Ironman in a Week

A full Ironman triathlon is 140.6 total miles, consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run. Earlier this year, I participated in the Lazy Y Tri at the Waukee YMCA which involved completing these distances over the course of a month. I was able to complete the challenge in 16 days, but I knew that I could do better. Erin and both girls were gone at various camps last week so I decided to use the extra time to try the challenge over and complete it in a week. 

Day 1: Sunday, July 6

I woke up at 6:00am to cloud cover and extremely humid conditions with no wind as I headed out the door for a run. Since it was a Sunday morning, I knew traffic would be light, so I decided to head east across Hwy 141 on a route that I haven't taken in a long time. I was scheduled for a 1 hour easy run and logged 5.24 miles to kick off the challenge. 

After dropping Abigail off at Y Camp, I headed to Dallas Center to meet Adam for a bike ride. It was a little warm but the winds were light and my legs were feeling really good. Even while keeping an easy effort, we rode 24.91 miles in 1:23:02 for an 18mph average. It was a really good first day, but I still had a lot of miles ahead of me. 

Day 2: Monday, July 7

I was very torn when I woke up Monday morning. I needed to get some laps in at the pool, but I knew a morning swim would mean doing my run workout in the heat later in the day. I took the chance and headed for the pool. I was pleasantly surprised by how few people were there when I arrived just before 5:30. I easily got a lane and was able to knock out 30 laps/1,500 yards in 38:24. 

After a long day at work, I got home and changed into my running clothes and headed out into the 86 degree heat with no wind for a speed workout. My workout consisted of 3 sets of 4 x 2:00 at 5k pace. I knew it was going to be a tough workout when my visor was dripping with sweat by the end of my warm up. I struggled through the workout without being able to hit many of my speed interval paces but managed to complete 5.67 miles in 1:07:31. It felt so good to get back into the air conditioning but I was completely wiped for the rest of the evening. 

Day 3: Tuesday, July 8

Without a run workout on the schedule, I opted for a brick workout in the morning. I started off with a 20 mile indoor ride on the trainer, completed in 51:07, before heading outside for a 2.21 mile run in 23:40. I had recovered well from running in the heat on Monday and felt really good throughout the entire brick. 

I decided to try something new on Tuesday evening. I braved rush hour traffic through the Hickman construction zone to head for Valley View Aquatic Center in West Des Moines. I arrived a little before lap swim hours started at 5:30. It may sound silly, but I'm a routine oriented person and don't normally feel comfortable trying out new things but in this case I'm glad I did. The water was cool and the sun was bright. I had a very enjoyable swim and completed another 30 laps/1,500 yards in 37:29. 

Day 4: Wednesday, July 9

Another run workout, but this time in the morning with temperatures 20 degrees cooler than my Monday afternoon workout. 35 minutes moderate pace with 10 x 15 second hard strides. I completed 3.94 miles in 44:16. 

Wednesday turned out to be another hot one. I met Adam and Kyle in Madrid for a ride on the High Trestle Trail. We headed East from the trail head, but instead of turning South in Slater, we connected to the Heart of Iowa Trail and made our way out to Huxley. It was a new trail for all of us and I'd like to explore it more in the future. We ended up riding 25.09 miles in 1:31:54 and it turned out to be a very beautiful evening in spite of the heat.

Day 5: Thursday, July 10

I woke up Thursday morning to thunderstorms. I had originally planned to run in the morning and go for an outdoor ride again after work. With so many miles left, I knew that I couldn't take the morning off so opted to jump on the indoor trainer again for a long ride. I rode 30.01 miles in 1:11:41, a fast ride even on the indoor trainer. I headed to work with tired legs but was starting to heave the end in sight. 

A morning ride meant that I had to run in the afternoon heat again. It was 88 degrees but there was a nice wind. I kept and easy pace for the shorter 2.28 mile run, which I completed in 26:01. I took the rest of the evening off and was super tired so decided to head to bed early. Mother nature didn't care how tired I was and non-stop storms overnight kept me from sleeping much at all. 

Day 6: Friday, July 11

The rain stopped early morning so after almost no sleep, I drug myself out of bed and headed out the door for another run workout. The workout consisted of 3 x 8:00 at half marathon pace. I ran extremely well given I was operating on almost no sleep. I ran 4.86 miles in 54:01 but could barely keep my eyes open when I got home. I decided to call into work to take off the morning and crashed on the couch until around 10:00 am.

I had originally planned to swim over lunch, so I decided to head to the Y and fit in the last few miles on the bike before logging into work for the afternoon. When I arrived at the pool I was surprised to see how busy it was. I had to wait about 15 minutes for a lane, but then made quick work of the 25 laps/1,250 yards completing them in 31:14. With this swim, I officially hit 2.4 miles for the week.

