Plans

I'll swim a lot (10,000 yards or so), but I won't run much this week. Maybe three times in the 6-10 mile range. My running legs feel a bit tired and with the run base I've developed the last couple of years, I strongly believe this year a key priority is to arrive at Coeur d'Alene with fresh legs.

Bike? Oh, yeah, I'll be on the bike plenty this week, with four rides on the schedule—40, 40, 60 and 80 miles. I knocked off one of those 40s today (see above), doing my flat/straight Marine Drive ride and doing it with some gusto. The ride is a favorite because there's traffic to deal with only on the seven-plus miles to and from the river. The other 25 miles feature smooth, wide shoulders and pretty much no stoppages. On that 25 miles I averaged around 22 miles per hour, a good mile to mile and a half faster than what I was doing last year at this time.

All this, however, is mere precursor to next week. It's the fourth-to-last week before CDA and Niko will be at his mom's, so I've got no excuses for not going balls to the wall. Assuming the weather cooperates, I'll put in my biggest cycling week ever, by far, and do my last very long run of the CDA training. (Third-to-last week begins the taper on the run. Second-to-last week begins the taper on the bike. Last week I add in the swim taper.)

And in case you were wondering: I’m loving this Six Months to Coeur d'Alene.