The Ins and Outs of Ironman training

Captain Carl's/ The Falls 30k Trail race

2011-08-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

Wow....wicked good times. I really missed trail running and this was a great way to kick it back into gear.
My race started at 7:15 PM and it was a little over 100 degrees when we started. Freaking HOT! I started the race towards the middle of the pack as I knew that I was not trained for this distance and terrain. I stayed with a group of folks for the first 30 minutes. Then when we hit the dried up river banks I decided to move forward. I started moving through the other runners focusing on keeping my heart rate as normal as possible. I was concerned about blowing up towards the end of the race and going to hard at this point would totally make that happen.
After the second aid station I was in a really good grove and knew there were people ahead of me that I wanted to catch. I just stayed focused and made sure I putting time into them. By the next aid station I caught them. Big smile here! I topped off my water bottle and as they were walking back to the trail I ran quickly to get out. Right out of the aid station there was a really really long downhill. I forgot that I might actually have down hills running skills as I flew down the hill passing more people than I thought I would. By this time the sun was gone and it was time for lights. Running in the dark it a totally different type of racing. Shorted strides and you never take your eyes off the ground.
At this point I had a girl right behind me with this crazy bright light so I just kept mine off and used hers. She was a cool cat and we watched out for each other for the next 4 miles.
By the next aid station I was starting to feel the pain. I was pretty dehydrated as my black J&A's hat was totally covered in salt. The angel Leah Neyfler was there and she made me take on my electrolytes that I normally do and then forced me to eat a Popsicle. That totally helped as I started feeling a little better.
With about 3 miles left there wasn't much company which is fine by me. I just followed the glow sticks hanging from trees and tried not to step on any spiders. Yes...spiders we hanging out on the trail as we ran. You could see them using the your light as their eyes reflect the light from your light. Yes....creepy! At the last aid station I stayed for a little longer than I usually would to take on extra water. Well....that didn't help because when I left I had 4 guys right on my tail. Running int he dark on the trail is way harder on the guy up front and I wasn't about to let those guys come around so I had to pick it up and do my best without killing myself.
The last aid station was 2.82 miles from the finish and I ran like it was. I dropped all 4 guys and caught 4 more people. I had one more guy in my sights with a half mile left and I tried to catch him but he saw me coming and he held me off.

Absolutely awesome race. Not too hard but just tough enough. The hills weren't too bad for me at where I am right now and I am happy about that.
After the race I was talking with the race director Joe. He asked where I had been since I dropped off the face of the earth from trail running about 5 years ago. I laughed a little and he says to me, "It's that triathlon shit.....that stuff sucks." I had a really good laugh at that and promised he'd be seeing more off me more often. I really like Joe so being able to speak with him after a while was nice. He's the god father of Texas trail running.

I have no idea what my actual time was but it was something like 3:25 for 18.6 miles.

