And so it begins....(Hi Ironman training!) *cue daunting music

This week is a major milestone this season. It marks 12 weeks until Ironman Lake Placid. Wow! 12 weeks you ask? That is TONS of time!

Uuuuuuuuummmmmm, WRONG. 12 weeks is gonna go by quicker than we will all realize.

So this week marks the transition into unknown territory, aka Ironman specific training. Aka the separation from my former Half Ironman training life into FULL Ironman training life. This is where things get REAL. It is no longer a "do I feel like it" or "should I maybe" do a workout to its entirety. Its now a "HAVE TO" kinda thing. GET IT?!?!?!?

Take for today. I had to swim 3,000 yards in the pool. "Had to" has many meanings. Nobody is making me swim 3,000 yards today. I just know that I am going to hate myself if I don't swim the entire 3,000 yards. Showing up on race day as prepared as I can is a must!!!

So this past weekend, for example, was a good crash course into the beginnings of Ironman specific training. I went up to the mother land, aka, the Lakes Region and White Mountains of New Hampshire and visited some of my old and new stomping grounds.

I started with 65 miles on the bike on Saturday where I climbed a 2500 foot hill over 6 miles (good climb!). This hill is known as "Gonzo" pass. Long story as to why it is called that. But! Before I even got to it I had to fight a biketarded headwind for 22-ish miles going at times 14mph on dead flats. Frustration, anyone?

By the time I hit the climb I let the compact crank do the talking and I spun up the climb as much as I could. Great climb and it still hurt as much as when I climbed it in high school on the bike.

View from the top. The White Mountains of New Hampshire

After a painful downhill (the road was bombed out and my body is a terrible shock absorber) I now had a tailwind. Before I started the quick trek back, the downhill dumps you into the town of Warren, NH. They didn't want a band stand in the center of their town, so they installed a 60 foot ballistic missile replica instead.

Yeah.....

What took me 2 hours to get to the top of the climb, only took me 1:15 to get back to my starting point! I was basically pushing 25mph the entire way back. Felt AWESOME. Of course I made it back 15 mins sooner so I had to do a quick 15 min out and back to round it out to a 3.5 hour ride.

Then I ran for 40 mins on the trails at my old high school. It was a tad wet out there but it brought back MANY memories of cutting down trees, splitting wood, and spraining my ankle 10+ years ago. Not the fastest run due to the terrain but it felt AWESOME.

I guess I felt muddier than I looked?

Oh and the fun didn't stop there! Sunday AM was a two hour run. I knocked off 13.1 on the Timberman course before my innards had other ideas and was forced to call it a run. Regardless, running along Lake Winnipesaukee is always a treat.

The white snow capper back there is Mt. Washington. Clear day!

So other than hanging with my dog, Aachen, and showing off "Rio" to my family, it was a successful weekend and my legs feel surprisingly good! I should revel in this feeling, because I think things are only going to get harder from here :)

Das Aachen!