Weekly Recap and Goal Setting

Here are the results of training from last week.

100.08 miles on the bike
31.57 miles on the feet
5.49 miles in the water
Total Miles: 137.14

I had a great track workout on Thursday followed by a good half marathon run Sunday.

Brick workout Saturday went fantastic. Body is adapting very well to the training.

It is nice to push and not be sore the next day. I believe I am doing things right in pushing at the right allottment each week to avoid complete body breakdown.

Two rest days this week for sure. I did not do a recovery week two weeks back knowing I had a crazy schedule this week. It is good for the body to take it easy once in a while. It has been over 20 days since my last day of no training.

Training totals since I started in December

1455.35 miles on the bike
500.03 miles on my feet
78.74 miles in the pool

Total 2034.12 miles

I have weigh in again tomorrow. I had been on a good streak of clean eating last week and at one point sitting at an all time low. However, some bad eating this weekend and Amanda's new amazing cookie recipe has probably caused me to lose some ground. Oh well, the cookies are worth it.

Goals for this week are to maintain weight while in Florida and to get in some good workouts before I leave. Even more important is to actually take a few rest days which is harder than any training.

Hopefully by the end of the week I will be a few hundred dollars closer to my bike. Come on Ebay, sell my items for some great prices!!!!!!

76 Days - Swim While Tired

I struggled today.

I was tired. I pushed hard this weekend putting in a big 50 mile brick workout Saturday and running a half marathon along with a 25 mile bike ride Sunday left my legs and body tired.

I did not want to get out of bed today. However, I kept getting super hot while sleeping last night. I woke up about 3 times soaked in sweat and feeling about 115 degrees.

I made my way to the pool. I did not have my watch. I cannot remember where I put it so I had to do the workout without time. This was not a bad thing today.

I knew I had to get up and swim today. This week will be a goofy week as I leave Thursday morning super early to take 11 5th-8th graders to Florida for an international robotic competition. This is going to be a somewhat recovery week. I have not taken a day off since April 7th so I know I am in need of a day off or two. The plan is to get some quality workouts in Monday-Wednesday and then hope for the best the rest of the week with at least two days of rest for sure.

So, with that in mind I had to swim.

Here is the workout. Scary to think I only have a handful of swim workouts left before my May 20th race. Scary to think I may not get any open water swimming in before the race.

Warm-Up
200 Free
100 Kick
200 Pull

4 x 150 Build with 20 RI
4 x 50 Kick with 15 RI
4 x 100 Build with 15 RI
4 x 75 Kick with 15 RI(I did no breaks, but did 100 with board, 100 on back, 100 with board)
4 x 200 Descending (I had to alternate these sets with a pull buoy as my legs were ready to cramp)

200 cool down free

3000 yards total

I must hydrate today. Not to provide TMI, but my pee this morning was copper. I need fluids majorly. I was glad to get this done. I put in some good times as I knocked this all out under 60 minutes.

My legs were fried. They are feeling better now, but they were tired this morning.

Simplifying My Life

I have stuff.

I have a lot of stuff. Just ask Amanda.

This weekend I helped pick up the basement with my kids(we created a mess). While cleaning up the basement I really realized how much stuff I really have. As I have been wandering the house looking for things to sell online to get money to buy a new bike I realized that I need to let go of my stuff.

I have read many articles about the less you own, the less stress you have in your life. The less you have pick up, clean, worry about, etc. It all makes sense. Except that I don't like to give things up.

For example, I have a camera(a very, very nice one) that my daughter broke about two years ago. It just sits in a drawer. This weekend I finally had the courage to list it on Ebay.

This is a broken device so not a big deal. My larger goal is to really eliminate my stuff and keep just essentials. True essentials. I own probably over a 1000 books. It is time for about 900 of them to go. Old toys, baseball cards, etc. Time to move them out. It is going to be hard, but I know that the freedom of stuff will be huge.

I am giving myself until the end of the summer to complete this task. I will keep you posted during my journey. This could be the toughest one yet. I keep asking myself why I have ______(insert item here) when I have not touched, used, looked at it in years. No need. Time to go.

What is even weirder is that when I made this decision this weekend two things arrived in my email.

One was a quote

“You have to ask yourself,
‘Does this item or thought or response
move me closer to my vision for my best life?’
If it does, great. If it doesn’t,
what is it doing in your life?”
~ Peter Walsh
(1956-)

The second item was a link to a great blog that this latest blog post:

The Short, 16-Step Guide to Getting Rid of Your Crap

You can read it here

If you have any advice or tips, let me know. Otherwise, Craigslist and Ebay here I come.

77 Days Part 2: Afternoon Bike Ride To Wrap Up Big Week of Training

A quick ride. Ava fell asleep, the kids were playing with their friends, and Amanda was cooking to ease her mind. So.....I jumped on the bike and knocked out a quick 25 miles. My legs were tired, but I needed to get one more ride in to end the week.

My goal was to ride at a high cadence while in the big gear up front and 15 on back. I was able to get up towards 90 cadence for the second half of the ride when my legs finally loosened up.

Watched a few episodes of Entourage, but had to cut the viewing short when Addy walked in right during a scene that was not suitable for a 5 year old. I jumped off the bike in record time. I am talking Flash Gordon quickness because simply pausing would not have been enough. I was not ready to explain what I was watching.

Recovered with a glass of milk and my new favorite cookie - peanut butter cookie with crushed Butterfingers. Yeah boy, tell me that is nothing short of AWESOMESAUCE!!!

Off for dinner and then our final robotics practice before Florida.

Oh yeah, $15 closer to my new bike as I sold one item on Ebay. Only about $1985 more. Nothing to it!

77 Days Remaining - QCDC !/2 Marathon Practice Run

Headed out to meet Chad and Katie this morning at Starbucks to head to Augustana College to run the QCDC half marathon course with the Cornbelt Running Club. There was a big group of easily over 50 people.

It was cold. I was freezing as I dressed in shorts and a LU jacket. I knew once I started moving I would warm up, but at first I was doubting the point of this run.

My legs felt good after the big brick workout yesterday. My body recovered very well. I was not sore and I did not feel tired. As we started out going pretty easy I soon realized my legs were more fatigued than they felt.

Thank goodness for great people to run with. Having Chad and Katie to run with kept me moving because I was weak mentally today with the weather and tired legs.

We ran the first 10-11 miles pretty easy and then Chad added a little Uhde Jet Fuel to his system and he was off. Katie adapted easily and I had to dig down a little bit to stay course. I refocused on my strides because when I get tired or try to pick up the pace I always want to lengthen my stride. I realigned my body and put my feet underneath me keeping my stride short and efficient. I was able to finish strong.

I felt great cardio wise. I never felt labored in breathing. I breathed "normal" the whole time. My legs were tired, but that is to be expected after yesterday. Going easy we still ran faster than our(Chad and I ) race times from last year. Chad is going to PR this course big time in two weeks. No doubt about it he is going to crush his time. I have not decided if I am going to run. I need to find out if it would be wise to run one week before my Olympic Distance Tri. I need to decide quickly.

Wrapped up the morning with some donuts for the family. Time to keep knocking off cleaning the house and hanging with the kids. A bike ride is still on the roster for workouts today as I did not get it in before the run. Just have to find time between everything.

Enjoy your Sunday!

78 Days Remaining - 50 Mile Brick With My New Entourage

This was a great morning for training. I did not get my ride in last night. After my swim yesterday I was sucker punched by either a nasty little cold or a massive dose of allergies. It just took over my bald head and my chest. I was sneezing, coughing, and struggling with a massive headache. I cancelled my ride and went to bed around 8:30 since I knew I had a big workout today.

I really wanted to do this workout outdoors and practice the real transition, but the weather kept me indoors. I was not in the mood to deal with the cold, wind, and rain.

It took me about 25 minutes to clear all the gunk that dried in my throat and sinuses from sleeping. I felt like a turd, but eventually I was ready to rock. My legs were tired, but after a few miles I was in a good groove.

I decided to go with a ride at my Olympic Distance on May 20th. After a 3 mile warm up I kicked in gear for 25 miles. I kept my cadence all above 80 for the ride and grinded out on a big chain up front and about 15-14 on the back. I watched three episodes of Entourage and that really passed the time. I never watched this show before and I stopped by the library yesterday to find something to watch. This really helped me out at 5 am in the morning.

