Less than 3 weeks till Kona!

It's Almost Time:
Well, we are finally getting close to the big day!  I sit here and type realizing I am just 17 dyas from the big race.  The entire family is leaving on Monday, October 2nd and head out to the Big Island . So that is only 11 days out.  I found out last week that my brother Mike is going to fly in from Las Vegas to come see the race and support me.  It is going to be very cool having my big bro there in Kona to kick me in the ass when I am ready to give up! Mike has been very supportive this entire time as I will be sporting his hotel logo  Monte Carlo- Las Vegas on my race suit during the big race. Also, my good buddy Dr. Jeff Eidsvig who has been my Chiropractor and treating me over the past 10 weeks is going to fly out as well.  He will be there to make sure I stay in one piece!  Jeff has been awesome this entire time and super generous and supportive with my journey to Kona.  If you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I highly recommend going and seeing him at  Willow Bend Sport & Spine Center. Dr. Eidsvig basically saved me from a very bad Achilles injury just about 6-weeks into my training.  His advice and treatments kept me going strong and made my recovery fast.   Jeff was also featured in this past months Golf Digest for his innovative laser treatment that many of the PGA golf pros are using to heel there injuries.  Check it out!

Training Up To Date:
 I received my race number via email earlier this week and it has started to really sink in  that I am close to being an Ironman.  I have started to taper my training a bit and plan for one more long run of 21-23 miles this weekend.  I am still sticking to my basic plan during the weekdays of short, harder workouts.  After this week  I will spend the remainder of my training time doing short runs and swims along with a little work on the bike trainer to keep my legs fresh.   It kind of scares me that I do not have my bike anymore and that the next ride with be the race.   In all honesty, I am ready for the training to be over.  For most of the past 16 weeks I have worked off pure adrenaline and excitement. That starts to wear off as your body begins to wear.  The 5AM weekend workouts combined with the lunch time and evening weekday workouts really has played a toll on my body. Its amazing to think of all the things that have happened during this time to keep me going: Dallas Athletes, Mia's Arrival, Alzheimer's Fundraiser, Family Support, You Tube video's (LOL), and so much more. Plus, the positive impact my training has had on my entire approach on life now. Vanessa and I often joke about what the heck I am going to do with all my time after this is over?  She is putting me on "Ironman Probation" for the next few years and I do not blame her!

Almost a Bike Disaster!
On Monday morning I almost had a mild disaster with my bike shipping schedule.  About two months back I made reservations with a company called TriBike Transport.  They are a vendor for the Ironman organization that ships your bike fully assembled round trip so you do not have to worry about it while you travel.  This was great for me considering I will be hauling the entire family to Hawaii and it would be one less thing I had to worry about.  Plus, I am no "bike mechanic" so it is probably best I am not tooling with my bike the day before the race.  My reservation had me dropping my bike of this upcoming Friday at Richardson Bike Mart. That made me a little nervous because I would have to go over a week without my bike to train on before the race.  This was common though in order for them to get the bikes to the race site in time.  Little did I know what I was in for on Monday though.   I received an email at 5AM from TriBike Transport stating that my bike needed to be sent out by 4PM that same day. WTF, I said!  To make a long story short, the company works off an automated email system that malfunctioned.  They thought they sent out an email earlier in August to tell everyone across the country that the ship dates were pushed forward.  Unfortunately that email never got out to anyone and caused a mad rush for all the participants using this service to get there bikes to the appropriate shop without notice on the same day.  Both Facebook and Twitter were bombarded with negative comments from participants as I thought it was a joke.  Thank goodness for social media!  I ended up having to cut out of work, speed home and load the entire family up to get my bike to the drop off location in time.  Tri Bike Transport plans to compensate everyone so hopefully they will discount at least some of the $400 fee they charged, ridiculous!  To makes things worse, now I am not going to have my bike for two full weeks.  Kind of sucks for me considering that my biking is by far my weakest point of the Ironman race. 
I will keep you guys posted on the next two weeks as I am sure the adventure of the plane ride with the two kids, my wife, my parents, and mother-in-law will be a "Made for TV movie".   Not looking forward to that, ha ha!

Below is a a photo and video from my training this past week.



Lake Grapevine- Where I do my Open Water Swims w/  The Dallas Athletes Group

Headed out to Texas Motor Speedway on a long ride and I decide to race a train at 30 mph.  Dont try this at home!