Offseason Update...

Last year I would have been in my beginning my 4th week of training at this time.  In the years prior to that I would be in my 3rd month of training.  This year I'm still wrapping up my offseason although I have begun to train a bit.  I have basically just been biking.  My lower back has been sore for about a week since I overdid a jump rope workout trying to conquer the double unders that Jen now does 50 of effortlessly since she took up Cross-Fit.  I have gotten over 5 hours of riding in over the last 6 days.  That is total :)  I have begun eating much more healthy because I know come Feb. 10th, the day after our last basketball game my body is in for quite a wake up call.  I'm actually quite excited about giving myself such a long chance to rest.  I feel strong on the bike although I am overweight.  My brother's annual weight loss challenge couldn't have come at a better time.  I began the challenge weighing in at 180.6 lbs.  After the first week I was down to 176 and this past week I was at 171.  The weight should come off fast when I start really training.  I've been thinking about a race schedule.  I know I want my peak race this year to be early September at the Rev 3 full Ironman distance in Sandusky, Ohio.  I loved the event last year.  The Rev 3 crew is amazing and they have my full support.  I'm really looking forward to getting back into the weight room and regaining my strength that has been lost this offseason.  I'm also starting to even look forward to swimming.  I haven't even sniffed chlorine water since before my Ironman back in November.  Our team has had a couple injuries and tonight I had to play with the girls when we scrimmaged just to give us 5 on 5.  I was calling for an oxygen tank 4 minutes into the scrimmage.  When I got home I got on the bike for an hour.  We have 12 games left in our last 3 weeks so the season will fly by from here and then I'll be back to the grind of training 20-25 hours a week within a few weeks.  I am really excited about it.  Most triathletes are well on their way already and I'm realizing I want to be my best in September so this forced down time is probably the best thing I could do for myself right now.  I hope you are setting high goals for the new year...maybe you're thinking about your first triathlon.  Give it a shot.  It's a great way to keep you motivated on fitness goals.  Thanks for reading.  DREAM BIG!

IM AZ Offseason Update

It's been a long time since I've posted.  After getting home from Arizona I let it slip and I focused my attention to my coaching position and didn't even want to think about training or triathlons so I haven't updated since the race.  I've had a lot of people asking me about what the future holds and since we have a snow day today I figured it was a great time to update. 
The race in Arizona was very tough.  I knew the training going in hadn't been ideal but tried to stay positive and hope for the best.  I had been dealing with some nagging injuries and overall fatigue that caused me to train much less for this race than for last year's.  Jen and I flew in on Thursday night and met good friends Adam and Flannery in Arizona.  We enjoyed spending time with them leading up to the race. 
SWIM: I was very pleased with how the swim went.  I had not put in the yardage that I had early in the year or the amount I did before last year's race.  From the sound of the cannon I was swimming with people which sometimes has been difficult for me in the pro race.  Nearly the entire swim I was either on someone's feet or had someone on my feet.  I felt very comfortable and felt I was having a great swim throughout.  I kept thinking I was going to be under 1 hour until I got out of the water and saw 1 hr. 3 minutes on the clock.  I was okay with this.  It was the same time I swam a year ago and I didn't feel nearly as prepared.  I had a nice fall right after climbing the stairs upon my exit of Tempe Town Lake.  Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman made sure to point out to spectators that I had just wiped out when I went to step down on dry land. 
BIKE:  This is where my lack of training caught up to me.  I was hoping for a good ride despite much less bike volume but it was clear early on I did not have the power I was hoping for.  I had perfect opportunities with 3 great riders out of the water behind me.  When each of them went by me I would up the effort to try to stay 10 meters back of them but with each one I was able to hang on for less and less time.  I was cooking myself way to early on the 3 lap course.  At one point I was riding back and forth with women's world champion Leanda Cave and I kept telling myself that she would break 9 hours so I was in a good spot.  As it turned out she was having a rough day and I was leave her on the 2nd lap and ride solo for much of the remaining bike course.  By the 3rd lap I was in a world of hurt and my speed had gone down considerably.  I knew it was going to be a very painful day. 
RUN: I had nothing early on in the run.  I was struggling to run 7 minute miles and knew this was going to be a suffer fest.  I doubted at times if I was going to finish the race.  I began walking through aid stations by mile 6 and by mile 10 I was walking even more than the aid stations.  My goal was to finish at this point but it seemed like forever away.  It's a daunting feeling to know you have to run a marathon when things are going poorly from the first mile.  I had a lot of trouble getting my knees up on my run and my stride was shorter than a 90 year old lady walking into Wal-Mart.  It felt like an eternity but finally I could see the finish line and I was thrilled to cross it.  I have finished 4 Ironman distance races now.  2 have gone really well and 2 really poorly.  I have learned the bad days are 100x more difficult than the good ones.  I was really glad I could finish this race.  It was an enjoyable trip minus the last 5 hours of the race.  Jen and I had a great time with Adam and Flannery.  Adam finished in just over 9 hours so we will continue our quest to break the 9 hour barrier next year. 