As soon as I hit 28 miles I jumped off my trainer and switched to my running shoes. I tempted no socks and prayed for no blisters like last time. I made my way to the treadmill and ran 3 miles.

I wanted to run a 5K. I don't know why my mile splits were not recorded which makes me mad. I know I ran like a 8:05 on the first mile, then picked up the pace to 6:45 - 7:15 the second mile and then ran 6:30 or faster the last mile. I was cruising and it felt nice and relaxed. I was surprised. I did not have the jelly leg feeling. I am sure part of this was due to the trainer and not having real hills to climb.

After the run I had about 7 minute transition as my son was up and I had to get him settled. Amanda was up with Ava so I double checked to make sure things were good and headed back downstairs to ride another 17 miles. I watched Entourage some more(great, great show).

My goal on this set of the ride was to maintain 80 cadence, but I felt like I was cruising on tired legs. I cranked on the big chain up front and 11-13 on the back. I had push, but it did not feel forced. I was so thirsty during this ride. I killed some water big time while riding through this section. Upon finishing this ride I jumped back on the treadmill for two miles. I wanted to hit 50 miles for the day.

Once again, I don't know why my mile splits were not recorded. At one section of the second mile I ran at a 6 minute mile pace for .2 miles, then eased up to 6:30 mile pace for about .5 mile, then finished with 6:00 mile pace for the last .2 miles. I pushed on this one, but once again it did not feel too forced. My breathing was heavy towards the end, but I did not feel exhausted and I recovered quite quickly.

This was a great workout. I needed this. This helped me mentally for my race. If I can feel like this come race day then I will be able to achieve a great time. Things are falling into place on piece at a time.

I have a big day of running tomorrow. I will be running the practice run for the QCDC. I will get in a bike ride prior to the run and then knock out the 13 miles. I will be going nice and easy and not trying to overdo it. This will end a great week of training.

I will train strong through Wednesday, then take some needed days off while in Florida competing against 14 countries with my robotic team.

79 Days Remaining - 3rd Big Swim Workout of the Week

I woke up tired this morning. I did not want to get out of bed. The track workout and the tough bike workout yesterday left my body tired. This whole week has been nonstop with 1000 things to do. I crashed early falling asleep around 8:45 - 9:00 amidst my wife talking to me(that is the 2nd time this week and I do apologize to her...it is not on purpose).

I made my way to the Y trying to muster some motivation to get going. I entered the pool and my shoulders were still quite sore from the last two swim workouts. Usually, I loosen up right away, but today it took way longer than normal.

Warm-Up
400 Free - I swam slow and easy. I did not 150 free, 50 kicks on back and repeated this twice. Time was 9:08

200 Kick with fin and board in 4:41. Legs were tired and dragging low in the water.

400 Pull in 7:12. Started to finally loosen up about halfway through this set. My legs were shot and my upper body was feeling the effects for sure.

Main Set

4 x 250 with 30 sec RI - 4:19, 4:18, 4:13, 4:16
Despite being tired and my legs dragging in the water I still put up some decent times. This was far from an all out effort, but more of a pace that I could sustain for over a mile. I felt good during these cardio wise while my body was slowly getting back into routine

2 x 500 - I started off on the first set ready to go. I decided about 200 yards into the swim to just go for it and go straight through for a 1000 yard swim instead. I did not break and decided to mentally challenge myself on a day I was not feeling up to a challenge. This was good for me. I finished in exactly 17:00 minutes. I will be happy with this pace come race day. This will give me a decent swim time and leaving me fresh for the bike.

Cool Down

I had to really force myself to do the cool down. I was tired, but why not finish off a good workout. 300 yard cool down. 150 kick with fins followed by 100 swim with fins, 50 pull buoys.

Total Yardage: 3300 yards
Total Swim: 60 minutes

Bike ride tonight and then up bright an early to get in my big bike workout of the week. I am going to split the long ride up by doing some brick workouts so I can work on running off the bike. Should be a nice long power sesssion of about 3 hours of work when all is said and done. Should be fun.

80 Days Remaining Part 2: Hardest Bike Workout Of My LIFE

Just completed Spinervals Total Time Trials workout

I came home after school, jumped on the bike and took off.

This workout was a ball buster.

I pushed hard. I made myself get better.

Nothing more to say except my legs are dead from the sprints this morning and this hard workout today.

GETTING IT DONE.....Mission Accomplished

Off to a preschool art show.

80 Days - Track Workout In Tri Shoes

Lots of numbers and splits posted above. This morning Tritt joined me at the track to get in some speed work. I mixed up the plan to do more than just Yasso 800's. I followed the training plan that my plan calls for. I have not done any yet this year so I started today and added some 800's at the end.

Goal Times
800 - 3:00
400 - 1:30
200 - :45
100 - :22-:23
Warm up was three laps around the track to get loose and mentally prepare for the workout ahead.

Started off with 4 x 100's with 100 jog in between each one.
My splits for the 100's were :20, :22, :19, :21

Next up was 4 x 200's with 100 jog in between each one
My splits were :43, :44, :42, :41

Next was 4 x 400 and here is when my legs started to get a little tired. We had 200 jog between each one.
My splits were 1:23, 1:23, 1:24, 1:24. I was ahead of pace, but it did not feel like I was going all out.

Last was 4 x 800's
My splits were 2:56, 2:59, 2:53, 2:52. I was under 3:00 for all of them and I was very happy with the results. It is all a mind game and training the mind to handle what the body is capable of. We ended with one lap around the track and called it a day.

7 miles of track workout is plenty for a Thursday morning. I am off right after school to ride outside. I will get this ride in. I will be able to ride outside which I have not done in a few weeks. I look forward to getting back on track with my riding and also my eating. My last weigh in on Tuesday I weighed in at the lowest ever in months dating back to my marathon training. I was closer to my race weight goal of 200 and right where I needed to be, but the last few days have caused me to make poor choices and I am sure I am no longer where I was. I will really have to focus on good food choices because next week when I am in Florida for robotics I am going to have to be super strong and not fall prey to all the junk food that I know will be around me.

Thanks to Tritt for joining me on the track. It is huge to have someone else to run with especially these miserable track workouts. I know the payoff will be worth it.

81 Days Remaining - BIG Swim Workout

I am behind on my posts and workout records. Wednesday I had to miss out on the Yasso 800's with Katie and Chad because this is my big week of training and more importantly my swimming. I had a big swim workout scheduled for today so I knew I did not need to get up at 3 am to run before this one.

Here is a breakdown of the swim workout. My shoulders were sore by the end of this session, but it felt good to push myself out of my comfort zone.


300 Free Warm Up (5:26 with 200 pull)
200 Kick Warm Up 5:08 (100 on back)

6 x75 (50 Build, 25 B-3)
1:07, 1:08, 1:10, 1:07, 1:06, 1:07

8 x50 DESC 2-2-2-2
I was really happy with this part because I was right on track without looking at my watch. I tried to go by feel and it worked.
:46, :47
:44, :45
:42, :42
:40, :41

4 x 75 Kick(1:27, 1:32, 1:34, 1:38)

2 Sets of 3 x 200 with 1 minute rest after the third set.

3:17, 3:14, 3:13

3:10, 3:13, 3:17

These six 200's worked me out. I tried to maintain the same pace and imagining myself swimming at this pace in my race. This would be a great pace for me to swim in the race coming up in a few weeks. I want to swim a good split, but still feel fresh for the bike and run

16 x 25 (Odd build, Even Fast)
:21, :18, :21, :19, :21, :18, :22, :18, :22, :18, :20, :18, :21, :18, :21, :17

Cool Down 200 Free and Back 4:20

I was going to ride Wednesday night being I was too tired Tuesday night. However, I fell asleep. I at some junk/garbage food after dinner thinking I would burn it off on the bike, but that did not happen so needless to say the weight management for race day is not going well this week. I will get on the bike today as I have no choice but to ride three days in a row now. I must GET IT DONE!


Total Swim Time: 58:33
Total Yards: 3450

82 Days - 6B46 Run....Running Fast Bruce Wayne, Running Fast

This is my write up for my Tuesday workout. I am just getting time to upload.

