I am back in the passenger seat on my way home from Buffalo Springs. The day turned out a lot like last year with cooler temperatures and rain. I was happy with my race on what is a challenging course.

I dropped a 4:45 and 11th place in my AG, and 65th overall, including the pros. I was hoping to be in the top 10, but had to settle for 11th. The Ironman 70.3 series brings out some really fast people from all over the country. Racing at one of these is nothing like racing at a local sprint race.

The winner in our AG is 35 year old guy named Tim Hola. I have never met Tim, but he went 4:12. I am pretty sure Tim raced pro for a bit, but moved back to the AG ranks recently. The guy can move.

As far as my form, I was pleased. I had a decent swim of 29 minutes, a better bike than last year of 2:35 and a decent run of 1:35. The run course is full of long climbs and it takes too much to get my big butt up hills. I need the flats. My PR in the 1/2 is 4:28, but that was on a pancake flat course.

I was hoping for some heat for the run, but instead got cloudy muggy conditions. I wanted the heat to see if my nutrition was ready for Kona. I will just have to practice in training, because today was not the day I needed to properly practice my fluid intake.

My friend Mike Young did really well with a PR and an 45 minute improvement over his time from last year. He is pretty excited and looking forward to his big race, the Austin 70.3.

I also had the opportunity to meet Kevin Barr, a local Woodlands resident. Kevin won a lottery slot to go to Hawaii this year. In order to take advantage of a lottery slot, you have to finish a 70.3 or full ironman prior to September 1, 2009. Kevin had a great race today and now he is all set to attend the big dance in Kona. To get a lottery slot is something special. There are only 200 people chosen out of 15,000 plus.

One of the top pro's in the world was there as well, Cameron Brown. Cameron has won IM New Zealand for the last 3 years and is always a top finisher at the World Championships. it was pretty cool seeing him race.

So it is off to Pittsburgh tomorrow for more meetings and to help with our quarterly sales finish. I don't know what my next race is going to be, but I hope to get another race or two in before I head off to HI.

I will miss my family this week, because I have had back to back travel with a race in between. I am lucky that I have a wife supporting my quest to race in Hawaii.

I am on my way to Lubbock to race at the Buffalo Springs 70.3 (Half Ironman). I am sitting in the passenger seat typing up a blog post while my good friend Mike Young drives. We have my new Element loaded up with 2 bikes and the rest of our gear. The new bike rack works great in the back and we have some good tunes going on the Ipod.

The only unfortunate thing about the weekend, is my family is at home and I have been gone all week with work. I hated to leave this morning, because I really miss them when I am gone.

Two seasons ago I had a lot of fun racing only 1/2 IM's. I started off 2007 with my first age group victory at Galveston and went on to race at Disney and finished the year at the USAT Long Course Championship race. I managed to finish 5th at the championship earning a spot on the USA team. I had no Ironman races that year and really enjoyed the training and the racing at the 1/2 IM distance.

The 1/2 is such a great race, because you get to ride and run fast, but you still have to have endurance to get you through the 5 hours. I have learned to ride fast, but not too fast where I cannot run. At Disney in 2007, I had my fastest bike split ever! The problem was, I imploded on the run. I learned that you have to hold just a hare back so you have legs to hit the 1/2 marathon at the end. If you don't, it is a long 13 miles.

In 2008, I started the year out at the Lone Star 1/2 Ironman with a good bike split, but a great run. The run gave me my fastest time ever of 4:28. That day came together, because I paced the race perfectly.

Buffalo Springs is a tough race because it is hot and windy (It is 99 degrees right now) I am excited to race there, because it will be similar conditions to what I will have in Kona. Buffalo Springs will give me a good test of how my body responds in these conditions. My last few races have been in cooler temperatures, so I need to use this to be sure I have my nutrition dialed in for the big day in Kona.

My training volume has been really high the past 2 weeks, with 5+ hour rides and 2.5 hour runs. I have not rested much at all, so I don't expect a lot of speed, but I hope to feel strong.

Mike is shooting for a sub 5:00 race and he is in awesome shape to do it.

Stay tuned and I will provide an update after Sunday's race.

