Mon. 8-20 Do Nothing, Talk Big

Day off. Feeling pretty good, upper quads a bit sore. Slept 9+ hrs.
Reeeeeeeally hit the carbo lounger hard last night. But, no carb hangover. No injury, well, a touchy spot on me butt bone if I sit just right (here's to you nancy newbie, despite the rubber tires bikes are not like bumper cars). Mentally, feeling much dif than after the swampy Cambridge du debacle 6 weeks ago. So.... feeling (over) ambitious for the final few races, esp duathlons, I'll ramble along those lines tonight.

Currently, I'm registered for one more race, a tri on 9/16. Savageman Half Iron distance in Deep Creek, MD. "Savage" due to the mountainous bike course and tough run.

Now, I'm adding 2 fall duathlons (commit mentally now, with my wallet closer to race day). Barring the unforeseen, I will head to the rolling hills of Malabar Farm State Park in Mansfield, OH for the Powerman Ohio duathlon held 9/30 (5mi-36mi-5mi). The competition will be as tough as it gets in the U.S., at least as strong as the Lums Pond field was weak. The top 6 amateur finishers in each age group qualify to race the world long distance champs in Richmond 10/21. Yes, I can dream. Here is a one-page article/review of the race going into the 2006 running.

Two weeks should be enough to recover from Savageman, but enough to get the full snap back in the legs? Taking a thrashing in OH wouldn't be the worst thing. Can't place if you don't race and all that.

Savageman (9/16) - a challenge race but not quite a gotta do once in my life race - a big training day, tough-is- fun session two weeks out from...
Powerman (9/30) - push the envelope, let it ALL hang out, do it smart, race for the place - top 5 in AG.

And then... I'm dangerously close to entering a race that's been calling out to me since inception.
American Zofingen (10/14) - a "gotta do this race at least once," serious challenge.

"AmZof" is a long distance duathlon, named after the notoriously hilly and long-standing premier du in Europe, Powerman Zofingen (Switzerland). Held in New Paltz, NY a couple hrs north of NYC it's been in around just a couple years. B - prepare your escape clause, if I do this race I'll probably try to swing into the city for a visit.

It's the duathlon version of an ultra distance trail run. The 5 and 15mile runs are on hilly off road trails, and, the list of entrants/finishers is short (fewer than 50 in 2006). After the 5 and before the 15 is the bike, an 85 mile road course with 8K feet of climbing (gulp). The distance and duration would be new territory for me. I'd look forward to again feeling that mix of fear and excitement, going into the unknown. Rough guess, it'd be an 8-10hr day. Cheaper entry fee than a measley 5-6hr Half IM - that's $ worth, eh?

Well, it's nice to have the health and the time for these [insert your descriptive word] endeavours.