Martin's training blog

IMAZ race report - better late than never

2012-01-06T10:07:00.000-08:00

I wrote this race report a while ago but have not posted it due to trying to put my life back together after two straight years of IM training with the second year being very time consuming. Enjoy reading - I enjoyed writing it.

G. Martin Henry Jr.
Ironman Arizona
November 20, 2011
Race Report

It has been two days since the race. I am still sore and have quite the wetsuit hickey, but I am recovering. I am hanging out in the dessert with my folks and plan to visit my father-in-law while I am out here as well. I stopped to see him once already, but he is not well so I need to get out to visit him again before I go home.

I am actually having a little trouble determining where to start with this race report. Last year I did my first IM in Lake Placid. The emotions I felt upon finishing that event were overwhelming. I don’t think I was looking for that feeling again – it can only be your first IM once. Actually, I’m not at all sure what I was looking for other than the physical challenge and the knowledge that I did my best. O.k., time for honesty to set in – I was also chasing a time. I was looking for a very large improvement over last year. I figured I should get 30 minutes just from the course differential and then 45 to 60 minutes for the year’s worth of training. I shaved a little over an hour off last year’s time which I know should make me proud, but I guess I am just too hard to please .

I arrived in Tempe on Wed. and had to wait an hour for the hotel shuttle to pick me up. Apparently a group of 8 racers arrived just before me and between them and all their gear the driver had to make two trips. So I finally got to my hotel and although exhausted from the day of traveling, I had trouble getting to sleep. It was more real now that I was so close to where the event was actually going to take place.

The next day I walked down to the transition area to pick up my race packet and check things out. I purchased a couple of things from the vendors and then just sat around basking in the sun. I walked down to check out the water. It was green just like Doug said, but I could not detect any nasty odor. I hung around the village for a few more minutes and then headed back to the hotel. I was going to wait around and get my bike from Tribike transport then realized that there was no way I was going to be able to get all my gear and the bike back in the same trip. When I got back to the hotel there was a group of six people from Michigan who were getting ready to walk down and get their bikes so I tagged along with them. Very nice folks.

Friday – not much to do today other than my final warm-up/shake down workout before the race (not including the pre-swim). I waited a while because I was going to go with a friend from Canada, but he was with a group of four and they kept making him late (or so he claims), so I went alone. I biked an easy 10 and ran an easy 20 minutes and then met my parents who came down to spend the rest of the weekend with me and watch me race. It was great having them there – I think I would have raced my very best regardless, but it was nice knowing they would be at the finish line.

Saturday – started the day with a good carb loading breakfast. Went down to the lake around 9:30 for the pre-race swim (it’s the only time you can swim in the lake before the race). Brrr, the water was cold. The full sleeve wetsuit kept my body warm, but I could really feel it on my hands and feet. My face never felt cold. I swam about a quarter mile and decided that was enough to loosen up before the race. Coming out of the water I practiced getting out a couple of times because it is a little tricky. It seems like there should be one more stair on the stairs getting out of the lake, but it’s just not there. Checked my bike and bags in after the swim and then did a whole lot of nothing for the rest of the day.

Sunday (Race day!) – alarm went off at 4:00 a.m. I could not believe it - I actually slept better than the night before. I went downstairs to toast the bread that I got at the grocery store because the hotel breakfast doesn’t start until 6:00. I got down to the kitchenette and there was a whole breakfast already set up. Apparently, they started early knowing that the athletes would be getting up early – How nice is that?

My father drove me down to the race site so I could get body marked, check my bike, situate my water bottles, drop off my special needs bag, etc. I met up with Gene (the guy from Canada) in the bathroom line – how weird is that – 2,640 people racing and we happen to get into the same bathroom line at the same time. We hung out together for the rest of the morning and it really helped to keep the nerves down. I was getting cold so I put the bottom half of my wetsuit on to stay warm until it was time to get in the water.

Swim - At about 20 till they start getting the age groupers in the water. I wanted to get in early because my race plan was to start near the front on the right side. Theory was that I would get less beat up there than in the middle. I was having a little trouble with my goggles so I swam to the side, sat on the ledge, and adjusted them. Then I got back to my spot because the water was filling up full of bodies fast. For some reason, the water felt warmer race morning. I know it is not true because the reported water temperature was 61 – must have been the excitement of the moment or the fact that I acclimated to the cold waiting to get in the water. In true IM fashion the announcer just keeps on talking until suddenly BOOM! The cannon goes off and it is a mad rush of elbows, arms, feet everywhere. Although I thought I started in good position I still got beat up. I got an elbow in the eye, I was bumped a few times, I got whacked in the eye again a little later, but my goggles never fell off. I understand what a mass start is like with so many bodies in the water, so none of that really bothers me. There are two things that totally annoy me though – one is people trying to swim over the top of you – really! Where do they think they are going – there is no more water on my left side than on my right. The remedy for that is to kick – so I did – I am proud to say that no one swam over me this time (I let it happen twice at IMLP). The other thing I find annoying is when someone is swimming so close and keeps bumping you trying to steer you a certain way. Because we started so close to the right there was quite a few people trying to go left to get closer to the buoy’s. I find that to be a little dumb. I would think that most everyone knows that the shortest distance from point to point is a straight line – So I sighted on the furthest buoy rather than the closer ones, but I kept getting pushed. At one point I actually took my hand and pushed someone away from me. There was one scary moment in the swim – I got tangled up in something. I kept swimming, but it got worse. It felt a little like fishing line, but not quite that strong. I was able to rip it off me and keep going. I felt really good on the swim and actually felt I was catching better water as I went. Although I felt I could really pour it on in the swim, I held back as discussed with coach Doug. What could it have possibly gained me anyway– maybe five minutes? Certainly not worth screwing up a whole days worth of racing for five minutes in the swim. The fact that you cannot see in the water never bothered me for some reason. It is impossible to get off course with so many people in the water so I just kept stroking and before I knew it I was done. Got out of the water in about 1:15 – was expecting anywhere from 1:10 to 1:20 so I was right on time.

T1: - had a little trouble with the wetsuit – not used to a full sleeve. The volunteer was great and just pulled down the sleeves and then I laid down and they did the rest. As I ran into the transition area one volunteer called my number, another grabbed my bag and handed it to me and into the tent I went. Helmet on, glasses on, socks on, shoes on, decided no on the arm warmers, off I went. Someone must have called out my number because there was someone waiting for me with my bike at the end of my row (I am a rock star!).

Bike – Anyone who knows me knows that this is my favorite part of the race. I only swim to get to the bike. Getting out of T1 was not quite as messy as LP. I don’t know if it was the 5 minute time gain on the swim or what, but it was just better. It was no wider, so that was not the issue. As soon as I got out on the road my number one concern was getting my HR under control. I know there is no drafting in triathlons, but it was wall to wall people and a fairly narrow space to get out for probably a mile or two. I figured at this point it was o.k. as the officials would have to penalize about 200 people – it would spread out as soon as we got to the open roads anyway.

My HR was under control in no time (at least I think it was, had trouble with HR monitor the first lap of bike). I started fueling right away. I think I blew it on my hydration as I had to pee three times on the bike – pit stops were quick, but I definitely lost a little time due to this. I know what the hard core guys and girls do, but I’m not vying for a Kona spot and besides – my mother brought me up better than that.

The bike was absolutely beautiful. My legs felt nothing. I was once told that if you are not sight seeing on the bike leg, you are going too hard. So I did some sight seeing. HR monitor was working just fine by the second lap (first lap I was getting readings of 109 – 185, so I went by feel). Going by feel was working o.k., but HR kept creeping up and had to back off to get it back down. On the third lap the wind was blowing pretty good but it was what I like to call a helpful wind. It blew me up the hill – I was climbing at about 23 miles per hour. When I turned around I just got low and let my bike do the work – o.k. I pedaled a little. I kept chanting to myself not to fight the wind – it worked, I just stayed low and monitored the HR. At one point a group of about 20 riders passed my. This was not just a pace line, it was an organized one. I was pissed! I thought about joining them, but decided that I am no cheater, nor are any of the Cyclonauts I know. Then I thought about passing them as I knew I had enough juice in my legs, but I was not going to ruin my race just to prove a point. I finished the ride in 5:50 which was ten minutes faster than I was expecting. That was a nice psychological boost going into the run.

T2 – uneventful. Volunteers still treating us like rock stars!

Run – I was really convinced I was going to put a good run together this time. I paced myself well in the swim and the bike. I started off running and immediately started monitoring my HR to make sure it did not creep up. It was actually hard to keep it in the range I knew it had to be in, but I knew if I let it go up I would pay for that later. The first two miles were a little tough and I started to question my fitness and whether I had executed my race plan appropriately. By mile four I was feeling more relaxed and the distance was starting to melt away. I was still executing my nutrition plan to my exact specifications, but at mile 13 that started going in the crapper. My stomach started giving me some issues. I was drinking concentrated IM perform and it was just too strong for my stomach. My first attempt to remedy this was to water it down – I still wanted to get the proper amount of calories per hour and knew if I changed to a different source of nutrition I would not be able to monitor this. This did not work and I had to do something quick to keep my stomach from shutting down. I switched to coke and it was not immediate, but it did start to calm my stomach down. The first time I drank a little coke I got a boost, but that diminished each time around. I had some chicken broth at around mile 18 and that helped some. So my aid station routine was grab water, grab ice, grab coke, pour ice in coke, drink coke, pour ice in water, drink water, toss cups, keep going. I never stopped. Always moving forward.

On the last lap I decided to walk the two hills – it’s a fairly flat course, but there are a couple of hills and I was able to walk them faster than I could run them. I was walking up the biggest hill when a pretty girl stopped right next to me and started talking to me. I told her that this was a planned walk, but that I was going to run the rest of the way in. She asked me if I had done an IM before (this was her first). I told her yes and at around mile 22 my mind could not get my legs to run anymore and I was not going to let that happen today. I refuse to quit. She said she was not going to quit either. So we agreed that neither one of us was going to quit and we started running again at the top of the hill. I passed her and never saw her again, but I hope she had the race she wanted.

