Rose Bowl...

So every football season, I dream of the Ducks over achieving. I hope that they will play tough every game and ultimately end up in a big time bowl game. Entering this season there were lots of questions about the Ducks team this year, but they did look good on paper. And then Boise State happened. We all know about "the punch" at Boise State. The better story is how the Ducks have rebounded since then and put themselves into position for the Rose Bowl entering Thursday night's Civil War game with our arch rival Oregon State!! It was winner take all, with all being a berth to the Rose Bowl.

We had a great time at the game. And what a game it was!! The Ducks pulled it out in the end and we all celebrated a return to the Rose Bowl, 15 years removed from our last appearance!! It was a fitting end to this season and this year. The past few weeks have been amazing with Ironman Arizona, Thanksgiving, and now the Ducks heading off to the Rose Bowl. I'm one happy guy right now! As far as triathlon goes? I'm into my 12th consecutive day off. I have done nothing. I'm fighting off a cold so that has actually helped to keep me inactive...which is good. I'm still trying to hammer out my race schedule for 2010 and will get that up once I have it established. Until then...GO DUCKS!!! Thanks for reading,

-T

The day has arrived...

So, the bike is racked, the bags are checked, everything is ready for tomorrow. The big day is finally here and I'm stoked to get it on in the morning. I'm headed back to the hotel to chill and catch a nap. Ducks are on at 5pm in a huge game tonight so I'll enjoy that with Meg and my parents and then off to bed for the early departure. Thanks to everyone that has continued to offer me such great support in this endeavor...most of all, my wife to be. Everyone has been awesome, but Meg especially has had to deal with a lot for me to make it to the start line tomorrow. I love you honey!!

Bib # is 394 for those that are interested in tracking on Ironman.com tomorrow. Thanks for reading,

-T

AZ, here I come...

Well, the day is almost here! Thursday Meg and I leave for Arizona. It is so nice to finally have this race in sight! Everything seems to be going according to plan at this point. My bike has been shipped, so hopefully it IS waiting for me next to transition when I get there Friday. The weather forecast is looking very nice, please keep your fingers crossed!! And I'm really feeling quite good. My asthma and overall health seems to be fine which is a relief. Physically, my legs are feeling great and my swim has been very smooth and strong the last few weeks.

I have everything packed at this point and am looking forward to getting another night of good sleep tonight. I'm so excited to just get to the start line. It will be a long day out there, but I'm very satisfied with the work I have put in and feel confident that I have done what I need to do to have a good race on Sunday. I have my nutrition and race plan nailed down which is good, because I have spent plenty of time stressing about that stuff in half Irons before!

For those interested, you can follow me online on race day at Ironman.com. My race number is 394. As always, thanks for reading.

-T

Last brick...

Well, the last decent length brick of the season is in the bags! It included about half what I would normally do on my Saturdays...50 mile bike and 2.5 mile run. All was done at limited intensity. I felt great!! I know I'm ready to race Ironman next week due to the fact I wanted more today. I wanted to pedal harder, run faster and go twice as long. My body and mind are totally ready for this race. Just 8 more days to go. With that, I'm off to the Duck game! Go Ducks! Thanks for reading,

-T

2 weeks...

Well, here we go. I woke up this morning after a good 10.5 hours of sleep. Taper has officially started. I woke up refreshed and excited that I'm two weeks away from the big dance. I slept great and look forward to the next two weeks. We have a solid taper program that works for me, all I have to do is execute it properly and make sure I get plenty of rest! So today is all about relaxing and doing nothing!

Yesterday was my last decent size training day. It originally was going to be more intense, but we were confident with where my fitness is so we backed it down some and focused more on rest. The weather man was forecasting some serious rain for Saturday so I woke up and set up the trainer. My day called for 4 hours on the bike and then a five mile tempo run at just faster than marathon pace. I got in the 4 hours just fine, felt pretty strong actually. I quickly changed into some warm clothes and headed out for the run. I'll be honest...I've run in some pretty poor conditions, but this was crazy!! I have a one mile loop I do and I had to constantly go up side streets to avoid enormous puddles! I ran for just under 4 miles and was soaked to the bone so I called it an early day. I was happy with how my legs felt; very light and quick. I was ticking up some 7 minute miles with ease.


So back to today...Meg is making some yummy soup, I'm catching up on some football and napping, and we have a ton of movies to watch and just hang out! The cat is happy to have us at home as you can see :) Thanks for reading,

-T

Weather Gods...

