Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Max deadlifts

Well, I was going to dog it considering that I am still sore from Sunday and I really don't want to risk injury this close to the event, but I decided "no guts, no glory."

This was a pr for me and my legs actually feel better now that I have completed this (we'll see how they feel tomorrow). Results were 235, 255, 260, 265, 275, 275, 285. My previous max was 270.

Sleep is on the way - rest is important too!!

Still sore

Two days after the workout and I'm still sore. Did the 21, 15, 9 KB swing, squats and situps workout last night and was hoping it would loosen me up. If it did I would hate to know how I would feel today otherwise, Time was 3:51.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Holy crap, am I sore!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Two days of swimming

This is the first time I swam two days in a row for a long time. Yesterday was 600 yd TT - 10:18 or 1:43 per 100. After hitting my last 500 at 1:39 per 100 I must say I am a little disappointed. I have never swam a 600 for time before. This has been by far the most difficult distance to swim. I tried to pace it the same as I pace the 500 - figured it was closer to a 500 than an 800. It hurt, it really hurt.

Today was 4 x 400 yd @ 80%. Times 6:52, 6:53, 6:55, 6:58.

Today was a tough day. Don't know if it was because of the humidity, the fact that I was busy or the culmination of 4 hard days in a row. Regardless, I was not real motivated for either workout today, but they went well. The next three days will be easy - not the workouts themselves, but fitting them into my schedule.

Totally blown away

Today's first workout was 21 squats, 500m row, 15 squats, 500m row, 9 squats, 500m row. I think this is the third or fourth time I have done this workout. Not my favorite by a long shot. I knew I had to do it and was planning on swimming my 400s first and then doing the workout. Pool was busy when I got there so I decided to do the circuit first. Too much to do today (I really shouldn't be blogging) so no hesitating. The first thing I noticed is that I was able to get all 21 reps up on the first set of squats (used 135 lb, same as prior times). This last couple of times I did this I had to break it into two or three segments. I managed to get them all up on the 15 and 9 as well. My total time was 12:32 which blows away my prior time of 16:03.

Hopefully the swim goes well later (no way I was going to swim right after that circuit).

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Hilly TT

I decided on the Stafford Hill route for the time trial - it's about a 33 mile ride with only one left hand turn. I warmed up for two miles and then off I went. The route starts flat but there is a climb that hits less than a mile into the ride - its not a significant grade, but its long enough that you feel it. After that it gently rolls for a good 5 - 6 miles and then the big hill hits. I did not clock it, but I'm sure it is over two miles long, fairly steady with some steeper step ups (about three of them). Then there is a screaming downhill that unfortunately I can't ride in the TT position due to the condition of the road. There is another decent flat section before the hills hit again - you are basically climbing the same hills, but in a different section. They are more gentle and I stayed in the big ring throughout - at this point the course rolls for a good 5 miles before the last good descent. The last four miles are all flat. I finished in 1:16:54 compared to 1:14:42 on 5/1/10. 5/1/10 was a mostly flat route.

I definately feel the effects of three days of rowing in my legs. My max HR was 159 and my average was 146 despite my best efforts to push it up higher.

Friday, June 25, 2010

row run - say that five times fast

Time was 25:06. Not sure what it was last time I did this and don't know how well they will compare. I warmed up on the treadmill with an 800 and then got going. First row done in about 1:48 - All five rows were fairly consistent staying around the 1:50 mark. Someone jumped on the only downstairs treadmill during my first row so I had to run upstairs to get on the treadmill. The Quickstart feature on the first treadmill I jumped on did not work and it took valuable seconds to figure that out before jumping on the treadmill next to it. Ran at 9mph and then back downstairs for another 500 row. By the time I was finished with my second row the downstairs treadmill had freed up so I used that for the remainder of the workout. All running done between 8.5 - 9mph. Did last .125 at 9.4 mph. Finished gasping for breath and worrying that I was going to fly off the back of the treadmill. Walked around the gym for a couple of minutes to cool down, took a cold shower and then went back to work. It took a good half hour before I was not sweating anymore - even after the cold shower.

