STATS:
Swimming: 11,800yds in 4 sessions
Cycling: 275 mi in 4 sessions
Running: 30 mi in 5 sessions
Maintenance: 1 hr 45 mins
Total: 23.6 hrs
Ave Weight: 167 lbs

GOALS FOR LAST WEEK:
Last week was my first week back training.  My plan was to get in some good volume last week and keep the intensity really low.

* Get back into a routine.
* Try to start working out earlier in the morning.  I think the PM workouts are causing my sleep problems due to going to bed dehydrated.
* Three strength sessions.
* Swim 14K, Bike 280 mi, Run 36 mi

RECAP:
Overall the week was a success.  I got back to training and even though I shortened some swim sessions and missed a run session I feel good about the start to building my base back up again.  I kept the intensity very low in all three sports and by the end of the week I was still pretty sore and tired which I expected.  I had to show some humility on Saturday because there was a decent sized group and I let them go on all of the climbs because I had my HR cap in place.  I eventually lost contact but I'll be stronger in November for it.  Other than getting my volume back up the week was fairly uneventful on the training front.

Jen and I had our 9 year anniversary last Wednesday!  Unfortunately she caught the sickness that I had so wasn't feeling well.  Jen and I dated for 3 years before getting married so we've been together for a total of 12 years now.  In our society that is a long time!  We don't think of it that way though.  We expect to keep the flame lit by staying on top of our communication, honesty, integrity, problem solving, and good old human touch.

GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK:
This upcoming week is going to be a continuation of my previous week but it's going to end with some BIG bike riding in the mountains.  We've got a long weekend for Labor Day so we're heading up to Banner Elk to do "le tour de truth".  Watty and I are planning to ride our Loop of Truth course 3 days in a row.  Each day will be 100 miles with 19,000 ft of climbing hitting all of the toughest climbs in the area including Beech Mountain, Pinnacle Ridge, Back Side of Beech, Rominger, George's Gap, Back Side of George's Gap, Clarke's Creek, Shull's Mill, 6 mi Parkway Climb, and Hickory Nut Gap.  We're staying on top of Beech Mountain so we'll be leaving the toughest section for the end of the ride.

* Continue to be patient and keep everything under LT minus 15 bpm (150 bpm bike & 160 bpm run).
* Be more diligent with nutrition starting this week.  Need to drop 5-7 lbs by Clearwater in November.
* Three strength sessions.
* Swim 16K, Bike 320 mi, Run 36 mi

THOUGHTS:
I've gained about 5-6 lbs during my mid season break and while on the cruise.  This isn't really a bad thing because it will slow me down a bit while building my base but I've got to start paying more attention to what I'm eating and when I'm eating it so I can get back down to my preferred racing weight by the time Clearwater rolls around in November.  I'll write about how I go about doing this in a future post.  It mainly comes down to planning out my daily nutrition in coordination with my daily training sessions and shifting some of the ratios of macronutrients to subside my hunger while slowly cutting back on calories each day.  Planning the timing of my meals and snacks is also very important to ensure that I'm fueled up for each session to avoid bonking.  More to come on that subject at a later time.

I'm actually a little nervous for the mountains this weekend.  I haven't done "The Loop of Truth" when I wasn't in fairly decent shape.  It stings even when you are in great shape so I'm interested to see how my body handles THREE DAYS IN A ROW.  That will be 300 miles and 57K ft of climbing in 3 days.  Needless to say I will be riding very easy and Watty will most likely be waiting on me at the top of each climb.

The photos above are of my parents, Mike and Julie Frank, as younger adults tending to their children.  Back when I was a youngster they planted a little seed in my head that continues to grow to this day.  Even though they didn’t have the same opportunities that they gave me growing up they had the insight to give me the tools necessary to live an enjoyable and successful life.  When I ask them how they knew what to do as parents they typically respond saying that they didn’t know what to do.  They didn’t read books, blogs, or articles on the subject of parenting.  They just did what they thought seemed right. 

