And I'm Gettig Blown Away

Saturday was the last workout of real substance before heading into real taper time. John & I had planned an Olympic Bike/Run brick (25 mile ride/10 run). We were scheduled to meet at my house before dawn to get the brick knocked out before John had to go home and pack for a weekend trip to New York to attend a wedding. Late Thursday, I was given 4 tickets to the Friday night Miami Heat game. In order to make sure I didn't get short sleep with John arriving too early and fresh for Saturday's workout, I invited John to join my wife, son Alex and me at the game. Of course, he saw right through the ruse, but graciously accepted the invitation. The game was great, with the Heat sending the Denver Nuggets to their first loss of the season.

I check on weather conditions for Saturday morning was not as pleasant. The forecast for the entire weekend was for steady winds out of the NE at 19 to 20 mph, with gusts up to 35 mph. As I got up Saturday at 5:15 AM, I could see the trees getting blown westward pretty good. After getting my pre-ride grub in my and checking my bike, I strolled around in front of my house. The forecast seemed to be pretty accurate; these were steady 19 to 20 winds. It looked like it would be pretty stupid to ride in such conditions, so when John arrived, I suggested that we bag the bike and do a 12 mile run. "No, let's stick to the plan," John said, "It could be windy in Tempe and this would be good practice for windy conditions." We compromised that if it was too windy after our 10 mile loop south, we would cut the ride short of the remaining 15 ride north and lengthen the run.

As we head south, I note that its too windy to risk going to the aero position. Getting in the aero position may be good to cut the wind, but it gives less stability for handling the bike during the gusts that regularly kicked up. Worse, the ride south goes past pretty much open beach. The wind blew sand creating wide patches of sand. Not friendly to a steady tire grip on the road. Living in South Florida, both John & I have done many long runs in "Like a Hurricane" conditions. However, there is a big difference running on wet, slippery roads. Its a wholly different experience riding a road bike in such conditions.

John rides very conservatively, but I take advantage of short periods of slower winds to pick up my pace and actually spend some time in the aero position. John does not follow suit. Every time I look around to see if he's with me, he is clear out of sight. I make two or three stops along the ride to wait for him to catch up. Of course, he pays me back later.

After pulling into my garage and doing our transition, we run out towards the beach for the 10K. When we get to the beach, we are sand blasted by the wind and sand. I'm running slightly ahead of John and when we get to the turn around point, John turns where he is about 50 feet short of the turn around. So now, he who was following, now has the lead. John being a better into the wind runner than I, not only crosses the street to get further away from the wind, but starts upping his pace. Yes, paybacks are Hell. I decide that this isn't a race, its a workout. I let him go off ahead and keep at my training pace. The winds are blowing the sand into my side such that I've got to turn my head slightly west to avoid getting sand blown into my eyes. I am coated with a fine misting of sand that has somehow been blown through my tri suit and is literally everywhere.

As we get off the beach and are running though the backstreets of my surrounding neighborhood, I come across my wife Salome on the outward leg of her morning run. I yell to her that John cheated by shorting the course at the turnaround. In reality, he keeps getting further and further in front of me and ends up with over a 300 yard lead. As I complete the somewhat winding road of the last mile to my house, I've completely lost sight of John. When I turn onto my street, I can see him finishing at my house at the end of the road. As I come up to him, I say, "Nice work, you negative splitting bastard." Of course, I say this in a nice, training buddy sort of way, mind you. We bump fists knowing we've just completed our last long workout.

The next morning, I note that I received an e-mail from John asking me to re-read the taper portion of "the Bible," Going Long by Joe Friel & Grodon Byrn. He asks me for my workout plan for the next 2 weeks. Of course, he asks for this information without disclosing his plans. I can see I'm being set up for a critique. In essence, the book recommends doing shorter workouts, but more interval work instead of a steady easier workload. I had already decided that this plan was for experienced Ironman triathletes that were trying to move up the competitive ranks. Me, I'm an IM rookie. I just want to get done in a reasonable time and survive this thing.

I spent Sunday working on my bike getting it ready for shipping out with TriBike Transport on Wednesday. I changed the tires, cleaned the bike, de-greased and lubed the chain and gears, and removed the carbon water bottle holders as instructed by the TriBike folks. I then went shopping for more goos and other miscellaneous supplies for the trip.

Monday morning, I take out the bike for a shakeout ride to make sure everything is in working order before removing the pedals (another TriBike requirement). The winds are again blowing at the 20 mph range. Again, a scary ride getting blown sideways by swirling winds and trying to avoid both huge patches of slippery sand and fast moving cars on their way to work. I cut the ride short at 12.5 miles. I've come too far to get in an event ending road accident in conditions that I would otherwise never ride in.

