A new year!

Hello there loyal followers, quite a lot has happened since the end of August, so let me fill you in briefly. I am now a father! On Sunday the 16th of January, Leah and I welcomed Nicholas Alexander into our family. I wish I had the words to describe how I feel about it. Happy, excited, scared, lots of other feelings which currently escape me. It puts a whole new perspective on everything in my life. After watching Leah bring this wonderful thing into the world, I told her it was harder than any Ironman and better than any finshers medal. I don't think I'll ever do anything as hard as that and I couldn't be more proud of my amazing wife, I love you honey! As I write this, Nicholas is 12 days old. So needless to say we are still adjusting and dealing with some nights with on and off sleep to say the least. I am enjoying every minute of it. I can't wait to watch this little thing grow up before my eyes and kick my ass in a race or two!

Now a little about my plans for the season. I plan to run the half marathon in Fargo on May 21. I do believe my little brother, soon to be a doctor, will be joining me, so I'm looking forward, haven't done an open half marathon in a while. Next up will be the duathlon here in Grand Forks on June 4th, did that once in the snow, here's hoping there's none of that this year. June the 12th is the Manitou sprint triathlon in White Bear Lake, MN, another sprint, always fun! July the 9th I am going to do Lifetime Fitness in Minneapolis after a year off because of it falling so close after Coeur d'Alene. Probably my favorite race environment here. July the 24th I am going to do a 70.3 in St Paul. The weekend after is a training camp in Madison in preparation for Ironman Wisconsin. Then, at the suggestion of my coach I am going to do the sprint in Detroit Lakes on August 20, a few weeks out from Ironman, just to keep some zip in my legs. Someone else I know may make their triathlon debut here, so I'm looking forward to that. I've been to Detroit Lakes 4 times and its a nice little low key race to go back to. And last but not least, the big dance, 9/11/11, Ironman Wisconsin. Should be a fun summer! Training's coming along, I'm building strength and slowly building aerobic base. Oh ya, and I entered the Kona lottery, so we'll see what happens there this year :-)

There will be plenty more to follow about whatever's on my mind. Mainly my family and my training, both of which make my life complete and very happy. Thank you for reading, I'll write again soon!

Ironman Louisville

Wow...I'm sitting here with Matt at the swim start of Ironman Louisville less than an hour before race time. Ironman gives normal people a chance to do an amazing thing and be a rockstar for a day. I'm extremely happy to be here with Matt to support him in his debut ironman. He came to watch me in Coeur d'Alene and as I recall was the first person I saw when I came out of the finishing area. I already have an appreciation for those who support an ironman and the race hasn't started yet. 12 or so hours from now I'm sure I'll have an even bigger appreciation. Ironman is so cool and so amazing and I love it. The buzz around transition, the quiet focus, the adrenaline, the beautiful bodies, and let's not forget the voice of Ironman. All of those things make Ironman what it is...So kick some ass Matt and you will be an Ironman tonight!!
Don

The Race Report - Finally...

Ok...3 weeks after Coeur d'Alene and finally my race report. I've had a lot of time to think about and pick apart the race so here goes. I awoke around 4 that morning and ate my bagel with peanut butter and took in some coffee as well. Same as I eat and drink before every training day and race. I went through my usual race morning routine and was out the door around 5. We made our way down to the lake and found a parking spot, relatively close actually. Then we made the very quiet tense walk toward where it all happens. I got there, got body marked, then headed to transition to set up my fluids and my nutrition, do one last checkover of my bike and air up the tires. After this there was nothing really left to do, so I made my way out of transition and found Leah, and the only thing left was portapotty line, waiting and getting the wetsuit on and getting ready for the swim. So after about another 45 minutes, I had the wetsuit on, hugged and kissed my number one fan and made my way across the timing mat down to the beach, right in front, just like last time. About 5 minutes before the race the voice of ironman Mike Reilly shouts out "who's gonna be an ironman today!!??" and every one gets excited. Before I knew it the cannon went off and off I went. The swim is always rough for the first bit until I got clear of the slow people :-). After a while my heartrate came down and I settled in to a good pace. I managed to keep a fairly straight line, even more so on the 2nd lap. I came outa the water right under 59 minutes, about the same as last time. I went through my transition much quicker than Florida, and was off on the bike. The bike... The first section of the bike course is pretty flat and fast and so I was feeling relatively good after my heart rate settled down and I found a good rhythm. After a while I started to feel the knee issue I have been experiencing creep up on me so that was a bit annoying. The second or "back" half of the course is where the hills are found. There is nothing that I would really call a monster climb, but some pretty good rollers. My fluids and nutrition went well. I did have to improvise bit when I dropped one of my own bottles and was without any fluids for around 20 minutes. I did stop at the porta potty once and I also grabbed my special needs bag as well. Coming to the end of the bike I was worried that my knee was going to be a problem on the run. Lets just say that it wasn't my knee that was the "problem" on the run. The run... After I got off the bike I discovered that I had a very annoying pain on the bottom of my right foot. It was very difficult for me to run for any significant time or distance without walking. Nutrition and fluids were ok on the run. I just shoved water, gel, cola, gatorade and salt down and it kept me going. I knew I was going to finish. That was never in doubt. I was not going to stop just cuz my foot hurt. I did take a few advil throughout the day as well for my knee and my foot. I ended up finishing in 12:43 which is around 45 minutes slower than Florida. Much of that is due to the bike which is significantly less flat than Florida. I was disappointed with the run. I felt like I could have run much more of the time and faster as well had my foot not been bothering me. All I can do is train harder and try and correct the problem, whatever it was. I was very blessed to have 15 people there supporting me and it felt amazing that they all came that way to watch me do this. It wouldn't mean as much without them there.

