4.21.2006 - Triathlon and Baseball

wow... I just got back from a 1 mile ocean swim with the tri club. I feel really good. I am already to go for the race on Sunday. I am heading out to Mesa, AZ super early tomorrow morning.

ok... baseball. I was watching the San Diego Padres game last night and Jake Peavy pitched his butt off only to have the Padres blow the lead in late innings yet again. It really made me realize why I like triathlon so much.

I played baseball for 15 years of my life (ages 5-20). I started in little league, played in high school, and then got a partial scholarship to play in college. I have always approached everything I have done with an all or nothing attitude which I believe I developed my Junior year of High School. I was always a good baseball player. I always made the allstar teams, never in my life (even in my freshman year in college) sat on the bench, and always impressed my coaches. It all came natural to me.

I grew up playing in southern California and then moved to Virgina when i was 13 and continued to play and excel. They opened up a new High School at the start of my Junior year and I lived in the new district. This is when things changed. I met my new coach, a hardass, and probably one of the most infuential people in my life today. From that point on baseball became my life (as if it wasn't already). From ages 16-20 I did not take more that one week off of playing baseball. I played on my high school team, fall league teams, american legion, summer league, and then was also selected to play on a traveling team. I worked hard. Even at 16 I was coming to school at 6am to take batting practice in the indoor batting cage, hit off the tee, and use the gym. I would stay after practice and take extra groudballs. During the Fall of my senior year I also ran indoor track for the sole purpose of getting faster for baseball. Nobody else on my team was doing this. Individual success and accolades followed.

In my junior year I was selected to the all-district team and then in my senior year i was the team MVP and was selected to the all-district, all-region, and all-state teams. I even won the coaches award (hardest worker) from the track coach for my dedication and attitude during indoor track. I worked my butt off, but none my teams ever won a significnt championship (except for track... we had some really fast guys, not me). In baseball it doesn't matter how good you are, you are not always gonig to come to the plate with the game on the line. It got to be kind of frustrating. I wanted to win, as a team, but they didn't have the dedication I had. We were only in high school and I was probably kind of over the top. I couldn't have expected them to work as hard as I did.

After my second year of college I was kind over the college thing and joined the Coast Guard, but that's another story all together.

So how does my baseball background relate to my current triathlon training? I think it's kind of obvious. Triathlon is an individual sport. You will reap the benefits of that hard work you put into training come race day... and I love that. I am very dedicated and I can control how fast I become and work on my weaknesses. It's a good feeling to know that your hard work WILL pay off.

I still love baseball... I would go as far as to say I am a fanatic. I come home everynight from long day of training and work, sit on my couch, and watch baseball. I check all the scores and stats every morning, and don't go to sleep these days until I watch Baseball Tonight... Everynight.

I love the Padres but let's face it. They have a few good players but are not a good team. Amazing individual performances like Jake Peavy's last night don't really mean anything when the team blows the lead in the 8th.

4.20.2006 - swimming and... more swimming...

This is week is flying by... yes! I am really looking forward to my first Xterra race this weekend. It starts of with a point to point mile swim. At first I was really getting some serious swimming anxiety over this, but now I am really looking forward to it.

After just two weeks of masters (5 swims - 4 long course) my confidence is soaring. Yesterday morning i swam with masters and completed my longest swim workout to date: 4000m - short course. I know i am supposed to be tapering for my race on Sunday, but more on that in a minute. The swim included a mile time trial, which i completed at a good mellow pace in just over 24 minutes, breathing bilaterally (every 3 stroke) the whole time. I know that's not really fast but i have never even swam a continuous mile in a pool. I felt good and i didn't push at all. Then yesterday afternoon I did an evening open water swim with the Tri club. I wasnt's tired at all and swam the entire 1.2 miles with the lead pack.

my swimming is coming along... on my easy swim this morning, which was a mellow 1525 with a couple hard 100's, I hit my fastest 100's to date:
1 - 1:23
2 - 1:22

on another note i have decided to not do a full-on taper/peak for my races on the next two upcoming weekends. I am really going to try and build through these in order to put in the best performance I can on 5/21 for the Xterra West Championships in Temecula. I am just kind of taking it easy on the legs. My workouts have been short and fast, but keeping the speed up.

Training this week:

Monday - Rest - Stretching/light core

Tuesday:
AM: 2500m - Masters
PM: Tempo run - 10min warm-up/16min race pace/10min cooldown

Wednesday:
AM: 4000m swim - Masters
Lunch: 20min easy spin & stretching
PM: 2000m open water swim

Thursday (today):
AM: 1525m swim - work pool
Lunch: Core/Stretching (planned)
PM: Brick - 45min ride w/ 4 x 90sec intervals @ race pace/15 min T-run w/ 1st 10min all out (planned)

sunday 4.16.2006 - sunday brick

Cutting back the volume over the last week has me feeling strong. I am working towards peaking for next sundays race (AZ Xtreme Offroad Triathlon) and continute to the following weekends race (Big Blue Offroad Tri). My goal for the season is to qualify for the Xterra National Championship in Tahoe on 10.1.2006. To do this i need to finish in the top 10 in the southwest region and your ranking is determined by your 3 best results in Nissan Xterra point series races. I am doing 6 races Xterra qualifiers between now and August.

4/23 - Az Xtreme Offroad Tri - Mesa, AZ
4/30 - Big Blue Offroad Tri - Castaic Lake, CA
5/21 - Xterra West Championhips - Temecula, CA
6/4 - Deuces Wild Offroad Tri - Show Low, AZ
6/18 - Xterra East Championships - Richmond, VA
8/6 - Snow Valley Offroad Tri - Running Springs, CA

if i qualify:
10/1 - Xterra National Championships - Lake Tahoe, CA

In order to compete at a high level in these races I am going to have to do some interesting things with my training schedule. Firguring it all out should be fun and definitely a learning experience.

on another note i got a Polar S625x Heart Rate monitor with all the bike attachments (candence & speed sensors). i have been looking at there for a while and could come to the terms with spending the $400+ to get the whole set up. Then last week a guy in the tri club posted his for sale in the tri club classifieds for only $150... for everything. I jumped on in it and am now the owner... and stoked.

weekend workouts

saturday: PM: 90 min mountain bike - 3 mile t-run (20min)

sunday: PM:
Swim 500 warm -up
4 x 500 @ 8:00
1. 500 swim
2. 500 pull
3. 500 swim w/fins
4. 500 pull w/ paddles

run: (see chart)
60 min:
10 min warm-up
40 min hard (marathon Pace - 6:29/mile)
10 min cool down

Friday 4.14.2006 - a good couple of days

i have had some really good workouts this week. yesterday was hot and i worked through lunch and took off at 2:30. i came home and went for a ride 26 mile ride wearing just a tri top and bike shorts... felt awesome to be hot. i can't wait for summer.

thursday:
AM: swim 2500 yards
-main set was 10 x 100 @ 1:45 - i hit my fastest 100 so far: 1:22
PM: bike - 26 miles - carlsbad hill loop

Friday:
AM: Masters swim - 3900 meters long course (longest swim to date)
Lunch: 5 mile tempo run - PQ canyon
PM: sitting on my couch (right now) watching the padres game drinking a nice cold beer... relaxing.

i had a really good week of training and am now officially signed up for the UCSD Masters. let the torture begin.

wednesday 4.12.2006 - Masters swim: take two

first of all i have to thank guernseyman for this one. at the end of our ride last weekend we were talking about masters swimming (he is a very good swimmer) and he suggested the UCSD Masters program. UCSD has a triathlon program that includes masters swimming, track workouts, and turbo (spinning) classes.

so this morning i headed out the door and to UCSD to give it a try. UCSD has two pools, short and long course, and they split up the masters group. they have a fast group and a slow-medium group and they switch week to week between the pools. i went with the slow-medium group and headed to the 50 meter pool. the coach put me in the second faster lane and they were swimming on a 1:45 interval which was perfect for me. all i can say is that the swim was a blast. a total of 3600 meters and it was not too hard, i felt really comfortable, and the people were my lane were super cool. here was our main set:

3 x 600
- 3 x 50 base +5
- 1 x 150 build base +5
- 1 x 300

i am heading back Friday to sign up and will probably be swimming with them 3 days a week. i have a feeling this is really going to make a huge impact on my swimming. i have also decided that after my back to back "A" races on 4/23 & 4/30 i am going to put myself through a "swimming bootcamp". for 2 weeks i am going to swim with the master team m-f and then do an open water swim on Sunday. we'll see how that goes.

today's training:
AM: master swim - 3600 yards
lunch: weights - upperbody
PM: Run - hill repeats
10 min warm-up
2 sets of the following:
1 x bottom of hill - avg 1:12
1 x top of hill - avg 1:10
1 x full hill - avg 2:35
10 min cool down

the hill repeats were killer... i am beat.

tuesday 4.11.2006 - going solo

well i have made the decision to start coaching myself and this is my first week. there were a couple reasons leading up to the decision.
1. save money
2. i think it will be fun and challengeing
3. i would have to pay a lot for a coach to really get to know me and how my body is reacting/recovering from workouts. i have been athletic my whole life and think i know how my body works. and thais knowledge will allow me to dial in my workouts to maximize my potential.

i learned a lot from working with my coach and i feel i can now apply that, as well as use the abundace of resources (book,internet,bloggers,club members) to get me to where i want to be. who knows... i may be making a huge mistake.

