Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Weekend update with Logan

So Friday I jumped out of work early so I could get a head start on getting to Smithville for the Dirty Du weekend. It had rained all day so driving out with the pop-up was a trip. I made it safely and got the pop-up squared away. Slept like a baby Friday night and the pop-up didn't leak. I had never taken it out in the rain before so this was a test run for future trips. I woke up Sat morning, ate some bread and honey and then walked out the front door onto the Dirty Du 1/2 marathon course. I love trail racing. No big hoopla and no one is in a real big rush. The race started @ 9 a.m. which is awesome compared to the 7 a.m. starts I am used to.
Since it has been raining for the past few days the trails were a mess. Water crossings all over the place and peanut butter mud. The kind that sticks to your shoes and then sticks some more. But that wouldn't scare off any seasoned trail runner. I needed the run to get me motivated once again so there was no way I was going to miss it.
The race itself was awesome! Tons of mud and water. There were cows, run down shacks and even more mud and water. I finished the 13.1 miles in 1 hour 55 minutes. That was good enough for 5th overall and 4 male across the line which got me a nice beer mug. I am way off of the 31 miles I will be running in January but I had to start somewhere.
The rest of the weekend was good times with friends and then another race on Sun. I announced the Dirty Du that morning and then helped clean up. I was home by 4 and in bed by 7. Long day and I deserved some long sleep.
Monday I jumped out of bed and headed to the PTC for a core class with Natasha. It was just me and Dr. Phil that morning but it made things go by fast as I tried to keep up with Phil. That little bastard is in great shape and kicked my ass all over the place. I'll be going back to core again tomorrow morning and I hope to start going on a regular basis. I am weak and need the help.
Today I ran about 7.5 miles this morning and then another 7.5 miles after work. I need to start upping my mileage a lot so it looks like running twice a day is going to happen more.
I wore my compression calve sleeves this evening and they totally helped. My legs didn't feel as tired as they did this morning. I am wearing my compression socks right now and plan on wearing them to bed. I need all the help I can get because I plan on running the next 7 days straight. Gotta shed some lbs.

While I was running this evening I noticed a bunch of women running by themselves in the dark with headphones on. I can't stand seeing this. This could possibly be my biggest pet peeve next to someone who can't stop talking about what they have done and what they done more than you. Just a bunch of assholes.

I registered for the Triple T in Ohio in May of 2010. I also paid for my hotel for the race already. I am still not sure if I'll be healthy for the race but everything is refundable or transferable. We'll see.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Running on empty

Rolled out of bed this morning and made it to swim with Pain. 1 hour swim.
After work I jetted down to J&A's for a run. My knee bothered me a little out of the gate but what bothered me more was that I was out of gas. I totally felt like I had no energy. This has happened before so I just pushed through it and kept chugging along. No speed records were broken today.

Tomorrow I head out to the Rocky Hill ranch with the pop up for a weekend of camping, racing and announcing. It suppose to pir tomorrow so get the pop up up is going to suck.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Quick update

Ran for 70 minutes this morning and felt good. After the run I jumped into a core class with Natasha for 30 minutes. My knee killed me the rest of the day. Not so bad now.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Here we go again.

Just back from vacation back home and I feel like shit. Of course I ate way too much and slept way too much and drank way too much..... now I pay the price. But one thing that I like about life is that we all need to start over again every once and a while. It allows me to refocus on my goals and give me some motivation.
I have less that 2 months to prepare for Bandera and I feels as though I can. It will take a lot of focus and discipline but i feel confident that I can pull it off. So it's back on the wagon for me, back to watching what I eat and a bunch of 2 a days.
I am racing this weekend @ the Dirty Du 1/2 marathon. I'll probably fall apart but it will give me an idea of how trouble I'm in for the rest of training.
Lately I have been wanting to get back on the bike outside. I'm kinda itching to start tri training again but one thing at a time.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Long but short weekend.

Let's start with Thurs since it started this whole damn thing.
Thurs after work I went to go run with the Ship. I was all ready to toll but was lacking in the motivation department. Once we did drills and a warm up we headed over to do the workout. I made it about 200 meters into it and stopped because of GI issues. GI means I had to take a shit real bad. Before leaving a bunch of people were talking about a marathon up in Cedar Park that they were going to. It was called the Frankenthon named after good friend and race director Frank Livaudias....pronounce Liv-a-day. I called Frank when i got home and asked if he had any spots left for the race and he indeed did. So at that moment I decided to finally do just a marathon.
I have never felt the need to do one before because most marathons are high maintenance, too many people and just a major pain in the ass. I checked the participant list for the race and I knew about 1/2 of the people racing so I figured if I was going to do this thing I would do it with people I knew. Plus, Nancy Dasso was doing it and I love running with Nancy.
Sat. morning rolls around and I find myself in Cedar Park, TX. It's about 30 a minutes drive north from where I live. I got there, picked up my packet and sat in the X for 30 minutes because it was damn cold out. About 10 minutes before the race i made my way to the bathroom and then to the starting line. I figured I'd run with Nancy and that she would take it easy for the first mile so I didn't do any sort of warm up.
The gun goes off and I am right next to Nancy and she is running a sub 8 minute mile. Not to bad but a little quick. I hang in there hoping my legs warm up quick and they did. After mile 1 there was a group of about 8 of us with Nancy leading the charge. I told myself that I would run with Nancy as long as I could and then hold on just to finish. Nancy has run a million marathons and so i knew if I stuck with her she would get me through this thing. Plus, she's hot and considers herself a cougar so that made it really easy to stick with her.
The course was a 3 loop deal. I figured when I finished the 2nd loop if I didn't feel well I would just stop and call it a day. I should have know that Nancy would have nothing to do with that. The first loop we came through in 1 hour 10 minutes @ an 8:04 per mile pace. I saw the clock and figured if we could keep this up we would finish in 3:30 which would work for me. We started picking it up on the second loop and i was feeling really really good. 2nd loop time was 1:07 @ 7:41 pace. At about mile 19 Nancy stopped for a bathroom break and she told me to keep going. I did what I was told but the legs just didn't have the pep in them as they did when Nancy was running with me. She caught back up @ mi 21 and we kept running together @ until mile 24. At mi 24 Logan realized that his body can hold a sub 8 minute per mile pace for 24 miles. After that the wheels come off. We rounded a corner and I just couldn't get the legs to fire fast anymore. Nancy just kept pulling away. I ran out of gas. I kept going but now I was in survival mode and just wanted to keep running and finish the damn thing.
I came across the line 2 minutes behind Nancy in 3:31. Once I was done my calves cramped up like crazy and I could barley walk. My friends Charles and Mary had me sit down and they rubbed my calves for me while I downed everything I could that would help. Endurolytes, Coke, Gatorade and chocolate frosted doughnuts. Yes.... chocolate frosted doughnuts pretty much help with everything. After about 5 minutes of rubbing PW Michelle was there and she got me on her table for a quick post race massage for my legs. I say quick because this is only 1/2 he story. I had to be to work by 12:00 noon Sat.
After the race I jumped in the X and drove to Decker Lake to announce the bike check in for the Longhorn Ironman 70.3 race that was happening the next day. I got there on time and started talking the second I was handed a mic. I wasn't even out of my running clothes yet.
To make a long story short I announced for about 5 hours and then went home to take a much needed shower. I was FUNKY!!!!
The next morning I was right back at the race site to announce the LH 70.3 with Adam. Another long day but it was well worth it. I love announcing and being part of the event. One of the best parts was being at the awards ceremony. After all the awards were handed out they are followed by the qualifying slots for the 70.3 world championships in Florida. My buddy Mike was there hoping to make the cut for one of the slots. The top 3 guys in his age group get a slot. If they are not there or do not want it then it rolls down to the next guy in line by time. Only 2 slots were handed out to the top 10 guys in that AG. Adam then announces that anyone in that AG that wants the last one just needs to step up. About 10 guys come running. Adam looks at me and asks me if I can sort this thing out. Being Mr. Fix Shit. I pull all the guys off to the side and tell them that the guy with the fastest time among them is going to Florida. I already knew Mike's time so as these guys are arguing who is faster I gain their attention and ask if any of them can beat 5 hours and 9 seconds. They all stop talking because they all knew they didn't beat that time. I look at Mike and tell him congrats and that he is headed to Florida. The rest of the guys really were cool after that and they all wished him well. That was cool to see.
Long day. Long weekend. But a great result.


