Sunday 05/16/10

A pretty good week for training.

Monday was to be a day off, but I went to a 2 hour spin class. These workouts really seem to be helping my endurance. I felt strong on Monday and I was soaking wet when the class was all said and done.

Tuesday AM was a swim and a long swim at that. 4250 total yds between the warm up, work out, and cool down. Now my event is 2.4 miles which is only 4224 yds. Yes, that is correct, I swam 26 yds more than my event distance. It made for a long morning but the swim went well.
Tuesday PM, I met Mentor Michelle over at the base of Mount Diablo for an evening climb. Took just under an hour to get from the soccer field on Blackhawk Drive to the junction. But then the fun begins and I get to go downhill for a long time. I love descending.

Wed was to be a run only. I decided to do Thursday's brick workout instead. I started with an hour spin class and then went for a quick 2 mile run. Both went well. My plan was to make up today's run on Friday and do Friday's swim on Thursday, but more on that soon.

Thursday was another swim. Not as long as Tuesday's, but still pretty lengthy. 3800 yds later, it felt long enough.

Friday, I was to make up the run. Well, work happened on Thursday (nice excuse) and surprise, the run did not happen. What a shocker!!!!

Saturday, we were back in Sonoma County for an 80 mile Bike around the Vineman course. My bike fit felt better on Tuesday, but still not right. On this day, it was about the same. I did not have any pains, back, butt, or foot. Coach Dave led us out and kept us at a reasonable pace for the first 15 miles. After that, it was hammer time, I mean, race speed time. I felt strong all day. I had, what I would call, my best day on a bike so far. I felt strong throughout. I kept up with my Carbo-Pro/gatorade mixture and drank 1 bottle per hour (336+ cal./bottle) I could have used a fifth bottle, but unfortunately, I only packed 4 total. Note to self, pack 1 more than you think you will need. I will probably need 7 on event day.
I felt great was the ride was done and again, I did a quick brick, and went for a 2 mile run. This was not on the schedule but I thought the extra running would help me. Also, if I run on Saturday, I can rationalize Sunday.

Sunday was an Open water swim and run, but the American Motorcycle Association was racing at Infineon Speedway and I wanted to go see the races. Not a bad way to spend the day. I got up early, dusted off my motorcycle, rode up to the races, and watched men (and women)do crazy things at very fast speeds.
Those racers make training for an Ironman seem sane.....

Sunday 05/09/10 Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there!!

This week was pretty good for me. I actually got a couple of runs in, which is a step in the right direction.
Monday was to be a day off, but I went for a double spin class. Up at 4:30 AM and to the gym by 4:45 AM for the first class at 5:00 and the second at 6:00. This is a pretty good workout and I am drenched in sweat by the end.

Tuesday was a swim workout in the AM. A ladder workout of 2450 yds. Went well. I am feeling comfortable in the water finally. Tuesday PM was a bike and run, but I didn't have my new bike shoes yet, so I blew off the workout.

Wednesday was a spin workout at 5:00 AM. I only did the one session as I had to get to work.

Thursday was a run workout but I went for Friday's swim workout instead. 3850 yds, a little over 2 miles. Went well, but I was tired when I was finished. My event is 2.4 miles, which is 4224 yds. My yardage is catching up on that number very quickly.

Friday was the swim workout and I should make up the run I missed on Thursday, but I decide to go for a 2 hour spin class again. Again, it went well and I was drenched in sweat when it was over, but I cannot continue to blow off this many runs. Meenu starts to call me Aquaboy, since I have been missing so many runs. She is busting my chops that I am only going to be able to do the AquaBike. I cannot continue to miss the runs. I am getting too close to the event to miss more runs.

Saturday we go up to Napa and ride the Silverado Trail. 56 miles, out and back, and for some reason it is in to a head wind both ways. I don't know how that works but it does. I ride with Haakon, Tony, BK, Jim and Les to start off with. I had my new shoes on and had switched my seat the night before to a narrower seat. I thought I had put the new seat on in the same position, but after a few miles, it was apparent that I did not have the set up correct. I felt like I was reaching for the handlebars and for the pedals. My lower back was killing me at the half way point. I made a slight adjustment to the seat at the water stop and that improved the pain, but something was still off. I will continue to work on that to get it right. I finished the ride in about 2 hours 45 minutes. I was happy with the time since the pain I was in. We had a very short 2 mile run after the ride. BK and I ran that together. Brian is a much better runner than I, so I struggled to keep up, but I managed to finish the run with him (I think he slowed down for me).

