my body, and I was sweating a little bit. Or a lot. I was probably in the outhouse close to ten minutes, listening to pretty much everyone I’d passed on the bike run by, with kids yelling “Water! Gatorade! Gels! Pretzels!” I thought to myself ‘If this persists, this run is gonna be the most miserable 6 hours of my life.”

I got done, pounded about 5 cups of Gatorade to rehydrate myself, and got back on the run course. I made it about another mile before the gas came back. Just as bad. I actually ran past the aid station about 100 yards, then realized I wasn’t going to make it another mile, turned around, and ran back to the porta-john. Another 8 minutes in that one, and I felt like I was done. But I told myself no more pills (those salt tabs are packed with magnesium too. Probably not the best either), no more Gatorade, and no food for a while. Just water.

This seemed to work s after that the gas was gone. Apparently my first 6 miles, though, I averaged 13 minute miles. I guess that’s what happened when you spend 15 minutes in the shitter. But had I not done that, it woulda been a much longer day.

The run course was pretty nice, starting on the beach and winding through some residential areas of Panama City Beach, before ending with a loop around St. Andrew’s State Park and then heading back the same way. Every mile had an aid station with all kinds of stuff, like cookies, grapes, water, Gatorade, pretzels, gels, power bars. I guess we really got our $500 worth, ya know? A lot were themed, like one was “That 70s Station” with people in afro wigs and 70s music playing. One was MASH themes, with the theme from the show playing and everyone dressed in army fatigues from the 1950s. I yelled at one volunteer as I went by “Man, you must be getting REAL tired of that song.” “Ugh,” he responded, “you have no idea.” I told him I’d trade him, which he didn’t take me up on. I think my favorite aid station, though, was the one with the unintentional theme of “Bad Part of Town” Like it was across the street from a ship-freight loading dock with some empty, run-down industrial buildings around it and some small houses with overgrown lawn. Oh, and the staff manning the station was a little, um, ethnic? Needless to say, there was nobody at this aid station the second time I got to it. It was dark. Nobody’s hanging around there after the sun goes down.

As I ran back from my first loop of the course, Trevor caught me on his bike, and I gave him my souvenir order. Then Justin, whose dad was doing the race, caught me on his bike and interviewed me on video. That was all kinda fun. Trevor even gave me my split for the first 6 miles, which, as I said, was awful. The urn back to the finish line/turnaround went right by the condo, so again my dad and Trevor were out there with cameras. I later learned they’d also been drinking pretty solid from the time Trevor left me on his bike until then. Or about an hour and a half. That section of the run was motivating, though, as it was lined with people heading out beer and playing music. Panama City, like everyone who lives there comes out for this race, so the streets were just lined with partiers.

I hit the turnaround and saw the finish line. For some reason, the MIley Cyrus song “I Can’t Wait to See You Again,” then proceeded to be stuck in my head for the next hour. But it was true. I saw the bright lights and heard the crowd and the announcer, and the adrenaline started going. Even though I had 13.1 miles to go. But fuck it. All I had was 13.1 miles to go. And it was all over. I got my special needs bag, changed into my 1st Battalion Drill Instructor PT shirt from boot camp, and headed out for the home stretch.


Trevor decided to run the beer mile with me, which was fun. He even gave me a Michelob Ultra to chug, which I did. It made me feel slightly better, actually. Got some good pics of me running backward, gave me some advice that I don’t remember, then it was all me for the next 2 and a half hours. My quads were hurting, it was dark, it was cold, but I felt fine.

When I got to the park, I was running in complete darkness for a couple of miles. This really allows you to focus on your running and actually made it easier. But at about mile 20, I was walking and stopping briefly at every aid station. I needed it, my legs were dying. At every one, though, I just said “Ok body. Look. You give me 6.2 more miles, and you can take the rest of the year off.” My body liked that deal, and kept going. Getting out of the park (which featured a giant digital message board where people could send messages to encourage the athletes, mine saying “Run, fat man, run!”) it felt like the home stretch. But it was easily the hardest part for me.

I just wanted to bet to the beer section. That I knew I could just breeze through like nothing. But the 4 miles through the residential areas was boring and tedious and I just wanted to get done. This was the only time in the race I started getting cranky and irritated. When the fuck was I getting out of there?!

