The Ironman Florida 2013 Weekend Workouts...

The sun rises on Ironman Florida 2013!

Ironman Florida (IMFL) 2013 in Panama City Beach (PCB), Florida was the first full Ironman event I had ever attended. The timing could not have been better for this to be my first Ironman as a spectator. Not only would I have the honor of seeing 23 friends from my local Triathlon club, Gulf Winds Triathletes (http://www.gulfwindstri.org/), compete, but the day prior I had also just signed up to be a competitor in this very event for the following year (2014)!

Feasting on the excitement of
Ironman Florida 2013!

The most recognized and prestigious endurance event in the world, there is nothing like watching an Ironman triathlon! The events of the days leading up to and immediately after the event are all well-designed to amp up the excitement level and appropriately pay homage to all of the athletes successfully completing their Ironman journey.

One of the big advantages of being in PCB for five days during the big, IMFL 2013 weekend was that I would be able to get my daily workouts in on the actual IMFL courses and under temperature/weather conditions that I would potentially be facing the following year!



I came face-to-face with my first challenge, my own excitement level, before I ever left Tallahassee for the short trip to PCB on Thursday. My workout that morning was for a short, 30-minute continuous swim. Here I am at the pool, less than 24 hours after pulling the trigger and registering for my first full Ironman event and just ahead of what I know will be a very exciting weekend watching my friends complete their first Ironman! I’m pretty sure the floating lane dividers were the only thing that kept me in my lane! I was so distracted that the solid black line on the pool floor wasn’t even in focus! All I could think about was how I (a rather sub-par swimmer) was going to have to swim 2.4 miles in just over a year to complete my Ironman journey! The excitement outweighed the dread and I swam some of the fastest sets ever, though.

This break in the weather disguises the
double-red flag conditions the day before IMFL 2013!

The Run…

After the run. Check out what
the wind is doing to that flag
in the background! Windy!

Friday in Panama City Beach brought us nasty winds and light rain. We were supposed to do an open water swim, but double-red flag conditions made that out of the question. I quickly switched to the next day’s run workout and headed out onto the Ironman Florida run course. My run workout was supposed to be without looking at my trusty Garmin, going only by rate of perceived effort (RPE). I was supposed to do 12 min Easy, 12 min Steady, 5 minutes Moderate/1 minute Easy/5 minutes Moderate/1 minute Easy, and a final 12 min Steady set. Even with the wind and the rain, there were a few Ironman hopefuls out on the course getting a short run in. The energy was unreal. As I ran along the course, seeing all of the markings for the next day’s race, all I could think about was, me in another year, crossing that finish line and hearing those words, “Ronald Harrison… YOU are an Ironman!” As for my RPE run, my times for each section were 30 - 45 seconds faster than normal. Upon viewing my data, my coach even remarked that I seemed “a bit amped up” during the workout. LOL! Yeah, I guess that was pretty accurate.

The Swim…

The IMFL 2013 swim was
all about surviving the first 100'
of surf! Violent!

Saturday… race day! Shortly after the Ironman swim start with the memorable first 100 yards of brutal surf to get through, I wanted to hit the water myself. I had missed my open water swim the day before, I wanted to see how I could handle the rough water, and I had a new Xterra Vendetta wetsuit. (http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/store/index.php/products/triathlon-wetsuits/vendetta-sleeveless-wetsuit#) that I was anxious to try! Much to the chagrin of my wife and friends, off I went into the surf. The water was great and the wetsuit was AMAZING! I love my Xterra Vendetta! I managed the conditions well and had a short, but productive swim in the exact conditions the competitors faced on race day! Confidence SCORE!

The Bike…

Flat number 1!