Tomorrow is a 40k bike TT and 600 yd swim TT. Really looking forward to the bike - thinking about riding the Stafford hill route, but may ride my normal TT route so there is a good point of comparison. I probably won't decide until I get to the turn - if the light is green I will do Stafford route, if the light is red I will turn right and do standard route.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Feeling o.k. (with addendum)

Did bike intervals this morining. Had to modify the workout as I was time crunched. Original workout called for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 mile intervals with rest equal to work interval. I rested for one mile after each interval and had to combine the last three intervals into one 6 mile interval. Results:

1 2:45 21.82
2 5:13 23.00
3 9:24 19.15
4 11:43 20.48
5 13:23 22.42
4 11:09 21.52
6 16:42 21.55

I still don't feel 100% recovered from Patriot but obviously I am coming around. These have been some of my fastest intervals and I did not even rest the proper amount of time.

Hope to sneak out for a little while today to get my second workout in.

ADDENDUM:
got my second workout done in the afternoon - concert at night. Did not want to miss workout anything with rowing and burpees has to be fun! 5 burpees, 10 pushups, 500m row AMRAP 20 minutes. completed six full rounds, all burpees and pushups on round seven and 100m into row on round seven.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Surprise results

Worked late today. It's been a little slow, but the work is coming in now and I don't want to get behind. I don't need that stress right now.

Got to the Gym at 9:00 p.m. Felt like old times. At least I did not have to wait for a lane. I swam 800 yards for time and fully expected a mediocre result. There was a guy swimming in the lane next to me and I was trying to catch up to him, that might have helped push me a little. I quite honestly though felt that I lacked energy. I just checked my time (no reason to check it before I get to my log) and I swam the 800 in 13:30. My prior best was 13:47 which was about two months ago. The thought struck me that maybe I miscounted, but I've gotten much better at keeping track of my laps - this was a good time, and a surprise to me.

The second workout was a 5000m row. Once again I was not expecting much as I did not have that sense of energy surging through me. This was not a PR, but it was surprisingly close to my prior best time and I beat my time from two months ago (by four seconds). I may have been able to do a little better as I started my final sprint a little too early.

Tomorrow's bike intervals should give me a good idea of where I stand with my recovery. I have been very strict on my diet as I believe this to be a critical component of recovery.

Good night (sleep is also critical)!

Slow recovery

I took Sunday off and rode easy Monday and Tue. Today is Wed and I am still feeling the effects of Patriot in my legs. I have a swim and a 5000m row today that will give me an indication of where I stand. Bike intervals tomorrow will clear up any questions.

Did 100 pushups for time yesterday and completed them in 4:22 vs. 4:57 in April and 4:42 in March. I could not move my arms for a few minutes after completing this.

Making final preparations for my trip to LP. Need a new bike rack which I'm ordering today. Also need an Xnut for the bike (holds the CO2 and nozzle for the Xlab). Other than that I think I'm pretty well set - animal/house sitter lined up, hotel room paid for, etc., etc.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Patriot - some good, some bad

Overall result 160/417, AG result 14/33.
2009 result 177/318, AG 22/33.

I was going to use "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" but that's already been used twice. I'm not a copycat afterall (unless you have a fool proof nutrition plan I can copy).

First: It's not as bad as I originally thought. The swim was very short last year - not even 1 mile let alone 1.2. They fixed that this year. I completed the swim in 26:01 last year and 40:14 this year. If you adjust this difference out of my results I actually Pr'd the course, but not by much - I was hoping for at least a ten minute gain over last year and I only managed about two - and it is all because of the stinkin run!! Here's the blow by blow:

The swim:
Last year's swim was way short. I finished last year's swim in 26:01 - I only wish I could swim 1.2 miles that fast. This year's swim was more accurate. I finished the swim in 40:12 - my ranking was 157 out of 417 (37%) compared to 141 out of 318 (44%) last year. I felt pretty strong in the swim - stroke felt smooth and long. I swam the course a little wide, but not too bad - no more than a minute given up here, if any - no bady banging except at the beginning and very end. The real good news here is that I know I could have comfortably done another loop.