But I finally did. I hit beer mile, and the crowd starting doing the Tomahawk Chop for some guy in an FSU jersey. It made me wish, for the only time in my life, I’d gone to Florida State. That shit had to be motivating. Of course, the guy stopped and walked, so maybe not. Then a guy with a megaphone gets in the middle of the road and yells at me “Hey, this guy wants a BEER!” I said “Fuck Yeah, I want a beer!” And his group went nuts. They handed me a beer, I chugged it (it was like a Dixie cup of beer, not a whole can) and I kept on. I saw the lights of the finish line. I could hear the crowd and the announcer. Another 5 minutes, and I was an Ironman. I heard some lady yell “12;50!” as I ran by my condo, so breaking 13 seemed pretty certain.

As I headed down the final stretch, I somehow missed that there was a short turnaround I had to do before I could turn into the finishing chute. I mean, it was like maybe 20 yards, but some volunteer had to steer me back to it. Just as I got steered back, Trevor runs up to me with a plate and a slice of pizza.

“This is your finish line pizza,” he told me. “You gotta take a bite of this when you cross the line.” Great fucking idea. For a year, I’d thought about what to do at the finish line, and this seemed perfect. Given my penchant for pizza for which I am constantly mocked, and my perpetual demanding of slices at the end of the night, it seemed only fitting. So, slice in hand, I turned the corner down the finishing chute.

The lights hit me in the face and my eyes got wide like a little kid seeing a baseball stadium for the first time. This was it. The end. The crowd I’d been a part of the year before, and seen when I saw Trevor finish 2 years prior. Thinking “I want that feeling. I want to cross that line and feel like that.” And there I was, running down the finishing chute at the Ironman. It was surreal, and I only wished that more people could have seen it. I heard my name, followed by someone else’s, and then those four words I’d been waiting to hear….

‘You are an Ironman.”

With that, I took a bite of my slice, looked at the camera, and crossed the line. Not the adrenaline rush I’d expected, but great nonetheless. I ended up finishing at 12:55:14 just making my goal (the marathon took me 5:26). I had done it. As my dad told me when I first walked out of the Athlete’s area at the finish line “An Amazing Feat.” And it was. No matter how mad I fuck up the rest of my life, whether I’m a roaring success or a miserable failure or just a slacker who never tried, nothing will ever take away what I did on November 7, 2009.

T105 - The Miami Beach Half-Marathon - Run

Miami Beach

Run - 13.1 miles


2 Lipodrene
Tony, first of all is about the best pre-race host imaginable. Not only did he give up his bedroom so I'd have a comfortable place to sleep, he also got me a bunch of bottled water, set 4 alarms, and knocked on the door at 5 a.m. to wake me up. He does triathlons too, so he knew the importnace. Anyway, I made it from his house in Flagami to the beach by about 5:30, had 2 bagles on the drive over, parked by Nikki Beach and took the shuttle over to Jungle Island where the race was starting.

This race was pretty fun. With all the people running it in costumes, and the shorter-distance, it just had an atmosphere of the sort of event that was full of people there for a good time. I figured given that you don't get much more serious than an Ironman, this would be a nice, fun final long run before the not-so-fun one in a week. Since I never dress for Halloween, my costume was "Guy in Black Shorts" and I did not bring the iPod. Nor did I bring any gels.

The emails I'd gotten had made it sound like they had gels at the aid stations, but it became pretty obvious by aid station 1 that they would not be providing anything other than water and Powerade at the aid stations. Good thing I brought a Cliff Bar with me, which I ended up eating half of at about mile 8. I started the race apparently running about a 9 minute mile pace, according to the guy running next to me who didn't shut up. Which I thought felt pretty maintainable, until he stopped and walked. "Break time," he said. Throughout the race I would see him pass me, then I'd pass him and his friend (female) and this went on until just before the turnaround on 48th Street.

The run was far and away the most scenic I've done this entire cycle, going across the MacArthur Causeway. through South Pointe Park and up the boardwalk to 48th Street, where you turn around, rtun back on the boardwalk along the beach, then do a loop of South Pointe Park before ending in front of Nikki Beach. And, fontunately, the sun really didn't come out until right at the end. I took a 3rd Lipodrene at mile 8-ish, and hydrated with 2 Powerades and a wter at every other aid station.