So, after a good run on Friday and a good swim on Saturday, Sunday brought the opportunity to do a few hours on the bike along the Ironman Florida bike course. Talk about an amazing change in conditions. Where Saturday was warm, with calm winds, Sunday was frigid with steady winds and fierce gusts. We still suited up and went for it. Riding with a good friend, John Thompson, and my wife, we expected to easily manage 18 - 20 mph with a steady effort for ~2.5 hours. Not with those winds! We ended up killing ourselves to cover 44.7 miles in 2:49 (15.9 mph average)!!! We all shuddered at the thought of potentially facing those conditions next year, for 112 miles! Under those conditions, you would be looking at an ~8 hour bike ride if you had any thoughts of saving your legs for the marathon! Eeek! And as if the conditions weren’t bad enough, we had to stop to fix two flats (not included in the ride time, above)!

Flat #2! Argh! Yes... we thoroughly checked that tire after the first flat!

All things considered, the IMFL Weekend Workouts were both exciting and humbling. They served to show me what could be on both ends of the spectrum. The bike, especially, taught me that I will need to prepare not for the typical conditions, but the worst case scenario, too. Only then will I be able to toe the line on November 1, 2014 knowing that no matter what gets thrown at me, I’m going to finish strong and with a smile! Knowledge is power!

The Signup!

These events took place approximately six weeks ago, but since I wanted to start this blog to chronicle my journey to Ironman Florida (IMFL) 2014 and beyond, I wanted to start it as close to when I signed up as possible. Unfortunately, life became very busy right after IMFL 2013 and I didn’t get the blog rolling until several weeks later. So, I have some catching up to do.

In the months prior to IMFL 2013, I was truly on the fence about my decision to sign up for IMFL 2014 or wait and do IMFL 2015. As most people know, the only sure way to get yourself a slot into an Ironman event is to volunteer at the previous year’s event. This allows you to get preferred, onsite, registration the day after the event. I figured I would do my part for the event by volunteering and at least position myself to have the opportunity to sign up.

If you don’t go the volunteer route, you are forced to fight it out when general registration opens. General registration usually sells out in MINUTES for some of the more popular Ironman events. One misclick of the mouse or a delay in entering your credit card information and you are NOT doing that Ironman the next year! So, yeah, the volunteer route is usually the way to go!

Several weeks prior to IMFL 2013, I had finally made up my mind that I was going to do three big races in 2014… Gulf Coast Triathlon (Half Iron Distance), Ironman Augusta 70.3, and Ironman Florida. Then, on Wednesday, October 30, 2013, my phone started blowing up with messages from friends telling me that the World Triathlon Corporation (the company that owns the Ironman brand) was offering a “Race Ready Package” that included both Ironman Augusta 70.3 and Ironman Florida! The marketing hook was that the Ironman Augusta 70.3 event was just the right amount of time (5 weeks) before Ironman Florida to be the perfect tune up race and allow for an appropriate taper. I checked my email and there it was, official notification that registration for the two-race package would open up the next day!

I jumped online the next day as soon as registration opened up and was able to quickly and easily register for the Race Ready Package of Ironman Augusta 70.3 and Ironman Florida. There wasn’t really any cost savings, but I certainly can’t put a price on NOT having to wait in line, early the day after the 2013 race just to sign up! It made even more sense because I was planning on doing both races anyway!

My good friend, Michelle Dahnke, and I volunteer
 at the Ironman Florida 2013 Athlete's Welcome Dinner!

Before you ask, I still went to IMFL 2013 and volunteered at the Thursday night Athlete Welcome Dinner. It was an amazing experience to be there and help the athletes out. There really is nothing like giving back to something you enjoy so much! So, whether you want to volunteer so that you’ll be able to get preferred sign up for IMFL 2015 or just want to give back to this amazing sport, I highly recommend you go ahead and sign up to volunteer at IMFL 2014! I know that I will greatly appreciate everything the volunteers will be doing for me during my epic IMFL 2014 weekend! Volunteer HERE: http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman/florida/volunteer.aspx And finally, even if you do volunteer and position yourself for preferred, onsite registration the day after IMFL 2014, if you are considering doing both Ironman Augusta 70.3 and Ironman Florida, I highly recommend you keep your eyes open for a Race Ready Package to help YOU avoid the lines!

The Schedule™!

OK, there is something you have to know about me… I can be a little “Type A”. From what I've encountered, a lot of triathletes are pretty “Type A”.

