15' zone1
15' zone2
90' IM effort

Kapow. :) Felt smooth and strong for this. Just let it crank on the IM effort. Not bad pace for training setup. :)

Brick run! :)

3 miles @ 6:44 pace (didn't make this pace for all 3 miles :( )
1 mile cooldown

HR strap stopped working. Blah. Oh well, it was a workout by pace anyway.

Tried out my new Kiwami Konami one-piece suit today.  I think it'll cut the mustard for IMLP.  It's a one piece, but I really liked NOT having an elastic waistband.  A bit less pad than most tri shorts I've used in the past, but I've been moving towards thinner pads anyway.  It was fine for the ride today.  I've ridden longer on even less pad.  If your saddle is adjusted right, then you don't really need a ton of pad anyway.  And I think with the Cobb V-Flow Plus I'm riding this year, it's definitely the right saddle and in the right place for me.  So much more comfortable in the saddle this year, which makes staying in aero a lot easier ( and ultimately makes for faster bike splits! )

Things are coming together very nicely for LP.  Fitness is finally rearing it's head on the swim and the bike, and my running is in a good place, with my knee not being an issue.  Just gotta keep healthy for the next 2 weeks!  :D

Crystal Lake OWS

They got the course right this time. The inner turn buoy was right in by shore.

A bit choppy today.

Warm water ( well over 70 ). Felt warmer even than the lap pool, which I think it too warm sometimes! :) So no wetsuit for me. I might have contemplated a sleeveless, but I don't have one. Hmm, something else to add to the arsenal.

Got pummeled at the start, WTF?! Pretty violent, worse than even many tri starts. Between that and the chop, I slugged down a bunch of lake water, which wasn't good. Felt like crud the first loop. Finally got a good groove the second loop though. On the final 1/2 mile I really opened it up, and dragged back 5-6 more people who were in front of me. All had on wetsuits.

Kicked it up a bit more the last 2 buoys and pulled in the last 2 who I could catch. Was side by side with one for a while, then finally was able to surge ahead and got out of the water a couple steps ahead. Afterwards he commented on my speed even with lack of wetsuit. So there!

KTPitbull, Schmize, and Daviddclough all came out of the water in a bunch, a few minutes ahead.

Of course, they all had on wetsuits. Otherwise, we all know how it would have turned out. ;)

Ended up 4th in AG (30-34), so just off a podium spot. A wetsuit probably would have given me enough more to get on the podium. Ah well, this was just practice/training for Lake Placid.

Didn't feel so great during this, but looking back on it, I did pretty solidly.

Hmm, just like the bike on Thursday. I need to get out of my way, and just trust my fitness. :)

400 Free
200 Fist+Pull
200 (Ok,Index,Pinky,Scull)
2x(3x(50 C/up, 25 r, 25 l)
4x400 Free Descend Across (6:20,6:15,6:00,5:50) !!!!
5x200 Free on 3:25 (finished 3:00 to 3:05)
200 Stroke

Wham. Rocked this swim. Felt good once I got going on the 400s.

15' zone1
4 hours IM race effort
45' 55 rpm/zone2
7' zone1

Was feeling kinda cruddy towards the end, so I chopped a few minutes off the end.

Good solid effort in the 4 hour block though!

Headed up the path to Greenwood, North to County B, West to Hillside, North to South Lake Shore Drive.

Speed lap of Lake Geneva (65'), then headed back home via County B to Greenwood route, but via Wondertucky and through Bull Valley (glutton that I am).

Great weather, and light and favorable winds, so it was a good day for riding this route.

Still had an hour plus to ride, so I headed up the path again to Ringworm and back.

Logging at work, and I seem to not have my ANT stick, so I can't download the ride now. Will have to do that later.

Lap 1 - 15' , 18.5, 131 ahr
Lap 2 - 71' , 18.6, 138 ahr
Lap 3 - 65' , 17.9, 136 ahr
Lap 4 - 87' , 19.5, 144 ahr
Lap 5 - 15' , 18.1, 144 ahr
Lap 6 - 45' , 16.3, 128 ahr
Lap 7 - 7', 16.7, 129 ahr

Ooof! Yeah. A bit harder today. Heh. Some good stretching too at the end. Body feels a lot better though. :)

300 Free
200 Kick
6x75 (50 Build, 25 bi-lat)
250 Fist+Pull
6x100 (50 2r/2l, 25 c/up, 25 sprint)
5x200 Hard on 3:25 (Finish <2:55)
100 Back
6x300 Steady on 4:55 (Finish 4:40)
200 Stroke

I'm on some top swimming form. Really on a tear at the moment. It's all shaping up awesomely. :)

Blargle.

Temp was only in the 70's, but it was sunny, and humidity was close to 100%. Also started out with a tailwind so I wasn't getting any airflow to help stay cool.

Still, made pretty good time, heading up the path from Edgewood. Got all the way to Glacial Park ( 2 miles north of Ringwood! ). Not much further and I would have hit the IL/WI border. Heh.

Turned around, and then dealt with a stronger headwind (15-20mph!) all the way back home.

Got pretty hot towards the end, and was having trouble keeping myself cool. Didn't have quite enough water, so I couldn't dump it over my head, as I needed it to drink! Stopped a few time just to cool down ( and refill water bottles at drinking fountains ).

The last mile/cooldown hurt. I was overheated, out of water. Should have stashed an extra hand bottle on this part on my way out. Next time, I will definitely do that. Ran/walked the last 10 min ( cooldown anyway ), so that I didn't overheat/dehydrate too badly. Made it home, collapsed on the grass for a few minutes to gather myself.

Then, Gu Brew ( ice cold water, sooo good ). Follow that with an ice bath, shower, and the donning of the compression socks. :)

Now, some organic black bean soup ( good post-run refueling! ). Relax for a bit, then heading over to LTF for a little post-run massage action.

After that, Chipotle for dinner, and the nightly Tour de Crash viewing with Whizzzzz! :D

Yay. :)