The miles seemed to go by quick, although my pace wan't much faster than usual, and I never felt labored or exhausted or worn out the entire time. Dizzy, a few times, but not once like I wanted to stop. The whole thing felt like it went pretty fast, I even felt like I hit the halfway point early. As it was, I finished in about 2:20, which is right where I thought I'd be. Yeah, I run slow. I know. The countless women 15 years my senior who passed me reminded me of this. But I also ran my pace. Meaning that I was in shape enough to run this and not get winded. Could I push myself more? Yeah, probably. But I think my mentality for these things is set towards Ironman. Like don't dog it, but don't push it too much. You got a long way to go.

And so that was how I ran this race. It was a lot of fun, and I ran exactly how I thought I would. Which is neither discouraging nor particularly motivating. It just lets me know that I know what I can do. And contrary to the Rickenbacker Ride of the day before, this actually felt good. So 2 for 3 on Miami workouts this trip (swim and run good, bike bad). A better percentage than ususal.

I will also note that there were a LOT of attractive girls on this run. Usually at triathlons, the girls look weathered and hard, and while their bodies are typically pretty good they look a little windswept. For some reason half-marathons just attract a different crowd. There was a girl standing next to me at the starting line wearing like a giant British Flag dress thing that was easily the best looking girl I'd seen at any endurance event. And the group of girls dressed as lifeguards who came and sat with me at the after party at Nikki Beach weren't bad either. I think when I get back to Miami, I'm gonna have to start going more of these.

T100 - This is Just How It's Gonna Feel - Bike/Run Brick

Gainesville

Bike: 60 minutes at RPE 4-5

2 Lipodrene
Still not feeling well. But given my lackluster bike performance on my previous couple of rides on 441, I thought this would be a good opportunity for a little confindence builder on Hawthorne. The goal was to make it to the 30 minute turnaround from that first strong ride I did with Trevor, and I figured I had enough in me to do that and the long run. Didn't quite happen.

I won't say this ride was bad, but when it took me over 8 minutes to make it to the trailhead I knew I wasn't setting any records Thursday. Again, I was able to get into aero and I didn't feel particularly bad, but places where I had been doing about 21-22 a few weeks ago I was now doing about 20. Every spot was about a solid 1.5 mph slower than I'd been doing. Didn't even make it to nigbridge in 28 (I had been doing sub-25 my last rides) and fell well short of the turnaround when I turned around.

I thought maybe this was a case of having some sort of headwind, or maybe one of those times I just needed a warmup. And while I did make in it back 30 seconds faster than I'd made it down (pretty good considering the return incline on Hawthorne) my average speed somehow went down. Yeah, my computer is once again jacked up. So I will be taking it in. But despite that, this ride was better than the last couple, but still disappointing to basically have regressed back to where I was in June.

Run - 2 Hours

1 Lipodrene
I read in the Ironman athlete's guide that they will be providing chocolate chip cookies at the aid stations on the run. I believe they did this at the Half in Orlando too, but I was always skeptical to take them for fear of getting a sideache. But this, friends, is why we train. So I bought a box of the CVS Decadence cookies and put them in the Saturn Aid Station for the run. I even had one right before I started and felt fine. I think the motivation chocolate chip cookies may play a major role in my making my way through the marathon.

Run started out feeling good, but by about the 3 mile mark I again was feeling light headed and dizzy. I thought I was slowing down, but actually found myself ahead in the music on the iPod (and I've started to freeze the buttons on it in the hopes of keeping it from freezing up, so I don't skip any songs), so I guess I wasn't going any slower than before. But I just felt soooo lethargic and tired. And dizzy. And a few times just wanting to take a nap.

I got through the run fine, and did it in abut my usual time. Or so I could tell. I had cookies both times I stopped at the Saturn Aid Station, and they were delicious. And didn't hurt my stomach nearly as much as the Gatorade did.

Because I've never pushed my run much, it really hasn't bothered me. Like I never hurt that much, I just get used to a constant dull pain from about mile 5 on. And the difference for me between 13-18 miles isn't a whole lot. 18-26, though, I'm thinking might. Point is, because I go slow and steady, I think I can keep it up longer even feeling like I have. So I have come to accept that dizzy and short of breath and tired is how I may well feel through the entire Ironman. It'll suck, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna cost me some time. And while that is disappointing, I've now felt like this for almost a month and really see no imminent signs of improvment. Just gotta play the hand you're deal, I suppose.

