One Week....

Man is time just flying by. This time next week I'll be less than four hours away from starting the double iron.

Last week I wrapped up my last good weekend of training. I worked Friday night (got off at 6AM), met up with a few friends in Plano and got a great four hour ride in. I had been up since 3PM the previous day so I was good and tired, but regardless I still felt a lot better than I expected! After the ride (got 75 miles in) I headed home to get a quick 5 hour nap in before getting up that night to run 20 miles.

I started the run at 8PM and finished at 11PM. The whole thing was in the dark. The run was perfect. I didn't plan on going fast, just nice and steady. Ran an even 9min pace with stops for food and drink. Afterwards I couldn't help but hop in the pool since it was a perfect ice bath!

That night I got to sleep around 12:30AM, then get up at 6:15AM so I could get another four hour ride in. I expected to be pretty smashed from the previous day and lack of sleep, but I really didn't feel too bad once I got going. The bike ride flew by and I ended up riding a little over 70 miles solo. I had to wrap the ride up NO later than 11AM so I could meet Courtney and the family for my grandmothers 80th birthday!!

We had an incredible time at Abuelos and she was unbelievably surprised to see us! We'd been planning this surprise party for about a year, so it was nice to finally pull it off! She's an incredible woman, and probably the hardest worker I know. I couldn't have asked for a better role model or caring parent growing up.

I'm also tying up a few loose ends before the double. Aaron and I are leaving on Wednesday morning of next week, so I'm getting as much done as possible this week. I finally replaced the chain and cassette on the road bike I'll be racing!

That's much better for sure!

I started "tapering" on Monday, but the workouts are still fairly intense with a lot of focus. I'm trying to think about the race while out riding or running, and thinking about how I'll feel at different points. When I ride right now, I ride like I have another 150 miles to go.

I'm taking today off in hopes of getting the actual packing part of stuff started. I've been slowly adding to my list of stuff to pack over the past month and I finally think it's about complete.

I'm going to be running my 6th Cowtown Half marathon this weekend!! This is one of the few races I've done EVERY year since I started exercising. Scott is coming into town which makes me unbelievably happy. We now have a guest room with a bathroom so he'll have his own side of the house! He's coming back from a foot surgery in hopes of finishing Boston so this is a big test for him. The plan for me is to run the half marathon around 1:40-1:45, then turn back and run till I find him, then run the rest in with him. Hopefully I'll get an easy 15 miles in.

Everything is coming together nicely for the double. I will keep everyone updated on the race as we get closer. If anyone is interested the RD told me that he'll be keeping updates online HERE.

So far this whole double experience has been incredible. I know to most it sounds a little crazy, but how many races have you done where the race director gave you his cell phone number in case you had any problems?! At Ironman you're lucky to get swim cap nowadays!

I'll check back in early next week before Aaron and I head out. Again, big shout out to Aaron for being my solo crew chief. I couldn't do this without him!

For now I leave you with an old music video on youtube I used to listen to all the time. Pretty rare remix by Ben Gibbard. Take care!

_Jacob_

15 Days...

Well, in 15 days I'll be starting my first double Iron.

I'd love to say that all the blood, sweat, tears and 30+hr training weeks are building to this one moment, but that's just not the case.

My largest training week has only been about 21-22 hours. I knew coming into this double iron that I would not be able to train the way I'm used to or the way I want to, but it's been well worth getting to marry my best friend and focus on our marriage.

I occasionally stalk other triathletes/ultra runners and often notice the same trend. Their life literally revolves around their racing schedules. It's unbelievably liberating and refreshing to not live my life that way. I hope to finish this double and prove that you can have a life, a functional family, and train for ultras. (maybe not competitively...)

I told Courtney from the day I decided to do this race that I would not let it take away from our first few months of marriage and I have REALLY worked hard to make that the case. I've squeezed every last minute of workouts in that I could without letting it affect everything else in my life.

