Eugene Half Mary!

What a great race! Here's the blow by blow:

4:30 am wake-up! I'm a bit obsessive about being somewhere ontime... plus I wanted to eat, have time to drop the kids off at the pool, and also some warm-up/chill time. Of course... I was a little TOO early. I parked my car at Autzen stadium (finsh line) and took the shuttle provided to get over to the start (Hayward Field). I got a huge kick out of people watching before the start. Everyone reacts to competition differently... quiet, boisterous, jovial, subdued... it runs the gamut and its fun to watch. I just kind of sat there and listened to my IPod and stretched a bit and tried to stay still.

6:45 am - Time to get in line! Like many races you're supposed to line up at the start according to your estimated finsh time. I think that gets thrown out the door b/c everyone has grand expectations at the beginning of any race. I just kind of meandered up through the line and settled in wherever I felt comfortable. Took my headphones and hat off for the national anthem... of course I teared up... always do during that song... I'm a pansy like that... sentimental etc! The energy in the crowd was pretty relaxed and happy! Then BAM... off goes the gun!

7:00 am - So it begins! The first half mile was spent jokeying for position... weaving in and out and trying to find your rhythm can be a challenge in such large crowd of people. By mile 1 it had thinned out and people were settling in. There was a ton of support out on the course. Eugene is an interesting place... there were plenty of "hippies" out there beating some drums... matching your stride... nice! I missed the first mile marker by about a minute so from the get-go my splits were screwed up! Bummer. Remember... this was supposed to be a training run for me... my pace was about a minute faster than I wanted it to be... but at that point I was feeling really comfortable and decided to hang with it. Plus I was hooked up with some really smooth lookin runners and thought it'd be fun to stay with them for the duration. Just after mile 3 I got to see my wife and slap the kiddos a high 5! That was really cool! The only hill on the course happened just after mile 4... straight up 19th St... it was pretty funny b/c when we turned the corner you could hear people that didn't know the course start to comment! I held pace up the hill and dropped a bunch of people. Felt pretty strong and at every corner there were a ton of spectators... that really pushes you along. Turning off of 19th we headed through the University of Oregon campus... that place was PACKED with spectators... then over the Autzen foot-bridge and along the river trail! It was freakin gorgeous! Sunny and warming up. About mile 8 my legs were feeling a little sluggish... then I realized that I hadn't been paying any attention to taking in any fuel... despite wearing a fuel belt with some Hammer Gel in two flasks... (4oz gel + 2 oz H2O)... took in a couple of ounces and made sure I drank some water through the next aid station (walked that one to make sure most of the fluid got in my system rather than down my shirt). Relaxed a bit and took in the sites. At around mile 10 the half-marys turned off and the full-marys went straight... they basically added another 3/4 of a mile before we hooked back up with them. They were AMAZING! Some of those guys/gals were just hammering... pretty cool to watch. There was a bit of confusion for the half-marys b/c there was a 12 mile marker that didn't apply to us. There were a couple of people ahead of me that saw that and surged... I checked my watch and knew it was a mistake.... I passed those people at the real mile 12! Bah ha ha! NICE! Anyway... I just cruised and felt strong through the tape knowing that I could have gone harder and longer if I needed to!

FINISH! 1:35:14
7:17/mi pace
113th place overall
12th of 92 in AG
Avg HR: 155
Nutrition: 6 X Enduralites (electrolyte pill)
6 oz Hammer Gel/water
32 oz plain water (approx)

Overall a really great morning! The event itself was really well organized and its always fun to be a part of something so cool! Fairly happy with the results considering I didn't go out and put the hammer down... I know I could have run faster. The biggest thing for me was that I'm learning where I am and where I want to be in terms of fitnes... I'm GETTING THERE! Absolutely zero problems with my shins OR my right ankle (THANKS MARCI)! Can't wait to beat that time next year...

Came home, ate like a pig, showered, and went to the park with the kiddos!

Sundays are an endurance swim and run day.... SO... at 4:00 I headed to the poo.. with minimal nagging from my wife (thanks K!)! Here's the workout:

- 200 yd warm-up/drills
- 1,800 yd steady state swim
- 100 yd cool-down
- Total time: 29:09

I was on such a high after the swim! I just felt great and blessed and lucky and happy! Good stuff! I also ran into Scott at the pool... a fellow local triathlete that had contacted me via email! How serendipidous is THAT? Cool dude and I'm sure we'll be putting in some miles over the next few weeks!

That's it for now. Today is a rest day! Went to the chiro to get checked out and adjusted this morning... everything looks good!

Breathe...

REAL training!

For all of you out there that want to know how a "real" triathlete with a family, job, mortgage, and a LAWN... train for triathlons etc. The picture to the left should give you an idea!

