A tribute...

Hello all,

Amazingly enough, I am posting again.  Pretty shocking to be posting so soon, but with training in full swing and my body reacting well to it, I have a bit more to talk about.

First off, I need to say goodbye to a friend.  A couple weeks ago I was notified that a friend from college, Ara Standiford, had passed away.  It is pretty funny how life works sometimes.  I remember exactly how and when Ara and I met.  For those of you that went to EC, yes it was at Pio and yes, alcohol was involved.  Needless to say, he made an impact as he usually does.  Hands down one of the funniest people I know, and certainly the biggest wise-ass.

Thinking of the friends I made in college, if you had asked me at the time who I would would still be in touch with or close friends with 10 years later, Ara would not have been on that list.  We always got along great, but we were never what I would call close friends, especially compared to some of the friends I met in college.  It is interesting how life works out, as Ara and I did stay in touch and talked fairly frequently as he was going through his chemo treatments.  Yet I am not in touch with three people I thought I'd be in touch with forever.  Life's interesting little twists.

In any case, he actually read my blog which by itself is pretty funny.  But far funnier than that was the day he IM'd me on facebook to tell me he had read my blog and that he thought I was tough as nails for fighting through the crohns and injuries and other crap that I do and how I'd push through and make it happen.  I know he was being very complimentary and serious, but knowing that he was going through chemo at the time, the suggestion that I was "tough as nails" was pretty damn funny.  I told him the drugs must be impacting his cognative ability.

Being only 36, its pretty sobering when a friend dies.  I'm certainly well aware of my own mortality, but I don't always think about the mortality of those around me.  Ara, I expect a stool and a beer to be waiting for me.  And I know I am not alone in that sentiment.  You are missed.

Onto training and racing which is the purpose of this blog.

Kansas 70.3 is about two weeks out now, so its just about time to start tapering.  Overall I am feeling far more confident than I thought I would.  I think a lot of the stress from my previous job is now gone and that has greatly helped my training.  I also think I've been a littls smarter about my diet and sleep, those have also helped.

Kansas will be my first race since JHawk early bird last May.  It has been a long time and I am a bit nervous.  Having only done a sprint in the last 1.75 years leaves me a touch concerned about getting back on the horse and making sure I get the details right.

My last full HIM was Racine in 2010 where I did a 4:53.xx.  Depending on conditions in Kansas I think I am fully capable of hitting a 4:3x.xx.  It is a tough course, hilly on the bike and on the run.  But overall I am prepared for that.  Obviously if it is burning hot or windy I'll have to adjust accordingly.

Sunday is my final race-pace simulation.  I'll be mildly rested for it and going out to do a 2hr ride at 260w and a 45 minute run at a 7:00 - 7:15 pace.

If you had asked me 6-8 weeks ago if I could hold that kind of run pace for a half marathon, I'd have told you no effing way.  But last week I clipped of 12 miles in training with intervals and hills and my average pace was 7:45.  That is by far my fastest "long" training run ever.  Since that was on fatigued legs, I'm thinking I have a pretty good chance at a sub 1:40 half marathon if I play my cards right.  If things really go my way, its possible I PR the half marathon as my best stand alone half was 1:36 two years back.

My weight is really good.  I've been hovering around 195.  My swimming is solid and I am looking for a 25:xx swim.  I really need to make sure I focus during the swim and not get too relaxed.  I did that in Racine two years ago and I think I swam close to 30min...yuck!!

Its tough to say how fast I'll bike as conditions dictate so much.  Ideally I'll be in the 2:20-2:25 range.  I've never been on the course, so we'll see how challenging it really is.  I've heard the first 20-25 miles are flat, and the last 20 miles has a lot of rolling hills.  I'll have to be careful pacing up the hills as hammering can really suck the energy out of your legs.

Overall my hamstring is doing good.  No real issues to speak of.  I am having some trouble with my toe again...I think I need to have my orthotics adjusted or just not wear work shoes as much.

Other than that, I am looking forward to tapering as I've been a bit tired lately.  I really need to get to be earlier the next couple weeks so I can go into the race ready to go.