A friend, who I passed on my run, texted me later that night and I told her about how I'd been feeling like shit. She mentioned a lot of her friends had been coming down with mild cases of mono. Great. That's just what I need. But, it's not going to stop me either. Slow me down, sure, but not stop me. And hey, I'm training with that feeling. So come race day, dizziness and lethergy will just be a part of it I'm used to.

T92 - If You Feel Light-Headed or Dizzy...SACK UP AND KEEP GOING - Swim, Run

Gainesville

S: race-specific
wu: 6 x 75, last 25 in each is backstroke.
main: 3 x 700, 1 is RPE 3, 2 is RPE4, 3 is RPE 5

2 Lipodrene
I made my return to the GHFC pool after nearly a week off Wednesday. Not for any particular reason, just only 2 swim seesions in this training week. Which has been longer than expected. I started out the warmup and was immediately concerned. I was stopping short of the wall and felt very lethargic. Like didn't even want to finish the sets of 75, and coasting into the wall. But that's why they call it a warmup, I told myself. The last 75 went ok, and the sets were satisfactory.

I say satisfactory because I knew I wasn't swimming as fast as I had previously. Even without a watch, I could just tell. My chest felt heavy, like I was never getting enough air, and I even felt dizzy in parts of set 2. I have gained about 4 pounds, which I blame on the extra rest days. This also happened last year when training for the Miami Man, when I got a little gut starting around October. I'm not so worried about that, but even though this swim went ok, and my form felt good and I felt some power and glide, it just didn't feel as fast as it had. In the water, you don't feel it as much as you do on land. But this feeling of lack of oxygen and lethargy became much more apparent later on.

Run - 3 hours

2 Lipodrene
1 Salt Tab
I did something I've rarely done and did a long, multi-workout day on a work day. My schedule allowed for it, so after teaching I set out on my almost-18-mile run. I used the iPod, and again, I just felt like I was going slow. I felt heavy. Yes, I've gained some wieght, but not enough that I really felt like it was slowing me down. The funny thing is, I was getting to the same spots on the run that I usually do in this running mix, so apparently I was not really going much slower at all. But I FELT like I was.

My gel fell out of my pocket when doing the first campus loop, which pissed me off as I felt super-hungry the last 2 miles back to my Saturn Aid Station in the Jefferson garage. I did the loop in about 1:16, which did end up being a little slower than usual. I feverishly downed a gel and a Gatorade when I got there, then did the 45 minute run for my second session, which is about 4.5 miles. As I headed out, I started feeling light headed. Almost like my teeth wanted to start chattering, and then really sleepy. I figured if I passed out, it would be a funny story. But I did not feel good.

The feeling came and went throughout the second leg, and by the time I got back I was ready for my last gel and another lipodrene. 2 more stadium-and-backs and I was done. But as I headed out again, I felt like I needed a nap. Maybe ths flu has had a little more effect than I thought. But I figured, hey, on race day you probably wont be sick. But you will be a LOT more fatigued. So this is how you're gonna feel for about 18 miles. Get used to it. And so I did.

The rest of the run wasn't fun, and the dizziness and light-headedness continued throughout the workout. Every time I had to stop, I knew that if I stopped for more than a minute I was going to stop alotgether. It allowed me to feel all the body aches and other things I don't when I'm still running. So I just kept lumbering away as long as I had to.

I ended up doing 18 miles in three hours and 20 minutes. Which is slow. But like the bike the day before, I had a route planned out. If I did it faster, good for me. If I did it slower, well, that's bonus training. I think in the next month I am going to do some more treadmill work, and I will also start including cookies and oranges at my aid station, to see how my stomach handles those. The Ironman offers them, and I'm wondering if they will help fuel the machine better. Maybe fight a little fatigue.

T86 - Long Effort, then Some Rest - Run

Gainesville

No, I have not been neglecting the training blog. I just have a lot of extra days in my training schedule before the Ironman, and given my recent run of shitty workouts and my right forearm still missing some skin, I thought this would be a good time to use a bunch of them. Also didn't hurt I had the opportunity to go to the UM-Virginia Tech game in Blacksburg, which is a 10 hour drive from here. And I wasn't about to do my longest run ever on some strange course in the middle of nowhere where it was cold and they had hills. So I opted to do my long run Thursday before I left, and save the long bike for the day after Yom Kippur.

