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Dam to Dam 20K Challenge Day 71 is in the books! Before getting into the details of the race I want to take just a minute to recognize a few of the people who help me get to the finish line of today’s D2D.

I would like to say thank you to Andrea Crabb Vlahakis, Without you posting that you signed up for the D2D I would have never even attempted this challenge. You did more to push me than you wil…l ever know. I was desperately trying to not get “Chicked” by you at the 20K and this motivated me to push harder even when my body said no. Although I never caught you during the run and end up getting “Chicked” at the finish line chasing your shadow proved to push me to beat my goal time of 2 hours by almost 8 minutes.

I would like the thank Jennifer Wolff for all her support and kicking my butt at your 5am in class. The help you provided me on topics outside of the class routines really helped me to train smarter.

I want to thank my son David, Who took on the challenge with me when I asked, and even though he got beat by the old man I was proud to run beside him for the beginning portions of the race. I hope he stays with his training and we can have a rematch later this year.

Then there is my virtual training partner Cindy, she would text me her times after each training run and then I would go out and try my best to beat the times she was posting. Just knowing that someone else was hurting as much as I on those long 12 mile training runs made it more bearable.

Last but not least I would like to thank everyone who posted words of encouragement on my FB page. . It’s amazing what a person can accomplish with a few pats on the back and atta boys to keep them on track.

Official results and times won’t be posted till later tonight however I wanted to let everyone know what my preliminary results were according to my running computer. I finished in 1hour and 52 minutes and 6 seconds. My goal was to finish in under 2 hours. The picture below is of my running watch screen after the finish line.

D2D 20K Challenge Day 66: Well here we are 6 days from race day. I have started my Training schedule with Zoom Performance and todays a rest and recovery day. After so many days of running every day I am having withdrawals from the exercise I think.  I am told that letting your legs rebound from all the training days that have passed will be good for me on race day. So I guess I will work in the shop today and try to get caught up and make some sawdust. Tomorrow my schedule has me going on a date with Stella! I am looking forward to this first of many dates and I am excited to get out on the road and see what she can do. Although this is supposed to be a ride with no hills and little fatigue and high cadence, I will still be able to enjoy the ride. You know a kind of a getting to know each other and saying hello day together.  

See you at the Finish Line!

Dave

D2D 20K Challenge Day 64: I went running last night with Cindy. She is my virtual training partner that lives in Virginia and she is staying here in Iowa for the next week to run D2D. It was a stormy night so we decided to run the Lake Red Rock trail. We did 8 miles which was three laps of the loop we were running. The rain was all around us but it held off just long enough to get the full 8 miles in. It was fun to run and talk about everything. We have been texting our run results to each other for the past 2 months and this virtual training has really pushed both of us to get the miles in. Once we got into the car and pulled out of the parking lot the rain hit and it rained all the way home so we timed this run just perfect.

7 days to go till D2D and it feels like I just started this journey yesterday. By this time next week I hope to be eating a banana and talking with other runners. What an incredible experience this has been. I am now down 32 pounds from 220 when I started to 188 now.  My energy levels have increased and my acid reflux has vanished. 

Life is good!

I finally acquired my new girlfriend that is going to train with me for the next year and a half as I get ready for the Ironman Challenge. She is slender and sleek and should really push me when the rides get long. I am sure she will be a pain in my rear at times and stay with me through the ups and downs of the miles to come.  I am going to name her Stella!

First part of the triathlon is the swim. Tonight Zoom Performance held there annual Open Water Swim Clinic. It was 57 degrees out and they were swimming in the Raccoon River. Most participants wore wet suites but there were a few who were die hard and went in only swimwear. The coaches  gave a lot of information on swim starts, Mental Prep and drafting and such. I left feeling like I need to study up on the swim parts a bit as there is far more than just jumping in the water and going. We are waiting till after I finish my D2D in 10 days before I dive into the swim training so to speak.

Today I start a new chapter in my life. I have decided to compete in an Ironman 140.6 mile race in 2014. The Ironman Wisconsin in Madison in September 2014 is the goal. I have just hired Nick Mongar of Zoom Performance to coach me during my journey. I am very excited to work with Nick and the team at Zoom Performance to meet my goals as I work towards finishing the Ironman Wisconsin race. For those of you who do not know Ironman is one of the toughest single day events in endurance. You swim 2.4 miles then bike 112 miles and you finish your day with a 26.2 mile marathon run.  You start the race at 7am and you must complete the course by midnight or you are considered a DNF. 17 hours of testing your mind and body.

I will document my triumphs and challenges on my new blog www.daverodda.com you are welcome to follow along as I challenge myself and see where this journey takes me.  My first challenge is to learn how to swim properly as I am sure the dog paddle will not get me through the 2.4 miles of water within the cutoff time. Swim lessons start soon.  More to come soon!

