It all comes down to today...

I ended up getting a decent 5 hours of sleep and before I knew it the hotel wake up call came and the day was finally here. I had all my clothes and gear I needed laid out and ready so I wouldn't forget anything and John gave me a second wake up call just to make sure I didn't over sleep. At 5:45 am, John and I made the walk from the hotel to the transition zone. We kept telling each other that it was finally here and we were both really looking forward to getting this thing over with.

The pre race preparation was uneventful, which was good. Some guys were scrambling to fix flat tires but we were okay. We then made the 20 minute walk down to the race start. It was a time trial start and we had to wait in line for about 40 minutes. Waiting was actually not to bad, it gave us some time to talk to the other triathlete's around us and it just enhanced the entire experience. Everyone was just so supportive of each other, which is one of the reason's I really enjoy doing triathlons.

We were in the middle of the line and once the first swimmers started to enter the water it took about 15 minutes for us to get in the water. On the way to the start I saw my dad and he gave me the thumbs up. It was great to see him before I started. Once I jumped in the water I was expecting the worst. From what I've read and what people were telling me was that the Ohio River is polluted, disgusting and smells like diesel. Well, once I jumped in, the water seemed great. It was warm and seemed pretty clean. I was pleasantly surprised.

My strategy on the swim was to go at a moderate pace and take long strokes. I really loved the time trial start because it eliminated all the trashing and bumping into other people that happens on a wave start. The first part of the swim was in protected waters and then it looped out into the Ohio River. I followed the advice that was given at the athlete briefing and after the turn from the protected waters I swam out as far as I could in the Ohio River to catch the current. The swim was totally enjoyable. For the first part of the swim I was between 116 - 126 bpm and during the last 1/3, I was around 135 bpm. It felt effortless. When I got out of the swim, my watch had me at 1:15:56 and the official timing had me at 1:17:15 because they didn't have the timing mats at the water exit. I came out of the water in 586 place overall and 76th in my age group.

I took my time and did the transition in 6:45. I made sure that I drank my Ensure and just mentally didn't rush and miss anything. Once I got on the bike I was feeling strong. It didn't even feel like I did a swim. My concern was that I was going to push it to hard and blow up. So I decided to start at around 134 bpm and see how I felt. Early on at that heart rate I was going 34 - 37 kph. I was trying to do my own race, but a couple of guys passed me and I had to keep up and try to over take them, ego really. Those two guys were the ones that I ended up dueling with for almost the entire 112 miles. They would pass me, then I would pass them and this went on and on. The first half of the ride was, temperature wise, enjoyable. It was around 78 F and then it started to climb from there. Around mile 70 I could start to really feel the heat, especially coming off of the black asphalt. The entire ride, I drank and ate. Every water stop I took water and I ate every hour. The course was fairly challenging. There was a wind on the way out and from mile 20 on, there is nothing but rolling hills. It was very engaging. The ride went well and at no point was I feeling tired or hurting. The only downside to the ride was that my seat came loose and was moving around. The day before I tightened every bolt on the bike, but forgot to do the seat, and low and behold the seat started to come loose. I really noticed it around mile 75 and had a decision to make, do I stop and fix it or risk it and keep going to get a better time? I decided to stop. It took me just under two minutes to get my tools out and make the adjustment. In hindsight I'm glad I did.

I ended up riding the 112 miles in 5:25:04 which gave me an average speed of 20.67 miles per hour / 33.34 kph. According to my bike computer, which stopped when I stopped to fix the seat, I actually averaged 33.5 kph for the riding portion. The important thing was that when I got off the bike I still felt strong, although for the last 50 miles I could really feel the heat and I was glad that for the last 30 miles we had a bit of a tail wind. Once I got off the bike, again I took my time in the transition tent. I was there for 6:09. My main concern was with the blisters on my feet. I wasn't sure if they were healed enough to do the full marathon without blistering up again. In my transition bag I put two types of tape to take with me on the run. The first was good old fashioned duct tape and the other as a 3 M waterproof bandage tape. I also had a fresh pair of dry socks. So I took my time, taped up my blister with the bandage tape, put the socks on carefully, drank another Ensure, had some electrolyte and salt tablets, took some Advil and started the run. I ran with big rolls of tape in the back of my jersey, there was no way that I was going to not have a remedy if I got a blister. Again, I was feeling surprisingly strong. I passed by my family and gave them the fist pump and told them that my friend Rich now owed me $50. He bet me that I couldn't average 33 kph or more for the bike portion of the race. At the end of the bike portion I moved up to 149th place overall and 24th in my age group.