Tonight, I'll give the bike a last cleaning to get the sand from this morning's ride. Tomorrow, I take the bike to Miami to drop it at the bike shop that acts as a drop for TriBike Transport. I'll still get in a couple of easy rides on my wife's road bike, but that's it for tri-bike riding. Now, its mostly short tempo runs and 45 minute maintenance swims in the pool. I'd like one last open water swim in my wet suit, but the surf is again in "Like a Hurricane" conditions. Its supposed to be windy and a ruff surf all week long. Hopefully, it will calm by the weekend.

Say Amen Sombody!

Today, John & I rode our last century ride prior to Ironman Arizona. The out portion heading north along A1a put us into a head wind. It rained a bit on and off on the ride north, just enough to coat our bikes and drink bottles with a dirt and grit. You had to spit out the first sip of water as it came in a mixture of mud and fluids. However, the overcast skies kept it from getting hot on the outbound journey. We spotted running buddy, Jen Jones out for her morning run as we passed through Boyton Beach.

We received our dividend of wind assistance on the ride home. It got a little hot as the morning progressed towards the noon hour. John had kept talking about doing a 30 minute run at the end of the ride, but by the time we were in Boca Raton about mile 80 it was getting a bit too toasty. I told John the run was out for me. I had done a 5K treadmill run after our last century 10 days earlier and felt no need to prove that I can run after a century ride.

After stopping at my house, John changed into running shoes and took off for his run. I hosed and cleaned my bike. When I finish, John had yet to return. As a good training buddy, I hosed and cleaned his bike also. He returned the favor by springing for lunch. As he said, I now know what my cleaning services are worth.

With this ride, our very long workouts for IMAZ are done. Completed. In the books. Fini. We had mapped out and have now completed two 20 mile training runs, three century rides, and two 2.5 mile swims. Of course, there were numerous other workouts leading up to and interspersed with these longer workouts. We will do an Olympic bike/run brick this Saturday, then cut way back for the last 2 weeks of taper before the event. All I can say is "Say Amen Somebody!" We have climbed the mountain of workouts and are at the summit of Mount Workout-More. We can now coast downhill to the promised land: Tempe, Arizona.

Life's Like a Box of Chocolates

"For no particular reason I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going." Forrest Gump

When John first mentioned the idea of running the Halloween Half Marathon on Miami Beach and add a 7 mile run to it, I thought he was a bit off his chum. I've heard of people trying to do a run after a race to get their weekend long run up to a particular mile mark, but always heard that it didn't work out well. Usually this is due to the person running the extra miles after a race run at race speed. John's running friend Deb, whom he met at the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia was running it and John decided running the race would be a great way to knock out our planned 20 miler. Since the weather looked to be warm as the morning wore on, I convinced John to run the extra 7 miles before the half marathon instead of afterward.

Deb is originally from Australia, but now lives in Fort Lauderdale with her Mid-Western husband Mark, a really great and friendly guy, and her two young blond hairs boys who kept us in stitches with their post-race antics. Mark and the boys were heading down at a reasonable hour later in the morning, so I picked up John & Deb at John's condo complex for the ride down to Miami Beach. At around 79th Street the traffic was funneled down to one lane and finally diverted off of I-95 completely, dumping us into what we all knew was a not so nice neighborhood. As we passed a couple of "working women" at about 5 AM, Deb starts to tell us about an incident she had where she got lost in a not so nice section of Fort Lauderdale looking for some governmental office. Deb tells us that as she rolled down her window to ask for directions some women advised her to "buy her stuff from them, because the guys will rip you off." I tell an off color joke I'd heard the night before on Comedy Central about a guy trying to get beads tossed at him from a float during Mardi Gras. The whole thing had a sort of whistling through the graveyard feel to it. Tell jokes as you ride through a neighborhood you wouldn't voluntarily drive through and maybe all will go well.

We clear the bad neighborhood and turn onto US-1 heading south. We finally get to Parrot Jungle, a tourist attraction that is the sight of the race start. After Port-O-Potty stops, John and I leave Deb to do our 7 mile pre-race run. We follow the race course along MacArthur Causeway past the cruise ships coming and going from their week touring the Caribbean. Its still dark with a cool breeze coming off the water. On the return run, I start in on a bad Arnold Schwarzenegger impression to avoid hearing further lecturing on pacing from John "the Governator." John keeps us on about a 9 minute pace that he figures is what we should not go faster than to complete the whole 20 miles.