Monday: rest day

this was harder than i thought... a total day off. i did go to the gym at lunch and just stretched for 20 minutes. if felt really good. my body feels much better today for it. i can't wait to ride.

here is something kind of cool. a guy in my tri club made a little video of the club duathlon last saturday. it shows me (i am wearing navy blue and white) leading the way coming back from the 1st run and then heading out on the bike. the funny thing is it also shows me coming back from the bike and he does a close up on my face and you can see me saying something to officials. this was me informing them that "there was no way all those people ahead of me did 5 laps on the bike". if you don't know what i am talking about read my post from sunday night...

http://www.teamscout.org/sport/main.php

tueday:
AM: swim 3200 yards
PM: brick - 90min mountain bike/15min run (after work)

sunday 4.9.2006 - long weekend (long post)

what a long, good weekend.

Saturday: club race and leg crushing ride of mt soledad with guernseyman.

the race:

you gotta love the triathlon club of san diego... free races every month... well not free. i do pay $60 a year for membership, but that has paid for itself with all the discounts i have received with my club card.


so the race... it was supposed to be sprint tri but they turned it into a DU because all the rain and run off that that has the bay kind of polluted right now.


the course:

2 mile run

14 mile bike

3 mile run



going into this race i felt like crap. i have been beat all week from work and training. all this hard work was taking it's toll, and this was just a training race so there was no scheduled rest for this race. yesterday was rough. i swam in the morning and was completely fried. ok.. back to the race.


warm-up:

2 mile easy jog & light stretching



2mile run:

one guy went out really fast and he looked legit so i hung with him and then passed him after a 1/4 of mile and made it my race. i pushed pretty hard to the 1 mile turn around and had one guy 10 feet behind me and the rest of the pack was a ways off of us. the guy following me was hanging right with me so i decided to try and make him hurt if i could. i was not going all out. speed wise i would say i was at about 7 out of 10. so i would slow a bit and let him catch me and then speed up and make him push harder to stay with me. i did this for the last 1/2 mile and could tell he was hurting. if finished the run in about 10 minutes flat (maybe sub 10, we'll see when the post the results).



14 mile bike (5 laps):


well the guy i was messing with passed me right at the end of the first lap and then one more guy passed. my legs were fried from the rides i did this past week, but i stayed about 50 yards behind them and no one else passed me. i was just waiting for the second run. then on the 4th lap the leaders took a turn you were only supposed to take on the last lap, skipping the whole last lap. i didn't follow and did another lap. i finished another lap and as i rode into t2 i saw about 5 people out on the run ahead of me. apparently 3 guys behind me followed the leaders on the wrong turn. no worries.. it's just a practice race.... right.



3 mile run:

there was no one close to me... all the fastest guys took the wrong turn and the other 40 people were well behind. i finshed the 5 mile run in 16:30 and my legs were really feeling it.



aftermath:


i won since the other guys skipped a whole lap on the bike. i was kind of bummed on how it ended. it was shaping up to be really close race with it all coming down to the run until they took the wrong turn. it's awesome to be able to do these as full speed practice races.


the ride:


after the race guernseyman and I did a gnarly ride. it was 30 miles of riding while climbing mt soledad 5 times on 5 different routes. we originally were going to 8 climbs but were beat down after 5 and called it a day. he crushed me and my legs are still aching, but iam better for it. i can't wait to go back and tackle these climbs again.


sunday:


i volunteered to help out with the monthly beginner's race that the tri club of san diego puts on. so i woke up early on sunday, which is normally the day that i sleep in a bit, chugged some coffee and headed out the door.



there 54 people that turned for the race and most of them had never done a tri before. the course was a 300m swim, 11 mile bike, 2 mile run. i volunteered to go sit at the run turn around.



it was so much fun. i had no idea that i would have this good of time sitting next to a cone and telling people to turn around. most people were hurting by the time they got to me and i made sure to give every single person words of encouragement and try to get them to track down the people ahead of them. i was having a great time. most of people talked to me and a couple of people asked me "is this supposed to be fun". i couldn't help but laugh. i also got a lot of thank you's.



eventhough a lot of these people were hurting they were all having a great time and i could tell that they would be back. they weren't at home watching tv. they were outside sweating their butts off trying improve their health and have a good time. overall it was way more fulfilling than i ever thought it could be and i will defnitely be helping out at more of these race.



go volunteer to help out at a race... it will give you a bit of different perspective.



triathlon will change your life..... i am convinced.



weekend workouts:

saturday:
race - 2 mile run/14 mile bike/3 mile run
30 mile ride

sunday:
1000 yard open water swim
8 mile run

Thursday 4.6.2006 - can you say tired?

wow. i am really tired right now. i woke this morning at 430am to go swim with the Solana Beach masters. here's my review of my first masters swim workout:

1. the pool - 6 lanes, nice and warm. the whole complex is undergoing a huge renovation including a huge new pool which should be open by july.

2. the coach was cool when i told it was my first swim and gave me a lot of good info.

3. choosing a lane - the first two lanes were reserved for the high school kids (they swim on tues & thurs) and then there were 4 lanes (3-5 people per lane) for masters going from letft to right, fast to slow. i jumped in the second slowest lane because the coach said that it was usually the 1:30 - 1:40 interval lane... i can hang with that. not today. the fastest 2 lanes were swimming on the 1:20 and the guys than joined my lane decided they were going to swim on 1:20 - 1:25. great.

we all warmed up - about 800 yards, then 10 x 50 drill/swim. then the main set:
4 x 600
1. 6 x 100
2. 3 x 200
3. 2 x 300
4. 6 x 100

all with decreasing interval.

so these 2 guys in my lane are going for it and i was able to hang through the first two sets, which i was shocked by. i can swim harder than i thought for sure. the only problem was i was still finishing while they were taking their 10 second rest and i had to just keep going with no rest to not jack up the lane. so basically i swam back to back 600's on 1:25 with about 5 seconds rest between the 2. i wasn't necessarily winded but i was frustrated because i didnt want to slow these guys up if i fell off the pace and i could feel my form falling off just a bit. i did one more 600 with them and then moved down a lane to finish.

the slow lane was WAY slow, and again i was frustrated, but oh well. i finished the workout, and it was a good one.

overall take: i am not sure. i didn't like how there were 3 "fast" lanes and one "slow" lane with nothing in between. i talked to the coach afterwards and she said that it's really only like that on tues and thurs because of the HS kids.

so i'm going to go back on monday and have another go. i dont think i am going to join just yet as the jury is still out, but i am going to add one masters session a week to my workout for now. it's only $6 a workout and if i go once a week that's only $24 a month. we will see how it goes for the next month with that and then i will decied if it's worth the $$$ to join and swim with then 3-4 days a week.

workouts:

Wed
AM: 3000 yard swim
Lunch: weights - upperbody
PM: bike workout - intervals - 18 miles

Thurs
AM: 3500 - masters swim workout
Lunch: 5.5 mile trail run

tomorrow morning i am going to swim and get in a short mountain bike in the afternoon. on saturday i am going to the club race which just got changed from a tri to a duathlon. i guess this works in my favor, but i wanted to use this race to practice my swimming. after the race i am gonig to go for a ride with guernseyman. well that's if for now. i will post a race a ride report on saturday. time for bed.

Tuesday - 4.4.2006 - looking back

my legs have almost totally recovered from my race and leg cramp(or whatever it was) fiasco. now that i have had time to look back on my race there are a lot of things i can improve on.

1. swimming. i was 2 minutes behind the leaders getting out of the water. that is 1 minute to late in my opinion. i know i will never be able to hang with the top swimmers who have been swimming a lot longer than me, but i could have started in a better position. i should have started more to the inside. the first 250 meters were really rough. in order to improve my swimming i am joing the solana beach masters starting this friday. it's time to bite the bullet and have a coach kick my butt in the pool. should be interesting.

2. t2 could have been quicker. i flailed and couldn't find my transition area. typical newbie mistake. this is easy to fix.

3. i need solid warm up routine and i want it to be the same at every race. i need to loosen up, get in the zone, and be consistent.

that's about it for now. i will be doing the club race on saturday and i will begin to work on these things there.

workouts this week:

monday
AM: 2000 yard recovery swim
lunch: 20 min very easy spin on bike, core & stretching

today(tues)
AM: easy 20 mile ride - had some trouble with my front derailer
PM: 6 mile trail run - in the rain

it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow. i was supposed to have a bike workout at fiesta island tomorrow night, but that's not going to happen. instead i am going to do an indoor brick tomorrow night and head out to fiesta island thursday night.