It was around 2:00 pm when I started the run and it was now around 93 F. For the first 13 miles of the run it was pure Sun and no shade whatsoever. My original goal was to run a sub 4 hour marathon. At the first 4 miles I averaged an 8:37 pace. Then for the next 4 miles averaged an 8:52 pace. Until mile 10 I was on target for a sub 4 hour marathon, but then the heat really got to me. Around mile 10 the head games started. My heart rate was good, it was around 143 bpm for most of the run, but I was starting to question what possessed me to do this race. I realized that this was HARD and that you have to be CRAZY to do it. It was not my muscles or elevated heart rate bothering me, it was the heat and it was affecting my mind. All I could think of was that I had 16 more miles of this heat. I also remembered the last Ironman I did, although I didn't train properly for it, I told myself this is "stupid" and why am I doing this. Those same feelings came back.

The only thing that kept me going was that my heart rate was surprisingly low, especially in the heat. My legs were pumped, but were not sore and I just wanted to get this race over with. At the mile 13 mark they have a "inspirational mile"message board, where your family could type in a message on the computer at the race expo and it would appear on a large screen when you run by. When I crossed the timing mat and my message came up it read "B. Payne S.I.U. Baby!!!". For those that don't know what S.I.U. means, is it is my code word that I tell my kids then the going get's tough and they hate when I use it. What it means is SUCK IT UP. When I saw the message on the billboard it brought a smile to my face and actually picked up my spirits and pace.

The run course was a two loop course and after 2 hours of running the Sun was starting to go down slightly, which caused a little shade from the trees and buildings on the side of the road. For the first half of the second loop there was still very limited shade, but on the return of the second loop there was some shade for most of the run back. The run was hard for me from mile 10 on. The strategy I used from the beginning of the run, was to run and then walk through each aid station, making sure I drank and ate enough. From mile 10 on, I didn't even look up, I had my eyes fixed to the pavement and just watched the road go by. I played the head games of just focusing on the first 13 miles and not thinking of the race as a 26 miler and then once I completed the first 13 miles I broke the remaining 13 miles into two 10 km portions.

From mile 10 to mile 16 it was a mentally tough. I just kept questioning "why am I doing this", "this is crazy", "I'm never going to do this again", "Half Ironman's are so much more civilized", "I should make a rule that I don't do any races that will last over 6 hours", "This is going to be my last", etc, etc, etc. At mile 16 those thoughts went away and I started to feel a little better. Now I figured I just have 10 miles to go, I've got a little shade and that I just need to finish this thing. I also knew by mile 16 that even if I walked most of the remaining 10 miles I'd still beat my best time I did in my 20's of 12:22:01. Then came mile 21 and 22, I felt like I was hitting the wall, although my heart rate was still, surprisingly, in the 143 bpm range, but my legs were starting to get tighter. I wanted to walk so much, but I preserved on. My whole goal was to run from one aid station to the next, which were a mile apart.

At first when I went through the aid stations, I took the sponges and wet my head, bending over, so that I wouldn't get water in my shoes and cause blisters. My routine at each aid station was sponges, water, Gatorade, banana, sometimes a gel and for the last 13 miles it included coke. From mile 21 on, I knew I wasn't going to have blister problems so I just started "pouring" the water on my head and it "soaked" my shoes. At this point I didn't care and the water cooled me down and felt great.

