Ran a 10k in June (5 Viewers)

[BassNBrew]

22 today with the last 5 at or a little below my goal pace of 9:09 (9:05, 9:05, 9:03, 9:03, 8:54). To be honest, those last five miles were a little tougher than I would have ideally liked, but I could have tacked on another 4.2. Also, when race day rolls around I'll be well-rested and running with 11,000 friends instead of being worn out by training and running alone. My taper begins tomorrow.

All systems go, comence count down. Enjoy the taper.

 

[BassNBrew]

Good luck to all of our racers this weekend!!!

I survived. Olympic tri complete in 2:37:52. That was good for 3/22in AG and 28/160 or so overall. The heat index was 96 at 6am this morning and 104 or so at 10am when I finished. The majority of run times were over an hour. Ridiculous out there.Swim - 5th overall. Good swim. Though I lost my AG win streak - finished 2nd in AG. Bummer.Bike - 14/160 overall. 3/22 in AG. Power dropped off in the last few miles as I was getting tired. I think the heat was getting to me a bit.Run - I was over an hour and really, really don't want to repeat that experience. The heat just destroyed me.More details later.

Another podium!!! Ashame that you dogged it on the swim though.

 

[tri-man 47]

To catch up on some old business here:

and, then, to be done with marathoning

Loser.

:finger:---------Congrats to Workhorse for the podium finish, Sand for toughing out the Oly, and Mad Cow for the marathon.The Dances With Dirt 100K relay with 2Young and three others was a blast! We didn't win anything, but we had a fantastic time this weekend. We ended up camping out Friday and Saturday, so race morning logistics were easy. We got through the day in about 10:30. The weather ended up being cool (60'ish), and we picked up rain from leg 7 through to the end ...some of it heavy. So the latter legs were all messy. As it was, we had divvied up the 15 legs to that each of us would face some degree of muddy trails, river crossings, or wading through lakes.I ran a bit over 13 miles. The last mile of my last leg was the interesting part as I experienced my first encounter with what could be called some serious quicksand! The trail went down near some lakes and started weaving through some bogs around the lakes. It started with just sloshing through foot, then ankle, deep mud. That got washed off when I crossed a channel of knee-deep water between two lakes. But then it was right back to the muck. After that, it got really bad as some spots were quicksand - take a step, and you suddenly sink up to your hip. We ended up with a small group of about six of us packed together trying to get through it all. We came to one water hole, and a young gal in front of me was struggling with knee-deep mud as she tried to work around it. I decided to make a leap right into the water ...and promptly found myself chest-deep in swamp water, with my legs stuck in the muck below. Two young gals tried pulling me out, but couldn't, so I got hold of a branch near the water, tilted enough to free up one leg, and then rolled out enough to break free. One of the gals went off in front of our pack, and she sunk deep at least twice and I had to grab her arm to pull her free. Next we all came to a bigger water hole. They'd stretched a rope a couple of feet above the water with the idea that you'd use the rope to pull yourself across. I made a big leap, grabbed the rope, and found it worked best to lay on my back in the muck and pull myself commando style until I could get my butt on manageble muck, rotate my legs away from the water, and carry on. We had one more tough stretch wading through 50 feet of knee-deep muck before jogging further and finally finishing up that leg. Definitely my most unusual running ever!

 

[2Young2BBald]

To catch up on some old business here:The Dances With Dirt 100K relay with 2Young and three others was a blast! We didn't win anything, but we had a fantastic time this weekend. We ended up camping out Friday and Saturday, so race morning logistics were easy. We got through the day in about 10:30. The weather ended up being cool (60'ish), and we picked up rain from leg 7 through to the end ...some of it heavy. So the latter legs were all messy. As it was, we had divvied up the 15 legs to that each of us would face some degree of muddy trails, river crossings, or wading through lakes.I ran a bit over 13 miles. The last mile of my last leg was the interesting part as I experienced my first encounter with what could be called some serious quicksand! The trail went down near some lakes and started weaving through some bogs around the lakes. It started with just sloshing through foot, then ankle, deep mud. That got washed off when I crossed a channel of knee-deep water between two lakes. But then it was right back to the muck. After that, it got really bad as some spots were quicksand - take a step, and you suddenly sink up to your hip. We ended up with a small group of about six of us packed together trying to get through it all. We came to one water hole, and a young gal in front of me was struggling with knee-deep mud as she tried to work around it. I decided to make a leap right into the water ...and promptly found myself chest-deep in swamp water, with my legs stuck in the muck below. Two young gals tried pulling me out, but couldn't, so I got hold of a branch near the water, tilted enough to free up one leg, and then rolled out enough to break free. One of the gals went off in front of our pack, and she sunk deep at least twice and I had to grab her arm to pull her free. Next we all came to a bigger water hole. They'd stretched a rope a couple of feet above the water with the idea that you'd use the rope to pull yourself across. I made a big leap, grabbed the rope, and found it worked best to lay on my back in the muck and pull myself commando style until I could get my butt on manageble muck, rotate my legs away from the water, and carry on. We had one more tough stretch wading through 50 feet of knee-deep muck before jogging further and finally finishing up that leg. Definitely my most unusual running ever!

Ah, you had it easy yesterday :justkidding:Kind of like describing your dreams, I am not sure a language exists that would do yesterday justice. 10:23:12 of insane bliss, followed by what a younger woman across from us called "giggling like school girls" hanging around the campfire. Yesterday featured lots of teams of attractive young women in really small costumes and thigh highs were out in full force. The St. Pauli Girls mixed things up and ran as hot police women Like Tri-Man, I did close to 13 miles of tough dirt hill slogging. Favorite leg for me was Styx, River of Death. The rain was in full force by the time on tag in to this leg. Hilly start on horse crap filled trails quickly declined to trudgeing through no existent trail, crossing 4 rivers and climbing up the banks at the other side of each. The damn kids ahead me didn't help me a bit, but being the gentleman that I am, I lent a hand to the cute blonde running behind me at a couple of the crossings. A muddy break in the river crossings took me in to a small pine forest where the views were awesome, seeing the line of trees, will runners stomping through the mud in front of me. The finish on the leg was a 1/2 mile run down a river. Towards the end, most runners were going left, I decided to to go over the downed tree in front of me and end in neck deep water. I swam out and resumed running. The leg ended by running up a bridge embankment and tag off to Tri-Man before being greeted by the Mayor of Hell, MI, dressed in a devil costume. 10+ hours flew by fast watching the other teams at transition and driving from transition point to transition point. We'll be back to do thins again sooner than later, and probably next year! I hurt, maybe a bit more than like a 1/2 marathon or an Oly, but MAN it was fun earning the pain!

