14 days, 17 hours, and some change

That is how long I have until my first 70.3.

I have been really excited, but the closer it gets, the more nervous I get!  I was telling a friend of mine the other night at our Pineview swim, that I feel like I did right before my first marathon....the "what the hell was I thinking?" feeling.  I know that deep down I can do it.  I just worry about it as I have had several friends do their first half Ironman races recently, and after I hear how theirs went (mostly good, but some bad) I am starting to get nervous!

I have had some great training this summer.  In some aspects I may have over trained for parts of this race.  I have been doing 20 mile runs (in prep for StG) that will put me in a good spot for this race.  I have done some really hard bike rides with climbing (Big Mountain a few times, Snowbasin, etc) in prep for LOTOJA, so they should set me up well for a flat course at The Utah Half.  My swim is strong even though it is the sport I am spending the least amount of time on.

I have got my nutrition down as well, though I need to find easier ways to consume it on the bike.  I am still using my watch to beep at me every 15 minutes to remind me to take in fuel, and that helps a lot.  I have added a Profile Design Aerobottle to my aerobars and it makes taking in water a ton easier.  I like Perpetuem in one bottle, and it works well.  I REALLY like Bonk Breaker bars as well, but find them hard to unwrap and eat while riding.  I need to practice this as well.  I have also started experimenting with salt tabs, and find they work well as far as keeping me feeling good and I tolerate them well.  I am not sure how much I have needed them on the training rides as they have not been done when it is too hot out, but I wanted to practice with them prior to race day which is expected to be HOT.

After tomorrow's long run of 18 miles, I am starting a taper phase.  This could not be better planned as I also go back to work next week!  Ah, the summer off was wonderful for me mentally, physically and definitely for my training, but back to reality it is! I am cutting my training down to an hour or so a day, and then once the 70.3 is out of the way, I will take swims out of the work out rotation and just bike and run until LOTOJA is over, then I will focus solely on the run until the marathon is over.  This isn't just any year of going back to school, this is starting at a new school, and there is a whole new learning curve that goes with it.  Until I get my wits about me in a new environment, I need to be realistic about my training and try to keep a good balance.

So there you have it, my life in a nutshell post Spudman.  The next few weeks will be crazy as I have this big race and starting a new job, but I am excited to dive right in!

In the meantime, happy training and racing!