Good training day but still too damn cold

I'll make this quick.

Morning spin with Pain and I loved it.

After work Pain had me run a 7 mile fartlek on the trail. I felt great.

Someone turn up the damn heat!!!

Well, again today it was 30 degrees. I miss the Texas summers. I'll be saying that I miss the winter sometime soon I'm sure.
Today's training started off right, core workout with Pain. Nothing says hello like bringing Pain coffee and then having her beat the hell out of for 1 hour. Man it's good times.
At lunch I received a special treat. A double dose of Pain!!! She coached the lunchtime swim and man was the water cold. About 15 minutes into the swim it felt great but jumping in was a bit of a shock. Today's workout was a lot of 85% 100's focusing on DPS and rolling the hips. I really liked the workout. I never was too out of breath. My rolling sucks but I was trying to work on it.
After work I coached a track workout. Lots of 400's today.

Getting caught up.

Saturday I did the T3 group ride outside. It was damn cold and even more windy. We did an out and back. The way out was the head wind so on the way back we were rewarded with a tail wind of sorts. Tough day but I am very glad that I did it. 67 miles.
Sunday I did the T3 group run. It was a small group because 3M was the same day but the trail was dead so that was nice. Again Joe took off of the front and I let him. I ran with Ben and Matt a bit. It's funny how you find momentum during a run. I was at mile 8 and I saw 2 friends of mine running the opposite direction. It was Paul and Des. For those of you who don't know who Des is, it's Desiree Ficker. She finished 2nd at the 2006 IM World Championships. When I saw Paul and Des I automatically got my legs moving. So much that I dropped Ben and Matt. I was just so happy to see P&D. I hadn't seen them for a while. I kept up the pace and then ran into Brandon Marsh at mile 10 and picked it up again. Brandon is another tri stud that is straight badass. So overall my second 1/2 was wayyyy better than my first. Oh... and while at the water stop I ran into a lady friend that I hadn't seen in a while. It was NICE to see her. Hubba Hubba!!!
I ended up with 14 miles in 1:52:05. Just about an 8 minute pace.
That afternoon I went to the PTC and hopped on the trainer for an hour and 15 minutes. I pushed myself for the entire ride. That's tough to do when you are the only one there. Good mental toughness.
Monday I did an hour yoga before work. I swam at lunch for an hour. 2900 yards. Then I coached after work.
Today I was up early for a trainer ride with T3 for 1 hour and 5 minutes. During lunch I had a 30 minute massage. Lisa worked my right hammy over time. Ouch but a good ouch. After work I did a track workout. 9 400 meter repeats. I stayed on minimal rest and stayed about 1:33 pace. It was windy and 37 degrees so no over the top stuff today.

What is the Ironman to me?

Throughout the day today there was some chatter about the importance of training for an IM and what some people do to prepare. Some of it struck a sour note with me but I am taking it in stride and thinking that it's just someone speaking before thinking. But it got me to thinking once I got home from work. What exactly is the IM to me? A million thoughts came to my head and none of them I could put into words. So I decided to Youtube the word "Ironman" to see what I came up with. Besides the movie about the superhero guy there were plenty of clips to choose from. Some done by NBC, some by individuals and always that great Cliffbar commercial of that guy entering the water while his friends kick the shit out of him. That one never gets old.
After watching about 30 minutes of videos it came to me. What does the Ironman mean to me..... respect. Not my respect but the respect of the IM. You really have to respect the race and training that goes into it. Now take me for example. I am great proof of the good and the bad of respecting the IM. My first IM was IMAZ 2007. I did most of the training that I required of myself but lapsed some times and chose working or getting d-runk the night before over training. But for the most part I respected the training. When it came to race day I was all about the race. My race was kinda smooth with a few bumps but I finished within what my body could do at the time and I was very happy to be done. I respected the race for challenging me to put my body, mind and soul on the line in the name of finishing.
Now take my 2nd IM. IMAZ 2008 Spring. I did the training but still worked more than I needed and partied more than should have. Having 1 IM under my belt at this time should have taught me to remove my head from my ass but I chose to ignore what I had learned. Come 2 days before the race I wasn't even close to prepared mentally. I choose to ignore my coaches and teammates suggestions and for that I DNF'd. At about mile 55 of the bike my head had had enough and I volunteered to quit the race. I didn't respect the race at all and it made me pay the price.
Now back to today. While watching the video clips I found (yet again) the respect for the training and the race. I am not saying I had lost it but it just reaffirmed to me that respecting the training will get me to where I want to be. Not that I needed anymore motivation for IMCDA, I went to a video that kills me every time. It's the video of Dick and Rick Hoyt. I had the pleasure of meeting both of them this year in New Hampshire at Timberman 70.3. Dick is the poster boy of respect. He respects the race, the training, his body and most of all his son Rick. I can only wish to be 1/2 the man that Dick is when I am his age. If you don't respect Dick Hoyt your shouldn't be in any sport let alone triathlon.

