Race Prep

Along with the 5 months of training, the last weeks of IM prep have more to do with mental preparation than anything. Your training is complete aside from a few key workouts to keep your strength and intensity race ready. It time to make goals and set expectations. My #1 goal is to make it Kona. #2 goal is to podium. The conditions are the unknown, to which I will not worry about. I don't have a disc to use, so worrying about a last minute race wheels decision will not loom over my head. I will have tested all clothing and gear prior to the race, so I know everything will work. Nutrition is tested and a plan is written, its up to me to complete it. You can control yourself, nothing else, so worrying about the competition, weather, whatever is pointless. Race your race to the best of your ability. The last 10k of the marathon is a self full filling prophecy for most people, thinking that that's the turning point, the point you will bonk and the race becomes hard. I'm changing my point of view. The last 10k is where I negative split the marathon, it' where I pass those going slower and bonking. I plan to feel good and push through to the end claiming my podium spot and Kona slot!

Today is a day off. I will actually swim, since I need to swim at least every other day to keep the feel of the water and stay strong. Maybe a run since I switched up my long ride/run over the weekend. I also have a sauna session and massage. Thursday is another day off for a little massage again. Jesse is going to AZ with us so that will be sweet.

Job front: I received an offer yesterday early am... I have since written a counter offer letter and run it by my contact (future director) for advice. I got the pay grade level and title, but some of the benefits were not commiserate with that level. I'll get that worked out as well as a start date this week.

I dropped of the TT bike with race wheels to get race tuned as well my cross bike. I think I will sell the Ridley X-Fire carbon cross bike. I could use the couple grand I can get for it to move with and pay for the new road bike that is currently at the painters! Plus, I would keep the cross bike here and ride it this x-mas, but then when??? Better to sell it. I can always go buy a new one if I want to ride here when I return for Christmas.

17 Days Out of IMAZ...

It's been awhile, seems to be my norm. I am fully recovered from sickness and feeling good about where I am at. I had a stellar 20mile run in racing flats, on the trails, with a new nutrition plan and compression socks. I hate when I "accidentally" try new things on a long run/ride and the sessions goes well and you're left wondering what you did different that made it so good? Either way, I'm racing in compression socks. Lower leg fatigue was minimal with them. Gels every 24 mins (~3 miles) with caffeine on the second half works. I'm going with that.

I ditched malto for the run because of the tri top pocket is too big. Although I did make an alteration and have yet to test it, maybe today. If it works and the bottle doesn't bounce, I will go with a gel flask instead of packets, less mess and I HATE when my hands are sticky. I'm thinking of going with white gloves to stick ice in for the race... :)

I'm hitting the sauna for some blood plasma boosting to prepare for the heat. Always my favorite part of IM training, the sauna!

Yeah, I'm happy with my run, I can't get over how well it went. I don't feel invincible, but definitely confident. Over-confidence leads to over-training leads to poor performance. See Dave's blog for more on confidence and vanity.

Next week will be a race simulation where I get to put all my gear to the test - TT helmet, shoes, kit, wheels, everything! Always need to test this shit out before race day and without any races prior to AZ, a simulation is in order.

I'm supposed to finally hear about my job in Abu Dhabi Sunday/Monday. The HR person resigned and my contact was OOTO for a week in Dubai, so things stalled out a bit. I'm dying to get this settled.

I also had a root canal on two of my teeth, #24 & #25 for those in the know. The worst part was getting the needle in the gums! I have temporary fillings until after IM. It needs some time to dissolve the root completely before they seal them up permanently.

I'm going to go run and hit the sauna now!

All It Takes Is A Little Mud!

So, after sitting, no literally, on my ass since two Fridays ago getting over the flu, I'm back. Went for a little off road fun on the cross bike today and it was awesome. Something about getting dirty and riding through town while people stare is fulfilling. There's a big week for me this week, it's been awhile since I have put in some volume, at least it feels that way. I was very frustrated last week and Scott helped me get my head on straight.

Apparently, the HR women at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank resigned, so the official job offer is still coming. My contact is out of the office in Dubai this week and can't bug the department to get things moving. That just pushes my launch date to the Gulf back a bit. Which is fine, it's a big step. I did sign up to defend my title at Hawthorne Farms Sprint, May 3rd.

I'm gluing new tubulars on this week as well. Such fun. My new 808 rear wheel, with PT hub, tire, skewer and SRAM Red cassette weighs in at 1500g, while the front is just over 700 with tire and skewer. So, not bad, but kinda heavy. I kinda wish I had gone with an SRM, but then I would need two still...I can still easily transfer the PT from training bike, to race bike to TT bike.