About 6 weeks before this race I was approached by our head varsity girls basketball coach about coaching our 9th grade girls team.  I was really excited about the chance to get back into coaching.  I knew the way my 2012 season went I would want to train less early in the year because I felt like I was in my best shape in April with no big races for a few more months.  The coaching position seemed to make sense to me if they could work through the first 2 weeks with me while I finished up my triathlon season.  They agreed and I've had a lot of fun coaching our freshman girls team.  It has been a struggle to get them to bring intensity and hard work every day to practice and games.  That has been my biggest challenge.  When I decide to do something I tend to do it with 100% effort whether it's teaching, coaching, triathlons, being a father, husband, or playing "Go Fish" with our kids.  I may be the only 9th grade girls coach around that goes and scouts other teams and watches film for hours.  I do it because I want to feel prepared to the best of my abilities.  Coaching this team has filled my competitive void while I've been on a break from training and racing.  I have rarely even thought about the upcoming year.  It's been a great break mentally and physically.  I'm not sure why but I have not gained nearly as much weight as I normally do in my offseason.  I'm still fitting into my "in season" jeans which has never happened within 2 weeks of my season being over.  I weighed myself for the first time since the season ended a couple days ago and I had only gained 6 pounds.  My plan is to start running and biking after January 1st.  I will wait to begin swimming until basketball is over in early February.  My excitement for 2013 is beginning to grow.  I don't have a 100% race schedule yet but I know for certain I will race Rev3 Cedar Point for my peak race of the year.  That company puts athletes first and I loved my first Rev3 experiece.  That race will be in early September.  I also know I don't want to begin training really hard until the end of February.  I want to peak at the right time this year and go into my biggest races feeling my best rather than feeling like I'm holding on by a thread.  I'd like to thank all the supporters and followers for keeping me motivated through the ups and downs of 2012 that had 4 race wins.  Healthy Habits has been amazing at keeping my bike needs met.  I really enjoyed my first year on the Specialized Shiv.  Kaminski Pain and Performance Care has been there for me since the beginning of this journey and has kept me healthy for the past 2 years.  I have not missed a workout or race due to an serious injury.  Mike Eskridge is a massage therapist who has really helped keep me feeling fresh going into races when I begin to feel overtrained.  GU Energy has been amazing at keeping me fueled for workouts and races.  Xterra Wetsuits has always been my choice of wetsuit companies because they keep wetsuits affordable for people who want to give this healthy sport a try.  My wife Jen has put up with my crazy training schedule while I attempt to balance all of life's demands with 100% effort.  I'm so grateful to have her as a life partner. 

