A weekend to remember

If you think running 30 miles continuously is an achievement Id say your on to something. If you think that running 30 miles continuously at around a 8:00 min per mile pace was impressive I would also say that you are on to something. What if I told you that I witnessed a guy do that and that wasnt even the most impressive thing I saw all weekend. The most impressive thing I saw all weekend was a guy who handles himself with such confidence and grace. He made 30 miles look easy. It wasnt just the run. He had people run or ride with him, 28 to be exact, from all over the country. If half those people came out I would have called that a success. He made everyone feel welcome, old, young, runner, biker, fit, and not fit. He just wanted to have people around him when he completed this feat. He handles himself with patience, kindness, confidence, and grace. He is a better father, husband, and friend than a runner. This guy ran 30 miles in 4:08. The marathon split is 3:35 without "racing." Not just that but you wanna know how breaks he took? NONE. He didnt even look tired. I watched all 30 miles. ( I rode 31.74 miles or so.) He never wavered. I was honored to be a part of his accomplishment and even more honored to carry his water. If you would like to see pics you can see his blog which is attached to mine or read clays blog.

I ran the Newhall Independence day 5K and I happy to say that I have a new PR. It just wasnt as fast as I hoped. I ran 25:53 according to my watch but I think the offical results were 25:48. (I will post a change if there is one) In February I ran 26:46. About a minute faster. I wanted to be sub 25 but my legs were pooped. I wanted to average 7:50. The first mile was 7:47, the second was 8:27, and 8:23. Of the people in our group there was 8 people with a new PR. Fun to run with such commited and talented runners. Nxt year I will hang with you guys.

In the big picture I am on the clock. The silverman clock that is. Officially started my schedule to complete the half iron distance silverman here in southern Nevada. After considerable research I have decided to take Karl's advice on the 10 day training schedule. I put it together and I think I have an excellent plan. I think the way triathletes go about the traditional training schedule might be some what of overkill. No wonder there is injury and illness. They are working for the sake of working. Lets work smarter. For every 10 day block I will include swimming, biking, and running progression including 3 days a block for each with a recovery day, a interval day, and a long day. Each block will have 1 brick and 2 full days off. The bricks will alternate betweet bike and run and swim and bike, while the long discipline will change each time. After all triathlon is about continuosly moving forward for the appropriate amount of time. I will be able to move in a forward direction for approximately 6 hours. Every third block will be a recovery block and I will train right through the disneyland half marathon and the las vegas triathlon. In that olympic distance tri I will put my new fitness on display and shoot for a 30 min PR on the same course as RAGE. Sub 3:10. The program then continues to Rock and Roll Phoenix Marathon in January including using the Las Vegas half as a training run. I am totally pumped.

Today-1000 meter swim not including 3 laps of stroke drills. I tried a new way of interval and admitedly it needs some tweaking. I did 5 laps of warm up at about 50-60% effort then 2 laps on 2 laps off X 3 of 80% effort. Then 4 laps of cool down back at 50% effort. Here are the splits:
6:03 warm-up
2:11 on
2:43 off
2:15 on
2:47 off
2:17 on
5:37 Cool down
23:54 total
I dont have the schedule on me for the rest of the block but I am ready for the training to pick up.

"Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about."
-PattiSue Plumer, U.S. Olympian

What are you made of?