Day 165: 9/26/2010

Elephant Man Triathlon

I raced a triathlon yesterday at Elephant Butte Lake here in NM. The race distances were a mile swim, a 26.5 mile bike and a 6 mile run. I finished 11th overall and 2nd in my AG with a total time of 2:23:45. Two years ago in 2008 was the only other time I raced this triathlon and my finishing time then was 2:31:11... yes, I was 7:26 faster this year! I was faster in all 3 disciplines despite windy conditions at the lake yesterday. I was even able to cross the line before my big bro, Mike, who albeit did have an "off" day... I still beat you brother and that's twice in 15 years of racing together!

I am pretty happy considering this was in no way considered an "A" race for me. Friday in fact, was my last long run effort before Hawaii. I put in 17.5 miles in the heat of the day and I spent 12 straight hours on Saturday beginning at 4:00 am with kids traveling to and from a cross country meet. I honestly didn't know what to expect from myself. I just sort of did it once the race director said "go". I almost expected not to feel good but I never really felt bad.

Elephant Man is a tough race and has one of the best race director in NM. The AG awards were EMAN souvenir beer bottles and my medal was a bottle opener so how cool is that!? Afterwards we had fun at the lake with Mike and all of his camping toys and boat.

Day 163 9/24/2010

Last long effort before Kona finished. Feels good knowing that the work has been done and the "hay is in the barn." Ran 2:20 with the XC kids today after school. It was very cool of them to split up into 2 varsity groups that each ran 1:10 with me. I don't think I would have done as good without them... so THANKS! Total milage was 17.5 miles. I wore my Kona

Saucony's and drank the Powerbar Perform sports drink that will be on the course in Hawaii. So it's all systems go! Everything worked :D

Another thing I noticed today was how loose my fuel belt now fits. It carries 2 bottles behind my waist and it used to fit snug and now it bounces all around until I drink some from each bottle. I know I have lost weight and my clothes fit much better, like they used to but it was weird seeing how that belt is just too big for me now.

Also to note: Weight is down to 147 and 7.5% BF. Lean and mean. On the first day I started this blog I was 165 and 9% BF.

Day 158: 9/19/2010

BAM. I had a great workout today and I definitely GTWD. The ride was scheduled for 5 hours but when I got home I was so close to 100 miles I decided to ride a little further and get it accomplished. Total ride time was 5:20 and I got in 101 miles. I burned 6,400 calories for you calorie counting geeks. Big thanks to my brother, Mike, for coming down and helping me get through 4 hours of it.

When I got home I put on the running shoes and lost the shirt (suns out, guns out ;) and did a :30 transition run with :10 of tempo.

Everything felt great and I'm pumped.

19 more days till the big dance on the islands of aloha!

Day 155: 9/16/2010

I really need to go to bed and to sleep earlier. I should have swam this morning but it worked out anyway because of Homecoming week at our school that we didn't have practice after school so I swam then. I swam a 2500 then traded Lindsey for the kids so she could get her run in. When she got home I changed and left for a bike ride for 1:45 with :40 total of tempo. Now I'm home and she's gone to the Homecoming festivities! I will shower up and go meet the family here in a bit.

This week is going good in terms of me getting in my workouts as I haven't missed a single one. But I think I misplaced my mojo?! If anyone sees it please bring it home. I don't feel fast... Is this normal!?

Day 154: 9/15/2010

Wednesday is long run day so I started, as usual with the XC team and then continued. Today was another 2 hours and I wish I could say I blazed it but it was more like I went up in flames the last part. Sucks. At this point, does every workout need to be successful? Ideally I guess so but life isn't always ideal. I have no idea why but my legs feel sore and tired so i hope I'm not getting a cold. I don't feel like I am? Right now I'm in agony I have so much gas and stomach cramps but to be honest I don't know why. I had a good breakfast and a good lunch and I carried a water bottle with me all day. During my run I went through a package of sport beans and a gel plus 2 flasks of Gatorade with crab pro. I noticed on my swim yesterday that my feet were cramping also?

Any worthwhile suggestions?

Day 153: 9/14/2010

I wish I would have gotten up early and gotten in something but was just too tired from the late workout last night. Instead, I swam a 2500 after CC practice and then I ran 10 miles later this evening with :30 tempo pace. Good day of training but I know that I need to be swimming more frequently, I can feel the sloppiness.

Day 152: 9/13/2010

An hour and half trainer session in the late evening and watched 2004 Ironman Hawaii. This is the year that Sarah Reinertsen tried but failed to make the cut off, Norman won his first title while Peter Reid finished second and Nina Kraft was disqualified for blood doping.

Day 151: 9/12/2010

I played in a golf tournament today that took much longer than I expected. Not good when you have a 5 hour bike ride planned. I was able to ride for 3 hours outdoors and the rest were inside on the trainer. Not ideal but I felt I needed to do this.

Days 148 - 150

Home cross country meet and all my energy went to that.

Day 147: 9/8/2020

2 hour run today starting at 4 o'clock. I ran a little more than 14 miles. And it actually felt pretty good for the most part. I did make the mistake of stopping at a building at Tech to get some cold water from a fountain and re-fill my bottle and when I got started running again the legs weren't quite the same as before.

Still 2 hours is 2 freakin hours. It's a long time to be on your own two feet and running and I am proud of myself.

Day 146: 9/7/2010

Finally... A good day where I do all that I set out to do. This morning I was at the pool as it opened and swam a 2500, which is 500 more than I have been doing in the morning.

This evening after practice I set out on a 1:20 10 mile run with :30 of tempo in there. I ran :40 at 8:0X pace, then :30 at 7:2X pace then a cool down. I felt good and never felt like I couldn't handle it or that it was too hard or anything negative at all. In fact, I imagined running the last :30 of Kona and just pretending how that will feel or should I say how I would like for it to feel.

Good day of training and big thanks to Lindsey for making it OK that I be gone as soon as I get home from practice. That also means she is running on the treadmill tonight instead of outside... sorry love.

One thing I thought about during my run is how cool it is to be able to do workouts like this. I have done some things that I honestly didn't think I could do training-wise. And I just did them. I try not to let myself overthink my limitations and I just go out and do it. Sometimes I wish my CC team could do that instead of automatically thinking that a distance or a pace is too long or too fast. We were not born with a manual that tells us our limits, we set those for ourselves and unfortunately, most people handicap themselves right off the bat without ever trying. I assume we are too afraid of failure? Or ridicule? We might even be too scared of succeeding and what that might bring? I wish more kids were brave.

Day 144: 9/5/2010

So a busted week ends with a busted ride... no surprise.

I had a very busy week between work, coaching and family. When those things get out of whack training goes out the window too. Yes, I am training and racing in the triathlon world championships but I am not a pro. I have a wife, 2 beautiful little girls, a job where I make a difference (I hope) and another side job where I do make a difference (cross country). Training is fun and very rewarding but lower on the list of priorities than these things.

I am not going to list the why's of why training went South but I am going to say that coach and I both decided that I am going to take another crack at this past week's training schedule again next week. Things are more under control and I am looking forward to doing it. I hadn't bonked or felt bad in a long time but today I did. I cannot stress enough how important consistency is.

The spirits aren't down, it's reality, and as a friend just reminded me, "the hay is in the barn already. The worst thing would be to burn it all down by doing too much or getting sick."

Thanks to Danny, Matt and Mike for the words of encouragement.