Internal Mono(b)log

Well today was the last pre-race day.

I ran a bit of the course into the finish line, where I got a cheer from some folks who were there hanging out.

Got my bike racked

Scoped out the swim exit

and entry to transition

(see it?  WAAAAY down there?)

And generally tried to take it easy and stay off my feet.

Have all my nutrition mixed or bagged for the morning, my Garmin 910 is set to alert me at the race-plan thresholds that Ian and I have set. My kit is all packed, my clothes for morning are laid out and I’m good to go.

Right now, it’s 7:30, I’m just finishing up dinner and this blog post then to bed.  Have 3 alarms set 3:15, :30, and :45 (just in case).  Shuttles start at 4am.  So I’m going to cut this short.

Thanks to everyone who’s wished me well for tomorrow.  It’s going to be a great day and I’m gonna have fun no matter what.  Think tailwinds and other fast thoughts for me.  I’ll post a race review, probably on Monday.

Special thanks to:

• Kim for dealing with all my training, dietary and gadget requirements over the lead up to this and other events.
• Ian for his great council and guidance getting here
• My folks and especially my Dad, who’s strength and determination getting through his bout with GBS is an inspiration to me
• First Endurance for their nutrition support
• Blacksmith Cycles for their sponsorship and the loan of these super-slick Madfibre wheels
• and, Richard and Jamuna Burry for being such awesome, and generous hosts here in Panama

Shin is better than it has been, but not 100%.  I have advil and alieve and have mentally prepared myself to feel it.  Sunday night it’ll be angry with me, but it’ll get rest soon. 🙂

Can’t guarantee much except that I’ll leave everything on the course and have fun doing it.

Follow progress on IronmanLive: http://ironmanlive.com/updates.php?race=panama70.3&year=2012

Cya on the flip side!  G’night 😉

Today I move from Richard and Jamuna’s place in Playa Coronado (quiet, peaceful, country/suburban feeling) to the Ironman Village near the Amador Causeway in Panama City (frantic, noisy, distracting, downtown).  In some aspects I’m looking forward to being in the thick of it, but in others I know I’m going to miss this tranquil little haven I’ve called home for the last 10 days.  Happily I’ll be back for a few days before I depart to stretch, recover and decompress before the rigours of a long travel day back to wintery Toronto.

In preparation, yesterday I had to pickup all my race day stuff and in-so-doing had to basically do my race day kit assembly then.  So here it is all laid out and ready to be packed.

At the top is my Tyr transition bag and yoga/transition mat.  Then we have

Swim:

• 2 sets of goggles
• anti-fog
• ear plugs
• Tyr carbon tri-top and tri-shorts
• Tyr Torque Pro Speedsuit
• (also visible are my sunglasses case and the bags that I keep my Garmin 310xt and 910xt in – 310’s a backup)

Bike:

• aero helmet
• training helmet with cam mount
• shoes
• compression calf sleeves
• cooling compression arm sleeves
• race bib holder (and a backup)

Run:

• Mizuno wave elixir 6 (racing flat)
• Mizuno wave nexus 5 (training shoe)
• 2 pairs of socks
• White mesh baseball hat
• Headsweats visor
• Fuelbelt with 2 flask holders for EFS liquid shot

Other stuff:

• something from Kim to open after the race
• compression leggings
• mp3 player with Yurbuds
• Sugoi 2 piece tri-suit (just in case)
• Craft Kona Tri Top w/Ice Pockets
• chamois cream
• mini towel

And then there’s the nutrition and “other other stuff” pile:

• laptop
• mini cooler
• water bottles/flasks/shaker bottle
• EFS Ultragen (for after)
• EFS Liquid Shot
• EFS Pre-race powder and tabs
• EFS sport drink (grape)
• bag with hornet juice and chia chargers
• some quick-adjustment tools (for anything serious I’ll visit the mechanics)
• some rocktane gels for just before and after the swim
• my trigger point stretching stuff
• some street clothes for post-race, saturday, etc.
• a bike lock, not that I expect to use it, but if I don’t have it, then I don’t have the option

The only 3 things not in the pictures that are coming are:

• me
• the bike and a change up for the rear wheel (planning disc, but will see)
• a pump

Wow, getting to the big day so quickly.  Today’s training was just a 30 minute light run to keep the legs moving and more mental prep/visualization.  I also have to pack today because tomorrow I move from Richard and Jamuna’s place in Playa Coronado where I’ve been since I got here on the 1st, to Panama City and the Ironman Village.  The biggest challenge from Friday onward will be sticking to my plan and not getting pulled into the hype and hysteria in the village.  I anticipate a lot of time solo, in my room, with the lights dimmed and chill music playing. 😉

Tomorrow is also carb loading day.  I like to do this on the day 2 days from the race, not the night before.  The night before I find that I’m frequently just too heavy feeling heading into the race.  2 days gives your body time to digest and synthesize as much glycogen as possible and refill those muscles.

Normally, I try to maintain at a daily 500 calorie deficit which, to me, represents a bit of a slush fund because I don’t weigh and track everything.  It probably really reflects 100-200 calories of deficit/day.  Yesterday and today, I aim to eat to a zero deficit or perhaps a small surplus.  I drop my dietary fibre intake from it’s normal 70+g/day but keep my diet essentially the same.  In fact, other than dropping the fibre intake and any spicy/challenging foods, I don’t change my dietary constraints heading into race day _at_all_.   This follows my Coach Approved “don’t change anything” philosophy.  Much as you may want to try the super tasty food from the street vendor, this is not the time!

There’s been a lot written about carb loading.  A couple of recent articles that I really like are this sweatscience.com article and this one in the Globe and Mail.  In general, there’s little doubt that carb loading works and recent studies seem to imply that between 7 and 10 grams per kilogram of body weight is the right amount.

Given that, my aim for Friday will be to get 500-720g of carbs into me, along with my usual 150g protein.  With a little good fat in the mix, and my super reduced activity level due to the taper,  this will be a definite calorie surplus day. That’s ok though: It’s not like I’m not going to need it and burn it off in a couple of days 🙂

For me, since I don’t eat grains (bread, pasta, rice, etc.) the carbs will be in the form of sweet potatoes, fruit, veg, coconut water, and likely some sport drink to bring the total grams of carbs up and add some electrolytes to the mix.

The taper is in full swing starting today.  My only workout today an easy swim, my last swim until Sunday.  Tomorrow is an easy run and carb loading day.

Today and tomorrow, and in general for the next few days, as my physical training drops off, my mental training comes to the fore.  A small part of this is being “good” and following my taper plan, consciously staying off my feet, keeping my pre-race excitement in check, and stretching regularly.  Yes, these are part of mental conditioning, and important, but the mental preparedness that I’m talking about is the race visualization, and answering all the “what if’s?”.

The “What If’s?” can really wobble your confidence and prep.  What if I panic in the swim? What if I drink too much salt water? What if I get a puncture? What if my bike breaks?  What if… what IF… WHAT IF?!

At this point in training you’ve done all you can. You’re at the best you can be and no amount of training cramming at the last moment will change anything.   All that is in your control has been assessed and addressed.  All that’s left is mental discipline and the chance for bad luck.

Mental discipline keeps you to your plan.  Sure race the race, but do it smartly, by your plan!  Don’t have a race plan?  Really?!  Now isn’t really the time to formulate one, but if you have to look back at your training logs.  Understand what pace/effort you can maintain for this duration event.  Don’t plan to burn your candle entirely on the bike, leaving nothing for the run.  On the day, you need to fight the excitement of the day, and race your plan.

Prior to race day, there are a number of things you should do to support later visualization exerciese.

• Eyeball the swim (swim it if you can), and especially the swim exit and T1 transition.  Are there any gotchas? Anything you need to keep in mind?  Landmarks to use for the swim.
• Drive or ride the bike route, make mental notes of distances, challenging hills, obstacles, etc.  Pre-riding the course is super-valuable if you can manage it.  Try to enter T2 as you would on the bike so you know what it looks like and where it is.
• Scope out T2, especially where the run exit is and again, if possible, walk or run out the exit as you will on race day.
• Run or drive the bike course with the same thoughts in mind: obstacles, landmarks, challenges and rewards in mind.
• Finally return to the finish and enter is as you will as a runner.  Know where it is, what the configuration is and lock the image in your head.

