96 Days to go

My last post was my best to date, so if you missed it, just skip to it now.  If your all caught up I'm going to expand a little bit on the plan.  The plan covers 16 weeks and includes at least one workout everyday, with most weeks having four days of two workouts.  Workouts are set duration anywhere from 10 minutes to over 6 hours (not a set distance).  The total of all workouts is 180 hours and 40 minutes, or just over one week of non-stop training.  That is broken down into 31 hours swimming (57.8 miles), 93 hours on the bike (1,860 miles), and 56 hours of running (373.3 miles) for a total of 2,291 miles.  That's roughly the width of the United States along I-10; all in hopes to race 140.6 miles in less than 12 hours!

Included in the plan are two race rehearsals which take place two weeks and four weeks out from race day.  These consist of 4,100 meter (2.55 miles) swims on Friday followed by 117 mile rides and 6 mile runs on Saturday.  The purpose of these race rehearsals are to dial in nutrition, hydration, cooling, and equipment.  They also serve as a nice confidence booster that the end goal is attainable.  These are followed by the only two scheduled days off in the plan.  The last two weeks are a taper with reduced time and intensity that allow for healing and rest going into race day.

Race day surprises aren't usually a good thing, but I had a great surprise last weekend as I was setting up transition at TriWaco in preparation for the Tri4Him regional championship.  Nicole had something come up and couldn't make the trip, but in the pre-dawn hours there she was!  She had attended a friends wedding and drove up the night before and kept it all a surprise.  She got some great photos of the race and it seems just about everyone is sporting one of her shots as their facebook/ twitter profile pic!

The race weekend was awesome!  We got in Friday night and made our way down to the venue Saturday morning to ride the course.  Coming from the flatlands we are always a little nervous about out of town courses (flashbacks of Boerne's Small Texan tri).  It was a beautiful route along the river and up into stereotypical Texas ranch land (complete with Texas Longhorns).  After the ride we jumped in the river and enjoyed the cool water for a while.  We hit up a little Mexican joint for some homemade tacos and then I got checked into the Waco Hilton.  Best thing about that was transition was in the parking lot!  That afternoon they opened up the swim course and the river was full of athletes.  That evening we had a great time of fellowship as of 80 Tri4Him members from all over the state got together for dinner.  The day would best be described as similar to the day leading up to an Ironman event- put this race on your calendar for next year!

Race day started pleasant, but the forecast was calling for 105 degrees by afternoon.  After being pleasantly surprised by Nicole, I joined the 60+ T4H members and others for our traditional pre-race prayer with the team, but this time with a much larger crowd.  The swim was interesting as we crossed under four bridges on the way out and six on the way back.  Once out of the water a huge wheel chair ramp with 6 winding U turns led into T1.  The ride out was slightly uphill, but nothing too bad.  Riding easy the day before we didn't get a true feel that the whole way home was down hill and fast!  It was one of the most fun bike routes I have raced!  As I entered T2 I saw Kyle running out and acquired my target.  It took me almost a mile to catch him, but about the time I did we entered the dreaded Cameron Park.  We had heard rumors that there were some pretty tough hills, but we had no idea what was ahead!  Having left our mountain climbing gear at home, we resigned to walk the inclines and not risk injury.  This led to a less than desirable finishing time, but perhaps it is a foreshadowing of us fighting the final miles of Ironman together.  Much to our dismay we returned home to learn that the DFW chapter had won the inaugural T4H regional championship.  Next year we will be better prepared, I'm just sure where we'll find elevations like that to train on!

The dog days of summer are upon us and it is hot!  Even in the early morning hours workouts are tough!  Bike workouts aren't too bad, but the runs get brutal as the sun rises.  Yesterday I did my first nine mile run since training for 70.3 and Wednesday I'm due to cover over 10 miles.  Fortunately we should be due for a cool front before runs exceed 2 hours, but that's still a ways off.  Only two more races remain on the schedule before ironman.  Late August is the Clear Lake International where I will look to redeem myself from Waco and make my goal of under 2:30 on an olympic distance course.  The next weekend is the Summertime Blues sprint, where I hope to improve on last year's 3rd place finish; my first trip up the podium!  After that, it's all eyes on Panama City Beach!

It's been a great summer with the family and it's hard to believe it's almost over.  For the first time, all three of my kids will be in school and Nicole will hopefully enjoy some well deserved time to herself.  Claire is headed to first grade and Jacob will be riding the bus and going five days for the first time.  Bella will be starting preschool and I'm confident we will have some entertaining reports each afternoon.

One of Neartown Church's strategies is to restore globally.  In an effort to achieve this, delegation of men just returned from Ethiopia where they partnered with local missionaries at medical clinics, orphanages, schools, and feeding centers.  Neartown mission partners also sent with them supplies for the orphanage, comfort items for the missionaries, as well as some "big ticket" items to further their work in the region.  Neartown Church is adopting this people group and will continue to support them in Jesus'.  We're very proud of these guys and the work they'vedone.  Stateside, the church recently put on a vacation bible school for the Neartown neighborhood kids and had great success.  We are excited to be part of such a dynamic and passionate group of believers.

Late addition- Please take a moment to check out fellow T4H member Chad Stevens page- some truly inspiring and challenging stuff.  Looking forward to it Chad! http://www.k12cto.net/2011/07/imok.html?spref=fb