Courtney has been absolutely unbelievable. Almost every night she makes something totally new that we've never had. I couldn't ask for a better life partner. Sacrificial love... enough said.

Here's a quick snapshot of dinner tonight! A peanut chicken dish that was DELICIOUS!

Speaking of Courtney she is heading out of town this weekend, so I'm taking full advantage of the workout time without affecting this family thing!

First off I'll be working Friday night from 7:30pm-6:15am. When I get off work I'm gonna go home, grab my bike and head to meet Brian at CK sports so we can get a four hour ride in. I'm sure it's going to be unbelievably brutal after being awake all night trying to keep up with these guys, but It's definitely going to help in the long run.

After we get done with the ride I'm gonna head home and try to get a few hours of sleep. Around 6pm I'll get up and get a 20 mile run in. I figure I'll run from around 6:45-10pm. Once the run is done, I'll stuff my face with food, get some sleep and get up the next morning around 6:30am so I can get another four hour ride in starting around 7am. This will conclude my peak weekend, and Monday the taper/recovery will begin.

It's going to be pretty brutal but it's something that needs to get done. Last weekend I tried to get a long ride in and it ended up only being 90 miles. The wind was ridiculous, the roads were COVERED in chip seal and I was 100% miserable. I did ride out to a small town called "Anna" which apparently does not allow cycling?

That's SO not cool!  CLICK HERE for an article I found on the bike ban in Anna. Before getting to Anna I also went through a small town called Selina. They were somewhat more friendly to cyclists :)

I'm leaving the route for this weekend up to Brian. I'm still discovering a lot of the roads in Plano, Allen, McKinney, etc. so it will be nice to have a guide that knows the area a bit better than I do!

Also, I have a friend who got her hands on a bottle of the VERY limited Sam Adams Infinium Ale! I somehow talked her into mailing me the bottle from Florida and it is NOW in my kitchen! I'm looking forward to opening this bad boy and giving it a go :) Review will follow!

Ok. I'm done here! Enough news for one post. I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful weather in North Texas! A high of around 80 everyday?! Can't beat that :)

_Jacob_

Hello... My name is Marcell

I really wanted to post something thought provoking and profound, but nothing I could think up was as profound as this YouTube video I found. Enjoy.



Courtney and I have been enjoying that one for a few days now. It's just not getting old!!

So, in other news double training is still in motion. I guess I'm gonna peak this weekend when I do my 7hr ride. (by peak, I mean most volume in a week) I've been riding 2hrs on the trainer EVERY day with a few 10 mile runs thrown in. Tomorrow I'm planning on running 2hrs 15mins, Saturday an easy hour on the trainer, then Sunday the 7hr ride, followed hopefully by a 20 mile run on Monday after a doctors appointment. (gotta get a physical before the double!)

I'm starting to get excited and nervous all at the same time. I'm getting worried about the little things that I just need to let go of. I'm really not looking forward to the 20 hour drive, but it's gonna be WELL worth it to have an extra bike plus PLENTY of extra gear with us.

Speaking of "us", Aaron Patel is going to be my sidekick on the awesome adventure. I am unbelievably thankful to Aaron for stepping up and committing to be my crew for this race. Having him there is gonna be the equal of four regular crew members, not to mention he's letting me borrow his clincher wheel set and letting us take his car. Aaron, I don't know how I'm gonna make this one up to you, but I'll figure something out!

I also spent a lot of time working on a 2011 race schedule last night. Well... at least the ultra mary aspect of it. I'm not planning on doing any triathlons that aren't Ironhead events. I was originally going to post that schedule, but I still need to finalize a few things with the wife before posting the details!

Alright, I've gotta get back to work. Hope you enjoyed the video :) Watch it at least twice...

_Jacob_

Shiner 102

So I've been wanting to do this for quite a while, and last night finally decided to get it started! While I don't drink a lot of beer, when I do drink beer I try to drink good beer. Over the past few years there have been a lot of beers I really enjoyed but just couldn't remember them years later when I wanted to try it again.

