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First off I’m not sure where to start ranting…  So I’ll start with the good news:

Training is coming together.  After having smashing bike rides out here in the desert, some really good runs coming along over the past days, I had a solid swim yesterday.  So its all coming together.  Of course realizing that made me too nervous to sleep well last night.  (more…)

Well, I couldn’t really see spending lots and lots of time here, but it’s perfect for the training I’m doing now. Hot and dry, perfect weather.  Though there isn’t a lot of variety with the roads, for the 3 weeks I’ll be here, the stunning scenery of Red Rock won’t wear off before then.

Last year on my birthday it was my first ‘triathlon training day’.  I did a 1km swim, really slowly, followed by a 50km bike.  It was hard.  I lost 8 minutes to the Dudette in the swim.  Today to ‘re-celebrate my birthday I’ll swim 1h15, bike 2h30, and run an hour.  Mostly tempo/ race pace.  The other funny thing is that this will be a light training day compared to some of the others. (more…)

Though you may not be familiar with the Josh, make no mistake, it is the 2nd largest Canoe Triathlon on the Continent, as well as being the World Josh Championships, and the pinnacle event of the Berkshire Olympics.  I have competed in the cycling leg when I could since 2002, and won it in 2005 (the bike portion) but this year I am back in the two person division with canoe paddler Mark Peters. (more…)

Knuckey and I awoke at 4am.  Played Ozzie ‘I am Ironman’ on the laptop, ate oatmeal, and drove to the venue.  Dropped off the last of our 4 gear bags.  Put water bottles on our bikes, used the WC for the 6th and 4th times respectively.  Trudged down to the water to start putting on our wetsuits.  There are people everywhere, but I don’t really see them, or talk to them.  I’m on my schedule, and focused.  In the water warming up.  Away from everyone else so I don’t bang heads.  pros start, 10 minutes for me, I go to the start line, get to the front, where the line is shortest.  The people on one side keep pushing forward… (more…)

So this is it. I am in Wisconsin, and IM is starting a day and 8h away. I’m nervous, and blogging.

My plan initially is 55-57min swim (thanks 2XU V:1 Wetsuit), 4h40-4h45min bike (thanks Specialized Transition), and 3h to 3h05min marathon (shoe sponsor would be nice). Add 6 or 7 minutes for Transitions, and I could very well win the thing with a 8:50 - 8:55 IM debut. Or maybe I will have more respect for the bike course the Pro Field and IronMan in general when the dust settles.

Of course Kona has been my goal all year, and this close to the race going ‘balls out’ for 9h ish could cause some damage. (more…)