Well I am back in ‘The Cage’ on my first compete stretch of time off in years.. proper time off. I have managed to visit old freinds and relatives who I have not seen in years, gone out to the bars, played tennis and golf with my old man (I’ve been killing him in Tennis), backgammon and cribbage with both my parents (been killing them BOTH… ahaahha), and just really getting all the crap out of my system. It feels good to be away from the sport completely and I will be able to come back with a renewed outlook, some new goals and most of all, fresh legs and head.
By the way, the title of this Blog is not so much my state of being the past two weeks - though it is not sooooo far off - as it is the Title of an incredible piece of literature written by none other than best-selling author, master chef, electrician, musician, poet??.. I will cut it off there.. none other than my little brother. You will want to check this out.

Here are some words from ‘the critics’

‘It’s kinda good’ - Some guy on the street
‘It is mildly more entertaining than reading the back of a shampoo bottle… well a non-organic shampoo bottle at least.’ - His buddy

So, if that doesn’t have you interested, the fact that as you flip through the book, a pint of beer will empty before your eyes. If you are intersted to purchase a copy of Booze Infused, please, do not hesitate to contact me, and i will take care of business for you.

Well, what do I say. Everything was in place for a great race. training was great, i had recovered well from Challenge Roth, had a solid training block, was feeling fantastic in all 3 disciplines and even this morning I thought I would really nail it. I got off to a great start and led out the swim through about 1000m and felt good through about half way.. I started to drop back and feel the same bizarre fatigue I had felt in roth earlier this year. The pace was slow and I could almost do catch-up strokes and stay with but I just started to feel so bad I had to turn over and do some back stroke. I thought just get this over with, you are biking like a demon, when you get your rhythm you will catch up no problem. So I got out on the bike feeling ok but I had very little power, and instead of catching up I was being caught by even more guys. I tried to stay relaxed because it didn’t feel that bad and I thought I could build it, but every time I tried to turn it on, the body wouldn’t respond. I put it in the big gear for the last 50km and it seemed to work a little better. I stopped losing time and even caught a few guys. Then the same happenned with the run.. I felt good, smooth, rhythmic the first 15 to 18km running well within my capacity planning to build and then I went from feeling ez to feeling so fatigued that I had to stop and walk. My nutrition was perfect, I didn’t make any mistakes of note as far as tactics… It was like my body shut down for no reason and I couldn’t push the intesity I can. One more dissappointing result and what do I do. What positives to I take from this race? I don’t know, I am at a loss. That is Ironman number 15 and I really think I should have the race and my body figured out but it seems each time I went for it this year, I had new unforeseen problems…
Anyway, I plan to take a break and not race anymore this year and then do everything possible to make next year a breakthrough year and figure out how to perform on raceday to my capacity.

till then,
DRAGS

I arrived in Madison! Interestingly enough, Wisconsin is most famous for Beer and Cheese, two of my most favorite things. Oh.. before I forget, I never explained the title of my last blog.. bobcageon is know as the Cage.. which is where my parents live and where I visited them last week. Sweet place, the Cage. Ontario Cottage country…
Anyway, back to Madison. I have a fabulous homestay, Denise, and a room to myself and her casa is me casa as they say… very cool. I breezed a loop of the course and feel like magic. In fact, everything is feeling most excellent and I pity my competitors this weekend as I will be able to inflict all sorts of pain all day long. Get ready boys, no mercy!

ok.. this is probably it until my post race blog, so thanks for your support and interest!

DRAGS