 

[Workhorse]

Well done, fellas.

Following up my 10k, I ran 14 miles today at 9:00 pace as the end of my recovery week. The worst word in the english language is surely: Chafing. Just when you think you've hit every spot with Glide, you forget the bishop. Yeah, I'm gimpy.

 

[Dexter]

A slow 6 miles this evening.

 

[prosopis]

To catch up on some old business here:The Dances With Dirt 100K relay with 2Young and three others was a blast! We didn't win anything, but we had a fantastic time this weekend. We ended up camping out Friday and Saturday, so race morning logistics were easy. We got through the day in about 10:30. The weather ended up being cool (60'ish), and we picked up rain from leg 7 through to the end ...some of it heavy. So the latter legs were all messy. As it was, we had divvied up the 15 legs to that each of us would face some degree of muddy trails, river crossings, or wading through lakes.I ran a bit over 13 miles. The last mile of my last leg was the interesting part as I experienced my first encounter with what could be called some serious quicksand! The trail went down near some lakes and started weaving through some bogs around the lakes. It started with just sloshing through foot, then ankle, deep mud. That got washed off when I crossed a channel of knee-deep water between two lakes. But then it was right back to the muck. After that, it got really bad as some spots were quicksand - take a step, and you suddenly sink up to your hip. We ended up with a small group of about six of us packed together trying to get through it all. We came to one water hole, and a young gal in front of me was struggling with knee-deep mud as she tried to work around it. I decided to make a leap right into the water ...and promptly found myself chest-deep in swamp water, with my legs stuck in the muck below. Two young gals tried pulling me out, but couldn't, so I got hold of a branch near the water, tilted enough to free up one leg, and then rolled out enough to break free. One of the gals went off in front of our pack, and she sunk deep at least twice and I had to grab her arm to pull her free. Next we all came to a bigger water hole. They'd stretched a rope a couple of feet above the water with the idea that you'd use the rope to pull yourself across. I made a big leap, grabbed the rope, and found it worked best to lay on my back in the muck and pull myself commando style until I could get my butt on manageble muck, rotate my legs away from the water, and carry on. We had one more tough stretch wading through 50 feet of knee-deep muck before jogging further and finally finishing up that leg. Definitely my most unusual running ever!

Ah, you had it easy yesterday :justkidding:Kind of like describing your dreams, I am not sure a language exists that would do yesterday justice. 10:23:12 of insane bliss, followed by what a younger woman across from us called "giggling like school girls" hanging around the campfire. Yesterday featured lots of teams of attractive young women in really small costumes and thigh highs were out in full force. The St. Pauli Girls mixed things up and ran as hot police women Like Tri-Man, I did close to 13 miles of tough dirt hill slogging. Favorite leg for me was Styx, River of Death. The rain was in full force by the time on tag in to this leg. Hilly start on horse crap filled trails quickly declined to trudgeing through no existent trail, crossing 4 rivers and climbing up the banks at the other side of each. The damn kids ahead me didn't help me a bit, but being the gentleman that I am, I lent a hand to the cute blonde running behind me at a couple of the crossings. A muddy break in the river crossings took me in to a small pine forest where the views were awesome, seeing the line of trees, will runners stomping through the mud in front of me. The finish on the leg was a 1/2 mile run down a river. Towards the end, most runners were going left, I decided to to go over the downed tree in front of me and end in neck deep water. I swam out and resumed running. The leg ended by running up a bridge embankment and tag off to Tri-Man before being greeted by the Mayor of Hell, MI, dressed in a devil costume. 10+ hours flew by fast watching the other teams at transition and driving from transition point to transition point. We'll be back to do thins again sooner than later, and probably next year! I hurt, maybe a bit more than like a 1/2 marathon or an Oly, but MAN it was fun earning the pain!

pics?

 

[2Young2BBald]

To catch up on some old business here:

The Dances With Dirt 100K relay with 2Young and three others was a blast! We didn't win anything, but we had a fantastic time this weekend. We ended up camping out Friday and Saturday, so race morning logistics were easy. We got through the day in about 10:30. The weather ended up being cool (60'ish), and we picked up rain from leg 7 through to the end ...some of it heavy. So the latter legs were all messy. As it was, we had divvied up the 15 legs to that each of us would face some degree of muddy trails, river crossings, or wading through lakes.

I ran a bit over 13 miles. The last mile of my last leg was the interesting part as I experienced my first encounter with what could be called some serious quicksand! The trail went down near some lakes and started weaving through some bogs around the lakes. It started with just sloshing through foot, then ankle, deep mud. That got washed off when I crossed a channel of knee-deep water between two lakes. But then it was right back to the muck. After that, it got really bad as some spots were quicksand - take a step, and you suddenly sink up to your hip. We ended up with a small group of about six of us packed together trying to get through it all. We came to one water hole, and a young gal in front of me was struggling with knee-deep mud as she tried to work around it. I decided to make a leap right into the water ...and promptly found myself chest-deep in swamp water, with my legs stuck in the muck below. Two young gals tried pulling me out, but couldn't, so I got hold of a branch near the water, tilted enough to free up one leg, and then rolled out enough to break free. One of the gals went off in front of our pack, and she sunk deep at least twice and I had to grab her arm to pull her free. Next we all came to a bigger water hole. They'd stretched a rope a couple of feet above the water with the idea that you'd use the rope to pull yourself across. I made a big leap, grabbed the rope, and found it worked best to lay on my back in the muck and pull myself commando style until I could get my butt on manageble muck, rotate my legs away from the water, and carry on. We had one more tough stretch wading through 50 feet of knee-deep muck before jogging further and finally finishing up that leg. Definitely my most unusual running ever!

