Ironman Wisconsin tip #1: eat at Mickies. As in Mickies Diary Bar, located right across from Camp Randall Stadium at 1511 Monroe St. Check out the run course after eating, it’s right there.The outside is plain, it’s not the sort of place that needs flash to pack them in.

The inside is classic dinner, red vinyl swivel stools bolted to the floor and booths, straight out of the early 1950’s. They even have the original 50’s menu and prices posted on the wall. The four of us had the breakfast special, cheese omelet, potatoes, toast, bottomless coffee. You could have a pork chop with it; but since I was racing, I had bacon. Only at Mickey’s could bacon seem to be the healthier option. There’s more than breakfast, the food is real and the people are mid-west nice. It’s a must do.

Ironman Wisconsin tip #2: drink local beer. Pre -race , I had a couple of Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfests

each night (1 1/2 beers night before the race, trying to be healthy). It’s available Aug. - Oct., and in a 12-pack - good for sharing- so look for it race week. I laid in a supply of Capital Brewery’s Fest , another seasonal beer, for post race at the recommendation of team manager Ben Harper. After 140.6 miles and 3 Fests, I was moving slower than Frank Ferrar at midnight, and my day was done. Ben, I need some 3.2% beer suggestions if you want me to throw out hats at the finish. Day after the race and awards, I re-hydrated with more than one New Glarus Brewery’s Fat Squiral and a white brat at a bar on State St. I saw during the run the day before.

Where else but Wisconsin? No place I know.

Ironman Revisited is happening this weekend on Oahu, combining the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, the 112-mile circle island road race, and the Honolulu Marathon as originally done in 1978. The event raises funds for the Challenged Athletes Foundation. On Sunday thirty athletes, each with their own support crew, will set out on the original journey. In conjunction with the event, six-time Ironman Hawaii Champ Dave Scott put on a two-day clinic in Waikiki. He won on Oahu in back in 1980 prior to the race’s relocation to the Big Island. Twenty athletes, including participants of Ironman Revisited, showed up to suck all the knowledge possible from the legend. Dave left no question unanswered, covering topics ranging from whey vs. soy protein to how to get abs of steel like those on Bob Babbitt. (Whey wins and Bob wasn’t giving up his secrets, or posing for pics) In 6h of clinic time my IQ quadrupled. While doing drills in the ocean, I learned that I swim all wrong. And how to fix it - here’s Dave showing us how not to swim:

Dave shared the formula he uses to calculate calories required for recovery. Using Friday’s 18 mile run and my ~700 cal/hr burned at a 7:15/mi pace, he helped me calculate that I had spent nearly 1500 calories on the run. I had taken in 500 calories while running, leaving me with a 1000 calorie deficit upon completion. Dave recommends consuming 60% of that deficit within 45 minutes to an hour of finishing - and finishing means the minute I stop running, not after I stretch, shower, make the kids waffles.. Ideally, recovery calories should come in a 3:1 or 4:1 carb:protein ratio. Which left me with a goal of consuming 600 calories in the 45-60 minute recovery window, with 125-150 of those calories coming from protein. Now, I may swim all wrong, and apparently my run form is appalling as well, as I found out during the run drills, but if there’s one thing I’ve got down, it’s the recovery drink. Dave asked what I had after my run - and I told him the same thing I always do - a little gatorade endurance on my way down to Jamba Juice, where I order the Protein Berry Pizazz with blueberries instead of strawberries. What does Dave have to recover from a two hour workout? A Jamba Juice Protein Berry Pizazz with blueberries instead of strawberries. And he has them add a scoop of peanut butter & a carrot. I’m doing one thing right! Dave also emphasized that while 30 min is often recommended for optimal refueling for recovery, the range varies greatly from person to person, and many will gain benefits from eating up to 2-6 hours after very long or intense training.

Another scoop straight from Dave: He’s not quite ready this year, but look for him on the starting line in Kona next October. When speculating on his time, the numbers that came up would put him in the top 10-20, easy. 50-54 is in for a shock.

If you get the opportunity to attend a clinic with Dave, take it! But know that if he tells you to go underwater and hold your breath before he has you demonstrate something for the group - look out - he’s not saying nice things about you while you’re under.

Clinic attendees Stephan Reinke, me, Dave Scott, Raul Boca & Amy Bennett shortly before making the man ride around the park on Amy’s 15 year old Dave Scott bike, which she paid thousands for on ebay (or might have found at Goodwill). Stephan is coming off a 51 minute swim at Ironman Austria and Dave didn’t like his form either - somehow that comforted me a little.