At mile 21, I kept telling myself that I only had 5 miles to go and I'd visualize the run distance from my training routes. Then it was 4 miles, then 3 miles, then 2 miles and I'd do the same comparison to training routes. At a few points I was questioning if I should walk, I saw a lot of other people walking, but what stopped me from walking was that I just wanted to get this race over with as soon as possible and walking would prolong it. I also wanted to try and run the entire distance and have no regrets. My legs were starting to get sore, but I knew with all the training I did there should be no reason why I can't keep running. The only thing that I figured could stop me was if I got delirious from the heat. I kept running, although I can't tell you how happy I was when I came up to an aid station and could walk through it. By mile 20 I was so sick of Gatorade and gels. The only thing that I believed kept me going was Coke. It gave me just enough energy to get to the next aid station.

With 2 miles to go, I knew I would finish and finish on my terms. Just because of that, my pace got faster and I was now running a 9:39 pace for the last 2 miles. With only a mile to go, I could feel the inside muscles on one of my calf's tightening up and I just self talked them and told them to hang in there. I ended up finishing the run in 4 hours 12 miles and 53 seconds. Considering the heat, I was really happy with that time.

My overall time was 11:06:56 and I ended up in 136th place out of 1975 overall and 17th place out of 320 in my age group. And most importantly I achieved my goal of beating my best Ironman time at 21 at the age of 42. I ran fast for the last 200 meters and came across the line super strong. I thought I might be emotional but I wasn't. I just made sure that I had the same finishing pose that I had when I was 21 years old and finished the Canadian Ironman so I could frame them side by side. I even made sure I was wearing a similar hat.

After the race, I went to the hotel, stretched, showered, laid down for half an hour and then went out with my family for some cocktails and waited until J0hn finished. I felt surprisingly good. I ended up getting some great finishing shots of John. Afterwards, John, Alice and I went to the Hard Rock and had some food and beers. We ended up getting to bed around 2:00 am.

John and I agreed on one thing after the race. "We never want to do an Ironman again". Half Ironman, Yes. Full Ironman, NO!!!

P.S. Although I managed to get through the heat, my son Reid didn't, if you look at our family picture at the end of the race, he's bonking from sun stroke. Right after the picture I had to take him to the room, get him some food and a blanket to take care of his chills. Poor kid. There is also a picture of the kids a sleep in the car. They say watching the race is boring and long, they say they should video tape the entire race for over 8 hours and make me sit down and watch it and see how much fun I have. :)

The official finishing times and splits are below as follows.

BRYAN PAYNE

BIB	AGE	STATE/COUNTRY	PROFESSION
1677	42	BURLINGTON ON CAN	BUSINESS OWNER

SWIM	BIKE	RUN	OVERALL	RANK	DIV.POS.
1:17:15	5:25:04	4:12:53	11:06:56	136 of 1975	17 of 320

LEG	DISTANCE	PACE	RANK	DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM	2.4 mi. (1:17:15)	2:01/100m	586	76
FIRST BIKE SEGMENT	22.5 mi (1:04:48)	20.83 mph
SECOND BIKE SEGMENT	21.4 mi (1:07:04)	19.15 mph
THIRD BIKE SEGMENT	30.5 mi (1:29:39)	20.41 mph
FINAL BIKE SEGMENT	37 mi (1:43:33)	21.44 mph
TOTAL BIKE	112 mi. (5:25:04)	20.67 mph	149	24
FIRST RUN SEGMENT	4 mi. (34:30)	8:37/mile
SECOND RUN SEGMENT	4.3 mi. (38:09)	8:52/mile
THIRD RUN SEGMENT	4.15 mi. (42:02)	10:07/mile
FOURTH RUN SEGMENT	3.5 mi. (35:26)	10:07/mile
FIFTH RUN SEGMENT	4.3 mi. (41:35)	9:40/mile
SIXTH RUN SEGMENT	4.15 mi. (44:04)	10:37/mile
FINAL RUN SEGMENT	1.8 mi. (17:07)	9:30/mile
TOTAL RUN	26.2 mi. (4:12:53)	9:39/mile	136	17
TRANSITION				TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE				5:35
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN				6:09

Twas the night before "Christmas", er, I mean, "Ironman Louisville"...

Today was a busy and intense day. I only had about 5 hours of sleep because Alice and the kids were laughing all night and I couldn't get into a deep sleep. My plan for the day was to go to the athletes pre race briefing and then do a pre race swim, bike and run for 15 minutes each.