Congrats Mike.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Lists?

The 4 posts in response to my blog yesterday were all about me making lists. Thanks for the ideas. But I want to say that I am the KING of lists. I'll out list anyone anywhere. Trees quiver with fear when I walk by because they know that I have destroyed their cousins with all the paper I have used to make lists. Has anyone ever seen my day planner? Good lord that's the bible of lists right here. The Holy Grail of lists I'm telling you. I just picked one up for 2010 and it's already taking shape to be the next War and Peace of day planners.
Shit....this reminds me to put my external harddrive in my laptop bag. Yes..... it's on the list of things to get done tonight.
Workouts:
This morning I actually made it to swim! I'm glad I made it. Pain was there with coffee in hand and smile on her face. If I could wake up everyday and see that at practice my life would be pretty damn good. I lasted 1 full hour in the pool. That's twice as long as I've been going and check this..... I'm going again on Thurs. Pain is coaching then as well so I am taking advantage of that.
I went and did HOL repeats this evening after work. I wasn't really worked up over it but I made myself get into it. After finishing my first one I ran into a woman at the top. We started talking and she knew a bunch of people that I know from trail running. She trained for Pikes Peak 3 years ago with Rogue and told me she did 12 HOL repeats one day. Wow!!!! I now have a new goal. Maybe after Bandera though.
I finished off 5 of them before the rain came. I wanted to do 6 but the rocks were getting slick and I just didn't want to take the chance.
Times:
Up: 5:15, 5:04, 5:12, 5:14, 5:09
Down: 4:00, 4:07, 3:57, 3:59
My watch battery is dying and only half of the digits are showing up but somehow I have trained myself to understand what it's saying.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Some days.....


I feel like my head is up my ass.

I just wasn't able to get on track with anything today. I have a million things to get done in the next 2.5 months and I have no idea where I am going to get the time. You would think that over 2 months is plenty of time but when I'm looking at this mountain of shit in front of me I think it's pretty short.
Hopefully I can get out of bed in the morning and hit the swim. maybe that will clear my mind a bit.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Old # 7.


Back in the day Old #7 meant one of 2 things to me. My first thought would be Mr. John Daniels. I've known him long enough to call him John now. And #2 Old # 7 was the name of a donkey on that was on a show called Grizzly Adams that I used to watch with my brothers and sisters when I was a kid. Well I can add another meaning to it now. Old # 7 is the amount of times I have run up the HOL at one time. It could change to Old #8 or even #9 but that will only be on a bet when I need the money.
7 will be the maximum times I run up that damn hill. Meredith suggested that 7 was a good # to work with. Now if she tells me 12 or something like that of course I'll have to do them but that could take a while.
The workout today started out a little rough. My ass, back and hamstrings were still in the fetal position from the core workout yesterday so I wasn't very sure if I could do 1 let alone 7. Once I got there I started right in and went for a 10 minute warm up run and my feet weren't coming off the ground much. I thought that this was going to be the day that I crack my skull open running down this damn hill. After the second time up I actually felt pretty good. My times going up were about the same as they have been but my times going down were much slower. I think it was because of the soreness that I had made me a bit cautious going down hill. By the fourth one I was thinking that I was going to actually finish all of them.
The HOL was hopin' today with tons of people. "Tons" is more like a dozen or so. But there were a bunch of friendly dogs and even a hot chick walking her dogs. She asked me how many times I was going to run up the hill. I told her 7 and she thought I was crazy. I'm pretty sure she digs me. By #7 the sun had gone down behind the trees and most everyone was gone. I watched the sun set and it was nice. It was just me in the middle of the woods enjoying the moment. I haven't had one of those moments in a long time. I finished up the last repeat and headed to the X. On my way out I looked down the hill and told it I would be seeing it Sat. a couple of times. I'm sure it will miss me.
Here are my times:
Up: 5:41, 5:24, 5:35, 5:37, 5:47, 5:49, 5:27
Down: 5:09, 4:49, 5:02, 5:10, 5:01, 5:22
Overall I felt pretty good. the temps were in the low 80's and the humidity was not as bad as last week, but still hanging around. My feet felt better this week and I didn't stumble once the entire workout. It's funny how each week the hill changes just a little bit from the week before. There is no one line to take to the top. It starts in some places and goes about 10 feet, then disappears and picks back up on the other side of the trail 20 yards from where it ended. But each week I see something new and wonder how that happened. I say to myself that it's from the rain or the mountain bikers when they go up and kick rocks. I think I have found "my line" for going up because I always catch myself on the same lines going up. I figure if I do them enough I can find ways to make them shorter and that they will take less time. I'm talking about maybe 3 seconds here. There is no real easy way to get to the top. Just hard work and some self discipline is all it takes.

Today is my cousin Teresa's birthday. Happy birthday Teresa. Hope all is well in Yellow Springs.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Now I know why I was missing core.

Well, I haven't been actually missing it.
I finally got out of bed on time to make it to a core workout with Natahsa. It was a tough class but that's what you get for not getting your ass up and to the workouts. I am now sore as all hell. My glutes and back are killing me and I hate feeling like this. Every step I take I feel like my back is going to go out on me. This sucks.
Up early again tomorrow to get a swim in with Pain and then HOL repeats after work. The temps are suppose to be cooler.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Raw nasty speed!

I skipped core this morning.... again. Enough said.

It rained most of the day today. I decided around noon that doing HOL repeats was not the best idea. With the rocks being wet I was only looking for trouble if I did them. So I decided to get some speed work in and I haven't done that in a while. Once I walked out of the office I knew I was in for a tough workout. It was about 87 degrees and very very humid. I knew that the Ship of Fools were meeting at the JimiTex @ 5:45 and I knew I wanted to get some mileage in before the workout started. I got to the Jimitex @ 5:10 and I was running by 5:15. I ran LAB to Expo to Enfield back to LAB and back to the JimiTex. I almost made it back before I saw Shipmates running my way. I turned around with them and headed for O'Henry. It was about a 3.5 mile warm up and oh was it warm. I was drenched before the workout even started.
Today's workout was partner 400's. I was on a mission for pain today so I choose Capt. Jim as my partner. Jim is much faster than I am so my recovery would be shorter than normal and that was fine by me.
You know it's humid out when ol' Logan take off his shirt to run. I rarely do this but I was dying with my shirt on. Capt. Jim kept me moving and my HR elevated. We kicked out 6 400's all between 1:27 and 1:34. Jim joined me for the last one and he pushed me to finish in 1:29 after dropping off a bit on the previous 3. Thanks Jim. After the 400's were finished we did 3 man relays. Tough to explain but I ended up running 3 laps at about 95%. Good times.
I checked the weather and Thurs. looks cooler and less humid without any rain in the forecast so I am planning on doing my HOL repeats then. I am looking forward to it.

