Eleven days! Taper taper taper!

It is down to the wire. Less than two weeks of training until race day. Instead of 15 to 20 hours of training every week, a cycle that began about ten months ago, the next two weeks will include approximately 15 hours, less frequency but with good intensity. My program is divided between shorter bursts of training and lots of rest in between. This week includes three full swim sessions, about 4 hours of biking, and 3 hours running. The following week includes 2 swims, 3 short bike sessions, and 3 runs. This of course is just the lead up to the final day, Saturday Oct. 8, which should be a very long day.

In addition to training I'll be organizing my gear for the trip. Planning on boxing up the bike at Snohomish Bicycle on Wednesday. I've got a ride to the airport arranged but have yet to get one home when we get back. We decided to skip the car rental since most of our friends and family will have cars. Not sure how we will actually get all our gear from the airport in Kona but have faith that everything will be fine. Just to drop a word here, between my own meditations each morning and Maureen's constant reminder, faith is what has brought us here, and faith will see us through. Lots of details as I start stacking piles of supplies and clothes for the trip, still need to be resolved. I've got a plan and a good checklist so everything should be fine.

This coming Saturday is our travel day. I will be glad when we arrive and all our gear is off the plane. Once on the ground in Kona I think any issues we might have we will be able to deal with. I know I will be more relaxed there focusing on the race. We've been to Kona this time of year and it is usually very relaxed and the weather is good. Our family and friends will be arriving at different times but by Friday we will all be together for the big day. As I get closer and closer to the race I will probably become less social but will try to let the celebration of the event keep me positive. I'm sure race weekend with all the competitors, friends, family, and other visitors, will be crazy around town. Kona is not very big and the numbers of visitors will make it seem even smaller.

Anyone who wants to follow the progress of the race can do so on the Ironman site. There is live video and you can follow everyone on the athlete tracker. During the day it will list times as the athlete completes checkpoints during the race. Also in the later part of the race long after all the pros and highly capable racers have finished, the finish line is broadcast live so you can see all the finishers cross the line. I'm hoping to be done around 10:30 HST. This will be after a day that will start around 3:00 a.m. with breakfast; 4:45 in the body marking line, then get the bike ready in transition; line up to get into the water around 6:00, it is a deep water start about 40 yards from shore;then at 7:00 a.m. the cannon goes off and the race is on.

I've been asked about goals for the race and as you can imagine I have visualized the race daily it seems for months and as I have trained attempted to develop time goals for each part of the day. What follows is my best guess for each segment, that is without any kind of mishap either human, mechanical or environmental. I feel very comfortable in the ocean swim, I have the patience for the bike which will be long, and hope to have the mental courage at the end of the day to run the longest distance of my life. These benchmarks do not include time in transition. There are also time cutoffs for each part which if not met eliminate you from completion of the race. Cutoffs from 7:00 a.m.: swim 2:20, bike 10:30, and complete the race before 17 hours total.

Swim: 2.4 miles 1:30; bike 102 miles 6:30-7:00; run 26.2 miles 6:30. These are my most generous estimates.

If by some chance I end up on the video slated to air in December, I'll be wearing my Snohomish red kit from the Snohomish Bicycle Shop. In addition to Martin and Brian who have helped me with all kinds of real support and encouragement, everyone on my tri-team, all of my Monroe Family Y team supporters, all my friends and family, the SCC family, Head 2 Toe Chiropractic, Jason and Bob my riding partners for the last month, I will be thinking of you all everyday from here on out. There is no possible way I could be contemplating this with out all of you.

Training summary for the last week:  swim 5.4 miles 3:45; bike 75 miles 5:30; run 14.25 miles 3:05. Total miles 94.6, total time 12:20, plus 3 hours with chiropractor, trainer, and Pilate's trainer.

For the next two weeks I intend to focus on my training, rest when I can, stay healthy mentally and physically, and maintain a positive attitude. In case you haven't heard me say this before, God has placed this desire on my heart and I am grateful for it. So till the next post, a hui hou, see you on the road.