I got up to late to do the swim, but I did do the run with John and then went for a bike ride by myself. The family ended up going to six flags. I was originally going to go, but decided I needed the time to prepare and hopefully take a late afternoon nap. It was a good thing I didn't go because it took me until 4:00 pm to get everything done, and I was lucky enough to have an hour nap.

It took me about 90 minutes to get all my racing stuff organized, putting on all my race numbers on the bike and helmet, inspect and tighten every bolt on the bike and just visualize my transitions to ensure I had everything packed. John and I walked over to the transition together and checked in our bikes and gear bags. After I put my bike on the rack and dropped off my gear bags, I started to feel nervous. This is really happening. 294 days ago I decided to do this race and now I'm one sleep away from the race start.

Since November 12th I've swam 172.13 miles (277.6 km), I've biked 4283.34 miles (6908 km), I've run 979.76 miles (1580 km) and I've done 49 weight training sessions. I can't be any more ready. All I can hope for is that I feel good tomorrow. The weather man is predicting mid 90's, so it is going to be a hot one. It will all be about heat management and not over extending the effort.

All I've done for the past week is eat. Tonight was the "last supper". My parents, Alice, Alyssa, Reid, John and I went for a nice dinner. We finished around 8:30, then Alice, the kids and I went to the grocery store to pick up water, bagels and banana's for tomorrow morning. I did my final body shave for the race and got a wake up call for 5:15 am. The race can't come soon enough, all I want to do is finish and finish strong. There is nothing more I can do to get ready, it's now just a waiting game.

It all comes down to tomorrow!

I can hardly wait to stop eating...

It took the 9:30 am wake up call to get me out of bed for my 10:00 am massage. After the massage Alice and I went for lunch, then got the kids and went to a large flea market with over 1000 booths. We did a little sight seeing and went to Churchill downs. All day I've been drinking water and going to the bathroom every 20 minutes.

Other than that, we stopped for another Italian dinner. I'm so sick of eating. I can hardly wait until the Ironman is over so I can get back to eating lighter meals. Today was 35 C and Sunday is supposed to be around the same temperature with a clear sky. If your outside and not in the shade, it is hot.

I didn't see one other triathete at the bar...

I finally had a good sleep, at least 8 hours. I woke up just in time to get the free breakfast at the Embassy Suites, then I was off to the pool to do a 2000 meter swim. After the swim we packed up the truck and headed to downtown Louisville to the Galt Hotel. It's the official headquarters of the Louisville Ironman.

We got checked in, ate lunch and I did the official registration stuff, weighing in (I couldn't believe I was 190 lbs, last week I was 177 lbs) and picking up racing stuff. I still had a bike and a run training session to do today. We got back to the room at 3:30 pm and I went to train and the family went to shop. I ended up doing a 90 minute bike ride and averaged 35.2 kph at 134 bpm. I felt great. For the first 2/3 of the ride it was flat and then went hilly, but I was still able to maintain an unbelievable speed. If I did that speed for the Ironman, I'd be one of the fastest on the course. The minute I got back from the ride I went for a 30 minute run. It felt easy and effortless and it was hot. It was over 30 C and I was easily able to keep the heart rate under 134 bpm. I truly believe that I've gotten stronger because I've had a few beers each day over the last 4 days.

Once I got back and stretched it was dinner time and we went to a Southwestern Grill. I had my customary 4 beers. Then we got back to the hotel and Alice and I decided to go out for a few more beers. We did a little bar hopping and ended up going to a dueling piano bar. It was fun. I had some more beers and I didn't see one other triathletes at the bar.

Running and Slugging...

I had a better sleep last night, not great, but better than the past two nights. After breakfast I went for an easy 40 minute run. After about 5 minutes on the run I started to feel really good and strong. The blister seems to be getting better, although now I found a new one on the other foot. Hopefully they will be healed by Sunday. I just don't understand why I'm getting blisters at this stage of the game.

We ended up doing some sight seeing in the afternoon. We went to the Louisville Slugger Factory and bowled at 4th Street Live. By the time we got back to the hotel I was tired and had a 3 hour nap. It was exactly what I needed.

