Butterflies.....every morning for the past week...
Well I leave for Hawaii in 2 days and what a great feeling that is, I can' wait. I really feel strong and confident that I am ready for this race, unlike my last big one, the marathon last year. I have stuck to the training regime for almost 5 months with very few deviations (hangovers) and only one bought of getting sick, although it was way longer than I would have hoped....
So this is my final update on the previous week's training, next week's blog will be all about Hawaii and the race!!
This past week I did the normal spin on Monday, but I was completely in a zone and probably had the best (and sweatiest) spin of this training season. Wednesday brought us to our last track practice...kind of sad, but also exciting, the reality that the race was right around the corner started to set in.
We did a few 3oom warm-ups, then 4 400m runs at pace and then we were off..oh ya forgot to say what we did. We were running our final 1 mile time trial. A guage to see if we improved over our first time trial back in early December. I had done a 6:52 mile then and being the overachiever I am, I put down my anticipated time at 6:45 for this time trial. Ya right, um no....a few of the coaches saw that and said no, they put me down for a 6:00 minute mile. Are you kidding me, that is flying and have you seen me? I am 6'3" and about 215-220 lbs....not your prototypical speed runner. Oh well, whislt blows and we are off. We all start out way too fast as usual, running thge first half lap at a 5:19 clip.....never going to finish if I continue to run this fast, so I actually pull up a bit and get into a pace I can handle and let the rabbits fly by me.
1 lap down - feel pretty winded, 2 laps down - i'm hurting but keep thinking i am halfway done, 3 laps down - slowest lap but was saving some energy, last lap - as soon as I start the lap I feel strong againg, mind over matter....so I keep moving at a good pace and then about the last 1/4 of the lap I hear some heavy breathing behind me (which I later find out was Brian, Greg and Kevin) so I kick in my sprinting stride and finish very strong. I will not lie, I did not feel great after these few minutes of my heart rate through the roof...actually almost wanted to puke after the run, but hey it was a time trial!!! I finished with a 6:08 or a 6:13, two different timers with different time.....I think I will say I did a 6:10 and split the difference...pretty good I am proud of myself.
I took Thursday off and on Friday did a nice run in Balboa Park.
Saturday - Final swim 2 miles...
I remember seeing this swim in the schedule back in December and thought how am I going to swim 2 miles in the ocean without drowning? Well I did it and did the first mile from the shores to the cover without stopping to see approximately what I could swim a mile in!! On the way back I took it a bit easier and swam with a friend stopping a couple of times to make sure she was okay and then back into the swim. All in all it was one of the best workouts all season, maybe because it was absolutely beautiful, not a cloud in the sky, or maybe because I had a great swim, maybe because it was the last team workout before we get to Hawaii....whatever it was, it was great and I know I will miss the team once this is all over....
About Me
Monday, March 26, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
Practice Triathlon 3/19/07
700 meter swim, 20k bike and 5k run.....
I woke up at 4:30am on Sunday for our first and only true practice triathlon race, so that meant no drinking on Saturday night....St. Pat's day :(...that is two years in a row now.
I went through my usual morning preparations, double and triple checking I had all my gear for the tri, eating my banana and English muffin with peanut butter on it...and getting all my bottles filled with water and/or electrolyte solutions.
I headed out the door at 5:20 am and got to the starting / transition area on Fiesta Island a few minutes past 5:30. Wow, as soon as I got out of the car and saw people getting their transition areas ready, flashlights abound, coach running around everywhere, I realized this is really like a race and the butterflies set in.
Fast forward through my own setup, stretching, chatting and now it was about 6:30...we were starting in 15 minutes. I head down to the dreaded stagnant bay water where we are doing our swim....also known as enchanted cove.....ya freaking right, there is nothing enchanted about it at all. Any ways, I walk into the slosh of the nasty dirt/mud/sand and make my way into the water for a warm up. Let me describe the water some more for all of you that do not know what mission bay is like. The water was about 12 degrees warmer than the ocean, which it gets is source from, so this tells me one thing.....stagnant water, no current...nasty. Oh ya, the water is a dark brown, clarity is probably less than a foot, also a film on the surface and about twice as salty as the ocean. All of this is horrible enough, but it gets worse, trust me. So Bill and I start swimming around to warm up and I feel something over and over again on my hands when I paddle. What the heck is that, is it seaweed coming up from the bottom? nope...is it just chunks of seaweed floating around? nope...what is it? It is gelatinous, yes I said gelatinous....no it could not be....fake breast implants....yea I am in heaven. No they were jelly fish, big round clear disc-like jelly fish....but no tentacles to sting you. What the heck are these and why are they here....why are there thousands of them....with every stroke you hit 3-4 of them.....thoroughly disgusting and a sense of panic overwhelms you.
So we get out of the water, tell a few others about the darn jelly fish and then walk over with the rest of the team to the other side of the "enchanted cove" for a picture and then before you know it we are off.
Everyone is jockeying for position, elbows flying, legs kicking, fists punching....I manage to avoid most of the panicked groups flying appendages and make my way out the path to buoy, which is 350 meters out and back...for a total swim of 700 meters, just short of half of the distance in Hawaii. I start swimming, horrible form, breathing erratic as a fish out of water, and I am all over the place. I try to calm myself down, try to just get some form going and concentrate on the stroke.......glide principles I have been instilling in myself from day one....5 months ago. Well none of that worked, I could not even see the feet of the person in front of me until they kicked in the face. Oh ya, the jellyfish...they were everywhere, they did not go away....I was about 100 meters from the first buoy and I was a wreck. I was starting to hyperventilate and decided to take a huge breath of air to try and then slow my breathing down.....horrible idea. As I took the massive breath my mouth was about half in and half out of the water....and yep, I sucked a jellyfish into my mouth and before I knew it, I took a bite and immediately stopped swimming and spit it out and was completely freaked out. I took about 10 seconds to try and gain my composure, honestly even thinking to call for a lifeguard since I had never experienced this type of panic before in my life. Then my competitiveness kicked in and told me to suck it up and keep going. So I put my head back down, kept my mouth shut as long as I possibly could and kept swimming. Although I never got in any type of rhythm I did finish and got the heck out of the water a good distance back from the front-runners.....thank freaking goodness that was over.
Now I was out of the water, pulled my wetsuit top off and kept my bib john on until I hit the transition area, so I could limit the amount of sand all over my body. I got in and out of the transition in a pretty good time, about 1:30 I believe. Getting on my bike was a bit cumbersome, but within a few seconds I was on and trying to make up ground. I had no idea how far back I was from the top 7 or 8, but I knew I was back. I just got in the aero position and tried to keep a high cadence to get my legs warm and dry off a bit. About half way around the island on my first loop (I had to do 3 total) I tried to drink some water but my throat was burning so bad from the all the salt water I drank...and jelly i ate that I just gargled it and spit it out. I did end up eating a pack of gu and managed to get some water down and drink a little bit of my electrolyte drink from my aero bottle, but not nearly as much as I would have in a real race.
I buckled down, got into the aero position and hammered most of the ride. I do not know my time yet, or average MPH, but I did pass about 4-5 people who were in front of me. As I came into the transition area....to a bunch of people cheering (so nice that was) I saw Greg and Brian right in front of me....we are all pretty close to the same ability, but in my head I feel like I am a stronger runner!!! So with that I felt pretty darn good. I came into the transition area a bit frigid still from the bike ride, since all I have on is shoes with no socks, spandex tri shorts and a tri top....I throw on my running shoes, running hat (already have the shades on) and grab my water bottle and I am off.
Greg and Brian are running in parallel about 150 yards in front of me, so I used them to pace my run for about the first mile or so and then when I can finally feel my feet again I pick up the pace and run by them with the thought that I am not going to look back. I feel strong, legs feel good, no real soreness in my back or legs from being sick earlier in the week....now this is more what I thought a tri would be...challenging yet fulfilling at the same time. As I approach the water station, which is also the turnaround, I see 4 people spread out on their way back....yep the leaders. Nuno was leading the pack, followed by Ryan on his heels, then a short way back was Lamine and then Paul another short way back. That was it, the 4 people who I know are faster then me in all the events we in front of me....a sigh of relief, and also a pushing point for me.
I woke up at 4:30am on Sunday for our first and only true practice triathlon race, so that meant no drinking on Saturday night....St. Pat's day :(...that is two years in a row now.
I went through my usual morning preparations, double and triple checking I had all my gear for the tri, eating my banana and English muffin with peanut butter on it...and getting all my bottles filled with water and/or electrolyte solutions.
I headed out the door at 5:20 am and got to the starting / transition area on Fiesta Island a few minutes past 5:30. Wow, as soon as I got out of the car and saw people getting their transition areas ready, flashlights abound, coach running around everywhere, I realized this is really like a race and the butterflies set in.
Fast forward through my own setup, stretching, chatting and now it was about 6:30...we were starting in 15 minutes. I head down to the dreaded stagnant bay water where we are doing our swim....also known as enchanted cove.....ya freaking right, there is nothing enchanted about it at all. Any ways, I walk into the slosh of the nasty dirt/mud/sand and make my way into the water for a warm up. Let me describe the water some more for all of you that do not know what mission bay is like. The water was about 12 degrees warmer than the ocean, which it gets is source from, so this tells me one thing.....stagnant water, no current...nasty. Oh ya, the water is a dark brown, clarity is probably less than a foot, also a film on the surface and about twice as salty as the ocean. All of this is horrible enough, but it gets worse, trust me. So Bill and I start swimming around to warm up and I feel something over and over again on my hands when I paddle. What the heck is that, is it seaweed coming up from the bottom? nope...is it just chunks of seaweed floating around? nope...what is it? It is gelatinous, yes I said gelatinous....no it could not be....fake breast implants....yea I am in heaven. No they were jelly fish, big round clear disc-like jelly fish....but no tentacles to sting you. What the heck are these and why are they here....why are there thousands of them....with every stroke you hit 3-4 of them.....thoroughly disgusting and a sense of panic overwhelms you.
So we get out of the water, tell a few others about the darn jelly fish and then walk over with the rest of the team to the other side of the "enchanted cove" for a picture and then before you know it we are off.
Everyone is jockeying for position, elbows flying, legs kicking, fists punching....I manage to avoid most of the panicked groups flying appendages and make my way out the path to buoy, which is 350 meters out and back...for a total swim of 700 meters, just short of half of the distance in Hawaii. I start swimming, horrible form, breathing erratic as a fish out of water, and I am all over the place. I try to calm myself down, try to just get some form going and concentrate on the stroke.......glide principles I have been instilling in myself from day one....5 months ago. Well none of that worked, I could not even see the feet of the person in front of me until they kicked in the face. Oh ya, the jellyfish...they were everywhere, they did not go away....I was about 100 meters from the first buoy and I was a wreck. I was starting to hyperventilate and decided to take a huge breath of air to try and then slow my breathing down.....horrible idea. As I took the massive breath my mouth was about half in and half out of the water....and yep, I sucked a jellyfish into my mouth and before I knew it, I took a bite and immediately stopped swimming and spit it out and was completely freaked out. I took about 10 seconds to try and gain my composure, honestly even thinking to call for a lifeguard since I had never experienced this type of panic before in my life. Then my competitiveness kicked in and told me to suck it up and keep going. So I put my head back down, kept my mouth shut as long as I possibly could and kept swimming. Although I never got in any type of rhythm I did finish and got the heck out of the water a good distance back from the front-runners.....thank freaking goodness that was over.
Now I was out of the water, pulled my wetsuit top off and kept my bib john on until I hit the transition area, so I could limit the amount of sand all over my body. I got in and out of the transition in a pretty good time, about 1:30 I believe. Getting on my bike was a bit cumbersome, but within a few seconds I was on and trying to make up ground. I had no idea how far back I was from the top 7 or 8, but I knew I was back. I just got in the aero position and tried to keep a high cadence to get my legs warm and dry off a bit. About half way around the island on my first loop (I had to do 3 total) I tried to drink some water but my throat was burning so bad from the all the salt water I drank...and jelly i ate that I just gargled it and spit it out. I did end up eating a pack of gu and managed to get some water down and drink a little bit of my electrolyte drink from my aero bottle, but not nearly as much as I would have in a real race.
I buckled down, got into the aero position and hammered most of the ride. I do not know my time yet, or average MPH, but I did pass about 4-5 people who were in front of me. As I came into the transition area....to a bunch of people cheering (so nice that was) I saw Greg and Brian right in front of me....we are all pretty close to the same ability, but in my head I feel like I am a stronger runner!!! So with that I felt pretty darn good. I came into the transition area a bit frigid still from the bike ride, since all I have on is shoes with no socks, spandex tri shorts and a tri top....I throw on my running shoes, running hat (already have the shades on) and grab my water bottle and I am off.Greg and Brian are running in parallel about 150 yards in front of me, so I used them to pace my run for about the first mile or so and then when I can finally feel my feet again I pick up the pace and run by them with the thought that I am not going to look back. I feel strong, legs feel good, no real soreness in my back or legs from being sick earlier in the week....now this is more what I thought a tri would be...challenging yet fulfilling at the same time. As I approach the water station, which is also the turnaround, I see 4 people spread out on their way back....yep the leaders. Nuno was leading the pack, followed by Ryan on his heels, then a short way back was Lamine and then Paul another short way back. That was it, the 4 people who I know are faster then me in all the events we in front of me....a sigh of relief, and also a pushing point for me.
I speed up my pace a bit, but also relax and focus on foot strike even more, thanks to reading Chi Running. As I come around the corner with about a mile to go I can see the 4 of them a pretty fair distance ahead of me and know I have no chance at all of catching them, so I settle into a strong yet relaxed stride, knowing that if I feel anyone coming up from behind, that I could turn it on. Greg was not too far behind me, but after I did a quick glance over my shoulder, I knew I had him and just finished off strong.. So great to have teammates push you, yet at the same time, if they pass you, you root them on. This is the blend of competitiveness and selflessness that is new to me, and yet I love it. I think my final time was 1:10:29........Week 18 3/19/07
13 days until the race.....getting closer.
I started off this week with a strong abs and spinning workout on Monday, actually I did the stationery bike instead of spinning class, since the new instructor could not figure out how to work the stereo and I was not about to sit through an hour class with no music. I ended up having a much better ab workout than I normally would, so I was pleased with the change.
On Tuesday evening I met a few fellow teammates at Dana Landing for some transition practices from the swim top bike and bike to run. Actually we didn't do any swimming, just practiced as if we had!!!! After the transition practices we did another tire clinic....which is the first time in probably at least 10 years where I actually changed a tire. All along I had been paying attention on how to do a speedy tire change, but until y0u do it, you never really have the confidence to know you will be okay out there in the middle of a race if something does happen that warrants you getting off your bike, doing a little cursing and then changing the tire out. I ended up doing two rear tire changes without any issues, much to my delight. I did not time myself, but I was very pleased with the pace in which I did them. The only thing I need to work on is making sure I use all the CO2 in the gun. I could have put a bit more air in my tire, but no pinch flats when I got on and started riding!!!
After doing the tire changing clinic I headed up to JCC to swim with Bill. As soon as I got in my car, I noticed my lower back was pretty sore and all of a sudden I was feeling a bit run down. What the heck, I felt great just minutes earlier, no way I could be getting sick...so of course I swam, and did okay but was not one of my stronger swims. I came straight home after swim, took a shower and went to bed.
I went to track on Wednesday night and did not feel that well, actually felt achy and weak like I was getting the flu, so I was a bit paranoid about working out. I did the warm-up, stretching, plyometrics and did a few of the hill repeats, but then decided against continuing on. I finally am listening to my body. So I came home ate something and then went to bed early again. I took Thursday and Friday off from working out, and actually had a few beers on Friday night, since I was not going to drink on Saturday, St. Patty's Day, for the second year in a row :(
I ended up going to the swim at La Jolla shores on Saturday morning at 9am and it was dark, grey, foggy, cold and high tide....not the best swimming conditions at all. Oh well, I was still feeling a bit weak, but really wanted to swim...even though my goal was to be healthy for tomorrow's practice triathlon. Once again I listened to my body. I did one repetition of the course coach set up, swam it well and then came into shore and changed into some dry clothes. I was able to satisfy both thoughts running through my head, the smart one telling me to rest and take it easy and not get any more sick, and the one which ultimately drives me - telling me to suck it up and just do what it takes....
13 days until the race....... tomorrow is the real practice triathlon.
I started off this week with a strong abs and spinning workout on Monday, actually I did the stationery bike instead of spinning class, since the new instructor could not figure out how to work the stereo and I was not about to sit through an hour class with no music. I ended up having a much better ab workout than I normally would, so I was pleased with the change.
On Tuesday evening I met a few fellow teammates at Dana Landing for some transition practices from the swim top bike and bike to run. Actually we didn't do any swimming, just practiced as if we had!!!! After the transition practices we did another tire clinic....which is the first time in probably at least 10 years where I actually changed a tire. All along I had been paying attention on how to do a speedy tire change, but until y0u do it, you never really have the confidence to know you will be okay out there in the middle of a race if something does happen that warrants you getting off your bike, doing a little cursing and then changing the tire out. I ended up doing two rear tire changes without any issues, much to my delight. I did not time myself, but I was very pleased with the pace in which I did them. The only thing I need to work on is making sure I use all the CO2 in the gun. I could have put a bit more air in my tire, but no pinch flats when I got on and started riding!!!
After doing the tire changing clinic I headed up to JCC to swim with Bill. As soon as I got in my car, I noticed my lower back was pretty sore and all of a sudden I was feeling a bit run down. What the heck, I felt great just minutes earlier, no way I could be getting sick...so of course I swam, and did okay but was not one of my stronger swims. I came straight home after swim, took a shower and went to bed.
I went to track on Wednesday night and did not feel that well, actually felt achy and weak like I was getting the flu, so I was a bit paranoid about working out. I did the warm-up, stretching, plyometrics and did a few of the hill repeats, but then decided against continuing on. I finally am listening to my body. So I came home ate something and then went to bed early again. I took Thursday and Friday off from working out, and actually had a few beers on Friday night, since I was not going to drink on Saturday, St. Patty's Day, for the second year in a row :(
I ended up going to the swim at La Jolla shores on Saturday morning at 9am and it was dark, grey, foggy, cold and high tide....not the best swimming conditions at all. Oh well, I was still feeling a bit weak, but really wanted to swim...even though my goal was to be healthy for tomorrow's practice triathlon. Once again I listened to my body. I did one repetition of the course coach set up, swam it well and then came into shore and changed into some dry clothes. I was able to satisfy both thoughts running through my head, the smart one telling me to rest and take it easy and not get any more sick, and the one which ultimately drives me - telling me to suck it up and just do what it takes....
13 days until the race....... tomorrow is the real practice triathlon.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Week 17 3/12/07
19 days until the race....... Time to make sure I am in shape.
I had a great workout week, took Monday off and then had a very strong pool swim on Tuesday night. Wednesday evening's track practice took us to a new level with "Patrick's" speed workout. We did 3 300m sprints, each followed by a 100m cool down and then after the 3rd interval did an 800m run at our 1ok pace....then do all of this again 3 times total. Needless to say, I was definitely pretty darn tired and I think my heart rate monitor hit a new level....not sure really how high my max heart rate can go now....
I ended up going to Fiesta Island at 6am Thursday morning to do some bike interval work around the island and well let's see....this actually was not a very strong workout, my legs were still very sore from the night before and it showed on the bike. That evening after work I was determined to get the lactic acid outta my legs, so I went to the gym and did the elliptical trainer and then some abs and back, to strengthen the core (coach should love this) !!! Took Friday off and then we did our transition training practice at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas in the morning and then a 25-30 mile ride up the coast, out to the east to college and then back. I just got a tune up on my bike and it is now riding like an 18 wheeler, I think they did a tune down, I gotta get the bike back in the shop.
On Sunday I woke, after only a few hours of sleep, to a throbbing headache that I was not used to in a long time....I was hungover. I had to go out Saturday night, I have been itching to let loose a bit and the weather was so nice, how could you not? Let's just say that I got the drinking itch outta me and now I hope to only have the occasional beer or two until the race is over.
Any ways, I still made it to La Jolla for our 2pm swim and it was absolutely gorgeous outside. As a matter of fact, it felt just like summer, about 75 degrees, crystal clear and of course crowds and traffic everywhere. After walking close to 1/2 mile to get to the beach I was definitely getting the itch to get in the water, for two reasons, I was still hungover, but I also really wanted to swim....which was a good feeling t0 have.
