Ok, where to start this week. This post will cover last week and this week due to the short holiday week. I am off Work for the July 4th holiday starting on Thursday (July 3rd) through Sunday (July 6th). This is the last big week for me before my next race. The Interlochen Triathlon in beautiful northern Michigan. This was my first ever triathlon a year ago and I have a LOT of friends doing this triathlon this year. Last year we had 10 of us who did this tri, this year we have around 20 of us that I can think of. We are planning a long weekend of camping and friendship. I will again be doing the Olympic distance in prep for my half Ironman a few weeks later. More on all of that next week.

Training, When we last left our super hero he was ruminating on his humiliating lack of fitness on the bike and vowing to make a come back to defeat the evil forces of wind and gravity. haha well maybe not quite that dramatic but hey, it is my blog and if I want to embellish I have the artistic license to do so. But I digress. I have made the bike a major focus in the past 2 weeks and I am starting to see the fruits of my labor. Saturday I took a couple hour trip west to the Grand Rapids training camp, also known as my wife's friend Tammy's house, and got to ride in 15-30mph winds over some of the hilliest terrain I've ridden in a long time. I am yet again reminded why it seems that the winners of every triathlon, I have raced, always come from the Grand Rapids area. They have the biggest hills to train on!! If I had that for my daily riding enjoyment and torture I would be so much better. I managed a 2 hour ride and only made it 34 gut wrenching, smile plastered on my face miles. I am not kidding people passing my must have thought I was on something, I could feel myself smiling constantly. It was a great test and my legs felt great afterward. A week ago I ran my 11 mile trail run around the state park. This is my litmus test of sorts. I feel like if I can run that trail run solid, then flat pavement should be a cake walk. I ran it my fastest time yet in 1 hour 48 minutes and I wasn't wiped out for the rest of the day. I know my fitness is getting up where it needs to be now.

On the nutrition front, my plans for Steelhead are starting to take shape. I'll be using Interlochen as the final test for my Steelhead nutritional strategy. So far, I've been testing Hornet Juice and Cliff Shot Blok's. Last week my Infinit order arrived and after a couple of longish rides with it I am definitely adding it to the race day strategy. It has the right mix of carbohydrates, protein and electrolytes. The flavor is tolerable and growing on me. But, most of all I am having no cramping issues during the tail end of long bike rides and I feel physically good even after harder efforts. I've had no GI issues from it as well, which is a major bonus. Next week I'll layout my Interlochen "real life" test for nutrition.

Ok, this coming holiday weekend I will be off to either a northern Michigan training camp location or back to the Grand Rapids training camp. Either way I plan on getting lots of riding and running in with some open water swimming along the way. Look for a big jump in mileage this week as it is lots of time off coupled with my last big build week before Interlochen. I'm hoping to build this week, mini taper/recovery next week before the race then train hard right off Interlochen into another week and half build with a week and a half taper for Steelhead. The next month will be tough but the week before Steelhead will make it all worth while.

So, for all you U.S. folks out there have a great 4th of July, take a moment to thank someone in our armed forces for making the sacrifices they do for our freedoms we enjoy. For everyone regardless of nationality let's all try to perform at least one random act of kindness in the true communal spirit of triathlon over the next week.