2011 IMCDA race report

2011-07-07T13:27:00.000-07:00

2011 IMCDA race report

It’s taken me some time to get my head wrapped around writing this dam thing. I guess it’s now or never.
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho is quite a bit different than Austin, TX. The big difference is the weather. Holy shit it’s nice up there compare to what we have going on down here. The grass is green, the flowers bloom and you may even need a jacket at night. It’s a resort/ touristy little town of about 44,000 people. The locals love the event since we pump a ton of money into the local economy and we’re all usually gone by Tues.
I stayed in a house with Natasha and Steve from http://www.triteamtransport.com/ and the famous Capt. Jim and Capt. Jim’s wife (Michelle). We had great local!!! Nice little 3 bedroom with a lawn and back deck. We were about a 10 min walk to the race site which was PRIMO!
The first 2 days we were there was the basics: Pre race swims, rides and runs, driving the bike course, pack pick ups, bike check ins and hanging with Hills at Recovery Pump . http://www.recoverypump.com
What was the most interesting thing about the pre race was the water we were swimming in. Holy crap was it cold. About 55 degrees with a nice steady wind to make the waves just so much fun. The swim on Friday was interesting. Capt. Jim, Michelle, Natasha and I all went down on Friday morning to swim the course a bit and when we got there we kinda all thought about coming back the next day. The water was just brutal with white caps all over the place. We all ended up getting for a bit but what felt like 30 minutes was more like 11 minutes. Not turning back now so we sucked it up.
Race Day:
Early to bed. Early to rise. Fish like hell and make up lies.
Ooops…..wrong event!
Race morning went as planned. Bike check, bags check and bathroom time. Nothing out of the normal there. It took a long time to get down to the water. Not enough room for athletes and too many spectators in the damn way. Once down to the water I realized I had my J&A’s wool cap on and my Oakley’s. Shit!!!!! I didn’t want to lose them and I couldn’t find Capt. Jim (not racing). So I prayed to the lost and found gods to help my stuff get back to me. So I tucked them in a corner and hoped. Once I made it to the water I jumped in real quick after they said not to to get a little used to the cold temps of the water. Chatted with some folks I didn’t know and then BANG!!!!! The cannon goes off. Of course I lined up incorrectly and end up in the washing machine that is most IM swims. It’s just nuts. Add that to the cold waters temps and it totally sucked. I had to stop about 2 minutes in because I was hyperventilating. I treaded water for about a minute and caught my breath, convinced myself that I wasn’t going to die and off I went again. The swim of an IM event is like none other. You get hit from all angles and there isn’t a ton you can do about it until it thins out or you go way off course. This being a 2 loop swim made the moshpit feeling last that much longer. Because once you jump back in you’re back at it with getting knocked around. Oh well…..this ain’t my first rodeo.
Swim time: 2.4 miles in 1:15:48. Exactly where I thought I would finish.
T1: 6:43 -Nothing to eventful here except the guy who flipped out when I dropped my bike stuff on the ground next to his. He got all worked up that we were going to mix stuff together. Listen guy…..if you were trying to an AG spot to Kona you would have been out of the water a long time ago. Asshat.
Bike: 112 miles
I did this course in 2009 and had a pretty good idea of what to do and what not to do. 2 years ago I came out like Lance Armstrong and dies at about mi 70. This year I took my time to get into the swing of things and not crush the first loop. Nice and steady on the flats and controlled on the hills. I felt pretty good one the first loop of 2 loops and that carried into the 2nd loop. But as usual my back started to really bother me @ mile 90. Wow did it hurt like hell. Thank the lord that my friend from San Diego, Brittany came up next to me with some words to say (she was talking shit) that helped me make it through the remainder of the ride.
** The Frito incident: I love Fritos any time anywhere. I eat them while I train and I had some with me for the race. I out a bunch of them in my bento box (a little box that goes on your top tube that has a Velcro cover on it so nothing flies out) so I could snack away all I wanted to. At mile 60 I stopped to fuel up on some Gatorade. I didn’t get off the bike I just stopped and straddled the bike. I realized I had to pee so I just went right there. This is come practice in triathlon so it’s not biggie. Once done I start riding again and its Frito time! I reach in and grabbed a Fritos and then I realize what I did. I pee’d all over my damn Fritos.  This sucked! Oh well…..shit/ pee happens and I had a race to finish.
Bike time: 5:53:59. About 19 mph
T2: This is where the wheels came off for a moment. I got off my bike and I could barely stand because my back was totally F’ed. I struggled through changing into my running shoes and then while getting sunscreen applied I dropped. I couldn’t even stand up anymore. I was helped over to the ART guys in T2 and they worked on stretching my back out for about 10 minutes. They did what they could and sent me on my way. This marathon is going to hurt.
T2 time: 13:31
Run: 26.2 miles
Once onto the run course I was happy just to be able to move but the way I felt I knew that if I did one quick move I would be done for the day. So I just stayed straight and made as little turning as possible. The first ½ of the marathon was solid. I average about 9:10 per mile and that was just where I wanted to be. I felt good and my legs were in the right place. Once through the ½ point I started to mentally crumble a bit. I just didn’t want to run anymore. It happens…the tough part is starting back up again. So I did about 3 miles or so of walk/ run. It sucked and I could see everything kinda slipping away. Time to rally but I need some motivation. Where do you find motivation? You find it in the form off a 5 foot 1 inch tall red head with freckles and like to talk shit. Yes…Brittany was now on my radar. I saw her on the first lap and she was 8 minutes ahead of me. The second time I saw here she was 4 minutes up. I was gaining and this got me moving. I had 6.7 miles to the finish and I was determined to hunt her down. So I hit an aid station, grabbed some fuel and said to myself, “Fuck it dude….lock and load.” The next 6.7 miles were all or nothing to me. I was going to run as hard as I could for the remainder of the race and I didn’t care how much it hurt.
Now when people say that an Ironman is mostly mental they aren’t kidding. You gotta have your head right and in the game or you’re toast. The 6.7 miles started on an uphill that a ton of people were walking. So I ran it with the hopes that I could. I got the top and ran down the back side of it. Feeling ok here. My feet were on fire but this is something that I can deal with. Next was the Vancouver Canucks fan that I needed to pass. On my way by I reminded him that his goalie sucks and the bruins are the greatest. Next up was the little hill that I hate so much because it goes on forever in my mind. Again, people walking so Logan runs it. By this time I can’t see Brit and I know there is only 3 or so miles left. Where in the hell is she? I keep pushing and I make it to the neighborhood that kicks ass. Tons of people, music and support. I would have loved to enjoy it all but I was on a mission, so I put my head down and kept pushing. Come Brit you little pain in my ass….where are you? I finally forgo my damn watch and ask someone what time it is. Someone yells out 6:40 p.m.. Math time! I have 2 miles left and I need to get there by 7 because I want to break 12 hours (we started at 7:00 a.m.). I know at the current pace that I was running that I could run 2 miles in 20 mins but I also knew that the next 1.5 miles were mostly uphill. Keep running Logan……you got this! I continue to run up the hills and I take a moment to cheer on a guy who’s 72 and doing the race. Way to go young man.
With a ½ mile left to go you take a turn onto Sherman Ave and it’s all downhill to the finish. This is one of the best finishlines in the IM world. Straight, slight downhill and there are a million people the entire way cheering you on to finish. By this time I realize 2 things…….Brittany has beat me and I am finishing under 12 hours. That’s all good in my book. I run down Sherman Ave with only one guy around me and this guy wants to race to the finish. Sorry folks but this is a totally shit ass thing to do to someone. If you have enough gas in the tank to finish the race going all out then you cheated yourself during the event by mot pushing it. If you do this then you are a tool and a few choice other words. I let the d-bag just go one by. I soon hear Mike Reilly calling my name and I’m finally in the finishers shoot with about 50 m to go. I give a few high 5’s to the crowd and take a second to think about the things that are important to me. Once at the finishline I cross my arms like I safe in baseball and call it a day.
Run time: 4:26:19….last 6.7 miles were at a 9:20 pace
Total time: 11:55:57
Found Brit in the massage tent after the race and she has beaten me by 3 mins. I guess she had the opposite in mind when she saw me last. “Jesus don’t let Logan chase me down!” I’ll get you one of these days Brit.

