yeah buddy

I rested yesterday secondary to soreness of the quads and hammys. SO today I discovered an interesting fact. The Rage in the Sage triathlon in April will have the standard distance for the swim which is 1.5K. For those who are metrically challenged that is 0.9 miles or 1650 yards or 1650 meters or 33 laps in a standard pool of 25 yards per length or 50 yards per lap. Yeah. So I decided to see If I can do it. DID IT. 45:02. 6 groups of 5 laps and 1 group of 3 laps. With a 45-60 sec break in between groups. Pretty happy with that. I mean I have a few months to get faster and I have a few months to do it in the open water. But I can train where the race will be. Thats a good advantage. Kinda makes the 500 meter swim in a month less daunting but it is so different. May be next time I can have my friends with me and they can swim on me to simulate the start and subsequent swim. might be fun.

QUOTE:
"If what you did yesterday still looks big to you today, then you must not have done anything today."
---Unknown

funny seems fitting for building this endurance up....

yeah Im definately sore....

I foreshadowed the week and it unfolds like this....Wed, 3.73 miles at 9:36 pace just wanted to get away from 5K mentality. SO I went a bit longer and slower. Thursday swim, 2 warm-up laps, 14 with gloves on, 2 cool down. I really think the gloves matches the intensity of the open water. Its the frequent stopping that doesn't make it comparable. Fri rest. Sat softball tournament 4 games. Not bad. My fitness level was remarkable. My teammates were walking around very sore and tired. I had a few more in me. I was sore but not till sunday morning. Sunday morning the running club met so no open water this week. But I went for a mini-sprint with transitions and everything. Swim at the gym 14 laps in 16:48 (700 meters, I was trying to do more on the swim since the open water will be harder than 10 laps in the pool) transition 5 min on the nose. had to go to the jeep to get the bike n stuff so a longer not so normal T1. 8.3 miles in 37:43. Nice to have a happy/healthy bike back. Probably need more bike this week. T2 2:29 seconds right on the money with what I will do during the race, Then 2.1 miles running. 21:16. Total continuous motion today of 1:18:28. WINDY, COLD, SORE, and not nourished or hydrated. did I mention I am sore?

weekly totals:
Swim 2900 meters or 1.8 miles but no open water
Bike 1:37:00 8.31 miles plus however I went in the spin class
Run 4.8 miles one long run and one get a feel for post swim/bike legs...WHEW
about an hour of strength
softball tournament 4 games

Next week I need more bike and keep up lots of swim especially open if I can and with gloves at the pool. My body is changing week by week it seems. We seem to have established the santa barbara half as our next running race. It fits perfectly into the RAGE tri where I will be making my olympic distance debut. As long as tritonman goes accordingly: QUOTE:

Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway.
--Mary Kay Ash

boy that sounds familiar

tuesday post

long swim on Monday....25 laps in 36:11..practiced going without breaths for longer...recovery strokes and techniques for when I am tired. Trying to mimic open water stuff as much as possible. No bike secondary to flat tire and today dropped it off for its first tune-up. For Tuesday no bike so I went to spin class. 60 min on the bike, not really like biking though. Good cardio mashed a lot but no bike connection. Had abs class right before it and then did some shoulders and arms after. Run tomarrow, swim thursday, rest friday, and softball tourney Saturday. Mini-sprint tri sunday?

Quote:
(Front) "I don't do triathlons..." (back) "...I do triathletes".

Funny tshirt I thought for my wife?

Scheduled Rest Week

Last weekend took its toll. Sore legs and slightly painful knee. Havent felt the knee in 5 days though. Wednesday repeated last weeks hill repeats. 3.17 miles...7:56 to the hill, 1/2 mile up 4:24, 1/2 mile down 5:03, 1/2 mile up 4:13 then 7:52 back home. I was wondering if I can do a 5K in 25 min.....Thursday swim of 16 laps, 12 with gloves on, afterall its the closest thing to the resistance I felt in the wetsuit. Fri rest. Sat 20 min on trainer in big gear to poop out my legs before the MLK 5K. I ran 26:24. The plan was for art to pace us at 8:15. He died...lol...when I realized it I had a 2nd mile of 8:47....8:08 (1st mile), 8:32 (3rd mile). So a new PR for me in the 5K. Julie won her age group with a time of 27:14 and Susan my tech in her very first race got second in her age group with a time of about 32 min. Joni, jay, and cathy ran thier first race. Congrats all who raced. Sunday another open water swim. Much better. Same time about 22 m in the water but traveled about 400 yards. Tried to transition to bike but got 2 min in and noticed I had a flat tire. My first bike trauma. Its due for its tune up anyway.

weekly totals:
swam 1500 meters and 700 of those meters were in open water
only 20 min on trainers this week
ran about 6 miles including my PR in the 5K

QUOTE:
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
John Wooden

so true, so true

back to even keel.....

