Will it ever end?

I am ready for the holiday season to be over with. I am sick of drinking and eating like crap. It's hard to abstain from the alcohol and junk food when it's everywhere you turn.

I had a great time with my family over Xmas and even got in all my workouts. Now I am back at work but it seems like I am the only one. I will be moving over the next weekend and then with the start of the new year also comes my focused training for the California 70.3.

Yesterday I got I my longest run in a while, 1:18 with 20 minutes at tempo. I forgot how much I like running long. It felt great.

Time to start packing... I hate moving!

It's Official...

Yesterday I finally registered for the California 70.3. I missed a couple of races last year because I procrastinated when it came to signing up. So I dropped the $215 and there's no turning back. I am pretty stoked about doing a 70.3 and what's even better is that my parents are coming out to visit and watch me race. The only race they've witnessed in person was the Xterra East champs in Richmond last summer. They really enjoyed watching me race and are extremely supportive of my racing.

My workouts this week have been solid and I am still feeling really good in the pool. I think my swimming is just about at the level it was prior to Xterra worlds. This mornings swim was a tough one though. One of the reasons is because I went out with some friends last night, had too many jack and cokes, and didn't get to bed until 1130pm. When my alarm went off at 5am this morning I almost shut it off and went back to sleep. I was super tired but I made myself get up. Once I got in the pool I felt good. I ended up having a really solid swim and after the session the coach even mentioned how much stronger/faster I am getting. Maybe I need to go out and have a couple of drinks everynight before I swim.

After my ride tomorrow I will be heading out to Palm Springs to celebrate Xmas with my family and then coming back Sunday morning. Since me and none of friends are going back east/home for the holidays we are going to have a Xmas party/bbq on Monday (it will probably start Xmas eve). Nothing like celebrating on Xmas day with grilled meat, beers, whiskey, friends, and football.

Eventhough Xmas day is a rest day for me I may go for a mellow MTB ride before the festivities. I just got some new shifters put on and I want to give them a go.

Cheers.

Cold.

Getting out of bed and heading down the street to swim at 6am is getting harder. Not because I don't want to swim, but's it's been cold. My morning rides have been pretty cold too, but I have all the right gear so I stay relatively warm. I would rather be a cold little than suffer away on the trainer for two hours.

Last week was solid and things are slowly starting to pick up. It's hard to believe the California 70.3 is only 14 weeks away. I'm really looking forward to training for a longer distance race. It will be new for me. I may actually have to consider pacing myself, but I really just want to try and hammer the whole thing.

Saturday Jim held a swim clinic for all the athletes he coaches and it was cold. I froze my ass off and immediately changed, cranked up the heater in my truck, and headed to the nearest Starbucks.

Today I had my second meeting with Kim Muller, a local Sports Nutritionist. I really want to nail my pre-race and race nutrition. I thought I did an alright job on my own last season, but after talking with her it seems like I was making some major mistakes. By the time my first key race of the year comes around I plan on having a solid nutional plan.

I will be heading of town for the weekend to celebrate an early Christmas with my relatives in Palm Springs and then moving the following weekend. Between that, work, and training these next couple of weeks should be super busy.

back at it.

Monday was a much needed rest day. After a week full of work outs and drinking too much beer watching the Chargers clinch that AFC west on Sunday I needed to just relax. My legs were also pretty sore after hitting the gym on Sunday. Lifting with my legs always crushes me and it usually takes me atlest 3 full days to recover.

Yesterday I had a ride in the morning and then got in a 30 minute yoga session in the evening. The ride was a good one, but went a little longer than I had planned. I headed out from my apartment at 6am to an empty parking lot a couple miles and worked on cornering and accelerating in and out of turns. After a solid 30 minutes of that I rode to where the new condo I am moving into the on the 29th is to check out the roads around there. I made a couple of wrong turns and what was only going to be an hour ride turned into 1:45. No worries though it was a good time.

