Trying to win one of these. Go to http://falkeetriathlon.blogspot.com/2012/12/win-new-in-box-garmin-910xt-gps.html for your chance. 

Ironman Lake Placid 2012 - 2x Ironman Finisher

July 22, 2012 - Lake Placid, NY. It was 2 years ago I finished IM Louisville in the midsummer heat and now I am attempting 140.6 miles through the Adirondacks.  Ironman Lake Placid has beautiful scenery and Lake Placid is great vacation spot in the summer.

The family trekked from Indiana to northern New York over a two day period and arrived on Friday of race week. We stayed at the wonderful Whiteface Lodge with family since it was the same price for a week as two hotel rooms closer to the venue. When we arrived on Friday I had to pick up some rental wheels from Race Day Wheels, checked in at registration and went directly to the mandatory meeting.  Luckily we chose to eat elsewhere.


As part of the adventure this time, I participated in a physiological heat stress study during the race. This require multiple pre-race tests and questionnaires as well as on race morning and post race.  Researchers checked our weights, took saliva and urine, checked our mental status,  and tracked our core temperature, speed, and distance throughout the day.

 


Sunday. Race day.

Woke up at 4am to eat breakfast and start moving.  I thought that getting down the start shortly after 5 am would be enough time however the time flew by with everything to do at transition.   I forget to get my body marked so I stopped by on the way out of transition after finishing my pre-race biometrics check for the study.  The benefit - made it into the Ironman post race video below.

This was the first mass start for the swim that I have participated in as Louisville was a time trial start.  There was 2800 people all starting at the same time.  I got in the water with 5 minutes to the start and ended up at the halfway mark across the lake about 5 people deep.  Thought that this would be fine to stay out of the way and keep right of the buoys where it would be crowded to stay on the underwater visible line.  Boy was I wrong.  Within 200 meters I was pushed, pulled by the ankles, forced under and swam over with little opportunity to catch a breath.  I decided it best to swim directly perpendicular to the race direction and get out of the mess.  That was a wise choice.  See this video of the start.  I eventually found a groove and swam into the turnaround to begin the second lap.  Note that as you approach the transition/end portion of the swim everyone begins to bottle neck again on top of each other.  The second lap was going well until one of the turn buoy's got loose and was floating away from the course.  Many of us were sighting on it and swam off course.  With all the extra effort and kicking to stay afloat during the action I did get a calf cramp during the turn around.  That concerned me since I still had 138.5 miles to go for the day.

Swim:  2.4 mi

1:15:38

I finished the swim portion in 1:14 which was 10 minutes faster than Louisville.  I thought that was a great start to the day.  Exiting the swim you have to run a quarter mile to transition.  Once in transition I took my time to change, get sun screen, take a pitstop and head out on the bike (8:43 min).

The bike course was very scenic and always changing.  I like the bike course in general but it would be better without that screaming, white knuckling downhill at 40 mph+ with people passing and side wind gust messing with the front areo wheel.  Even at the very bottom there is a curve in the road which takes of your ability to stay upright.  Had to do it twice.  I realized that by the 56 mile midpoint I was low on energy and need to fuel up so I stopped at one of the aid stations and filled up my gel bottles and fluids.  Ate some gel squares and off it went.  I ended up eating over 17 gel packs and 8 bottles of liquid on the bike alone.

I moved up from #218 in my age group to #137 and passed 447 people overall.  I successfully made it to transition without crashing or bonking too badly.  I did see others that were not so lucky but it was better than the carnage that occurred in Louisville 2010.   At IMKY people were just laying under shade trees by their bikes and passing out/vomiting on the run.   Not that it wasn't hot in LP as it was about 85 degrees on the run the daily toll seemed greater.   With the energy exerted in the swim and climbing mountains all day I think I entered the run more depleted than expected.  But I had been training in the flat lands of Indiana all summer so it could be expected.

