Race Week

Long time since last post and all I can say is that Ironman training schedule combined with 2 jobs hit a peak a week or so ago. Luckily for me I have discovered Base performance supplements which have been a saving grace in keeping me fresh for all my workouts and the long hot work days ahead. Another great tool is putting on the compression socks nightly for a couple hours to get the legs fresh and ready to absorb a good nights sleep. Like I have said in previous posts, rest and recovery is the key to Ironman. If you are not able to put the miles in then it is gonna be a really long day. And let's face it from what I hear even for the best trained athletes it is gonna be a really long day.

So it is the Tuesday before Lake Placid and the excitement is building. Well the excitement and the ever present thoughts of "Am I tapering too much?" or "I have ridden my bike in 3 days". I will say having a coach whom has an outstanding track record with Ironman athletes is a great relief and allows me to relax and not have to question the plan. So the final taper is in full swing and consists of a 60 min swim each day until Friday and two short runs with some short bursts thrown in to build confidence. Friday will be a short swim and a quick EASY empahsises on EASY spin on the bike to keep legs loose. Saturday is a complete rest day and Sunday at Sun up is go time. Amy and I are leaving Friday morning for LP, we will head over to race registration and then back out to Wilmington where we are staying and I will do my easy workout. From their all that's left is to check the bike in on Saturday and wait, and wait, and wait. If you can't tell I am dreading the waiting part but hopefully all that will do is keep my fired up to unleash hell on Sunday.

Looking back at the log book for this year, from January 1st till now I have logged 150,000 yds in the pool (85.2 miles), 2700 miles of cycling and just shy of 700 miles running. What this tells me is that I am ready, without a doubt in my mind I have done the efforts, I have logged the miles, and I will go into the race injury free. I am in a great place leading up to the biggest race of my life and I feel confident that I can exceed even my own expectations. The weather reports are trickling in and it looks like a chance of rain (rains everyday there it seems) and a fairly hot day with some humidity. Without question the biggest key to my race and that of everyone else will be how we handle fluid intake and nutrition. Being out on the course in the heat for 11+ hours is going to require meticulus attention to the fueling plan. My plan has been locked in since June and I have practiced it in every training session since then.

These are the things that should make the difference come race day: A proper taper, come in injury free, know and have in place a solid nutrition plan, having done the amount of miles required to be fit and ready to race. So with that I am going under the radar until Sunday night. At that time I hope to call my self an Ironman, celebrate with a few beers and a bunch of new friends and we can swap war stories until the magical hour of midnight when the last finsishers will cross the line. Hell worst case for most of us is that we are pushing that 17 hour cut off and that would be ok too, because wether you finish in 8 hours ( avg pro times) or 17 hours you get the same medal around your neck and get to call yourself an Ironman. So I am off to rest up, do some laps in the pools, eat healthy and try not to do anything too crazy between now and then.

To follow the race and keep an eye on me go to Ironman.com on Sunday July 24th at 7pm and type in my last name under the athlete tracker tab or my race #1038. Thanks and stay tuned for what I am sure will be a in depth post race report.