The bike:
I finished the 58 miles in 2:45:47 (about 21 mph) compared to 2:54:02 last year. My ranking was 68 out of 417 vs. 128 out of 318 last year. I lost my HR readings about 10 miles into the bike, but I had a good idea of what my effort needed to be by then. I am fairly certain I did not overcook the bike. My nutrition was 100% on target during the bike - gel every 20 minutes (went through my entire ration which is good), salt started on the hour and then went to every half an hour as it was getting hot. Took in 80 oz of water which equates to a little over 20 oz per hour.

As an aside, a few people passed me like I was standing still early in the bike. Not sure where they were in such a hurry to go - I passed most of them at some point on the course. The one that really sticks out is this one gentlman passed me - very stout looking legs - in other words, he looked like a biker. I figured him for the one who stayed away. I was a little surprised to be passing him about 40 - 45 miles into the ride - he was totally blown and still had a 13 mile run to get through.

The run:
O.k., here's where it gets ugly. I started the run in pretty good shape. I was fully fueled and hydrated coming off the bike. I felt good right from the start - no cramps, strange tightness, etc. I used the first mile to get my running legs and thought all was going well. After the second mile I thought this might be my best half marathon ever - let alone my best after a long swim and bike. I was planning on fueling with coke every other aid station and doing water at every aid station. I drank the coke at mile one, three and five - it was gettting progressively warmer as the run went on (the coke that is) they were storing the bottles in the sun and were not putting any ice in the drinks (most of the aid stations did not have ice (the last few did). The coke at mile five did not go down very well - I tried again at mile seven and about puked it out - that was it for fueling for me. I kept up with the water and salt, but I was done fueling - stomach did not feel up to it. Running became very painful (not real pain, just hard to turn the legs over) after around mile 6. The final two miles were very difficult - I usually get a burst of adreneline that keeps me going at this point - not this time. I kept pushing on and there were a couple of sections where it felt like I was moving along halfway decent, but any little incline whatsoever pushed me to about the breaking point. At mile 11 & 12 I walked the aid stations to hydrate and cool myself (they had ice by this point - too little too late). I really had a hard time getting back running after those two breaks. I did run, however, I ran all the way to the end if you could call what I was doing running. I think it took me 12 minutes to cover the last mile. I had no speed at the end - this was much different from last year where I finished really strong.

Result was 266 out of 417.

It was hot and the sun was strong, much of the run was not shaded. I initially blamed the poor run on the heat and although the sun certainly played a role, It definately boils down to fueling. I'm glad I talked to Max after the event, otherwise I would probably still be blaming it entirely on the heat. Not only did I not fuel the last eight miles, I probably was not getting enough in the first five miles. This was definately a classic bonk and totally avoidable.

I definately need to rethink my fueling strategy - and quick! I tried coke at Quassy and although I did better at getting it down there, I would say that the result was at best marginal. I may stay with the Powergels during the run; however, that's an aweful lot of gels to ingest over the course of a day, not that its necessarily a bad thing. I use gels on my long runs and I seem to be able to stomach them while running, but that's only five gels vs. the 33 + that I will need to get through an IM.

Any tried and tested recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I know what works for one person does not necessarily work for another, but I need a plan.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

You can call me "The Hammer"

Honestly, I did not like the title when David initially labled me; however, it's starting to grow on me. Last night, on my way home from work I stopped at LAF to do a quick Xfit workout - 21 burpees, 500m row, 15 burpees, 500m row, 9 burpees, 500m row. I completed the workout in 10:10 vs. 11:00 March 25th. Here's how it went down: The first set of burpees went pretty well - chest still sore from prior workouts, but not too bad. First row was awesome - not sure of the exact time as I did not keep splits; however it was between 1:40 - 1:45, the 15 burpees were a little harder but I made it through. The next row was a little harder but I was still feeling pretty strong and finished around 1:45. Although the 9 burpees were way fewer than what I started with they were the most painful, but in this case pain is good. I was really starting to feel it on the last 500m row, but I kept hearing Max's voice in my head "if you are not in excruciating pain, you are not doing it right." I pulled as hard as I could - totally discounting the fact that I was gasping for air and could barely see the little screen telling me how far I had gone due to my vision blurring. I could see it enough to know when I hit 500. I knew better than to just sit there so I starting walking around the gym trying to catch my breath - when I could breath o.k. and see straight I went home with a very satisified feeling.

