Iron_Tri_Tim

How long is too long?

2008-11-25T07:30:00.000-08:00

Theoretically speaking how long is too long to still be wearing you IM participant bracelet?

1 day post race?
1 week post race?
1 month post race?
6 months post race?
The organisers of the following years IM cut it off?

IM Florida Part 4

2008-11-06T07:08:00.000-08:00

Run
This year I knew I was in much better shape coming out of T1, I ran the first mile and mentally I was thinking just get to the first aid station and see how I feel. At about 0.9 cramps in my thighs started and I wondered if this was to be where it all went to pieces again. I made it into the aid station before it flared up though.

Downed 2 gatorades, and a gel and the walking cleared the cramps, and I started running again,
each time just before the aid station the cramps would start to return but the gatorade seemed to be working and after about 5 miles the cramps stopped coming.

Mentally I was thinking, wow I'm five miles in, I was 15mins ahead after the bike, and I'm still running, therefore even if I walk from here I'm beating last years time. I just kept going from aid station to aid station and it felt great, no cramps and my legs felt great. Saw Gemma and the girls motivation sign and felt really positive. Finally saw Gemma at around 10 miles and gave Caitlyn a big sweaty kiss and kept going (Emma was asleep). Yep I was hurting but pain I can deal with, its cramps that stop me and so far the cramps had not set in so I was taking every mile as it came. Through half way in 2hr 17mins and I knew I was on for a good time. Wasn't sure of my actual time overall as I had reset my garmin at the start of the run.

Headed back out onto the second loop saw Gemma and the girls again and this time Emma got a kiss! Before I knew it I was through 15miles and I knew there was no way I was walking the marathon now. By this point I was passing tons of people and actually enjoying the race. At 19 miles the blisters burst, but nothing was stopping me now.

The final turn around came and I saw the clock and knew a sub 1hr 40
for the last 6 miles would mean a sub 13hr IM and that would be fantastic. As before I just kept going (taking on gels, gatorade, broth and coke as needed) averaging 11min miles
I was still not exactly sure of my final time, but felt great through mile 25 aid station so I didn't stop. Started to seed myself with the other runners around me to get the finishers straight to myself. Wasn't really conscious of my time and enjoyed every minute of the finishers shute (couple of fist pumps etc). Realised my time after crossing the line and over the moon did not even come close, I was estatic!

Marathon time of 4hrs 45.

Its an amazing feeling when you set what you think is a lofty goal (to beat last years time) and you blow that goal away! I PR'ed by almost 2 hours.

I am now sat here reminising about my perfect day, and enjoying the feeling of stiffness in my legs.

The future..
I have prompised Gemma no Ironman next year, though I need goals in my life or I get lazy! So next year will be the Chicago Marathon (I want to go sub 4hrs), plus maybe a 70.3 (plus the usual local tris), and maybe an Ultra Marathon?

Next IM..
Depends where we are living..
If we are back in the UK then IM Austria or UK.
If we are still in the US then maybe IM Wisconsin, I certainly feel more confident about the distance now and I could do Wisconsin alot more easily as it is just up to road.

IM Florida - Part 3

2008-11-06T07:03:00.000-08:00

Cycle
Because I didn't go through the tent in T1 I forgot to get sun block for the ride! doh! realised this about 5 miles in. There was no way I was going 112 miles in florida sun without the block and luckily the aid stations had some.

The bike went well and I stayed easily within my limits (average heart rate 130bpm). The bike has been something I have suffered on, up until my last century ride I had always finished feeling shattered. At IM florida last year I ended up walking the marathon as I felt terrible (cramps etc). Now I knew I had to drink drink and keep drinking. This time I drank 7 bottles of Nuun over 5 hours, and then for the last hour switched to a bottle of gatorade, on top of that I had 7 powergels, 2 bananas, 2 powerbars and 3 PB&J uncrustables, plus 18 salt tablets.

As you can see I pretty much ate and drank continuously. But it worked!
I knew I was well hydrated, last year.. zero pees over the 6hr 30mins, this year 3 big pees (zero stops ;-) )

As ever though you never quite know how well you will feel when you leave T2.
Time 6hrs 16mins, 15 mins faster than last year.
Max speed 34.4mph, with an average of 18mph.

T2
I entered T2 feeling great, changed my clothes and ran out of T2, last year this is where the death march started! I was about to find out if the same thing was going to happen.

IM Florida Part 2 - The Swim

2008-11-06T06:52:00.000-08:00

The Swim..
I seeded myself closer into the bouy line this year and it certainly was a more physical swim (the usual kicked, punched, swam on etc).
Don't know whether it was me but no one seemed to be swimming a straight line, only had a few periods on the outbound leg where I had any clear periods where I could concentrate on my swimming.

First turn was clogged, people shouting to stop kicking and only use arms.
Return leg again was clogged and this time my nose clip was knocked off and disappeared forever into the gulf.

I hate swimming without my nose clip, last time I lost it was the Chicago tri and I suffered for the rest of the race.
Though my mental attitude was stronger today and the first thought was "sh&t" and then it was well not much I can do about it.
So swam on, yes the missing nose clip frustrated me but physically I was fine.

First loop was completed in 35mins, same as last year. My mood was certainly lifted at this point. Having been concerned about my swim I realised my swim fitness had not dropped too much.

Second lap was a bit more open, I was one of the few that went outside the first buoy. The instructions before the start weren't particularly clear on this, and I only remembered as I heard Mike Reilly's voice reminding everyone to go outside the first green buoy.
A large number chose to ignore this reminder!

Far turn and my goggles got knocked off my eyes on but stayed on my head thankfully, other than the salt in my nose I was doing fine.
Swim completed in 1hr 17, only 2 mins slower than last year.

T1
Wetsuit stripped off slowly.. wheres Tac when you need him! Also saw Di and Bigun and got a big cheer from them :-).

Last year I did a complete change in the tent and had a really slow time, this year I wore my cycle shorts under the wetsuit to try and speed up my T1, didn't even go into the tent. I was going to wear my cycle jersey as well, but with temps low I decided to go with a dry top. Out of T1 in 6mins (and most of that was me having to go collect and unrack my bike :-( ). Certainly faster overall than last year though.

IM Florida - My perfect Race Part 1

2008-11-05T07:03:00.000-08:00

Over the past 6 months I have, swum less, biked a bit more in the past few months but less overall for the year, run far less, due to a niggling injury that I haven't wanted to inflame, with my longest run being 15 miles. I also missed most of September training while we were all in Europe.I certainly didn't feel prepared and was hoping my training from last year was still partially there, and my experience would make a big difference (nutrition especially).

Pre Race everything was rushed, travelling with the girls is hard work, and we arrived on site Thursday PM. Managed to get one 10 min ride on the Friday and a 10 min swim.

Morning of the race nerves were definitely there, I really had no expectation of how the race would go. In my mind I had hopes, but I really had no idea if they were widely unreasonable. Expectations, were to finish and I would be over the moon to just beat last years time.

Things didn't go well from the start, walking down to transition at 5am I realised I had left all my water bottles in the fridge (that was one of my pre-race nightmares!) Gemma ran back and got them for me and whereas in my dream it was a disaster, now it was only a minor hicup.

Standing on the beach, I started to get mentally prepared, quick swim as the sun came up. The sea had calmed from the previous few days, not as smooth as last year, but still very flat.

Tomorrows the big day

2008-10-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

Not much to say really..

Nerves have well and truely set in, just about to try and get a few hours sleep.

My race number is #316.

You should be able to track me via www.ironman.com.

Good luck to the other bloggers out there..
Ryan #515
Michelle #2322
Lana #2139
Ian #811

Plus anyone else I have missed.
Hope you all have a good race.

Update at long last

2008-10-02T18:08:00.000-07:00

Wow what a busy month. Its been over a month since I last blogged and so much has happened on some fronts and so little has happened on others!

The positives
Lakeshore Century ride - Total cycle time of 5hr 30 ish (PR for me). However actual time was closer to 6hrs after 2 punctures, and only carrying 1 spare didn't help. But a nice passerby passed on her spare. The fist tyre went at about mile 20, so I knew it was going to be a long ride! The second went at mile 85. I had taken out my second spare to make room for more nutrition and in all my outdoor riding I had never had a puncture. Well that ride sure made up for it! It did give me practise at changing a tyre in race conditions which was great. I can get stressed when I am really hurrying!

Finished very dehrydrated, and really need to drink more on the bike. This was my failing last year and I just don't seem able to take on enough water. I think i need to be drinking a sports bottle every 30 mins as well as taking on more carbs on the bike. NUUN is great for the salt, but I miss out on the carbs.
Looking at the tyres it doesn't look like a puncture but more of a burst valve.

Babies - Both are growing and getting their personalities. We are at the smiling, and squeaking (talking) stage. They did really well in the UK, and they were great on the plane.. slept pretty much the whole flight there and back which was a big relief. They got to meet all the friends and family as they were karted around the country and passed from person to person and they handled it really well. Also think we have the sleeping through the night bit sorted, to bed at 10.30 and they sleep through to 6am - 7am.

The negatives
Up to the beginning of the month training had been going really well, I had completed 90% of the IM plan to date and I was feeling happy about myself. The century ride confirmed that I am stronger this year on the bike and that had been my primary goal.
However... the first week of Sept was spent packing and getting ready to travel so much of that week was lost to training, then I spent a week in Poland with meetings from 7.30am through to dinner meetings until midnight and I only managed a 4 mile run that week. Then the next week I was in the UK and spent most of that week racing around the country visiting friends and family and only got a 2 hour mountain bike ride (hill rides).