Heart Disease?! WTH?! I thought I was doing all of this to be healthy?!

Oddly enough, there seem to be only two camps, the “Type A” and the “Type Z” (is that really a “Type”?). Type A will naturally have everything planned and extremely organized. Type Z just kind of flies by the seat of their pants, but somehow manages to get it all done. Type Z people make me anxious. I make Type Z people very anxious. Let’s talk about how this Type A plans his triathlon season!

I usually start planning the next year’s schedule in September/October. This planning consists of a very detailed, shared document, hereafter known as The Schedule™, that I make available to my wife that she doesn’t seem to mostly ignore. As long as everything is planned and registered for, she’s good. I just tell her when to pack and throw her bike on the truck and she’s fine. Well, there’s the bitching about race fees, hotel, travel, etc, but we’ll save that for another time. I’m pretty sure she’s Type Z. Meanwhile, you’re asking, why start so early? Well, there are multiple reasons: 

• Schedule.
• Cost.
• Accomodations.
• Time Off.

I have a hard time figuring out what should come first, “schedule” or “cost”. I only put schedule first because it contains several parts. So, about schedule… the first consideration is when the desired event actually happens. Events can’t be too close together. We also need to ensure that the events ramp up appropriately for our training and major goals or “A” races. You wouldn’t want to plan a 100 mile bike ride the weekend before your “A” race, right?! Events also can’t interfere with work or family obligations… wouldn’t want to miss Nana’s big 75th birthday blowout!

Then, there is cost. For me, I need to save money where I can. When you’re often paying for two registrations (mine and my wife’s), it can add up quickly. So, I need to take advantage of the “early bird” signup discounts for races I know I’m going to do. A lot of races ramp up the prices pretty quickly. The Schedule™ will usually have the last date possible for me to sign up and beat the price hike deadline. Sometimes the event is popular enough to quickly sell out, so I don’t have the luxury of worrying about price hikes. In those cases, I need to know the date that registration opens so I can hurry up and get registered before it closes!

Next is accommodations. Event hotels and those nearby will often fill up fast. When you are doing 10+ events a year (Runs, Tris, Rides, etc.), it can be difficult to remember if you really made that reservation or not. I like to use The Schedule™ to denote whether or not I’ve made a reservation, the name of the hotel, and what the reservation number is. I was a little surprised at how many friends were days away from events, thinking they had reservations, only to find out they had forgotten to actually make the reservations. It happened… a lot!

Finally, there is time off from work. Having my race schedule for the year planned out in advance goes a long way towards helping me schedule projects at work. Time off can be a lot like accommodations. There’s nothing worse than being a week away from your event, thinking you have Friday off for a travel day to the event only to realize that you forgot to actually ask your supervisor for the day off! I use The Schedule™ to let me know whether or not I’ve actually asked for time off and if it has been approved! No surprises that way. 

OK, as you can see, I probably make this harder than it has to be?! Right, Type Z people??? I do know that I always get the time off to show up on time, registered, and with a place to stay! Tell me in the Comments if there is an easier way or any tips you might have?

The 2013-2014 USAT National Challenge Competition!

Beginning on Sunday, December 1, 2013, Gulf Winds Triathletes will once again be participating in the USAT National Club Challenge (NCC). Each month, the competition will focus on a different discipline. We will begin with the Swim for the month of December. January will be the Bike and the Run will be the focus for February.

While each month offers a specific competition for that month's discipline, teams will still log ALL swim, bike, and run activity mileage for the overall challenge, which is determined by the totals for the entire three months. It should be noted that there are also indoor options for biking and running if you are a fair weather triathlete!

Gulf Winds Triathletes will be fielding two teams this year with each team limited to 75 participants. I will be on Team 1! Check out the widget on the right hand side of this blog for the progress (total miles and miles by discipline) of Team 1!

Gulf Winds Triathletes came in 4th Place Overall last year, beating out clubs that were four times our size! We aspire to do even better this year!

Giving Thanks.

