two weeks!

today i finished what will be my last AFD workout. at least thats what i call them. AFD stands for all f'n day. 6 hours on the bike followed by an hour run. the first 4 hours on the bike were an easy 17-18 mph pace and the last two were pushing it. 20-22 mph. then i transitioned to the run and whipped out 7 miles at an 8:35 pace. it wasnt easy but it didnt hurt as bad as previous bricks. ill take this as a sign that im about ready. 14 days. thats it. ive worked hard since feburary when i officially started my training and its gone by quickly. after my workout i took a quick shower and watched last years race in kona while i ate dinner. i cried. im a baby like that. i thought a lot about last years ironman where i suffered a lot on the run. i thought a lot about the thousands of miles that ive biked and run this summer. and the new friends ive made through training and racing. but mostly i thought about the debt of gratitude that i owe my family. everyone involved in ironman knows that you dont do it alone. my family pretty much never saw me on the weekends this summer. and there were countless times when they sat down to dinner without me while i was out on a workout. i definitely owe them a lot and i intend to make up for it after my final race in october.

i will be back in madison next year but only as a volunteer. when i signed up to race this year we didnt know that carly was pregnant at the time. im taking next year off from ironman to spend more time with my family. i will focus on shorter races. im sure ill do several olympics and a few half ironmans. in the meantime, i have to start tapering. i look forward to it!