Settling in...

Warning: These pre-Kona posts are going to be longer than normal. Please "pack a lunch".

What most people don't realize is when you train, you think. After all, "What else are you going to do with your time?"

Even if your listening to music, podcasts or audio books, you still slip into thought. It's a great way to solve problems and spark creativity.

Training can also be very Zen, especially after a night of debauchery.

What makes hangovers Zen is you are in the moment, it's hard to think of the past or the future when you're head hurts. It's the same way if you're "still" feeling the effects from the night before.

For the past couple of days, my training thoughts are about Kona most of the time. My enthusiasm to train is also up. With only 7 days and 20 hours until the start, I want to finish my training strong and show up with no regrets. If possible, I want to race and finish on my terms, I don't want the course and conditions to own me, like it did last time.

I had three individual training sessions today, totalling just under 6 hours, and started with the swim. Welcome to my taper. I wanted to get the swim over with first, if I leave it to the final session, it becomes more "bail-able".

After my pathetic swim at Ironman Syracuse 70.3, I really want to get my speed back and made some progress. I was doing 100 meter intervals, two on 10 second rest and the third on 45 second and repeat. I was originally supposed to only do 15 x 100 and continued doing more until I couldn't continue to swim under 1:40 per set anymore.

It took me 2100 meters before I hit the 1:40 mark. All of my previous 100's were between 1:36 and 1:39, which is fast for me, especially considering at Syracuse I averaged only 1:55 per 100 meters. Later in the swim I did another 5 x 100 for a total of 2600 meters of intervals. None slower than 1:41 per 100.

I was really happy with today's pool session. The problem is I don't know if it will carry into the next session. Swimming is like that. One day you "got it" and the next day "you don't".

My next session was on the bike. I was really curious to see how it was going to go, my last couple rides have been "great". Since riding Syracuse as a "super bike" speed work session, my legs have responded positively and feel stronger.

The goal of today's session was to ride under 140 bpm, not go too hard and enjoy. Fifty meters into the ride I knew it was going to be a good one. I hadn't felt this effortlessly strong on the bike since February's Ironman China training camp in Palm Springs.

It was one of the best bike rides I can remember in a long time and I even did it bundled up, I was sweating a lot. Other guys were riding by sleeveless and I was dressed for winter. All my other workouts, except in the pool, have been the same. Bundled and hot. Even on the track.

I've also been taking "hot baths" at night and each one is getting easier to stay in longer. I've been doing so many things differently lately I'm not sure which is the "key one" that's working.

Is it the "hot baths" helping my legs recover? Is it the protein smoothies? Is it eating food that keep my blood sugar levels stable? Is it staying away from "junk food"? Is it from not drinking beer? Is it from taking vitamins? Is it getting at least 7.5 to 8 hours of restful sleep? Is it the bundling up in the house? Is it the compression tights? Is it taking the rest days and changing them as I think I need to? Is it the stretching?

Now that I write that list, it seems like I'm doing a lot of things right. Although, I ran at around 8 pm in the dark tonight and it was a "push yourself out the door" run. I almost didn't do it in order to give my left buttocks / hamstring a break. It's still a level 5 on 10 soreness. I went anyways.

During all my training sessions lately, the same thought kept popping up, "Your going to Kona, that's BIG TIME" and I started trying to put it all in perspective. At first I thought Ironman Kona is to Triathlon what the "Superbowl" is to football, or the "Stanley Cup" is to hockey and then I thought, no, it's bigger.

Those two sports are more Country specific, Ironman Kona is International. It's more like what the "World Cup" is to Soccer, or the "Olympics" is to so many sports. It's that big and it dawned on me to "Qualify" to get there is an amazing feat.

To get there, each athlete needs to compete in one of only 25 other Ironman sanctioned races held around the world. Each race has up to 3000 participants and usually only 50 to 72 people qualify at each event based on finishing position in their age group.

I was going through the competitor list and there is a total 1962 athletes from 55 different Countries. From Canada there is 108 competitors and in my 45-49 age group, I'm one of 10 Canadian athletes.

It is so hard to believe that I did well enough to qualify for Kona. I competed 22 years ago through the lottery and saw all the "Uber Athletes". These people are the "creme de la creme" of the triathlon world and most are athletic "freaks of nature". They have talent and take this sport, diet and training as seriously as a "heart attack".

I can't believe this "beer drinking Canadian party boy" somehow made it in through the "front door". In my mind, going to Kona gives you "forever bragging rights".

Kona is the long course "Olympics" and it can be argued, even bigger. It's is the "big boy and big girls" race, the elite of our sport. The short course triathlon racers are amazing in there own right, but few are competitive at the Ironman distance. The Ironman "separates the big dogs from the little dogs". Kona is also the origin and legacy of our sport.

Very few triathletes can tell you who won the Olympics in triathlon in Beijing, I can't. But we all know who won the Ironman last year and everyone knows the names of the legends "Dave Scott, Mark Allen, Paula Newby-Fraser and soon to be, Chrissie Wellington".

On the race preparation front, my Triathlon Toons Tri-Jersey arrived today and it looks great. I love everything about it, except the sides. Most of my Tri-Jersey's have black at the sides, which is very forgiving and hides "some waist fat". This jersey is "all truth", nothing to hide behind. I only have one option, to keep "Tri-Top thin", which is definitely motivational.

Today's video came to my attention from one of my new blog readers, Scott Goodfellow. Scott has a really cool story and it was documented on the video and was part of the NBC coverage. It's a BIG DEAL, having your journey being viewed by and touching millions of people.

Scott is now an F.G. (Fat Guy) and is working on become part of the P.F.G (Previous Fat Guy) Triathlon Club. He's up to about 240 lbs now and wants to get down to 175 lbs. His story sounds very familiar to mine and many of the P.F.G's. He's started a blog called 52comeback.com.

It just shows, "training is a zero sum game. If you don't use it, you lose it. Your body doesn't care what you did in the past and carry it forward. Every one of us P.F.G's know that we are only weeks of "over-eating and not-training" away from starting to become a F.G. again.

I hope me telling Scotts story and giving his blog address will give him some added pressure, er, I mean, "motivation". Who knows, if he loses that weight and gets back to Kona, it may be "worthy" of another NBC follow up story. Good luck my brother. Although, I'm sure he'd be happy just to get back to 175 lbs.

On the stats front, I finished September strong with 1340.26 kms of total training. It was my third biggest training month of all time. The previous two were January 2010 (1451 km) and February 2010 (1555 km) as part of my Ironman China training.

Septembers totals have the number 13 in them, which is my favorite number and has always been a good omen. My beer consumption is also down this month, I must be serious about showing up to Kona with no regrets.