Overall:
Great race for me and the event. Besides pissing on my Fritos and my back issues the race was awesome. With that being said I don’t plan on doing any IM’s for at least the next 10 years or so. I just can’t swing the commitment and my back really likes ½ IM’s better. Going back to trail running which is what I do best. Gonna give the Bandera 100k (yes that’s 62 miles) a try and then go for the big dog and find a 100 miler to try.

The next day:
We went down to the race expo the morning after the event to check things out and see Hills at Recovery Pump. While making our way to hills I noticed a lost and found area. I was pretty sure my glasses and skull cap were gone. But I thought I would at least look. Well holy shit! My J&A’s skull cap was there. This thing is a collectors item! Glasses were gone but I just didn’t care. Getting my cap back was the highlight of the day.

Thanks-
As always thanks to my mom and family. You guys keep me going. Thanks to Megan and Cassidy for listen to my meltdown a few days before the race. My coach Zane. Thanks to Pain for all the mental coaching a guy could ask for….you are the greatest! Thanks to Molly and Seba for not being normal and keeping me laughing all the time. Thanks to Capt. Jim and Capt. Jim’s wife for dealing with me for 5 days. To Natasha and Steve for shipping my bike. To Jack and Adam’s for all the mechanical and nutritional support……oh and free parking! Thanks to everyone that sent kind words before and after race day. Thanks to Hillary Hanson for saving my life after the race with food and water.

And thanks to Fitzhugh Road. You’re a piece of shit and I really do f’ing hate you.

