KONA 2008!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im going to THE IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS! Finally I can say that. Im still unbelievably behind on everything.. and its taking me forever to catch up on things. I just wanted to give a little update and let everyone know im going to KONA! Thanks for all the support!

_Jacob_

Last post from Texas....

So many emotions right now. I called in to work tonight. There is no way I could have worked. I can barely focus enought right now to pack. I cant believe I actually made lists and stuck to them. Its weird right now. Im no longer nervous like I was this past week. That nervousness has quickly turned into anxiety. Im ready, or.. Im as ready as I'm ever going to get for this race. What happens in Arizona next Sunday happens. Im ready to race my race and go for it. All im trying to do right now is just stay relaxed. Not spend too much energy worrying about things I cant change. School tommorow is going to be a joke. I might as well take headphones and jam to sound good music while I daydream about running a 3:30 marathon in the Arizona sun. Never have I been this excited to run a marathon. Last year it was total fear. While this year its the exact same thing... Im anxious. Anxious to see what I can do. I'm not going to try to hide my intentions.. My goals.. My aspirations. Too many people make predictions... They actually SAY what they're going to race. I have NO idea what I'm going to race... but I do know what im going to try for. And thats SUB 10. No hiding it here. I want a sub 1hr swim. Sub 5:20 bike. Sub 3:30 mary w/ Sub 5min transitions. There it is. When I hit that marathon course its sub 8min miles... and if I bonk or blow up then SO BE IT. When I race, I race. Its been over 6 months since ive actually been able to race on my bike. Last weekend at LoneStar that wasnt a race. Just another training ride. Im thirsty to race. Im thirsty for the pain...

If you've read my training log a lot of these feelings are shown there. What I do what do is just mention how thankful I am for all my friends and family supporting me so much. This last week can totally be stressful, but thanks to my friends and family I dont think its going to be too bad. I know good and well I dont talk about my LBS, B&B bicycles enough. I was in there today, getting all the final preparations done w/ the bike. Without that bike shop I wouldnt have half the equipment I have... and I probably wouldnt be the athlete I am today.

Enough jibber jabber. I'm going to double check my checklist and attempt to sleep.

Next post.

From Arizona.

_Jacob_

Race pics from Lone Star

Hey hey,

They finally got the pics up from Lone Start last weekend. Check out the new tri-suit and the new helmet! Love both of them. Gotta get back to work, but ill update again before I leave Tuesday.

_Jacob_

9 days...

Heres a little something I wrote in my training log. Just wanted to share it with everyone...

2352...

I feel good. Day off. I feel relaxed and focused. A few days of work in a row here and then tues I have class 8-2 and then I leave that night. Im not even sure why im going to class right now... All I do the whole time is run the race through my head. The swim.. T1.. the bike... T2... and the marathon. I attempt to imagine the pain... I attempt to imagine pushing through barriers I havent pushed through yet.. and I attempt to imagine the joy of pushing through those barriers when I do. I feel good.

LoneStar weekend in Galveston...

Good weekend down in Galveston. I raced the Quarter Iron which is something like ~1000y swim, 28M bike, 6.5 mile run. Paces were 22.75 on the bike and I believe 7:34/m on the run. The idea was to go pretty hard in the swim, and then IM race pace the rest of the race. Well the swim was great. Ended up 16th overall, by far the highlight of the day. I got on the bike and thought I had a tailwind, so I was pushing pretty good. Hit the turnaround expecting a headwind and bam.. no headwind.. So I continued close to the same pace, just a bit slower. At first it was REALLY difficult to let so many people pass me on the bike, but after a while it wasnt too bad, and I just thought about IMAZ. Came off the bike and got into the run. Felt excellent on the run. Long story short I think the mile markers were off, so my miles are REALLY sparatic. Toughest part about the run was letting myself get passed by 8 (yes i counted) 8 guys in my age group... But, I just bit down and thought about IMAZ. I thought about how bad I want KONA, and that this dinky little race isnt worth it. Finished the run TOTALLY relaxed and felt like I had just started. Was a good race in the sense that I got to race the bike in full IM race gear. I got to run in the tri-suit and I got to swim w/ my QR wetsuit. So all in all a very good training day. Wish id let off a bit on the bike but hey, I felt good and the conditions were ideal for those speeds.

Well, the reality is really starting to sink in. Im working the next 5 of 6 nights and then im off. Whatever I need to get done before I leave needs to happen now! Ill be dropping the bike off at the LBS tommorow for its needed TLC and the trisuit will be dropped off to get my LBS logos on there. Without B&B Bicycles I have no idea where I would be in the triathlon world.. definitly not where I am now. So thanks to Beth and everyone there. You guys are the best!

They havent posted any photos of the race yet so ill post them when they're up. I also am working on my Race Report for Galveston, So ill post that link as well when Im done. For now, here are some photos that friends took from this weekend! Enjoy :)

_Jacob_