Count down

25 days and counting.

That is a scary thought. I planned out my next 25 days and I wish I had another week. I wish I had been training better months ago. I wish for a lot of things. But I can't change anything now, so I'll have to make due with where I am.

Time for a status check.

Swimming: Poor. The Roeland park pool is now closed to me (non-resident in the summer season). I found another pool, but wasn't able to swim much due to lightning last week. I'm swimming tomorrow inside. The PV pool opens this weekend, so then I'll be able to get laps in the outdoor pool closer to home.

Biking: Big improvements here. I put in 80+ miles last week. I did 20 last night in 20 mph wind (still averaged 18 mph) and I'm doing a brick tonight. This weekend I have a 35 mile ride one day and a long brick with 45 miles on another. I'm taking advantage of the holiday. Right now, my legs feel strong. It's my back, neck, and buns that are the limiting factors. I have time to get (2)- 56 mile rides in before the race. That will have to do. Thank god I take to the bike easily. I need to check out the terrain for Boise, but if I remember correctly, it is less hilly than the Lawrence course. Go figure. I'm good in the hills, so I'm not too worried about it.

Running: I'm just maintaining now. I need to get some moderate distance in on the pavement so I don't shock my legs on race day. I have 2 bricks a week scheduled for the next 3 weeks, one short and one long. I'm also doing a long trail run on the weekends to keep my base mileage up for Psummer Psycho. I'm not worried about the run, but I can't let my mileage get too low if I want to race Psycho.

While I'm not where I could be, I think I'll be OK on the 13th. I need to swim, for confidence more than anything else. I need my long rides, which I have told John WILL happen, come hell or high water. I need to maintain my runs and re-acclimate to the pavement.

I've made some other adjustments as well, like getting to bed early, eating better, and drinking less. We have so much work to do on the house, I have to be up early to get my workouts in and still get something done on the house. I've cut back to one or two drinks per night on the weekends and none during the week. That also helps the sleep and energy issues.

I have 25 days to focus and improve as much as I can. The really scary thing is that I am basically doing a 70.3 race on less than 6 weeks of training. Granted, I had an excellent running base going in, but my preparation last year was much more balanced.

The one thing I have going for me is my running base is so much better. With that running base has come the "gut it out" factor, and better nutrition and salt management. I am interested to see how this race will compare with last year's race, course differences aside. Which race will I have been best prepared? Last year's race, with more balanced tri-training, or this year's with inadequate training, but better overall endurance and nutrition.

Only time will tell.