Masters swim-day #1.

OK, a quick report on my 1st official day of training for IM Wisconsin. Masters swim class #1 went something like this; alarm sounded at 4:20am, got up and dressed, grabbed my gym bag and out the door at 4:39am. Drove about 30 minutes, checked in at the health club, class began promptly at 5:30am.

It is a large class, 10 swimmers going in 2 lanes. About 6 or the 10 are signed up for IMoo (including my race buddy Kim, who saw and treated me at the med clinic-keep reading). 2 others are doing IM Racine. I was feeling quite stiff when I woke up, but not too bad overall. Not bad, when considering I was at Urgent Care less than 24 hours before (walk in, for minor stuff that doesn't warrant a trip to the ER).
I had 2 doses of meds on board, and knew I wasn't nearly 100 percent, but I felt pretty good and was way motivated on the way to the class.

Well, about 25 minutes in, we were in the middle of drills when I came as close to puking in a pool as I ever have in my life. My head was spinning, I got dizzy and literally could feel the gel I sucked down coming up. So I got out, told the instructor the issues I was having, he was cool with it, he said take as much time as I needed. I took a walk to the locker room, closed my eyes for a minute, splashed some water on my face (I know, I was wet, I was in the pool after all). I went back and sat on the deck for a few more minutes, then jumped back in and was able to finish up, but I felt weak and a bit shaky.

Overall, the class is very cool. We did about 200 FS warm up, then the coach talked about technique. We focused on hand entry into the water, elbow position, hooking up for more power. We did 25 yard drills with one arm, with no arms, with our fists balled up. Then we worked on anything but FS stroke; I did some front crawl. I noticed an immediate difference in my hook and power just by modifying my hand entry slightly-so my pinky is up instead of parallel to the water surface.

We also did a bunch of drills for backstroke, which were really cool. One arm drills, kick only, rotation to one side-kick 6-rotate other side-kick 6. We did some kick work-this was the 1st time I've done that amount of kick drills, hold crap! I felt weak (maybe some of it was being sick), but I'd like to think I've got some strong ass legs.

Well, after these kick drills, I will be focusing WAY more attention to kick drills (at least 200 yards a session) as my legs felt like limp noodles. Also-more backstroke, I was digging this stroke, but have never swam it very much before. I am liking this class-this could be the best move I've made in the overall big picture for IM race prep. The coach said the days would get easier-as we would improve quickly-but they were going to get harder at the same time-he will be working us harder and harder each week. An hour and a half of pain. Bring it on!

I think I did about 700-800 yards or so, total. I missed a good chunk, maybe 300-400 while out on the sabbatical walk around. I got back home in time to take the kiddies to school, then I lay down for about an hour. Next, I was back on the road to take my mom to see her ortho doc and get staples/stitches pulled from her arm from her pre Christmas surgery. We ran some errands for her, I got her back home and made her lunch. Then I jetted back home to lay down again for about an hour and a half, still feeling like crap. Next-time to pick up kids, run them to piano lessons, home for homework and reading time. Finally, time for bed (right after this post, as matter of fact!) My hands are like chunks of ice and I still feel slightly ill to my stomach. The back is still aching real good, quads and hips/SI joints are twinging, so the bug is hanging tough! This is one of the HTFU moments, I keep telling myself.

Next up this week: I had planned on a 50 minute easy trainer spin tomorrow after work, but this will be put on a "Wait and see how I feel" basis. If my back/legs/SIs feel this bad, I will hold off another day or two before running or biking at all. Coming up for the weekend: YEAH, more swim related stuff-Saturday AM! My race buds Bob, Kim, Johnny and I are all signed up for a Tri swim clinic out in Burlington from 8-10am, only cost us $25 and the instructor is an elite swimmer/Tri veteran. This should be a fun one, on a weekend off (we might do a group treadmill run afterwards, if I feel better by then. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE...I'm begging to be better, praying to the Tri gods...)

So look for another Tri swim report by the end of the weekend. The swim classes are going to pay dividends-I can feel it! Another training report-maybe sooner if I can shake this mother F'er of illnesses by then.

In closing-one pic, this of the drive home after swimming. I sent it to my wife, and said there was at least one good thing about getting out of bed so early! The jpeg you get from my iPhone doesn't do it justice. But it was beautiful!

Due east towards Lake Michigan sunrise!

