Swim - My form is so much better, but I need to work on my muscular endurance. If I can get my endurance up, I will be cruising. I have been swimming a lot more and staying tougher mentally. Overall very happy. Bike - Torn on this. I have a lot going for me on the midweek rides, but really tired for Sat and Sun. I am feeling better this week, so I am hoping I will be able to get after it on this weekends ride. Run - Really strong. PR'd my 1/2 at Great Bay despite my poor pacing plan. Brick workouts are solid and overall pace for all Z1 runs are at/around 7:15. Very happy with these results. Strength/Abs - Terrible. Really need to work on this.

Week 3?

Tough week. I missed the two mid day bike and swim workouts. January I have to lock it down a lot better. I can't miss all these workouts. My swim is definitely better than where I was last year at this time, but still a long way to go. Bike - I thought I was in a better place than I actually am. I am averageing around 160 watts for a HR of 140. Its good that I can keep my HR up, but need more strength. Run- Lacking top end speed,but form is solid and feel strong. Weights - I believe I have PR'd with my legs.

Week 1

Feeling pretty good in comparision to where I was last year at this time. Swim - I have gone backwards since August, but just need to focus. Stroke is better than LY, but lack endurance. Bike - Way better than where I was LY. Still need to get stronger. Run - High end speed might be lower, but distance running is way stronger. Weights - Need to work on along with abs.

Baystate

Heading into Baystate I was pretty nerous about how the day was going to go. I hadn't completed 100% of my training for the 2-3 weeks prior and was really questioning the plan. I hadn't run more than 13.1 in 9 months and more than 15 miles in two years. I rode my bike a lot this year, but not so much that I felt confident. I filled out a couple "race predicting calculators" and found that my target time would be around 3:08. So I made this my goal, but needed a 3:10 to qualify. All morning my stomache was a mess. I slept ok and at my normal prerace meal, but I was in trouble. Pre race I chatted with Kate and my Mother and just couldnt shake the gut rot. I did my warm up run with Tim and before I knew it, I was running a marathon. At mile 1, I vividly remember thinking, "I am so F-ed." I felt ridiculously tight and my stomache was a mess. I had a roughly 1,000 people in front of me and my goal pace of 7:08 felt like a 5:08. To put it simply, I was in a really bad place. Miles 2-9 I didnt say a word to anyone and kept my head down. I just kept thinking, "get to mile 13, get to mile 13" I have no idea what the plan was once I got to 13, but it sounded better then "get to mile 7". Mile 10 - My stomach was still off, but not horrible. Fortunatly my legs felt fine. It was at this point that I realized in the last 3 miles I had passed about 50 people and no one had passed me. A little, (very little) boost of confidence. Mile 13 - My legs felt really solid and looking at the clock, I had created a 2 min "buffer" for my Boston Qualifying time. Its a little weird, but once I got to the halfway point my stomache went away and I was ready to run. Miles 13-20 I ran at aa 7 minute pace and felt really good. Of course really good at mile 20 in a marathon is all relative. I was definitely in pain, but the positive feedback from my watch out weighed everything else. Mile 20 - Because of my stomache issue earlier, I drank a ton of fluids the first 13 miles to try and keep my stomache temperature down. It seemed to help my stomache, but I was now encountering an new issue, I REALLY had to pee. I waited as long as I could and at mile 20 I found a tree and went for it. After what felt like 10 minutes, I started to run again. My legs were a bit tight from stopping, but overall still felt good. 20 - 26.2 For some reason, I decided to push it a little and see how my body reacted. I started to run at a 6:50 pace and passed A LOT of people. Great support by other runners and the crowd made the pain that much more tolerable. There were quite a few people who were now walking and I couldn't help but think of how I felt in 2010 when I did the same thing. I crossed the line at 3:06 and had grabbed my Boston spot. It wasn't until I started to walk that I realized how shattered my legs were. The race had gone well and I had given it everything I had. Definitely one of my better race days. A short while later Kate came FLYING down the road. Even after 26 miles her gait was perfect and she looked amazing! It was a pretty emotional moment once she crossed the line. 16 months ago she gave birth to our son, but in process she had severely damaged her femeral nerve. We didn't know if she would ever walk again, but like everything Kate does, she took it head on and overcome the challenge She ran a 3:39. Kate's goal was to run strong, but not have any real time goal. She missed Boston by less than 5 minutes! You hear of inspiring stories, I can say I live with one.

