Bill And Val's Triathlon Page

Bill becomes an Offical IRONMAN!

A first Ironman event is an experience, not a race. It is a gut check to see if you have enough patience, will, and training under your belt to complete all 140.6 miles. I found I did!

Race Morning:
Up at 4AM, the morning started out with ingesting 1,000 calories of slow burn foods. After a few minutes of stretching and a hot shower, we made our way to the race site. The excitement was starting to grow beyond control level and my heart began to pound when I considered what I was about to attempt. This only intensified when we reached the Ironman race site.

The energy was palpable. With adrenaline coaxing rock music blaring out of loud speakers, the 7,000 folks crowed in and around the athlete area were feeding off each others excitement. As I felt the hype building up within me, I imagined that this must be how sharks feel when entering a feeding frenzy: uncontainable energy! I did my best to keep it all in check, as I still had over an hour until start time.

I topped off the fluids I carried on my bike, dropped off my “special needs bags”, and received those cool race number markings on my arms and age markings on my calf confirming that in fact, I am an athlete about to embark on something monumental.

At 6:45 the sound of the start cannon for the professional athletes reverberated through all of us standing in wet suits at the edge of the river. A roar erupted as over 2000 athletes understood our race would be starting in 15 minutes.

Swim:
Knowing that the temperature was 68 degrees didn’t stop me from jumping in, cannon ball style! Once in, I deliberately swam out of the area because I knew that another couple of thousand folks were coming in behind me. I took my time getting to the start line, which was a bit away from the water entry point.

The race announcer started getting the crowd rocking again with five minutes to go. The cheers were incredible. I decided to take it all in, slowly doing a 360 in the water … looking at all the people on the banks, bridges, and fellow athletes around me. When I thought I could no longer bear the pressure, I felt a huge surge forward just as the cannon reverberation struck my location. We were finally off.

The pent up energy could finally be released. I didn’t want to burn myself out, however, as 2.4 miles is a long way. I had to contain myself and stick to the plan. Swimming straight with no lines at the bottom of the river (like in a pool) isn’t easy … but I found I did quite well. I spied a few other swimmers who were going at my pace and tracked them on my left side.

I was kicked in the mouth once really good, in the head multiple occasions, and elbowed more times that I could count.

I saw a number of “panicked” swimmers who simply stopped, watching the oncoming swimmers in fear. I didn’t stop … I just kept moving.

Never once during the swim did I doubt myself. Having the experience of doing the distance nearly every Monday morning for the past 9 months leaves little doubt.

As we rounded the final turn, I could see the ladders leading me out of lake. I swam towards one of them and a guy grabbed my arm and nearly yanked me out of the river.

Once top side I started a slow jog and began unzipping my wetsuit. Then a guy jumped in front of me and yelled, “Get down!” So I dropped instinctively and he jerked off my wetsuit. He was a “Peeler!” I thanked him and continued to run into the change tent with a brief stop to get my transition gear for the bike ride.

Bike:
As quickly as I could, I changed into my cycling gear. Once emerging from the tent, two people offered to put sun screen on me so I paused as they worked each side. I thanked them and then continued into the bike corral. I heard my number being yelled, “906!”, and, as I came through, my bike magically appeared. Incredible.

I continued to run with my bike until I passed the mount line. Damn, hundreds of people lining each side of a small area, chanting, yelling, and clanging bells. I jumped on my bike with no incident, and off I went. The next few miles were lined with people just going nuts. Before I knew it, I was out on the bike course rolling at a high rate of speed. I had to back off and stay in control. The most common mistake for a triathlete is to take off too fast on the bike.

There were lots of police, volunteers, and fans nearly the entire course. The main exception was on the farthest reaches of the first loop where it was hard for fans to get to. The first half of the first loop felt great and I thought I would beat all my expectations. Then it happened … the turn around. The wind blowing across the desert was running about 20 MPH. It made the entire ride back feel like an uphill climb. With each loop being about 37 miles, this implied an uphill climb of 18.6 miles. No fun. My thighs screamed. Knowing I had two more passes at this became my first test of will.

