The Bike to Run transition was another disaster. Good news is, I can improve my time by a good 10 minutes, just by having decent transitions. I fumbled around looking for stuff in my transition bag, spent way too much time deciding to change my socks, and then even more time actually changing my socks. Like I said- a disaster.
Once I got out on the run course, things were better. Just 26.2 miles to go! If I can do a 4 hour marathon, I can still reach my goal. I can do a 4 hour marathon. Just not after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles.
The plan was simple. Run.
Well, there was a little more to it than that. I would walk through all the aid stations and up all hills. Part-way through the run I also decided that I would also walk whenever I came upon a friend/teammate who was walking. This should give me plenty of opportunity to stay fresh during this last, long stretch.
Seems like everyone makes the goal of getting out on the run before the first finisher comes across the line. I was able to do that- I was at least a mile into the run, when I passed the lead runner going the other way. There's one small victory.
Shortly after seeing the lead runner I noticed a pro racer ahead of me. As I got closer, I noticed that it was Heather Gollnick. Several years ago I volunteered at Ironman Wisconsin- my volunteer job was to ride my bike in front of the #2 female runner. Heather was second off the bike, so I got to lead her around the course for about the first 1/3 of the marathon. It was an amazingly cool experience and it was one of the things that inspired me to do Ironman. So I speeded up a little to catch Heather and I told her my story. She remembered that it was the second year of Ironman Wisconsin and she went on to win that race.
I was feeling good, so I continued on and left Heather behind (she was on her second lap- but I'll still take that as one of those little victories). Through the stadium, out to the lakeshore bike path, over Observatory drive, through the aid station where I worked last year and a bunch of my friends were working this year, up State Steet, turn around- back down State Street, back through that aid station and back out to the lakeshore bike path. On the bike path was were I finally ran into my training partner, Julie, for the first time all day, she was heading in the opposite direction, just about to hit Observatory. This was odd- in that last time she beat me off the bike and I caught her a little after the stadium. We expected that I would beat her off the bike this time- but not by that much. We're about even in the swim and close to even on the bike- I might be a little faster- or she might be- just depends on the day. Something must be wrong. As we passed- she jokingly asked me to wait for her, so I stopped and said I'd wait right here. Apparently some people around her actually thought I was going to wait there for her. Thankfully she knew I was joking. We passed again a little before I got to the stadium on my second loop- she was heading in on her first. This time we stopped and talked for a while- turns out something was wrong- she got kicked during the swim. So hard that she was fairly certain that she broke a rib. And I thought I had a bad swim,
For the rest of the run I was kind of in that in-between place- nat fast enough to catch the fast people and too fast for some others. So, I would run with friends for a while and then they would tell me to go ahead.
The Ironman Perform sports drink continued to bother me through the run- so there were unsuccessful stops at pretty much every porta-pottie. The sun went down with about 2 miles left in my race and I yelled out "Someday I will finish this race in the daylight!" to which somebody replied "Yeah, and someday they'll start the race at 5am!"
Have you heard the song "Rumble and Sway" yet on Triple M?
The singer sounds like a raspy blues dude who's definitely been around the block a few times....but surprisingly, Jamie N. Commons is only 23 years old!
He was born in England, but...
Last week, I decided I would try one new, healthy food a week, and asked my facebook friends to make some suggestions.
The first thing I tried was mango. I'm sure I've had other mango flavored things, and mango as part of something else, but...
There's only one thing that might be worse than the Neil Diamond/Barbra Streisand duet "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." And that's Jonathan Suttin doing his best crooning...doing both parts. Most unpleasant.
A lot of people liked this song...
Artist: Alchemilla
Hail From: Boston
Song: 'The Wheel'
Album: Diamonds From The Penny Arcade
Sounds Like: Hole, Pearl Jam
In Their Words: "Alchemilla had been trying to write a ballad for a little while but it wasn't happening. There...
Last weeks challenge we thought went excellent! Of course we are a little biased.
The drinking song couldn't have been any better, or any less fun. We had a blast through out the whole process, and our performance rocked.
This week is an easy...
So the story goes Michael Jackson completed this song while watching cartoons with Paul McCartney. We'll just let that sink in for a moment.
Not sure what cartoons they were watching, but it must have worked because this song made it to number 2...
The Dalai Lama is back in town, sharing his message of peace and kindness with likeminded individuals, and the Wisconsin legislature. He also held a private meeting with Gov. Walker, who said he mostly listened to what His Holiness had to say (wise...
This duet by Ol' Blue Eyes and his daughter went all the way to number 1 back in 1967. It seems a little creepy that Frank and Nancy Sinatra are singing a love song. However, a lot of Triple M listeners were in the mood for it.
Here's...
Have you heard the song "Rumble and Sway" yet on Triple M?
The singer sounds like a raspy blues dude who's definitely been around the block a few times....but surprisingly, Jamie N. Commons is only 23 years old!
He was born in England, but...
Last week, I decided I would try one new, healthy food a week, and asked my facebook friends to make some suggestions.
The first thing I tried was mango. I'm sure I've had other mango flavored things, and mango as part of something else, but...
There's only one thing that might be worse than the Neil Diamond/Barbra Streisand duet "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." And that's Jonathan Suttin doing his best crooning...doing both parts. Most unpleasant.
A lot of people liked this song...
Artist: Alchemilla
Hail From: Boston
Song: 'The Wheel'
Album: Diamonds From The Penny Arcade
Sounds Like: Hole, Pearl Jam
In Their Words: "Alchemilla had been trying to write a ballad for a little while but it wasn't happening. There...
Last weeks challenge we thought went excellent! Of course we are a little biased.
The drinking song couldn't have been any better, or any less fun. We had a blast through out the whole process, and our performance rocked.
This week is an easy...
So the story goes Michael Jackson completed this song while watching cartoons with Paul McCartney. We'll just let that sink in for a moment.
Not sure what cartoons they were watching, but it must have worked because this song made it to number 2...
The Dalai Lama is back in town, sharing his message of peace and kindness with likeminded individuals, and the Wisconsin legislature. He also held a private meeting with Gov. Walker, who said he mostly listened to what His Holiness had to say (wise...
This duet by Ol' Blue Eyes and his daughter went all the way to number 1 back in 1967. It seems a little creepy that Frank and Nancy Sinatra are singing a love song. However, a lot of Triple M listeners were in the mood for it.
Here's...