Finally, props out to Doru ( 3rd donation) and "Doug and Cam" for their donations to the TPPF. Cam is a "young" kid that wants to one day be an Ironman. He had a very cool video of himself talking about Ironman on YouTube but it's gone when I looked today, I wanted to post it. Cam, put it back up and I'll post it for others to look at and be inspired by such a young person. Doug is "his pops" and a multi-Ironman finisher.

I checked with the "bank" regarding the TPPF, there is still plenty of room in the vault for more donations. So don't be shy, buy a beer for "Uncle Bry".

Swim - 1:37:05 / 4500 meters

Bike - 3:20:23 / 108.20 kms / 32.4 avg km pace / 129 avg hr.

Run - 43:09 / 7.66 kms / 5:38 avg km pace / 137 avg hr

September Training Totals

Swim - 21.35 kms / 13.24 miles

Bike - 1114.04 kms / 690.70 miles

Run - 204.88 kms / 127.03 miles

Total - 1340.26 kms / 830.96 miles

Gym - 5 sessions

Calories - 60,211

Weights - 5 sessions

112

The waiting game...

I always wake up during the middle of the night. Last night I woke, looked at the alarm clock and it was 2:26 am. I took that as an omen, the Ironman is 226 km's long. The odds of waking up at that time is 480 to 1.

I'm taking it as a "good" omen and most of my dreams right now are Ironman related, not one nightmare.

I've moved up to "70% pumped" about doing this race and I'm sure by race start I'll be 100% pumped. Immersing myself in Kona videos, magazines and a book is helping. My only concern is my body "falling apart" before the race. I have to be careful.

For the first time in a long time, since Monday's long run, my calf's are "tight". I think nerves are also causing me to "walk differently" and as a result is adding pressure to my calf's.

I've been using "the stick", "stretching" and taking "hot baths" to combat it. It may also be phantom pains, I've had them before when I'm stressed. I know I am stressed and detoxing, I have small pimple like bumps on my scalp.

One thing that is not a phantom pain is my left ankle. It was sprained during the "Battle Royal" at the Beer Run and hasn't fully healed. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a slight stress fracture. Thankfully I don't notice it when I train, but it makes certain lower body stretches semi-painful when I need to press my left ankle against the floor.

Until today's training, I felt my body was on the "bubble" of injury or breakdown. Unexpectedly, I had a "great" biking speed work session. I haven't felt this strong during a bike speed work session in at least a couple of months. I was happy to see my heart rate get above the 150 bpm range.

Reading the book "30 Years of the Ironman" has been really helpful in "rejuvenating" my enjoyment of training. I read the great stories and look at the pictures and realize I'm going to "the big show" and let's finish the training strong before race day. Rather than "grind it out", I want to "enjoy it out" and having a sunny day to train today also helped.

After my ride, I went to the school track for my final speed work session. There was some "retrospective" moments as I did my laps. Mostly disbelief that I'm going to Kona. I kept thinking about how many times I've run intervals on this track and how the goals and feelings have been different at different times.

Three years ago it was just John Barclay and I trying to get in good enough shape to do Ironman Louisville . It was his first Ironman and my first after a 16 year layoff. It was semi-competitive and we pushed each other as we ran.

Year two it was a lot of "lap grinding" by myself as part of my regular season and Clearwater training. Today, three years after that first track session, it felt like a "victory" speed work session. I actually felt like an athlete and all those lonely, post John Barclay laps around the track paid off.

Speed work isn't easy and I remember running around the track; in the black of darkness, in the rain, in the humid heat, in the winter snow, in the wind, and many times with "no motivation" and just "wishing" for that last interval to be over. I'm proud to say, I never cut a speed run workout short.

It was only fitting today that I was the only person on the track, I enjoyed it all to myself. There was a young high-school couple on the bleachers and I'm not sure what they were doing. At one point, her head was in his lap with his jacket covering it, I don't know if she was tired, crying or "smoking his pole".

My final training session was a taper swim. It was a "low" priority according to my training plan. I drove to the pool, walked into the change rooms, walked to the pool door and even looked into the pool area before turning around and driving home. I "bailed". I hate swimming, it wasn't critical, and decided to add the distance to tomorrows swim.

I'm almost ready for Kona. Yesterday, I got my "aero-dynamic" haircut. I think it's the shortest I've ever got it. Then today, my "finish line prop" arrived and so did my "kegerator lock" and I picked up my "contact lenses". The only thing I'm waiting for is my Triathlon Toons Tri-Jersey, which Fedex tracking says will arrive tomorrow. One more finish line prop to pick up locally and I'm ready, except for more training.

Reid was also ready today for "Picture day" in his paisley shirt, bow tie and suspenders. He even tried to go to bed early and it was "no problem" for him to wake up today. He said the photographer laughed and thought his outfit was great.

The Kona video of the day is the "Legendary" Julie Moss finish. Her finish was "epic" and was watched by millions on "ABC Wide World of Sports". It was a major turning point in putting Ironman on the map.

Many don't know this, but Mark Allen and Julie Moss are married to each other and arguably both had the most epic finishes in the history of Ironman, Julie for the women and Mark for the men. (I added a second video of Julie below it, same video with music added that "choked me up".

The third video is of Wendy Ingraham (finished 4th) and Sian Welch (finished 5th) during the 1997 Ironman. Another Epic finish. Who say's Kona can't "eat up" even the best in the world.

Speed bike - 58:24 / 30.67 km / 31.5 kph

Speed Run - 45:30 / 9.08 km / 5:00 per km avg

Feeling like a Rock Star...

I've been a bit remiss in the past couple of weeks and want to recognize the recent donors to the TPPF.

They include, Scott Carmack, Dave Parker (2nd donation), Bob Lynch (2nd donation), Simon Cross (2nd unintentional donation and I kept it) and Martin Hennelly. Thanks guys. Your money will be converted to beer and drank in Kona in your honour.

If you want me to drink beer in YOUR honour, donate now and you'll even have a 5% chance of getting a postcard from Kona. No promises.

Also, it broke my heart to knock some of my previous donors off the Top 10 at the side of the blog. Don't despair if you were knocked off, you can always donate more and get back on the board. Don't be shy. Remember, it's for a great cause, "it's my party money" and I guarantee none of it will be spend on triathlons or any other wasteful expense.

Now back to the "the scheduled blog programming".

After yesterday's run, my lower buttocks and upper hamstrings were extremely tight. It's tough to even bend over and touch the floor. The problem started when I was remiss about "faithfully" stretching after every workout session for a three week period. Now I'm paying the price with some discomfort.

The other problem was I only ran once since last Sunday's race and "if you don't use it, you lose it". Even though I only did a two hour run yesterday, it felt like I did a 2:40 run. My calf's are also a little tight.

My training schedule is a little intuitive right now and I have some flexibility on which days are going to be rest days. Rather than do speed work sessions today, I decided on making it a rest day and give my legs an extra day to heal. Better to be safe than sorry.