The second loop around was exactly as I expected, comfortable out, crappy coming back. Before I made that second turn around for lap two, I hit my second test of will. I knew that once I turned around, I would be fighting the wind again. I continued to plow forward, through the wind. The way back was long and slow and I had lots of time to think about anything other than the wind: I thought about what I had seen thus far during the bike: three crashes, more people changing flats than I can remember, and professional athletes whipping past me like I was standing still; keep pace Bill, keep pace; there is a marathon ahead; wow, what other sport can an amateur like me compete at the same time as professionals?; I wonder if folks are tracking my progress on line. The third loop was the worst of all. As I approached the turn around to face the winds of hell, my right thigh decided it was done with me so I had to use my left leg as the driver for quite a while. The winds had picked up even more. Damn, if I had gone faster all along, I would have not had such strong winds. The thoughts of, “Fuck This”, crossed my mind so many times that I began to think those were the only words I knew. To try and cheat the winds of their sick, perverted energy zapping joy, I rode head down for quite a while, using the center road stripe as my only guide for keeping on the course. My left thigh begged my right thigh to rejoin and it did. Clack! My teeth smacked together and I looked up only to see that I rode right into a damn hole. Fortunately, I stayed up right and kept moving forward. My tire didn’t go flat, and my rim didn’t bend, thank god, othewise I would have rolled in looking like I was riding a clown bike. I just kept moving forward. No more heads down riding … that hurt.

I finally made it around and entered into the transition area. I was so glad to be done with the 112 miles. Even with the pending marathon ahead, I couldn’t get off the bike fast enough. I threw my bike to the “catcher” and made my way into the change tent to gear up for the run.

Run:
Coming out onto the run course was an amazing feeling. Lots of fans cheering and chanting, “Go Ironman! GO!” People read my number out, chanted my name (clearly printed on my race bib), and offered so much encouragement that I almost felt guilty. All these people, whom I’ve never met, wanted me to succeed.

I set my count down watch and ran. I hit a few up hills and decided to walk. If I could pass each mile in under 15 minutes, I knew I would be done in time to meet all the cut offs. I just had to keep moving forward.

At each aid station (one every 0.95 miles), I would walk … grabbing Gatorade, water, and sometimes a cola. I just never stopped.

Mile 10, 14, 16 … finally, the last lap … just over 8 more miles .. that’s all!!! It was really dark by this point … and I was running with a glow necklace that I wrapped around my hat so people would know I was coming. I began to think back on what I had seen during the run: the fans, a runner who collapsed and passed out, lots of well wishing signs, athletes with horrible cramps barely moving, and the amazing aid station volunteers.

On the last lap, I tried ingesting some chicken broth … but it wouldn’t go down. I was dirty, tired … and in the final 4 miles, my feet went completely numb. I crossed the last timing lap before entering the home stretch and the digital sign read, “906 : William : Congratulations! Ironman!” The digital display was right, I had only 1.2 miles to go … I had ran 25 miles and I will be damned if I don’t finish this now. I picked up my pace and ran hard the final 1.2 miles … as I ran into the final area, it was nearly 11 PM at night, but there were so many fans and chants that it was over whelming. I focused only on the finish line, watching the time tick away …. 15:55:40, 15:55:41, 15:55:42 …

I broke the tape and raised my hands in total victory.

At the finish, two people flanked me. These folks helped keep me upright. I hadn’t stopped moving forward for many many hours and their help was appreciated. I received my official finisher medal and was promptly wrapped in a space blanket. I was told it was cold, but I couldn’t feel anything.

140.6 miles is a long way, and I faced many challenges to my will power. I didn’t have to do this, but I did. I am an Ironman.

Post-Race Morning:
Stiff. Stiff. Stiff. In fact, stiff is an understatement. Fortunately, I had scheduled a post race massage and that helped a ton. I could hardly eat. 1 grape an hour was the best I could muster the entire day. I also felt cold all day, even though the temperature was in the upper 70s.

I did it. 2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, and finally a 26.2 mile run.
I am an Ironman!

Val and KJ were keys to making this happen. They lugged my gear around, waited patiently for me on my long Saturday rides, and cheered hard for me on race day. They are now official Iron Sherpas!

So, what should be the next challenge?

Arizona Ironman Swim Start

Bill passing a cactus during the Ironman in Arizona

Bill's IRONMAN stats

RACE DATE April 15th, 2007
RACE LOCATION Tempe, Arizona
BIB NUMBER 906
NO TIME PENALTIES

SWIM	BIKE	RUN	OVERALL	POSITION
1:30:07	8:02:11	6:11:30	15:55:44	1722

RACE LEG	DISTANCE	PACE	OVERALL POSITION
TOTAL SWIM	2.4 mi. (1:30:07)	2:22/100m	1707
FIRST BIKE SEGMENT	37 mi (2:37:05)	14.13 mph
SECOND BIKE SEGMENT	83.6 mi (5:25:06)	15.43 mph
TOTAL BIKE	112 mi. (8:02:11)	13.94 mph	1850
FIRST RUN SEGMENT	8.8 mi. (2:02:17)	13:53/mile
SECOND RUN SEGMENT	17.6 mi (4:06:52)	14:09/mile
TOTAL RUN	26.2 mi. (6:11:30)	14:10/mile	1722