The Half-Mary here in Eugene starts tomorrow at 7 am! I'm going to attempt to get to bed at a decent hour so I can get up around 4:30 or 5. Despite my best efforts to tell myself that this is just a training run... and that I'm going to be wearing my HR monitor... and that I expect to stay in a certain mellow zone... and that I'm not going to hammer at ALL... I find myself completely ramped up and a bit nervous. You know... the kind of nervous that doubles as completely excited for another challenge. It's just going to be a bunch of fun being out there with close to 5,000 people! Its unbelievable b/c this is the inaugural year for the marathon here... that's a HUGE number for an early season marathon... especially in its first year.

Ran into a fellow triathlete while I was picking up my race packet at the sports expo. He and Collin's Cycle Shop here in Eugene are finally getting something going on a true triathlon team! I'm STOKED! We chatted for a while and I'm looking forward to hooking up with him to get some training in. Apparently this year anyone that's interested in joining the team is supposed to assemble their race resume... after that you are assigned to an A, B, or C level... A being the more experienced/faster... and they get all the gear at the shop at cost! Freakin SWEET! Anyway... I'm pretty excited about the whole thing... there's even talk of organizing a triathlon somewhere here in Eugene!

ALRIGHT! Enough out of me... I need to eat and get some rest! Wish my luck! Race report tomorrow...

Breathe...

Drew is SPOILED!

So Thursday I drive over to Bend to take care of some work stuff but as an added bonus I got to hook-up with Drew and his buddy Bruce and go for a SWEET ride! I say that Drew is spoiled b/c you would not believe the ride that we took! We were surrounded by amazing scenery the entire 24 miles, the sun was out, the sky was blue, it was roughly 68 degrees, AND there was little to no traffic! If I had it that good I would be a complete riding stud too! BUT... since I don't and since I'm not... I just felt lucky to be out there riding with those guys shootin the bull and having a great time!

Thanks Drew and Bruce! I'll definitley be back for more!

OK! SO! The Eugene Half Marathon is this coming Sunday! The weather is suppossed to be perfect and the course is flat. I'm just using this as a training run really. I plan to do 8 min miles and have a good time! It's supposed to be huge race... there's a full marathon, a half, a 5k, and a kid's fun run. The course winds through Eugene as well as a stretch along the mighty Willamette River finishing at Autzen Stadium. I'm really looking forward to it... events like this get the community completely fired up... which is always a fun thing to be a part of. Start time is 7 am so I figure I'll take off from my house on my bike around 5:30 am so that I can park it at the finish... that way it'll be there when I'm done and I can just ride home... no worries or hassles with the traffic!

The ankle is a bit sore but I'm trusting in my PT and hoping for the best! Can't wait to write up the race report! Tomorrow I'll do a really light run with a little speed thrown in to make sure the legs work....

Breathe...

Lies and Injury!

Kind of a rough couple of days since I last wrote! Monday was a total rest day... and TOM got pneumonia! Yes... pneumonia! K couldn't change her schedule so I stepped up to bat and hung with the sick boy all day. He had a tremendous attitude the whole day despite the horrendous cough. We listened to some Dylan and played with Playdough. NICE!

Tuesday was a big and swim day. Here's what the swim looked like:

- 300 yd warm-up (swim, pull, kick)
- 6 X 200 yds at sprint tri pace on 30 seconds rest
- 300 yd cool-down (drills)
- 1:30/100 yds

The pool was freakin COLD! What was up with that? Anyway, I felt pretty good in the water and don't have any complaints. Although, I would like to get that time down per 100 yds.

Here's the bike, (done on the trainer b/c of incliment weather):

- 20 min warm-up
- 8 X 1 mile repeats at sprint tri speed on 3 min active rest
-20 min cool-down

Doing this kind of workout on the trainer totally bites. Basically I got through it b/c I knew I needed to... but I wasn't happy about it. I can't WAIT to be able to ride outside consistently to do my bike workouts.

Today was a speed work day on the bark trail! From the get-go things started out suckin! So I'm warming up and I realize that I'd be doing the same workout I did last Wednesday only two more times... and then I realized that I shorted myself by 400 meters on each interval! I SUCK! MAN! I was so mad at myself for doing that! You'd think I would have figured it out once I was looking at my times... but nooooooo... math is not my strong suit!

