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!