Archives for "November, 2011"

Posted by Jim on 25th November 2011

196.4 – No not a new Ironman distance…

Three weeks from Saturday I closed another chapter as I crossed a finish line, little did I know three weeks later I might be staring down a more difficult challenge than competing in a 140.6 mile race.
I am at my highest (non vacation) weight in 8 years, 196.4 pounds!
OK it actually was planned, but still [...]

Posted by Jim on 25th November 2011

NOT TODAY…

Kim, Dan and I sat in my car as I watched the clock turn to 7:15 am. There we were getting ready to run the the 3rd annual Pewaukee, WI Turkey Trot. It was a typical early Wisconsin morning, cold, windy, gray with a touch of drizzle. I think for all three of us, this [...]

Posted by Jim on 22nd November 2011

Black Friday

Ah tis the season…
Black Friday the day were people show there best behavior by getting to a retailer at stupid hours in the morning, rush through the doors, giving elbows, throwing punches all in the hopes to get some ridiculous price on an item they wouldn’t buy for themselves but deem it worthy to give [...]

Posted by Jim on 17th November 2011

The Road to the Ironman #2 – THE FINAL ENTRY…

THE FINAL ENTRY…
Listening, observing, smiling I sit in a booth looking over at a person that has not only become a mentor, a friend and an inspiration, I slow everything down and wonder to myself am I really hearing this?
It has been 11 days since Ironman Florida and I am sitting at an IHOP having [...]

Posted by Jim on 15th November 2011

The Road to the Ironman #2 – Vaseline, Jennifer and my finishing song…

Ironman Wisconsin results – 15:35:07
Ironman Florida results – 7:37:18     so far….
As I handed off my bike there they were once more, my support crew. I was actually worried if they were going to be there because if I wasn’t expecting to finish in 6:09, how did they expect me finishing in 6:09. I am [...]

Posted by Jim on 14th November 2011

The Road to the Ironman #2 – Robert Key, Headwinds and losing an hour …

Ironman Wisconsin 2010  results – 15 hours 35 minutes 07 seconds
Ironman Florida 211 results – 1 hour 17 minutes 02 seconds

so far…
The evening before my new found weather forecaster, Robert Key was trying to explain to me why the bike ride was going to be fast and smooth. Something about the winds would pick up [...]

Posted by Jim on 11th November 2011

The Road to the Ironman #2 – Elbows, Knees and Jellyfish OH MY!!!

OK time to talk about the race.
Setting up
Finish time – Ironman Wisconsin 1:24:28
Finish time – Ironman Florida ?  TBD
The day starts early for those who compete in an Ironman, for me the alarm went off at 4 am sharp. Surprisingly I slept sound, usually there is a lot of tossing and turning but not this [...]

Posted by Jim on 9th November 2011

The Road to the Ironman #2 – The close of this chapter… The days leading up to the big day!

Visualization is a key to training for these things called Ironman. In the countless hours of swimming, biking, running, racing, eating, sleeping, and thinking about this thing called Ironman you learn quickly learn that visualizing is a key to keep you moving forward in this journey.
There I was finally on the pure white sand of Panama [...]