Tuesday 01/05/10

It is a swim morning. What does that mean? I am off to the gym at 4:50 AM to get my swim in. It is another foggy day in San Ramon. There is an eerie fog settled on the town. I cannot hit the snooze button anymore or else I will not be able to complete the workout as they are getting longer. Today's plan is for 2350 yds.

The pool is cool(unlike the sauna we swam in on Sunday). I didn't sleep well last night and I feel it as I am getting into the swim. The warm up does not go well. I feel sluggish. I plug away and get through it and then on to the meat of the workout. The rest of it goes well. I complete it with time to spare. Coach Mike has been a huge help in my swimming.

Remind me to buy that man a beer......

Monday 01/04/10

A much deserved day off......

Sunday 01/03/10

Today was a three sport challenge. I was up at just after 7:00 am, thankful that I could sleep in a bit since I didn't have to travel far for the training. The training was 5 minutes away at the Dougherty Valley High School. I like that kind of commute.

As I am getting ready and pulling my stuff together, I am thinking to myself about the progression I have made as an endurance athlete(I use the term loosely). Not about the progress I have made, but the amount of crap that I now must carry. When I started running 6 years ago, it was grab your running shoes and go. Then 2 years ago, I decided to try biking. I dropped my running shoes but added bike, bike shoes, helmet, and a variety of clothes all depending on the weather. Now I am still holding all my bike supplies, picked up my running shoes and lets throw in the swimming cap, googles, and soon enough, a wet suit. Triathletes have to be in great shape, just to carry all their crap.

I get to the pool by 7:45 am and we are swimming by 8:00. I feel pretty good today. Working out with the group 2s. We start with drills which go fine. We do a ladder progressing in length and increasing in speed. All goes well. We then do 2 100s working on something specific the coaches give each of us. My focus is breathing every 3 strokes. CRAP!!!! This is what was giving me the drowning sensation before, I couldn't relax. Double CRAP!!!! I make it through it, but I felt exhausted after 200 yds. I felt better after doing the 1050 yds ladder. Overall the swim goes well and I am excited by the improvement that has occurred here.

Off to the bike for a quick 20 miler. We are doing Collier Canyon, a ride that I am very familiar with. I ride off with the lead group and away we go. I get about 5 miles in and I realize that I am breathing too hard and I need to back off a bit. I do just that and let the speed demons race onward ahead. I struggle up the first part of the canyon mostly because it is straight into a head wind. I get to the top of the first part and now I seem to get into a groove. I take an extra loop around Collier's Canyon which adds on an extra 3.5 miles. I know the extra distance won't hurt. I ride well through the second loop and back home.

Now its time to run. We don't run a long distance, but it sure seemed like it. 2.5 miles never felt so long. My feet felt like bricks. Heavy to pick up and stiff and inflexible when they came down. I made it through but it wasn't pretty.

We ended the day with a core workout. OUCH!!!!

Overall, I felt great afterward.
Tired? Yes
Sore? I am sure I will be tomorrow
Excited? Absolutely

Today was our first recommittment.
I guess I am going to do the damn thing.....

Saturday 01/02/10

A fairly(relatively) easy workout today. A 20 mile bike marker. The marker is actually 5 miles in the middle of the ride that is timed. I rode my bike to the meeting place about 5 miles away. I arrived around 8:45 am and noticed that I had forgotten my water bottles. (Nice move, mental midget). I call Meenu and she is, as usual, a trooper and brings my bottles down to me.

We get the ride started around 9:00 and off we go. There is a steady mist, but not a rain, covering my glasses. The only thing this effects is visibility. The mist is more bothersome than a problem, so we venture on.

I faded a little at the end of the marker, went out too hard again. I am kind of sick of writing the same crap. Maybe I will work on pacing myself better. Anyways, I finished the marker in 20 min 37 secs. I passed on doing the last marker, so I have nothing to compare it to. We shall see in about 3 weeks if I improve any.

The rest of the ride went without incident and I was home by 11:00 am so I could spend some quality time with a special woman....

Friday 01/01/10

Today was a 40 minute Run Marker.
To continue on my streak of not listening to coaches, I did a 9+mile hill run at Lake Chabot. This week was supposed to be a recovery week, easier mileage, slower paces. I took the start of the week off (not what I was supposed to do) and ran too far and too much hills today.
Lake Chabot is beautiful, but the trails are hilly. I was out there with a bunch of present and former TNTers. There were 7 other Ironteamers out there, so I was not the only one breaking the rules.
Coach Mama Lisa announced that she is has been diagnosed with cancer and will find out the prognosis this next week. My thoughts and prayers will be with her and Coach Al.
Both the run and the announcement kicked my ass....

Thursday 12/31/09

Wow, what a rough stretch this has been. Sunday was to be a 8 mile run, I went to the bar, drank beer and watched the Patriots( GO Pats!!!!) Monday was a day off that I gladly took. Tuesday was a bike workout but again I took the day off. Wednesday was a swim marker and I.....
took the day off.....
Note to self.. remember the words of wisdom from Coach Al "you can't fake conditioning". I need to remember those pearly words.
Thursday was a Strength/Core workout and I finally got my ass up and did the swim marker. A 1000 yds. without stopping. I got about 8 laps in and started to think I will not be able to make it. Dory(my often referenced buddy) came to mind "just keep swimming, just keep swimming.."The next thing I knew I was at the half way mark. I kept plugging away and before I knew it, I was finished.
20 minutes 40 seconds
I am pretty excited by that time. A few weeks ago I did an 800 marker in 22 minutes. Longer distance in shorter time. Nice!!!
Tonight is New Year's Eve. I know this year was difficult on a lot of people, but this was a great year for me. The most amazing woman said "Yes" to marrying me, and she went through with it.
I am so blessed.....

Saturday 12/26/09

Today was a 45 mile bike ride. We met early in the AM and it was a little chilly. The ride went well. Phil and I finished the ride in just under 3 hours which translates to 7.5 hours for the Ironman. I would like to get that down to sub 6 hours. I am not sure how realistic that goal is, but I will be keeping that number in mind.