TRANSITION	TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE	8:18
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN	3:38

Estimated calories burned during event = 8,000
Estimated calories consumed during event = 3600
Ounces of fluid taken in during event = 460
Number of times peeing during event = 2
Placement in age group = 370/426
Athletes who showed up race day = 2066
Athletes who finished the race = 1860
Food eaten during the race = Powerbars, oranges, 1 pretzel stick, and some chicken broth
Fluids consumed during the race = Gatorade, Water, Cola
Pounds lost in training = 26lbs (no dietary changes)

Swim, Bike, and Run in an IRONMAN!

The saga continues as Bill now goes after the ultimate in human endurance sports, the full Ironman triathlon! As before, his goal is just to complete it. Unlike before, however, Bill now owns a bike and has a much better feel for the rigors of the event and the requirements of training thanks to his completion of the Half-Iron on June 4th, 2006.

The Ironman Bill will be competing in is the Ironman Arizona, April 15th, 2007.

This triathlon is part of the official Ironman series that concludes with the most famous triathlon events, Ironman Hawaii! Because this race is part of the official Ironman series, it will be televised on OLN (aka Versus network).

The Ironman triathlon consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike race, and a 26.2 mile run.
(For those not familiar, the run distance alone equals that of a marathon!)

Like the half iron Bill did, there are cut off times to ensure the race is progressing. For this event they are:
Swim: 2h20, Swim/Bike: 10h30, Swim/Bike/Run 17hrs

Bill's target times for his first Ironman are:
Swim: 1h30, Swim/Bike: 9h, Swim/Bike/Run 15h

Ironman Training Regimen

Bill's Week Shall consist of the following:
Mon - Swim (KEY)
Tue - Strength, Short Bike [Optional]
Wed - Run (KEY)
Thr - Swim, Very Short Bike [Optional]
Fri - Strength, Short Bike [Optional]
Sat - Off -or- Long Bike (Key), Short Run
Sun - Bike (KEY), Short Run -or- Off

Race Pacing Strategy and Goals

Bill has determined that the key to completing the race is to have a healthy respect for the marathon at the end. Bill simply cannot let his competitive nature overwhelm him. The strategy is to hold back for the entire race, with the exception of the final lap of the marathon. IF there is any extra gas in the tank, it will be expended over the final 8.7 miles of the run.

The race starts at 7AM (Mountain Standard Time, MST).

Swim – 2.4 miles, target time = 1h 25m
Goal: Be on the bike by 8:30AM (MST)

Bike -112 miles, target time = 7.5 hours
Bill’s target = 15 MPH, this implies each lap should be covered in 2.5 hours.
Lap 1: Complete by 11AM(MST), 37.333 miles completed
Lap 2: Complete by 1:28PM (MST), 74.666 miles completed
Lap 3: Complete by 3:56PM(MST), 112 miles completed
Goal: Be out on the run by 4PM (MST)

Run – 26.2 miles, target time = 6 hours
Bill’s target = 4.5 MPH, this implies each lap should be covered in 2 hours.
Lap 1: Complete by 6PM (MST), 8.7333 miles completed
Lap 2: Complete by 7:58PM (MST), 17.466 miles completed
Lap 3: Complete by 9:56PM (MST), with any spare energy being used to drop this value

Goal and happiness: Complete the Ironman
Goal and lots of happiness: Complete the Ironman in the 15.x hour range
Goal and extreme amounts of happiness: Complete the Ironman in the 14.x hour range

50 Days And Counting!

(25FEB07) This weekend saw the most difficult bike ride Bill has faced yet. While the distance covered wasn’t the longest ride he had ever done, the course, elements, and Bill’s general health made it torture. In the middle of the 88 mile ride, a series of anaerobic inducing hills were covered. This placed Bill’s body in heart rate zone 4 and 5, and the hills required the burning of precious Glycogen stored in the muscles (resulting in serious burn). Not only was it really cold out (causing shivers), but an incoming weather front brought crazy winds in the second half of the ride that blew directly in his face. All of this coupled with Bill having little sleep during the week and his fighting of a bug he caught at work earlier in the week make the ride sheer hell. The consequence meant that Bill face the greatest pressures of self doubt yet. While there were three distinct periods of “screw this”, one phase lasted 34 minutes and was pure mental anguish. Bill wanted to jump off the bike and throw it in the river saying, “Fuck this whole Ironman thing.” Bill pressed on through the pain and self-doubt completing the ride at an average rate of 14 MPH, a full 1 MPH below target. Once he was off the bike, he did a quick 1.75 mile run to complete the brick. Bill has determined that this training ride was the most important one yet. It allowed Bill to face the same fears, pain, discouragement, and general unpleasantness that will be encountered during the Ironman.