I really like pancakes, especially on Saturdays after long rides.  Here is the recipe I’ve been making recently which is delicious.  I usually eat the entire batch, but it would also probably be enough for two ”normal” sized servings…

1 1/2 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tbls sugar

3 tbls butter, melted

1 egg

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Walnuts (optional)

Blueberries (optional)

Pour dry ingredients into a bowl and mix.  Then do the same with the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, making sure to warm the milk up a bit so the butter stays melted.  Pour the wet into the bowl with the dry and stir until all the lumps are removed.  Let the batter sit for a couple of minutes while heating a large pan or skillet to medium-high heat before adding a bit of butter to grease the pan.  Pour batter onto skillet and add walnuts or blueberries to the cakes on the skillet if desired.  Let the pancakes cook until the bubbles on the top are no longer disappearing and then flip and cook for another minute or so on the other side.  Remove from skillet and serve with syrup on top and a glass of milk on the side.   

Last weekend I got a chance to race Eagleman 70.3 for the first time.  Coming into the race I wasn’t sure how I would feel since I had raced Florida 70.3 three weeks before and I had never done two races this long this close together.  On the morning of the race though I put the negative thoughts out of my mind and just thought about EXECUTING my race. 

The swim started out relatively mild and pretty soon I found myself a good pair of feet as I began my quest to hold on to the front pack.  The pace felt pretty hot but I really thought I could come out of the water in the first pack if I had a good swim so I was determined to try and push it a bit.  About a third of the way through I tried to look as far ahead as I could and from what I could tell I was sitting in about 5th or 6th position in the first pack, which I was happy about since my efforts were paying off.  Then about two thirds of the way through a couple guys got off the front but I was in no position to chase.  So I maintained my pace and was really pleased to hear that I was the 5th guy exiting the water. 

Out onto the bike and the Trek was feeling smooth, as always.  It’s such a responsive ride that it is really effortless to get up to speed which is so nice after a hard swim.  After riding alone for quite some time, a group of three guys passed me about an hour into the race.  Unfortunately, I was hoping to see these guys much later on as I was hoping I had put more time into them in the swim.  So after that I really had to focus to make sure to lose as little time as possible.  The rest of the ride was uneventful and I came out of T2 in 11th or so place.    

Ahh, the run.  Time for me to attempt to have a respectable result.  Within the first couple of miles I had passed two guys and was feeling good, probably a little to good in retrospect as my splits for those were 5:38 an 5:23… a little too fast.  I finally settled into my pace (between 5:40s and 5:45s) which I felt good about since it was overcast and still pretty cool.  Then I got an update from someone on the course that I was in 8th.  8th! That means I only have to pass one more guy to get some money… and I can see that guy!  About a mile later I passed him and was feeling good heading into the turn.  At the turn I noted that the next person was two minutes up the road and I immediately thought I had a chance of catching him and moving into 6th.  On the way back however I ended up just trying to maintain my pace as my hip flexor started acting up.  Unfortunately I wasn’t gaining any ground on the guy in front so I just focused on keeping my form together and finishing strong.  Another bonus was that I noticed that I was on pace to finish under 4 hours and have a huge run PR so I was pretty stoked.   

Crossed the finish line in 3:58:xx, a new PR good for what I thought was 7th place.  As it turns out, I was in fact 8th.  Bummer.  No beer money for me.  But wait, there was a prime for the fastest run of day.  I checked the preliminary results and I had posted the fastest run of the pros which was also a huge new run PR of 1:14:32.  So surely that was good enough for the prime?  Nope, nipped again.  As I found out hours later an amateur ran 1:13 which meant I was one place out of the money once again.  Still, with a new 70.3 PR and a new run PR I couldn’t be too upset.  Plus, they had some decadent Sara Lee carrot cake at the finish which was being served by one of the kindest old ladies I’ve ever met.  Good for you?  Not exactly.  Delicious? Absolutely.  And after 4 or 5 pieces of that, I certainly couldnt complain. 

So while I write up my belated Florida 70.3 race report a couple of things come to mind…

First thing: I’m not a Starbucks junky, but I do go there occasionally as I find some of their drinks quite tasty.  As I was wasting time in the Atlanta airport on Friday I noticed a new drink which sounded yummy, the Orange Mocha.  So while I was at Harris Teeter (grocery store) yesterday I decided to treat myself.  Let me say, it was marvelous.  I didnt get to see them make it but I’m pretty sure its just their regular Mocha with some orange zest in it.  Anyway, very good stuff.  The orange + chocolate flavor worked wonderfully.

Second thought: Watching Apollo 13 after interviewing for a job at NASA really makes you want to take the job.  Anyone have any comments about Huntsville?