This is probably going to be my biggest off season project summer project. Between fixing my swimming and trying to improve my hot weather performance, this is where I can realize the biggest gains in performance. I believe that my inability to properly hydrate during races is costing me around 30 – 40 minutes when the heat soars. I don’t expect to run a 1:50 half marathon when the heat is 80+° F but I also should be doing better than 2:30 – 2:40.
Monthly Archives: July 2019
Melanie and I wanted a trip with just us and our little banana before we have #2 in September. After going around on flying somewhere we actually decided to keep it somewhat close and went to a resort called The Grand Hotel in Point Clear, AL. Originally we were going to go at the end of the month but scheduling made us change to this past weekend. Well, that worked out since there was a hurricane that ended up rolling into Louisiana to the west of New Orleans and there was massive flooding predicted. Naturally, it barely rained in New Orleans and instead we had a monsoon on Saturday in Point Clear.
I was pretty intrigued by the latest Garmin watches and was planning to buy one to replace my aging Fenix 3 one day. Key phrase there – one day. My Fenix 3 was doing just fine and given I had just hit the end of my race season so I was in no rush to even consider a new watch. I’m just coming up on 3 years with the Fenix 3 and was hoping to get one more full race season out of it. The Fenix 3 had other plans. When I got to Navarre Beach last weekend, I powered it on for the first time since Steelhead (which had been only a few days previous) and was greeted by a flickering mess.
I head to Navarre Beach once or twice a year to enjoy a quiet beach town with almost nothing to do except relax on the beach. But can you get some good training in here too? You bet! Navarre is about 15 miles away from Pensacola City Beach, a much more popular tourist spot, and in between the two is nothing but sand dunes. If your family (or you) like the beach, this is a great place to come for everyone to get a little bit of something they want.
This year was a year of doing some completely new 70.3 races than I have in the past. I still need to do a race report for Texas 70.3 but since Steelhead is fresh on my mind, I’ll start here! This race takes place in Benton Harbor, MI and the swim is in Lake Michigan. I picked this one due to a great convergence of schedule and course. I love lake swims, the bike is gently rolling and the location made me hope that the weather on the run would be pleasant. Well, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad I …