Back when I was just surfing and running all the time I used to do yoga quite a bit and really like it. Since I have a little extra time in my training schedule this time of year I am going to try to get in a couple of yoga sessions a week. I am sure it will help in the long run. I am also getting in the weight room twice a week and try and add some muscle, especially to the lower half of my body.

This moring I was in the pool with Masters and knocked out 4000 yards.

Last week I finally started eating healthy again and could immediately feel the difference with how much energy I had. I forgot how good my morning protein shakes are... here's the recipe:

Post workout shake:

1 Banana
1 Scoop of super green (wheat grass, spinach, etc,... good stuff)
1.5 scoops of chocolate proten powder
1 cup of light vanilla soy milk
5g glutamine
1/2 tbsp flax oil
ice

totals: 415 calories, 11g fat, 50g carbs, 35g protein

Swimming...

This week has been solid. Eventhough my schedule was relatively light getting back to regular training took a lot out of me. I think I crashed every night at 9pm, and even 830pm last night.

I swam a Masters workout on Monday and it was solid, and then swam by myself on Wednesday in the pool at work. The Wednesday swim was first time I have done a solo workout on a long time, but it gave me a chance to slow things down and really concentrate on drills and form, which is what I need to be concentrating on right now. My plan typically has 3 swims per week and I think I am going to hit Masters twice and then also make sure I spend one day swimming solo. I know I still have a lot of room for improvement in my stroke.

For no apparent reason I woke up anxious this morning to get in the pool. Friday is typically a speed workout with the squad that I swim with so I was kind of interested to see what my current speed was like after not really doing anything hard for about 6 weeks. After 2000 yards came the fast set.

4 x 25 hard - add time of each 25 to get 100 time (1:03)
100 easy
100 hard - trying to hit 4x25 time.. yeah right.
100 easy

We did this set twice and somehow I swam my fastet 100's ever. Just prior to leaving for the Maui and the Xterra Worlds I swam a 1:14 which was my PR for a 100 then. This morning:

1. 1:12
2. 1:11

So there's my benchmark.

I was kind of in shock, but am stoked. How much faster can I go once I am back in shape? I really think a winter of swimming and all next year that my swim can continue to improve and it will continue to be a focus in my training.

Maui really did alot for my confidence swimming. My mindset prior to the race was just to "get through" the swim and start going for it on the bike. Worlds was the first time I felt like I was racing in the swim and had the best swim of my life. I can't wait for my first race next year and actually committing to racing in the swim.

I have to do a run later on today and then that's it. I am stoked it's Friday.

day one.

It all started today at 5:15am. My training for the 2007 season is on. After a weekend of partying in Vegas and not getting much sleep getting up was hell. I almost hit the snooze button one more time but was able to drag myself out of bed.

Last year at this time I had just gotten my first road/TT bike and could not break 1:50 per 100 yards in the pool. I was running a lot but with no focus. I had no plan. This year things are going to be way differnt. First of all, I have a successful season under my belt and have dramatically improved at all the 3 sports.

Jim gave me my training plan last week for the next month and I immediately thought it was kind of light. This is where it pays off to have a good coach in your corner. If I was going about this on my own, and being the kind of person I am, I would probably nuke myself early on in the year and pay for it at some point. I defintely need someone to talk some sense into me and keep me from overtraining. This month is all about skill/technique with volume slowly increasing as we move towards the first of the year. At first I was kind of disappointed with the lack of volume early on but I know it makes the most sense.

I swam a 3600 yard Masters workout this morning and it kicked my ass. I got through it and didn't push too hard. I was definitely feeling all drinking/lack of sleep from the weekend. I have a couple more swims this week and some relatively easy rides and runs. On the weekend I have couple of riding and running skills workouts. It should be a good time. I am stoked to be back "officially" training. A month of not really doing any structrued workouts was tough. I was in the best shape of my life prior to Xterra Worlds and then just to shut it down was harder than I thought it would.

That's all...