Instead, I stretched throughout the day. Trying to be careful not to throw out my back, which is easy to do by stretching when the muscles are cold. Although, they shouldn't be that cold, I've been wearing pants and two sweaters all day as part of my Hawaii acclimatisation plan.

Tonight I had a HOT bath and did some stretching and race visualization in the tub. I can officially say "I'm getting into this Kona thing". Whats helped is watching Kona You Tube video's and I'm halfway through reading the book "30 years of Ironman".

As part of my visualization I was preparing myself for the worst and hoping for the best. Specifically, after reading the book, I need to anticipate hot and windy conditions. I did Ironman Kona 22 years ago, but I only remember the good things and finishing. If I didn't see the post finish pictures, I wouldn't have remembered how "I couldn't walk after crossing the finishing line".

My memory in terms of weather conditions and difficultly of the course is not to be trusted. Someone said to me the other day that Kona had some good hills and I almost laughed in there face. "I didn't remember any hills". Sure enough, I check and there IS hills. Like I said, it's been 22 years.

I can't lie, I was also visualizing what it would look like to have strong race and set a PB. I know there is less than a 1% chance of that happening, but it's fun to dream. In the end, after all my visualization I came up with my race strategy. I visualized myself waiting in the water as the horn goes off and telling myself, "have a great day, enjoy".

I got an interesting comment from CouplaHounds yesterday that I thought was worth posting, it was an interesting perspective that I thought was worth repeating.

I wrote: In 1000 days, I've done 1557 workouts, swim-biked-ran 22,960.04 miles or 37,032.32 km's and burnt 1,738,859 calories.

He replied:If you take your 1000 training days and distance and do some math, you've got an amazing story:

- 160.3 Ironmans
- An Ironman every 6.1 days
- 23 miles of activity every day for 1000 days
- 10,850 calories burned per "Ironman"

This is actually amazing to me - especially the 23 miles of movement every day. How many people just 'sit around' all day? And you average 1.6 workouts each day. It's good to keep stats and you've enlightened me, once again, with your point of view on "grinding it out, even when you're not into it". So true!

Yesterday, I also got my Mark Allen Online Newsletter, it was the Kona special and guess who's "My Kona Story" was featured? Yup, "yours truly". It read:

My Kona: Training Payne by Bryan Payne June 3, 2007 is when I started my triathlon comeback after a 16-year layoff. With only three weeks of training I completed a sprint distance race (750 meter swim, 30 km bike, 7.5 km run). I was a Clydesdale, finishing 76 out of 79 in the 40-44 age group.During that first race, I swam without goggles that broke shortly after the swim started. I almost drowned when I couldn't breath because my wetsuit was too tight. I had to stop and open up the back of it and breast stroked much of the way. My background is I started triathlons in 1986 at 19 years old. By 24 years old, I had done Ironman Canada twice and Kona once, I got in on the lottery. By all standards, I was completely average, my three Ironman times were 12:22, 13:23 and 14:32, and in that order. I left the sport to start a business and by 2006 I tipped the scales at 229 lbs. By 2007, I was depressed and disgusted about the shape I was in. The best times of my life was when I was doing triathlons and I decided to get back into it. After that first race, I competed almost every weekend. I did running races, Sprints, Olympics and finished off the year with a Half Ironman. In the process, I lost 50 lbs. The highlight of my season was coming in 3rd out of 3 in the Clydesdale division in a Sprint distance race and making it to the podium. At least I could say I finished 3rd in a race, no one needed to know there was only three in my category! In the process, I decided to start a blog and document my journey from "Fat to Fit". I called the blog "Training Payne" and since then I have close to 1000 posts and haven't missed a day. At the end of my first season, I decided I needed a structured training program and decided to go with Mark Allen Online. I did triathlons in Mark and the "Big Four" era and saw his credentials first hand. It was the best training decision I've ever made. I committed to the plan. To date I've rarely missed a workout and "drank the low heart rate kool-aid". Fast forward to year two (2008), I set a goal for myself. I wanted to beat every race time I posted in my 20's for all triathlon distances, which I ended up doing. I did a 2:26 Olympic, a 4:57 Half and a 11:06 Ironman. Year three (2009), I got ambitious; I set a goal to make it to the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, which I did with a 4:41 at Steelhead. Frankly, it was a "stretch goal" and I really didn't think I'd do it, but I didn't know what other goal to set. Clearwater was the race of my life and I set a PB of 4:37 and that included the time it took for the support crew to replace my broken chain. When it broke, I went from "not thinking I'd even finish" to "elation" when I knew I would. This year (2010), I got really ambitious with my goals, I decided to try and qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Kona. I figured I did the impossible and got to Clearwater, why not try for Kona. I looked at all the Ironman's on the circuit and figured my best shot was to go to China. It turned out I got food poisoning 36 hours before and DNF'd with 13 miles to go on the run in 40 C / 104 F heat. I also learned that everyone else had the same idea as me and the field turned out to be extremely "tough" with lots of previous Kona qualifiers in my age group. Even healthy, it would have been tough to qualify. By this point, I was depressed. Forget about qualifying for Kona, I just wanted to redeem myself and finish an Ironman. I had lost my mojo and confidence. I was originally signed up to do Ironman Lake Placid but couldn't wait that long to redeem myself. I signed up and raced Ironman St. George on a Community fund spot less than two month after China. I went into IMSG without the Kona qualifying goal and did it in 11:26. It turns out that had I not spent 20-30 minutes in various porta-potties on the run, I probably would have qualified for Kona, although I didn't care, I just wanted to finish and "get the DNF monkey off my back". Three months later I was at the start line of Ironman Lake Placid. Never in a million years did I think I had a shot to qualify for Kona at IMLP. It is one tough course with very tough competition. My age group was one of the biggest with 370 competitors. I went into the race with the goal of only finishing strong. Turns out I had the "race of my life". Rarely did my heart rate exceed 135 bpm. I got out of the water in 82nd place in my age group and finished in 9th with a 3:37 marathon and a 10:20 final time. I was first on the roll down and it was good enough to get me to Kona. I must say, I am not a superior athlete, my first year racing I swam 2:25 per 100 consistently. I didn't do well at high school track and I don't have the most-healthy lifestyle. In all honesty, if "I" could qualify for Kona, anyone can. The only reason I'm going to Kona is because of the MarkAllenOnline coaching program and my doing the workouts religiously. Thanks Mark and Luis. Oh, and if your in Kona and see a guy running wearing a "Captains Hat" that's me, give me a cheer and I'll give you a salute!

Taper Rest Day - No training

30 minute hot bath - stretching

Heating up...

After seeing a picture of Sonja bundled up in a photo she posted on twitter, I decided to take her lead and started wearing layers of clothes indoors.

Sonja's going to Kona as a competitive age grouper. I figured if she's doing it, it must work. Little did I know it was too early to do so.

