Steelhead Preview

After a blistering hot week what better way to welcome in a "cold front" then doing another Triathlon! This weekend I'll be doing the Whirlpool Steelhead 1/2 Ironman in Benton Harbor Michigan. This will be the first 70.3 series race for me - not sure what that means exactly but I will in a few days.

There are two bonuses for this trip as well to add to the overall fun factor.

The first bonus is that my family (wife and kids) will be accompanying me for this one. It's not often the whole family is able to make it to one of my events and it always lifts me up when they do. Right after the Tri we're going to drive up the coast to Muskegon for the night, spend the following day at Michigan's Adventure (water/amusement park), and then the next morning we'll take the ferry across lake Michigan to Milwaukee. In Milwaukee we'll spend the day at the zoo and then head for home.

The second bonus is that Habeela has organized a dinner for several other bloggers and friends on Friday night. It wil be a lot of fun to meet the people behind many of the blogs I've been spending so much time reading. Then we'll get to support each other through the race the following day. As Stu would say - "Wickedly Cool!"

So this one's shaping up to be a fun time - and that's what I'm focusing on. No PRs, no stressing, just having fun. If I feel good I'll go fast. If I don't I'll focus on form and enjoy the scenery. Either way, I'm having fun on this one.

Overall my plan of attack will be identical to my Muncie Endurathon plan, though I think I was a bit optimistic about negative splitting the run down to 8's. Instead I'll try to shoot for 9 to 8:30's. I'll also try to avoid pouring a whole cup of water into my shoe this time.