Monday, October 12, 2009

"Good morning Pain..... here's your coffee."

There was no way that I was going to miss the workout this morning. I haven't been to a Monday morning spin in...... well I actually don't think I ever have. But Pain was coaching and I couldn't just not go. After a quick stop at SB's I was at the PTC with coffee in hand. Some people say that they need their coffee in the morning to function. All I need is to get that coffee to Pain and see her smile and that's all I need for the day.
45 minutes of spin and I was done for the morning. Just not enough time for me to get in a full hour.
After work I coached a hill workout. Pretty basic day after the spin this morning.

Tomorrow is core in the morning and HOL repeats after work. We'll see how this goes. Going for 7 tomorrow.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Holy crap....100 posts!!!!!!

This will be my century post. I am a bit amazed by this. I used to think blogs were just stupid and then I thought they were trouble because someone I worked with was fired because of their blog. But it's been 100 posts and I still have a job. Good times!!!! I spoke with my mom today and she said she liked my blog because it made her feel closer to my life. I agree. Letting the folks back home know what I do is important to me and I hope that some of the info posted here helps the people who are training and looking to improve their lives. I'm such a giver.... yeah right.

This morning was a good run. I did what I was suppose to do and I used it as a recovery run. I never went too hard and I ran at a low heart rate for 1 hour and 45 minutes. I also got to run with people I don't normally run with. I ran about 2.5 miles with Yvonne and that was nice. She ran a smooth 8:40 during that and worked the hills. Great job Mrs. Ruebel. The last 4 miles I ran with Opre and Guice. Again.... not to high in the HR but just enough to get the legs going.

I am glad we started when we did as it started to rain with about .5 miles left. It's still raining now. One of the many great things about T3 (the team I train and coach with) is that we have an indoor training facility. Actually we have 2. One is called the CTC where there will be a 1 hour core workout tomorrow and @ the PTC there will be a bike spin workout with Pain. Nice and dry without the worries of traffic or wet/cold. Man I love this team.

Get well soon Walker and get your lawn mowed!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Sat. morning run-

I awoke this morning @ 5:00 a.m. to make sure I had enough time to set out water before I met up with Seba for a run this morning. I had to put out water because we were suppose to do an out and back from BS to the HOL and back. I drove to the HOL, dropped off the water and then we met up.

Seba is short for Sebastian or Capt Fucktard..... whichever you find more appropriate. He is one of my dearest friends and he is also out of his freaking mind. Even with his wife Molly calling the shots he's still a trip to be around. I've done a bunch of races with the guy and he is a better runner than I am so it was good for me today to chase someone around. He'll be doing the Bandera 50k as well.

So we took off a little after 6 from BS and it was a good day to be on the trail. The entrance was locked so we jumped the gate. With it being locked that meant not a lot of people would be out there. Now normally when I have crossed the creek (you have to a few times to get to the HOL) it's been bone dry. Well, it's been raining here and the creek was flooded and had a nice swift current to it this morning. The first time we crossed it wasn't to bad since it was dark and we couldn't see shit even with our headlamps. By the 3rd time came around we were up to our waists in moving water and the rocks were very slippery. Needless to say I fell in and got totally soaked. I'm not complaining but did I mention it was 55 degrees this morning? It hasn't been this cold since March. I was wet and cold. I was more concerned about snakes than anything else so that kept me moving once out of the water. But before we crossed we got seriously lost. We ended up behind Toys R Us. Neither of us had any idea how we go there but it was no big deal since there was a trail head about 1/4 mi away and it had a bathroom so we considered it a bonus.
Once we cleared the creek. We headed for the HOL. I'm not sure if Seba was trying or not but I did kinda beat his ass up the hill......just sayin'. Once at the top we grabbed some water and downed a Carboom or 2 and off we went back down the hill and back onto the GB. Crossing back over was a trip. We found a spot where the water wasn't too deep and were the current wasn't too bad. The problems were that the rocks were slippery and Seba found himself eye to eye with a damn snake. He took in good stride and told me not to go over there. Over there was about 4 feet from me and 4 feet is well within my screaming like a little girl zone when it comes to snakes. So I said F this shit and I just ran across the creek as fast as I could and I didn't care how slippery the rocks were or how fast the current was. I was getting the hell out of there.
Once back on the trail we picked up the pace and finished of with about 15 miles in just under 3 hours. It doesn't sound very fast but with the creek crossings, getting lost and breaks so numbnuts could tie his damn shoe (seriously like 10 times) it wasn't to shabby.

Now I am home and sitting on my bed with my compression socks on and I am about 5 minutes away from an hour nap. I'm already doozing off.

Plug of the day:
Angie over at J&A's is the shit. She totally hooked me up with some great advice. I have been using Gu brand gels for a couple of years now and they have always made me feel a little ill. I think it's because of the caffine. I'm not much of a caffine guy. I spoke with her about it and she reccomended Carb BOOM energy gels. Well let me tell you they totally kick ass. I have been using them for about a month now on all my long runs and they are totally doing the trick. I feel great and there are none of the highs and lows that I was feeling because of the caffine. They are caffine free btw. Yesterday I picked up a box of Raspberry and a box of Grapefriut Cranberry. Totally awesome!
Check them out @ http://www.carbboom.com/products/energy_gel.html

Thursday, October 8, 2009

I can only take badass so far.

I am coming to realize that I do not like getting out of bed in the morning. Again, I slept in and yeah, I felt a bit bad about it. I am going to change up my schedule next week and see if that helps.
After work today I went to the HOL for repeat day. Again it was hot and humid. The X said it was 91 degrees when I started. Just can't catch a break lately with the weather. I had 6 repeats on tap today and I finished them all. Well almost, the last one I needed to run back down to make it 6 whole repeats but common sense was my savior today. I just didn't have the gas in the tank to pick my feet up and I thought it would be a bit safer if I called it a night on my last uphill. I stumbled a few times going up on # 6 and that was telling me that the legs were done for the day.
Up:
5:37, 5:35, 5:32, 5:47, 5:57, 6:05
Down:
4:22, 4:34, 4:02, 4:15, 4:41
Overall it was a good workout. I just kept thinking that if I make it through the workout and kept this up I would rock @ Bandera.... then I thought if I fall I'm a gonner.
Up to 7 repeats next week. That's as high as I'll go so it's something to look forward to.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Good morning sunshine.

5:00 a.m. is early no matter how you look at it. That alarm hits and WHAM!!!!!! time to slowly start the day. I needed to get a run in before spin this morning. See.... I'm not one for cutting shit short as it drives me crazy. So I dragged my ass to the PTC to start my run by 5:30. I did a 15 minute out and back to make up for the time I cut short yesterday. I made it back to the PTC will about 5 minutes to spare so I jumped in the X, drove to Starbucks, got a coffee for Pain and made it back to the PTC just in time to start the spin class. I just couldn't show up empty handed.
Spin was good. Pain gave us the gist of the workout at the beginning. 3 x 8 minute sets with some time trial stuff up front with hills on the tail end. I lasted about 50 minutes and then I had to get off the bike. I needed time to stretch and take a shower before work.
After work I coached and speed workout on the road because there was a football game at the track. No big deal. I think everyone did just fine. It makes it hard for me to coach in this situation since I really can't see anyone running. I did my best though with answering training questions and helping a couple of athletes out with pre-race issues.
Tomorrow is another early day with core in the a.m. and 6 HOL repeats after work. I'm gonna sleep well tomorrow night.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Just another day.

