B and I have been around a lot of the town -- on campus of UoW a couple times, once to run on the track for a workout, again today to scope out the big hill on the run course (not big, really, but lets see how I feel about that when I hit it on mile 5 and again on mile 18). Swam in the lake yesterday, and will again tomorrow; the water temp is pleasant - not too cold, but cold enough that the wetsuits are probably a good idea.
Sadly, I still haven't managed to get to the UoW dairy, where they have (I am told) excellent ice cream. Maybe tomorrow!
Mostly I'm still feeling good and up about the race. Today, B and I rode the 42 mile lollipop of the course; a nice easy ride, 2 hours and 25 minutes. I can certainly go faster than that on Sunday, and the question is how much faster -- I think I want to go about that same speed through the really hilly back 12 miles, and 2 or 3 mph faster on the flatter sections. Say 2:20 net. Thats 4:40, with 26 miles for the "stick" of the lollipop. Six hours and a few minutes no longer seems completely ridiculous, even to B. A lot will depend on the wind and weather -- 30% chance of rain on Sunday . . . So, despite my best efforts not to attach any importance to the time of the bike leg, and just go on effort, I find myself looking for a number. Bad Athlete! Bad!
Oh, and B taught me how to play Pitch. A very silly card game; but hey -- we didn't remember to bring a copy of ticket to ride, and we've played a bunch of cribbage already. If we had pinochle cards we'd play some of that -- maybe we can pick some up tomorrow. I'm quite glad that we came out early; while I miss my family a tonne, and there's work that isn't getting done as quickly as I want (tho some research has happened each day, just not a good solid 3 hours), I feel like this event is a big deal, and I really want to get the most out of it. More so than going overseas to play Diplomacy, even, where there isn't a lot I can do in advance to prepare, and my results depend so much more on other people. I'm going to be racing for 11 hours on Sunday, having trained for that day for 9 months. Thats a lot of investment for a narrow window of opportunity. Sure, if I ever do another Ironman, I don't expect I'll take a week to chill before the event -- well, if its IM Australia, or Nice, I probably will, heh. But not for one in the states/ Canada. But this time, I'm calling it worthwhile.
B notes that this blog should have more pictures, and since he's the one with the fancy computer/camera, starting tomorrow we will have more pictures. In the meantime, here's a link you can follow to check out the various elevation profiles of the different IM bike courses -- I particularly like putting IM Wisconsin up against the one in Florida. There is a reason this course is called the most challenging one in America!
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