The Redman has come and gone. Click on the URL below to see how it went.

http://www.terrylking.net/2013/09/crossing-finish-line.html

Well folks, this coming week is the event week. All my training will be put to the test this coming Saturday. I have spent the last 19 weeks officially training and several months before that unofficially. It has been fun yet exhausting. Trying to train for a triathlon yet balance work, family, church and everything else is a challenge in of itself. This has been an awesome experience to this point and I would encourage anyone to do it that has a heart for wanting to find a cure for blood cancers. You are not only raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society but also improving your health.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I compete on Saturday and hopefully cross the finish line on my own two feet and not on a stretcher.

Race day is getting close. I'm trying to get in as much training as I can. The swimming is getting easier, the running is no big deal, but the biking will be the toughest. It's tough to scratch out time to bike separate from the stationary bike at the gym during lunch. With two kids that are involved in dance, scouts, church and other things, I don't have any time on week nights to go ride and I use Saturday mornings to run with the group. The only real problem I have with riding is my back side getting sore. I haven't found the right seat or position yet to keep it form hurting. So every now and then I have to stand up and ride to give it a rest. Fortunately, I'm only doing the half triathlon. As if 56 miles is no big deal, right.

Yesterday was a great day. I ran just over 13 miles and felt really good. I have shortened my stride and have been wearing compression sleeves. My legs were starting to cramp a bit the last mile though. I sweat like crazy and need to drink quite a bit more during water stops.

Since this is my first triathlon, I'm going to use a snorkel since it's allowed. I swam 70 laps in the pool last Wednesday. 66 laps in the pool is a mile and 77 makes the 1.2 miles I have to swim.

Tomorrow, since it's Labor Day, I plan on riding 56 miles. I'm planning on starting around 6:30am. I have a route mapped out that doesn't have alot of traffic. Not sure how long it will take me but I need to reach this because I only have a few weeks left.

I had a really good run yesterday at Earlywine Park. I ran 11.5 miles and felt really good. Last weekend during the last few miles, the muscles below my calves in each leg were hurting like crazy. I couldn't figure out what I was doing to make them hurt so bad. I decided to go by Red Coyote and have my feet evaluated. They determined that I don't need fitted shoes. What they were able to point out was that I'm coming down on my heal. After looking at the video of my running, I could see what I was doing. My stride is too long. I had also never figured my cadence. So this week, I let my legs heal and stretched them every day. I bought some calf sleeves for each leg and did a few short laps practicing with a shorter stride and trying to get 90 strides per minute. I ran the 11.5 miles yesterday wearing the calf sleeves and taking shorter strides. Not a lick of pain.