Ah, you had it easy yesterday :justkidding:Kind of like describing your dreams, I am not sure a language exists that would do yesterday justice. 10:23:12 of insane bliss, followed by what a younger woman across from us called "giggling like school girls" hanging around the campfire. Yesterday featured lots of teams of attractive young women in really small costumes and thigh highs were out in full force. The St. Pauli Girls mixed things up and ran as hot police women Like Tri-Man, I did close to 13 miles of tough dirt hill slogging. Favorite leg for me was Styx, River of Death. The rain was in full force by the time on tag in to this leg. Hilly start on horse crap filled trails quickly declined to trudgeing through no existent trail, crossing 4 rivers and climbing up the banks at the other side of each. The damn kids ahead me didn't help me a bit, but being the gentleman that I am, I lent a hand to the cute blonde running behind me at a couple of the crossings. A muddy break in the river crossings took me in to a small pine forest where the views were awesome, seeing the line of trees, will runners stomping through the mud in front of me. The finish on the leg was a 1/2 mile run down a river. Towards the end, most runners were going left, I decided to to go over the downed tree in front of me and end in neck deep water. I swam out and resumed running. The leg ended by running up a bridge embankment and tag off to Tri-Man before being greeted by the Mayor of Hell, MI, dressed in a devil costume. 10+ hours flew by fast watching the other teams at transition and driving from transition point to transition point. We'll be back to do thins again sooner than later, and probably next year! I hurt, maybe a bit more than like a 1/2 marathon or an Oly, but MAN it was fun earning the pain!

pics?

There were pro pics being taken (although, I think the rain may have scared them away from a few sports). I will certainly post some team pics when the pro photos are up. We had a camera, but we were so busy going from point to point, etc, that very few photos got taken. However, I think this one would be a very good Christmas card photo for Tri-Man (and Edgar).

 

[prosopis]

I was thinking more of pics of wet muddy women. Not pics of tri man holding some dudes hand. Were they singing dancing in the rain?

 

[2Young2BBald]

I was thinking more of pics of wet muddy women. Not pics of tri man holding some dudes hand. Were they singing dancing in the rain? :(

Like a dumb ###, I left the camera in the car most of the time and now wish I'd taken it out. The funny thing is, Tri-Man was a photo magnet (seriously) when he was in full team gear!! If prior years hold true, there will be tons of pro race shots of people other that us.

 

[Sand]

Good luck to all of our racers this weekend!!!

I survived. Olympic tri complete in 2:37:52. That was good for 3/22in AG and 28/160 or so overall. The heat index was 96 at 6am this morning and 104 or so at 10am when I finished. The majority of run times were over an hour. Ridiculous out there.Swim - 5th overall. Good swim. Though I lost my AG win streak - finished 2nd in AG. Bummer.

Bike - 14/160 overall. 3/22 in AG. Power dropped off in the last few miles as I was getting tired. I think the heat was getting to me a bit.

Run - I was over an hour and really, really don't want to repeat that experience. The heat just destroyed me.

More details later.

Another podium!!! Ashame that you dogged it on the swim though.

On review I was actually 3rd in my AG in the swim and 4th amongst males. I swam a 24:30 1500m. It should be noted in my defense that I 1) kept it an easy effort and 2) we were swimming against a reasonable current. They try to setup with the current, but they were tricked and we swam against. I entered the water 30th and came out of the water 3rd. Just so happened that the best swimmers were in my group. I felt great coming out of the water. So I dogged it and finished top 3%. Not bad, eh?

Spent an extra few seconds getting the sand off of my feet and getting socks on, but was well quicker than average in T1.

The bike went well. I was hoping for an east wind (we got west at 5-10). Which meant easy on the way out and a ##### on the way back. I held 24.5mph on the way out. Climbed the bridge at the turnaround twice and kept the power output pretty constant. The way back was not much fun. I got off course once when a cop sent me off on the wrong road. Cost me 15 seconds or so (and a top 10% finish on the bike). The way back sucked. The wind was a capricious beast and gusted pretty bad. Wind dropped me down to 21.5mph here. We took a 6 mile detour through the state park there and finished the last couple miles against the worst wind yet. Somehow managed to hold 22mph on that stretch, though I was really ready to be off of the bike. Final was 3/22AG, 14/131 males. 1:05:30 for 24.45 miles. 22.4mph and 212 avg. watts. I passed one girl and got passed three times. Other than that I was pretty much alone all ride. Pretty cool coming in off the bike in 5th place.

T2 was a general disaster. Racked in the wrong spot and then spent a few seconds finding my spot. My calves wanted to cramp while getting shoes on. I was cursing my clumsiness here. If I had known what I was in for I would have pulled up a chair and spent a while lounging in transition.

The run was one of the least fun things I have ever done. 104 heat index. Full sun - no shade. I started off pretty well with an 8:15 first mile. That became a 9 minute second mile. 9:20 third mile. Then the wheels fell off. Simply put - I overheated. I walked 10+ times on the way back. I was hydrated - I drank 40oz on the bike and ~3 cups of water on every mile on the run. I ran with my hat on. Ran with it off. I even took a small detour into a parking lot to get 100yds of shade. Nothing really helped. I finished the run in 1:03:49. I never would have imagined going over an hour for a 10k - awful. Heck, I didn't even sprint it in. I just stepped over the line and was done with it. I was 9/22 in AG and 56/131 overall. Over 2/3 of the 10k times were over an hour. Only a small handful under 50 minutes.

Final time 2:37:52. 3/22 in AG (PODIUM!! ) and 23/131 amongst males. Once again I was the slowest runner at my ranking - every other guy who finished faster had a better run. God I suck at running. With an even half-decent run I could have been top 10.

2:37 ain't a great time, but to put it in perspective the 3rd place winner in my AG last year finished in 2:15 (this year he finished in 2:42). I guess this makes my first Olympic an experience, but that run is an experience I never want to repeat. After the race I sat down and had a bunch of ice packs put on me to try and cool down. I was very close to heat exhaustion (or already there, not sure). After a half hour I finally didn't see stars and was able to move around. Feel ok now, but I am definitely sore in spots - hip flexors and calves, mostly.

Oh and to Workhorse for also grabbing a podium this weekend!

PS. For you bike s, I saw the oddest thing in the tri. I racked next to a nice Cervelo P3. I notice his wheel cover is some odd mylar thing. I chat with the guy about it (super nice guy). He says he is an inveterate tinkerer. Cool. USAT official comes up and looks at his gears and starts flipping through the rulebook. Huh? I take a peek over on that side and he's converted it to a single speed. Now I think he is off his rocker. I look at the preliminary results after the race and have to laugh. Dude rocked the field - was the only one under an hour and beat the field by over 3 minutes. Unreal

 

[D_House]

18 mile weekend long run for the higdon marathon plan this evening. 9:20/mile pace. The last 2 miles were rough, had to concentrate on just putting one foot in front of the other. But it's done. Only one more really long run before the marathon, which is in just 5 weeks

 

[tri-man 47]

I was thinking more of pics of wet muddy women. Not pics of tri man holding some dudes hand. Were they singing dancing in the rain? :X

Like a dumb ###, I left the camera in the car most of the time and now wish I'd taken it out. The funny thing is, Tri-Man was a photo magnet (seriously) when he was in full team gear!! If prior years hold true, there will be tons of pro race shots of people other that us.

