3 DTG

It is Thursday, and the race is on Sunday. I'm pretty sure that means there are three days to go. Yes? :-)

Made it to Kingston, Ontario tonight about 4 hours away from Lake Placid. Not too bad. We just need to be at the registration tent by 4 PM tomorrow so we can race on Sunday. Should be no problem barring unforeseen circumstances.

On my mind today FWIW:
1. I really like Canada. I always do. When I cross the border, it feels good. The grass, the trees, the fact they have a retailer called "The Beer Store", that one of the stop triathletes in the world lives in Windsor, the leader of the country...all good. I also find that the slower Canadian highway speeds (62 mph) relaxing compared to what ends up being 75+ mph in Michigan. I should come to Canada more often.

2. I discovered 1st Wave radio on Sirius and loved it! This is a lot of MY music as a young adult:
- R.E.M.
- U2
- The Cure
And a lot of what was called "New Wave" back in the day. It was a fun couple hours of listening today after passing Toronto.

3. I wish I hadn't posted the cartoon yesterday with the foul language. I liked that it was abut the elevation of the Lake Placid bike course, but it really didn't need to be posted in my blog. Apologies if you were offended. I will remove it.

4. Tapering and healing my body is underway. I noticed the graph in this post and the yellow line on the far right with the upward trend. This is the line that theoretically represents my rested state. As we get to Sunday's cannon start, it will continue to go up coinciding with my reduced training load and showing greater readiness to put out the effort needed to complete the 140.6 miles of the Ironman. We'll see shortly whether or not my training and planning adequately prepared me for this. It should be a fun experiment.

Night Before We Leave Post

Is it 3 or 4 days to go now?  I might have miscounted the days on previous posts.  Oh well....no matter!  On the night before we leave for Lake Placid, I have three things:

1.  This YouTube video hits really close to home.  Three minutes of funny if you've talked to me in the last seven months about training.

2. Regarding race strategy for a guy like me, it comes down to this:  START SLOW!  There is nothing more dangerous for me than pushing too hard early on.

On the swim, this means stroke easy for the first 500 meters.  Hopefully, after that, I will find my calm place, an easy gliding stroke and not have a bunch of torsos on top of me in the water.  I will most certainly be happy to finish this swim in anything less than 1 hour, 25 minutes. Would be great to do that.....please, please :-)

On the bike, this means keep in the power zone of about 160 - 170 watts.  This is going to take some discipline but (I hope) will have a pay off on the run if I can stay focused.  It is well-known that the Lake Placid bike course has a lot of climbing...just gotta take it easy going up the hills!  No idea what to expect in time.  Anywhere from 5 hours, 30 minutes to 6 hours, 30 minutes will be just fine.

On the run, I suspect that after riding 112 miles the first couple run miles will be over 10-minute pace.  After that, if my nutrition is in the right place and I'm physically OK, I'm hoping for around 9-minute pace.  Slow and steady is the key in all three legs of the Ironman for a guy like me.

3.  And in case you are wondering, I am finished packing.  The bag is big, but you need a lot of gear for triathlon!

That's it for tonight!  Peace and thanks for reading.

4 DTG

With four days to go, it is definitely feeling like race week!

I am excited about the upcoming adventure and even had some nerves when I woke up this morning.  Mostly, I'm excited though....and reminding myself to stay calm and relaxed.  Nerves don't help anything right now ;-)

Race Day Prep:

I spent some time yesterday updating my bike Garmin to have just the screens I want/think I'll need on race day.  I settled on:

• Heart rate - looking for a number from about 120 - 135....no higher on the bike
• 3 second power - the current power overaged over the past three seconds. The goal here is to be around 165 watts and hoping to top out at around 210, if needed, on the climbs.
• Lap power - the average power over the last five miles.  Again, about 165 watts.  If it says 200+ watts, it will not bode well for the run.
• Cadence - looking for a number from 80 - 90.

The old screen data fields is on the left; the updated set of data fields is on the right.  What do you think?  The point here is to only have screens that focus your attention on what is helpful when you are riding 112 miles.

Last Workouts

This is the last week of workouts, and yesterday was a day of rest!  It felt so good.  I spent part of the day with my favorite 4-year old.  It was awesome!

Today was a swim and bike workout.  Got it all done early. It was awesome to be on the dirt roads with SJCK today! 

Race Day Chat
In the online forums, there is a lot of talk about the race....what to pack, when people are arriving in LP, what goes in which bag on race day, whether or not Mirror Lake will be wetsuit legal, etc.  It is fun to read and sometimes gives reminders about things I have forgotten. Regarding the temperature of Mirror Lake the cartoon below was posted.  Forgive me if the cartoon is offensive...I thought it was funny.

Two days until it is time to drive and four days until GO TIME.