60 Days And Counting!

(11FEB07) Bill is very excited about the race. He wants it to happen now! Because of the extreme cold this past weekend, Bill broke from the usual regimen and went for a nice 2 hour run. He covered 9 miles with no fatigue. The per mile pace matched exactly what Bill plans to do in April. The previous 30 days of training have gone well with the exception of Bill being poisoned! It was a viral based food poisoning that caused an 8 day outage in training.

97 Days And Counting!

Another few of weeks of good solid training! The ride this past weekend was for a nice 75 miles. Bill was able to get into the “zone” more times during these past two weeks than ever before. Hitting the zone allows for large amounts of time to pass with very little fatigue. There are 97 days left before the Arizona Ironman! There are 12 weeks left of good training time.

Ironman Training Cycle 4 Complete

This past training cycle has seen some serious highs and lows, as well as a lot of disruption. On the good side, Bill did a century (100 mile ride) that included some mountains and hills in 6 hours and 53 minutes. On the bad side, the injury suffered in the Arctic circle came back: Shoulder Instability. The shoulder became so bad that Bill had to go to the hospital, get an MRI, see multiple doctors, physical therapy, and, unfortunately, cancel his October race. Bill is now firmly back into training, although demands of work are now causing him to travel more making workouts more difficult to come by.

Ironman Training Cycle 3 Complete

(27AUG06) The completion of this cycle had the following peaks: max swim 1hr 30min, max bike 5hr 10min, and max run at 1hr 45min.

The swim is now at the maximum duration so the secondary swim sessions may be increased.

The bike ride ended up covering 80 miles and was pretty tough towards the end. The heart rate average was at 138. Bill allowed his ego to get the best of him around mile 30 and he did some informal racing. This cost him towards the end of the ride.

This cycle no key workouts were missed, however 2 of the 18 in the period were skipped. In both cases the workouts were not done due to body fatigue ... the best reason to miss one of these kinds of workouts!

Upcoming change up sessions include: Labor Day 100 mile ride, October 1st Half Ironman in South Carolina, and October 28th a half marathon. Each of these sessions will be used to improve form and discipline only.

Cycle 2 Complete

(05AUG06) The two weeks forward, one week back feels much better than the three forward, one back. Bill is very eager to begin the next round of moving forward again ... and this is the feeling one should have at the end of the recovery week.

This past cycle saw the max swim at 1h 18m, max bike at 4h, and max run at 1h. Of the three, the latter was the biggest disappointment because Bill's run should have been at 1hr 18m. Unfortunately, the day Bill had the max run was sweltering hot. The bike ride of 4 hours was great. Bill kept the average heart rate at 142 and covered 62.75 miles. Once off the bike, Bill did a 30 minute run.

Of the 18 workouts this cycle, only two were missed. One was due to being too tired (lack of sleep) and the other due to timing (needed to get home to be with family). One of the two was a key workout. :(

During Bill's research, he has learned that the average amount of training done by a first time Ironman triathlete is 10 hours a week. Bill's current workout plan puts him in the same boat, so he is evaluating the times to see if he can bump them up safely. The critical issue is to workout as long as one can in one workout without causing the recovery time to be so much that it impacts the next key workout. Gradually building ones workout time is the best way to achieve this.

First Cycle Complete

(16JUL06) The first four week cycle has been complete. Three build ups, and one pull back week. The greatest gains were in the form of cycling economy for Bill.

Bill had used the book Swim Bike Run by Wes Hobson for his first triathlon, and Bill is using Go Long by Joel Friel as the training guide for his first Full Ironman race in April 2007. While the Hobson book really helped Bill's Swim and Run, the bike portion still needed work. Fortunately, Go Long had the magic phrases that resonated with Bill and his cycling has improved dramatically, with a full 0.5 MPH average speed gain over the same courses. Bill attributes the improvement to improved cycling economy.