I twittered her and asked her how many hours a day she's wearing her "snowmobile suit" indoors. She twittered back that she's just wearing a long sleeve shirt right now and "Hommie" you don't start heat training until 10 days before hand. Which is tomorrow. Doh!!!

Here I was, bundled up with three sweaters, a toque, two pairs of pants causing smelly sweat to ooze from my body. Needless to say, after she told me that, I unwrapped myself from my cocoon of clothes.

I actually think the bundling may work. Yesterday, I only wore a shirt around the house and as the family was fine, I was freezing. If given the choice, I much prefer bundling up more than the sauna. I like the "slow cooking" over the "high heat" searing.

Over the last couple of weeks, my sweat is "smellier" than normal. I think it's from all the "toxins" leaving my body. I've actually been eating "a little better" and maybe that's giving my body some added energy to dispel the "bad stuff". I know that given the added energy after digestion, the body always tries to repair and rejuvenate its self to a state of homeostasis.

This morning, I realized I haven't eaten perfectly healthy for "a single week" in as long as I can remember, and set a goal to make it happen this week. Rather than set a "weight target goal", which I always do, I set a "behavioural goal". Historically, I find if I don't see my weight decreasing, I tend to lose motivation and perhaps a different approach may work better.

Setting a "behavioural goal" is an experiment and I'll be interesting to see what happens. "Will it be easier to set, stay motivated and achieve a goal based on behaviour, over a quantifiable target?" I've never tried that technique before and it just came as an idea to me today.

In a way, I'm surprised I didn't think of it sooner, that's what I do everyday with my training. I just "follow the program", I don't base my training on "final finishing times".

I'm going to give it a shot and see if it works. My toughest challenge will be to "re-program" myself not to "unconsciously" go in the pantry and eat food on "auto-pilot". I'm also going to try and drink more water.

One of the secrets to my success is a phrase I've used for over 20 years. It is, "If you go through the motions you will succeed". What it means is, "you don't even have to have you're heart into something, but if you do what you're supposed to do, the result will come". I've used it in all aspects of my live, whether it's business or athletics".

For example, if I push myself out the door to train everyday and I follow a good program, even if my "mind" is completely not into it or even against it, the body doesn't care, it will still get "stronger and faster".

Having daily "mental enthusiasm" is definitely a bonus and makes it easier to stay motivated, but not a necessity to success. And vise versa. You can have all the "mental enthusiasm" and "best intentions", but if you don't train, eat appropriately and do all the things you need to do, you'll never succeed. Grinding it out, even when you're not into it, works.

Yesterday, I sent my footage in for the Ironman Wheaties short video. I'm always "self conscious" about myself on video. I don't think I photograph or video well, unlike Reid. It was funny when the person who looked at it, emailed me back:

"It is perfect. The only thing that made me laugh is that you said you were so excited but you didn't show it. Your voice and tone stayed the same - LOL."

Along the same lines, the kids were bugging me on Friday that when I'm joking, people can't tell with my mono-tone voice. It now all makes sense. Over the years people often don't realize it's a joke until I tell them, "I'm joking", unless I have a few drinks to loosen up.

I didn't realize I reached a milestone on Saturday, it was my 1000th day of training since my comeback. In 1000 days, I've done 1557 workouts, swim-biked-ran 22,960.04 miles or 37,032.32 km's and burnt 1,738,859 calories. But who's counting. It just proves what I mentioned earlier, "If you go through the motions you will succeed".

Today I went for my long run. I only ran once this week since racing Ironman Syracuse 70.3 and my legs needed it. It's amazing how quickly you lose it if you don't use it. It was 14C and I bundled up as if it was -20C to help with my acclimatization for Kona.

I noticed the effects of the extra clothing immediately, it's hard to keep the heart rate down when your hot, so I didn't even bother worrying about the heart rate.

It was a two hour run and I took no water with me. When I got home, I weighed myself and lost over 10 lbs and my calf's were tight. It was probably a combination of dehydration and less running than normal this week.

In typical fashion, being so close to the big day, I couldn't go through the run without a car not seeing me and almost driving into me as it was coming out of one of the golf courses. It was the Canada Post delivery guy.

It's one thing to almost hit me, it another to just drive off without a sorry acknowledgement. I gave the guy my customary finger and his passenger window was open so I yelled a customary "A$$hole" loud enough for him to hear it.

Long Run - 2:01:36 / 23.54 kms / 5:09 pace / 146 avg hr

Death management...

Yesterday, I had three near mishaps with cars. Two were their fault, one was mine.

I also was descending a hill and just "nicked" part of a broken tree branch that I didn't see until the last minute. It was only about an inch thick and six inches long, but big enough to take me down if I hit it the wrong way.

It never fails, the last long ride of the year is always the scariest. If something serious happens during the ride, Kona could be over, especially if I was killed. Unfortunately, there's not enough time to recover from death.

Yesterday, two "stupid" drivers came close to possibly ending my Kona journey early. The first was when I was descending at hill around 50 kph and was going through a two-way stop intersection. I wasn't required to stop, the other guy was. Instead, he starts to go as I'm coming through the intersection.

As a pre-caution, I ride out of the aero when I see cars at intersections, I want to make sure I can break if need be and I always try to make "eye contact" before passing through. As this guy starts to drive forward I started "screaming" at the top of my lungs, "HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY". I'm going too fast to stop in time and am thinking my only option is to veer right and hope for the best.

Halfway through the intersection, he sees me and quickly stops. I ride by, I'm furious and I give the guy and his wife the most forceful "F#CK OFF" finger I've ever given. It had "authority" behind it and in no words said, "your lucky I don't stop and rip your F#CKEN head off !!!".

The second incident happened about 80 miles into my ride. I was on a busy mini-highway intersection. I was turning left and he was at the stop sign waiting. I thought he saw me. Before I even passed by the front of his SUV, he took off straight and nearly caught my back wheel.

It was like the "A-hole" didn't even see me. I stopped my bike to look back to see if he was stoppable. He wasn't, he continued barrelling down the other side of the road. I'm not sure if he didn't see me or saw me and was being a "jerk". It was a near miss.

I'm not a violent person, but if I had the chance, at minimum, I would given him a "severe" tongue lashing with "froth" coming out of my mouth, or at maximum, if I had a baseball bat I would have used on his truck. I was in disbelief, it was scary.

The last incident was ALL MY FAULT. I was looking to roll through an intersection, which I always do if there is no cars. At the last minute, I saw a "blue/grey" car that blended into the road coming and I had to quickly swerve and make a reverse loop. I had slowed down quite a bit beforehand and it wasn't too hard to get out of the way.

There was no happier feeling than pulling into my driveway after yesterday's ride. I even raised on arm in triumph, primarily for finishing my last training Century of the year, but it was also nice that I made it home in one piece.

