Winding Up & Winding Down

The workouts are winding into the crazy phase which means that it is almost over. I vaguely see the light at the end of the tunnel on the 5+ hrs on the bike the 3+ hrs running and the 4000 yd straight swims. I did a 4000yd straight swim Friday followed by my first massage, a hike with diabetics Saturday followed by a 5hr 30min bike followed by a short run. Started today with a 14 mile run, then church then Yoga with my wife. The massage and the Yoga are new additions that I have been told that I need. I already explained why on the massage and the Yoga was added to fill in the gaps with my small muscles. I am also getting fairly good at dealing with lows before they affect me which are brought on by the many hours of training. I think that I have dipped into the 40's on seven different occasions today and successfully turned each one.

On a funner topic, I was greatly entertained with the latest (March) issue of Triathlete magazine. On page 26 is one of my diabetic peeps that we had the privilege to spend time with last month in California. Her name is Jen Davino:

Article About Jen Davino in Triathlete Magazine

In the same issue of Triathlete magazine there is a section starting on page 79 titled, "Top Races for 23 Triathlete Types". The three categories that caught my attention were Strong Swimmer, Strong Cyclist and Strong Runner.

Strong Swimmer is in Vermont (Aquaman Even Up Kingdom Tri), 3.5 mile swim, 30 mile ride and 13 mile run - supposed to be approximately even amounts of time on each discipline (I will go to this one someday).

Strong Cyclist is in France (Alpe d'Huez Tri) - No explaining needed here - just Google Alpe d'Huez and Tour de France - nuf said.

Strong Runner (drum roll please) is in a place called St George, Utah at Ironman St George. It says, " While Wildflower has been a contender in this category, with its brutally hilly trail run and predictable hot and dusty conditions, the newly launched Ironman St George instantly gained fame as having the toughest Ironman run on the circuit. Just looking at the online course profile is intimidating enough, much less traversing the steeply sloped loop two times through. One strong-running competitor in the inaugural 2010 event called the course "pure evil" on her way to a hard-earned Ironman PR". Yes, the running of Ironman St George has been put in the same category as Alpe d'Huez in the cycling category of Tri's. ROCK ON!!! BRING IT ON!!!!!

Yes my friends, this swimmer is doing the Ironman course that "strong runners" should choose ;-> That's okay, though, because when I finish, I won't wonder about whether I could have done any of the other courses. This means that YOU HAVE TO JOIN ME IN Saint George to witness this event that is the culmination of everything that you have supported me through to try to Inspire and Educate the diabetic community and encourage them to Explore all of the exercise and adventure options available to them because they can do anything.

 First person (from Australia) out of the water last year in St George 

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More people coming out of the water at the 1hr 4min mark (you have a maximum of 2hrs 20min to finish the swim)

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The last two finishers of Ironman St George last year (cutoff is 17 hrs) 2 minutes before midnight after a 7am swim start

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Thanks and I will see you, YES YOU, in St George, Utah sometime before 7am Saturday May 7th. You had better be cheering your face off when I exit the water sometime just before 8am (assuming race goes as planned)

Brian