Speaking of race bike. I've ordered a custom Guinness Veloforma with SRAM Force build. Should be two weeks or so for that. Awesome! I'll put up the Cannondale for sale as soon as it arrives. I sold my Zipps, that helps the pocket book since the employment department is asking questions and not paying me right now. I might need to pick up a few more shifts at PRC if this keeps up!

Abu Dhabi, UAE

In case you are wondering what happens to someone who travels around the world (equivalent) in 5 days and drives 16 hours two days prior to that trip while coming off a 50hour block of training in 10 days...let me enlighten you! DO NOT EVER DO SOMETHING SO STUPID, EVER!!! Get my drift?

I sit here now with a fever, chills and night sweats... Eerily similar to the crap I had in Brazil after spending 30hours travelling to get there...coincidence, I think not. No worries, I believe this could have killed lessor men, so I'm good. Plus, I have plenty of time to get ready for AZ still. I'm home, comfortable again and in my own element. All good things when you are battling an illness. I had a ride today that I was supposed to do some IM Race Pace intervals that I was looking forward to, but not going to risk it. I may run later or swim depending on what the thermometer says next time. It's either 101 or 95...

Now on to Abu Dhabi... 9.5 hours to Frankfurt and 7 to Abu Dhabi with a quick stop in Bahrain. Since AD 12 ahead of us this made crazy jetlag. I got in @ 1am AD time, interviews started @ 10am...yikes. No worries I fell asleep just fine. The bank (Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank) sent a car that morning. I meet several people that I would work with, plus their boss. I probably could have known more about the bank itself, but its hard to info on them. That afternoon I totally crashed. I felt as if I had been up for more than 24 hours...3 in the afternoon was 3am my time, etc, etc. By dinner I was in a serious hole. Not to mention my new shoes were developing blisters the size of quarters. We went to the mall, which could have been any mall in America (aside from the local dress and stores I don't reconize) to get a new tie. I was only planning on 1 day of interviews, not two. I had a minor meltdown after dinner and kinda freaked Jennifer (she's the one who is hiring me, we worked together at InFocus) out a little. Why did I freak out? Shear tiredness was most of it. I also completely forgot about the opportunity this job, the bank, and the country has going for it. I was fixated on the fact that all the photos and things I read about AD were not what I was seeing. The Corniche is very nice and there are a lot of very nice buildings, but Abu Dhabi and the UAE is still an emerging country, 3rd world almost. I knew all the those photos weren't the real Abu Dhabi. Anyway, I awoke the next morning feeling much better and looking forward to meeting the CEO in waiting, Jennifer's boss' boss.

I have never meet anyone that has a presence as this man did. He had his white dishdashah on and everything. He was very passionate about ADCB and the wealth management group (Excellency) is his baby, he started it 4 years ago. It was a very inspirational interview and I did well. I am now very excited about this opportunity. I meet a couple other people int he group that day as well as one guy that will be my data junkie for mining the BI tools the banks use.

Here are some random photos, I didn't take very many... The first photo is looking towards Abu Dhabi Mall and the Rotunda. The start of the Corniche. #2 is the bank.


Here is the Corniche. This is the nice part of the city, the parts you see in the photos. It's very cool looking at night when everything is lit up. The next photo is looking the other direction along the Corniche.



















And last, but not least, gotta love Krispy Kreme in Arabic...

Back Home in PDX for a Few Hours...

After good 1h30m ride up Jalama in Lompoc, I packed up and drove in the afternoon sun! Chris and Sara are great people and I wish them well in their training and racing this year.


I got the car washed, vacuumed and shampooed before I left, nice and clean makes the drive easier for me (feels like I go faster!). Left town @ 11am, couple quick stops to get gas, food and a chair massager... However, the massager is 120v and Jen's car's plug is only 115v. Also, I found out today that you need to press a switch to turn on the plug...maybe it would have worked. All I know is that it works very well as I sitting here typing. It also keeps me in an upright, better posture position.

So, 16 hours later @ 3am I arrived to PDX last night, er, this morning. I stopped every couple to do one of the following or permutation there of: 1) eat 2) piss 3) fuel. Good times. I have to say, driving 80mph+ the whole way home in CA, makes driving 55mph in PDX seem, well, pedestrian.

I leave @ 1:45 tomorrow afternoon for Abu Dhabi, to interview for a market research position with ADCB.