 

Since my race nearly 5 weeks ago I've done sit-ups once, jumped rope twice, and done defensive slides with our team once.  The lane slides made me really sore the next day.  That has been the extent of my workouts over the past 5 weeks.  My body feels really good.  For the first time in nearly a year and a half I don't have any tightness in my left hamstring and nothing else hurts.  I told Jen I feel like I have more bounce in my step and spring in my legs than I have in a long time.  Soon I'll be back on the bike dreaming of big things in 2013.  If you've never done a triathlon before think about making one a goal in 2013.  The lifestyle approach to training is such a positive one.  This journey has been great and it's not finished yet.  I still have goals I want to accomplish in the sport before I relax back into age group racing.  Thanks for reading.  Have a GREAT holiday season and DREAM BIG in 2013. 

IMAZ Race Week...Goals for Sunday

It's finally race week for Ironman Arizona.  It seems like forever since I last raced 10 weeks ago at Rev3 in Ohio.  After a week off I began a very strong training plan that faded after about 4 weeks.  Life got busier than I expected and the training plan began to fall apart.  Last year I took great confidence with me to Arizona knowing the training had gone 100% the way I drew it up.  This year has been much different but I'm still going into the race with cautious optimism.  I feel strong and I feel rested.  My only worries are some nagging injuries that have slowed my training.  They have never caused me to stop a workout but they did cause me to be much more cautious with my running volume and intensity levels.  I have only run about 25 miles/week the past 3 weeks.  This is much less than the 60 miles/week I was running last year in my Arizona prep.  I know the course having raced it a year ago so I know what to expect.  The weather is still on track to be very nice with cool temps early in the day with very light winds.  The winds may be greater once we get out in the dessert than they are in Tempe where I checked the weather.  Last year the first two loops of 3 on the bike were very calm but the wind really kicked up on the last loop and I found out how tough that could make the ride.  I'm hoping the wind stays calm because I'm really racing against the clock at this year's event hoping to break 9 hours.  That is certainly my # 1 goal.  To do that I have set out some other goals for the race.  Last year I finished 32nd in the guys pro field of 54 that started the race and my finish time was 9 hrs. 5 minutes.  I REALLY crumbled the last 10k of the run which I entered under 9 hr. pace. 
SWIM: Last year I swam 1 hr. 2 minutes.  This year I have swam much less over the past 10 weeks compared to what I was swimming a year ago.  For my swim goal I would like to be 1 hr. 4 minutes or less.  My swim times in training have been surprisingly good for my standards as of late so I'm optimistic that I may be able to go under 1 hr. 4 minutes but I realize an Ironman swim is a long one and my lack of yardage may hurt me in the 2nd half of the swim.  However, based on times I would not be shocked to swim faster than a year ago.  Last year I swam too easy early on.  I was on my own from the beginning and it made for a long solo swim.  After the race I wished that I had gone harder early in the swim to take advantage of drafting anyone for a longer period of time.  This year I will swim harder early on and when I get dropped I will relax and try to recover a bit before getting into a nice rhythm.  The females now start 5 minutes after us and I'd like to be past the 1/2 way point before the first females go by me.  If I can stay in the draft longer I think that is possible. 
BIKE: Last year I surprised myself with a 4 hr. 46 minute bike split.  My goal for the race was 4 hrs. 55 minutes.  I split each loop of the 3 loop course and I knew I was way under pace through the first two loops and I gained a lot of confidence from that fact.  I have only ridden over 90 miles at a time once since Rev3 Ohio and I've only been outside on my bike about 6 times.  The rest of the miles have been logged on the trainer.  Knowing that I'm a bit worried that I may not be able to equal my bike split from a year ago.  My bike goal this year is 4 hrs. 50 minutes.  My interval workouts on the trainer as of late have indicated an increase in my power over a month ago so I'm optimistically hoping to be faster than my stated goal time.  I put down 4 hrs. 50 minutes hoping that I can be under that pace through each lap which will give me confidence once again this year.  It's a mental game really.  It's tougher to keep pushing when you realize the goal is not going to be met.  I do plan to ride really hard.  I've never had a race when I thought my running suffered due to my bike effort and I've had plenty where I've biked extremely hard. 
RUN:  Last year I entered the run needing to go 3 hrs. 4 minutes to break 9 hours.  It was something I thought was very reasonable.  I started out too fast.  I felt great and let my adrenaline take over and I went through 10 miles in 1 hr. 2 minutes which included a stop at the porta-potty.  I was running nearly 6 minute pace through the first 10 miles but I fell apart badly shortly after that and it made for an extremely painful last half marathon including a final 10k run at over 9 minute pace without any walking in it.  At mile 20 I was still under 9 hour pace but I had nothing left.  I ended up running 3 hrs. 10 minutes.  This year if I swim 1 hr. 4 minutes and bike 4 hrs. 50 minutes I will need to break 3 hours for the marathon when you factor in 6 minutes for transition.  I know I am a good enough runner to break 3 hours but the nutrition plan would have to go flawlessly.  I know if I get off the bike needing to run 3 hours I at least have a shot of breaking 9 hours.  With that said I would feel much better about my chances if I could build in a 5 minute cushion or more between the swim and bike.  I have learned that I need to treat the opening miles of the marathon as a training run.  I can recover and run 7 minute mile pace at the same time.  It happened in Ohio when I got off the bike compeltely fried after missing my special needs bike bag and losing out on 1200 calories.  My plan is to take a GU at every mile along with coke and water.  I have GU Roctane drink in my special needs bag for the 1/2 way point.  I really need to get to the 1/2 way point on pace without feeling like I'm hitting the wall at that point.  If all goes to plan I hope to finish under 9 hours. 
My other goal for the race is to place in the top 25 overall.  There are 45 guys on the pro start list and some of those won't show up.  Despite what the time is for the race this goal will hopefully keep me focused if I do slip off the pace.  I would feel good about finishing in the top 25 after being 39th last year.  I don't know if they are televising the race through the internet or not but they should have live results at various points in the race at www.ironman.com if you want to check in on my progress throughout the day.  I'm sure they will at a minimum have the finish line video going and I hope to finish around 3:45 Arizona time which would be 4:45 central time.  The race starts for pro guys at 6:45 am in Arizona which is 7:45 in the central time zone.  I am super excited about competing and chasing these goals.  Thanks for reading!  DREAM BIG!!