Re: the posted pic - So I'd just finished my run through the muck (with a quick dive in a lake to rinse off), and we get to the next transition on tight timing ...and a log-jam of cars. To get my teammate moving, I get out and tell him I'll walk up with him to the transition, rather than getting delayed in stopped traffic. After my filthy swamp run, he acts hesitant about walking through the heavy rain, so I grab an umbrella to get him moving (and I'm holding the umbrella, not his hand ..NTTAWWT).The "full team gear" refers to the faux-flashing some of us were doing between legs - seemingly just wearing a trench coat as "Dirty Old Men" flashers as we hung around (so to speak) the transition areas. I do understand, however, that while getting something out of the back of the van at one point, I was particularly, um, cheeky, causing a female team to stop their van, get out, and snap a pic.We'll offer some decent pics - of hot females - when the official shots come out.

 

[prosopis]

I was thinking more of pics of wet muddy women. Not pics of tri man holding some dudes hand. Were they singing dancing in the rain?

Like a dumb ###, I left the camera in the car most of the time and now wish I'd taken it out. The funny thing is, Tri-Man was a photo magnet (seriously) when he was in full team gear!! If prior years hold true, there will be tons of pro race shots of people other that us.

Re: the posted pic - So I'd just finished my run through the muck (with a quick dive in a lake to rinse off), and we get to the next transition on tight timing ...and a log-jam of cars. To get my teammate moving, I get out and tell him I'll walk up with him to the transition, rather than getting delayed in stopped traffic. After my filthy swamp run, he acts hesitant about walking through the heavy rain, so I grab an umbrella to get him moving (and I'm holding the umbrella, not his hand ..NTTAWWT).The "full team gear" refers to the faux-flashing some of us were doing between legs - seemingly just wearing a trench coat as "Dirty Old Men" flashers as we hung around (so to speak) the transition areas. I do understand, however, that while getting something out of the back of the van at one point, I was particularly, um, cheeky, causing a female team to stop their van, get out, and snap a pic.

We'll offer some decent pics - of hot females - when the official shots come out.

 

[The_Man]

Man, I need to check in on the weekends, or else I fall hopelessly behind.

Ivan - Great 22 miler. Enjoy the taper

Sand - great job on the AG podium, and way to HTFU in the heat.

Workhorse - another AG podium. Nice! And good job on the 14-miler.

Ned - I love the fact that you cracked 6 miles and that it felt good to you. You sound like you're exactly where I was about a year ago. I hadn't run 6 miles in more than 20 years. Keep cranking and you'll be amazed at what you can do.

D_House - nice job on 18 miles. I did that for the first time myself this weekend (details below).

Mad Cow - nice job on the Marathon! What marathon was it? I'm interested to hear more about the scenery.

Wraith - you doing o.k., my man? Might just need to fuel a little more in the a.m. Feel better!

Tri/2Y - sounds great.

I had my biggest weekend of running (26 miles) to cap off my biggest week yet (44 miles).

I did 8 on Saturday, cranked them out comfortably at 8:12 pace. Then my longest run Sunday, 18 miles, in steady rain. Did the first 14 in 9:12 pace, then peeled off my soaking shirt and tried to go goal Marathon pace (7:40) for the last 4. Did them in:

7:42

7:30

7:33

7:27

It was weird, though - for those last 4 miles, my legs were super-tired and I was turning them over as hard and fast as I possibly could to maintain pace. But my breathing/fitness wasn't really challenged at all. Usually, when I am exhausted on a run, I'm out of breath and too tired with my heart pounding to keep going, but my legs feel fine. This time I felt like I couldn't have possibly gone any faster - I was running as fast as my legs could go - but that I could have kept on going at that pace for miles, just because I was still running aerobically.

It gave me a lot of confidence heading into this weekend's Half Marathon, which I'm racing to establish a realistic Marathon goal pace. I'm almost positive it's going to show me that running a debut 3:20 Marathon on around 40 mpw training isn't actually going to happen, but I'm still looking forward to (hopefully) putting up a good time on Saturday.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

It was weird, though - for those last 4 miles, my legs were super-tired and I was turning them over as hard and fast as I possibly could to maintain pace. But my breathing/fitness wasn't really challenged at all. Usually, when I am exhausted on a run, I'm out of breath and too tired with my heart pounding to keep going, but my legs feel fine. This time I felt like I couldn't have possibly gone any faster - I was running as fast as my legs could go - but that I could have kept on going at that pace for miles, just because I was still running aerobically.

It's the same for me, too. Getting "tired" or "fatigued" during a long run is a totally different kind of sensation than being tired/fatigued during a 10K. There's none of that "I can't breathe" or "I'm going to throw up" feeling.

 

[pmbrown_22]

Great racing this weekend fellas. DWD sounds like a great time. One day I will do one of those. It sounds so challenging. Tri-Man, you can hold the umbrella for me anyday. Just make sure you are wearinf more than those tight shorts please.

---------------------------

As for me, I did my recover 5 miles on Saturday and then spent the rest of the day walking around Kings Island (amusement park) and having a great time with the family. My boys loved it. This would be my downfall though for Sunday's run.

On Sunday I got up early to do 18 with 14 of those at mary pace. I went 1.5 miles and realized that I was exhausted and needed to do more rest. I went home and slept for another 2 hours and hoped that would be enough to help me out later in the afternoon. Boy was I wrong. I went out and it was 81, no humidity, but there was strong winds. I got in the miles but the pace miles were non existant. I had no legs to do them and the winds just kept drying me out. It was disappointing but I thought it was good practice of running with tired legs.

Bad news is that I just don't think I will come close to my goals on this marathon and it is becoming more apparent. So like anyone would do, I am reseting my goals to make them more obtainable. So far, I have never ran a mary at below 8:00 minutes a mile, so this is my new goal. I am hoping for 7:30. Sure they are not as lofty as a BQ, but I still have plenty of more in me for the future. I was thinking yesterday when I finished up my run that this summer has just been too much for me. I have not been able to breath right for most of the summer and it has really hurt me. Plus, I have seemed to have a higher number of family obligations this year that has affected my training quite a bit, which I think has had more impact than the weather. I am all registerd for the indy marathon so it is a go. I have gotten my miles in for it, but the quality just has not been there. I am going to finish out the schedule and have fun at the marathon.

Have a great day all.

 

[gruecd]

Haven't been around for a couple days. Did I miss anything?