The food in Louisville hasn't been that great, but it is cheap. It's amazing how much cheaper everything is in the U.S. versus Canada. For the past two days, Alice and I have felt a little sick from the food, I think it is because it tends to be a little greasy. We've started to go to the grocery store and pick up fruits and vegetables. I've been trying to eat healthy, although I have indulged in some desserts, ice cream and snacks. Starting tomorrow I'm really going to get strict on not eating any simple sugars.

Training in Kentucky...

I had an awful sleep last night. Normally I sleep well in hotels, but I haven't for the last two nights. I probably got to bed at 4 am and woke up at 8:30 am. I was going to try to sleep longer but decided it was probably best to get up and keep on a regular schedule. After breakfast I went to the YMCA and did 2000 meters in the pool. I love doing 2000 meters, it doesn't feel like a workout anymore. It feels like a nice easy swim.

When I got back to the hotel, my rented race wheels had arrived. They came a day early. I went to a local bike shop and had them put them on my bike. I was curious to see what $2000 wheels felt like. Are they really faster? My plan was to go for a bike ride from the transition zone at the race site and go for 90 minutes. Once I got to the transition area, I realized that the roads that we were going to ride on were really busy with traffic. I decided not to go on that part of the course and decided to drive the course until I found an area that wasn't too busy. As I drove, the course was pretty flat for the first 20 km, I was actually surprised how flat it looked. Then I started a climb and the terrain was never flat again, it was rolling after rolling after rolling.

I ended up driving to La Grange and decided I was going to do my ride from there. I really wanted to feel what the hills felt like, as it is difficult to really understand the scope of the hills without actually riding them on the bike. For the first part of the ride it was fairly tough. It was around 29 C and windy. I was going into the wind for the first half. It wasn't hard to keep hydrated because the heat and humidity made me thirsty often. I don't think I went 15 minutes without having a drink of water.

The first thing I noticed on the ride was that the wind was blowing me around. The new wheels were catching the cross and head wind and I had to work hard to keep my wheel straight. But then there was times when I was going down a hill or feeling strong that I felt the wheels were actually making me go faster. For the entire ride I kept my heart rate at 134 bpm or lower. This was to be a moderate ride and I was determined not to go harder. There was some hills, where to keep my heart rate down, I had to go to the smallest gears and go slow. I was quite surprised when I got to the turnaround point and was averaging 30 kph. On the way back I got the benefit of the wind. I was feeling good and the wheels were feeling good. I ended up finishing the ride at an average speed of 32.0 kph. It was the same speed that I did in the pre-race ride in Florida. I hope this is a good omen, as I averaged 36.1 kph at the Florida half Ironman.

After the ride, we headed back to the hotel and had some beers. It is the fourth day in a row that I've had a few beers after training. I feel strong again. I really think that, for me, beer is energy and power. Especially after seeing the speed of today's ride. I'm also feeling healthy again and Alice keeps feeding me the Cold FX.

We made it to Louisville...

I woke up feeling a little better, at least my nose wasn't runny. Although I still felt like I was on the verge of getting a cold or the flu. I tried to sleep in, but only got about 7.5 hours of sleep. I wished I was able to get more. I was also getting stressed. At times I felt like a cold sore was coming on. I called my buddy Rich to tell him the bet about me doing a 33 kph average ride and a sub 4 hour marathon was off. I told him that after last Friday's brutal bike ride, I didn't want to put unnecessary pressure on myself and bonk or not finish the race. He offered me to pay him $25 to get out of the bet.

Before we could leave the hotel, Alyssa and Reid had to do their workout and go swimming. Alyssa did the bike and Reid did the treadmill. While they worked out, I emailed Mark Allen and he told me to be careful and get healthy. I talked to my buddy Rich and he told me to get Cold FX. I ended up taking both pieces of advice. I decided not to do my 40 minute run and I went to Walmart and picked up Cold FX and vitamin C. It was a 4.5 hour drive to Louisville from Toledo and by the end of the ride I was feeling much better and water logged from all the liquids I was drinking. I was almost tempted to go for a run but decided not to. I keep hearing my buddy Gord in my head saying "it's better to be under trained than it is to be over trained". Plus, tomorrow I have a pretty full day of training, so I may as well be rested.