Back in 2005 I started working with an in depth goal setting structure that I think is an invaluable tool for success.  I’ve tweaked it over the past 4 years and have come up with a structure that I think works best for me.  I just went through a round of my goal setting process over the past few weeks and I’ve realized something about myself.  I like to Think Big.  I like to set very high goals and work hard to achieve them.  When going through this process I tried to think back to when I first started thinking this way and it all comes back to my childhood.  At a very young age I remember my parents telling me that I could do anything that I set my mind to.  This was a very powerful thing for them to tell me over and over as I grew up.  This got me thinking in the right direction and without barriers. 

Jen and I would like to have a child of our own some day and this process got me thinking about what I think we could do to give our future child the best opportunity for a happy and successful life.  I’ve come up with three things that came naturally to my parents without them even having to think about it. 

• Show them love.
• Help to build their self confidence.
• Remind them that they can do anything that they set their mind to.

STATS:
Swimming: 7,200yds in 2 session
Cycling: 57 mi in 1 session
Running: 6 mi in 1 session
Maintenance: 30 mins
Total: 6.4 hrs

GOALS FOR LAST WEEK:
Last week was supposed to be my first week back training but I got sick on Tuesday night and didn't get to train the rest of the week.  My plan was to get in some good volume last week and keep the intensity really low.

* Get back into a routine.
* Try to start working out earlier in the morning.  I think the PM workouts are causing my sleep problems due to going to bed dehydrated.
* Three strength sessions.
* Swim 14K, Bike 250 mi, Run 36 mi

RECAP:
The week started off as planned but on Tuesday night I got a sore throat and was sick from Wednesday through Sunday and didn't work out AT ALL for 5 days in a row.  It looks like my two week mid season break just got extended to three.  Since there isn't really much training news to talk about I will talk about my thoughts on training while sick.  I've tried it different ways while sick........train lightly, no training, train through it......and I think what really matters is hydration.  I don't have any scientific basing for this and I haven't taken the time (yet) to do any searching on the subject but from my own personal experience I typically get sick when I'm dehydrated and seem to get better quicker when pounding fluids.  Why do you think they always say to have soup when you are sick?  It has fluids and sodium (in soup and crackers) and the sodium helps to absorb the fluids.  The body must use a lot of fluids to fight the virus and without the fluids it must not be able to do it's job as quickly.  All that being said, I didn't do the best job of hydrating during those five days and I think that increased the duration of my illness.  I also think sleep is overly important to get well quicker and for some reason I couldn't sleep AT ALL while I was sick.  One night I woke up at midnight and didn't get back to sleep until 5:30am.  That didn't help.  Needless to say, I didn't do the best job of executing my "Sickness Plan".  I did watch some movies and a lot of TV over the weekend though.

GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK:
Simply put, my goals for next week will be nearly the same as they were for last week.  The volume will be ramping back up and the intensity will be very, very low.

* Get back into a routine.
* Try to start working out earlier in the morning.  I think the PM workouts are causing my sleep problems due to going to bed dehydrated.
* Three strength sessions.
* Swim 14K, Bike 280 mi, Run 36 mi

THOUGHTS:
I wasn't really expecting to take last week off when planning out the back half of the season.  I've got Augusta 70.3 coming up in 5 weeks and since my break was extended to 3 weeks with a bunch of days completely off I will need to spend more time building my base back up if I want to have a great race at Clearwater.  I'm leaning towards not racing at Augusta because I think if I did I would end up rushing my base and I would sacrifice my Clearwater race and end up with two mediocre races.  I'd rather build up properly for Clearwater and have a great day there instead.  I think getting my volume back up for an extended period over the next couple of months will also set me up better for next year instead of dropping volume, racing, recovering, etc. for Augusta.  Who knows though, in 5 weeks I could be in great shape strictly off of base and end up racing Augusta as well.  Right now I'm just not so sure and will make a decision the week of the race.