This weekend was an absolute blast. Headed down to Madison on Saturday afternoon with a buddy of mine, knocked out a nice 16-miler down there, and then headed out for a night on the town. Got to bed sometime after 2:00, then back up around 5:30 to get ready for Ironman!! Thanks to some connections, I was able to get VIP access, so we were able to do a lot of cool stuff, including helping out as wetsuit strippers and handing out water on the bike course in Verona. Had free food and drinks all day, and had access to the best seats in the house at the finish line. But the part part of the whole VIP thing was having access to the finish line area, where I was able to personally give my friend Jenni her finisher's medal. So cool. Actually, all of the people I knew who were racing down there did great. So proud of them....

My one piece of advice (and I should've known better) is to not attend an Ironman unless you want to get inspired. Seriously. It took me about five minutes standing on top of Monona Terrace watching everyone get in the water before I decided that I need to do one of these. And then watching all the runners finish later last night just confirmed it. I've got a friend who swam collegiately who coaches at a high school very near my house, and she's already offered to coach me up, so we'll see. Maybe I'll work towards a Half IM next summer, and if that goes well, maybe 2012.......

Super tired today though. Stayed almost 'til the end last night to watch another friend of mine finish around 11:45, then drove 2 hours home (after the late night on Saturday). Downed 2 cans of Amp on the way, and despite the couple hundred mg of caffeine, still barely made it. Hoping to knock out 10 miles this afternoon after work.

On the negative side, started Reggie Bush over Arian Foster this week. And played against Matt Forte in my other league. Way to start the season.

 

[gruecd]

Sand - Congrats on the 3rd-place finish, and kudos to you for even toeing the line under those conditions. Fugg that.

Ivan - Way to knock out that 22. You're gonna go great!

Mad Cow - Excellent performance, and very cool of you to set aside your personal goals to help a friend. Awesome.

wraith - Like I said last night, I'm sure it's nothing, but I'm glad to hear you're OK. I'm doing 20-21 myself on Saturday, so I'll be with you in spirit!

Workhorse - Great race, and way to follow it up with the 14-miler! I do a 5K every spring with a nasty hill right at the 3-mile mark. Brutal.

tri-man and 2Young - Congrats on the relay. Sounds like you guys had a blast. And who says that chivalry is dead?!

D_House - Way to knock out that long run! Forgive me if y ou told us already, but what marathon are you doing?

Ned - Congrats on the 6, man!

The_Man - I know what you mean about falling behind! Great weekend of running, and great week! You'll do awesome at your half this weekend!

pmb - Sorry to hear that you won't be attempting the BQ, but it's probably the right decision. Keep on stacking up the quality training cycles, and it'll happen soon enough. Way to gut out the long run!

prosopis - Like you said, you got out there. That's half the battle.

 

[The_Man]

As for me, I did my recover 5 miles on Saturday and then spent the rest of the day walking around Kings Island (amusement park) and having a great time with the family. My boys loved it. This would be my downfall though for Sunday's run.On Sunday I got up early to do 18 with 14 of those at mary pace. I went 1.5 miles and realized that I was exhausted and needed to do more rest. I went home and slept for another 2 hours and hoped that would be enough to help me out later in the afternoon. Boy was I wrong. I went out and it was 81, no humidity, but there was strong winds. I got in the miles but the pace miles were non existant. I had no legs to do them and the winds just kept drying me out. It was disappointing but I thought it was good practice of running with tired legs.Bad news is that I just don't think I will come close to my goals on this marathon and it is becoming more apparent. So like anyone would do, I am reseting my goals to make them more obtainable. So far, I have never ran a mary at below 8:00 minutes a mile, so this is my new goal. I am hoping for 7:30. Sure they are not as lofty as a BQ, but I still have plenty of more in me for the future. I was thinking yesterday when I finished up my run that this summer has just been too much for me. I have not been able to breath right for most of the summer and it has really hurt me. Plus, I have seemed to have a higher number of family obligations this year that has affected my training quite a bit, which I think has had more impact than the weather. I am all registerd for the indy marathon so it is a go. I have gotten my miles in for it, but the quality just has not been there. I am going to finish out the schedule and have fun at the marathon.Have a great day all.

Like Grue said, this is a good call and one I can't imagine you'll ever regret. Let's face it - what's more important: having a great time with your boys at an amusement park, or focusing on yourself and getting hyped to do yet another training run? I feel like I'm building a BQ effort next year to run Boston in 2012 - maybe we can get there together.

 

[pmbrown_22]

As for me, I did my recover 5 miles on Saturday and then spent the rest of the day walking around Kings Island (amusement park) and having a great time with the family. My boys loved it. This would be my downfall though for Sunday's run.On Sunday I got up early to do 18 with 14 of those at mary pace. I went 1.5 miles and realized that I was exhausted and needed to do more rest. I went home and slept for another 2 hours and hoped that would be enough to help me out later in the afternoon. Boy was I wrong. I went out and it was 81, no humidity, but there was strong winds. I got in the miles but the pace miles were non existant. I had no legs to do them and the winds just kept drying me out. It was disappointing but I thought it was good practice of running with tired legs.Bad news is that I just don't think I will come close to my goals on this marathon and it is becoming more apparent. So like anyone would do, I am reseting my goals to make them more obtainable. So far, I have never ran a mary at below 8:00 minutes a mile, so this is my new goal. I am hoping for 7:30. Sure they are not as lofty as a BQ, but I still have plenty of more in me for the future. I was thinking yesterday when I finished up my run that this summer has just been too much for me. I have not been able to breath right for most of the summer and it has really hurt me. Plus, I have seemed to have a higher number of family obligations this year that has affected my training quite a bit, which I think has had more impact than the weather. I am all registerd for the indy marathon so it is a go. I have gotten my miles in for it, but the quality just has not been there. I am going to finish out the schedule and have fun at the marathon.Have a great day all.

Like Grue said, this is a good call and one I can't imagine you'll ever regret. Let's face it - what's more important: having a great time with your boys at an amusement park, or focusing on yourself and getting hyped to do yet another training run? I feel like I'm building a BQ effort next year to run Boston in 2012 - maybe we can get there together.

Hey it is what it is. I have no regrets and I am far better off if I have a great time with my family and can still run all the miles. I never set out to break land speed records anyway. I love to run, so as long as I am doing that, it can't be all that bad. As for Boston, it will come. I here that sometimes the training just clicks for you and you start to get it and it becomes easier for you. I just have not hit that mark yet. I still have many miles left in me so it will get there some day.

