| February's totals: | ||
| Bike: | 23h 46m 33s - 442.8 Mi | |
| Run: | 14h 34m 12s - 102.9 Mi | |
| Swim: | 12h 50m - 28350 Yd | |
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Total February Volume: 51h 10m
Overall February was a solid month. I missed about a week total of training because of bronchitis and the stomach flu. I was happy with the run volume but expected 100 more bike miles and another 10,000 meters in the pool. But with missing the training I did at the beginning of the month I will be happy with the outcome.
Some other memorable occurrences this month included:
A Bike Crash:
An Open Water Swim:
A Ride from Hell:
The Bike Crash happened 9 days ago and I am happy to report that I am healing up. The road rash sucked but one of my Trakkers buddies, Laura, recommended 2nd Skin for the big wound on the hip. It did wonders (Thanks Laura!) and the hip feels so much better. Sort of sucked wearing pants the first few days after the crash! The crash happened on my Felt B14 and I am happy to report that she came out of it unscathed. I dropped her off at the Felt dealer and they gave her a clean bill of health after a thorough inspection! Maybe she was feeling some pressure to not be down with an injury because this arrived at my door Friday evening:
Yep, that is a brand spanking new Kestrel Pro 4000 TT. Currently the Kestrel 4000 is being assembled at Tri On The Run and should be ready for a fitting at the end of the week.
The Open Water Swim was last Saturday and it was awesome. The water temperature in the San Jacinto River was a comfortable 66 degrees. Dave, Karen, and I did a little over a mile as our spouse's followed along side in Mike's (Karen's Husband) boat. The first part of the swim was brutal as we were swimming directly into the current. It felt like we were barely moving. Great training but would suck in a race! The swim back was with the current at our backs and we all got to feel what it would be like to swim like Andy Potts:
 |
| Spraying on some TriSlide |
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| Karen, Jeff, Dave - this is cold! |
Stroke
Sight
Stoke
The Ride from Hell took place yesterday and it was on the Northern section of the Ironman Texas course. This is also the section with the majority of the larger hills on the course. You are probably thinking the hills are why this ride sucked but the real reason was THE WIND! The first 20 miles or so of the ride are through a state forest and pretty sheltered from the elements because of the dense trees. We were all having a good time until we came out of the forest past Richards and got hit with a crazy crosswind. It was easily a sustained 25mph wind with gusts into the 40's. The last 30+ miles back to the car were brutal as we rode right into the headwind.
Now I have rode in winds before but these gusts were so unpredictable and were blowing my light ass all over the road. The real problem for me is that I think I might be a little gun-shy coming off last weeks crash and the high winds cause me some white knuckle moments. At one point while going down a good sized hill in aero a gust hit me from the side and it took all I had not to crash again. I was literally shaking once I recovered. One of my buddies suggested this may be a good thing and actually a wake-up call that we are not indestructible and need to be careful. He could be right but I just want the confidence back.
Moving Forward ....
March is the key month of training for my Ironman as I am healthy as a bull and ready to crush the training with it entirely in the Build phase. I will get over 40,000 meters in the pool, 600 miles on the bike, and 120 miles on the run.
I am excited to try out my new Kestrel 4000 and get some miles on it. The Galveston 70.3 is coming up in 40 days and I am hopeful that the Kestrel can be my ride!
Also, for all of you who are convinced I have a Nutrition Lab in my garage (Patrick and Kovas). I am going to post reviews on Optygen HP and Ultragen. I have been using Ultragen as a recovery drink for the last year and started Optygen HP two weeks ago - Kovas and I started on the same day and are comparing notes!
Thanks for Reading,
Jeff Irvin
Are you training in an aero helmet?
ReplyDeletehahaha ...hells no Patrick! I got it during the after christmas sales and have never worn it. I wanted to see how it fit at the park and Annie took those pics.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty comfortable though. Barely even know it was there!
Great Numbers! Glad to see you are healing up nicely! Cant wait to see the Kestrel finished Product!!
ReplyDeleteevery single time i read your blog, i have the desire to get back into triathlons again.
ReplyDeletetempting :)
Nice numbers Jeff! Despite the crash and time off from sickness, you still put it up!
ReplyDeleteMan, to ride in shorts and short sleaves and to swim open water.....I think it will be Galveston when that happens!
The three swim photos are hilarious! Synchronized OWS. New sport? ;)
Love the helmet pic at the end. you look like the bad ass that you are. Bob and I were discussing how well we know you are going to do come IMTX. Money is on you buddy! Keep up the good work. See how the couple of weeks you lost don't even matter anymore. Great numbers for the month. That remins me that i need to post mine tomorrow at some point.
ReplyDeleteFantastic month! And I can only imagine how great March is going to be. You are getting so close... WOOHOO!
ReplyDeleteGreat month! Way to go.
ReplyDeleteJeff, I am so jealous of everything in your week..well, except the crash. Shorts. Open water swims. OUTSIDE RIDES!! I am drooling over here.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see your new ride out of the box!
holy cow, please don't wipe out again. At least you finished with a semi smile : )
ReplyDeleteGreat monthly summary. I am wondering what TriSlide is...
ReplyDeletehaha sychronized OWS!
ReplyDeleteGreat things all the way around, especially you are feeling great!
D
Glad you are healing up nicely. 2nd skin is great. used to use it for my scraped up legs after slide tackling in soccer.
ReplyDelete66 degrees?! Man, my swin in the Hudson at the end of May wont even be that warm.
Love the helmet shot. I swear, no one looks awesome in a bike helmet, not even Cindy Crawford (am I dating myself? Have no idea who is big in modeling these days).
Wow... what a great month. Over 2 days of working out. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else, I am jealous of your outdoor biking and OWS. I was just happy it was the low 30's today.
It sure is nice to be "south" right now. It was almost too warm to run this morning... Keep up the good work Jeff!
ReplyDeletedang nice helmet.
ReplyDeleteseriously... holy fricking cow man.
ReplyDeleteyou are already in IM shape... and you are going FURTHER :)
ROCK ON!
sychronized OWS LOL too funny.
Keep up the solid work man. It will pay off very soon!!!! KICK ASS!
What a solid month of training, especially since you were sick.
ReplyDeleteI love the swimming pix.
I believe synchronized triathlon is to be a demonstration sport at the 2012 Olympics.
ReplyDeleteYour buddy is right, and wake up calls are needed every once in a while.
ReplyDeleteOk, I can "handle" you bragging riding outside, I CAN NOT handle you bragging about OWS!!!! My first OWS will be May 7th, and everyone is already talking about how cold the lake will be
ReplyDeleteHow you regain confidence, I really wish you had a roadie, nice safe option till your 100% confident on the TT. TT's are such a sketchy bike as it is
I'm glad you're healing from your crash! I can only imagine how painful that must be.
ReplyDeleteCrazy winds scare the heck out of me b/c I get blown all over the place! In the past, I wouldn't ride outside in strong winds b/c they freaked me out, but b/c IMAZ is known to be a windy course, I'm going to have to HTFU and get out there!
Woohoo for your new bike! I can't wait to see it!