T-minus 72 hours

First triathlon of the season coming up in three days. As I right this the only workouts I have missed have been two swims since February 1st. All the bikes and runs have been accounted for and no injuries to report. Last week did my first century in a little over 5 hours and had little to no soreness or fatigue the next day.

My age group goes off at 7 am Sunday morning into Lake Quasipaug in Middlebury, CT. To say I am excited is an understatement. The only downside to this trip is that I am going it alone. Very rare that the wife has to miss one of my races but this is one of those times. As with all the training and racing that goes into being an Ironman, sacrifices have to be made and you can't let them constantly affect those around you. That has been one of the toughest things about this journey but also the most satisfying. When I can look back and say I trained for an Ironman while working two jobs and maintaining a fairly normal social life that is what I will be most proud of. This is one of those races that is a just tuneup for the big one in July, of which alot of sacrifices have been made on her part. So with that the decision was made I would head down alone. Normally I would not like this at all, as I always love the calming influence that she brings but I have done this race before and there should be no surprises.

All the training miles are in the bank and now I am off to get all the gear prepped and laid out. I always like to create a list of everything I will need and check it not once but at least twice. This avoids any race day disasters and lets me sleep very comfortably the night before a race knowing that everything is taken care off. As with a lot of HIM's bike drop off is the day before and that really is a great feature knowing that all I have to do Sunday morning is top off the tires, load up the water bottles and put on a wetsuit.

As for goals for this race I have no expectations. Last year it was my first HIM ever and I learned alot but also was able to knock off 30 mins in my two subsequent HIM's. My training schedule has a 2 hour bike the next day (Monday) and I did just do a century less than 10 days out so to have high hopes would be foolish. However I will not be mailing this one in. This race is a dress rehearsal for the big day in 7 weeks and I hope to do really well while not going into the hurt box at any point. I would be very happy with a sub 40 min swim, sub 3 hour bike and a 1:45 run. Add it all up, throw in transitions and anything in the 5:30 range would be awesome. Bottom line is my goals for this season revolve solely around Lake Placid.