Backwards....

Well, it seems I have moved from one nagging injury to another this whole year. My back has hurt all week but it is much much better today than it has been throughout the week. I am hoping tonight will be a comfortable night of sleep and a healthy feeling back in the morning. I have my last race rehearsal this weekend. Hopefully it will go well.

See you at the finish line.

Oh my aching back...

Woke up this morning with some lower back pain.....rode and ran this morning....slowly and gingerly....didn't really hurt too bad except for a few times....when I finished it really started to act up. Doing the ice and ibuprophen thing to try to get past this...whatever it might be....go away...I have no time for this.

Hopefully this is just a bit of discomfort after yesterday's long stuff.

See you at the finish line.

Three weeks to go....

Long ride today....finished with a flat....about 200 yards from the house....I was actually going to ride another 4-5 miles but the flat ended the ride....got my third new tire in two days.....I had new rubber put on the ride this week and the flat split the side of the tire....I don't know whether I hit something or not but the tri shop replaced the tire for free.....I paid for the tube.....good deal if you ask me......so it was just shy of 5 hours on the bike followed with a 30 minute run.....tomorrow is a 2 hour ride with a thirty minute run.....I have one long bike left next weekend with a brick run after and I am DONE>...I cannot believe it.....thanks to all of you for being along for the trip.....

See you at the finish line.

First Race Rehearsal Complete

Considering a corporate merger, new job at the firm, bike crash a month ago, staph infection for the last three weeks (new prescription on Friday before swim), travel last week taking me out of town and sleep cycle...enough of the excuses.....here goes:

Swim - I took it easy as I have not swam much since the bike crash (been doing the band thing) but was able to swim 3100-3400 in 1:15....missed a couple of laps on my swim but I don't know exactly how many...I was mainly shooting for the 1:15 swim. Felt great getting out of the pool. Not fast by any measure but got it done. The mental thing was much easier than I imagined.

Because of sleep deprivation I slept in a bit on Saturday morning and started the ride/run a little later than I wanted. Here are the ride stats:
Entire workout (126 watts):
Duration: 5:35:32 (5:46:52)
Work: 2536 kJ
TSS: 259.4 (intensity factor 0.681)
Norm Power: 150
VI: 1.19
Pw:HR: 22.86%
Pa:HR: 25.82%
Distance: 85.224 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 604 126 watts
Heart Rate: 81 151 133 bpm
Cadence: 31 196 74 rpm
Speed: 2.2 37.2 15.3 mph
Pace 1:37 26:49 3:56 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 1276 147 lb-in

Felt good on the ride and good getting off the bike although I think I was a little deficient in water intake....more on that below.

The run was 11:28 pace for 50 minutes resulting in 4.38 miles. That pace is a little faster than my EP but I felt fine. I was glad when I was done...

Nutrition: I think I was right on with 2.5 2 hour bottles of Infinit consumed on the bike which was about 1400 calories plus an Uncrustable at 210 calories. I also took in about 100 ounces of water - I was somewhat dehydrated when I finished and I think I was slack on water intake - I think I should have consumed about 36 ounces more water. On the run I took in about 100 calories of Infinit and 10 ounces of water. Probably needed a little more water here too.

Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated.

See you at the finish line.

Long Swim Race Rehearsal Tonight

Longest continuous swim ever for me tonight at one hour and fifteen minutes. I covered somewhere between 3100 and 3400 yards. I know I missed a lap or two but I don't know exactly how many. I now have two more long swims left before we swim in Tempe Town Lake.....

Less than a month to go.

Now it's off to rest up for a LONG ride and run brick tomorrow. Five and a half hour ride followed up with a 50 minute run. Should be an interesting Saturday morning.

See you at the finish line.

Three more long rides

I rode long on Sunday - 4 and a half hours....the sit bones were happy to get off that saddle....It was 70 miles and actually a lot of fun...I was ready to get off my bike but I really enjoyed the ride and felt good.

This weekend is my first race rehearsal. A 5.5 hour ride followed by a one hour run. That should be interesting. I am thinking it will be somewhere in the 85-90 mile range....mmmmmm.

The arm feels good. There is still a little fluid on the arm but bit by bit it seems to be getting much better. Tomorrow ends the antibiotic treatment.

The days on the calendar continue to fall away as I approach November 22....it seemed the days went by much more slowly when that timer was at 100 or 200 days....they seem to go by as minutes now instead of 24 hour periods.

The race execution plan seems to be coming together...more on this later.

See you at the finish line.

35 days....oh my

The little counter on the right is at 35 days....where did all the time go. I was in Connecticut this week for a LONG meeting. We went long and hard every day. I got a little training work in this week but not as much as I should have. No more excuses. We are getting too close. Just gotta get the work done.

The medical seems to all be cleared up finally. I have a few more days of pills to go and will diligently take the entire course. I do NOT want that stuff back...ever. But it is gone. I am looking forward to a long ride tomorrow and then next week is prep for a race rehearsal next weekend. It will be the first of two. Hopefully everything will be dialed in and work well but now is the time to find out.

The bike is going in for a tune and some new rubber this week as well so I can break it in before AZ. Most everything else is ready to roll. Let's hope so.

The anxiety begins to build.....

See you at the finish line.