Eagleman Here I Come

Will be leaving tomorrow for Maryland, where I will do the Eagleman 70.3 Sunday. No goals for a change (or at least none that I will share with anyone:)). My plan is to just have fun, and try my hardest and suffer as much as possible. Yes, suffer as much as possible. That's my coach's (Tim Waggoner, www.joghard.blogspot.com) instruction. And, he's right. During a tough training session, like the brick workout I did a couple of weeks ago where I did almost 2 hours on the bike and then did 8 miles at close to the pace I'd love to be at for Eagleman. It was hard, but I knew what I had to do, and I did it. My challenge is maintaining that focus through the run part of a half ironman. So, if there's one thing I will work on visualizing in the next couple of days, that's it!

Here's my race strategy/plan. I will definitely go out at the front of the swim, and then try to find the right feet to draft off of. Tim had a great comment, 'if I'm not sure if I'm going hard enough while drafting, then I'm probably going hard enough'. I can definitely keep a solid effort up for the entire swim, really focusing on keeping good form. I don't want to slack off, nor do I want to try to race the swim. If I relax and keep a good effort and draft, I'll definitely have a good swim.

I will also be very cognizant of my effort going into the first transition. No need to spike my heart rate at that point, it will take that much longer to get it down at the onset of the bike. So, I need to be more relaxed running to T1.

The bike has declared itself for me. I can use perceived effort, wattage and heart rate together to figure out my game plan. I will definitely start out between 160 and 170 watts, no more, no less. My heart rate should be between 140 and 145, in fact I will stay below 150 during the race at all costs. My legs should never burn. Those are the three things I will monitor throughout the bike. If the humidity affects my heart rate, but I feel good and my wattage is where it should be, I'll go with the flow. If my wattage is higher than expected due to finally being able to actually peak for a race, and my heart rate stays where it should be, then wonderful. If I have any electronic issues (which seems to happen often for me), I can just go with how I feel. No worries:). I will not push too hard at the end of the bike (see previous blog). I will also get in my 6 gels and 50-60 ounces of fluid.

The run will be my defining moment. I know what I have to do. It won't feel easy, and it won't be easy. But, I know that I am capable. When I feel tired, I'll acknowledge that I feel tired, when I feel like I can't push harder or faster, I'll recognize that my brain is just doing it's job, but that I can override it as if I was doing a hard training workout. If I feel a side stitch coming on, I'll back off just a little until it goes away and then push forward again. If someone passes me quickly, I won't try to catch them all at once, I'll open up the throttle slightly and see if I can reel them in. It's going to be warm and humid, but I like humidity. It will fatigue me, but I'm used to fatigue. Mentally, I need to realize that these are just feelings, my legs can still go fast. Tim tells me that when I finally demonstrate the ability to do this, it will come "easier" in future races. I will definitely keep coming back to last weeks race and remember how I felt and how I was able to perservere.

I will race hard and give it my best. That's all one can ask for:)