Falling behind...Catching Up

Lazy Blogging .....
Another decent week of training in the books. Thursday was an 1 swim at lunch and a 14 mile run after work. Friday was 5 hours on the bike. Man did it get hot and I got cooked a little. Saturday was a 10 mile run. This was an attempt to back up Thursday and Friday. It went ok for about 1:15, then the heat got to me. I made an emergency stop at the dog park in Louisville on the Coal Creek trail and was able to cool off. Luckily they have a bathroom there with running water....I used the sink to soak my head and cool off some. I was ready to jump in the dog pond though. Yep, I was cooked, again. Sunday turned into a rest day. I got an hour in on the bike and then headed up to the crit in Niwot. Wow, is it cool to watch real cyclist do their thing. The Pro men and women really are a step above everyone else. Powerful, patient, deliberate. The Men raced for 75 min and the women for 60. Not sure why the difference here, but we'll let it go for now. It was great to watch the races develop. Pace changes, surges, break aways. The men were turning about 2 minute laps...and as they would come rushing around the corner I was working, the wind they were moving would be right behind them. It felt like a good 15 mph breeze they were kicking up. Impressive. Only 2 crashes during the afternoon, and niether was too bad. Fun Stuff
I'm seven weeks out from ironman and starting to freak out a little. I guess everything is actually fine. I'm averaging just shy of 11 hours/wk. The last time I had a decent ironman I barely averaged 10hrs/wk. I've got way more run time in my legs and my JRA (Just Running Along) pace is way higher than last time as well. Plus I'm running near 20 minutes for 5k...which I haven't done for years and years. My swim is feeling pretty solid as well. So really, I think I'm in better shape than for the last ironman. But...there's always a but...I also want more from this IM than the ones in the past.
Goals for the next 3 weeks:
Provide myself heaping servings of HTFU. I've run into this phrase in a bunch of blogs (CV and KW as examples) that I read and I'm thinking it's just what coach ordered.
Long rides. Get in two 5:30 + hour rides. With at least 1 one of them over 6 hours. Bonus points for more.
Race Peak all out. Start conservative in the swim, stay patient until I get to the top of Old Stage....then trust my aerobic endurance and race the rest like it's a sprint. If I blow up, so be it.
Long runs. two long runs. 2:15 and 2:30. Hydrate, stay strong, posture and cadence. HTFU
Swim. get in the pool! nothing fancy here, long pulls. Get'r done.


Kia Kaha