When I got home, I quickly changed into my cycling gear and hoped on the indoor trainer again. I completed my final 12 miles in 28:49, and just like that, my 112 miles of cycling was complete too. 

Day 7: Saturday, July 12

With a race on the schedule for Sunday, I moved my long run to Saturday morning. It was a beautiful morning to run and even though I only needed about 2 miles to complete the challenge, I ended up logging 6.08 in 1:10:00. And just like that, the challenge was complete. 

Conclusion

This challenge turned out to be really fun and gave me a glimpse into the higher mileage training that awaits me next year. It gave me the chance to build up my heat acclimation, an opportunity to check out a new bike trail, and most importantly got be back in the pool. Even with the added mileage and training time this week my body held up extremely well. I'm feeling strong and am looking forward to the races during my current training block. Below are my overall stats for the week. 

Swim:

• 3 swims
• 2.41 miles
• 85 laps
• 1:47:07
• 2:31/100 yards average

Bike:

• 5 rides
• 112.03 miles
• 5:26:32
• 20.6 mph average

Run:

• 7 runs
• 30.28
• 5:45:29
• 11:25/mi average

June 2025 Race Recaps

June was a very busy and productive month of racing and I had a blast. For the 2nd month in a row, I saw a significant improvement in my fitness and performance as the month progressed. Below is a recap of each race. 

Quad Cities Triathlon (June 16)

On June 14th I participated in the very LAST Quad Cities Triathlon. This was my 4th time at the race and I'm very bummed that it is coming to an end. Not only was it convenient because I'm able to stay with my in-laws for the race, West Lake Park served as a fantastic venue for a race. We stopped at the park on our way to the Quad Cities on Friday evening to pick up my packet and then continued on to spend the night with Erin's parents. Erin rode with me to the race to cheer me on, but it made for an extremely early morning for both of us with a 4:15am wake up time. We arrived at the park just before they opened the gates and managed to get a parking spot right outside of transition. 

Setting up transition

Before I knew it, transition was closed and we all headed for the beach. I'm not a fast swimmer even when I train a lot but going into this race I have not been swimming at all. With that in mind, I stayed towards the back when lining up for the race. I finished the 600 yard swim in 17:15, which is bad even for me. I kept a short memory as I came out of the water and ran up the hill into transition. 

LET'S GOOOOO

Out of the water and headed for T1

I was very efficient in T1, getting through in 3:16. I then headed out onto the bike course. Unlike 2023, I was able to see people in front of me when I got on the bike and consistently passed people throughout the entire course. The WNW wind was higher than expected making the last 5 miles of the bike course a challenge, but I pushed through and finished the 15 mile course in 51:10. 

Headed back into transition

I was feeling good after getting off the bike and got through T2 in 1:25. As I headed out on the run course I took it easy through the grass and gravel until we got out onto the main road. I tried to keep a consistent pace but when I hit mile 1 and saw a time of 11:54, I was not happy. I pushed harder from there and finished the 5k run in 35:21 with negative splits. My instant reaction when crossing the finish line was that I should have pushed a lot harder on the run. Even though I raced well, I could have done a lot better. 

Headed out onto the run course

Finishing strong

Proud finisher

After the race, I took a quick shower before loading up our bags, leaving the kids behind, and heading for a short trip in Dubuque with just Erin and I to celebrate our 18th anniversary. 

Trestle Hustle 5k (June 21)

The first race in a 3 race weekend. There was a heat advisory in place the entire weekend and it was already too hot to run when Adam picked me up to head for Madrid and the High Trestle Trail head. Adam was racing the Duathlon but I opted for the 5k. The Duathlon had a different start & finish line than the 5k & 10k race, so after starting the Duathlon the race director walked us all across Highway 17 to start our race. 

Even though it wasn't a huge race field, it was pretty crowded at the start line and I did something I rarely do and lined up towards the front. I took off fast and tried hard to hold that pace through the 5k turnaround. Even though there was high winds, the trees along the trail blocked most of it and it was angling to our back after the finish line. I was dripping with sweat more than normal. I slowed down quite a bit on mile 3, and the course was a little long at 3.25 miles. My official time was 35:37, which I was very happy with given the weather conditions. As a bonus, I managed to finish 3rd in my age group. 

Done with race #1 of the weekend

Iowa Trail Run Series: A Midsummer Night's Run 5k (June 21)

I loaded up my truck for both the Saturday evening and Sunday morning races and headed for McFarland Park north of Ames. Temperatures were in the 90s but with the breeze and sun starting to get lower on the horizon, it really didn't feel that bad when the race started around 7:45pm. This was only my 2nd trail run ever so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. They sent us off in waves of about 20 people to make sure the course, run on 2 track and 1 track paths, didn't get too crowded. I started off running hard but pulled back at the half way point and jogged out the rest of the race to conserve some energy for the morning. 

