Spining the cranks easy on the trails of Madison, WI |
I had Savageman on the calendar and it is a course that fits my strengths - the course features a 29% grade climb. The desire to do this race was only accelerated by the fact that race management was switching over for 2014 and beyond and I assumed that the Pro race may be going away under race management and it may have been the last opportunity to do this infamous race.
Ironman Lake Tahoe is another race that I really want to do. Being a first year race it is hard for anyone to come in with a real course advantage. In addition, I know with the elevation profile and cold morning temps that this race could turn into a real war of attrition - you never know if there will be a year two. The desire to do the race was only compounded further by the number of friends doing this race and it is always good to catch up with good friends.
In the middle of the week I grappled with doing these races. Sometimes staying the course is a lot more difficult than you can imagine and I had to get creative in my attempts to stay the course. This creatively included gathering up every single race chainring, cassette, chain and pulley that I had and sending them back to Atomic to be recoated. Although you can't control your actual performance on race day, the one thing you can have is a clean bike and a clean drivetrain.
At Ironman Wisconsin I was the last one to rack my bike the day before and I had the opportunity to take a gander at everyone's drivetrain. Without a doubt I had more free speed and engineered speed going for me than anyone. The attention to detail by some of my competitors was absolutely lacking. To me it is something so simple to do and the thought of racing an uncoated drivetrain was enough to turn me off racing. Why show up with anything less than the best equipment?
Once I figured out how to avoid scratching that itch, I was able to get some solid training for the week. Had I finished Ironman Wisconsin I would have never been able to do some of the work that was accomplished.
My weekly swim, bike, and run totals:
Total: 185 Miles / 20 hours 27 minutes
Swim: 22,968 yards / ~13 miles / 6 hours 37 minutes
Swim: 22,968 yards / ~13 miles / 6 hours 37 minutes
Bike: 119 miles / 7 hours 03 minutes
Run: 53 miles / 6 hours 31 minutes
Core: 1/2 sessions / 0 hours 15 minutes
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