We make it back to the start area about 2 minutes before the start of the half marathon. Almost all 800 participants are in closed off and gated corrals. I suggest we go to the back of the pack and work out way up to the appropriate pace area during the race. However, Deb waves to us from near the front of the starting line. As I jog towards the back John says, "No, let's go hop the barrier and get in with Deb. She said she would run at our 9 minute pace." I knew that Deb was a pretty good runner and that this would be a bit of a slow pace for her if she was racing the half marathon, but assumed John and Deb must have discussed and agreed upon her running our pace. So, back we jog to near the front of the crowd and squeeze in from the front past the first five lines of runners. You know these people, predominantly guys, that are planning to run so fast that they go shirtless because they are going to get so hot running at such fast speeds (and besides they've got their 6-pack abs and this is the only way they can show them off without looking like they are showing off their 6-pack abs).

I turn to John & Deb and say, "We are going to get run over." I just ran 7 miles and hadn't planned to have to bolt off the front with the fast boys and girls. Oh, well, I figure, we're going to pace out together. We'll let the fast runners go around us and find our proper pacing place within the first mile. As the race starts, I go off at the pace of those around me. Too fast. I look around and neither John nor Deb are with me. I have gone out too fast due to lining up with the fast runners. Oh well, stupid is as stupid does. I slow a bit and find Deb. John is no where in sight.

As we run the first couple of miles together, I mention that I'd better pace back to John in order to avoid a lecture. I fall back at the first water station. When John catches up, I am not so lucky as to avoid the "proper pacing" lecture. John starts telling me some lame recycled story he picked up at a business meeting about personal responsibility...blah, blah, blah. It kind of sounded like one of those lectures high school gym teachers tell guys about practicing safe sex. If I'd known I'd be in for this treatment, I'd have stayed up with a better looking and more friendly Deb. As John carries on, all I could think about was the various ways you can eat shrimp. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There is shrimp-kabob, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That's about it.

After John's lecture, we settle into a steady 9 minute pace and start appreciating the costumed runners in our area. Some people really got into the Halloween theme with some great costumes. One guy ran with a diaper and pacifier; probably a good way to avoid any Port-O-Potty stops, I guess. There were a lot of women dressed up as Wonder Woman. My feeling is that all women endurance athletes are Wonder Woman. There were also a couple of guys dressed up in various stages of Forrest Gump during his running phase. More on that in a bit.

I've always endorsed the Miami Half Marathon and Marathon as the most beautiful runs in the state of Florida at those distances. Well, the Halloween Half just one upped the Miami Half. While it pretty much matches the Miami Half route, it makes the Miami Beach portion even more pictureque by going completely along the ocean front the entire route. The middle miles end up on a boardwalk along the beach with beautiful views of the beach and ocean. Additionally, the boardwalk has a little more give to it over the road making it feel a little like a trail run. Finally, the out and back aspect of the beach part of the run gives you a chance to see the race leaders and your friends. John and I see Deb as she is doubling back. We shout encouragement and exchange high fives.

For most of the run, John is pacing just behind me such that I can't tell whether he is holding steady or falling off my pace. However, having promised to not run faster than an 8:55 pace, I keep self correcting and slowing a bit. "We are training for the ironman, not racing a half marathon," I keep repeating to myself. At about mile 10, my hips and pelvis start to bother me. This is the one residual I notice that is left over from my bike accident back in early September. This give me some concern about how I'll feel at the 26.2 mile distance. However, I figure there is not much I can do about it. My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." I decide its best to slow a bit and take my pace back to 9:20s. As John passes me, I tell him to go ahead. John pulls away still keeping the steady 9's.

As John starts to approach the finish line, he realizes that he's about to get passed by a guy dressed as Forrest Gump. The guy has the full beard and wild hair of Forrest Gump at the end of his running with the group of running disciples. As he passes Deb and her family, he shouts out, "I'm getting beat by Forrest Gump." Then shouts, "No I'm not." He starts a final kick, which only causes Forrest to start a finish kick. They end up crossing at the same time. I come in about a minute later.

That evening, John looks up his results and can't find his time listed. It turns out Deb came in second in her age group. John stumbles across the "Fastest Funny Costume - Men" division and tries to find Forrest Gump. Instead he finds his time listed. He queries by e-mail to Deb and me, "Did I look that funny? Go figure." My response was that I think they had him down as "Person in crowd running with Forrest Gump."

