Friday

John is often called John Heat!

Good morning! John H is just hours away from his Ironman event. It's going to be a very hot one, just like it has been in the past. The challenge this summer is not having much weather that is similar to prepare for the conditions. John is smart, well-trained, and disciplined. He will be an Ironman come Sunday night. I plan to be there when it happens!

John and I have been through some good times together. We qualified for Boston together at Monumental in 2010. Then we suffered through Boston in 2012 in the record heat. This year, hopefully, we both become Ironmen, joining many of our good training partners.

Yesterday was hot and humid, but I had a good day of training. I had a breakfast meeting and was then supposed to meet Roy and Jim at church to ride. Jim texted to say his appointment was later than he thought, so Roy and I would ride for a while and come back to church to get him. Roy decided to ride from Bedford, which was fine.

I was ready to roll at 9. Roy got a little delayed, so we didn't roll from church until 9:15. Jim got further delayed and finally called to say he would meet us in Orleans at Huck's at 11:15. Roy and I rode around for a while longer and came back to meet Jim. We then headed out 337. When Roy reached Bromer, he decided to head back, noting he would have around 75 miles, which was plenty for him.

Jim and I continued to Livonia, stopping at the Little Twirl to get some bottled water. We then proceeded on 56 to West Washington School road, looping around for a while until we reached Livonia again. By this time it was hot with a headwind. I hit a pre-bonk state, but was able to gel my way out of it. Jimmy pulled me for a while, allowing a full recovery.

We parted ways on Pat's Plants' road, and I ended up back at church with 72+ miles. After a quick bite and change, I made my way out to Kenray Lake. Yes, there would be a swim after all! Jim was taking KJ fishing, which allowed me to swim. I got a mile in and was very happy to do so. I swam better than I had in a while.

Today is a rest day, anticipating a long run early in the morning.

Thursday

Cora ready to roll!

Good morning! Thursday! Summer finally arrived, and I wish it would have waited until John did Ironman Louisville. As he said, displaying a good attitude and approach, "I signed up for it, thinking it would be this way." He will do well. I plan to go down as soon as the preacher stops on Sunday. Short sermon? I should catch the end of the bike, T2, and the marathon.

Yesterday morning I got off to a good early start. I like to be finished around 8, and I was doing 8. It went pretty well. I did not work that hard Tuesday night on the 47 miler, which set me up for a better run. It was humid but cool enough. The run was nothing to write home about, but it goes in the log book. I realized, thanks to Strava, my running shoes now have more than 400 miles on them, so it's time for another pair of Mizuno Inspires. I think I have had more than a dozen pairs of them.

I plan to get 30 running miles this week. I will let my bike miles slide down to around 150, I think. It looks like no swimming this week. Jimmy, the gatekeeper to the lake, is going to Chicago for the big Olympic Tri, along with Steve B. He is not tapering for it, but I'm sure he will do well.

Today, for the second week in a row, I am going to take the day off. Jimmy and Roy will be my partners. Jimmy wants 70 miles, including several hard miles. I think I'm ready.

Wednesday

John & Jim ready to roll

Good morning!

Well, well, well...it didn't rain last night. It turned out to be one of better nights as far as weather is concerned. It wasn't too hot, and the wind was fairly helpful both ways, coming out of the southwest.

John is in taper, and last night was his last ride before Ironman Louisville. He needed to take it easy. We were all in the mood for that, so we quickly came to the consensus of only riding about 30 miles and doing nothing too hard. Rand, Troy, John, Jim and me were the riders this evening.

I did a pre-group ride of around 18 miles. I wanted extra miles, and I thought we could get rained out. I started about 4:30. I thought about starting earlier but just couldn't get everything under control before then. It worked out just fine.

We rolled to 337 in an easy pace. Then at 337 we lined up for a 20 mph ride to Bromer. Troy did most of the work out. There we turned and came back at about 20 mph. Troy, John, and Jimmy led the way back. We were all super careful. The last thing John needed was a crash.

After the ride we gathered at Wendy's, as usual. There, as out on the course, we talked a lot about Ironman. Rand and Jimmy were giving sage advice. John and I were soaking it in.

Today? A run of some length. It is very humid!

Tuesday

Maddie, Cora & Lester. Jenny Day is one of the Give Thanks 4 sponsors.

Good morning, Tuesday! You came to me a lot, I mean a lot, earlier than I wanted. I greeted you at 3 this morning, and seemingly you would not be denied attention. Every mind trick in my book would not allow me to ignore you, so now here I am starting the day with some tiredness. I will remember our early start throughout the day.

I don't have a whole lot to report today. I went on a 7 miler early yesterday morning. It was foggy/humid but not too bad. Today, and the weather could be a factor, I hope to get a 50 mile ride in. Tonight we will have our usual 36ish mile ride, so I hope to do some before the 5:45 roll out. I am not sure what everyone is going to want tonight.