What a day! Started off with a great run this morning. I really thought this was going to be a nice and easy run based on how we started. I was quite content with an easy run as my legs were tired and a little sore and we were trying out a new route as our regular loop is being torn up with construction. However, after mile 3 the pace picked up and there was no turning back. We were cruising by the end and it felt good. It was nice to have the pace really take off and have it still feel pretty moderate.

After getting to school and being quite busy with some students cramming the last minute details on our robot before we compete internationally my day was flying by. I had a brief break before my elementary kids arrived so I tried to chug down a protein shake as I am working hard to keep my protein levels high.

Well, I did not get to enjoy this shake because I decided to flip the cup right on my lap. It looked like a super duper wet fart that had a big air bubble mixed in that just exploded. Here I am in my chair looking like I took a dump in my pants and trying to figure out what to do. I realized I had no paper towels and needed to quickly get to my car to head home. I flew down the hallway and to my car. I left the mess just sitting there. I got home changed and made my way back just in the nick of time for my students.

I needed to get a ride in, but that did not happen. After a busy evening with the kids and the ultimate homework tantrum put on by both my son and then me, it was time to call it a night. I porked out right before bed and went to sleep crabby with no bike ride and eating like a pig.

We all have days like this and I just hope I don't have anymore.

83 Days - Swim Workout, Sore Right Leg,and Big Week of Training

Looking at my schedule this week I have another big week of training ahead of me. This is one of the final big weeks prior to my Bluff Creek Olympic Tri on May 20th. Next week will be a moderate/rest week that I should have had last week, but with my trip to Florida for 4.5 days to compete with my robotic team I knew I would not get in a great week of training and decided to switch my rest week to next week and just keep training hard until then. I don't know if that is wise or not being so close to the race and my taper week, but it is what it is at this point. I thought I would go ahead and have a quality work week last week instead of two mediocre weeks.

With that being said, my legs are sore. My quads are sore from the race and big bike ride on Saturday. Running on Sunday helped a little bit, but they are still sore today. My right calf/shin area is really sore so I must keep an eye on this and make sure it does not get worse. It seems like people are battling some injuries as of late and I don't want to be on that list so I will listen to my body and take the needed rest if required.

This morning I had my first of three major swim workouts this week. My schedule calls for a big week of swimming and then it slowly goes down as I get closer to race week. The workout today was a form workout, but a tough one because I had to really focus hard to keep my form throughout.

400 warm up - 100 free, 100 kick with board, 200 pull

8 x 50 (25 RT/LT) w/ 25 Build with 20 RI
:56, :55, :53, :51, :51, :53, :53, :53 - This is a tough set. I really have work hard to make sure I rotate when swimming with one arm. It is a challenge for me because I swim so flat in the water. This drill helps really work on rotating.

500 @ T-Pace :06 - Once again, I did not know my T-Pace so I just tried to push it a little bit without being stupid. I swam in 8:12 and felt really good. I was really reaching and pulling and it just felt smooth for once. I did this workout 3 weeks ago and I swam this first set in 8:00 so I was slower then, but I think I finished today feeling much stronger.

After a 15 sec RI I moved into 2 x 250
Set 1: 3:55
Set 2: 3:56

Last time I hit 3:49 and 3:56 so I was not too far off. I was cranking hard last time and this time I did not feel like I was going all out. Crazy to think the difference is only seconds. It feeds right into that lecture I listened to during my bike ride this weekend.

Next up after a 15 sec rest was another 500. I swam this in 8:10. I told myself to find a decent pace and just hold it. This set felt much more calmer and relaxed than the first 500 and I swam faster. I could not believe it. The last workout I swam this in 8:19. Seeing this makes me realize that I am much more consistent today which is good.

To end I had 5 x 100 at T-Pace + :05. I just wanted to push a little bit and see what I had without being stupid.
1:30, 1:27, 1:26, 1:27, 1:27 were my times with 15 sec RI. I was happy with these. I was tired after that last set for sure.

Compared to last time when I swam
Set 1: 1:35
Set 2: 1:29(I was tired after this one)
Set 3: 1:32
Set 4: 1:31
Set 5: 1:28

I was more improved today. It is good to see the results. It keeps reminding me that my hard work is paying off. Now I just hope I don't panic in that lake water when I cannot see my hands and am surrounded by others.

My right calf/shin felt good while in the water. It felt sore walking out of the Y so I have my compression socks today to see if that helps. I hope for a good foam roller workout tonight and feeling better tomorrow.

Another great start to the week. 2900 yards done in less than an hour.

84 Days Remaining - Easy Run To Shake Out Soreness

I woke up at 5 am this morning to get the final miles of the week in before the crazy day ahead. I headed out around 6 am for a 8 mile run. My goal was to run nice and easy where I was never breathing hard and could sing out loud without losing my breath.

It was a bit chilly to start, but perfect running weather because once you get going you warm up, but never get hot. My legs were sore. They were sore getting out of bed and were sore when I started. The bike ride after the race really taxed these two bad boys.

Starting off was rough, but I told myself to just maintain. I kept it easy and once I felt where that pace was I tried to keep it. It was right around the 8:10-8:15 pace. As I was running down 53rd I decided to hang a left on Devil's Glen and hit up that hill and the Hopewell hill. That was a nice little break to the flat ground. It also added another mile to my run.

Towards the end my legs were tired, but my HR stayed calm the entire time. I feel much better now after the run. Time for a good stretch and then off and running doing this and that until about 9 pm tonight. It was a perfect time to get in a nice easy run with no worries and time to just reflect.

I had a great week of training. I feel really good about things. While running today I kept imagining pacing people during the run portion of the 70.3 Ironman. The DVD I watched stressed over and over that it is all about keeping the pace. Don't go out too fast because it will catch you. You cannot have a good bike split if you have a bad run. I kept trying to visualize the ideas I have been learning into my training. I have a long way to go yet, but I am seeing results and seeing things come together. You have to be able to ride out the pitfalls, the bad training days, the soreness, the days of no motivation, and the days you just don't have anything going your way. If you can ride through these days, then the good things are always around the bend. Back at it again tomorrow morning.....

Here is the course I ran. It was weird how it perfectly came out to 9 miles as I finished at my house. Not planned at all.

85 Days Remaining Part 2: Afternoon Bike Ride

After getting home from the 5K race I had plans to hang with the kids. Amanda was not feeling good, Addy was at a birthday party, Ava hit a major wall and fell asleep and as soon as I was ready to ask Aiden to go do something he was out the door playing with his friends. With Amanda sleeping on the couch I decided that I might as well go ahead and get my long ride in.

So, after lunch I jumped on my bike(on the darn trainer) and started up. My mind was not ready for the 3 hour Spinerval DVD so I put on a 90 minute DVD from Endurance Nation. It was basically a recorded lecture by two guys who shared ideas and strategies for Ironman. Despite being a boring setup of two guys talking I pedaled along and picked up some really good ideas. These will be shared in a future post.

My plan for today was to ride at what I feel is my race cadence and pace. I know my pace is faster than what I will experience on the road, but the key was the cadence in the gear that I most likely will ride in during the race. I held on to that pace/cadence for the first 26 miles. At this point I needed to mix things up. I decided to crank the gears a little and pick up the pace through mile 30. Instead I pushed my legs through mile 34 so I cranked harder than race pace for 8 miles. I took the next two miles to work on a higher cadence above 90. From here I went one mile on, one mile off where I just cranked as hard as I could. The last mile or two I really pushed and talked my way through it. I need to push through my mental hurdles. I am pulling the Curt S. running approach to my bike where when you hit that place where you struggle you just go harder. I did just that today.

I was very happy to have this ride done and over with. We have a super busy day tomorrow. My legs are sore from this ride as I pushed pretty good today, but it felt good. I felt like this was the kind of ride I needed.

I need to get in a 8 mile run tomorrow morning to wrap up my training for the week. I am happy that I was able to get it all done despite a crazy week of school and life.

85 Days Remaining - Saturday Morning Live Uncommon Race For Renewal 5K

Woke up this morning with thoughts of running one 90 minute loop prior to the 5K race today. I decided to sleep in until 5:50(that is sleeping in for me, especially when I was asleep before 9 pm). I decided to skip the long run and go for it during the 5K today. I did not want any excuses. As much as I told myself I did not care about breaking 20 minutes on this race......I really did. I really wanted to come in under 20.