Determination

This is my favorite tee shirt. A simple design. Clean, short and to the point. It reminds me of what it takes, personally and professionally, to succeed. This will be repeated in my mind often in this upcoming season.

Yesterday, I booked the hotel in Madison for next September. I was shooting emails back and forth with one of my race buds, who has done several IM races. I told him, I'm thankful they have been there before, to help work out all the details, the logistics, the training plans. And little (no, BIG) details, like not forgetting to book the hotel early, as they fill up very fast!

We are already talking about setting up our rides for next spring/summer, when we will journey out to central Wisconsin and ride the IM course. We're starting to talk about nutrition on the those long rides, how much fuel to carry, how much water or sport drink. I'm looking forward to the 2011 season now!

The temps here in SE WI were near 60 degrees yesterday, and some severe storms moved through the area early in the evening. One, possibly two, tornados touched down west of me, about 15-20 miles away, causing some damage. We had to hunker down in the basement for a short time, as the storm track went right over and near Wind Point. But, fortunately, the storm blew itself out before reaching us. It rained hard for 10 minutes, then the skies cleared up.

I did lift yesterday, only at home. I also got out yesterday before the bad weather for a 4+ mile run, it was almost too warm. Before the run, I did a short, super easy 45 minute trainer ride on the TT bike. It was warm enough to ride outside, but it was raining on and off, and the roads were wet most of the day. I did not feel like riding in the rain, or having to clean the bike and drivetrain. It will take some time in the saddle to get used to the aero position again, I was squirming around trying to get comfy for the 1st ten minutes. After that, I could ride for short stretches in aero. It will come back quickly, with some more saddle time. Not a bad workout day, for the off season!

Today, it was 24 degrees with a wind chill of 17 deg. What a temp swing! The high today will get to maybe 33 deg. So I'm going to get used to seeing this again:

The E7 will be sitting upstairs (or the basement) most of the time, for those trainer rides. Along with this:

And, I had some non-IM related stuff to do-good thing I'm on vacation this week. I have to replace the drain valve on the hot water heater. I was draining some water from it and checking the pressure relief valve the other day. The drain valve would not drain properly, so I unscrewed it and it flew clear off, spraying me and the mechanical room with about 10 gallons of hot water. No burns, but I did get surprised and soaked! After shutting off the water, I found the inner rubber seal was twisted or crimped, and had caused the valve to stick shut. So I called the company (Rheem) and they are overnighting the part to me, as it is under warranty-no charge. Great customer service, no questions or grief, a real person answered too.

We had the furnace checked out last week, just an annual cleaning and inspection. Of course, the plastic drain inside the furnace started leaking, so the tech had to return to silicon it to prevent the moisture from shorting out the circuit board. Lucky me, the extra trip was only $37 (it could have been like $275).

And the overhead garage door needed servicing. The door has been not closing in the cold but it opens just fine (under 30 degrees). So today, the service guy was out and said it would need new rollers, more supports/bolts added and a new bottom door seal. Ahhh, the joys of home ownership.

I started keeping a running total of what the IM WI race will cost. I started telling my wife what we were up to so far, with entry fees, my USAT membership, the hotel-she stopped me and said, "No, don't. Not today". So I think I will just keep an Excel sheet for my own curiosity, and after it is all said and done, I will let her know. That is, if she wants to know.

Racing to 2011.

Well, my race season got A LOT more defined on Monday, when I received that email I mentioned in the previous post (sorry no post last night, got home from work late...again).

So, what will the 2011 season be looking like for me??? It's going to look rather long...

IMOOOOOOO

Originally, it was a very, very long shot that I could get in to IM Wisconsin (IMoo, all my race buds and those IM racers out there call it). You need to be a volunteer, and then stay the night after the race. They open slots for volunteers first here in Wisconsin-you pay right away the Monday after IM, and you are guaranteed to race the next year.

Well, I didn't volunteer this year, but still had a chance back a few months ago, actually. The active.com servers were all jacked up when IMoo registration originally opened. The servers actually crashed, and everyone had to wait a few weeks to attempt to register again. IMoo is a very popular race, it seems, and it sells out in minutes every year.