Today was 4 x 400m at best 5k pace @ 3 min rest. Once again I failed miserably to pace these right. The first 400 was done in 1:37. I knew I had to back off considerably (They should have been coming in around 1:50 - 1:55. The next three were 1:46. 1:47, 1:45. Still faster than what I should have been doing, but better than the first set.

Easy day tomorrow and then Patriot!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Morning bike

Did my interval session this morning. 3, 6, 9 and 12 miles. Times were 8:40, 17:55, 24:03 and 34:12 compared to 9:40, 16:42, 26:43 & 34:17 a month ago. Terrain was similar but not identical which accounts for some of the differences, not sure about wind conditions (none today). I could not get my HR over 155 the whole ride. I pushed as hard as I could and way harder than I did Sunday, but could not get the HR up. Sunday I don't think I would have had a problem hitting 160 - 165 and even had to keep curtailing my effort to keep it down.

Later

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Initially disappointed

Swam 500 for time. Felt strong throughout, turns were good (for touch turns anyway). My time was 8:18 which I initially thought was a bad time until I entered it into my workout log. I beat my prior best by two seconds. Swim times don't come down real fast so I am happy with any improvement here.

I was a little disappointed with the second workout which was 10, 20, 30 reps of Box Jumps, Squats, pushups and burpees. I finished in 12:47 - I'm pretty sure I finished this in 12:00 back in March. I worked it hard so I am happy with my effort, just not the result. I hit my makeshift box awkward on the first rep of the second round and almost took a digger.
I had to slide everything on my schedule back by a day due to putting the wrong day for Patriot on my calendar. Most races are Sunday races, but Patriot is on a Saturday - an easy mistake to make.

Heavy legs on Sunday plus 3,3,3,3,3 squats yesterday have my legs a little weary (actually only got two up on the last set @ 185). I probably could have pushed the last one up, but I had a weird sensation where the leg meets the hip - not a sharp pain or anything, more like a strange tightness - with a race coming up I decided to err on the side of caution. It feels fine today so I don't think there is an injury to worry about - just the old body creaking and groaning.

20k TT at 80% went well. My average HR was 146 - I was shooting for 144 so I was pretty close. I had to keep reminding myself that I was not going for the record, but it was hard to hold back. Total time 35:53 for 20.78 mph. My heaviest day this week is Wed which gives me two days of relative rest before Patriot - that should be plenty.

On tap for today is a 500 yd swim TT and a circuit.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Swim, leg press

Between working around the house, helping a friend put a playscape together and plain ol' procrastinating I almost did not get to LAF in time to get my swim in. As it was I had to cut the rest time from 4 minutes to two. 6 x 100 two minutes rest for first five and took four minutes for the last one. Results: 1:24, 1:28, 1:29, 1:31, 1:31, 1:29. These results are very close to the last time I did them except I took the full four minutes on each set last time. I was three seconds faster on the last one. I really felt these in the lats. Had barely enough time to swim a 200 warm-down and then the place was shutting down. Second workout was max squats times 7. Well, got kicked out of LAF so I substituted leg presses at home. My plan was to see if I could get to the point where I had all of the weights that I own on the leg press machine, but I was not able to get to that point. I think I still had 20 or 25 pounds left that I could have put on.

Looks like Jay had a good showing at Eagleman. Way to go!

Birthday party

I will get to training, but this is kind of funny. My wife asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday - she wanted to take me out to dinner. I didn't want to do dinner - I t0ld her I really did not want to do anything for my birthday. My daughter would not hear of that so she (the nine year old) took it upon herself to plan a party for me. I told her (the nine year old) that IF she was going to throw me a party, it had to be a cookout. She said "o.k. dad").

A couple of days later, as they are scrambling to put this thing together I asked if they invited my parents - they had not gotten around to it yet. Then I asked if they invited my sister - same answer. THEN it turns out that my wife is planning on doing pizza. I am getting to the point that I despise pizza. So I'm wondering, who are they throwing this party for?

