Good workouts

Things seem to be coming together. I am feeling really strong right now. I haven't done many long swims lately but might try to get a couple in during the next couple weeks. I have heard about the open water swim groups in Clemson on Wednesday evenings. I might try to catch one of those before the race. This way, I can actually get in another swim in my wetsuit. The shorter, more aggressive swims I have been doing are going well. I can maintain a pretty fast pace even while swimming 1000 meters. I've been able to keep it around 16-17 minutes during my time trials.

I became a little nervous on the bike after reading a few comments about biking on hills vs flats. Most of the terrain in the upstate is fairly hilly. Therefore, there is alot of climbing and some coasting. Knowing this, I try to continue pedaling even on the downhill sections. To make sure I am getting the flatland training in, I have been on my trainer for the past few sessions. This keeps me pedaling the entire time. I have ridden for one hour and one hour, twenty minutes. I was a little concerned at first because I was getting kind of fatigued early on (within that timeframe), but once I got off the bike, I realized that I was actually just getting bored and my legs were fine. That was a relief. The other thing I noticed is that the resistance on the trainer makes it more difficult as well. I can't remember the exact slow down rate after pedaling has stopped, but it seems to slow down pretty quickly, which means the set resistance is higher than that on the road. I'll spend a few more rides on the trainer to make sure I am in where I need to be. I have my last long bike ride (3 hours) scheduled on the 14th. I might try to get in two more. It all depends on what other activities I have scheduled. The long ride might be the Augusta course. We'll see how that turns out.

Running has been going very well. I don't know what it is, but things seem to be improving. Last week, I did a couple shorter runs as well as my long run. The long run was 10 miles and I completed it in 1 hour 30 minutes and felt really good after. Even the next day, my legs were not tight at all. I was extremely surprised. I am attributing this to two things - better fitness (obviously) and cooler weather. When I ran, the temps were around 70 with low humidity. Very nice conditions. I am not expecting this for my race, but we'll see what happens. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.