Need a reason to do an IronMan, here you go...

Here is a comparison of my lipid panel (cholesterol test) before IronMan and after IronMan:

This is over a three (3) year time span -- No Medications -- just pure sweat equity!!


______________Pre-IronMan_______Post-IronMan_____

Cholesterol-------------209-----------------------157--------------

LDL (bad)----------------134-----------------------87------------

HDL (good)--------------47-------------------------56--------------

TRIG---------------------166------------------------69--------------

ENOUGH SAID !!!

IronMan Swim Lesson

I just got back from a nice 45 minute run along my “home” trail – great day with the highs in the mid-40’s. Along the run I was listening to Simply Stu’s latest podcast in regards to his equipment and training for IronMan Wisconsin 2007. Simply Stu was one of the many podcasts that I would listen too to gather info.

For my IronMan Wisconsin training I used the Internet, blogs, podcasts, and books to gather as much information as I could. I found a training plan (free) online that I thought would best fit me. I researched and researched everything about equipment, training needs, nutrition, race day setup, pacing, heartrate training, and on and on. No coaches, no group runs, no group rides, no group swims, just me.

Around July of 2007, I decided I’d attend the WIBA in Madison that basically is a bunch of bloggers that come together to swim the swim course, bike the bike course, and run the run course for IronMan Wisconsin. I noticed that a coach from D3 Multi-sports was going to be in town and would give swim lessons at a local pool. I signed up for an hour lesson in hopes to just tweak my stroke to make the swim part a bit easier.

Well, the swim lesson did not go as planned. The swim coach was a very nice guy and certainly has a ton of knowledge and probably is a great coach, but he didn’t quite get me. My swim stroke was “made” from Total Immersion DVD – right or wrong, this is what my stroke was and still is. My goal with the swim lesson was to have him give me a few pointers to make my stroke just a bit more efficient. I didn’t want to go any faster, just wanted to use the least amount of energy necessary to complete the 2.4 miles.

Well, after the swim lesson I felt that I basically did not know how to swim. The coach wanted me to completely re-do my stroke. I wasn’t really that frustrated because I have confidence in my ability to “GET IT DONE”, but I was frustrated in the fact that his lesson did not take “me” into account. I’m a 40+ year old average at best athlete, little known ego, don’t care how I finish just as long as I finish, don't care if I finish at 11:59, don’t mind being the last in the group, totally self motivated, and basically just out to have fun.

So, I never did change my stroke and I never did review the DVD that he sent to me (even though I will review it now that IronMan is over) – but I did swim a 1hr 26min IronMan swim and could not have been happier…

Saturday Night...IronMan Live..Doesn't get any better than this

You know, I love watching Brett Farve and the Green Bay Packers. I love watching the Wisconsin Badgers Basketball team, and I love watching Matt Kenseth and NASCAR.....BUT

I don't play professional football, I dont' play college basketball, and I don't drive a race car....BUT

I do run IronMan's --

So how fun was it on a Saturday evening to bring up the laptop type in IronMan.com and watch some IronMan LIVE from Kona. Spent a couple hours on the trainer (easy to keep that cadence high) with the laptop sitting in front of the bike enjoying watching Chris McCormack "run" away with the IronMan Men's World Championship and then watching Chrissie Wellington smiling her way to the finish line to take the IronMan Woman's World Championship.

Doesn't get any better than this...

My weight – no worries – well kind of…

Like I had mentioned in earlier posts, I started running again after a 20 year layoff, three (3) years ago. At that time we had just returned from a trip to Disney World and to put it lightly, I enjoyed the food on the trip.

So, when we returned home I noticed that my weight was now 195lbs – that was not good. I had been able to hold my weight around the 185 to 190 range over a number of years with little change in my diet. Well, at that time I decided it would be easier to add some running to my lifestyle than it would be to cut back on eating. Little did I know, that "little bit" of running would turn into an IronMan three (3) years later.

During the first year of running my weight went back down into the 190 range and just stayed there for a number of months. I then decided to start training for my first marathon and began increasing my running to 30-40 miles per week. This helped and brought my weight under the 190 mark into the high 180’s.

I’m around 6 feet tall (a little above that mark), so my ideal weight should be around 180. I then started my IronMan training and over the first 6 months my weight decrease to around 184 and stopped. No matter how much I seemed to train, my weight would not move. I would attempt to slow my calorie intake, but still no movement in the weight.

Then, I had a break through (well kindof) – I participated in WIBA in Madison and decided to try my hand at the 112 full IronMan Wisconsin bike course with the temp’s outside being in the 90’s. By the time I was done with the ride, my weight had gone from 182 to 175 – 7 lbs lost in 8 hours – not good. I was a bit wiped after that ride and actually kindof got lost on my way back to Madison (and I have lived in this area for 42 years) because of the dehydration.