From mile 20 in I needed everything I had to fight the demons telling me to quit. What did I have to prove anyway? I already knew by this time that my time goal was blown. Well, I promised myself that I would do my very, very best. So I kept going, ticking off the miles refusing to quit, refusing to walk (except for the aid stations – needed the nutrition). HR no longer mattered – I just had to endure the pain. I was getting passed but also passing a lot of people. Doug told me to feast off the misery of others – steal their energy. I decided that this was not going to work for me – I decided to steal the energy from the people passing me as they obviously had more of it. Oh yes, the mental head games you will play! Before I knew it I was at mile 24 wondering how I got this far - I do not remember miles 22 or 23 all that well. It is probably a good thing – time to focus all remaining energy on the last two miles. It really hurt, but like Doug said – “it is only pain.” I hit mile 25 and decided not to stop and feast – I just grabbed water and kept going. I was afraid that if I stopped it would be too hard to get going again – I did not want a repeat of LP. A woman named Lauren passed me right under the Mill St Bridge. I remember her name because she had quite the cheering section. I let her pull me in and then backed off when we got to the chute so she could have her own moment. Then two horses asses passed me in the chute! What the hell were they thinking?

Here is one point I will remember forever. The volunteers at IMAZ were amazing. IMLP is a great race, but the volunteers at IMAZ blow away the volunteers at IMLP. I’m ashamed to say it since I volunteered twice at LP. The finish line catcher immediately put a blanket around me and helped keep me steady. He walked me over to get my shirt and hat and then walked me over to get my finish line photo. He would not let go of me until he knew I was steady enough to stand on my own (at least I thought I was).

I was looking for my parents and finally found them. They are not the most outwardly expressive people, but they let me know that they were proud in their own way. They also helped me collect my gear especially since I was a little shaky. I tried to find some chicken broth at the finish line but could not – finish line food was pizza, French fries and fruit – the fruit I could see, but pizza and French fries? Are you kidding me? I sat down for a while and when I tried to stand up – OWW! My thighs were shredded.

To sum this up – although I improved my result over last year, it was not the race I was looking for, nor did I have the overwhelming emotions that I had at IMLP. So I have to ask myself - is the time commitment needed to race this distance worth it for me? I have already promised my wife no IM for 2012, but I need to assess for my own purposes if there will ever be another one. I enjoy training and I enjoy being fit and I especially enjoy the racing, but this may have been my last Ironman.

Taper time

2011-11-09T20:26:00.000-08:00

O.k. I did a year of Crossfit endurance followed by a year of LSD. Regardless of what my result will be in a week an a half I can say that the time commitment for the LSD trained ironman will put a strain on your relationships and your career. I tried to balance it all out, but there were a lot of missed opportunities for family time as the training generally won the time slot.

Tapering is just as strange with LSD as it is with CFE. One day you feel great and the next you feel like crap. One day energetic, next day can't get out of bed. The good news is that I did a one hour bike on the Computrainer tonight and my power was way up over Sunday and I was far from straining.

My bike is already on its way to Arizona. I leave the 16th and race is on the 20th. I am trying real hard just to keep a positive attitude and not put any undue pressure on myself, but I do have certain expectations. I fully expect that I can finish in 12:30 and there is a chance I can come in around 12:00. As they always say - it comes down to the run.

So, I have to look forward to next year so I can start setting my goals. It is much easier to keep yourself motivated to stay fit when you have goals you are reaching for. My schedule is not set in stone, but I am planning on starting with Hyannis half marathon in February. I may end the season with the Hartford Marathon - its all the stuff in between I am not sure of yet. I do know that there will not be any 140.6 races for me next year. I promised my wife none for next year and a promise is a promise. I did not, however, promise anything about the 70.3 distance races. There is on in Canada June 24th that looks interesting (Mont Tremblant). Or I may do the Rev 3 Patriot double again. I would also like to do Litchfield Hills again as I have a score to settle with that venue.

I hope to write a very up tone race report in a couple of weeks.

I'm sick

2011-10-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

I think I started feeling it Friday, but just thought it was allergies so I didn't slow down. Did a full weekend worth of training and woke up Monday with a headache, congestion and cough. I bagged my morning swim, but rode 50 miles after work (was going to do 60, but was starting to feel it). I figured I might be able to just sweat the virus out of me - WRONG! So I took Tuesday and Wed off and I will reassess tomorrow. I can't wait too long to get back into the game - running out of time.

Epic Ride

2011-09-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

Ride is called Biketoberfest. Organized by a fella in Southwick, MA and it is the hilliest 106 mile bike ride I have ever done. 13 brave souls started and finished this ride. I was smart enough to start to steady pace the hills right from the start which really paid off since most everyone was fried by the last hill about 18 miles from the finish. There were a few sections that I had to stand or my bike would have stopped in its tracks. I was fourth or fifth up that hill and I did not ride any harder than any other hill on the ride where I was consistly 10th. I just had more left. The last few miles were flat and fast - got an unbelievably fast pace line going and riders started dropping one by one. In the end there were only three riders left and I was one of them! How cool is that?

Ran four miles after the ride and could not believe how good I felt. Looks like the training and nutrition plans are working.

Had a couple of cold beers after this workout - I think I earned it!

As an aside, I overheard the ride organizer pondering how he might be able to put a few more hills in the ride next year. Oh bother!

Something came up

2011-09-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not doing Branford this weekend. I'm guessing it is going to turn into a Du and even if it does not, I'm not too keen on a $15.00 late entrance fee. I need to go long this weekend and racing Branford would hinder my efforts.

I raced a 10k in Suffield this past Saturday. Results are hard to judge. I was 1:30 slower than last year but gained 14 places. Either the weather slowed me down (hotter than last year and a little humid) or the field was weaker. I suspect that it is a little of both. I felt pretty good running it. I took it out easy but picked it up earlier than I did the prior year. I ran the hill hard and from then on as hard as I could (a little over 2 miles) so pretty much the same game plan as last year.

Ordered a new full sleeve wet suit today - hopefully it will be in in a couple of days so I can practice in it this weekend. Historically the water in AZ has been 68 degrees or colder. A little too cold for a sleeveless. Besides, I understand that the full sleeves are a little faster than the sleeveless. I will take all the help I can get!

Update - It's been a long time

2011-09-03T15:25:00.000-07:00

Today was my longest training day ever. I rode 112 miles followed up with a 4 mile run. Over 7 hours of training.

I have not raced much at all this summer. Something has come up for every single race that I had planned to do this summer. I am going to do Hammerfest in Branford CT September 18th. It is in Branford CT so I was concerned it might get cancelled in the wake of Hurricane Irene - Branford got hit hard. I contacted the race director and it is definitely on - they may need to turn it into a duathlon if the water conditions don't improve, but it is on. I would prefer a triathlon, but I am going to go regardless. I am race deprived.

The training is going well. Both my swimming and running have improved. I'm not necessarily a faster runner, but I can keep my pace over a longer period of time (plus I might be a little faster). Swimming - I just feel more comfortable in the water than I have in a long time. I have been doing a lot of open water swimming. As a matter of fact, I think I have only been in a pool twice this summer (not counting my trip to Cancun). I am going to miss the lake as it will be too cold to swim there pretty soon. Plus, all my swim buddies are pretty much done for the year - There are not too many people racing in the Fall. I know a woman doing Kona and a guy doing Florida, but other than swimming we have trouble synching up.

I hope everyone is well!

Race analysis

2011-06-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

I won't go into my detailed blow by blow analysis as I generally do. Suffice it to say that I am very happy with the swim - this is my best time for what felt like a "true" distance. I initially felt that the swim was long and heard other athletes say the same thing after the race, but based on my time and the time of others, I would say it that the distance was probably accurate. No HR information on this, but I swam at what I would call a TEMPO pace. I felt good in the water and went with it. Swam a little wide, but not as bad as I have in the past.

The bike - I thought it took me a long time to get my HR under control on the bike. That is the adreneline distorting reality during the race. I actually got my HR under control fairly quick and ended up averaging somewhere around 138 bpm on the bike. Avg speed was 20.4 vs. 21 last year. Last year my HR monitor crapped out on me during the bike so I very well may have overcooked it. This year I would say I rode it perfectly.

Run - I tried to keep my HR around 145 for the first two miles, but it kept creeping up on me. After two miles I just ran at a relaxed pace which was somewhere around 150bpm. I did not push, but did not hold back either. I got to mile eight and still felt o.k. so I started to stretch it out a little. I wonder if I pushed a little too hard at this point - may have wanted to wait another mile or two as the last mile was very painful (or maybe that is how it is supposed to feel). Finished in 2:05 which is a good half marathon for me. My best training comparison is about 2:03for 13 miles even, So I was really close to my pace. I was shooting for 2:00 even, but I knew that was an aggressive goal.

So I finished the whole thing in about 5:33. My goal was 5:30 and my obnoxious goal was 5:20. It is hard to complain about this.

Other notes - last year I had a fueling issue on the run at this race. This year I raced with my fuel belt and fueled with Ironman Perform in a concentrated form. Just had water at the aid stations. I did not take any salt as between the gels and IM Perform there was plenty of sodium. I believe that I did well on my nutrition at this race, but need to concentrate a little more on run fueling for the IM distance.

Patriot race results

2011-06-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

Overall time 5:33:36. Swim was about 37 minutes, bike was 2:44:38 and run was 2:05. Very happy with these results - have not analyzed the splits and HR data yet, but I believe I could have done even better if I paced it differently (or perhaps not - need to analyze data). The big news is that I cut 18 minutes off my run from last year. My overall and age group placings improved dramatically. It feels good to be 46 years old and still improving.

Crash update

2011-05-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting week of healing. I stayed out of the pool due to the open wounds. Most of them could have been covered, but the gash in my hand was uncoverable. It is pretty much closed up now so I should be able to get back in the swing of things this week.