As of right now, my recovery is coming along well and I am training for an olympic distance race in Detroit Lakes, on August 21. I will be done with racing for the summer after that. The week after that I am going to Louisville to watch and support Matt as he competes in his first Ironman. He and his family were in Coeur d'Alene to support me. And then the second week in september I am going to Madison, WI to volunteer at Ironman Wisconsin and then sign up to do the race in September, 2011. That is all I have for now. Thanks for the love and support everyone!!

Night before the race...

Alright...
So..the night before Ironman Coeur d'Alene. Sitting in the hotel room, everything that possibly can be done right now is done. Today I checked my bike, dropped off gear bags, and relaxed with friends and family who are here supporting me. Got back from dinner about an hour ago, and I just finished mixing my drinks for tomorrow, and getting my nutrition and last minute stuff ready...

So I just wanted to thank everyone who has supported me on my way to this my 2nd Ironman. It takes a lot of time, money, and patience to train for an Ironman and to live with one :-) And in many cases even to be related to or be friends with one for that matter. So thank you all so much for your support, patience, and encouragement, it means a lot to me to have every single one of you as a supporter. Thank you to those of you who drove 30 miles one way to watch me swim "open water" for an hour in circles around a dam. Thank you also to the person who joined me on a few runs on her bike along beside me. It means so much to me to have your support. Thank you most especially to the person who sat at home for many hours alone while I did 2 hour runs and 5 hour bike rides. It meant the world to see you sitting there waiting for me when I got back...

So tomorrow the alarm goes off at 3:45. Get up, quick wake up shower, bagel and coffee, get my stuff together and head out the door to the race. Once there I'll drop off my special needs bags, set up my bike with nutrition and fluids, air up the tires, wait in the porta potty line a couple times probably, sit and contemplate why I am doing this again, then go stand on the beach with 2000 + other people, then swim bike and run for a very long time.. Thats about how tomorrow will go. I am racer number 277 if you want to follow on ironman.com. Well I guess thats all I have to say. Once more huge thank you to everyone for everything, you know who you are, and I love you all very much!! Next entry will be my race report. Have a good night everyone, its a good day to be an Ironman tomorrow...

Less than 5 days to go...oh my...

Well,
Here I am in my hotel in Butte, MT after driving about 13 hours to get here. We are staying the night here and finishing the relatively short journey to Coeur d'Alene tomorrow. We got checked into our hotel and I got changed and headed out on a very easy 30 minute run just up and down the street outside the hotel - it was actually nice and scenic, near a golf course I believe, and it felt good to loosen up. My awesomest sherpa / fan had ordered pizza and so I ate a bit when I got back from the run. Just got back from sitting in the hot tub for a bit and that felt great. Tomorrow is a short ride once we get settled in in CDA. Then its time to drive everyone nuts and be very impersonable until Sunday morning at 7 when the cannon goes off for Ironman Coeur d'Alene :-) I feel good, taper feels good, and I feel very fit and very strong.

Also, a shoutout to one of my biggest fans in GF...you know who you are..

1 hour 35 into my last ride before Ironman CDA next weekend. Feeling great. Tasty average speed of 21.1 mph - tail wind! hour and a half to go...ltr race fans!!

Just passed 100 miles...less than 15 to go...not gonna lie...ready to get off this bike...feeling as good as can be expected...nutrition and hydration good..