Tuesday and it's 4 days out!

4 Days to go! I'm set with hotel, car, and checked in for my flight.

I always try to predict my finish time and look at the competition and where I think I might finish. This clarifies my goals, gives me something to visualize during the race, and keeps my mind focused on mechanics and technical aspects instead of emotions and fear.

I looked at the participant list and compared it to Athlinks profiles, and last years results. I stuck to the M40-44 AG though. After looking at the course videos and elevation maps, I think on my best day right now on this course I'm looking at:

Swim: 23:00

T1: 1:40

Bike: 61:00

T2: 1:00

Run: 44:30

Total: 2:11:10

I was hoping to be in the 2:00-2:04 range by now but my swim technique and running are just not there yet. Lots to work on in the off season. Cardio-wise I have a 20 min swim in me so it's now down to technique. Run-wise I definitely have a sub 40 in me but not right off the bike quite yet. I'm happy with the bike and 61 on this course should leave me with a good bit of stuff for the run however:

My BIG worry is the heat. I'm not expecting to hit 2:11:00, but rather hoping to. No wetsuits which might slow my swim time a bit. I'm not a great climber on the bike or run, and have no experience in the heat so thsi time will be a tremendous challenge. Any finish is a good one for me in this race and I'd be very very happy with anything approaching 2:15. By last years standards, neither time would qualify me for Team USA but then next year I'll be that much faster and more experienced. So Chris Liou, Thom Emmerick, Kurt Fouts, and all you other Bay Area old guys are my inspiration.

Anyway, yesterday was an off day and I needed it. A solid week of tough workouts. Saturday I rode 50mi with a good chunk of climbing, maybe 15 miles or so. Sunday I ran the "Race Thru the Redwoods" 10k. I was planning on pacing myself at around 7:00/mile plus some time for the nasty uphill section of the course. That would have put my somewhere around 44-45 minutes. A good workout for me but not killing myself before next week. I came in 45:03 and was still 3rd in my age group.

I actually held back on the uphill but the problem was that I really opened it up on the downhill, which was paved road. I'm still a little sore in the calves, ankles, and feet from the pounding they took. So 4 more days to recover!

Feeling tired today, probably will from tapering this week, but I have an hour swim session later today which should help with that. Drills and some short wind up to feel race pace.

Final pack up tonight and I leave tomorrow early morning.