an increase in my workload at the office, an increase in the hours
training, traveling for work, etc. etc.
That being said, it has been a productive time for me and I am excited
for this upcoming weekend during which I will have my first "real
test" of fitness this summer. I will be racing in the Munice
Endurathon ½ Ironman on Sat. and although I am nervous for it, I am
also pretty confident. I think that realistically I would like to
finish somewhere between 5 ½ - 05:45:00. That being said, ultimately
this is just another training day in pursuit of the "big day," August
30 (IMKY). This week has been fairly relaxed with the training as I
am focusing on tapering and heading into Sat. feeling 100% (I have to
be honest I am 150% sucked into the TdF right now too so it hasn't
been too bad not having long workouts at night).
Here's a quick recap of the highlights from the last several days. I
have been spending a lot of time in the pool and actually am starting
to "fall in love" with swimming all over again. My workouts have been
moving along quickly and I am continuing to maintain my fitness level.
Running has been so-so; I've had a couple of decent runs but overall
nothing impressive. On the 4th of July I celebrated with a nice
04:45:00 brick. I did about 04:15:00 on the bike and made it 80
miles. A little slower than I would have liked but I was happy since
I felt strong on the run following it. I realize now that my biggest
issue is going to be the run in each event I do this year. I peaked
WAY too early in my running fitness this year and then had a period
where I actually lost fitness… so, now, I'm slowly building back to
the level I was at. This means that I'm for sure going to be doing a
good amount of walking when it comes time for IMKY (and probably
Muncie as well). This is disappointing but in the end my goals have
ALWAYS been about finishing and losing some time on the run is a small
sacrifice to pay to make it to the finish line.
As IMKY draws nearer and nearer I'm finding myself COMPLETELY
OBSESSED. It is becoming the thing that is always in the front of my
mind, on the tip of my tongue, and haunting my dreams. I have had IM
related nightmares for nearly 2 weeks now (missing cut-off times,
getting lost on the course, taking too long in transition, etc. etc.)
and it has been difficult to put it out of my mind. In a way it was a
double edged sword for me to head down and ride the course. I gained
a lot of confidence and was able to see the fruits of my labor meaning
I felt strong on the bike, fit overall, and my nutrition plan worked
flawlessly. With all that in mind I think that I became a little
overconfident and haven't gotten as much out of my workouts since then
as I should have. I'm really looking forward to Muncie because I
think that it'll kind of snap me back into reality and whet my
appetite for some competition.
Another product of my IMKY craziness is that I am becoming extremely
focused on my 2010 plans. I think that this is an attempt (along with
obsessing about TdF, biking gear/components, all the new tri
apparel/toys, etc. etc.) to keep my mind occupied for the most part.
At this point I am thinking about the following and trying to
determine what will work out/be realistic:
• IMLP (Lake Placid is said to be one of the toughest IM courses in
the States, if not the toughest. A great test of fitness… something
that I would REALLY like to do. One of the most appealing things to
me is that it is a mid-season IM so you don't have to wait until the
end of summer. The downside… it's nearly impossible to get into so
unless I somehow get lucky and it doesn't sell out this weekend I may
be SOL)
• IM 70.3 St. Croix (All I have to say is… THE BEAST. Possibly the
toughest 70.3 out there and most certainly in the top 3 in terms of
difficult bike courses. Biggest benefit, it's in St. Croix and early
in the year.)
• Rev3 Cedar Point 140.6 (Right around the corner (relatively
speaking) from home and I've only heard good things about the
inaugural Rev3 race in Connecticut. It's at the end of the season so
there is a lot of waiting…)
• Michigan Bike Racing Association races (I'm definitely going to
focus on the bike next summer… the question is how much. I'm not
exactly sure which races I'll focus on but find the opportunity very
appealing/interesting. I want to see how far I can take myself if I
were to focus on just 1 of the 3-D)
So… there's a lot to think about. We'll see how it all shakes out.
Obviously the main focus right now is on Louisville and August 30.
Send me a word or two of encouragement if you wish… or just wish me
luck in your head. I'll take all the help I can get!
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