Sunday was a 12 mile long slow distance run. I met some teammates over at the Iron Horse Trail. I take off with Haakon and Nic. MISTAKE!! They are both too fast for me to keep up with through 12 miles. I keep up for the first 3 miles, but then my day starts to go downhill. The rest of the run goes, but I have to change from running a 9 min run:1 min walk to a 5:1.
Not the way I want my runs to go.

I have 11 weeks or so until my event. Which gives me about 8 weeks to get ready for the marathon portion. Time to start running......

Tuesday 05/04/10

A fairly uneventful week for training.
My butt has finally healed. I went and bought new shoes but they are not yet in. So, I have not been back on my bike. I miss her.
Monday was our usual day off, which I gladly took.
Tuesday was a swim in the AM. The swim was not real long, only 3250 yds, but it seemed a lot longer. I was supposed to bike in the evening but that didn't happen.
Wednesday was supposed to be a run, but I made up my bike workout instead. 5 AM spin class, what fun!!!
Thursday was a Brick (bike and run), I swam. I do not seem to be getting this schedule thing.
Just not cutting it for me. There was a swim on Friday's schedule, so I could just say I did it early. Yeah, that's the ticket!!!
Friday AM comes along and I am a Brick workout and a run workout down for the week.
I could make up one if the two but not both. And the choice is...............................................
Neither, I went with option C - No workout!!
Meenu and I drove up to Grass Valley to visit with my brother, Brock, and his wife, Cathie.
We stayed over night on Friday to continue our visit on Saturday, but I brought my running clothes. Saturday AM was supposed to be a 30 mile bike, but I am going to run or...................
Choice D - Stay in bed
I am beginning to see a trend here.
Sunday is a 10 mile run. Somehow, I am surprised when the run doesn't go well. What a shocker!! I make it through the 10 miles, but it takes me almost 2 hours and I am really tired through the run.
Perhaps, I should read the warning signs here.
What do you think..........

Sunday 04/25/10

This week was known as a recovery week. We go through three tough weeks followed by one easier week. I was looking forward to an easier week. Monday was the usual day off.

Tuesday was a swim marker. I did the usual warm up of 1000 yds and then did my 2000 yd marker. I finished in 37 minutes 16 seconds. That would work out to a 79 minute 2.4 mile Ironman. I would not be disappointed with that time. I think I can improve on that time over the next few months but we will see.

Wednesday was a spin workout. The usual, no excitement.

Thursday was another swim. This morning did not go as well as I would have liked. I just did not feel great. I did the usual warm-up and then started to do the marker again. I just wasn't feeling it. I eventually decided that I was going to run at night instead. That evening I went for a 6 mile run. I felt OK during the run.

Friday was an Athlete's Choice day and I choose to do Nuttin'. A day of relaxation.

Saturday was an open water swim in the bay. Yep, the San Francisco Bay. I met my teammates at the Aquatic Park and we were in the water by 8:30 AM. When I first got in the water, the cold freaked me out a bit. I was having a hard time relaxing with the water in my face being so cold. I finally got my face in and kept it in the water long enough to numb up, so I could relax. We were to swim for 60 minutes, as far as we could. I did 3 laps around Aquatic Park. Exact distance cannot be determined, but it was about 2 miles. After the initial shock, I felt pretty comfortable and relaxed. My swimming has improved dramatically over the last 5 months. We finished our day with 30 minutes of core and stretching on the beach. Not a bad way to start a Saturday.

Sunday was another short workout. We met at Heather Farms for the Brenda Donato 5 K Race. I met my teammates early for a 5K warm-up. I ran out with Jim, BK, Coach Dave, Phil, Sara and Nic. This was just supposed to be a warm-up. Maybe for those guys, but not so much for me. We ran the 5K in 28 min. 30 Secs. Not flying, but not slow and easy. After about 20 minutes, the actual race was to begin. Off we went, I felt pretty good for most of it, but felt I had gone out too hard between the warm-up and the first 2 miles. I faded in the end but completed the marker in 26 min. 18 secs. I will forward that time to Coach Simon to see where I am, but I have a pretty good idea. I need to run more often!!!