 

[tri-man 47]

I was thinking yesterday when I finished up my run that this summer has just been too much for me. I have not been able to breath right for most of the summer and it has really hurt me. Plus, I have seemed to have a higher number of family obligations this year that has affected my training quite a bit, which I think has had more impact than the weather. I am all registerd for the indy marathon so it is a go. I have gotten my miles in for it, but the quality just has not been there. I am going to finish out the schedule and have fun at the marathon.

That's wise thinking - better to accept the reality than force a pace that won't be sustainable.

 

[Ned]

It was weird, though - for those last 4 miles, my legs were super-tired and I was turning them over as hard and fast as I possibly could to maintain pace. But my breathing/fitness wasn't really challenged at all. Usually, when I am exhausted on a run, I'm out of breath and too tired with my heart pounding to keep going, but my legs feel fine. This time I felt like I couldn't have possibly gone any faster - I was running as fast as my legs could go - but that I could have kept on going at that pace for miles, just because I was still running aerobically.

It's the same for me, too. Getting "tired" or "fatigued" during a long run is a totally different kind of sensation than being tired/fatigued during a 10K. There's none of that "I can't breathe" or "I'm going to throw up" feeling.

Funny this was mentioned as it crossed my mind yesterday. I definitely felt the additional mileage in my legs yesterday (highest weekly total yet - 18.5). But, I was never winded/exhausted yesterday. Which got me thinking about the above when I was driving home. It's definitely a strange thing to get used to.

 

[pigskinliquors]

Great races Sand, Tri-Man and 2Young

The_Man: Congrat's on the job!!!!!!!!

___________________________

I'm still in a major funk. I've got plenty I've had a nasty cold for the last week, and also had a nasty bout of the flu last Thursday to Saturday. I lost 7 pounds sitting on the during that time, which sapped every ounce of energy out of me. I got a really ugly 6 mile run in yesterday, but I did get the miles in. My HR and blood pressure are still way up, and my Dr. is pretty concerned (not that anyone in here even cared when I posted it last week ).

My divorce will be finalized this afternoon :fingerscrossed:, and I'll likely have to go on medication if my BP doesn't drop in the next couple weeks following. My Dr. typically does all that he can to help me run/swim/bike, but has asked me to hold back until my BP either drops by itself, or I get on med's for it. Adding to this mess, is that I'm heading to Taiwan tomorrow through Sunday, which will likely make it pretty difficult to get any good runs/bikes/swims in. I likely need the time off, but don't want it.

 

[D_House]

D_House - Way to knock out that long run! Forgive me if y ou told us already, but what marathon are you doing?

Amica Marathon in Newport, RIAlso, a question for any of you marathoners - I would like to do a local 5K race that is scheduled for 2 weeks after this marathon. Is that going to be possible? Or will I still be hobbled from the 26 miles 2 weeks before?

 

[The_Man]

I'm still in a major funk. I've got plenty I've had a nasty cold for the last week, and also had a nasty bout of the flu last Thursday to Saturday. I lost 7 pounds sitting on the during that time, which sapped every ounce of energy out of me. I got a really ugly 6 mile run in yesterday, but I did get the miles in. My HR and blood pressure are still way up, and my Dr. is pretty concerned (not that anyone in here even cared when I posted it last week ). My divorce will be finalized this afternoon :fingerscrossed:, and I'll likely have to go on medication if my BP doesn't drop in the next couple weeks following. My Dr. typically does all that he can to help me run/swim/bike, but has asked me to hold back until my BP either drops by itself, or I get on med's for it. Adding to this mess, is that I'm heading to Taiwan tomorrow through Sunday, which will likely make it pretty difficult to get any good runs/bikes/swims in. I likely need the time off, but don't want it.

PSL, very sorry to hear about the BP. You've been through a lot of major life stressors lately, so maybe this afternoon's resolution will start helping in that regard.Take it easy, and you'll be back on your feet in no time. Very glad to hear you're seeing a doctor. Hang in there, GB!

 

[wraith5]

Thanks for the comments about my odd run on Saturday gents.

I fueled like I always do in the morning (coffee and 2 packages of instant oatmeal) so I know that wasn't the issue. I'm beginning to think it may have been some sort of vertigo effect of running through the woods in the dark combined with an ongoing sleep deficiency. Bottom line is I need to go to bed earlier. Even this weekend I was up until midnight on Saturday and until past 1am last night for no particularly good reason other than I felt like I couldn't sleep (and the Lord of the Rings trilogy was on TNT). Between going to bed too late and my 4 year old regularly visiting me during the night, I'm a bit of a mess and I know it's taking a toll.

PSL - Is it premature to offer congratulations and remind you of a PM you sent to me a while back?

 

[WVU Alum]

Restarting my routine in the morning. Hoping to get in 2.5 miles 4 times this week and build upon that. I've had fits and starts over the last few months trying to get going, but 10 extra pounds later and with 2.5 seeming to be a good mark, I feel like I am starting over from scratch.

 

[Nigel]

My half marathon training plan called for a 10 mile run on Saturday at 30 seconds slower than my race pace, so that’s what me and the wife set out to do. Weather was perfect – sunny, high 60s, light breeze. My street abuts a lake, and one lap around it is exactly 5 miles, so the plan was to do one lap then reverse course and do the second the opposite way. My house is at the high point of the course, so either way you go the last mile is up hill, not sure of the elevation but it's a pretty good climb. The rest of it pretty flat. I’d done a single lap a bunch of times before, and I’d driven around a few years ago to map it so I knew where the mile markers were, or so I thought.

I don’t own a watch so my wife was keeping time. Our goal is to finish the ½ somewhere under 2 hours, hopefully closer to 1:50 than 2, so we set out to run 9s. We were chatting for the first mile and didn’t even look at the watch at the first mile marker, but did so at the 2 mile mark and we were a little over 19 minutes. It didn’t seem like were going that slow, but we picked up the pace a bit for the next two and at the 4 mile mark we were at 34:00. It was clear then that I’d been way off on where that two mile marker was, so we took it easy that last uphill mile finishing the first 5 mile loop in 43:30, 1:30 faster than we had planned on. I pounded a Gatorade and ate a chewy jelly thing she gave me, then took off for the second lap. I ran out of gas around the 8 mile mark and had to stop and walk for a minute, but we still got around in 45:20 for a total time of 1:28:50. When I finished I honestly felt like I couldn’t have run another 10 yards. I even dry heaved a few times and would have puked outright if there was anything in my stomach. Too fast overall for where my conditioning is at right now. My recovery intake was not ideal either, as I took a quick shower then headed over to BC to pound Heinekens at a tailgate before and after the football game. Felt okay Sunday though, and did a bike/weights workout at the gym. Legs are completely fine today, will do an interval workout later.