Day 60 20K Challenge: It’s hard to believe it has been 60 days since I signed up for the D2D. Tonight I did a workout in the Fitness center. I did 45 minutes of intervals on the elliptical. Then I ran 10K on the Treadmill in 57:30. I finished the last 1.5 miles in an 8 min/mile pace. I also did some light strength training after that. Got a big day planned for tomorrow so better get showered and some rest. I will see some of you in the morning for the 5am class.

Day 50 20K Challenge: Ran 12.5 miles in 1:59:16. I ran my fastest splits the last 2.5 miles. Felt really good and it was good to run farther than 20k for the first time. 21 days till race day and I am going to work on trying to cut my times down a bit. I am overall really happy with my progress. 50 days ago I could not run a ¼ mile without walking part of it and today I ran 12.5 miles with no walk…ing. Going under 2 hours was a bonus for me also. Yesterday was supposed to be a rest day however my son David asked me to run 5 miles with him so I did. Oh to be 22 again. His pace was a little faster than mine but I held my own and kept him in sight. I have lost 24.5 pounds so far. My knees really like the lighter weight.

Day 53 20k Challenge: Nothing like the Iowa weather to test your resolve on your new running habit. May 3rd I was running in 8 inches of snow and today May 14th it was 96 degrees and the Iowa humidity. I ran 5 miles today on the Carlisle trail and it was hot. I got a chance to try out my new Camelbak Hydration backpack and it worked great. Took a little adjusting to get used to it being on my back… but it was great to have water during such a hot run. I got another new pair of shoes and today was their first run also. Due to the heat I purposely slowed my pace each mile just slightly to keep from overheating on the first day of heat training and finished the 5 miles in 51 minutes. I am hoping that race day proves to be much cooler than today but will take whatever Mother Nature throws at me I guess.

Day 54 20K Challenge: Did a group run with the local Triathlon team tonight. 5.6 miles with over 1100 feet of uphill. I finished in 13th place out of the dozen that showed up but it was a good workout anyhow. Thanks to Zoom Performance for letting me tag along. — at Zimm’s Food & Spirits.

Day 57 20K Challenge: ran 14 miles in 2:12:53. What a beautiful morning to run. Dave joined me on the Carlisle trail. I finally ran far enough to experience a runners high. It was an incredible feeling for the last mile. Two weeks to race day!

20K Challenge Day 37: Today is a rest day for running however I felt great so I decided to take a bike ride. I went to Red Rock and rode the trail and hills. It was such a nice Day I decided to do the whole trail loop twice. I went 46 miles in less than 3 hours. To add to the workout I was riding my Wal-Mart special heavy duty mountain bike. The rest of the week is going to be a change from the schedule as I am running in a 5k on Wednesday night in Pella. Although I will probably still get my six miles in as I will stop by Red Rock after the race on the way home and run another 3 miles. I felt I needed to see how running with others effects my pace well before the start of the 20K.

Day 40 20K challenge: Ran the Klompen Classic 5k in Pella tonight. At noon it was 68 degrees and sunny and by 7pm race start it was 50 degrees cloudy and 30mph winds which made it an interesting run to say the least. I ended up running the race in my full sweats as it was way too cold to strip down to run. By the end of the race it was in the 40’s and wind chills in the 30’s. I finished in just ov…er 29 minutes and met up with Andrea Crabb Vlahakis and Rod in the finish area. I am pretty sure she could out run me 28 years ago in school and today proved to be the same. It was a good learning experience as the start was crazy with kids weaving in and out and you had to dodge people everywhere. We ran straight into the wind for the start. And we had to go into the wind just before the finish which was killer. I have learned that my mind is not where it needs to be to get me through the 20k. Also make sure I take my running watch next time so I don’t go out so fast that I burn out before the finish.

My splits were roughly 8.5 for first mile, 9.5 for second mile and 11 for last 1.1 miles.

Dave finished the Klompen Classic 5K Run in a time of 00:29:10, overall place 596, gender place 395, division place 28

My new Fitness Center membership paid off tonight. I worked out on the elliptical for over an hour and really got to work the stiffness out of my body from last night’s cold run with no stretching afterwards. Really beats running in the cold and wet snow outside that we are currently getting. Especially when I can look out my window of my house and see the fitness center doors.

Day 43 20K Challenge: Ran 10 miles in 1:35:52. I managed to do reverse splits the whole way running the first 5 miles is just over 50 minutes. Then running the next 3 miles in 28:39 and finishing the last two miles in 17:10. Felt really good and finished strong. Finally think I have a grasp on the food and nutrition a bit and how to drink and eat while running and the day before a long run. Started wearing my iPod and listening to an audio book during the run and this really helped keep my mind busy while my legs kept knocking down the miles. I have lost 19 pounds so far in 6 weeks.