We got together this afternoon over at Coach Dave's house for our honoree potluck. Lots of food, drink and conversation. It was a good way to end the week of recovery workouts.

After a day off tomorrow, we are back at it full tilt....

Sunday 04/18/10 A Long Week

OK,
Been too long since I have written. I will try to get better. Lots of information to write. First and foremost, I bought a new bike!!!

Isn't she pretty!!
Beats the hell out of the $100 bike I've been riding for the last 2 1/2 years.

I missed all the training two weeks ago. I was sick as a dog and could not manage to get it done. Unfortunately, it was a boot camp weekend and I missed a lot. My team mates did a swim, bike, run, swim, bike, run, swim bike, run, etc.etc. Sprint Triathlons back to back, as many as you could do in 5 hours. Ouch!!
Fortunately, it was Masters weekend and I could watch Phil Mickelson take it home! It was beautiful.
This week was a bike focus week. I took Monday off to give me another day of recovery. Not that I really needed it, but why take a chance.
Tuesday I was at the pool. See the proof. Belinda scared the crap out of me by being at the end of the pool when I was finishing up my warm up. I pop up at the end and BOOM, there she is with her camera in hand
I swam 3300 yds on Tuesday. Tuesday night, I go to the spin workout which is no longer spin, but let's go climb Mt Diablo. We start at 6:30, so we will not be able to summit before it gets dark, but we do ride uphill for a solid 45 minutes.
Wednesday, I take a spin class in the AM. No excitement
Thursday, I am back at the pool for another 3600 yd swim. This swim just seems long today, but then again, it IS. That's almost 2 miles.
Friday AM, another spin class, and again, NO excitement.
Saturday AM, I drive down to Gilroy, the Garlic Capital of the world, for the Tierra Bella Century. My plan is to get in the 200K, (120 miles) because I missed last weekend. I have Lara (my new bike) with me. This is her inaugural ride. We roll later than we wanted to. We were shooting for 7:00 AM, but left about 7:30.
Lara gets on to the road and off she goes blazing down the road at a speed I have never felt before. I feel really good going out. She handles well going uphill and downhill. And there was plenty of those on this particular day. On the second climb of the day, Henry Coe State Park, there is a spot 3 miles from the top, that has a cattle guard across the road so you have to slow down to cross and then immediately after, there is a short 15% grade. OUCH!!!!
Here I am still smiling after that brutal climb. A glutton for punishment.
Things start to go downhill from here, both literally and figuratively. With my new bike, I also bought new shoes. I ordered extra wides (EE). Not wide enough. My toe box starts to cramp. That does not make me a happy camper!!
Also with my new bike came a new seat, not the cushy type that was on my old bike but a light weight (NO padding) racing seat (Double OUCH!!)
I end up not doing the 120 miles but settle for the 100 miles and 6400 feet of climbing. I have a sore butt and sore feet, but in the end, I am still smiling. I finish the day riding with Tony and Coach Dave, both people I would consider stronger riders than myself. I complete the 100 miles in 7 hours and 9 minutes of ride time. Lara is thrilled to be let loose. I am ecstatic with my new bike!!
Sunday is an active recovery ride. 60 miles with some hills. We roll at 9:00 AM. I have the same set up as yesterday, so I know I will have some pain. The first 1/4 mile is bad. My butt is screaming right from the get-go. I go sock-less, so my shoes are a little less tight.
But, but, but,... I still have pains in my Butt.
Most of the ride is rolling hills with one climb at mile 50. The ride goes well until I am coming down the back side of the one significant climb. Somewhere along there I lose my directions.
I get to the first T in the road and I have no idea which way to go. I sit there for about 10 minutes waiting for someone to come up. No one does. I decide to go one way. I follow the road until it intersects and then I decide to double back to the first T. I wait an additional 10 minutes to see if someone comes up behind me and finally, Meenu and Lisa drive up in the SAG vehicle. They lead me back to our starting point.
Not a good way to end my rise, but overall a pretty good day. My feet feel better than yesterday, but still not good. My butt just plain hurts..

I am looking forward to a day off from training tomorrow. Going to the bike store and buying shoes and a seat....