I ran Tuesday and felt o.k. doing so. Wed was a bike day and although my ankle hurt, I was able to ride o.k. Thursday my ankle was inflamed and swollen. The wound looked clean, but it was red all around it and it hurt to the touch. It was also warm to the touch. My wife saw it and started freaking out telling me that I needed to call the doctor. I told her I thought it was just part of the healing process. So, I biked again Thursday as running was out of the question. Thursday's bike was real good - pumped out some good wattage. Friday came along and ankle felt better in the morning, but as the day went on it became swollen and inflamed just like the day before. I tried to run on it when I got home and it was way too painful - I made it about 200 feet and quit. I was bummed because Shamrock is Sunday and it is the first race of the season for me and I really did not want to miss it. So Saturday comes around and I call the Doctor. Explained what it looked like and how it felt and she agreed with me that it part of the healing process; however, she prescribed an antibiotic just in case.

Oh the difference a day makes. The ankle felt much better Saturday and I rode 30 and ran 6.5 on it with no problem.

Sunday (today) I did the Shamrock Du. I would not say that it was my finest race but it was pretty damn good considering the week I had. My time was slightly slower than last year, but the bike course was slightly altered due to road construction - don't know if that added anything or not. They made it sound like the distance was the same. I was also more tentative cornering due to my recent crash. I'm waiting for the official results to get posted as I am curious as to my splits and how they compare to last year.

As an aside - I practiced leaving my pedals on the bike and putting my feet in the shoes while riding. Practice conditions and race conditions - two totally different things. I failed miserably and lost some time with this - twenty to thirty seconds easy. I'm sticking to running with my bike shoes on. I admit getting out of transition was very fast, but getting going on the bike took longer - there was no time savings for me, quite the contrary.

Crashed hard!

2011-05-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

Riding a 25 mile route Sunday - a route I've ridden a hundred times. Crossing railroad tracks and hit them just right (wrong actually) and went down hard. Bruised and battered all the way up my right side. Good gash in the palm of my hand as well. Believe it or not I was going to finish my ride, but I was having trouble gripping the bars and did not want to bleed all over my bike so I went home. After I cleaned up and assessed the damage I decided to bag the run I had planned as well. It is two days later and I am very sore - nothing serious, just lots of road rash and couple of bruises, but it definitely slows you down.

Going to attempt to run tonight. Sometimes getting active again helps and some times it aggravates - I'm hoping for helps because I don't want to be a bystander.

modified diet, training going o.k.

2011-04-29T05:43:00.000-07:00

As well as getting my training back on track I tackled the diet as well. The fastest way I know to get fit is to tackle all three legs of the stool - training, rest and nutrition. I try to stay Paleo as much as possible; however, when on the run it is not always easy to put a Paleo meal together. I stray to the Zone as needed. I definitely feel better when I am 100% Paleo, but Zone is not a bad alternative. I try not to cheat and never plan a cheat meal as enough opportunities come along that planning is not needed.

Swimming and biking are coming along nicely. Did hill repeats on the bike Wed - can't say it was wonderful, but there is still some power there. Bike should come back quickly. Swimming is coming back quicker than I expected as that is the first discipline I let go when I got busy. The run, well, what can I say about the run. It has always been my nemesis. Yesterday's run felt much better than Tuesday's run so it seems that it is coming back, just slower than I would like. I kept the run going the longest so it is a little baffling that it is taking the longest to come back.

I haven't updated my race schedule yet - not racing as much this year. Focusing on a few key events. Doing Shamrock Du in May, Patriot in June, a local sprint in July, Litchfield Hills Olympic in August and IM AZ in November. I may slide a couple of others in there if it fits in with the training, but my focus this year is Patriot and IM AZ.

Happy training!

Tax season sucks!

2011-04-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

Well, this was the worst tax season ever. I worked over 100 more than I did last year (and I worked a lot last year). We had employees sick and on disability, deaths in the family and other issues. I saw the writing on the wall and picked up my hours in early February. Well, guess where the time comes from? You got that right - training.

I kept with it as long as I could - swimming got dropped first, then biking and then running got cut back to just twice a week and then nothing during the last week.

Well, I'm back at it. I just had a good week - struggled being tight and cardio definately suffered, but damn! it feels good being active again.

Joined a masters swim group and managed two over 3,000 yard swims last week - 3300 the first session and 3600 the second. No power in my stroke right now, but I'm damn happy with the yardage considering how long it's been since I swam.

Computrainer part II

2011-03-07T07:35:00.000-08:00

I won a Computrainer on Ebay. It's not exactly new, but it works just fine. Did my first workout on it yesterday and it definately helps make the time go by faster. I wish I had one earlier in the winter, but with my work hours I will be riding inside for a while anyway.

Diaper rash

2011-02-26T15:58:00.000-08:00

That's what I call it. I chafed bad on my run this morning. I felt it coming on but kept going anyway. I ran 13 - felt it starting at mile five. Needless to say it is the worst case of chafing for me since Lake Placid.

What's the cure?

I hope I can sit on a bike seat tomorrow.

Computrainer

2011-02-23T06:44:00.000-08:00

Rode a Computrainer for the first time a couple of days ago. It definately made the time go by faster - had things to visualize (did the AZ course), targets to try for, etc. Unfortunately, it is not my computrainer and it will be an infrequent event. Looking for a used one if you know anyone.....................

LSD

2011-02-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

Ran 14.15 miles today. 25 miles for the week. I'm at the point where a seven or eight mile run feels like nothing - but 14 definately felt like a long run. Ran with Buzz (85 lb yellow lab). He barely made it - he was good for 12.5 then started trailing behind me. Missed all my swims this week (unless I get one in tomorrow). All riding being done inside - What a drag!

Trying something different

2011-02-07T13:09:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post. I noticed no one is posting save Dan and Mary Stella. I won't be posting much as I am super busy at work which is a good thing. I am trying something different this year - call it the ultimate experiment. Last year I was 100% Crossfit endurance going into my ironman. This year I will be 100% LSD going into the iroman. The concept here is to train the body to be more efficient - basically by turning off the anerobic system.

So, I will be one of those athletes saying "I ran 35 miles, biked 200 and swam four miles this week."

Checking in

2010-12-26T14:50:00.000-08:00

What have I been doing lately? Just riding, running and swimming, what else. I'm actually taking a little break from my trainer session to load more songs on my ipod. I'm a novice at that - I thought I loaded a bunch of songs but there was only four on there. They are good songs but after three rounds I decided I needed more - its hard enough to keep your sanity on the trainer.

The synch is done so down I go.

I'm In!!

2010-11-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

I just signed up for Ironman Arizona. I am so excited (I must be nuts)!!

MTB ride

2010-11-21T18:20:00.000-08:00

Went for a ride this morning - went to Soapstone as it is closest to my house. Went alone. Haven't been there in a couple of years and got turned around a little while trying to follow some unmarked singletrack. I ended up on the white trail and just followed it for a while and eventually merged into the blue trail which I know fairly well. Spent a little extra time out there (2:15 vs. the two hours planned). All in all it was a good ride but it would have been nicer to have someone to ride with.

Swim lesson

2010-11-20T17:31:00.000-08:00

I ran long on Thursday - nuff said.

Friday was a swim lesson with coach Jim in Wilbraham Mass. He was a national champion swimmer in the 70s and has been coaching for over 30 years. He also knows the difference between what is needed for long distance races and short races so he focuses on trying to teach us triathletes to be more efficient. Now the good news. He picked apart most people's strokes, but he was pretty happy with mine. The one thing that he pointed out was that my right side was perfect, but the catch on my left side is not. I seem to recall Max pointing that out to me as well. I did a lot of catch-up drills after Max pointed that out and thought I fixed the problem. I don't think it is as bad as it once was, but it is still there. One thing he had us do was swim a few laps with our heads out of the water so we could watch our stroke. This seemed to help some.

I may not be there the night they videotape, but he said he would make arrangements to make sure I get videoed so he can point out the issues that he is seeing.

I got very tight part way through the session - we ended up with 10 100s - My shoulders got so tight I was having trouble rotating them right. I will be swimming more regularly now so this should not be an issue for long.

I went for an easy run this morning - felt better after the run than before it.

Plan to mountain bike tomorrow. Can't do it with the guys as Alicia has a meet and they tend to dally quite a bit. I will be on a schedule.

Back in the pool

2010-11-17T19:00:00.000-08:00

Finally! I managed to get back in the water. This was not a hardcore workout, more of an ice breaker. I signed up for some swim lessons (coaching) which starts this Friday. I did not want to be tight as a drum going into that session so I planned to get a couple of swims in - something kept coming up (either work or family matters). I forced the issue today and got 1,000 yards in. Not a big swim, but better than zero.

Here's a recap since last Wed.

Thursday - Tabata bike 32 rounds all standing (10 min warm-up and 5 warm-down). Lat pulls 30 reps w/easy weight, then three sets of 10 heavy.

Friday - 100 pushups 4:45, 250 situps 7:46, 100 squats 2:54.

Saturday - WHAT A NICE DAY! I planned on a bike ride but got dragged all over the place by family. I was able to squeeze a run in late in the day. No watch, no HR - just ran. I was going to do my 5 mile route, but was feeling pretty good so I extended it and did about 7. I was going to go further, but had plans and am trying to keep in good graces w/wife and child especially since I am planning to ramp it back up pretty soon (gots to earn points while I can!).

Sunday - daughter's first gymnastics meet of the season plus it was her birthday. Meet was in morning so I was planning on having plenty of time to ride in the afternoon - WRONG! We went out for lunch with freinds to celebrate Alicia's birthday and it took way longer than it should have then we had to stop at the in-laws house for cake. I could just feel the day getting shorter and it was really aggravating me, but I tried to keep my cool. I managed to get one hour in - it got dark on me but I had my light and flashy running vest on. I will ride in woods at night, but not alone so I came home. There was a good hill in this ride so I still got a decent workout in even though it was short.

Monday - nothing.

Tues - planned on long run but weather did not cooperate. It was pretty dark at night - dark and scary - did not feel that visibility was great so I decided that staying alive was more important than workout in this instance. Not ready for treadmill yet!

Wed (That's today) Swam 1000 fairly easy yards. Did two 50's hard to see how it would feel.