As far as qualifying for Vegas...a month ago I would have said it was a long-shot without a rolldown.  Now I am not so sure.  If I really race well...and I do mean REALLY well, I might sneak under 4:30.  I suspect that would be enough to get a non rolldown slot...in which case I would promptly go to the medical tent and then get drunk.  In that order.

Until next time.

Hello again.

Alright, once again it has been a long time since my last post.  There are many reasons for this lapse, but it ultimately comes down to being very busy as we all are. 

So to catch back up.  Last time I posted I was with Northwestern Mutual, I have since left that job and am now with R.W. Baird as a Sr. Project Manager.  The move was a necessary one as I was just a contractor with NM, but its always somewhat sad to go.  NM was a good place to work overall, despite the challenges with the project I was on.

In any case, to get to the topic of this blog, training, triathlon, and all the goodies that come with it.

So as a reminder to all, last season sometime early in the year I tore my hamstring and glute medius.  It was primarily an overuse injury due to my bike saddle being so high.  I ignored it, and raced on it for a while.  It then got so bad I took time off.  It then went mis-diagnosed for a long time.  Finally I saw a chiropractor at the Froedtert spine center who ordered an MRI of my hip, and a real diagnosis was found.  From that point on I went to see Mark Lydecker at the Froedtert sports medecine center who had me doing all kinds of rehab stuff, and after 3 weeks I was able to lightly jog.

From a prognosis standpoint, I was told the injury would stick with me for about a year.  My chances of a 100% recovery were good, but the injury may always be with me to a certain extent.  Fast forward to now and I am training at full capacity with the exception of hard running.  And I define hard running as 5k or even 10k pace for any real length of time.  I can handle easier paces for just about as long as I'd like, but the real hard stuff still creates some trouble for the glute, hamstring, and the rest of the leg.

In any case, the season is upon me.  In early June I will travel down to Kansas for the Ironman Kansas 70.3 and see if I can qualify for the Vegas World Championships.  Given my situation with running, I consider an actual qualification something of a long-shot.  In order to do that I think I would really need to be in the mid 4:20's.  While I think my swim and bike legs are strong enough, the hamstring injury has hampered my running enough to make a 4:25ish unlikely.  A rolldown is certainly possible at this race, and considering the injury and how it will improve over the course of this season, I think I'd take a rolldown.  Next season I don't think I'll allow myself that luxury.  For this year, assuming good conditions, I am targeting a 4:3x.  The lower the better.

From a training perspective, everything is going really well.  I'm currently swimming about 4x per week.  Typically getting in about 3-4k per session.  I am about as fast as I've ever been as a triathlete.

I'm getting in about 4 rides per week.  I was really struggling on the bike for a while, but overall my power and pacing on the bike are just about as fast as my fastest last season.  Given the new bike fit and some recent results it is possible I am actually a bit faster.  The glute does give me a little bit of trouble if I really push the pace on the aero bars for an extended period of time.  But it has really improved lately.

And as far as running is concerned, I am running 6x per week.  I'm probably approaching about 35 miles of running per week, and getting much more consistent with that.  For me, right now, the important part is getting consistent again.  The consistency will build the durability I need to start running harder and doing intervals again.

My weight is dialed in at 196 right now.  So I am about as light as I have ever been...which is probably why my biking is a bit faster dispite similar power profiles.  Most of my previous race results are at a weight about 15lbs heavier.  Maybe even more than that.

So, I'm firing on about 6 of 7 cylinders and we'll see where that takes me.  I'm about 2 weeks away from beginning my taper...and certainly looking forward to that.

Beyond Kansas I've signed up for IM Racine 70.3.  I may do the Rev 3 race in the Dells, possibly Pigman, and possibly the world championships in Vegas if I manage to snag a spot.

I'll be sure to post a bit more now that I am able to do some real training and racing again.

The tales of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

Well once again I haven't written much.  Once again I have many excuses, but the primary one is that I don't have access at work and am just not on the computer much when I get home.

In any case, there is much to update people on.

First and foremost, as I sit here watching the coverage of the Ironman World Championships in Kona I realize I haven't updated folks on my injury.

Last I posted I was told I had a bulging disc in my back.  An injury sure to cause me lifelong problems.  Well that wasn't quite accurate. 