Moving forward.

What I am trying to say is that if you want to train for an IM and do it your way that is fine and dandy. Just don't expect veterans of the race to respect you or your ideals when you don't respect the training. We have been there and it's a tough road but it makes it that much sweeter when you cross that finish line at the end knowing you did all the training. And who I am to say it's the end. It may just be the beginning of this Ironman journey that some of us have decided to take.

Hiils??? What hills?

Yesterday was my typical Wednesday. I woke up at the buttcrack of dawn for a 1 hour core workout with Pain. At lunch I hit the pool for a quick swim. It was my first swim 3 weeks so I suffered early and got out early. After work I coached a kick ass track workout.

Today started with a spin class with Mo. Good way to start the day and Celine brought bagels for after the workout. Mmmmmmmmmmmm........
After work is when the fun started for me. Now let me say that I don't put my athletes through any workout that I haven't done before. With that said Pain had me do a hill workout today that conquers all other hill workouts that I have done except for the 5 Ladera Norte repeats I did in July.
So I started at Jack and Adam's and ran to Wilke. Wilke is a hill here in Austin that is about 300 meters long and pretty much straight uphill. This hill will kick your ass but it builds so much power in your legs you can't not do it. It was a 2 mile warm up to Wilke from the shop. Once there I didn't hesitate and I started in on my 10 repeats. At first I thought Pain was a little crazy asking me to do this but I kept thinking that she wouldn't kill me now would she? I kept myself on a 4:30 interval and that allowed me just about 1 minute rest in between each one. That was almost perfect. I never felt like I was starting off like I didn't get enough rest. About #7 I started feeling a little tired. My calves were firing like crazy on the downhill. I didn't want to disappoint Pain so I kept on going and when I finished I was happy. But not to cheat myself I knew that Pain had more in store for me. She also told me to run 1/2 way up the hill backwards 3 times. And after that was done to sprint 1/4 way up the hill 3 more times. So I did what she said and I have concluded that this workout kicks ass.
For all you T3'ers that read this blog and do Monday runs with me, we will be doing this workout in February. I will be asking you to do 10 repeats plus the other stuff so get prepared. It's coming!!!!!

Booher saves the day

This morning was prime time for Pain Time!!!! I opened up the PTC at 5:45 and people were already there waiting for me. btw..... the workout doesn't start until 6:10ish! Getting there early for me allows some extra time in the saddle. Well the workout started just fine then about 10 minutes into it the battery on Pain's ipod died. Insert stage left, James Booher with his Ipod. Now I know Boohers taste in music so I was ready for some insane shit. He didn't disappoint. Right out of the gate we got some Ratt, Poison, Ozzy, 3 Doors Down and my favorite one of the morning.... Last Mile by Cinderella. Man it was like having a mullet all over again. I seriously enjoyed it.
At lunch I went over the Performance Wellness to get my shoulder looked at. I haven't had a lot of good movement with it lately. I love it when Sellers says right after he starts to work on me, "Wow..... that thing is tight." Always a good sign that the pain isn't in my head. He worked out some kinks and the hooked me up to some electric therapy. I love that stuff. I always try to get the intensity up more than I should because I love watching my arm flail all over the place. Cool stuff.
After work I did a track workout. My legs felt like crap. They never really warmed up until the 3rd repeat. I just didn't have the jets today. But I did stay consistant.
7:01
6:56
6:53
6:38
It was a good training day. I did notice however that I am a fat bastard. I can get away with it right now but come April I have to start dropping the lbs. I'd like to go into CDA @ 158. Right now I'm about 167.