After work today I drove over to J&A's. They aren't open on Tues. so there was plenty of parking. I pulled in and Freer was just starting his run. He tells me that it's too humid to run today but that he was going anyway. After he said that I knew I was running no matter how hot or humid it was. There was no way that he was going to run and I wasn't. At 5:30 it was 91 degrees and about 90 to 95% humidity.
I loaded up on endurolytes and off I went. My plan today was to run the 7 mi loop from the shop and then finish off with a 3 mile loop at a faster pace. After 2 days off from any training I was itching to get a solid run in. I started out a little faster than I usually do but I kept it under control @ about an 8:20 pace. The hill on Riverside did me some damage and my pace went up to 8:33 but the long bridge over 35 got me back down to 8:27. Once back on the trail I kept a steady pace and brought my time down to 8:22. A quick stop @ the rock for some water and off I went but GI issues were lurking. At about Lou Neff point I decided that just the 7 mi loop was all my body was going to allow today. I stayed steady and finished with 7.33 mi @ 8:22 per mi.
I have not done speed work in a while because I think that if I am trail running speed really isn't as much of a factor as power and control. I emailed Mer about this today and hopefully she will have an answer for me. Any speed work @ all?
Doing some thinking today about what time I would like to finish in @ Bandera. Never having run this far before and with it being a trail race it's hard to say. I would like to finish in under 5 hours. That's a 9:41 per mi pace. I'm not sure it's doable for me. To compare, Terranova did this race in 2007 and he ran a 4:11. That's an 8:06 mi. I'm not sure how this will all work out but I have plenty of time to figure it out.

I don't mind being wrong sometimes. It proves humility and keeps us all in check. I've known people who can't say they are wrong about anything and they drive me freaking nuts. I used to date a girl like that. What a fucking pain in the ass she was.
So today I'm on my way home from my run and I stop in at 7/11 to feed my need for quick riches. My weekly $2 dollar lottery ticket. As I am leaving the store I see this old man and this young punk kid jarring at each other. I think to myself if the kid raises his voice I'll say something because the old guy was OLD. So the kid stops and starts to walk towards the store and he catches my eye and I'm staring him down a bit. He says to me "Dude! The fucking old guy's wife is smoking a cigarette while he's pumping gas!" I was floored! The old man and his wife are idiots!!!! I figured the kid was being a d-bag but I was wrong. I have no problem admitting that.

Busy busy busy

Sorry for the delay in post. I have been crazy busy the past 4 days.
Let's get to it.

Sat: 3 hour run on the GB. Syd and I started @ 6 a.m.. We had our moments this morning as we both almost fell. I swallowed a moth and then I puked it up. That was the first time I ever puked during a workout. We actually made it to the HOL but Syd was not feeling well so we didn't climb it. On the way back I'm telling her about my Hood to Coast trip and telling her about how Sebastain has a screw loose when who appears out of the freaking woods? Sebastain!!!! Talk about strange. He was doing his weekly long run on the GB as well. After the run I cleaned 4 bikes and then proceed to spend 4 hours working on a presentation for the t3 coaches meeting.
Sunday I announced the Donkey Dash 5k in the morning, cleaned one more bike and then it was time for the coaches meeting. The meeting was almost 3 hours long so I didn't have time for a run. But it was very productive so I didn't mind.
Monday I didn't train at all. Still no time as I was working on getting caught up from the weekend.
Tuesday, today I plan on running after work. Still haven't decided on running 7 or 10 miles. Working on that.

I fly home in 1 month and I am looking forward to a little r&r.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Day off but that doesn't mean I didn't workout.

I did sleep in this morning and that totally helped because before this day is done I will have needed all my energy.
I work in IT during the day and today was one of those off the chain crazy days. I was busy all day and I still didn't get everything I wanted to done. Plus I had some serious T3 work to get done. Heck it's 9:20 p.m. and I am still working on my T3 stuff. Well..... it's for a damn good reason and I want to make sure I have all my bases covered.
Tomorrow morning I have a 3 hour run planned. Syd doesn't have to be to work until 9:30 see we get to do 90 minutes out and back. I am wicked stoked about this.

Well see how I feel in the morning.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

My brain and how it works when I train.

I'm not sure if this happens to anyone else but when I train I come up with the best ideas. I mean I have all these great ideas to write about in this blog and I am stoked when they hit my brain. The one big kick in the nads is that I can't remember a damn thing once the workout is finished. Hell...it's taken me 3 years just to remember to write about the stuff I forgot to write about. I really need to carry a recorder with me when I train. This all started when PT (Paul Terranova) told me that when he first went to Kona for the IM World Championships he wished he had a video recorder with him because he says it was absolutely awesome but can't remember any of the race. Well, he's back again this year and hopefully he'll remember crushing Macca. Go get 'em Paul.
Today's training was interesting.
I awoke to the lovely sounds of my alarm @ 5:20 a.m. and made my way down to Circle C pool for a swim with Pain at the helm. I jumped in a lane with Audra, Yvonne and Colleen. I lasted about 1200 meters before I had to get out so I could make it to work on time. The ladies were good to me today as they were nice enough to have me lead the whole way. Always the ladies man I was happy to help and I paid the price of not having anyone to draft off of. I'm sure I'll get mine in the future.
I had a massage today to try and help the tightness in my neck and shoulders. According to PW Michelle (massage lady friend) my neck was a mess. She also worked on my right foot as this is the foot that I jammed a few weeks ago while running the GB. It's still tight and right now it's pretty sore. I just have to keep on rolling it with a TP massage ball.
After work I headed over to the HOL for some repeats. I was totally prepped and ready to rock out 5 of these bad boys today. Once I was ready I walked down the HOL and hit the GB for a 5 minute out and back. With that done I took on the HOL going up. Just as I started my accent the clouds went away and it got really freaking hot. It was also humid and just gunky out. I knew at that time I was going to be in for a long workout. After my first accent I thought I would try running down hard and then going right back up without taking a break. Boy did I pay for that. Maybe on a cooler day but not today. I was sweating like crazy and my heart rate was out of control. After my 3rd accent I was not picking up my feet at all and I was starting to make small mistakes. A small mistake on the HOL could mean sidelines for me if I didn't take my head out of my ass. The thought going through my mind was do I stop because my times are getting slower and slower or do I just do my best to finish. I have seen people from both side of that argument and I was spilt on which side to take. But I remembered Meredith telling me that even if you power walk up the hill, you're doing it right. Well I didn't want to walk so I just kept on chugging away. I felt like crap but I didn't want to head home with having done 4 repeats. That wouldn't sit well for me.
I finished up with 5 accents and 4 descents.
Times:
Accents: 5:30, 5:40, 5:44, 5:54, 5:48
Descents: 3:56, 3:59, 4:22, 4:30

Not my best day but a good mental test for myself.
I am skipping core in the morning because I really need to give my legs a rest. I figured some of the issues I had today were because of the Wilke repeats from the other day. Damn you Wilke!!!!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Peanut Butter Cup ice cream...mmmmmmmmmm

I suck at getting out of bed. Maybe it's because I am training and I'm tired. Or maybe it's because I am a lazy ass. The one thing that does get me out of bed is Pain. If I tell her I will be at her workout in the morning you better believe I will be there. I have had some days where I ended up sleeping in and I felt soooo bad for not getting out of bed. She just has to give me that look of disappointment and I am crushed for a few days. It's worse than getting scissor kicked in the back of the head or being attacked by a cougar named Karen.
So moving along.......
Rolled out bed this morning, stopped by Starbucks for Pain's coffee and made it to the spin workout @ 6:00 a.m. I have not been on the bike in 3 weeks but I felt ok. I just kept thinking to myself, "just finish this workout and you'll have a full 24 hours off from training." Yes.... this is how I think.
After work I coached the T3 track workout and it was most enjoyable. Big shout out to Riggs for dropping the hammer on Mo. She crushed him and the entire time she had a smile. Nicely done..... now all we need to do is work on some pacing for the girl. :)
Another early morning tomorrow. Swim @ 5:45 a.m.. Massage @ 9:45. HOL repeats @ 5:30. I am stoked for the repeats this week. I am up to 5. We'll see how that goes.

I spent 47:02 on the phone with Pain this evening and while I did that I ate a 1/2 pint of Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream. It's 350 calories per serving!!!!!! No wonder I'm not loosing weight.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Not a morning person this week

Today was the second day in a row that I decided to skip core class and sleep in. I'm motivated to go but just tired @ 5:00 in the morning. I'm going to try and get to Pain's spin workout in the a.m. Just the thought of missing her workout when she knows I said I would be there scares me. I'll make it!
Today was a solid run for me. No land speed records were set but I am not about speed right now. It's about building strength and power in my legs so that the hills of Bandera won't kill me. So that is why I run hills all the damn time now. I hope this pays off. So after work I drove over to the PTC and started there. I ran down to the trail via Dawson/5th St and headed West on the South side of the river. Once @ the 1 mi marker I cut under the bridge and ran to Barton Hills Loop and onto Wilke. It was a nice 4.5 mi warm up with hills involved. Once to Wilke I did my 5 repeats that I didn't finish yesterday. The one BIG thing I did differently today is that I only rested once in between repeats. I just kept rolling into the next one. I really enjoyed that and I'll make that part of the next Wilke workout for the team. When I finished I ran back to the PTC and that got me about 7.5 miles. I was pleased with this workout and will do it again next month or so.

Things in general:
-I have seen Fish more in the past 4 weeks than I have in the past 4 years. Everywhere!!!!! It's always a pleasure but it's really weird.
- I can't stand people who try and one up another person. If you are one of these people.....get a f'ing life.
- My little sister has taken up aqua jogging @ the Y. April..... you are a better person than I because I could never do that. I would loose my mind! Keep it up..... it will only make you stronger and healthier.

Oh................... Beer Mile will be the Saturday after T-Day @ Circle C Metropolitan Park. 4:00 p.m. Bring your own beverage and I'll supply the course. No GLASS!

Good times on Wilke.

Video from the workout last night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71KB_7bOgqo

Monday, September 28, 2009

New and not so new.




So as you can see my shoes are a little dirty. Can you believe that working out can actually make them dirty? Go figure!! I picked up a new pair of Avi Stoltz trail running shoes by Avia over at Hill Country Running Company this past weekend. The store is owned and operated by my friends Jamie Cleveland and Andrea Fisher. I had not been there before and I thought the store looked great with plenty in stock and there was this warm feeling there. It's hard to explain but I really felt welcomed. I think the place was very homey in a runner sort of way.
I usually put anywhere from 250 and 300 miles on a pair of running shoes. I am not sure if this will work for trail running shoes as the pair on the bottom are already showing signs of wear. I'm pretty sure that's because of HOL repeats and the lack of traction there. I have to be careful as these types of shoes run $120 bucks a pop.
Tonight was the Monday night hill workout. I had the group do Wilke repeats. I did some of the workout with them and I ended up doing 5 repeats. I planned on doing 10 but my legs were tight and didn't have the pep I hoped they would have had. I plan on running after work tomorrow so I'll plan on running by Wilke during my run and kick out the other 5 repeats. I wouldn't want to cheat myself.

The ups and down me and IT.

The ups: I posted my first video Thurs. on Youtube.
The downs: My 2nd video I posted on Youtube never worked and I tried all freaking day Sat. trying to get it to work. I really dislike technology!

So I has this really great post from Sat. and it was deleted when i tried to upload a video this this damn blog. WTF!!!!! This shit should be easy but no such luck for me.

Here's my training from the weekend.
Sat. I ran with Syd on the GB for an hour in and an hour out. Once I dropped her off at her car I went back in for another 20 minutes in and out. Towards the end of the run I was tired. I then soaked in the free end of Barton Springs. It lasted about 3 minutes and then I saw 2 snakes. So I screamed like a little girl, grew wings like a Pixie and walked on water like a god. It made for a good laugh.
Sunday I ran 14 miles with Jess. She's doing Chicago in a couple of weeks and she is going to kick ass. The run was good but it did start to get a little warm towards the end. We averaged about an 8:35 pace. I felt strong the entire run and that was a bit of a surprise to me. The rest of the day I spent cleaning 5 bikes, talking/texting with Pain and grocery shopping. My life is sooooo exciting.

I received some cool news this morning. My good friend Sebastian is doing the 50k @ Bandera as well. He's training with Rogue and I think this is awesome. It's good to have him back out training again.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Hill of Lifw video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYMmDRqUqCE

The video feature for the blog was taking too long so I uploaded it to Youtube.

Didn't workout today.

In the morning I have a 2.5 hour run on the GB. Gonna be a good morning.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Show and tell day
















I was able to get out of bed this morning with plenty of time to make it to core class. Living 4 minutes from the PTC helps out a lot! Tasha did her duty and put me through some pain. Opre and Landon were there this morning so I had some good laughs with them. Opre was telling me how he had some stripper lotion on and he wanted me to smell it. No way dirty old man!!!!
After work today I drove over to the HOL. Changed quickly in the X and jumped on the trail. It had rained all day here so I wasn't too sure what to expect. Well the gate was locked so that should have been my first clue. Never the one to obey a locked gate I jumped the fence, put down my water and started running. In order to do this workout from where I enter I actually have to go down the HOL first before I get to the trail. So I more like walked down the HOL first. Once at the bottom I jumped on the Greenbelt and ran 5 minutes out and 5 minutes back. That was my warm up. I was pretty cautious my first couple of repeats today because there wasn't much traction with the wet rocks. Going down was a little hairy and my foot slipped a couple of times but I managed to stay balanced and never did fall.
I did 4 repeats today. 4 up and 4 down. I could have only done 3 down but Jess called me out on not doing the same amount for up and down. I wouldn't want to upset my educational wonder!!!
Here are my times:
Up: 5:31, 5:31, 5:35, 5:24
Down: 4:28, 4:27, 3:59, 4:10
The 3:59 was a cool one. I found myself in a good grove and my timing was on. Finding the right spots to run came easy and I was picking up my feet. I felt really good and wasn't too concerned with the wet rocks.
After my 3rd repeat I met up with a lady named Nancy who was just out for a nice trail run with her dog. We talked for a few minutes while I explained that I'm not rude I just won't shake her hand because I don't want to catch the flu. Is that rude? I'm not thinking so if you explain yourself. She was a multi time Ironman finisher who was taking the year off and had actually done the swim clinic 4 years ago with T3. Small world.

More pics posted of the HOL and GB. I also took some video so we'll see how that turned out.
I am still working on getting photos in the right place. My skills lack in that dept.





Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Let it rain


It rained all day today and it was awesome!!! We are in such need of rain that I stopped caring about when it rains just as long as it rains. Today was bit odd with that it was raining and 60 degrees @ 6:00 p.m. today. I'm surprised that the city offices didn't shut down. But it did make for small track workout this evening. Only 6 people showed up. The pic posted shows Noah, Jess and Geeeeee-um warming up.

My workouts today almost didn't happen. I didn't get out of bed this morning. Somehow I convinced myself at 5:30 a.m. that I didn't need to ride because I am not tri training right now. My mind is my worst enemy in the wee hours of the morning. At lunch today I actually went to Courtyard for a swim. Now it was only 30 minutes and I totally sucked but at least I got into the pool. The pool water was off the chain today. Wayyyyyy too much chlorine. I mean my teeth are whiter now but I'd like to leave that to the dentist.

So in the morning I am expecting myself to get my ass out of bed @ 5 so I can make it to core by 5:30. After work it will be HOL/HOD repeats. I am working up to for this week so we'll see how that goes. I plan on bringing my camera to take some pics of what it looks like. I hope I remember the damn thing.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Tools of the trade


So I am not a gifted athlete. I don't have the genetics or the body to go out and crush every workout and dominate at every race. I consider myself a blue collar athlete. I work my ass off for results that work for me and I don't give a shit what other people think about my race times. If you are faster than me then fine, if you gloat about it you're a jerkoff. So I need all the help I can get and that is why I use the hell out of my TP massage kit. The thing I use the most is the small roller and the block thingy for my calves. God blessed me with ankles that don't move and calves that are the tightest in the history of man. The TP stuff totally helps with my tight calves and I try to roll them once a day like in the above pic. It saves me trips to Performance Wellness and ut feels kinda good once I hit the right spot.
You can check out TP massage @ http://www.tptherapy.com/ and Performance Wellness @ http://www.performance-inc.net/
Training:
I woke up this morning @ 5:20 to moderate rain so I sent a text to Pain saying I wasn't headed to the pool and I got an extra hour of sleep. I didn't need it but it was nice to have it. I guess only 2 people showed up for the swim this morning so I don't feel too bad for missing it.
After work today I did something I don't normally do. I ran....... about 11 miles! I set out to run 90 minutes and that's what I did. 1:29:12. That's 90 minutes in my book. I didn't kill myself for 2 reasons. 1- Trail running isn't so much about speed a it is balance and power. 2- It was a training run so I used it to build strength and to work on my aerobic base. Basically it was to help me loose some weight. But it worked and I was pleased with how I felt afterwards. The temps here in Austin today were a high of about 75. Beautiful day with lots of rain. I love running in the rain so bring on all the rain we can handle.
Business:
I booked an announcing gig for October today. I think I may be taking this trail running thing a little too serious. Instead of being paid cash I made a deal with the race director for trail running shoes instead of being actually paid. I did this for a couple of reasons. The RD is a friend and I really didn't want to charge them my normal rate and she also happens to own a running shoe store that carries the type of shoes that I run in. I figured it was a good deal for both of us.
Motivation:
I found this vid on this new website called Youtube.... maybe you've heard of it. Anyways, this is a great vid on training for an IM. I thought it was awesome that this girl had this done and the fact that she was running on a snow covered road totally rocked!! You want balance...., go run on ice and snow and see how that works for you.

Monday, September 21, 2009

At work so this has to be short

Yesterday I ran the Town Lake trail for about 1:30. Actually a bit less than that but I stopped my watch at the water stop and forgot to start it again. So it was about 10 miles. I ran the first loop with T-rav and 2 new folks. Everyone kept up and the new folks seemed to enjoy themselves. I was using this as a recovery run so no hard stuff. Plus my toe was bothering me from the fall on Sat.
This morning I jumped out of bed and realized my toe was pretty much f'ed. It's swollen and turned all different colors. Yeah it hurt but what the hell am I going to do? I will not stop training and there isn't much you can do for a toe so I sucked it up and headed to core class with Tasha.
It was freaking humid this morning because I was sweating after about 1 minute. There have been some small improvements in the strength dept. but still a long ways to go.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Hitting the trails

Yesterday I woke up a bit early and headed to Natasha's core class. Of course she killed me but I'm pretty sure I'm stronger because of it.
This morning I woke up just as early to meet Sydney for a trail run on the Greenbelt. Well 6:00 came and no Syd. After a quick text message and then a phone call she reviled that she over slept and would be there by 6:30. At 6:36 we took off in the dark for a quick 20 minute out and back run. She had to be at work by 8 so we had to cut it short. We turned on our headlamps and were off. It was a good run but way too short. Once back to the cars she took off and I reloaded some water and a Carboom to take off for a 40 minute out and back. About 6 minutes into the run I drove my toe into a rock I didn't see (it's daylight by now) and took a spill. I collected myself and inspected the damage. Nothing broken but my toe does hurt and look......awh shit.... my water bottle top came off and all my water was gone. I gathered myself and headed back to the X to reload. I filled up with water I had left in the X and headed back out onto the trail. Instead of a 40 minute it turned into a 33 minute out and back. I haven't run the GB in a long time so I wasn't exactly sure where to go but I surprised myself and kept to the trail without any detours. I went pretty slow and I was running low on water so I was suffering a bit. But I did manage to make it back to the X @ Barton Springs.
It was too late to get into the springs for free so I went to the overflow side and sat down in the water there. I watched some guy throw the ball for his dog about 50 times. That damn dog went apeshit everytime the guy threw the ball. It was fun to watch. After a quick soak I ran into Paladino who just ran 15 miles. Thatta boy Johnny. He told me my old running crew was headed to Dario's for breakfast. I hadn't been to breakfast with the Ship in a long time so I drove to the east side and found Dario's. I sat down right next to Al and he was in form this morning. Man the guy cracks me up with all the shit he talks. I had 2 cokes and miga's. Mmmmmmm good!!!! The miga's were ok. I have had better and cheaper. $9 bucks for miga's and a coke!!!!! But the company was worth the price I guess.
After Dario's I made my way to Rogue Running and bought a new head lamp. The one I bought yesterday from RunTex sucked. And I also purchased a new running water bottle. I saw 2 people on the trail this morning running with 2 bottles so I thought I would give that a try.
Running and tri's are very much a like. One thing is that you experiment all the time with different things such as nutrition, running shoes and accessories. So I'm gonna try the 2 bottle theory and see how that goes. Thanks to Syd who works @ Rogue for the hook up today. They didn't have any lights out front because they have been broken into twice in the past 10 days so she found one out back for me. It's the same as hers and I thought hers was pretty bright this morning.

So overall I ran 2 hours on the GB today with a 10 minute BS soak. Hopefully next week I'll stay on my feet more and I'll get my nutrition down a bit better. I didn't feel very good after I fell but I managed to push through and finish up instead of turning back early.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Life, death and knuckleheads

Where to start today....... hmmmmmmm. Let's get the crap out of the way first.

Today was the first time I have ever been banned from a website. Beginnertriathlete.com banned me because..... well I'm not really sure. I replied to the knucklehead that posted about the size of the bags @ Longhorn. I just couldn't let that go unanswered. Anyone dumb enough to post a question like that needs to be told.... you're an idiot. Here's my post and the replies I received.

You gotta be kidding
Posted 2009-09-17 10:02 AM (#2411529 - in reply to #2015261) Subject: RE: Longhorn Ironman 70.3: ARENA FINISH!!!!

New userPosts: 1Offline
"OK, I know I'm being OCD here, but do you have dimensions on the bags?"This could possibly be the dumbest thing I have ever heard.It seems to me that KEJ spoils you folks with all that is done at his races and all you can do is ask for more and more. Why don't you just enjoy what is given to you and go with that? I am a triathlete and I can hold my own out there. I never ask for more than what is given and I love the sport. It's people that ask questions like "is T1 going to be in the dirt/grass like The Couple's Tri, or will T1 be in the parking lot/boat launch area?" that boggle my mind. It's gonna be a transition area!!!!! Doesn't matter if it's in a parking lot, on the grass with burrs or on a lava field. You make do with what you are given. Seriously..... You sound like a bunch of whiney bit@ches.Edited by You gotta be kidding 2009-09-17 10:14 AM

JBrashear
Posted 2009-09-17 10:15 AM (#2411567 - in reply to #2411529) Subject: RE: Longhorn Ironman 70.3: ARENA FINISH!!!!

ElitePosts: 2786Offline
Gold member
You gotta be kidding - 2009-09-17 10:02 AM "OK, I know I'm being OCD here, but do you have dimensions on the bags?"This could possibly be the dumbest thing I have ever heard.Yea, why would we possibly want to know the size of the bags as we're preparing for a race we've been training towards for a year? How would that possibly be relevant when trying to prep for what you're bringing into a clean transition area when you've been to an IM and seen that the bags they used were nowhere near large enough to hold a wetsuit? Next thing you know, people might be asking about aid stations & swim waves, how f*cking crazy would that be? What kind of lunatic would ask such an irrelevant, imbecilic question? @$$hole.

dgunthert
Posted 2009-09-17 10:38 AM (#2411630 - in reply to #2411529) Subject: RE: Longhorn Ironman 70.3: ARENA FINISH!!!!

MasterPosts: 2161Location: Austin, TXOnline
Gold member
Wow...really brave to create a brand new account just to make this post. That took some real guts. Guess the irony of whining about people being whiny bi@tches from behind an anonymous post is lost on you? ETA: Marma? Ron? How about a ban for the account and maybe the gutless wonder that created it so they didn't have to use their real one?Edited by dgunthert 2009-09-17 10:43 AM------ Dennis You wonder why I exercise so much. I wonder why you don't.

GregInAustin
Posted 2009-09-17 11:26 AM (#2411778 - in reply to #2411529) Subject: RE: Longhorn Ironman 70.3: ARENA FINISH!!!!

MemberPosts: 39Online
You gotta be kidding - 2009-09-17 10:02 AM Seriously..... You sound like a bunch of whiney bit@ches.Seriously, you sound like a complete jerk. Please let me know what your bib number is going to be for the Half Ironman, so I can say, "Goodbye!" as I pass you.To answer one of my own questions, I see now the updated map for the T1 area is the same place. I can handle the longer run, the rocks and the burrs no problem. Its just nice to know what to expect ahead of time.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I replied but they took out all my posts and kicked me off the site. I'm not worked up over it. I understand that the admins of the site have a job to do and that's cool. Hell, BT.com is a great site and I think it holds a bunch of good information. BUT......... there has to be someone who isn't going to blow smoke up peoples asses. You ask a dumb question you are going to get a dumb answer. Enough of babying athletes. Some tri folks have this feeling of "entitlement" and that they are owed more every time they race. These are the people that have never done an honest days work in their lives. Never cut wood, weeded a garden, built a shed or looked at something that is broken and said, "Hey I think I can fix that." The have been babied long enough and if it takes me posting the truth then so be it. I got their panties all in a bunch and I got a good laugh out of it.

One thing I do remember from my post that they deleted was this. "so I can say, "Goodbye!" as I pass you"...... hahahahahahahahah. Thanks for the laugh.

I'm pretty sure that pissed someone off. lol

Now onto training.

Today I started my weekly Hill of Life and Hill of Death repeats. The HOL is a hill located off of 360 here in Austin. It's about a 1/2 mile long and it's all trail. I would have to say that on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the most difficult, this is a solid 9 for technical difficulty. This sucker is a killer. It's mostly large loose rock and about 10 - 15 feet wide. There is no direct path up so you do a lot of zigging and zagging while you make it up as you go along. I'd say it's about a 7 -10% grade all the way up with no flats for recovery.
The HOD is the HOL but going down. Meredith suggested that I work the downhills as well as the uphills. Going down is a trip. You have to be careful that you don't get going so fast that you can't control yourself. There is a good chance of falling so that's why it's called the HOD.
Doing these repeats will make me a monster hill runner. There really isn't a way to pace yourself going up so it's just grinding it out.
Here are my times from today. I did 3 HOL's and 2 HOD's.
HOL's: 5:34, 5:23, 5:18
HOD's: 4:03, 4:09

Overall I really enjoyed myself. No one to run around as it was just me out there. I kinda like it that way sometimes when the only one pushing you is you. I think it makes me mentally tougher since trail running has a lot of alone time.

I slept in this morning so I missed core but I there is a class tomorrow morning and I plan on getting to that. Maybe next week I'll bring my GPS and camera to the HOL and take some pics and get some elevation so you folks can see what I am dealing with.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Excuse me if I sound like a jerk

The last line of this post from a tri forum could possibly be the most idiotic thing I have ever heard.
From poster #1:
We're going to allow you to set up your spot at T1 with towel, etc on race morning. You'll just have to make sure you stuff it all back into the bag before leaving T1 so we can transport it. You're more than welcome to put your helmet on your bike, or on your towel, etc. Same with T2....it's fine to leave your stuff out, if you want The bags are BIG... We're doing this so we can easily transport your stuff back to the Expo Center/Arena, so you don't have to go back to Walter E. Long Park. We're NOT doing this to create a big hassle for you. Trust me, this is WAAAAAAAAY more work for us to do all of this. We need box trucks, 2 crews for 2 different transition areas, etc. BUT, the reason we're doing it is to make the race MUCH better for you. No walking back to your car after the race, air conditioned finish with an incredibly unique finish. It'd been much easier for us to just leave it the way it was. But we want this to be a great race for YOU. The idea is NOT to make it more difficult for you. I really don't think it will be, but it sounds much more complicated than it is.
Poster #2's reply:
OK, I know I'm being OCD here, but do you have dimensions on the bags?


Please Poster #2 don't breed.

So what have I been doing?

Sunday morning was a 14 mile run with Jess. I have not run anything further than 7.8 miles since CDA. Jess kept me going the last loop even when I wasn't feeling all that good. 14 miles in 2:01:00. Solid pace for where I am fitness wise. The last mile she killed me.
Monday AM was core with Tasha. I'm weak as all hell and hopefully she'll fix that.
Monday night I coached a run workout @ Barton Springs. Had about 15 people and they did circuit training.
Tuesday AM I actually swam. I figured I needed to get back into the pool sometime soon so I chose Pains workout for Tues. morning. I lasted about 30 minutes before I stopped. I was feeling pretty good but didn't want to over do it. I lasted a 600 pull with Audra which is wayyyy better than I thought I would do.
Tuesday PM I ran the 7 mile loop from J&A's. I didn't feel all that great. My legs were sore from core the day before and I felt really hungry. I knew I wasn't but I just had that feeling. I struggled through 5 miles until I ran into Paladino on the trail and we hoofed it for about 2 miles and that dropped my pace per mi down a bit. 7.5 miles in 1:03:20
Wednesday morning I jumped on the bike and did a spin class. 45 mins was all that I had in me today. That'll get better.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son"

Well well well....... looks like I need to get my head out of my ass and get this damn thing updated. I have been asked to write an article for a 1/2 IM race packet so I figured I'd get the creative juices flowing by starting here and seeing what happens. Yup..... that's right..... I'm going to get published and I'll have about 2300 readers. Book deal here I come. But onto more important things.
"Where in the hell have you been", my mom (she said this more times that I can even possibly remember). After CDA I took some time off. Needed to recharge the batteries. That turned into going out every freaking weekend and gaining weight. I was trying to train for a race in Oregon (Hood To Coast) but I was often injured with knee, shoulder and hamstring issues. I toughed out the race and did better than I thought. My total mileage was 15 miles and I averaged about a 7:05 pace. Not too hard when you break that up into a 4.18, 4.38 and a 7.8 mile run over 23 hours. Good times as always.
Once I got back from H2C I needed a new goal because I could myself getting back into the post CDA grove I was in. If you have a goal training is sooooo much better. I needed some motivation so I did the only thing I could think of. I emailed Paul and Meredith Terranova and I told that I was doing the trail race in Bandera, TX. A 50k (31 miles American....cause we're in America) trail race over some of the toughest terrain you can get here in TX. I new if I told them I was doing the race I would have backed myself into a corner because they are 2 of the few people I would feel horrible letting down. So I asked them a bunch of questions and the more questions I asked the more I got excited to start training again. Both Paul and Mer are incredible athletes and 2 of the nicest people I know so asking them for help was a no brainer.
Once the information was there I needed to put together a plan. I had some factors that I had to work with.
1- I am fat and out of shape
2- My knee is killing me along with my hamstring
3- I haven't done a serious trail run in almost a year
4- I want to be serious about this but have some fun along the way
So this is what I came up with to address these issues.
1- Stopped drinking for a while and start eating right again. I have been really good with eating well for years now but I slipped for a bit. Not too tough to get back into that.
2- T3 now has yoga and corefit. Corefit is like crossfit with lots of strengthening stuff. Natasha is kicking my ass with it but it will help the weak parts of my body which there are many right now. Yoga is awesome but the only time I have time to do it is Friday after work and since there was a clerical error with the new schedule I am going to have to miss it for a while. NOT F'ING HAPPY ABOUT THIS!!!!!!!!!
3- Start running the Greenbelt here in Austin 2 times a week along with my Town Lake runs. Mer told me either run the Greenbelt or run hills to prep for Bandera. Right now I am wicked excited about that..... this could change after my first Hill of Life repeat that is coming Thursday.
4-I am very serious when I train. Yeah I joke around to make people get relaxed but when it's time to work you shut the hell up and start working. The fun part is that my friend Sydney is training for a trail race in Dec. so we'll be running together some. Plus, Pain asked me this morning if she could join me for a few trail runs. Ummmm..... hell yeahs you can!
Here's what my weekly schedule looks like for the month of Sept.
Monday- Corefit AM/ Coach PM
Tuesday- Swim AM/1 hr run PM
Wed.- Trainer ride AM/ Coach PM
Thursday- Corefit AM/ Hill of Life repeats PM
Friday- Was yoga but now it's a rest day or maybe something else. Not sure yet.
Saturday- Long run- Up to 2.5 hours On Town Lake until my fitness gets better. Will hit Greenbelt starting in October and that will increase up to 4.5 hours runs.
Sunday- Recovery run - 1.5 hours.
The Hill of Life is a hill that is off of the Greenbelt. It's a mutherf'er! Very steep and very rocking. Insanely techinical. Not for people with fear of falling, snakes, broken toes and weak constitutions. This thing will make a man out of anyone. What's funny about this is Mer told me that I should not only work hard going up but going down as well. Running downhill is an art. Running downhill on a trail is insanity. I'll make sure my will is up to date and I'll let Pain know when I go out there so she'll know where to search for the body.
So I have the plan in place and I started it last Thurs. It's still early in the game but things are already working out. I plan on running my first marathon (outside of IM) the beginning of Dec. and there is an awesome trail race in November out at Rocky Hill Ranch. It's a 1/2 marathon on a good course. Great for beginners and hard enough for the tough guys. I placed 3rd there last year so hopefully my time will improve this year with the solid training that I plan to be putting in.
You can check out the links to the 3 races I plan on doing at:
Bandera: http://www.tejastrails.com/Bandera.html
Dirty Du: http://www.dirtydu.com/
Double Decker: http://www.austinrunners.org/7635425_74071.htm

Right now I am very sore but very happy to be training again with focus on a goal. I am looking forward to making gains in my fitness and becoming stronger through Corefit. Natasha is a great instructor and I see her getting better with every class. Now only if Miah wouldn't hit me in the head with damn medicine ball I'd be all good.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Good day to be a Tuesday.

This morning was up and out early for Pain's spin workout. You missed a good one Joe. Even Booher said it was tough. 2 mins building a gear every 30 seconds while holding cad. 4 minutes building cad. each minute while holding gear and a 2 minute time trial. 3 sets with the time trial going an additional 2 minutes each set. Finishing off the morning with a 10 min set. 5 x 2 min sets with the last 30 secs in a heavy gear holding the same cad. Good times. It's good to have Pain back.
After work today I did the track workout with the Ship. 3 x 1 mile repeats. I ran with Paul and Jen for the first 2 and then they split the last one so they would only have to do an 800.
6:58
6:54
6:52
Yet again it was hotter than hell outside but with a little breeze. My cardio was not feeling all that great by the 2nd one and Jen told me not to think about my ride this morning. She's a smart girl.
I have 1 month before H2C in Oregon and I need to drop about 10lbs and gain some serious speed. I plan on running at least times a week for the next month with 2 rides worked in. We'll see how that goes.

Shoulder update. I went to PW yesterday to have my shoulder worked on by Phil. After some mobility tests he tells me my shoulder is fine but my neck is a mess. So now it's neck stretches for a while and hopefully the nerve that runs from my neck through my shoulder and down my arm will start feeling better. My hand is going numb and that is just freaking irritating. Back to see Phil tomorrow for my neck and a possible knee issue. Good times.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Keep on keeping on

Wed. was another early morning. I hit the ptc at 6:00, brought Pain coffee and then started a core workout. I haven't done much core for 2 months so this was going to be tough. I hung in for about 40 minutes and then my mind and body knew it was time to shut it down. Smart move as I wasn't as sore today as I thought I would.
Thurs. caught me dragging my ass out of bed again to make it to spin with Pain. I enter the door with coffee in hand for the Pain distributor and I was quickly on the bike for an hour spin class. I worked hard this morning. Even Pain said after the workout that I worked the hills today. I figured I'd spent much of the last 5 weeks being lazy so it's about time I got my ass in gear.
After work today I joined the Ship for a hill workout. I ended up running with Jen again and we kicked out 3x800m repeats in 105 degrees. I took plenty of time in between sets to get my rest and to get my hr down.
3:32
3:29
3:28

I went to Performance Wellness today for my shoulder. It's not any worse but I want to get it back to a better position. Sellers gave me a workout with it and I am happy to be back there working on getting better. I see Dr. Phil in 2 weeks to start a strength program for it and after that I'll be hitting the gym to workout out my back and neck. I HATE the gym but it's only for 3 months. We'll see.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Time to make the dounuts

This morning I ran 5 miles before work. I needed to get some sort of run mileage started and it's been way too hot outside to do it after work. So I dragged my carcass out of bed a little bit before 6 and made myself run. I never went hard and I just stayed around an 8:50 pace. I just couldn't get my legs going. Post Ironman syndrome is what I call it. I have been training for slow and long stuff for 6 months so my body isn't ready for fast stuff.

Well that changed this afternoon. I went to a speed workout with the Ship of Fools after work today and boy was it fun. After a mile warm up and about 10 minutes of drills we started the workout. The ladder. 1600, 120o, 800 and 400. No pace was given so I just went as strong as I could to see how long I could hold out. I got lucky because Jen wanted to run with me and she is a solid runner. We kicked out the following.
1600 - 6:45
1200 - 5:08
800 - 3:23
400 - 1:27
In 106 degree heat I consider this a victory. When I do speed work I never use a hrm.... I just go hard. HRM's are great for long stuff but not so much for speed work because if you are doing the speed work correctly then you should be well above your AT. It's like the watch thing with triathletes. They can't run without a watch. Well sometimes you gotta leave that watch or hrm at home and just go hard and see how long you last.