T-3 days..Soma 70.3

First off, thanks josh for the advice. I sometimes forget this and now I don't feel so worried.

The athletes list and instructions came out today and at this time there is 156 athletes in my age group, not including anyone that signs up between now and Saturday.

I am wondering what my race strategy will be actually. I mean I know I have to survive the swim and get out of the water, which by the way is looking like a wet suit swim being in the low 70's. I just checked the water temp now at 2pm and its 75*, I was debating on using the wet suit or the speed suit that S. Baboo was nice enough to let me borrow originally for Cozumel and at this point I guess I am leaning towards the wet suit. Now once out of the water with the help of the wet suit strippers and on to the bike.

Of course nutrition and hydration on the 3 loop course. Aid stations will be at mile 9 and 16 of the loop so other than starting with some water in my aero bottle and one Gatorade bottle I am good to go till the second loop which is good b/c it will give me time to assess the stations as I pass them on the first loop. Now hoping for not too much wind I am looking to actually ride a little uncomfortable out of my zone and see how it works overall. Of course with the technical turns of the course I may not be totally uncomfortable b/c I am not sprinting back up to speed after every turn. We'll see how it all comes together.

Now the run. I have been training on my 4 min run/1 min walks lately and although I seem to be avg. about 10:45ish pace overall I think I will move to the 5/1 and see how it plays out. I can always adjust back to 4/1's. I will be carrying my hand held on this run b/c this is my plan for Cozumel for simply keeping me cool. The aid stations are every mile on this course and my hand held will definetly get me through those to keep me cool. It should be in the mid 80's for the run so that's going to be warm esp. when its been in the 60-70s here in vegas so dumping water on me usually works. I will also carry 2 bottles in my fuel belt for in between the miles. I have even thought about putting on my trail running shorts over my tri shorts in T2 like I did last week on a training brick and it simply was to carry my gels, salts and there just comfortable to run in, but im still undecided on that.

Overall I think it will be a good race if all goes well and no sudden changes in wind or crazy mishaps. I will have fun as I always do and look forward to getting back and pressing on for a couple more weeks till Cozumel.

rockon'

Count down to Soma 70.3

Hey its only 5 days away and I am still wondering how good I can swim. I mean I have a good few swim sets under my belt lately, it will most likely be a wet suit swim somewhere in the 72-75* water temps but does all that really transfer to the NON wetsuit, skin suit of current flowing ocean salt water..???? humm..

I still have time after Soma for swim endurance sets and I know they will come but just makes me wondering how ready am I for Ironman Cozumel. With a couple of centuries left on the bike, some more running as well I feel good with all that but again it makes me wonder and question.

I guess this is good right? I mean, I should be wondering.. It's Ironman! It's not easy! It's tough out there, weather conditions, water currents, humidity, and your body having a mind of it's own. Eeeks!!

Well in 5 days I will have some answers and some more questions!! or doubts or beliefs!!!

5 Days!!!! Soma 70.3 I'm coming after you!

rockon'

still counting down..

Like I thought it would stop or slow down, yea right!! 47 days it was says today and with only 13 day left till 70.3 Soma, I am 99% scared, 1% excited, or maybe it's 99% excited, 1% scared, but that's what makes it so awesome! (yes, that's from Armageddon)

I will look to get a some Lake swimming in this week in the wet suit just b/c I haven't in the open water since June but if not this week maybe next week and heck, if not then, I guess race day! Not like its my first time in open water but ya know, always good to recall what it feel like.

Training has been coming along well this past week with some good swims, bike and run work. Yesterday's double head wind on the out and back made the ride oh so fun but hey, Cozumel will have wind so nothing I won't be used to other than the Humidity. Which brings me to the scared part of racing in Cozumel and wondering how my body is going to react to the warmed temps and humidity and how that will play out for speed and hydration. Overall, I am still looking to have a great race and finish feel good and if that is longer than my CdA time, that so be it but I hope it's not and time will only tell, especially come race day.

rockon'

Counting down and a New event!

Talk about wind disruption this weekend! I mean we all get windy days but sometimes I think Vegas gets more than its fair share! Anyway, the temperature dropped very nicely this week and this weekend it has actually been cool/chilly compared to what we are used to.

I have finally been feeling better although I seem to have a slight cough attacks at times but then it goes away. I was able to get in a short ride today and was not that impressed with my triumphant return to the training circuit with all the time I have had off I guess I was just hoping for more but I do have to realize I was sick!

