GETTING THERE!!

Greetings,
A lot has gone on since my last post. The training hours are mounting up and thankfully I am feeling good. During the month of May I covered 15.5 miles swimming, 435 bike miles, and 85 running miles. I can feel my body gaining fitness with each passing week.
Couple of highlights from the last few weeks. Saturday May 30th, I drove up the Ironman bike course loop in Verona and completed it twice, just as I will have to do on race day! It was fantastic. Rolling hills, crazy fast descents, and some seemingly endless climbs. I got a little bit of everything weather wise. The day started off wet, then cloudy, then windy, and finally sunny.
Some of the highlights:
1. Rolling hills that never seem to end
2. Witte Rd, 3 straight up and down hills, hit a max speed of 48mph!!
3. Garfoot Road. A steep descent with two hair pin turns
4. The 3 climbs on Old Sauk Pass and Midtown Road. The first on Old Sauk Pass never seems to end as it turns back and forth through a canopy of trees. When you do see the top it is a welcome sight. That relief only last for about 1000 yards and the second climb begins.
I was so pleased to have had the chance to ride the exact course. I feel the benefit will be almost immeasurable come race day. Look forward to riding the course 2 -3 more times before 9/13!!
The total distant I rode that day was 84 miles. A personal best!

This past Sunday I rode the Udder 100 bicycle ride out of Union, Il. It was a relatively flat course that was well marked and supported superbly! At about mile 10 it started to rain. Right before that I caught up with two other riders from Naperville, Mike and Scott. We rode together until about mile 70. I was very conscience of not drafting as that is a sure fire penalty on race day. I saw first hand how drafting can be an advantage . I was up front most of the time. When one the there riders wanted to lead I let him but then I rode behind him and out to the side, almost to the middle of the road. My thought process was, I can't draft on race day, why do it now. I would only be compromising my training! Then at mile 70 the course took on some gradual hills and modest descents. This is where i, for the first time, really believe that I can actually pull off this Ironman thing!!. I distanced my self from the 3 rides (we picked up another rider along the way, Todd, who ironically has done IM Wis twice and lives 4 blocks from me!!! )The slow up slopes seemed relatively easy for me. As I made my way to mile 100 and thought to myself. "100 miles, I could do 12 more!!!"
When I pulled into the parking lot and got off my bike, I hit my bike computer and it said my average speed was 20.6 and I had rode for 4:53!! My heart rate never got above 144 and for the most part was in the low 130s. Very pleased indeed!!!
It's coming along!!! Thanks again for checking out my blog!!

V