Run - 3 Hours

2 Lipodrene
1 Salt Tab

I know at some point I'm going to have to do a long run without the iPod, but today was not to be that day. I even made a new playlist called "Final Ironman Training Mix" that basically combines all the songs I don't skip on my other playlists. At any rate, I ran the campus loop in just over an hour. It was hot, but it was nice to see that even though I was feeling a little sub-par, the heat is still a source of energy, rather than kicking my ass as it had early on in training. First loop, went well, although I chopped steps up the hill. I still felt strong through most of it. I wasn't bounding, but again I realized this was going to be at least 18 miles, so I needed to pace myself.

Then I started the first of 3 and a half down-and-backs to the stadium. Some might think this gets a bit monotonous, but I vastly prefer it to being far away from an aid station, and it breaks the run up nicely. The first one I flew, getting it done in about 28 minutes. This was a faster pace than I was running on the loop, which I found encouraging. Although there are also no hills, which may have played a part. I got back to the Saturn aid station the second time, took another salt tab and another Lipodrene, downed some Gatorade and hit round 2.

My stomach was starting to hurt from all the gels and sugar in the sports drinks, but it went away within about a mile of each lap. I also think this is something I'm going to have to get used to, as I feel like a 12-hour day whose dies consists of only Cliff Bars, Gels, Powerade and Water may lead to some stomach discomfort. At any rate, lap 2 went a little slower, but I still felt like I could run more. I was taking my gels every 45 minutes, and wasn't lacking for energy.

Took my 3rd salt tab here. By round 3, my legs were starting to tire. I realized that this was a much shorter run than the Ironman run (I would have been at about the halfway point here) and I hadn't even biked. But I also realized that the race will be a different mental condition too. I still felt as if I could run, and really only got tired when I stopped. By iPod froze just before round 3 too, which I didn't even notice. Like I got pissed when it froze (2 hours seems to be all it can do without fucking up) but the last 5 miles went by fine without it. This was also encouraging, since I can't use it in the race.

At the end, my legs were tired, I was tired, but I wasn't flat out done. Partly because I started the run at 4, so by the time I hit about 2 hours the sun was going down and it had cooled off (also not unlike race day) but also because I paced myself. By my calculations I did about 18 miles in 3 hours, which is the pace I want to run. God knows if I'll do that race day (doubtful) but I was happy with the effort on this run. I didn't exactly crush it, but it didn't crush me either. I wasn't exactly up for more at the end, but I didn't collapse in a heap either.

After this run, I took 4 days off. I'm sitting here Monday and I feel basically 100%. So the 5.5 hour bike ride tomorrow should be a good test. The arm is healed up for the most part, and I'm ready to go for a solid final month.

T78 - It's Called Being Resourceful - Run, Swim

New York City

I think the best part about Ironman training is the fact that even on vacations, you have to make sure you get in your training. Such was the case on Thursday. When the good folks at Delta decided to move my flight back from 8 a.m. to 6 a.m., I was a little pissed I would have to get up at 3 to catch my flight. That all being said, I realized this would also give me an opportunity to get in my second-longest workout of the week during my first day in the city.


I found a gym on 43rd and 9th called The Manhattan Plaza Helath Club, that featured an Olympic-sized pool and full cardio equipment. It also had a locker room and showers, so it gave me a place to store my luggage all day, in addition to providing a training ground for my run and swim. All this for only $25, which thought was a pretty good deal for training and bag storage. The weather was absolute shit (another reason to never live north of I-10: It sometimes gets cold before Summer is even officially over) and since I had to do 2 hours at Tempo, I thought it might be fun to do 150 minutes on a treadmill.


Run - 150 minutes tempo (Treadmill)
15 Minutes RPE 2-3
2 Hours RPE 4-5
15 Minutes RPE 2-3

2 Lipodrene

I have to say, this was kinda fun. Yeah, the MPHC treadmill was dinky and looked like I could break it with one step that was too hard. And it looked out on a cement path between the cardio rooms and the pool (so nothing to look at but E!'s look at the top 10 Best and Worst Celeb. Beach Bodieas) but I used the iPod and even my slow run I was doing at 6.0

I opted to do like I would at home on this treadmill, doing an hour first, then three half hour sets with brief breaks (like under a minute) for Powerade in between. The breaks all ended up being shorter than expected, which was good. The first hour flew by, as I cranked it up to 6.6 after the first 15 miuntes. Then I maintained at 6.7 the rest of the run, dripping sweat everywhere and getting a few odd looks from the daytime crowd at this gym. No matter. I kept to my gel pattern of every 45 minutes, and aside from the iPod freezing with 25 minutes to go, the run went well.

