Oly goal (1 week until my first Oly)

My main goal is to have fun and not get in to my pre-race funk.  I'll be at the race by myself since my wife is busy with work. My second goal is to make some more tri friends, I'm trying to set up a BT swim Saturday afternoon.  My third goal is my time.  My speeds for my first 5 sprints were;

swim - 2:29, 2:18, 2:28, 2:02, 2:32 per hundred yards

bike - 19.0,18.9, 18.4, 20.2, 19.8 miles per hour

run - 8:38,9:23, 9:37, 8:58, 8:39 minute miles

Assuming it's not too cold, hot or windy, I'll be shooting for the following times. My swim hasn't improved much since last year due to injury and lack of a coach.  I'm going to shoot for 2:15 based on increased experience.  My bike has improved due to NOLA training so I'm shooting for 20.5 mph.  This will be highly dependant on wind speed.  My run hasn't improved much and this run will be twice as long as all the above times.  I'll shoot for 8:45, but I should be able to run faster.

T1 includes a long uphill from the lake to the transition area.

pic from last year when I did the Sprint race

swim - 37:00
T1 - 2:30
bike - 1:12:00
T2 - 1:00
run - 54:00
Total - 2:46:30

Truth be told, I'll be happy with anything under 3 hours and even more happy if I don't get stressed leading up to the race.

Recipe of the week.  My friend and co-worker Frank shared this recipe with me for beer brined chicken.  It turned out great!  I might do a bunch of legs and wings for a football game this fall, great flavor.  I forgot to take a picture of the chicken, but I did get a pick of the neighbor guys in the garage helping me cook.  I grill rain or shine, heat wave or blizzard and I get lots of help.  It's always nice to unwind with the neighbors.



yes, the heater is on, it was chilly

 Last but not least.  My volume has been down the last couple weeks and my body is craving more volume.  It's hard to describe, but it is the same kind of craving I get for fries if I stay away from them for a few weeks.  So I'm close to signing up for another half ironman the first weekend in October.  The one I'm looking at has a 63 mile bike leg instead of 56.  I was ready to get off the bike about 40 miles in at NOLA.  Looking at the calendar, that is 19 weeks out!  How can October seem so close?