You’ll use all this legwork in pre-race visualizations.

Visualization is powerful you see the race in it’s perfect state.  Mentally rehearse every step you’ll go through, leave no detail out.  This is your only chance to “practice the race”.  See yourself swimming strong, see your stroke, your alignment in the water, breathing properly, good body position, etc..  Visualize the steps you’ll go through as you exit the swim and in T1.   Visualize yourself pacing yourself properly according to your race plan, taking on nutrition, drinking, visiting aide stations smoothly.  See yourself handing the challenging parts of the course with a smile and enjoying the rewarding parts with a laugh.  Visualize entering T2 on your schedule.  See yourself moving through T2 and out on the run.  Again on the run, see yourself running strong.  Good posture, good fuelling.  Strong through the challenges, resting during the rewards.  Finally, see yourself finishing, at your goal time and allow yourself to feel the joy of the day.

So visualization exercises allow you to experience the perfect day, to examine each detail and to visually practice the race.  Mental preparedness is the other side of the coin: preparedness answers the “what if’s?”

It’s completely normal to have stray distressing and distracting thoughts come through your head as race day approaches.  “What if I puncture?”, “What if I bonk?”, etc.

Some of these are addressed by your mental discipline and visualization: you won’t bonk because you’re going to follow your proven nutrition strategy using race-day nutrition you’ve tested and used in training.

Some of these are addressed by mental preparedness:  “What if I puncture?”  Simple, I’ll get off the bike and fix it. I have a spare and co2 and know how to use them both.  Sure, odds are good that my PR is gone, but I’ll finish what I’ve started.

And finally, some thoughts, are just so “out there” that you just need to laugh at them and put them aside. “What if my bike breaks?”, “What if I crash and am injured and unable to continue?”, etc. These are in the category of: “this is so unlikely I’m not going to worry about it and if it happens I’ll deal with it then”.

Yes, luck plays a part in long-course racing, not so much the good type – but certainly the bad can be there.  Broken cables, crashes, broken bikes, broken athletes.  The opportunity for bad luck definitely exists, but dwelling on it pre-race is not helpful or useful, so just put it aside.

Sorry this post has been a bit long.  The mental game of triathlon is super important.  I think many people don’t give it the time that it needs.   If you aren’t mentally prepared, all the physical training you have under your belt will melt away at the 1st challenge.

Good luck out there!

Today I ran the Tr3max.com Pre 70.3 10k race:

I didn’t “race” but rather just ran, partly to get a feel for part of the 70.3’s run course, partly to get a better sense of the heat and humidity that we may experience next Sunday, and partly just because it was there and I was here 😉

It was some hot alright. Fortunately there were 4 aide stations on the 10k run and I used every one of them!  I started the course without my compression calves on – this was a mistake that I remedied before the 1st KM was run.

The course is generally flat, as expected.  The event was small, but really quite well organized: time chips, aide stations, bananas and pineapple at the finish, finisher’s medals, and even an awards ceremony at the end.  Pretty amazing for $15!

Well done Tr3max!

After the run, I did some shopping at Albrook mall, then headed back with Jamuna to Coronado.  Had some dinner and did an easy 1hr swim (too soon after dinner, but was ok).

Tired now.  Bedtime 😉

My 1st ever real trail run.  Certainly my 1st 1/2 Marathon trail run…

Read more… »

Wow! What a beautiful day!! Really couldn’t have asked for or even conceived of better weather for this race.  Was a little cool in the morning, prob around 10C, but the high in the afternoon was only 21C, there was an occasional light breeze and the sky, for the most part, was 100% clear.  Amazing!

