Category: Triathlon

Nov 16 2025 2025-11-16 2026-01-04 by Ross

This Week in Training – Week 8: Burning Off the Static…

Posted in Cycling, Running, Swimming, Training, Triathlon

IMWI 2026: The Long Crawl to the Base Phase
(Still pre-pre-base, but at least it’s feeling like forward motion.)

Solid week. Everything clicked pretty well — good runs, good swims, and even some decent time on the bike. Progress.

Swim 🏊

  • Workouts: 2
  • Total Distance: 4,300 yards
  • Total Time: 1 hour 29 minutes
  • Notes: The second swim (Sunday) went a bit longer. I had that jittery, undifferentiated anxiety – the kind where it feels like every atom in my body is vibrating too fast. Swimming helps calm that. It’s one of the big reasons I exercise and why I feel better during marathon or Ironman training. I need that release.

Bike 🚴

  • Workouts: 2
  • Total Distance: 24.82 miles (15.82 outside)
  • Total Time: 1 hour 31 minutes
  • Notes: One Peloton ride (30 minutes) and one e-bike ride along the lakefront (1:01). The outdoor ride reminded me why I love this sport. The Peloton reminded me that convenience counts too.

Run 🏃

  • Workouts: 2
  • Total Distance: 10.16 miles
  • Total Time: 1 hour 41 minutes
  • Notes: Both runs felt strong and smooth – no significant soreness, which is a nice change.

Relative Effort 📈

  • Total Weekly Effort: 534 (up from 494 last week, and above my typical weekly range)
  • Notes: Despite the higher effort, I’m not feeling beat up. I’ll call that a win.

Reflections ✍️

It was a good week. Balanced, productive, and even therapeutic. I don’t feel achy, just calm — the kind of calm that comes from moving enough to quiet the static. This is the version of training I like: not obsessive, not burnt out, just steady work and a clearer mind at the end of it.

Goals for Next Week 🎯

  • Keep the swim consistency going.
  • Continue building the bike volume.
  • Hold steady on running — solid, not strained.
  • Stay in motion, stay sane.
  • Strong week before I have to adjust things for Thanksgiving vacation.

Oct 26 2025 2025-10-26 2026-01-04 by Ross

This Week in Training – Week 5: Everything Hurts, but It’s Fine…

Posted in Running, Swimming, Training, Triathlon

IMWI 2026: The Long Crawl to the Base Phase
(Still in the pre-pre-base phase. It’s a process.)

Everything hurts. My wrist (though that’s from playing guitar), my back, the back of my knee – all raising their little hands to remind me I’m not twenty anymore. Will I do anything about it? No. But I’ll definitely mention it here.

Swim 🏊

  • Workouts: 2
  • Total Distance: 3,525 yards
  • Total Time: 1 hour 13 minutes
  • Notes: One of the swims was IM-heavy. No, I’m not about to whip out butterfly during a triathlon, but it breaks up the monotony and hits different muscles. Felt good to mix things up.

Bike 🚴

  • Workouts: 0
  • Total Distance: 0
  • Notes: Still zero. But I promise it’s coming this week. (I think.)

Run 🏃

  • Workouts: 3
  • Total Distance: 11.30 miles
  • Total Time: 1 hour 51 minutes
  • Notes: Solid runs. Still moving well despite the aches. Paces holding steady, energy decent, morale surprisingly high.

Strength/Other 💪

  • Workouts: Some
  • Notes: Push-ups and sit-ups again. The wrist makes that tricky, but I’m doing what I can. Every rep feels like character development.

Reflections ✍️

Everything hurts, but it’s the good kind of hurt (mostly). The training load feels sustainable even if my joints occasionally vote no. Despite the aches, I’m feeling positive — building this pre-pre-base nicely. It’s slow progress, but progress all the same.

Goals for Next Week 🎯

  • Actually get on the bike. For real this time.
  • Keep swim volume consistent.
  • Baby the wrist, but don’t skip strength entirely.
  • Continue crawling toward the mythical “base phase.”

Oct 19 2025 2025-10-19 2025-10-19 by Ross

This Week in Training – Week 4: My Back is Crying…

Posted in Running, Swimming, Training, Triathlon

IMWI 2026: The Long Crawl to the Base Phase
(Pre-pre-base prep… to get ready for pre-base… to someday start base. It’s a process.)

(Yes, I forgot to post Week 3. Let’s assume it was brilliant, productive, and pain-free. It wasn’t — but let’s pretend.)

Swim 🏊

  • Workouts: 3
  • Total Distance: 5,650 yards
  • Total Time: 1 hour 57 minutes
  • Notes: The swims actually felt solid this week. I’m starting to get a bit of rhythm back, even if my shoulders are whispering “why?” after every set.

Bike 🚴

  • Workouts: 0
  • Total Distance: 0
  • Notes: Still nothing. Still my shame. The bike sits quietly in the corner, collecting dust and judging me.

Run 🏃

  • Workouts: 3
  • Total Distance: 11.66 miles
  • Total Time: 1 hour 53 minutes
  • Notes: Stronger runs this week — paces improving, form better, confidence up. The morning-after stiffness? Also up.

Strength/Other 💪

  • Workouts: Some
  • Notes: Added push-ups and sit-ups, which technically makes me a strength athlete now. Everything hurts, so I guess it worked.

Relative Effort 📈

  • Total Weekly Effort: 584 (up from 365 last week)
  • Notes: That explains why I currently groan every time I bend, reach, or breathe.

Reflections ✍️

My body aches. Rolling out of bed feels like a warm-up set. Standing upright qualifies as a workout. I know I ramped up too fast. Will I take a rest week? No. Will I keep training like this and complain about it? Absolutely.