So here's what the real workout looked like:

- 2 mile warm-up
- 4 X 1000 m intervals at sprint tri pace on 3 min active rest
- Splits: 3:57, 3:58, 3:55, 3:53
- 1 mile cool-down

So the intervals felt good. I felt strong. My right leg felt like it was going to explode when I got done. I had SEVERE pain radiating from the right ankle all the way up the outside of my calf and stopping at my knee. I could barely walk after I got done it hurt so bad. WIERD! So I piled my sorry butt into the car and came home. Mentally I was totally destroyed! Seriously, my mind went all the way to, "What the hell am I going to do now!? I finally found my "thing" and now I'm not going to be able to do it b/c its overwhelmingly painful!" I was a mess! After about 20 minutes the pain dissipated and I took some ibuprophen. I was able to see one of our friends that's a physical therapist and a triathlete! She related the pain in my ankle to a knee injury that I got while I was in Ranger school 14 years ago! She made some adjustments to my knee and told me not to run for at least 2 days. Apparently I'll be cured after that time! SWEET! Keep your fingers crossed!

4 days until the Eugene half marathon... I'm pumped!

Breathe....

Turkey Crossings and Snobby Runners!

Ok... so have you ever seen a sign like this one? I never had until my ride on Saturday! If you've known me for any period time you'd know that I began turkey hunting a few years ago. You'd also know that I've never actually shot one! I came close to shooting a really life-like turkey DECOY... but I've never actually brought one home for dinner! Turkey season opens every April 15th and with all the triathlon stuff... no attempted turkey slaughtering for me. Anyway, the ironic thing is that this season I've seen a total of 4 big fat TOMS while riding or driving... of course... I don't make it a common practice to carry a shotgun with me at those times. So here I was on my long ride on Saturday and I came across this sign... but there were no turkey to be found... I just had to take a picture.

Which brings me to my ride on Saturday! It was the longest ride that I've ever done... to most triathletes/cyclists it would probably be nothing... but it was new territory for me... and it was a total BLAST! Lila had a soccer game Saturday morning... OH! Did I mention the team name that the girls chose? They are the "Famous Flaming Kicker Girls"! YEAH! Rock ON! Anyway... we had a game Saturday morning... and we kicked the crap out of O'Hara... that's RIGHT Yo... 1st grad girls soccer is intense! It rained the entire game and didn't let up... which made me really look forward to the ride. I was really close to just hoping on the trainer but I think that being out in the crappy weather builds mental resilience in the end... so off I went. It rained for the entire 2 1/2 hrs I was out there... and it was GORGEOUS!
Here's the stats:
- 2 1/2 hours
- 43.8 miles
- 17.8 mph avg
- 143 bpm avg HR
I'm actually pretty happy with that. Of course I would have liked to have seen a higher avg speed... but I think that will come with time. The terrain I'm riding on is perfect for training for a race like the Pacific Crest Half Iron... HILLY! Legs felt good the entire time, got to catch up on a couple of Podcasts... life is good!
This morning was a long run. I wasn't really sure how thing would go after the long ride yesterday but I was surprised at how fresh I felt when I took off! Here's the route if you want to check it out: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=883574
Here are the stats:
- 1:20 minutes
- 10.2 miles
- 7:42/mile
- 157 avg HR
Had a good time on the run! Running is probably the one thing that I'm completely comfortable with in this triathlon thing... but I'm noticing that I'm certainly not as fast as I used to be. I'm a little bit disturbed by my average HR too... I mean, doesn't that seem like a high rate? The thing is that I didn't feel like I was working too hard and I also felt like I could go pretty much forever! Who knows man... it's all new territory to me... and I'm having a BLAST!
So the "Snobby Runners" in the title? Well, here in "Track City USA" you get to run among many many talented runners! Its pretty cool actually. But what's with no-one smiling and saying "HI!"? I make a point of saying hi to everyone while I'm out there... hell... I'm just having a good time! If you can't muster the energy to at least look up and grunt... you're doing the wrong thing! ENJOY what you're doing WHILE you're doing it! You should be tickled pink that you're out there running, healthy, and in a beautiful place! SMILE for Christs sake!

Breathe...

Dinner with Drew and Co!

So HEY... guess what? I got to meet Drew and his family for dinner last night while I was in Ashland! VERY cool! It just so happened that he and I had business to take care of in that area so we hooked up for some eats! Pretty fun... AND I made a new friend in Drew's ADORABLE daughter Jannelle! She even drew me a picture! She is completely full of beans... and its no surprise that she's Drew's daughter! If you haven't checked out Drew's blog take a peak... its in my links...
Alright... so a quick catch-up on the training! Wednesday was a speed-work day out on the bark trail and here's what it looked like:

- 20 min warm-up (slow jog)
- 3 X 1,000 meter repeats at estimated sprint tri pace followed by 3 min active recovery (slow jog)
- 10 min cool-down
- HR maxed out at 175

So I really have no idea what my "Sprint Triathlon Pace" would be for the run... and I didn't put a whole lot of thought into it... basically I went hard enough to feel the pain toward the end of the 1,000 meters! Here's my splits:

- 4:05
- 4:07
- 3:58

Fairly consistent and I'm happy that I was able to pick it up on the last one without bursting a lung. Will someone do the math for me and figure out what those splits would mean over a mile? I'm feeling too lazy... thanks! The only issue I had was my right groin... it just feels a bit sensitive... like I could really pull it if I'm not careful.

