This is the blog of a one Ben Wilson, a Louisville, Kentucky native who enjoys baseball, beer, music, bikes, things that fly and good food. By day he pushes pixels and makes the Internet happen for a local advertising agency. His wife, Kelly is an Ironman, and his baby Amelia is the cutest thing ever.

Jul9

Muncie Endurathon this weekend!

Update: Check out my 2008 Muncie Endurathon Wrap-Up race report!

This weekend, Kelly and I will be heading up to Muncie, Indiana – and not for a soaring event like the NATS! Shocking! (I am going to the NATS for only one day this year) But back to the event at hand – the Muncie Endurathon, a half-Ironman distance race that Kelly is using as a tune-up for the full-sized Louisville Ironman. Me? I’m doing the little, tiny, itty-bitty “sprint” distance triathlon. Let’s compare, shall we?

       Half Ironman   Sprint

Swim   1.2 mi         0.3 mi

Bike  56.0 mi        12.3 mi

Run   13.1 mi         3.1 mi

Total 70.3 mi        15.7 mi

So, as you can see… Kelly is both stronger and crazier than me.

The good news is that I’ve been doing most of my swim training for an 800 meter distance (which is what the E.P. Tom Sawyer Sprint triathlon demands), and even stretching those workouts to 1600 meters. Couple that with me actually training for the bike this year on a *real* road bike that fits me. I actually rode the bike distance yesterday and averaged well over 17 MPH for the entire course, which included Dog Hill, Hogan’s Fountain and the Seneca Golf Course hill in Cherokee Park. Feelin’ good about that. And the run? Uh… well, yeah I haven’t put on my running shoes in a couple of months. I’ll be OK, though. I can do 3 miles.

The last event I did like this was last year’s E.P. Tom Sawyer triathlon, in which I placed 12th out of 13 in my age group. I did the 800m swim/14 mi bike/5k run in 1:47. The bike I did in 51 minutes or so – and it nearly killed me, adding some 3 1/2 minutes to my 5k time. That works out to be some 11 MPH average or something horrible. I should do better this time round. Also, it helps that at least at EP that the 30-34 age group is slower than the 25-29 age group. Yay.

Check out my results from last year’s EP Tom Sawyer at Headfirst Performance. (Search for Ben Wilson)

Hopefully some photos and junk this weekend!

While you’re at it, go and read Kelly’s triathlon training blog, Wanna Tri Some?. The last few posts have been really great.