1. I started my early morning routine today. Up at 6:30 to walk the dog. A little breakfast, a little writing, and a lot of wanting to take a nap! This could literally be harder than the race for me. Goal is to avoid the nap at all costs and be tired at bed time. How important is sleep? Frankly I’m tired of doing races on 3 hours.
2. Don’t cook the bike. Don’t cook the bike. Okay . . . but what does that even mean? Some think that (for most people) the more likely story is that we aren’t fit enough in the first place and the 112 mile bike by itself is what crushes the run. I can kind of buy into that, but in general I think not cooking the bike means hitting the 80 mile marker without thinking, “Oh shit.”
3. Don’t go out too hard on the run. Don’t go out too hard on the run. Okay, who among us has the willpower to resist tearing out of T2 and blasting past thousands of fans? Hmm… not me, that’s why I think I may actually stop and take a few pictures with friends and family as a deterrent. Well, probably not, but you never know. Depends if I think I’m pulling in the reigns.
4. Looking forward to hashing things out with pro triathlete, Jim Lubinski in Chattanooga. We “met” through Twitter last year and he’s a super cool guy who has helped me plan out my last month going into the race. He’s not only a triathlete (12th at Chattanooga last year and 9th at this year’s Mont Tremblant), he’s a coach who has presented a lot of unique and mindful ideas that I look forward to executing.
5. What to eat? Well, Jim had just finished eating a banana in this picture, so that might be a good place to start. But I’m really referring to this week. My diet has been a little suspect and part of me feels like the body is saying, “You aren’t replenishing enough calories so I need you to gorge!” Nature tells me this is not the time to “build” as in weight and muscle, so hopefully the reduced efforts this week will taper my appetite a little bit.
6. Six days away from a treacherous and glorious day. My instinct is to improve and do better each time I race. But, as I found out at Louisville last year, that doesn’t always happen. I have several goals this time, but think number one is to relax and enjoy the entire day (and weekend). That’s one of the cool things about a full Ironman, really. The distance demands patience, so there’s really no reason to get yourself in a tizzy by “racing” too hard. I mean, “crushing” and Ironman is a relative term. It’s more like crushing a consistent effort, but it amazes me how we can all be lured into thinking it’s a sprint. So, I’m trying to lock one thought in my brain right now . . . “If I think I’m going too fast . . . I probably am.”
Much more about Ironman Chattanooga right here: 18 Stories About Chattanooga
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