IMAZ - 5 weeks

IMAZ (Nov 23, 2008) is 5 weeks away from this past Sunday, meaning that I have about 2 weeks of hard training to go before tapering. I guess tapering is too nice of a word because if I was actually tapering, that would imply that I was really training hard in order to have something to taper from, right? Actually, I have trained ok for the last 2 out of 3 weeks. Can't seem to train hard for two weeks in a row for various reasons whether work, family, fatigue, or just plain lazy.

I have no idea how well I will do at IMAZ this time around. Looking back at my training log, I have not trained as hard or consistently as I planned. Last time, I finished at a blistering pace of 15:40:33. Good enough to finish, which was good for being my first IM and good enough to beat about 600 people out of 2000. 300 of those were DNF's. Obviously, the only way I'm going to Kona is as a spectactor, not a participant. It's cheaper to just buy the DVD.

As of today, I have 3 more long swims, 2 more long bikes, and 1 more long run. Then I will taper, which is the best part. Just lie around eating, sleeping, and worrying about not having trained enough and what all might go wrong on race day.

Swim: The water is supposed to be around 60 degrees on race day, which is cold for this ole southerner. I just tried a HIM around Denver, where the water was 61 degrees. I DNF'd as my previous report will tell you. But a couple of different factors are: 1) I stood around for 1.5 hours in 47 degree weather before getting in the water, 2) I did not know anyone at the race, and 3) I really was not into the race mentally. It was mainly for training purposes. This time around, 1) I HAVE to finish!, 2) I will take a few practice swims before to get used to the cold, and 3) It will be about 70 degrees or so outside of the water, so I will warm up when I get out. Having said all of that, with the wet suit, I will probably swim this in about 1:30. I swam it in 1:27 last time and really tried to slow down. No problems in the swim, except the cold. It's the other 85% of the race that's the problem.

Bike: Why am I so terrible on the bike? Why do I keep hearing "on your left" about 1000 times in the race? I can almost immitate the sound of those Zipp wheels as they keep whirring past me. Having said all of that, I biked this same course at 14.6 mph last time. The temps were 95+ and the winds were awful, about 20+ mph headwind going out, 3x. Given any sort of break on the winds, and hoping the temps are a more "moderate" 80ish degrees, I hope to bike at an eye popping 15 mph, or 7:30. Look out Norman Stadler!

IF I can accomplish the above on the swim and bike, and given 5 minutes each in T1 and T2, then I hope to start running at 9:10 into the race versus 9:22 last time. Actually, I hope to bike a little faster, but I'm using that as a cushion.

Run: Here is where I MUST do better than last time. In April, I ran ok through about 21 miles, then decided to walk/hobble the balance since my time was slower than anticipated and I had a HUGE blister on my left foot. To do better on the run I must: 1) fuel smarter, 2) pace smarter, and 3) not get my shoes wet. That is what caused the blister. Having said that, I hope to run at a 13:00/m pace or 5:40 total.

If my math is right, this gets me down the finisher's shute at 14:50, breaking the 15 hour barrier and bringing joy and happiness for all the world to see. Then next up, will be the Gulf Coast HIM in Panama City, FL on May 9, 2009. I did TERRIBLE there in May 2007. So I have a chip on my shoulder about that one, which I will use to motivate me to train hard and smart through the dog days of winter in CO.

Cheers.