I generally ride on Thursdays but I think it is going to be a run day tomorrow.

And Nancy, no I don't look like a stud anymore. I put on a couple of pounds and I just don't wear it well.

I've been bad!

2010-11-10T16:57:00.000-08:00

I never intended to stop excersising and in fact, did not. I just needed a break from a rigid program. I did not intend to take a break from maintaining good habits mainly in the diet area. I cannot even begin to explain how bad I have been. Not only am I a far cry from Paleo, I'm not even zoning it.

Too much beer, too much candy, and no portion control!

I guess when I took a break mentally, I REALLY took a break.

I am really quite disgusted with myself and I'm blogging about it hoping to get yelled at so I can get my act together.

5K PR

2010-11-07T05:11:00.000-08:00

East Windsor Veteran's day 5k, November 6, 2010.

I done't miss this race as it is practically in my back yard. Been running, biking and lifting a little, but nothing compared to hard core training. Did not expect to PR a 5k, and intentionally went out too fast. I Wanted to see what I could do the first mile in. I did the first mile in 7:05 and managed to hold onto enough speed to average 7:35 pace and fininsh in 23:40 (somewhere around there, I have yet to find the official results). My time last year, and previous PR, was 24:21. I'm damn happy with this and hope I can continue to bring the running times down.

Big bike Sunday

2010-11-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday - did four sets of 10 lat pulls and seated shoulder presses. I'm still sore two days later.

Sunday - did my first mountain bike ride in two years. It went pretty well - climbed well and did o.k. on most of the technical stuff - just had trouble with the rock gardens that were spread out through the ride. Total ride was about two hours and 15 minutes. After the mountain bike ride a few of us went for an 18 mile road bike ride. It would have been splendid except it was windy and I ran out of gas. I was not prepared for such a long day and starting fueling way to late in the ride.

I'm going to get a few more day time mountain bike rides in before joining the night riding crew.

Low Key week

2010-10-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

Well, this week was pretty low key. I can't remember what I did early in the week (perhaps nothing). I ran Wed and Friday - four miles each day. I did not record times, pace, etc. O.k., who am I kidding? Of course I recorded that stuff - it's saved to my Garmin.

Wed was a soggy run. Met Dave in the A.M. It was warm and just sprinkling so we decided to go. All was good until about a mile into the run - it started pouring and the wind starting whipping. We planned on five, but Dave suggested cutting it down to four - sounded like a good plan to me.

I am starting to go a little stir crazy so I am going to ramp it up a little bit next week. I am going to pick some of my favorite Crossfit workouts and put them on the schedule. I am also going to come up with an offseason plan. This Ad Hoc stuff is just not working for me.

I plan to get a mountain bike ride in one day of this weekend. I just need to get one ride in to break the ice.

Quick run

2010-10-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

Ran a mile with daughter. Trying to teach her pacing. We finished in about 15 min. She could do so much better- next time. I went a mile alone after that. Finished in 7:29. I too, Can do better.

Haven't been doing much

2010-10-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

I managed three workouts last week, run on Sunday, Crossfit workout on Monday and Tabata bike (16 rounds) on Thursday.

I started this week off with a workout I made up myself - 10 leg presses, 10 lat pulls, 50 situps for four rounds. In retrospect, 50 situps each round was probably a bit much, but I made it through.

I have been unbelievably busy at work - I know, I know - I am sounding like a broken record. It's a good thing considering how many people are out of work. Actually, if things keep going the way they are we might be putting somebody back to work.

This is where crossfit is going to save me - In about another week I am going to try to get more regular with the workouts - still letting my body heal. Some days I still feel pretty beat up, but some of the cricks, and aches, and strange pains are starting to go away.

Back at it

2010-10-19T04:55:00.000-07:00

I couldn't stand being idle anymore, but the week off did me good. I ran five miles on Sunday - easy run.

Monday I did the Xfit endurance WOD - Heavy Tosh (10x 4 each leg Pistols, 24 double unders and 9 pullups). I never did pistols before and now I know why - they are hard. I used a door frame to help me with the movement - really felt these and had trouble getting up on the last two rounds.

I feel like a slacker

2010-10-15T06:20:00.000-07:00

This is the first time since May of last year that I have gone multilple days without a workout. I am forcing myself to take a week off - not hard due to work pressures (October 15th is just as busy as April 15th). Mentally it's tough though - every day I think should I do some pushups, situps, lift, spin, etc. etc. I keep reminding myself that this is a planned week off and to get those thoughts out of my head.

Next week will see some action, just not sure what yet.

Maybe I'm not made for marathons

2010-10-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

Or maybe I should have gone with my gut and DNS. I've been feeling under the weather, but not at death's door. I think it is better that I did the event rather than bag it and wonder how I would have done. Now there is nothing to guess about.

Needless to say, it was not the result that I was looking for. I had a feeling when I ran on Friday and really did not feel loose or fluid or strong that the result would be something like it turned out. I, however, still wanted to see what I was capable of so I did it anyway.

The start was very crowded. We got up as far as we could but there was still a ton of people in front of us. The gun went off and it was a minute and a half before we crossed the start line. It was so thick with people, you just had to go with the pace of the pack until it opened up. The first mile was done in 10 minutes. I did not want to waste any energy so I did not aggessively try to find the holes and run through them - just eased my through as the holes opened up - it did thin out quite a bit after the first mile when the half split off.

My average pace was slowly starting to come down to where I wanted it. Due to how I was feeling I dropped the idea of beating 4 hours; however, I felt right around four was still doable. I got my average pace down to :9:09 at one point - probably around 7 miles, then it started to gradually go up. I never got to that point that I love in a long run. The point where you just feel fluid and that you can run forever. I felt it during a couple of my training runs, but it never happened in this marathon.

I got to the halfway point at 2:05. My thinking was that there was a lot of flat from this point to the finish - most of the hills were on the front end. Maybe my legs would find that rhythm and at least get me an even split - it would still be my best marathon. It never happened. I was cognizant of my hydration, fuel and salt intake. I never felt drained.

Mile 18 is where it all came crashing down. My right calf cramped. It was not terribly bad so I tried to stretch it out. I figured stretch it out good and then run some more. As I was stretching it it cramped again, bad! You know how it feels when your calf rolls up into a ball - yeah, that kind of bad. At this point I decided that walking was a better idea then stretching so I walked until it did not feel like I was going to cramp any more. I started running and the left calf cramped up - what the 4%#@!!

From here on out it was walk/run. There were a couple of good stretched where I did not have to walk too much, but I could not go hard at all. I kept looking at my HR - more for curiousity than any thing else - I could not get it over 130 - I mean I could have, but then the cramps came on.

I was very frustrated. I had energy. I was not bonked. Some of the people around me looked like the walking dead - they obviously hit the wall and hard. I asked one guy if he was cramping and he said no, he was just hurting. I'm thinking, man, I wish I was you because I can run through most pain - just not a balled up calf muscle. I saw one woman who kept stopping to stretch. Then she would get going again. I remember her because we ran most of the marathon at the same relative pace (plus she was cute). She was hurting bad - she was in real physical pain plus I could tell she ran out of gas, but she kept on going. Man, I was impressed! I eventually passed her for good (it was cat and mouse for a while), but she had guts!

The thought of whether I picked the wrong shoes crept into my head. Then I remembered Hyannis. That was run in my other shoes and I got into trouble earlier there and the pain was even worse - both sides of my legs cramped, at least this time only the backs were cramping.

I still think I have a good marathon in me so I won't give up on the distance yet, but I am not going to chase it forever.

Time to recover, take some time off, and decide what next season is going to look like.

Take care - I may not be posting for a while.

Not feeling it

2010-10-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

This has been a crap week of tapering. Sunday - knees ached. Mon & Tue - back was sore. Wed - felt o.k., but missed workout due to dinner meeting in Branford. Thursday and today - feel like I have a cold - could be allergies due to the rain (the only thing I never got treated for was mold). I don't feel bad enough to skip the event plus I have really been looking forward to it, but this is not the best I have ever felt going into an event.

Helen

2010-10-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

Did Helen a couple of minutes ago @ 70%. I ran easy on the treadmill for two minutes (distance function not working - needs new batteries), 21 KB swings w/35 # kettlebell and then instead of pull-ups I did lat pulls - 11:34. I have no way of assisting myself with the pullups so the lat pulls seemed like a logical substitute.

Today I feel so-so. Back is bothering me - the location that it's bothering me in tells me that it's stress!

Tapering is a mental head game

2010-10-05T05:44:00.001-07:00

Sunday was a day off. I felt like crap! My joints were swollen and I felt tired and run down and my legs felt heavy. How could this be? Saturday was an easy day and my last heavy workout day was the Tuesday before.

Monday I woke up feeling much better. Joints were back to normal and my legs felt lighter - more spring to them - still not feeling at my best, but much better than Sunday.

Did my five sets of three squats with 125 pounds - very good form (if I do say so myself).

Tuesday - Feel o.k., not great but o.k. It is raining and dreary out which always effects me so I would not expect to feel 100%.

Helen is on tap for tonight - will do it after I drop Alicia off at Gymnastics.

Five mile easy run

2010-10-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

Workout was 45 minutes at 70%. That sounds right about marathon pace to me. I did a five mile loop from home at 6:45 a.m. - Love to get the runs in early whenever possible. Ran with a friend which made it even more pleasurable - the five miles was over before we even knew it.

Finished the run in 43:15 which equates to 8:39 pace avg HR 141. Considering how comfortable this felt and the fact that I am still tapering (last night was a pretty hard workout, short but hard) I am rethinking where I might line up at the marathon. If there was a 3:55 pace group, that is where I would be, but the next pace group after four hours is 3:50. That equates to about 8:45 pace. This is where I think I am going to line up.

I love the Garmin. I can't believe I did not get one of these a long time ago. Mr. gadget, of course, had to one up me on this. He got the 310. I noticed one other difference other than it being waterproof, the battery lasting longer and it costing $175 more - it's a little smaller as well. Still bigger than the typical HR monitor though so I am still not sure I would swim with it.