Race day has moved up to 10/17 in Lowell instead of a race in Newton two weeks later. Lowell is pretty flat, whereas the Newton race is hilly, including a run up Heartbreak Hill on the back side – not up for that. We have to condense the training plan a bit though, we’ll see how it goes.

 

[Sand]

Sand - Congrats on the 3rd-place finish, and kudos to you for even toeing the line under those conditions. Fugg that.

What, you don't like 105 heat index (prolly more like 115 coming off the road we ran on)? Lots of stuff this weekend going on!

PMB - the BQ is just a matter of time. You're training quality has been awesome, IMO. Every time I see your training paces I wish I could hit those times.

PSL - The time off will probably be good for you. Take it as a rest and recovery period and I'm sure you're blood pressure will come down. Just avoid minivans, ok?

D-House - good luck! What is your goal for this?

The_Man - good luck! Same question - what are you aiming for?

 

[pmbrown_22]

PMB - the BQ is just a matter of time. You're training quality has been awesome, IMO. Every time I see your training paces I wish I could hit those times.

Thanks for the observations. I must admit that I am pretty hard on myself. For me, it is a matter of me just not feeling it when I am out there. Maybe I will do better than I am thinking I will, but right now I just don't feel like I am hitting the numbers I want to see.

 

[The_Man]

The_Man - good luck! Same question - what are you aiming for?

I'm hoping to break 1:39:00. By how much is the question. Course looks pancake flat, and I've been encouraged by the paces I've been able to sustain without going beyond Lactate Threshold on the few flat runs I've done. It's really hilly where I live, so I am always running into hills that drive my heart rate through the roof on pace runs. Also, the weather is looking good for now - though the forecast will probably change. Right now, 8 a.m. dewpoint is forecast for the upper 50s, and a temp+humdity total of about 120.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Pretty lousy 5 over lunch today. I guess I'm still feeling the effects of Saturday's long run, because I just couldn't get it going today. I threw in some strides in the last mile so it wasn't completely junky, but I'm going to delete this one off my Garmin.

___________________

Nigel -- You've got plenty of time to get your conditioning up. If you're doing 10 miles on 9/11 and your half isn't until 10/17, you can log at least 2 or 3 more 10+ mile runs between now and then. Even if you weren't pleased with this particular run, you'll be set for race day.

 

[gruecd]

Just mapped out a 21-mile route for my last long run this Saturday. Looks pretty intimidating on a map!

 

[Sand]

Right now, 8 a.m. dewpoint is forecast for the upper 50s, and a temp+humdity total of about 120.

LOL - man I wish we had that this weekend.When I finished my race this weekend the temperature+humidity on the road we were running on was ~180. (yeah I'm ticked about this. I could have gone sub 2:20 with decent weather).

 

[2Young2BBald]

Haven't been around for a couple days. Did I miss anything?

This weekend was an absolute blast. Headed down to Madison on Saturday afternoon with a buddy of mine, knocked out a nice 16-miler down there, and then headed out for a night on the town. Got to bed sometime after 2:00, then back up around 5:30 to get ready for Ironman!! Thanks to some connections, I was able to get VIP access, so we were able to do a lot of cool stuff, including helping out as wetsuit strippers and handing out water on the bike course in Verona. Had free food and drinks all day, and had access to the best seats in the house at the finish line. But the part part of the whole VIP thing was having access to the finish line area, where I was able to personally give my friend Jenni her finisher's medal. So cool. Actually, all of the people I knew who were racing down there did great. So proud of them....

My one piece of advice (and I should've known better) is to not attend an Ironman unless you want to get inspired. Seriously. It took me about five minutes standing on top of Monona Terrace watching everyone get in the water before I decided that I need to do one of these. And then watching all the runners finish later last night just confirmed it. I've got a friend who swam collegiately who coaches at a high school very near my house, and she's already offered to coach me up, so we'll see. Maybe I'll work towards a Half IM next summer, and if that goes well, maybe 2012.......

Super tired today though. Stayed almost 'til the end last night to watch another friend of mine finish around 11:45, then drove 2 hours home (after the late night on Saturday). Downed 2 cans of Amp on the way, and despite the couple hundred mg of caffeine, still barely made it. Hoping to knock out 10 miles this afternoon after work.

On the negative side, started Reggie Bush over Arian Foster this week. And played against Matt Forte in my other league. Way to start the season.

Your timing couldn't be better to catch the bug, there is a short article in this month's Triathlete Mag titled From Runner to Triathlete - How to Make the Leap. PLUS, Natalie Morales is on the cover

 

[IvanKaramazov]

So wait. Now gruecd is going over to the dark side? Is there anybody out there who still just runs?

 

[prosopis]

Great races Sand, Tri-Man and 2Young The_Man: Congrat's on the job!!!!!!!! ___________________________I'm still in a major funk. I've got plenty I've had a nasty cold for the last week, and also had a nasty bout of the flu last Thursday to Saturday. I lost 7 pounds sitting on the during that time, which sapped every ounce of energy out of me. I got a really ugly 6 mile run in yesterday, but I did get the miles in. My HR and blood pressure are still way up, and my Dr. is pretty concerned (not that anyone in here even cared when I posted it last week ). My divorce will be finalized this afternoon :fingerscrossed:, and I'll likely have to go on medication if my BP doesn't drop in the next couple weeks following. My Dr. typically does all that he can to help me run/swim/bike, but has asked me to hold back until my BP either drops by itself, or I get on med's for it. Adding to this mess, is that I'm heading to Taiwan tomorrow through Sunday, which will likely make it pretty difficult to get any good runs/bikes/swims in. I likely need the time off, but don't want it.

Dang I hope things get better for you. I missed it last week when you posted it. You have an awful lot going on there. Hopefully you can start knocking some of those things out of your way and get back at the streets. Super sorry about the divorce. I did that once and I would not wish that on my worst enemy. Lots of pain there. Take care of yourself.

 

[prosopis]

So wait. Now gruecd is going over to the dark side? Is there anybody out there who still just runs?