Long story short I never really believed that diagnosis.  The pain I felt was always in my butt.  So I went to the spine center to get everything confirmed from a diagnosis standpoint.  I told them my story and how I thought the diagnosis was crap.  They listened and had me do a few PT workouts for a couple weeks.  When I came back and told them there was no impact and that the cortisone has no impact they started to believe me.  They ordered an MRI of my hip and found a grade 2 hamstring tear where it connects to the bone in my hip, and a grade 2 tear of my gluteus medius.

How does that feel you may ask...


So, the question quickly became, where do I go from there.  I went to the Froedert Sports Medicine Center to see a PT, Mark Lydecker.  He felt I'd be able to run again after 3 weeks, and he was correct to the day.  Having said that, I was running 5 minutes on, 2 minutes on, 5 minutes on and then calling it a day.  I was given TONS of exercises to do every other day.  That was about 6-8 weeks ago.

These days I am able to run 30 mintues or so.  I do get sore afterward, but its not so bad.  I am able to ride, not at full power, but I can do it without much pain at all.  I am hoping I'll start to approach full strength in 4 weeks or so.

With that, I hope to be in fantastic shape for next season and may travel for an early season half IM. 

Time will tell.

Time to think

So I have had a lot of time these days.
I have can't do anything as even walking aggrivates my hip/back.
I have been spending a lot of time on the elipticals...the most boring thing in the world.  But it has given me a lot of time to think about movies....

Below are some of my favorite scenes from movies....



Everything about the scene is fantastic.  Booger chucking his smoke in Ogres trophy, his facial expressions and smile at the end...pure comedy gold. 


Another great scene...

Bill Murray at his best.

Another great one...


Please feel free to forward me some of your favorites, I may even post them on my blog!!!  It will give me something to do besides eating.

I'm not sure anyone can beat the booger scene.

Season Over

It is with great sadness that I officially declare the 2011 triathlon season over…at least for me.

As you all can tell, I haven’t been posting much. There are several reasons for my lack of postings. No access at work and general laziness are certainly two of the reasons. But one of the primary reasons is frustration. Last season by all accounts was very good. I showed great improvements. I went into the off season on a fairly high note despite the cancelled swim at Halfmax.

The off season was a mixture of emotions for me. I made some good progress and made some mistakes. Overall it was mentally draining. But despite the mistakes, I was coming into this season in better shape than I had ever been in. But as many of you read even last year, I was slowly having trouble with my back/hip/SI joint.

Here is what I believe occurred that has led me to this point. For me, things are seldom simple. I don’t just fall and break a bone. I make a change that creates some kind of muscle imbalance that creates an injury in an odd body part and the diagnosis takes months while I suffer through my workouts. That appears to be the case here.

So last season I went on got my bike fit completely changed. That is when my back troubles really began. Early on I was told to suck it up, muscles are working different. Perhaps that advice was correct, or perhaps my seat was too high. The pain was very mild and never impacted my running. As I got into the off season and did short but extremely intense workouts, I didn’t have any trouble. But later in the off season I made some fairly large bike fit changes myself. All in an effort to get more aerodynamic. Well if my bike seat wasn’t too high before then, it was after I changed things.

As time went on after those changes I started having more pain. My personal belief is that it was all muscle pain at that time due to my poor bike fitting skills. Essentially I ignored that pain. I believe that created a muscle imbalance on my left side. My glute, piriformis, and hip flexor were all having trouble…and I pushed forward despite the pain. This brings me to about March. The pain would come and go to a certain degree. Stretching and other things would help to a point.

At some point in April/May two things occurred that I believe pushed my small problem into a full blown problem. Both were typical me. First, I was at the Y after a swim with the group and I fell right onto my left side. It was pretty much straight down onto my left butt cheek. I landed hard on the bone…hard enough to essentially knock the breath out of me. I had to sit there for several minutes before I could really move again. As my hip/glute was hurting prior to that fall, I couldn’t tell if there was a problem or not.