The only thing that bugged me about the Garmin is that the HR display was so damn small - I could not see my HR at all while running and had to rely on monitoring my breathing and keeping a conversation going to determine my effort. I have since learned how to customize the screens so I can see what I need to. I have the running screen customized to show me time, heart rate, average pace and distance. There is a lap screen on there as well and although I am going to try to keep my splits, I will not use this screen during the marathon. There is one other screen I can toggle to and I could not think of any other real useful combinations so I set it up the same as the running screen, but instead of average pace I have the time of day showing. I figure it is best to show up at the start line on time.

Got my Garmin

2010-10-01T18:24:00.001-07:00

I finally broke down and got a Garmin GPS/HR monitor. It's quite the tool - been playing with it all night. It actually seems easier to use than the Polar and I am sure it is way more accurate.

I got the 305 - main differences between the 305 and 310 is that the 310 is water proof up to 50 meters and the battery lasts longer. The 305 is merely water resistent (no swimming). After taking a look at it, plus I've seen them at races, I was fairly sure I would not be swimming with it anyway. Anyway, the price difference was close to $200.00 so I think I made the wise decision.

I will use it on my run tomorrow and determine if it is going to be helpful in the marathon or a distraction. I'm already leaning on using it, but need a little experience with it before concluding that its the right thing to do.

My sister's house is somewhere around the 12 mile marker of the new course. I'm going to stash half my nutrition at the end of her driveway and pick it up on the way by. I plan to run light - one water bottle and powergels in the loops on my race number belt. There's plenty of water, I just like to carry water so that I don't have to stop at the more congested water stops - I also refill when I run out as there is a couple of spots where the stations seem pretty spread out.

Oh yeah and I did a workout tonight too. 21 situps, run 200m, 18 situps, run 200m down to 3 situps run 200m. Due to all of the rain I did not think the track would be a suitable place for this workout so I did it on the treadmill - 8:48. I don't have access to my log right now, but I think this is a decent time for me.

Thursday and thoughts

2010-10-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

Thursday was ride 5k, rest 3 minutes times two. Did this on the trainer and since my computer does not work off the back wheel did ride 9 minutes, rest 3 minutes times two.

After viewing Max's video (I notice I was not in it - bad interview?), I started to reflect back on Lake Placid again. I realize that you can only have one first Ironman so replicating this experience will be impossible; however, I feel the need to do an Ironman in 2011 and to get back to LP in 2012.

I reviewed the photo gallery of me at the race - damn, I looked good! The one photo on the bike with the water in the background was breathtaking.

The marathon is barely a week away and I am looking forward to it. I feel more ready than ever and this is mainly due to having completed an Ironman and to the Crossfit training. I admit to throwing some LSD in there for the marathon, but I have held mostly to the crossfit endurance ideals - quality over quantity. I know this is what is making me both physically and mentally strong!

I plan to take a break after the marathon. Probably one week totally off and then some unstructured, low intensity workouts. I will work in off-season strength training about a month after the marathon and get back to training in earnest around December 1st.

Skipped one, made up one, added one

2010-09-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

Wed recap:

Well, it's turning into a recurring theme - missed my swim workout. This time I had an excuse, not that I would have needed it. I left my workout bag at my daughter's gymnastics studio Tuesday night and it has all of my swim stuff in it - swim suit (yes, I only have one), goggles, etc. Not back there until tonight.

Did the 20 box jumps, 20 squats, 20 pushups, 20 situps, run one mile, times two. completed this in 21:05. Distance may have been slightly over a mile, but pretty close. Thought this was an easy workout (relative to others) until I got to the second round - I almost took a digger on the first box jump and determined that I better concentrate a little harder.

Second workout: I spaced out and forgot to do the 50 burpees on Tuesday. This was not intentional, I meant to do it after driving my daughter home from gymnastics but it takes a bit to get her to settle down at night and by the time I got her settled down I was ready to settle down myself. finished in 5:05.

I was feeling bad about missing the swim and realizing that I probably would not get to it Thursday either, so I decided to add a workout. I did two sets of 60 reps of lat pulls. It was a good burn.

Next two workouts are short, but intense and then it's all low intensity until the marathon. I have never looked more forward to running 26.2 miles than I do now.

Last of the long one's - tapering according to plan

2010-09-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

I ran the planned 15k last night. It actually came out to 9.45 miles vs. 9.3. Total time was 1:26:23. Not amazing, but not bad considering the long run on Sunday and the 110% humidity. It was really hard to breath.

Pace came out to 9:08 which I am quite happy with considering this is the end of the stressing the body period. I will taper according to the plan and hopefully run a great marathon.

I have been running exclusively with the Adizeros and have not had any issues with the feet or the calves. I am going to do the marathon with them - I really do think I run so much better with these shoes.

Got a massage this morning. Therapist said I had a lot of trigger point issues going on and that my left side was tighter than my right side. I feel so much better after seeing her. I told her about my plans to take some time off after the marathon and she thought that was a good idea - now I have three people telling me that it's a good idea to take a little time off.

150 wall balls and long run

2010-09-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Did my 150 wall balls for time last night. I was really sluggish feeling and did not want to do it, but I am trying to be disciplined about the training. I finished in 7:13 which is only three second off of my best time - I'm surprised to say the least.

Ran somewhere between 12.4 and 12.7 miles today - can't get an accurate read unless I go out and clock it as I can't find the place I turned around on the map so I have to estimate it. The guy with the GPS decided I was running too slow for him so he went ahead and did a little more mileage than me.

I'm pretty happy with the pace as it was just over 9 minute pace (or just under depending on what the actual distance is) and I'm pretty beat up (felt the bike TT and wall balls in my legs today) - but this is it - 15k on Tuesday and then down from there until the marathon.

I feel ready. The only real concern I have is which running shoes do I use. Do I use my Asics or do I use the Adizeros. I definately feel faster with the Adizeros, but I have not run more than 13 miles with them and have only been using them for a couple of months. Are my feet strong enough for them yet? I'm leaning towards yes, but have not made a final decision.

Bike TT - Accidental good course

2010-09-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

I biked 20k for time this morning. The course chosen was picked due to running an errand and getting my workout in at the same time. I dropped my wife's car off this morning to get new shoes and rode my bike home. I decided to ride east into somers and then south towards home - basically a semi-circle. I warmed up for 2.5 miles which basically got me out of traffic and then started going hard. I went up to the prison and turned towards 190 - caught a lucky break as the light was green when I got there - it was the only left hand turn that I was going to take and could have got caught up for a while. 190 has been recently paved so it is nice and smooth. Turned down 83 and then took and an immediate right towards the fairgrounds.

The course was rolling, but there were plenty of long flat sections to get decent speed. finished in 35:56 for a 20.7 mph average. I'm going to pat myself on the back for this one.

Did 100 pushups for time last night. 4:52.

Not proud

2010-09-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

I have not been too proud of the last few posts - writing more about missed workouts and deviating from the plan than anything else it seems. The running is going good and that is something I can be proud to put in the blog, but the missed/modified workouts have to stop.

Yesterday was an o.k. day. first workout was ride 1 mile rest one minute. Rode my bike from house to daughter's gym after work. Unfortunately I got out of work too late and ran out of day light on the way there - had to short the workout by six intervals. SIX! that's way too many. At least it was not for lack of desire, that would be more worrisome.

Second workout was 100 pull ups, 100 push ups, 100 sit ups for time partition anyway I see fit. I did 10s. Have to admit that after 30 pull ups I started assisting myself a little (small hop off the ground). Total time 19:34.

Ran 4.85 miles this morning - planned workout was 4 x 800m at 80% effort. I think that the workouts were basically equivalent. Still have 100 push ups for time to do.

A little better

2010-09-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

Swam 800 yards for time again yesterday. Finished in 14:26 or about 30 seconds faster than last time. Definately not feeling my stroke right now - missing way too many swim sessions - will definately get better about that after the marathon - right now I am focusing on my running, secondarily on the bike and if anything has to go, unfortunately its' the swimming. Missed a couple of Xfit workouts on the way as well - trying to be better about that since they are so damn fun!

Early start

2010-09-21T06:32:00.000-07:00

Blew off both the swim and the deadlifts yesterday - worked until 9:00, did not get home until 10:00.

Got up at 4:45 this morning to get the 12.4 mile run in. According to my calculations, I finished in 1:51:39 which equates to 9:00 pace. If I can only hold that for another 13.8 miles I will be a happy camper.

I like the official results better

2010-09-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

Max once told me - screw what your watch says - it's the official results that matter. I may be paraphrasing.

Tavern trot official finishing time was 27:05 for a pace of 7:45. That is better than the time I had myself at by 54 seconds - not sure what I did wrong.

Supposed to swim and lift today - my just lift as I am still at work and it is getting late.

I didn' t do it

2010-09-19T11:53:00.001-07:00

I ran the Tavern Trot this afternoon. My goal was simply to beat last year's time and I was on target through the first and second miles. According to the timer at the first mile I finished it in 7:05 which is way faster than my pace, but I felt good so I decided to see if I could stay with it. I finished the second mile at about 15:00 even. I suspect that the individual timing the first mile started their watch late as I did not drop my pace that much. My unofficaial time is 27:59 vs. 27:32 last year. Well, they can't all be PRs and I was pretty beat up going into the race so I really should not have been expecting a stellar performance (but you can always be hopeful).

I did not run home as planned after the race. I ran back to my wife and daughter and walked in with them. My daughter was not happy that I talked her into this. Total distance for the day was about 6.5 (guestimate) and 3.5 was an all out effort. Going long on Tuesday (20k) and then will start to taper down.

The big day

2010-09-19T06:12:00.000-07:00

As in the long day. Race is at 12:30. This is a minor race - doing it more for the benefit that it supports than the competition. Then the run home to follow - it will be a slow one, that is for sure.

Yesterday I did my 45 minute bike TT. I hit a fair and had to stop for pedestrian traffic. Had to stop at an intersection as well. I added one minute as I estimated that was the time lost - after adjusting for the minute I did 15.8 miles. Not too shabby.