So I am back at the point of being fearful about Florida, I had a nightmare the other day about how I finished the swim in 1hr 40 (25mins slower than last year) and was relieved to have made the cutoff, ran up to T1 and then remembered I'd only done 1 lap of the swim, I sat there knowing I could not run back and complete the second lap (amazed I even contemplated it) and not knowing what to do. Woke at that point so not sure what I would have done!!

I know I have not done enough training and with only 1-2 weeks of real training left, I am in survival mode. I have not let my fitness drop too much from last year so I still have some of that in my legs. I reverted back to the IM plan the moment we got back, completed a 2.4mile swim in the pool on Monday (1hr 25) and finished feeling pretty good, so hopefully the swim is still there. Biked a hard 1 hour on Tuesday (19.5 miles) and felt pretty good. The key marker for my biking will be the century ride at the weekend in Ottawa IL. Ran 7 miles last night and felt fresh, so I keep telling myself I am not heading for a DNF on the 1st. Not looking for confidence building comments just focusing my own thoughts. As with last year there will be no time goals (well bar the big one) I just want to finish and I would like this year without the trip to the med tent at the end.

Other news
Having now travelled with the babies we have decided there is no way we can fly with the babies, all their stuff, my bike and all my tri stuff. When flying to the UK we had 3 large suitcases plus a bike box with the stroller in it. The hire car in the UK was packed solid!
After a long discussion it has been decided my bike will get shipped down to Florida. So that has now been booked and my bike will go via tribike transport (please no horror stories). I can also ship my tristuff in a separate bag with my bike. Meaning we do not have to get a massive hire car to put it all in.

Flights, hotel etc are all booked, and bar the nightmares and fears I am really looking forward to IM. Only 30 days to go!

My update, trips to europe and florida

2008-09-01T13:29:00.001-07:00

Work is sending me to Poland for a week, so I am taking the opportunity to take the girls (including Gemma) back to their other home land (UK), I will spend a week in Krakow, and then spend a week in the UK with the girls. Apologies in advance to anyone on the same flight as us, Emma likes to talk a lot and her internal volume is not quite dialed in!

So because of this we had to get them passports.

Their US passports arrived and they can now come travelling. We have this trip to the UK in Sept, then Florida in Nov, and then back to the UK for Christmas. so they will be doing lots of flying. Also planning a new year marathon so somewhere else for them to go.

I just have to sort how I will balance my training while I am away (any advice?), swimming and running should be fine but biking could be more difficult.

Tac boy gave me some advice on my training for Florida, I am not like Lana who goes to Bigun, a 1x Ironman I seek out the real expert Tac Boy, he has 100% more experience! So on his advice I have focused on my long bikes, and really racked up some mileage in the past two weeks.. 450 miles on the bike this month, with 250 coming in the last 10 days. I also have my first century scheduled for next week.

We have also sorted our accomodation for Florida. Thanks to everyone for all their tips. We have decided to stay at The Inn as its close to the start and on the run course so Gemma can take the babies back during the day. Ian thanks for this suggestion.

Now it is just a case of sorting the hire car, and working out how we are going to be able to pack all this stuff. They have almost as much "stuff" as I do with all my tri kit.

We are then spending a second week in Venice after IM to relax and recover.

Florida Accomodation??

2008-08-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

So its time to start thinking about accommodation for florida, where is everyone else staying? Any recommendations? Last year was the ant infested Days Inn (not staying there again)!

Looking at vrbo, but can't remember where the condos are.

I want to be within a mile of the start so Gemma can easily take the babies back to the hotel room. Also would be nice to be near other bloggers.

My training is going well, the past week (and so is next week) has been tough though managed to get a confidence building 2.5 hour run yesterday and a 3000m swim earlier on in the week and have managed 5 hours cycling since saturday plus some other smaller bits. Tomorrow is a brick session of a 2 hour bike and an hour run. Not massive numbers compared to other people but with the twins demanding time when I would like to be sleeping its been tough! I think my fitness is comparable to last year so hopefully I am doing enough training.

Raced 2 weeks ago in the Chicago distance classic with my training buddy, had a really nice race and got him through in a PR which was fantastic. Though I'm sure we should have been faster as my Garmin measured it at 13.6 miles.

Review of what I use

2008-08-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

I thought it was about time I reviewed some of my kit.

Anti Friction Products
My first marathon (London) was back in 1997 and I went with the plasters option for my nipples... yeah that worked for all of about 14 miles and by the end I had 2 little red targets on my chest! And then pain for about 2 weeks afterwards (plus sores in lots of other bodily places (lets just say I struggled to walk and sit and it wasn't because of blisters).

My second London marathon was in 1999 and this time I decided I'd go with vaseline. It worked and I didn't get the bleeding nipples as in 97 however I found it stained my clothes and was messy on my hands. So when I got back into endurance sport in 2006 I was introduced to Body Glide.

Since then I have used it at the Chicago Marathon in 2007, and the Florida Ironman in 2008 (plus all my other events) and it has served me well (through all 14 hours of my IM!).

I find it stops blisters on the feet, wetsuit burn on the neck, nipple rub, and wherever else I can get the stick to stop the rub, without the mess of vaseline, via deodarant stick and without staining my clothes.

Body Glide were kind enough to send me some new sun screen body glide to try out and I have been using this for the bike (lower back, and neck) as I find sunscreen rubs off whereas body glide stays on even when I've swam before. On the rides I have done this year it has worked perfectly, though forgetting to put sunscreen elsewhere has meant burns!

Oh and I love it when I tell people I need to get more body glide.. their faces are pictures as I explain exactly what body glide is.

Helmet

Received my new Rudy helmet from BfitBday and it fits like a glove. When I first saw it I questioned whether I would over heat in it. Especially as if you slide up the visor it covers the vents.

Having worn it on a couple of rides including a 56 miler I can confirm it does not keep my head too hot even with the visor up covering the vents. It fits snuggly and does not move around on my head. Oh and I feel fast!!

The one minor complaint.. Not sure whether I have big ears or I ride with my head to an angle but the sides of the helmet grip the side of the face, and theres a really small bit of plastic that rubs the top of my left ear. For future rides I plan on either trimming the soft plastic or rubbing some body glide on there to stop it rubbing.

Gels
I have been using gels as part of my training for the past 3 years, and have mainly used Power gels and Gu's. Gus were my first choice and suited me well however I would find them a bit thick for my palate when I was slightly dehydrated. Last year half way through IM training and on the advise of Roman I switched to power gels (specifically the ones with extra sodium) and found they are far more runny than the Gus and go down more easily while exercising. This year I have switched to the apple flavour and love them. I can really feel the effect when I take them.

Liquids
Nuun and Gatorade all the way. I am a really big fan of Nuun (Kona Cola), I find it really works for me, without the bloating I get from other drinks. I tend to avoid Gatorade on the bike as I bloat on it, but I love it on the run and find it really refreshing.
For a post exercise recovery drink you can't beat a glass or pint of chocolate milk.

Shoes
My Newtons were my new purchase for this year and its taken me some time to get used to them. To begin with I suffered immensely from blisters on the ball of my foot (behind the big toe). Runners High and Tri where I brought the shoes worked with me and replaced the shoes and switched me to a slightly different version of the newtons. I still have suffered slightly with blisters however I think some of this is just my foot getting used to running on the balls of my feet rather than my heel strike. The past few runs of an hour plus with the aid of Body glide have seen no blisters at all, so hopefully my feet have finally got used to them.

Muddy Buddy

2008-08-08T09:14:00.000-07:00

Early start last weekend to race the Muddy Buddy.

No pre race expectations except to have a good brick workout (lots of bike to run transitions) and get muddy!

It was a tough few training days leading up to this with a 56 mile bike on Friday PM. Ans broke 3 hours for the first time for the 56 miles. Not saying it was just because I was wearing my new Rudy helmet but I felt fast. Then on Saturday it was a 2 mile open water swim race of which I won my age group (1st out of 1!!!)

So for the Muddy Buddy I was feeling slightly but with goals of have a good workout and get muddy I knew it would be a good day. Achieved both of my goals with lots of the second... MUDDY!

For this race I got to partner one of my training buddies, and run against another. As you can see pre race we were all nice and clean.

I started with the running leg in Wave 2 (Team Brazo was also there in wave 2 but I had no idea!) Its a great race and the obstacles thrown in make it really interesting.Flying on the bike! Haven't really ridden my mountain bike cross country in a while and this was exciting. On the final leg I was passed by Oldest Mini brazo as he flew by on the bike. After 6 ish miles of biking and running it was time for the mud pit.
I really like this picture as it shows my commitment (notice the gritted teeth!)

Finished, tired and ready for a beer...

BFIT Challenge, Donation Request, Races

2008-07-30T03:46:00.001-07:00

Wow, thank you to everyone who voted for me on the BFIT challenge. I won, and this week recieved my lovely new Rudy TT Helmet.

So far its had one outing and that was on the trainer :-), not sure it made me any faster on the trainer, but I sure felt faster! (Note the serious look :-)

Looking forward to being able to use it in a race and see if it has any effect.

If anyone has a few spare dollars Gemma has entered the Susan G. Komen - Race for the cure. When she completed this last year in a time of 37mins for the 5K it was the first race she had ever completed (this time last year she did not believe that she could run 5k!). This year she hopes to improve upon that time. (even though she has just recovered from twin birth and c-section). If you can sponsor her it would be much appreciated.

This weekend is a postponed 2 mile swim race on Saturday and Muddy Buddy on Sunday. Training as expected has been a bit hit and miss, but did get 5 hours of cycling done over the weekend and 2 hours of running.

Lake in the Hills Tri Race, Running In California

2008-07-22T15:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had another sprint tri race, to say it rained would not be doing it justice, it absolutely hammered it down. You know that feeling its 5am, you've had 2 hours sleep and when you step out of the car, you are soaked in seconds and you really wonder what the hell am I doing here" Well I totally had that feeling before the race. There was still thunder and lightning in the air when I arrived so it looked like the swim would be cancelled, however that passed and the swim start was only delayed 15mins.

