Timberman and beyond....

Okay, so it's been a while since I last posted. But, I've been busy! First, I did my last triathlon leading up to Kona. It was the Timberman 70.3 up in New Hampshire in the middle of August. I've done this race a number of times, and can say it's really one of the best races out there....even though I really haven't had a great day there yet (the course kicks my ass). This year was no different. I had an unremarkable swim (about 1-2 minutes slower than I should have been). The bike was okay. I kept it steady throughout the ride, but really should have been a little faster. I did have a good run, although it was a complete grind. Overall, I finished with a PR for the course in 4:28:44. I was 12 Amateur and 24th overall (http://www.lin-mark.com/tm70308.txt). Definitely not my best effort. But, hopefully that will come in October.

I followed up Timberman with a big block of training over Labor Day weekend. First up was a 6 hour solo effort on Saturday (5.5 bike and 30 minute run). Sunday was a swim and 2 hour bike. Then, Monday was the Cape Ann 25K road race. With warmup and cooldown, my plan was to get 18-19 miles in. I do a lot of these long races as training runs (I did this at this race last year). But, I had planned to race this...albeit on tired legs. This race is the equivalent of a roller coaster....16 major hills. About 2 miles in I realized that my goal of 6 minute pace was out the door. I was in 9th place and all by myself. So, I just ran my own race. I didn't see another runner until about 14 miles. I wound up 8th overall w/a 6:13 per mile avg. This race beat the hell out of me. I'm planning on doing a 30K road race in a week....but will be wearing training shoes and treating it as a workout. Too much beating on the legs to be racing these things.

One month to go.....