Prior to that fall the pain would come and go with my riding. After low mile days/weeks my back was much better. After high mileage, it was sore. To me, that indicates a muscular issue. Several days after the fall, perhaps a week I went for my long run and decided to push through the pain instead of stopping early. The next day I couldn’t walk without a pronounced limp. I have never recovered from that day. Both biking and running have suffered dramatically to the point of seeing both a chiropractor and orthopedic surgeon and having an MRI taken. I suspect the muscle imbalance and then the fall made me more susceptible to this type of back issue and the running just hammered it home. So what could have been a minor thing had I fixed my bike fit became a bigger deal.

The results of the MRI show a bulging disk in my back between L4 and L5. The bulge is minor but is apparently allowing the joint to aggravate the nerve. The disk is not herniated or hitting the nerve, so that is VERY good. But the problem is bad enough to require cortisone injections into my back to bring down the swelling. I had my first one on Thursday. The doctor has asked that I not run for about 3 months.

At the moment the diagnosis is somewhat ambiguous. If this first shot eliminates all my pain then the Dx is pretty clear. If, however, I am still in pain, it is possible that the Dx is incorrect and that the cause of my problem is something entirely different…or, I just need a second shot. So while the doctors are fairly confident, there is room for error.

What does all this mean? Assuming the diagnosis is correct; it means my triathlon season is over for the summer. The prognosis for a full recovery is very good so long as I let things heal, and I know for a fact I don’t want to be dealing with back trouble the rest of my life. So I will let this heal up. In the best case scenario that I am aware of at the moment I might be able to start running in very late August.

If the diagnosis is incorrect, I don’t have a clue. I will still probably lose the season as I am still unable to run or bike with any frequency.

It is my hope that if nothing else, I’ll be able to ride and swim this summer. I’d like to be outside working out. Otherwise I’ll be stuck on the elliptical all summer and at the gym. I just don’t think I can handle that. Granted I’ll be doing a lot of rehab work to make sure the core muscles are very strong to prevent this in the future. But I’d much rather be outside once we get some summer weather. Hard to believe its almost July and we’ve had maybe a handful of days above 80 degrees and everything else has been 50’s-60’s.  Plus I can work to build a really strong swim/bike combination.

It’s a shame really, I was in fantastic shape. Prior to the injury I was weighing 196 and the weight just seemed to be falling off me. But I might be able to get in some winter racing if I am willing to travel. 

The obvious question is what to do after learning such news.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I went out on Friday night and got drunk.

And the season kicks off with a ... dnf

So I figured I'd have to write something sometime.  Since most people I know are racing Elkhart Lake, I figured now would be a good time to write.
But wait you may say...aren't you supposed to be at Elkhart Lake Eric?  That's a great question.

The short answer to that is yes I was...but no I am not.

So lets get into it.

Race report for Triple T.  DNF.
Prior to heading down my SI joing and hip had become a real problem.  the pain was very sharp and it wouldn't go away.  I had taken some rest and was hopeful driving down.

Friday was the super sprint.  Everything went well but when I did the 1 mile run my hip was a bit sore.
Saturday I got up, did the swim and bike...but during the bike my hip got very sore.  first step into T2 and my leg couldn't take a lot of weight.  stopped right there. 

On the bright side, my swim has really gotten good.  I suspect TTT was a touch short, but I still got out of the water in 17min and hit T1 at 17:45.  There was a long run into T1.

Since then I tried to work through it.  Fail.

Since last week I've been on absolute rest other than swimming.  I was all set to go and race at Elkhart knowing I'd bust loose on the swim and hopefully win the $100 swim prime.  Then I'd just noodle the bike and probably walk the run to come in DFL. 
Unfortunately we recieved word late last night that Aimee's uncle passed away suddendly from a heart attack.  While racing is something of a priority in my life, its not that much of a priority.  So I came home to be with Aimee.

I was supposed to race high cliff next weekend.  DNS.  My hip has not improved to the point where I can bike or run yet.  I suspect I'll be taking this coming week off as well.

My thoughts are turning to end of season races now.  Its frustrating, but I did it to myself by messing with my bike fit.  Now I get to deal with "LoEID"  Lack of Exercise Induced Depression.

Until next time.

Off-Road Adventures.

As many of you may recall, last season was marked by several “adventures” during races.


First was Lake Mills where I fell on my ass trying to get on my bike.
Then was Elkhart Lake where I fell on my face trying to get off my bike.
Then was Pleasant Prairie where I strained my knee on a steep entrance to the water.
Why should this year be any different…well it shouldn’t.