Life...plus Ironman Training

Last year in training for Ironman Arizona I had 7 straight weeks of solid training.  I hit every weekly goal I set out to hit.  The training plan went flawless and I had my Ironman PR of 9 hr. 5 minutes.  This year has been much different.  I have only hit all my weekly goals once in my lead up to Ironman Arizona.  My volume of training has been much less.  What has been different?  I'm extremely motivated to try to break 9 hours this year.  For some reason this year I have been much more tired.  I lay in bed with Owen to get him asleep and I fall asleep myself.  A year ago I would have woke up and gotten my butt on the bike.  This year I head to bed.  Last year I had so much energy I would get up before school and ride the bike some more.  This year I've only ridden twice before school.  I just can't seem to find the energy to get myself up.  Last year I avoided all junk food for 7 weeks before the race...this year has been much different.  Between getting sick myself, Owen's broken foot, parent/teacher conferences, kids activities, a busy teaching schedule...I just haven't trained as much as last year.  I have had 3 nagging injuries that aren't serious but have me cutting back the running mileage to half of what I was putting in a year ago.  I have swam less than last year.  Life is busy and I'd say I'm in the transition of finding out if I can still compete at a high level despite not training as much as I used to.  I believe I can.  I believe despite the lower amount of overall training I can still break 9 hours.  I used to correlate my fitness with how much training I was doing.  I can't do that now or I'd have no confidence.  Now I'm drawing on what I've learned about rest and recovery through my own experiences and those of others.  I have a student in my class who is a great young triathlete and a year-round club swimmer.  He has been on a training break recently and has only been swimming 3 days a week for the past 8 weeks.  In his first swim meet on much less training than he has done in the past he swam lifetime bests in 5 of his 6 events!  The power of rest...I watched Ironman Florida this past weekend and saw Andrew Starykowicz win the race and set a world best Ironman bike split of 4 hrs. 4 minutes after missing 5 months of training following his accident in Abu Dhabi.  The power of rest...I raced a full-Ironman distance at Rev 3 in Ohio 8 weeks ago on very little training and had a very solid race despite feeling like I shouldn't be racing Ironman...the power of rest.  Although I'm about 4 lbs. more than I was for Ironman Arizona last year I believe I'm stronger than ever.  The weights on my leg lifts have been moved to levels I've never lifted before.  My bike interval focus the past two weeks have me feeling stronger on the bike.  My swimming is where I'm getting my biggest surprise.  On almost 1/2 the yards of a year ago in this IMAZ lead in I'm swimming times at or better than I was.  I am confident I will not lose any time on the swim over a year ago.  My long runs have gotten better each time and now I'm being very careful not to overdo it and let these small injuries become big ones.  Mostly, I'm anxious to compete.  I love the feeling of being in a competition.  I know it's time to toe the line and find out what I can do.  I've missed the feeling of competition since my race in Ohio.  I realized that when I was accusing Payton of cheating in a game of "Go Fish" recently.  I'm anxious to board the plane in 9 days and see if I can push myself to a sub-9 hour finish.  I can't wait!  DREAM BIG!!