Sunday 4.2.2006 - over and done

well today was the day. my first triathlon came and went. here's the report:


LA Triathlon Championships #1
600m swim/12 mile hilly bike/5k hilly

ok.... what an interesting day. i got to the race site at 7 am and the race started at 830am. I talked to a couple of volunteers that had been there since 6am and it was only 36 degrees when they got there. i went over and set up my transition area and then when i was standing in line for the bathroom i watched some guy totally knock over my bike and trash my transition area. no worries... i set everything back up and then wet to warm up.

i ran back to my truck to tell my sister and nephew who were staying warm and sleeping, what was going on. so then i continued to warm-up and then jogged down a little dirthill and somehow tweaked my right quad. it immediately started killing me.. seriously. i was bummed but i continued to stretch and try to loosend it up. so i headed back to transition and put on my wetsuit while quad was screaming at me.

i went down to the lake and jumped in for a couple of minutes and warmed up. the lake was about 58 degrees and didn't feel too bad. i got out of the water and my quad was still aching. ok the time to get going....

and we're off it was now warming into the mid to upper 50's... there were probably about 40+ guys in my wave, kind of packed and i battled all the way out to the first buoy, which took a lot of energy. after the first buoy i got in a groove and that continued to the next buoy, and then to the shore. coming out of the water my sister informed my that i was about 15th... not too bad. jogging to my bike i could tell my quad was going to be an issue for the rest of the day.

T1.. quick.. bike shose strapped to pedals... in and out.

Bike:
got my feet in my shoes and started hammering on the 2 lap (6 miles each) course that included a lot of short hills. i was just ingoring my nagging leg and hammering and feeling good. i got to about mile 3 and there was a quick downhill, then sharp right, then steep climbing. i didnt have a chance to check out the course before hand and jacked up my gearing. i didn't down shift to my small ring in time and then i couldn't down shift... i was stuck on the big ring and then my chain came off... crap.. .bike .. killing me again. got my chain back on and then back on the road and up to speed in about 30 seconds after getting passed by a couple of guys. now my right quad was also knotting up...CRAP....9 miles to go. i just continued to give everything i had just trying to not think about the pain. i ended up passing a couple of guys and closed in on the leaders.

T2:
i got confuesed couldn't find my rack for a second, and my feet were completely numb. other than that i was in and out. as i was leaving T2 my sister told me that there were only 8 pople ahead of me. WHAT!?! i thought i was deeper than that.

RUN:
finally... not how i pictured it though, with both of my quads now feeling like somebody was stabbing me. i went out fast and didn't hold back passed a few of the guys ahead of me, the course was unexpectedly hilly. by the end i was all alone so i had no idea what place i was in, and there were some PRO/ELITE guys in the race, and in my wave, so i had no idea where i was in my AG.

The aftermath:

1:11:03

2nd in AG (25-29), 5th overall... i am stoked! First in my AG was 1:08:30, and he was some sponsored guy that i talked to afterwards. he rode for elite, powerbar, and zipp. The firest overall Eilte was in around 1:03. i don't know my splits yet but i am pretty sure my i was running about 5:30 miles and i know i could have been faster if my quads weren't killing me

i am not sure what happened with my quads. i think it was due to it being cold and not drinking enough water before hand. i drank 3 cups of coffee (stupid), becuase the hotel for some reason did not have any hot water at 5am and i am a wimp.

saturday 4.1.2006 - can't sleep

it's saturday morning and it's now about 6:40am. I have been up for an hour. my body is completely programmed to get up early. no matter how hard i try there is no way i can sleep in. i feel completely fresh after a 3050 yard swim yesterday and a core workout. so i guess that's a good sign.

i drove up to my sisters house in LA last night and i am just taking it easy today... it's raining... again. i was going to go on an easy 3 mile run this morning, but since it's raining i am going to head out and run some errands with my sister. she wants to get out of LA for the weekend so my sister, my nephew, and I are going to head out to san dimas, check out lake bonelli, and snag a hotel for the night.

i can't stop thinking about the race tomorrow. i really keep thinking about the run. it's like when i think about the whole race, it's just a race to get to the run. then i have it covered. i like swimming, and a really like cycling, but running... i love it. my next post will be a race report. time for more coffee.

thursday - 3.30.2006 - all done.

i am so glad it's thursday night. i was super busy at work today so the day flew by, and all i have on tap for tomorrow (at work) is an 11am meeting.

Training:
wednsday
AM: swim - 2600 yards + core workout
PM: 4 mile recovery run

Today (thurs)
AM: 25 mile ride - carlsbad loop
Lunch: weights - upperbody
PM: 6 mile run - hill loop

i am pretty tired right now, but today was my last hard training day before the race on sunday. i have a 3000 yard swim tomorrow and core workout. on saturday i am going to be playing by how i feel (coach's guidance). in the morning i am going to go on 15 mile ride and a mellow 3 mile run in the afternoon. i am training through this race because i have my first A race on 4/23.

that's all for now... time to watch that 70's show.

tuesday - 3.28.2006 - creeping along...

could this week be going by any slower?

summary of workouts:

sunday
AM: ocean swim 1.2 miles
12 mile run - San elijo lagoon

monday
AM - Swim 3000 yards + core

today
AM: spin class + 1 mile t-run
PM: hill repeats - 5 miles

i am feeling good and i picked up my bike from B&L tonight. i got it tuned up and new tires and tubes put on. they did an awesome job. i can't wait to go on my thursday morning ride.

Saturday 3.25.2006 - the aftermath(long)

today was a good day. today was the day of me first duathlon with the tri club.

i woke up at 430am (the race was supposed to start at 715am) and had a cup of coffee and the around 5am had a clif bar and some water. i headed out the door at 530am enroute to Mission Bay Park. I was there by 6am and the dedicated Tri club volunteers were already setting up the race. i sat in my car and listen to some music, sipped on a bottle of clif shot lemonade, and then went to set up my transition.

the transition setup was easy: my bike, bike shoes (on the bike), and my helmet. done. at 645am i started warming up. 10 min light jog then some easy stretching then 5 minutes of jogging mixed with strides at race pace. at 7am we were told that the course would be 2 mile out and back/13 mile bike (not a closed course)/repeat of 2 mile out and back. at 705am i was ready to go but there was a delay. the park rangers came over and becuase of the huge turnout (60+ guys and 15+ women) he gave the race director some crap because these are non-permitted club races. the race started at 730am. i stripped off my sweatpants and top...

for the race i work a QR tri top with a L/S underarmor heat gear underneath and QR tri shorts. i am always paranoid about getting cold on the bike. i hate the cold and that's why i live in San Diego (for now). so i stepped up to the line and for the first time got right up front. i usually stay back and then have to fight my way forward. not this time.

2 mile run#1:

so the race starts and one guy goes out fast so i stay "in his hip pocket". about a 1/4 mile in i can already tell his turn over is slowing so i take over and don't look back. i wasn't going all out by any means but was starting to gap the pack. at the turn around i was probably already up 20 seconds. i started increasine my speed about every 100 meters and increased my lead. i finished the first 2 mile run in 10:10.

T1:
super quick... in and out. i could see the other guys coming. i had a considerable lead.

13 mile ride:
i started hammering. i knew that were some good cyclist about to be chasing me. it started with two laps around fiesta island and i was averaging 23-24 mph (good 'ol adrenaline) and increasing my lead. right as i was finishing my 2nd lap i hit a rock and immediately felt something unexpected. i was on mile 6 of 13 and i thought... "no way i am getting a flat" and just kept hammering. a mile later.. sure enough. REAR FLAT! i was bummed, pulled over and started doing the dirty work. this was the firt time i have had to fix a roadside flat. the only other flat i have gotten on my bike was right by my house. i kept an eye on my watch and it wasn't until around 3 minutes after i stopped that the 2nd place guy passed... follow by a crap load of other guys. great. due to my incompetence it took me around 10 minutes to get back on the road. lame, but i was laughing... it's only a club race and i was still stoked about burying everyone in the first run.

so i start hammering like never before and start picking off people one by one until the end of the 13 mile ride.

T2:
flying of the bike. slipped on my shoes and took off.

