Sponsor News and Super Mom

Week 13 was a great one for me. My confidence continues to grow by the week. For the week I ran 55 miles, biked 200, and swam 17,100 yards. I also did all the regular sessions of weight lifting, jump rope, plyometrics, speed drills, strides, push-ups, and core work. My total training time was right at 25 hours. I weighed in this morning at 147.4 lbs. This is 4 lbs. lighter than the lowest I saw on the scale all of last year and I have to go all the way back to 1998 for the last time I saw a number that low. I continue to feel amazingly strong, especially on the bike. I have a new bike coming...I won't say what it is until it is finished being built which may be this week. I got the feeling this past week that my old Orbea was trying to tell me not to get rid of her. I am tremendously excited about where my cycling fitness currently is at. I race in 4 weeks and I can't wait! I love the off-season. If you take advantage of the weeks you really have a chance to transform the body without worrying about being rested for races. That's exactly what I have done over the past 13 weeks.
I have some really exciting news to pass along from a couple of my sponsors. GU Energy is back as the OFFICIAL NUTRITION SPONSOR OF IRONMAN!!!! This couldn't make me more excited. I've always known that it's important to train with the products you will be racing with. At Ironman 70.3 and full Ironman I have always had to pack large quantities of GU for the race. No more! All my favorite flavors of GU, Roctane, Chomps, and the new Roctane drink will be available at the aid stations of nearly every 70.3 and full Ironman. Last year in Ironman Arizona when I was beginning to really suffer in the last 10 miles of the run I was out of GU and forced to take a Powerbar Gel at an aid station. I nearly puked it back up. It was super runny and totally nothing like the GU I'm used to. Now, I know Powerbar makes good products so I'm not trying to sound like their nutrition is bad. My problem is that it was something I wasn't used to. I will not have that problem any more. You can read the details of the GU/Ironman partner ship by clicking here and you can also check out the promotions GU has right now.

In other exciting news from sponsors Xterra Wetsuits sent me a note this past week telling me they were increasing the discount available to customers who use my pro discount code of SA-JPAUL. After the holidays the discount dropped to 55% off but they have just increased it to 60% off. If you are looking for a wetsuit this year without mortgaging the house check out Xterra Wetsuits at www.xterrawetsuits.com and use discount code SA-JPAUL to save 60% off nearly every suit they have available. They are also running a promotion right now for free shipping on any wetsuit purchase. What draws me to Xterra is how customer friendly they are. They are the ONLY company out there that encourages you to swim in your suit to guarantee the correct fit. They will refund you 100% of the purchase price or swap for a different size at no charge AFTER you have swam in it. I researched over 15 other wetsuit companies and no one else even compares. The correct fit in a wetsuit is so important to getting the most out of it I don't know how you could take a chance on buying one without knowing you will get to swim in it risk-free.

This past weekend Supermom and I went to Chicago for the Shamrock Shuffle. We were fortunate that our good friends Zeb and Jasmine Gilliam had a place for us to stay. Staying at their place has been good luck for us in the past when I've raced in the Chicago Triathlon. We had a nice dinner where I managed to eat my entire calzone which put me well over my 3,000 calorie restriction on Saturday. Jen made it a priority to find some good competitive races this year. She wins nearly every local race she runs and most of them without anyone very close to her. She knows that her best races will come when she is pushed so she found this HUGE one in Chicago. About 40,000 runners toed the line on Sunday. What made it ultra competitive is that they had a large prize purse for elite club teams. This brought anywhere from 3-6 very fast ladies for each club. Jen tried to join the Iowa elite club (Runablaze) last year but they would not let her wear a Live Uncommon logo on their jersey so she passed up on the chance to join them (and the cool perks that come with being on the team) so that she could work to further the cause of Live Uncommon. Yesterday Jen ran the 8k in 28:32 and finished 13th place among all the female runners. She was awesome. I ran it with her as my weekly tempo. She ran extremely smart knowing the fast runners would pull the pack out fast. Jen's mile splits were 5:52, 5:43, 5:35, 5:40, and 5:42. After the mile mark we did not get passed by anyone. Jen passed 8 girls in mile 2, 6 in mile 3, and about 5 more the rest of the way in to the finish line. I was really excited for her. She continues to amaze me by what she's able to accomplish in running despite being busy with a demanding full-time job, being an awesome mother to two wonderful children, and putting up with me! I'm already looking forward to her next big race althoug we don't know where that should be. If anyone out there has any big race suggestions go ahead an post them here. She is looking for options including about every distance except for a marathon which she swears she will never do again.

Jen and I teamed up for the Live Uncommon race team this year. We did not do this because we were looking to do 7 more local races. I do enough triathlons and she already had enough races in the past. We teamed up because everyone on the race team has pledged to raise money for the charities the races on the series give back to. Jen and I pledged to raise $1,500.00 for these worthy causes. We are thrilled with the generosity we have seen so far. Special thanks to the following individuals for contributing to this cause: Phil Pancrazio, Jon and Aleta McGee, Tony Singh and Merrill Lynch, Michelle and Dave Juehring, Lisa Long, Jason and Amy Smith, Kelan and Jayme Moylan, Shanna Smith, Bill and Dierdra Moylan, Barb and Darrell Paul, Amber and Shaun Wishnevski, Edward Allen, Laurie and Scott Scafidi, and the 3 anonymous donors! If you would like to contribute a tax-deductible donation we will be thrilled with any amount you can give. We are over 1/2 way to our goal! You can click here to make a donation on our page or just to check out what charities we are trying to raise money for. If you would prefer to mail a check rather than donate online let me know and I would be happy to send you the address.

Things are going so well right now I decided to do my first pro race of the year one month sooner than I had planned. I will be going to Kansas 70.3 on June 10 and racing there. I'm at a point right now where I can hardly believe how good I'm feeling...I have this feeling that the only thing that could slow me down right now is an injury so I'm trying not to do anything dumb. I'm getting my body fat % tested again on Thursday. I plan to increase my calories from 3,000/day to 3,300 next week. I have had a couple days when I ate over 4,000 and I feel like Superman in the next day's workouts. Thanks for reading! DREAM BIG!!