This Thanksgiving, I am more thankful than ever before. Since being introduced to the world of Triathlon a year and a half ago, I am having more fun than ever before and the people in my circle of family and friends have never been more supportive! I am SO blessed!

 Just a few of the specific things I am thankful for:

• Family! A wife who more than just “gets it” because she is a triathlete herself! Kids who are supportive and willing to “hold down the fort” while Mom and Dad are out “doing their triathlon stuff”. (Methinks they secretly like being able to sit around, unsupervised, watching too much TV, and eating powdered donuts for lunch!) Incredibly supportive Grandparents who are more than willing to watch the kids, house, and pets when we go out of town for races!
• Friends, non-Triathlete! Thankful for them letting me drone on and on about triathlons and related topics even though they are only mildly interested! My Facebook friends probably deserve a special place in heaven for having to put up with all of my triathlon-related posts, pictures, etc!
• Friends, Triathlete! You've been there through the smiles, the miles, the sweat, the blood, the tears, and the beers! You inspire and support me beyond words!
• My Coaches and Team Members at TriAttic (http://www.TriAttic.com)! Everything I have accomplished is a direct testament to the superior coaching and support that I have received from these amazing coaches and athletes. I love my TriAttic family!
• My Employer and Co-Workers! I work for an amazing company, Capital Health Plan, that truly believes in their non-profit mission. I could not do what I do without the unwavering support of my supervisors/managers and co-workers!
• GOD! I pray more before runs, rides, and races than I probably ever did in church! I always pray for my safety and the safety of everyone with me. Considering the nature of what we do and every aspect of my life, I’d have to say I have been very blessed! I may not get EVERYTHING I ask for, but I’ve never been given anything I couldn’t handle!

Again, these are just a few of the things I am thankful for! I could probably spend all day adding to this list. Please, tell me in the Comments what YOU are thankful for this year? And finally, I hope that you and yours have a very safe and very Happy Thanksgiving!

Why Are We Here???

If you read my initial, biography post, you know that I began running in late 2010 and did my first triathlon in 2012. In 2013, I did a number of Olympic distance triathlons and capped off the year with my first Half Ironman, Ironman Augusta 70.3.

I envision this blog as a place to share the trials and tribulations of a bottom-of-the-pack, age group triathlete setting out to complete his first Ironman, Ironman Florida, on November 1, 2014. I hope this blog will somewhat keep me from boring my non-triathlete Facebook friends to tears.

I have no formal framework for what I will post and how often. I think I will just do whatever feels good for now and see what kind of feedback I receive. So, if YOU can think of a framework or even individual topics (How much chamois butter should you go through in a typical training month?!) that would make this space somewhat useful and/or entertaining, please let me know in the comments!

How It All Began...

Michelle, Katie, me, and Megan

I am a swimmer, a cyclist, and a runner. I am a triathlete. I am 45 years old (9/7/1968) and have been married to my wife, Michelle, for 24 years (8/7/1989). My wife is also a triathlete, competing in many of the same events that I do. We have two amazing daughters, ages 10 and 15. My youngest daughter also now competes in youth triathlons!

I am an Applications Training Supervisor at Capital Health Plan (CHP) (http://www.capitalhealth.com) in Tallahassee, Florida. CHP is a highly-ranked, non-profit HMO that provides evidence-based medical care under the direction of primary care physicians in an effective, timely, and cost-effective manner. I love CHP’s proactive and innovative quest to improve the health of our community!

I am a disabled veteran, having previously served in the US Army for eight years. Nearly six of those years was spent overseas. After getting out of the military in 1994, I focused on building a career in Information Technology and mistakenly adopted a much more sedentary lifestyle. In 1996 I had surgery to repair a meniscus tear in my right knee. I did not rehabilitate from surgery properly and continued to become more inactive and gain weight. In June 2010, I weighed MORE than 281 pounds. My daughters bought me a gym membership for Father’s Day and I decided that some changes had to be made.

