One month to go

Alcatraz is one month from today--nearly to the minute, as I write. The good news is that I think I'll be ready. Training has been going very well overall and I'm seeing strength in areas that aren't normally that strong for me. Have picked up some very good race strategy tips from friends who have done this race in the past and feel confident that I'll have a workable plan on race day. Travel arrangements are made; my folks will come out to CO and hang with the kids while Teegan and I will have a little getaway weekend together. We'll get to see some family and friends while we're there. Bonus!

This race is a bit tricky to prepare for because of the unusual distances. The swim is a little long for an Oly but it doesn't worry me too much. Based on my training, I don't expect to swim great there, but should be closer to the front of the race than the back into T1. But swimming 1-2 hours a week is getting me the minimum I'll need to be competitive and has always been enough in the past.

The bike is short and pretty technical--lots of ups/downs/corners. I'm leaving my TT bike at home and bringing the road bike instead. Will slap on some shorty aerobars because there are a few sections to lay out and hammer, but with all the hills and turns, going with a full tri bike seems risky for my strengths and weaknesses as a rider. Data says my short power is there--we'll just have to see how it all feels on race day. I've also been trying to build some long distance cycling endurance to be ready for Cycle for Sight the week following Alcatraz. That also seems to be coming together but that event isn't a race so no big deal if I'm uncomfortable for a few days of riding there.

Running is really coming together for me this year. I'm logging more miles, smarter miles, faster miles this year over past years. I know the sand ladder will crush me and I'm prepared for that (at least mentally). I'm going to try to get there fast and then just survive the few miles to the finish afterwards. I don't know how to prepare for running 140 sand steps from the beach to the bluff but have been hitting plenty of stairs and doing interval work. My long run each week is generally around 2 hours--overkill for this race, but sets me up to do well in some of the longer stuff later in the season.

So I think it's all good. Have consistently been able to train hard and recover quickly. My weight is perfect for where I am in the training cycle right now--will be dropping another pound or two before race day. This is the lightest I've ever been as an adult and the strength/power is still there--a great sign for riding and running. Tune-up race in Windsor next weekend will give me some indication of whether everything is going as well as I think but I'll be hitting that on the last day of a build cycle so I'm not expecting great results. Still, will be awesome to run through all the race day stuff and make full speed transitions before Alcatraz. At this point, I'm just counting down the days.