Last night we ate at Texas Roadhouse and I ate like a pig. Pull pork dinner with jack cheese and mushrooms, rolls and the butter, loaded baked potato, and some fries from the plate of my son with a big beverage to wash it all down left me feeling full and bloated. Not sure why I ate so much, but I did. Tacking the calories it was more calories and fat consumed in this one meal then everything I ate throughout the entire day. I eat a lot throughout the day, trust me.

This morning I had some coffee and two waffles. This is just standard ritual. I was still hungry, but I did not want to eat too much. I knew from the dinner last night that I had enough in me to be fine. I relaxed for about an hour, showered and then headed to the race.

When I arrived it was cold. I missed the kid race as I was pinning my bib on my shirt, but ran a short .5 mile run with Chad to warm up. He was ready to go. I could tell. I ran up one hill one more time and then it was ready to rock.

There were a ton of LU people running today. It was sweet to see all the shirts and gear. We really overtook the race and it was a cool site.

My goal for the run was to run 6:30 for the first two miles and then try to hang on for the last. I did not check the course ahead of time. All I knew was that there were two hills somewhere and one was tough.

We started the race and I was near the front(it was a small race so it was not hard to get up towards the front). I started off and felt good. My body just fell into a good pace. My knee pain went away for the most part once I started moving. We hit that first hill and I just tried to maintain without going all out. It had my HR going for sure and I was running around 7:20 pace up the hill. Once we got to the top I tried to regain my breathing and slowly work back down to race pace. At mile one I thought I was right around 6:30 and I was at 6:34 so I was in a good place.

I really did not feel like I had picked up the pace the second mile. It felt nice and relaxed. At 1.5 miles was when I decided to make a decision to hit 20 or not. I felt that I could based on how I felt and my time. However, once I finished with mile 2 I began to think I was not going to hit my mark. I don't know what I was thinking, but in my mind I thought I would be over. Mile three proved interesting running down a steep hill. I had so much momentum that there was no stopping this body. I just prayed I would not trip. Because of the hill my time for the third mile was real good.

I was able to pass one guy on the last stretch to the finish and I think I took 4th(I honestly don't know). My watch read 19:13 and the clock read 19:09 so I going with the clock because it looks better.

I am very happy with this time and the race. I did not feel exhausted afterwards. If I had to rate my effort I would put it around 85%. I finished with the feeling of having more in the tank. That is a good feeling. I am glad to not be exhausted. This is a new PR for me. About 11 months ago I ran the Wild 5K and ran 21:27. To see my time drop over a minute and not feel completely drained is a great sign that the training I am doing is working. I need to continue to work hard on my swim and bike and make sure I get those Yasso 800's in each week. I think I can continue to drop some time off my run which will help me in these races and more importantly in my triathlons where I feel most confident on my feet.

Great job to everyone who came out today to help in raising money for Project Renewal. It is a great organization and this was a great race. I liked the course and it was well ran and operated. To all the LU people I look forward to hearing about how you felt you did. It looked impressive seeing everyone finishing strong on the course.

When I am able to snag some photos I will upload them, but I am now off to hang with the kids, find time to get a ride in and go from there. Enjoy your weekend and keep GETTING IT DONE!

87 and 86 Days - Two Day Recap - 5K Race Coming up

Above our the results from our 6B46 run yesterday. I was swamped yesterday and did not have a chance to do a write up. There were nine of us(good number, but it seemed small compared to previous numbers). It was great to see Byrne and Curt after not seeing them in a while. This run was a perfect run. It felt nice and easy, but when I look at the times I can't help but be impressed by our progress as runners. To have these numbers and have it feel fairly easy is amazing. Chad and I were talking about how we cannot where we used to be not too long ago. It seems not that long ago that we were happy with times that were much slower than this and now here we are way ahead running good splits.

I needed to get a good ride in last night, but that did not happen. My right knee has started acting up again. It hurts off and on. I think there is something with riding on the trainer because since I jumped back on the trainer that is when the little hitch has flared up again. After the kids went to bed and we finally got Ava settled down(she was not happy last night) I decided to call it a night. I was exhausted, not feeling the greatest, and my knee was not feeling the best. I crashed. I was out before 9 pm. I really wanted to get the ride in last night to give my body a day of rest before the 5K, but it is what it is.

I woke up at 4:10 to ride the bike. I had another 26 mile ride on schedule. I decided to do the 3 x 5 mile workout making it a 4 x 5 mile workout because I thought that workout on Tuesday was tough both mentally and physically, but not exhausting. I jumped on a little after 4:30. My knee hurt like no other the first few miles. I considered jumping off, but told myself to get to mile 5. By mile 5 the pain left and I was good to go. I need to hit up Kaminski again and have them work their magic. Each set I tried to focus on something different - one working on cadence during the tough gears, cadence while in medium high gear, pushing during the gear I plan to ride race day, and then survival. I added a 1 mile cool down between each set. The last few miles I cranked the cadence above 90 on mile 25 when the legs were tired, then cranked all the gears and pushed hard for mile 26, with one mile cool down. It was a good ride. I am glad I decided to get it done because it was one of those mornings when the bed and open windows were just perfect. I could have laid there all morning.

I look forward to seeing many LU people tomorrow at the Race For Renewal 5K. This is my first road race of the year and only my second 5K ever. I heard there is a nasty little hill, but I hope to put in a good time. I need to read up on some strategy and run a good race. I don't really know what I can handle, but breaking 20 minutes would be AWESOMESAUCE!, but I am not going to focus on that so much, but just be part of an awesome group of LIVE UNCOMMON people.

Remember, you can help donate to the cause by giving some money to this fantastic cause that helps so many people and kids.

Click this link to donate whatever you would like to provide. I don't care if it is only a dollar. Every little bit helps all the charities I am racing for like Project Renewal and the many others coming up on the calendar.

http://liveuncommon.org/default.aspx?function=displayparticipant&id=247&eid=4

Have a great Friday!

88 Days Remaining - 3:10 am Wake Up Call, Bike Ride, Swim Workout, and Great Nutrition Advice

Last night I did not get my bike ride in. My day was super busy. By 8:15 I was done. I knew I had no motivation to put in a good bike ride. I was tired. I started playing with the hours and decided I was better off to go to bed, wake up super early and get it done today. That is what I did!

At 3:10 am my alarm went off so I could get my 26 mile bike ride in before I my swim at 5 am. I woke up, filled up my water bottles, grabbed a Vega Endurance Bar and some GU Chomps and started riding at 3:30. I was not in any mood for Spinervals so I did the bike workout prescribed in my training. I needed to get in 3 x 5 miles at my Olympic Distance race pace. I honestly don't know what I can really pedal at in a race to come off the bike and be able to run fast. I chose to go by feel. I started the first set pretty mild around 22-23 mph for 5 miles. This felt good. The second set I picked it up by cranking the gears and going 24-25 mph. I was tired after this one so I took a one mile easy spin. The third set I cranked to the next gear shift and maintained 25 mph. I took another easy half mile and then picked it up for one more set(bonus set) and hovered around 26 mph. I took the last few miles somewhat easy and the last mile I cranked hard to finish a good ride. I knocked out the 26 miles in 1:09. I was happy with the ride.

 My legs recovered fairly well. I made sure to hydrate. I should have ate more, but I did not realize that until the swim. It was good to know because running takes more effort.

I headed to the pool and when I started I felt tired. I felt slow in the water.

Warm Up
100 Free
100 Kick with fins and board
100(one are RT/LT, free)
100 kick on my back with fins

200 Pull in 3:27
8 x 25 Build - :19,:20, :20, :20, :19, :20, :19, :19

4 x 300 Race Pace + :30 Swim Interval - I could not remember what my Race Pace time when swimming 300 so I went with 1:45 giving me 5:15 plus the :30 second rest it came out to 5:45. I decided to just take a 30 second rest after my time if I swam faster than 5:15 so I was not resting too long.

