37 degrees, rain/snow. That is the current scenario here in Boulder. The last two fall seasons in Boulder were certainly more ideal for training, but I’m not surprised this fall is not. Boulder did not experience its typical summer. Normally BoCO gets a serious warm spell in July and August, but it was temperate this year. I was not complaining at the time, but its led to a cooler-than-usual fall. The average high temperature for Oct is in the 60s, but I bet there have only been 5 days or so that got that warm this month.

Working around the weather has definitely forced some different training ideas to come about. I’m not much for riding the trainer, but I have had little choice in the matter. I have come to embrace the trainer, but I still have a hard time being on it for more than 75-90 minuntes at a time. I’m better off doing multiple sessions in a day or doing bike/run/bike/run/bike/run combos which have been introduced in the last few weeks as well.

At any rate, I am almost within ten days of the race so the weather is beginning to become less relevant. I’m looking forward to getting a little Florida sunshine in 13 days.

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Texas A&M actually beat Texas Tech IN Lubbock last night. Its the first time that has happened since 1993 and its only the second win in the last 11 years regardless of locale. The team bounced back nicely after what seemed to be one of the worst losses in tamu history last week. Its hard to know what team you are going to get in the future weeks.: The team that got absolutely slaughtered in Manhattan, Kansas or the team that got it together in Lubbock last night.

At any rate, it was nice to see them win.

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I never mentioned it, but I went to Chicago two weekends ago to watch the marathon. A friend of mine was racing the event and I made the trip to see him race. The runners had really nice marathon weather; quite cool with no wind. It might have been a little better if it were 5-10 degrees warmer, but overall I think the conditions were rather ideal. The men’s course record was broken by 2 seconds and the winner brought home an additional 100K bonus check for doing so.

I only got to see the elite runners in the first few Ks. I stood below the 4K banner and watched them go through in 11:38; averaging just under 2:55/K. Not too shabby.

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The next couple weeks will be the normal routine as I wrap the finishing touches for IMFL. I travel there 72 hours before the race (Wednesday) and will follow up the race with trip to Jackson, Mississippi to have dinner with the local triathlon club there. We’ll be discussing a wide range of topics related to triathlon as well as having an extensive Q+A that can last as long as the folks wish it to. If you live in Jackson and are interested in attending then drop me a note through the contact tab at the top of the page.

cheers,

j

In the spirit of constant travel, I’m off to Chicago early this afternoon. I will not be able to follow Kona online all day long which is a bit disappointing, but I’m glad to be able to leave 17 degrees and snow for 40 degrees and wind.

My friend is racing the Chicago Marathon tomorrow morning and I am going along to make sure he gets out everything he put into this event. I should be able to get a nice perspective of the city riding a mtn bike around the course on Sunday. Then its back to Boulder early on Monday to get in my final few weeks of training before Ironman Florida. Hopefully the snow will be gone when I get back, but I’ve already adjusted to completing more and more training indoors.

Good luck to everyone racing today. I wish I was with you; next year I will be.

cheers,

j

I have entered Ironman Florida and will be racing again in five weeks time. I was not expecting to be racing this late in the season, but some early season hiccups have made me decide to continue to race before 2009 comes to an end. I have raced IMFL four times (2003,05,06,07) so it feels like a hometown race for me in some respects. I look forward to returning there one more time.

j

You can read my latest Xtri article here. It is a short note about transitioning to the offseason.

cheers,

j