Last night, I installed aero bars and a forward angled seat post to convert my road bike to a triathlon setup. I received some helpful tips from folks in the discussion boards so if you’re ever looking to make the switch, check out our dialogue: Road to Tri bike conversions.

Tomorrow morning, I’m meeting Airey and jesse@active for a 50-mile ride to test this new positioning. It’s going to be important to pay close-attention to my biomechanics because new muscles will be activated. There will be more stress on my neck, lower-back and hamstrings. I’m looking forward to the change in my training to prepare for the Ford Ironman 70.3 California.

I'm going to hit the lap pool on Sunday morning and enjoy another non-impact active recover/triathlon training session. Carrie Smith has kindly provided the following swim workout:

500 swim

8x50

300 swim

2x100

100 swim

The Avalon 50 took a lot out of me both physically and mentally. I’ve been resting all week, eating healthy and getting to sleep early each night. I’ve used the muscle stick for massage and a yoga class to salvage flexibility so my body has recovered from the soreness and my hips are no longer tight. Along with the physical repercussions, mentally, I’ve been in a slump all week and I’m finally beginning to come out of it. It’s hard to explain the way I’ve felt, but it’s actually been pretty depressing. It’s kind of scary for me because I am always so positive, no matter what, and this week has been a challenged to keep an upbeat attitude.

Despite the “runner’s low,” each day has been better than the last and I’ve used this time to reflect on my accomplishments in 2007 and also plan out 2008. This past year has been a dream--just look at this list of activities!

2008 is going to be a big year and I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences with you all. Over the course of this year, I am going to train and compete in effort to build my endurance for the main event in October: The San Diego 100.

Please join me for another awesome year in adventure!!!

2008 race preview:

I’m set to depart San Diego on Friday after work with three companions for a high-altitude training session. We are doing a through-hike from the Angelus Oaks campground (6,000 feet) at the base of San Bernardino Mountain to the Vivian Creek trailhead parking lot at the base of Mount San Gorgonio. Our two vehicles will remain at the starting and finishing points of our 27-mile trek.

We’ll get started at 5 a.m. and tackle a 4,400-foot ascent to the summit of San Bernardino Mountain at 10,400 feet. Once we get to the ridge line, our journey continues eastward, traversing across the entire ridgeline of the San Bernardino Mountains, hence the “San Bernardino Traverse” or the “9 Peak Traverse” to Mount San Gorgonio which, at 11,500 feet, happens to be the highest peak in Southern California.

The final push is an eight-mile descent off of “San G” via the Vivian Creek trail. We should arrive at the second car roughly 10 hours, 27 miles and 8,000 feet in net elevation gain later. If all goes according to plan, we’ll be back in San Diego just after sunset. Here is a list of the peaks we will summit during our trek:

Angeles Oaks Trailhead

San Bernardino Peak

San Bernardino Peak East

Anderson Peak

Shield's Peak

Alto Diablo

Charlton Peak

Little Charlton Peak

Jepson Peak

Mount San Gorgonio

I completed this trek in June 2006 in 11 hours, 20 minutes. Here are two pictures from that journey. Stay tuned for a recap and pictures early next week.