BlogJune 12, 2008 Getting Ready for Coeur D'Arlene After racing a pretty good spring I decided that I would give another Ironman a go on June 22nd up in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. This isn't too far from where I grew up and I believe it's also the US National Ironman Championship so I figured, why not? Of course I've never done two Ironmans this close together (a little over two months!) but I figured that I did some walking at IMAZ so perhaps it didn't sting my system as much as it could have from a total impact point of view. As far as the training for the second IM, I didn't know exactly what to do. I threw myself into lots of Pro 1,2 bicycle stage races as well as running races, Splash And Dash events, and even bike tours to get myself ready. Lots of rest, lots of intensity, not too much high volume training. Overall my sensations are good and I feel pretty darn solid, perhaps we'll find out how my program works next Sunday when I take the start in Idaho! Last weekend I did two events. On Saturday I did the TRIBAL Sprint Triathlon out at Lake Pleasant. The Tribal was pretty cool and had a great turnout, thanks to Dave Benjes from DCB and Kevin over at Tribe. These guys put up some overall prize money for the event which was awesome. Unfortunately, with about two miles to go I had a slight altercation and ended up skidding my rear tire which quickly flatted. There was a man working the turnaround right in front of me, he had a little bicycle, we traded, I finished the event on his little dual suspension mountain bike with spd pedals! I ended up getting passed by two dudes while riding that bike, but caught them back on the difficult trail run to take the win. Thankfully, everyone was pretty cool about it and I still got the prize money, even though I think technically I broke the rules. Not too many folks were out on the course with bicycles as it was in a State Park, I figure perhaps it was meant to be and I'll chalk it up to serendipity. On Sunday I headed down to Globe to compete in the State Road Race Championships. My friends Todd Smith, Eric Salstrand, and Bill White all met up at 3:30 AM to drive together to a hilly and hot 90 mile road race. Our team Waste Management has been competing well and we ended up having a great event taking the Pro 1,2 victory with young Sean Mazich. On this day, I was just a worker bee and I got lots of work in. By the finishline I was toast, actually about 20 miles before the finish I was toast, but it seemed to be awesome IM training and that's why I was there. Congratulations to Sean, now he has a State Champion road jersey to go along with his State Champion criterium jersey he won earlier in the year. This guy is fast! Ten days from now the IM will start in Coeur D'Alene. The water is under 50 degrees now, there has been talk of a swim cancellation due to the cold temperatures. I'm not too worried about it, I'll race whatever race they have on the day. I tend to look at wrenches in preparation and curveballs as obstacles to overcome and opportunities. I always stay positive and do everything I can to make them advantageous. I'm really excited to head North with some of my best friends and for once do an IM that doesn't involve Desert. Four IMAZ's and one Kona, lots of hot and flat racing. If you're interested in watching the event transpire live be sure to check in all day on June 22nd on www.IronmanLive.com. Thanks for reading, Lewis « Back to Blogs |
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