Road to IronMan 2

 Final exams are finally done for the semester at U of M, so time to really start the heavy grind. It has been an extremely stressful and jam packed last few weeks. The juggle of work,school and training has been quite a weight on my shoulders, and I finally feel a little bit of breathing room with this semester's end. So onto the GOOD STUFF!!!!!!

 My new bike(a Cannondale Ironman 5000), and my new wetsuit(Zoot Zenith) came in this past Monday and both are spectacular.

The suit at first glance out of the box, looked like it was going to be very too small, it however fit perfectly. The materials used are very stretchy and formed nicely. I didn't get a chance to swim in it until this past Saturday because of swimmeets going on at the University during the week. Upon first jump into the water I could tell just how much more bouyant I was. It felt almost like swimming on a paddleboard at first, which was really cool because it made raising up to breath on either side seem effortless. There were a few stroke adjustments that had to be made, but the main one was that while swimming so much higher in the water now, the kick length shrunk enormously. The indoor 81 degree water temp and added suit was a bit warm but I pushed through about an hour and fifteen minutes of swimming and really got a good feel for it. Can't wait to try it in the cooler lake water out in Millington this Saturday, and get in a little open water practice and sighting practice. What I didn't notice too much was the stroke restriction people tend to talk about when swimming full suits. Winers! LOL It is easily adapted to, and well worth the increased speed I experienced my first time in the pool. I jumped back in for a few cool down laps and felt a huge difference in the drag my body creates without the suit! Might just try to find as many cooler water tri's as I can so I can utilize the speed the suit adds on.

As for the new bike, I can't find ANYTHING so far to complain about, and it's not even been fit to me yet. I got my first little test ride on it last Wed. night about 10 o'clock after my last exam. The difference in the new aluminum frame vs. the old steel frame I was riding was amazing. It was a very brief test run of 5 or 10 minutes or so because I was very tired and had early work in the morning. It had been torturous having my two new toys sitting in the house and I not having the time to check them out! AAARGH! I had my first real test run this past Friday. I jumped on the bike after work and made a few personal adjustments with the seat to about where I felt comfortable,and then threw(in a very very gentle way) the bike in the truck and headed for shelby farms. For the first time I have a bike that I really feel is almost an extension of myself. Shifting was smooth, road shock absorbtion was smooth, and above all else, it was FAST! My minimal experience with aero bars and riding in the tuck was a huge concern of mine. The setup of the Cannondale provided huge stability even in the tuck and I found myself braving downhills and pushing the bikes speed to the limits and felt completely in control. I LOVE THIS BIKE! I rode for a solid 2 hours before the sun finally set, and did almost all in the big gear to try and maximize the workout. (Led to some pretty slow hill climbs)At the end of the run though, no back pains or hip flexer pains like experienced with other rides on bikes not ever fit to my own body's geometry. Can't wait till my Tuesday fitting to get all the proper adjustments set up on the Cannondale so I can maximize my own power output.

After the swim Saturday I attended the wedding of 2 of my good friends and broke from my diet for the evening. Ate 12 mini burgers, 4 donuts with sprinkles, a piece of delicious strawberry wedding cake, who knows how much roast beef, carrots and asparagus, and about 9 beers. Ya know there are 2 amazing benifits of eating in a healthy way and being an endurance athlete and having a raised metabolism...1)you're a cheap drunk,LOL. Cause I felt grand after just 2 beers. 2) NO HANGOVERS!

Anyway, I would typically be taking most of the week off and resting a bit before an OD tri, but seeing as how the big race of this month is the half ironman coming up I will still be doing moderate training almost up to the day of Memphis in May, with this tri also being taken as a training tool for the the race on the 30th. Can't wait for next Sunday though and for a few new friends of mine this will be there first tri so best of luck to all of them too!!! LATER!