Bike   112 mi

6:10:30

18.14 mi/hr

The bike to run transition was more of the same as earlier (6:10 min).   I ran out of the tent and was happy to be on the marathon run.  This picture with the Olympic ski jumps is the exact spot that my legs started cramping on the first lap, just 5 miles into the run.  I was carrying water at the time since I had some gastro issues at IMKY but switched to electrolyte fluids for the remainder and slowed by pace.  This helped substantially to get me to the finish line.  At any point in the race the cramps and end your day as was seen along the run course all day.  I even passed one of the pro men that looked to be in a daze and later saw him carted off laying on a mobile unit with an IV.  It was hot in update NY that day.

I liked the run course overall as you were able to see more people and family members multiple times.  By the end of the run I moved up from #137 to #106 in my age group and passed another 109 people overall.  Best of all, I finished in daylight.

Run  26.2 mi

4:33:27

10:26/mi

Overall Time for 140.6 mile Ironman Lake Placid =  12:14:27
Full Results for #1911

Rev 3 Knoxville 2012

May 6, 2012 - Knoxville, TN.  The day ended up to be very hot for early May @rev3 70.3. The 1.2 mile swim was in the river, first up stream and then turnround to go downstream. The wet suit legal wave start wasn't too crowded but we did tread water for a couple minutes. Without any warm up I felt some chest tightens after the first 100 meters and had to slow down.  Hit a few sticks floating along the way and also swam between a couple people in a later wave going the opposite direction. Made it eventful.  Ended with one of my best times at 35 minutes.

The rural country roads of Knoxville were the basis of the 56 mile bike with challenging ascents, rapid descents and some great scenery.  Lost my front water bottle 60 feet into the bike.  Hit a pothole and it flew off losing 3/4 of its contents.  Stopped, ran back in my cycling shoes, placed it back on but the attachment was not working well.  Crossed fingers for the next 56 miles hoping it would stay on.  

The run was HOT with rolling hills. I had been running less the last few weeks due to some calf cramping so it made the 2:07 13.1 mile trek more difficult than it needed to be but it was the first tri of the season.  Next time I will made sure to do a sprint prior to a half.  The most interesting part of the day was that Gregg and I had to drive back 6 hours to Indy. 


5:48 finish.

2012 Race Results

	DINO Trail Run 5 - Southwestway Park 2012 8/25/12 — Indianapolis, IN	21:39
	Indianapolis Sprint Triathlon #3 2012 8/18/12 — Indianapolis, IN	1:04:35
	Ford Ironman Lake Placid 2012 7/22/12 — Lake Placid, NY	12:14:28
	Muncie June Triathlon 2012 6/9/12 — Muncie, IN	4:16:36
	St.Vincent Health Triathlon at Lawrence 2012 5/26/12 — Indianapolis, IN	1:01:52
	Revolution3 Knoxville Half & Olympic Distance Triathlons 2012 5/6/12 — Knoxville, TN	5:48:36

Indianapolis Half Marathon

November 5, 2011 - Indianapolis, IN - Set a PR for 13.1 miles today in the Indy Monumental half-marathon of 1:39:06 @ 7:33 pace breaking my 2009 personal record by 50 seconds. See all 35 races at AthLinks.  Temperatures were in the 30's but I was comfortable on the run.  Lack of training miles and long runs all summer played its toll on my legs.  Hamstring and calf cramping started in on mile 7.  This was a physical limitation as my HR averaged just 160 bpm and declined over time.  Results

 Garmin 110 Data.

15K Dino Trail Run

October 8, 2011 - Southwestway Park, IN -  2nd Place Age Group at this annual event that consists of 9 miles of single track trail running with some seriously steep inclines (see elevation below).   1:15:21 for 18th out of 96. 

Difficulty rating: Hills: 4 / Surface: 3 (1=easy, 5=difficult)


Results





Garmin 110 Watch Data.

Muncie Powerman Olympic Triathlon

October 1, 2011 - Muncie, IN - 2nd place in age group. Missed 1st place by 3 seconds.  Third age group award for the tri season.   

