I have decided to try to register for the Lake Placid Ironman (Ironman USA) in 2009. This years event is on July 20th. I am running an ultramarathon over in that area on the 19th, and I heard you could register onsite. I figured I could run the ultra on Saturday, head to Lake Placid on Sunday, watch some of the event on Sunday and sign up. So I started doing some research. I found that people doing this years Ironman could register for next years on the Saturday, the day before the race. Registration for next years event opens on Monday. I have a friend who is going up to watch the event and to register for next years event. She said you have to get into line at 5am. Unfortunatly, I can’t be there on Monday. Registration opens online on Moday as well. It opens at noon, and whatever openings are still available will be there. I have read that it sells out online in minutes. So I guess I will have to be right there, and ready to register online.
If I don’t get into the Lake Placid Ironman, I will try one of the other Ironmans. I was told the Louisville Ironman was easier to get into. At least last year it was. And that is in like August. I’ll have to find out when registration opens for that. But I will have to find out what my wife’s schedule will be. I don’t even know if she will know.
If not Louisville, then there is Wisconsin and maybe Florida. I am bound to get into some Ironman event eventually. I hope it isn’t as frustrating and as big of a PIA as trying to buy a frigging Nintendo Wii!!!!
I started running less than two years ago. I have been riding a bike for a long time, though I had a long layoff of about 14 years. But I bought a bike or five, and have been doing a lot of riding, or at least spinning.
I still need to learn to swim better. I can slog my way across a swimming pool, but I would attempt to try swimming in open water. No frigging way. But I signed up for swimming lessons that start next month. Just 4 one hour classes. I may need more instruction than that, but it is a start. I some Total Immersion DVDs, and books too. So I will have too add swimming laps to my weekly workouts. Not sure how much.
Why an Ironman? Why not? I have qualified for the Boston Marathon, run an ultramarathon. It seems like a great challenge. I have friends who have done the Ironman. And when I was doing a 30 mile mountain bike recently, I saw a guy with 140.6 tatoo on the back of his leg. I asked him about it, and he commented that the Ironman was easier than the 30 mile mountain bike race. Say what? Anyway, I was intrigued.
Later this month I am signed up for a 100 mile bike ride, the Tour De Cure. Please consider sponsoring me at:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=4997&px=4159101
The longest ride I have done so far is about 55 miles. But I can build up. I ordered a new Tri bike. Nothing fancy though.
So hopefully next year I will try an Ironman, or at least a half Ironman. If I complete an Ironman, maybe I will get an Ironman tatoo. Maybe a 140.6 or a M.dot or something. 
I stopped at the local triathlon/running/walking store last night after work. I wanted to get some new swimwear. I already have some swim trunks that are the baggy kind. But I wanted something like what I might wear for a race. I had scanned the big box store during lunch and saw some of the compression type swim shorts from $31 to $50.
At the tri store, the owner was busy helping people with shoes. So I looked around. I found a rack with swimwear. Actually there were a few racks with different stuff, including wetsuits. I think buying a wetsuit for swim lessons would be a bit overkill. LOL! The had triathlon shorts with padding, though not as much padding as my regular bike shorts. They also had compression type shorts with no padding. They were like my running shorts except maybe a little thicker and with a drawstring.
Eventually the owner came over and told me about the various shorts. I first looked at the tri shorts, but ended up deciding against them at this time. The padding would be weird for the swimming lessons, and I am not sure what I will be wearing for a triathlon yet, whether it be a wetsuit, or tri shorts or what. I decided to go with the compression type swim shorts. He had different brands. He recommended Sugoi and Tyr. But he didn’t have the Tyr in my size though. So I tried on the Sugoi Turbo Jammer shorts, and they fit well. They were $40 which seemed reasonable so I bought them.
I also looked at swim goggles. I have some Speedo swim goggles that I bought previosuly. But I read somewhere that you want different goggelsfor a tri than regular pool goggles. In a pool you can follow a line on the bottom. But in open water, you need to be able to site on stuff in the distance. He recommended a pair for $10. They were the cheapest ones he had, but he said that most people like them. So I bought those too.
I can swim, but not well. When I was kid, I had a lot of ear problems: infections, tubes, surgeries, etc. So I wasn’t allowed to go swimming for much of my youth. I did take swimming lessons, but I wasn’t very good at them, and since I never got a chance to practice…
Anyway, I am interested in doing a triathlon. In fact I would like to do an Ironman. I can run, and I cycle, but I can’t swim well. I mean I can slog my way across a pool, but I wouldn’t try to go out and swim 2.4 miles. I don’t think I would try swimming in open water.
So I finally said okay, and signed up for an adult swimming class and the local community center. Actually registration doesn’t start until next week, but I filled out the registration and dropped it in the drop box. So I should be in. It starts in June and last for 4 weeks, with a single hour long class each week. I figure it is a start. I will hopefully get some basic skills. Then I will need to practice by swimming laps I guess.
I am not sure what all they will cover in the class. I am mostly interested in freestyle. But I guess learning some of the other strokes might be useful. Maybe while swimming for 2.4 mile, I may need to switch to backstroke or something to rest the muscles I had been using. At least swimming for 2.4 miles, or for a little over an hour, will be the shortest event of the bunch.
One of my co-workers teaches the Total Immersion method of swimming at the local YMCA. I may hook up with him and get some more training there. I also have some of the total immersion books and videos.
I stopped down at the local running store to buy some more Carb-Boom vanilla-orange gels for my mountain bike race next weekend. Russ, the owner was busy helping a girl find some shoes. She tried on at least four or more pairs and ran on the treadmill.
While I was waiting, I wandered around the store browsing. I found the sale rack and found some interesting looking shoes at bargain prices. There were some Reeboks on sale for $20. I want to bring my kitchen scale down and weigh them and see how they compare to my FIla Volantes which weigh 10.5oz each.
Another shoe on the sale rack was the Adidas Adizero, which claimed to be the worlds lightest shoe. These were racing flats! They were on sale for $25. When Russ was done helping the girl, I asked if he had any in size 12. He did. I tried them on and ran on the treadmill. They were very light. I also noticed there is next to no cushioning in the heel. These shoes would force me to run on the balls of my feet which is what I should be doing anyway. The retail price of the shoes was $100, so $25 was an awesome deal. I went ahead and bought them.
When I got home I weighed them, and they weighed a paltry 4.6oz each. I wotn wear these in a marathon. But I will reserve them for short races. For instance, I will probably wear them in the 3.5 mile Chase Corporate Challenge next month. I wil wear them for a training run or two first just to get used to them.