The one issue I had was that I had so much adreneline going from the music and the ease of runing on the treadmill, that when the iPod broke, I just was like "Oh, fuck this..." I kept my speed up to the final 15 minutes, where I then speed-walked for about 5 minutes before going into a slow trot at about 5.2. I was a little disapointed in my premature cooldown there, but I think this is probably a product of my using the iPod more than anything else.

I was slated to meet with a couple of editors from Cosmo for lunch at 1:15, and oddly I saw one of them on the E! special talking about how bad Tara Reid looked in a swimsuit. It was a little surreal, I have to say, to see someone you were about to go and visit on TV while you get in your morning run, but I can't say it didn't give me a litte extra push.


Swim: Warmup - 6x75
Main - 3x700

1 Lipodrene

Lunch went well, as I rushed through my shower and got a cab up to the Hearst building for lunch. The food at their cafeteria up there is amazing, but knowing I had a long swim that afternoon, I opted for a light sandwich so I wouldn't die on the swim. I got back to the gym about 2:30, put on my jammer and walked over to the rooftop retractable roof pool deck they had. Immediately passed out for about 45 minutes ona deck chair. I'd been up since 3, for chrissakes.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to get my own lane for the warmup and about half the first set. Then some girl came in to swim with me, which was fine. But then another person came in the lane. And another. Fucking ciricle swimming. Then I remembered I was in New York City, not Gainesville. You want your own swiming lane? At 4 p.m.? Ok, you want your own 1-bedroom apartment too? Hou 'bout your own subway car? There's 18-fucking-million people in this city, and 4 swimming lanes. Good luck with that. I accpeted the unfortunate fate of circle swimming and sucked it up for the second set and half of the third.

I was swimming well when I could get some speed up, but I was constantly having to pass people, and then tread water so I didn't run into someone coming the other way. Much like New York, just constantly dodging people. So I guess the swim went well, such as it was. But not being able to really get in a groove was frustrating. You can't just knock people out of the way like you can during a race. Or when you're going fore a subway.

T74 - Drugs and Music make Running Fun - Swim, Run

Gainesville

Swim: 6 x 400 RPE 2-3

2 Lipodrene
I liked the idea of this swim because it didn't have a warmup. Each 400, I guess was one. I also enjoy GHFC on a Friday night, because it's empty. Especially on game weekends. At any rate, the swim was pretty nondescript, other than my losing count a lot. Like I'm pretty sure on the first three sets I had no idea if I did the right number of laps. But I wasn't overly concerned. I kept up my stronke and made good time on all of them. I was, however, insanely hungry the last 4 sets or so, so much so that I just thought about the delicious chocolate bread they sell to get me through the swim. I'm not sure how to stave off this hunger in the future, since I had breakfast AND Cracker Barrel for lunch. You don't get much more filling than that. Especially when you don't wanna eat right before you swim.

Anyway, sadly no chocolate bread was available at the snack bar, and I had to settle for a smoothie. And liquid calories not a bad thing when you have along run ahead of you.

Run: 130 minutes

2 Lipodrene
If you're counting, that's 4 lipodrene. Almost 100 mg of ephedra. I'd had some shitty runs lately, and I needed to do whatever I had to do to have a good one. It was almost dark when I got started about 7:45, so the weather was perfect. About 80 degrees. I took a ton of ephedra. And I put on the iPod. I figured if this couldn't help my run, I was in trouble.

Well, I could tell it was gonna be good from the getgo. I just felt myself striding out the run well, pushing my muscles a little. The ephedra gave me a lot of confidence on the run, just looking at my shawdon on the ground thinking "Damn, my body looks good." Which helped me run even more. I hit the hills coming back on 34th and run up them, same with the hill on 2nd. Everything just felt right, especially considering that I had yet another hangover and was running better than I had in a while.

I took 2 gels on the run, one at the stadium on the way up, and another at the car aid station after my first stadium-and-back after the loop. Finishing the second stadium trip from my apartment, I really felt like I could do more. I may not have even been out there 130 minutes, as that was about how long I thought it would take. But I did just about 13 miles and did it well.

