Famous Last Words

Quick catch up since Boise... Two weeks after Boise half IM I made the last minute call to jump in on Pac Crest half IM. I thought it would be fun to give it a go with no minimal prep and no expectations. It went ok; the altitude was a major factor for me. The bike course climbs up near Mt. Bachelor to I think around 6700 ft? Not positive about that, but the air sure felt thin. The best part about the day was running pain free. No more calf issues! But due to heat, dehydration and altitude I ran 8:00 min pace with my HR in upper zone 5 for the entire run. A little frustrating but at least I know now that I can hold that HR for that long. Overall it was a great learning experience.

Last weekend was Hagg lake Olympic. Known for its rolling terrain, it is a challenging course as well. With the last 6 weeks being tapper, race, recover, repeat, I wasn't sure how this race would go. The week leading up was busy at work and I was feeling like crap. In that past this usually leads to a pretty good race. I haven't figured that one out yet... The race itself went much better then I expected. My swim is still much slower then last year but the bike felt great. With my current lack of run fitness due to the calf issue, things went better on the hilly run then I thought they would. Overall I was pretty happy with 4th OA and first place AG.

As for the famous last words... those would be "I will never race AZ Ironman again!!" I've stated this on many occasions and I have to say I was pretty convincing. I even believed myself. Well, "never" appears to fall on November 21st 2009. I wasn't planning to do it but over the course of this week I have changed my mind. There are some major things that I have never nailed down when it comes to the long course racing and training. The biggest is the nutrition during the race. This is perhaps the biggest issue I have, and the biggest thing slowing me down. My goal for IMAZ is to focus on this in training and figure it out once and for all. Other things like pushing myself mentally, racing the swim, and improving my general day to day nutrition are all things I am making progress on this year. Well, ok so my swim times don't reflect that but I feel like I'm being more strategic. In addition to all of these things I just want to enjoy it. No expectations other then that. If my main goal is to nail the nutrition then everything else should fall into place. Oh ya, and there is the quick trip to Vegas on the way home after the race. Not that I considered that when making my decision. Well, maybe a little.