when did it get so dark

I was hoping it was fluke last week when I woke up at 5am to get back into going to Masters swim.. but to my complete disappointment it was even darker this morning and raining. It was almost like the middle of winter (except that the window was open). So it has started we are loosing daylight hours. And it is not just in the morning last night I finished my run in the dark and it was only 8pm. It seems it is time to start getting used to training in the dark again- dig out the reflective stuff and the blinky lights and start drinking MORE coffee I guess.

It was an weird masters swim for me. Since it is a recovery week I appropriately feel kind of tired so I did not expect much in the pool this morning. I got there and actually did the full 700 yrd warmup (I never do the warm up) and since the first set had kicking I offered to lead (I love kicking - all those years skiing help). It was something like 6x150 with evens 50 kick, 50 drill, 50 swim, odds 150 stroke, 150 swim. I was surprised I felt pretty good and pulled away from everyone on the kick and then managed to hold them off the rest.. By the 6th one though I felt tired so I asked Greg to lead for the first 400. But 300 in he pulled off and told me to go ahead.. oh well the draft was nice while it lasted. Next up was 2 x 400 fast.. No one jumped at the opportunity to lead so I went with the warning I'm horrible at counting and not sure how fast I would be. I have no clue where it came from but I pulled away from the others and felt really strong. And of course I lost count and found out that we did 450 oops. oh well. I'm not sure I could call the second 400 fast but it was at least I stayed focused and kept the intensity up and pulled away from the others. The rest of the workout was kind of the same..
I guess I am kind of shocked I have never pulled away from anyone in the pool especially at masters. Maybe it was just the Via and chocolate milk but I drink that before all my morning workouts. Well and to be honest a few of the usual people who lead where not there this morning but they have also been moved to another lane a lot lately. But fingers crossed I can keep it up and it was just not a fluke.

windy day before race

Today we shifted our focus completely to race prep. We woke up early and did our last work out. We did a short little swim, then transitioned on the bike for a short 20 min ride then ran 10 minutes. Seems simple and short... Not when the wind is blowing so hard that I could only go 10 mph on the flats. The was really choppy on the swim, then horrendous headwind on the ride out and strong tail wind on the way back. The tail wind was great but it as a little sketchy to turn out of the wind. I stayed loose and figured it was good training but it was hard with the headwind. Then the run was again a headwind out and tail wind back. I was able to keep my pace in the headwind a bit better but it just made my legs feel extra heavy.
Afterwards I iced my legs, showered and got my run stuff together for registration. We rode our bikes over to the hotel to avoid the traffic/parking. So got some more practice riding in the wind and it had warmed up some more as well. We picked up our packets after signing our lives away then prepared our bike to run bags.



Next was getting our bikes ready to check in at T1 area at Hapuna Beach State Park. My bike felt great - may switch out my front wheel for one of Kyle's training wheels if it is windy but we are going to do that in the morning. Kyle's bike was making weird noises so we decided to take it in to the local bike shop to have them look at it just to be safe and sure. They made afew tweets and we were heading back to the beach to check them in. My transition area is very close to the exit of the T1 area which is cool and it is on the far side so it will be easier to find.
Kyle is about midway through the transition area.
Now the wind had picked up quite a lot - some of the gusts were so strong it was hard to stand up straight. This brought the first set of butterflies to my stomach. It only got worse once I saw the white caps on the beach/swim course. You may not be able to see in the picture but there are white caps and big orange buoys that mark the course. I was getting really uneasy about the race..

We headed back for the Athlete meeting where they tell us a little about the course and talk about the rues - especially the no drafting rule on the bike course. My guess is if it is windy the refs will be handing out a lot of red cards for drafting tomorrow but that is just a guess.
On the way back to the condo we walked along the beach and took a bit of a breather and hung out with the turtles for a bit.


Once back I laid down a little nap before dinner. I visualized my race and went though all my positive thoughts I will pull from tomorrow when the wind blows or in the full heat of the run. I know I am strong and I don't need to waste energy worrying about things I have no control of like the wind. No matter what I will do my best and I won't be the only one - weather equally effects everyone. If it is windy I will be ok.

After eating dinner I sat and watched the sun set and just cleared my mind and breathed.


I have all my swim and bike stuff ready, all my nutrition stuff ready. Everything is ready for a good day no matter what happens. Time to go to bed, go back over my race plan one last time and think positive thoughts. Kyle as usual is ahead of me - already has his eyes closed as as he is "watching" the Giro lol