Well I'm recovering well from the race on Sunday.  I was pretty sore and stiff all over Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday felt better and I got out for a short ride last night to shake the legs out and I'm swimming tonight.  I could definitely feel the effects of Sunday on the ride last night.  I think the toughest part is the mental recovery from these races, they are so tough mentally that it just takes a while for me to get right in the head so I can get focused again. 

I'll be starting up seriously again in a couple of weeks to build towards the Ironman Hawaii in October and I'm bullish on potential performance in Kona given my solid race there a couple weeks ago and my race on Sunday. I'm doing my post race assessment of what went well and where I can improve considering it was just my second Ironman I'm still like a sponge and continue absorb as much as I can so I will be better in the next one.  I don't think this ever changes no matter how long you've been racing Ironman races.

Seriously thinking about Ironman Canada next year which means I'll need to head north in August to register.

I wanted to give a quick shout out to the Peter Reid Peak Performance (PRPP) team.  They've got such a wealth of experience they really know how to get you as ready as you can be for race day.  In the end that's why they are there.  It was a good day for the PRPP athletes in CdA.  You can read about it on the PRPP website.

Now I'm really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning which will be the first time in months.

 
 

I made my annual trip to Coeur d'Alene for some focused training the last weekend of April.  I headed into the weekend a little unsure of the conditions given that it snowed on Tuesday and the fact that my coach had a huge weekend on tap for me. 

I arrived late on Thursday evening got settled in my hotel.  I was lucky enough put in the same hallway with the busload of high school kids (not sure why they were there) but I was not excited about the prospects of the late night antics but suprisingly they quieted down by about 10:30.

Up early on Friday with a plan to ride the IM bike course.  Cloudy, windy and cold to start the day.  I eased into the ride along the lake and back to CdA before picking up the effort on the way out to Hayden Lake.  The weather started to clear a little towards the end of the first lap of the bike and I headed back for the hills of Hayden.  As I hit the hills the skies clouded up and the temp dropped.  As I hit the big hill on Hudlow road the snow flurries started but I survived the ride with dry roads.  The north end of the course was crazy riding on the road with snow banks on either side 2 feet high.  Overall it was a good ride, no crazy efforts and I finished up the ride in 6:30. 

Saturday was going to be interesting.  Long run scheduled with an afternoon bike and t-run.  I hit the road from my hotel at 7am.   It was sunny and cold (temps in the upper 20's) to start and I cruised down to to the lake before heading out along the lake.  I was comfortably cruising along at a pace in the low to mid 7:00 minute range.  I hit my turnaround time just a half mile from the bike turaround and headed back to town. 

Lots of bikers out as there were 3-4 camps going on this weekend.  The Multisports camp group rode by me and Michael Lovato gave me the a look and said "Pick it up" with a big smile on his face.  I was really working the hills with solid efforts near 7:00/mile pace.  At 1:30 in I hit a 15 minute tempo holding right at 7:00/mile pace.  I felt pretty good cruising back up the hill to my hotel finishing off the run 18 miles in 2:10.  Very solid effort.

Back on the bike in the afternoon for a solid effort of 56 miles with one loop of the bike course.   I was worried the legs would be cracked but they help up well and I finished off the day with a quick short transition run of 20 minutes.  Quick dinner and good nights sleep before the final day. 

Sunday morning I was up early, got breakfast and was on the bike by 7am.  It was sunny but really cold, with highs forecasted for upper 60's I knew it would warm up so I was a little under dressed.  I decided to ride a slightly different route and headed directly for Hayden Lake.  It was very cool riding through upper CdA early in the morning as there were no cars on the road which was nice.  I hit the Hayden Lake road and started the first little climb this would be the state of things for the next 20 miles.  This is a great ride it twists and turns and undulates up and down with no huge climbs and the scenery was amazing (I even saw a wild turkey).  Almost no cars on the road, I'm sure in the summer things become more busy on the road but it was pretty much just me.  My legs were feeling the previous two days for the first 1:30.  After coming off the lake I connected with the IM course north of Hayden Lake and started pushing the pace.  I had a solid 2 hours on the hills and along the lake pushing hard. 

I spotted a couple riders about a 1/2 mile ahead of me along the lake just before the big hill (where run turnaround is) and they became my new target to catch before we got back to Mullan Ave.  I hadn't made up much ground by the turnaround so I put the hammer down.  No excuses but they were pacelining on TT bikes and I was pushing solo on my road bike.  I didn't think I was going to catch them when coming around a corner they were just 300 yards ahead of me just before the rise in the road (Ford motivational mile).  I was closing fast just 100 yards before the crest of the hill I blew past them (I actually love this hill as I can hold 22-23 mph up it, last year I was doing 28 mph during the first lap of the bike).  Having satisfactorily caught and finished off my prey.  I backed off my cooked legs for the final 30 minute spin back to the hotel to finish off the 70 mile ride in 4 hours.  I finished off the day with another quick t-run.  Overall a great day.

Reflecting on the weekend I felt great putting in 230 miles on the bike and another 24 miles running in just 3 days.  I've got two more big volume weeks to this block but am feeling good about my fitness.  If I've got a weakness in my mind right now it's the bike but with a few solid weeks ahead I'm sure this will take care of itself as these big rides will really help and lets face it training isn't race day.