With just a few short weeks left to Cozumel and even less to Soma 70.3 I have had a few short conversations with Coach Liz and looks like we will be working to a 10 day taper for Cozumel vs. the standard 3 weeks just b/c I have been off on the volume. I am totally comfortable with this as I just really feel that I am way behind and until I can get a good week or two of training to bring back my confidence I like what I am hearing. My focus needs to be sharp, rest and recovery need to be priority, intensity needs to be on and I need to stay Healthy! Good nutrition, fruits, veggies, and extra vitamins along with anything else I can get a hold of to keep me 100%. I am excited for the next several weeks to come and I am nervous which I think is a good thing b/c there is work to be done and only I can control what gets accomplished and what does not!!

Being as I am so excited Guess what I did??!!! Guess!!!! I signed up for 50 miler race #2! Old Pueblo 50, March 6, 2010! It will be southern Arizona and I will heading down with Molly Sheridan and Jimmy who I crewed with. Also will be some great fellow bloggers who I have been privileged to race with before! It's gonna be fun! Check out the Elevation Profile!

I am ready for the training week so let's just hope everything starts coming together!

rockon'

HOLY F'n! Crap!!

DO YOU SEE WHAT IT SAYS OVER THERE ON THE RIGHT SIDE COUNT DOWN!!! 60 F'N' DAYS!!!! OMG.. breath... breath.. OMG!! OMG!! breath, JT Breath!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

okay here's the update on why I am totally freaking out! My last run on Friday Oct. 18th of 20 miles was a great run and I had come off a great bike week as well hitting 70 miles out on the Silverman/Rage course. Then my buddy Tuggle came into town and he busted a good run with the TNT on the following Saturday and then Sunday I got some kind of stomach bug so I was out for the day and missed my long bike which was supposed to be 80 miles. THEN.. the whole week I helped another chiropractor out of town (about 70 miles from my house, so I was driving back and forth all week) while he went on vacation and he runs a high volume of patients each day so I was adjusting 50+ people a day. By Wednesday I was wore out, Thursday I was hanging on and Friday I could feel I was getting sick. OH!!!! and during this whole week, You guessed it NO TRAINING! cuz I was shot, weak, a pussy, wimp, tired, all the above!! Call it what ever you want but I didn't get any training done, was the bottom line.

So the Friday I was not feeling well and Saturday it hit me. Fever, coughing, more fever, headaches, body aches! Sucks!! TKO'd. I played this game all day Saturday and Sunday and the Monday it got a little worse with a constant fever and finally broke yesterday afternoon! SHIT!! Today I have not had any more fever but still feel tired and achy. I have taken more Tylenol in the past 3 days than all year! WTF!! not good. Now I am just dealing with some coughing and achy throat from all the freakn' coughing! BUT HELLO!!!!! ALL THIS MEANS IS NO TRAINING AGAIN FOR ANOTHER WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so freaking out on not getting my training done and with the days counting down I have to start thinking about my actual time goals and what is really going to be possible with the amount of time I have left. Obviously the #1 Goal is to finish and finish feeling good and not wiped out for a week. I will be looking to get back to healthy asap and get back in the pool b/c that is really where my freak out is coming from! I can make the bike and run with some quality pacing but I gotta make it out of the water first and with my swim quality so far I am not really sure I could pull it now. So Send me Some Get Well Energy/Vibes.. whatever you can b/c I need all the help I can get right now. !!!

rockon'

Groovn' .. I think.

Training!!! Wow!!

I have finally decided that I need to get in the pool and started swimming and mostly b/c I swam last week with a couple of friends and just realized HOW BAD I have gotten and with the count down going, I have to get back in the groove so I can honestly say I have swam 3 days in a row, not the longest but I am getting in the pool.

Last week I had a minor lower leg pain so I cut my long run short and ran again yesterday but seem seemed to be missing the snap and enjoyment of it for some reason maybe it was the Long 70 miles of getting my ass kicked out at Lake Mead on the Silverman/Rage course on Sunday!

Formulaic and I headed to the Silverman supported ride on Sunday leaving from his house at 5am in complete darkness and riding on the Boulder Hwy with only the light from the passing cars which was pretty crazy in itself but we managed to make it to the lake before the group pulled out. There I met up with Brendan and Jewels and rode the first half of the course with them as well. I seemed to have a slight rear tire malfunction due to not checking the inside of the tire after replacing a tube before I left my house in the morning. The tire slowly leaked and I refilled it 2 times before finally replacing it at the water stop. Once I checked the tire and found 3 small pieces of metal shavings that should have popped the tire I removed them, replaced and the tube is holding today!

