One of my NOR PAC colleagues, Don, has been on my case for years to join up and I finally gave in this year. I thought it would be a good way to finish the racing season, since I did my last triathlon last weekend.

I underestimated how difficult it would be. Surprisingly, my legs felt strong through all three legs, but the sleep deprivation was brutal. It was like having a severe jet-lag while racing at the same time.

Would I do it again? Absolutely.

Thanks to the guys and gals in Van 1. It was a pleasure spending 27 sweaty and grimy hours with you in that Chevy.

I was too tired to use the camera much, but here are some pictures:

Trek rode along on his bike and ran around a bit on the track in preparation for his own triathlon at the end of the month.

Tomorrow is the start of a recovery week and my legs are looking forward to the reduced workload.

I’ve purposely cut back on the intensity in my training compared to last year, focusing a little bit more on pure aerobic endurance instead, since I’m moving up to Olympic distance. Still, I feel like I’m in better shape for all three events, and I still have a build phase left before my first race. I’m optimistic at this point.

Also, a piece of advise: Don’t play indoor soccer goalie for the first time in years a few days before a race. You’d think that swimming, biking and running on a regular basis would prepare the body for anything. But I’m just now shaking the soreness from my first game last Wednesday. Just in time for tonight’s battle…

As I settled down, things improved, but it’s still a completely different experience from pool swimming and I’m nowhere near where I need to be to put in a decent swim time during a race. So, the struggles in the water continues. The good news that is I’m ahead of where I was last year and there’s still time to work on it.

After the swim, we biked a lap around the lake to simulate the race and this is what I’m really excited about. This is a recovery week for both Sven and me, so we went at an easy pace. When I got home and analyzed the data (see picture below), I learned that I was only 7 sec/km slower than my race pace last year. This almost seems too good to be true, because this was a light-medium efford ride and I feel there is lots of room to improve on the bike still. This bodes well for Hagg Lake 2008, which is my A priority race.

After the bike we did a quick 2 km-run. That’s approximately how long it took me to get my running legs going during last year’s race. The transition from a hard bike ride to a hard run is always tough (especially when you start the run with a tough hill), but my legs feel strong this year and I expect to place high in the run.

We had to wait for three hours in Stockholm for our train and took the opportunity to do some sightseeing around the train station. Stockholm is a gorgeous city.

Sweden Day #1 Photo Album

I’m ready to hit the sack after 30 hours without sleep. Trek was out cold two minutes after I tucked him in. I think I’ll join him now.

Randal and Trish had some fun at my expense. Check out #25 on the list: http://www.pem-usa.com/racedata/nike-portland07/all.html.

Flash is my new race name.