I felt really weird after the run, probably coming down off all the ephedra. But whatver. I'm not sure what this means for the big race, probably that I'll need to take as much of that stuff as I can without killing myself. If I can feel like I did on this run for even part of the marathon, I'll consider it a success.

T59 - A Personal Record Put in Perspective - Run

Gainesville

Run - 2.5 Hours

2 Lipodrene
Today was the longest I've ever run. Ever. In my life. And not that I needed to go all codependant on this workout to get in the 15-or-so miles I'd be doing, but I had mentioned that I was doing this run the other day to Justin, and he is training for the Space Coast Marathon, and wanted to come along. Fine. He well knows that he runs faster than me, so he'd have to pace himself accordingly.

I decided that much as I like training with the heat, a run this long needed to be done in the evening. So I got a good parking spot for the Saturn Aid Station right by the run-in on the first floor, and hit the road about 5. Justin waited a while so that he'd catch me at the end (he runs a slightly longer loop as well). I used the iPod as I did a lap of the campus loop. Started out striding well, but the heat started getting to me by the hill on 2nd and I found myself chopping steps there. Justin caught up to me right around the stadium, and flew ahead to finish the loop in the Jefferson parking garage well ahead of me. My iPod, which had been skipping a lot during the loop, finally froze about ten minutes from the end of this loop. Annoying, but you can't use those thigns on the Ironman course, so good to do a run this long without it.

Justin had run a little faster than me, obviously. So when I got back to the garage he was definitely still in recovery mode. I started talking to him and he said "You shouldn't be talking right now. You obviously didn't run hard enough." Yeah, probably. But I had another 8-9 miles to go, so I prefer to think I was pacing myself. I had a gel and suggested we get going. he did not like this suggestion, but I guess this was my way of pushing him. He kept the pace a little faster than I wanted as we began the first of three trips down to the Stadium and back. I lagged a little behind for some of it, but it was good having someone to talk to.

I really enjoy doing the half-hour loops after the big campus loop, because I'm never more than 15 minutes from my next turnaround, and every half hour you get an aid station at the car with Powerade and gels, and a little chance to rest. I don't even look at it as pussing out either, becasue on the course you actually get one of those every mile, and they have more stuff. It also makes the run mentally a lot easier. Oh, and it's flat too. But so is the IM course.

By lap 2 to the stadium, my legs started to hurt. I mean, I guess at the 12-mile mark, that's to be expected. But I realized this is what pretty much the whole run is going to feel like in November. Best get used to the pain. Lap 2 was, again, a little faster than I would have run otherwise, and I kept stride well. I think we got called "fags" by some guys driving by in a car at one point. I just looked at them and said "Really?" Ok guys. I can't even take anyone like that seriosuly at this point, my guess is they probably would have fallen out halfway into the first loop.

Lap 3, Justin decided to run ahead at his own pace, and looped around and caught me at the stadium as I turned around. I still kept the pace we'd been running when I ran alone, and at the end Justin had been clocking it and said I'd kept 10-minute miles the whole time. Which, slow as that sounds, is about my goal for runs like this. Yeah, I'm fat. Leave me alone. And on the way back, a carload of girls stopped on 13th (right where that girl stopped me and asked for my number last year) were whistling and hollering at us as we ran by. I think they were cute. So I guess running with your shirt off invites different reactions from different people.

All in all, the longest run of my life went pretty well. Yeah, the iPod fucked up. Yeah, it hurt. And yeah, I wasn't setting any land speed marks. But I never felt like I wanted to die, I never thought about quitting, and if I'd been forced to I could have run more. And I think that is about what I should expect at this point. I kept to the gel-every-45 rule, even when I took one with 15 minutes to go. And I downed 64 oz. of Powerade as well as about half a bottle of water. Couldn't get enough fluid for a humid day like this, but the nutrition and hyration worked well today. We got back to the apartment and had some giant Muscle Milk shakes. Protein after a run that long, probably a good idea.

This was a solid way to end the first half of training for the Ironman. Yep, this workout marks he halfway point of the training cycle, and I don't think I could ask it to have gone better. But like I told Justin, I'm glad I have 3 months until race day. Because there's no way I coulda done 11 more miles. After a 112-mile ride. Really puts stuff in perspective, ya know?