Lets get caught up.

Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been sick since last Sat. and I was miserable. I am not a good sick person. Since I was sick my workouts suffered but I am now feeling better. I will be off the antibiotics tomorrow and my elbow looks a million times better.
Here's a run down for the week:
Monday: Called in sick to work and had Mo cover the run workout for me.
Tues: Still sick but I made it to work. No workouts for me.
Wed. I did 20 minutes of the core workout and I almost died. Should have stayed in bed.
Thurs: Did the spin with Pain in the morning and felt pretty good. Did a 5 mile run after work. Didn't feel great but better than I expected.
Fri: Coached in the morning and layed low to save up for this weekend.
Sat: Did the team ride and managed 59.1 miles. I was a bit slower than I wanted but I'll work on that.
Sun: Ran 11 miles in 1:30. That's about an 8:00 per mile pace. That's a little faster than I wanted but I'll take it. I ran the last 4 by myself and forced myself to go faster than I was. I enjoyed that part. This afternoon I did a ride down 360 to Great Hills Trail and back. Almost 34 miles. This is a hilly route and the Texas afternoon wind was making a showing. Took me about 2 hours. Slower than I wanted but it built some leg strength and that is was I am looking for right now.

News and Notes:
I was an idiot yesterday. 4 of us were at a light waiting for it to turn green. Once it did we took off with the truck that was first in line to go. The truck was going slower than hell. I am not sure why, maybe he didn't want to hit us. The bike lane doesn't start for about 50 yards until after the light so I think he was waiting for that. The car behind him started wailing on the damn horn like an idiot. So I turned my head and looked to see what the heck was going on. It was some 20 year old guy and his lady friend. I looked right at him and asked in my oh so polite voice, "What the fuck is your problem?" He gives me the finger so I give it back to him and tell him to pull over. I was pissed!!! I tell him again to pull over and we'll see who the man is here. Smart kid...... he kept on driving. Sometimes you can tell when someone isn't a fighter. This kid wasn't and even though I may be past my prime I knew I would have leveled him. That would have not been good. But my anger didn't go unnoticed or alone. Noah, starts up something with the 3rd car and they start jawing back and fourth. Noah tells the guy to pull over..... and the son of a bitch did!!!!! I was ready for a some action when the guy waits for traffic to go by and then takes off. Noah starts off after him and I'm laughing because if the guy wants to get out of the car, now would be the best time. Noah would have been all wiped out from trying to catch the guy. Not a good way to end the ride. I'm just sick of people not thinking before they act when driving. I understand what I did was wrong but someone has to do something. It's getting ridiculous with people driving and thinking that they are always right and we're always in the wrong. btw..... The guy who called me "queer" last week... if you read this. Who uses the word "queer"? Fucking idiots, that who.... you tool.

Making a wrong right.
I was at the auto parts place today dropping off my used oil. That's right.... I change my own oil and it only costs me $8 bucks and it takes me less than 20 minutes. Well..... while I am there, there is a couple buying a battery. They ask for help installing it. The guy at the counter said, "You're kidding me, you don't know how to change a battery?" They said he didn't know how to. The counter guy said he would help but it would be a bit since they were kind of busy. I jumped in and asked if the place had a 10mm wrench and if they did I would change out the battery. They were all shocked that I would do this. I figured I was an asshole yesterday so maybe doing some good today would help me out in the grand scheme of things. So I grab the wrench and the battery and proceed to change the battery for the couple. 5 minutes and it was done. They tried to give me some cash but I would have none of it. The feeling of pride and character that I had going was all the payment needed.

Time for pizza!!!!