2 mile run#2:
i was just starting as the leaders were on the home stretch. i ran a 10:40 for the last 2 miles, passed a lot of people, and felt really good which suprised my due to the fact that i was killing myself on the bike to make up time.

results:
not sure... maybe top 20 out of 60. but two fastest run splits of the day belonged to me. i'll take that.

lessons learned:
1. dont wear UA undershirt. i was burning up at the end, just like last time.
2. get better tires (already done, dropping my bike off at B&L tomorrow for tune up and getting new tires (michelin pro race 2) and tubes (specialized).
3. don't hold back on the run. i can recover on the bike.


the guy that won is a guy that i have done a couple open water swims with the club. he's a good guy and getting ready for IMAZ. i had a fun day and people kept coming up to me talking about my running (including bob babbitt, one of the origninal ironmen) and that i would have won hands down if i didn't flat. i just hope i paid homage to the bike gods and don't get a flat anytime soon. i can't wait for my first tri next week... redemption!! haha!!

this afternoon i went on a mellow 15 mile mountain bike and just cruised. i am beat!

update:

update... they just posted the official results on the tri club web page. the runs were even faster than i recored on my watch:

17th overall

1st 2 mile run - 10:07 (rank 1)
t1 - 0:22 (rank 6)
13 mile bike (with flat) - 46:48 (rank 37!)
t2 - 0:21 (rank 9)
2nd 2 mile run - 10:33 (rank 1)

http://media.cust.clickability.com/documents/MarchDu2006.htm

Friday - 3.24.2006 - what's going on?

ok... so after having one of the best rides i have ever had yesterday i probably had the best swim ever this morning. my workout consisted of the following:

AM - swim:
12 x 50 pull
2 x 300 (4:27,4:24)
2 x 200 (2:57,2:55)
2 x 100 (1:26,1:24)
break
1 x 100 (1:24)
1 x 200 (2:55)
1 x 300 (4:29)

those are by far the best times for me... ever. i was so stoked when i got out of the pool. eventhough the times aren't actually "fast", for the first time i felt fast.

the rest of the day
AM - core
lunch - 6 mile trail run
PM - transition practice in ymca parking lot

club race tomorrow! TCSD duathlon - 2 mile run/10 mile bike/2 mile run.

should be a good time.

thursday... still climbing

wednesday:
AM - Swim 3000 yards
Lunch - weights(upperbody)
PM - Easy 4 mile run

I did the run yesterday in my racing flats with my new lace configuration. I am using "easy laces" with lace locks. it works great. I also got some anti blister/heat powder from trisports.com. works great. my feet felt really good after running with no socks. i will be using this same setup at saturdays race.

Today (thursday):
AM - swim 2200 yards
lunch - 20 min of stretching
PM - 90 min/26 mile ride

the ride today was a breakthrough... i felt awesome. i dont know if it was because it was warm or what, but i powered through all the climbs and never got that lactate burning sensation in quads. it caught my off guard how good i felt. i was hammering big gears for the last 10 miles i could of kept going. i was bummed that the sun was setting and i couldn't keep going. it was odd because when i was driving home from work i felt really tired and just wanted to get home and take a nap. this felt like one of best rides i have had so far and i can't wait to ride again. i guess putting in all these miles on the roads and trails is starting to show signs of paying off.

let's race already!

tuesday night

i have had an interesting couple of days. from a training standpoint it has be a pretty typical week so far. yesterday i went into nytro to get my fit adjusted a little bit. i just wanted to get my bars dropped down out a little bit and since i can get fitted there for free i would rather have them do it than have me mess things up.

my fit was already dialed in so dropping the bars should be a piece of cake and it was... and i was still super comfortable. then out of know where i here a guy with an english accent saying my fit looked really good. i turned around and it was spencer smith... i just witnessed him get 3rd in the California 70.3 on saturday. he's a beast. he then walks over to me on my bike and says that the only thing that he would suggest is brining my aerobars closer together becuase said my elbows looked a tad wide. he then explained how he did the samething and he really like it. so the guy fitting me moved them in and sure enough. it feels great and now i am even more aero.

i thought it was really cool of spencer to come over and give me some tips, he was just there hanging out and doing some shopping. we talked for a minute and he was asking what kind for races i was planning on doing this year and just BS'ing.

i dont get star struck or anything like that, but just thought it was rad that he would offer advice to an average guy. i have heard some the top name pros are jerks, especially when it comes to gear set up and strategies.

this is just another good reason to live in san diego... you have to try hard not to run into pro triathletes.

back to training:

Monday:
AM: swim - 3100 yards
lunch: core/resistance bands/stretching

Today:
AM: 60 min spin class (was supposed to ride but it was raining)
PM: track workout
6 x 800 with 2min rest

1 mile warm-up w/running drills and strides

1 - 2:26
2 - 2:26
3 - 2:26
4 - 2:24
5 - 2:26
6 - 2:21

.5 mile cool down

a couple more days until the duathlon on saturday...

sunday... two weeks from today!

it has been a very good weekend. i had some good workouts and got to go watch the Califonia 70.3 in oceanside. i love this sport and i still havent done my first race. i watched people of all levels take on the the half ironman course. it was really inspiring. it made me really wish i was doing the race, but it was cold, and the cold is my enemy.

i watched guernseyman break 5 hours. he posted a really good write up of his race on his blog... give it a read. i also saw luke bell finish in 3:58.. he crushed the course.

ok back to training...

saturday:
PM: 2 hour mountain bike - daley ranch
i pushed really hard on this ride and did a lot of climbing. it was a really good ride. i felt really strong.

Sunday:
AM: easy 12 mile run in 1:23 - san elijo lagoon. nice solid run
PM: swim - 2000 yards - work pool

my first race is two weeks from today in LA and after watching the race on Saturday it can't come quick enough. my training is going really good and a i feel i can attack the sprint distance. we'll see. i am also going to be a club race next weekend, it's duathlon. i have never done a dualthon but it should be a good test of my speed. i also made and appointment to get me bike tuned at B&L next monday and i am going to nytro tomorrow night to have them adjust my fit. i am going to take lower my bars a little, take out a spacer or two.

i hope the next two weeks fly by, and it gets warm!

Friday... more rain on the way

once again it's going to rain this weekend. we'll see how much and if i will have to alter my workout plans for the weekend.
Training:

Thursday

AM: 2600 yard swim
Lunch: weights - upperbody
PM: Brick - 25 mile ride/2 mile run

i was really sluggish yesterday and for most of the day my stomach was bothering me. I am attributing it to eating like crap on wednesday when i went snowboarding. i really ate a bunch of junk, which i never do, and also had way too much caffeine. i started feeling better after lunch and ended up having a really good brick workout in the evening. so stoke it stays light until 6pm now.

Friday (today):
AM: 2000 yard swim + core + stretching
Lunch: 6 mile trail run

another solid day. I am always ready to go on my friday workouts because i know the weekend i right around the corner.

i have decided not to volunteer tomorrow at the TCSD aid station at the California Half Ironman (70.3). i am instead just going to go down there and watch. i want to see the swim start, the swim finish, the pros, the transistions... the whole thing. i am so stoked for all these people and can't wait until my first race. my first race is not an A race, but still... i just want to see how i do. i have high expectations for myself which i probably shouldn't considering it's my first race. we'll see.

it's wednesday night.... finally home.

it's been a long last few days and i made mistake. so monday is typically my easy day and after pushing myself on run on sunday i needed it. while at work on monday i decided to take wednesday off of work to take my nephew snowboarding. i have been snowboarding for years and just got my 15 year old nephew into it this year. the mountains got 3 feet of snow from this last storm so i was due for one last trip.

i almost decided not to go snowboarding because of training but then changed my mind because of a great blog i have been reading. it's by IMmike. mike is a grad student and training for IM and has some really great blogs. in one of his recent blogs he talks about burning out and taking time for himself. so i decided to head to mountains to shred based on his blog... go figure... the internet.

so because i decided to take wednesday completely off i moved my wednesday easy run to monday night.... stupid.

monday:
AM - swim 2600
lunch - core workout
PM - 4 mile easy run

i felt like crap on the run... i should have rested.

tuesday:
AM - 25 mile ride - hilly carlsbad loop
PM - track workout 4 x 1200 @ 3:40 - 400 jog rest

i felt dead at the track and not one of my better workouts. i know it was because of not giving my legs a break on monday. lesson learned. right after my workout i headed to my sister's house in LA.

so snowboarding was fun today... good snow.. it was warm... i am sunburned, and beat. time for bed... gotta swim in the morning.

sunday... ready for bed.

the weather has been crazy this weekend. rain, hail, wind, snow, more rain... since i had a good idea of what the weather was going to be like for the weekend i swapped my saturday and sunday workouts. yesterday i got in a good 10 mile run along the coast. it drizzled for the first half of the run and then sun came out for the last couple of miles.

Sat AM: 10 mile run - 1:12:00 min - 7:12/mile

after my run i just hung out with my 15 year old nephew. he came to stay the weekend with me while his mom, my sister, headed out to celebrate her best friends b-day. we went to go see "the hills have eyes". probably one of the worst movies i have ever seen. after that we headed to oggi's to have some killer pizza. i passed out last night, i was asleep by 9pm and didn't wake up until 7am this morning. i havn't slept that good in a while.

since i missed the club race yesterday i wanted to get in all 3 sports today.

AM: 2000 yard swim

PM:
Brick
28 mile bike
6 mile run - 00:36:56 - 6:10/mile

i wanted to do the brick and near race intensity. for the ride i followed a portion of the "swami's ride" just to get familiar with the course. i followed it up to san marcos and then headed back to the coast and then back to my apartment. for the run i wanted to stay just below what i would do in a race... i didn't want to kill myself. i felt solid and definitely felt like i had more in the tank. overall i was satisfied with the workout.

i can't wait to race. i am going to TCSD duathlon on the 25th.

saturday... it's early

well it's 5am and the it's pouring right now. we are under a high surf advisory and a flash flood watch. i know the club has their races rain or shine, but they are calling for thunderstorms with 20mph winds down in coronade where the race is. so i have decided not to go. it's a 30 minute drive for me and it would just be a hassle, and i am also pretty sure a bunch of people are thinking the same thing. i am going to an indoor brick later today instead.

that's all. i hope i am making the right decision. this is the last practice race i would have had before my first legitimate race on april 2nd. there is a club duathlon in a couple of weeks that i am going to do... but running/biking/running is pretty easy for me. it's the swimming.... enough whining.

