The Road to the Ironman – Hitting some milestones

Well this week was a week of milestones, which ended on Sunday afternoon feeling pretty good about my progress towards the ultimate dream. First I crossed the 200 hour mark in my training and with amount of time I am spending on the bike 300 is not going to be to far behind. I also crossed the 1,000 mile mark on the bike, which again won’t be to hard to increase by a lot! The last milestone was my outdoor running which has bypassed my treadmill running. Thanks to my new Brooks my running is more enjoyable every time I go out. This week I ran 36 miles and rode 130 miles! So once again maybe just maybe this Ironman might be doable.

I like to thank my brother-in-law Dan for riding with me on Saturday, having company on these rides is precious the longer they get. I know it was his longest ride as he trains for his first triathlon and it was an honor to be a part of that.

I go into the half Ironman in Racine better prepared than my previous two half’s, so my hope is the outcome will be better. It would be nice to finish under 6 hours but again I have to keep focused on the real goal which is to finish strong and with something left in the tank. I am racing for the confidence build more than anything else. Only 28 days until the half.

Ironman Wisconsin is 84 days away! To my family and friends I like to thank you for your support and encouragement. You are all welcome to come up to Madison and enjoy the day. I know watching me do a Ironman might not be the most exciting thing, but to watch me and the other 2,599 triathletes is really something to see. To be selfish for a moment, this is by far the biggest challenge I have ever taken in my life and I sure would love to share with all my experience of a lifetime! I expect to be a life changing moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

This week will be another big week, especially as the weekend approaches I plan to be up in Madison and ride the 42 mile loop twice on Saturday and hopefully once on Sunday.

Running totals:

Running miles treadmill: 209.60

Running hours treadmill: 31:45

Running miles outside: 235.20

Running hours outside: 36:15

New shoes:  36 miles (for my record keeping)

Biking miles: 1,129.80

Biking hours: 61:10

Spinning hours: 7:00

Swimming laps (25 yard pool) : 3,578 lengths or 1,789 laps

Swimming distance: 92,900 yards or 52.8 miles

Swimming hours: 20:00

Weight lifting hours: 23:40

Stair Master miles: 92.92

Stair Master hours: 11:50

Stairs in Cancun 1:05

1 pathetic game of volleyball: 1 hour

TOTAL HOURS – 201 hours and 15 minutes