Just checked the 10 day forecast for Tempe. Wish I hadn't! Tomorrow's high is expected to be 92 degrees. Holy cow! I almost fell out of my chair!! Luckily, tomorrow appears to be an anomaly, as the rest of the week starts to cool and return to highs in the low 80s. Typically, race day (November 22nd) has a high in the upper 70s, sometimes low to mid 80s. I'm definitely helping the weather gods help me out with some 70s type weather in 2.5 weeks! I'm doing what I can to prepare, including training with extra layers of clothes on to simulate hotter conditions, but it's just really hard to simulate real heat.

So, if you have a rain dance...well, I guess I wouldn't want rain, but you get the point! Everything else is set up. I have my bike transport all scheduled, plane tickets, hotel arrangements, rental car, etc. The only thing left to do is execute the upcoming taper as best as I can. I've been told that I can be a little hard to be around come taper time, so let me apologize in advance :) The race is getting very close at this point. Luckily work has been very busy which has been a nice distraction. Yet, my mind still wanders back to what I'm about to attempt and what it's taken to get here. Soon this chapter of my life will be closing, or depending on how you look at it, beginning. And I can't wait for the conclusion. Thanks for reading,

-T

3 weeks...

The time left until IMAZ. 3 weeks from today. I can't wait! I'm getting extremely pumped for this day to get here. Of course I'm all kinds of nervous and anxious and everything else, but I'm content with my preparation and just really excited to get out there and test myself. This past week was my peak of training. I ended up with 13.5k in the pool, 240 on the bike, and 42 running. This past week also included some key indicator workouts for me. Basically, challenging workouts that would help prove to me that I'm ready for this event.



Thursday was the first of these workouts. I had tough doubles both Tuesday and Wednesday, but the key swim workout this week was a 3k for time on Thursday morning. I woke up extra early Thursday morning (just after 5am) excited to see where my swim was. I felt like I had been swimming well, but a 3k time trial would clarify that for me. There were a few of us from the team doing it with 2 coaches catching and recording splits. Unfortunately I didn't have anyone to really swim with that was similar pace so I had to focus on trying to keep my pace up by myself. It was a true time trial. I lost a little focus about the 2k mark, but picked it up towards the end. I finished in 37:45, which is just over 1:15 per hundred. My goal going in was under 38 considering all the heaving training already this week. OK, indicator workout 1...Check.



Friday I took off from work so I could get in my second indicator workout it. Saturday was the duck game so I didn't want to be out exercising for 7 to 8 hours and then trying to rush over to the game. So, I slept in a little and then slowly made my way onto my bike for a 112 mile hard effort. The clouds were out that day and it looked like rain so I picked a 10 mile loop course not more than an hour from my house. I did this course 8 times in a row. Stopping once to refuel with more Gatorade. I nailed my nutrition which was the main goal, kept my HR exactly where I wanted, and really had a great ride. I clocked a 5:40 split, which is just under 20mph. Not bad considering there are two hills in the loop course, the road surface is not ideal in spots, and the split included travel out and back into town. I quickly changed into my running gear and went out for a 6 mile transition run. I felt messed up when I first was heading out. My stride felt terrible. I kept thinking, "I need to pick the tempo up, I'm barely moving." Then I passed the first mile marker and saw my split. Indicator workout number 2...Check.



Saturday I slept in extra long. I got a good 9.5 hours of sleep. I was very careful to drink plenty of fluids the night before, yes some of those fluids did consist of water, as I had my final big workout Saturday morning. My last 20 mile run was before me. My dad had said if I felt like crap due to the work load this week to just bag it and do the run tomorrow. Thing was, I didn't feel terrible. I wasn't that tired, my legs were a little sore, but that was about it. So I filled up my water bottles and headed out. The first 7.5 miles were easy, the next 7.5 miles kind of sucked, and the last 5 miles were not bad as I just kept focusing on my upcoming race. I kept it really easy per the Big Guy's orders and came in at a 7:47/mile average for the 20 mile effort. The 3rd indicator workout was over...Check.



Now that all that triathlon crap was over with for the week, it was time to have some fun!!! Because, no matter how much I get excited about this race or how much time I spend training, studying, talking, dreaming of triathlon, I promised myself I would never stop having fun! Meg and I changed into our blackout gear for the big game...Ducks vs. Trojans. In case you have been living under a rock for the past day or so...WE KICKED THEIR BUTTS!!!! Total domination!! Now, enjoy some pictures! Thanks to everyone for all the support lately...I love all you guys! And as always, thanks for reading.



-T

Gettin' ready to head out. Go Life Cycle!!

See what I mean about the clouds!!

Meg and I getting ready for a Trojan beating!!

Autzen during player warm ups...

Autzen post Trojan stomping!!! GO DUCKS!