The weather was 41 degrees with strong winds.  The water temperature was a chilly 61 degrees that forced the race director to mandate wetsuits.

Due to the dangers of hypothermia and the whitecap waves in the Olympic 1500m swim was reduced to 400m for all participants.  The swim was like no other.  I have not witnessed so many swimmers at the end of the tri season needing help from the kayaks and getting pulled into the safety boat. 

After the 4 1/2 minute swim it was a long run to transition to dry off and put on the winter gear for the bike.  The temp was still around 45 with gusting winds.  I had to wear gloves and a light jacket on the bike to keep from becoming a popsicle.  The two loop bike course had some rolling hills and was very windy. Averaged 20.8 for the 25 miles and consider that an improvement.  

Experienced an abdominal cramp in T2 while bending over to change my shoes that brought me to a stand still for at least a minute before going forward.  The run, similar to last year, started with completely numb feet for the first 1.5 miles.  Finished with a 7:53/mi 10k.  Definitely have room for improvement at the olympic distance. 
Results

Eagle Creek Sprint Triathlon

August 20, 2011 - Indianapolis, IN - Another age group award race this season.  Very surprising, but as the 40-44 age group is typically the most competitive and deepest in triathlon, the race management for the Eagle Creek series provides awards based on these criteria. Finished 45th (out of 490) overall and 9th in the AG.

Actually, I was just hanging out post race with Gregg as he was waiting for his 1st place overall award in the duathlon (congrats Gregg!) as they called my name during the awards roll down.       

Swim: (500 Yd) 11:05.4 (148th)
Despite the blue-green alge warning and the subsequent waiver needed to swim, the water was warm (80deg) and smooth.  The swim was a time trial start so there was not much congestion.   

T1: 1:14.9 ( 85th)

Bike:  (10 miles) - 27:07.2 @ 22.1 mph ave (32nd)

New Frameset - 2011 Orbea Ordu Gold

Received the my tri bike frameset this week but did not have a chance to ride it before the race.  Road it around the block working on the setup with Zach and then brought to the race.  The course has constantly rolling hills and the new bike performed very well.  It is very responsive and climbed well.  Looking forward to getting more saddle time in the future and more improved times. 

T2: 1:34.7 (196th)

Run: (3.1 miles) - 21:53.6 @ 7:17/mi ave (73rd)
The run begins with a steep hill and then levels out for an out-and-back route.  It usually takes a mile to get the legs transitioned to run form.  I left my HR watch at transition so had to gut it out.  Overall it was a great race day and look forward to one more this fall.

RESULTS

Cicero Triathlon - Best at 40

 August 6, 2011 - Cicero, IN - Achieved my first triathlon Age Group award this weekend by placing 4th out of 32 in the M40-44 group with a time of 57:02.  Since the field was split into two groups (40 and over/under 40) and the winner was removed from my AG awards I moved into 3rd. Thanks for the gift certificate to the Runner's Forum.  

The course started with a unique short 350 yard swim across Morse Lake.  The 9.5 mile bike loop course was mainly flat through a residential section and across country roads.  The  3.1 run looped mainly through quiet residential neighborhoods with a couple of small hills.

After the 7 min swim, I was concerned with having to use my old road bike in the race as my tri bike was crushed a couple weeks ago.  Felt pretty good with a 22.1 average but was concerned I left it all on the bike.  A small incline on the beginning of the run locked up my calf with a cramp; I worked through it and finished with a 7:07 pace. A good day overall. 
 
RACE RESULTS

Door County Half Iron Triathlon

July 17, 2011 - Egg Harbor, WI - Physical and Mechanical Difficulties.  July 22 was an unusually hot day for upper Wisconsin. The temps reached the 90's with high humidity. Coming in with poor fitness made it a long day on the run. A lot of ice down the shirt and walking in the hot sun up some steep hills led to an 11:41 pace on the run. This was my slowest 70.3 at 6:27 to place in the top 50%. I was just happy to get across the line, especially as my kids ran down the long finishing shoot with me. A much needed week vacation enhanced recovery the following week.