I want to take a minute and thank my friends at Bike Lane for setting me up with my Powertap Zipp 808 race wheel. They have taken good care of me this season and I have raced well thanks to their support.

Whether it be a marathon or the Ironman, the one workout I dread is the long run. They are the necessary evil in the world of long distance training. The big difference between marathon and Ironman training is the long run happens after you have ridden many miles on the bike earlier in the week. Thus you never run it on fresh legs.

I don't do the long runs that fast. I purposefully go slow and just grind them out. My coach gives me plenty of other workouts to run fast, so I simply run these workouts by time only. I use to stress over how fast I was going, or my pace, now I just do them. I took this strategy into Ironman Wisconsin and the Houston Marathon and it worked great. I was limping along at 8:30 miles on trail before Houston and managed a 7:09 pace on race day. So running these things fast are just not worth it to me.

I see so many people out there with Garmin's trying to pace their long runs. I ask why do that? If the goal is to be on your feet for 2.5 - 3 hours, then what do you care how fast you are running? Often my legs are so tired when I start these things that my only goal is to just get them done. If I had to look down at a watch the whole time, I would go crazy. Save the pacing for when it is necessary. Leave the long runs to just getting the time in at a low heart rate.

The other good part of the long run is you get a chance to imagine yourself running along Ali drive in Kona! Every tri-geek has done this multiple times and if they ever tell you that they have not, they are lying. Other than imagining myself in Kona, the long run gives you a great time to do some thinking. I find myself going over work stuff in my head, life stuff and anything else you can think of during the hours on the pavement. I don't run with a cell phone so the distractions are at a minimum. I occasionally have the I-Pod with some music or a podcast, but often I just enjoy hearing the feet hitting the pavement.

As far as nutrition, I usually start with a banana and 24 oz of Gatorade. I run with my fuel belt which has 4 x 8oz bottles that I also fill with Gatorade. I typically drink one bottle every 20 minutes then stop and re-fill. I carry some gatorade powder in a flask so I only need to hit a fountain. If I hit the fluids every 20 minutes and a gel every 45, I have a decent run.

In Houston, fluids are mandatory! In California you could get by with a few drinks out of a fountain, here you will lose so much water that you risk dehydration. The funny thing is, you can get so dehydrated at 6:00 in the morning because the temperature is 77 degrees, but the humidity is 100%.

I run so early in the morning that I don't get a chance to run with others during my IM training. I can leave here at 5:00 and be back by 7:30 in time for work. Not a lot of people interested in that schedule. This morning my friend Mike Young hit 30 minutes with me in the beginning so that was a nice treat. For the marathon training in the winter, I do run Sunday's with others at parks and on trails which is a nice way to pass the miles.

So to wrap this up, I guess I can dread the long run before I begin it, but I always revel in the accomplishment upon finishing one. How many people do you know knocking out 19 miles before work?

I often get asked, how and when do you train? This question often comes from people I know that see how often I travel and they wonder when do I get in the workouts.

Well, the first key is to have a good coach. Dana Lyons ask me for my schedule every week before I head out of town. He then coordinates my workouts around my schedule so I can do what I can while on the road. For example, if I am gone Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I tell him how long I have to workout and he typically gives me a variety of runs.

Now the creative part is finding the time and place to do these runs. Two weeks ago while in Philadelphia, I was staying by the airport. I had on the schedule a tempo run with 5 x 1 mile repeats. I noticed by the hotel, that there was a service road with a bike lane. I had the hotel bus driver tell me how far it was around and we discovered that it was about exactly 1 mile. So problem solved. I ran the loop 8 times counting warm up and cool down. You do get some strange looks when they see an idiot running circles around the hotel in the dark. However, it sure does beat a crappy hotel treadmill.

Traveling west is my favorite. The reason being, if we don't have a work dinner, I can go to bed early at my regular time (8:00 pacific time) and wake up at 4:00AM with no problem. This leaves me with 3 - 4 hours of prime workout time in the morning before work. I typically only need 1 - 2 hours so there is plenty of time to get in a nice long run, get some work in and head out the door all before 8:00 am local time. On both of my recent trips to San Diego this has been the case so I have not missed out on too much running time. Note, If you are a night owl, this obviously will not work for you.