Jimmy is talking about a hard bike workout on Thursday. I think he is planning on doing the Double TT Trouble segment back to back to back. Yes, 3 times. I plan to take Thursday off work to do that with him. If that happens, then I have to think pretty hard about working too hard tonight. We'll see. Again, the weather may be a factor.

John H is a few days out from Ironman Louisville. I am looking forward to going down Sunday afternoon to watch him finish. I am hoping for a cooler forecast than the one presently presented.

I hope you have a good day!

Monday

Strava training log

Good morning! Another new day, another new week, all gifts from God, as is every breath we breathe, when you think about it. It's great to be alive and enjoying it all. How's that for some positive thinking on a Monday? You're welcome! ha ha

OK, I had a great weekend of training, and that pushed me to my highest weekly total time since I began this Ironman quest. I don't know if I will hit 20 hours or not, but I hope to. I am getting closer. I am finding it an art to balance the days and fatigue from previous workouts. This last week I was able to manage them much better. I hope this is an indication of fitness.

For example, I swam a mile and then rode 30 on Thursday morning, but I felt tired on both of those. I was unsure how I would do on my long run on Friday. Here may be the biggest factor: I had a great night's sleep Thursday, getting lots of rest. Friday morning was cool, so things were aligned for me to do a 15 miler. That's what I did, and it went well.

Well, after running 15, my longest run of the year on Friday, I was wondering how I would ride on Saturday. I did not sleep super well or long on Friday, but I had a really good ride on Saturday. I rode 104 without any hints of bonking and evening getting all that tired. I had great riding partners for most of it, which makes it all go better. We worked together on the ride, occasionally pulling each other.

John started out with us but went back early because he is tapering. Roy, Rand, Jim, and I continued on to Campbellsburg, Fredricksburg, and then Palmyra. It was a nice course, except for the 5 miles each way on 150 from Fredricksburg to Palmyra. Some complained loudly about this! The cars were not friendly or smart, passing us several times with oncoming traffic present. After a brief lunch stop in Palmyra we returned with a bit of a push for a south wind.

Yesterday I went out to the lake. I only have time for about 2 miles on Sunday afternoon, unless I make special arrangements. I did the 2 miles, and it went ok. I thought I was slower than last week, but I was actually 2 minutes faster. It certainly is nothing to write home about it, but it is fast enough to get me off to a good start at Ironman Florida. That's my goal: get out of the Gulf and get on the bike!

This week will probably see me with less hours, which is OK. I am thinking of starting today with a 7 miler. We'll see how I feel. I hope your week is off to a great start!

Friday

I could probably do that. Good morning! It's Friday and another nice cool morning. What a summer so far.

I am supposed to take a day off during the week but rarely do. I used to try take Fridays but now I have regular counseling sessions. I am really considering Thursdays, which I did in part today. (I ended up going to the hospital in Bloomington to see someone this afternoon.) Thursdays are appealing because Jimmy is off.

Jimmy does not like to train alone, so matching up with him on Thursdays for some serious work has possibilities for the next few weeks. Today we made our first effort, and while it was not quite what imagined, it was good to get some work done together.

I had a 7 a.m. breakfast meeting in Bedford, so I ended up meeting Jimmy at the Farmer's Market at 446. Together we went to Kenray, getting in the water around 8:45. I did a mile, and he did 1.2. I am not swimming as well as I was, but I am still doing OK. I was in my wet suit today for the first time since May. It took me most of the mile to get used to it.

Originally we had planned to go to Orleans and do the Double TT Trouble course at least twice if not three times. Jim discovered he had an appointment earlier than he thought, so, long story short, we road up 446 and got 30 miles in. We were slow on the hills. Neither one of us had much more to give. I was glad for a somewhat easier ride. It will help me on this morning's run.

This morning I am looking for 13-15 miles. We'll see how I go. Tomorrow we ride another century. This will be my 8th 100 miler of the year, which will help push my yearly total way north of 3500 miles, which is more than all of last year. I wanted 4000 before Ironman. Looking good!

Thursday

Good morning! I do not like what I see in the extended forecast, specifically for John H's Ironman Louisville. Looks like hot weather finally arrives next week and stays around for a little while. There is still time for another Polar Vortex, right? John is well-trained and smart, so he will do well regardless. The weather of late sure have been nice though.

Not much to report here today. I had a breakfast meeting in Bedford yesterday, so I decided to take advantage of my flex-schedule opportunities. I headed over to the Milwaukee trail to give it a try. I find Wednesday, after Tuesday night's harder work out, to be a challenge. I ran 5 miles on the trail, parking at the Central Church of Christ.

It is noticeable, isn't it? That you are going downhill, which means the return is uphill. I was pleasantly surprised the return trip was not too bad. I would like to begin on the western end of the trail for a long run, doing the uphill first; not sure what the options are on that.

Today is a swim and ride day with Jimmy. We'll see how it all plays out. Tune back in tomorrow!