So I knew I had a problem and it wasn’t losing weight -- it was keeping the same weight on my long rides or long runs. From that point forward I always kept the scale in the car and used it before and after each ride or run. I found that I would lose 3.5lbs a hour on my workouts (without hydration/nutrition). My goal on each ride/run was to keep my weight the same or more by the end of the workout (through hydration/nutrition). I got very good at this and I was ready for the IronMan.

My goal weight for the IronMan was the low 170’s if at all possible but it wasn’t a major issue if I didn’t reach it. Well, thanks to the 20+ hour workout weeks leading up to IronMan – my weight moved down the scale and sure enough I was 173 to start IronMan. After completing the IronMan, I stepped on the scale at home and I still weighed 173 – the next morning I was very happy to see 169.

Now the goal during this short off season is to just maintain that low 170’s and then move it down into the high 160’s and then I’m done/completely satisfied.

We'll see what happens by the time I hit IronMan Louisville.

Finishing in front of a Legend…

Growing up in Madison Wisconsin the name Johnson in regards to the University of Wisconsin Hockey team was very well known. Bob Johnson was a legendary coach for the hockey team for 15 years leading the team to three (3) National titles. He was so well known and tied to the University of Wisconsin that his nick name was Badger Bob.

Well, Badger Bob happened to have a child named Mark Johnson. Mark was a local hockey star at Madison Memorial High School while I was going to a competing high school in the Madison area. After high school, Mark played hockey under his Dad at the University of Wisconsin – during his time at UW, Mark was the WCHA Rookie of the year, two (2) time All-American, and lead the Badgers to the NCAA National Hockey title in 1977. Mark ended his career at UW as the leading goal scorer in school history.

Mark then went on to be a star player on the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic Hockey team that upset the Russians and went on to win the Gold Medal. He scored two goals (the final score was 4-3) in probably the most famous hockey game ever “Miracle on ice” when the USA team beat the Russians.

Mark also spent eleven (11) years as a professional hockey player becoming a NHL All-Star in 1984. He is a member of the University of Wisconsin Hall of Fame and also a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

Mark is now the coach of the UW Women’s Hockey team which happens to be the two (2) time defending National Champions having won the title in both 2006 and 2007. The women’s team is also ranked 1st in the nation this year.

So, I was a bit surprised when at the IronMan Wisconsin dinner – I noticed a gentleman that looked a lot like Mark Johnson. Not too sure if it was Mark or not, so I just continued on with my meal.

Well, about a half-hour after I finished my IronMan – I heard Mike Riley announce “Mark Johnson you are an IronMan” and then go on to announce that he was the coach of the UW Women’s Hockey team. Mark finished with a great time of 14:37.

With my time of 14:11, I can always say that “I finished in front of a Legend”.

Great job Mark…

IronMan Wisconsin Finish

Today I was reading IronWil’s blog and she had a link to her IronMan Finish this year at IronMan Wisconsin. IronWil stated “This was one of the best feelings ever. Ever. Ever.” - referring to hearing Mike Riley say her name at the finish line. This made me think back to my IronMan finish to see if I had the same feeling.

Before the IronMan and through all the training – oh ya, that was the part that I was dreaming about as I completed my 8 hour training bike rides, 2 hour training swims, and 3 hour training runs. Hearing Mike Riley announce that you are an IronMan after a very long and tough day was certainly my dream and goal.

But, I can honestly say that the moment that I heard Mike Riley say “Robert Meyer from Madison Wisconsin, you are an IronMan” was not a highlight of my day. In fact, it was a very small part of the whole experience.

To me the “best feeling ever. Ever. Ever.” was running up State Street on the 2nd loop knowing that my family was going to be waiting for me a little bit before the finish line so that I could high-five my sister and sister-in-law – who both spent their entire day flying from spot to spot with their awesome signs to cheer me on, so that I could see my parents which have always supported me in anything that I have done and had also been at many spots along the way, to high-five my two awesome boys that gave me some of the inspiration with the idea of showing them “You Can Do Anything – Freaking Anything!!”, and to give my incredible wife a kiss for all the support for this IronMan and all other adventures that we have done together as a team over the last 20 years.

The finish wasn’t really a big deal – I probably could have just kept running straight on the Capital Square and not even turned down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and been just as happy. The strange part of the IronMan is that it is NOT an individual sport – it is a team sport. You really need the support of your friends and family to get it done. If you look at the number of people that signed up for the IronMan and did not show up the day of the event, this will give you a small indicator of the support needed. Many people signup hoping that they receive that support, only to find out that they do not get the support needed and in turn are not able to toe that starting line.

So, even though I like Mike Riley’s voice – not even close to as much as I love the support of my Family!