Friday!!...and more rain....

yes.. it's friday... i love the end of the week. i got in another really strong swim this morning in the wind an rain. the security guard that i passed as i came out of the locker room and headed outside asked me "are you really going to go swim"... i answered "of course.."

AM: swim - 1950 yards

i just finished doing my self appraisal for my review. i hate reviewing myself. i bust my ass at work and everyone knows it, including my boss, but i hate gonig through the process of reviewing myself. of course i am hard on myself about everything and expect nothing but the best, but i can just coast through work and still out perform most of peers, but i can't reflect that in my review. so i just write a bunch of BS. i am just glad i finished it (it's due today). we have reviews every six months so it gets pretty old.

the weekend: it's supposed to rain all weekend and be extremely windy. i am really thinking about not driving down to coronado for the club race tomorrow morning. i looked at the hour by hour forecast on weather.com and there are supposed to be thunderstorms, it's only going to be 41 degrees, and the wind will be pushing 20mph in the morning. doesnt sound like a good time. i dont think many people will show up and i can probably get a better training day indoors. so we will see... i am going to wake up in the morning and check it out.

almost done.. all i have left for today is a core workout at lunch and then i am heading out for massage and adjustment... then time to relax.

thursday - swim...work...bike...run

today was a very good day. my swim this morning was very solid and some of my 100's were hitting 1:27. this may seem like nothing to all the people who are killing it in the pool but for me to see myself improving week by week keeps me motivated. getting up at 5am every morning IS paying off.

AM: Swim - 2400 yards

Lunch: 25 minutes of stretching

work was actually pretty good today too... don't get me wrong, i really like my job, but sometimes i am just killing it and handling everything that is thrown at me and have answers for the questions people are asking before they ask. today was one of those days, which is a good sign. thursdays are usually rough for me. the fatigue of training hard all week starts taking it's toll and i am tired, but not today.

Pm: brick - 12m bike/1.75m run

my workout tonight was rad. i got out of work right around 3:45 (another benefit of swimming really early... i am in my office by 7:15am). after stopping by B&L to pick up a couple of tubes and co2 i headed home and it was only 4:30. forget about going to spin class and then running on the treadmill. so i pulled a superman and bolted out of my house on my bike for 2 laps around "my block". each lap is 6.1 miles and includes 3 good climbs and one slow incline. it's a good, quick ride that kicks my butt if i really push myself, and i did. i followed that up with a quick 1.75 mile run and felt really good off the bike. i am starting to find my running stride quicker and quicker the more i do brick workouts... a good sign.

club race on saturday...olympic distance... in the rain!

wednesday - soooo much work....

work is hectic right now... all these projects i am working on keep stacking up. i have to bring up new office networks for the four local buildings, an office in new jersey, and an office in san jose between now and the end of may. this adds up to a lot of work. it's nothing i can't handle but this is also the start of triathlon season so everything is kind of adding up. no worries though.. i enjoy being busy.

well due to problems last night with an office in Campbell, Ca i missed my track workout. after i took care of work i headed out for a very hilly 6 mile run and went pretty hard. it felt good.

today:
AM: swim 3200 yards
lunch: weights - upperbody & core
PM: 6 mile trail run

i have really started to lay off the weights. until about mid january i was lifting 3 days a week and then cut back to two lifting days and one day of core. I was doing a day of upperbody and a day of legs. now as i am getting closer to the start of the season this is what my strength training looks like:

monday: core(including push ups) + resistance band excercies
core:
500 reps of various core
2 x 20 pushups - feet on ball and uneven hands
resistance bands:
2 x 15 bicep curl (standing on one leg)
2 x 15 tricep extension (standing on one leg)
2 x 15 lateral should raise (standing on one leg)

wednesday: upperbody + core
superset #1:
2 x 15 dips
2 x 15 pull ups

superset #2:
2 x 15 dumbell row (standing on one leg)
2 x 15 alt dumbell press on physio ball
2 x 30 cruches on physio ball

superset #3
2 x 15 overhead dumbell extension
2 x 15 dumbell curl (standing on one leg)

superset #4
2 x 15 shoulder press
2 x 15 back extension

superset #5 (core)
2 x 20 weighted knee raises
2 x 20 weighted crunch machine

Thursday: yoga at lunch if i can make it

Friday: core & extra stretching
atleast 500 reps of various core with stretching in between. workout is 30+ minutes

that's it. these workouts keep me feeling strong and flexible without taking too long to recover. i also stretch a lot before, during, and after these workouts.

tuesday - feeling good

taking it easy yesterday sure felt good, and when i say take it easy i mean giving my legs a break after a tough weekend of riding.

Training on Monday:
AM: swim 2150
Lunch: core and resistance band workout

i got home from work yesterday around 5 and just lounged around and rested. i went to bed early and woke up this morning feeling great. i left my house at 5:45 this morning for a quick 25 miles of hills. i powered through the climbs, but got a flat 1/4 mile from my apartment. my confidence in my riding keeps increasing. after a tough ride of camp pendleton with guernseyman and jp on saturday i feel like i can tackle harder climbs. guernsyman suggest that i ride on some of the tougher group rides to get better... i am definitely going to start working on that. tonight i have a track workout after work, shold be fun.

Tuesday training:
AM: ride 25 miles - hill loop
PM: track workout @ 6pm

i have also decided on some season goals for each sport:

swim:
sub 25 min 1500 meters in race - olympic or xterra

Bike:
improve to a level to where i can hang on the Swami's ride

running:
run 5:15 miles in sprint tri/5:30 in olympic/demolish people in xterra run(hahah...we'll see about this one)

i also want to start giving myself monthly goals, just so i have something to shoot for.

sunday = dead legs

i am really into my sunday workouts. i started the day off with an ocean swim. it was cold. i think the water was around 57. i followed that up with a 6.1 mile trail run... and this where the unexpected happend.

AM:
1.2 mile ocean swim
6.1 mile trail run

the run was an out and back in San Elijo lagoon. it's just over 3 miles in each direction. i love this run, but today was even better. about half way to the turn around i see this very attractive female heading in my direction. it was none other than Katya Meyers. in my opinion, she is the hottest pro tirathlete chick around, and i was hoping that i would get a chance to meet here. we crossed paths once again on the way back... i keep telling myself i should have talked to her... but yeah right. there is no way i am going to interupt her workout. i am not that guy.

after all that...i came home took a nap and then headed out with a couple of friends for a 90 minute mountain bike at daley ranch. it was a really tough ride... a lot of climbing. so after riding camp pendleton yesterday and the doing a lot of climbing my legs are "shelled" (stolen from jp, who stole it from gordo). good times!

Saturday - long ride... good times.

well i set out this morning to ride the 70.3 course with guernseyman and jp. i was kind of apprehensive, just hoping i could keep up. from what i had heard about the course i was planning on a lot of climbing.

the ride was rad. definitely the most fun and tough ride i have been on thus far in my training. some of the hills were definitely tough, but that's what i like. when i first started road riding i thought it was kind of boring compared to mountain biking. i like the punishment of climbing. and now as i do more challenging rides i see what draws people to cycling. i want to keep pushing myself and take on the toughest hills i can find.

after the ride we went on a relatively short out and back run. i am guessing it was around 4 miles... or maybe three. i am not really sure, but i felt great. i was defintely running sub 6 minute miles and after riding 50 miles i was pretty stoked.

here is what my nutrition looked like for the day:

pre-ride:
my breakfast burrito - whole wheat tortilla, all natural peanut butter, honey, and a banana
coffee & water

on the ride:
2 bottles - gatorade endurance + carbo pro = 232 calories/58 carbs each
1 GU at the half way point
i split bottles up over the whole ride. if i was really planning to run 13.1 miles afterwards i would have added another scoop of carbo pro per bottle and had another bottle of water.

between ride and run:
clif shot + water

after:
water + 1 scoop endurox

i felt really good when i got home after the workout. i had really good time training with guernseyman and jp and am looking forward to future workouts with both of them (as long as swimming is not involved. they are both awesome swimmers).

i also did a quick ten mile mountain bike in PQ canyon this afternoon. i was going to go surf, but the wind was on it. i love my new mountain bike, and i am really glad i decided on a hardtail. no crashes today!

tomorrow should be another fun one!!!

Friday - another week down...

i am so glad this week is over... it really dragged on at work for me. todays workouts:

AM:
swim - 1800
core workout

Lunch/PM:
6 mile trail run - felt really good.

tomorrow i am going to ride the Ford Ironman 70.3 - california course with GuernseyMan and jp. I am really looking forward to this. my friends aren't exactly into waking up early and hitting the road for a 50 mile ride. they will still be sleeping off all the drinks from tonight when i get done with my workout. so i am stoked to be meeting new people to do workouts with and keep me motivated.

i am also going to be testing nutrition. GuernseyMan and I are going to run off the bike so i will need to be taking in calories on the bike. i am going to take 3 bottles on the ride each mixed with gatorade endurance and carbo pro. there will be 232 calories and 58 carbs per bottle. i am planning on taking one bottle and hour, 1/4 bottle every 15 minutes. i am also going to take a couple thermolyte capsules right before. i will also take some gels with me just in case.

new bike, first crash, good swim

i started this morning off with a swim. it still blows me away that i can complete a 3000+ yard workout. if you told me that i would be able to do this last fall i would have thought you were crazy.