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that.

Contrast

Training buddy John is a member of the Lauderdale Yacht Club. The club has a pool with swim lanes. Its not an Olympic sized pool, but it works for our evening swims. Last evening we had a swim/run brick planned. The pool is in the back of the yacht club which has a bar, food service area, and tables for outdoor seating. As I approach the pool area, I notice that the club is having one of its evening socials. Couples in casual outdoor evening attire are mingling around with drinks in hand, taking offered hors d'oeuvres from waitstaff, and listening to a steel drum reggae band. The crowd has that relaxed look of people that have a drink or two in them and are really enjoying a party. Not New Year's Eve fun, mind you, but a casual mixer type of fun.

I find a table out of the way near the kiddie pool so as not to have my towel, running shoes and car keys get in the way. John is running late as usual, so I get ready, dive in the pool and start my laps. Its a bit of a weird feeling doing your swim workout in the midst of a party. I feel somewhat on display and yet apart from what's going on around me. There is the usual guy who drifts off from the party to have a lengthy personal cell phone conversation. He distractedly walks around the perimeter of the pool as he ignores the party and focuses on his conversation. I can't figure out if he's been dragged to this event by his spouse and is using the call as a party avoidance technique, or if the conversation is actually important. I try to ignore this guy pacing around me and focus on my laps.

John shows up, apologizing for his late arrival. We agree to make the swim a 45 minute swim and to 4 miles afterward. I have a 15 minute lead on him in the pool. Thus, after my 45 minutes of swimming are up, I have a 15 minute wait for Johnny come lately. I shower, dry off and put on my running shoes. I am off to the side of the party, but have nothing better to do than people watch. The crowd is now deeper into their cups and are having a very nice social evening. Then it hits me: but for this ironman training, that would be me at a social gathering enjoying a glass or two of wine on a Wednesday evening.

John and I have discussed how knowing you have a long run or ride the next morning has kept us from accepting a lot of invitations to go out, have a drink or two, or three, and stay out late. No, training for an ironman causes you to think more and more about what you will put in your body, whether wine, a harder drink, or that ever tempting, but not helpful, desert. My weight is down in spite of my increases appetite and calorie consumption. It feels great coming out of the pool, chest a little pumped up from the swim. John & I are probably in the best shape of our lives.

From my vantage point, mid-workout, just outside the party, these party goers look soft. They most likely could not run a half marathon or swim a mile. But they do look like they are having a very good time. I am a bit disdainful and envious of these party goers at the same time. I guess I deserve having other people's good times thrown in my face for doing a swim workout at a yacht club. I vow to continue my Spartan existence until the AZIM. There will be no backsliding at this point. However, once I cross that finish line, I will be imbibing in a drink or two; that is, if I'm not imbibing IV fluids.

The Impossible Seems Possible

Three weekends ago, in the midst of Florida's record breaking fall heat wave, my long workouts were killers. I had to cut short my intended 15 mile long run to a 12 miler. My century ride was shortened to a 94 mile ride at the end of which I was risking heat exhaustion and suffered cramping. I had to cut my long open water swim at 1.5 miles do to simply being tired. From that vantage point, the ironman distance looked impossible. I figured I would be able to complete the swim and probably finish the bike portion of the ironman, but I couldn't fathom getting off of a 112 mile ride and running a marathon. I vowed to myself that I would continue training and give the Arizona Ironman a go, but frankly, completing the event seemed impossible.

I kept at the training. Then, last weekend a cold front finally, God blessedly, moved into Florida. The temperatures dropped out of the high 80s and low 90s, down to the 50s. I got a 22 mile long run in last Saturday. I did a long pool swim on Friday morning that buddy John calculated to be a 2.5 mile swim. Yesterday, John & I did very smart steady paced century ride that left me feeling so good that I was able to top it off with a 5K run to make it a brick. This morning, I went to the ocean and did a 2 hour open water swim and ran back the 2.5 miles along the sand.

Suddenly, what previously seemed impossible, seems possible. I felt good enough last Saturday that I felt I could have run a full marathon that day. I felt good enough on the ride yesterday that I believe I could have continued the ride to compete a 112 bike ride. I felt good enough coming off the bike yesterday that I believe I could have run a marathon if it had been the day of the event. From my last 2 swims, I know I can complete the swim portion of the ironman. I'm suddenly coming to the belief and understanding that I will be able to string all of these events together on one day. It will take very smart nutrition and effort management, but I know believe it can be done.

