Team Training Journal http://blog.ironshad.com No Limitations Only Inspiration Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:35:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 en Tri to Make a Difference sprint triathlon http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/tri-to-make-a-difference-sprint-triathlon/ http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/tri-to-make-a-difference-sprint-triathlon/#comments Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:34:00 +0000 Mark http://blog.ironshad.com/?p=171 Saturday I will be doing another sprint triathlon.  Last year I participated in this one and it was my 2nd one to do ever!! It was a lot of fun and I can not wait for it again this year!!! It is going to be a great race at the front and I am so excited about all the competition and the whole race as a whole.  This triathlon is put on very well and is very organized and the numerous volunteers are awesome.  Best of all it is for the Children’s Miracle Network and even better it helps a local family of which are triathletes themselves!! It is a great triathlon and has continued to grow from when it was first put on three years ago.  It is going to be a lot of fun and I can’t wait!! Hopefully I’ll have some good news come Sunday!! : ) WISH ME LUCK!!

]]> http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/tri-to-make-a-difference-sprint-triathlon/feed/ 3 Days until Ironman http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/3-days-until-ironman/ http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/3-days-until-ironman/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:17:37 +0000 Steve Varsos http://blog.ironshad.com/?p=169 Well, it’s three days until Ironman Wisconsin!  I am definitely ready for  the event to get started!  I’ve had an incredible array of emotional experiences the past few week ranging from ” what did I get myself into” to “I’m prepared and will be happy no matter what the day brings”.  And as Shad reminded me, I’m not racing against anyone, I’m doing this for me, so there is nothing to be nervous about.   My training over the past 10 days definitely has put me in a good comfort zone.  My swimming has improved, even with my allergic reactions to the lake water and my running and biking are smooth and at a quicker pace than I expected.   Today I am putting all my gear together to see what I still need for race day.  It’s amazing how much stuff you need with you!  I’m glad I started this today. Today I hope to spend time down at the Ironman site checking things out and enjoying the atmosphere. Tomorrow I get my participant packet and take part in the Gatorade Swim.  For the last 10 months as I’ve trained, I have visualized and dreamed about how I will feel crossing the finish line and hearing “Steve Varsos you’re an Ironman”!  I can only hope it’s as incredible a feeling as I’ve imagined! I’ll let you know how things go on Sunday.

]]> http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/3-days-until-ironman/feed/ 9/3/08 http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/9308/ http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/9308/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:44:37 +0000 michaelstrickland http://blog.ironshad.com/?p=167 My long runs have moved to Wednesday, so I got up at 4:30 to run 16 miles before work.  Several miles into the run, I had a good energy level, but noticed my quads were pretty sore.  When the sun came up, I was able to see that both my quads were bruised from the fall on Saturday- probably from the top tube of my bike.  Still, it was one of the best long runs I’ve had this year.  The final 4 miles were below a 7 minute pace, and I felt good about the run.

]]> http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/9308/feed/ Labor Day http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/labor-day/ http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/labor-day/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:38:35 +0000 michaelstrickland http://blog.ironshad.com/?p=165 It was nice to sleep in, and I went out into the country for a long open water swim.  The water is much cooler this time of year, maybe because of all the rainfall from the recent tropical storm, and it felt good.  After swimming hard for about an hour, I noticed that my wife and two children arrived to watch me finish up.  It was great to see them and know when I got out of the water, there would be kids to play with.

]]> http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/labor-day/feed/ 8/30/08 http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/83008/ http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/83008/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:33:40 +0000 michaelstrickland http://blog.ironshad.com/?p=163 At the end of a recovery week, today was a ride close to 100 miles followed by a 7 mile run.  Like all my workouts, it was solo.  A slight drop in the temperature made the first 3 hours of the ride feel good, but toward the end of the ride, it was over 90 degrees and steamy. 

At about mile 80, I had a close encounter with a car, and went down hard.  I got up, wiped the gravel and blood off my knee and hand, and continued with the workout.  The pain from the fall seemed to drive me harder, and I finished strong in a heat index that had to be close to 100.  It is moments like this that give me insight as to where I may be mentally as I approach the end of this season, and I think I am positioned well.

]]> http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/04/83008/feed/ Iron man Lake Placid here we come! http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/03/iron-man-lake-placid-here-we-come/ http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/03/iron-man-lake-placid-here-we-come/#comments Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:36:54 +0000 christina http://blog.ironshad.com/?p=161 July 29, 2009! thats the date of Ironman Lake placid and this is my goal race for the Shad Ireland foundation! 

Lake placid is a great place and they run a wonderful race. its a two loop swim, two loop bike and a two loop run so it make for a great race for the spectators!

