Source: http://www.ironmanwisconsin.com

Link to Ironman Wisconsin
I volunteered at the Ironman Wisconsin on Sunday. I biked down along John Nolan Drive and helped a police officer direct the bikes around a sharp turn.

The Ironman is a 2.6mi swim, a 112mi bike, and a 26.2mi (marathon) run. The elite athletes usually finish at about 9hrs or less, while some people take a full 24 hours!!! A guy named Peter, that I met at the UW Cycling club barbecue, completed the Ironman last year. Watching all the bikers and the runners got me inspired and I signed up for the 2004 Ironman Wisconsin. When I signed up, about a day after registrations opened, there were already over 1500 people signed up. And now, at the time of this posting, there is over 1900! It was quite a large investment, but if you look at it as a whole year long preparation, which it will have to be, then the money is pretty evenly distributed.

Anyway, it might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience since during later summers I might actually have a job throughout the whole summer, not just the grueling 3 weeks of tennis camp that I enjoy now.

The biking should be the easiest part, while the running will be pretty easy to after I have conditioned my knees/legs for the pounding. And, I’m going to really need to work on the swimming….

But, it should be a lot of fun, and I will be in great shape!

For training I’m going to be reading a lot on the Internet and possibly buying a book of Amazon. I will also be participating in some marathons throughout the summer. For biking, I have joined the UW Cycling club tonight and already have been doing some riding with them. I guess coming up in October there is an Apple Cider ride, a century, in which about at the halfway point we stop and eat donuts and drink fresh apple cider and some apple orchard “nearby.”

So, I’ll probably keep this site updated with details about my Ironman training.

Later.