Pumpkinman race report

So my goa was at 4:29:XX and I ended up coming in at 4:35:XX. The prediction was a stretch goal and a more realisitic goal was 4:39:XX. I am estatic with my time. I can honestly say that I left nothing out on the course. I beat last years time by 16 minutes! Unreal! Pre race - I didn't sleep all that well and really didn't feel all that good going in. I was sandbagging, but just felt nervous about racing well. My prerace meal was fine and had my typical THREE trips to the bathroom. (Not enjoying that) Pre race swim - I got in the water really early and thought it was actually too soon, but worked out fine. Swim - I started to feel jacked up for the swim,in the good way. The wave went off and I picked a pretty good seam. I have been sighting better this year and it has paid off. For the most part I swam on someones feet and had a solid swim. I knew it had gone well and thought I was going to PR. I ended up coming out at 33 minutes. Pretty much what I get at every race now. The good thing was a I only had one minor cramp in my calf, so felt pretty good heading up that stupid big hill! Swim 33:31 Div 9th OA69th Hill - I pegged off a bunch of people and actualy won my AG. I really didn't try to do this,it just happened. Div 1st OA 15h Bike - I hopped on the bike and felt pretty good. I was breathing heavy and my HR wasa bit jacked. My power was a bit spikey, but I was passing a bunch of people. I believe 2 or 3 riders passed me. I was pushing a little too hard to stay with them, so I let them go around 20 miles in. Overall I felt pretty good and was constatnly doing the math to try and figure out where I was going to come in at. I kept going back and fourth with one rider up until mile 45(ish). I passed him and said time to drop the hammer. I thought he was going to go with me, but I never saw him again. I was really moving. Several stronger riders were a bit taken back when I passed them. A huge improvement has been the back half of the bike. My endurance has been really strong. At this point I had no idea where Shaun was. I actually thought I might be ahead of him. As I pulled into transition I saw him running out. He pushes hard on the bike, so I was psyched to see him. Bike 2:28:XX AG 5th OA 28th Power 190 - Right on Goal! Run - I didn't feel great once I started to run. Shawn was about a minute ahead of me and for the first 2 miles we scorched low 6 minute miles. I caught him at mile 3 and we chatted for a bit. He thought he was in 1st place and that I had just taken the lead. We ran in stride and then I kicked hard to pull away. I caught one of the guys that passed me on the bike at mile 1 as well. Huge confidence boost. I was having a good day, but I didn't take in enough fluids and gels on the bike. I was running strong, but really feeling it. I took in a couple blocks and gatorade to spike my sugar. I was definitely fading around mile 10. It was at that point I knew I still could go sub 130 on the run. I sucked it up and pushed hard. The sugar from the blocks kicked in and I started to hammer. I was sideways the last 2 miles. Ton of pain, but the 130 goal was screaming at me. I ended up coming in at 1:30:19. The only thing I might have done better to help me get there would have been better nutrition on the bike and run. I wasn't terrible by any means,but there was 19 seconds hanging out there. All that said, I am psyched with that run! I was only passed by one runner the entire time, so something to be proud of. Run 1:30:19 AG 5th OA 24th Overall great day. I will continue to pursue the sub 4:30 goal and have to believe it will happen next year.

Pumpkinman time prediction

Swim 32 - I think I can do this despite not swimming much. Should be easier to sight and I plan on going hard. T1 - 3 min Bike 2:26 - I should be at least 5 minutes faster than at Timberman. Its 1 mile shorter and a lot faster. T2 - 1min Run 1:28 - Gotta go hard and stay tough. Plan on going out at 6:35 and sticking with it. Total time 4:30 VERY AGGRESSIVE, but can be done! Need to stay tough on the run and keep my power in check on the bike. At mile 28 I will decided to go harder if I have it in me. Goal wattage 190 for first half, 195 back half.

5 days out from Pumpkinman

I have drank WAY too much coffee and feeling a bit anxious. Labor Day weekend was a great time with family and friends. I didnt obsess too much over training or eating. I actually ate pretty bad and was nervous to get on the scale... Weight 154 Overall condition - I feel pretty solid. My neck/shoulder is kind of a mess, but confident that I will be fine on race day. YMCA is closed, so no swimming last two weeks. Not ideal, but I've hammered my bike and running. Next up, time prediction....