challenging week and award

I suppose this blog thing would not be honest without some crappy weeks. So I am writing an entry to fulfill my obligation to be true to myself and write an entry with a poor week. I don't have any excuses. I was certainly excited to begin the push to silverman but I let life get in the way.
Tuesday-Easy recovery run 3 miles in 29:00.
Wednesday-My friend and colleague had a very interesting discussion. He said that he could do a sprint triathlon anytime he wanted. Now granted Art is a good runner and he is in good shape. He hasnt swam in 15 years though. He has a history of excellent running times and says that at one point or another he was a great cyclist and swimmer. My question; What have you done lately? I said "I think you could do the bike and run without a problem...fast?....without soreness or fatique? No but I dont think you can do the swim. #1 its open water, #2 you havent swam a lick. His answer I could do it. Really?! He said name your stakes and lets bet. I thought since its water lets bet a seafoood dinner on it. DONE he said. Here is the bet: 500 meters (10 laps), cant touch the bottom, and you cant stop, all in 20 min or less. HE LASTED 1 1/2 LAPS! I win. Dinner will be in a week or so. I got off late in the first place....horsed around at the pool with Art and then got to my bike trainer. I warmed up 10 min, started some intervals and I was dead. Legs heavy, heart/lungs not interested. I had 4 planned I finished 2 and the cooled down. Lack luster at best.
Thursday-scheduled day off to attend a friend function my wife had me work into my schedule and it ran really late. Got to bed way too late.
Friday-When I wrote my schedule I had the knowledge that I was playing in this softball tournament tonight but It didn't occur to me to figure out a way to train around it. I played in a "midnight madness" tournament. IT LASTS ALL NIGHT. Here are my game times: 7:40, 9:00, 3:00 AM, 4:40 AM. I was dead. No training on Saturday. I was getting home when I should be arriving at the pool for my first brick in a while.
Today (Sunday)-8 miles....lethargic, slow, and labored. Got the miles in though.
I am not upset. I am not happy about it. I just know that this is one of those weeks that make the awesome weeks more enjoyable. We just cannot have awesome weeks every week. Next week will be much better. I will eat better, I will sleep more, and I will train better


I am enjoying reading all of the training blogs that I am reading. Its a funny "other" world. One of the budding friend blogs has bestowed up me an award. It is called the Seven Traits Award, where I list seven things about me, and pass it along to 7 more blogger s. What If I don't have seven others to share it with? I will pass it along in a few days after I learn the rights and privileges associated with this award. Here I go:
#1--After a mountain of personal growth and self work I am actually relieved that my wife and I cannot have a child. I never realized how much I let the people around me influence what I think about myself. I don't think all people should be parents. This world might be a different place if only the appropriate people breed. This allows me the chance to train, travel, and work with more passion. The energy I would spend on kids I use to treat my patients. Its the most rewarding thing in the world. I am happy to be just husband and wife.
#2--I dreamed when I was a kid about doing the Ironman at Kona but I NEVER even considered it a possibility for me. I was a offensive/defensive end in football, a power hitting outfielder, and a power forward in basketball but an endurance athlete? That is not for me. I CANT DO IT. I am a power person...can I hit it far? In the last few years I have worked tirelessly to dissolve boundaries from my mind. What heights can I reach with my fitness and training? I am happy to quietly and realistically chase this dream of finishing the Ironman at Kona.
#3--I am obsessed with music and movies. Not just any movies or music but music/movies that are unique. I don't want to be spoon fed. I am constantly searching and researching for music and movies that are creative and passionate. I am a passion junkie. Any time I find a person who sells out to what they love I gain instant respect. I love that. I am happy looking for my passion fix at a movie or listening to music.
#4--I am on a quest to make sure health is not the reason someone cannot chase their dream or passion. I love helping a drummer drum or a runner run or a painter paint. With more experience and knowledge I am able to be vehicle for change for people who don't even know they need help. Sometimes a minor to major injury is a wake up call to change your life. I am happy to be a person who helps people reach their maximum potential.
#5--I am a "communication" challenged person. I have spent a great deal of time and energy learning about my communication skills and how they interact with others. I believe that 90% of interpersonal problems can be fixed with adequate communication. I am striving every day to communicate better, sometimes I am successful and sometimes I am not. I am happy to be a person striving for better communication.
#6--I LOVE DOGS. I am the proud owner of 2 dogs and since my brother lives with me, so does his 2. Thats 4. I almost took a pair of dogs that were looking for a home. 2 labs who were trained and well behaved did not find their way to my home. My wife said no. We dont have a big enough doggie door or back yard for those dogs. I want a wiemeriner sooooo bad. My 2 are small but I love em anyway. I am a big dog person though. I am happy when there are dogs around.
#7--I love Jeeps. I love the top down. I love the open air. I love that I can go where you cant. I love not washing my jeep since they SHOULD be dirty. I carry my bikes on it. I carry my kayak on it. I love how versatile it is. I am happy when I am in the Jeep.

Whew there are my seven things. That was strangely therapeutic. Thanks choco! I will pass it along with I get some ground rules.

I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle -- victorious. - - Vince Lombardi

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?

Slight taper and literature review

Interesting literature search this week. I decided since the last time I looked for some studies that I don't have enough information on swimming training. Interesting thing is there is hardly any valuable studies done. The reason? Its hard to study with all that water, with everything moving, and with the amount of muscle activity going on what do you look for? For running you can plan everything around the treadmill. For biking a trainer works well. But you have to build a tank to study swimming. There is this concept of suspended swimming where they try to simulate swimming with tubing and then take VO2 max etc there. Uhhhhh what? No way can we use that information. Any way what I looked at was lactate threshold and interval training with swimming. Are there acceptible time frames for intervals? What speed should we be training at? Running is very specific why cant swimming be too? Of the several studies I read the answers are NO and it depends on the person. Since oxygen is flowing less freely, since there are so many muscle groups moving and working, and there really isnt a principle group working traditional interval times and principles may not apply. The topic for future studying is if you hold a pace of 60-80% of your maximum pace for a time from that is just longer than what you can easily accomplish you are making the necessary cardiovacular changes. So swim coaches across the globe have anecdotal experience with this, what works? The programs I read dont seem to jive....please post some workouts for speed on your blog or mine.

heres how my week went so far:
Monday- Swimming...changed my mind from long swim to shorter faster since I was pressed for time...(prompted interval review) I swam 3 laps of stroke drills, 15 laps (3 X 250...750 meters) where I sprinted the 1st and 5th of each 250, 6 fast and 9 slow active recovery type laps. Splits are 5:40, 6:24, and 6:34. Attempting to have fast laps under 55 secs, 250 meters in less than 6, and how many sub-sixers can I string together? Then 2 slow cool down laps. Total 1000 meters.
Tuesday-Running in am. slow recovery run ave 9:30 for 3 miles in front of a low speed hairdryer we call the Las Vegas wind. Softball in the pm. Heated games.
Wednessday- Bike intervals on the trainer. 10 min warm-up 4X4 min on/off, 10 min cool down. Does anything make you sweat more than the trainer? I dont think so.
Thursday-Rest
Friday-travel to CA, celebrate Karls real birthday
Saturday-5K PR can I run 24:30?
Sunday-Karls 30 miles on his 30th birthday ride...How long will I ride? I am support crew.

This weeks quote:
"Those who say that I will lose and am finished will have to run over my body to beat me."
- Said Aouita