Pretty dang cold for Austin

2011-02-03T18:59:00.000-08:00

22 degrees when I woke up this morning. Yesterday was 17 and tomorrow everyone is freaking out because there is a chance of snow. I'm more pissed because the 2 pools I swim at are both closed. Shit, even the bosses are thinkng about closing the offices tomorrow. What's up with that? I'm gonna be freaking bored all damn day if I don't go to work.
Ran after work today and it was 29 degrees. Yeah, that's cold with the crappy wind blowing. I was still able to bust out 7 miles and 2 of them were 6:40's. I still got it.
After I finished I sent a text to a friend of mine and she said I was crazy. I replied.....I'm just determined. I think that's a good way to look at it. Although another 15 minutes outside would have done me in.
Good news: The heel is getting better and my running form is getting back to normal.

A bit behind

2011-02-01T18:33:00.000-08:00

Lots of things in the pipeline the past 2 weeks. Here's a brief overview.

- Website is almost active. Lots of the behind the scenes drama with the server host.
- Firming up details for the annual Leakey Death ride. The Ryan's and Hills will be my camping guests this year. We're all wicked excited.
- Training my butt off. Had a major tire blowout last Sat. and that cost me some riding time but I made up for it with some hammering at the end of the ride.
- Holy shit cold outside. @ 5 it was 30 degrees and the wind was howling. So what do I do? I go for an 8 mile run on the trail. Nice and empty.
- Doing a race in May called the X-50. 1 mi swim, 40 mi bike and a 9 mi run. Capt Jim's wife and The Shop Boss Lady (Michelle and Angie) are coming with me and we're bringing the pop up. Another great road trip in the making.
- Business is coming along. Sending out quotes and lots of talking.
- Ordering another sound system next week. Louder and lighter.

For the folks back home:
Saw Chitwood made the news in Philly. Something about bullying. I'm pretty sure he'll soon have the schools on lockdown and the riot police standing guard at recess.

Busy

2011-01-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

Wicked busy week. I'll update more this weekend when I have a chane to rest my head.

Oh.....and find BigMouth Announcing on Facebook and like the page. Thx

What a day.

2011-01-22T18:47:00.000-08:00

Wow...I am freaking tired. One hell of a day that saw a lot get done.
Woke up when I felt like it this morning. I love it being cold outside. I can be a candyass and ride inside my place. My computrainer is set up about 4 feet from my bed. So when I rolled out of bed this morning 20 minutes later I was on my bike. 2.5 hours on the CMPT today. It was fun out of the gate but with 45 minutes left I wanted off. Just don't have the endurance yet. I'll get there.
After the ride I changed quickly and headed out for a 6 mile run. I found out during this run that I live almost exactly 3 miles from J&A's. Not only the best bike shop on the earth but the best turn around point ever. Felt great during the run today. Please let race day be like this......yeah right!
After the run it was a quick shower and then lunch because I had a meeting at 3 that I arrived early for so I could get some work done.
I spent 3+ hours at Lift Coffee shop today with Cassidy. We worked on getting my website up and running. We ran into a couple of speed bumps but I had a blast hanging with her and we never lost patience with each other. Now that alone was awesome. At one point while we're there I look around the room. I knew all but 3 people. Everyone else was a cyclist or a triathlete. Guess Lift is a hot spot for badasses. Hell...Brandon and Amy Marsh showed up straight from a ride and that just raised my level of badassness to another level.
So after a long time dealing with GoDaddy and me telling everyone that I have an "in" with Danica Patrick we finally called it a day. I took Cassidy out for dinner and we kept talking business. This is exciting shit people and you better get yer ass excited about this stuff!!!!! Love me some shop talking with Cass.
Once home I jump back on my laptop to price out travel expenses for Knoxville. After some much needed research I think we might be having our own 1/2 IM in Austin that weekend. Just too much $$$$$$ for a race that doesn't need to be done by me at this time. But like a good sport I told my co pilot for this adventure that it was her call if we go. Totally passed the buck on this one.

Tomorrow is another long day with 2 meetings, a long run, lease renewal and a stop at the grocery. I need sleep!

First time for everything

2011-01-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

Cranberry sauce update: Picked up a can on the way home along with Fritos, pickles, PB and a get well card. Going to the grocery with Logan. Always interesting.

