Hunter Kemper had a banner year in 2003. The elite triathlete opened his season with a victory in the Bay Islands International Triathlon in Honduras. He won gold at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo. In September, he won his first World Cup race in Madrid, Spain, ending a nine-year dry spell for the American men. Kemper was the top U.S. men’s finisher in eight of the 12 international triathlons he entered.

We join the Hunter Kemper Road Diary, found on hunterkemper.com, already in progress …

“I have been back in Colorado Springs for about 10 days now. My training has been going very well. I think I'm finally getting used to training at altitude again ... Colorado Springs is approximately 6,200 ft. above sea level. I'm sure you are asking why I decided to leave sunny FL to come back to Colorado Springs and train. Well, the main reason is that I really believe in the benefits of altitude training. When you train at altitude you gain the benefits of increasing your red blood cell count and your hematocrit. When you increase your red blood cells, a greater flow of oxygen gets to your muscles ... this benefits your performance. I'll talk more about altitude training later, but I first want to finish this journal by giving you an example of a typical training day for me.

I am currently doing a lot of base training as I prepare for my 2004 season ... here is what I did during a training day this past Wednesday, Jan. 14:

At 6:45 a.m. the alarm clock sounded to get ready for morning swim practice ... swim practice starts at 7:30 a.m. at the 50m pool located at the Olympic Training Center.

I swam 5000 meters:
>> 600-meter warm-up: 12 50's on the 50 sec. (odd's - easy, even's - build).
>> Main set: 4 by 50m on the 60 sec. interval - faster than race pace, 800m swim - holding your race pace (for me that was 1:15's per 100m) ... repeat this set one more time ... then finish with 4 by 50m on the 60 sec. interval - faster than race pace (for me this was 33 sec. per 50m).
>> Next set: 400m, 300m, 200m, 6 by 100m all with paddles and pull buoy – 10 seconds rest between each.
>> Warm Down: 100 meters.

I finished practice about 9 a.m. and went to breakfast at the Olympic Training Center dining hall ... those big breakfasts are great after swim practice!

Then it was off to the gym to do about 45 minutes of weight training (I'll talk more about weight training in upcoming journals).

It's 10:30 a.m. and I'm back home ready for my nap 'til noon... about 1 1/2 hours of napping. I love my POWER naps!! After I woke up, I grabbed a light snack.

A two-hour bike ride on some rolling hills was next... nice and slow for the entire ride, but I focused on keeping my rpm's up over 90 for the entire ride. I returned about 2:30 p.m. and got a late lunch - usually ham and cheese with some yogurt ... and lots of water to replenish all the fluids I have lost.

My run started about 4 p.m. ... ran for about 60 minutes … going about 6:45 pace (gotta keep it easy during the base phase). Returned about 5 p.m. and stretched for about 15 minutes. I'm trying to improve my stretching this year so I remain injury free.

The best part of the day was taking a nice hot shower and relaxing before my wife, Val, fixed a delicious dinner for the two of us. We sat down to eat Taco Pie -- which is my favorite -- at about 6:45 p.m.

My goal is to be in bed and asleep by 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. to get ready for another day at the "office."

I hope this gives you a little insight into what I did last Wednesday, Jan 14.

"May all your transitions be fast and smooth!"