AM: swim 3200 yards

i got a call at work just after 10am, my new mountain bike was in, and not just any bike. i ordered a 2006 Specialized Stumpjumer hardtail from B&L. this bike comes ready to race. it's light, has racing tires and rims, and top of the line shimano components. so i bolted out of work early, went into the shop, got fitted and hit the trails. since i got my new bike i wanted to get to the trails quick, so i decided to blow off my spin class and actually ride a real bike.

i went to the closest trails in carlsbad. i had forgotten had bad these trails are now. there are huge rocks and boulder everywhere. not a good place for a first ride. i went down, twice, hard. both times i couldnt get out of my pedals in time (new pedals and i think we left to too tight at my fitting). both times i fell, once on my right side and one on my left, i bashed my shin on the down tube.

PM: 60 minute mountain bike - hills 10 miles

so now i am at home icing my shins... i dont think i will ever ride there again. it wasnt really that fun, but my new bike is rad. just what i need for xterra.

sore legs,easy wednesday,february totals

wow... my legs were sore when i woke up yesterday morning. those mile repeats really took a lot out of me. based on how i was feeling i took it pretty easy yesterday.

AM: ride
25.5 miles - relatively easy, pushed on a couple hills

Lunch/PM: core workout and very easy 4 mile run

Last night i went to the monthly tri club meeting. Brad Kearns spoke about his new book and he had a lot of good information.

i am really looking forward to the next club race. it is next saturday (3/11) and it's an olympic distance race at Gloretta Bay. the last olympic distance race that they had out there had a 1400m swim, 23 mile bike, and a 6 mile run. i really hope the lengths are the same. it will be another good test.

it was a good month:

February's totals:
Bike: 23h 19m 30s - 365.82 Mi
Run: 17h 38m 15s - 142.7 Mi
Swim: 13h 23s - 35262 Yd
Strength - 8h 20m
Surfing 2h

tuesday post #2 (this is deserving of its own post)

every tuesday at work i have 3 hour meeting with about 30 other people to discuss current projects and their status. they bring in lunch so it's not too bad. sometimes it's good, and then there's day like today. crappy chinese food. i always have protein bar in my bag for days like these, but i did grab forune cookie. here was my fortune:

"all your hard work will soon pay off"

sounds good to me.

so now for my afternoon workout. I took off from work about 3:30 and there was no traffic. i was supposed to have a track work out at 6pm, but all the rain made the track a mud pit. so i did the work out on my own. the work out was 4 x 1 mile with 2:30 rest. I did this work on street right around the corner from my apartment. it's a perfect mile. it's straight but there are too good rolling hills. here's my numbers, as you can tell the hills are steeper and longer in one direction (intervals 2 & 4)

1.5 mile warm-up(slow) - 15:23
mile repeats
1 - 4:54 (2:30 rest)
2 - 5:07 (2:30 rest)
3 - 5:01 (2:30 rest)
4 - 5:12 (2:30 rest)

1.2 mile cool down(slow) - 12:00

i felt like crap from the begining, but i was able to pull of my first sub 5 minute mile. i was pretty stoked about that but i defintely went to hard on the first one trying break the 5 minute mark. on the last one i was spent. i was sure i was going to slow down to 5:30+, but i pulled it out. i came home and stretched... another day down.

warm and rainy tuesday...

it would have been really easy to hit snooze this morning considering it was absolutely pouring at 5am. i got up anyway or i probably wouldn't be writing this. i had already decided to swap my tuesday (normally ride) and thursday (swim) workouts on account of the weather. so i reluctantly headed off to the pool, in the rain. as i got closer it began to rain harder. when i got to the pool it was really warm for 6am, but it was still raining. long story short, i had a great swim and i am glad that i got out of bed and into the pool. this is going to sound kind of ridiculous but it reminded me of a gatorade or nike commercial. here i was all by myself swimming laps in the pouring rain, it was just getting light, and the wind was blowing the palm trees that line the pool all over the place. i dont know it just struck me as kind of funny.

AM: swim (workout from Carlsbad Masters team/provided by coach)
3100M
200 pull
8 x 100 @ 2:00
200 pull
6 x 100 @ 1:55
200 pull
4 x 100 @ 1:50
200 pull
2 x 100 @ 1:45
200 pull
1 x 100 FAST

I was averaging 1:28-9 on my most of my intervals. a couple slipped to 1:31 and my fastest was 1:27. it's crazy to think just a month or two ago i was only able to average 1:45 (at best) on 100 repeats. seeing the improvement definitely keeps me getting up 5am and anxious to get in the pool.

the rest of my day is going to depend on the rain. it's supposed to stop around 3pm. if it does i am gonig to do my track workout. 4 x 1 mile with 2:30 rest. if the rain keeps up i going to head to a spin class tonight. i wanna run.

Monday - it's going to rain

i am already done with workouts for today and it's only 1pm. Today is my lightest day and pretty much feels like a rest day. I swan 1950 yards this morning and just got done with a core/stretching workout. I feel really good. Legs are feeling good after that 12 mile run yesterday.


it's supposed to start raining anytime and not stop until tomorrow night. i have already rearranged my training schedule accordingly. I was going to do a 10k trail race on sunday, but i am thinking i am going to pass on it in order to do the ocean swim with the club sunday morning. At this point i am very confident in my running ability, but am really starting to build on my swim confidence. I feel a lot more comfortable with every swim that i can get in. so yeah... i am skipping the race.


other than that as far as training goes i have track workout that is supposed to be tomorrow night that will be rained so i am moving that to wednesday evening. it is 4 x 1 mile with 2:30 reovery between. time to see how fast i really am. I am also hoping to ride the Californina Ford 70.3 bike course this weekend with GuernseyMan , that should be a good time. My new mountain bike is finally supposed to be here this week. i hope so, it's almost been 3 weeks and my first offroad race in about a month.

Jim Vance is talking about the upcoming Ford Ironman 70.3 tonight at B&L. It should be a good time.

sunday - run/swim - steak/beer

another good day. i really can't believe how good i am feeling on this weekends workouts considering the intensity and volume i put in during the week. my fitness level is defintely increasing rapidly.

AM:
1.2 mile ocean swim - del mar. - :35 min
I love open water swimming and am starting to get really confident. After last weekend and then today i am really convinced i can do an ironman. I did the swim with the club and there were about 15+ people. it was a really good time eventhough there were about 30 sea lions swimming all around us.

12 mile trail run - 1:30
Right after the swim i drove straight to san elijo lagoon and did a 12 mile run. i ran through the lagoon to san dieguito park and then up rancho santa fe. this was an awesome run, and my new favorite.


to reward my self from all the hard work i have put in this week tonight i grilled up some steak and shrimp and enjoyed a very cold fat tire 22oz.



this week should be another solid one. my laptop battery is about to die...

friday and saturday (tired and fast)

let's start with yesterday:
AM:
Swim - 1550
My swims have been really good since the race last weekend.
Right after the swim i did a 30 min core workout.

Pm/Lunch: 5 mile easy trail run.

After my workouts yesterday i was feeling it. i was tired and beat down. this has been the highest volume week i have had so far and it was defnintely showing. i took it easy last night, ignoring my friends calls to try to get me to hit the bars. so i sat around and watched "Prefontaine". i really thought my workouts today were going to suffer due to the fatigue i was feeling.

today's (saturday) workouts:
AM:
Brick - 27 mile bike/4 mile run
I felt really good on the ride. I rode from my apartment to el camino, north to o'side and then back down the coast. this is a very hilly ride. i really pushed on the short hills coming out of carlsbad, out of the saddle. i thought the run would be tough. i was wrong. i ran the 4 miles in exactly 26 minutes, 6:30 mile pace, and i had to force myself to hold back. i felt great, i want ed to take off!

PM:
2hr mountain bike in PQ canyon. i did a lot of climbing. good ride.

tomorrow i will be doing an ocean swim with the club and then a 12 mile trail run in San Elijo lagoon. it's really sandy back there which will get me ready for temecula.

I am just taking it easy again tonight. i am tired. i just got done ice massaging my legs, this helps my recovery a lot. i highyly recomend it.

