#3!
It’s funny to me that tomorrow’s the day.
After all these months of early morning wake-up calls, long training days, preparing and thinking and planning, it all comes down to one day. I feel good. Training has gone well. I’ve seen the course and feel comfortable about it. I barely even think of about any of the nagging injuries that bothered me for most of 2008. Of course, I can think of tons of things that I could have done – extra or different – but none of that matters now. And I’m happy with how it all went.
Each year when I’ve arrived at this point, I’ve had the opportunity to think about how lucky I am that I’m here. I’m thankful for my health and my happiness and for my wonderful family members and friends who have supported me through all my training and racing. I know that I could not have made it here today – or to the lake tomorrow – without all of you. I will be thinking about you tomorrow during the times when I start feeling like the race is getting the better of me.
Last night, we cooked a big feast – salad, roasted peppers, spaghetti, excellent risotto (thanks to Mike) and some grilled chicken. Delicious! Drew came over to join Mike, Taylor and I. After dinner we went into Penticton to walk around the annual pre-Ironman street fair.
This morning, I got up and drove to Kelowna to pick up Aaron. He did some pretty crafty work and managed to get a new passport yesterday. It was great to see him! Although I would have understood if he hadn’t been able to make it, I’m really happy it worked out. We spent the morning getting my bike and gear bags together and then went down to transition to drop it all off. Here’s me posing with the Guru in all it’s glory:
Here’s a picture of a little bit of transition madness this afternoon:
And finally, a shot of Aaron and I outside of the bike check-in area. Aren’t we good looking guys:
As a reminder, my bib number is 596. You can track me at the Ironman Canada “Race Coverage” link on http://ironman.com/.
Wish me luck and you’ll hear from me on the other side!
I’ve been posting training updates at the end of every month this calendar year. Below is my training for August (through today, not including tomorrow):
Swim: 31,857 yards
Cycling (outdoors): 437.6 miles
Cycling (indoors): 3:00 (hours)
Run: 126.8 miles
Strength Training/Yoga: 0 sessions
Approximate monthly total training time: 54:30 (hours)
Weight: 163.1 pounds
It was a damn strong month, especially considering the fact that a lot of it was “tapering”.
And below is the summary of my training this year since January 1, 2009:
Swim: 152,969 yards (equals 87 miles)
Cycling (outdoors): 2,156.63 miles
Cycling (indoors): 14:15 (hours)
Run: 777.60 miles
Strength Training/Yoga: 18 sessions
Approximate monthly total training time: 320.5 (hours)
I was going to compare 2009 up to Canada to 2008 up to Lake Placid. It’s a tough comparison and probably not worth going into too much detail. Basically, this year I rode outside A LOT more (over 700 miles) and ran A LOT more (about 300 miles). I spent a lot less time on the trainer and did a lot less strength training. Swim distance was pretty similar. The less trainer time and more running distance is mostly related to the fact that in January, February and March, I focused on training for Boston. Then, since I’ve been in LA, there hasn’t been much reason at all to be on the trainer (woo-hoo!). After I recover from this race, I probably should join a gym and get some strength training back into my routine.
It’s time to wrap this up, eat some dinner and get in bed. Thank you all again for reading this and supporting me. Once again, I couldn’t do it without you!
JOSH
Bike – August 29
Distance: 6.5 miles
Time: 22 minutes
Location: Penticton, BC
Run – August 29
Distance: 2.1 miles
Time: 15:30
Location: Penticton, BC