Training is on track.......Feeling Good!

It's been a while since my last posting. A lot has happened over the past few weeks. My little Frankie dog died - a huge bummer. Frances and Oliver are more than making up for his mischievous behavior though. On a positive front, the training for IM Lanzarote has actually been going quite well. Two week ago Will, Kathy, Josh and I travelled to New Orleans for the 70.3 - which was a lot of fun - a flat fast course.

IM NO 70.3 began in Lake Ponchatrain - kind of a murky - but very large lake - looked actually like one of the great lakes from the shore line. The morning of the race was windy and it only got windy as the morning progressed. Kathy and I started almost 1 hour before Will and Josh due to our age group wave start. The water was pretty rough - guessing at least 2 foot white cap/swells that slapped us in the face and wreaked havoc on our ability to sight well. Took in a bunch of water - yuk. After Katrina they would find bodies floating in this lake - not cool. In any event, made it out of the water in 40 minutes - a familiar time - i didn't push it hard and could've knocked a couple of minutes off of the swim - which I would later regret.

The bike was a flat fast course, but for the head winds on the first half of the ride. With every head wind there is alway a tail (almost), and on this day we got a really nice tail wind. Finished the bike in about 2:32 averaging almost 22MPH. No mechanical issues. HR averaged 121-122 BPM - why is that important? Because your body can digest nutrients, less lactic acid build up in muscles and energy is conserved for the run at below 130 BPM - if higher it all backs up in your stomach and your cooked when you get off of the bike. Not certain why everyone doesn't use a HR monitor.

The run was flat and hot. Temps were in the 80's with sun. I didn't feel great coming off of the bike for the first several miles on the run. I've been testing out a new Hammer product "Sustained Energy" and "Heed" combination which I had not fully tested at any competition. I was able to work thru some initial GI issues and then was able to nail the run - running a 1:39 half marathon - that's a 7:38 mile. But not good enough to bag a sub 5 hour performance. Total time 5:02 - a PR for the 70.3 distance. I know that I can go sub 5 hours now.

Yesterday, the four of us rode the 3 Mountain - 3 State course starting in Chattanooga. A very challenging ride - a very beautiful ride thru the mountains and country side. of TN, Alabama and Georgia. Some wild descents and aggressive ascents. Finished the 100 mile ride in 5:45 after stopping twice to get water, go to the bathroom and once to fix my seat that slipped as well as having to tighten my left arm rest. Time adjusted was more like a 5:30. The issue with this time is that my average HR was 124 BPM - which would appear good but I spent 2:06 in the 133-152 HR zone - averaging 137BPM. If this happens in Lanzarote, I'm going to struggle on the back half of the run. So the moral to the story is - don't be as aggressive on the bike and save it for the run - as it's going to be a long day in the wind and sun on the isle of Lanzarote.

I have a 15 mile run today - nothing crazy - just want to keep my HR in the 130-135 zone - for a solid work out. Then from there on out it's a nice taper - swimming as much as possible, great nutrition, no alcohol, light rides and runs - relatively speaking. Feeling pretty prepared. Weight is around 176 in the am and 179 in the pm - this is where I need to be - too light was a problem in Australia.

That's all for now.

Cheers