Actual Race results and Thursday workout...

let me start off with today's workouts:
AM:
6.4 mile tempo run

-2.2 mile warmup: 17:18
3 mile tempo - splits:
1 - 5:54
2 - 5:40
3 - 5:41
-1.2 mile cooldown: 10:25

Lunch:
10min spin on bike then 15min of stretching

PM:
60 min spin class followed by mile run on treadmill(5:50 pace)

Overall I felt good today...

ok... the actual race results:
course - 750 meter swim/15 mile bike/3 mile run
Swim: 11:28 - pace: 1:32 - rank: 26
Bike: somehow they didnt get my split
Run: 16:26 - pace: 5:29 - rank: 1
overall: 1:09:59 - rank: 5th pre 2min speedo bonus/6th after

there were 60 men and 15 women in the race an i finished in 5th (based on actual time), but if could have taken 1 minute of my swim i could have come in second. I was only 21 seconds behind Marc and he finished second with Jim Vance blowing everybody away and coming in first. I am really happy with my run, especially becuase i know that is by far not the best i can do. Considering i came out of the swim at 26th and passed 21 people on the bike and run to come in 5th i am happy with my ride. i am pretty sure if they would have got my splits right i would have one of the top 5 rides.

so now the swim. i am going work harder and do whatever it takes. i didnt really push myself so at the next race on march 11th i am going for it. I am just going to do my best to draft off the lead pack and see how long i can hang. i am confident if i can come out of the water with in a minute of the lead pack that i can finish in the top 5 (i think). my running is by far my greatest strength and i feel like i am just getting started. i have only been doing speed work for a month and it's already starting to show signs of making me faster.

my new swim schedule: mon/wed/thu - the 3 weekly workouts provided by my coach. Fri/Sun - ocean swim with club. I will get faster!

Wednesday - Long swim/weights/easy run

AM: Swim - 3600 yards - 1:20:00
various sets of drills
main sets - 10 x 100 and 3 x 400

Lunch: weight room - upperbody and core

PM: 4 mile - really easy - 00:31:01


i started this morning with my longest swim of the week (and ever). i am glad my workout schedule has these long swims in the middle of the week. i used to swim at night after work and my motivation sucked. i would try to talk myself out of the pool the whole time and i dont really know why. a couple of weeks ago i decided to start swimming first thing in the morning. now i am at pool m/w/f before 6am and it has made all the difference. i am way more focused and actually look forward to the swims.

I am also very stoked about my progress. i didnt start swimming until october 2005, the week before the TCSD beginners race. eventhough i had been surfing tons i wanted to make sure i could swim 500yards... and i barely could. now i can blast through a 3000+ yard workout and feel great. when i started my average time on my "hard" 100's was 1:48 and in the 3 months i have been swimming consistently i have brought my average pace to 1:29. i know it's not fast, but i am improving and that's all that i can ask for. i would really like to get down to sub 1:20... hopefully in time. time to stretch and watch american idol... hahahha...

Tuesday - Easy ride/Track work out

i took it easy on the bike this morning and opted not to do the TCSD group ride. this was supposed to be and easy recovery ride and i always seem to ride at somebody else's pace on the ride.

AM
20 mile ride - easy
my avg heartrate for the ride was 129

PM
Track workout
1 mile warm-up

intervals:
12 x 400
all under 1:10
fastest 1:06
avg 1:09

.5 mile cooldown + stretching

there were about 12 people at tonights workout, but i was quite a bit faster so i was running solo. this workout is run by my coach so there is no slacking. it's good to have a coach at the track. although i am highly motivated he keeps my rest interval nice and short and right on time. when you are by yourself it's easy to give yourself and extra 10-15 seconds rest between work intervals. i feel i am getting a lot out of these workouts... they are teaching me to suffer again. i just started doing speed work for the first time in years at the end of January and i can already see the difference.

i have been starving lately eventhough i have been cramming down a lot of food. i think i need to re-evaluate my diet. i dont want to get too skinny. this morning i was 146lbs.

that's all... tomorrow i have an AM swim, easy 4mile run, and will hitting the weight room at lunch for some upperbody and core.

Monday... a long training day!

i looked at the surf forecast on saturday night and saw that waves were supposed to be crap today. so i sent my coach and email telling him i would like to take advantage of having a whole sunny monday off. so he punished me! i had a long day.

before my morning ride i had my favorite pre-workout snack:
a whole wheat tortilla, natural peanut butter, honey, and a banana. my version of a breakfast burritto.

AM:
40 mile ride, pushed myself on a lot of hills. felt really good.

noon:
tried to meet up with fellow club members in carlsbad for an ocean swim, but they cancelled it because of bacteria in the water. so i headed to the pool and did a 1950 yard work out. i felt really good and conifdent after the race on saturday.

right after the swim i did a 4 mile trail run in penasquitos canyon. i felt great on the run and actually had to force myself to slow down. this may sound lame but when i am running the trails i always picture 2 people ahead of me. Conrad Stoltz and Jim Vance, and me tracking them down. i know they are elite but it's good for my motivation.

PM:
tonight i went to B&L to listen to Jim Vance speak. he had a lot of good info and talked a lot about setting goals, which is something i have been thingking about. i am going to be working on setting weekly, monthly, and yearly goals...

Race Report - TCSD February Club Race

so it's over and done. i successfully completed the club race and here's how my day went:

I got to the park at Glorietta Bay around 7:15am and the race was supposed to start at 8. it had rained the night before, but now the sun was coming up and there was practically no wind. perfect. since i was kind intimidated by the swim the first thing i looked for when i was walking my bike up the transition area was the buoys in the water. holy crap!! there was no way the swim was only 500m it was more like 700-750, which really isn't too much further, but considering the fact that i was freaking out about 500m it was. i heard quite a few people talking about how long the swim was when i walked around (good thing it wasn't just me).

i finished setting up my transition area and then ran into Marc (GuernseyMan) and talking to him about the swim calmed me down. he did it wearing only a speedo. the water was on 58 degress. he's nuts, but extremely fast. he finished 3rd overall.

as i was putting on my wetsuit i was looking around checking out all the other competitors (i think there was about 60???) and their bikes. i saw some super fit people with tree trunks for legs and a lot of them had their bikes outfitted with the best carbon race wheels around. i thought "great, not only is everybody going to ditch me in the swim, but they are also going to punish me on the bike."

swim:
I made sure to start wide and deep as to make sure not to getting in the way of too many people. and we're off. i started swimming right behind a wave of 30 people. the water was really chopped up but i just started cruising trying to stay on peoples feet. i got kicked, hit, elbowed, but i wanted that. i really wanted that to happen so i could start learning to deal with it. i would just swim 5 or 6 strokes and then come up and sight the buoy. as i got to the first bouy (also the furthest) i noticed i was starting to pass a lot people and i wasnt pushing myself at all. i was in perfect position for the firt buoy cut it tigt and picked it up a little. i found more feet, passed them, then another, more feet, then another pass. i kept this up all the way in. as i was getting close to the end of the swim i thought i was in the middle of the pack, but as soon i stood up i could the leaders just getting on their bikes. i was in the top 15. no way! i was blown away, stoked, and then the andrenaline hit.

T1:
it was flawless. just like i went over it my head a million times. i can get out my wetsuit as fast as anybody, which i attribute to growing up surfing the east coast. i surfed all winter long in water as cold as 39 degress with air temp below freezing. if it took you to long to get out of your suit after a session you would be risking hypothermia. back to the race. i got out of my suit no problem, put on my helmet, grabbed my bike, and started running. i had my shoes already clipped to the pedal and secured with rubberbands. i have had many mounting/dismouting practice sessions in the YMCA parking lot near my apartment, and it paid off. i hopped on my bike started pedaling and got into my shoes with no problems.

bike:
i started hammering from begining. i could see people ahead of me and i wanted to track them down, and i did. i started passing people and i was shocked. these guys had way more experience riding than me, i have only been on a road/tri bike since the end of November, this can't be happening. i was averaging 22-24mph and 95rpms. i had no idea if i could keep this up, but i did. so i hammerd then entire bike course and still felt great. with about a 100 meters to go i slipped out my shoes and then dismounted, flawlessly.

T2:
this was easy. set my bike down, took off my helmet and slipped on my running shoes.

the run:
wow i pushed myself on the bike! my legs felt like jello. i hadnt done any brick workouts since the begining of January before the Carlsbad half marathon. i passed someone right out of transition and set my sights on the next person. i started feeling better and passed a couple more people. i kept thinking "is this really happening, i can't be doing this good". as i neared the turn around i saw Jim Vance in the lead. as we passed each other he said, "good running". that got me stoked and there was no catching him. he was flying. then i saw another guy, then Marc in 3rd. i think at the turn around i was in 9th and ended up passing 4 more people in the last 1.5 miles to finish 5th.

the aftermath:
i was in shock. how the hell did i do this good first time out. i learned a lot, and now i KNOW i can compete. i also know i can push harder in the swim than i did. the swim was unexpectedly easy. I was stoked to meet Marc and his wife, they are good people.

weekend workouts:
saturday afternoon after the race i did an easy 6 mile run.

sunday:
i was supposed to have a mountain bike/trail brick but because all the rain it was a no go.

instead i did the 25 mile road ride followed by a 3 mile run. i felt good on both the ride and run.

this was really, really long.