Lake in the hills sprint tri is a point to point race, so dropped off my running shoes (wrapped in multiple plastic bags) in T2 and cycled the mile to T1, getting wetter and wetter in the process. Setup T2, again putting everything in multiple plastic bags. This season I have started wearing my cycle kit under my wetsuit (they couldn't get any wetter) so only my cycle shoes in T1.

I was off in wave 2 as I predicted 15-17 mins for the half mile swim, started nicely and now I am alot more confident in my swim I pushed myself harder and stayed with the leaders. As in my last race why do people seem so incapable of estimating their swim times? To go in wave one you would of estimated a swim time of faster than 15mins. With each wave going off at 3 min intervals I couldn't believe it when I caught people doing breastroke in the first half of the swim. Swim went well despite getting weed caught in my braces (very off putting!).

Finished without expending much energy in a time of 15.55, 3rd in my age group.
Into T2 and it was still raining heavily, and quickly headed out (well it felt like quickly but 2.36 T1 is not that quick!)

It was a 16 mile rolling bike course, and seemed to suit me, I really enjoyed it, maybe it was because I was actually having to fight the conditions as well. For the first time I felt like I was actually racing rather than just surviving. Throughout the cycle I was pushing myself, trying to catch each person in front of me, and not letting people catch me. Few hairy moments on the standing water but overall a great ride. Finished with a time of 48.31 (again 3rd overall in my age group and at this point 3rd overall in my age group in the race).

A fairly quick change over in T2 and out on the run, finally it had stopped raining and was brightning up. Felt really good out of T2 and got quickly into what felt like a nice stride. The 3.5 miles came and went pretty quickly and I finished the run with a 34.18. This slow run dropped me in the overall standings from a 3rd place overall to a 5th. This was way better than I ever expected anyway so was really happy.

overall place:	70 out of 272
division place:	5 out of 19
gender place:	62 out of 167
time:	1:42:58
swim:	15:55
trans 1:	2:36
bike:	48:31
trans 2:	1:40
run:	34:18

This week I am in Sunnyvale california, and went running at the Sunnyvale Baylands Salt Planes. It was really beautiful, lovely scenary and perfect temperatures. Ended up running 7.5 miles and really enjoyed it. This is a real change to most business trips of mine where I take sports kit to run etc while I am away but end up, just going out for dinner and not getting back until late.

Gemma has a friend helping us with baby duty while I am away, and I am making the most of catching up on some sleep.

This was my view on the run. (Picture on the left not the right! :-) )

Not much of an update on the babies this week, since I have gone away I am told they are sleeping longer, see when I get a good nights sleep they get a good nights sleep. I will be suggesting I go away more!

First Tri of the Season, Baby Update and BFIT Contest

2008-07-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

Last week was my first triathlon - Twin Lakes Sprint Tri.
I completed this race last year so wanted to gauge myself compared to last year, and as its my local race I wanted to give it my support.

I didn't really have any goals for this race, it was a just see how I am doing. Due to babies and far less training in the first half of the year compared to last year, I wanted to see how my fitness was holding up.

My time from last year..
Swim (0.5 miles) 11:29 , Bike (16 miles) 47:23 , Run (5 miles) 43:26
Overall time - 1:42:18

The night before the sky opened up and dumped a ton of rain down, so I was half expecting the event to get cancelled, but infact the morning ended up being fantastic.

Swim went well (wetsuit still fit, last time it got an outing was IM FL), felt like I was gliding through the water, also I was in a slower wave of swimmers so it was really nice to be able to lead everyone. (Rarely happens with me!, yep thats me at front!)

Finished nicely in a time of 11.42 (just a few seconds slower than last year, and with far less swim training this year).

Also had an enjoyable bike, didn't push too hard just stayed within a comfortable range. Fell off as I dismounted on the wet road, but no injuries. Bike time of 48.19 (1 min slower than last year)

The run as well was enjoyable, little cramp towards the end but that was my own fault for not taking enough GUs. Run time was 47.36 (4 mins slower)

Finished in an overall time of 1hr 47. 5 mins slower than last year. I was really happy with this. Having not trained anywhere near as much as last year I expected this to be far slower.

By the way if you get a chance please vote for me in the B-FIT-BDay Contest . I am Tim Davies. I completed this in honour of my twin babies birthday completing 3 miles swim, 30 mile ride, and a 10 mile run all in 4 days around their birth. My story is here..
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Babies are doing well, if there goal is to keep mummy and daddy up at all hours of night! J/K we are all having some really wonderful times. I am managing to keep up about 70% of my training. If it wasn't for the fact I got very sweaty on the bike trainer I am sure I would have fed them while cycling.

This weekend I have a 2 mile open water swim race, and the girls might get to attend their first event.

My day of sherpa'ing

2008-06-22T16:58:00.001-07:00

As you can see my day of being an IM CdA sherpa was slightly different than most sherpa's.

As I am typing this Bigun and Tac are off the bike, as are almost all of the tri-bloggers (Bigun with a really powerful ride), and onto the run. The end is in sight.

For me my day has been spent, fighting off sleep depravation, changing nappies, feeding and loving my twins even though they have kept me up all day and night, my own IM challenge! Did manage to squeeze in a 2 hour 35mile ride today and an 8 mile run yesterday so not a total loss.

Babies are home

2008-06-16T10:24:00.001-07:00

IMG_3785
Originally uploaded by tim1_davies

Babies are home, and we are trying to get into a routine. Mum is getting better and more mobile.

Very little time for anything except eat sleep and poop (and thats just me!).

Today is Day 1 of my 16 weeks training plan to IM, and I managed to get up early and do my 1 hour swim.

For those interested, updated my flickr account with all the photos and video from the birth and first few days.
ttp://www.flickr.com/photos/29148514@N00/

BFIT Challenge Part 3 & Babies Update

2008-06-09T07:40:00.000-07:00

Thankyou everyone for your kind comments in the last post. I passed all the comments onto Gemma in hospital and it really lifted her spirits.

As you can see from the previous post Friday was a busy day. No BFIT challenge was planned for Friday but I hoped to get my final swim and bike completed on the saturday.

However Friday PM the opportunity arose for me to get an hour break to go and burn of some energy and have a quiet 5 mins to myself, and I got my second swim in. I had a really enjoyable swim, every time I stroked I could see the baby ID bands on my wrist. Really strange feeling knowing Thursday I swam as just Tim, however Friday I swam as Tim, dad of Caitlyn and Emma.

Total Swim Time - 1hr 48mins (3 miles)

Both girls were doing well Friday however on Saturday Caitlyn started to show signs of jaundice. By late Saturday they had her on a UV lamp to try and reduce the jaundice levels. It was heart breaking (sure it won't be the first time they break my heart) to not be able to do anything to help. Therefore the bike ride was cancelled. Getting babies healthy was far more important than my BFIT challenge (sorry Roman, sure you understand).

However Sunday afternoon while Mummy and babies were sleeping I took a gentle ride with my father in law and covered the 30 miles in 1hr 52mins.

Total Bike Time - 1hr 52mins (30 miles)

Therefore my overall BFIT challenge details were as follows
Total Swim Time - 1hr 48mins (3 miles)
Total Bike Time - 1hr 52mins (30 miles)
Total Bike Time - 1hr 35mins (10 miles)

Total - 5hrs 15mins (completed in 4 days therefore Bronze)

An update on Caitlyn and Emma...
After 24 hours of UV lamp, as well as taking on formula and breast milk she is doing a lot better. Emma who was also showing signs of jaundice has been taking additional formula and is also doing alot better this morning.

The pediatrician has given approval for the babies to come home today and we are waiting for OB approval for Gemma to come home. So with any luck I can bring all my girls home today.

So excited!

Today I became a daddy

2008-06-06T19:01:00.000-07:00

Just popped home for 5 mins. Please let me introduce Emma Georgina Davies, and Caitlyn Toma Davies.

Emma came out 6lbs 13 at 10.41am, and Caitlyn came out at 6lbs 4 at 10.43am.

I am lost for words and will type a longer blog later. (I am over the moon). Mum is doing great.

(And yes that is my IM finishers t-shirt, another momentous day deserved a wear of the shirt!)

BFIT Challenge Part 2

2008-06-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

Run completed, just! No tornados, though a bit of rain would have been nice. I had a personal worst. It started so well, I felt really fresh and no after effects from this mornings swim.

First few miles flew by, however the heat, wind and humidity were starting to get to me. Stupidly I had gone out with only 1 bottle of Nuun and 2 gels. (this was fine when I ran this loop a couple of weeks ago.) This time however the temps were in the 90's and boy did I suffer for it. Cramps and dehydration, not the makings of a good time. I kept going though and ground it out in a personal worst of 1hr 35min. I won't be making the same mistake again!

As you can see not so happy anymore!

So thats half the swim and the run completed. Gemma is just finishing packing for the hospital, I need to get my few things sorted and then its our last night of freedom. Tomorrow I become a Daddy, sounds strange I know. Oh and before I forget congratulations LBTEPA for becoming an Auntie.

BFIT Challenge Part 1

2008-06-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

BFIT Challenge Part 1

As detailed in my earlier post I am doing my BFIT challenge this year for the birth of my twin baby girls. Their delivery date via C section is due for this Friday at 10am.

So my BFIT challenge is as follows for my 30th..

3 mile swim

30 mile bike

10 mile run

I am going for silver, so have 72 hours to complete. I would have gone for gold, but trying to complete all of that on the same day as the twins are born would have been impossible.