Short and sweet

This morning I rolled outta bed at 4:45 so I could get a 5 mile run in before my 6:00 coaching appointment. I wore my gps and it was actually 5.18 miles. I'll take all I can get. Finished just under 45 minutes. I felt a lot better this morning although it was pretty humid.

Tomorrow is the team ride. It's a 40 mile out and back to Kyle. Winds will be around 20 mph. Tail wind on the way out and head wind on the way back. Ohhhhh I just can't wait for the longgggggggggggg ride back.

Even now.... I am still learning

This mornings wake up call came early. I rolled out of bed at 5 and made my way to the kitchen from some grub and hydration. Once fed and relieved I head to the PTC and get there at 5:45. You can tell it's IM season because there were 5 people already waiting for me to get there to unlock the place. We had 26 people this morning at the spin workout. That's the most I have ever seen at a morning spin. It was a solid class and Mo was on top of things today.
After work I went down to town lake for a 7 mile run. My day at the office was stressful so I just wanted to run by myself today. It was almost perfect weather for a run and the trail was hopping. At the 22 minute mark I had to make a quick pit stop. Up to this point I was feeling great. Once I started back up I felt like crap. I felt like I had no energy so my form suffered and therefor my run suffered. Not sure why I felt like such crap but I think the next time I do this (next week) I'll shove a few more calories down my troat (yeah... I said troat) before I get out there. The one thing that I worked on was my mental game. I new I was running like shit so I just said no walking. My friend Jess had a rough run the other day and I just kept telling myself that Jess didn't bail so I'm not going to. Well I finished my 7 miles in 59 minutes which is off of what I wanted to do but hell...... I made it didn't I?
One thing I took notice of this evening while running was either the ignorance or stupidity of women running alone on the trail in the dark. I mean come one ladies..... this isn't f'ing rocket science. It's a great place to run but it's not the safest in places. People cry for more police presence, how about you take your head out of your ass and run before it gets dark, run with a buddy or go to the gym. And don't give me that, "oh my dog will save me" shit. I've seen your dog and I have shoes tougher than Fifi. Plus if your dog can fit in your purse it's not actually a crime stopper now is he? Good lord.........

Monkey Love

This morning was not one of the best Wednesday mornings that I have ever had. I didn't go to core this morning because I was concerned that I may give someone my staph infection and that just wouldn't be cool. So I took the extra 1 and 20 minutes of sleep and prepared myself for my doctors visit. I arrived at Trey's office (Trey not only my friend but he is also my doctor) and after a quick wait I was in the prep room. The nurse took one look at my si (staph infection) and said that they would probably be doing some cutting. Now.... the cutting doesn't bother me so I was all in and ready to rock. I just want this thing out of me. I had a si last July in my hip and Trey shot me up 7 times with a needle full of whatever it is that numb the shit out of you. So I was prepared for that but wait a sec what the hell is this????? Cold spray???? Oh what the fuck.... just get it done and over with. He sprays me down and then tells me to look the other way. I look the other way for a few seconds and then I realize something..... that numbing cold spray doesn't work for shit and it's freaking hurting. Trey acts surprised when I reply to his question of "is this hurting?", with "holy shit dude!!!!" When I cause pain to myself I can't help but laugh so I'm trying to tell Trey that this shit hurts and all I can do is laugh. Well, he tells me that he can't turn back now and that he has to continue. Just get it over and done with for Christ sakes. Then I notice something that totally caught my eye. The nurses shirt had monkey's all over it. Under each monkey it said "Monkey Love". That's totally got me laughing. Here I am with my arm wide open (by now I can see under my skin and Trey is cutting with a small pair of scissors.... ohhhh good f'ing times) and I am giggling like a 10 year old. The nurse looks a little squeemish so I ask her if watching bothers her and she replies that it does. I tell her it's all good because were gonna fixed it up with some Monkey Love and Monkey Love fixes everything.

War in Iraq? Monkey Love
The big 3 need a bailout? Monkey Love
Recession? Shit girl we got Monkey Love
By now all 3 of us are laughing and I am bleeding all over the place. Trey tells me that he took a big chunk of the infection out... no shit dude... remember I can feel everything that's going on. So they patch me up without stitches because it has to heel from the inside and that takes about 10 days to 2 weeks. So still no pool but I can ride and run.