Lake placid is where this all started for me. Three years ago I visited with a group of friends training for ironman lake placid  ( I was hoping to finish a 1/2 iron distance duathelon) and fell in love with the place and that were I decided I wanted to be an Ironman! its such a great historic place, where else can you become an ironman running in an Olympic stadum?!

How did I get here?

3 years ago after my second baby I wanted to get active, so I started to run, its not my most favorite thing to do, even today I’d rather bike or swim, but it was a great way to get in shape and the running room offers a great community of runners to join.  During my second 1/2 marathon clinic a local trainer came in and talked about cross training, she was also an iron man, I was interested and went and tried a class. It was fun. While at the class I met this group who were training for Ironman Lake Placid, I was intimidated but at the same time interested. They were a great group- very friendly,  and today I still train with them all , they are my ironman family! I cant say enough about how much they help me ( with training, my bike, emotional support and just being out there on those long training days) People often say you are crazy how can you do this, but  when you are out with a great group of friends its never seems that bad!

Anyway, I decided that I would try this multisport thing, so I bought a bike and signed up for a 1/2 iron distance duathelon, instead of swiming you run, then bike then run again. September of 2006 I completed by first du and loved it, but it wasnt a tri and it wasnt an offical ironman, to do that I needed to learn how to swim. I heard about this coach Paul Johnston, his company is called Iron motovation, he offered tri specific swim classes, so I joined! Paul taught me how to swim, I had never had any formal training, when I started with him I didnt know what the front crawl was and couldn’t swim 1 lenght of the pool!    Thank goodness Paul knew what he was doing and the next summer I completed a 1/2 iron distance tri! But it wasnt ironman.

Then an opportunity came up.  Some of my tri friends had decided they were going to travel out to Petiction to sign up for Ironman Canada 2008. Ironman Canada is the oldest ironman race in north america  (26 yrs this year) and sells out every year, the only method of registration is being there in person.  We flew out there.  We also send out our bikes and checked out the course , swam and signed up! 

 

This summer while training, we again visited lake placid, we volunteered for the race and we signed up! So here we go, next stop lake placid!

]]> http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/03/iron-man-lake-placid-here-we-come/feed/ Hello to everyone and thanks for your support! http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/03/hello-to-everyone-and-thanks-for-your-support/ http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/03/hello-to-everyone-and-thanks-for-your-support/#comments Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:47:03 +0000 christina http://blog.ironshad.com/?p=159 thanks to everyone for your support!

I am an IRONMAN! Ironman Canad was an awsome experience! 

I woke to a great day, warm no wind, so no waves on the lake. The swim was so much fun and I can’t say how much I loved that swim! It was crowded but it was so much fun- way better than all those lengths in the pool! When I got to the end  to turn around for home, at the house boat I looked down and seen the divers, I waved and they waved back!  

 

The bike was well, no othe way to say it but difficult, I had some mechanical issues and some nutrition issues as well, so I wasnt fuelled well and ended up riding the 180 km without the 9 middle gears! but what can I say, I just but my head down and got it done. Really there was no other way home anyway!  

 

the run was great, I got my self rehydrated and got some carbs in and had a great time!

 

My favourite part has got to be all those volunteers! I volunteered at this race last year and never really understood how much the volunteers make the race. THANK YOU  VOLUNTEERS

]]> http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/09/03/hello-to-everyone-and-thanks-for-your-support/feed/ Words of Wisdom???? http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/08/30/words-of-wisdom/ http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/08/30/words-of-wisdom/#comments Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:35:33 +0000 Lisa Hamp http://blog.ironshad.com/?p=157 Just got out of the hospital.  Had a little set back.  My spirit is strong,  my body has the strength I will just take a few days to rest and then off I go.  When you have lived with kidney disease for so long you learn to take responsiblity for your own strengths, for you own health.  It can be quite a challange for us, every day to some extent can be a challange but it is all about your own strength in your spirit that keeps you pushing.  This is what this run is about for me, pushing my spirit which is pushing my body and I am getting stronger in both every day.  Passion does wonders for the body.  Blah blah blah,  oh I have so much to say.  Little bits at a time Lisa, little bits at a time.

See ya!!!

]]> http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/08/30/words-of-wisdom/feed/ 8/25/08 http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/08/29/82508/ http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/08/29/82508/#comments Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:48:35 +0000 michaelstrickland http://blog.ironshad.com/?p=155 I started the week with an open water swim in a rural lake that lasted over an hour.  What a way to start the week!

]]> http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/08/29/82508/feed/ 8/22/08 http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/08/29/82208/ http://blog.ironshad.com/2008/08/29/82208/#comments Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:46:27 +0000 michaelstrickland http://blog.ironshad.com/?p=153 The tropical story is still over us, so my coach Randy Bernard shortened my long ride so I could ride indoors.  Still, 2.5 hours riding on a trainer was a little boring, but a much safer workout.  Days like today make me appreciate the long rides outside!

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