So the plan is as follows, starting at 8am Thursday (this morning) and completing Saturday

1.6 miles swim Thurs morning (6am)

10 miles run Thurs Eve

Babies are born Fri morning (even the babies are scheduled in... yep I'm a Project Manager by job)

30 miles bike early Sat morning

1.4 miles swim either sat morning or afternoon, completing before the 72 hours.

This morning was the first part of this plan with a 5.30am wake up and heading to the pool. Went well and knocked out 1.65 miles in an hour. The pool is called the Olympic Indoor Swim Center, its false advertising the pool is only 25m's!

Not feeling tired so plan on running the 10miles at the local park district tonight. (hopefully the weather and tornado warnings will pass).
Here is the photo of me after finishing and getting back to the car (no cameras in the swim centre).

Chicago Chase Corporate Challenge

2008-05-29T11:51:00.001-07:00

Chase Corporate Challenge

Ran the chase corporate challenge last week, no photos or garmin track for this post as the computer that has the garmin software on it is currently dead (needs a new graphics card).

The good..

Had a great time ran a 26.15 for the 3.5miles (7.5 ish min miles). This by far was a PB for me across that distance. 2 years ago it was my first race in my new healthy lifestyle and ran it in 35 mins. So it was great to come back and see how much I had achieved.

Newtons felt great, performed really well and with the new shoes I continue to not have blisters.

The bad.. (my rant)

23600 people complete this race, so as you can guess it can be quite congested as its only 3.5 miles. However the organisers try to take this into account by trying to set minutes per mile banners at the start to give people an idea of where they should be lining up. However... not everyone seems to understand how fast 7 minute miles really are.

Walking is not 7 minutes per mile! 2 years ago when I ran this I started in the 10 minute section and ending up walking almost the first half mile, so this year I lined up at the 7min mile knowing I would run between that and 8 min mile. However there were a large number of idiots walking and running very slowly who did not seem to understand why they should line up correctly.

Also these walkers/runners tend to run in pairs meaning all of a sudden the path is blocked in front of you. Afraid after the 4th or 5th last second dodge around people, I lost my patience and barged between the next pair. (hangs head in shame, I know very rude). I did notice all the dodging did tweak my hamstrings a bit while they were cold and it took a while to warm up properly.

After the first mile it was easier to move through the crowd as everyone is running roughly the same pace.

Baby update..

Babies are still not here, Gemma has her c-section planned for 6th June, so only a few more weeks of just the two of us.

What a difference 6 months makes!

2008-05-23T06:05:00.000-07:00

What a difference 6 months makes..
6 months ago the element was my tri transport vehicle, it was great I could put the bike in their fully assembled and take a ton of kit with me.. here is a picture of the car when we drove down to Florida for IM.

6 months later and the babies are about to arrive. The car has changed from being my tri transport to the baby transporter.

Not shown in this picture is also the massive twin bob stroller that now takes up the trunk space!

Guess my poor bike will be relegated to a bike carrier on the outside. Unless that is, it is legal to strap the baby seats to the roof.... um must look into that. Just a little worried about strapping the bike to the back of the car, wouldn't want it to fall of ;-)

Ran the Chase Coporate challenge last night, will I tell you about that in my next post also in that next post you will hear me rant about an incident on the chase corporate challenge. (I rarity for me I know!)

Cycling Socks at Work

2008-05-20T06:58:00.000-07:00

Flatman set a challenge to wear your coolest cycling socks to work. For me there was only one pair of socks that would do...

1st Bithday

2008-05-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

Today is my first birthday, its been a year since I completed my first official triathlon. 1 year ago yesterday I completed the Galena sprint triathlon. (660yds lake swim, a hilly 16.8 mile bike, and a very hilly 4.3 mile run.) Upon completing this first triathlon I knew triathlon was for me, and that I had found my sport.

Entered a few more events now
A number of friends are running the Muddy Buddy here in Chicago so have signed up for that, team name is Nor4k n Chance (say it quickly).
I still have a half IM to sign up for but other than that I think my season plan is complete.

Shamrock Shuffle (Completed)

Chase Corporate Challenge 3.5m Run - 22nd May (Entered)

2 Mile Swim - Splish Splash Lake in the hills - 14th June (Entered)

Oly Tri - Twin Lakes Tri - 29th June (Entered)

2 Mile Swim - Splish Splash Crystal Lake - 12th Jul (Entered)

Oly Tri - Lake In the Hills Tri - 19th Jul (Entered)

Running - Muddy Buddy - 3rd Aug (Entered)

1/2 Iron - Lake Geneva - 6th Sept or Great Illni. Not sure which yet.

100m - North Shore Century - 21st Sept

100m - Apple Cider Century - 28th Sept

IM Florida - Nov 1st (Entered)

Two weeks ago I completed a 9 miler (the longest in my Newtons so far) and I got the largest blood blister I have ever seen! Went back to the Tri shop and talked through what had happened. Without a question they switched out the shoes (had them for 4 months and run almost 60 miles), and they got me to try a different pair of Newtons with less support. Been running with these for 2 weeks now (couple of 5 milers and two 8 milers) and the difference is amazing. Confidence in the shoes has been restored.

Babies are doing well, we are now past 35 weeks and they are due any day. Finally persuaded Gemma to create a blog, to show friends and family the babies development.

2008-05-05T03:47:00.000-07:00

2 posts in one day wow. This is more a post for my UK readers, but it was an emotional weekend for another reason. I am a Football fan (soccer for any US readers) and yesterday was the last day of the season for my beloved Southampton FC. And as usual we were at the wrong end of the table fighting relegation.

(Relegation for any US reader is where the team can drop down to a lower division, a very different concept from US sports I know).

We needed a win, and to hope that other teams lost to stop us getting relegated. Well we managed to survive. Below is a little video showing what my emotions were like..

Moving house, and getting ready for the twins

2008-05-05T02:52:00.000-07:00

Wow its been a busy 2 weeks. No babies yet, which is a good thing. Gemma is now 33 weeks, and we need the twins to stay in for another 3-4 weeks.

Last weekend we moved apartments, I think you forget how much stuff you accumulate, and by stuff I mean junk.
With Gemma being pregnant she could not help at all, much to her frustration, so we relied heavily on friends. Without them I could not have moved us. It took 5 of us 10 hours to move a 2 bedroom apartment. I was exhausted by the end of the day. Great strength workout though.

So now we are in our new place Gemma can start nesting. The cribs went up last night, and Gemma can start getting the babies room together. (I can put the bike up on the trainer in the spare room and start nesting with my sports kit!)

On the training front, I have been able to keep up my low level of training. Continued to do 2 spin classes a week, 1 core class and 2x 5-10 mile runs a week. Nothing major, just enough to keep myself ticking over until the end of this month when training will start to increase for the run up to IM FL. Need to get back into some swimming as well. (Update.. got a 6.3 mile run done plus a 36 mile bike this weekend. Bike was on the trainer and I noticed the speedo was still reading 112 miles as that was the last time I'd ridden my bike!)

B-FitB-Day
I have joined Romans B-FitB-Day site. Originally I didn't sign up as my Birthday is the beginning of Jan and the site wasn't set up then. So I was talking to Roman and I am going to nominate a Birthday for this year as my Birthday was before the site was up. After further discussions I am going to choose the week the twins are born (sometime in May). I doubt there is a chance I can do the Gold, of all events in 24hours, but I hope to be able to get the silver (all in 72 hours). For me that means 3 miles swim, 30 miles bike, and 3 miles run.

My First Baby Purchase

2008-05-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

Iron Babies (I know a terrible extravagance but they look great!). 2 in yellow for the baby girls. Though they only had them in size 12months so they will have to wait a while to wear them.

IM Florida Plan 2008

2008-04-18T04:47:00.001-07:00

Just starting to finalise our 2008 IM plans. How to get there, number of days there etc.

Last year we drove from Chicago to Panama City Beach (2000 miles there and back), however with the twins being here when we head down to PCB we have decided that a 2 day cross country drive may be too much, so instead we are going to fly down there.

Also Gemmas parents are likely to be in Venice Beach during that period, so the plan is..

Fly down to Sarasota/Bradenton from Chicago on the 24th, and then head down to Venice to meet Gemmas parents. Spend a few days by the beach getting the bike setup and getting a few beach swims and runs to acclimatise.
Then I will drive up to PCB on the Wed 29th Oct, Gemma is probably going to stay with her parents this year due to the complications of moving the twins around. She is not happy as she has been to every one of my events.
Then spending 29th Oct through to the 2nd or 3rd Nov in PCB before heading back to Venice, and then flying back to Chicago on the 7th Nov.

Would love to meet any bloggers who are going to be around, maybe a meetup on the Wednesday/Thursday night? Sherpa help, friendly faces on the course would greatly appreciated.

This leads to the second reason of my post.. bike boxes. One of the reasons we drove last year was the concern of my bike getting damaged, going all that way and my race being ruined due to a damaged bike.

So if we are flying I guess I need to consider a bike box. I have looked online and found a nice one for under $300 Trico Sports Iron Case. What cases have other people used, is there one people can recommend?

Looked at renting and because I don't belong to a Tri Club its likely to cost around $100.

Looking at the airline they will charge me $50 to fly the bike, so not too bad. I think I will get future use out of having a bike box.

And yes I know travelling with twin babies on a plane will not be easy either!

Guess Where I Went This Weekend

2008-04-13T16:04:00.001-07:00

Went to Wisconsin this weekend and went to Wisconsin's No 1 Single Attrraction "House on the Rock" very wierd place. On its own not enough to make a blog post, but on the way back I got to stop at Ironman mecca...

Yep I went through Madison. Thought I'd throw these pictures out for those of you getting ready for Wisconsin this year.

As you can see the water was fairly choppy, and the weather was not very nice. I am sure it will be much nicer for the actually event. Also got to see Mt Horeb, glad I didn't have to go up that in Florida.

