It has been a couple a weeks since I have felt like posting anything.. I'm not totally sure why but I have just not been motivated to blog much - I have been using twitter and brightkite though - it is easier you only get 140 characters. I have been training and feel strong. Mostly focusing a lot on the bike and then running stronger/faster off the bike - since those felt like my weaknesses in Hawaii. So far so good I seem to be training at my usual race pace with out to much effort and have added a bunch of speed work.
My training was a bit weird/light last week because we left on Thursday for the East Coast to go to a memorial service at West Point. We managed to get a long run in on Saturday but it was miserably hot and muggy. I felt like I was in a steam room - I don't know how those cadets do it. We did not know a lot of options of where to run so we ran from our hotel to the the West Point post - luckily they let us run through the post - we carried ID for the security process. It seems pretty flat in a car but it is defiantly not - you are either going uphill or down and it felt like mostly up. Crazy enough it felt like the run in Hawaii - my legs felt heavy and I wished I had a cup of ice the entire time. But in the end some how I managed to still averaged under a 8:20 min/mile pace..
Other than the run the weekend was filled with trying to survive the time change by taking naps though out the day, spending time with Kyle's family, learning about West Point and Franklin D. Roosevelt and lots of time in a car or waiting for a plane... I got home last night at 2:00am because our flight left over 3 hours late - half of which was while we sat on the runway at JFK... it sucked big time.
On another subject - I have to admit I'm not all that excited about Vineman 70.3.. I think right now I'm only really looking forward to seeing my Dad and/or my Dad getting to see me race. I'm especially not looking forward to driving all the way down there and back. Kyle is about 90% sure he will not be doing it because of the heat - his doctors said no more hot races after getting heat stroke in Hawaii.
It has gotten to the point I have even been considering doing Lake Stevens on Sunday instead of Vineman... I mean with all the travel I wound up having a pretty light week so I could just continue this week as a taper instead of a final build week.. hmm it is very very tempting esp since Kyle is doing the race and our family is already coming out to cheer for him - they could cheer for me as well - my Dad may even be up hear as they are escaping to Seattle from the bad air quality in the bay area. we will just have to see.
Jun 30, 2008
Jun 17, 2008
in the lake again
After taking yesterday completely off for some much needed rest and recovery from the weekend I started my day off with Pilates with Monique. As usual she completely kicked my ass (well actually today it was a lot of upper body stuff to).. So a good full body work out which is always good.
Then after work Marissa and I went for a maiden swim in Greenlake for the year. It was drizzly in the morning so I questioned myself a few time in the morning when I was grabbing my wetsuit but by the afternoon it was sunny and pretty warm. I only wanted to swim about 20 min - nothing to long or intense just something to get back into open water swimming really. Also I was worried about it being to cold and did not want to be out in cld water to long - esp since I don't have full sleeves on my wetsuit.
It was a bit chilly for the first 5 min but once I warmed up then it was perfect. We just swam 10 min out then back staying pretty close to shore. There were a few people out fishing which is sort of sketchy - really did not want to get caught on aline or something messed up like that. The people out on boats just looked at us like we were crazy. But it was really good. I worked a lot of keeping the form I have been working on in the pool so much and on sighting.
Monique had suggested I work on doing a forward sight with out fulling bring my head completely out of the water - essentially just so my eyes come above the surface of the water. It took a while but on the way back I was able to do it pretty well - or at least well enough for the first time trying it. What I really liked about it is that I could keep my rhythm better and not mess up my form as much when I needed to sight. My legs/hips did not sink as much. I also felt like I was able to swim a little straighter - always a good thing.
Then after work Marissa and I went for a maiden swim in Greenlake for the year. It was drizzly in the morning so I questioned myself a few time in the morning when I was grabbing my wetsuit but by the afternoon it was sunny and pretty warm. I only wanted to swim about 20 min - nothing to long or intense just something to get back into open water swimming really. Also I was worried about it being to cold and did not want to be out in cld water to long - esp since I don't have full sleeves on my wetsuit.
It was a bit chilly for the first 5 min but once I warmed up then it was perfect. We just swam 10 min out then back staying pretty close to shore. There were a few people out fishing which is sort of sketchy - really did not want to get caught on aline or something messed up like that. The people out on boats just looked at us like we were crazy. But it was really good. I worked a lot of keeping the form I have been working on in the pool so much and on sighting.Monique had suggested I work on doing a forward sight with out fulling bring my head completely out of the water - essentially just so my eyes come above the surface of the water. It took a while but on the way back I was able to do it pretty well - or at least well enough for the first time trying it. What I really liked about it is that I could keep my rhythm better and not mess up my form as much when I needed to sight. My legs/hips did not sink as much. I also felt like I was able to swim a little straighter - always a good thing.