Time To Freak Out - The Hay Is In The Barn

Thanks to RCK's research and encouragement, we started training for Lake Placid on December 17, 2017.  I think that was 28 weeks ago.  Since then, there have been A LOT of early training mornings and A LOT workouts in the evening.  Thanks to both SJCK and RCK for you support.  You really don't make it to Ironman race day by yourself, and both of you were really great to support me.  I owe thanks to many others as well.  Friends, family, coworkers have all encouraged, supported in a lot of ways, or just took the time to read these posts.  I'm really fortunate. Thank you.

Thanks also to friends and family who are making the journey to Lake Placid to see RCK and me.  It will be awesome to have a cheering section.  I'm pretty sure my Mom will be the loudest!

In terms of distances since December, here it is:

• Swimming: 178,783 yards or 101.6 miles
• Biking: 3027 miles
• Running: 615 miles
• Hours: ~316 hours or about 1.6 hours per day 

So...the hay is in the barn as they say.  Not much left to do, at least in terms of training.  Just 4 hours of working out left, this week just to keep the legs and arms moving this week.   It is time to trust the training, be prepared for race day with a sound plan and and calm mind.  And just have fun.

Many of you know I love an experiment. Ironman race day is the culmination of a grand and fun experiment.  I'm looking forward to it, especially being on the start line with RCK, without whom I'm pretty sure I would have NEVER signed up for Ironman #3.

A few other updates:
- Gotta tighten the bolts on the bike tomorrow
- RCK recommended deflating my tires and looking for cuts that should be Super Glued....it's on the list for tomorrow morning
- Race day chain bagged up and ready for installation on Saturday

- Lots of things packed and ready to go.  Here's one example with bike nutrition portioned and bagged up.  There are a few more things to still do, but mostly ready to go.

- Found this image from another tapering Ironman athlete and their dinner tonight...kinda funny:

That's it for now.  6 DTG.

7 DTG

On my mind today: 

- My current favorite Dean Meyer quote: "The Ironman swim is pass/fail."  Amen brother. 

- Packed two wetsuits (full sleeve and sleeveless) and swimskin.  Can't believe I'd go compete with the swimskin because I don't hopes of getting a Kona spot....but I did it at Boulder.  I'm smarter now... so probably will go with full-sleeve wetsuit.

- Had a really nice 3.3 hour bike ride this morning. Feeling good about new gearing and overall set up. RTG pretty much. 

- Did you know there is an underwear run before full Ironman events where everyone gets together and just wears their underwear and running shoes?  Lake Placid's is Friday at noon. Good idea? Kinda want to do it. 

- Packing again today (does it seem like I've been new doing this forever?).  Current packing focus: 

- Morning nutrition bag or box

- Morning swim bag

- Bike transition bag 

- Bike special needs bag

- Run transition bag

- Run special needs bag

I will take a picture of them and post when they are done. 

- Also made a list of things I'm missing and need to get...and went out to get them:  CO2 inflator/adapter, extra tube with removable valve cores, Ensure for morning nutrition. 

8 DTG

What's up now?  Here it is:

1. Had a good swim this morning.  Feeling stronger than ever in the pool.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still slow but strong and slow....I'll take it.
2. Really enjoying watching the Tour de France on nbcsports.com.  Love the scenery in France.  Feeling like I need to go back soon.  A road trip in France?  With an RV, you could enjoy le Tour, baguettes, cheese and wine in the French countryside.
3. CTL at 109 eight days out.  Interesting. Before Ironman Mont Tremblant in 2012, my CTL was 94 eight days out, 85 on race day, and 102 after race day.  I guess if I'm looking for parallels, a CTL of 100 on race day would be the ticket.  I'm looking forward to feeling more rested in the next days with lots of sleep and no stress (wink).
4. Can you say "AMAZING LONG-TERM FORECAST?!!!!"
   
5. Mirror Lake was 74 degrees this morning. #wetsuitlegal
   
6. Training this weekend is still pretty big.... 3 hours, 30 on the bike; 2 hours, ten minutes running; 1 hour, ten minutes swimming.  This is the training plan recommendation.  Hmmm....do it as written?
   
7. If I were a woman, the Super Kitty kit would be fun....(BUT I'm not):
   

Things about today - 10 DTG

10 Days To Go...here's what is on my mind.

1. Started supplementing electrolytes…. gotta build up those stores and get some deep muscle hydration.  Hoping this will payoff around mile 16 of the marathon.

2. Laid out bike nutrition for Lake Placid....383 grams of carbs for lap 1 (about 2.75 hours) and 383 grams for lap 2 (hopefully 2.75 hours).  More than I will need but it is good to have choices.

3. Had a good, easy 5-mile run.  Loved it!  You should have been there!

4. It was 45 ºF in Lake Placid this morning.  Can you say HOLY COW!  Going to pack some cool weather warm up clothes for sure.  Also packing hat, gloves, rain coat, etc.

5. Veins

6.  New kicks in the mail today. These are the Nike Epic React trainer.  I won't try them out until after LP, but walking around the house they feel reeeeeally good.