Triple is done

2010-09-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

This was a close one. Alicia came home from camp today so we were hanging out with her as much as possible - spoiling her, went out for dinner, shopping, etc. Got home and sun was starting to go down - grabbed my stuff and headed for the track. It was starting to get dark when I got there, but the track gets a lot of light from the tennis courts across the parking lot so I was o.k.

Workout was run 400m, 50 squats, 10 burpees times four. Completed workout in 17:04. I've come a long ways on this one - first time I did it I finished in 19:14, then 17:50 then 17:32 and now 17:04. It sure is hard running after the squats and burpees - legs feel like they are full of lead.

Tomorrow is a 45 minute bike TT. If I can't squeeze that in then there is something seriously wrong with me.

Going to run a race on Sunday (Windsor Tavern Trot) then I am running home - should be a long day - perhaps my longest non race day all year. I know it is not the Crossfit way of doing things, but I seem to react well to the long runs as long as I don't do too many of them.

Goodbye - going to play Wii with my daughter now.

One good, one not so good and one to go

2010-09-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

Yes! I am going to get three workouts in today. Punishment for skipping yesterday. Quite honestly, I feel up to it.

First workout Row 500m, 50 swings, row 500m, 40 swings, row 500m, 30 swings, row 500m. Just did this workout about a week ago in 13:57 which was a pretty good time compared to prior weeks. I finished in 12:55 today and think I could have done a little better transitioning between excersises. I had a little under 8 minutes on the rowing machine which I thought was pretty good.

Second workout done immediately following - 800 yard swim. I had no power - all soaked up by the first workout. Physically I felt fine - I just could not generate power. Finished in 14:55 which is my slowest recorded time since I started keeping track (last December).

The next workout is running intervals - I intentionally saved this one for last because I won't miss this one - I could easily see myself skipping one of the other two (probably the swim).

I NEED HELP:
I am looking for a rowing machine. Preferrably a Concepts 2 model D. I would be willing to consider a model C. I have been looking on Craigslist and Ebay (I hate Ebay) and the ones' on Craigslist go so fast - they are generally gone within a couple of days. I don't have time to look every day. It would get in the way of the time I allocate for blogging. Like I said, I hate Ebay - I would like to pick it up rather than pay up to $150 for shipping- all of the one's on Ebay right now are too far away.

If you know anyone selling a rowing machine please let me know. If I don't find one soon I will (gulp) have to pay full price for a new one.

I need a squat rack as well - know anyone getting rid of one?

Intervals, ya gotta love intervals

2010-09-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

It looks like for me "be flexible" is the way to go. I was supposed to swim and do a rowing xfit workout today - worked late and had to be home to help out (having some floors refinished) at a certain time. Did what I needed to do and then headed to the basement to do tomorrow's workout - bike five minutes hard, two easy times four. Second workout was max squats times 7 - substituted leg presses.

Worked up a good sweat with the intervals. They hurt, but it was a good pain. I have no clue about distance, but it doesn't matter - I worked it hard and that is what matters.

Missed a couple of workouts w/addendum

2010-09-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

Old me - would be really pissed.

New me - knows that the reasons I missed for were much more important than the workouts.

Sundays workouts were missed due to spending as much time with family as possible - daughter going away to camp for whole week (school related). It is not easy to send your 9 year old away for a week - the longest we have spent away from our daughter since she was born was maybe two days (one night). Carol and I have both traveled for business, but the other was always home with Alicia. Also, we are not allowed to talk to her all week. We can call the camp and they will be more than happy to tell us how she is doing, but they will not put her on the phone.

Monday - have missed the last few swims so I moved Sunday's swim to Monday and planned to do the crossfit workout as well. The swim went o.k. - definately felt tight in the shoulders and back due to not being in the water in a while. Workout was 10 x 50 all out with 1:00 rest. Went to do the Xfit workout right after the swim which was row 500m, 21 25# (each) dumbell thrusters times 3. I did the first row (no problem) and then started the thrusters and OH MY GOD! My shoulders were just too stiff from swimming. ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!

Tuesday - the only thing planned is 5k run for time. Will do that early evening - in the meantime I did the aborted workout from yesterday at lunchtime. Went much better - 13:36 total time. 15:05 last time I did this (back in February).

Addendum:

5k For time. Did the EW Veteran's 5k route. Finished in 24:21 which equates to 7:51 pace. It is not my best 5k time, but it equals my best time (last year's race). Considering that I am not rested and there is always a little adrenaline boost at a race I am quite happy with this result. I have been chasing this result all year! Now to beat it!

I finished the first mile in about 7:48. I don't think my watch keeps splits (either that or I am too moronic to figure it out) so I don't have any splits for the rest of the run. I ran this pretty even which pleases me. I used to run the first mile too fast and lose time later in the run. It seems I am finally figuring this pace thing out.

I'm on fire!

2010-09-11T19:12:00.000-07:00

O.k., so many of you probably would not be very impressed with a 50:27 10k. For me, this was an unbelievably good time.

I ran the Suffield 10k this morning. It's a pretty low key race, but it's close to home and the course is challenging.

Before I get into my own race, let me tell you - there were a lot of kids who did the 5k that preceded my race. These kids were fast - I was very impressed. There were a fair number of kids (low to mid teens) running under 7 minute pace. There was also a 57 year old running under 7 minute pace.

I actually was not feeling that well when I woke up this morning, but had been looking forward to this race so I did not want to blow it off. Something I ate yesterday was not sitting well in my stomache, but after three trips to the bathroom I was feeling much better.

Drank lots of water to make sure I was hydrated. Drank some coffee too. Ate a light breakfast and then off to the races.

I was pretty relaxed at the start of the race - did a good warm-up and stretching session and then waited for the gun. When the gun went off I just followed the group out onto the roads. I had my pace set to show on my watch and every time I looked down at it I was running under 7 minute pace. This did not make sense as I felt comfortable and my HR was not outrageous. I finally turned it to miles instead of pace as I felt keeping an eye on this would distract me. Sure enough I ran by the first mile marker at exactly eight minutes - this is more like it. I felt very comfortable at mile one, but decided that it was much to early to think about kicking it up a notch so I kept to my comfortable pace. Not to mention I knew what happened in between mile 3 and 4 - big, steep hill. I conserved some energy for the hill - strategy was to run the hill hard and then try to hold on till the end. This is exactly what I did. I passed a few people on the hill and a few right after the hill - not a single one passed me back. I basically switched to another gear after the hill and just endured the pain for a little over two miles. I think I ran the race pretty even, but the second half was a whole lot more painful than the first half.

My total time as stated above was 50:27 (8:08 pace). Two years ago I finished this race in 56:23 and felt a whole lot worse upon completion than I felt today. Not only did I beat my prior time, I have not even come close to this in a training run. Add to all this - this was a difficult course. I'm ecstatic to say the least. This is the single biggest gain I've seen in my running in a long time.

Here's another tidbit on the race results. The guy who won was 32, the second place finisher was one second behind and he was 52. I'm guessing out kicked in the end. Third place finisher was 48 - appearently all the young folks do the 5k.

Back to back pain sessions

2010-09-09T04:57:00.000-07:00

I worked late last night which is turning into a recurring theme. We are fortunate to have the work after a slow summer so I am not complaining, but it does screw up the workout calendar. I seriously considered skipping the workouts, but thought about how that would make me feel - did the workouts.

First one: Row 500m, 50 20# kb swings, Row 500m, 40 20# kb swings, Row 500m, 30 20# kb swings, row 5oom. I was pretty sore from Cindy the day before so getting going was a little painful, but I managed to beat my prior time by 30 seconds. Finished in 13:57.

Second one: Like I said it was late - had to do my running speed workout on the treadmill. I much prefer the track. Times are hard to keep track of on the treadmill so I keep track of the speed. Workout was run 200m, 400m, 800m, 400m, 200m 100% effort. Rest equals prior work period. Speed was 10, 9, 8 (bumped up to 8.2 in last 200m), 9.1, 10.1.

First workout today - five sets of 3 rep deadlifts. 200, 220, 230, 230, 240

I need a new training watch/hr monitor. I'm thinking about getting a Garmin. There are so many choices. Any suggestions?

back on track

2010-09-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Today called for a 10K run for time and Cindy. Did both. I'm racing a 10k on Saturday so I ran the 10k at tempo instead of race pace. Still managed a decent time for me - 55:53. The last time I did Cindy I finished 17 full and almost all of 18. This time I only managed 16 full and the pullups on 17. I finished number 17 for a total time of 20:40.

I'm rearranging my week due to the race on Saturday. I'm supposed to swim tomorrow, bike on Thursday, run intervals on Friday. I don't want to do the run intervals the day before I race so I'm going to do the run intervals tomorrow, still bike on Thur and swim on Friday. I need to figure out where to drop in the xfit workouts. Thinking about just leaving them where they are.

I have 28 running miles in this week - very unlike crossfit. I will have over 35 by the end of the week. This is the most I have run in a week in over a year. Sometimes you just gotta run!

Way off the reservation

2010-09-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday was supposed to a be 60k time trial and a crossfit workout. A good friend of mine who I have not seen a long time wanted to ride with me - I was not going to say no. We rode about 33 hilly miles - I pushed the hills, but other than that did not go hard due to wanting to ride with my friend. Did not do the 30, 20, 10 reps of wall balls, squats and pushups.

Sunday was supposed to be 300 squats for time and a swim interval session. I went for a long run with another friend who I don't see very often - they were going 20 so I decided I would go 18 to try to finish around the same time as them. Actual distance was 18.17 in 2:53 for an average pace of 9:31. They finished a little before me.

Going to run easy tomorrow to relieve myself of some lactic acid and should be back on the schedule on Tuesday.

Temporarily off the reservation

2010-09-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

Wed - no swim due to life's complications. Planned to squeeze it in Thursday - Life's complications continued to get in the way.