I have a "pet peeve" about riding I want to expand on. The WORST thing someone can do, which I HATE, is make a point of telling me to be careful before a ride. Yesterday, I had two people do that, one on twitter and the other my neighbour.

When people say "be careful" before I leave to ride, it doesn't make me "look out more". Instead, it makes me paranoid and puts doubt in my mind, "Should ride that day?" I know they think they are being helpful, but they're not, it makes riding that day tougher and less joyful.

Unless they had a dream or premonition, "like your plane is going to crash", I wish they wouldn't say anything. It's very unsettling.

Changing subjects, I got a tweet yesterday about someone going to Kona with a camera crew and wanting to hook up with me. I later found out it was for a three minute spot "Wheaties" was putting together for the Ironman about nutrition. They want to get me on video talking about my nutritional habits.

I sent them my R-rated "Mark Allen Online" video. She laughed and said, she still wants me to do it, but without the beer and cigar, although the "Captains Hat" would be fine. The funny part is "beer" is a seriously big part of my nutritional plan.

It took me a little while to think of more nutritional secrets, such as "big juicy steaks after a long Saturday ride", or "protein powder and fruit smoothies in the morning", or "movie theatre popcorn to top up my salts", or "ensure in the transitions", or "egg McMuffins on the bike", or "banana's and peaches in my cycling jersey when I train". Yet, I still believe there is no better post-recovery drink than a nice "cold beer" or ten.

This afternoon Alice, Alyssa, Reid and I went to the movie Casablanca at the theatre. Yes, you heard correctly, Casablanca. Reid is really into the old movies and wanted to see it on the big screen. He said it's ranked as the number two movie of all time. It was the first time I've ever seen it and enjoyed it. Next movie he wants to go to is The Maltese Falcon, it's showing in November.

Afterwards, we all drove out into the escarpment to shoot my Wheaties video. It was a lot tougher than we thought to find a quiet spot and I find it hard to be "natural" on camera. We did a lot of takes and even then I'm not sure if it's what they are looking for and it was grey outside.

I decided not to train today. By the time we got home, it was past dinner time, it was cold and I wasn't feeling it. I decided to move tomorrows rest day to today and do my run tomorrow.

Taper Rest Day - No Training

Tracking and attacking...

Yesterday, I forgot to mention that I rented a "real-time-gps-tracking-devise" for Ironman Kona. It's from a company called www.myathletegps.com and I pick it up at their race expo booth when I get to Kona.

The first time I heard of this company was at Ironman Lake Placid, they had an expo booth. Essentially, for $40, they rent you a small GPS devise that attaches to your race belt and tracks you on the bike and run in real-time.

They give you a web link that you share with family and friends so they can go online or use a PDA to view your progress at anytime. I included a link to a video of what the tracking looks like HERE.

I think online real-time tracking is a great idea for long distance races. For Alice, she'll now know exactly where I am on the course and not have to spend countless hours waiting and wondering when I'll be coming around the corner. And for Family and Friends, they can watch my progress from a far as it happens, rather than having to wait for the Ironman.com tracker update.

When I first met the guy who rents them in Lake Placid, he intentionally called them "recreational" devises. He explained, in the beginning people were looking at them for split times, etc and sometimes they would crap out, or the battery dies and people would get mad or friends or family would think there was a problem on the course because there was no movement. I get the impression that if the gps is working well, it will show the exact time and some stats of miles covered, etc. If so, that would be very cool.

Frankly, it's only a matter of time until this becomes standard fare for triathlons. The technology already exists. If they allowed me to run with an iPhone, my family could track me right now. I'm thinking that one day, the timing chip may have something in it that will allow real-time tracking, maybe using RFID technology or something similar. Heck, Walmart already uses RFID now to track all their trucks and products and it's cheap.

I'm almost ready for Kona. I ordered a new box of contact lenses for race day, which was a chore. My optometrist didn't want to sell them to me until I came in for a new eye exam, my last exam was two years ago. I told them, I'm not coming in, my prescription is fine, and if you don't order them for me, I'm going to place the order with another company. Needless to say, they ordered them.

Now I'm just waiting for two more items. The first and most important is my Sponsor Triathlon Toons racing tri-top and the second is my finish line "prop". I'm told the tri-top will be here on time, I'm not sure about the prop. I ordered it late from amazon and I really hope it gets here before we leave. If it doesn't, it wasn't meant to be. If it does, it's going to be a damn funny finishers shot.

For pre-Kona, I've been debating if I should be wearing the Captains hat at the pre and post race festivities. I'm talking the ORIGINAL Captains hat. The 45 year old one that's my grandfathers. Normally, I wear a replica Captains hat only on the run.

In the beginning, I ran with the Original Captains hat but it's too fragile to withstand anymore race sweat and was starting to come apart. But it's still great for wearing, it fit's like a glove, like it was made for my head. Total quality.

My question to my blog readers is this, "Should I be the Captain for the entire Kona experience, or just for the run?"

I FINALLY had a respectable long bike ride this afternoon. The last three have been pathetic, averaging between 26 - 28 kph. Today was my 24th Century ride since Training for Ironman China on December 12th 2009. My 25th Century will be the "big one" in Kona and my last for the year. Thank God.

I wasn't sure if I was going to ride today, then I got a "surge" of positive energy and decided to "bundle up" and "getter done". I had four goals for today's ride:

1. Average over 30 kph

2. Do not stop for any convenience store breaks and ride non-stop.

3. Do not go into the small front chain ring.

4. Do not get out of the saddle on any climbs.

I'm proud to say I accomplished all four goals and I did it under tough conditions. It was cold (14 C / 57 F), a little rain and the winds were 30 kph and gusting up to 44 kph. My nose was running the entire time. I took the "harder routes" with hills, like number one side road and the Appleby line dip. I was also bundled up with three layers up top and two below, which made it a "bulky" ride, just like winter.

All in all, it was the exact "confidence builder" I was looking for before Kona. When I got home, my legs weren't sore, just exhausted. Even though I only ate one banana, a power bar, an ensure and two bottles of Powerbar drink over the entire five and a half hours, I'm happy to report I didn't come close to bonking.

When I got home, I showered and bundled up with three layered heavy sweaters, a toque, compression tights and pants. All in the attempt to acclimatize for Kona. I feel like too much of a "keener", but I'm scared about the heat and don't want to be halfway through the race with regrets of "what ifs" and "I should haves".

Long Ride - 5:26:10 / 170.31 kms / 31.33 kph avg / 139 avg hr

Careful...

It is easy to get into a "false" sense of security about overtraining and mental burnout.

I thought I was "out of the woods" until I got into the pool today and realized pushing through my swim workout would be a big mistake and I don't have time to correct mistakes.

Instead, I did 25 minutes, got out of the pool and went into the sauna.

Yesterday, I did 25 minutes straight in the sauna. Today, I could only do 15 minutes, I didn't have the mental strength to go longer. Although, I did take Johan's advice and drank from a water bottle while I was in there.