So everytime I try a new beer I'm going to post a "review" with at least one picture. I am by NO means a proffessional on reviewing any food or drink, so hang with me and just take what I say with a grain of salt!

With no further adeu, here is my first beer review, Shiner 102.

Here's a direct quote from the back of the bottle:

“Here at the little brewery in Shiner, TX, we are happy to serve up our latest anniversary brew, Shiner 102. With a special recipe that sits between a bright wheat and a wheat wine, this smooth, filtered, double wheat pours a pale straw color with hints of sweetness. The aromatic Czech Saaz and Washington Golding hops along with the crisp character of malted wheat are sure to refresh your senses.”

 To be honest here, when I first tasted this beer I had a hard time telling the difference between the Shiner 102 and Shiner Blonde. When I read double wheat I expected it to be a little "wheatier" than it tastes. Regardless it's unbelievably smooth and isn't bitter at all. Unfortunately I think it would be more appropriate to drink when it's 105 outside in the middle of a Texas summer! Can't wait to try this one again in August.

I give this one 4 outta 5. I'll update it the more I try :)

_Jacob_

Double Iron Training VS. Ice Storm 2011

What an unbelievable past month or so!! Since my last post I've gotten MARRIED to the most incredible person ever. We had our wedding on January 8th, in downtown Dallas at First Baptist Dallas, then had an incredible reception at the Crescent Hotel just across the highway. I'll get a few pics up ASAP :)

After the wedding, the next morning we caught a 9am flight to Ft. Lauderdale for a 7 night Celebrity Cruise to Puerto Rico, St. Maarten and St. Thomas. We had an absolutely incredible time. We both said that we would never ever cruise, but after doing the research, I quickly realized it was the best bang for the buck and required the least amount of thinking once on board. We both wanted something relaxing, and this cruise was exactly that!

Let me tell you cruises are exactly what you make them, but there are a few things that you need to know before cruising! ALL YOU DO, is EAT, SLEEP, and .... well, whatever else you'd like to do ;) I'm fairly certain I gained about 8-10lbs. I tried to work out a bit, but it was pretty hopeless. I took it as a great, relaxing, recovery week.

Now, on to the fun stuff. My double iron is in just over a month. (32 days?) As most everyone knows I've been taking the "Less is more" approach the past few years. I haven't written any type of training plan in over 2 years. I just wake up and do the workout I feel like doing.... or whatever workout my body and time will allow!

I know good and well I don't have the time to train properly for a double Iron so I'm just doing the best I can :) I'm not too concerned about my run. I've already run over 27 miles twice this year. January 1st I ran my own marathon around Plano, then three weeks later ran the same course around Plano again. Both felt good. Back in early January I also swim 6,500 yards for the first time. That also felt pretty good and gave me more confidence that I could easily finish the 4.8 mile swim in under 2:30. Yesterday I found out that my local pool was open so I headed down there to get in a 7,050 yard swim in 2:00:19 which ended up being a 1:43/100yrd pace. 10 seconds per 100 yards faster than my 6,500yrd swim and I actually felt much better.

My bike is a whole different story. I haven't even come close to the 12 hour mark on the bike. The biggest volume I've put in bike was was 17 hours in 7 days. This weekend I did one four hour day, followed by another three hour day. To people actually "racing" the double (whatever that means), this may seem alarming, but I'm confident I'll be able to finish sub 36 hours which is the goal after all.

Here's a vid of my four hour trainer session in the garage!



Last but not least, this weather has been insane. Last Saturday the high was around 75 degrees and two days later we were in the middle of a sleet thunderstorm with the windchill below ZERO! I'm going to try and get some running in this weekend, but with all the ice outside I'm not taking any unnecessary risks! Here's a quick pick of the parking lot at the place I swim:

 

I hope everyone is staying warm out there! I've gotta go hop on the trainer and get some more hours in!! :)

_Jacob_