Go Long is all about periodization, and being in tune with recovery. With Bill's first four week cycle complete, he has elected to go to a three week cycle: Two build up weeks, followed by one pull back week. He made this decision based on how his body felt at the conclusion of his first recovery week.

During this first four week cycle, Bill also found himself at the lake working on his 'straight' swimming. The tendency to go off course is still there ... but Bill found that if he focused hard, he could go perfectly straight. The plan is for Bill to do a swim at the lake once a month.

Gonna go for the Full IRONMAN!

(22JUN06)Today I took the plunge and plopped down $450 to sign up for my first Ironman. I've got about 10 months to get in the shape necessary to complete this event. I'm a bit nervous, but in a good way. I'll harness this unease to power me through the training sessions that will follow.

I've outlined a training plan that is different than the last one I created in that it is much more focused on building a wide base of endurance. There will be less running, but more cycling. From my research, running doesn't help cycling, but cycling can significantly help running. By cycling more, I am less likely to experience the two injuries I suffered during the half iron training. Each injury cost valuable training time.

I will continue with periodization, wherein I will have a target max training time for each discipline each month. I will build to that max over the first three weeks of the month, and on the fourth week, I will seriously cut back on the volumes giving myself a better chance of complete recovery. I will also continue the approach of training based on time, not distance. That is, all my workouts will be geared towards training a certain period of time vice covering a certain distance.
Example:
For the month of July, my max: swim time will be 1 hour, bike time will be 3 hours, and run time will be 1.5 hours.
This implies that:
week 1 of July, I will swim 54 minutes, bike 2 hours 42 minutes, and run 1 hour 21 minutes. (build at 90%)
week 2 of July, I will swim 57 minutes, bike 2 hours 51 minutes, and run 1 hour 26 minutes. (build at 95%)
week 3 of July, I will swim 60 minutes, bike 3 hours 00 minutes, and run 1 hour 30 minutes. (target times)
week 4 of July, I will swim 30 minutes, bike 1 hours 30 minutes, and run 0 hour 45 minutes. (recover at 50%)

Each of these are individual KEY sessions, and they will be receive the most focus. They each happen on separate days. The remainder of the week will be filled by very short cycling sessions, swims, and weight training, with Saturday being a complete rest day.

-Bill

Swim, Bike, and Run in a Long Triathlon

One of Bill's life goals is to compete in and complete a triathlon. On December 17th, 2005 he has decided to take the plunge and begin training for what is called a "Long Triathlon" or "Half Iron". The event he will compete in is the Coliseum Health System's Rock 'N RollMan Half Iron Triathlon, June 4, 2006.

In the world of Triathlon's, from a distance and time perspective, you have Sprint Triathlons, Olympic Triathlons, Long Triathlons (aka Half Iron), Ultra Triathlons (aka Iron), and Super (or Mega) Ultra Triathlons. Sprint Triathlon's are typically completed in a couple of hours, while the Mega Ultra Triathlon's can last 24 hours. The Long Triathlon fits nicely in the middle with an estimated completion time of 7.5 hours. It consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, followed by a 13.1 mile run.

It will be an interesting journey ... Bill doesn't even have a bike!

GOAL MET! Bills First Ever Triathlon!

Bill riding during the Rock n Roll Half Iron Man

(04JUN06)7:43! Goal Met!!! Bill competed in and completed his first triathlon!! Slow by Triathlon times, but the 7 hours and 43 minute time meant that Bill completed the race matching his target times (1hr swim, 4hr bike, and 3 hour run). About 10% of the field did not complete the event. It was a typical hot Georgia day at 92 degrees, with high humidity. This event also happened to be the Regional Championships for the Long Triathlon ... so there were some fast folks!

The swim was very disconcerting for multiple reasons. First, the mass of folks all pounding away at the water at the same time was crazy. Bill swam into folks, and lots of folks swam into Bill. At the start there was a constant tapping of hands on Bills feet as a swimmer was following right on his heels. Second, Bill kept veering to the left .... away from the course! In the swim, Bill tacked on a lot of extra distance because he couldn't swim straight! During the crazy swim, Bill was knocked around a lot ... .with one time a swimmers hand pushing his head down under the water (their freestyle stroke happened to be entering the water at the same spot Bills head was at), and another time a swimmers entry hand landed directly on his lower back submerging him. Good thing Bill is extremely comfortable in open water! (Having been a working divemaster off the Florida coast pays off).

