Bonkers

What a week! As Ironman Lake Placid draws closer and closer, my total time spent in the pool, on my bike, and pounding the pavement continues to climb higher. Last week I topped out at 15+ hours of swim, bike and run training. Maybe a recovery week for some of you Ironman studs...but for me - these are big hours.

This weekend was particularly solid in the training department. I woke up at the butt crack of dawn on Saturday to ride 50 and run 4. The ride was great. Very few people on the trail allowed me to just crank and not have to worry too much about navigating. It was, however, a tad bit chilly at the start and my feet were basically numb for the entire ride. Not a big deal when you're riding...but when you get off your bike to run...now that's a different story! It took about a mile to feel my feet again during my brick run...which was a pretty strange sensation. All in all it was a great session. I averaged 17.5 mph for my ride and averaged 8:12 per mile for my run. All done by about 10am. Just in time to go to the Radnor Hunt, which is a fancy shmancy steeplechase horse race that serves as the third leg of the steeplechase triple crown. Who even knew there was a steeplechase triple crown? In full disclosure, I've never ridden a horse. Don't know much about horses. And probably won't know much about horses in the future. I attended the race as a guest of Silvia, who was invited as part of her law firm, which had a private tent with a fancy shmancy all day buffet. And what triathlete turns down an all day buffet following a 3.5-hour brick? Not this triathlete. All in all, it was good fun and I look forward to going again next year.

Yesterday was another big training day for moi. I rode in the annual Bonkers 65 bike ride, which is put on by the Delaware Valley Bike Club and came recommended by IM Able. Overall, it was a very challenging and technical ride. After the ride I counted how many unique cues there were on the cue sheet...89! I felt as if I was either going up a hill, going down a hill, turning left, turning right or reading my cue sheet for THE ENTIRE RIDE! It was much more mentally taxing than I envisioned it would be. The ride itself was absolutely magnificent, if you exclude the constant need to find your way. The roads for the most part were lightly travelled with the exception of a few miles of small highway riding. By my estimate, the longest cue without getting to your next cue was about 3.5 miles. Needless to say - this was not exactly a time trial ride. Soon after realizing this fact I turned this ride into just an enjoyable day in the burbs without worrying much about average speed and things like that. I think I averaged about 14.5 mph, which to my credit included time wasted at intersections and things like that. The hands down best part of the ride was the food stations! Honestly, I thought I was at a gourmet bakery and not a bike ride food station. Four words - COOKIES AND CREAM BREAD! This alone was worth the $25 entry fee. After about 4:25 in the saddle, I finished my ride and headed home for a 7.25 mile hill run. The run was pretty uneventful but confirmed that my legs are toast following a long hilly ride. Quite a bit of work left to do before IMLP! Rumor has it that there are a few hills on the Ironman Lake Placid course?!

Thanks again for reading!