There was a long out and back stretch with runners going in both directions, some technical portions of trail, and a couple of good sized hills on the course. This was my first time at this park and it was absolutely beautiful! I may need to go back and explore more in the future. I finished in a time of 38:38 with legs that still felt relatively fresh. I quickly made my way to the truck to get into the air conditioning, picked up some Jimmy John's for dinner, and then headed to my friends, Kelly and Susan's, house to stay the night before the Ames Triathlon the next morning. 

A beautiful sunset at the finish

Race #2 of the weekend is complete

Ames Triathlon (June 22)

I awoke early on Sunday morning, but not nearly as early as if I had slept at home. I drove the 2 miles to Ada Hayden Park and arrived just as packet pickup and transition opened. I took my time getting everything set up. It was already hot and windy, but the wind was forecast to pick up even more. I made sure that my transition was set up so that nothing would blow away once it did. I found Adam and we hung out until it was time for me to line up for the swim and him to head for the Duathlon start. 

Beautiful sunrise on a very hot and windy day

Even though the water was cold enough to be wetsuit legal for the race, I opted to go without the wetsuit because of how warm the air temperature was. Getting into the water felt great and I kept a very steady pace throughout the swim. Just as with the Quad Cities Triathlon a week earlier, I didn't expect much from the swim. I came out of the water completing the 750 meter swim in 24:21 which was faster than my time in 2023. I got through T1 in 2:06, also faster than 2023, and headed out onto a VERY windy bike course. With the wind blowing >20mph, I wasn't expecting much on the bike. I ended up finishing the 15.5 mile bike course in 55:06, more than 4 minutes faster than 2023 (which was also windy). Even though I struggled a bit on the bike, I still managed to have the 94th fastest bike split out of 225 racers. 

Heading out onto the bike course

I got through T2 in 1:36, again faster than 2023, and headed out onto the run course with very tired legs. By this time, the sun was getting fairly high in the sky and the course offered little shade. I was dripping with sweat and very uncomfortable, but just kept putting 1 foot in front of the other. I finished the run in 39:48, which was slower than 2023 but I had banked enough time that my overall time of 2:02:57 was still faster than 2023. Even though my run was slow, it was the most consistent 1 mile splits that I have ever managed in a race. 

Happy to be finished with race #3 of the weekend

Storm the Park 5k (June 28)

No heat advisories this weekend, but it was still plenty hot and humid to make things uncomfortable. I picked up Adam early enough to arrive when the gate opened around 6:30am. We picked up our packets and walked part of the race course before eventually heading into the park to the start line. The race as limited to 300 participants and 288 of those showed up on race day. The course started with a short loop through the entrance of the park before leaving the park for the first mile. We then returned to the park running south to the waterpark and then looping back past rollercoasters before finishing where we started. 

Cruising through the park

I started off fast and kept my foot on the gas for the whole race. The course turned out to be about 0.2 short, at 2.92 miles, and I finished in a time of 30:50 with an average pace of 10:33 and good enough for 97/288 overall. I was a little disappointed that the course was short but was very happy with how well I ran. 

Proud finisher

All American 4 Mile (June 29)

On Sunday morning Erin and I headed for Terra Park in Johnston for my 2nd race of the weekend. Erin decided at the last minute to sign up for the race and walk it while I ran the race. Adam was running as well. It was another hot and humid morning but I was thankful for the cloud cover. I got a 30 minute walk in to warm up my legs before lining up for the race. 

4 miles is a bit of an odd distance so I decided to pace it similar to a 5k. Similar to Storm the Park, I ran fast from the start and came through the turn around in 21:08. I tried my best to push hard through the last 2 miles but ended up slowing down significantly on mile 4 finishing in a time of 42:38. Slower than I had hoped but still good enough to finish 1st place in my age group. 

Proud of another podium finish

Adam easily won the 4 mile race. After grabbing some Kona Ice, we walked the course back until we met Erin and then tried our best to keep up with her as she cruised at an extremely fast walk through the finish line. 

It felt great to do a race with Erin again

June Wrap Up

I raced 6 times in June, brining my total races for the year to 19, already 4 more races then I've ever done in a year and I still have 6 months to go. In addition to the races, my fitness continues to improve at a fantastic rate throughout the month of June. Last week I started a new training block with a focus on reducing my 5k time. I've set a goal of running a 5k PR by the end of the year and set an interim goal of running a sub-30:00 5k at the Summer Sizzler in August. As long as I stay healthy I'm confident that I will meet that goal. 

I've taken next weekend off of racing but will return to action the week after with the Cubbie Bear 5k. I will also be racing the DSM Corporate Games 5k and the Bix 7 during the month of July.