The week, the race and the brick

The week was made up of 3 parts....Monday-Friday was an average training week, Saturday I did the Crazy Dicks sprint triathlon in Siesta Key and Sunday I did a 50 mile bike/4 mile run brick.

It was a 10.5 hour training week with 93 miles riding, 2400 meters swimming and 25 miles running. The race on Saturday was 1/4 mile swim, 13 mile bike and 3 mile run. The gulf was choppy and as we were about the start the swim, the first of 3 buoys was blown off course about 10-15 meters, potentially making the swim short. Unfortunately, the third(and last) buoy was blown off course even more making the swim a little longer. The bike was flat and very fast. I averaged 19.6 mph on the bike which is the fastest I've ever averaged in a race. The entire 3 mile run was on the beach so it was a little slow but overall I ran pretty good. Was a fun race.

Got up early Sunday and rode 50 miles and followed that up with a 4 mile run immediately after. Felt good on the bike and the run. Drank a little more than normal and it paid off on the run. Taking my first day off in 3 weeks and hopefully will bounce back with some strong workouts this week.

This was the last scheduled face before Steelhead on Aug. 4th. In a great position to build for the next 4 weeks before starting a taper for St. Joe.

Another good week

Thought it was going to be a shorter, easy week but felt good and made it another really good week. Able to get in 2800 yards swimming, 23 miles running and 90 biking. Highlight of the week was the sprint aquathon on Friday night at Pass A Grille beach. The whole family went and met my sister Jen and niece Olivia. Kids had a great time playing in the Gulf and I had fun running 2 miles on the beach followed by a 1/2 mile swim in some brutal surf followed by a 1 mile run to finish it off. Nothing like red lining it for 40+ minutes but overall a lot of fun. Did another 50 mile bike and 10 mile run on the weekend to top it off. Next up is another building week with a sprint tri at Crazy Dicks in Siesta Key on a Saturday and a 60 mile bike on Sunday.

Long week............heat is here

Longest training week I've ever had. 12.5 hours of swimming, biking, running and lifting. Did a 2000 meter swim and felt very good but need to add at least a 2nd weekly swim. Ran 30 miles and biked 110. 2 lifting sessions. This week will be a bit of a recovery week and I'll need it. The heat/humidity arrived with a vengeance this week. During my 10 mile run on Sunday I drank 16 oz before the run of Cattapult, 40 oz of Cytomax during the run and 30 oz of H20 and still ran out. Drank another 32 oz of Recoverite when I finished which helped me bounce back. According to the weather station down the street, it hit 81 degrees dew point during my run. Temp hit 88.

Like with my first 1/2 Ironman race, Muncie in 2002, I will not have to worry about the temps at Steelhead. After spending 2+ months training in 92+ degrees and high dew points, Michigan weather will seem cool no matter the temps.

Have the Sunset race(2 mile run, 1/2 mile swim, 1 mile run) this Friday night. Looking forward to it as it should be fun. No real goals but would like to break 8 min pace on the runs and 16 minutes on the swim. Not knowing how much of the runs are in the sand it's hard to know how realistic that is. Plus, I also plan on riding 30 miles at lunch that day so we'll see how it goes.

Here comes June

Been a tough week so far, not so much from the distances or intensity but from little down time. May went by with 2 days I didn't swim, bike, run, or lift, often doing 2 of them. Hopefully this will start to produce some results in upcoming races, most importantly my 1/2 Iron race in August. Have a 10 mile run scheduled for tomorrow morning and then will take a full day off. Well, kind of. We'll spend Saturday and Sunday walking around MGM and Epcot. So much for a day off.

People often ask why I want to do an Ironman. There is no easy or short answer. But I read this quote recently which kind of sums it up:

The Ironman is extremely demanding--It will be a supreme challenge mentally, physically, emotionally and even spiritually. At times, if you don't pay attention, it can be dangerous. Simply put...the Ironman by its very nature will test every fiber of your being. For many people, that is exactly what intrigues them, what calls to them. When you finish this journey, you will know more about yourself, and what you are capable of, then you ever thought possible.