Week 5 IMAZ Training Summary

Week 5 started out looking like another big week of volume but on Thursday I started to come down with a sickness and I was not feeling like I had much energy so I backed off Thursday through Saturday so I could be well rested for my last really long run leading up to Ironman Arizona.  I was able to get in 20 miles running on Sunday morning and it felt really great except for tightness lingering in my left hamstring.  I had a massage from Mike Eskridge and ART from Dr. Lake at Kaminski Pain and Performance Care to help relieve the tightness in my hamstring.  I averaged 6:51/mile for the 20 miles which was a good sign.  I rarely wear the GPS for my long runs but have done so on my last 3 of them.  I went from a 7:10 average for 17 miles a month ago to a 6:55 average for 18 miles two weeks ago to 6:51 for 20 miles this past weekend.  I was most happy that my average pace was still dropping in the last 1/2 of my run where a month ago I was gaining time on the ladder half of the long run.  With this hamstring lingering and my right arch still swollen and a bit sore I am making a decision to cut my running mileage down now so I can focus on being a bit fresher for my hard bike workouts.  I know my running is pretty good right now and I'll still keep my average run/day high in the coming weeks but I will probably start running 5 days a week instead of all 7.  This past week I hit 54 miles running on just 5 days.  I biked 175 miles on 5 days of riding and I swam 13,000 yards after planning to swim 16,000 yards.  I want to make sure I get to this race healthy and that means cutting back the running mileage.  I'm far ahead of where I was in terms of my running compared to Rev 3 when I was only running 30-35 miles/week and managed to run 3 hrs. 12 minutes for the marathon.  I'd like to run 3:05 or faster in Arizona with a big goal of running sub-3.  I have learned that I need to take in more nutrition on the run.  In my past Ironman races I've taken in coke and water at the aid stations on the run but mostly skipped other calories until I started to fall apart which is too late.  I plan to make sure I'm taking in a GU at every aid station on the run.  To make sure I can do this without having a stomach that is sick of GU by the run I will stick with GU chomps on the bike ride and save the GU gel until the run.  In addition to Chomps I also have my special GU Ironman brew that has about 850 calories in the bottle.  I start the bike ride with one of those bottles and if special needs is in order I will take on another bottle of this mix at that point.  I will also have 20 ounces of coke at special needs on the bike that I will take in.  For my long run this weekend I looped past my car a few times and took in more nutrition than I have in my past long runs and I think that is why I still felt as strong when I finished the run as when I began it.  I did have to stop and stretch my tight left hamstring twice during the run.  I'm hoping to not have to do that in the race but if I must it is a quick fix.  Just 1 minute of stretching and I could feel a big change in my stride rhythm.  My hope is that by backing off my running mileage now and working in some regular ART and ice baths I can have it good enough that it won't be an issue come 4 weeks when it's time to race.  My focus the next couple weeks is to get some good quality bike interval workouts so I know my power numbers are high like they were going into Rev 3.  Over half of the race is spent on the bike and I need that to be a strength of mine.  I saw the first start list published last week and there were about 50 pro guys listed which is considerably less than were on the list a year ago.  They could still add in some guys who raced in Kona but I'm guessing the field will be smaller.  Last year there were 90 guys on the start list and 54 actually started.  If the number hangs around 50 I would guess 30-35 will actually be there.  I was super excited to see my bib # is 1 different than my good friend Adam Bohach so we will be set up right next to each other in transition.  That will give me some additional comfort come race morning knowing I'm right next to the guy I've spent more time training with than anyone else over the past year and a half.  4 weeks to go...Thanks for reading!!  DREAM BIG!!

