Dobovedo's Journal of Journeys

Not much to report from midweek. I did a short four miler from the Health Center followed by an even shorter 800 yard swim. This was the first time in a couple weeks that I had been down on the Greenway, which was also the first time I had been there since the record rainfalls of the prior week. At first I couldn’t figure out why all the fall flowers had died off so quickly. Then I started hitting pockets of sand and silt along the path and noticing that the entire area had been 2-3 feet underwater.

Read more on Post-Flood Greenway Run…

The first day of fall may have been more than a week ago, but today was the first day that actually felt like fall. The air crisp and dry. A mix of blue sky and big fluffy clouds. Strong winds early in the day fading to light/moderate. The leaves at higher elevations just starting to turn. Vest and arm warmers tucked in jersey pocket for the descent later on in the ride. The bike and helmet set up with full lights for the ride back home after the group ride.

In other words… Perfect!

Read more on First Fall Ride…

OK, one more quick post… this one isn’t worth dragging out anyway. Today (Monday) was an ‘easy’ ride south to Franklin for a Bike/Swim/Bike. Basically the same thing I did last week before my trip. Up and over the pass, which is getting a bit easier – or at least more familiar. Today was a nice taste of fall with cool temps but sunny skies. There was a lot more wind than I’ve ever noticed around here, but even that paled in comparison to Midwest winds. I did a 1000 yard swim. I really need to go further, but I just can’t seem to put the focus into it. Then a cool late evening ride back up and over. The northbound climb is definitely harder than southbound, but it’s starting to become more familiar too.

Read more on Bike/Swim/Bike…

It’s kinda funny having only one event on my entire upcoming events calendar, but today (writing this on Monday) marks 40 days to go until Ironman. A little less than six weeks total and essentially four more weeks of training. As mentioned, the next run is back up to 17. I’m anticipating this being ‘easier’ than the previous 17, and then we’ll see what happens with the next 18.5 and 20 jumps.

The next week after the final build is a drop down to a 13.1 half mary. I am leaning towards doing it as a complete half ironman. I can start from Franklin. Do the 1.2 mile swim at the health center, head north on a 56 mile [60 actually] out and back to the Balsam Post Office, then do the 13.1 run on the Greenway. The bike will be quite hilly and a little long but I’ll have the advantage of stopping at my place in both directions for bottle refills and food, as well as water at the post office in Balsam.

Read more on 40 Days…

I had an interesting challenge facing me this past ‘weekend’. On Thursday I was traveling to Washington DC (ish) for the Inc 503 Conference. To the airport at 4AM, in airports and on planes all morning, shuttle from the airport to the hotel/conference center, dump the bags, straight into presentation after presentation, dinner with the team, etc. Wake up the next day and do it all over again. Add in zero sleep on Wednesday night – I don’t travel well. Somewhere in the midst of all of this rush I needed to do a 14 mile run. Oh, and add in the fact that I don’t own a decent, comfortable pair of dress shoes.

It’s not supposed to be about the bike, but it’s funny how it so often becomes about the shoes. Always the shoes.

Read more on Better Than Philly…

This should be an interesting exercise in blogging. See if I can write about two rides before my laptop battery dies. Blogging from the air means no electrical outlets.

My first two rides on the new Roubaix were centuries. This week I found out it does indeed work for shorter rides.

Read more on 24 Mile ONBs R Us…

So I’m probably starting to get redundant with all my talk of the rain we’ve had around here lately, but there’s not much else to talk about since it simply won’t stop. On Sunday Asheville set a record for most rainfall at 3.25 inches. I’m fairly certain Monday will be a record too. It poured without letting up for over eight hours. I wanted to get in a long swim and a short run down in Franklin, and although the rain finally let up at about 6:00pm, I did something I never thought I would do on a 65 degree first day of Fall.

I ran on a treadmill!

Read more on When It Rains For 8 Days, Go For A Swim!…

If variety is the spice of life, then Saturday’s Tour de tuck was a mega-dose of spice. The previous Sunday I did a century that had less than 1000′ of climbing in the entire ride. Six days later I did a century that had that many of feet of climbing before we even got to the hilly part of the ride! The website bills it as having 11,000′ in about 105 miles. I know I always joke about the whole “It never rains on…” thing, but this particular ride managed to amaze me all over again. 70% chance of rain – it’s been raining for over a week – and the total number of miles ridden in the rain on Saturday was…

Zero.

Read more on Tour de Tuck…

After a rest day Monday, I got in a nice easy run/swim/run with Coach K on Tuesday evening. From her place it’s just a little over two miles to the fitness center where she swims. We started fairly late since the lap lanes weren’t open ’til 7:30 pm. This was one occasion where tri-shorts definitely came in handy. Shed the shirt/socks/shoes on the deck, put on the goggles… swim. Reverse. I put in an even mile with just a little bit of pull drills. I have no idea how far Coach K went. All I know is one time when she came past me, I started swimming as hard as I could to try and stay on her feet, and they disappeared anyway.

Sheesh. At least I get my revenge on the bike.

Read more on Run Swim Run / Run Swim…

Finally getting around to having enough time to blog about the Hancock Horizontal Hundred. I am very very glad that I made the trip back to Ohio to get this ride in. Got quite a dose of reality about where I am in regards to Ironman bike training. Most of the reality is good, but there are definitely some concerns, one in particular I have not been considering much at all this year.

For the first time in a long time, I finished a century ride with significant breathing difficulties.

Read more on Hancock Horizontal 85+15[+4]…

I have always HATED it when I have to go into the office early for some reason. Not just because I am naturally a night owl, but because bad things always seem to happen that really have nothing to do with sleep schedules. This time in particular the bad thing happened on the way to lunch with coworkers. I was driving up the street from the office. Got to the end of the road and turned right. At the next intersection I had this anti-zen-like momentary-lapse-of-reason where I got thinking about turning left out of habit – the way I used to go home, and turning right which I intended – the way to the restaurant I was supposed to be going to.

In that briefest of moments I managed to roll into the middle of the intersection.

Read more on Early Mornings Suck…

A couple weeks ago, my friend Sam competed in his first Ironman in Louisville, KY. We have been on a similar journey over the past year.. his training schedule progressing just couple months ahead of mine. We have compared notes frequently along the way, and have encountered many similar challenges as well as some unique ones. Sam and I have different strengths and weaknesses. One thing we share in common is an tendency to obsess over statistics and data. Another thing we share in common is an ability to write really really really really long and detailed accounts of our adventures.

Sam was kind enough to allow me to publish the following account of his Ironman experience, so I am posting it in it’s entirety. Enjoy! Read more on Guest Post: YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!…