FSU Cares 5K, 10/31/2010

The biggest step I took to turn things around was when I joined the annual Gulf Winds Track Club’s (http://gulfwinds.org) Beginner’s Running Class in September of 2010. The “Beginner’s Running Class” is an 8-week class that prepares beginning runners of all skill-levels to successfully complete their first 5K race. The class graduation was the FSU Cares 5K charity run. I showed up to the first class on September 8, one day after my 42nd birthday, barely able to run a mile. A few short weeks later, I finished my first 5K and somehow managed to finish 3rd in my age group! You’ve heard the proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Give a man an age group medal and he’ll only want more… and more… and more!”? Or something like that?! Yes, I was hooked on running!

The course has not always been smooth. In April of 2011, while training for my first 10K race, I tore the meniscus in my right knee and underwent surgery. This time, I rehabilitated from surgery properly and, six months later, ran my first half marathon! For as emotionally trying as being injured was, it introduced me to cross-training. There is a humorous saying that triathletes are born from injured runners. This is absolutely true in my case. After my injury, I began cycling. In December, 2011, I began learning to swim freestyle while training to run my first Sprint-distance triathlon.

In May of 2012, I began working with an amazing, USAT-Certified Coach, Sandy Holt, of TriAttic (http://www.TriAttic.com). Sandy has done SO much to help me understand my unique capabilities, individual strengths, and personal limits. I am thrilled with the results and the knowledge I am gaining from her, the entire TriAttic coaching staff, and other athletes!

Speaking to the 2013 Beginner's Running Class, September 2013

The most amazing thing about any sport and especially triathlon is how your greatest accomplishments may not come atop a podium, but simply in competition with yourself and the existing conditions. Since I began this journey, I have so many achievements that I am proud of. A few are listed below. One that isn’t listed there is how the year 2013 was capped off by the incredible honor of being elected to the 2014 Gulf Winds Triathletes Board of Directors by the club members. However, that and these other accomplishments pale in comparison to beginning the 2013 Gulf Winds Track Club Beginner’s Running Class in September of 2013 as a Coach and weighing in at 181 pounds! Three years and 100 pounds lighter/later from when I first started my journey!

Accomplishments:

• Triathlon Sprint, First in AG, 2012, Army Strong Triathlon, Ft. Rucker, Alabama, 1:14:56.
• Triathlon Sprint, PR (Second in AG), 2013, Army Strong Triathlon, Ft. Rucker, Alabama, 1:08:02.
• Triathlon Olympic, PR, 2013, Chattahoochee Challenge Triathlon, Columbus, Georgia, 2:24:37.
• Triathlon Olympic, Qualified 2013 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championship, 2013, St. Anthony’s Triathlon, St. Petersburg, Florida, 2:25:58.
• Triathlon Half Ironman Distance (70.3), PR, 2013, Ironman Augusta 70.3, Augusta, Georgia, 5:27:04.
• Running 5K, PR, 2013, Fight for Air 5K, Tallahassee, Florida, 21:15.
• Running 10K, PR, 2013, Springtime Tallahassee, Tallahassee, Florida, 46:39.
• Running 15K, PR, 2013, Gate River Run USA 15K Championships, Jacksonville, Florida, 1:15:58.
• Running Half Marathon, PR, 2013, Mount Dora Half Marathon, Mt. Dora, Florida, 1:55:12.
• Running Full Marathon, PR, 2013, Tallahassee Marathon, Tallahassee, Florida, 4:33:29.
• Cycling Metric Century (~68 mi.), 2011, 2012, and 2013, Spaghetti 100,  Miccosukee, Florida.
• Cycling Century (100 mi.), 2013, Horrible Hundred Century, Clermont, Florida.

As important as my past accomplishments are to me, I am focused and very excited about the future!

Future:

• Gate River Run, USA 15K Championship, March 2014.
• Red Hills Triathlon (Sprint), April 2014.
• Gulf Coast Triathlon (70.3), May 2014.
• Ride for Hope Century Ride, June 2014.
• Army Strong Triathlon (Sprint), June 2014.
• Ironman Florida 140.6, November 2014.