I can look back at this week with confidence now, but it was definitely the toughest one to date.? Hours peaked out so far at 13.5 which thankfully coincided with a holiday weekend over Memorial Day, allowing me an extra day off of work for another 3 hour bike ride.? The long rides are going surprisingly well … its crazy to think that 55 miles is a normal weekend ride for me now.? I feel good before during and after the rides, the custom nurtition is working well and giving me the proper amounts of fuel so far … if anything bothers me its just the boredom.?

Theres no iPod on the bike (safety reasons) and I need to ween myself from it on the run since it is not allowed for Ironman.? You have plenty of time to think while training and your mind tends to wander, especially on the bike.? I wanted to develop my mental toughness with Ironman by learning to deal with exhaustion and pain … but its just as much of a battle to fight off boredom from those long training days on your own.? Due to all of the other life factors you have to schedule around, its tough to find people to train with.

Alas I soldier on to a much needed recovery week with only 8.5 hours of training and two days off!? The next month gets challenging because of the theme weeks with a focus on swimming, then biking and then running yet in the middle of that I have the Philadelphia Insurance Olympic Triathlon in the middle of the run week!? Running by far takes the most out of your body, but I want to be able to turn in a respectable performance in Philly.? I of course will go into the race thinking its just another training day and not to push myself or do anything silly that will affect my training … but Im a guy, and Im extremely competitive, and its a race!? Plus I get to race on a course that I know, so I can directly compare my time from last year.? With the unique characteristics of all different venues that I have raced at, its hard to compare your time from one course to another.? This is due to differences in the elevation profile of different courses or the size and layout the transition area along with other intangibles that lengthen or shorten a race.

?

Swim: 7968.07 Yd 2h 40m

Bike: 121.07 Mi 7h 14m 54s
Run: 24.01 Mi 3h 37m 13s

Total: 13.50 hours?

??

Mental Health: Excellent

Injuries: None

Aches & Pains: Minor – Ball of left foot

Nutrition: Excellent

Party Days: 2

Good Nights Sleep: 4]]>