Sunday 03/21/10 I coulda had a V8, NOT!!!

Friday morning was a sick day from work. I used the time to drive on down to Lake San Antonio. Rocky, Claudia, Phil, Meenu and I drove down south of Monterey for the Wildflower Half Ironman Triathlon. The actual yearly event is going on in May, but we are going to simulate the event this weekend and do the same course. This will be 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and a13.1 mile run. This course is considered the 2nd toughest in CA or the country (I am not sure which), but either way this day will not be easy.
We set up camp, which meant putting a table cloth on the picnic bench and hooking up the RV.
We are really roughing it!!! We relax most of the day and stay off our feet. I take my bike out for a 10 spin but nothing hard. We have a meeting with our coaches who are preparing us for what to expect and then eat some dinner. BK and Jim join us for dinner. It is time for some sleep, but we all know that sleep will not come easy.

5:00 AM comes way too early. Coach Dave is walking around all the campsites with his boom box playing bagpipe music. I am not sure I was ready for that. Our RV was freezing. We figured out that we had a nice cross breeze by leaving windows open on both sides. Smart? NOT!!!
Rocky, Phil and I have our pre-race breakfast. Each of ours is slightly different. I am sticking with what works for me, and that is 2 whole wheat bagels with peanut butter and a banana.

At 6:00 AM we head to the transition area. Meenu and Claudia take all of our bags and the 5 of us ride our bikes down to the start. It is an exhilarating ride because it pitch black, all down hill and freezing cold.

We all make it safe to the lake and start to set up our transition areas. The bike is lay down(no stands) and I get my area set. Meenu made most of my drinks yesterday, so I just had to lay them out accordingly. Put my Bike bottles with my bike. Get the fuel belt bottles next to my running shoes, etc.

Next I put on the wetsuit. I put on lots of body glide on my neck so I do not have chaffing like I did a few weeks ago. We get down to the water for our 7:00 AM start. We actually have to wait for Emergency Services to get on site before we can start. The ambulance pulls up and we get in. The water is not as cold as the air and actually feels surprisingly warm but then again last week we swam in SF Bay (brrrrr!)

Soon Dave starts the countdown, 10, 9, 8, 7, .....go. This is my first mass start (not that mass, since there 75 of us) and I swim about 100 yds and start to panic. I think my day is going to end before it even starts. I float on my back for a bit and then I do the breast stroke. I calm my breathing down and then get started. I have some trouble spotting and feel like I am all opver the place. But before you know it, I am at the halfway point and turning around. 38 minutes later I am being pulled out of the water, not because I was drowning but because I had finished. As I run to the end of the dock, I see Brian and Jim. They had been pulled out right before me. We walked together up to the transition. What a great swim I just had. It didn't start out that way, but it ended well.

Transition was smooth. I had a warm electrolyte waiting for me. Warm up the inside as well as the outside. I heard BK ask Jim if he had drank his V8(not a joke). I use V8, but not during a race, only as a recovery (more on that later). I get out of the transition and off I go.

I am not clear on the course direction and after getting turned around a bit, I am on my way. Follow the yellow arrows and that is what I do. Unfortunately I follow a wrong yellow arrow, climb a short but steep hill and end up on a dead end street. I double back and bump into Jim, who apparently also took a wrong turn. We find our way and off we go. We soon start to see some of our fellow riders, so I know we are on course. I feel great on the ride. The Carbo pro mix I am now using feels great. The ride to Nasty Grade goes well, I feel strong. Nasty Grade really doesn't seem that nasty after the Death Ride. But the descent sure is fun. 40+mph. Big long sweeping turns that you can see all the way through, a speeders delight.

I roll into transition after 56 miles and I feel awesome. Time to strip the bike shoes and work on putting on the running shoes. What a great bike I just had. It didn't start out that way, but it ended well.

I clip on the fuel belt that holds my water and electrolyte/carbo pro mixture and then I make my fateful error. Oh lookie there, there is my V8, Brian drank his after the swim, I should be OK after the bike. So I slug down my V8, not the 6 oz size but the 12 oz. Not a smart move. I get out of transition and get about a half mile in and my stomach starts to turn. OUCH!!