Set 1: 4:53
Set 2: 4:46
Set 3: 4:36
Set 4: 4:36

I was quite pleased with the progress because I did not feel like I was swimming faster/harder. I really put all my focus on stretching, rotating, and extending before pulling the water. I could feel the difference. It felt good. I could actually feel it for once. I was dead by the third set. I almost did a pull set, but I made myself toughen up and just swim. I am glad I did because it felt good to overcome the self doubt.

6 x 50 with 30 second rest with 1-5 seconds faster than race pace
:40, :40, :38, :38, :38, :38

I was gassed at this point. Flat out tired

300 Cool Down consisted of freestyle and pull for 200

Total Swim: 2600 yards
Total Swim Time: 44 minutes

I had to make sure to really eat a big breakfast to replenish my energy. My last post I talked nutrition and received some great advice from my mentor and friend Jeff Paul and another incredible athlete/coach Carson Christen(check his blog and training company that he works for). When I hear from these two examples of excellence I always listen. Jeff reminded me that it is okay to splurge once in while and offered some great healthy ideas that I need to try out. A trip to the store is in need. Carson always gives me great advice and ideas when he comments or emails. Every time I hear from them I treat it like a coaching session. Carson commented on increasing my protein intake for breakfast. He was right.I was neglecting that aspect. I increased my protein this morning and it really helped. Thanks to the both of you for your guidance. If only I could send some Happy Joe's to Colorado for Carson! And you can bet your bottom dollar I will soak all the knowledge I can from Jeff when we head to Bluff Creek Tri on May 20th.

A good day. Busy like no other, but I still feel good. I don't feel tired or worn out. I actually achieved more sleep by riding at 3 am instead of last night and waiting to calm down before being able to fall asleep. GETTING IT DONE! was in effect at 3 am. Sometimes you have to do what you need to do to get it done. Onward with the day!

89 Days Remaining - 6B46 and Delicious Dinner

Nice easy run today. My legs felt tired from the big weekend. I could tell the run and long bike ride this weekend finally caught up. I did not feel bad, but this body was not ready to push. It felt good to just run and not push it at the end. Taking it nice and easy and just conversing along the way was what this mind and body needed.

Despite the crazy day I had where I honestly never really had a break of more than a minute until 2:50 I am happy to report that I ate well all day. Eating my green beans from a can while administering tests to 3rd graders is the way to go!!

However, for dinner I fell apart.....darn Happy Joe's. Addy earned a small pizza for reading at her preschool. We devoured a large and then stopped for ice cream. Yeah, it can fall apart fast. I was so happy eating well all day. I was super excited to note that I lost a few pounds from my weigh in last week. Charting my food has helped. I am not stopping what I eat because I love food too much, but being able to see how a poor choice in eating like a blizzard really cramps the rest of the day in eating because you blow so many calories. Portion control is the other big one. I counted out what makes one serving of cereal and I just laughed. I need about 3.5 servings when I eat cereal. I am learning. I am not counting calories and being insane about it, but just making myself aware. For example, tonight I fell apart eating but it was so good that I don't care. The thing that I have to deal with now is that I am out of calories for the rest of the day.

Do I stress?, No.

I will get in my planned bike ride and be ride in line to hitting my nutrition needs. Yes, ice cream does not fuel the body nutritionally, but I get enough in to be okay. I will make changes in small increments. I would suggest charting your food for a few days. It is an eye opener to take into account all that you actually eat in a day.

Time to hang with the family and relax, let the pizza and ice cream settle before plopping down on the bike.

Oh yeah, those big old blisters I earned this weekend. Them bad boys keep filling up and I keep on popping. It is like a little feud between my feet and my fingers. I shall squeeze them on my way to victory.

No Yasso 800's tomorrow. I am opting to let this body recover by getting in my required swim workout. I will instead push hard at the 5K run this week and treat the race as my "sprint" workout. I don't run fast enough to count it as a "sprint" but I will sure try.

Weekly Recap and Goals for the Next Week

I have not reflected back on a week of training now in three weeks. This is something that I feel is very important to my training and the fact that I have simply not made time for it is not an excuse. I don't want to go back to three weeks ago because that won't do me any good. Looking back at last week I had a great week of training. I think that two days of rest the week prior really helped because I was close to having my body and mind just shut down. I was tired and exhausted and spendings two days in the Dells and not training was vital for me to jumping back on track. Nothing was lost, but everything was gained. I am terrible at rest and it is important that I have these life events to force me to chill out every few weeks. I have another life moment in two weeks when I leave for Florida to compete internationally with my Lego Robotics team. Until then I will grind it out like I did last week.

Here are my training totals from last week

94.65 miles on the bike(all indoor on the trainer)
31.62 miles on the road running(including half marathon race pace)
4.68 miles in the pool(taking one swim workout off and adding swim clinic)

This puts my training totals at the following totals since I started the first week of December 2011

1258.22 miles on the bike
444.04 miles on the road
70.36 miles in the water

Total mileage is 1772.62

Not too shabby for someone who just started out in biking and swimming in December. I realized this week how much more I have to learn. I need to continue to work on nutrition and hydration by fine tuning things on the bike. I need to begin to eat during my long runs to help my stomach learn to process foods. I need to see my weight start to drop soon. I am only 33 days away from my May 20th race at the Bluff Creek Tri. I want to be at 200 lbs. I have about 8 lbs to go. I have been tracking what I eat each day and snacking is my enemy. I need to make better snack options. I weigh in tomorrow so hopefully there will have been a small drop in weight from last week.

I hope to get in more quality bike workouts this week. I hate the trainer, but using the Spinerval DVD's help me and as much as I hate going through them I know the payoff will be worth it. I have Yasso 800's to get in this week but I will be cautious with those as my left foot is still a little sore from the shoes I ran in this weekend. The pad of my foot and my toes are still quite tender. Blisters are fine despite how nasty they looked. If the foot does not feel better after tomorrow I might have to chill on the sprints and hammer out a good swim workout instead.

Week Goals
-Snack better and healthier (try out the MyFitnessPal app and join me in tracking your food)
-Quality bike workouts - don't take the short road
-Stay calm and don't let the stress of life take over this week. It is a crazy week and added stress is not good for the body

90 Days Remaining - Monday Swim, No Watch, Change of Plans to T-30 Test

Woke up this morning feeling a little tired. I put in a big weekend with the race pace run, long bike ride, and swim clinic. I was getting ready with my planned workout when I realized that I did not have my watch with me. I left it at school. The workout I had planned required timing my splits. So, I had to adapt. I opted to go with an optional swim workout today putting my other two required swim workouts back on Wednesday and Friday. I decided to just go and swim 30 minutes straight to mentally prove to myself that I could swim this long without stopping.

Basically, I decided to go with an easier swim workout with the mindset of a T-30 timed pace. Without a watch I would have to swim by feel which is what I will be doing during my race anyways.

I could not remember what my T-30 lap count was last time. I knew it was over 70. I was thinking 76, but I was off one. It was actually 75. Looking back at my post from March 7th I was interested to see how I felt during my last T-30 compared to today.

Here is part of the post which stood out to me

I recorded my time every 5 laps
Set 1: 4:10
Set 2: 4:07
Set 3: 4:07
Set 4: 4:00
Set 5: 4:00
Set 6: 3:54
Set 7: 3:52
Set 8(5 lengths): 1:50

My total swim time was 30:02
I swam 1875 yards

My total swim yardage with warm-up and cooldown was 2325


Reflecting on this I am happy. However, I know that I could start off faster than 4:10. I was tired at the end and my stomach was hurting, but I think I could jump out to at least a 4:00 split and pick up from there. That will be my goal when I test again.

The reason this stands out is because today I swam 73 laps in about 3:10. I was below my last swim test. I should be bummed, but I am not. First, I did not wear a watch and refused to look up at the clock until I hit 71 laps. I forced myself to swim by feel not time. Because of this I ended up swimming a little bit shorter distance. However, when I finished I was not tired and did not have any stomach pains. I felt pretty good coming out. Yes, my arms and legs were a little tired from swimming straight for 30 minutes, but my HR seemed very much under control. I was trying to mimic a swim pace that would allow me to be set for the bike part of my race. If I can swim this pace and feel this way come May 20th I will be very happy. I felt like I was ready to jump out and tackle the bike. I did not feel depleted and worn out. This is a sign that I am continuing to make improvements in my swim. I still have some technique work to correct, but I know I am still making strides.

