Training Update (6 weeks to go)

Well, its a little less than 6 weeks to go until Ironman Florida.  The hope was to blog a little more often, but not surprisingly things are quite busy these days!  So in no particular order, I'm gonna jot down some of the recent happenings in my life, and give a quick account of the outlook from here!

Here we go:

- So, I had a son!!  Oliver Wesley Bell was born Sept 9, 2010.  He is doing very well, and we have all been adjusting to life as a family of 4.  Jodie is recovering as well, and doing great at looking after the little guy.  (I guess I better update my little self-descriptor on the right side of the blog to include him!).

- Training has been going well.  I have been logging some serious volume over the past.. many, many weeks.  But thankfully I have been enjoying it!  There have been the odd 'ugh, lets just get this done' workout, but most are anticipated and enjoyed.

- Its a constant balance these days to fit the workouts in with, family, work and life.  It can be done though. It just takes more thought, sacrifice, and teamwork.  I could not do this, without Jodie - she rocks.  Further still, our families our awesome supporters and have been a great help in the early days with Oliver - thanks!

 - A few random numbers: In August and September, I've logged well over 60hrs of swim/ bike/ run training in each month!  I have had several 7 day stretches covering close to 500km's of training on the bike alone.  My longest single ride so far has been 220km.  My longest run 36km.  Biggest training weeks have been in the 20-22 hr range.  I have my body weight down to around 190lbs.  This is almost 20lbs lighter than I weighed at the start of this year (208lb)... and is the lightest I've ever been as an adult (like since high school).  Pretty pumped about that.

- I have a little 'test race' coming up this weekend.  Feels like forever since I've done an event.  I'm doing a Half Marathon in Picton, so I am looking forward to seeing where I am at, and hoping for a good day (but its gonna hurt... it always does, if you want to go fast).

Alright, I think thats about it.  This week is a recovery week for me, with the race on Sunday.  Then I have a big 3 week block of training to get through, and then it will be taper time!!  So, hopefully all goes smoothly over the next while, and I don't get crazy at thanksgiving/birthday dinners!!  (Please family, help me control myself with all the good food! :)

Cheers,
Jon