OneTriGuy

2015 IRONMAN Wisconsin Pre-Race & Swim

Ready it or not, the day finally came. I officially became an IRONMAN this past weekend when I completed IRONMAN Wisconsin. Not surprisingly, I was quite anxious in the weeks leading up to the race. It didn’t help that it was in the 90s with high humidity a week out and it was forecast to rain on race day. Thankfully, mother nature gave us all a break and gave us 70° waters, and highs in the 70s. No rain was in sight and the wind was in the single digits. It could not have been a more perfect day for a race. I took my time on race morning, arriving about 15 minutes before transition opened. This is exactly how I like to operate, with plenty of time to take care of problems and no reason to stress out mentally before I stress out physically. The water was opened at 6:30…

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IRONMAN Weekend

There’s a lot of hype surrounding an IRONMAN race. It’s a lot to live up to. And I think they did a pretty good job. IRONMANs are a little different than most triathlons in that you are forced to make a weekend out of the event, rather than just grabbing a packet one day (or on race morning) and then showing up a few hours early to setup transition on race day. Packet Pickup I was a little surprised by the amount of waiting required for packet pickup on Friday. It seems like all of the 2600 or so participants decided to show up at the same time to pick up their race packets. In them you get a bag for everything. Morning clothes. Bike gear. Run Gear. Bike special needs. Run special needs. And of course the “free” IRONMAN backpack to hold it all. It’s definitely an interesting way to run a race.…

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“Hey, slow down for this next corner”

Well, it’s official, I’m an idiot. While riding on an unfamiliar trail I ignored my partners’ advice and stayed aero going ~25mph towards a 90° corner. Needless to say, it did not go well. Once I realized I was moving too fast, I got on my brakes. I reached the rear first and it immediately locked up, sending my rear tire to my left. At that point I decided to run out into the field, but as my bike had rotated right, I was unable to make the field and ended up going about 17mph in the edge of the forest.   I ended up breaking my clavicle pretty bad (hint, that >45° angle is supposed to be a straight line), as well as my scapula and a couple ribs. I will be getting my clavicle surgically repaired on Thursday. Surprisingly, besides the aforementioned relatively severe damage, I came through…

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The 2014 Batavia Triathlon

It’s nice to finally know what to expect at a triathlon. You know transition, the course is familiar (giving you a good way to judge the gas pedal), you recognize faces, if not names … it’s no longer the first day at a new school. This year’s tri was a chilly one, but I had a new secret weapon – a wetsuit! Instead of being too cold to warm up in the water (my body takes a long time to open up and reach full potential), I was able to wade on in and get a few laps down before lining up for the staggered start. Plus, I just look good (or not, according to my wife). It’s a Orca Equip Full Sleeve Triathlon Wetsuit, in case you were wondering. It’s a nice mix of thicker (5mm) neoprene for buoyancy and thin stuff in the arms (2mm) for flexibility. Even though the swim…

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The cheap man’s “run id”

While I am sure some people find value in spending $30 or more for a fancy Road Id bracelet, I A) dont’t want to wear yet another thing on my body and B) don’t want to spend $30. I’d rather buy some unnecessary tri gadget with that money. :) One day when getting food for my two pups I noticed the little “rivetable” dog tag at PetSmart. To me it looked less like a dog tag and more like a cheap man’s Run ID. So I bought it, for less than ⅓rd the price of a Road ID and put my ICE (In Case of Emergency) info on it. Then I laced it into the bottom section of my Saucony Ride training shoes. (Yes, I photoshopped out some of the info, I don’t need my crazed groupies stalking me). I’d call this piece of low tech a big win.  

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New bike day

Following the Race to Wrigley success, I decided to take on the world of triathlon. After a few rides on my old hybrid bike, I realized it was time to get a proper bike that was made for speed. Thinking that I didn’t want to limit myself to tris only, (and frankly afraid of the aero position) I picked up a Giant TCR. It’s a nice carbon frame with a respectable 105 groupset. My thought was that I would grow into the frame and upgrade components as necessary. Here she is the day I brought her home from Spokes (my LBS), before clipless pedals, a saddle bag, a Wahoo bluetooth speed and cadence sensor, clip on aerobars (and eventually a full aero cockpit) and carbon wheels … were added.

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My first race

I felt it was about time to challenge my new self to an actual timed race. After receiving an email about the Race To Wrigley, I signed up for my first foot race ever, a 5k. With the support of my family, I not only finished the run, I did it in 23:09, which is amazing considering that back in January I couldn’t run for more than a couple minutes straight. I’ll take a 7:27 pace and 46th in my age group. I was officially hooked. 

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In the beginning … I was fat

I think it makes the most sense to start this blog at the beginning: Years back life was much different for me. I was not the crazed triathlete I am today. Back then, one of my favorite sayings was, “I only run when chased.” Had there been the 0.0 bumper stickers available, I would have proudly sported one on my car. I just didn’t get fitness for fitness’ sake and was happy to engage in physical activity only when necessary. Runners made no sense to me and I often ridiculed their obsession. I actually had a pretty good diet, eating mostly homemade meals of healthy ingredients. As it goes, you can always have too much of a good thing, and my overeating and sedentary lifestyle started to catch up on me. About ten years after college I found myself about 70-80 pounds over weight. The weight had been bugging me for some time, but not…

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