Once back on the road Form and I continued riding and somewhere around mile 55-60 I totally Bonked out!! I was dying the last 10 miles to get back to his house and I even took the easier route along the highway as Form took on the famous Silverman 3 Bitches hill climb! Go Form!! Once back at his house and talking with Mrs. Form about the day I realized I was about 600 calories behind and no wonder I bonked out! Shit!! Guess I was just having too much fun riding with others and worrying about my stupid tire and lost track of it, so Don't Do That Again!!

I spent the rest of the day paying for my lack of nutrition and just getting my ass kicked out there as it took till the next day to really recover. I also realized that riding that course is not consistent to Cozumel training and although you could argue, and Formulaic will, that the hills can make you stronger, which I'm not saying they won't but it doesn't translate to staying aero for miles and miles at a time. It will be back to Indian Springs for me!!

Now on other great and fun news...!!!!!! I am officially signed up for the SOMA 70.3 on Oct. 25 in Tempe, AZ! That will be my taper race and to really see where I am going to be for Cozumel based on times, hopefully. On this note, I will not be heading to San Fran for the TNT Nike Women's Marathon which makes me sad b/c I love the team but I also have to get a big training weekend completely that weekend and going to the Nike event it will just not happen. Sorry Team, but you know I love ya!

Now with that taking me all the way out to Ironman Cozumel, I am already thinking ahead to next year and planning on the spring season of Ultra running and looking to do another 50 miler in March which means only about 12 weeks of training after a couple of weeks of rest from Cozumel, crrrraaaaazzzzzyyyy!!! but so fun! Then I am looking at my 3rd 50 miler in May. We shall see how things work out as time progresses but I am thinking too about using the Carlsbad Marathon on Jan 24, 2010 as a training event for the 50 miler. Wow, so weird to be thinking about that already but you gotta plan these things out.

Time to go swim..!!!! Later.

rockon'

Its coming along..

That's right.. something is.. I'm just not sure what. Well kind of not sure. Over the last week I seem to have lost my Swim Mojo and I do recall I had this problem last year in training for CdA. When did it come back, I am not too sure but I do know that even if I don't find it I better continue on and get in the freakn' pool because HELLO!! as we all know.. the Swim leg is the 1st part of the tri. Okay, Okay, I know!! I really do!!

On the other aspect.. Biking and running seem to moving along very nicely. This weekend was a 78 mile ride with none other than fabulous newly Ironman Formulaic. The ride went good overall, very strong head wind on the way back in which was about 25 miles of totally aero position riding at a mere 11-13 mph!! Ughh!! But although it was annoying to be going that slow, my heart rate, cadence and I were all working properly and I felt good.

Monday, I headed out for a 18 mile run which was actually nice b/c the weather was just a bit cooler and although my legs were tired I was able to have a good run again keeping the pace steady at a 4 minute run, 1 minute walk pattern. I did wait to refuel overall with water and Gatorade but that is only b/c I was not close to any stores and by mile 13 I was starting to conserve water in my camelbak and by the time I hit mile 15 I knew I was behind. So it's only an adjustment that needs to be done there as not to go that far/long without having plenty of stock. I was definitely tired in the afternoon and legs were telling me so. Even yesterday during the core/weights workout I could still feel the tiredness in my legs.

Today, I am feeling much better and ready for a shorter run. If anything I am tired due to a little bit of no sleep b/c it was Forms birthday and we had a few beers and after I stayed hanging out with a great gal and enjoyed the time, much later than I should have but ya know, what can say.

Since the Ultra I have managed to put back on a couple of extra pounds and well, I'm not liking it, so I am making sure to get my runs in (and Liz.. gotta be running those 20's) to thin me back out.. hahaha. I guess drinking less beer would help too. HA! Overall I like how my training is coming along for CZ and even though the swim is behind I know I will be able to complete it faster than I did CdA. I am also in the process of getting a new bike seat b/c mine has been causing me all kinds of problems and it's just time to change it.

I will also be looking to head down to Tempe the last week in October to take on Soma 70.3! It will be a good prep event and heading into taper I am looking forward to it.

rockon'

Counting and Im Famous!!

Where to begin? How about the training recap for the week. Ughh.. well it was good but not the Best and not where it needs to be! Why? Well b/c I am still finding my Ironman mojo for training. I remember this feeling last year for CdA and some times it just takes everything you have to complete one workout and others you feel as if you could do 3 a days! I was able to complete some workouts this week but I will definitely have to step things up now that it's HFS.. 89 days!!