So my race buds Bob and Kim, they were sitting at home on 3 computers that re-reg day, and were both able to get entries into IMoo. I was unfortunately at work, and over lunch, I attempted to get on to register, when it opened at noon that fateful day. The server was running slow (as usual), and I had to click, re click, close that window, open this new one, click click click, resend-finally! I got through and entered all my info, next screen, answer the IM questions, next, enter credit card info. Click to submit. Nothing. Wait, here is a new screen. Uh oh, it says "Sorry, you will need to resubmit your entry". I try to resend, and see ALL the regular entries had sold out. In like 8 minutes. Sorry, try again next year, you fool.

Another race bud, John, was also not able to get his entry accepted in time. So he registered for IM Racine 70.3 shortly after. And, I'm still racing this one too-now, more for training and distance than just finishing it. We were bummed, we had hoped our little race team could all do IMoo one time together, especially seeing Bob and I will be racing the 40+ (really the 40-45 yoa) cat this year. If I enter road racing crits, I can now race as a Master! Holy crap, I'm getting OLD!

Well, back to how I was able to get into IMoo. My race bud Kim emailed me last month, telling me that IM WI was going to accept applications from service members (police, fire, military) for a few slots at 2011 IMoo, as the race happens to fall on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

So, long story made a bit shorter. I submit my application, telling them how miserable of a swimmer I am, but how I've been a good boy and how I'm working hard on pulling my old butt through the water a bit better, and how I will train really, really hard, and will forego those cold beers and ice cream treats with the kiddies at Dairy Queen (well, most of the time I will...). And I tell them my races and rides I've done to date, some work history and why I want to race IMoo on 9/11/11. 

A committee from Madison Police Department WI (where the race is actually held) reviewed all the applications, and I was one of the lucky ones! (not sure of the exact # of selections made, I saw 25 other names for sure who were also picked). I still had to pay the race entry fee-it would've been super nice for WTC to kick in the entry fees, hey? Maybe in the next life, Jack (thanks, Midnight Run). 

But, I clicked and clicked some more last night, albeit there was no rush this time, as I had a password and special entry site, and here we go!

So my wallet is a little (OK-ALOT) lighter this morning. But, I'm OK with that. I was tossing around ideas for the rest of the race season, which will mainly be triathlon (I've got to finish one, eventually, right?)

Here is my early, very preliminary race calendar for 2011:

     1) Wisconsin Marathon (running the 1/2 only)-Sat May 7th.

     2) Elkhart Lake Sprint TRI-June 11th OR
         High Cliff State Park Sprint-June 18th (TBD at this early time, I might race both if I can).

     3) Pleasant Prairie Olympic Tri-Sun June 26th.

     4) IM Racine 70.3-Sun July 17th.

     5) Chicago Tri-Sun Aug 28th.
     (probably the Sprint distance, if I go to Chi town-I know, I know, it's only 2 weeks before IM).

     6) IM Wisconsin-Sun Sept 11th.

So there it is. The big one. The big cahoona. The big deal. I've already downloaded a pdf of an IM training plan from beginnertriathlete.com, where I am registered but rarely go. Now, I might go there a little bit more. The training starts about 20 weeks out from race day, and is really nothing earth shattering or hugely different than what I did this year. Oh, except the sheer volume. It starts at about 8 hours a week, and shoots up to 15-20 hours, then the taper. That will be a big adjustment again, training 6 days a week, 3 swims per week. I'm still training now, but I'm doing mostly weights, Crossfit, core strength and running/no bike, with a swim tossed in once every few weeks or so, just for fun.

And yes, our race group is doing several open water swims next year. We are road tripping to Madison and swimming in Lake Monona, where the IM course is set. We will also ride the entire IM WI bike course once or twice, as it is fairly hilly. I'm lucky to have friends who swim better (much, much better) than I do. My bud Bob did the IM Louisville swim in about 1hr 2x ish. He's also done IM Kansas 70.3 twice, and he did the swims in about 40 min there. Plus, he's done Redman Long Tri, and finished. I plan on making the swim my "best friend", and I will actually enjoy the swims this year. It will be done, with a little help from my friends (Thanks, Joe. Thanks John, Ringo, Paul and George too. But I got to tell ya, I like Joe's version better).

So, there you go. My motivation and goals are in place, the bar has been set very high. But, it is going to be a very cool, very memorable journey, which is much of the joy in getting to the destination!

Friday, Oct 19th:

OH, one more thing as I edit this post from yesterday. I noticed this was my 100th post! Happy 100th! Woo Hoo! Again, I'm not superstitious or anything, but hey, when it comes to IM, I will take all the good karma, good luck, good wishes, good numbers, whatever-that I can get!