 

[2Young2BBald]

I'm still in a major funk. I've got plenty I've had a nasty cold for the last week, and also had a nasty bout of the flu last Thursday to Saturday. I lost 7 pounds sitting on the during that time, which sapped every ounce of energy out of me. I got a really ugly 6 mile run in yesterday, but I did get the miles in. My HR and blood pressure are still way up, and my Dr. is pretty concerned (not that anyone in here even cared when I posted it last week ). My divorce will be finalized this afternoon :fingerscrossed:, and I'll likely have to go on medication if my BP doesn't drop in the next couple weeks following. My Dr. typically does all that he can to help me run/swim/bike, but has asked me to hold back until my BP either drops by itself, or I get on med's for it. Adding to this mess, is that I'm heading to Taiwan tomorrow through Sunday, which will likely make it pretty difficult to get any good runs/bikes/swims in. I likely need the time off, but don't want it.

I am sorry to hear about the spiked BP. My family history of heart disease runs deep and my Doc has had me on mild meds for the past 5 years. No matter what training level, I continue to run high. Something to think about, I also suffer from White Coat Syndrome (just being at the doc's office elevates my heart rate). My Doc had me get a portable cuff and track my heart rate several times a day over a month. This verified that the high BP was much less of an issue than when they took it at his office. The med is just a mild diuretic. I do not take it on race/training mornings and for big events, I skip the day before to ensure I keep some extra fluids (this was after I discussed it with my Doc). It make me a potty machine, but no other ill effects.

 

[D_House]

D-House - good luck! What is your goal for this?

I'm a first-timer, so my main goal is just to finish with a minimum of pain. My recent training and my 8 min mile pace in a 20K race a week ago have suggested to me that I could finish in under 4 hours, so that's my goal time.

 

[gruecd]

So wait. Now gruecd is going over to the dark side? Is there anybody out there who still just runs?

Seriously, dude. Go watch an Ironman. The energy is fuggin' palpable. I've gotta get me some of that.To be honest, though, the shorter stuff has zero appeal to me, but some sick and twisted part of me is strangely intrigued by being out there competing for 12+ hours.

Oh, and I won't be doing anything different until after Chicago.

 

[gruecd]

Wasn't very motivated for tonight's 10-miler, especially coming off a long day yesterday and only 3 hours of sleep on Saturday night. But I got out there, and the cool air rejuvenated me. Solid progression run, averaging 8:03 for the first half and 7:29 for the second half. Went like this: 8:19, 8:00, 8:01, 8:02, 7:55, 7:47, 7:47, 7:29, 7:13, and 7:11.

7 recovery miles on tap for tomorrow morning.

 

[wraith5]

So wait. Now gruecd is going over to the dark side? Is there anybody out there who still just runs?

Seriously, dude. Go watch an Ironman. The energy is fuggin' palpable. I've gotta get me some of that.

I sense a great disturbance in the force...

 

[pmbrown_22]

Looks like the runners only are dwindling. I must admit that I have been intrigued too, from just the training/race stories from you guys here, but I know the time it would take me to train just is not in the cards for me. Grue - I say go for it. What do you have to loose. You obviously have the determination and no doubt you would succeed with it. You will never know if you don't try.

--------

No running for me this morning. I will do it tonight after the kids go to bed.

 

[gruecd]

Looks like the runners only are dwindling. I must admit that I have been intrigued too, from just the training/race stories from you guys here, but I know the time it would take me to train just is not in the cards for me. Grue - I say go for it. What do you have to loose. You obviously have the determination and no doubt you would succeed with it. You will never know if you don't try.

Yeah, the time is honestly the only real concern for me, too. That, and the fact that I really can't swim. I chatted with a local triathlon coach last night, and as far as the Ironman is concerned, he said that it requires about 12 hours/week during the majority of the training and then 15-18 hours/week during the 4-6 weeks of peak training...3-4 runs, 3-4 bikes, 3 swims, strength, and core. Right now I'm probably running 7-8 hours/week, so I'd basically "just" need to sleep an hour less every day and train instead.

 

[Ned]

Looks like the runners only are dwindling. I must admit that I have been intrigued too, from just the training/race stories from you guys here, but I know the time it would take me to train just is not in the cards for me. Grue - I say go for it. What do you have to loose. You obviously have the determination and no doubt you would succeed with it. You will never know if you don't try.

Yeah, the time is honestly the only real concern for me, too. That, and the fact that I really can't swim. I chatted with a local triathlon coach last night, and as far as the Ironman is concerned, he said that it requires about 12 hours/week during the majority of the training and then 15-18 hours/week during the 4-6 weeks of peak training...3-4 runs, 3-4 bikes, 3 swims, strength, and core. Right now I'm probably running 7-8 hours/week, so I'd basically "just" need to sleep an hour less every day and train instead.

You're crazy.GL

 

[The_Man]

So wait. Now gruecd is going over to the dark side? Is there anybody out there who still just runs?

Me. I've just never been even a little bit tri-curious.Not that there's anything wrong with that.Celebrated the Ravens win a little too much and had my first hungover run in a long time today. Did 5 miles, picking up speed as the toxins sweated their way out: 8:31, 8:17, 8:01, 7:40, 7:31.Feeling so strong in the cooler weather right now. With every run, instead of feeling more tired/worn out, I feel like I'm gaining strength and want to run more. Can't wait for Saturday!

 

[gruecd]

With every run, instead of feeling more tired/worn out, I feel like I'm gaining strength and want to run more. Can't wait for Saturday!

Pretty much exactly how I felt last night. Good work! :(

 

[Sammy3469]

Looks like the runners only are dwindling. I must admit that I have been intrigued too, from just the training/race stories from you guys here, but I know the time it would take me to train just is not in the cards for me. Grue - I say go for it. What do you have to loose. You obviously have the determination and no doubt you would succeed with it. You will never know if you don't try.

Yeah, the time is honestly the only real concern for me, too. That, and the fact that I really can't swim. I chatted with a local triathlon coach last night, and as far as the Ironman is concerned, he said that it requires about 12 hours/week during the majority of the training and then 15-18 hours/week during the 4-6 weeks of peak training...3-4 runs, 3-4 bikes, 3 swims, strength, and core. Right now I'm probably running 7-8 hours/week, so I'd basically "just" need to sleep an hour less every day and train instead.

I have a couple of friends that just completed the Iron Man in Lake Placid. I'm not 100% sure what the exact schedule was, but a big chunk of that 15-18 hours at the end is taken up with longish/long weekend rides including one that was the full Ironman distance which last 6+ hours with traffic and such. They said the tougher part was getting the 12 hours/week normally. Basically they had to do an hour before (either swimming or biking) and then ran in the evening.

They had a blast, but it does make you sort of a hermit to friends outside athletics.