Hello 4th sister...

First I would like to thank those who reached out to Chelsea and I over the last week, it has been awesome.    She said make sure everyone knows that she appreciates the encouragement.  For those who wanted an update here is the last text message from her, "I just ran 3.5 miles in 31:14!"  So she is doing very well.

I have had some tangles with the river mountain loop trail and its "3 Sisters."  Now that recent improvements have been finished the 4th sister is now in play.  I have been excited now that I am back to cycling to see what my fitness is like.  I can tell you for fact that I have not felt this good on a bike before.  Although my legs are super sore I have never had this quality of cardio during the climb, recovery during the ride, and after the ride.  My legs were hosed but I go through them quite well.  So our perception of hard changes.  I have lost my intimidation of them and I welcome them.  My plan is repeat them once a week and continue to progress this cardiovascular fitness.  One phrase that Karl said that sticks out is "fatigue resistance."  I feel that for sure.  Overall I had a good week, here is how it went.

Monday-Long swim.  30 min.  Drills not included in the time.  I found some new drill that seem to be a lot more functional so if anyone wants that posted let me know, I can even send it via email.  I did keep 250 m splits because I am a dork.  6:28, 7:36, 8:04, and 6:50.  1000 m in 30 min easy.  My swim fitness is catching up as my shoulders/core remember this motion.   No post swim soreness and looking forward to open swims when it heats up a bit.  I also had 4.5 miles of biking at practice.
Tuesday-Run Easy 40 min.  Nothing really to report.  Sully and I out there feeling good.  I am kicking around logistics of biking to work on tue/thurs.
Wednesday-Track night.  400 repeats.  10 min easy, then my first attempt at alternating 50 with 150 of good swing and 150 meters of good speed.  I did 4.  2 total laps but good quality work.  Tough and I can see how that builds aerobic power and also tunes mechanics.  Something of a gem, I think.  Then repeat 400s with a minute break.  I didn't know where to start so I thought under 2:00 should be good.  Here is what I got: 1:51, 1:53, 1:54, 1:52, 1:55, 1:55, 1:51, and 1:46 (with 1 minute in between).  Then 10 min easy.  I was tired but not bent over or anything.  I was able to go faster in the last 2.  I think next time I may do under 1:50.  Minor soreness.  Great workout.
Thursday-Supposed to bike but windy, cold, and sleepy.  Pushed it.
Friday-5 mile tempo run all under 9.  I was wondering how this workout would compare to the track.  Harder or easier?  I realized quite early on how the track carried over.  I felt very comfortable at faster paces.  Here are my splits: 8:19, 8:43, 8:53, 8:48, and 8:29.  Ave 8:38 in 44:14.  Sully loves going faster.  I felt good.  I went out too fast but felt super comfortable I am not sure how long I could hold that but felt good nonetheless.  Sustained effort was harder.  I guess I need to step up that track workout.  Minor soreness, overall felt great.
Saturday-Long easy bike.  I originally wanted to go longer but had time limits.  I cut it down to 90 min.  I have been thinking about this RAGE bike course.  The hardest part is the turnaround.  A mod steep climb, decline, and then long drawn out slow grind.  I want to kill that section.  With the new RMLT I can get there easier.  But I didn't get it there.  But I did get some climbing in.  1:33, 20 miles, 14 mph, and 1330 elevation gained.  I am moderately sore but happy with my first hard bike effort.
Sunday (today)-Long Run.  I wanted somewhere between 6-8 miles.  When I woke up I layed there and said, OH boy.  Then I remembered that biking and running dont effect each other.  You have to run on those legs and they translate to each other.  SO off I went.  7 miles at 9:30 pace.  I got tired near the end and was happy with the effort.  Get out there and go longer.  No issues.  Just tired after a good week.  Quote:

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.”

Nope, Im gonna go there faster.  In fact, I had to look at last years post to see where I am at compared to last year.  How funny how things change.

FInally a triathlon blog...

Now that I am on the clock with RAGE, olyimpic, I am getting back to triathlon training.  I have not been on my bike since August and so swims since Honu.  Thats July people.  I emptied my Garmin for the first time since mid december.  My swim felt fairly comfortable and so did the bike.  This race is super special and hopefully I will get to why this week.

This week has been cool.  I watched Kona and got all emotional like usual.  I got jazzed about someday hearing that I am an Ironman.  I also watched Ironman AZ and I got pumped up thinking thats where my first IM is going to be.  2013?  With Lance getting in on the action, I am just getting pumped on triathlon.

Injury update:  After the race I had very minor soreness.  I was surprised.  The left quads and toes were sore from trying to unweight the R calf.  Today actually is first pain free day since December 22, 2011.  I ran this morning with no pain.  The compression does help.  I dont know how they will contribute to the future but for now I will use them.  Cautiously optimistic about what the next week/months will hold.  Here is how my week went:

Monday-Easy swim.  First swim since august.  My shoulders were fairly sore but no big deal. 2/10.  I went 1000 meters with some rest in between laps.  I also was able to alternate breathing sides.  Overall, I felt good about the workout.  I have some work to do in the water but no big deal.
Tuesday-None...overslept
Wednesday-None...trying to figure out the timing of things and when I got home it was too dark to ride.
Thursday-Easy bike.  45 min bike.  Easy pace more like a hardware check than anything,  Feel my biking legs and get back into that mindset.  It is very different.  No issues.
Friday-Easy 45 min run.  I had time and I told myself to wait on running but I need to run.  My calves had moments of no pain and I got into a groove then they would be sore but overall a good run.  Sully was amazing.
Saturday-I am starting to get some mountain bike time in with practice.  Overall 8 miles on the mountain bike.  Then after practice since I was nearly at red rock I should ride from there.  I wanted to go moderately hard and see what I have.  What I had was a total of 17 mph on the bike!  Really?  My first REAL bike ride and got some good results.  I wasn't sore or anything, my back was a bit stiff for about 30 sec off the bike.  Overally it was 26 miles of biking, 18 on the road bike and at 17 mph.  Good day.
Sunday (today)-Plan was for an easy 60 min run and then about a 20 mile bike.  I have good news and bad news.  Good news 45 min of the run was totally pain free and didn't need to recover or walk. Then the bad news, a migraine.  No big deal.  Happens sometimes when I dont get enough sleep.  A nap removed the majority of the head ache.  The nap meant I cancelled the bike.   I am happy for a good run today.  Quote: (first quote in months)


“This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
 Winston Churchill

lol, where am I again?  Feels good to reboot.