I invited my parents myself, good thing too as they were the only representatives of my side. The guest list was the mother and father in law, brother-in-law and his fiance, four of my wife's friends who ironically all have children around my daughter's age. Now, don't get me wrong, they are a fun group of people, but I did not see any representatives from my friend list. I did, however, get my way with the cookout - it pays to be a baby sometimes. I pouted until I got my way.

Guess who did the grilling? Guess who ran out to the store to get the goodies? Once again, who was this party for?

To close this long-winded story, I actually had a good time.

The workouts - morning, 30 minute bike ride. I rode with Dave C. and we were busy flapping our jaws so I missed my turn - ended up riding a little over an hour - all easy.

After the first two guests arrived, I snuck down to the basement to get the thusters in - 50 thrusters w/45# for time - 2:56. Then it was time for a cold one.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Still holding back

Who would have ever thought that going easy would be the hard part about training. Today was row 500m, run 400m times 3 at 70%. I finished in 14:07. I wanted to yank the flywheel off the rowing machine, but I had to hold back. It actually felt good to run again (is this me talking?). The run is my weakness, I will conquer this!

One week to Patriot! Pam, do you want to join? Registration is still open.
I always wondered what I looked like on the bike.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Needed to hold back

Today was two 5k bike intervals at 80%. Max told me after Rev3 that I would have days that I wanted to push, but to go with the plan. I think he was talking from a mental outlook due to the fact that I have Patriot right around the corner, but I physically had it today - I wanted to go.

HR monitor was not working for my first 5K so I had to go on perceived effort. First 5k was completed in 8:37 (21.6 mph). The HR monitor was working for the second one and its a good thing too. There were a couple of little risers - you know "sprinter hills." I wanted to tear my legs off on those little hills - I felt that good - but then I heard Max's voice in my head and held back. My effort crept up to about 82%, but I beat it right back down there to 80%. Can't defy the master! Second 5k completed in 8:15 (22.6 mph).

Total ride time about 40 minutes. It felt REALLY good.

Happy Birthday to me

Today I turned 45 years young. Between exercise, diet and just an overall new outlook on life and living, I feel the best I have felt in years. My birthday present to myself is generally a long bike ride, but there is too much on the line right now so I am going to stick to the programming.

My wife informed me this morning that I don't get a present since I've been so damn good to myself lately (new bike, wheels, assessories, etc.). I know her well enough to know that she will get me something, but I really wish she wouldn't. She is right, I've been good to myself.

I've been told that I'm off my diet Saturday night so I guess that means they are throwing a party for me. If anyone's free Saturday night let me know - I would love to see you.

Recovery workout number 3

Same workout as Monday. Bench press, pushups, swings, pullups, GHDs and Hip extensions all felt about the same as Monday. I felt amazingly strong on the pullups. Could have done all 12 in a row, but broke them down into 8/4, 8/4, 9/3 to keep effort at about 60%. No kipping - didn't need the stinking kip.

I want to go hard again! I guess we are conditioned to go hard now, but I understand the need for recovery.

It looks like I get to swim hard and do heavy squats on Sunday - looking forward to it.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Recovery

Well, I'm in recovery mode. I feel remarkably well considering the punishing terrain we raced on Sunday. My Hammies are tight and there is some latent soreness, but not near as bad as I was expecting. Yesterday was bench presses, pushups, swings, GHD's, Hip Extensions and pullups @ 60% effort. I was definately tight and tired, but felt better after the workout. Had to get the blood flowing to clean the waste out of the muscles.

Today was a 15k bike ride @ 60% effort. I used perceived effort as a guage rather than HR. Actually rode 14.75 miles (my normal recovery route) and averaged about 17.8 mph. Average HR was 127. More indication that Rev3 is a brutal course - riding an easy pace (60%) on slightly rolling terrain netted me about the same average as Rev3 which I rode at about 80%.

Diet is back on track. Ironically, I felt no ill effects from all of the junk I put into my body after Sunday's race. I guess one day isn't going to kill you, plus it wasn't all bad (just mostly).

I'm thinking about adding Litchfield Hills to my race calendar. It's about a month after IMLP so I should be about recovered. Of course I will check with the master before adding this, but my calendar seems empty after IMLP and it is a while before the marathon. I need purpose!

Winter training is going to be hard this year. IMLP really kept me going. I know I will need a goal, but I promised myself that I would not make any decisions about major events until after I have had a chance to absorb the IMLP experience.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Updated results

Unfortunately The posted race results have me going off in the wrong wave which distorts the results by three minutes. Splits are right after the swim, but the swim and overall results are off by three minutes. Here are the results (corrected by me).

Overall time: 6:18:20
Swim: 38:06
Bike: 3:08:48
Run: 2:24:37

Swim to bike transition was TOO SLOW! Bike to run was o.k.

Overall 397/683
Age Group: 26/55

I contacted the race director - hopefully they fix it - not that it matters terribly.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

rev3 race results

I slept unbelievably well the night before the race - that never happens - I usually wake up a few times panicked that I missed the alarm clock - I did not wake up until the clock went off.

I have mixed feelings about how the race went for me. These results aren't official, but here's how I think I did. I finished the swim in about 37:30. The bike took me about 3:08 - 3:09. That's about what I predicted when I saw the course profile and drove the course with David (I predicted about 18 - 18.5 mph, I hit the low end of the prediction). The run, well, that did not go so well. When I started off the run I had to do the usual getting the kinks out - I had tightness in the arch of my foot and my quads hurt going up the first set of hills, but both of those feelings went away. I was determined to run the entire race, but there were some hills that I could walk up faster than I could run them, hence a little walking. I did, however, run most of the course. I need to see my splits to know for sure, but I believe the run was done somewhere int he area of 2:20 - 2:30, not spectacular at all.

I probably could have swam faster - not sure how it effects the rest of the race to swim hard - need to talk to Max about that. I probably would not have shaved much, maybe two to three minutes

The bike rolled constantly. I simply kept my HR under 150 (tried to stay in the low 140s) and pigged out. I drank lots of water (about 80 oz), had a GU every 20 minutes until they ran out and grabbed a bottle of the crap they were handing out - took one sip and knew I was not going to be able to stomache that. Luckily I remembered I had a GU product in my back pocket (kind of like gummy bears) and downed that. I was a little deficient on fuel, but not much - I downed a Gel as soon as I got into the transition area. I also took salt tablets every hour - switched to every half hour on the run as it was getting hotter and I was drinking pepsi for my fuel - I'm guessing it has less sodium than GU's.

The run was relentless with the hills. I think there was probably only two section that were relatively flat - other then that it was either up or down (though I remember more up than down). When I was three miles into the course I thought to myself that I felt worse when running my 13.1 miler a couple of weeks ago - I CAN DO THIS! Then the hills just kept coming, and coming, and coming. I ran as much as I could - only walked when it was no slower than the run. I have decided that I will no longer race with the fuel belt on - it was more of a hinderance than a help. The course was so well catered that the belt was basically useless (and it chafed me to boot). It got real uncomfortable near the end. It will be a training tool only going forward.

Total time (unoficially) was 6:17:45. In two weeks I do Patriot which is pancake flat - both the bike and the run - I can't wait to compare and contrast.

I feel remarkably well for having finished a grueling race about 7 hours ago. I'm definately sore and tight, but no where near as bad as I felt after Hyannis. My head is pretty clear (it wasn't when I finished - just ask Nancy Belmonte). Curious to see how I feel tomorrow, and no, I will not skip the workout. I need to know what GHDs are - anyone?

I have been pigging out since the race -and none of it Paleo. I tried some muscle milk - did not sit in the stomache well. Waited a little while until the stomache calmed down and then had a cheeseburger and mac and cheese (the king of comfort foods). Had a 16 oz beer - thank you Nancy! On the way home I chowed on some trail mix and beef jerky. After I was home for a couple of hours I had a couple of hot dogs (the ultimate empty calorie food). I'm going to pay for this tomorrow, but I think I earned a day off of the diet.

Christina, I looked for you before I left - wanted to say goodbye and see you soon. I kept missing you - Dan would tell me he saw you in a particular place - by the time I got there you were gone.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Pretty Gross

Today was field day at my daughter's school. Like a dummy I volunteered to help out. Turns out its one of the hotter days of the year so far. So I'm standing out in the sun all day - hydration not an issue as I brought water and a bottle of my Ironman drink that just arrived at my doorstep - I like it by the way. So lunch was pizza - so not Paleo. I missed my morning snack, but figured one missed snack wouldn't kill me - but pizza!! I had one slice for two reasons - 1. I try to stay away from pizza, and 2. The kids were hungry - pizza went fast. So I got home around 2:00 p.m. pretty much starved. Not a lot in my house to eat (actually tons of food - very little of it Paleo appropriate). I decided I needed to absorb the nutrients quickly so I made a smoothy. Wasn't sure what to use for a base (yogurt not paleo) so I used Orange Juice. Orange juice, frozen strawberries and banana flavored protein powder - pretty gross, but I'm drinking it.

I will be packing for Rev3 in a few minutes. Have to make sure I don't forget anything.

A picture is worth a thousand words


Thursday, June 3, 2010

Easy ride and 8 x 200

Got my race wheels yesterday - had to ride the bike to make sure the feel did not change. Also have the behind the seat water bottles now and wanted to make sure I can easily reach them and refill my front bottle - hate to find out on race day that this was a big mistake.

Bike checked out fine - rode it to the High School track for the 200s. I believe my 200s should have been coming in around :55 for 75%, but I just could not do it. They clocked in as follows: 47, 48, 47, 47, 46, 45, 48, 48. Hopefully this is due to me being rested and not because I am pushing too hard on what's supposed to be an easy day. This has me curious though - how fast can I run a 200 when I am rested? I was tempted to find out, but I'm better than that.

Did an easy ride home.

I love my race wheels!

I would post a picture, but I can't find the damn cable that goes from the camera to the USB port on the computer - seems like every device I have needs a different cable. Suffice it to say that my ride looks SWEET.

I will at least look fast - hopefully I don't get passed by too many people on mountain bikes (it happens).

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Mental head game

Tapering is more of a mental exercise than a physical one. It is a good thing Max sent out the email regarding tapering as I can easily see myself second guessing whether I did enough in a workout or not. For example, yesterday I did 5 sets of 3 squats at 130 pounds. I wanted to either do more weight or more reps. I am so conditioned to going so hard that I can barely get the last rep up - this just felt weird. I warmed up and down with a 500m row. Once again, I just wanted to pull hard - but I didn't.

Today was Helen at 70%. Running at 70% was easy and I took the weight on the swings down to 25# but I'm not sure how to do pullups at 70%. I decided that the mental focus of going all out would just need to be dropped. The pullups actually felt easier since I was not going all out on the run or swings. Finished in - well I forgot to turn the stopwatch off. Time was not the focus anyway. Right?

Who of the Rev3 crowd would like to get together for dinner Saturday evening. So far it's me, Dan, Nancy and Dave.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Memorial Day festivities

Somehow my "do nothing" day got turned into a "host a party" day. Apparently there was a rag tag group of individuals and their children who all had no plans for the day. Although this was fine with me and I was looking forward to the relaxation, the rest of the group, my wife and daughter included, decided a cookout was in order. Somehow our house got picked for the event.

So off to do more yardwork (are you noticing a recurring theme here). I have seven garden beds that I kind of let go last year. I have more pride than that and I'm trying to get them back in shape this year which includes an incredibe amount of weeding. Three weekends and I'm still not done (but close). I think I'm down to a half of day of heavy weeding and then its just maintenance after that. I also had to fog the back yard to keep the bug count down and clean the deck furniture - just finished when the first guests started to arrive.

Guess who had to man the grill. I don't know why it is that whenever I go to a party at someone's house, someone always takes over the grilling for the host except for when the party is at my house.

Although there was all sorts of crap to eat, I kept the diet pretty much in check. I did eat a hot dog which is pretty much crap, but I stayed away from the desserts and ate fruit instead. Had one glass of wine - other than that drank water all day.

Missed the workout. If this was not a taper week I would do it today, but rest is more in order. Today's workout is five sets of three squats. Will definately get that in.