Thursday was my brick day! YES! After driving down to Ashland... listening to Brett's latest Podcast from Zen and the Art of Triathlon... I was ready to blow some steam. There's a paved bike trail that goes from Ashland and heads North all the way to Medford... called the Bear Creek Trail. Pretty cool not having to ride in traffic at that time of day and it was completely flat also... sweeeeet. The only problem was that when I reached the 10 mile mark... the path was closed... had to turn around! Bummer. Here's what the brick looked like:

- 1:15 on the bike (23 miles easy, avg HR 146)
- 3 min transition
- 20 min run (? miles, avg HR 152)

Everything felt really good! The pace of this particular brick was supposed to be relaxed and I felt comfortable the entire time. I'm having a little issue with the outside of my right ankle. Basically after riding its pretty sore... kind of a throbbing pain that radiates up the outside of my right calf. I'm thinking that my cleat might not be placed right in relation to my peddle... gotta get that checked out.

Alright! Feeling good as I head into the weekend! Ready for my long ride on Saturday and my long run and 1 mile time trial in the pool on Sunday!

Breathe...

Race Schedule...

AlRIGHTY! So I figured I'd finally post how my 2007 season is shaping up! Here's are the races that I'm currently registerd for:

- Eugene Half-marathon (April 29th Eugene, Oregon)
- Pole, Pedal, Paddle (May 19th Bend, Oregon)
- Blue Lake Olympic (June 10th Troutdale, Oregon)
- Pacific Crest Half-Ironman (June 23rd Sun River, Oregon)
- Escape from the Gorge Olympic (Sept 9th Cascade Locks, Oregon)

That's it for now. There's a HUGE gap between the Pacific Crest and the Escape... I might have to fill something in there to keep me motivated. Considering this is my first full season in the sport... this just might be enough... who knows!

More on how training is coming along tomorrow! Thanks for visiting... leave a comment!

Breathe...

STORMY!!!!

I just read through my previous post... what a BASKET CASE! Geesh... sorry about that! Eh... it happens.

Check out the head wrinkles man... I'm a WRINKLY bastard aint I?!

So yesterday was a day of rest. Apparently I needed it. I also had the pleasure of hopping over to Coos Bay for a little overnight b/c I had a breakfast presentation at one of the clinics over there. Talk about a depressing place! I went over late and ended up staying at The Mill Hotel and Casino... ewwwwwww. That's right... a bunch of obese people drinking booze, smoking cigarettes, and playing slots.... most of them missing more than one tooth. Nasty! Except for the missin teeth and obesity... they reminded me a lot of my old fraternity brothers... but I degress!

This morning was a "high-intensity" swim and here's what it looked like:

- 300 yd warm-up (swim, pull, kick)
- 5 X 200 yd intervals at sprint triathlon pace on 30 seconds rest.
- 400 yd cool-down (drills)

The whole session felt really good. I didn't push too hard on the intervals. Basically my goal was to be consistent. Each interval from 1st to 5th were at 2:55 per 200 yd. Very happy with the consistency and the lack of fatigue. Basically I got out of the pool feeling like I could have kept going for another 1,700 yds.

I was really looking forward to getting outside and doing my "high-intensity" ride this afternoon... but the weather had other ideas. It was POURING... then it was HAILING... and it was NIPPLE-SCREAMIN cold! Time to break out the trainer... again. So here's what the workout looked like:

- 20 min warm-up
- 6 X 1 mile intervals at sprint triathlon pace on 3 min active rest (spinning)
- 10 min cool-down

So not really knowing what my sprint triathlon race pace would be on the bike... I just picked a number. I figured that averaging 20 mph would be acceptable... although now... sitting here writing this... that seems a bit slow for that distance. So what I did on the trainer is I went all out for 3 minutes. Each interval took my HR up to around 156... so maybe saying that I went "all out" is a slight exageration... could have gone harder. Again, one of my goals for the workout was consistency... and I met that goal... niiiiiiiice.

OH! So I'm talking to a local bike shop that also carries some tri-stuff about sponsorship. I'll wait to drop the name of the shop in case things don't work out the way I want them to. Basically what I'd like to see on the table is a 20% discount on all tri-related gear in the shop. In exchange I'll represent the shop at every race I participate in. I really want to support this shop and I think that the tri-scene in Eugene is getting ready to take off... we'll see where it goes.