Monday at sunset after dinner at Scarlett's restaurant

Jen and I haven't gone on a vacation where we were completely unplugged from everything for at least 5 years.  Our 9 year anniversary is coming up in a little over a week so we decided to do something special with the money that I won from my past couple of races.  We ended up finding a cruise leaving Miami on Sunday, August 9th and returning on Sunday, August 16th and making stops in Grand Cayman, Isla Roaton, Belize, and Cozumel.  It sounded like a lot of fun and it was!!  I forgot just how important it is for us to extract ourselves from our daily routines with no email, cell phone, internet, work, training, etc and live "fuzz free" for 7 days straight.  I think it worked out well that we went on this trip solo so we could focus on having fun and interacting on our own together and with our own agenda.  We didn't once talk about work, triathlon, or other people.  We just focused on having a good time and enjoying each others' company.  Along the way we met some fun and friendly people and had a lot of laughs at dinner, on excursions, and while watching shows at the theatre.  Here's a day by day recap of our trip:


SATURDAY, AUGUST 8TH
Driving from Charlotte, NC to Miami, FL
We left Charlotte on Saturday at around 10am after Jen cheered on her running group at the Blue Points 5K and I got in a 2 hr bike ride.  The GPS said it would take around 10 hrs so we figured it would take around 11 hrs with stops.  For the trip we bought the audio book "Good to Great" for our listening pleasure.  We like to learn while taking long trips so it doesn't seem like such a waste of time.  The book got me thinking about some things that I might need to change when I get back from vacation.  We arrived in Miami at around 9pm, checked into the hotel, and went straight to bed.


The view from the hotel in Miami


SUNDAY, AUGUST 9TH
Miami, FL - Day at Sea on the way to Grand Cayman
We went for a run and stopped at McDonald's midway through the run for breakfast and then jogged back to the hotel to do some strength work.  We then got everything packed up and took a shuttle van from the hotel to the ship.  We boarded the Carnival Valor at around 1:30pm after standing in lines and getting registered.  After checking out our room and balcony we went to lunch to check out the options and oh were there options.  There were so many choices but Jen and I both opted for healthy choices.  I went for a chicken breast, fish, rice, and bowl of fresh fruit.  Okay, that will be the last time I update what I ate.  Needless to say, the food on the ship was great and the choices were nearly limitless.  After lunch we walked around the ship to get our bearings and at 4pm had a mandatory boat drill.  After the drill it was off to dinner at the Washington Lounge where we met our dinner mates for the rest of the week.  I think we got really lucky and had a fun couple named John and Sonia to share our meals with each night.  We got to know each other over dinner and then went our separate ways.  After dinner each night we took a walk on the top deck and took photos of us with the sunset in the background.  I don't usually like to hold hands or anything like that in public but made the exception for the cruise so we'll see if it continues when we get home.  After our walk we were both tired so headed to our room, planned out our next day and went to bed.


Our Dinner Mates while at sea - John and Sonia


MONDAY, AUGUST 10TH
Another Day at Sea on the way to Grand Cayman
Monday was another day at sea so we weren't on any kind of schedule.  We woke up and had breakfast which again was awesome!  We went to the gym but it was packed so decided to watch a movie in the room followed by a walk on the track.  We had some lunch and then read some books while laying in the sun on the top deck.  There is a casino on the ship so I decided to try my hand at the Texas Holdem table.  I played for about an hour and then we were off to dinner.  Tonight was the formal night so everyone got dressed up in suits and nice dresses.  We opted to go to Scarlett's where we nearly had the restaurant to ourselves.  Jen and I both chose the filet and lobster for our entrees and the desert was obnoxious.  After stuffing ourselves at dinner we went to the theatre to watch a show (Night Club Express - song and dance type musical) and then off to bed.