Jun 15, 2008
a week of surprises
After taking Monday off I got back in to the swing of training again. Tuesday i had pilates in the morning then did a 2800 yrd "speed" swim in the evening. I was almost shocked at how good I felt - I was expecting to feel fatigued and tired but I never did. The time and yards just seemed to fly by and before I knew it I was done. Though I did fall asleep on the couch before 10pm.
Wednesday I did a "speed" bike on a crappy spin bike at work after lunch. The work out was good I just never got the bike really adjusted to fit well. I think from now on I will just put my bike on the trainer in the morning before work instead - at least it fits and I can get cadence and all that. The workout was a good mix of short and long intervals and I just went on heart-rate as a guide.
Afterwork I met up with a new friend at work, Marissa (who is also doing Vineman) for a moderate 60 min run. It turned out to be a great night for a run along the waterfront, no rain, no wind. It was actually a little warmer than I had expected but nothing to bad. We are pretty close to the same pace - she said she was having to go a little more than moderate to keep up but we chatted the entire way which always makes time/miles go by faster. Once again I was a little surprised my legs never felt like I had done a hard workout a couple hours earlier. We managed to go 7.5 miles in 63 min which was just right.
Thursday I had pilates again in the morning - always a wonderful way to start the day. Then after my mom came over to help me clean up my yard I went and did a workout on the local high school track. Now for some reason i thought one lap on the track was 200 yrds not 400.. But I did not feel that i had 2 laps x 8 in me so I dropped it to 1 lap x 8 so the main set would up being right.. But when it said 100 I did 200... so even though I was thinking I was cutting it short I would up adding more in. In all I would up running a little over 4 miles. and I had defiantly pushed my legs hard - they were tired and sore. I woke up the next morning and really knew I had done something.
Friday morning I slept in till 7am to give my legs a little more recovery rest... ;) Then after work I went and did a long swim. It was crazy long actually - 4000 yrds planned... I only did 3700 yrds. I felt good I just got to the point where I was just done. I listened to my body and I did not need another 300 yrds - not this week anyways.
Saturday we joined a group (they call them selves a Herd) that we met in Hawaii for a ride on the Lake Stevens 70.3 course. The group is great - we had a blast riding with them. One of the guys - Duane forgot all his gear (shoes, helmet, gloves) but still road the course twice and pushed the pace the entire time - it was amazing really. Kyle, Joel and I did the bike course once (28 miles) and then ran 1 loop (6.8miles) of the run course. It had finally warmed up once we were running which was really nice. My legs felt pretty heavy - still a bit sore from Thursday but some how still managed to run an 8 min pace!! without pushing my heart rate to high or anything. The cruel part of the course is the out and back along the lake - all I wanted to do was jump in.
After finishing running we went down to the lake and cooled off - not as cold as I thought it would be but still an alright substitution for an ice bath. When we got back home we took a 3-4 hour nap :) I also fell asleep in the living room around 9:30pm - could not even keep my eyes open to watch some great ITU races from last week in Vancouver.
Today (Sunday) Monique joined Kyle and I for Kyle's favorite ride out to Snoqualmie Ridge - she did not really know what she had agreed to -lol - but she took us on a hilly ride last week so all is fare in training. It finally felt like summer - it felt great to wear a sleeveless jersey and shorts. I was a little worried that I would be to tired or sore or whatever. But just like the rest of the week I was ok. I climbed as strong as usual and felt pretty good. Kyle just keeps getting stronger and faster but I never got to far back and Monique was always right between us. It turned out to be a great ride. My strength is defiantly on the climbs. I really need to spend some time working on gaining/keeping my speed up on the flats or small rollers. I just don't seem to stay as focused and start loosing speed - just need to spend a few rides going around Lake Sammamish or out on the trail and get those spinning muscles as strong as my climbing muscles. It wound up being about 58 miles in under 3:20 - not bad for a hilly training ride on very tired/sore legs. I had planned on possibly doing a moderate swim this afternoon but instead I washed my car and took a 2 hour nap.
In all I feel good - especially since tomorrow is my recovery/rest day. Then the best part I get to start it all over again :) Lets hope the nice weather lasts more than one day...