That's it for now....

Breathe...

WHY do I feel like CRAP???

So this is the Hammer Nutrition logo... really great stuff! I'm partial to Hammer Gel, Hammer Heed (electrolyte beverage), Perpetuem (for workouts over 2 hrs), and Recoverite (recovery). They don't put a lot of crap in their products and are really good about supporting endurance sports and educating athletes about nutrition. I have a link to their website in my links section... check it out!

Call me crazy but I thought during a recovery week you were supposed to feel GOOD! Good LORD! I just got back from an hour long run and my joints hurt, my groin is aching, and my attitude sucks! What GIVES??? I just don't get it. I've been struggling all week with feeling sore and out of sorts... and it's really getting under my skin! I assume that its just the nature of training and putting in the hours... you're just not going to feel like a rock star ALL the time. I suppose I should look at it as an opportunity to build on my mental resilience... yeah... that's the ticket! BLAH!

Saturday I did 1 1/2 hrs on the trainer due to weather. Good and bad. Legs felt pretty good... video games were fun... not being outside and riding SUCKED!

So this morning I did an hour long run:

- Total time: 1:00:02
- Total Milege: 8.0222
- Avg HR: 163
- Pace: 7:29:00/mile
- Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=861635

Like I said... I basically felt like crap the entire time. The only saving grace was that Jetpack kept me company on the IPod. Jetpack is one of the sponsored triathletes from Race Athlete and also has a blog and a podcast and spends some time on Triscoop. Seems like a pretty interesting dude. Cancer survivor, pilot, former fat-body. It was helpful to listen to him so I didn't focus on how hard I was suckin on this run!

This afternoon I did a 1,200 yd endurance swim:

- 200 yd warmup/drills
- 1,200 yd. main set
- 200 yd cool down
- Total time: 19:34
- 1st 600 yds: 9:47
- 2nd 600 yds: 9:46

Felt pretty good in the pool. No cramping of any signifigance and my right groin actually seemed to loosen up a bit. I was really happy with the consistent split. That's a big deal... so there was a positive outcome today! If I can hold that pace for another 600 yds I could come in under 30 min. for 1.2 miles... that's the goal... so yeah me!

OK! So then I go onto Triscoop and check out some of the posts in the "Shout Box". There are 3 Triscoopers doing Ironman Arizona! I check they're splits on the site and Bryan placed 25th overall! Is that AWESOME or WHAT? So then I'm thinkin, "Dude... you're such a pansy! Here you are bitchin and moanin about having a couple of mediocre workouts.... wahhhhhhh... poooooooor me! When these guys are out there doin 140 + miles of pain in one day!" That really helped me put things into perspective... I'll be less quick to bitch and moan next time I hit a rough day!

Got an email from a local guy named Scott that does triathlon... I might actually get a training partner! COOL!

That's it for now! Sorry for the bitch session!

Breathe...

Future World Class Triathlete

Yeah... so I had a non-key swim this morning and a non-key bike this afternoon. Blah blah blah... BORED! Sorry... I'm completely uninspired right now. I just couldn't get pumped writing about 1,000 yds worth of drills in the pool and a uneventful ride... oh well...

So here's my youngest... Tom... on the bike... yep... he's going places! Look at that aero position!



Breathe...

SORE!

I have no idea what happened... but after feeling like Superman after Tuesday's workouts... I turned into a screaming wussy on Wednesday! I woke up sore on Wednesday morning... mostly in the glutes... odd huh? No worries though... its all part of the plan right? In order to build and get stronger you have to break down first.

I'm eating well and actually maintaining wieght... which is odd for me. I think my metabolism might actually be slowing down in my old age. I have mixed feelings about that. I've always been one of those skinny guys that can eat everything and anything and never gain weight. Basically the most that I've ever weighed is 165 lbs... which was when I was in the Army right before heading off to Ranger school (after which I weighed 132 lbs). After that I got back up to 155 and have held steady between there and 162 ever since. Maybe I should stop working out, start watching a lot of TV and drinking a ton of beer... just to see what would happen.

ANYWAY! Wednesday was a speed work day on the Amazon bark trail!

- 20 min warm-up (8:00/mi)
- 6 x 400m sprints on 3 minute active recovery (slow jog)
- 20 min cool-down (8:00/mi)

Legs felt stiff and sore even after the warm-up. The wind was really howling that day and I just happened to be doing my intervals straight into it... NOT fun! I did pretty well though. Invervals 1 thru 6 were at 1:20... consistent and relatively fast! It was more of a mental strain than anything else. I didn't really want to be out there pushing it while I was that sore... but I got through it with pretty good results. I think if I could hold that pace it would be a 5:20 mile... if my math is right... but there's no WAY I could hold that pace for longer than a mile... that's nothing but a pipe dream. After that I went into the gym and stretched and did a bit of core work.