Results

On the trip home after two days of travel and long drives the tri bike experienced the greatest trauma of the week as it was forced into the top of the garage door while still attached to top of the car. Accidents happen, but I would have preferred it happened to my 10 yr old road bike. Now it is time to look for a replacement.

5K with @DeanKarnazes, Ultramarathon man

April 17, 2011 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Ran  the charity 5k with Dean Karnazes.  It turned out to be a 'fun' run of 2.5 miles or once around the Indy 500 race track.  The run was a great meet and greet with Dean.  He was very gracious with his time and took pictures with everyone.  Dean had already run through Indy the day before and came back for the fun run.  These 15 5k's to raise money for charity do not count toward his miles as he runs across the country.   It's pretty amazing that he has already run more than 2,000 consecutive miles through 9 states and three time zones.

I raised $85 so far on my fund raising page @ www.active.com/donate/AFHK/DKlossner  

See full run recap from Dean's camp at: http://dadt.typepad.com/run/2011/04/the-incredible-indy-5k-.html

Video Recap.  

Fundraising for the "Action for Healthy Kids" Campaign

I will be running with Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathon man, at his April 17th Charity 5k Indianapolis event to raise money for "Action for Healthy Kids."

My Fundraising Page is @ www.active.com/donate/AFHK/DKlossner  I would like to raise at least $100.  A $5 donation would equal $1 per kilometer.

All proceeds and registration fees will benefit Action For Healthy Kids. Action for Healthy Kids® is the nation’s leading nonprofit and largest volunteer network fighting childhood obesity and undernourishment. They help schools become healthier places and kids learn to eat right, be active every day and be ready to learn. Money raised goes directly to creating healthier schools and combating childhood obesity nationwide.

You can also register to run one of the 12 5k events as Dean runs EVERY DAY on his trek to run across America.  Run with Dean 5k Registration.

Track Dean's Run Live! @ Fan Page on MapMyRUN.com »

Dean's Blog: http://dadt.typepad.com/run/

Garmin 310XT giveaway @dcrainmakerblog

There is a giveaway for a Garmin 310XT at http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/01/garmin-forerunner-310xt-giveawayjanuary.html  Hoping to win so I can replace my Garmin 305 that didn't make it out of the ironman swim this summer.

This is the main site: http://www.dcrainmaker.com

2011 Race Schedule

Apr 23 - Dino Trail 15 K Run Avon: Washington Twp Park

June 11 - Municie Olympic Triathlon

June 25 - Indianapolis Mudathlon

July 3 - Rail 'N' Trail and Road Route Ramble Century Ride

July 17 - Door County Half Ironman 70.3

August 13 - Municie Olympic Triathlon

September 11 - REV3 Ceder Point Half Rev 70.3

October 3 - Muncie Powerman Duathlon - 10k/61.8k/10k  (Welcome to the Pain Cave)

Oct 8 - Dino Trail 15k Run: Southwestway Park

Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Finish

November 6, 2010 - Indianapolis, IN. Today I ran 4:10:52 at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. I wasn't sure what to expect since I ran 3 times since my DINO trail run 3 weeks ago and no training runs over 6 miles since August. Can't complain too much since my buddy Gregg did about the same training and qualified for the Boston Marathon. Great for him.

I dressed just right for the 30 degree temperature. Two layers, hat, gloves and shorts. We started near the 9:15 pace group and moved through the field early. My goal was to finish without a lingering injury. Took it out slow and made sure to keep up my electrolytes at each aid station when they were available. I was not as prepared as Gregg as he took gels and blocks with him on the run. The aid station gu's were not later in the race I needed them early on. Both hamstrings were tight since mile 2. That will come into play later.

