Click HERE to listen.
Join in for the biggest ZenTri episode of the year - The IronBaby self-supported Ironman! I take you along for the ride as I swim 2.4 miles at a local pool, bike 112 miles around my town, and then finish it off with 26.2 miles of running around my neighborhood.
That's right, a self-supported Ironman! It's an amazing experience and I encourage you to try it yourself. This is my third and each is better than the last.
Not only was the race free, we raised over $1200 for charity. And there was lots of carnage along the way. I had to get out of the way for guys training to be Navy SEALs, a hellacious front came through on the bike, I wrecked, flatted, and so much more.
Kai biking with me on the run.
I cap off the show with some other great audio. Not only did I record some night trail running in a lightning storm, I also captured the sounds of backpacking through the national forest with my son and dad.
Here's a link to the official page and race course times. Enjoy the show and let's see you out there with me next year!
SHOWNOTES:
- Prepping all the gear.
- Course is measured, but using GPS as backup just in case.
- Driving to swim with Emily.
- There should be a Mom App on the iPhone.
- Roxy is angry with us.
- Emily threatens to shove me into a mailbox. She is so sweet!
- Race review with werewolves and Kai.
- Night trail running with friends.
- Backpacking with three generations of studs in the Sam Houston National Forest.
- Grading your races by "Happiness Index".
Chalk marks in driveway to count the 8+ loops of running.
Swam next to the Texas A&M women's swim team.
Roxy joining in on the run.
Just a quick tally of the times for the Ironbaby.
I keep two versions of the time. One is the official time and
includes all the carnage and time delays. The other is without those
issues and better reflects what I'm capable of - a true measure of my
own fitness. It's good to know the second one so I can target it in a
normal race.
2.4 mile swim - 1 hour. 1:32 / 100 meter pace.
Transition from pool to bike - 25 minutes. (Had to drive to house). In a normal Ironman, this would be 10 minutes or less.
112 mile bike - 6:30, including a bike wreck and changing a flat. Time actually moving was 6:12, an 18 mph avg.
Transition from bike to run - 10 minutes.
26.2 mile run - 4:55, an 11:16 min/mile pace.
So, the official time goes down as 13:15. A massive PR over my last
Ironbaby of 15 hours. And if I was to compare my fitness now to
Ironman Wisconsin in 2007, I went 12:42 compared to 12:59 back then.
Nice improvement! 12:42 = 13:15 minus an extra 15 minutes of
transition time and 18 minutes of bike wreckage and flat repairing out
on the road.
I don't want to get into a whole bunch of "what if's" and
"well.....". You get what you get on race day and you really can't
compare two races or even the same race on different days. Weather and
lots of other conditions makes every race a singularity. Ironman
Wisconsin was hillier, but this Ironbaby was like biking in a
hurricane. And the previous Ironbaby felt like I was doing a race in
Antarctica.
What I do know is I finished this race feeling absolutely amazing,
unlike ever before. It's a real tribute to how some key changes in my
diet and training has made an incredible difference.
I'll write up a race report soon with the real dirt!
Click HERE to listen.
Join in for the biggest ZenTri episode of the year - The IronBaby self-supported Ironman! I take you along for the ride as I swim 2.4 miles at a local pool, bike 112 miles around my town, and then finish it off with 26.2 miles of running around my neighborhood.
That's right, a self-supported Ironman! It's an amazing experience and I encourage you to try it yourself. This is my third and each is better than the last.
Not only was the race free, we raised over $1200 for charity. And there was lots of carnage along the way. I had to get out of the way for guys training to be Navy SEALs, a hellacious front came through on the bike, I wrecked, flatted, and so much more.
I cap off the show with some other great audio. Not only did I record some night trail running in a lightning storm, I also captured the sounds of backpacking through the national forest with my son and dad.
Here's a link to the official page and race course times. Enjoy the show and let's see you out there with me next year!
SHOWNOTES:
Chalk marks in driveway to count the 8+ loops of running.
Swam next to the Texas A&M women's swim team.
Roxy joining in on the run.
Just a quick tally of the times for the Ironbaby. I keep two versions of the time. One is the official time and includes all the carnage and time delays. The other is without those issues and better reflects what I'm capable of - a true measure of my own fitness. It's good to know the second one so I can target it in a normal race.
2.4 mile swim - 1 hour. 1:32 / 100 meter pace.
Transition from pool to bike - 25 minutes. (Had to drive to house). In a normal Ironman, this would be 10 minutes or less.
112 mile bike - 6:30, including a bike wreck and changing a flat. Time actually moving was 6:12, an 18 mph avg.
Transition from bike to run - 10 minutes.
26.2 mile run - 4:55, an 11:16 min/mile pace.
So, the official time goes down as 13:15. A massive PR over my last Ironbaby of 15 hours. And if I was to compare my fitness now to Ironman Wisconsin in 2007, I went 12:42 compared to 12:59 back then. Nice improvement! 12:42 = 13:15 minus an extra 15 minutes of transition time and 18 minutes of bike wreckage and flat repairing out on the road.
I don't want to get into a whole bunch of "what if's" and "well.....". You get what you get on race day and you really can't compare two races or even the same race on different days. Weather and lots of other conditions makes every race a singularity. Ironman Wisconsin was hillier, but this Ironbaby was like biking in a hurricane. And the previous Ironbaby felt like I was doing a race in Antarctica.
What I do know is I finished this race feeling absolutely amazing, unlike ever before. It's a real tribute to how some key changes in my diet and training has made an incredible difference.
I'll write up a race report soon with the real dirt!