The ride in was interesting, the hills were much bigger than I thought they would be. They were long climbs and looked tough. I plan on driving the course tomorrow and seeing exactly what I'm up against, but if it is anything like the interstate I'm a little worried.

I started to eat much more than I have in the past couple of weeks. I figured now is the time to start carbo loading. Although tonight I didn't get much rest as I had to drive the family to the mall and wait for them and Alyssa never shops fast, she has to try on everything. It was no fun for me and in fact it was tiring doing nothing.

The day was a blur...

I was up early today and was at the Oakville YMCA by 8:30 am for a 4000 meter speed swim. I wasn't looking forward to it, but I managed to finish it in 1 hour and 36 minutes. I felt good and even on one of the 100 meter intervals I did a 1:38. I didn't want to miss this swim as I figured it would be a real confidence builder before the race.

When I got home I jumped on my bike to do a 2.5 hour ride before leaving to Louisville. Early in the ride I met up with another rider named Alan Adcock. It turns out that Alan lives near me in Millcroft. I'm glad I met up with Alan, he's a great guy and riding with him made the ride so much more enjoyable. Alan is also an Ironman triathlete who hasn't been able to compete any longer due to a knee injury, which is a bumper, although he still looks like he could compete. We ended up going for around 2 hours and 45 minutes and covered 79.5 km at a 29.7 kph pace. It was a little slower than I would have liked, but I couldn't have went any harder and kept my heart rate at 139 bpm. As it stood, I ended up going over 139 bpm quite a few times. During the ride, we went by a dog and it started to chase me. I've never had a dog be so determined to catch me. After we went by the dogs, we picked up the pace, so I figured he would quit chasing, but he didn't, he started to run harder and got within a couple of meters of me. I couldn't believe it, I ended up yelling at the dog and he stopped, thank god. I just had this vision of this dog doing something to me that would stop me from doing the Ironman.

After the ride, I stretched, had a quick shower and packed up the truck and was out the door by 3:30 pm. The good news was that I felt physically great, it didn't even feel like I trained today. We drove half way to Louisville and ended up in Toledo by 8:30 pm. On the way I started to get a runny nose, I sure hope it's not a cold. It did get a little better once I turned the air conditioning off in the truck, but I think staying up late to watch the Olympics and training 10 hours in the past 3 days is starting to take it's toll on me. Mark Allen told me to be careful, because some of my symptoms sound like I could be over trained. We got to Toledo and had a great meal and I had a couple of Amstel lights, I decided I'm not going to change my diet too much. I've got to go with what got me to the playoffs:)

I got some NyQuil and I'm getting to bed early with no wake up call, so I hope that helps.

Getting ready to go to Louisville...

Today was an easy day, only an 85 minute run. I woke up with tight calf's, especially the left. So I decided to wait until later in the day to do my run, as I wanted to let my calf's warm up. I did some errands in the morning, getting a new tire and tube for my bike and picking up some "recoverite drink".

When I finally decided to go for my run it was hot, around 28 C with 87% humidity, so it felt like it was around 35 C. I ended up running 8.2 miles and averaging a 9:16 pace, but for over half the run my heart rate was in the 120's and never got over 140 bpm. Which was impressive especially because I was running in heat and the route I took had absolutely no shade. I did a LOT of sweating on the run, I ended up losing 7 lbs of water. When I got home my socks were as wet as if I had been running in the rain. I've never had that happen to me before. Because they were wet, my blister started to act up about 3/4 of the way through the run. I'm really hoping it will heal within the next 7 days and I'll be able to run a marathon on it without pain.

After a nap and dinner, I started to get all my stuff ready and write my name on all of my gear. I made a check list a while ago to make sure I don't forget anything. I'm glad I did, because there was so many things I would have forgotten. Tomorrow I've got about 4 hours of training and then we are going to start driving to Louisville. It still doesn't feel real yet.

