STATS:
Swimming: 17,100yds in 4 sessions
Cycling: 276 mi in 5 sessions
Running: 42 mi in 6 sessions
Maintenance: 1 hr
Total: 24.8 hrs
Ave Weight: 164 lbs

GOALS FOR LAST WEEK:
My plan for last week was to continue with building my solid foundation.  My main goal was to get in all of my training and feel good during my key sessions.  On top of that I wanted to do my maintenance routine at least 4 times over the week.

* Continue to be patient and keep everything under LT minus 10 bpm (155 bpm bike & 165 bpm run).
* Continue to focus on nutrition.  Need to drop 2-4 more lbs by Clearwater in November.
* Two strength sessions.
* Swim 20K, Bike 300 mi, Run 42 mi

RECAP:
I didn't quite hit all of my training this week but still got in a decent week for starting the week and ending the week a bit tired.  I hit my run miles and did my maintenance routine 4 times so those were both positive.  On Monday I decided to do an aerobic assessment at LT minus 20 bpm on the run and had my 2nd best assessment ever with a 5:42 mile average at 160 bpm.  The foundation seems like it is all set to go so now I just need to drop in about 4 weeks of race specific intensity and I should be flying by Clearwater.

We spent the weekend in Augusta, GA to coach some athletes and cheer on some friends.  I was on the start list but decided that I was better off to complete my base phase instead of freshen for the race and then spend a week to two weeks recovering.  I'm happy with my decision and am looking forward to Clearwater.  My plan for the weekend was to ride the course twice on Saturday and run the run course once and flip flop on Sunday with one loop of the bike and two of the run.  I ended up feeling pretty terrible on Saturday and was barely pushing the pedals so I decided to call it a day at around 80 miles.  I don't particularly like to train alone so this may have contributed to my early finish as well.  I also decided to scrap the run on Saturday because I felt like I just needed to rest.  On Sunday I rode the course backwards with Dave, Tyler and Seth and felt great for the first hour and then we backed it off once we started to see competitors coming the other way so we could cheer them on.  We got off the bike around the same time that the lead men did so had a quick transition and started my 12 mile run.  I mainly stayed in a small area with a grassy median and got to see a lot of people racing.  It was fun to watch the race unfold and see our athletes do such a great job.  I also got in 2 miles at 5:33 ave in the middle of the run to finish the week.

GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK:
This will be my last week with the endurance focus and then will switch my focus to race pace intensity for the next 4 weeks.  I'll likely drop volume a little to allow for the added intensity to sink in but haven't decided how much to drop yet.  I'll play that by ear.

* Continue to be patient and keep everything under LT minus 10 bpm (155 bpm bike & 165 bpm run).
* Continue to focus on nutrition.  Need to drop 2-4 more lbs by Clearwater in November.
* One strength session.
* Swim 20K, Bike 300 mi, Run 42 mi

KEY SESSIONS:
* Tuesday Bike: 30 mins Steady (LT minus 10 bpm) during the IOS ride.
* Thursday Run: 6 X 60s hill repeats.
* Sunday Run: 2 X 3 miles Steady (LT minus 10-15 bpm) ~5:30-5:40 pace 

THOUGHTS:
I'm starting to feel pretty good in all three sports.  Due to the higher load in my legs it takes me a while to warmup but once the pistons are firing on all cylinders my paces and times are starting to look very promising.

STATS:
Swimming: 9,800yds in 3 sessions
Cycling: 300 mi in 4 sessions
Running: 26 mi in 4 sessions
Maintenance: 30 mins
Total: 24.4 hrs
Ave Weight: 166 lbs

GOALS FOR LAST WEEK:
My main focus for last week was to keep my volume up and intensity down for one more week but I was pretty smoked after the long weekend in the mountains so I decided to take some rest early.

* Continue to be patient and keep everything under LT minus 15 bpm (150 bpm bike & 160 bpm run).
* Continue to focus on nutrition.  Need to drop 5-7 lbs by Clearwater in November.
* Two strength sessions.
* Swim 14K, Bike 320 mi, Run 30 mi

RECAP:
The long weekend in the mountains was just what I needed but it left me feeling more tired than I thought it would on Tuesday.  After some evaluation and realizing that I dug pretty deep I decided to take Tuesday completely off and take a 4 day recovery block last week instead of waiting until this week.  I was lethargic and unmotivated from Tuesday through Friday and finally felt good again on Saturday and Sunday.  I dug the hole for 3 days and then filled it back in for 4 days.  On Saturday I was able to ride well during my 100 miler and Sunday came back with another 60 easy on the bike and later ran 12 miles with the last 9 between 6:00-6:30 pace on grass.  This was my first run since my break where it felt easy again to run low 6 min pace.  After making the adjustment due to excessive fatigue I think the week was a success.  I allowed my body the time to adapt to my big training over the 3 day weekend and then got back at it on Saturday.

GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK:
I plan to keep my volume up in the 22-25 hr range this week while adding some very easy workouts that are basically just intro to real workouts.  They are designed to get my run turnover going and give my bike legs a very little taste of 70.3 effort.  I plan to swim with Tim's group M, T, T, F and solo easy on W.  This should be a big swim week for me.  I plan to move my HR cap up to LT minus 10 beats for everything aside from my scheduled workouts.  I need to get my run going so I plan to increase the run volume a little this week and lower my bike slightly.

* Continue to be patient and keep everything under LT minus 10 bpm (155 bpm bike & 165 bpm run).
* Continue to focus on nutrition.  Need to drop 5-7 lbs by Clearwater in November.
* Two strength sessions.
* Swim 18K, Bike 260 mi, Run 40 mi

KEY SESSIONS:
* Tuesday Run: 6 X 30s hills w/ 2 mins recovery.  This is just an intro to getting my legs turning over quicker and building a little leg strength.  Hills don't seem to take a recovery toll on me so I tend to like them better than running 150s or 200s at the same pace on flat ground.
* Thursday Bike: 2 X 15 mins steady (LT - 10 bpm) w/ 10 mins recovery.  I've decided to shift my LT HRs down 5 bpm for this progression because I felt they were a bit tough for me to reach in the early part of the season.  It's probably about time for me to test again but I think I'm pretty dialed in.  So my new LTHRs are 165 bpm on the bike and 175 bpm on the run.  I'd rather err on the low side anyway.  This workout will be an intro to 70.3 effort.
* Weekend: Get in some decent volume......100 mi bike + 6 mi run on Saturday and 60 mi bike + 10 mi run on Sunday.  Continuing to build my solid foundation out for another few weeks.

THOUGHTS:
I don't know that there is any better way to boost cycling fitness than a few days of riding the toughest course you can find in the mountains.  After taking some rest I am feeling pretty strong and holding a very big gear feels pretty easy.  I feel like my legs are now in a better place than my cardio which is usually not the case for me. 

Aside from training, everything is going great and there are some pretty excited changes coming up.  I'll be posting about them in the very near future.

This sign pretty much sums it up -- taken at the bottom of one of our climbs.

Steve Watkins (aka Watty) and I created a cycling route in the NC mountains that we named "The Loop of Truth".  The reason for the name is that it tells you the truth about your fitness every time you ride it.  There is nowhere to hide on this course.  Your fitness and nutrition are totally exposed and you will find out what you are made of by the day's end.  We've only actually completed this course once before and the other two times have had to cut the day short due to major mechanical issues (shredded tire & broken chain).  "The Loop" takes a toll on the body, mind, soul, and bike.  Here are the stats and notable climbs for The Loop of Truth:

STATS:
Distance: 102 miles
Total Elevation Gain: 18,500 ft

NOTABLE CLIMBS:
George's Gap 1: 1.85 mi @ 773 ft (7.91 ave grade)
George's Gap 2: 1.92 mi @ 821 ft (8.09)
Rominger: 1.98 mi @ 905 ft (8.6)
Clarke's Creek: 1.25 mi @ 884 ft (13.3)
Shulls Mill: 4.82 mi @ 1853 ft (7.28)
Parkway: 5.76 mi @ 983 ft (3.23)
Hickory Nut Gap: 4.39 mi @ 896 ft (3.86)
Beech: 2.84 mi @ 1474 ft (9.82)
Pinnacle Ridge: 1.93 mi @ 1428 ft (14.01)
Pinnacle Add On: 1.07 mi @ 513 ft (9.08)
Back of Beech: 5.83 mi @ 2221 ft (7.21)

The toughest part of this course starts at the bottom of Beech......we climb Beech.....descend the backside......climb Pinnacle & Add On.....descend Pinnacle & Add On......and then climb the backside of Beech.  We have many nicknames for this part of the course such as "The Valley of Death", "The Gauntlet", "The Trench", "Blood Bath", etc.  The elevation gain on this part of the course alone is 5636 ft over 11.6 mi climbing for an average grade of 9.14.

