topher's Summer of Pain
Training / Racing Blog: June
Beginning of Month Weigh-in: 176 pounds
12 June, 2007 — Today I broke my bike and had to drop it off at Transition Cycle for some repairs. Not a good start to the season, as it will probably cost $200 to get it back in shape. Adding insult to injury, I had my new iPod stolen. I'm getting fueled up for the Summer of Pain more and more every day.
13 June, 2007 — Today marked my first day training with the Badgerland Striders. We met at Hart Park in Wauwatosa a little before 6:00 AM and did an hour's worth of running. The workout was great and I started meeting some new people, many of whom have some ambitious race schedules for the summer. So I think there'll be plenty of motivation to gain from this group.
After running, we showered up at Tosa East High School. In typical topher fashion, I forgot to pack a towel and ended up drying off with my sweaty t-shirt. The irony was that as I stood there toweling off with my stinky, sweaty t-shirt, the high school kids were saying, "Good morning, sir." Sir? Me? If they only knew.
14 June, 2007 — Today I did my first open-water training swim. I jumped into Pewaukee lake and just took off swimming. I swam out to the island that stands off the beach about 550 meters and then back. It was a terrible swim. The weeds in Pewaukee Lake are incredible and I spent more time fighting weeds than I did making strokes. I guess this is good training, though, because swimming in a crowd won't be much better. Aerial view of the beach and the island:
16 June, 2007 — Some guilty-feeling soul returned my iPod to the gym. So now I've got tunes to train with again!
19 June, 2007 —The bike shop finished repairing my bike and I went to pick it up today. I'd been having some problems with my seat recently—which I won't go into here—and had to get a new seat. So, John at Transition Cycle spent some time fitting me for a new seat and making sure I was comfortable and efficient on the bike. The strange thing is, to get pressure off the parts I didn't want pressure on, I had to buy a woman's seat. I've got some issues, I tell you.
20 June, 2007 — Today was brutal. I slept poorly last night, got up at 5AM to meet the Badgerland Striders at 6AM for run training, did an hour's worth of strength training after work, and nearly two hours of spin training in the evening. There's good news, though; I found a partner for the Muddy Buddy race in Chicago. Melissa from the Wisconsin Athletic Club has agreed to cover the 10K with me, and she seems excited about the prospect of the bruises we'll likely wear home from the event. But I'm scared. She's only about 5' 3", so I'm a little concerned about her mountain bike and my knees getting along. We'll see.
23 June, 2007 — After doing a little skydiving in the morning, which turned out to be the safe part of the day, I got hold of Melissa, my Muddy Buddy partner, to see if she was up for some mountain biking in Kettle Moraine. She was.
Melissa, Carrie, and I spent three and a half hours pounding the John Muir trails and local roadways. All three of us went careening off the trails and into the woods on multiple occasions. On one such occasion I managed to find every thorn-ridden thicket within 500 meters. I'm now cut up all over. And I accidentally flipped my bike at the top of a hill and smashed violently into Melissa. It was a brutal, but highly enjoyable, day of riding.
Then, what was supposed to be a "stroll around Polish Fest" turned into topher dancing on stage at the Have a Nice Day Cafe with Melissa and her other friend Chris. topher doesn't dance so well, but I was sweating like mad, so I'm categorizing it as "training", and therefore, you're hearing about it here.
25 June, 2007 — I got to do a little more open-water swimming in Pewaukee Lake today. Thanks to Tri Wisconsin and Transition Cycle for organizing the event. But someone should really cut down all the weeds in that lake. They're out to get you, I tell ya. It reminds me of old HBO episodes of Tales >From The Crypt. Spooky feeling.
27 June, 2007 — What a day! Up at 5:00 AM to meet the Badgerland Striders for some run coaching at 6:00 AM. Then, after work I made a mad dash to Pewaukee to check in for the Pewaukee Run to the Beach—my first official Summer of Pain event. Then I shot over to the Waukesha WAC to sneak in an hour of spin training. Following an hour in spin class, I shot back to Pewaukee in time to park my truck, walk to Village Park, stretch, and take off on the 5K. Whew.
The course was hills, all the way. Of course, what one climbs, one must also descend. So we spent a lot of time pushing up hills and trying not to blow out our knees coming down. But it was a fun race with a good showing and Mom 'n' Dad showed up at the finish line to cheer me on and fill me with cold water. Thanks, Mom 'n' Dad.
I'm normally a 7:30 per mile guy. I finished the 5K (after early morning run and 1 hour of pre-race spin) in 20:37. So, tonight I turned it up and ran 6:39 per mile. I'm not going to win any prizes at that pace, but I was pleased with it.
28 June, 2007 — More mountain bike training today! Carri, Melissa, and I rode the trails at Crystal Ridge Ski Resort in Franklin (where Carmex is made). I wiped out no fewer than three times and now my right forearm looks like pizza. Training is going well. Well, indeed.
29 June, 2007 — June's Summer of Pain workouts come to an end with a brutal trail run thorough Nashotah Park in Waukesha County. 8.5 miles of off-road hills. Saturday will be a day off of training for some skydiving.
End of Month Weigh-in: 165 pounds
The Summer of Pain has officially begun. Send in some donations for the kids...Thanks.
More to come...
