I did some research on these sleeves (Quintana Roo Wetsuit Speed Sleeves).  I may buy them and give them a try.  Thanks for the idea. 

Trying to cram in a few more hours before I post my March totals.

But I noticed the run course on the IMCDA website seems to be updated and I haven't seen a post here yet.  So here ya go: http://ironmancda.com/course/run/

There is no map yet.  Just a long list of turns, but it's a left turn out of transition so no dog leg down by the college.  I assume the rest is like we've discussed here...up over the one big hill and then turn around.  I need to be looking at a map while reading all the turns to get a clue.

I suffered through a nasty cold flu, and well as a half-week taper before having a fantastic second half marathon this month, so while the numbers are down, my fitness has increased tenfold and I've gotten way faster and fit.  CdA doesn't stand a chance.  :D

March numbers:

Weight loss total:  46.4 pounds.  From 207 to 162.6 over the last 10 months (20 of those in the last 2 months)

Swim:  4000 yards (Not worried about the swim.   I'll start my focus there mid to late April.  My goal is to swim CdA somewhere between 1:10 and 1:15)

Bike:  345 miles

Run:  105 miles.  (Light compared to previous/future months) but I had an 8 minute PR in my half mary (1:42) that blew me away.

I used these for IMAZ! I only had a sleeveless, didn't want to buy a full suit at the time, but have bought one since.  They worked just fine. Water was about 63 when I used them, but really, I thought they were great.

Here is my March--Oceanside 70.3 day after tomorrow! WOWZERS....I pick up my packet tomorrow, so maybe it'll be more real then. Looking for it as a good indicator of what's next. The focus on the bike to this point has mostly been on improving the capacity at the 1-2 hour mark, but distance will be growing forward from here from what I've been told! Swims are definitely getting longer, so that's good. Bring it on!

Good luck on your race this weekend.  Just curious, how hard will you race it?  I have NO in two weeks and I'm worried about getting caught up in a bike and run race like I did this weekend at my Olympic.

Oh, I plan on racing it HARD...I'm going to go all out and give it my best. With this much time between now and IMCdA I'll be good to go. Going hard at this distance will be good for me to see where I am with everything, to re-test nutrition under race conditions. So, basically a race simulation under somewhat similar conditions as CdA (cold swim, ride with hills in the middle, flat run--which I guess CdA isn't really now, but that's okay, nothing but hills in my neighborhood).

I also tend to recover pretty decently from the HIM distance, so that plays into too. In fact, there is an event I'm going to cheer at next Sat (9 Apr- The Armed Forces Tri Championships), and found out they have a sprint race before the AFC, it was only $20 for military--so, yeah, two races in two weekends. I'm sure I'll feel CA70.3 at the sprint, but should be good! I'm excited...I think. I'll tell you more on Sunday.

It's been interesting to see everyone's reaction to their own March numbers.  I thought it was just me, but apparently many people have a transitional March (or third training month).  The honeymoon phase is over, but HIMs and Peak training are on the horizon so its easy to start stressing and second guessing all your training.  The nice thing about being a part of a community like this is that it illustrates how many different paths can lead to a successful ironman.  And also how many different definitions of success there are. 

I find you all inspirational.  Thanks for sharing your struggles and successes and even your conflicting training philosophies

My month didn't turn out as planned, but I feel like I made a couple of breakthroughs with my running so I'm calling March a success.  I raced twice this month; a 1/2 mary and a 25k+ trail run (http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=246466).  I learned that I'm not very good at training through races.  I also learned/relearned I love running and I have faith in myself as a runner.  I am refusing to base my attitude toward running on my speed. This is HUGE for me.

All that said, here are my March numbers:

Bike   17:15  313.8 mi
Run    20:12  108.7 mi
Swim  6:10   18,100 yds
Walk  1:20    4 mi
Yoga  1:15    0 mi
Total  46:12  436.7 mi

I'm really only upset about my lack of yoga time.  The rest is on track and better than last year.  I finished IMCDA last year and smiled a ton doing it and that's my definition of success. I think I'm ready to finish last year's race report and post it

Well … I thought I worked hard this month, but looking at other people numbers, I’m too embarrassed to post mine

A quick question that came to mind while swimming this morning, what is the lake like ? it the water clear or is it murky ?

Thanks.

Cold, clear, deep and it gets choppy by the 2nd lap.

If you filled a bottle with lake water you'd have a tough time distinguishing it from one you bought in a store.

I view the clarity as a positive as all of the lakes in Texas are dark murky green.  It's hard to follow feet when you can't even seen your own fingers. 

My March numbers aren't great, lost the first two days due to having the "real" Flu, and took a while to build back up; then my job has been seriously in the way of training the past week; but considering all that adversity...I'm happy with where I'm at.  Doing NOLA 70.3 on 4/17!

sorry for the cross posting. thanks to tri-ghost for finding this:

Faster Swim Times May Not Lead To Faster Finish Times

x2, great post.  I've been mentally struggling a bit with the load.  It does feel like the honeymoon phase is over, and even though I have no 70.3 coming up, I'm starting to feel really stressed with how much training is still in front of me.  I'm trying to be creative with how I schedule training during the week, but it's starting to get really hard to train, work, train, sleep.... day after day.   I don't even have any kids! No idea how those of you with kids at home handle it.  Much respect.

I keep telling myself: 12 more weeks, you can do 12 more weeks. 

Yeah its tough doing the balancing act with a wife and 3 kids, especially now with the big volume. I am like you in thinking this is just a survival time. Everything gets cut that doesn't = priority so I can focus what little time I have on the essentials. I bet most of us feel the same way.

108/5.25 brick yesterday was pretty solid. Shanks is now calling for a 120/4 this week on top of everything else. The good news is that we can eat and drink everything in sight pretty much and not gain weight....

As someone who has argued (with controversy) in this thread that, unless you really stink at swimming, there is more bang for your buck in bike/run training than pool time, this study makes me happy.

I'm pretty sure those conducting the study would agree, but the study has lessons about smart race execution, not training.  My application of the study is that you should aim to be as fast a swimmer as possible (by working on form/mechanics first, but otherwise by KILLING it in the pool), so that on race day you can swim a comfortably fast time.

Regardless of your speed, it seems that going "all out" in the swim on race day is a huge mistake (frankly - as it is on the bike or run too).  But obviously, the more swim fitness you have going into race day, the faster your relaxed pace will be. 

I think that's right, and I'm not just justifying the fact that I don't like going to the pool

Jealous.  Not a great weekend for me due to football games and family time.  Hot and windy all weekend.  I got in a 10/14 and a 1,000 OWS/55/4.  I need to get out longer on the bike.  I've already penciled in two vacation days this month for some serious riding. 

The OWS practice was really solid.  I'm almost ok with the full wetsuit now.  Water was 62 degrees.  No problem breathing and swimming after feet numbed out.  Wind was 30-40mph so there was tons of chop.  Overall, I give myself a solid B+ for the swim.