Windy day in the Upstate

Had a great workout today. Weather is kind of crazy. Winds are blowing around 20 with gusts to 30 and it is currently our high temp for the day of 50. That's cold for Oct. in SC. Anyway, being my day off, I wanted to ride my bike because I have more time than other days. I was a little hesitant at first because I want to get used to my aerobars, but don't really feel safe with the wind blowing hard, but rode anyway. Did not use the aeros much - really only on the wider sections of the road. I'm thinking about calling the National Weather Service on this one, because I can't figure out how the wind was in my face in both directions of my out and back ride. I made it 20 miles. Almost all was into the wind. My legs probably got the workout of 25- 30 miles. I feel like I am getting stronger. When I reached the 17 mile point, I felt so good, I decided to make this a "brick" workout. A brick is two events back to back. After returning from my 20 mile ride, I traded my bike shoes for my running shoes and ran 3.1 miles. Somehow I had my fastest 5K time ever. I did the run in 24 minutes. Just as the ride, the run was into the wind, but it felt like it started to die down near the end. After a good stretch, I felt pretty good and happy with my accomplishments today. My goal is to be able to do some bricks up to a 45 mile bike and 10 mile run before I start to taper for my big race in Sept.

Blah day

Even though I had absolutely no desire or energy, I decided to go for a swim last night. I was freezing on the pool deck. So much so, my teeth were chattering so hard, I thought they were going to crack!! I jumped in pretty quickly hoping they might have turned the heat up a little, but did not. I got even colder. It was the cold that goes straight into you chest and makes your body shake. Brrr. I discovered that chattering teeth are not good for aerodynamics while swimming!! Just in case you were wondering. I was this way for the first 100 meters, then I finally warmed up. For the first 500, I had another bad case of swim technique analysis. I needed to just go swim!! I know how. (And actually pretty well.) Finally I began to concentrate on what is in front of me and began to go pretty good. I did the second 500 in about 8 minutes and finished pretty strong with the last 500. A total of 1500m. Nothing great, but nothing terrible, but again, I made the effort to go.

Today was more my cross training day. I had a fun hockey game. It was our final game of our regular season. (kind of a short one this time). We won and wrapped up first place in our league. I had a goal and an assist. This league is really above my ability, but the guys are a lot of fun and help to improve my skills. I would say most of the guys played in levels from high school to professional hockey. Most being the higher. A couple of the guys and myself are talking about putting together a team in a slightly lower division where we can play against different players and score more goals.

I found my weakest "tri" muscles are my hip flexors and really need to work on them. Hockey is great for that and it is also good for my aerobic conditioning. I always tell people to imagine skating with all the equipment on, put on an extra 25 lbs on your body and run as fast as you can for 2 minutes at a time. Rest for 2-3 minutes and do it again for 60 minutes. Great workout. Good times. Maybe a little swim again tomorrow.

Woo Hoo to me!!!!

I decided to ditch the swim today and get some redemption for my terrible run yesterday. I ran and ran and ran today. It was the longest I have ever run at one time. I ran 8 miles! My previous long run was 7 miles. My goal was to run for 60 minutes. (At my pace that was 6 miles.) I blew it out of the water by running for 1 hr. and 20 min. I really feel I could have gone further, but I had to go to work and did not want to injure myself. After my workout, driving to work I had a funny thought. It was "I did eight miles today which means I only had five miles to finish!" Again, I said "Only five miles". On my normal run days, I do around four, so I'm still trying to figure out where the "only five miles" came from. To look at it optimistically, I did more than half of the run. I've only been able to say that one other time since I've started my training.

I noticed I've dropped two pounds since the last time I weighed myself. I currently weigh 186 lbs. In the next few months, I will really concentrate on the nutrition side. I want to get my race weight to 170-175 lbs. That will come. I'm slowly loosing weight and have not really changed my eating habits much. Although I haven't lost much weight since I've started, I have noticed my clothes are fitting a little more loosely.

Another realization today was that when trying to do an excessive workout, I really need to fuel myself up before exercising. Yesterday, I did not eat anything and found quickly that my body can't run on just Starbucks. Today I ate a Cliff Bar before and soon after and was able to sustain my energy for my entire workout. Needless to say, I am pretty pumped about my performance today and can't wait to get back at it tomrrow.

Woo Hoo to me!!

More tough days - hope it's the end of them!!