My goal for the race, being my 1st 70.3 was “Sub 6 hours”, with a stretch goal in the back of my head of a target of 5:30.  I kinda knew I wouldn’t do 5:30 (< 30 minute swim, < 3 hr bike, < 2 hr run, + t1 and t2), but it’s good to have a stretch goal and in fact, looking at my bike and run splits, I wasn’t far off…  Anyhow to the numbers:

31 of 115 in my age group I’m happy with.  Definitely pulled my socks up on the bike (and could’ve gone harder, but not sure what that would have done to my run), and held my position on the run (which is good because I frequently lose ground on the run).

The Lead-Up

I managed to get a room in Huntsville with a fridge and microwave, unfortunately it was also on the 2nd floor of a walk-up.  Not terrible if you have a suitcase, but when you have a bike, toolbox, bike-stand, food, transition bag, clothes, and other misc stuff it makes for a lot of stair climbing/descending.  (Note to self: In future request ground floor accommodations with fridge and microwave when booking.)   That aside, the ComfortInn in Huntsville was pretty nice and accommodating.  It is right next door to the Metro, so grocery shopping was a breeze and having the fridge and ‘wave meant that my diet wouldn’t need to change at all while I was in Huntsville, which is so awesome.

I did a light run on Friday and a light ride and swim on Saturday, just to keep things moving and to let off a little pre-race steam (but not too much).  I also found myself very much “in my head” – thinking about the race, keeping my excitement in check, planning, checking, rechecking.  Unfortunately, I think that Marcio and Antoni both were kinda looking forward to hanging out and I really just needed space: I hope I didn’t offend them, but it didn’t occur to me what was going on with me on Saturday, until after the race on Sunday.  Oh well, I’m sure they get it – everyone has their own pre-race way of dealing with things.  Marcio bounces off the walls, I get quiet and contemplative 😉

Saturday night I ate dinner early, at my evening snack early, had the TV off and was just reading/surfing with the room lights off.  By 8pm, my body sensing the low light and low stimulus was telling me it could sleep, so setting my alarms for 4:30am, that’s exactly what I did.  I woke at midnight and at 2am, each time, went to the bathroom, had something to drink and ate a banana and went back to sleep.  At 4:15, when my 1st (subtle) alarm went off, I woke, had 2 cups of double-espresso, a bowl of cereal on cottage cheese, 2 bananas and a tablespoon of peanut butter.   “Nature called” and my morning ritual was complete.  All systems were go.  I loaded my bike/run liquid nutrition and an icepack into a cooler and headed over to the race site (stopping at Tim Horton’s for another coffee).

Race-Day Prep

Arriving at the Deerhurst airstrip (where parking was for those offsite) at 5:30, everything was already in full-swing: multiple shuttle busses, generator powered lights bringing near-daylight to the space, cutting through the morning haze. Magical!  Still, surprisingly, no butterflies, excitement in check, all good.  I load myself and my gear into a shuttle and soon we’re off to Deerhurst.

At Deerhurst, it’s much like every other race: music playing, announcer announcing, people helping you  find where you need to be. I make my way to my bike and start setting up my transition area.  I’d acquired one of the best rack spots the day before (beside a light stand, at the end of a row, facing the bike exit) and so I had ample space to setup my transition area.  Everything went great, I had all the gear I needed, I put my computer on my bike, stowed the fuelbottles (2 clean-bottles [which I absolutely love] each filled with 4 scoops Carbo-pro, 3 scoops EFS sport drink and 1 pack Hornet Juice [800 calories]), filled the water bottle.  Got numbered, went pee, put on my wetsuit (Note to self: need to remember body glide to make wetsuit removal easier) and headed down to the water start line arriving there just as the Elites and Pros gun sounded.  Perfect, only 30 minutes to kill until my wave starts.  2 Rocktane gels down the hatch and I’m loaded for bear!

The Race: Swim

Entering the water, I saw something interesting bobbing at the waterline.  I wish I’d had a camera, because raising my arm under it I gained the passenger of a 2″ long baby snapping turtle.  Very cute and I felt a good open for the day.  After showing him to a few people, I put him back into the water and did a few minutes of warmup swimming as the previous waves got underway.    As the wave ahead of us was sent off, I did my visualization and breathing exercises, reminding myself to swim my swim, breathe, rotate, use the full stroke, and reach with my core (thanks Doug).  I’d set my Garmin 310XT to multisport mode and in the swim setting, I’d set it to alert every 10 minutes.  I expected the swim to take 40 minutes (knowing my pace), and was hoping to push a bit to get closer to 30, but we’d see what we saw.  The final countdown 15 seconds… 10 (I start my watch)… 5…4…3…2..1 and we’re off!