Ran even through the first half at 1:50. Knowing that i had a significant chest cold for the last three weeks that was still lingering and not running at much I kept my heart rate below 160 all day. I know from my 2 short runs at the beginning of the week that my heart rate per pace was way off and I would struggle during the race.Stayed between 8-8:25min/mile through 15 miles.  I can remember the turning point in the race.  As I was running through Butler's campus I could hear the pace group leader for the 3:40 marathon finish slowing getting closer.  Then the small pack was soon upon me.  I tried to keep my heart rate and pace the same but started to fade slowly to the back and within a mile they were well on their way.  Ran past the Indianapolis Museum of Art which was wonderful.  The sections through Broad Ripple, Butler and the Museum are great.  Leaving the Museum you end up running DOWN hill to white river road.  I think that if this course was anything but flat I would not have been able to complete it.  The short down hill was almost the end for me.  My hamstrings by this time were tighter and I was falling apart.  The graph below notes the ensuing meltdown.

I started to walk brief periods of the course at mile 20.  At least I felt like the end was near and thought I could run it in.  There were a number of others at this point with the run-walk "just get me to the line" mentality at this point.  I was eating and drinking everything at the aid stations.  I could not stop for long as everything would tighten up.  Then the mile 23 sign was just in front of me.  Only 5k to go.  CRAMP. CRAMP. Almost face planted on the street.  Out of no where my right hamstring went into full cramp mode and the left immediately followed.  It took all I had just to balance in a position that would not put me on the pavement.  I was just hoping no one was going to bump me or run into me as I stood there like a statue in the middle of the road for at least 2 minutes.  Light stretch and decided in the best interest of personal safety, I would walk the rest of the way and not even attempt to jog. So off i set into what would become a cold walk in to the line.  The clothing was a good choice for RUNNING a marathon but not for WALKING in 30 degrees with a light breeze.  No matter how many spectators were around I was walking.  I knew if I even hinted at a jog I would  pay for it.  So at 4:10 I crossed the line.  Finished.  Learned a number of things and most importantly, you can not just show up for a marathon.

An interesting note at the end, I noticed my preliminary times were not posted. Then I remembered the volunteer at the end that clipped off my timing chip noted it was split in half.  It was broken for some period of time.  Luckily I had my Garmin 110 with me and send in an email to correct it. It worked great for the whole race. 

The set up was great for the race.  Would like to see some Gu's earlier in the mile splits. Last event for the year.  Some good recovery is in store for the next week or so and then a look at next year's events.  RESULTS

DINO 15k Trail Run at SouthWestway Park

October 9, 2010 - Indianapolis, IN.  One of the longest running DINO Trail Run Series venues, SouthWestway Park offers what may be the toughest terrain within Indianapolis’ city limits. Traditionally, the lap is 5k; 15k runners make three laps.  Difficulty rating: Hills: 4 / Surface: 3 (1=easy, 5=difficult).

A great day for racing and a great course.  My goal for the fall events after the Ironman was to redline races to push myself and figure out how to improve for next year.  Today's race was no different.  I went out at 170 bpm and stayed above 163 for the race.  Pushed the last mile above 173.  Finished 3rd for my age group.

The downhills take a toll on the legs over the 3 laps.  I was feeling fatigue the last lap and started to lag behind a couple of runners that I was ahead of all race.  Then the fourth guy to pass me was moving at a good clip so I dug deep and committed to staying on his shoulder.  Ended up passing the runners that passed me and finished strong.  One thing I can definitely say about this year as compared to those in the near past is that my finishing stamina is much better from training all summer. Results

Garmin 110 update.  Not appropriate for trail running at all.  The 305 did a pretty good job with measurement and satellite sync in the trees but the 110 was 1/4 mile off each 5k lap.

Trail Shoe update.  I've been running with a pair of Vasque's trail shoes for the last two years.  What I like about these shoes are: lightweight, the plastic toe protection, the rugged grip of the sole and the Boa® Lacing System. The lacing system works by turning a dial that locks in place and snaps open to unlock.  It’s fast. And secure. Once locked in place, Boa reels and laces stay that way. And those "laces" are really a thin plastic-type string that never catches on twigs, leaves, brush,  or weeds.  They stay mud free and clean.