The bike ride was very comfortable. While there some killer hills, the ride was beautiful. Lots of green grass, horses, etc. Striking up conversations when possible, Bill sat back and enjoyed the ride. It became difficult around mile 30 as Bill contemplated the fact that he had never ridden his bike this far before. Sure, on the stationary trainers in the gym he had done it, but never on the open road. Once mile 40 was past, Bill felt good and continued to make his way along the course, eating and drinking the whole way. Max speed reached during the ride was 40.8 MPH.

The run didn't start out quite as well as Bill had hoped. Bill's approach was to walk the steeper hills up, and then run all flats and downhills. Alas, the first couple of miles were up hill!! That meant a lot of walking. Around mile 8, Bill decided to start running up hills in intervals. That is, run some distance, walk some distance. This strategy paid off as his mile times dropped dramatically on the second half of the race. Deviating from the plan was indeed the right approach as Bill finished the run in just under the planned time of 3 hours.

Post race: Bill felt great. For the next few days, Bill felt good and wanted to compete in another race. He has since signed up for two more triathlons. He is certain that if he pushes himself, he could shave off an hour from the entire event.

Things to buy: Bill realized that he needed three more things. 1) Race number belt 2) Bento box and 3) Neoprene ankle strap for the timing chip.

The triathlon was a fantastic experience ... one that Bill will never forget. He went from never having done one (and not even owning a bike) to completing his first at a comfortable pace. He plans to now push him self harder to see how far he can bring the time down. Long term plan is to go after an "Ultra Triathlon" also known as an "Iron Man Triathlon." The target timeline for that is the second half of 2007.

Two Weeks To Go!

(20MAY06)Bill is now in the final two weeks before the triathlon. This means he will have one more hard (e.g. multi hour) workout, and then he will switch to short duration sessions until the event. This is done to let the body heal. It should be noted that two weeks ago, Bill suffered another injury that required a visit to the hospital and resulted in 1) a week of lost training and 2) a prescription of muscle relaxers. His neck and back muscles were experiencing uncontrollable spasms. The 8 mile run with his daughter on his back followed immediately by a 10 mile ride wasn't a great idea! Lesson: don't run 8 miles with a 20 pound baby on your back and then jump on a bike.

25 Mile Training Ride with Greg LeMond

(23APR06) Bill helped raise $840 for the Georgia Cancer Coalition. As a reward, he participated in the inaugural BriarRose Grand Peloton. This ride had as the leader none other than three time Tour de France winner, Greg LeMond! Other notable riders included Norman Alvis, Mari Holden, and Steve Hegg. The ride took place April 23rd, and Bill used the ride to help gauge how he would feel during his Triathlon. Bill wishes to send an extra thank you to everyone who helped sponsor him on the ride by donating to the cause.

Bill suited up ... except for shoes and helmet!

Bill in staging area getting ready for the ride.

Bill racing down the final stretch!

Two Months To Go!

(26MAR06)The training is still going well despite a knee injury Bill suffered at the end of February. The injury is related to over-use, so after a week of no running/biking/squats, the workouts have been juggled around so that there are not two consecutive days of biking/running. Bill is now able to comfortably run 11 miles (2h 11m), ride the stationary bikes for "30 miles" (2h), and swim 1.4 miles easily (56m). These times and distances are right in line with the training plan he designed. He has two more months to push these numbers to the final run and bike Triathlon amounts!

According to the plan, April is the month to buy a bike. So Bill and Val went to a triathlon store Saturday (25MAR06) to start this process. The array of bikes and suits and options could have been overwhelming. However, Bill has been reading and researching triathlon gear information for the past three months making the in store experience much more fun. The bike selected is a Fuji Aloha, and Bill goes in to have it "fit" Thursday. If for some reason that bike cannot be fit to Bill, the store will switch out the bike to another brand. While the bike could have been bought on the Internet for less money, a critical component of the triathlon would have been missed: the fit. If a bike doesn't fit you, the bike leg would be sheer hell. There are some "formulas" out there to help one fit a bike themselves, but Bill has elected to have triathlon fit expert merry his anatomy to the bikes.

When this whole thing started at Christmas time, Bill weighed 205 pounds. Last week Bill got on the scale for the first time in months. The result? 194 pounds! While weight loss wasn't the focus, it is certainly a nice outcome. Since Bill continues to push the weights around, his bench press, for example, has increased!

For those interested, Bill's target times are: Swim in less than 1 hour, Bike in less than 4 hours, and Run in less than 3 hours. With these times, Bill won't be kicked off the course and out of the race.

Bill's First Full Ironman Triathlon