I found myself near the front of the wave at the start, quite by accident, but it seemed ok!   I got bumped a few times, but generally seemed to have space to swim, wasn’t biting anyone’s toes or having anyone bash my feet.  My sighting was good and my lines straight. Buzzzt! Went my watch – 10 minutes down.  Nice.  Feeling good, feeling strong.  10 minutes later: Buzzt again.  I’m happy, I’m very near (perhaps past, not sure) the 1/2 way mark (Note to self: know where 1/2 way is on the swim so I can pace a -ve split in the future), still feeling good and strong.  Buzzt! 30 minutes down, I can see the finish, swimming feels meditative, I pickup the pace a bit. Buzzt! 40minutes: I’m literally wading through the muck trying to get to the stairs.  Couldn’t have estimated that any closer, definitely need to improve that swim split, but not at the expense of the other 2 sports.

There are people at the swim exit helping strip suits, but I run past deciding it’d be better to generate some body heat on the way to the bike and I’m used to part-stripping the suit as I run anyhow so why take the time?  The run to the bike is longish – they say 300m, I think it’s more like 500m, but it felt more like 1000m 🙂  It’s mostly uphill and some is on (now wet and muddy) grass.  At one point I nearly take a tumble, but recover and make it to the bike safely.

The Race: Bike

My T1 is pretty good, the elastics holding my shoes decided to let go early (not sure why, didn’t spend time to figure it out), which probably delayed me 30 seconds as I tried to figure out what to do.  Decision: “nothing, get the bike and go” – winning choice to be sure.  Suit off, helmet and sunglasses on, and I’m off.

The Muskoka bike course was not new to me, but it seemed to pass very quickly today.  Definitely a combination of “no wrong turns” (pre-riding I made a few course errors) and race-day adrenalin.  I’m trying to remember to get fuel in, but there never seems to be a “good time”.  Amazingly quickly we’re at the 1st town and the 1st bottle exchange (at roughly 1/3 of the way through the ride). I don’t slowdown, and don’t take on water, thinking I still have plenty in my speedfil.  This was a mistake as I ran out of water before the next bottle exchange 33km away.  (Note to self: when offered water, take it!  Dump it if you don’t end up needing it).

My pacing feels good, and the combination of the super deep aero front and disc in the back gives me amazing speed on the downhills and a rotational inertial advantage on the climbs.  (I hit a top speed of over 80km/h). I’m feeling strong, but holding back: I want to make sure I have legs for the Mother-F@#$r climb near the end and for the run.

Pulling into the 2nd bottle exchange I grab some water and dump it into my speedfil, while riding, and keep on trucking. I didn’t get enough water, and would eventually run out again, but very close to the end, so it’d matter a bit less.   I’m at roughly KM 66 of 95, and decide that soon, I’ll pull out my “secret weapon” my EFS Handgrenade (EFS liquid shot, EFS pre-race, and a tablespoon of instant espresso all mixed with water in a gel flask): yes it tastes like hell, but damn does it give you a boost 🙂

I’m still feeling great, thinking I should be taking on more nutrition, but not feeling like there’s a good time.  Over the ride I do manage to get through about 1/2 of my planned nutrition (perhaps 1100 calories), so not terrible, but I think I’d have done better on the run if I’d managed to onboard more.

The last 15% of the bike course, I know from previous rides is tough, and I’m passing people on the climbs and feeling strong. I’m joking with folks, smiling and pushing through.  At many of the worst climbs there are spectators cheering us on – it’s amazing how much this helps and I make a point of thanking them.  It’s at this point that the need to pee starts to become my world.  I don’t really want to stop and find a tree and take the 3-5 minutes hit on my time.  “WTF”, I think. “If the pros do it, so can I”.  As I start descending a nice big grade, I stop pedalling, and have the most amazing pee of my life.  Yes, I peed on my bike and it was GLORIOUS!  I now understand 😉  (Note to self: wash bike today).