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17 days to Kona

The photo is my finisher picture courtesy of Budu Racing from last weeks olympic tri.

Starting to pull down on the training volume. Last week was a long week and I look forward to the reduction in my training hours. I was able to come back after the Lake Stevens Tri and got most of my scheduled workouts done. Dr. Annie is working on the deep tissue issues, Brittany is helping with my glutes, flex, balance, and Heather is challenging me on the reformer.

Training summary from last week: swim 5.75 mi. 4:05; bike 103 mi. (80 miles on Friday) 7:05; run 23 mi. (16.25 at Lake Tye with my nutrition table set up to practice fueling and fluids); 3 hours with specialists. Total active training 131.75 mi., 16:20, total time for the week 19:20.

I am now starting the beginning of this training week. Scheduled 3 hours swim, about 6:45 on the bike including one long 4 hour session, and 4:45 in the run. On the short run days I am including elliptical and treadmill sessions.

This week I'll start organizing my bags for Kona. I need to get Brian and Martin the bike shop to coach me up on packing my bike for shipping and putting it back together again. This week and the next will be one for anxiety as I am sure that I will begin to second guess my training and worry about all the details as I get organized to leave. With only 10 days left at home and so many things that I can't control, who knows how the week will go. I got some help today at the pool on my stroke so I still have a few more sessions to fine tune that.

The next 10 days will be active. A hui hou, I'll see you on the road.

Last peak week, 24 days to Kona IM.

Finished the Lake Stevens Olympic Triathlon last Saturday. This is my last week to build, then peak weeks until race day. To say that I am getting anxious is an understatement. But I stay focused on the training plan and enjoy my opportunities to be with team  and friends who continue to inspire me. I was thinking just this morning as I cranked out my 3600 yards in the pool how amazing this journey has been. The training is often done alone but you are really never by yourself because there are so many people I have contact with daily who are supporting me with their energy. It is a long and lonely road but along the way there are so many friends and supporters. I am so grateful.

This season I have completed six events: Mercer Island half marathon, Issaquah Sprint Tri, Boise Ironman 70.3, Leavenworth Century, Whiskey Dick Olympic Tri, and the Lake Stevens Olympic Tri. I've been training on average 12 hours a week, sometimes a lot more. and an average 100 miles per week. At Lake Stevens I hoped to finish around 3 hours and ended up with a finish time of 3:33. My swim time was about as expected just under 40 minutes. I felt really good about my bike averaging 15.7 for 25 miles. My run averaged 11:41 per mile. Transitions were great. So overall I was pleased. I'd like to be faster but maybe that will come in the future. I even finished 2nd in my age group, and there were more than 3 people in my group. As a side note, I had set my Garmin for multi-sport to time the different segments of the race, but I didn't start it in the correct mode so I didn't get the readings I wanted during the race other than the overall time elapsed. I had to go through the whole race by feel and with the bike and run phases, I actually went faster than I thought.

I am still getting treatments from Dr. Annie and trainer Brittany (sp) along with Heather who works me on the pilates reformer. Getting better core strength, balance, activating my glutes, and deep tissue damage reversed. I am confident that this is adding to my performance. My diet the last two weeks has been more in line with my calorie output, somewhere in the neighborhood of 2500 to 3000 per day. Good energy levels, and getting good sleep. In theory, I am improving as I travel the road to Kona. I'm still going through occasional blahs but overall things are looking good.

Training this week includes 3 hours in the pool, almost 10 on the bike, and just under 7 hours running. This is the last high volume week then taper down.

Looks like I'll have plenty of family and friends traveling to the race. Just ran into a former student who goes to Waikaloa with her husband each year so I be looking for Julie and Rhett along the road during the bke. Support from Brian and Martin at Snohomish Bicycle has been amazing. Martin and family will be there to cheer me on and make sure my bike setup on race day is excellent.

That is all for now. Thanks for reading. From IM remember, anything is possible, finish what you started, Ko Aloha La Ea (keep your love). A hui hou, I'll see you on the road.