Another Triathlon Training Day with Weird Sensations...

Today was a "huge" training day for a Friday and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to fit it all in. In order to do so, I had to get up a 6:00 am to be on my bike early to do my 3.5 hour bike ride. Before I left home I made myself a large pancake just to power me through the session. The ride started out normal until the 10 minute point. Just as I turned down number one side road, which is extremely hilly and is a sustained incline, a cyclist turned on the road and was now behind my by about 250 meters. I could tell he wanted to track me down, so I turned on the power and went hard up the hills. When I got to the top, I could tell that I dropped him, although my heart rate was in the high 150's. I then decided to take it easy and then he showed up again. So I dropped him again, but I put my heart rate into the 150's when it should not have exceeded 139 bpm.

After I officially dropped him, I was concerned that nothing happens to me on this ride, especially this close to Ironman. I was going around all corners slow as I didn't want to catch gravel and wipe out. As I went down one road I could see in the distance a runner who had two big dogs with her, neither of them on leashes. As I got closer I noticed one of them was a big doberman pincher. I rode to the other side of the road and as I went by I went faster so the dog would have a tough chance to catch me. I turns out that it didn't matter, I could tell the dog was really tired from the run and wasn't going to be chasing anyone. One disaster avoided.

Later on in the ride, a bee or wasp or some large bug, flew into my face with force and got caught between my glasses and my face. I was a little panicked and was trying to brush it away as quickly as possible, as I didn't want to get stung. Another disaster avoided. Then I was riding over a one lane bridge and a pick up truck came storming trough, giving me very little room, but I was able to make it through. Another disaster avoided.

The worst happened at the 3 hour mark of the ride. For no reason my heart rate went from the 130's to the 150's and would not come down for the balance of the ride. I had no core body strength and no matter how slow I went it would stay high. This had happened to me once before, but it only lasted for about 15 minutes then it went down to normal. Of course with 20 minutes left in the ride, I passed another cyclist and 5 minutes later I could see that he was trying to catch me. He was starting to close in, so I started to go hard and dropped him. Just when I figured he was gone, he tried to catch me again, so I had to drop him again. I'm sure this wasn't a good thing to do with my heart rate so high, but my competitive juices against traditional cyclists is greater than using my better judgement. I ended up riding 107.5 km and averaging 30.7 kph.

When I got home, I felt bad. My standing, resting heart rate was around 127 bpm. I made sure I had protein whey and I ate and drank water. Afterwards for lunch, I even picked up a huge chicken pita sandwich. In some ways it felt like a "bonk", as my face was hot, but in others it didn't, as I wasn't tired or sore. I was fully functional with no energy in my chest area.

After work I put on my heart rate monitor and my heart rate was in the low 50's and when I sat on the couch it was as low as 43 bpm, which is really low for me and tells me I'm doing well. Although my face was still "red hot", my heart rate was saying that I was okay. I ended up going for a 40 minute run and my heart rate stayed low. Most of the run was under 130 and I ended up running at a 8:28 pace. When I got home from the run, my face was no longer "hot". About an hour and a half later I went for a 2000 meter swim and it went well, my fastest 100 meters was 1:49. It was an easy effort swim, although I could tell I did not have the core / chest strength that I normally do. At the end of the day, I was able to fit in my 5 hours of training.

I did end up having two beers. One before the swim, and one after the swim. I was really craving the taste and I was starting to think that maybe my issues are because I changed my diet in the past two weeks and cut out beer. I'm looking forward to getting to bed early tonight because I haven't had many sleeps over 7 hours this week and I need at least 8 hours per day. Today was my last day of work until after the Ironman, so I'm going to really focus on getting sleep and recovery.

I also noticed, coming back from my swim, that the front tire on my bike is flat. I think I need to change the tire as it is getting worn out. This is now my 5th flat of the year, easily a new record. The good news was that on my run, my calf and my blister caused me no problems. Plus, I did two triathlons this week, and this is part of my taper.

My second rest day of the week...

Today was a rest day and it was a good thing it was, because by late afternoon I was tired and hungry. When I got home all I wanted to do was eat and after dinner I fell a sleep on the couch watching the Olympics. I guess the 3 hours of training I did yesterday took it's toll.