After a few minutes of relaxing, we were in our suits and off....a pleasant change to some of the group practices where we end up sitting for an hour or more listening to coach and going over one thing or another. This was an out and back swim, from La Jolla Shores to about 1/4 of a mile from La Jolla Cove. This was a 3/4 mile out and back swim, so 1.5 miles at the least. I say that because that is if you swim in a straight line, which few of us are proficient enough to do. The image in this blog is actually a screenshot from Google Earth on one of my teammates route (Thanks Brian!!!). He brought his GPS with up and then uploaded the route to see how far off course he strayed. As you will see his route ended up taking him 1.72 miles instead of the 1.5 miles....which definitely is something you do not care to do!!!!
19 days until the race....... another week and then tapering begins....
Monday, March 05, 2007
Week 16 3/05/07
16.5 Hours and 3 mornings up before 6am - That was my training this past week. This was probably the most intensive training week I have had to date, and maybe even ever in my life!!!! It was totally worth it...I had a great week....and the weird part is...I really enjoyed all of it. Now for the details.....I will make it short I promise..
Monday - usual spin, Tuesday - usual swim...except that Bill (another teammate) and I swam with Coach Robbie and he kicked our rear, which is what I needed. Even better, it started to rain about 20 minutes into the workout....pretty fun swimming in the rain. Wednesday - usual track day....but honestly I was feeling pretty worked at this point, going on my 5th day of training in a row without a break. I would say I had an okay track night....probably the weakest workout of my week....oh well made it through, gotta take the good days with the bad......maybe it is because I was thinking about saving energy for Thursday....
Thursday - I got up at 5am to do my make up time trial (TT) at Fiesta Island. Remember my issues from last Saturday in the last blog....BROKEN CRANK????? Well the boys at Adams Avenue took care of me and put on a compact FSA Gossamer crank set for me....free of charge. I started my TT at about 6:30 am....a few other teammates were on the island to do some interval training. Temperature at starting time: 39 freaking degrees....yes i had on gloves, full length tights and arm warmers....had to....it was fricking cold. Well i didn't know what to expect, but all in all I did pretty good. I did 40k (25 miles) TT in 1:12:03, for about a 20.30 MPH average......first time....so I know I can improve. Friday - light run and then relax and ate dinner with my bro and his wife Michele.
Saturday - We had planned on doing the longest ride of the training, 50 miles...out from Scripps Poway Parkway to Ramona, to Lakeside back to Iron Mountain and the home to Scripps Poway Parkway.....um mother nature had another idea. The day started off gorgeous, but as those who know what Santa Ana winds are like.....we knew they were going to be a problem today. We started off okay and then started going up the hill, making our way to Highway 67 and then the winds became very prevalent.....let me just tell you that going up the 8 or 9 mile incline was not the easiest thing I have ever done. I ended up doing this twice, hitting a max mph of 51.5 down the hill the second time before I hit my brakes due to the wind pushing my front tire over about a foot and making my heart skip a beat or two!!!! All in all, a great workout, very challenging but also very gratifying.
On Sunday I woke up at 5 am to get ready for the March Madness 10k trail run in Rancho Bernardo. Once again the air was very dry and the wind was kicking up...good 'ol Santa Ana's..... I guess I should be grateful is was about 65degrees and crystal clear by race time right? This was another very challenging, yet fun training activity for the weekend. I think there were at least 20 others from the team running in the race so that made the whole event even better. I did okay, finishing in 52.11 with an 8:23 pace and 7th in my age division. I know 52.11 seems pretty darn slow, but this was no flat trail....lots of valleys and hills, narrow trails where you get stuck in a line behind others, the dryness and the headwinds!!!! So if I can run 45 minutes in Hawaii I will happy... After the race I stuck around for a little bit to see some of my teammates get their medals, for finishing in the top 3 of their age groups. I think we had 5 winners overall, which was great.
After the race I ate a much deserved breakfast...at Denny's nonetheless with a few others. Of course I ate really light....the meat lovers plate....ha ha. Well you gotta get your protein from somewhere right? and what better way than from mowing on a bunch of different meat treats??? (hmm that didn't sound right, oh well)... I was able to come home and get about a 30 minute nap before getting ready for the next training event...our Sunday Swim at La Jolla shores.
I tell you I had absolutely no energy when I woke from my nap, but I got my wetsuit, grabbed my bag, a piece of cheese, some crackers and headed to the beach. What a beautiful day, sunny out and about 75 at the beach. I know I said I was going to keep this short, so in keeping with that theme....my swim turned out way better in reality than what I thought I was going to do in my head. I swam the farthest to date in the ocean, felt real strong even on my 9th day of training, getting up at 5 am to run a 10k race and got to swim with dolphins around me.....
great day, great week of training.............23 days till I leave for Hawaii, 27 till the event.......
Monday - usual spin, Tuesday - usual swim...except that Bill (another teammate) and I swam with Coach Robbie and he kicked our rear, which is what I needed. Even better, it started to rain about 20 minutes into the workout....pretty fun swimming in the rain. Wednesday - usual track day....but honestly I was feeling pretty worked at this point, going on my 5th day of training in a row without a break. I would say I had an okay track night....probably the weakest workout of my week....oh well made it through, gotta take the good days with the bad......maybe it is because I was thinking about saving energy for Thursday....
Thursday - I got up at 5am to do my make up time trial (TT) at Fiesta Island. Remember my issues from last Saturday in the last blog....BROKEN CRANK????? Well the boys at Adams Avenue took care of me and put on a compact FSA Gossamer crank set for me....free of charge. I started my TT at about 6:30 am....a few other teammates were on the island to do some interval training. Temperature at starting time: 39 freaking degrees....yes i had on gloves, full length tights and arm warmers....had to....it was fricking cold. Well i didn't know what to expect, but all in all I did pretty good. I did 40k (25 miles) TT in 1:12:03, for about a 20.30 MPH average......first time....so I know I can improve. Friday - light run and then relax and ate dinner with my bro and his wife Michele.
Saturday - We had planned on doing the longest ride of the training, 50 miles...out from Scripps Poway Parkway to Ramona, to Lakeside back to Iron Mountain and the home to Scripps Poway Parkway.....um mother nature had another idea. The day started off gorgeous, but as those who know what Santa Ana winds are like.....we knew they were going to be a problem today. We started off okay and then started going up the hill, making our way to Highway 67 and then the winds became very prevalent.....let me just tell you that going up the 8 or 9 mile incline was not the easiest thing I have ever done. I ended up doing this twice, hitting a max mph of 51.5 down the hill the second time before I hit my brakes due to the wind pushing my front tire over about a foot and making my heart skip a beat or two!!!! All in all, a great workout, very challenging but also very gratifying.
On Sunday I woke up at 5 am to get ready for the March Madness 10k trail run in Rancho Bernardo. Once again the air was very dry and the wind was kicking up...good 'ol Santa Ana's..... I guess I should be grateful is was about 65degrees and crystal clear by race time right? This was another very challenging, yet fun training activity for the weekend. I think there were at least 20 others from the team running in the race so that made the whole event even better. I did okay, finishing in 52.11 with an 8:23 pace and 7th in my age division. I know 52.11 seems pretty darn slow, but this was no flat trail....lots of valleys and hills, narrow trails where you get stuck in a line behind others, the dryness and the headwinds!!!! So if I can run 45 minutes in Hawaii I will happy... After the race I stuck around for a little bit to see some of my teammates get their medals, for finishing in the top 3 of their age groups. I think we had 5 winners overall, which was great.
After the race I ate a much deserved breakfast...at Denny's nonetheless with a few others. Of course I ate really light....the meat lovers plate....ha ha. Well you gotta get your protein from somewhere right? and what better way than from mowing on a bunch of different meat treats??? (hmm that didn't sound right, oh well)... I was able to come home and get about a 30 minute nap before getting ready for the next training event...our Sunday Swim at La Jolla shores.
I tell you I had absolutely no energy when I woke from my nap, but I got my wetsuit, grabbed my bag, a piece of cheese, some crackers and headed to the beach. What a beautiful day, sunny out and about 75 at the beach. I know I said I was going to keep this short, so in keeping with that theme....my swim turned out way better in reality than what I thought I was going to do in my head. I swam the farthest to date in the ocean, felt real strong even on my 9th day of training, getting up at 5 am to run a 10k race and got to swim with dolphins around me.....
great day, great week of training.............23 days till I leave for Hawaii, 27 till the event.......
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