My body has made the adjustments and is ready to do the ironman. I still have a long run and long ride to complete, but my body has made the adjustment. My training is at the peak of the training hill. The next couple of weeks are coasting at the this peak before easing off in taper and resting the body for the event day. This is good, because I now am ready for the final level of training: mental training. Belief is the first step in being able to complete. I now believe this thing is realistically doable. Its clearly possible. Now, I simply need to start thinking about my game day nutrition and strategies. Its time to plan to make the possible a reality.

Do You Feel Like I Do?

Do you feel....like I do? Do you feel.... like I do? Do You Feel Like We Do - Peter Frampton

Way, way back in 1976, Frampton Comes Alive was released. I was a junior in high school and "Do You Feel Like We Do" was the hit single off the album. The first 2 short verses of the song were kind of irrelevant to the jazz like extended jam. In the later part of the song, Peter Frampton first hushes the live audience, then brings it to a cheering frenzy with his call and response of "Do You Feel Like We Do?" during an extended "talkbox" solo, an effects pedal which redirects a guitar's sound through a tube into the performer's mouth, allowing the guitar to mimic human speech. It was a marathon of a song, clocking in at about 14 minutes. Not what you would consider radio friendly. Thus, for the first month or so of the album's release, you would listen to this cool, jazzy song on your home stereo and really enjoy this extended jam. People heard about it through word of mouth and the album became a huge seller.

Unfortunately, the song and album got so popular that pop radio couldn't leave it alone. Soon you couldn't drive in your car with the radio on without the song coming up in quick rotation. Like many popular things in our culture, the more popular something becomes, the quicker commercial interests will force it down our throats so often that we want to throw up. Too much of a good thing. What had been cool and cutting edge very quickly became hackneyed and uncool through overexposure. "Do You Feel Like We Do" became the poster child for this phenomena. "Do You Feel Like We Do" would come on the radio and my automatic response was to change the station. Fast! I'd come to resent a song I used to love. To this day, my conditioned response to this song is revulsion.

Other than showing how F-ing old I am, why do I bring this up? Because at some point in training for a full ironman event, the sheer volumn of training starts to wear on you. While you have to enjoy training to do a half or full ironman, at some point the long swim, long bike ride, and long run start getting old. I've noticed this phenomena in other triathlon bloggers. Luckily, the sense of "this shit is getting old" seems to kick in just before taper time. It may be the body's and mind's way of telling you that its OK to cut back. It may be the mind's way of letting you know that you'll want to rest up a bit before the big event. Either that or the mind simply gets tired of routine.

These thoughts entered my mind last evening while doing an hour pool swim solo. If you've read my prior blog entries, you probably know that I prefer open water swimming to pool swims. The up and back of a pool just gets monotonous for me. I like seeing the shore go by on a long swim. It makes me feel like I'm making progress. I guess I'd say the same thing about running and biking. I'll use a treadmill to run if its just too hot or too wet to run outside. I simply can not get myself to ride on a trainer. I tried it for a while, but just can't bring myself to use one. My mind needs the changing scenery to keep it interesting.

In any event, I have no doubt that I'll get through these last couple of weeks of long training before tapering down to race day. I also know that after some time off post event, I will come to love the training again. In fact, I somehow have "Do You Feel Like We Do" on my iPod. I play my music in random play mode to keep things interesting. This morning, "Do You Feel Like We Do" cued up on the iPod. I almost hit the skip button on my car music system, but resisted the automatic urge to not listen to this song. After 33 years of not listening to this song, it actually sounded pretty good again. Hopefully, it will not take that long to get back into training after Arizona.

So, I must ask in closing, do you feel like I do?

Going Back to Gainesville

Yes, I'm Goin' Down to Florida, Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day. Well I'm Goin' Down In Florida, Where The Sun Shines Damn Near Every Day. Yeah, I'll Take My Woman Out On The Beach, And Sit Down On The Sand And Play.

Yeah, I Think I'll Go Down Gainesville, Just To See An Old Friend Of Mine. Well, I Believe I'll Cut Down to Gainesville, Just To See An' Old Buddy Of Mine. Well, You Know If We're Not Too Busy, I Believe We'll Drop Over to Newberry Sometime. Deep Down In Florida - Muddy Waters

Well, for me it was more "Going Up to Gainesville," but I have to quot Muddy Waters accurately. In any event, this past weekend was Homecoming at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. With my son John a Freshman at UF and a trombone player in the "Pride of the Sunshine State" (the Florida Gator Marching Band), Salome & I decided to take young son Alex and go visit some an old buddy of mine. My buddy Jeff Dollinger, who I attended both undergraduate and law school with, had returned to Gainesville after a couple of years in Fort Lauderdale and had lived deep down in Florida ever since. If its at all possible to imagine, Gainesville is philosophically "Deep Down in Florida," while South Florida is more northern, at least in feel. Gainesville has more in common with Southern Georgia than South Florida. Spanish moss, smaller town feel; yes, Gainesville is the South. Its also a great college town.

