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The numbers are getting smaller a heck of a lot faster.

55 days from now I’ll be almost 4 hours (it’s 10:55 as I write this part) into Ironman Canada.

If things are going as planned, that would put me between 70 and 75km out of Penticton on my bike and just starting up Richter Pass out of Osoyoos. At this time things will be getting tough. They’ll stay tough for most of the next 90km.

Oddly enough, 6 days from now I’ll be almost 4 hours into the Desert Half Iron in Osoyoos. I should be just down the bottom of Richter and within spitting distance of transition. If things are going wonderfully I’ll be in transition, if they aren’t, I’ll be at the base of Richter.

I really just want to get Osoyoos over and done with. I know it is an important race, but when I think about it, it just seems to be an obstacle to overcome before the final push to Ironman.

I’m not feeling overly confident in my ability to hit the goal my coach has set for me of 6 hours. Personally, I would have been thrilled with sub 6:30. The ride is going to be tough and my bike hill climbing has seemed very weak lately.

Part of the problem is that I’m struggling with a sore glute and leg muscle. I’m just not 100% right now and am going to a guy for some active release work on Tuesday to see if he can help out. If he’s good I’ll pimp his name out there for everyone else.

The rest of the problem is motivation. I’m just not motivated to do Osoyoos in the least. What I need, I think, is to get the race out of the way, take a couple of days off and get back into the groove. This is the time when I need to start really getting the distance in and getting into the right mental place.

— later in the day

The plan was to hit SFU and do some repeats, but everyone who was originally invited jammed so I changed plans and hit the gym for a brick there instead. And you know what, I’m really glad that I did.

Lately I’ve been fighting my workouts a lot and not seeing a lot of progress. I work harder I go slower sorta thing.

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve done a gym brick and I can say that I am happy with the one I did this evening.

30 minutes on the bike = 22.84km = 45.68km/h
5km in 24:35 = 4:55/km

That’s good news for me. I’ve gone this fast before, but it felt VERY different.

On the bike I felt strong, like I was able to push more and harder. I kept my heart rate right below my lactate threshold (135 on the bike) and just pounded out the distance.

Over on to the treadmill and I decided to pick a speed and stay there. For this exercise it was a 7.5mph speed (4:58/km pace) and I stayed there for 4.5km. For the last .5km I decided to kick it up a bit and that felt pretty good, although I could not have sustained the higher speed. My heart rate was flying during this workout though, at 3km I looked down at my Garmin and saw my heart rate at 170. For me that is super high, but I was handling it and it was okay.

End of the workout after 1 minute my heart rate was down to 113. This training stuff is paying off.

And how does my leg feel? No problems. A bit stiff, but no where near as bad as it was after the longer run on Sunday. Oh yeah, that was yesterday.

I’m in to see the guy to work on my leg tomorrow, let’s hope that goes well.

S

Nutrition and Exercise

Morning Weigh-in: 197lbs

0830
- 2 eggs scrambled on an English muffin with cheese

— start of work

1100
- Can of Mango Juice (140cal)
- Thinsations crackers (100cal)

1130
- Medium/large bowl of Bombay chicken pasta salad

1230
- Pear

1500
- Can of 7-Up (160cal, hey, it’s not Coke and has no caffeine)
- 3 small candies (100cal)

— end of work

1745
- Pudding Cup (120 cal)
- Gel (100 cal)

1845
- English muffin and 2 cheese slices

1900 (Gym Brick)
- 30minute bike (22.84km)
- 5km run (24:35)

2130
- Baked potato with cheese and bacon bits
- 1/2 Can baked beans
- 5 Fish sticks with tartar sauce

2300
- Glass of Juice