Once I nailed my rhythm I felt like I was right where I should be. I hope to remain this calm while in the race. I know my adrenaline will be flowing. I am not used to swimming around other people so close either. The swim clinic where we had to be on the feet of others really spiked my HR. I felt like I was just in a constant blur of motion. But, knowing how I swam today and how pretty easy it felt(on a scale of 1-10 I would rate it as a 6.5) I feel much more confident in myself. Plus, having a wetsuit on will help me tremendously also.

This morning I did

100 free
100 kick
50 kick on back
100 pull

30 min swim - 73 laps or 1825

Cool Down
100 Kick
100 Pull
50 Kick on back
50 free

Total Yardage - 2475

91 Days Remaining Pt. 2 - Wetsuit Sweetness and Swim Clinic

A few hours after my bike ride this morning I headed to Augustana College for the next session of swim clinic coach by the Tenacious Tri of Tara, Stacey, and Lisa. I needed this clinic big time. I have felt off in my workouts lately and it is always good to hear from someone else what I am doing wrong.

I have noted in some previous swim reflections that my swim just felt out of sorts. I have noticed my stroke count higher than normal sitting around 15-16. I know that I should be around 14. Swimming today during the drills I was reminded(Thanks Tara) about some key things to focus on

- Reaching on stroke. This will allow me to reduce my strokes and help my body rotate
-Bending at the knees on my kick
-Quit being flat while swimming

These three things have been pretty consistent in my areas of swimming weakness. I honestly thought my kick was better. At least it felt better, but today I realized it wasn't. This is good. I need to know these things. I know the coaches sometimes feel bad about always telling what we are doing wrong, but I love it. I need to know because I don't feel or recognize these errors. I know when I get tired my reach fails miserably. Working during the clinic I felt like I was getting back to where I need to. This also gives me some great guidance to focus on during my workouts. I missed the last clinic and that one month off killed me fundamentally. I am glad I was able to make it today and glad that Tara was there to set me straight.

I warmed up with 250 of freestyle. We then did 5 drill sets so that added another 250. Next up was a main set of 4 x 100 with 15 second rest so about every 1:45. The goal was to hit/touch the feet of the person in front to mimic race conditions. This was good practice because this swimming atmosphere sent my heart racing. Being surrounded by bubbles and reduced vision is something I need to work on. By the third set I was dead. I sat out part of the last set because my body hit a wall. The early bike ride and this set did me in. I knew there was no way I could continue. If so, I would have either cramped majorly over my whole body or barfed. Neither one was needed on this Sunday so I took a breather and jumped in for the last 50.

We then did rotations. First was to swim to the other end and do 10 pool pushups. This was tough. We had to do this twice, then rotate to the next station which was 4 x 25 swimming Tarzan style(head above water) trying to keep a ball between arms. I struggled big time because I was so focused on the ball that I forgot to keep kicking. Last, we had to swim down and when we sighted the flag stand up and spring to the wall in the water. This was a good rotation series.

Next up I tried to dry as best I could to get my wetsuit on. They were nice enough to allow us to stick around for a little bit to practice some more. I decided to test my suit. It took me about 15 minutes to get the darn thing on. It is just not an easy process. I did nick my suit down by the calf of my one leg. I was assured that this was okay and would not hurt anything. I was mad for doing that, but I think it is inevitable. I finally got it on and tested the suit out.

HOLY SMOKES!!!

It was amazing! I felt like I was flying through the water. I was right on top of the water just cruising. It was amazing. I don't know how else to describe it. I swam 4 x 50. The first was in 30 seconds and the next three sets were under 30 right around 28-29 seconds. I could not believe it.

The wetsuit just won me over. Now I just need to open swim and get some practice in open water with it on. Things are getting better and back on track for sure.

I ended up with 1250 of swimming. I ended this week with some good quality training. This week I need to make a decision. It is a recovery week, but I am not sure if I should take it or just bump it back two weeks for when I leave for Florida for International Robotics Competition. I will see how I feel later today and make a decision.

91 Days Remaining - Early Sunday Morning Bike Ride

Woke up at 5 am to get in my long bike ride. My training plan has me riding 43 miles with some cadence work at 40-60 at target HR and the rest just putting in the miles. I did not want to just ride. I did not want to ride in front of a movie. I need to get in some quality work when I am on the bike. I have to improve. No more to be said, but time to improve.

I put on Spinerval: Tough Love which is a 3 hour ride work that he says is equal to 4 hours on the bike outdoors. I need to build up to riding three hours and completing this workout. I pondered riding the whole workout this morning, but after hitting a wall about an hour into the workout I decided it would not be wise to push beyond what the training plan states. So, I rode until I hit 43 or finished the current workout when hitting this mile marker.

When I woke up I was not sore at all from the run. I figured my legs would be a little sore so I was surprised to not feel any pain in the legs. My feet were a different story. My left foot was killing me. It was hurting much of yesterday and was very tender this morning. The whole stretch from my big toe to small toe across that whole pad hurt. When I jumped on the bike the pain did not bother me except for a few times when my feet felt like they were going to cramp.

I started up on an empty stomach. I was trying something different to my fueling. In my night rides I have stomach pains while riding and having a hard time finding what works on the bike. This morning I jumped on without eating, but started eating while riding right away. I started to eat a Bonk Bar - peanut butter and jelly flavor - and it was delicious and helped out quite a bit. I made sure to consume liquid every 10-15 minutes to prepare for my race. I also had a Vega electrolyte drink mix as well as GU Chomps. I am happy to report my stomach was golden. No issues at all and I think I would be well prepared to handle a run.

I did sweat more than I have ever sweated before. I typically sweat like crazy, but this morning it was like a stream. I weighed in before the ride at 208.6. After the ride and consuming the following

- Three bottles of water(the big bottle, and two white ones)
-One bottle of the Vega Electrolyte Mix
-GU Chomps
-Bonk Bar

I weighed in after the ride and had dropped three pounds to 205.6. This tells me I need to make sure I fuel more and hydrate even more if possible. I don't want to lose that much weight prior to my run. I will work on adding one more solid food item to the next long ride. I will follow this same format, but just add one more element. I hope this works because I have been struggling to find something that works.

Here is a copy of the workout I completed. I still had about 40+ minutes left of the DVD left, but here is what I completed upon reaching my 43 miles. There are still about 3 sets of riding left on the DVD that I will eventually tackle when ready.

This was a hard workout. I was gassed at a little over an hour. The legs just fatigued. I am sure some of that was due to the run at race pace yesterday. I did not stand on the middle standing option during the 5 x 6 min set. My legs could not hold on so I just rode through the middle stand instead.

Here are my times. I did forget to hit the lap button a few times so things don't line up perfect, but good enough for me to follow.

The best part of this workout was how well my body has recovered from the ride. Typing this up I feel good. I feel ready for my swim clinic. Even better was that I finished as soon as Addy woke up. I did not miss out on family time. I look forward to hanging out with my little buddy Ava this morning watching some music videos and chit chatting. We hung out all day together while Amanda was shopping and Aiden was outside and Addy was in Addy world.




Check out those big feet. She is going to be out athlete along with Addy(I hope!)

Time for coffee and some protein before leaving to swim. Wish me luck on my wetsuit trial swim today.

Picture of LU Early Morning Running Crew

Just wanted to update with a picture(thanks Jen) of the amazing group of runners this morning. This is motivation every Saturday morning to get up early to run. Each person is super AWESOME! with great information to share about life, running, and whatever else comes into mind while running.

Don't forget to note the sweet moped Jay came cruising on at about 25 mph this morning over speed bumps and all. His intro to the morning group is going to be hard to beat. I  still laughing visualizing big Jay bouncing over that speed bump and his infamous line, "This isn't even my good moped!"

Who is up to top the entrance next weekend?

And on a side note, Curt S. you were definitely smaller.

Like I said, you never know what will be said among a long run. For inquiries about the issues of Curt compared to Katie, you must seek them out!

92 Days Remaining - Saturday Morning Long Run, Many Paths, Many Goals, All For Pursuit Of Making Ourselves Better!

This morning we started our running at 6 am instead of the super early Byrne style 4:30 am. Byrne was out of town so we started at 6 am and made sure we had a good run in his absence even though I am sure he was out running well before we were this morning in Marion.