I can't wait to race again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it's on...

ok.. so i am over my little swimming freak out. i had a really good swim this morning. i felt faster than normal and really comfortable.

todays workouts:

AM - swim 2500 yards followed by a good core workout
PM - 4 mile easy run

i was stoked about the easy run too. i easily ran 7.5 minute miles while keeping my heartrate well be low 150. Crazy to think that 7.5 minute mile runs are my recovery runs.

tomorrow is the TCSD club race. i am ready. my gear is ready to go. and it's going to rain and be cold... and probably windy. no worries. i can't wait.

thinking too much...

i have a lot on my mind but first let me get to my training from today. i started out the morning with a 6.4 mile tempo run with 3 miles at around 10k pace. i did this run in my new race flats with no sox. results:

-2.2 mile warmup: 16:30
3 mile tempo - splits:
1 - 5:57
2 - 5:42
3 - 5:29
-1.2 mile cooldown: 9:38

i felt pretty good but i am not sure about the new shoes. i have couple minor blisters but i havent run without socks in a while, we'll see.

At lunch i went to the gym and spun for 20 minutes and stretched for 15 minutes. tonight i took a spin class at 24 hour fitness. i did it with a couple of my mountain bike friends. they are big tough guys... i like watching them suffer!

ok... so today i started freaking out a bit, and probably for no reason. i was thiking about the upcoming weekend and TCSD club race and the swim. 500 meters in glorietta bay. i can run and ride all day, but swimming makes me nervous. not that i am a weak swimmer. i have been swimming since i was 3 and surfing for the last 15 years. i've surfed really heavy waves and been cleaned up by 15ft sets and Black's. The ocean and open water does not scare me in the least.

i really started swimming freestyle in 2002, but then moved san diego and just surfed everyday and didnt get back in the pool with any purpose until this past october. since then i have steadily increased my workouts and skill. i even took some lessons with Paton Mcclung from swim smarter and have been working on correcting the errors in my stroke. i have been progressing quickly and have been able to complete workouts (provided by my coach) up to 3000 yards without too much trouble. i have been dedicated. i am at the pool monday, wednesday, and friday by 6am. i have also done some ocean swims. a couple at del mar including one in 6ft pounding surf (it was fun) and also at the cove, and i have been comfortable and found it easy with my Xterra wetsuit.

so after saying all this i was having a little panic attack about the swim in saturdays race. the only other time i have swam in anything resembling a race was at the TCSD octobers beginners race (in a surfing wetsuit and i rode a mountain bike). i did ok... i think i was 5th out of the water, but for some reason i have anxiety about it. after thinking about it some more (and probably too much) i think it's because i know how hard and fast i can push myself on my bike and on the run, but swimming... no clue. i have a high pain tolerance on running and on the bike and i will push myself. you cant do that swimming. i have so many triathlons lined up for the spring and summer that if the swim is an issue for me it will kind of be demoralizing... well enough being negative. saturday will tell me a lot.

on anoher note. i signed up for the SOMA half ironman in October. i was told it fills up fast so i bit the bullet and registered. nothing like signing up for a half IM without ever completing a "real" race.

last thing... this is way too long... i added some links to my blog... check them out.

going crazy?

i woke up this morning itching to get in the pool. i had a 3200 yd workout on the table, my longest to date, and i was ready to tackle it. i was also feeling really good about my track work out last night. my legs were still a little spent from the san dieguito half and riding 30 miles yesterday morning, but i was still able to pull off the following:

1.5 mile warm-up

6 x 800 (2 min rest interval)
1 - 2:31
2 - 2:30
3 - 2:28
4 - 2:26
5 - 2:27
6 - 2:29

so when i sat at my computer this morning at 5am with a cup of coffee and half a power bar (Nut Naturals - these things are really good) I noticed there was a brand new podcast from Endurance Radio. this podcast featured an interview with Jim Vance talking about Xterra training. I updated my ipod, grabbed my bags, filled my travel mug, and headed out the door about 5:20am. I was just cruising south on I-5 about 5 minutes from the pool, listening the Jim Vance interview, and drinking a fantastic mug of coffee. Then it happened... it started raining. Ok, i like the rain, but not at 5:30am in the morning, when it's cold and windy, and i am about to get in the pool.

the thought of not swimming never crossed my mind, which makes me question if i have indeed lost my mind. i was kind of stoked. A lot of people (and hopefully the people i will be competing against) would have saw that it was raining and headed back to bed for couple extra minutes of sleep. I am just hoping this all pays off because i have been more dedicated to this than anything i have ever done. In another couple of months I'll know.

hopefull my new mountain bike will be here this week... see link above.

race number two - San Dieguito Half Marathon

well... i completed my second half marathon in less than a month. this was an awesome race all through rancho santa fe, passing billion dollar homes. the day started on a very bad note...

i woke up at 5am grabbed a cup of coffee (the pot was waiting, i love automatic coffee makers) and sat down at my computer. this is my daily routine. then the first thing i always do out of habit is check my bank accounts. i like starting the day knowing exactly how much money i have in case of an emergency. so i logged in and then almost through up all over my keyboard. i was missing a couple thousand dollars and my checking account was actually showing negative dollars, as the over draft protection had not yet kicked in. i was dumbfounded and pissed off. i always know exactly how much money i have and how much i spend, and to be a couple G's off is impossible. so i tried to get a hold of my bank at 5:15am and obviously i could not get a hold of anyone so i called VISA. after speaking with someone who told me that there was nothing i could until monday i hung up but was still pissed. i grabbed all my gear and headed out for the race but i was going to stop by my bank's ATM to see if it showed the same balance. it did.

so now the race... it was super cold when i got to the park the thermometer in my truck was reading 42 degrees. cold for san diego. so i warmed up had a cliff shot and some water and toed the line. the course was so rad, it was a really fun run... all hills!. during one downhill around mile 5 i hear someone coming up behind me and it was none other than Michellie Jones, one of the best women triathletes in the world. i was watching her the night before at last years Ironman Champs where she got an amazing 2nd. so i kind of slowed my pace down and ran and chatted with her for a bit. she was really cool and gave me some advice for the course. after two miles of going stride for stride with her i picked my pace back up. I finished the race @ 1:21:47... i was stoked. That is only 7 seconds slower than the Carlsbad half marathon and this course was signinficantly more challenging and i rode for 3.5 hours on Saturday. My coach came up to me after the race and congratulated me. I finished 18th overall and 4th in my age group.

ok... back to the loot. I found after the race that somehow when i rented a mountain bike from B&L on saturday somehow my card got charged $2500 instead of just getting authorized. i have to head up to my bank in a bit to get this straightened out.

this coming saturday i have a TCSD club race... this will be my first triathlon since i have been training. It is just a practice race for the club but it will give me a good idea of where i am at.

time management

it occurred to me as i driving into work today after a 6 mile tempo run, that at the very least my time management skills are incredible. i listen to all the guys i work with bitch and complain about how they dont have enought to work on their projects and get their work done. i often stack myself with a lot of work because i like to be busy and i juggle 2 to 3 workouts a day. i dont really complain about anything. my day is just completely calculated. i know what i am doing every hour of every day. from the time my alarm goes off at 5am (4:45 on tuesdays for a group ride) my whole day is planned. I start the day off riding, running, or swimming. I know what time i am going to eat everyday, go to meetings, get work done, hit the gym. it has become second nature. occasionally things get mixed up and meeting runs long, there is an outage somewhere that i have to attend to, but i am able to rearrange things without ever really thinking about. there are only some many hours in a day and i have too much to do to waste them.

the only thing that has been tough to find time for is my friends. it never fails. every friday and saturday night i get summoned upon to hit the bars and have one too many drinks. not that i dont want to hang with my friends, but right now there are way more important things to me than drinking too much and staying out late. My weekend workouts right now are super important. my season starts april 2 and doesnt end until October 29th at the soma half ironman. For example this saturday i have a 30 mile ride in the morning and then a 90min - 120min mountain bike (can't wait for Xterra). Those 2 workouts in the same day will be tough, not to mention I am doing a half marathon on Sunday (more on that in a bit) and an ocean swim. so the thought of waking up with a hangover is out of the question. not to say that i wont meet them for a drink or two, but when the clock strikes 11pm i'm out.

i am going to be running another half marathon on sunday. my coach suggested it to me tuesday night at our weekly track workout. what the hell, replace my sunday long run with a race. i dont think i am going to try and run as hard as i did in the Carlsbad half marathon (1:21:40). i am looking at this just like a normal sunday long run (yeah right). we will see what happens when the gun goes off.

this always happens...

this always happens... i start this thing and then never get around to posting anything new.

Last week was epic. I was in Steamboat Springs, CO, staying at "The Lodge at Steamboat". the mountain was awesome. 20 inches of snow, three days of fresh powder in the mornings, and the best tree runs i have ever been on. It was a good break from the triathlon training.

and now back to the training. i have started working with a coach, and it's the best thing i have ever done. my workouts are more focused and what i need to do to get ready for the races i am going to do. at my track workout tonight he suggested i do the san digeito half marathon this weekend in place of my sunday long run. so i am running it. I dont think I am going to push myself as hard as I did in the Carlsbad half marathon, but we will see what happens when the gun goes off.

that's it for now. April 2nd is my first triathlon.