That's right, it's on like crazy and although I was feeling pretty darn tired today, it has begun! As JT remembers from CdA.. the next 90 days are really critical in TCB!! (that's Taking Care of Business!!, hello, Vegas, Elvis's favorite saying) N..E..wayz.. I am actually looking forward to the long bike and it's only Monday.. I will also be back on the trainer this week for the short workouts only b/c I have to! So wish me luck in all that!

Now as all of you know JT is famous and with my superb athleticism I am worldly known,, Ya Whatever!! but hey, I was in the Las Vegas Review Journal Sunday paper on page 2 of the sports section thanks to Molly Sheridan who I was so privileged to crew for at Badwater and her story was printed this weekend. Be sure to watch the Video on her journey, its about 14 mins long, simply amazing! I was actually biking with Formualic when I got the text from her saying I was in the paper with her.

Let's talk about that biking with Formulalic. We met up yesterday in the morning and took off from my regular 95 North route ready to put 56 miles down. As soon as we started you could really smell the smoke from the Cali fires that blew in over the weekend, ughh!! At first I didn't think it was that bad but just after a few minutes it was not fun to breath in, but the good thing is that the farther we got out from Vegas the better it "seemed". We rode great all the way to the turn around at Indian Spring town, refueled and headed back. Now even after my legs not really feeling up for the work, as they were tired from Saturday's 12 mile run with TNT I was able to stay aero for quite a while and just work in the position with a good heart rate. On the way back the course is a little more grind it out long easy grades which you can stay aero but now you add in the 15-20mph head wind and things just become not so fun anymore. We both were staying as aero as we could but the wind just worked us and in repeat fashion at about mile 34, pop! there goes my back tire! After getting changed and ready to roll.. Form starts yelling and his back tire went flat while waiting on me.. Guess his bike was feeling a little jealous from the attention I was giving mine. After getting his changed we were back into the wind and working to the end which didn't seem like we were getting any closer to. It was much hotter, I was running out of water and the smoke was increasing again getting closer into Vegas. Finally, I made it back and was glad to be done. Overall, the ride felt harder just due to the wind and running low on water. I was about 15 mins slower than last week but no worries b/c I got that shit done!

Rested up and then went to the movies.. the company was much better than the movie in my opinion.

The weekend was great overall !! Training was good overall for the weekend!! I'm Happy.. for more reason's but that is another story..

rockon'

No dust in the air.

After a great training weekend and knocking out an awesome 56 mile PR for me on the bike I was actually not chastising myself so much with my training. Okay, maybe a little. The clock is ticking but things are working there way clear, I think.. umm... yeah.. they are.

I felt good after the bike yesterday and was not totally drained. Another 56 planned for the end of the week but I really have to look to get some mid-week biking done.

Interesting how something is always changing in the day in the life of JT.. and this week has been no different. On a personal note, things have been in a whirl wind which has caused me to question some things but now that the wind and dust has settled things are Okay and actually better! Sometimes trusting things blindly is better but definitely more difficult.

rockon'

Friday.!! recapping.

As the week comes to an end and the "Big" training weekend is upon us I look back this week to see how I actually did for training. As if you haven't noticed, today marks 99 days till IMCZ!! Holy CRAP!!

Okay, so I was able to get a few swims, a bike at the beginning of the week, a couple of strength training sessions, and some run work. I have a swim scheduled tomorrow so that will help the weekly numbers.

Let's first talk about the run. Now you would Think that coming off the Headlands 50 and all the training that I did for that, that I would have some good running legs. Well not really sure what happened today, dehydration mostly, after talking with Liz, but after 15 miles of which 9 were on road and the other 6 on trails (yes, as I was running on the road I saw a dirt path and off I went, can't resist it now!) but by the end of the 15 I was toast! I did not really do a good job of hydrating yesterday so I think that got me as well as starting too fast on the road! What JT, too fast!! haha, yeah right!!! I'm about as fast as Formulaic putting his bike together post IMCdA!!

Not only did I manage to get my longest run done since Headlands I am paying the tired price this afternoon, so once again, looking at hydration as the factor. No worries as the run was good, I got to see new road/trails and got it done is the main factor.

I ordered this book and it finally arrived so I am super happy to get to reading:

Yes, there is going to be more Ultrarunning in the near future, I have a few events I'm looking at come early next year so get ready for that!

Well everyone have a great weekend and shout out to Joyce, the rd for calicoracing.com here in town who is off to run LeanHorse 100 in South Dakota!! Smash it Joyce!!

rockon`