This time next month, I will be doing Ironman Arizona. If all goes well, when I wake up on November 18, 2013, I will be an Ironman. I don’t think I will have much of a problem with the swim or the first half of the bike. It is after the first 50+ miles on the bike that the pain will begin. It will continue for the remainder of the bike and stay with me throughout the 26+ mile run. I don’t have a detailed race plan yet, but the time I am targeting is 14 hours, 14 minutes and 14 seconds. I will give you breakdowns of this time once I develop a detailed race plan.
For now, my focus is on the SOMA relay on Sunday. I am doing the 56-mile bike ride and want to average somewhere around 17.5 MPH. It is a pacing race for me; it is about discipline; it is about nutrition; it is about heart rate monitoring; it is about electrolytes. Bill (my coach) tells me that all long distance races are a math problem! This one is more of a math test for me than a race. I used to be good at math as a kid; let’s see if I am still good!
I did a relatively brisk 19-mile hourlong bike ride around DC Ranch today. There was a gentle breeze blowing from the southwest and I rode some of the ride in the aero position. I’m not comfortable in aero, but so studies say that it gains about 17% speed!