Vineman

So, my shot at redemtion is just a few days away. I have been a mentor for this year's Ironteam with Team in Training. This is their A race. I had been planning to go up and cheer the team on. Now I will be racing with them. Coach Paul first mentioned this possibility in the airport the day after IM Coeur d'Alene. I dismissed the idea at first, but then it grew on me. I am already trained, I was traveling up there anyway, it made sense. And it's close enough for my brother Mike to come cheer me on :)

The course is open for 16 hours. CDA was open for 17, and last year I finished in 16:40. So besides NOT DNFing again, I have to take 40 minutes off my time. This is good ... I like a challenge. How will I do it?

• I should be able to take 10 - 15 minutes off my swim time. The water will be warm and calm, and the river is not very wide. I can't get too far off course!
• The bike is flatter than CDA and wind is rarely a factor. I plan to carry all nutrition with me so I don't have to stop and dig through a Special needs bag. And I WILL NOT have any stomach troubles. I should be able to take 20 - 30 minutes off my bike time.
• I am hoping to take 30 minutes off of my run time. I have been doing a 6 min run/1 min walk in training. This way I should be able to run more than I did last year.

Best case scenario, I finish in 15:25. And I do have some wiggle room should anything go wrong. To make it to the finish line I need to stay in the moment and focused on the task at hand. And so I will.