Throwing down some miles! (Training Update)

With Ironman Louisville looming and only 83 days left till race day, I decided that I would give you an update on my training.  So here she goes!

SWIM:
Nothing to report here.  No, I'm serious!  I haven't been in the pool in a LONG time.  I HAVE to go swim, and it's going to happen THIS week!  To be honest, I'm not super worried about the swim portion of IM Louisville.  I know I'm not a ridiculously fast swimmer, and I know it isn't going to ruin my day if I'm not the first out of the water.  So, I'm planning on taking my time out there and not over exerting myself.

Bike:
Here's where I'm proud to report some serious mileage!  I have been spending quite a bit of time with Clifford, and I'm really feeling comfortable.

A couple weeks ago, my good buddy, Josh, had his 28th birthday.  We have a tradition of doing a pretty big ride on or near his birthday.  So, in honor of turing 28, we decided to ride 128 mile!  It was AWESOME!

Birthday Boy!

We decided to ride the Silver Comet and just do an out and back of 64 miles each way.  At mile 60, we crossed the Alabama state line and started riding on the Chief Ladiga trail.

We certainly weren't fast, but we finished it strong.  My plan was to eat, drink and SPIN!  With the last 20 miles to go, I couldn't believe how great I was feeling!  Sure, my legs were tired and sore, but I felt like "time trialing" it the rest of the way!  After 8+ hours of riding, we finished and went to eat an incredible birthday dinner with our amazing wives.  Jenn's birthday is just the day before Josh's.

The Silver Comet was a tad bit dirty!

It may be a long time till I see THAT big of a number again!

Although I'm feeling like my endurance is pretty good for some long mileage, I haven't been impressed with my speed.  In training for Steelhead 70.3 a couple years ago, I was SO much faster!  So, I decided to go out and do 55 miles last week and add some speed to it.  I was really pleased to grab an 18.3mph average.  That was a serious confidence booster for the biking.

This morning, Jennifer, who is training for Augusta 70.3 in September, and I decided to do another ride on the Silver Comet.  We loaded Caffrey in the trailer behind my road bike and started pedaling.  I was super proud of how strong Jenn road, and I was really surprised with how hard it is to pull a kiddo!  I definitely could feel the tiredness of IM training in my legs.  It was a good 30 mile ride to start the week.  Here are some foggy pictures of today's ride.

All 3 of us out for a ride

Caffrey's feet poking out from his carseat.

Run:
My running is kind of a roller coaster right now.  For several weeks, I felt fantastic and was cranking out some pretty good time on some decently long runs (10-12 miles).  A couple weeks ago, on a 12-miler, I had some sharp pain from my IT Band.  I have NEVER had trouble with that, so I decided to rest it a week.  I haven't had any pain since then, but now it's another issue.  My legs are TIRED!  This makes me super nervous about Louisville, because I know that my legs will be toasted after the swim and the bike.  If I'm struggling now with mild heat and moderate miles, how will I ever run a marathon on race day?  I will say that Brooks has really hooked me up with great gear to motivate me to train as well as keep me on good running shoes.  My current pair are the Ravenna 4's, and I really like them!  I thought I would have a hard transition from my Asics that I've worn for many years, but I haven't noticed much difference at all!

Any advice on training with tired legs?  I bet you'll say, "Keep running!"  That's the plan right now, so we'll see how that goes.

Bonus...
As I'm writing this, I'm watching Jimmie Johnson dominate in the Nascar race for the day, and it reminded me of where I was last weekend.  I took one of my elders, Todd, to a race in Charlotte, NC.  We had a blast!

Although the race wasn't the most amazing race I'd ever watched, we did enjoy watching the guy next to us that started the race absolutely smashed!  But he didn't stop there and kept downing another beer every few laps.  He struggled to find his seat several time, kept stumbling over the old guys in front of us every time he had to go to the bathroom, and fell asleep for half the race.  Another interesting race fan was this guy...

Yes, he shaved his head into a 55 for his favorite driver, Mark Martin.  That's a true fan!  Even if you hate auto racing or think it's ridiculous, you should at least go to one race in your life just to see the people there!  It's hilarious!

Thank you for reading and your encouraging comments.  They really motivate me in my training.  I'm excited, nervous, and can't wait to finally become an IRONMAN!