This is now my third IM city I have been too, (Louiville, Panama City Beach and now Madison). I didn't really get to see Louiville much, but Madison was certainly a much nicer location than PCB.

Wore my IM jacket, and it made my day when I was asked about IM. Had a great conversation with the team at the Erehwon Outlet Store, one of whom has volunteered at IM Wisc for the past few years.

My Shamrock shuffle route

2008-04-05T05:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I got to use my 305 for my first race of the year. I understood that in the city it would have 'issues' with satellite locks, here are some shots of my route...

Honest I didn't take shortcuts!

Firstly, I mixed it up by adding a water leg to the race..

Next was the 'I got lost moment'

When I got out from downtown it worked fine. The overall route was...

Note the straight line I ran down W Jackson Blvd (another swim leg added). According to the Garmin the course was long, but when I look at the route I went it might explain why the Garmin had me at 5.5 miles for an 8k race.

Shamrock Shuffle 8k

2008-04-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

First race of the year, first race in my Newtons, first race where I really enjoyed it, longest run since IM Florida!

Thats the summary of my race. As mentioned in a previous post, this race last year was a PR for me, however this year I had decided it would be a race to enjoy and to run with a training partner.

Finished with a time of 43.52. Nothing amazing but finished feeling great. (8.45min miles)
All the way round I could have certainly kicked it up a notch (and possibly even beaten my last years PR of sub 40 mins), but wanted to be able to run with friends and enjoy the race. (Notice the IM Florida finisher cap, saw another finishers cap on the course and passed on my congratulations.)

Weather was cold (35degF), hence the stockings and running coat.

The outcome from the race has given me confidence that my fitness has not dropped off as much as I thought since IM FL, also I am starting to believe that the Newtons can make a difference. So from the last post of saying I am 50/50 on the Newtons, I am more 70/30 in favour. However I do not think they are treadmill shoes, I have found them far more effective when running outside.

My 305 gave an interesting course map (think the high buildings in the city may have had an effect!) I'll save those for another post.

It was cold, at the start but once I got going it was a really nice temperature, the race was nicely organised and unlike the Marathon plenty of water on the course!

Help Taconite Boy Out

2008-03-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Go on help Tac out in a really good cause.

http://theadventuresoftaconiteboy.blogspot.com/2008/03/team-orthoi-need-some-help.html

New Job, and updates

2008-03-26T07:38:00.000-07:00

My updates, nothing too exciting, just things going on in my life. Sorry for the delay again, thanks Ian and Di for reminding me, that to call yourself a blogger you actually have to blog once in a while!

Training has been a bit stop/start recently. I have managed to keep up my spin class training and increased it to twice a week. Its hard work but I am enjoying it. My training will start to pick up next month (7 months to IM FL). We have also had best friends over to see us, so have been showing them the delights of Chicago in the winter. It was great to see them, and makes you realise what you miss being over here (friends and family). Though without a doubt we would miss our new found friends if we went back to the UK (can't win!).

Started back swimming and found it really difficult to begin with, my triceps were killing me after only a couple of hundred yards. My uneducated reasoning for this is that all the perfect pushup work I was doing has given me an increased upper body strength, but these muscles were not endurance muscles, and weren't used to the kind of muscle movement swimming uses. Make sense? Does to me!

In my last post I hinted at some work issues, well thats finally sorted. Over Christmas Gemma and I were seriously considering heading back to the UK. My job was not going in the direction I wanted it too, and Gemma was also not happy. We weighed up the pro's and cons of going and staying (would make going to IM FL this year alot more complicated) and decided that we would look to return to the UK. This was not an easy decision to make as there were some very major pros to staying however the big negative is that due to my Visa I can only work for my current dept within the US, so no chance to find a new job.

So during January I started to look for a new job in the UK, I also communicated to my manager that I was not happy, and that I did not feel the opportunities that I should be getting I was (glass ceiling in my role). Well it seemed to make a difference I have been promoted into a new role which really excites me (haven't felt that in a while on my current job). So Gemma and I are staying. We are moving apartments as a 2 bedroom apartment is far too small, to a larger 3 bedroom place.

The twins are healthy, and growing and moving lots causing Mummy (and Daddy) lots of sleepless nights. Guess thats not going to change for another 18 years.

Newton update, I am still 50/50 on these. Running is certainly easier and quicker, and I have felt little to no ankle pain. However recently I have had foot arch issues. I have inserted supporting insoles and that has made it better. However I still suffer for about 1/4 mile, after running for 1mile. After a few minutes it goes and I am fine. Weird!

First race of the season is next week, Chicago 8K Shamrock Shuffle. I am planning on running this with a training buddy, and just enjoying the race. Last year was a PR for me, having run trained through the winter (causing burnout later in the year), therefore this year I just want to enjoy the race.

Nothing too amazing, I know!

Its twin girls!!

2008-02-22T20:00:00.000-08:00

Wow time flies, its been a month since my last post. Its been a busy few weeks and with everything going on the blog has taken a back seat. No I hadn't gone into hibernation as Jumper suggested, but with all the cold weather and snow I feel like I should have.

So to update.. its girls, 2 of them. Life for me got a whole lot more complicated (and expensive) I'm going to be out numbered by girls! Advice from parents with 2 girls would be greatly appreciated. My thoughts is one set of clothes which they can rotate, and then its a choice of marriage or college.

We got confirmation a couple of weeks ago on the sexes and immediately starting thinking about names. Gemma and I agree on most things but on the few things we disagree upon it can be tough to compromise. I expected this to be one of those things.

However over the weekend we chose names with very little difficulty. Gemma very quickly vetoed my ideas of Brittany and Paris.. (apologies to anyone reading who may be or have children called this) something to do with other people by that name!

We have chosen their names and I would like to introduce you to Emma Georgina, and Caitlyn Toma. The middle names are in memory of both Gemma and my Grandfathers (George and Tom). Also Toma means little twin. I love the picture below as it looks like one of the babies is waving. Gemma is getting big, and I will try to get a photo of her in the next few weeks.

Back to triathlon world. I have started swimming again, and wow my swim fitness has plummeted. Though I don't think this is just the fact that I have not been swimming.

Since using the perfect pushups, I have increased my tricep and bicep muscles greatly, however now when I swim my triceps tire very quickly, think this is just the muscles not used to swimming. I am going to try and swim every day this week to see if this improves.

To update swimming has got a bit easy and hopefully this will continue to improve

On the positive side my weight has started to drop, I am aiming for getting back down to 180 (10lbs to go).

I am really enjoying the spinning classes and the core classes, I really hope they make a difference when I finally get my bike back outside.

And finally an apology..
I am sorry for not being able to comment on everyones blogs, not only have I not been updating my own blog, but I have not had a chance to read anyone elses. Partly due to the twins, and partly due to work decisions, but I'll bore everyone with that in a future blog.

Just gets colder and colder

2008-01-21T16:42:00.000-08:00

It just gets colder here in Chicago, and with it my enthusiam to train goes down. Saying that I am really enjoying my spinning classes, and core classes. After the first week I thought I would never be able to survive the classes, now I am actually starting to enjoy them... yeah thats a lie, I am know just about surviving them.

Coming from the UK where 32 deg F is cold, the temperatures capable here in Chicago amaze me, though they are still warm compared to my friends in Minnesota and further North. Over the weekend in Chicago it hit -1 deg F, and with wind chill -15 deg F. Needless to say we did very little over the weekend, stayed in and kept warm.

Christmas Birthday Toys Updates
Newtons
I have managed to get a few more miles on my newtons. I am still enjoying them, I find my stride turnover rate is alot higher and I am running faster than before. After some initial tired calves I am finding that they are not as tired after running. My speed is definitely increasing, not quite sure whether its the newtons or just the stride action of running on my toes.

Garmin
I love this toy, how I ever managed before is unknown. Afraid I am a stats person, I love to be able to look at the speeds/heart rates etc over my workout, and visualize the pain I was in at that moment. I do get the usual smirk comments in my spinning classes of "So how far have you cycled?"

Perfect Pushups
Another succesful toy from Gemma to me, other than a tiredness in my shoulder I am sticking with the routine. They are certainly building my upper body strength, and turning my moobs into pecs! I can also feel it really working the biceps and triceps. I find it feels less like a push up as I am able to grip the handles rather than pushing down on the palm of my hand causing less stress on my wrists.

Friday is the big day, with any luck we will find out the sexes of our babies.
Completed the boy or girl quiz and it reckons 55-60% its a girl. I am just hoping for healthy babies, beyond that a boy would be nice, two girls I think would be a nightmare for me! A house full of women.

Big three O

2008-01-12T17:43:00.000-08:00

Yep it was my birthday, I would love to buy everyone donuts (as I did for work), but I guess everyone reading this is far too busy training and keeping healthy to eat them!

So Gemma spoiled me again. (this will have to stop when the babies come) For my birthday, she got me a new Ipod Classic. (I will continue to use my old mp3 player for training, and not worry when it gets beat up). I much prefer the Ipod and itunes for the Podcast interface, and am looking forward to catching up on the podcasts especially Biguns and Taconites new podcast.

I have started to use another one of my christmas presents.. perfect push up. I have never been great at pushups, more than 15 and I fall too pieces. I have found this really effective, I have been making some big improvements and can really feel my upper body strength improving. I'd like to say thats me in the picture... maybe in a few months!

I have also been continuing to go to the core workout classes and they are starting to get easier. I no longer feel in pain 5 days after the workout. Just a nice feeling of having a good workout the next day. I have also continued the extreme cycling, I am really hoping this is helping with my cycling endurance.

The countdown is on.. in 2 weeks we find out the sexes of our babies. The current guess is at least one is a girl. (high heart beat). Most people are guessing one of each.