So that brings us to today! I had to take off to Ashland after my run... got down there around 7 ish in the evening and then went and stuffed myself on sushi. Believe it or not there's a pretty good place in Ashland. Thursdays are always brick days...

- 20 min warm-up (easy spin)
- 35 min ride
- 1:10 transition
- 10 min run
- Half Ironman pace

I did 12 miles (17 total including the warm-up) on the bike spinning at between 100 and 110 rpms and maintaining an average HR of 146. Pretty happy with that. Legs felt a bit sore and stiff but loosened up nicely after the 20 min warm-up. Jumped off the bike, slapped on the running shoes and took off on the run. Averaged a 7 min mile with no trouble... felt strong... and had an average HR of 156. Overall I was pretty happy with the performance. Did a bunch of stretching after I was done. I'm going to be very religious about stretching for the remainder of my training cycle... I listened to a podcast that said that you can improve preformance thru increased flexibility up to 30%... I'm IN!

OK! I had something WIERD happen while I was on the bike this morning. I had my IPod on and was listening to a band called "Apocalyptica"... I think that's how you spell it. Anyway, they do orchestral covers of Metallica songs... all strings... violin and cello... really intense stuff. So I'm going after it on the bike just cranking away and the music is just building and building and building and my eyes are closed and my breathing is steady and I'm calm and everything comes together for a split second and I just think, "I'm blessed" and a totally tear up! Is that freakin WIERD or what??? I dunno man, but I'm just so lucky to be here, and have the family that I do, and be training and healthy and strong and I just felt so centered at that moment... it was really really cool! Brett from Zen and the Art of Triathlon would have been proud.

Tomorrow is a non-key swim in the morning and a non-key bike in the afternoon. Plan on doing some weights and some core!

Breathe...

Recovery Week!

Monday was a rest day for me. Instead of taking the entire day off, I felt like I needed some sort of pseudo workout to keep myself sane. So I went to the gym in the afternoon, walked on the treadmill, did some weights, some core, LOTS of stretching, then sat in the sauna for a while. Not exactly a workout but it felt really good. I woke up this morning feeling ready to go.

During my recovery weeks... which is about every 4 weeks... the total volume of the workouts decreases but you maintain the same intensity. Basically I get to feel like superman for a week b/c of the fitness I've built over the last 4... and the workouts are shorter! YES!

SO... today was a morning swim and an afternoon bike... and here's how it went:

- 400 yd warm-up (swim, pull, kick, pull)
- 6 X 100 yd sprints on 30 sec rest
- 200 yd cool-down

I averaged a 1:20 split over the 6 intervals which I was fairly happy with. It was odd to be done so quickly! I wasn't in the pool for a very long time at ALL... wierd! Went home and made coffee for the wifey!

This afternoon consisted on some speed work on the bike. I chose to do it on the trainer due to time constraints b/c of coaching Lila's soccer team... worth the sacrifice! So here's what I did:

- 20 min drills/warm-up
- 6 x 1km sprints on 2 min active rest (spinning)
- 10 min cool-down

Legs felt good and strong. I covered each km between 1:15 and 1:20. It's tough to gage if that's good, bad, or indifferent b/c it was done on the trainer. The bonus of riding on the trainer is that my 3 1/2 year old got to blow bubbles at me while I was pumping away! Pretty sweet!

Overall a good day. Feel strong, balanced, and healthy! Running intervals in the am! Can't wait!

Breathe...

Easter Sunday and the ICE BATH!

Happy Easter! Besides getting up at 4 am to hide some eggs and throw jelly beans all around the living room like the Easter Bunny on crack... I had a nice day. Today was an endurance swim and and endurance run... the only problem was that there were no pools open on Easter Sunday! Geesh... who does this Jesus guy think he is anyway? A real dedicated triathlete would have found some open water to go swim in... but I was enjoying the jellybeans and chocolate too much to put forth that kind of effort. I settled on a longish run instead.

Legs felt a bit tired after yesterday's trainer torture but I was excited to get out there and run. The weather was perfect... probably about 60 degrees, light breeze from the East, partial clouds... ideal. All of my endurance bikes and runs are based off of time and not distance... so today's run was 1:20 at whatever pace I chose. In my mind I was running a solid 7:30 pace... in actuality I averaged a 8:16 mile... what a TURD! Seriously... I was extremely dejected after I gmapped the run and figured out that I had only covered 9.6 miles. I had to remind myself that the last mile and a half was done up a fairly steep grade... but I was still really disappointed. That's not even close to where I want to finish my half-marathon in. THEN I remembered that I'm only entering my 9th week of this training thing and that my training is progressing well and that I'm not injured and that I need to be patient. So here's the route I took if you want to check it out:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=842743

When I got done with the run, my legs were extremely sore and tired. I think it had to do with the hill at the end AND the big fat ride yesterday... SO... what's a guy to do but take an icebath! NOT fun but boy does it work! The kids thought it was hilarious seeing their skinny-assed daddy freezing in an extremely cold bath! I'm glad I did it though... legs feel good tonight... attitude is good... and I'm ready for a nice rest day tomorrow!