Dinner at Scarlett's restaurant -- surf & turf


Dessert at Scarlett's -- we were a bit stuffed after this


TUESDAY, AUGUST 11TH
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Today was the first day that we were stopping at a port.  We planned a Jeep 4X4 Tour for our excursion so we were pretty excited to get going this morning.  We had breakfast then took a 10 min tender boat ride to the island.  Our dinner mates were also doing this excursion so we hopped in a Jeep with them and followed the carivan of Jeeps.  John drove to the first stop and then I got behind the wheel and drove it like I stole it.  Jeeps are meant to be driven over potholes, bumps, through puddles, etc so while others were avoiding them.....we were looking for them.  Made for a very fun day.  We stopped off at various locations and eventually ended up back where we started for lunch, rum punch, and some beach time where John and I did some snorkeling.  I could stay out and swim in the clear sea for hours and hours.  Jen and I opted to walk 3 miles along the beach instead of taking the shuttle back to the boat.  It just sounded like more fun.  We had another great dinner when we got back on the boat and then went for a walk and photos at sunset. We followed that up with a show at the theatre (Juggling & Comedian Jim Brick) and then off to bed.


Jeep tour while in Grand Cayman


Say hello to my little friend -- the lizard in Grand Cayman


WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12TH
Isla Roatan, Honduras
The ship didn't hit the port until noon today so we headed to the gym first thing and did 30 min cycling and 30 mins strength work. Went to breakfast after that and then walked around the ship and relaxed for a bit. Ate lunch and then headed out to our Tabyana Beach Day excursion in Isla Roatan. The 30 min bus ride from the ship to the beach was something that I've never seen before and made me feel very fortunate.  There were people living in brick houses that had no windows and sometimes no roofs.  This is something that I've never seen before but I think it's important to see.  The land, the beach and snorkeling were amazing.  Jen came out with me snorkeling and we had a lot of fun following the scuba divers. After we got back to the boat we had dinner followed by our sunset walk and then Bingo. After Bingo we watched a magic show in the theatre (Magic Moments - Rand Woodbury) and went to bed.


Tabyana Beach in Isla Roatan


Our nightly ritual -- taking photos after dinner


THURSDAY, AUGUST 13TH
Belize
Another early excursion so we had an early breakfast followed by a 25 min tender boat to Belize. We took a bus ride through the city and ended up at Bacab Eco Park where we did the kayak expedition.  After kayaking for a little over an hour we had lunch and hung out by the massive pool.  The pool had a fast waterslide and I eventually confinced Jen to give it a try.  We got back to the boat and off to dinner followed by our sunset walk & photos and then a show at the theatre (Puck - comedy hypnosis) and then off to bed.  As you can tell, we are creatures of habit.


Jen on our kayak expedition in Belize


Self photo while crushing the kayak scene


FRIDAY, AUGUST 14TH
Cozumel, Mexico
Our excursion in Cozumel didn't start until 11am so we had breakfast and got off the boat and walked around the shops in Cozumel before our excursion began.  Today we did the Twister Boat ride to Isla Pasion which included a high speed boat ride with 360 degree turns.  The boat ride was loads of fun and the private island was amazing.  There were only 60+ people on the island for the whole day.  They served us a mexican lunch and margaritas along with some relaxing time on the beach and on the "floaties". Got back and had the formal dinner followed by our sunset walk and then the show at the theatre (Far From Over - 80s musical). After that we stayed up "late" and went to the karaoke in the Eagles Lounge and I almost got up to sing after a few more margaritas.  We then went to Paris Hot for a little Salsa dancing....and off to bed.


Guns blazing in Cozumel -- I love Mexico!!


Jen has the right attitude for Mexico
 

This is how we got around while in Cozumel
 

The beach at Isla Pasion 


Another beach shot at Isla Pasion


SATURDAY, AUGUST 15TH
Day at Sea on the way to Miami, FL
We woke up late and headed straight to breakfast.  Today was a lazy day so we watched a movie in the room (Day the Earth Stood Still) and then to a late lunch. Played Texas Holdem at the casino and ended up with a net win of $48 for the cruise. Went to dinner followed by our sunset walk and then the $5K jackpot bingo.  Unfortunately, we didn't win but John and I got a picture with the dude that announced the bingo games.  We followed that up with a show at the theatre (Carnival Legends - people selected from karaoke) and off to bed.