We had another great turnout. I can't remember the exact total of runners, but I know Jen took a picture so when I see that image I will update the number, but I know we had at least 15. Yes, Byrne we took a picture for you so your tradition would not end!!

This morning the running all started together, but the end results were a little varied based on personal training plans and goals. Some just needed to get in a long run. Some were going long based on their marathon plan. Some were supposed to run a half marathon race pace. Some were just along for the ride. In the end, it all worked out. It did not matter what we were achieving personally because together as a unit we were GETTING IT DONE! I really love this group. I wish there was more time to talk and get to know the runners more, but we all lead busy lives and just the fact that we all get together early on the weekends is enough. When I pull up I am always motivated to get started. I can drive in tired and cranky, but seeing the cars....and mopeds......always energizes me.

My running plan called for 11 miles with 7 at race pace. I am not sure what I will be able to hold after getting off the bike so I just decided to run with Gaffney, Uhde, and Curt S. to see how long I could hold on. I know Katie needed to get in a half marathon race this weekend for her training. Instead we just ran at her race pace. I knew this would be challenging enough. I was not completely sold on running the whole 13 miles, but I told myself I would see how the body handled and make a decision at the half way point.

We took off and I felt good. Despite riding late last night, my legs felt good. They warmed up nicely and I felt at ease and relaxed. I knew I would be okay. When we hit the bike path I knew I could handle the run without it feeling like going overboard. I need to be careful about not pushing too much and needing more recovery time than I have time for. At 6.5 miles I felt good. The HR was steady, my breathing was minimal, and my legs felt a little tired, but nothing major. I decided to stay with the group.

I felt great cardio and aerobic wise until mile 11 when I caught a painful side cramp. I forced my way through it and finished on par with the rest of my mile times. I was quite happy with the run.

I did run in my triathlon race shoes. I decided to try them out on this run by running with no socks. I don't know that a 13 mile run is the best option for testing them out, but that is what I did.

I love these shoes. These are the Asics Tri Noosa 7's. They are bright and flashy.

When I started out they felt fine. I felt good running in them. This is the first pair in over a year that I have ran in that have not been Brooks Ravenna 2.








About 3.5 miles into the run I felt some rubbing on the inside of my right shoe. I stopped at one point to make sure there was not just a piece of fabric or something loose. I decided to just run through it. I had already started the blister forming process so there was little I could do that point. This spot lead to this wonderful blister that looks awesome!












As I kept running I could just feel the blister growing. I knew it was going to be a good one, but I did not think it would be this super dazzling. This has to be the best blister I have earned yet to date. As I continued to run I felt my right foot toe area starting to run. It did not hurt, but I could just feel something. I was not expecting a blister, but when I took my shoes off I was delivered with this surprise gift as well.













My left foot felt great. I did not feel any pain at all until the end. I ended up with a blister and about 3-4 little blisters here and there. This one does not look as bad, but this one hurts the most.














I came home and ate some monster food. 4 eggs with cut up turkey deli meat and cheese, chocolate milk, and some coffee. The only soreness I have are my feet. The balls of my feet are sore. My knees are a little tender. I am not sore from the actual run. I think my legs will recover well so I can knock out my 3 hour bike ride either tonight or tomorrow morning. I also have swim clinic and a practice swim in my wetsuit. Off to enjoy the rest of day and celebrate Amanda's birthday.

Great job everyone! I am really lucky to be around so many awesome people striving to improve themselves. I love it when I read or talk to you all and hear that you ran faster than what you thought or ran farther or dug down to get your run done. Keep it up. Hope to see many of you again Tuesday or Thursday for the 6B46 runs!

I pulled up my post from the QC 1/2 marathon I ran Sept. 2010 when I ran 1:46 and was blown away by my results.

Today I crushed that time running in 1:40. I look forward to watching my fitness progress and see what I am capable of this year. I am so glad I blog and track everything because this is good reminder of where I was and where I am now. In a real race I would push harder and beat the time I ran today for sure!

Here is a map of our course

GETTING IT DONE! was completed this morning.

93 Days Remaining Part 2: Trainer Ride & Food Tracking

Despite my motivation all day to get this ride in, when push came to shove I needed a big shove to get on the bike. 8:30 hit and the kids just went to bed and I was exhausted. I laid in bed and forced myself to get up and get going. I made my way to the basement, turned on the Lionel Richie country show/concert on TV and started up.

I thought about doing a Spinerval workout, but I knew that I would be incredibly sore the next morning for the long run. I put in a simple trainer ride where I tried to keep my cadence above 90 and speed over 20 for the 26 mile ride. I need to build up my leg endurance. This whole 56 mile ride come race day is going to be my biggest obstacle. I need a decent bike time to achieve my goals. Trying to manage this pace and cadence was just the right challenge where my legs were fatiguing but my HR stayed in a good place.

Towards the end my cadence dropped to the 80's, but I turned up my gears so I working on power to mix things up. I believe it was mile 24 I pushed hard for .75 miles just to test the legs.

Overall, this was good ride because mentally I was just not there in the beginning. I was glad I was able to complete the ride. It really helps with keeping me on track heading into the weekend.

I am still tracking what I eat and it is mind blowing how much I "snack". The best thing is that all jelly beans are out of the house so that will greatly help my sugar overload. The other interesting thing is how much I eat, but when I factor in my training how I still come up short on my daily goals. So far I am noticing some basic things

- too much snacking a.k.a. grazing in front of the food pantry
-less sugar and garbage snacks, more quality snacks with protein
-need more protein

Well, it is time to get ready for a long run. Hoping the rain stays away.

93 Days - Fet Like I Was Swimming In Quicksand or Maybe 5000 Calories

This morning I headed out for my second swim workout of the week. My plan has me only swimming two times this week. I will get a short workout in this weekend with the Swim Clinic @ Augustana College so that will help me mentally because I feel like I should be swimming more. I know the two workouts this week were larger in volume, but I felt out of sorts today in the water.

Before I get into the workout I think part of my reason for feeling sluggish was the crap food I ate at night last night. I used an app I have been meaning to use for quite some time. It is the MyFitnessPal app which is so easy to use. It allows you to scan bar codes of food or manually type in the items to track what you are eating. It gives you the choice to set a goal and then configures what you should be eating each day to reach your goal. When you exercise it will readjust accordingly. Yesterday I decided to track my food intake because I know that my snacking is a huge weakness of mine. I eat great in the morning and at school, but before dinner and after I fall apart. I don't want to get into counting calories, but this app really woke me up to realize how terrible my snacking is. For the most part this is a pretty typical day of eating for me except the DQ Blizzard and cinnamon roll. However, had I not eaten those I would have eaten a PB&J and milk before bed and probably something else so the calorie count is probably close.

Here is what I ate yesterday. It is an amazing amount of food and no wonder I can't break the weight that I am at. I am not in dire need of shedding weight, but I would like to drop about 7 lbs for my race on May 20th. Looking at this food breakdown it would be so easy to cut out some of the candy and junk and easily hit my goal. The problem I have is that I am constantly hungry. I am never not hungry. I chew about 1-2 packs of gum a day in addition to the food to try and curb my cravings of food.

I am going to chart my food intake the next couple days and watch for patterns and weak spots. By next week I should be able to really focus on my weak spots and try to find some adjustments to help me out.



I did not bike last night. This would have easily put me back on track because I would have burned 2000+ calories easy riding. I will be biking tonight instead as Amanda needs to run and we agreed to exercise together. I need to get in a good workout tonight, hope my legs recover quickly for my long run tomorrow morning so I can get in my long ride as well this weekend.













Moving back to my swim workout this morning I was just not feeling it. I felt so sluggish in the water. Despite some of my times that I should have been happy about, none of it felt good. I am sure the junk last night helped contribute to this feeling. I had a good night sleep as I did not bike so I was sleeping by 9. My legs are tired from the three days of running, but that is not really a new feeling. I don't know what it was, but I just felt BLAH! The good thing was that the pool was dead and I had a lane to myself.

Warm-Up
300 SW - 150 free, 150 pull - I did this in 5:27 which includes switching up
200 kick - 100 with board, 100 on back in 4:46
100 SW - Freestyle in 1:38(good time despite not feeling it)
200 kick - 100 with board, 100 on back in 4:51

Main Set
3 sets of
300 Pull Negative Split 30 RI
3 x 100 Descending 1-3 15 RI

Set 1 - 4:48, 1:36, 1:30, 1:26 (descent pull time and great times for my 100 despite not feeling like I was swimming well)
Set 2 - 4:54, 1:35, 1:33, 1:26
Set 3 - 4:56, 1:36, 1:28, 1:23 - this was a great last set. Felt good to push and feel a little burn in the lungs. I still felt slow despite a good time the last 100.

300 Free with couting strokes on even 50 - time was 5:03 with strokes around 15-16
Cool Down of 100 yards - kick with board in 2:13

Total Swim Time - 52:25
Total Yardage - 3000 yards

I look forward to a good workout tonight on the bike. I am excited for swim clinic this weekend. I am bringing my wetsuit and am going to swim a little bit with the suit on after the class ends. It should provide interesting to getting the suit on outside of the comforts of my home and then trying to figure out how to swim in a suit.

94 Days Remaining - 6B46 CRAZIES in the nice cold temps

Alright, I am ready for the weather to break. This week I have stayed stubborn and continued to run in shorts with no hats or gloves. The run this morning left my hands frozen and I really think my thumbs were frozen to the bone. However, once I got moving the body warmed up except for my hands.

We had another great group this morning ready to rock. We ran our typical route this morning. I kept my pace nice and easy for most of this run. My body was a little sore and tired from the 800's yesterday and the bike workout the night prior to the 800's. I decided not to push too hard. I keep reading all these articles that I feel are giving me a sign as I have now read at least three articles without search that discusses running at a slow easy pace to work on the aerobic engine. The research shows that running slow helps the body learn to burn energy from the fat stores compared to carbs and glycogen stores. I have a hard time running slow. I hate it. I really do. However, I would like to train my body to use my fat and not just carbs/glycogen because this could contribute to GI issues when I hit the run portion of my tri race(especially the half Ironman race).

I felt like I was running slow today. I know that perhaps this is not really "slow", but I could not run slower mentally. I did push a little bit towards the end and that was just because I wanted to run with the group. It did feel nice to loosen my body up during those first three miles. My body was not ready to be pushed. I had some aches in my knees and left foot again. I will be heading to Kaminski today to take care of some issues and I am ordering another pair of shoes because I really think that this is what is causing my foot problems.

Here are the splits. Not too bad the last three and they all felt easy.

I have a bike workout tonight, swim tomorrow, and then big run and ride this weekend. I am on track to doing well. I need to start thinking about how to taper for my Olypmic distance tri on May 20th. I need to have my plan in place soon so I can prep for this. I started looking for hotels and this made me realize how close this race is and has me nervous. Not nervous about my fitness, but nervous about the unknown of my first outdoor tri, the logistics, what to pack, still trying to figure out how to replenish my body when the only thing that does not bother my gut so far is GU gel, getting out of my wetsuit, swimming in my wetsuit...........

Yes, my mind is racing.

I will be ready. I know I will, but the mind is going in circles now.

Great job everyone this morning. These runs are so great to talk, be surrounded by great people, and energize my mind and body for the day.

Have..........

…YOU?

And don't forget to help me raise money to help out this charity and organization.

I still have a long way to reach my $700 goal. Every single penny counts. This is the next race in the LU REVOLUTION series and I would love to raise money to help them out.

Click here to help me reach my goal

95 Days Remaining - Late Night Ride, Amanda is Back, and Yasso 800's this morning

After the kids went to bed last night I made my way down to my trainer for a bike ride. It was weird as I was reading an article on training about putting in hard workouts and easy workouts and to avoid that middle area that most people train at. I decided to use one of my Spinerval workouts that I have neglected lately. I needed guidance. I needed a plan. Instead of riding just to get in my 24 miles, I tried this workout and focused on the workout and not the mileage.

I used the Spinerval 16.0 Aero Base Builder which is geared for more pre and post race reason, but after completing this workout I realized I need more work on my riding. I am struggling mentally on the bike right now. I have put together a more specified plan that will help me get on the right path.

I felt good cardio wise during this workout. My HR stayed pretty close to where I needed it to throughout. I did focus on the riding with the proper gears. There is a lot of high cadence with smaller gears. I struggle like crazy with high cadence so I find this workout very hard. My legs were tired and I felt tired by the end in my legs

When I finished I felt good. I felt like I accomplished something. Hopefully using these workouts will help me out on the road. I did go back and look at the last time I rode this workout. It was interesting to compare. Despite my thoughts on this post I know I pushed hard with bigger gears based on my mileage. I know I avoided the small chain rings up front and that was the difference in mileage. Despite lower miles last night, I know this workout was better.

2.28.12 - http://coffeeforthebrain.blogspot.com/2012/02/138-days-tuesday-bike-ride-spinervals.html

Here is the workout I completed on the bike:

Here is my workout performance(I never used the small chain ring up front, I always used the middle one as the small chain ring was just too easy).

 The downside to a late night ride is that my sleep is less. I did not fall asleep until after 10 and at 4 am my alarm was going off. My legs were tired and mildly sore. I had to really generate some motivation to get going. I forced myself out the door for our Wednesday Yasso Workouts. This morning we had 6 x 800.

It was cold. I was not dressed properly. I think my brain froze running around this track.

We ran three laps to get loose. My goal was to hit 3:05 for all six.

The first one I was off running 3:12. The rest I was under and it felt good despite not trying to run under 3:05. I just could not get a feel for my body this morning.

Set 2: 2:58
Set 3: 2:59
Set 4: 2:58
Set 5: 2:59
Set 6: 2:57

I was tired by the last one. I ran two cool down laps afterwards that I did not record on my watch.

There were four of us this morning. Katie, Chad, and Curt were all there ready to make themselves better. Thank goodness for them because without them I would not have run this morning. With only two swim workouts this week I was able to come home and relax a little bit after this run.

The body will look forward to rest the rest of the day and getting ready for another 6B46 run tomorrow.

Last, Amanda was back on the treadmill. She has made a plan, created a binder, and is focused. I am excited for her. It was great to see her downstairs running while I rode the bike. She is awesome!

96 Days Remaining - Good Run with CRAZIES and minor Foot Pain

Woke up this morning not really sure how I would run today. Most days you wake up know right away. Today I had mixed feelings. I was ready to run after missing a long run this weekend. However, ever since my long ride and short run Sunday my left foot has been bothering me. It was a little tender all day yesterday and hurt from time to time when pushing off the wall swimming. This morning it felt a little tender, but I felt good enough to run. So I gave it a shot and ran pretty well. We ran a little more than our typical 6 miles, but it was a good run. This run felt easy to me today. That is always a great feeling. I started out easy and just gradually built each mile and really kicking it up the final few miles.

My foot did not hurt while running. Later today and especially after the run it was tender. This is where I struggle mentally. The place where it hurts is the same spot as where I had a stress fracture a few years back. It is also the same place where I went through some serious pain training for my first marathon last fall and the doctor eventually ruled out a stress fracture and said it was tendinitis. Tendinitis hurts. It is not fun. I have to watch it carefully to see if the pain leaves. I hope it does. The downside is that I was told to run through the pain because there is not much one can do for tendinitis. The catch to this is that if it is something along the lines of a stress fracture(the beginnings of one anyways), then I won't know until it is too late.

I also know my shoes are nearing 300 miles and this is always when my feet and knees start to bother me. I will be ordering another pair of shoes tonight. Lastly, walking around barefoot at the Wisconsin Dells all weekend does not help matters any either.

Enough of my pity party. I will monitor it,but just want to document more than anything to keep track of pain through certain phases of training so I can learn and adapt.

There were 10 of us this morning out running. We encountered a few decent hills. It was great connecting with the CRAZIES this morning as I missed them all this weekend while away. I look forward to another big group Thursday.

Today was also weigh in Tuesday. I am happy to report that my weight did not shift much at all. I was worried after the way I ate this weekend at the Dells. I went up a .5 lb which I don't worry about at all being as water and fluid intake can affect the body that much easy. I was quite happy. I still on the right path for getting down to my desired weight come race day. A little bit at a time. This was a big relief.