I was happy that I "aborted" my swim and sauna. Pushing through would have been a bad move. Right now I'm using my MAO training program as a "recommended suggestion" and not "the law".

Instead, it's all about "self-monitoring" and asking myself, "How do I feel? Will this workout make me stronger or weaker?"

Today, I realized I wasn't feeling it and training was "a grind". It was an easy decision to stop, "If I'm not enjoying it, I'm not doing it". I have one long bike and run before Kona and I'm not doing them until I'm looking forward to doing them.

All it takes is one or two days of rest and "Bam", I'm ready. I've looked at all the sessions left and I'm already making adjustments based on what will keep me fit and mentally optimistic. I'm actually enjoying the "free falling mid-course adjustments". It's an added challenge and I have a history of "always landing on my feet".

I read a tweet and saw a picture of Sonja, she's also doing Kona. Sonja lives in Boulder and is spending time doing everything bundled up. The photo I saw was her inside her house with a toque on. I love the idea and I'm going to start bundling up, especially before I go to bed.

This morning I was pleasantly surprised to see I was down to 185 lbs, my current "red zone" watermark. I'd be ecstatic if I could get down to 181 lbs by Kona. Sleeping in a jacket may help "cook" away the remaining fat.

Tonight, after a "news hour" snooze, Alice, Alyssa, Reid and I went to the movie Wall Street. It was not very good. The original was one of my favorite movies of all time and I was hoping "lightening would strike twice". I didn't. Don't waste your money.

I have a long ride and run planned this weekend. I'm not sure what day I'm going to do which one. It will all be by "feel". I will say that watching Ironman Kona video's are getting me in the spirit. I can't believe we are only 9 days away from arriving in Kona.

I'm still bummed that Alyssa can't come. It turns out that a family friend is going to be in Toronto the same time we're away and will be staying at our place. I'm glad she'll have some company while we're away.

The other day I got a good laugh. Reid went shopping with Alice for his upcoming "class photo" outfit and as a joke came back with an "old style" paisley shirt and bow tie. I think he's also trying to find red suspenders before they shoot next week. I love it, it'll be a photo to remember and reminds me of my grade 7 class photo, except I wasn't wearing that shirt as a joke.

Finally, for those that are doing an Ironman for the first time or looking for motivation to do one. Check out http://201ironman.blogspot.com/ You can read many Ironman stories and advice. It's a great site for inspiration. My story and advice is also included, click here.

Swim- 25:20 / 1150 meters

Sauna - 15 minutes

Fall is here...

Many of the people who's blogs I follow are starting to "over-eat". I figured it must be the change of seasons. Sure enough, I googled it and yesterday WAS the first official day of Fall 2010.

I'm not in full blown eating mode yet. I normally crave and eat more sugary carbs this time of season, but so far have been able to control myself.

I did weigh myself this morning and I came in at 189 lbs. I know a lot of that is "muscle building water retention" from Sunday's Half Ironman, but it's still a scary number.

At one point during the day I was thinking about weight and how vulnerable we all are and can go backwards if we don't catch ourselves. Two years ago my "red zone" number was 181 lbs, last year my "red zone" number was 183 lbs and this year it's become 185 lbs.

Realistically, right now, I think I'm at 186 lbs after water retention, which is too high. My concern is allowing my "red zone" weight zone to move up again. I think if I did so, it could become a slippery slope. I've seen that "movie" before and it ended up at 229 lbs.

I've also found my sense of "red zone" self-correction urgency waning. In the earlier years, I self-corrected IMMEDIATELY. Now, it's more of a, "let's have some heavy training days and see what happens", before I do anything drastic. The last thing I want to do is "deprive myself" of eating crap food or drinking beer unless it's completely necessary.

Training was strong today. Mentally, the two day break helped and I enjoyed my running, biking, swimming and weight training sessions. Later in the evening, I went to the Flambourgh YMCA to spend time in the sauna as part of my acclimation plan for Kona.

I haven't been to the Flambourgh YMCA in two years. For the first two years of my training, I did all my training there. I put countless hours in that pool. It was a weird and strange sensation returning. Even the drive to and from was a little surreal and it "time travelled" me back a couple years.

As I was sweltering in the Sauna and watching the Masters swim club swim back and forth in front of the sauna window, I had a series of thoughts.

My first thought was, "I need to move my weight RED ZONE back to 181 lbs with a self-correction sense of urgency". I know that if I don't pull in "the horns" now, I'm going to regret it. It's much easier to lose 5 lbs than it is to lose 15 lbs.

My second thought was, "I'm looking forward to enjoying my off-season, but I'm not looking forward to losing my incredible fitness and endurance". Having the ability to do effortless Century rides and long runs every weekend is like "a drug". Taking a break will mean, "I'll have to somewhat start over" and "am I ever going to get back to this level of fitness?"

My third thought was a carry over from Sunday's race. After such a slow swim time, I was disgusted in myself, I hadn't swam that slow in over 2 years. Even during today's swim session, I pushed myself to get my speed back and did a 600 set at 1:41 pace, a 300 at 1:42 pace and a final 300 at 1:43 pace.

As I sat in the sauna and watched the Masters Group swim by, I wondered if I should join. In a way, I now feel worthy and comfortable enough to swim with others and perhaps my competitive spirit will push me harder. My only concern is that I rarely see any of the Masters coaches doing any "technique instruction", it just seems to be workout set guidance.

The sauna was hot, I only managed to do two sets, the first was 25 minutes long and the second was 5 minutes long. Just sitting in the "hot box", my heart rate got up to 128 bpm. The first 7 minutes was "easy", the last 18 minutes was "hell".

Tomorrow it's supposed to an unusually warm 27 C and the weekend is going to be 15 C. As much as I'd like to do my long ride in the heat, I'm not going to. Riding two days in a row would do more tearing down of my leg muscles than building them up. For the first time in a long time I had a strong training ride today and for confidence reasons, I need it to keep it that way.

I've come to realize that "the taper" is as much of an "art" as it is a "science". To do it properly, the key is to monitor your "body" and "mental state" with the objective to get to the start line with both feeling strong and ready to race. To do it perfectly, intuition is key.