T39 - Aaron Klueber is a Dead Man - Run/Swim

Gainesville

So I was supposed to go to Daytona tonight and meet up with Klueber and his sister up in Flagler Beach. Of course, anything involving Aaron Klueber is a 50/50 proposition at BEST, but I figured his 2 AM text telling me I didn't even like Volusia County Lockup meant he was good to go. So I set my alarm for 7 a.m. to get this run in before it got hot, so I could do the swim in the afternoon then drive over and meet him. Well, given my sleep schedule I drank 3 beers to put myself to sleep around 12:30, when Klueber's text woke me up at 2, and I didn't get back to sleep till 5. Alarm went off at 7, meaning I got a whopping 3 and a half hours of sleep before having myself a Cliff bar for breakfast, STRETCHING and warming up on the elliptical for the longest run of the training cycle.


Run: 120 Minutes

2 Lipodrene
After the elliptical warmup I took 2-32. oz. bottles of Gatorade and a water bottle to my car to set it up as my de feacto aid station. Started out on the campus look, using the iPod (a long run in the heat without music? Wasn't sure how that was gonna go. But this was its first use in a while)and felt pretty strong until I got to the long hill on 2nd Ave. Running up hill with no shade, even at 9:45 a.m. is tough in Florida in July. I was chopping steps probably the last half, not real happy with my performance there. I even stopped for a second in front of the stadium because my run was getting so choppy. I looked like an old man running, really. But once I hit the flatland out by midtown I kept my stride pretty well. That back part of campus has some decent shade too, and I switched the music up for the last 2 trips from Jefferson to Stadium and back (I don't do 2 loops)which I think helped break the monotony. Also was rigorous about gel intake, which I could tell mad a difference when I started getting hungry.

But as I was running in the heat, my shoes soaked with sweat by the end of the first hour, I thought "Klueber flakes on this one, I'm gonna kill him. This is a run that could have easily been done 1t 5 p.m. when its about 10 degrees cooler and I have shade. But whatever, Daytona will be fun.

So I get home, check my phone, and no word from Klueber. Then, about 20 minutes later, I get a text from him and I knew what it was before I even opened it. Claiming his sister flaked this time. There's no point in ever calling Aaron Klueber out on a BS excuse for flaking because once in a while they're actually true, and even when they're not calling him out won't change anything, so why waste one's energy? So that was that. I made myself some ground beef and white rice and settled into a nice big lunch before the afternoon swim.

I had a lady visitor come over for a couple of hours after lunch, and let me tell you fucking after a 13-mile run and before a long swim may not be the best idea. But, as I realized when I was able to have sex right after the Orlando Half, I always have energy for sex. Its like always having room for Jell-O. And of course, this girl likes it real rough and aggressive, so I couldn't even half-ass it. This was one of the few times that as soon as I was done, both times, I really couldn't move. Like I just laid there drenched in sweat, my arms borderline cramping up, like, shit, I'm done. I did make sure to drink a lot of water, though, as I knew I had the long swim coming up. but, really, with this girl it was almost a third workout for the day. No wonder I was so fucking hungry all night.

Turns out though, sex not as detrimental to working out as once thought...


S: speed day
wu: 350 continuous. last 50 in each 100 is kick
main: 10 x 200 EBEH (each 200 = 50Easy, 50Build, 50Easy, 50 Hard)

2 Lipodrene
So after my visitor left, I went to the mall and bought some protein powder and new socks. Combined with the Lipodrene I bought online and the race I registered for in August, I spent about $300 Friday on Triathlon-related stuff. I hit the pool about 4:40 with a throbbing headache. Despite the water and Gatorade I had drank, the morning and day's activities had pretty badly dehydrated me. And these 200 meter EBEH were a little daunting.

I donned my new goggles (see, only took me a week to get them) and immediately realized they were too small. Or maybe my old ones were just too loose, who knows. But tight goggles when you have a throbbing headache, not good. I realized I'd have to take these at an easier pace than the 100 EBEHs, so I tried to go easy, but not leg-dragging easy, then a slight build, then a solid effort on the hard but not an all-out sprint. While I won't say this swim was crushed by any stretch, it was a solid effort. Especially given the workouts I'd had before it. And my headache went away by set 6 or 7, which I found interesting. And it was gone pretty much the rest of the day. I'm definitely going to need to ramp up the effort on furute workouts like this, but then again I don't know that I'll have many swims like this aftr a 12-13 mile run.

Went out and drank pretty heavily afterward. We'll see how this affects the Saturday workout.