Breathe...

Friday/Saturday!

Not having a home computer SUCKS! I'm biting the bullet and going to pick-up a MacBook today... it's gonna be SWEET!

Yesterday was a "non-key" workout day. Fridays are a morning swim and and afternoon bike. Both of which are supposed to be moderate in distance and intensity. Got up early to hit the pool and ended up doing 1,800 yds worth of drills. I've been reading this book called, "Total Immersion". I think that's the title. Anyway, its all about making your body as "fish-like" in the water as possible... lengthening your stroke etc. The idea is that more powerful doesn't necessarily interpret into faster swimming... a more stream-lined form does. So I spent a lot of time concentrating on lengthening my stroke, being smooth and fluid, and working on bi-lateral breathing. Overall it was a really nice workout... not difficult by any means. I came out of the pool not feeling fatigued in the least... even though to date that is the furthest I've swum. If my math is right I swam just over a mile pretty much continuously! Pretty cool! I'm pretty pumped about how my body is coming along in terms of the volume of workouts. The training program that I'm using is really working b/c the volume is increasing every week but I'm not hurting myself in the process.

That afternoon it was absolutely gorgeous outside. In the 70's, sunny, no wind... a perfect day for a light ride... only I didn't do one. HA HA HA! Yeah... you're supposed to be all intense and focused and driven to do all this triathlon training stuff... 100% of the time. Well... I FLAKED on the bike yesterday. I had the rare opportunity to pick my eldest son up from school and hang out with him for a couple of hours... just he and I. It was priceless and I have absolutely ZERO regrets. He's a cool dude and I've missed him over the last couple of weeks. That's the thing about triathlon and not being a pro... its definitely a lifestyle and I love the focus and intensity it brings to my workouts... but its also nice to be able to drop it for a half day and focus on what's really really REALLY important... which is your support crew... your family!

Woke up Saturday to MISERABLE weather. It was cold and POURING! Needless to say I had a hard time justifying getting the kids up to go watch Drew in the Beaver Freezer... sorry Drew! I'm sure you kicked ass even without my support! Anyway... in addition to the weather being crummy I felt like complete CRAP! I don't know what it was but my legs just felt like hell... my lower back... my shoulders... pretty much everywhere. The morning workout was supposed to be a "non-key" run... so I bagged it and made breakfast for the kiddos. The day went on and I felt a bit better... but not near 100%. I was really questioning whether I should try my long ride today (2hrs) so I thought that I'd just hope on the trainer and see how I felt. Worked out pretty good... 2 hrs on the trainer, got to talk to my brother on the phone, played some video games with my son, sweated a TON, and got through the ride feeling pretty good! Legs feel WAY better than they did this morning... maybe I just needed to put in a workout to get loose again.

Looking forward to my long run and swim tomorrow. 1:20 min run and 1,700 yd endurance swim. FUN!

Breathe...

Catch Up...

ALRIGHT! Enough flakiness... here's what's been happenin' over the last couple of days:

Wednesday was a speed day! What really sucked was waking up to a morning that was less than perfect. Basically it could have been a cold morning in January if I didn't know any better. RAINY, COLD, WINDY! YUCK! Fantastic for a little mental workout huh? I mean... what are you going to do on race day if its crappy out? Roll over and hit the snooze? Snuggle back into your comfy bed? Say, "Eh, I don't feel like racing today... forget the entry fee and all the hard work... I'll do it next year." HELL NO... you get your ass up and get out there! So that's what I did:

• 2 mi warm-up
• 10 x 400m sprints on 3 min jog
• 2 mi cool-down

I did all the repeats on the Amazon bark trail. Basically its a 4 mile loop on nice cushy bark trails... all of it marked every 400m... really nice. It also just happens to be where all of the University of Oregon track and cross country teams get their workouts in... talk about humbling. You wouldn't believe these guys and gals... incredibly beautiful runners... strong, sleek, fast, smooth... almost poetic. So there I was... doing repeats among these amazing athletes... pretty inspirational. My splits were consistent and faster than they were last week 1:17/400m.