oh boy.....this tri thing is testing me. Can I do it? I had a swim today at lake mead. My brother in law was a trooper. We put our wetsuits on and braved the cold. Yes it was cold. It was quite the experience. I swam MAY BE 200 yds may be even 250 yards. It was like I couldnt swim. I couldnt go anywhere. I felt like I was working as had as can be and I wasnt moving. The waves were crashing on my and my wetsuit was restricting me. More resistance than I can ever get in the pool. I was in the water for about 22 min and then I got my wetsuit off as soon as possible. I am learning a lesson I teach patients everyday.....not too high on the good days and not too low on the bad days. I dont feel like today was a bad day but I realize I still have lots of work to do. Its fun to look back and see what I struggled with before and then see what I am doing now. I hope in a few months a swim like today will be laughable. Going back to work tomarrow. todays quote:

"running is like life....a long frickin way"
some really cool calender my best friend sent me......thanks man

requested pics

tryin out my new wetsuit tomarrow at lake mead with chris....most likely choice for bike and run attire......

The most rewarding week yet....

Ok forgot to post on thursday so here we go. Wednesday decided to change the weekly intervals to mix in a hill. Total of 3.06 miles with a fast opening mile of 8:29 to a hill roughly 1/2 mile long and a 6% grade. up in 4:53, down in 5:01 and then back up 4:30 then cruise back home. Overall a very challenging run. 30 minutes. Thurday swim: 2 warm-up laps, 10 laps with the gloves (lats were screamin) 2 laps with a rest X 5, and then 2 cool down laps. Friday rest.

Now here is where we get fun. Decided to do another time trial on 500 meters swim. 12:14!!! then I biked 11 miles in 47:02, had to deal with traffic, changing routes, and changing from street to path so there is room to be faster on the race. Averaged 15 mph. I wasnt even in the fastest gear, which I learned today. After my training I had 2 softball games then followed by a really long practice for this tournament team they want me to play on. I pitched for a lot of it and I was absolutely exhausted. I woke up this morning VERY sore but I had to get my stuff in. So I attempted my first transition time trial. I rode for 8 miles in 25:12 on the biggest gear to poop my legs out. Set up my transition area just like the race and went from cycle shoes to running shoes. 2:52....Then I wanted to see what my fastest 2 miles would be like. 2 miles in 16:42. sunday total of 8 miles with timed transition. Weekly summary:

Swim a distance of 2350 meters but did not log overall time. 1.46 miles. new PR established in 500 meter in 12:14

Bike a total of 2 hours 12 minutes with promising results. Can I do 11 miles with distractions in less than 40 min?

Run a total of 5 miles this week in 46 minutes...what can my PR be in running?

Strength a total of 1:30 min....
Softball 5 hours (too much)

Last week wondering what I got myself into after looking at last years time results. This week...I think I can hang. How many clydesdales do the sprint in 1:15? (answer: the winner) A very optimistic first sprint but I think my training may prove this doable. A 15 min swim, 35 min bike, and 25 min run? 1:15 baby. which brings us to this weeks quote:

There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them.
Phyllis Bottome

arent our bodies funny?

quick post...

Monday had a great swim.....23 laps in 35 min or 5 groups of 4 laps. Much more confident and comfortable in the water. Then 30 min on the trainer. Today, P90X ab ripper X and bike workout using spinervals. Total of 30 min but it had some sprinting and single limb stuff. perhaps i need a power meter? or may be a cadence counter? hmmmm.....wonder what they cost.

he way to gain a good reputation, is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear. - Socrates

I like that people are asking me to help them lose weight. I like that they want walking and running programs. They ask themselves...Why cant I?

new years week totals

Well no posts since tuesday secondary to really not feeling like posting on New Years day. Wednesday I had a big run. 9 intervals with a 1 mile warmup and a 1.93 mile cool down. Total of 59:00 flat. 2 min on 2 min off X9. On the end of the run a major hill of 21% grade for about .75 miles ( south on green valley parkway.) Thursday 4 easy laps, then 9 intervals all less than 1:16, then 2 more laps. I was lethargic but I got it done. Friday rest. Saturday did a 500 meter time trial in the pool. 14:57 then 3 laps cool down 20 min total. While using my bike cleats for the first I then cpmpleted a 55 min ride of 9.73 miles on the river mountain trail one of my new and favorite places. Today, 20 min sprint on the trainer in all gears then a 4 mile run including hills in 40:39. My legs are pooped. Here are this weeks totals:

swim total time 1:30 covering a distance of 2450 meters or 1.87 miles
bike total time 2:25:00 covering a distance of more than 10 miles using trainer
run total time 1:4o covering a distance of 9.46 miles
stregnth did 1:30 of strength training and I played softball yesterday.

Less biking this week and more swimming and running. Not on purpose just wanted to get my swimming and running better. This weeks quote:

Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
or what's a heaven for?
Robert Browning

is a half ironman possible?