It's a good thing I'm resting today, because tomorrow I have around 5 hours of training planned and it's a work day, I don't have the luxury of doing it on a weekend. I'm not sure how I'm going to fit it all in, but I'm sure it's going to be a late night tomorrow.

Picture of the day is a Pirate that drinks beer that I got for my bar.

A TRI-BRICK-SPEED as part of the taper...

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Yesterday was a rest day, today made up for it with a swim, bike and run day.

I was at the pool early before work and did 2450 meters. The first 500 meters of the swim I struggled to get my breathing down, I think it had something to do with me eating a bagel before hand. However, for the rest of the swim I felt good, relaxed and went fairly fast. I was doing 15 x 100's with a 10 second break between sets and was able to do most of them around the 1:50 - 1:53 pace.

After dinner I did a speed bike workout session. It took me around an hour and I felt really strong. Even with all the rests and a 15 minute warm up and another 15 minute warm down, I was able to still average 31.3 kph. Right after the bike ride I did a 52 minute running speed work session. With a 10 minute warm up and 10 minute warm down, then running hard for 1 minute and resting for 1 minute I ended up running over 6.5 miles at a 7:59 pace. During the run my left calf felt pretty good and wasn't near as bad as it was a week ago. I also put duct tape over the blister on my heel and it seemed to work well. Although when I got home the blister area was very "moist" and "sensitive".

Overall, I felt really strong during all of today's training sessions. Tomorrow is another rest day. I love it!

The taper begins...

No training today. It was an off day. No really, I finally get an off day.

With the night off, Alice, Reid and I went to the movie "Tropic Thunder". What a funny movie!!!

Now it's time to watch more Olympics. Simon Whitfield getting the silver in the triathlon yesterday was great drama to watch.

The dark days of bike riding...

My legs were pumped sore today. What I mean by that is that they are sore enough to work out on, but they would also like a rest. By working out on them, it really makes then a lot stronger than resting, but there is discomfort. So today I had a 2.5 hour bike ride. I really wasn't wanting to do it, but I knew it was important for my Ironman training.

As always, for the first 30 minutes my legs are a little weak and then they get stronger and I get going. I ended up doing 75 km and averaged 31.4 kph on a very windy day. What made it more sweet is that I kept the heart rate under 134 bpm and most of the time it was in the 120's, which means I had a really strong ride.

When I got home, I decided to peel the skin off my blister. My theory is that I have 1.5 weeks for the skin to grow back stronger and this, hopefully, will make the skin tougher when it grows back. If the theory doesn't work, I'm going to pay for it at the Ironman.

I can really tell it is getting darker early, I got home at 8:45 pm and it was dark out. It's a good thing I have my blinking light on. When I got home from my work out, Alyssa came back from her run/walk. Also, Reid's now on a diet, coached by his dad, and Alyssa's working out, we're making it a family affair.

Two weeks to D- Day...

I woke up extremely tired this morning. I only had 6 hours sleep because I had to get up early to coach Reid's final hockey game, it was a playoff for third place. We were down 4 goals and came back to within one goal to tie. We may have tied it if I would have thought to pull the goalie, which I had realized 2 hours later. That is why I'm such a "bad" coach. It will be the first and last time I coach, but we did have a perfect 0 and 13 season. I was so tired when I got home that I had a 3 hour sleep on the couch. It was one of those sleeps where you know what is going on, but you can't move any body parts. I couldn't have got up if I wanted to.

At 7:00 pm, John came to my house for our final long run before the Ironman. We ran 2 hours and covered just over 12.78 miles at a 9:30 pace. The first part of the run was tough for me because I just finished eating a steak dinner 15 minutes before we started the run. During the run I could also feel last weeks blister had not gone away and was getting worse. It was nice to finish my last long run of the season and begin a two week taper. It is really starting to feel real that the race is coming, and the pain will be coming. My plan for the next two weeks is to get fully prepared, mentally and physically. To get rid of any blisters, get massages and plan out, in detail, what I need for the race. I don't want to fly by the seat of my pants.