Less than 24 hours...

before I leave and I still have so much to do. Got to shave....or in the words of Ken I will "crash and die most horribly." ( that and I want every little advantage I can get.), clean and wax The Bitch Stomper, get the final go, no go from Chrissy, try to get the car clean, maybe go for a quick ride or run, and try to get to bed early so I can get on the road early. Last night I went to the Y with full intent on paying my membership but the girl seemed a little more intent on talking to her friend on her cell about the basketball player with rock hard calves that came in before me...so I got in for free again.... I hit the pool and managed to get in 2800 yards. I got kicked out just as I was starting my last 200 on 2:50 ( it was 9:00 PM Closing time, that's what I get for showing up at 8:20) . (1000 swim warm up on 14:00, 5x 200pull on 3:00, 5x 200 Free on 2:50 did 4 ) I was holding between 2:35 and 2:40 so 1:17-1:20 pace. So it was a good night, I go into Sunday's race feeling confident. I've scoped out the competition, I should be one of the top swimmers, the bike it all depends on how flat this thing really is, I'm seeing 2:12 bike splits so if I can average 20 mph for the ride I have a shot at Kona. The Half marathon, I don't know what's in the water down there but last year's run splits were in the low 1:20's I'm just hoping I can get a big enough coushin on the swim to stay in the hunt on the bike, and pull the half marathon split of my life. Well back to the grind,

R.D.

Well if I can't hold myself to a taper, mother nature's going to do it for me.

That's right Mother Nature is making up for "spoiling" us all winter, by giving us more snow in the this week than she has dished out all winter ( an old school Nor'Easter is predicted for Sunday into Monday, but I'll believe it when I have to drive through it.). Now I could react in one of two ways
The first: Go on my usual 5 year old-esque temper tantrum of how much I hate the white stuff and as soon as I'm financially secure with degree in hand I'm moving to California, Hawaii, Florida...insert local where 40 degress is considered an artic cold front here. And gripe that mother nature is wrecking my well orcastrated training plans...again.

The Second: Take it as a warning from the fates to take it easy, give the trainer a little love, cut my yardage in the pool and not work my legs on long runs, which I would be sure to do if the weather was ...well more conducive to distance training.

So I'm going to take option B this time around. It is two weeks before an Ironman...my legs do need rest..granted I would have like to have done one more longer ride but I'll suck it up with the 75 miler...I'll go easy on the first loop and then hammer it home on loop 2 and save what I can for the marathon. As for the improving my mood, I'm going to pop in some Jimmy Buffet, Crank my space heater up, put on a flowery shirt and dream Kona...
if only I could find my long lost shaker of salt....

Alright that's enough of that.
R.D.

This weeks poll: Should I shave for the Ironman?

Alright this post / poll is months in the making: Should I shave my legs for the Ironman?
Now in endurance/olympic sports, "the shave" is a topic of much debate. "Does it really give an advantage?" "Is it a psycological thing?" " Do you know how bad it itches when it grows back?" So the question in this week's poll
Should I shave for the Ironman?

Reasons pro shave:
Any one who knows me knows I'm a hairy beast, so by shaving I would drop about 10 pounds.
Get to show off my defined calves of steel.
Haven't shaved for a competitive event since State Swimming trials in High school, and it used to give me a good 10 second time drop.
I can say with confidence that I have done everything to try to earn a Kona Slot.

Reasons against Shvaing:
You're coming back to New England in March you furless freak!
Supposedly it's "un-manly" to have smooth legs.
The itching, the burning, the chafing.
Two words: Razor Burn.

So those are the arguments vote wisely.

The Jake Voskul of the Polls.
R.D.