Wednesday I did a "speed" bike on a crappy spin bike at work after lunch. The work out was good I just never got the bike really adjusted to fit well. I think from now on I will just put my bike on the trainer in the morning before work instead - at least it fits and I can get cadence and all that. The workout was a good mix of short and long intervals and I just went on heart-rate as a guide.
Afterwork I met up with a new friend at work, Marissa (who is also doing Vineman) for a moderate 60 min run. It turned out to be a great night for a run along the waterfront, no rain, no wind. It was actually a little warmer than I had expected but nothing to bad. We are pretty close to the same pace - she said she was having to go a little more than moderate to keep up but we chatted the entire way which always makes time/miles go by faster. Once again I was a little surprised my legs never felt like I had done a hard workout a couple hours earlier. We managed to go 7.5 miles in 63 min which was just right.
Thursday I had pilates again in the morning - always a wonderful way to start the day. Then after my mom came over to help me clean up my yard I went and did a workout on the local high school track. Now for some reason i thought one lap on the track was 200 yrds not 400.. But I did not feel that i had 2 laps x 8 in me so I dropped it to 1 lap x 8 so the main set would up being right.. But when it said 100 I did 200... so even though I was thinking I was cutting it short I would up adding more in. In all I would up running a little over 4 miles. and I had defiantly pushed my legs hard - they were tired and sore. I woke up the next morning and really knew I had done something.
Friday morning I slept in till 7am to give my legs a little more recovery rest... ;) Then after work I went and did a long swim. It was crazy long actually - 4000 yrds planned... I only did 3700 yrds. I felt good I just got to the point where I was just done. I listened to my body and I did not need another 300 yrds - not this week anyways.
Saturday we joined a group (they call them selves a Herd) that we met in Hawaii for a ride on the Lake Stevens 70.3 course. The group is great - we had a blast riding with them. One of the guys - Duane forgot all his gear (shoes, helmet, gloves) but still road the course twice and pushed the pace the entire time - it was amazing really. Kyle, Joel and I did the bike course once (28 miles) and then ran 1 loop (6.8miles) of the run course. It had finally warmed up once we were running which was really nice. My legs felt pretty heavy - still a bit sore from Thursday but some how still managed to run an 8 min pace!! without pushing my heart rate to high or anything. The cruel part of the course is the out and back along the lake - all I wanted to do was jump in.
After finishing running we went down to the lake and cooled off - not as cold as I thought it would be but still an alright substitution for an ice bath. When we got back home we took a 3-4 hour nap :) I also fell asleep in the living room around 9:30pm - could not even keep my eyes open to watch some great ITU races from last week in Vancouver.
Today (Sunday) Monique joined Kyle and I for Kyle's favorite ride out to Snoqualmie Ridge - she did not really know what she had agreed to -lol - but she took us on a hilly ride last week so all is fare in training. It finally felt like summer - it felt great to wear a sleeveless jersey and shorts. I was a little worried that I would be to tired or sore or whatever. But just like the rest of the week I was ok. I climbed as strong as usual and felt pretty good. Kyle just keeps getting stronger and faster but I never got to far back and Monique was always right between us. It turned out to be a great ride. My strength is defiantly on the climbs. I really need to spend some time working on gaining/keeping my speed up on the flats or small rollers. I just don't seem to stay as focused and start loosing speed - just need to spend a few rides going around Lake Sammamish or out on the trail and get those spinning muscles as strong as my climbing muscles. It wound up being about 58 miles in under 3:20 - not bad for a hilly training ride on very tired/sore legs. I had planned on possibly doing a moderate swim this afternoon but instead I washed my car and took a 2 hour nap.
In all I feel good - especially since tomorrow is my recovery/rest day. Then the best part I get to start it all over again :) Lets hope the nice weather lasts more than one day...
Jun 10, 2008
changes
I have still not written a full race report for Hawaii 70.3 - for some reason it just kind of fell off my radar. Coming back from a vacation is always hard but it only made it worse when it was freezing cold and raining last week. I took a couple days almost completely off because I seemed to have brought a sinus cold home with me. I did Pilates to help stretch out but that was it till Thursday when I ran for about 30 min which felt pretty good just to loosen up my legs. Friday I got back in the pool for a short swim which felt really weird after swimming in warm salt water for a week. My legs just did not float anymore - I had to kick.
Once the weekend came around I felt more like myself and went for an hour run with a few hills thrown in for good measure. I was surprised I felt pretty good and was able to keep a good pace going even up the hills. I kept expecting to feel more fatigued but never did.