So I did something that I have never done before. I actually did my own swim workout without a coach. They closed the pool at Circle C this morning because of the cold. I needed to swim and I just received a 1 year membership to Pure Austin. Pure has a pool at the Quarry that's outdoors but heated and covered. So I got out of bed at 5 this morning and drove north 20 minutes. I was the 3rd one in the door @ 5:35. At 5:40 I was in the pool and I was all alone. Nice!!!!! I drew up a workout in my head on the drive over there and it worked out to perfection. The funny thing was when I was doing interval sets I could still hear Pains voice saying, "And go.....".
It's nice knowing that I can pull it off. Both Pain and Zane sent me a text about me making it to the pool. Zane called it motivation. Pain said she was having a heart attack.
After work I hit the computrainer and did a workout for 75 mins. Good times and I had a nice sweat going.

Lots to do this weekend. Meeting with Dan and then another with Cassidy, long ride tomorrow followed by a 6 mi run, long run on Sunday, lease renewal and about a million other things. Busy busy busy.

Winter in Austin

2011-01-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

When I got to work this morning it was 59 degrees. I went out of the office at 10:15 and it was 53. 5 minutes later it was 41 degrees. That's cold in Austin.
Yoga at lunch. After work was a 1 hour run. Got to run a little w/ Guice (pronounced - Gwee chee). She was moving along so it was a good fit to get me going.

I'm out of cranberry sauce. Shit could get ugly over here if I forget it tomorrow while at the grocery.

Trifecta Wed.

2011-01-19T19:52:00.000-08:00

Swim this morning with Pain. 3 things that drive me nuts about this mornings swim
1- Show up on time not 1/2 way through the workout.
2- learn to tell time and not leave 5 secs before you should. Some of us need that 5 secs.
3- The fact that I am the slowest in the lane. Sucks.
At lunch today I hit the Performance Wellness to have my heel worked on. Freaking hurt but we're getting there.
After work was a 1 hour ride on the computrainer. Good lord I am loving that thing. It's totally saving my ass since I can't ride outside after work. Just too dark right now.

I love cranberry sauce out of the can. Not the whole cranberry stuff. I'm talking the processed jellied shit. I could eat that everyday and it would never get old. Best .88 cents I ever spent.

Raw nasty speed

2011-01-18T19:08:00.001-08:00

Started witht he SHIP this eveing for my run. I did the warm up with them and then moved intio my own workout. 200's and 400's. I tired to ficus on my form more than anything else. I hope I looked good. lol

Working on getting my business going. If you have not already please like my Facebook page. Just search for Bigmouthannouncing.

Did yoga today and my flexibility kinda took the day off. Tough yoga time for Logan.

Tired

2011-01-17T19:19:00.000-08:00

I really should not be tired but I am.

75 mins on the trainer with a killer workout. Happy to do it.

The end.

Rain is a pain

2011-01-15T18:30:00.000-08:00

But I am not complaining. I got to ride the computrainer this morning for 2 hours. If I were on a regular trainer I would have come close to loosing my mind. With the CPT I got to stay occupied buy all the information it was kicking out. My speed, avg speed, heart rate, avg hr, watts, rpms and a bunch of other stuff. Plus Zane created a workout for me to do for today while riding. If I had to do the workout on the road it would have been tough but on the CPT I could pretty much do what I wanted as far as terrain and weather. Part of the workout was a 20 minute time trial. Wow....the last 3 minutes were intense. I almost fell off the damn bike. I was going pretty hard.
After the ride was a 15 minute run in the cold rain. It was nice to get outside and get some fresh air.

After working out this morning I went and had tea with Haggs. Man I really enjoy yapping with her. We spent almost 2 hours at Life Cafe talking and gossiping.

Tomorrow is an easy effort run. Zane is telling me to take it easy tomorrow on the run because he is preparing a killer week of running for me next week. Oh.......such good times!

Swim is on!

2011-01-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

Got word from Pain that swim is a 99.9% go for the morning. Good news.
Not much to report today. I'm swammped at work and I don't like that.

Yoga at lunch today and trainer ride after work.

Good night.

I miss swimming!

2011-01-12T18:19:00.001-08:00

Odd for me to say that but I honestly do. I was just getting into a good grove but it's looking like I'll loose it because the pool will probably be closed again on Fri. Totally weak!!!!