Climbing the nasty Mother hill near the end (last 5km), I resort to the “hand pumping the knee method” at one point to keep my cadence up.  Hey! Whatever works right 🙂  Soon enough I’m up and over.  The rest is gravy.

As I’m running my bike into transition I hear the announcer saying that the pro winners have already finished the race (a full 1.5 hours faster than me – remember they started 30 minutes before I did), I think to myself “Holy Crap! They’re FAST!”, I’ll never be that fast, but I’ll also never be 22 again 🙂

T2 is quick. Drop the bike, grab my fuelbelt with water and EFS liquid shot, race number around the front, visor and I’m off.

The Race: Run

As expected, the 1st 1-2km of the run is a bit wonky: legs don’t really like to run after riding for 3 hrs, but soon enough I find my stride.  I have my Garmin set to alert if I hit zone4 and otherwise to be quiet.  For most of the run – it’s blissfully quiet 😉  I’m running in mid zone3 and know I can do this for hours and hours.  I decide that the water-stations are for cooling down, I have my own fuel and my own water and it’s only a 2 hr run.  This turns out to be a great plan – every 2km or so I douse myself with water: one on my head, one across my shoulders in the front and one across my shoulders in the back.  The run is challenging but not insane. Having run it before I know what to expect and feel good about my pacing.

Toward the end of the run, I’m feeling a little energy deprived, have gone through all my EFS liquid shot (Note to self: pack 2 to have known nutrition on the run – it’s not a lot of extra weight) so grab some of the Powerbar Gel from the aide stations.  This is a mistake: after I eat them I remember that powerbar gels don’t sit well with me and I start burping and farting like a some sort of wild-thing.  *sigh* oh well.

The last 7k of the run I’m being paced by a 61 year old guy, who seems to be effortlessly striding along.  His effortless stride is somehow comforting to me and I hang with him for some time before picking up the pace to finish.

Approaching Deerhurst the run path to the finish seems to take FOREVER (Note to self: eyeball the finishline so you know where it actually is before the race start). I’m sprinting, pushing as hard as I can. I’m elated, I’ve had so much fun.   What a rush!  I start laughing at myself because the thought that keeps going through my head is that I want to do it again (right now!).

Some smart person had setup a sprinkler near the finish.  I stand it it’s flow for a while then head down to the beach for a swim to bring my core temp down and “ice bath” my legs.  Good therapy that I’ve discovered at previous races and will do after every race unless there’s something stopping me from doing so.

I finished strong, I’m still smiling (the day after) and I’m surprisingly mostly pain free – a little tightness in my calves, ITBs and glutes, but nothing is sore.

General Comments: Positive

I had a great time.  The organization, volunteers, and clear experience in running this type of event shone through in every fascette of the 3 days I was in Huntsville.  My great time was, I think, shining through: I was yelling encouragement to those finishing ahead of me on the run, to those behind me as I was heading in.  On the ride, especially on the tough climbs, I’d joke with people and try to get them to smile even though it hurt.   I shared my mantra with a few folks (“The spirit of Chrissie propels me! The spirit of Chrissie propels me!“), it makes me smile whenever I think it and certainly got a few chuckles on the course.

The course is challenging, but fun and beautiful.  I was really impressed with how well the tar and chip section of the road had been swept, it wasn’t a smoothly paved road, but it was significantly better than it had been on any of my pre-rides.

General Comments: Improvement Would Be Nice

To the Race Planners/Event Co-ordinators/Race Director

I had such a great time, I’m almost reluctant to offer these suggestions.  Please understand that I had a great time and these would have just made it that little bit better for me and perhaps others:

• On the bike course, I’d really like to see penalties handed out for drafting and center line infractions.  There are many announcements about it pre-race, but I frequently see people who are obviously drafting, which an official in plain sight, but nothing is done and they don’t seem to care.  Yea perhaps I’m whining because I try to follow the rules and they are flaunting them, but still 🙂 [I saw this one 50+ athlete who was constantly drafting, blocking and in my sight committed 2 center line infractions, at one point with oncoming traffic – I thought he was going to die!  Fate being what it is, I think I also saw him fixing a flat 2 km from the bike finish].
• On course it’d be nice to see some fruit options: perhaps orange wedges or part-bananas on the run?
• In the  post-race meal, more veg and gluten-free options would be nice.  I’m used to not being able to eat at buffets so this isn’t a biggie for me, but it’d be nice 😉

To the other Athletes

3 things and all related to the bike course:

• Please, PLEASE! When you’re passing, please, give me a quick “On your left”.  It’s not hard and it could save us thousands of dollars in bike repairs and a spoiled race.
• Also, when someone is passing you and they’re yelling “On your left”, it means 2 things: 1) heads-up, here I come and 2) (politely) get the F! out of my way.  I saw so many people riding 2 abreast, essentially blocking.  I’d get angry and start yelling at them to pass or not, but not to block.  No I’m not that competitive, but when I’m whistling down a hill at 60+ km/h and can’t get around you because you’re unable to decide if you’re passing or not it’s dangerous.
• I know we’re all out there to have fun, but can you at least try to abide by the rules: ride right/pass left, don’t draft, don’t block, don’t cross the center line.  If you get passed, use the time to stretch where you’re falling back to stretch your back and rest your legs.  You get a slight draft advantage by being passed, so enjoy it!

Finally

Big thanks to Ironman corp and Subaru for putting on a great event.  To the town of Huntsville for being so welcoming and hospitable to us atheletes, some who travelled, literally, around the world to be there. Special thanks to Ian from IMFIT.ca for coaching me to such a solid finish in my 1st 70.3 distance event.  Ian is an amazing bike fitter and stellar coach.  If you’re in the market, talk to me for a referral.

While I’m still basking in the glory of my finish yesterday, my mind is now turning to Panama in February. My goal time for Panama is 5:30 with a stretch of 5:15, I’d really like to qualify in Panama for the 70.3 Worlds in Vegas in 2012. The course is flat and I have 6 months to train towards it – I think it’s do-able.  Hell! I know it’s doable.  Giddyup!

Sunday is my summer’s A race: Ironman Muskoka (70.3).  Let me start by saying I feel great!  I’ve trained hard (thanks Ian), have my nutrition sorted (as it can be), my bike is behaving: all systems are go.  I feel very confident about the race and I’m hoping for about a 5:30 finish, stuff happens, and it’s my 1st race of this duration, so I’m just going to go, race my plan, and have fun.  S’all good.

I’m even doing pretty well at keeping my pre-race excitement and anticipation in check.  Generally, trying not to overthink it, because it’ll just happen as it happens and I’m pretty much ready for most anything (no if I get 2 flat tires I’m sunk, but lets hope against that 🙂 )

The funny thing I’m noticing is that I’m not concerned about my training, or prep or the race itself, but the things that keep popping in to my head are paranoia about day-to-day, non-race related things that could affect me on Sunday: tripping on the sidewalk and injuring myself, getting smacked by a car while bike commuting, cutting myself making dinner, etc. etc. etc.

It’s kinda amusing and funny at the same time as it’s annoying.  Anyone else go through this stuff?  How odd 🙂

Compressport® UK. brings us Chrissie Wellington’s 50 Top Tips for racing and prep.  A great read to be sure.

It’s kinda like Buckley’s Mixture “it tastes bad, but it works”.

Yup it’s true, PreRace is probably some of the nastiest tasting stuff you’d intentionally put in your mouth, but it really really works (I’ve already reviewed PreRace here).  FirstEndurance has many clinical studies posted on its effectiveness, but I can tell you from this personal laboratory of 1, it works really well.

This morning I had to do a 40 minute time-trial in the pool and I was feeling pretty sluggish, I take PreRace before my events, so figured that this would be appropriate timing to also take some.  But it tastes BAD!

Today I mixed a scoop into 1 oz of unsweetened cranberry juice with 1 oz of water and, to my joy and amazement, I couldn’t taste the PreRace!!!

Oh, and my time trial?  Lets just say I’m happy with the results 😉