I coached a kickass workout this evening and I had 26 people at the workout. It was the "fun" week so next week I won't be so easy on them. Congrats to Haggs and Guice for dropping the hammer for a mile PR.

Day 2 and I already have issues

So on Thursday I notice a little bump on my right arm. Nothing serious at the time. Well by Saturday it a full blown staph infection and my elbow looks like it has a hole in it. I made it to the doc on Monday and he said it I did a good job draining it. Nothing that a little sewing needle can't fix is what I say. So I figure I'm all good. Not so quick. He points out the red streaks going up my arm into my bicep and says, " Yeah.... um.... you know..... that's not good." The infection has spread and now he's concerned about a blood clot. So now I'm on antibiotics made for Godzilla and they make me feel like shit. I go back tomorrow morning and if it's still in bad shape he's gonna start doing some cutting to take out the big ass lump I have in my elbow. So right now I can't swim. No biggie but it just throws a wrench into my plans. I'll work around it.
Yesterday I did yoga in the morning. We (T3) have a new yoga instructor named Marko. The guy it off the chain and I was sweating 5 minutes into the session. The guys accent had me laughing inside the entire time. He says stuff like, "Anda nowa takea the lefta foota." Hilarious!
This morning I was at the PTC at 6:00 for a spin class with Pain. She and Mo are really pushing the one legged drills. I don't mind it but I do kinda suck at them. With more work I know I'll get better.
After work I headed out for a run with the Ship. Speed work on the track this evening. Yasso 800's. I did 5 of them starting at 3:27 and worked my way down to 3:09. I could have done more but mother nature was calling and a 6th could have been an adventure.

No updated news on Bo. They took him out of the coma and he didn't react well to it so they put him back in. He is breathing on his own and I have been told he is looking good considering. I would go see him and his family but with my arm in the shape that it is I can't get within 100 yards of a hospital. I'll see him when I get better.

Last weekend to be f'ing around.

Say hello to my little friend.

This is my new Garmin 405. It's a watch, heart rate monitor, GPS and virtual training partner. This is straight badass!! It will help keep me in line when I am running so I don't go out too fast or run to damn hard. You see... training for a marathon and training for an Ironman marathon are 2 different things. In a normal marathon I can hold a 7:45 pace. In an IM marathon I am holding whatever I can since my legs are trashed from being on the bike for 5 hours and 45 minutes. So I am thinking like 9:15's. This puppy shows my pace per mile in real time so I can see where I am at pace wise. It also shows my distance, heart rate and it has a virtual training partner. What VTP does is that I program it for an 8:30 pace and my VTP will hold 8:30 no matter what. I can check my watch and see if I am ahead or behind the pace that I have scheduled myself for the day. If I am not running with someone this comes in awfully handy. It also works on the bike though I do not like using a watch on the bike. I have a Polar computer on my bike that tells me my speed, cadence, distance and heart rate. I am good with that.

On Sat. I did a 40 mile ride. The first 1/3 I went way too hard and had to reel myself back down so I could finish the ride. I was riding like a meathead. Once I calmed down I kept my HR around 165 to 170 and that's where I want to be. The last 10 miles or so the wind picked up and slowed me down a bit but I kept on chugging away. I stayed out on the route for an extra 6 miles while everyone else headed back to the cars. I was happy to stay out. I plan on doing this more often.

Sunday was a cold and windy run day. Thank the lord I had gloves. I wore my new pimp ass watch and even though I have no idea how to use it I looked totally cool. I figured out the run time, distance, pace per mile and HR. The rest will come in time. 7 miles down and I called it a day. Just didn't feel like going any further.

On a sad note....... my buddy Bo had a bad accident this morning. He's in the ICU at Brackenridge in a medically induced coma. No one is to blame, he just hit a split in the road and his front tire got sucked into it and he went over the bars. He had his helmet on but he still landed really bad. I am hoping for some better news tomorrow as the doctors are saying it's a day to day issue. Here's to a quick and healthy recovery my man.