Tonight, as I was writing this blog post, I got an email from Todd Seeber. Todd is the guy I had the footrace to the finish during the Syracuse Ironman 70.3 this past Sunday. The subject line was "Amazon Man" and it read as follows:

Hi Bryan: Todd Seeber here. Googled Syracuse 70.3 and found your blog. Of all the people in the race the one I finished with had the popular blog!!! I should probably chime in there too and not remain a man of mystery, but wanted to touch base. Your account is exactly as I remember it. No fish tales. Those last couple of miles racing with you were perhaps the highlight of all the racing I have ever done - bar none! There is no way I would have gone as fast without the foot race at hand. And I got the 2nd of 3 rolldown spots so we both could have gone to Clearwater! I won't tell Alice... My Dad hails from near Toronto so I felt at home racing a Canadian. I play in the Boston Symphony full time and happen to have no concerts the weekend for Clearwater so will go, as it now stands. Your racing history is really cool - you have been at it a long time with great success. I started about the time you started your comeback, with running and climbing before that, but grew up in Hawaii when the first ironman took place on Oahu - it has always been in the back of the mind I think. Anyway, hope you have recovered and look forward to seeing your Kona results!!! Great racing with you. Have to work on my finishing kick... Good luck. Todd

It was really cool to get that email and I emailed Todd back to touch base if he ever made it to Toronto. I also asked him, "how tall are you?" He emailed back 6'5". I was bang on, it wasn't my "imagination".

As a side bar, from Sunday's race, my heels are still healing. Somewhere along the way, I must have run over something during the swim to the bike transition that cut them up. I've never had that before. I now understand why some people swim in socks.

Run - 43:06 / 8.19 km / 5:16 km pace / 127 avg hr.

Bike - 55:33 / 30.71 km / 33.2 km avg / 139 avg hr.

Swim - 29:53 / 1500 meters

Weight - 30 minutes

Sauna - 30 minutes (25 & 5)

O-MY....

No, you are not seeing things, the photo today is a caricature of "Matty O" driving his "O-TANK". Heather got a Triathlon Toon made of him for his birthday. Click here to read all about it.

I don't know what it is, but in the relatively short time that I've known Matt, I'd have to say his Triathlon Toon captures his "inner child perfectly". I love it.

Heather did want the "Captain" in the photo, but the Captain was too fast and was already "well ahead". To bad they don't do Panoramic artwork.

I did NO training today. I tried to go for a swim, but wasn't feeling it and turned the truck around. I figured, I'm in shape, I know it, and right now I need to get my MOJO back.

To me it's critical I enjoy every moment of Kona. I'd rather suffer on the race course from a 5 -10% fitness loss, than show up dreading the start and looking forward to the finish.

On the way home, I stopped at Home Depot. I had my "beer bong" in the back of the truck and it needed a little "fine tuning". The hose before the valve needed to be shortened, when you turned it off, it still had at least a beer in the "chute", which usually ended up wasted on someones shirt.

It was a funny scene, I had the bong in a plastic green garbage bag and was walking the aisles looking for the hose cutter. One East Indian associate I talked to didn't understand English too well and tried to sell me a new cutter. Eventually another associate overheard the conversation and helped me out.

I pulled the end that needed to be shortened out of the bag and he cut it. He had no idea what it was. I put the end back in the bag and walked out and no one said a thing.

Last night I got into the "spirit building" groove. As Alice watched TV, I watched YouTube videos about Kona. Johan also put a post on his blog to help me. Thanks Johan. It was a video he put together from when he did Kona last year. Click here to check it out.

Since I've started watching Kona video's, I can tell it's the right thing to do, it's slowly starting to put "excitement" back in my tank. I've decided from now until I leave for Kona, I'm watching "at least" one Kona Ironman video a day. An added benefit of watching these video's is the motivation I'm getting to lose a little weight, everyone in the video's looks amazingly fit.

Tonight, with no training to do, I put together the "2010 House of Payne 5 km Beer Run Video". The timing was perfect. When I tweeted earlier in the day that "I didn't have my Mojo and wasn't going to train", Matty-O immediately responded and told me to make the HOP Beer Run video. He really wants to see it because it has him doing "cart-wheels".

Oh, and he may not know it yet, but it also shows him walking like a "pussy" and it was for much longer than the 15 seconds it shows on the video. The sad part was he wasn't even drinking beer. He was drinking "girlie one ounce shots" and still had to walk.

I finished the video, uploaded it "twice" with different music each time and the "audio was disabled" for copyright infringement. If anyone knows were I can get FREE royalty free music let me know.

On the video front, Mark Allen Online also posted videos of some of us attending Kona and our story you can find them by clicking here.

I'll tell you one thing about Matty O. He may be "big and strong and tough", but feed him some chicken nuggets and alcohol before any physical activity and he gets "tummy troubles". If he doesn't have his "O-Tank" with him, he's done. The best thing for you to do give him a "soother" and let him lie down and have a nap. If you have crib in the house, even better.

As I was waiting for video to upload to YouTube, I was googling Ultra Triathlons. As crazy as this sounds, I was looking to see if there were any coming up. I'm definitely interested doing one.

I was even looking at doing Ironman Miami 70.3 in October but it was sold out. The worst part is I know I'm not of "right mind" if I'm even thinking of doing another one this year. Thank goodness Alice is around to straighten me out if I seriously think of "pulling the trigger".

I also want to give some props out to Rodney Buike. He is a P.F.G who just finished his first Half Ironman at Muskoka on September 12th after losing 80lb in only 15 months. His story is now on the Previous Fat Guys Triathlon Club website. I'm most amazed how Rodney body is fat and his face remained skinny. When I was fat, my face was even fatter. Congrats Rodney, nice job

One last thing. I found my 1988 Kona Ironman race and split times. This year I'm bib #759 and back in 1988 I was bib #471. My stats were as follows:

1988 Ironman Kona

22 yrs old

Swim - 1:23:55 /643

Bike 6:44:45 /782

Run - 5:15:02 /786

Final - 13:23:43 /950th Overall out of 1189 finishers

91st of 95 in AG.

No Training - Mojo recovery

I've added a couple of video's today. One is part one of a six part series I'll post over the next 6 days. I think is the best race in the history of the Ironman. It the 1989 classic battle of Dave Scott and Mark Allen. The other is of this years 2010 House of Payne Beer Run.

Living on the edge...

Last night, sitting around the bar with Alice, I realized Triathlons can "kill you".

We were talking about Reid's swim DNF at Barrie. I forgot how scary a triathlon swim can be. When I look back, I remember my first open water swim and "IT WAS SCARY".

You can't see the bottom, you can barely see your hand, it's cold, it could be wavy, you've got others banging into you and you don't know what's lurking below. Even when I started back doing triathlons four years ago, I had to relearn how "not to panic" during the swim.

When you think about it, the swim is "a life or death" experience. Water kills and it's possible to die from drowning at every single race.

During the swim anything can happen. It's not uncommon for people to "take in water" or "cramp" or have a "claustrophobic panic attack" or "fatigue" and potentially "drown to death". How many sports are out there where every competitor has to cheat death to finish?

Truth be told, I'm surprised how few "drownings" there are during the swim portion of a triathlon. It's a testament to physical and mental preparation of each of the competitors. Even during this Sunday's Syracuse 70.3 race, I swam by one person that was floating on their back trying to recover from something.

The safest thing you can do when you have trouble in the water is to relax. It's those people that panic that drown. The key to not panicking is to spend time in water. I find that the hours I train in the pool is what keeps me water confident.