IMAZ Week 4 Training Summary

My 4th week of training for IM AZ was my best week in months.  My total training time this week was 25.5 hrs. which was my highest since early July.  For the week I ran 60 miles, biked 200 miles, and swam 15,200 yards.  I also lifted weights, did lunges, jump rope, push-ups, pull-ups, speed drills, and strides all three times, plyometrics twice, and core work 13 times.  One of my big goals for this race was to get leaner.  At Rev3 in Ohio I was heavy carrying a lot of unwanted weight on my stomach.  Before I started week 1 I weighed in at 166 lbs.  By the weeks I have gone 164, 161, 159 and 158 where I am currently.  The weight has not come off as quickly as I thought it would but I can tell I'm gaining muscle so that will make it difficult to lose weight.  I'm definitely more lean than I was.  I'm fitting into shorts I couldn't fit into 4 weeks ago.  I'm wearing belts for shorts that I didn't need them for just a month ago.  I'm excited about the progress I'm making in this area.  I'm trying to make sure I don't lose muscle like I did in April when I got my weight down into the 140's.  Yesterday I bumped up my leg lifts to the highest weight I've ever done on them.  I'm getting more excited for Ironman Arizona every day.  I'm not ready to break 9 hours quite yet but I believe I'm on schedule to do so Nov. 18th if we get decent weather.  After running 76 miles over a 7 day stretch from last Sunday through this past Saturday I noticed I had some swelling and a little pain in the arch of my right foot so that is something I'll keep a close eye on.  If I have to cut back my running mileage a bit it won't frustrate me.  By having my legs more rested I'll be able to have better bike interval workouts.  Right now my legs are feeling the effects of the high running mileage and I'm not putting out the power I'd like to on my bike intervals.  I am feeling much faster in the pool than I was a month ago when I felt like a barge making little progress.  One of my favorite test sets is to do repeat 200's.  When I was swimming 20,000 yards a week in the summer I would do 10 of them on 3:00 and typically average 2:43 for each one.  My best ever average is 2:41 when doing them on 3:00.  Last week I did 8 of them on 3:10 and averaged 2:47.  This week I did 10 of them on 3:10 and averaged 2:43.  That was the morning after a 5.5 hour workout day so I was expecting to be a little tired.  I was very excited about the progress.  This week I'll do 10 of them again but on the 3:05 to see how that affects my average time.  I'm hoping to average the same on slightly less rest.  I'm sticking with my swim plan of adding 1,000 yards each week until the week before the race when I will cut back the yardage. 
Saturday was the Walk for Wishes 5k run and 1 mile walk to raise money for the Make a Wish foundation.  Last year the Walk for Wishes only had 40 people register.  This year was over 200!  Despite terrible weather with pouring rain they raised over $8,000 for this great cause.  My biggest area of concern right now is my lack of outdoor bike rides.  I was able to get 16 miles outdoors yesterday (my first outdoor ride in 16 days) before it got dark.  I typically do my running, swimming, and lifting after school and save my biking for after the kids are sleeping when I go on the trainer.  I don't ride that much in the aero position while riding on the trainer and that has me a little worried about how my back will feel riding almost the entire course in Arizona from the aero position.  I'm hoping the weather will finally cooperate this weekend so I can get out for a long ride.  This week should be another big one in terms of volume.  Thanks for reading.  DREAM BIG!!

