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.