Tough workouts over the past two days. On Wednesday, swimming which is my easiest part was hard. I had been reading through tri forums regarding swim technique and mine went to pot!! Swimming from one side of the lane to the other, crossing my arms when reaching - all not good. I did make it 1450 meters. I was hoping to get up to another 2K day. It just didn't happen. My goal is to work up to 3K to 4K before tapering for my HIM. One thing I did notice was how sore my neck is from using my aerobars on my bike. It makes since that being very hunched over with your head up to watch the road in front for an hour will make your neck sore. I was thinking it might not be that bad considering I wear a helmet when play hockey (to keep my chicklets), but hopefully my neck is not at that angle in a hockey game.

Did my treadmill run today. Was looking to do five miles, but only got in four. I had limited time, but still should have kept on going to the fifth. I think all my work lately is catching up to me. If I need to, I might lower the speed, but increase the time. I am tired even before I begin my workout. I am happy I went today. I really did not feel like it, but did it anyway. That's a plus. Next week, I am going to start my outdoor running. SportsClub is a nice place and all, but I need a change of scenery. Tuesday will be a definite ride day. I can't wait to get back on my bike again. It was a blast last time. I'm looking for 25 miles with a one mile run to follow. Friday will be a swim and run. The weather is supposed to be horrible, so I'll just stay inside.

Why?

Even after an 18 mile ride, I did go to the gym to run. I did a short 3 mile trip, but got in some good stretching before and after. It felt great. I can't explain why I am getting into triathlon so much but I found this posted earlier this evening and it pretty much summed it up for me:



It’s not easy to explain what the attraction to this sport is. It hurts, it takes up my free time, and it’s expensive. As I plan my next race, I am beginning to realize it’s not about the race. It’s not about swimming, biking, or running. It’s about discovering my limits and finding out how strong I am. It just so happens that triathlon is a great way to do this.

First ride on "new bike"

After several days of having my nose to the grindstone, "non tri" workouts, and fulfilling social obligations (aka a wedding), I have resumed my workouts. This is my first workout since Thursday. In the meantime I have done a little "crosstraining". Friday and Saturday were rest days for me. Sunday I played in a pretty intense hockey game. The pace was fast and really got the blood flowing and Monday, I played 18 holes of tournament golf. The golf tournament was a charity event I signed up for several months ago. I knew it would be a long day and would not be able to get in a good workout, so I decided to walk the entire time. (Six hours, only sitting down once). Not a get your pulse going workout, but I was pretty tired at the end of the day. Besides, I needed a little energy to stay awake to watch what I thought would be a lackluster Patriots - Broncos MNF game. To my surprise, the Pats dominated the entire game from start to finish. Way to go Matt Cassell and the entire defense!!

On Thursday, I was fitted for my bike and had some aerobars installed. I was very anxious to see how a road bike modified to a tri bike felt. Either way, it was going to be completely different from my mountain bike I am used to. When I ride a mountain bike, I feel like I ride through or over anything. The front shocks absorb most of the vibrations from the rocks and roots and even small trees and branches you encounter when on the trails. I learned today that a road bike is completely different. It weighs almost half the amount of a mtn bike. You feel every bump in the road even if you can't see it coming. As I said earlier, my road bike has been modified to setup more like a tri bike. Until Thursday, I had absolutely no idea what that meant. The difference is the the way your body is positioned on the bike. A tri bike has the seatpost almost completely vertical, whereas a road bike has a little backwards lean. This is to really put an emphasis on working the front of your legs (quads) vs. the back (hamstrings). This allows you to save your hammy's for the run later. I can now speak from experience today: THIS IS TRUE! My quads feel like they are on fire! For only my second time ever on a road bike I feel I did well. I was able to ride 18 miles and decided to call it quits because I really did not want to get lost or because it was an "out and back" I did not want to make it out and have Sara come get me on her way home because I could not make it back. That would have been a little embarrassing. Even though my legs are pretty fatigued, I am contemplating a short run or even an easy treadmill run to reacquaint myself with Sportsclub. Everything I have read says not to push yourself too hard at first, but it is just so much fun!! What a great sport. I love being a triathlete.

Half Ironman to raise money

In addition to completing my first HIM, I have been tossing around the idea of tying it in with a fundraiser to help raise money for a special group. I was thinking about a dollar amount per mile. Although it might be a small amount, I don't think anyone would turn down any type of monetary donation. The race will be a total of 70 miles, therefore a $1/ mile will equate to a $70 donation. I have been thinking of different groups in the Greenville area. So far I have come up with a couple:





The First Tee (http://www.thefirstteegreenville.org/)

Greenville Humane Society (http://www.greenvillehumane.com/)

The MAC Foundation (http://www.themacfoundation.com/)

The Boys Home of the South (http://www.boyshomeofthesouth.com/)