Extreme Cycling and temperatures of 52 Deg F!

2008-01-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

This week I started one of my new classes, extreme cycling, also the 305 got its first indoor usage (HRM only). Extreme cycling is sort of a cross between spin classes and floor exercises (star jumps etc), not at the same time though, actually there was pressups on the bike!

Takes 45 mins and I was knackered at the end. I aim to do this once a week along with a class on core training and a pilates class. I am lucky that these classes are paid for by work, and I can do them in the middle of the day. So when I have had a really bad day (most days it seems) I can disapear to the gym for an hour an exhaust myself before going back to work.

Downloaded my 305 data for the extreme cycling. This is using the Garmin software and nicely shows my HR.

52 Deg F!
Yep in cold old chicago it got up to 52 degF (thats 12 deg C for Iain my cross the pond reader!). All the snow we had had pretty much melted over night, leaving the roads clear and suitable for me to get out and about.

So I wrapped up and decided today was the day for the 305's first outdoor run out, as well as trying out the Newtons for the first time.

It was nice out if a little damp and I was able to maintain a fairly nice trot, the action of running on my toes more, certainly seems to have sped up my run speed. Completed a nice 3.2 mile loop around the nighbourhood. Shoes felt good, though my legs ached an hour later due to the new running action.

Downloaded into Garmin Training Centre (GTC), not impressed with the GTC the map function was totally wrong. So downloaded into Sportraks. This seemed far better and correctly mapped my route.

HRM Display still seems better in GTC.

Happy New Year to all

2007-12-31T17:39:00.000-08:00

Happy new year to all.

Its been a busy Christmas period. Both Gemma and I are starting to get everything back to normal and getting ready for the big year that 2008 is to become (twin births and IM). Gemmas parents flew back to the UK yesterday having spent Christmas with us, and today feels a bit flat.

(To add while helping Gemmas parents pack I accidentally caught my middle left foot toe square against the corner of one of their cases. ... OWWW!!! Eye watering moment... managed not to swear in front of the inlaws, and I now have a broken toe. Not a major break, and I don't feel it while exercising... phew).

In past years Gemma and I have celebrated New Year at 6pm CST at the local Irish bar as that tied up with New Year in the UK, however this year we decided to have a quiet one in at home. Toasting the UK new year with a baileys (Only a very small one for Gemma). In fact we will probably be in bed asleep before CST midnight. Its the holiday periods when we really miss our friends and family.

Both of us wanted everything to get back to normal as quickly as possible to the extent we took down the christmas tree and decorations today. (bah humbug I know!). The apartment is almost back to normal. I have started filling out my training plan for next year, back to the grind of swim, bike, run :-). I'm looking forward to getting back to it. The weight has crept on and I need to get back to training.

We've had more snow here over christmas, in fact as I write this more snow is coming down, another couple of inches is expected. The big child that I am (we never got snow in the UK), had to go out and build a snowman, not the greatest I know!

And finally a shot of the two of us (me sporting my new O's), looking into the Bean in Chicago,(yes it was cold).

Happy New year to all.

Merry Christmas to all

2007-12-27T06:44:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all, thank you all for the kind comments on how to train with twins. Given me confidence that I can do it. (As long as I can get by on only a few hours sleep!)

Christmas period has been a period of excess, and I am now ready to get back to training. I have started taking a core class, and have found out what muscle tiredness really feels like. 6 days after a 30 minute class and I still felt like I had gone 10 rounds with Floyd Mayweather. Though it hurts but it feels good to know I have done a good workout. Looking forward to keeping this up through next year.

Santa came with some very nice presents.. Gemma and I agreed we would spoil each other this year, as it would be our last year of being able to really spoil each other. Next year it will be the twins! Also Gemmas parents were here, so we had a big blow out. 3 hours of opening presents, just for 4 adults.

Presents came in stockings, then main presents under the tree (3 hours), then a couple more at lunch (small presents), couple more at dinner, then a couple on boxing day (26th). As you can see it was a procession of presents

So for me the highlights were

A 305, seems like this was the present all tri-athletes and runners got this year! Can't wait to take it out. Gemma is looking forward to seeing where I go when I am out for hours! She thinks she will finally find out where the other woman lives! I have told her I the other woman is my bike!

A new set of Oakley Flak-Jackets, with the hydro-phobic covering. I'm a real sci-tech geek, and they really work. (pink lenses and blue frame).

And a signed copy of Roman's book, thank you for the kind comment.

Merry Christmas to all, and thank you to everyone who has helped me this year, all the people I have met, and to 2008 I look forward to all the friendships I renew and the new people I meet.

Training with twins?

2007-12-18T13:39:00.000-08:00

So I'm having twins (not me personally but my wife), and at the same time I will be training for IM Florida. Does anyone have any tips? Am I biting off more than I can chew? I know my parents, and my in laws are worried I (we) won't be able to cope, especially as we don't have family here in the US. Has anyone done this before?

Some of my thoughts..
The babies are due in April/May and my serious IM training is not due to kick off until August
I enjoy cycling on my trainer, therefore babies in the cot next to the trainer while cycling seems possible
Same thing with the running machine, swimming may be more difficult!
Will I be too tired to train? Or does this come under, if you want something bad enough you grind through it. I'll be tired from training anyway.

Other people have told me, you do what you can and you go out there and enjoy it.
So any tips how to enable training and look after new borns? Or am I mad?

Babies Update and New Shoes

2007-12-07T07:31:00.000-08:00

Babies update..

We have now been given a due date.. 20th June (40 weeks). Gemma is doing well, starting to show and she feels far less sick now. Being twins they are unlikely to go 40 weeks, the obstetrician has said he will be happy if they reach 36 weeks, 32 being the earliest he would like. Its all starting to feel real now :-).

New shoes..

Succumbed to the band wagon of Newtons, my local running shop (Runners Hi and Tri in Arlington Heights, shameless plug I know, but they have always helped me out) is now the local vendor and had them on offer, I got to try them out, rather than having to order them without trying them. Strange at first but feels comfortable. I am very impressed, taken a few runs to get used to them. But the action of running on my forefoot seems to have made a difference.

Will let you know more over the months. Though I am told it should hopefully reduce the strain on my ankles which is something I have suffered with in the past.

Spotted and Race Schedule 2008

2007-12-07T07:26:00.000-08:00

Having spent a fortune at the IM expo (you can never have enough finisher clothing) I try and wear my finisher clothes whenever possible. 6 weeks of wearing the clothing and someone finally noticed and asked me about the IM. I don't wear the clothes to show off, more I wear them out of feeling proud about my achievement. But to have someone stop me in the street (well the cue in Costco) and ask me about my day gave me the biggest smile ever! I realise I love talking about the Ironman.

With snow on the ground, and going outside in anything less than 10 layers seems crazy. Started to think about my race calendar for next year.

I want to try and get in some of local races, with babies on the I way want to keep costs to a minimum. As with last year I want to get a half iron done. I have unfinished business with this distance and feel I am a lot more experienced and could go a lot faster. I only managed one century done last year so have scheduled a few more centuries. May
even try and fit in a few 5k's early in the season.

Run - Shamrock Shuffle 8k

Swim - Lake in the hills 2 mile swim

Swim - Crystal Lake 2 mile swim

Tri - Twin Lakes Sprint Triathlon

Run - Chicago Half Marathon

Tri - Great Illini 1/2 IM

Tri - Lake in the hills Oly Triathlon

Bike - North Shore Century

Bike - LakeShore Century

Bike - Apple Cider Century

Tri - IM Florida

Has anyone done the Great Illini Challenge? Any feedback on the race?

Would be great to meet a few more bloggers, so let me know if you are doing any of the races above.
Of course everything is still dependent on when the twins are born. I have been told that the birth takes priority over events!

First Proper Snowfall of the Season, Baby Pic, and a mention on GYGO podcast

2007-12-05T09:23:00.000-08:00

Firstly the snowfall..
As you'll learn throughout the winter I love snow, sit me in front of a window when its snowing and I can be entertained for hours. Hate to see it melt, and get dirty, love the sight of falling flakes. Having come from England, where snow is a very rare sight, I am now inundated with opportunities to snow watch. Its great! Oh and I take a lot of photos of snow. (Only a few posted).

Yesterday evening it started snowing and has continued all night and all this morning. Currently around 5 inches deep. In the UK a dusting of snow causes the whole country to come to a grinding halt, snow ploughs are unheard off, whereas here in Chicago its "mostly" a finely tuned machine of large and small snow ploughs, and everything continues on. Though did the township really need to start snow blowing the sidewalks at 1am this morning! What a welcome wake up call that was, though maybe it was good training for having twins!

Can't wait for the twins to be born and be old enough to take sledding, when we went sledding last year my wife and I were the oldest big kids! Took advice from a 5 year old on how to sled properly.. most embarrasing!

Secondly the Baby Pic
This may not be of interest to everyone, but heres the latest scans of the babies. We have now had our last session with the IVF doctor, and we are now in the hands of our OB/GYN.

Get Your Geek On Mention
Downloaded the latest GYGO and I get a mention!! Yep I need pee on the seat, though Kahuna didn't mention that I didn't really have a choice, it wasn't like I was too lazy to go to the porta potty, just kinda happened. Though did feel guilty about the poor next soul to sit down.

Notice the similarity?? Well bar the time.

And finally (if anyone knows how to add links into a blog could you let me know) Like above I would have liked to have linked to IronWils and Kahunas sites.

Finisher Video and Random Fears

2007-11-29T18:29:00.000-08:00

Finally I have my IM finisher video. For me this is a few seconds of what pure joy feels like. I can still remember the thoughts that went through my head as I ran down the finishers straight. A feeling I hope I will never forget.

