Flower Hill. Race effort. Pretty windy out, and roads were wet so I took it easy on turns and descents.

Race Pace. Cruised and felt good. With God's Grace I'll feel like this Sunday,

Took a 90 min nap at lunchtime. Sooo nice.

Feeling a little more fatigued and sore than I'd like to be at this point.  Just going to Rest today.  Still plenty of time to start 'feeling good' before Poconos.

BMX Bike alongside my son.

EZ Ride, Recovery, lots of spinning - couple of surges, rode on the hoods lots.

Lap 2 Run after Bike

Lap 1 - Carl Hart Duathlon training for my Son.

Wildwood lake with Rick, Derrick and Dan. Once again, Lake had a wicked cross-current. Swam really hard and Dan still beat me - but just by a little bit.

Brandon on his BMX bike. Going to try raising the seat, maybe put on a bigger more comfy seat, because the current BMX set-up makes him ride hard, cruise, ride hard, cruise. Need a more consistent pedal stroke which will come from a more comfortable, sitting down position.

Lap 2 - after the Bike

Lap 1 - Carl Hart Duathlon training for my Son.

20' ART & stretchwork. 40' in the Normatec pants.

Had Dr. Marc work on my medius/minimus glutes, hamstrings, and hip flexors. I think I'm one of the few athletes (he sees) who gets worked on despite having zero issues. And I think because I'm constantly focused on my flexibility, is the reason why I have not had issues. KNOCK WOOD.

Dr. Marc is in the running for working for the US Bobsled team at the Sochi, Russian Olympics in 2014.

1,000m @ 17:30 - 1:45 pace
200 KB
5 X 100 every 2'
(1:34 1:36 1:34 1:32 1:34)
100 KB Recovery
300 CD @ 1:47 avg

Somehow ended up with a 1k TT PR as the swimmer next to me decided to start racing me! Nice German guy it turns out as I thanked him after for pushing me.

I made the connection of WHY when my hand pulling is at the 6 o'clock position, the other hand should be entering the water; and it has to do with that being the exact point where I generate power and torque from the opposite hip as that energy flows across my core diagonally and flows through to power my pull. Hard to explain without showing it, but it was pretty cool to make this connection.

170.6 pounds this morning; flirting with the upper 160's.  Psyched about that.  

Taper week.  Need to really Eat Well, Rest, get my Bike ready, go over my Nutrition plan. My head is in the game.  I'm focused.  Lake Placid taught me a hard-earned, valuable lesson. :)

Short Swim today with a focus on Recovery, Technique, and a touch of Race-specific Speedwork. 

Flower Hill to Mill Rd. Aerobic. 5-6/10 RPE

The winds were blowing in the opposite direction today, so despite a much easier effort, a much faster time than yesterday.

Race Pace Practice. 3X Hill Repeat.

Wish I had a few more hills closer to my house, I have one .25 mile 6% grade. I made use of it though.

Freaking stoked at how good my legs felt. During and after the run my legs were all yoked and juiced up; springy and firm; kind of like Heather Locklear's body back in 1984. TJ Hooker.... great show.

Good, long stretches, with some deep lacrosse ball self-ART, foam roller and the-stick.

Aerobic - Mill Rd. Wicked windy.

Starting to feel myself shedding the fatigue. Still feeling some of the soreness from Cow Harbor, and some sections of the Montauk course where I really buried myself on the bike. Overall I feel like I am on target to Peak next Sunday, provided I get enough REST this week.

I added a quote to my dashboard from the Velveteen Rabbit.  Father Frank read that quote during a burial mass for my neighbor yesterday.  Terrence was only 18 years old.  Life is hard, overwhelming and ...life is messy.  Life is also fragile.  Life is pain and suffering.  But through suffering we build strength and through suffering we grow.  I train and race because I Can.  Because I am happy, joyous and free when swimming, biking or running.  I suffer in training because it builds strength and forces me to grow; which leads to more freedom and joy.  A joy for life and friends and family.  When life gets messy, as it often does, it becomes crystal clear to me why I love to train, to race, to push myself through endurance distance endeavors.