Gainesville, FL is a terrific choice for a winter training camp. There are thousands of possible routes, and the large majority with shoulders nearly half as wide as the road. The weather is perfect - the past few days have been 81F with a low of 58F. Hard to beat for 'winter'.
Below is a photo of what Ichetucknee looks like. The current is pretty strong, so you have to move at 1:25 or better/100m. in order to make any forward progress at all. In some areas, to make progress, the swimmer is required to swim 1:15/100m or faster, though only for a few short meters. To swim 800m up it takes about 21minutes. It takes less than 8 to swim down the same distance. I guess that's what Michael Phelps feels like when he is swimming!
Hours-wise this week will likely yield 26 hs. I am hoping next week will be near 30, and that my knees can handle the pressure after being on a treadmill for most of the past semester. Law School had me crunched for time so I did a lot of training indoors. This semester I have a far better schedule since the dean allowed me to choose my classes and times, so it will be far better, and much more conducive to triathlon training.