IMAZ Week 3 Training Summary

3 weeks into training for Ironman Arizona with 6 remaining.  Coming off a big weekend of training I felt really sluggish on Monday.  I continue to have some deep hamstring tightness but I also had some really deep quad soreness to add to the mix.  I headed out Tuesday to run after a pretty big day on Monday and I had to decide quickly what to do.  I felt like I had been trying to push myself through this dead leg feeling for a week or so.  I had experienced little rhythm at all in my running.  Running typically feels effortless at a base mileage pace when I'm in good shape and recovering well.  It normally takes me 10 days of consistent training to get to the feeling where running is easy.  I was on day 16 of training and felt terrible.  Even an easy run pace felt difficult.  I stopped my run about 1 minute in and decided I would take 3 days off of running.  I took Tuesday completely off, just biked for 90 minutes on Wednesday and then Thursday biked for 90 minutes easy to go along with a 90 minute swim workout.  When I resumed running on Friday I felt very good.  The deep soreness had disappeared.  Now I finally feel like I'm recovering well.  Sunday I ran 18 miles which was my longest training run in over a year.  I felt pretty good but the best sign of my fitness and that my legs were back was how I felt on Monday.  I ran 12 miles on Monday after the long run Sunday and my legs felt 100%.  It's a good sign that I'm finally able to put in high volume and recover quickly from it.  I feel like things are starting to click.  For week 3 my run mileage was down a lot at only 34 miles but I still biked 210 miles and swam 14,000 yards which was my highest swim yardage in 3 months.  I am starting to feel fit in the water again.  I had some good hard sets...not where I was when I was swimming 20,000 yards/week but not too far off that.  I plan to add about 1,000 yards each week to my swimming total until the week before the race when I will cut my yards in half.  I have stayed away from the high intensity workouts since my legs were not recovering but now that they feel good even after high volume I'm ready to start adding back the intensity.  I've been working hard in the weight room staying in there about 3 days every week.  I'm also back to doing plyometrics which I think have helped me develop power in my legs to put out high watts.  The biggest benefit to plyometrics I've noticed over the last few years is how they help me to run off the bike.  When I'm doing plyometrics regularly I can get off the bike and run well without any real period of distress.  When I'm not doing plyometrics in training my legs feel like most people would expect coming off the bike to run.  I rarely ever do brick runs.  I've found  the plyometrics get my legs ready to run off the bike.  I've done more brick running in races this year than I have in workouts.  My plan right now is for the next 4 weeks to be high volume.  I have been doing almost all of my riding indoors on the Cycleops Powerbeam Pro trainer.  That trainer has been so valuable to me.  It allows me to program in the desired wattage which is just as important in my recovery riding as it is my hard workouts.  On the recovery days I set a limit to how high I will allow my watts to get regardless of how good I feel.  I know the goal is to recover so I make sure the wattage stays at a recovery effort.  On the hard days I am able to program in the high wattages to make sure I'm pushing my lactate threshold levels.  This upcoming weekend is the Make a Wish Foundation Walk for Wishes.  It is a 5k run or a 1 mile walk.  It is a big fundraiser for the Make-a-Wish foundation of Iowa.  It would be great to see you there.  The link for sign-up is here.  Thanks for reading!  DREAM BIG!