(In Dallas, we are fortunate enough to stay at the Cooper Clinic. This place is a triathletes dream with an outdoor running track, 2 lap pools and countless spin classes. They all start super early in the morning so you can get in the miles long before you have to start your day. If you travel to Dallas, give them a call and see if they have a room for you in the guest lodge.)

Swimming can be done as well by simply visiting www.usms.org. The masters website will list all masters workouts and clubs in your area. If you can't find one of those, the local Y always has a pool. I try and keep an extra suit and goggles in my suitcase, so if there is some extra time before a dinner etc., I can try and get in a short swim. If time does not allow for a swim, so be it. I think too many people stress over this one. Yes I swam in college, but I learned the hard way that these races are not won during the swim. They are won on the run!

Getting in a ride can be a real challenge while on the road, so most of the time I just work with Dana to be sure I don't have one scheduled. If I can plan my travel around an early morning bike ride and an afternoon flight, then great. If not, it comes down to my one long ride on Sundays which I make sure it is a good one.

Sometimes I just don't train and try to plan my off day from training around my travel schedule. It can be a real drag to get a run in after you have flown for 4 hours and have 100 e-mails to catch up on. The stress alone is a work out, so I always opt for the e-mails, stay current with work and live to train another day.

When I don't travel, training is pretty simple, because I get up early! Daylight savings is a blessing, since you can start rides at 6:00am and be back by 7:30. You can run in the dark, so out the door by 5:00 and you have plenty of time to get in that run or swim.

Lastly, every athlete wishes they could have more training time. When I am having a rare pity moment, I often say what if I could ride my bike for 300 miles a week? It takes me about 5 seconds to realize that I am more than fortunate to see 150 miles a week and I have a great job and family that allows me to get in that much. After all, this is still a hobby and there will always be someone that can train a lot longer than you can, so you just have to get over it and make each session count.

So if you want to find time to work out while on the road, work with your coach, be creative and make it happen. Half the fun of this sport is the silly things we do as triathletes to get in the miles around our busy lifestyles.

Last year while getting ready for the Wisconsin Ironman, my coach Dana Lyons had me do the following long workout several times:

1 Hour run (about 8 miles)
5 Hour Bike (about 100 miles)
45 minute run (about 5 miles)

This workout is not done fast, but because of the duration, it really simulates race conditions. I hate to see it on the schedule, but love when I am done with it. The final 45 minute run really simulates what your legs will feel like during the final 26 miles of the Ironman. Also, the heat is on here in Houston making it hot and humid during most of the bike and the final run. I work hard to keep my heart rate low by staying efficient during the final 45 minute run.

Sunday was the first of these workouts for this season and it went pretty well. I was real happy with my run pace of 7:30 for the first hour and 7:45 for the final 45 minutes. By October, I want this to be done at 7:00 and 7:30 respectively. I have plenty of time to get there. As far as the bike, I typically try and keep the Power at 200+ watts for the day which was pretty easy to maintain and I was right in line with my power from last year.

I talked my friend Mike Young into doing the 5 hour ride and we ended up picking up Clint Bryant at about the 3 hour mark. It is always great to have others when you are riding so far and so long. This was the first time I have ridden with Mike Y this long and I have to say, I can no longer drop him. He actually dropped me on the final sprint. What a difference a year makes.

Lastly, the old Saab finally died. I will not go into details other than the trade in value on the Saab was much less than I could get for my bike!

I ended up getting a new Honda Element fully loaded with navigation and an upgraded sound system. The cool part of the sound system is you can plug your I-Pod into the built in USB port and it pulls your entire ipod menu up on the Nav screen. You can change your music from the controls on the stereo as opposed to messing around with the Ipod as your drive. I also love this car, because you can fit a bike straight up in the back for races and rides and the floors are totally rubber. No need to worry about water, sweat and all the other things that ruin a car.

My friend Michael Woodward in California got one of these about 4 years ago and my friend Mike Young picked one up a few months ago. After driving Mike's, I was hooked. For what I like to do, the new ride is perfect. Below are some pictures along with my chosen car model (Hannah).