too much stimulation!

This weekend was prehaps the greatest weekend of sports (at least that I care about) this year. I am sure i am forgetting something: Paris-Roubaix(cycling), Short Course World Champs (swimming), Flora London Marathon (running), Ishigaki World Cup (triathlon), and 2 Ironmans (triathlon). Sunday AM I was jumping all over the place looking up results. First off, Ryan Hall, a white American born and bred in Cali ran 2:06:17 for 5th in the overall fastest and deepest marathon field ever! Just in case you were wondering, 3:00/Kilometer pace is 2:06:35. That is absolutely sick! It is also his third marathon, he is like 26, and they went out well under World Record pace (1:02 and change). Beijing medals here we come. He is the future of American distance running.

Next up, Ishigaki WC. Simon Whitfield, one of my favorite guys in the sport rolled out again for WC win number 11! His training group have been lighting it on fire so far this year. Simon is a consumate professional and I have loads of respect for the guy. Also has an awesome blog ( only about 3000 times better than this blog)
And lastly, my homeboy TJ Tollakson got second in a brutal Ironman Arizona. He raced on the front for 8:30 hours only to get out-sprinted by 18 seconds, the toughest way to lose. Actually the top FOUR athletes were within about 1 min of each other. That is not a fun way to end a 8+ hour race . TJ, you will get that win soon!

And on to my own training. The last two weeks have been really solid training. I brought the hours down quite a bit, but the intensity went through the roof! I am going in to a block where I will be racing 8 races in 9 weeks on three continents. First off is Mazatlan ITU this Saturday then straight off to Tongyeong Korea for my first ITU World Cup.

3/31-4/6
swim: 21,600 yds
Bike: 7.25 hours w/ crazy hard group ride and one solid Steady state day on TT bike
run: 45 miles w/ 3 key wkouts: 1)track session 15x400 on 2:00 as 2 race pace/1 fast. For me, I ripped it ave. 73 on the first 2 400's and 69's on the fast one. Also did a progressive tempo on the tready (30min), and a hard fartlek 4x(3,2,1 fast w/ 2 min recov). Really solid wkouts for me.
hrs:18

4/7-4/13
swim:26,000 long course meters!
bike: 6 hrs w/ 8x2min all out on trainer, and one hard group ride
run:48 miles This week again three "fast" sessions w/Tracky session 6x1k w/ 90 ave 3:07, super short and sprinty fartlek workout, and one progrssive tempo (24min) desc by 8 min. Felt great, and am ready to race!!!!
hrs: 20.5

Well the training is done and in the bank. Now it is time to race. I am actually itching to race, rather than the usual first-race hesitancy. I think it is going to be a great year. Thanks for reading!

cheers,
Barrett