Photo shoot with the Bingo Dude and John -- Boo You


A final night with our wait staff -- Eliseo and Pornsawan


SUNDAY, AUGUST 16TH
Driving from Miami, FL to Charlotte, NC
We had breakfast on the ship and then waited around until it was time for our floor to get off the ship. Took a taxi to our hotel and then drove back home from Miami to Charlotte. We finished up listening to the rest of the "Good to Great" audio book and had some conversations about the book and how we might be able to apply some of the principles.  The drive seemed to go by pretty quickly and we got home around 9pm and went to bed after greeting the cats.


Each night Ny The Cleaning Guy would make a towel animal for us

Jen and I will be heading out the door in a few hours for our cruise!  We'll be driving to Miami today and leaving port tomorrow afternoon.  The trip includes stops in Cozumel, Belize, Grand Cayman, and Isla Roatan.  I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with Jen for our 9 year anniversary which is coming up in a few weeks.

So far the mid season break is going well.  I've stuck to the plan even though it was very tempting to get out and rip my legs to shreds.  After a poor performance at Steelhead 70.3 my motivation to go out and tear it up is very high.  I was ready to get back to full training by Tuesday mentally but physically I think a break is a good idea.  One thing I've noticed this week is that I've been having a really hard time sleeping.  I'll wake up at 3am and can't fall back asleep.  This has happened the last three nights.  Instead of laying in bed all night I typically get up and work on the new version of the training log.  I think my body is a bit shocked since I didn't train for a couple of days in a row.

Signing out for a week.....

I just recently ran some reports from my training log to check on my average training volume for the year so far and here are the results by year for Swim, Bike and Run:

These numbers represent the averages over the first 30 weeks of each respective year.  This obviously doesn't give the whole picture since my training has been more intense this year than it was in 2007 for example but it does give a good indication of what I might need to focus on during the 2nd half of this season as well as in 2010.  My favorite equation for success is:

CONSISTENCY + PROGESSIVE OVERLOAD == CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT

In 2008, my consistency suffered because I was injured and so far in 2009 my consistency has suffered because I've been racing more often and have been spending a lot of time freshening up for races as well as recovering from races.  I've also turned up the intensity a notch this year so I've been missing workouts here and there due to excess soreness.

I've started to plan out the remainder of my season and I keep thinking about how I can be CONSISTENT and PROGRESSIVELY OVERLOAD my body with stress.  Here are some of my thoughts:

* I'll only be racing two more times this season: Augusta 70.3 and Clearwater 70.3.  I won't be spending as much time freshening and recovering from races.
* I think the high octane intervals on the bike and run really took their toll on me.  Maybe because I didn't have the foundation necessary or maybe my body just doesn't handle that work well anymore.  I'm planning on doing more hill repeats, steady state, and LT work over the 2nd half of the season since these workouts don't dig me so deep and I bounce back from them more quickly.
* I am going to join Tim Kerr's swim group at the Aquatic Center to get my swim training up where it needs to be.  I get more out of my workouts and am more likely to put in more time in the water when there are others around me to be competitive with.
* I'm pretty excited because it shouldn't be too tough to surpass these numbers in 2010 so I know that I've still got a lot of untapped potential ready to bust out of the seams.