Sunday Kyle and I met up with Monique and did a new/different route around the north end of the Lake Washington. It was a really good mix of terrain, some long gradual climb, super steep short climbs, flats. We all had fun pushing and pacing each other. Though the ride ended with a mini van intentionally trying to push Kyle off the road. So we got to talk to the cops - next time something like that happens we have to get a full license plate. I took Monday off completely for a good recovery.
That covers getting back into training but the huge change last week was that after a lot of thought, stress, worry, and time (about 2 months probably) I decided it was time for me to make a change. Instead of having Coach Col creating my training plans and training with me once a week I am going to try using Mark allen online coach and work with a local swim coach from time to time. I am also looking at joining the new CycleU tri-team to have a larger group of people to train with.
This was an incredibly difficult decision to make because Col and I were friends before she became my coach. She only thought I was a little bit crazy when I decided to do Ironman Canada in 2006 with no base and very little experience. Basically she has been a large part and a big help to get me to where I am today and I will always be immensely grateful to her...
It still feels weird but I'm excited to get ready for Vineman 70.3 which is just a little over a month away...
Once the weekend came around I felt more like myself and went for an hour run with a few hills thrown in for good measure. I was surprised I felt pretty good and was able to keep a good pace going even up the hills. I kept expecting to feel more fatigued but never did.
Sunday Kyle and I met up with Monique and did a new/different route around the north end of the Lake Washington. It was a really good mix of terrain, some long gradual climb, super steep short climbs, flats. We all had fun pushing and pacing each other. Though the ride ended with a mini van intentionally trying to push Kyle off the road. So we got to talk to the cops - next time something like that happens we have to get a full license plate. I took Monday off completely for a good recovery.
That covers getting back into training but the huge change last week was that after a lot of thought, stress, worry, and time (about 2 months probably) I decided it was time for me to make a change. Instead of having Coach Col creating my training plans and training with me once a week I am going to try using Mark allen online coach and work with a local swim coach from time to time. I am also looking at joining the new CycleU tri-team to have a larger group of people to train with.
This was an incredibly difficult decision to make because Col and I were friends before she became my coach. She only thought I was a little bit crazy when I decided to do Ironman Canada in 2006 with no base and very little experience. Basically she has been a large part and a big help to get me to where I am today and I will always be immensely grateful to her...
It still feels weird but I'm excited to get ready for Vineman 70.3 which is just a little over a month away...
Jun 1, 2008
mini race report
Just a really quick overview of the race yesterday.. It can be summed up as hot and very windy esp effecting the swim and the bike.
The swim was choppy - every-time I tried to sight I got salt water up my nose and could not see the buoys anyway because of the waves. Even so I felt good in the water and was surprised it took me so long to complete.
The Bike was windy - they said it was about 10-14 mph with gusts up to 20 mph. I had switched out my front wheel from a zipp 404 to Kyle's training wheel - a great decision. I felt pretty good but the headwind kind of took it out of me at times. Then it was a challenge to take advantage of some of the downhills because of the winds.. The best part is that I stayed positive and focused the whole way.
The run was really hot - I always had a cup of ice in hand. But I ran the entire way and passed a number of girls in my age group which was fun. I completely let go of the bike and just ran.
So my times -
Swim 50:05
Bike 3:25:01
Run 2:07:08
Overall 6:30:17
Overall place 609
Age group 25/40(finishers)
Overall I am happy with how I did with the conditions and based on my training. I defiantly know that my swim and bike need some work and my run is strong.
So that is it for now. We plan on spending the rest of today relaxing then fly home late tonight. Most likely a full race report will come tomorrow.
The swim was choppy - every-time I tried to sight I got salt water up my nose and could not see the buoys anyway because of the waves. Even so I felt good in the water and was surprised it took me so long to complete.
The Bike was windy - they said it was about 10-14 mph with gusts up to 20 mph. I had switched out my front wheel from a zipp 404 to Kyle's training wheel - a great decision. I felt pretty good but the headwind kind of took it out of me at times. Then it was a challenge to take advantage of some of the downhills because of the winds.. The best part is that I stayed positive and focused the whole way.
The run was really hot - I always had a cup of ice in hand. But I ran the entire way and passed a number of girls in my age group which was fun. I completely let go of the bike and just ran.
So my times -
Swim 50:05
Bike 3:25:01
Run 2:07:08
Overall 6:30:17
Overall place 609
Age group 25/40(finishers)
Overall I am happy with how I did with the conditions and based on my training. I defiantly know that my swim and bike need some work and my run is strong.
So that is it for now. We plan on spending the rest of today relaxing then fly home late tonight. Most likely a full race report will come tomorrow.
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