Ironman Hawaii 2008

I found a great motivating video with the highlights of Kona 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckFvoGRPiCU

Less than 4 weeks to go!

I had a big week with my last long ride before the big day. Mary Kay came down for the weekend and was a big help with the boys. They had fun hanging out with Auntie Kay while I was out grinding it out on the bike for 6 hours. The bummer of the day was a flat and a ruined tire. Better now then down in Arizona.
This is the last big week before tapering begins! I need to get a long run in this week, along with the other workouts as well.
The other good news regarding Arizona is that my friend Mike P. is officially joining us. He is going to work the medical tent during the race and be around for a few days before and after. Back to training... only 26.5 more days.

Horse Power

It was a big week for me. I was able to get both my long run and long ride in this week. I was able to do an organized century ride on Sunday. (Thank you Audrey for your ongoing patients and understanding. I know this is not easy on you). I felt pretty good after the 102 mile bike ride. My legs felt pretty good. My neck and back side were a bit sore though.

The highlight of the trip was my horse encounter at one of the rest stops. I parked my bike along a fence with all the other bikes. A "nice" horse came up to say "Hi." I petted him on the nose and then went to fill my water bottle. That is when someone yelled, "Dude, your bike." That horse had bitten down on my saddle and actually lifted my bike into the air. He was licking the salt and sweat off of the leather. Luckily, he didn't panic as I ran back to him and he actually set the bike down gently. It didn't even fall over. The saddle was intact, without a scratch. I only wish someone would have had a camera.

Three more hard weeks ahead and then taper time. (I am really looking forward to being done with this training.) It really wears on me and on Audrey and the kiddos.

7 WEEKS TO GO!!

Time is really flying by. I can't believe I only have a solid month of peak training, before starting to taper down to race day. These are really busy weeks. I am really trying to sort out my BIG ROCKS. It does get difficult. Thank you Audrey for being patient and understanding with me. I know I am a big pain right now.
I had a good solid week with 9 hours of training. Somewhere, I missed an hour on the bike so I came up a bit short. I did my long run in Yakima while visiting grandma and grandpa. I did a "terrain" run around the grapefields... through the mud and dirt and rocks. The grapes smelled wonderful and it was really a peaceful run with no traffic.
I have a Century Ride planned in Portland this Sunday. It will be a good test of my nutrition and endurance. Pray for clear skies. Big thanks to my sister Karen and brother Kurt who are coming down this weekend. Audrey and I may get a night out for an actual date night without kids!!!
Ironman Hawaii (World Championships) are this weekend. I will try to check out some of the video to find a bit more motivation. That's it for now...Off and running.

Back on track

I had a good solid week of training this week. These next few weeks will really be focused on long runs and long rides. I feel like my base is really strong. I just need time doing long slow rides and runs each week for the next month+ before taper starts.

Dad came in to town by train on Thursday and MK and Peter joined us for the weekend. It was a beautiful weekend and we spent Sunday at the zoo checking out the new baby elephant. We had to wait over an hour in line. (Of course LWR found someone he knew from Dayton as he always does.) October is looming and time is growing short...

New video clip is actually from a man from our church. He came up with this Christian Creed on his own in about 20 minutes. The words just fell in place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwRYTsfHapE