Friday, July 30, 2010

I feel amazing

Fully recovered? - I doubt it, but I can't believe how good I feel. My legs feel light as feathers. I want to go for a run (I would have said bike, but still a little crotch soreness).

On vacation starting tomorrow - plan to do a lot of excersing, but will be careful not to overdo it. Going to stay away from structure for a week and get back on the program when I get home.

I love it!!!

Anyone know where I can get a used rowing machine? I want one bad!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Volunteering next year

I decided today that I am definately volunteering at IMLP next year. They start volunteer registration 2/1/11 and I put it on my calendar. There is two reasons that I am volunteering:

1. I volunteered last year and it was very fulfilling, and
2. I HAVE to do this race again!

I am going to try to get an early morning assignment so I can enjoy the action later.

OWWWEEE!

It's the third day after the event and I feel unbelievably good. Been sleeping real good - that's the body repairing itself. I went for a short bike ride yesterday - planned on 45 minutes but only did 20. The worst soreness is the chafing from the bike seat - it needs a few more days to heal. I probably won't be able to sit on the seat until after I get back from Cancun. Legs feel pretty good - hammies are a little tight and feet are blistered a little, but overall feel good.

My bike is very sticky from the gels - it'll get a good washing soon.

I was off the diet Monday and Tue, but am getting back on it today. I feel that I will recover more quickly if I am dedicated to good nutrition.

What can I say about Crossfit? I feel strong and in my opinion had a successful first Ironman. My recovery is going quickly and would probably be going better if I was able to ride the bike more yesterday.

I did a few pushups last night in order to push some blood through the arms and chest. Today is a day off, but I will probably do Monday's workout that I skipped since Saturday is a travel day.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Lake Placid was unbelievable

This may be a pretty jumbled entry as there is so many things about the day that I just do not want to forget.

You can't start with just a race report - there are so many things about Ironman that makes it an unbelievable experience - especially IMLP as I've been told. The town is unbelievably supportive of the event. Many of the volunteers are towns people and folks from neighboring towns. I know this because I volunteered last year and the team captains for my aid station were folks from Saranac, a neighboring town. They were the team captains again this year.

The build up to the race is unbelievable. The town was pretty quiet on Wednesday when we got there, but the cars with bikes just kept piling in. You could barely walk the sidewalks on Friday and Saturday. Not only were there 3,000 racers, there were just as many volunteers. Add to that the families that the came in to cheer on their athletes - Wow!


I got up early Saturday to do my 20/20/20 workout. Went easy - figured this was just about getting loose. I felt unbelievably good on Saturday - better than I felt even Thursday and Friday. Anticipation or a taper timed to perfection? I actually managed to get a nap in Saturday which is good as Saturday night's sleep was not perfect - took a while to fall asleep and I woke up every hour fearful that my alarm clock was going to let me down. The final waking was five minutes before the alarm went off so I turned the alarm off as to not wake the rest of the family.


I went down to Dave's room at 4:45 for breakfast. Topped off the stores with eggs and potatoes. We walked down to the transition area together and checked on our gear and bikes just to triple and quadruple check everything.


Once we were satisfied that all our gear was in order, we dropped off our special needs bags (which it turns out neither of us needed). We then waited in a porta pottie line for what seemed to be forever and were starting to get quite anxious. As soon as we were done there we headed to the water (and for those of you thinking why didn't you just go in the water - well, when we started waiting in line they were not letting age groupers into the water yet).

THE SWIM:

As soon as we walked over the mat to get into the water an unbelievable charge coursed through my body - I can't explain it - maximum anticipation, nervous energy explosion, something. Dave wanted to wait onshore towards the right side - we weren't real close to the right side - so I started breast stroking towards the start flags - didn't want the swim time to the flags to get tagged onto my time.

I thought I found some open water to start the swim in, but as soon as the cannon went off it was mass chaos - legs and elbows everywhere. I was prepared for this - to panic would be a waste of energy. I just kept swimming and holding my line as best as I could. I actually had people swim over me a couple of times on the first half of the first lap. Again, no reason to panic - I just kept swimming. On the second half of the first lap I decided no more mister nice guy. I understand the bumping, but there is absolutely no reason to swim over someone - if you are that good of a swimmer (which I doubt they were), they should have started near the front. Anyone who tried to swim over me from that point on got kicked - I was fully o.k. with the bumping - did some of it myself, but I did not swim over anyone. O.K. enough ranting!

Finished the first lap and ran around to start the second lap. The crowd was unbelievable - people lined up in the water and along the chute cheering very loudly. It's unbelievable - they are cheering for everyone, not just their particular athlete, about brought me to tears.

I swam the second lap wide - the first half of the second lap I was still in traffic but it was no where as bad as the first lap. I somehow got even wider on the second half of the first lap and had to angle myself back into the lane. I do remember my geometry though - the shortest distance between two points is a straight line so I sited on the last buoy instead of the one I was closest to.

I was about three quarters of the way through the second lap and I got a little disoriented. The buoys seemed much larger than I remembered them so I thought that I had somehow swam in a circle out on the course and was starting the second half of the lap again. Luckily I heard the announcers voice and realized that I was just about done with the second lap - what a feeling of relief that was!!!



Running to T1 was unbelievable - people lined everywhere screaming encouragement.


T1:

T1 was not quite as awesome as I expected. I was told that they get your bike bag and bike for you. That may be true when you do not exit the water with the masses. It really did not add too much to get my own bag and the bike was on the way out anyway.


THE BIKE:

Mounting the bike was another mass chaos event. I usually swing my leg over the bike and basically mount it while running - there were people mounting from a standstill in the middle of the lane which was not very wide and others having verious other issues. I did manage to mount and start riding only to get held up at the bottom of the chute due to a sharp left turn. Luckily I am a good bike handler and did not need to unclip, but I had to literally do a track stand at one point while traffic was clearing.

Finally - off on the bike. As most people know this if my favorite part of triathlons. I felt really good, but remained disciplined for the entire ride. The first course of action was to get the HR down so I could start fueling. Not easy to do since you had to climb out of LP - but I remember what Max said - walk your F*&#ing bike if you have - get your HR down. So I soft pedalled until I was down to 135 and started fueling immediately. It was close enough to 1:30 that I decided to fuel at :30, :50 and :10. On the bike there were only a few things to keep in mind - fuel every 20 minutes, drink plenty of water, keep the HR at 135, and take advantage of as much free speed as possible.

It was wet the first time down the Keene hill, but I took some chances - did not go as fast as I would have if it was dry, but faster than I would have gone if it was a training ride. There was a little bit of wind, but it was not too bad.

Ariel passed me on the bike - we chatted for a couple of minutes and then off he went.

Coming into town for the first time was another awe inspiring moment. The hill leading to the turn into town was lined with people on both sides of the road shouting encouragement. It continued like this and even got crazier going into town - there was one section by the lake where people were actually in the road - I thought I was in the The Tour De France - it was crazy. Unfortunately it did not last long - out of town we went for our second loop.

The second time down Keene hill it was dry so I thought I would be able to get unbelievable speed on the hill - there was cross winds that were gusting and pretty strong. I was riding a disk so I got pushed around pretty good and was starting to loose control - I don't get nervous much on the bike, but I was nervous now - had to slow down as the front end of my bike was starting to shake - I still did pretty good on the descent - did more passing that I got passed - noticed that no one passing my had disk wheels. I still think the disk was a good idea because I was really moving on the flats and passed back everyone that passed me on the downhill and I was not even pedalling hard (had to keep the HR down).

I did not keep my bike splits, but I suspect I came close to even splitting it - I felt unbelievably strong on the bike - it was hard to stay discipled, but I kept reminding myself what was to follow the bike - had to stick to the plan. I tried relieving myself while riding, but it just would not happen - ended up stopping three times on the bike - the volunteers were unbelievable - they stocked my bike with water and gels while I was in the john.

The second trip through town was just as awe inspiring as the first trip. Got into transition and they grabbed my bike for me and I ran down my row and grabbed my run bag. I did not spend much time in transition as I was worried about losing my motivation. I changed my socks (there is nothing like dry socks!), put my shoes on, grabbed my water and off I went.

THE RUN:
I skipped the first two aid stations as I had plenty of water and had a couple of gels with me. I forgot to mention - I was doing salt every hour and kept to this throughout the day. My first walk during the run was to get a salt tablet down - washed it down with water and off I went. I was still doing gels every 20 minutes and those were my walking breaks (initially). I was about eight miles into the run and was about to down a gel and I took one taste and knew it was not going down - coke would be the fuel for the rest of the run. Had a much better experience with the coke than I did at Patriot - probably because it was not hot. I fueled at the next two aid stations and then every other one after that - Oh yeah I was walking every aid station now, something I had planned to do from the start, but I felt pretty good to start with, So I skipped the first two as I mentioned above. I also walked the two big hills on the first lap as I had planned to do from the beginning.

Other than the walking mentioned above I pretty much ran the whole first loop. I started the second loop feeling pretty good (of course it's downhill coming out of town), but quickly started to run out of gas. I was running with Ariel at this point and we were employing a run walk strategy. At some point I was feeling pretty good and pulled away from Ariel - I should have stuck with him as he ended up passing me later. I caught up with Christina after I pulled away from Ariel and once again got caught and passed. Christina - you rock! So do you Ariel.

Dave Carbone passed me at some point during the run - if you said hello to me and I ignored you, I'm sorry - I was in my own little world at that point.

The second loop was painful - I had to keep on reminding myself to run again during my walking breaks. The little hills felt like monsters - I did not even remember these hills on the first loop.

I walked up the hill going into town - on the first loop I was able to start running once the steep portion was over - on the second loop I had to wait until the corner going up Lake Placid Road before I could start running again. I ran halfway up this hill and wanted to walk - I was within two miles of the finish - why couldn't I will myself on? I forced myself to run to the aid station and took on some more coke - the last fuel of the day - about 1.5 miles to go. I was fighting demons at this point - I could not get myself to run again - it was fairly flat - only slightly uphill, I finally convinced myself that I was being mentally weak and had to run it in the rest of the way. I did and I could feel the energy building as I came closer and closer to the finish. The Oval was unbelievable. I did not stop to walk as some people do, but I made sure to take in the sights - the crowds were unbelievable, the cheering was the loudest of the day, the announcer called out my name - "Martin Henry from Broad Brook CT, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN."

I would be a liar if said I did not shed a tear. It was not gushing, but there were deep emotions. I was a little disoriented at this point. All I wanted was to see my wife and daughter (they saw me finish!). They came to the gate and gave me a big hug. The first thing I said to them was "I want to do this again." My wife actually said o.k. - I think she finally gets it.

I walked out of the athlete area to see Dave Couture who had his best IM to date - cangratulations Dave! I knew you had it in you. So he asks me - where's your finisher shirt and hat? I said my what? He says go back in there and get them and don't forget to get your picture taken as well. Then I think he called me a novice - I am, that's why I followed you around like a puppy dog all week.

So in I went.

Carol and Alicia helped me get my gear and we walked up the room - I took a shower and - OH MY GOD, I was chafed! But it felt so good to be clean.

We went back down to watch Erica finish - my good friend Erica! I tried to run over to the finishing chute, but I could not run - so I shuffled over. Dan was there to greet his wife - he is very proud of you! Erica's first words to me were "I don't know why anyone would want to do this more than once." Be proud of yourself! This was an unbelievable accomplishment.

O.k., so what was my time you might want to know.

Overall: 13:29:42.
Swim: 1:20:48
Bike: 6:33:10
Run: 5:21:18

I have been reluctant to voice or publish my goals other then "to finish." Now it is time to come clean. I decided going into this that anything under 14:00 was acceptable and that there was an outside chance that I could hit 13:00 which would make me ecstatic. I split the difference - not too shabby.

I predicted 1:20 on the swim and 6:30 on the bike - hit those pretty much dead on. I really did not know if I would be able to put a decent marathon together since I have been all over the place on my marathon times. My best being about 4:20 and my worst about 5:05. I am not disappointed with 5:21 after what came before it, but I will endeavor to keep improving this area.

I know I will replay this event over and over in my head to determine what I could have done differently to get a better result - but I will not beat myself up - it will be a tool to use for future events.

I promised myself that I would not get caught up in the hoopla and rush the decision of whether or not to sign up for next year. That decision has been made for me (unless I want to pay for a foundation spot) as the event sold out in the first hour. There will be another IM for me in the future, it is just a matter of which one and when.

I'm taking a mental break for two weeks and then I am going to determine what the rest of my year looks like (other than Hartford Marathon) and start working on my schedule for next year. Maybe IM Arizona (does that one sell out in a day?).

To all that finished yesterday, Erica, Ariel, Christina, Dave Carbone, Dave Couture, Jay, Sue, Kim, Melanie - you are awesome!!

Pam, good luck in AZ- I will be following your progress!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

I'm up at Lake Placid

Got here yesterday (Wed). Village was still quiet when we got here, but you could sense the storm coming in. As the day progressed today (Thursday) the cars with bike on roofs and trunk racks kept streaming into town. The sidewalks became busier as the day progressed.

Ran an easy couple of miles today - wanted to check out the hill coming into town- it's pretty steep. It was not hard today, but that is me fully rested about at the end of my taper - I'm sure it is going to be a significant task after riding 112 miles and being about 9 to 10 miles into the run. I managed to keep my HR down around 75% though it was not an easy task as I was running the hill. Did Helen yesterday - ran easy, light weight on the swings and broke the pullups into sets of four so as to not overdo it.

The weather looks good for Sunday - temp around 75 and chance of showers. I'm praying for rain during the run.

I checked in around 10:30 this morning. I'm official - chip has been turned on.

Just plan to relax tomorrow - probably take a day trip, just don't know to where.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Five sets of three and NERVES

I was a scatter brain at work today. Part of it was that I was trying to get as much done as possible before not being there for a few days - the other part of it is I'm going to Lake Placid tomorrow. It is getting more and more real by the day.

I was not real nervous before my first half, why does this have me so freaked (twice the distance and ten times the amount of athletes maybe?).

All of my race gear is packed which took the nerves down a notch. I created a checklist a while back to make sure that I don't forget anything. I do want to add sunblock to the list, but other than that it is complete.

I think I have my plan in place. I plan to live off the course as much as possible, but will start with plenty of gels and water and all the salt I need. My first water bottle generally goes pretty fast so I don't think the extra weight will be a problem - I will be lighter before I get to the hills. I will pack my special needs bag with extra gels in case I can't pick up enough on the course, but that is just a precaution - I worked an aid station last year and they are well stocked.

Since we have to wear the race number on the bike I plan to pin it to my shirt rather than put it on a belt. This way I will avoid chafing due to having two belts on (happened to me at Rev3). Yes, I plan to wear my fuel belt. I know the course is well stocked, but there is nothing like being able to eat and drink whenever you feel like it (or by the clock as I indend to do).

Both my Xnut and new HR monitor are in. Xnut did not come with the nut that I need to fasten it to the Carbon Wing (says the nut comes with the wing - I'm sure it did, but I had it installed by the shop and they kept the extra nut which is exactly what I would expect them to do). I'm sure I can get one at LP and if not, that's what the back pocket is for (CO2 and inflator, not a big deal).

I did not check out my new HR monitor, but will tomorrow.

And yeah, I did work out today. Five sets of 3 back squats at 70%. Used 135 pounds. The good news is that this felt pretty easy and my form was great.

See you yahoos soon! Dinner Thursday night? Cell 860.978.2764.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Unbelievably busy

I have been extremely busy at work - home life as well. The good thing is that it keeps my mind off of the task to come - hard to worry about something when you have no time.

I spent the whole day today working on a proposal which really sucks - I spent a whole day on something that might end up paying zilch (i.e. someone else gets the job) vs. working on clients who will pay when they receive their information. It, unfortunately, is a necessary evil when you are trying to improve your lot in life. Of course, it will be real cool if we get the job.

Unfortunately I have not started to pack yet - was planning on doing that over the weekend. We are not leaving until late in the morning Wed so I have plenty of time - just don't want to feel rushed. Need to relax.

Tomorrow is another busy day at work and then I am off until next Monday.

I am unbelievably excited for what is to come!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

I'm neurotic

I am questioning everything I do now. Am I resting enough? Did I go too hard on the workout? Not hard enough? Is my diet good, am I hydrating enough? I've been working a year for LP and I don't want to blow it in the last week.

Physically I feel pretty good. Yesterday I rode 45 minutes at 80%. My avg HR was 140 and my max was 154 (there was a couple of hills). I covered 14.8 miles for an average speed of 19.73.

Today was 20 min easy of each discipline. Nothing really to report here other than I did it. Felt o.k. - not used to going easy but will need to a week from today.

I almost forgot about the 5k I did Friday night. I did it after a thunderstorm rolled by - I thought it would cool it down and drop the humidity. It did cool it a little, but the humidity did not go down at all. Finished in 25:27. splits were 7:46, 8:23, 8:34. Considering the conditions, I believe this to be a good result for me. Felt strong throughout - just had trouble breathing.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Quick post number one million

Didn't get run in this morning - decided an extra half hour of sleep was worth pushing it off to later in the day.

Ordered a new HR monitor today - should be here before I leave for LP. Will need to know my HR and my current HR monitor is unreliable. I should have done this sooner.

Other than that - I am gear ready for the event.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

500 yrd swim TT

This was the second day in a row of 500yd swim TT. After yesterday, I really did not know what to expect. I was feeling good, but yesterday's crossfit workout had me a little tight and sore (not too bad). Well......... I must say that I know have a new goal in mind. I need to get under 8:00 - it will have to wait until after LP, but I need to get under 8:00. I finished today's in 8:08, three seconds better than yesterday.

I don't know how the rest of you feel, but I just don't quite understand why everyone is not kissing my behind right now. Don't they know what I am going to be putting myself through in just over a week? I am busier than ever at work right now (I know I shouldn't complain considering the amount of people out of work). I worked until two in the morning last night - only got four hours of sleep. I'll get at least 7 tonight. Today I planned on swimming on my way home from the office, but my wife called me to say a friend invited her out to the comedy club and she would like to go - could I please come home and spend time with my daughter. There is no possible way I could say no - she hardly ever asks and I generally take it for granted that I can work and train late without having to worry about the household. So this workout got done late. Hopefully I can get up early to get he 5k in - I don't want to feel like I'm squeezing it in.

Well, I'm a little stressed and I don't need that right now - I handle quite a bit before I get frazzled, but I'm on edge right now.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The countdown continues

Met a guy in the gym today. I was wearing my Iron Team T shirt from last year's IMLP. He asked me if I was an Ironman. I said not yet, but I plan to be in a week and a half. He said, "oh, you're doing Lake Placid - I did that last year." He further went on to tell me that it was the greatest single moment in his life crossing the finish line. He signed up this year, but decided that the training was too much and he therefore is not going. One less body to bump into on the swim.

I told him about Crossfit and to check it out if he really wants to train for an Ironman at some point in the future.

My bib number for IMLP is 1548 if anyone wants to track me.

My first workout today was 500 yd swim TT. finished in 8:11 - it's a record! I beat my prior best by 7 seconds. I'm very happy with this result for two reasons - 1. obvious reason - LP right around the corner, of course I want to be getting stronger, 2. It hurt! My shoulders were screaming for mercy on the last four laps. I dug with everything I had.

Second workout was 10, 20 and 30 reps of box jumps, squats, pushups. burpees. I finished in 14:19 which is not even close to comparing to the prior two times I did this workout; however, there was a big difference. I did this one right after the swim and I did it at the gym - I was able to use (build) a box that is a good six to eight inches higher than what I use at home. It did not make much of a difference on the first round of 10, but I was feeling it on the 20 and the 30. I was hurting by the end. I don' think the swim had much of an effect as I was fully recovered by the time I had my area set up - it was definately the box jump platform height.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

12 days to IMLP

I picked up my bike today - final pre race tune-up. I wanted to have it tuned up with my race wheels on as there can a slight difference in the shifting between wheels.

I planned to do my 5x3 squats after work, but I forgot to pack my sneakers with my workout gear so I had to go home. I used my leg press machine at home rather than drive back to the gym. I managed to put most of the weight plates that I have on the leg press machine. I think it is about 330 pounds. I felt pretty strong which is a good sign because my legs were fried two days ago.

I rode my old bike on the indoor trainer as I did not want to ride my steed in the rain - just tuned up with my nice race wheels on - Oh yeah, and I just cleaned the bike as well. Since my computer works off of the front wheel I rode for 45 minutes figuring that has to be pretty close to 20k.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

I'm toast

I woke up this morning planning on hitting the gym first thing and getting the workouts over with so I could get things done around the house. I woke up dehydrated and unmotivated. I don't quite understand as I have been making it a habit to drink lots of water at night. Regardless, I procrastinated on the workout and watched the TDF instead. Washed cars, installed roof rack on vehicle, had lunch with my parents and took my bike to shop for its final pre race tune-up.

Got home and putzed around a little and finally decided that I had put it off long enough. I did the swim workout first 3 x 500, three min rest, 75%, 85%, 95%. Wow, what an eye opener this was. Times were 8:43, 8:26 & 8:24. A large increase in effort netted only small amounts of increase in speed. So the swim is not where you want to exert a lot of energy - it will net very little time gain at a significant cost.

Next up was the 150 wall balls. I thought I pushed these pretty good, but my time was slower than the last two times I did this workout. Finished in 8:18. My legs were like jello when I finished. Between the bike TT yesterday, the WOD last night and the wall balls - well, my legs are pretty damn tired.

Tomorrow is a day off and I believe I earned it.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Soaked

I've been trying to get my workouts in either in the morning before it heats up or in the evening after it cools down a bit. Regardless the humidity has been high. I'm soaked when I finish the workouts. I don't mind sweating, except when it gets in my eyes.

Friday evening - 800m run, 30 situps four times for time. My street is 1/2 mile so I did this on my street. Kept my splits - 800s were as follows: 3:13, 3:21, 3:30, 3:31. Total time was 18:12. Avg HR 157, max 168.

Saturday morning: 45 minute bike time trial. 15.84 miles. Did 16.1 miles on same course back in May. I think I overcooked the first hill - felt it later in the ride. Average HR 153, max 159.

Saturday evening (a few minutes ago). AMRAP 20 min, 5 pushups, 10 situps, 15 squats. Completed 23 full rounds and pushups and situps on the 24th round. I think this is the first time that this hit my schedule - I could not find a log of this workout so there is nothing to compare it to. Felt pretty strong - pushups and situps went really well - legs really started to burn on the squats (345 squats completed, 120 pushups and 240 situps).

Shower time!!

See you Lake Placid maniacs soon.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

4 x 5k bike, 100%

Another early morning workout. Had to wake the legs up so I warmed up a little longer than normal. Results:

1 10:00 18.6 Up hill for .75 miles
2 8:46 21.2
3 8:42 21.4
4 8:06 23.0

I'm satisfied that I went as hard as I could on each effort. HR max was 156 - legs are feeling pretty good, but I'm not 100% yet.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Open water

Went for an open water swim this morning. I've been told that it's about two miles. Finished in about 1:05 - 1:06 (forgot to turn my stopwatch off). All I had before the swim was a gel (up at 5:00, swimming by 5:30). I was starved after the swim. Good news is that my stroke felt nice and fluid and I covered the distance with no trouble. Of course, there were not a million bodies all over the place.

Legs feel like they are recovering nicely - we'll see how the intervals go tomorrow.

Done for the day!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Quickie

Second WOD - 10 pullups, 10 wall balls, 10 pushups four times for time. Finished in 6:31. Used a 25 # plate for my ball - gonna get one soon - that and a rowing machine will keep me home more. Needed the blood flow - my legs feel better after the workout than they did before it.

Slow as molasses

That's how I feel. Ran 5k for time this morning. Warmed up with an easy mile, stretched and off I went. I planned on taking it out fast and thought I had done just that, but I crossed the mile marker at 8:26 - was planning on 7:30 or so. I covered the next mile in 8:41 and did slightly better on mile three at 8:36. I'm happy with the relative consistency of the splits, but not the times themselves. Total run 26:32. I know I'm beat up, but I expected more out of myself this morning.

I know I am at the end of a hard period and should not beat myself up, but its in my nature.

I read the string of emails regarding the article not being published in the August edition. Pam said it best and I imagine there is a lot of truth in what she wrote. I for one feel better than I have in years both physically and mentally. Going into this I really did not think my swimming or biking were going to get much better, but was real hopeful on the running. Surprise, surprise - my swimming and biking both improved. My running has improved, but not by as much as I was hoping, but I learned a lot. I have to work on my fundamentals - next year will be different! I look in the mirror and don't recognize the guy looking back at me - he looks too young! It is quite literally like I have erased 10 years of wear and tear.

I think the most amazing part is the little amount of time it took to recover after Rev3 and Patriot - Patriot a little longer, but then again, these races were only two weeks apart!

I don't plan on doing a WOD at the end of IMLP, but I will do my best to make everyone proud.

Monday, July 5, 2010

I'm beat

Well, the nerves are finally settling in. All the bravado aside, the thought of going 140.6 miles is a little daunting. I'm trying to control all the things I can - train well, eat well, rest well, obtain and maintain good gear. I know there will be a number of things that I can't control - weather, other competitors (i.e. getting kicked in the face while swimming, squirrely bike handlers, etc). I say control the things you can and be flexible with the things you can't.

I did my 10k run last night. This was a good plan - I really do enjoy hoisting a few with my old man and brother in law, but it's just not worth it. Having that workout hanging over my head kept me on my best behavior. My legs were feeling tired, but I willed myself to run hard. I ran by my GPS and am pretty sure the distance was accurate. I'm not real happy with the result - not because I think I should be able to run faster, but because I really pushed myself. I went for the pain threshhold on this one, but I could only get my legs to turn over so fast. I even played mental games with myself - first I was pretending that I was in a race - that did not work. O.k., now I'm being chased by a bear - worked a little, but I think that bear would have caught me. My total time was 54:35. I've done better and I've done worse.

Today was squats and this workout cemented the fact that I'm physically tired. I did o.k., but once again, I've done better. I warmed up on the stationary cycle for seven minutes, Did a few air squats, did a few with just the bar, then 95, then 135 and my first set of three was with 155.
I did 155 x 3, 165 x 3, 175 x 3 and then failed on my first attempt at 185. I was pissed. This was a mental break-down. I hesitated at the bottom and that was it - there was no way it was going up so I had to lay it on the crash bars. I stripped the weight, put the bar back up and then put 185 back on. This time I was able to get one, but it was a major struggle so I knew better than to try two and three. I finished with 165 x 3 and made sure I went deep. If I was going to do less weight, at least my form would be stellar.

Notes on diet - not great for the last couple of days. Still eating decent foods, but my meals and snacks have been too spaced apart. I need to stop trying to be accomodating and become a little more selfish about my eating - I wait for others when I should just stick to the schedule. This also causes overeating at times since I am starved by the time I eat. Funny how the stomache has shrunk though - I was so bloated last night I could see my stomache sticking out (maybe that's what slowed my down on the run, o.k., I'm reaching) - It was better by this morning. I can actually feel my energy coming back up now that I got myself on a decent schedule again.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Max did it again

First and foremost - Happy fourth of July. A little political commentary - although I don't agree with many of the things going on in our country right now (almost to the point that I'm thinking about becoming an activist), we still live in the greatest country in the world. I just hope it stays that way.

Correction on yesterday's bike - it was 39.85 miles - still a good ride.

O.k., what did Max do? He put a workout on the schedule that on paper does not look so bad. Man, ignorance is bliss! The workout, which I'm sure many of you have done by now, was 500 swim, 50 squats, 400 swim, 40 squats down to 100 swim, 10 squats. Here was my thought process - there is no way this can be as bad as the swim and pushup circuits - you know, the ones where you can barely feel your chest and arms when you are finished. First 500 went well - 8:36, then the 50 squats, then I got back in the water and started the 400 and I had no power - totally zapped - why? because I just sent all my blood to my legs - power started to come back after the first 100. This went on for the rest of the workout - I was totally gassed by the time I finished. I kept my splits mainly because I was curious, plus the one thing that has consistently worked for me is my stop watch. Splits were as follows:

500 8:36 1:43/100
400 6:58 1:44/100
300 5:15 1:45/100
200 3:28 1:44/100
100 1:40

As an aside - I am still sore from Thursday's workout - yes its Sunday and I'm sore three days later - mostly abs and my ribs are actually sore too (are there muscles there?). Don't know if its mainly from the wall balls or the box jumps, regardless, it was a tough one and it tore me up.

Saving my 10k for this evening - on my way to a party and putting the workout late in the day will keep me from drinking alcoholic beverages. Trying to be good until July 26th!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

60k TT

Every season seems to have a theme. This one has a few intervening themes due to LP, but one recurring issue I am having is with my electronic training devises. It is a rarity that everything works in tandem in the same training session, or race for that matter. Today it was the bike computer - I probably short circuited it with my sweat. It stopped working about 30 minutes into the ride and started working again about an hour into the ride. I decided that I would go for two hours and determine what the distance and pace were later. Thursday was my HR monitor - that worked fine today.

I rode basically the same route as last week's 40k TT except the second loop was inside of the large first loop and did not have as many hills. I felt really strong on the hills today and pushed them from bottom to top. My average HR was 151 and my max was 166. I ended up riding 40.2 miles in exactly two hours. I would have liked to get my 40k split to see if I beat last week, but I couldn't remember exactly where 40k was and like I said my computer was not working.

Friday, July 2, 2010

two more down

5 x 800 meters w/ 3 minutes rest. Times were as follows: 3:26, 3:31, 3:32, 3:34, 3:42. Not sure what happened with the last one - I felt like I ran it hard and I was using a metronome so my cadence was the same as the prior set. I almost ran anothter just so I could end on a positive note, but decided that now is not the time to go off plan.

Second workout was max deadlifts times 7. I did four as follows 235, 255, 265, 275. I was really not feeling it and although I rarely ever bag a workout, deadlifts are not where I want to fall apart. If this was any other type of workout I would have kept going.

Brutal does not cover it

400m run, 30 box jumps, 30 wall balls, four times for time. Have I mentioned I hate box jumps? Give me burpees any day - keep the box jumps.

Who would think that the 400m runnning would be the easy part - that was my rest period. It helps that the treadmill takes a few seconds to get up to speed - just enough time to catch your breath a little.

Last night was another late night at work. Left work at 9:15 and arrived at gym around 9:30. Someone was on the treadmill I needed (or I would have been running up and down stairs in between sets) so I took my time setting up my workout area. I had to build my box out of the aerobic step up platform - works out well as you can go as high as you would like and its fairly stable. I built the box a little too high, but decided to stick with it after my first set. I was regretting this decision later on, but kept with it.

I chose the heaviest ball available - not sure of the weight, but it was at least 12 pounds possibly a little more.

So, after I got everything set up, the woman was still on the treadmill - looked like she was doing intervals. I can appreciate that.

I decided to warm up on the stationary bike and after I finished there I started to stretch and she finally got off the treadmill. I went right over to claim it, not that the gym was super busy at this time of night, but there were a few people milling around.

I got right to it - I was warmed up and stretched after all. First 400 - no problem. First set of box jumps - well I was definately jumping higher than I normally do - kept at it These really wind me. Wall balls - I was not able to get 30 in a row on any set - my shoulders were burning. These wind me as well. On the fourth set I had to sit down for a couple of seconds during the box jumps as I was getting dizzy - got right back up and finished hard. Total time 25:59.

I was soaked and winded when I finished. Had to sit down and regain myself. Had to pause once while doing wall balls because my eyes were stinging from the sweat pouring into them - wiped it away and pushed on.

This was a very hard and very satisfying workout. I still don't like box jumps though.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Swim last night, Tabata this morning

Last night was a little "power swim." The swim workout was 400 yards for time. I felt strong throughout this swim - never really got that feeling of "when the heck is the swim going to end," or "I might have gone out too hard."

I finished in 6:31 which equates to 1:37 per 100. That is pretty darn good for me.

Did the Tabata bike times 32 this morning. Completed 5.1 miles. Don't recall off the top of my head what the last one was, but am pretty sure it was a little further. I threw a hill into the ride this time - not real big, but big enough that I had to work three or four times on the hill. It was a real leg burner.

I really wanted to do tonights workout at the track, but will most likely do it inside at LAF since I do not have a medicine ball and don't want to have to trudge home to get a weight plate that I would pretend is a ball. Ho Hum, another treadmill workout.