FeatherMan

Ok, something bad is happening in my life recently – I have gone from an IronMan to a FeatherMan. Don’t believe me (like that would be the case), well by the time you are done reading this – you’ll be a believer.

Around 18 days, 3 hours, 46 minutes, and 32 seconds ago (not that I actually track this or anything) – I became an IronMan @ IronMan Wisconsin 2007. Since that time and date, things have gone the other direction towards FeatherMan. Check out what I mean:


· Pre-IronMan – Scheduled workouts for the next 9 months

o Now – Scheduled workouts don’t exist

· Pre-IronMan – Visited the Local Bike shops (multiple shops) at least 3 times per week

o Now – No visits to the Local Bike shops

· Pre-IronMan – Made an IronMan purchase almost daily regardless of available budget

o Now – No IronMan purchases –

· Pre-IronMan – Didn’t care how much I was able to bill my consulting clients each month, as long as it didn’t interfere with my IronMan training.

o Now – I actually care about billing my clients – kids need shoes

· Pre-IronMan – Networked with only Tri-athletes regardless of how removed they were from my Business needs

o Now – Actually talk/visit/network with non tri-athletes that may or may not help with my future finances (probably to help finance the next IronMan race).

· Pre-IronMan – Did not balance books for 12 months

o Now – books have been balanced

· Pre-IronMan – Didn’t care who or how much my customers owed me – just didn’t have time to deal with that.

o Now – Certified collection letters sent out

And the most embarrassing one:

· Pre-IronMan – No Oprah show @ 4:00

o Now – Yes, be quiet, Oprah at least a couple times per week – knock off the laughing – not proud of this one

See what I mean, this is crazy, I’m getting very soft – worrying and dealing with things (business, money, life, etc) that just don’t matter. Man, I just can’t wait to get back to things that matter – bring on that IronMan Louisville 2008.

I'm a FeatherMan in the making...

My IronMan Heart Break

Ok, so let me set this up. We own a Cottage in the Door County Wisconsin area. The Cottage is situated on the Bay of Green Bay and the road that the Cottage is located on is about 2.5 miles in length – I know this because I have run the road 100’s of times over the last 3 years. There is a combination of full time homes and seasonal cottages along the road. Most of the owners are a bit older than myself (I know, that seems almost impossible), but there are a few owners that are my age or a bit younger.

So anyway, the Cottage was my training camp for the summer and I completed many of my runs, rides, and swims from there. This weekend was my first weekend at the Cottage since completing the IronMan. Sunday morning I decided to go for a nice run up and down the “Cottage road” in the great 70 degree sunny weather. So, I get on my virtually head to toe IronMan gear (sorry Erin) and started out on my run. A little into my run I start thinking about how cool it is to be the only one on my road to complete an IronMan – feeling a bit cool at that point – I’m sure my pace picked up just a bit.

The thought that these younger owners that spend their summers on their wakeboards behind their $60,000 ski boats doing flips over the wake, flying over the waves with their Sail Boards, and pulling their wakeboards with their kites, might actually give me some cred for my IronMan success (ok, at least I’m batting 1000 right now) – felt pretty darn good.

Well, that lasted for about 1 mile into my run. Running past a neighbor spraying down his driveway, saw my IronMan Wisconsin gear (hard to miss with the neon lights on the IronMan hat). He nicely asked how my IronMan experience went – well, ok here is my chance to pump out the chest a little bit and give him all the gory details of the hardest day of my life (ok, a bit of an exaggeration). Before I could get 2 sentences out, he informed me that he has completed 3 IronMans (Florida, Lake Placid, Canada) and his wife has completed something like 4-5 IronMans. What, what, what – come on – no way – this is not good – this could not be happening -- I may need to find a new road with a Cottage to purchase – I must do my homework better to ensure no other IronMan are on the block.

So after I was done talking with the Freakin 3-time IronMan (going to do Brazil next year!!), my pace slowed a bit and I looked the other way each time one of the elderly neighbors looked at me – fearing that they had also completed many many IronMans.

Whats next – 75 year old UltraMan neighbors.

This sucks.

post-IronMan Training -- someone has to do it...

Today's post-IronMan training plan called for some bike time with the wife. So, leaving the kids with Grandma and Grandpa in Madison - we made our way to Door County for the weekend.

If you are ever in the Door County area, make sure to stop by Pennisula State Park in Fish Creek for some great bike riding. The park has many gravel paths for the mountain bike and many little used roads through the park that are great with the road bike. We biked through the park, stopping at all the lookout points and just trying to take in the perfect day (high 60's and sunny). This time, no power meter, no garmin watch, no bike computer, no water bottles full of Perpetuem (Thank goodness), just us and the bikes enjoying the day.

I'm starting the like this post-IronMan training...