That afternoon I headed over to Bend for a little business trip and gave a friend of mine from college a call. Jim has been a good friend over the years and he has a blossoming passion for triathlon. It was cool to see him and his two kiddos and get to catch up a bit. Jim will be joining me at Pacific Crest for the half IM! Niiiiiiiice

Today, Thursday, was, of course... BRICK DAY! YES! A little stiff from the repeats yesterday but overall felt pretty fresh. Wednesday night after dinner, I fell asleep at 9pm so I was really well rested... but a bit stiff none-the-less. So here's what I did:

• 1 hour bike
• 20 min run
• "easy" pace

Felt pretty darn good on the bike after the initial 5 to 10 minutes... Kept my HR down at 130 bpm and spun at 90 rpm. Felt fresh on the run holding a 7 min/mi pace at a HR of 147 without really feeling strained. Good workout... although as I write this my legs do feel a bit smoked!

Got to hook up with Drew at Starbucks for a little tri talk and coffee. He's hittin the Beaver Freezer this weekend which is a sprint distance race... the dude is going to smoke it! Best of luck Drew!

Alright... enough from me... I gotta get a new computer SOON! All this writing and no pictures is making me SICK!

Breathe...

Swim Legs?

I'm not entirely sure... but I think my swim is getting stronger! YES! It just seems that every time I come back to the pool I can swim longer and faster with less fatigue... and that's a good thing! Ultimately my goal is to come out of the swim portion of the Pacific Crest Half IM with a 29.55 swim split. I have no real idea if that's a realistic goal or not... but that's what I'm shootin for... I've read somewhere that you need to set "stretch goals"... well... that's definitely a stretch but I also believe its achievable!

So here's this morning's swim workout:

• 400 yd warm-up (swim, pull, kick, swim)
• 10 X 100 yd sprints on 30 sec rest
• 200 yd cool down (swim)

This afternoon's workout was spent on the trainer... not my favorite... but better than braving the elements today! I was also limited on time b/c today was the first day of my daughter's soccer practice... of which I'm the coach... pile it ON baby! Anyway... here's the workout:

• 16 mile warmup
• 10 x 1 km sprints on 3 min spin recovery
• 12 mile cooldown

Basically I covered the 1 km in 1 min 25 seconds for intervals 1 through 10... at least I'm consistent! The legs were really burning during the sprints... which is the point. I was happy overall with the workout... except for the fac that it was inside!

Off to Bend tomorrow on business where I hope to hookup with Drew and get a workout in with him! He's in the middle of a taper week for the Beaver Freezer this coming weekend... but we can probably still run or something!

OH! My desktop crashed.... which explains the lack of pictures and the long diatribes!

Breathe...

Redding Weekend!

Whew! I'm back in good ol Eugene this morning. Had a great weekend of fun and frolicking down in Redding, CA with my immediate family, my mother and father-in-law, and my brother-in-law. Actually got out in the kick boats on Shasta Lake for some fishing on Saturday morning... the weather was awesome and the fish were... well... not biting! Who cares though... it was awesome to be out on the water with my son! Training didn't suffer at all, and thankfully I have a really supportive family.

Saturday morning I went for a short run at a moderate pace... roughly 40 minutes at about a 7:30/mi pace. It was really nice to be out running at 6:00 am in nothing but a t-shirt and shorts! Quite a nice change from the rain and the cold in Eugene. Then that afternoon I took to the backroads of Redding! It was 73 degrees and sunny... making it my most pleasant ride so far this year. I rode for 1 hour and 45 min covering 36.7 miles averaging 18 mph on flat to rolling terrain. I don't know if that was particularly fast per se... but it really felt good... legs and back felt a bit stiff afterward but I was happy with my performance overall!

Sunday morning was a long run... or at least the longest so far this year. Again... I took off in a t-shirt and shorts in the mild morning sun! It was great! I also strapped on my fuelbelt holding 2 6 oz bottles of a concoction of banana Hammer Gell mixed with water... about a 1 to 1 ratio. I rambled around the neighborhood for a while until I found a REALLY nice nature preserve and finished up there. Brett from Zen and the Art of Triathlon kept me company on the iPod which was really helpful! Overall I ran 1 hr and 10 min. at about a 8 min/mi pace... you can do the math. Legs felt just fine after the long ride on Saturday! Then it was a 5 hour drive back to Eugene! Oh JOY! After we got home and headed to the pool. There I did a 1km time trial... finished in 16 min flat... which is slightly off of the pace that I'd like to race at.

I have to say that I think my training is progressing just fine. I have to remember that I'm only beginning my 9th week of training in a 20 week training cycle! Having said that I think I'm doing well and I just need to be patient. I can definitely tell that my body is adapting to the training b/c I'm just not as sore after my heavy days! That's pretty cool! Today is a day off and then It's time to hit it hard tomorrow!

Breathe!