Taylor and I had the pleasure of meeting Andy Potts again last Friday. He participated in a pre-race panel ahead of Escape from Alcatraz, taught us about the merits of nibbling on up to three fatty muffins on race morning, and then proceeded to win. For the sixth time. He also mentioned that he’s eager to race (and win) Wildflower Long Course again, and would love to take a stab at Ironman Lake Tahoe – the only roadblock being its proximity to Kona in early October.

One week and 8 muffins later, I too am preparing for my next race mentally and physically, and can’t wait to get out there on Sunday morning. Here are my top goals going into Monte Rio this weekend.

30: minutes in the water. This is my only soft goal for the race – I simply want to finish the swim without expending a lot of energy so I can put in hard efforts on the bike and run.

19: minimum average speed on the bike, in MPH. I’m confident that I could go faster, but I would be happy with improving upon my 18.8 MPH average at Ironman Lake Stevens 70.3 last July. I held a 20+ MPH average for the first 30 miles of IMLS last year, so 19 on a flatter course is realistic.

48: minute 10K, or faster. I’ve been comfortably holding a sub-7:30 mile half marathon pace for some time now, and a sub-8:00 10K pace is well within reach.

0: excuses this time. I’m well rested, fed, trained and stretched – let’s do this!

Have a great weekend!