4 weeks to go and i’m ready for it to be here already. Training has been going extremely well, Steelhead was perfect to gauge where i’m at, and i’m headed out to Madison this weekend to ride the course again. I’m definitely ready to get started on my “unfinished business!” I’ll be prepared for all weather conditions this year hot or cold!
Bests to all those training for Moo see you in Madison!
Eric
8.13.07
Made it out to Madison for the weekend for some awesome training. Did 3 loops on Saturday and it rained on me for the first loop! Thank god it was already hot at 8am. The course has already been marked with green arrows for anyone who needs to do course recon. There is only one area of concern that I have and that starts right out of Cross Plains. Stagecoach road is a little bumpy, but if you keep your speed up you hardly notice it. SLOW DOWN when you get to the quarry, which is on your right. The gravel that everyone has been talking about is really bad at that turn onto North Birch Trail, I say again slow down and communicate with riders around you! It’s rough all the way up the pass. I’d say pick a line where cars have driven through, it seems to be a little better following those tracks. Going up the Sauk climb the gravel is just as heavy on the right side of the road. I found that getting out of the saddle was not a good idea and that powering up the hill in the saddle was a better strategy. I rode my 404s and ran them at 120 PSI FWIW. Saw BigRed3 out there he looks ready to tear up the course.
BTW, I forgot how much bigger the hills were on the second and third loop! 6 days to the taper!!!
I did a longish swim and banged out 40 miles at a brisk tempo this morning. It was good. I don’t even feel Steelhead. It was like a training day. I’m getting more and more excited.
Awful lot of people are going to be out there for “unfinished business” after the weather last year (myself included). However, I am very curious to see how many people go out way too fast on the first loop and are forced to suffer through the second. Keep that in mind when you ride the course this weekend and note your splits.
I think that a lot of people go out too hard on the first loop. I think that we have the advantage of knowing that the second loop always feels harder, so pacing is key! I’ll be riding and old felt B-2 with an x-lab flat wing on the back, with red handlebar tape. Maybe i’ll see you out there! Good luck on your “Unfinished business” as well!
KC (aka my slowtwitch survivor teammate…don’t know if you remember that from the ST Sanctimonious A-Hole thread),
But you’re going to be awesome! You’ve been training hard, fighting the mental battle, balancing family life and training! It will be worth it. Madison is an awesome place to race, the city is great, and the spectators or nice. I can’t wait! Just be prepared for anything, cold or hot, bring something waterproof (lesson number 1 from last year).
So far my training is going as planned. I rode the course about a month ago and learned a lot. I adjusted my biking goal back 10 to 15 minutes.
Still havent decided if I’m going to race with the PT yet. I’ve been paying less attention to it lately and going by feel. Training with it has helped a lot but I’m thinking of not carrying the weight on race day.
I felt Steelhead was too much too close for me so I opted to do Sylvania this weekend. I have done solid weeks of training instead.
Thanks Eric, I was trying to stay calm and relaxed, just keep the training going, taking each day one day at a time. Now I just had to go throw up. I like so many others left something in Madison last year, I will be prepared for any weather this year. For some odd reason, I am in better shape this year, I feel better prepared for hot or cold, but I am much more nervous than last year, maybe because I know what a DNF feels like and I never want to be there again. Oh well 31 days it is, I have to go ride my bike or something.
Mike
A week and a half of hard training to go, then taper and rest. I’ve been getting more and more amped up as I’ve read others’ RR’s from IM. Off to get in the lake for me. Keep strong everyone, and see you guys in a month!
Looked for you at Steelhead, I didn’t know you scratched the race from your schedule. I’ve actually just decided to race 404 with a 404 set up rather than a 909 setup like last year. Last year I could have ridden a tricycle and the result would have been the same.
Sorry man! I go through the excited and nervous emotions like a roller coaster. I too am in better shape this year because my training has been more focused then ever! But I agree, I think your self-diagnosis is spot on, I feel the same, I never want to feel that way ever again. Train hard the next two weeks and enjoy the taper! See you in Madison!
Nice to meet you in transition last Saturday. I might have been hallucinating last year, but some of that rain looked like snow. In that case i’ll pack my snow gear too. You’re going to have a great race.
Starting to feel the nerves now…this will be my first ironman ever.
Training has been going good, due to family affairs had to miss one long run last weekend but that’s about it. Been putting in good mileage on bike and run last few weeks considering work/family etc…
I’m lucky (from what I’ve heard from others in my area that have done the race) in that the area I live (NW Pennsylvania) is very hilly with lots and lots of rollers very similar to the IMoo course. So my long rides the last few weekends have all been about PACING and NUTRITION. I was able to do 118 for my last long ride with about 8,000 ft of rollers and avg’d 18.8 mph but more importantly kept the HR down and had an avg HR of upper zone 1 when ride was all said and done. One more long ride/brick this weekend then it starts to get easier.
For me, it will all come down to the run, which will be my first ever marathon!
It’s amazing how nervous you can feel for something that you have ‘only’ trained about 450 hours for over the last 9-10 months and still feel like you need to do more to get ready. I am looking forward to the taper starting though soon!
Sounds like your training is right where it needs to be. The only thing that I would like to impress upon you is the one thing I learned last year and that is the fact that IM’s are more than just about the distance. Be prepared for the unexpected. Last year, I was prepared for hot or cold,but not cold and rainy. Just bring clothes for every type of weather condition.
I am not really going into the race with any expectations, just going to try to run my race to the best of my plan and abilities and let the chips fall where they may.
I am lucky in that the area I train is not only hilly like IMoo, our weather sucks also. So I might have 50 and raining one week to train and then a week or two later it might be 90+ and super high humidity (like it is today). I plan on bringing everything I may need from cold and wet to hot and sticky for race day!
For me, the run will be my big wildcard as I don’t have a running background and have only been training for distance running for a little over a year now!
So… umm… I am doing IM Wisconsin too and I want to be part of this conversation.
But, up until this morning I was TOTALLY feeling Steelhead still in my legs.
I ran about 35 minutes on Monday and felt a little looser when I was done.
Then on Tuesday I was going to do about an hour swim after teaching a spin class, but after the spin class I was exhausted… overlag from Steelhead I think.
I started riding towards the beach, and then just headed into Borders for a couple of hours… I even fell asleep on a bench there.
I feel better today. I should go to the lake and swim, but it looks like storms are coming and radio in the background is all agog about tornados… I think it’s gonna be another run this evening.
But I am still confident for IMoo… I have no idea what kind of time to predict. I did Steelhead in 5:19 (which was 11 minutes better than I did last year when i was training specifically for Steelhead)
I don’t plan on making the rip to madison from chicago to ride the course before the race, do you guys (and girls) think that is a mistake. (I have ridden the course in the past… on a motorcycle).
I still feel Steelhead in my legs too, but i’m working out through it. I rode the course a couple of times last year and am traveling over there this weekend to ride the loop twice. I don’t think it’s necessary at all, but I think that for me it’s a confidence booster to ride the course and be familiar with it.
