Ironman Training Weekend

Sorry to disappoint you, but this isn't a post about Ironman. Come on, you've seen how bad I've been lagging on uploading photos and posting. You didn't think I'd post photos and a recap that fast, did you? I promise I will speed it along though. It was an exciting day filled with lots of emotions. I can't wait to share all the details.

Instead, this post is a peek into Skyler's Ironman training. Last month we traveled to Lake Mead for Skyler's peak training weekend. After this weekend, Skyler tapered for the next three weeks until race day. So anyway, we picked Lake Mead as our training spot because he could train in all three disciplines: swim, bike, and run.

The first day we both planned on doing a bike ride. I was going to ride with him for a few miles and then he would take off and meet up with me later. Lake Mead Recreational Park has a great road for bike riding. It is pretty much just rolling hills the entire time, perfect for training. So we exited the trailer park and turned onto the main road and almost immediately I was nearly blown off my bike. WIND. I hate the wind. It ruined my Boise 70.3 race this year and I haven't trained enough in it to tolerate it. I decided to not ride because I was too scared, but Skyler had no choice. I decided to run instead. The wind isn't that scary when I'm running.

I was able to get an 8-mile run in with Pumpkin. It wasn't easy, but it felt great! Skyler rode out to Calville Bay. He said the wind was blowing like crazy! It was a cross wind too, so he had to sometimes ride his bike on an angle. He got a tail wind on the way back and was able to ride back way faster than the way out. Since he got back so much quicker, he still had some riding to do to make his 5 hour ride so he stayed closer Echo Bay for the last 8 or 9 miles, so I grabbed the camera and got some shots of him.





Pumpkin came along for the ride, but couldn't quite figure out why Skyler kept riding away from us. She's so cute! This was our first road trip with her and she did so well.




The next day I gave biking a shot again. I started earlier in the day and luckily there was no wind. I really enjoyed my bike ride. Lake Mead Park is a beautiful area and the weather was perfect, not hot and not cold. I rode 46 miles.

Although Skyler thought this photo was clever, it's untrue, or at least I'd like to think it is!

While I was riding my bike, Skyler took Pumpkin to the Valley of Fire to do some trail running. He ran 12.5 miles with her. Pumpkin found her element. If she got away from Skyler, he would never be able to find her because she blended in so well.




Immediately after Skyler's run he went for a hard 2 hour bike ride. In spite of the wind, the training weekend was a success with a lot of volume in just two days.

All of that work paid off because Skyler had a great Ironman race. I promise I will post that recap soon.