Prior to leaving for the five hour drive north from Ft. Lauderdale, I was able to get in a 1.5 mile swim on Thursday morning. I had my doubts as to whether I'd get that swim in last week. The open water had been rough all week. I had contingency plans to do a 25 mile ride, but when I woke up Thursday morning and looked out my window at the inter-coastal waterway, I knew the water was calling. It was finally calm enough to swim with the fishes. While I did get a pool swim in earlier in the week, there is nothing like a long open water swim. I love getting into a rhythm undisturbed by turns required in a pool. Thus, I headed north feeling like my workouts were once again in balance.

We got into Gainesville pretty late, so it was off to my Aunt's house and off to bed. Friday morning, I had breakfast with Salome & Alex, before running 3 miles through downtown, past the University and out the law school to meet Jeff and his son Brian. Brian is a senior in high school and was going to race the Gator Gallop, a 2 mile run that starts off the homecoming parade. I ran it easy with Jeff who hadn't run regularly in a couple of years. He had switched over to swimming as his main exercise, but agreed to run with the Gallop. It's primarily a true "fun run." We treated it as such. All in all, I got in 5 easy miles between the 2 runs. After the run, I worked my way back to the parade route to meet up with Salome & Alex in front of John's fraternity house, Delta Upsilon. Another good buddy of ours, John Neukamm, a former DU President, was also in front of the house watching the parade.

That night, it was off to Gator Growl, billed as the largest pep rally in the country. Growl is largely student skits, introduction of the senior class of the football team, followed by a comedian and some music. The comedian this year was Dana Carvey, who was pretty good. The music was by O.A.R., also pretty good. However, young Alex got tired and we left before O.A.R. finished playing. We picked up older son John and went out to eat at "The Original Pizza Place."

Saturday was all about the football game between the Gators and the Arkansas Razorbacks. We met up with son John and the band and marched with them to the stadium. Jeff had set us up with great seats 16 rows up in the northwestern corner of the end-zone. We could watch Tim Tebow warm up with his receivers, and were surrounded by a charged up crowd. You could probably say that about the whole stadium. "The Swamp" gets loud and is a twelfth man on defense. If you saw the game, you know it was a nail biter. The Gators keep losing the ball in the first half and went into half-time trailing for the first time this year. It was a back and forth second half, with the Gators breaking a tie by a field goal with seconds left on the clock. We all went nuts cheering and singing the Alma Mater at game's end. Afterward, we marched back out of the stadium with the band back to their start area, where they played some more. We again met up with John for anther dinner together as a family.

A cold front had moved in the area during the day Saturday, but it wasn't too cold; however, overnight the temperatures dropped into the low 50s. Ah, yes, the cold front I'd been dreaming of had finally arrived in full. The record breaking heat wave of the last couple of weeks was finally broken. Buddy Jeff had given me directions to a "Rails to Trails" course about a mile west of where we were staying. I found the trail, but went in the opposite direction from what Jeff had intended I take. No matter. The temperatures we ideal for a long run and I had a 20 miler on the schedule. It was sweet. However, I was in unfamiliar territory, so that the end of the run that I planned to run through the UF campus ended up extending my run to a 22 and 1/4 mile run. It was OK by me. I figured I was running in temperatures about 35 degrees cooler than my previous runs and I was going to take advantage of the conditions. The conditions were so runner friendly, I probably could have run a complete marathon. Meanwhile, up in NYC, training buddy John ran his 20 miler in Central Park with temperature in the 30s. Perhaps a little too cold, but he got it done.

So, we are down to a century ride this weekend and our "13.1 + 7 = 20" race in South Beach on Halloween morning. After that, it's time to start the taper down to 11/22/09 go time. Plenty left to do, particularly in the swim department. At least for me. I'd like to get some long swims in with the full wet suit on. It's been too warm in the water to do that prior to now. Hopefully, the cool weather will continue for a while.

Finally, I attach a picture of the new ride. This is for Jen, who has repeatedly requested that I do my civic duty and post a picture. Perhaps she will want a closer look and join in for the northern portion of our century ride this Saturday.