Since we had a long weekend for the Labor Day holiday we decided it would be fun and challenging to do the Loop of Truth 3 days in a row and call it "le tour de truth".  Since we were staying on the top of Beech Mountain we decided it would make the course even tougher by finishing the course with "The Valley of Death".  Below is a summary of how the weekend went.

FRIDAY:
Jen and I packed up the Honda Element and drove up to Banner Elk, NC after work.  The drive wasn't all that bad and probably only took us 2.5 hrs even with a good bit of traffic heading out of Charlotte.  Met up with Steve and Amanda at the cabin and made some homemade pizzas and a couple of beers and were off to bed to ensure a good night's sleep.


Just a relaxing trip to the mountains minus the 22+ hrs of cycling.


Steve and Amanda's picture turned out better than ours.....boo you.

SATURDAY (DAY 1):
Distance: 110 miles
Time: 7:46:35
Total Ascent: 19,056 ft

Steve and I got started at around 8am and were on our way in good spirits.  We decided to stick to the HR cap for the weekend so things didn't get out of hand as they usually do.  Our main goal was to make it through the weekend in one piece.  I tried to keep most climbs under 150 bpm and did a pretty good job of this.  We made a stop at The Ham Shoppe for lunch at 50 miles and I took down a turkey sandwich, PB & J, and a lemonade.  This set me up nicely for the second half of the ride.  I really like the idea of eating lunch midway through the ride.  Otherwise I feel ill from just eating so much sugar all day with nothing substantial.  On our way to Hickory Nut we decided to do a little exploring around Sugar Mountain and added on about 5.5 miles and didn't find any great climbs.  We were trying to get over 20K ft of climbing for the day.  We stopped at a gas station just before the start of the Beech climb and I loaded up on Mountain Dew.  Unfortunately it didn't kick in for the climb and I was the first to falter on Day 1.  I bonked pretty hard going up Beech but then rallied for Pinnacle and The Backside to finish off the day strong.  Watty did just the opposite as he was very strong up Beech and faded a bit on Pinnacle and The Backside.  Overall a solid day in the saddle with great conversations and we finished off with dinner and a campfire with our lovely ladies.......you can't beat that!!


Watty climbing the "easy" part of Pinnacle.


Fire safety 101 - Watty prepping the grill for some burgers.


Jen is prepping her marshmallow stick for battle in the campfire.


Amanda means business -- sharpening her marshmallow stick.

SUNDAY (DAY 2):
Distance: 105 miles
Time: 7:31:52
Total Ascent: 18,719 ft

It was a little tougher to get going this morning so we got started at around 8:25am.  The agenda for the day was the same as Day 1.  My legs seemed to actually feel better on Day 2 than Day 1.  We continued to keep our efforts in check up the climbs as we both knew that the course will take its toll no matter how easy or hard you ride it.  We got rained on early in the ride and the course was slick.  While descending George's Gap Steve hit a slick patch around a tight corner and went down.  Luckily he and his bike were okay and he only came away from it with a swollen and skinned hip.  This wasn't about to stop Steve though so we were back on our way.  After descending 194 I realized that my tired had a slow leak so we changed that and went back to business.  We again stopped for lunch at The Ham Shoppe in Valle Crusis and this time I went with a chicken sandwich, PB&J, lemonade, and Coke.  Yesterday they filled my lemonade with mostly ice and a little lemonade so today I said "no ice please" and evened the score.  Lunch was just what I needed and ended up finishing the ride feeling very good.  Both Steve and I set personal bests going up Beech and felt good through the rest of The Trench.  We got back to the house and had a quick transition and went out for a 50 min trail run on a very tough hiking trail.  This pretty much finished us off for the day.  Dave showed up just as we were about to have dinner since he was to ride with us on Monday.  We had another great dinner and campfire along with a few cold beers.


It's not all about the bike.  Watty and me by the campfire.


Fire safety 201 -- the bigger the better for making smores.


The finished product -- a golden brown marshmallow on melted chocolate.


Dave seemed nervous for the loop but ended up showing it who's boss hog.

