Race Eve

Sitting here in the lovely Braintree, MA Sheraton. Tomorrow is the Cohasset Sprint. I chose this race because it seemed like lots of fast folks will show up and it fits well into the schedule. It's a qualifier for USAT Nationals- top 1/3 in each AG if you haven't qualified yet. There's a large elite/pro field, including Olympian Jarrod Shoemaker. Gary Hall Jr. is doing a relay with a mother and son who also have Type 1 Diabetes.

We took the kids to Block Island earlier in the week. The beauty of the Garmin Forerunner is you can run anywhere and know what you're actually doing out there. I did my typical 10 mile easy run on Monday and an 8 mile interval run on Wednesday. Both had fantastic ocean views.

Last Saturday I went for my season-long ride, a whopping 58 miles. Sounds funny to say that. I worked each hour progressively harder, and returned in just about 3 hours- very happy with that, and feeling good. Scary thing is, the thought actually went through my head to go for 100. After about a five minute transition, I went out for a hard 3 and easy 3 recovery. I hit the first 3 in 18:20, and had very even splits. Even though it is slightly downhill, I was thrilled with that. It was about 20 seconds faster than I've had on the same route all season.

So tomorrow is the Cohasset Sprint. I've never seen waves organized like this- after the Elites go off, I'm in the second wave 5 minutes later. Funny thing is, it's for men aged 39-41. It spans just three years, and involves two age groups. That should mean I won't have to navigate through slower swimmers. My plan is to work the swim pretty hard, than absolutely blast the 12 mile bike, and finally see what happens on the run. Like every race this year, I need a strong finish right through the line. I figure it's a great time to take some risks.