Here are some specific aspects of my training that I'd like to focus on during the second half of this season:

* Improve force on the bike.  I'll be more focused in the weight room and will be hitting the hill repeats and going to the mountains.
* Improve muscular endurance on the bike.  I tend to struggle towards the end of my 56 mi bike leg and feel like I need to improve my sustainability.
* Increase run cadence.  I feel like my body gets too damaged by the run and I think it's due to my slow, bouncy cadence.  The increased turnover should help with muscle fatigue as well as keeping me in a better horizontal plane.
* Swim volume and consistency.  I don't plan on missing a M, T, T, F swim session with Tim's group once I start in two weeks.  My swim needs to improve by next spring if I want to have any chance of breaking into the top 3 at 70.3s next season.
* I've gotten a bit soft looking lately so it's time to get "gorilla shredded" again.  Hitting the weight room and cutting a few calories during my mid-season break and rebase period should do the trick.  Muscle retains more H2O and CHO so turning the extra fat into muscle should help on race day.

STATS:
Swimming: 6,100yds in 3 sessions
Cycling: 80 mi in 3 sessions
Running: 15 mi in 2 sessions
Maintenance: 30 mins
Total: 7.2 hrs

GOALS FOR LAST WEEK:
My main focus for last week was to loosen my muscles, stay sharp, race well at Steelhead 70.3, and have fun with my family over the weekend.

* Loose muscles via massage and maintenance routine
* Wednesday Brick: 15 mins steady bike + 5 mins steady run

RECAP:
I felt loose during the first half of the week and then after the long car ride on Thursday I felt tight for the rest of the weekend.  I think the long car rides throw me off because I probably don't hydrate as well as I should and I eat different foods than I normally would.  Not to mention being in a static position for a whole day.  I'll have to figure out how to address this for future races.  The race didn't go as I'd hoped but we got to spend some quality time with family and had a great weekend.  We drove straight back to Charlotte on Sunday to get back for work on Monday.

KEY SESSIONS:
* Wednesday Brick: 15 mins steady bike + 5 mins steady run
     - Bike went well but had some foot tightness on the run so cut it off at 800m.

MAINTENANCE:
My foot pain from a couple weeks ago seems to be showing it's face again.  I didn't do the best job with my maintenance routine this week. 

GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK:
I'm taking a mid season break for the next two weeks.  I've had this planned since the beginning of the season and I certainly need it.  I'm a bit strung out mentally and physically so need to recharge the batteries.  For the second half of the break Jen and I have decided to go on a cruise so this will force me to take it very easy.  Here's my protocol for the break:

* Take at least 2 days completely off per week
* Swim a max of 30 mins per session
* Bike a max of 60 mins per bike session
* Run a max of 30 mins per run session
* Strength work no more than 3 times per week
* Workout no more than 60 mins per day (excluding strength work)

©2009 Clarke Rodgers/SPORTZFOTO.com

GOALS:
* Top 6 Overall
* Hit my nutrition plan
* Be more conservative on the swim and bike
* Set a higher cadence on the bike
* Have a solid run
* 3:58 – 4:04 overall time depending on conditions

ACTUAL:
Place: 15th
Time: 04:27:45
Swim Time/Place: 26:54 / 14th
Bike Time/Place: 2:31:42 /  16th
Run Time/Place: 1:22:54 / 8th

PRE-RACE:
Going into this race I knew that my fitness and gumption was fading fast and that I needed a mid-season break and a solid rebase period.  I was hoping to just hold on for one more race and have a solid result before kicking off the second half of the season but it wasn’t in the cards.  Aside from my fading fitness I made some mistakes and had a bit of bad luck that culminated into a major meltdown and a good learning experience. 