Thursday bike - was supposed to do 5 miles hard, five minutes rest times 5. Did not have time for this workout, plus had a bike buddy for the day so did his workout - moderate (tempo) pace for 21 miles (was supposed to be 30). Got two flats - went to get my tube and it was gone - fell out of my bag. Good thing I had my bike buddy (yes, I know that sounds gay). Got it fixed, rode five minutes and got another flat. Good thing he brings two tubes. At this point I was mad so we time trialed the way in which was five or six miles.

Friday morning - knew today would be another of life's complicated days so got up early to get it done. I learned the hard way that I can't do speed workouts in the morning so I ambled off for a five mile run. Total time 47:07. Felt sluggish - could be the humidity.

the short one's are the hardest

2010-09-01T11:16:00.001-07:00

I have come to the conclusion that the easier the workout looks on paper the harder it is going to be. I went to LAF at lunch today to swim and do WOD. I usually swim first to try to avoid cramping from cooling down hot muscles. The pool was packed so I did Xfit WOD first. 5 deadlifts, 10 box jumps, 500m row for time. It was short, but it was not easy. First round always goes well, but by the time I finished the first row I was totally winded - I was a little dizzy going from the rows to the deadlifts but byt the time I got back to the bar I was fine. Someone stole my bar while I was rowing, but they had the proper amount of weight on it and I jumped in. Second row - figured there was only one more after this so I went hard again - again I was dizzy going to the deadlifts, but o.k. to deadlift when I got there - jumped into some else's workout (people are so nice), did the box jumps and then just really let it rip on the last row. The last 150 was done all out - every ounce of energy I had. Talk about dizzy!

Total time 11:39 - jumping into other people's sets did not take too much of my time - maybe 10 to 15 seconds.

I postponed the swim until later today - this wiped me. I did feel better after warming down, stretching and taking a cool shower though.

It was hot!

2010-08-31T19:43:00.000-07:00

I took yesterday off after doing the sprint on Sunday. I was weary, but not sore.

My workout for today was 100 squats 5k for time 100 squats. I did not have my plan with me and was going from memory and ended up doing 50 squats instead of 100. It was still a tough workout and I felt very close to passing out while doing the second set of 50 squats.

My 5k time was 26:13 or 8:26 pace. I believe I am fatigued from race plus the squats effected me somewhat. NOT TO MENTION THE HEAT! It was very hot, but I still ran as hard as I could. My average HR was 161 and my max was 171. I am very pleased with the effort I put forth on this run.

I did some running drills before getting started, but not as many as I should have. I will do the full complement on Friday.

I'm still in analyzing mode regarding the race - definately blew it on the swim - I checked a few more people's times and they all had better times than last year -I should have wore the wetsuit. Although my run was a little slower than last year my relative placing was good - I actually did better on the run than the swim - that never happens. The more I look at it the more pleased I am with the overall result. I could have done some things differently, but if I didn't try racing it the way I did I would always be wondering if I am better off without the wetsuit. Now I know.

Analysis of Chicopee results

2010-08-29T16:45:00.001-07:00

O.k., so this race was somewhat of an experiment. I raced without a wetsuit and lost some time. Probably quite a bit since the swim seems a little shorter this year than last based on looking at some other repeat offender times. I could blame it on the traffic jam at the beginning of the swim, but quite honestly this is one of the straightest swims I have ever done and the least amount of sighting. There is no excuses here - I was slower.

My time increase in the swim was forty seconds. And my time savings in transition was 33 seconds (net 7 seconds loss). Plus, like I already pointed out, I think the swim was shorter this year meaning that the time loss for no wetsuit was even greater.

My bike was 48:43 compared to 50:48 last year. Two minute pickup. T2 was 1:26 vs. 1:00 last year - shocking!

The run was 30:24 vs. 29:47 last year.

(-7+2:05-:26-:27) = :56 seconds faster.

I will never know how much the wetsuit would have saved me, but I do know that for now on I will always wear it if allowed if the swim is over 500 yards.

Chicopee race results

2010-08-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

I was a little sore from the previous week's workouts going into this race. It was not an A race, but I wanted to do well. I decided to ride easy yesterday (about 22 miles - much of it real easy as I had kids with me for 10 miles of this) and I skipped Fran in order to go into the race a little rested. I probably should have revised Thursday and Friday as well as like I already said, I was sore going into the race.

The official splits are not on the website yet, but my overall time was about 1:35:35 vs. 1:36:33 last year - about a minute improvement. I was expecting more than this. I will check the splits to see where my issues are.

I think a lot more people did the race this year as my overall placing was 69th compared to 42nd last year.

Had a real solid bike - I believe I beat last year's bike time by 3 minutes.

The swim - holy cow! The swim start at Lake Placid was more docile. It was crazy. A couple of minutes before the race was supposed to start there was an announcement saying that there would be a 15 minute delay because the state police were not all there yet. I decided that I would wait a few minutes before doing my swim warmup as it was a little cool (but starting to warm up). A few minutes later they said they were ready to go, played the National Anthem and then started us - nobody was ready. You just had to start from wherever you were - I generally start a little wide and feather my way into the group as it starts to settle down - I was right in the middle of the mess. Elbows, feet and bodies all over the place. I did not panic, as a matter of fact, I swam very aggressively. I kicked hard to ensure that no one swam over me (yes they were trying) and kept a very good line. By the time we got the first turn buoy it started to thin out. I just followed bodies and even found some feet to draft off of. I hardly sighted at all thoughout the entire swim. I'm not sure how my swim compares to last year - waiting for the results to get published. I swam without a wetsuit since the water was nice, it was only a half mile, and I wanted to speed up my first transition.

I did the run in 29:47 last year. My recollection from the results that were posted at the race site is that my time was around 30:30. I am certainly disappointed here as I was convinced that I was running real well. There is a steep hill which I ran agressively both times (two loops) and other than that I concentrated on good posture and quick feet.

This is the first sprint I did this year if you don't count the duathlons. Sprints are painful. You give it everything you have for about 90 minutes more or less depending on the distances. I biked real hard as some of my best runs in sprints have come after a good effort on the bike. I did some on bike stretches coming down the final stretch. I transitioned quickly and off I went - felt decent on the run - what went wrong?

Friday's fun

2010-08-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

First wod: Run 400m, 50 squats, 10 burpees, 4 times for time. Got to the track and there was a girls sports team working out - not sure what sport. Knew I had to go hard since I had an audience. This one hurt - now I know why it was not paired with any others. Total time 17:32. Using a new watch and don't know how to do splits so only have total time. Avg HR 154, Max 164.

Second workout - modified it. Was supposed to do 21, 15, 9 of thrusters and dips. Did 21, 15, 9 of thrusters (85#) and pushups. This was hard. It was hours after the first workout, but the thrusters were very hard. Total time 12:41.

I'm struggling

2010-08-27T04:36:00.000-07:00

I'm really struggling to stay focused, motivated and disciplined. After a slow summer at the office things are finally picking up - this is a good thing, I was starting to get worried.

However, it begs the question - am I so one dimensional that I can only focus on one thing at a time? As I concentrate on staying focused and motivated at work, my workout motivation and discipline as far as my diet goes is waning.

I missed Wednesday's workout and did not blink an eye. I did get in the pool yesterday and did the workout, plus the bike workout. Plan to do two workouts today to get all the workouts in, but the me of two months ago would not have missed the workout - I would have found some way to get it in.

The diet thing - it's o.k. to be off for a little while, but I'm talking about a month now - yeah, I have some good days, but they seem to be outnumbered by the bad days lately.

Some would say that this all relates to accomplishing my major goal of the year and staying focused for so long to get there. I reject that - it is just plain 'ol weakness and I need to find the mental prowess to get back to where I need to be.

My workouts, when done, are going well. Some are even PRs. I still have a major goal around the corner - The Hartford Marathon. I would like to PR my marathon - actually don't even think that is a lofty goal considering how the past three have gone.

Do I sound like I'm whining? I feel like I am.

Yesterday's workouts went fine. Swim 1200 for time - 21:45. Not the greatest time and not surprised as I did not feel loose or powerful in the pool.

Second workout immediately following - Tabata bike 1 min on, 30 sec off, 20 times. What a leg burner this was. I did it on a spinning bike so I don't know the distance and that is irrelevant as far as I'm concerned - this was a hard, hard workout.

I was initially planning on doing three workouts to get back on schedule, but I was drained after the bike and thought it best to postpone one until today.

I'm hoping that writing my weaknesses down for all to see will be all the motivation that I need to get back on track.

Sometimes you just feel like you are going fast

2010-08-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

To start I did not get my swim in yesterday. I was really looking forward to it after a long day at work. I worked in Hamden, but decided that I would stop at the LAF in SW rather than Hamden since the SW one is right on my way home. I walked in, looked to the left and saw that there was no water in the pool. That sucks!

I drove to the Y to check it out. It's a real nice facility, but I thought it was a little expensive - isn't it supposed to be a nonprofit? The family plan is nice if the rest of the family would actually take advantage of it, but that would be a waste of money in my household. I'm going to stick with LAF.

I ran 5k for time. I set my metronome for 96 and tried to hold that the whole time. I really felt like I was moving fast and keeping my form good. I did an out and back which was slightly uphill on the way back - total time was 25:23 and I'm a bit disappointed with that. I don't remember feeling this good on a run in a long time - maybe never. I really thought I smoked it. My second half was faster than my first which I am pleased with though - that never happens for me.

Second workout was 100 feet walking lunge, 10 burpees, 25 situps three times for time. I had to take it inside so I modified the walking lunges to 20 each leg. Total time 12:32.

Hopefully there's water in the pool tomorrow because I'm working in SW tomorrow. No water equals 500 pushups or something like that.

I signed up for Chicopee today - Sunday's fun.

Weekend Recap

2010-08-23T05:28:00.000-07:00

I almost can't remember what I did since Thursday, but it's coming back to me.

Friday - Run 400, 50 squats, run 800, 50 squats, run 1600, 50 squats. 19:43

Saturday - 1 hour bike TT - computer quit at mile 19 (it got wet from my water bottle and sweat). I'm pretty sure that I did slightly over 20 miles. Not my fastest ride, but my legs felt like they have been beat with a meat tenderizer. Squats, squats and more squats seems to be the theme lately.

