Longest July ever!

July is a pretty tough month around here, typically.  Most people get seasonal affectiveness disorder (or SAD) during the winter months, but here in the deep south it hits me hardest in the summer.  The heat is so intense it gets difficult to go outside, much less workout or play in the yard, or cut the grass, or do anything to attempt to enjoy the outdoors.  This July has been the worst I've seen in 20 years.  And it just seemed to go on forever.  Something about having the 31st on a tuesday just killed me last weekend.  And every August I complain about how horrible that is too, so I'm not expecting much relief now. 

I'm trying to keep my eye on the prize that is September.  Football, labor day holiday, the end of summer finally officially getting here, this heat will break, and I will finally be able to step outside without wanting to move to Canada.  It has to break sometime.  So what did I do in July?

Swim: 19,650 yards, 9 swims, 3 races
Bike: 277 miles, 14 rides, 1 race
Run: 43.5 miles, 10 runs, 2 races
Strength: 13 workouts
Yoga: 30 times!

So close to 20k yards in the pool & lake.  I think it was actually the races that killed me.  Only 800 yards on the Aquathon and 750 yards in the sprint triathlon last weekend?  Those were certainly smaller swims than I would have gotten at a RAM practice.  The 277 mile bike month is pretty good, but I was hoping to get over 300.  And the 43 running miles is pretty good, but I was hoping to get over 50.  So this is just the month that came up just a bit short.  That is just like the triathlon last weekend where the swim and run were about a minute too slow, and the bike was two minutes too slow.  At least the strength training and yoga were right on schedule.  I only missed one day of yoga the whole month?  that's nuts.  I'm supposed to rest every saturday.  More Yoga!  Great month of tri training overall.

And hopefully all of that triathlon training will pay off this weekend.  This is my "A" race for the year coming up.  The Lake Logan olympic distance triathlon is this Saturday morning outside of Asheville NC.  This race is the special qualifier for the USAT Age Group Nationals race, and you can register for nationals after qualifying for the 18 months prior to the big race.  The 2012 Nationals is on August 18th in Burlington, VT, and I don't think I want to try and pull the travel plans and registration together in only 2 weeks.  If I can qualify I'll wait and see where next year's race will be and potentially register then.  To qualify I have to finish in the top third of my age group.

Last year I set my oly PR on this course at 2:33.  It was an incredible race, I got to hang with friends and have a lot of fun in the mountains.  Last year I finished in 14th place, and the top 13 qualified for Nationals.  This year my goal is to get under 2:30 and get into that top third.  Here's how I'm going to nail it:

Swim: 28 minutes.  I want to swim fast.  If I can get out of the water as quickly as possible it should put me on the bike before the slower swimmers.  Most triathletes are faster bikers, so I want to make those people pass me rather than have me get caught up in more bike traffic.  So the real goal for this swim is to have less people on the road when I get out there.
Bike: 1:10 There are only two hills on the course and it's right next to transition. As soon as I get out of the park there's one steep climb followed by a fast descent, and it's pretty flat through the town after that.  Then the fast descent becomes the second climb at the end of the bike leg, and the first climb becomes a fast descent heading back into T2.  Crush the climbs and I can crush the bike course.  Get the feet out of my bike shoes before entering T2 and I'll be setup for a fast transition and run.
Run 45 minutes The run course is all on one road, it goes uphill for 5k out to a turnaround then downhill the whole way back to the finish line.  The real goal here is to still have something left in the tank to crush the downhill.  Last year I got caught with no gas left in the tank when I hit that turnaround and had to walk for too much of the downhill.
Transitions: 3 mintues total.  Just like last weekend.

I have no idea who is going to show up to play on Saturday.  It could be that my age group only consists of 10 people that are all faster than me, or I could beat out 50 slower guys and take an AG award.  I might end up turning in a 2:10, just like last year when I beat my goal time by 20 minutes.  I might come in closer to 3 hours.  All I can try to do is hammer the swim, recover and stay steady on the bike, and put out a decent run.  I'm going to head out there and run my race and keep a smile on my face.  As long as I give it everything I've got then I'll have a good race.  And when you head to the mountains in August you're going to end up having a good time, so I'm just looking forward to the whole thing.  It's my only oly this year, and it's the one that counts.  Here goes nothing.