Jen, Clarke, and I left Charlotte, NC on Friday morning and drove to a hotel about 3 hrs away from the race venue and spent the night.  On Friday we arrived at the expo at around 1:30pm to find that my race number was “lucky number 13”.  I’m not very superstitious but the number selection is pretty funny after the fact.  I had planned on biking and running to check out the course but didn’t have much time left so decided to just drive the run course and head back to the house to spend some time with our families.  We had quite the crew in for the weekend and it was great to see everyone: my parents, sister Sarah, and grandma along with Jen’s parents and brother Bert.  As I was putting my bike together at the house I realized that I made a very bonehead move…….I brought two rear wheels.  Let the games begin.  I was a bit panicked as I didn’t have a front wheel to ride on but at the pro meeting I talked with the race director and he put me in touch with Jeff who was nice enough to give me one of his training wheels to ride during the race.  It wasn’t my Zipp 808 but you know what they say……beggars can’t be choosers.  I got back to the house with my wheel in hand and went for a short bike ride to test everything out.  We had a great pasta dinner with our families and hung out before heading to bed at 10pm.  For some reason I woke up at 1am and couldn’t fall back asleep so only got 3 hrs of sleep for the night.  I think this may have played a role in my lack of motivation later in the day.  After the usual morning routine we made it to the race site and I got my transition area together and started my 1 mile trek to the swim start.

SWIM:
The logistics of this race were interesting in that you had to walk one mile on the beach from the transition area to the swim start.  I decided to jog the mile instead since I wanted to get my swim warmup in.  I got to the swim start with plenty of time and got in a short warmup and came out of the water to stretch before heading back out.  When I was putting my goggles back on they broke and I just couldn’t believe it.  I went back to the race director and asked for help yet again and he got on the microphone and a very nice older man handed me his spare pair of goggles.

We lined up for the swim start on the beach and we were off.  I sprinted to get a good position and dolphin dived my way to a top position as we turned the first buoy.  I knew this wouldn’t last but it helps to be able to choose which feet to sit on.  Guys were passing me one by one and I couldn’t hang onto anyone’s feet.  My right shoulder was overly tight and I didn’t feel like I could apply much power to the water.  Eventually I was left to swim by myself as the gaps grew bigger and bigger.  Throughout the remainder of the swim I had a very tough time sighting as the sun was directly in our eyes and my goggles were a big fogged up.  The doubts were creeping into my head during the swim and this was just the beginning of the mental and physical unraveling.  I exited the water in 26:45 but knew that it was not a good swim and that I would need to make up quite a bit of ground on the bike.

BIKE:
I hopped on my bike and tried to settle into a good cadence and rhythm.  My HR was static at 170 bpm for the first few miles and I tried to bring it down but realized that I had been passed by the lead woman during the swim and could see her up the road but wasn’t making any ground on her on the bike.  I tried to lift my intensity because I knew I should be able to close that gap much faster and my hamstrings, glutes, and lower back started to give me quite a bit of discomfort.  I eventually passed the lead woman and could see a rider up the road but again wasn’t closing the gap.  We had the wind at our back for the first 10 miles but my splits were about 10 seconds per mile slower than I was expecting.  At about mile 15 Bates came by me so I put in an effort to try and salvage this bike ride but my body wasn’t cooperating today.  The rest of the ride I just tried to stay fairly comfortable and my pace and HR slowly faded to the point that I was riding recovery effort.  I ended up getting passed by the top five women over the last 10 miles which added a bit of salt to the wound.  My stomach was giving me some issues in the last 30 mins of the bike so when I entered transition I stopped at the porto to take care of business.  I went to rack my bike and talked with Jen and my family a bit since they were concerned about my well being.  I told them that I was a bit overcooked and just wanted to finish the race and told them to go enjoy the beach.

RUN:
Once I hit the run my legs actually felt okay.  I took in a couple of gels in the last 30 mins of the bike so maybe that lit the match again.  I started off the run hitting 5:30s and 5:40s and these would eventually slow to around 6:00s.  I tried to keep my HR around 170 bpm for as long as I could because I wanted to at least get some race intensity experience in the bank for later races.  Over the course of the run my HR would slowly fade from the 170s to the 160s and eventually over the last 4 miles it would drift to the 150s and 140s.  The last 2 miles my legs hurt so bad that I could barely get them to move any faster than 8 min miles.  I completely fell apart and was in quite a bit of pain while coming down the finishing chute.  I was quite disappointed about how the day ended up but you have to fail every once in a while to really appreciate the successes.