And with that, I give you the Jhawk Early Bird Sprint Triathlon.

Originally I was not going to do this race. I never have in the past and typically like to ride more outside before racing. The main reason is that I am not a real strong bike handler normally…early in the year it is worse.  Scott managed to talk me into it.

The Jhawk is a very laid back and relaxed race in general. It is a 500yd pool swim followed by a 13+ mile bike ride and a 5k cross country run.

The race director started all the faster swimmers at around 11am. As it turns out I was in the same lane as Scott Bowe and Robbie Greco. We all knew we’d be swimming pretty close to one another. Scott started out first, I was second, Robbie was 3rd, and there was a 4th guy in our lane.

The swim started about right and we were holding a good pace. We started 5s apart and I got right on Scotts feet and drafted. At about the 200yd mark I was about ready to pass Scott when my foot was touched. My first reaction was WTF? I didn’t know Greco had gotten fast enough to pass at this pace…and wasn’t sure why he’d want to leave my draft. I quickly realized it wasn’t Robbie, it was the guy who started in the 4th position and he was motoring right along. He passed me with gusto and then proceeded to pass Scott as well. At that point I didn’t bother making the pass. Looking back I should have. I came out of the water and wasn’t even breathing hard, I could have probably gone a solid 20s faster. Granted I would have dragged Scott and Robbie with me…but 20s is 20s.

T1 was uneventful. Got on the bike and started riding. The day was VERY windy and a little chilly. Pretty close to 50 degrees.

The ride was going well and Robbie, Scott, and I were all 1-2-3 for a little while.  At some point in the ride we were making a right hand turn. I had recently passed Robbie who got out of T1 a little ahead of me. As I made my turn I thought I had pulled straight and took a quick look back over my shoulder to see where Robbie was…I looked back forward and gave a little yelp as I was heading towards the edge of the road and into the ditch. NOT GOOD. By the point my brain engaged, it was too late. I was in the gravel, then riding down into the ditch. I was very fortunate that the ditch was dry and solid…and not loaded with bigger rocks. In any case, I was up on the pedals and managed to bring my bike back to the left and up onto the road. At that point Robbie passed me. At least I wouldn’t have to look over my shoulder to see where he was.  I was still 1-2-3 with Scott and Robbie...but Scott was a much further ahead #1.

The rest of the ride was uneventful. I passed Robbie back and took a couple minutes out of him. But it was really windy and rarely seemed to be a head or tail wind, rather a cross wind that was gusty. I never really got comfortable, especially after going into the ditch once. Most of the turns were taken very slowly. Scott finished about 3 min in front of me, which is actually pretty realistic compared to our other rides. So he must have taken the turns fairly slow as well.

T2 was uneventful.

The run was interesting. I’ve been dealing with a hip problem for the last month or so and it has really hampered my ability to run fast. I’ve been running, just not comfortably. Due to that, I really wasn’t sure what to expect on this run. To top it off, I had never done this course and had no idea what to expect. Plus the course was cross country on very uneven terrain. Something I had never really done before.

Overall the run was fun. We were in and out of the woods, up and down hills, going through some mud, through people’s back yards, and all over the place. As I was running I was a little disappointed to see my splits being so slow, but as I thought about it, the course was rather hilly and certainly challenging. The wind made it interesting as well. At one point I was running up a hill and the wind hit me straight in the face, it felt like I went from running to a complete standstill. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I slowed to a 12min pace up that hill it got so brutal.

Anyway, I finished pretty strong. Robbie managed to pass me back on the run. I hate runners. As it turns out I finished 10th overall and won my age-group. Not a bad showing overall.

My swim time was a 5:51. Solid overall, could/should have been better.
The bike was 38:20 or so. Considering the wind, not bad.
My run was a 22:30. Considering the course, not bad.

All in all a good race…and hopefully I can ride outside a bit more in the coming days.

Lessons to remember:
Pay attention to where you are riding. Don’t worry about those behind you.
Don’t be content to draft in the swim.
Bring water in my T1 bag. I was a bit parched prior to the race start.
Use sunscreen, even for a race that only lasts an hour.