So now I start the journey towards my second IM. I am more confident than I was this time last year, though even with that confidence I have new and different fears.

--- Warning Random Ramblings Follow ---
Last year my main concern was could I complete the distance, now I know I can complete the distance. This year however it is more difficult to describe those fears, I still have lots of fears but they are more about letting myself down and not achieving my goal.

Should I train less this year, therefore avoiding burn out? Also this time I know my fitness is close to IM fitness, whereas last year it was not. So I just need to maintain this and then ramp up closer to the big day. But then I fear that my fitness will drop off too much and I will be in a worse condition than I was this year.
As you can see I over think a lot of things, and let me fears get the better of me.

I also have non triathlon fears, that I have to contend with. (Father to be).
What is it going to be like to have children, will I be a good role model, what will they be like, will we cope, is IM and newborns together too much?
Again lots and lots of fears.

--- End Of Random Ramblings ---

Either way I can see next year will be a busy and eventful year.

IM Florida 2008 - The Sequel

2007-11-28T09:45:00.000-08:00

Its done.

IM depression

2007-11-26T07:13:00.001-08:00

Yes I know everyone (well most people) gets it, but I'm in the bottom of it right now. I'm eating like i'm in peak weeks of IM training, haven't gone near a pool, my bike, let alone my running shoes since I crossed the finish line. As well as wondering how much faster I could have gone, breaking my race down into why I should have gone quicker.

I know I should be doing something but I just am struggling with motivation.

- I have my Florida IM reservation sat by the computer waiting to be payed.
- I have to go see a doctor about my ankle, to make sure there is no lasting damage, and to confirm I am ok to restart heavy training.
- I have to get back into some sort of structured exercise.

I have at least got all my stuff washed and cleaned from florida. (That took far longer than it should have done!)

Half of me is concerned about starting back too early and not giving myself time to rest, and half is just wanting to rest and eat. Maybe thats just laziness though!

Haven't dared weigh myself yet, maybe that will be the kick I need, as well as filling out the florida registration. Still working on my next years race schedule and that is helping a bit with the motivation.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-21T07:59:00.000-08:00

Being from the UK this thanksgiving idea is a new concept to me, but who am I too argue against turkey and a day off work. :-) This is not a celebration I had really heard of before coming to the US, there is nothing like this in the UK.

I've even learnt some American history to get into the spirit of it.

Happy Thanksgiving

Swim Photo from IM Florida

2007-11-19T07:07:00.001-08:00

After paying the extortionate price for my 6 official photos from IM Florida (had to get them) I finally received my free aerial swimshot. Its actually quite a nice shot. I was really surprised to see how spread out the swimmers are. When you are in the middle of it, it feels like there are maybe swimmers either side of you for about 5 meters. This however shows that is totally not the case. I had no idea how spreadout everyone was this early.

I can now understand why I was able to get so much clear water. At a guess I was midway between the green buoy line and the outer swimmers.
I was really expecting a rough ride when in fact I found lots of open water. I would have loved to have seen an aerial shot 10 mins later when everyone hit the first turn and how condensed it looked then.

From speaking to other swimmers who were tight on the first turn they said it was so packed it was tough to tread water.

Also to set the record stariaght as some people have accused this years participants of cutting the second loop short by not going round the first buoy, we were told by race director, that on the second loop we would miss the first green buoy and head towards the Ford buoy and aim for the second green buoy. (Pre race they said they would remove the first green buoy, but that did not happen).

New Scans - 8wks 6 days

2007-11-15T11:05:00.000-08:00

2 more scans, mummy and babies are healthy and doing well. First picture shows baby A, and yes I have questioned the tail, and been told it was normal. Saw the heart beats again (174 for both), and movement from both for the first time.

Second baby is slightly harder to see. Baby is orientated with head face down.

What went right? What went wrong?

2007-11-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

So now with my first Ironman completed I need to sit back and look at this year and decide what worked and what did not, and decide how my training for next year will go.

As you know I have signed up for Florida next year, so I am in exactly the same place I was this time last year, except I am not a novice anymore.

What did not work well..

I trained almost solidly from 1st Jan through to Nov 3rd, this was 11 months of solid training. I think this is why I felt burnt out and seriously let my training slip during July (6months of training). Because I was unsure how much training to do, I completed 2 cycles of 1/2 IM training and then a full cycle of IM training this led to burn out, and a lack of interest in training I'm sure.

Therefore this year I think I will try some maintenance training until May/June time i.e 1 long swim a week, with some weight training, cycling and running thrown in to maintain my fitness. Then in July follow a full IM training plan.

What needs to be improved..

I only completed one century ride this year (a number of rides 80 miles), and felt I suffered for it on the IM ride, I felt tired from 90miles onwards. My overall time was 6hrs 30, and I was very happy with that, but more cycling might help me feel fresher off the bike, as well as slightly reducing that time. I have a couple of centuries penned in for next year.

What went wrong..

My running at the beginning of the year was great, however it deteriorated a bit through the year, also due to ankle issues, I completed very few long runs. Next year will be all about increasing my time on my feet.

So what worked well..

The amount of swimming, I swam close on 100miles over the 12 months leading into IM FL, and I was rewarded with a 1hr 15min swim time. I did so much swimming last year as I could not swim 100yds freestyle at the beginning of the year.
Next year I think I will reduce my pool swimming and try and get more open water swimming (hate swimming in a pool, especially as the pool in our building is only 12 odd meters long (over 300 lengths to 2.4m). I am not looking to speed my swim time up at all.

The races I completed really helped me focus on IM, I think I will do the same sort of things, but maybe some smaller races this year. I would like to get 1 1/2 before florida next year, and hopefully improve upon my dismal Steelhead showing.

Great Illini 1/2 IM, Twin Lakes, etc

My goal for next year is to not go drastically faster I just want to be able to run a large portion of the marathon. This year was a 6hrs 20 odd marathon. If I could knock an hour of this then I get down in the 13hrs area which would be fantastic (conditions on the day limiting).

And as with this year make sure I enjoy my events.

Race plan for next year is still under discussion with the boss... something about having 2 new borns may conflict with some races??? Any tips from anyone else what worked well for you?

New friends and a big thank you

2007-11-09T09:59:00.000-08:00

I gained a whole new group of friends over my journey, as well as getting a ton of support from my friends and family.
Everyone at the MiGroup - Your support and card gave me a real lift over the journey.
Mark and the team at Runners Hi - Without your training support and help I am not sure I would have got where I did.
Meredith - For asking the question the very first time I met you and asked about triathlon, "so do you want to do an Ironman?" And then for being my coach over the years journey.

As well as my new found blogger friends who, helped me out with support and being a friendly face in the crowd.
Marc (Bigun), Di, Roman Mica, Bryan (Taconite Boy), Trimama, Ironmom Jen

And for the two people who got me on this journey via your podcasts and websites.
Iron Kahuna and Iron Wil

And finally my wife Gemma thankyou for all your support.

Oh and one last thing...
I signed up for Florida 2008

Afterwards

2007-11-09T09:57:00.000-08:00

At this point I felt really good, got my photos taken and tried to walk around a bit before heading to the massage tent. I probably went there a little quickly, and they took me into the tent about 5 mins after finishing.

I laid down and tried to relax as the massage started, however I had started to get pins and needles all over my body, and I couldn't relax my hands. I was fed broth to try and hydrate me, however I started to get nauseous. A couple of visits from the Doc and I was off to the med tent (not how I wanted this to end). The med team were great, finding Gemma to let her know what was going on and that I was fine.

In the med tent they weighed me and I had lost weight (big shock there!). I was wrapped in multiple blankets, sat in front of a heater and given gatorade. I was offered an IV, however I did not feel I deserved an IV so declined it, I was only thirsty and cold. I have since been told that I would have felt better instantly. I was diagnosed as being hypothermic and de-hydrated. After about 20 mins of sitting in front of the heater I went back for my massage, and caught up with Gemma.

I wanted to wait and see the last hour of an Ironman finish, but I was so tired we headed home (stopping at Burger King for a big greasy burger, fries and milk shake).

And that was my day. It is a day I will never forget.

T2 and a short slog of 26.2 miles

2007-11-09T09:34:00.000-08:00

Up to this point I had not managed to pee, and my body decided that upon sitting down in T2 that this would be the best time to go. (Really sorry to anyone who sat in the chair after me!). Glad I was not planning on running in my cycling shorts.

Stripped off, changed and got ready to run. Up to this point I have always considered myself as someone who can run. (3 marathons, couple of half's and some shorter distance). In the weeks leading up to IM I have had ankle troubles, no idea what they are. I had them x-rayed and there was no break evident, however I have since been told a hairline break may not show, there was also a concern it could be plantar facitis. In some of my training runs it has flared up, and I had been unable to walk. So going out of T2 I guess the ankle concern rested on my mind.

I tried running the first few miles and just couldn't get it going. It wasn't until about mile 6 that I managed a complete mile run. Over the first 13miles I continually battled with my mental side to get myself to run. I probably managed 4 miles of running over the first 13. I felt some cramp and ankle pains so didn't want to risk anything. Think the picture explains exactly how I felt.

I knew when I hit the turn around I would see the finish line, and I wondered how I would react seeing the finish line was so close, however I didn't feel down about having to go back out. A long hard stare at the line and thoughts of "I'm coming back" and "I'll see you in a few hours" went through my mind, and I was able to pick up my special needs bag which contained a good luck card and more messages really helped.

The second half was a continuous walk (managed 15min miles), I think I had got complacent in my mind by this point, I knew I was going to be an Ironman, and my time would be way better than I expected. I got a bit emotional at this point as I started to remind myself that I was only 3 hours from being an Ironman. Sucked it up and continued to walk into the dark. Passing the final turnaround was great, only 6 miles to go. The last few miles were a whirl I was so excited, 11 months of training had all come down to this moment and I wanted to enjoy it. Its funny though I remember enjoying it, but the actually memories of what went through my mind have quickly gone.