Goals for Next Week 🎯

  • Maybe (finally) get on the bike.
  • Keep the swim momentum going.
  • Continue token strength work — push-ups, sit-ups, and maybe some stretching if I’m feeling wild.
  • Remember: this is still pre-pre-base to the pre-base phase. It’s a process.

 


Oct 05 2025 2025-10-05 2025-10-05 by Ross

This Week in Training – Slow and Steady Progress

Posted in Running, Swimming, Training, Triathlon

Swim 🏊

  • Workouts: 2
  • Total Distance: 4,300 yards
  • Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
  • Notes: The final swim on Sunday felt especially good. I’m starting to get some of that feel for the water back. Progress, little by little.

Bike 🚴

  • Workouts: 0
  • Total Distance: 0
  • Notes: Still nothing here. I need to stop procrastinating and get the bike back in the mix.

Run 🏃

  • Workouts: 3
  • Total Distance: 7.89 miles
  • Total Time: 1 hour 19 minutes
  • Notes: Not a lot of mileage, but these runs felt strong for a change. Paces were better, effort felt smoother. That’s a win.

Strength/Other 💪

  • Workouts: 0
  • Notes: 100% failure on this front. Need to start carving out time for it.

Reflections ✍️

Even without much volume, this week felt better. The runs were solid, the swim is coming around, and I’m feeling more confident in my overall fitness. I’m building slower than ever before, but that’s okay — I’d rather move forward consistently than burn out.

Goals for Next Week 🎯

  • Add two bike sessions.
  • Get in at least one strength workout.
  • Travel week — so aim for one swim and extra runs while out of town.
  • Keep the “slow and steady” approach — progress in feeling, not just numbers.

 


Sep 28 2025 2025-09-28 2025-09-28 by Ross

This Week in Training – Slow but Steady…

Posted in Exercise, Running, Swimming, Training, Triathlon

Swim 🏊

  • Workouts: 2
  • Total Distance: 3,500 yards
  • Total Time: 1 hour 12 minutes
  • Notes: Nothing fancy, just steady swimming. It felt good to be consistent and rack up the yards.

Bike 🚴

  • Workouts: 0
  • Total Distance: 0
  • Notes: None this week. I need to start adding cycling back in soon — I can’t put it off much longer with IMWI on the horizon.

Run 🏃

  • Workouts: 3
  • Total Distance: 9.80 miles
  • Total Time: 1 hour 39 minutes
  • Notes: Runs were longer than last week, but I wasn’t sore and the paces felt smooth. That’s progress.

Strength/Other 💪

  • Workouts: 0
  • Notes: None this week. I know I need to start including strength again.

Reflections ✍️

This was a nice build week. I’m making progress, but I’m deliberately building at a slower pace this time. With a year until IMWI, there’s no rush. The focus right now is on a solid, injury-free base. The rhythm feels good, but I need to expand it with cycling and some strength work.

Goals for Next Week 🎯

  • Add cycling back into the mix (even short sessions).
  • Get at least one strength workout in.
  • Keep building slowly on the run while staying injury-free.

 


Sep 15 2025 2025-09-15 2025-09-15 by Ross

And you may ask yourself, my God what have I done!

Posted in Triathlon

So, in a moment of questionable judgment—or maybe sheer desperation—I went ahead and signed up for Ironman Wisconsin.

I’m… fat, out of shape, and can barely run 2 miles without getting injured.

Here’s the thing, though—I need this. I’ve been feeling like life’s been running me instead of the other way around. Stress, self-doubt, struggling with empty nest and adult-child worries, watching the years fly by, while I keep telling myself “tomorrow” is when I’ll get it together. Signing up for another Ironman might be the worst idea I’ve ever had—or maybe it’s precisely what I need to shake myself awake.

I’m not doing this because I think I can win my age group (although it will be the 60-64 now) or even set a PR. I’m doing it because I need to remind myself that I can do hard things. That I can put one foot in front of the other—even if it’s slow, even if it’s messy, even if I question every life choice somewhere around mile 85 of the bike or every single mile of the run.

Will I regret this? Almost definitely at some point. But right now, I feel a flicker of something I haven’t felt in a while: hope. Hope that in training, I’ll not only get stronger physically but claw back some confidence. Hope that maybe, just maybe, I’ll cross that finish line and remember that I actually do know what the heck I’m doing in this life.

So yeah—Ironman Wisconsin. Pray for me. Or better yet, join me.


Sep 15 2025 2025-09-15 2025-09-15 by Ross

Last Week in “Training”…

Posted in Training, Triathlon

I’m putting “training” in quotes because what I did last week barely qualifies as exercise, let alone preparation for a triathlon.  Whatever, I’ve got to start somewhere, even if that somewhere is square one… again.

Here’s the highlight reel: three short runs (and by short, I mean “longer than walking to the fridge but shorter than anything impressive”) and two short swims (quick dips). Nothing special, nothing brag-worthy, but I did it.

Consistency hasn’t exactly been my strong suit lately. Between random life interruptions, “reasons,” and my Olympic-level procrastination skills, I haven’t strung together much more than a couple of guilt workouts in weeks. But the good news is, this time there are no surgeries, tattoos, or trips on the calendar—so I’ve officially run out of excuses.

The plan is simple: survive a month of doing this semi-regularly, then let the bike back into the rotation. I keep telling myself I’ll bike to work, but so far that’s all it is; telling myself.  Haven’t actually done it.

So yeah—five workouts in one week. Nobody’s writing me a sponsorship deal yet, but it’s a start. And if the definition of “training” is “moving your body while thinking about martinis and pizza,” then I’m absolutely crushing it.