This run is extremely challenging on its own. Very hilly. The run does not become easier when dealing with an upset stomach. I end up walking most of the hills and running the flats and the downhills. Mile 9 and 10 are mostly downhill to the "pit" where you must turn around and run back up that same hill. The last mile is mostly downhill to the start/finish line. I am relieved to get to this point. My stomach finally feels better. My legs feel strong as I make my way down that final hill. As I cross the finish line, I am very excited to have it all said and done. I cannot say that was a great run, but I did have a run.

It was great to have Meenu there at the end and at various places through out the day. She is a truly amazing woman and I am a much better man for having her in my life. I can never thank her enough for supporting me through this adventure.

I cheer on my fellow triathletes to the finish line and swap stories about our various days and how the event went and what we learned about ourselves.

I can say a few things about my day and my first half Ironman.
"Just say NO to V8 at transition"
"What a great event I just had. It didn't start out that way, but it ended well."
and my time was 7 hours and 28 minutes and
" No matter what the clock says, it was a great time......"

Sunday 03/07/10

What a week! I made it to most of my trainings and feel pretty good right now. Tuesday was my first swim at the level 3 workouts. Last weekend, I did the level 3 Marker. 2500 yards with out stopping. 46 minutes 7 seconds That would equate to a 78 minute 2.4 mile swim. I would be totally psyched with that. So I moved up to a level 3. I am not as fast as most of these swimmers, but I want to do the longer workouts. So Tuesday was a 3100 yd workout. For the most part that went pretty well. Wed AM was a spin and core workout. Again went pretty well. Thursday AM was another swim. This time it was 3500 yds. That's 20 yards short of 2 miles. Well screw that! I am doing the extra yardage. So I did 2 more laps to bring my total to 3550 yds. I swam just OVER 2 miles that morning and I felt great. The swim was not continuous, but just the same, it was over 2 miles. Friday was again a spin and core workout.
So I swam twice during the week and did spin twice with a core workout. Hmmmm! What seems to be missing in my TRIathlon training..

Oh yeah, that other sport, running. Yes, I missed two runs this week. Oops!.

Saturday we were back at Lake Del Valle for some open water swimming and more. The water was colder than my first open water swim from a few weeks ago. The water was at a brisk 52 degrees. This was my second swim in cold water and with a wet suit. I was not as freaked out as I was the first time, but still pretty freaked out. The cold takes some getting used to and not being able to see the bottom is a bit unnerving. But plug away is all you can do. My first lap took about 25 minutes. That was about a half mile in that time. NFG!!! The second lap went better and I felt more comfortable. I saw Coach Sedonia on the return leg of my 2nd lap and she asked me how it was going. I told her better than the first time and better than the first lap. She had her usual words of encouragement. She is just the bomb of a coach. I am so thankful to her and Mike for the help they have given me with my swimming. I can honestly say that in the start of this adventure, swimming was my weakest point and I was not sure if I could make it through the swim. Now, I am confident in the swim and know I can make it. I actual belive that the run is now my weakest point.
After we were done in the water, we hoped on our trainers. 40 minutes of spinning. We got off our bikes and on to the trails for 20 minutes of running. Back from the run and we hopped on our bikes for 40 minutes of hill repeats. Finished up the hill repeats and then off for 20 more minutes of running. End of workout!!!
We ended the day with a chat about our next triathlon. We are doing a Half Ironman in 2 weeks. This is the same course that holds the Wildflower Triathlon every year. We are just doing the course a month earlier. I am excited about the event. It should be lots of fun and a good challenge. I will be interested to see how it goes with my present fitness level.
Sunday was our long run day. I saw on FaceBook that BK, Jim , and Rocky had already completed their run. I commented that I was still sitting on the couch drinking coffee, living the life of luxury.
I finally got motivated and got my butt moving. I borrowed Meenu's Fuel Belt as I cannot find my old one. I have decided that I hate using a fuel belt less than I hate using a hand held water bottle. I ran an out and back course covering 12.13 miles in 2 hours. That is a little slower than I would like, but then again, I haven't put a lot of time in my running so far. I will take it. I ran 12 miles. I haven't run any where near that far since the Rock N Roll half marathon in San Jose in 2007.
So overall, a good week. I got some good fundraising in this week and a lot of training. I feel good.

Tomorrow is Monday, a day off from training. I am going downstairs to watch the Oscars and to have a beer......