The last mile was spent mostly looking over my shoulder and trying to keep distance between myself and the people around me, then into the final straight I'd timed it that no one was in site behind and the guy in front was 100m's ahead. I had the whole chute to myself (I ran this bit) and felt all the cheering directed at me. In my mind I told myself this is what pure joy feels like. Remembered Iron Kahuna's photo finish and knew I wanted something like that, so put on a big smile, raised my arms and listened to Mike Reilly welcoming me in.

Because Gemma had volunteered at the finish line they allowed her to stay on after her shift finished and she was able to meet me at the line and put the medal over my shoulders (great moment). Overall time 14.25.06. (So much for worrying about the cutoffs)

T1 and beyond

2007-11-09T06:25:00.000-08:00

After a 7 min transition I was onto the bike, saw Gemma again on the exit of T1 (didn't stop this time).

In my mind at this point I was relieved to be clear of the swim, and know that I was an hour ahead of the swim cutoff time. I was also nicely relaxed on the bike, my heart rate was a nice 125, and in fact never got above 130 for longer than 30 seconds during the whole ride. My goal was to take it easy for the first half and see how I felt.

It was at this point I realised I couldn't be that bad a swimmer, as over the first 20miles I must have been overtaken by 200 odd people. Repeating the mantra in my head.. "crap swimmer" as they passed me (probably themselves saying crap biker!)

The florida ride is very flat and I tried to stay down in the aero position for as long as possible, and managed to keep this up for the first 40 odd miles. However at that point I'd had enough of constantly being aero so reguarly switched between the aero and bars position. (tended to switch whenever I was bored).

The countryside around PCB is fairly boring, lots of open spaces and empty lakes followed by little villages, it is fairly flat with quite a few rolling type hills.

Got my special needs around mile 50, read my inspirational message from Gemma, and was relieved that I had not needed to use any innertubes to this point. (Had left the PB&J sandwiches at home so no nice sandwich for me).

To this day I have only changed my inner tubes twice, I knew I could do it (albeit slowly) but was very worried that under race pressure I would take ages.

Just after special needs the topic of conversation between passing riders seemed to be, and "what was in your packed lunch, trade you for a sandwich?"

I continued my ride, knocking back gels and endurolytes like they were going out of fashion, followed by a clif bar every hour (managed that for 3 out of the 6 hours). This seemed to be working fine with no feelings of cramp until about mile 70, when I started to get some GI pains. Breathing in deeply seemed to feel uncomfortable as well. Not sure why this was but I got it into my head it was caused by the gels and I stopped taking on the gels. I'm sure this caused me issues later.

The bike is just endless and you end up just waiting to see the next 10 mile marker, the roads are hit and miss, with some sections really nice, others being really rough. My bike speedo not working for distance really didn't help either. (I have a wireless speedo and it reguarly drops out, from looking at that you would think I cycled 87 miles, rather than the 112).

The bike was pretty un-eventful, no punctures, no crashes, just boredom (please stay like that for future races). From about mile 80 I just wanted it over. Reaching mile 100 was such a nice sight (this then became my longest ride ever), and I flew down the final few miles along the sea front.

Again Gemma was waiting for me at the dismount line and I felt pretty good at this point.

My average speed was 17.21mph, and I was really happy with that.

From speaking with other people they said the wind was alot stronger in the second half, but I can't say I noticed. Maybe I was on a sheltered part of the course or just orientated differently to the wind.

Into T2, with a bike time of 6hrs 30.

And so it began

2007-11-08T10:48:00.000-08:00

The big day was finally here, I had waited 12 months for this, and it was exactly as I had pictured in my perfect ironman dream. Flat seas, low wind and moderate temperatures.

I got down to the race site nice and early and got bodymarked and then proceeded to find a quiet spot on the beach with Gemma to try and relax.

Normally I am more nervous than this for races, however today I felt suprisingly calm.

The ironman start is an amazing thing to see, so many people all trying to get to the first turn as soon as possible. The sea becomes similar to a washing machine, everything getting churned up. In the middle it can get physical, with arms and legs flying. At the first turn you have 2500 competitors all trying to take the shortest path around the first buoy. It gets to the point people are treading water as they are unable to swim forward due to the sheer numbers of people in front.

I was warned of this and made a concerted effort to stay wide, this added a few extra meters to my swim distance, but meant I was able to swim uninteruppted for the duration of the swim. I went wide at every buoy and never really had an issue with conjestion. The swim start at the Chicago triathlon was more conjested than my Ironman swim.

From 12 months ago, being unable to swim freestyle and before the race being concerned about the swim cutoffs the swim itself went very easily. I didn't find myself wanting the swim to end (as I do in the pool) and other than watching out for jelly fish I had a really nice swim.

Came out of the water on the first loop to see the clock showing 45mins, my immediate thought was great, another 45min swim and I am totally on target for a 1hr 30 swim time. At that point I looked at my watch and realised the clock was showing the Pro's time (who started 10mins before everyone else, they need the headstart!) so my first loop was 35mins, now my confidence was really up, this was the fastest I had swam 1.2 miles and I felt really fresh.

Second loop was the same as the first, except even less congested, tried to appreciate the last 100 or so meters of the swim as I was really enjoying the swim.

Out of the water at 1hr 15... goal beaten by 15mins and my fastest ever swim and still feeling really good. I was over the moon at this point, my one big fear about missing the swim cutoff had been blown away.

On to the wetsuit strippers, who did a great job of getting my wetsuit off and me on my way to the transition. Saw Gemma on my way to transition and stopped to give her a kiss. (This may have to stop in future races as it's costing me time!)

The swim change tent at this point is just packed with naked people (tents are split mens and womens) changing into their cycling gear. Found myself a small space and changed into my cycle gear and then it was off to get sunscreened up and out on the bike.

8 Weeks Scan

2007-11-08T05:52:00.000-08:00

On a completely different topic, mum to be got her 8 weeks scan today.
Saw the heart beats on the twins for the first time... all I can say is wow!

158 bpm for both.... already planning their training! May have to work on reducing their heart rates. A little high if you ask me for doing nothing but lying around!

The Days leading up to IM

2007-11-08T05:42:00.001-08:00

And so the journey began a 1000 mile drive from Chicago down to Panama City Beach. Car packed with bike and tons of equipment. I wouldn't say I was nervous, more a mixture of excitement and nerves, with a real want to get it started.

The few days before the Ironman are the worst, lots of athletes out in the sun, cycling and running up and down the main roads all off which made me think I should be out there also. My coaches words kicked in though, "nothing you do in the final days can help, it can only hinder" though it still did make me wonder. Also lots of people who looked way fitter than me all helped increase the nerves.

However on the positive side the sea was calm and the temperature and wind were nice and low. I managed one pre swim and felt ok, a little tired and I attributed this to the journey down to Florida.

Now was just a case of resting and hydrating... I was ready!

About me and my Journey to Florida IM 07

2007-11-07T10:58:00.001-08:00

I moved to the USA with my wife Gemma in April 2005, having been given the opportunity by the company I worked for to come to the USA. Having moved over here I found every opportunity to experiment with the delights of US takeout. This of cause had an effect and I hit 230lbs...

This wasn't me, I have never been the fittest, but getting tired going up stairs was not me. I have completed the London Marathon twice and I knew this had got me fit in the past. So in Dec 05 I signed up and started training for the Chicago Marathon. During that training I started listening to the Get Your Geek On Podcast, this got me interested in Triathlon and through listening to Kahuna and IronWils journey towards Ironman, I decided I would give this ago. A perfect race of 4hrs 15 in Chicag spurred me on, and made me realise if I really wanted something bad enough I could train for it and achieve. So 12 months ago I signed up for Ironman Florida, having never completed a triathlon.

As I started my journey towards Ironman I had a great many fears, primarily around the swim section. The run did not scare me, having completed 3 marathons, and yes the bike is along way, but seemed manageable. (This thought was pre having cycled greater than 50 miles).

The swim however was a different story. Pre signing up for Florida I could'nt swim 100yds freestyle, and there was no way I could breaststroke the whole race and make the cutoff. So there was a big fear over the swim cutoff time. As well as fears over getting swamped by other competitors and the sea being so rough I would struggle to breath.

Swimming has never come easy to me, I get bored easily!

Later on I would learn about Jellyfish and sharks, which would just add to the fear factor of the swim.

And so my journey began, with a number of races picked out, that would build me up to Florida;

Over the year, I have learnt a great many lessons, at both races and through training

In training;

I can swim, though was never really sure how fast. Its amazing what a couple of lessons and then a whole lot of swimming can do for you. Over the period of Jan - Nov I swam 98 miles
I can bike distances, it gets very boring, but I can do it.
Over the period of Jan - Nov I biked 2400 miles
Running leads to injuries, or so it seems for me. I don't know whether it was over training or something else but 8 weeks out from the big day in Florida my ankle flared up and caused my run training to get totally de-railed.
Over the period of Jan - Nov I ran 430 miles

At the races

At Galena, making sure the wetsuit is on properly can stop your shoulders tiring out
At twin lakes, an extra few minutes on the bike can make the run so much easier
At Steelhead 70.3 it was must take on more salt to avoid crampings
At Chicago I learnt about swimming in a pack

I just hoped going into Florida I had learnt all the lessons I needed to learn.

First Post

2007-11-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

Intent of my blog

To trace my journey towards Fatherhood, as well as my continued journey to my Second Ironman.

As well as being pushed by TaconiteBoy, Trimama, Bigun, and Di to join the blogging world and see what I am missing.