IM Louisville

Well, I am in for IM Louisville, or Luvl as the locals pronounce it. I am certainly not making fun of the residents, I find it funny how that name is pronounced differently across the country. In Louisville, Colorado it is pronounced with an S sound rather than the hard E sound. Some towns names can be pronounced a myriad of ways, so talk to the locals and find out what the "real" pronounciation is.
Anyways, so it's another IM in just over 3 weeks. The course looks to be fast with a rolling bike and flat run. The 2 concerns will be weather, hot and humid, and the water temp, very warm. The first is not a big deal to me. I like heat and humidity and typically do well in those conditions. Warm water temps give me a bit of concern though. I tend to heat up quickly in the water and this can cause problems down the road. I have already spoken with Guy and BlueSeventy about a sleeveless suit for race day. It will be the same for everyone though, so no complaining.
My training has continued to go well. Monday was slow with an AM Masters swim, a few hours spent working at Bicycle Village, then a short ride to the pool, some drill work, a short lifting session and ride home. I initially wanted to get in 2,000 yards, but that wasn't happening. I got out after just 750 of floundering and flailing. No sense in engraining bad techinque. The lifting session was short as well.
Tuesday I was back in Boulder for a tempo run with a group. We did a random fartlek run around the Res. It turned out to be just over an hour, with 20-25 minutes of that hard. The hard stuff ranged from 5:30 to 6:30 pace depending on topography and who was leading. I like that run and it has done well by me in the past. After some stretching I got in the car and drove to Amante Coffee. For those of you not famililar with Amante, it is THE place to see and be seen by cyclists. Amante is located on North Broadway just before you hit 36. It's a great place to start a ride. The inside is all Euro, with plasma screen TV's showing soccer matches, the baristas wear all black and the menu includes Gelato. It is also decorated with plenty of cyclng gear as well. This time there was a Cannondale, Pinarello and Scott bike hanging from the ceiling in addition to several pro jerseys. The bike were all the top of the line models and it looked pretty neat. I woofed down some type of Gluten/Wheat free coffee cake, a double espresso, watched some of the match and then hit the road.
My route was up Lee Hill to Left Hand Canyon, up to Ward and the Peak to Peak HWY, along the Peak to Peak, down to Raymond and St. Vrain, into Lyons, out 66, right into Hygeine and in on 75th. This provided me with plenty of climbing early and then a chance to power on the flats and the 5430 bike course. The legs felt strong from the start and I averaged 240 watts up Left Hand. Most of that was in the aerobars, big ring. I even sat the last 2 miles where the pitch gets steeper.
On the flats I did 3x10 at 275+ watts w/ 5 min recoveries. Again I felt strong and the effort was hard, but not killing me. After the ride I changed, stop by the Gondolier to pick up some pasta for Courtney, it's her favorite, and drove home. Then around 5 I went for another easy run. I was feeling good and even felt better as I went. I was surprised that my legs weren't stiff from the efforts and the car ride. I'll take it every day!
Today started with a big 5500 yd. swim. Wednesday is usually an IM day at masters and today was no different. Plenty of fly, back and breast stroke. The set was about 3500 yds. total, but I added on some pulling and fast 50's to get to 5500. I got home and ate a ton as I was really hungry from the swim and yesterday's efforts. I took a short nap, got up, did some dishes and house work then headed out for an hour run. My plan was to just go steady, but I felt good so I added a hard 25 min. section on some rollers and also went hard for the last 2 miles. The run got extended to 75 minutes as I felt strong and just went with it. Back home I took in plenty of fluids, stretched out and checked some email. Then it was time for a lifting session. I do mostly 1 legged work and all of it is based on working specific muscles. I use the Swiss Ball, medicine balls, tubing and balance boards for the majority of the session. I figure the more the muscle-heads look at me in confusion/contempt, then I must be doing it right! The session only lasted 45 minutes and then it was on the bike for some big gear work. I find a lot of value in doing big gear/climbing sessions right after a weight workout. It takes the muscles you just worked and helps transfer that to swim, bike or run. Try it out for yourself.