This past weekend, it dawned on me, "I didn't even experience any anxiety during the swim during the race". I felt like I was swimming at the YMCA. Open water swimming has now become so natural to me that I don't even realize I'm in a potentially dangerous situation.

Biking is also very dangerous and there are moments that can be scary during a race, especially descending, it is very easy to "wipe out" at high speeds. BUT........ the most dangerous part of riding is during training. Every year, no matter where you live, someone nearby is killed on a bike after being hit by a motorist.

In triathlons, if you don't die from the swimming or biking, then you're pretty much "death" home free. The run is more of an "injury trap", than a "death trap". Running injuries may not kill you, but they can make you feel like "you're living in a living hell" if you can't train.

Maybe that's why I think triathlon is a "bad ass" sport and suit's my personality perfectly. Forget about the "pain" and "suffering" required to do it. Triathlon incorporates "extreme fitness" with "life or death" situations. It's truly a Pirate Sport. Not something you can get from sports like Golf or Bowling.

Switching Gears, I found out that my finishing time at Syracuse 70.3 was good enough to qualify for Clearwater 70.3 World Championships this year. Todd Seeber, the guy I beat by 2 seconds got the slot at the roll down. I'm happy for him. Immediately after the race I told him to go to the roll down, that I wasn't going to take the spot if it came to me.

It just doesn't get any better than knowing you qualified for Kona and Clearwater in the same year AND that I've now qualified for Clearwater two years in a row.

Before even going to Syracuse, I had decided that if I did qualify, I wasn't taking the spot and was "paying it forward" as others had for me when they didn't accept their spots at the roll down.

Oh, and the other reason, is Alice would KILL me if I told her we were doing Clearwater as well. She's already sick of all the money I spent on triathlons this year. Going to Clearwater would definitely be the straw that broke the camels back and there is really no need to go, I'll be buying my 2011 work and play wardrobe in Kona this year. Buying another Clearwater wardrobe would be so last year.

Today was recovery, work and no training. I did slip away for an hour massage to help get the legs loosened up and I chose a therapist that has nice soft and relaxing touch, I did not want to experience ANY pain, not even deep tissue pain. And no, it was not a "happy ending" type of massage.

I also got my new 2XU blue tri-shorts today. Now I just need my Triathlon Toons Jersey to arrive before the end of the month and my Kona racing wardrobe is ready. I've now got 17 days to eat and sleep well and then I can go back to my "party boy" existence.

Massage - No training.

For the next 17 days, I'm going to try and get in the spirit by watching a Kona Ironman video every day. Here's the first one. If anyone has a link to any they think are worth watching, please leave it in the comments section or email it to me. Thanks in advance.

Timing is everything...

Yesterday, I forgot to mention my secret motivation that drove me to finish strong at the "Syracuse Ironman 70.3".

It was "fear".

I felt I needed to have a decent race because if not, I was going to get "ridiculed" by Matty O and Simon. Knowing those two, it would be never ending. It was one of Matty O's pre-race blog comments which incorporated Simon's pussy comments that got to me. It read:

Keep up the good work and keep your head up. I would hate to have to start jumping on the band wagon and start calling you a pussy as well. You have this weekend to redeem your status in my book. If you fail, you will never live it down HAHAHA.

It's amazing what "motivates" someone to do well. Essentially, I did not want to "never live it down" by having a bad race. As I was running and I wanted to slow down, I kept thinking about that comment and it motivated me to push harder.

Thanks Matty and Simon. Now F#ck Off, I don't need anymore high pressure motivation from you two "Training Payne Wanna-bees". Although, I am looking forward to returning the "motivational" favour.

Another interesting observation from Ironman Syracuse 70.3 was the amount of "woman" competing, there was 611 out of 2098. I've never been in a race where I've looked at so many women's bums, which was a perk. On the bike, I was a little "bummed" out, pun intended, it's more of an "ego boost" to pass men's bums over women's.

I'm definitely seeing a trend of more women doing triathlons. Every race, there seems to be more and more women. I general, I put women in "high regard". Nowadays, many woman are moving up the corporate ladder, all while raising kids and managing the household, and somehow they are also able to train regularly and race triathlons. Some are even single parents. I find that remarkable.

A third observation was how "social of a sport" triathlons are. The sport is perfectly suited to meet and talk to new people. At every race there is nothing but time to interact. It could be at the registration, the expo, the pre-race meal, the transition zone preparation, the waiting before the swim start and the post race finish at the food tent or post awards banquet. It could even happen on the bike or the run.

At every turn, there is an opportunity to say "hi" and "talk a little triathlon" and get to know someone. For me, I've come to realize, "I love the social aspect of triathlon". On the beach at Syracuse, I had a really great conversation with a 47 year old woman from Quebec who just set a PB at the Boston Marathon with a 3:11. Her biggest training week was 170 kms / 105 miles of running.

On the bike, I met a guy from Texas and we spoke for a couple minutes during the end of the ride. Then, after the sprint to the finish, I talked to Todd Seeber, the guy I beat out to the finish. For that moment afterwards, we were "brothers in arms" and had a post-race get to know each other conversation. I googled his name afterwards and found out he's a Bass Player for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. How cool is that.

Lastly, I was "shocked" when I was walking back to my car with the Captains hat on and someone I didn't know, wished me luck at Kona. I stopped and thanked them and asked, "how did you know I qualified for Kona?"

The guy told me he saw me and the Captains hat at IMLP and saw a picture or read that I had qualified for Kona. I thought that was cool, the "Captains" getting noticed and it was just another example of how "social" and "supportive" the sport of triathlon is.

Today, I felt pretty good. We didn't stay up too late and didn't drink to much. This morning Rich and I went for an easy hour ride. My legs felt okay and my mind is "burnt out". I'm glad it was slow social ride. My plan until Kona is to pare down on the "physical training" volume and pump of the "Positive Mental Attitude" training.

Before Rich and Davis caught their flight back to Winnipeg at 6:30 pm, we had a few beers around the bar in the "man cave", chatted, and watched some UFC fights. I think Rich is "on the bubble" and is motivated to do his first ever Ironman next year.

Rich and Davis may come back next year to do the Rev 3 Series Iron distance race in Sandusky. If they do it, I'll sign up and do it with them. With that said, I'm still thinking of doing it regardless.

Later on in the evening, Jamie came by and I got one last beer out of the Kegerator. It is now officially empty. In less than two months, I've went through 3 large kegs, which is the equivalent of 495 bottles of beer.

For the rest of the night, we finished off the remaining bottles of beer I had in my bar fridge. I'm now "Officially" beer-less. I have NO beer in the house and I'm not going to get any until Post-Kona. I don't want the temptation.

Easy Recover Ride - 59:23 / 25.27 km / 25.52 avg km pace

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