Caloric Estimate

According to some online activity charts, I will burn roughly 4000-4500 calories during a half-iron race. For those keeping track, thats 45 Gu packets.
Anyone up for Famous Dave's after the race?

6 Months to Pigman

It was just about a year ago that I decided to do my first triathlon. During and after my ride yesterday, I thought about how much I have accomplished since then:

1. Swimming. A year ago, I couldn't swim a length without stopping. That is 25 yards. I would watch people who could go back and forth with envy. Now, though not particularly fast, I'm able to swim fairly efficiently. I've logged close to 5 miles in the pool just this month, with 40 minute workouts usually covering over a mile.

2. Cycling. I hadn't owned a bike since the Huffy Mom & Dad got me for my birthday when I was... 9 (I also recall Andy somehow destroying one of the wheels on it). My biking memories were mainly comprised of hating the one day each cross country season when Horton would have us bike ~7 miles instead of running. That workout always killed my legs. Yesterday, I actually enjoyed riding ~60 miles, and feel fine today.

3. Running. Well... I'm not very fast anymore. It was hard for me to keep in 5k shape without a team to run workouts with and to push the pace. However, I have definitely found new life in the realm of endurance running. Running a marathon was something I never thought I would do.

It's now exactly 6 months until the Pigman Half-Ironman. I've thought a lot about the race, from the individual legs, the race as a whole, transitions, nutrition... There are many things that go into a ~5.5 hour race. On the whole, I feel really confident. I can do each leg individually right now. 6 months gives me a lot of time to work on putting them all together, as well as the nutrition and hydration that goes along with that.

Anyway, I have 6 more weeks of 'pre-base' base training before I start the base training of a 20 week half program I plan on loosely following. I'll keep you posted with my progress.

Cold bike ride

Hey all-
I did my longest ride ever today, in the coldest weather ever. It was right about 30 degrees, and I put in ~60 miles with a couple other guys from the cycling club. It wasn't too bad, we took it pretty easy, but there were some good rollers and one big hill about 40 miles in that took their toll. I also bought some sweet $2 gloves at a gas station. They are bright yellow. Lookout.

SNOW DAY and January totals

FIRST COLLEGE SNOW DAY!!! We got ~5 to 6 inches last night. How exciting. It is hard to believe it hit 70 this weekend. Of course, the same day that 70 was the high, 16 was the low (54 degree change, anyone?) On the agenda for today: finishing season 2 of The Office (I just started from the beginning), going for a swim and enjoying the hot tub, playing outside, maybe walking to the store to restock the food supply, which is rapidly dwindling.
I've started to log my workouts a little better. My January totals are as follows (Keep in mind, I tapered for and ran a marathon, and then took a couple weeks off):
Total Miles:
Bike Run Swim
71 50.7 1.62