Sunday - was in Maine over the weekend and got home too late to get the swim in so I did Sunday's and Monday's crossfit workouts. First one was 50 stepups (each leg), 40 box jumps, 30 situps, 20 pushups and 10 burpees two times for time. 14:30.

Second workout done about five minutes later, 30 box jumps, 10 burpees, 30 box jumps, 10 pushups, 30 box jumps, 10 pullups. Box jumps really winded me especially after the preceding workout. 8:14.

I decided that I needed to work abs as well so I did 30 situps with 12 pounds of weight, 20 leg lifts, 30 leg throw downs (my daughter was more than happy to throw them) and 20 scizzor kicks.

Diet has been horrendous - can't wait until the weekend jaunts are done. Only one more coming up and then I should be able to get my mojo back.

Today is the first day in a while that my legs aren,t really sore - they are still a little tight, but nothing like they were over the weekend.

Still ticking

2010-08-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

Wed - swim 300 yd time trial 4:50, 1:36 per 100.

Wed - run 800m, 15 burpees, 4 times for time: 20:46. 800 splits - 3:50, 4:04, 4:10, 4:12.

Thur morning - bike intervals - 1 min, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. rest equals work interval. I truly enyoy this workout - did not keep any splits.

300 squats on tap for later today.

Addendum:
300 squats done in 9:59. Last recorded time for 300 squats was 11:51 in March- almost 2 minute improvement - not too shabby especially since I did not think I did that well (it hurt!).

Good swim, good run, still a workout behind

2010-08-17T19:10:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a swim day - I'm busy at work again and did not get to the pool until about 8:00. I was in the pool for about an hour which is unusual - my longest pool workouts usually only last about 45 minutes - this one went an hour. I did good considering the fact that this was one of my worst diet days ever - I totally skipped lunch and did not eat supper until after the swim. I did snack during the day, but was way behind on calories.

Workout was 1 x 100, 2 x 200, 3 x 300, and 1 x 400. warmed up and down with a 200. Times were 1:25, 3:20, 3:15, 5:10, 5:06, 5:09, 7:02.

I planned to do the squats tonight, but totally ran out of energy. This may turn out to be a totally missed workout.

Ran my 20 minute time trial today. I believe I covered 2.7 miles for 7:24 pace - I need to recheck the distance (used mapmyrun), but I think this is pretty accurate - I think the Adizeros are helping me fix my form.

One workout behind

2010-08-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

This was a busy weekend and I was concerned it would effect the workout schedule. It did. I was able to sneak away for a little while to do the 500m row, 10 pushups, 10 pullups, 4x for time workout (18:41), but I was not able to get away for the swim. I should be able to get that in tomorrow night along with the squats to get myself back on schedule.

Recap

2010-08-15T06:15:00.000-07:00

Thursday- knew I was not going to be able to get both workouts in so I swapped Friday with Thursday. 3 x 800m run at 80%. Wore my new Adizero running shoes - they feel great. I did not have my metronome, but I concentrated on fast turnover. Rusults were better than I would have expected - 3:16, 3:21, 3:26. Must be the shoes.

Friday: I did not get both workouts in - had to get home as we were planning to go te the Visa Gymnastics championships. I squeezed the rowing workout in on the way home - 15 burpees, 250m row, 12 burpees, 250m row, 9 burpees, 250 row. I loved this workout - first time rowing 250s and realized during the last set that I could have pushed each row a little harder. Toteal time 6:21.

I did not get the ride in, so I doubled up on Saturday and did one hour instead of the 30 minutes that was prescribed (I was supposed to do 30 min on Thur and 30 minutes on Sat). Ride was supposed to be at 70%. I just rode how I felt - may have been closer to 80%, but I was just having fun, not really paying attention to HR - looked after the ride and average was 140. Completed 20 miles.

Didn't get the wall balls in until late. Picked up a 12 pound ball today so I do not have to go to gym for a quick workout like this - plus I don't like substituting, the substitutes (thusters or thrusters with a weight plate) just don't do it justice. 150 wall balls for time - 7:10. Almost a minute faster than my prior best time.

As an aside, I have been sore for most of the week, but still have been hitting the workouts hard - at least the ones I'm supposed to hit hard. My times have all been improvements over past times. I thinking I'm letting this Ironman thing get to my head - but that's o.k.

It's going to be another busy day today so it will be hard to get both workouts in, but I will endeavor to get it done!!

I hope everyone is doing well.

WOD and swim

2010-08-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

Workout 1: 10 box jumps, 10 squats, 10 lunges (5 each leg) AMRAP 15 minutes. Thought I was going to be able to squeeze out 15, but started to slow down after about five rounds. finished 13 full and 5 into the squats on number 14.

Workout 2: 700 yard easy swim. Since it was a easy swim I did not warm-up - just got right to it. Finished in 12:43, 1:48 per 100 and did mostly flip turns during swim - timing was off on three turns so did open turns. This is very good for me as I was recently doing 100% open turns - working towards 100% flip turns.

Ill fated bike ride

2010-08-11T15:35:00.000-07:00

I started off on an easy bike ride yesterday that was supposed to last 30 minutes. I was 15 minutes into the bike ride and had a blow out. First flat of the year. I figured "no problem, I'm an expert at changing these things." Took the wheel off, got the tire and old tube off, put the tire halfway back on and put the new tube in, put the tire the rest of the way on, inflated (too much!) and blew my second tube of the day. No more tubes and left my phone on the charger at home - not that anyone was home to pick me up anyway. So I says to myself - am I a triathlete or what? So I take my bike shoes off and start running home pushing my bike barefoot (my second workout was supposed to be an easy 15 minute run anyway).

I ran a little over 20 minutes and had to stop because my feet were getting raw. I think I went a little over two miles. The good news is that I had my metronome with me and I was able to set the cadence for a little over 90 - held it the whole time.

8/9/10 swim

2010-08-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

20 x 50yd on 15 sec rest. 42, 44, 46, 49, 48, 49, 49, 49, 49, 49, 48, 48, 49, 48, 49, 49, 50, 49, 51, 48.

I'm back!

2010-08-08T15:54:00.000-07:00

Today was the first workout that appeared to be all out since IMLP. 50 step-ups (I did 50 each leg), 40 box jumps, 30 situps, 20 pushups, 10 burpees, 2 times for time. I finished in 15:14 - did it in 15:31 back in May.

I made the mistake of weighing myself today. According to my scale I gained five pounds over the week. That's impossible!! I know some of it is water weight as flying always makes me dehydrated - all the damn waiting around and not drinking enough fluids. I do believe that I put a couple of pounds on though - the resort was all inclusive and it's not that I ate a lot - I ate the wrong foods in the wrong proportions and drank lots of Mojitos and Capairinas - they go down real easy.

I immediately got myself back on the diet today and will be disciplined until I am happy with the way a look and feel.

Postponing today's swim (20 x 50 yd on 15 seconds rest @ 80%) until tomorrow. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day, but I took yesterday off for the travel, so I don't feel I need the rest day, plus I just don't feel like driving all the way to the gym when I will be practically right next to it tomorrow.

Good thing I like to sweat

2010-08-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

Did my final Cancun workout today. Three sets of 12-15 reps of bench press, pushups, swings, GHDs, hip extensions and pullups. Finished with 100 situps - why, because I'm an Ironman! It's real hot and humid down here so I was a soaking wet sweaty mess when I finished.

Ariel is already correcting my spanish which is a good thing.

Hasta luego!

Greetings from Cancun

2010-08-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm enjoying my vacation with family and friends. I am doing a little working out but I honestly have not even looked at my plan - just doing what I feel like doing. Sunday I went for a run on the beach - wore running shoes as there was a lot of shells near our resort and I did not want to cut my feet up. I managed a 30 minute run - running in the sand is quite the calf workout - really felt it in my achilles.

I went for a short ocean swim later in the day.

Monday I swam in the pool - the pool is huge. Must be about 100 yards long. Went about 20 minutes - did two sets of two laps all out - other than that it was a fairly easy pace.

Went scuba diving Monday for the first time in my life. It was a blast!

Tuesday - went to the fitness center. Rode a spinning bike - did a tabata workout as I felt like pushing it a little. Then I did some lat pulls and tricep pulldowns.

Wed - ran on the beach again - this time barefoot. Managed 40 minutes and then did 100 pushups for time (3:38).

Went scuba diving again (two tank dive). I think I may have found a new love. I need to get certified!

Thur (today) - woke up feeling groggy - skipped a morning workout - will go later if I feel up to it.

Oh yeah, I need to work on my spanish - I took two years in High School and two years in college, but never really had a chance to practice it - funny how a lot of the words come flooding back to you when you are in a spanish speaking area. Unfortunately I forgot more than I remember.

Hasta Luega!

I feel amazing

2010-07-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

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!

Volunteering next year

2010-07-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-07-28T06:32:00.000-07:00

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.

Lake Placid was unbelievable

2010-07-26T17:05:00.000-07:00

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!

I'm up at Lake Placid

2010-07-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

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.

Five sets of three and NERVES

2010-07-20T18:51:00.001-07:00

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.

Unbelievably busy

2010-07-19T19:23:00.001-07:00

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!

I'm neurotic

2010-07-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

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.

Quick post number one million

2010-07-16T05:33:00.000-07:00

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.

500 yrd swim TT

2010-07-15T19:57:00.000-07:00

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.

The countdown continues

2010-07-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

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.

12 days to IMLP

2010-07-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

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.

I'm toast

2010-07-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

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.

Soaked

2010-07-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

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.

4 x 5k bike, 100%

2010-07-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

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.

Open water

2010-07-07T06:40:00.001-07:00

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!

Quickie

2010-07-06T17:57:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

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.

I'm beat

2010-07-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

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.

Max did it again

2010-07-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

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!

60k TT

2010-07-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

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.

two more down

2010-07-02T18:06:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

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.

Swim last night, Tabata this morning

2010-07-01T14:27:00.001-07:00

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.

Max deadlifts

2010-06-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-29T06:07:00.000-07:00

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.