MONDAY (DAY 3):
Distance: 102.5 miles
Time: 7:17:09
Total Ascent: 18,528 ft

We decided to get an earlier start this morning because we had to drive home later in the day so we headed out the door at 7:15am.  I was hoping for good legs again today but ended up with very tired legs that were sore to the touch.  Watty was in the same boat.  This was Dave's first time on The Loop so I wanted to ensure that he got his money's worth but could barely get my HR up to 150 bpm early in the ride.  We rode fairly easy for most of the day and sat around 140-150 bpm for most of the notable climbs.  The ladies were kind enough to pick up lunch for us and meet us at the bottom of the Shulls Mill climb for lunch.  The combination of eating lunch and not enough water to dilute it left me feeling like I was going to throw up.  We set a decent pace up Shulls Mill and Watty started to feel good on the parkway so we set good tempo there as well.  By the time we hit Hickory Nut my lunch and the Mountain Dew I just drank was about to come back up.  We decided to ride Hickory easy to let things settle and hopefully find some legs for the last three climbs of the day.  By the time Beech rolled around I just decided to see what my legs would give me and only ended up 18 seconds off of my PR.  I could tell that it took a toll though and at the toughest part of Pinnacle I slowly fell apart.  I had a bit of a meltdown at the top but luckily the ladies were there again with cookies and cokes.  After another Mountain Dew and 8 cookies I was back in business and felt pretty good coming back up The Backside to finish off the day.  Dave rode really well today and I think his big summer miles on the bike are going to start paying dividends soon.  Watty and I were both pretty well spent after 3 days of that punishing course but were very happy with the accomplishment.  After cleaning up a bit we all grabbed some pizza in downtown Banner Elk and then made the drive home and headed to bed.


Watty on the parkway - we've got some great views on this route.


Having a bit of a meltdown on top of Pinnacle.  It happens.


At least I don't look as tired as that guy - Watty regrouping.

Overall Totals:
Distance: 317.5 miles
Ride Time: 22:35:36
Total Ascent: 56,303 ft

Overall this weekend was just what I needed to kickstart the 2nd half of my season.  I realized that I'm not in as bad of shape as I thought that I might have been and actually set a personal best on the Beech climb.  It was a lot of fun hanging out with Watty and Dave during the day and spending some relaxing time with our wives during the evening.  Speaking of which....a special thanks to Jen and Amanda for checking on us at various points throughout the weekend with their "sag" vehicle.  Their timing was second to none.

The photo above is of me with my high school track coach, Marty Bushland.  Marty was the first person to introduce me to the process of setting goals.  At the beginning of each track season he would have us write down our goals on a sheet of paper and post it somewhere where we could see it on a daily basis.  I still have one of these sheets of paper from my senior year of high school.  Back then I didn’t realize the power of setting goals and viewing them daily but I am now a true believer in the power of setting high standards for yourself and working towards them every day.  The idea behind this is that you become what you think about most of the time.  If you see your goals frequently then you’ll be thinking about them more often and they will eventually become reality if you put forth the effort. 

Back in 2005 I started working with a more 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 break down my goal setting process into four segments: 5 Year Goals, 1 Year Goals, Top Ten List, and Daily Actions List.  I try to sit down and re-evaluate my 5 Year Goals, 1 Year Goals, and Top Ten List at least twice a year or whenever I have knocked something off of the Top Ten List or reached one of my goals and need to come up with another one.  The best time for me to do this is during training breaks such as November/December and whenever I take a mid-season break in the summer.  This typically gives me some mental clarity and gives me the opportunity to take a new direction if necessary.

Five Year Goals
For this post I will walk through the first step of the process: Setting Five Year Goals.  This step is important because it forces you to think about what you really want further down the road instead of just thinking short term.  Before I start setting goals I write down what is most important to me.  These values should be the cornerstone of each goal that you set for yourself.  Here are some examples of what I might put down for my values: 

• Jen
• Family
• Friends
• Happiness & Laughter
• Integrity
• Honesty
• Continual Learning
• Healthy Lifestyle
• Teaching & Inspiring Others
• Financial Stability

• Spending time with Jen
• Being with family
• Training with my friends
• Hanging around people that make me laugh
• Competing at nearly anything
• Helping others reach their goals
• Relaxing, watching TV or movies
• Playing cards with friends
• Mastering new skills

• I consistently follow through for those closest to me.

• Athleticore.com has over 50K unique visitors per month.

• I am a consistent top 3 finisher at 70.3 events.

• We have over 90% yearly occupancy for all five rental properties.

• I am fluent at speaking Spanish.