After work I went and had my orthodic running insoles worked on. I have had them for 3 years and haven't had anything done to them. They were looking a little rough with some rips and tears. Tammy Harbison is the real f'ing deal over at Elite Feet. She doesn't mess around and got me back on my feet in no time. I totally recommend her for your orthodics. Yeah...they are a little pricing but they are totally worth it.
So remember.....when you think orthodics you better think Tammy @ Elite Feet or I'll beat your ass.
After my appt with Tammy I hit the shop for a quick change and then into a run. It was 43 degrees when I started so getting out the door was a little rough. When Stephan Schwartz looks at you right before you run and says, "You should be wearing tights." Then you know it's gonna be cold. I still wore my shorts. Once I got going it wasn't too bad but cold is cold. Ran through Zilker park a few times and had a 30 minute time trail effort mixed into the workout. Great workout and my #'s show improvement over 6 months ago.

Getting a new stem put on my Kaliber tomorrow. It's a little shorter than the one I have now and hopefully this will fix my back issues on my long rides.

Mega Millions.....you're a whore. But I will play you again on Friday.

It's cold!!!!

2011-01-11T19:36:00.000-08:00

Woke up this morning and it was 31 degrees. That's cold for us folks in Texas. I actually wore pants to work today. Yoga at lunch today warmed me up. Each time I go I am seeing improvements to my flexibility. Plus I am feeling better when getting up from places. For years I have looked like an old guy when I get out of bed, out of a chair or off of the floor. But lately I am noticing that it doesn't hurt as much when I get up. Improvements like that keep me going.
After work I hit the computrainer for 80 mins. Some people think I just get on the trainer and ride whatever I want to. Not so. Zane has specific workouts for me to do. Here is an example of why I need a PHD to understand some of this stuff:

W/U 45min including 3x1' drills of fast pedaling with your cadence about 110rpms. Rest for 1' between each, w/ ez spinning. Additionally do 1x5' effort at your FTP (functional threshold power) and then all out 1' effort. rest for 3-5' between these efforts. The majority of the efforts should be levels 2-3 (end-Tempo). Make sure you have 10' of ez pedaling before your first test effort:

That's just the warm up. The main set was even crazier. I am not complaining because I know they are working for me. But before I leave the office I have to write the workout on a post it note in my own words so I can follow it while training. I can't figure out the workout and do the workout at the same time. Just too much going on.

I was texting with Pain this evening and she said there is a 10% chance of the swim actually happening tomorrow morning. That sucks because I really want to swim tomorrow. Oh well....plenty of more times to swim coming.

I kinda jacked up my heel this weekend. I get to run tomorrow so we'll see how that goes.

Come on Mega Millions.......you gotta come through for me!

Focus week

2011-01-10T19:14:00.000-08:00

This week I fully intend on hitting all of my workouts. I do not have as many as last week but the ones I do have this week are much harder and complex. Last week I trained for 15+ hours and this week I am scheduled for 11.5. I'm not complaining! I actually get to sleep in tomorrow. Good times.
Today I was up early for a swim. Cold weather keeps people in so it was me and one other guy. It was nice to be able to focus on my technique and not have to work my ass off just to keep up. I'll get that Wed. and Fri. if weather allows it.
After work I hit the trainer for 60 mins. The workout was tough but doable and I felt happy finishing it.

Big score today from Dan and Jack. They got me a years membership to Pure Austin Gym. I'll be ripped soon! Yeah right.

Sections

2011-01-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

When I run the trail here in Austin I always think in sections. That's how I get through my runs. The section behind the Statesman, the section between the dip and the rowing center, the section from 35 to the entrance back onto the trail and etc. There are so many sections going on in my head when I run i couldn't even think about listing all of them. Again....sections keep me going when I'm struggling.

Yesterday was a good day of training. I hit the roads for 2.25 hrs of cycling down in Circle C. Plenty of shoulder to ride on and nothing too boring. I averaged 17.5 and I took it at a moderate pace so that was nice. After the ride I laid low for a few hours before I jumped onto the trail for a run workout. 20 min warm up, 25 min time trial and 15 min cool down. Good times.....I like this workout.

Today was another character builder. It's more for mental toughness than anything else. 1 hour 40 mins at 8:50 pace and then the last 20 mins a 7:40 pace. Nailed it! the big thing about this workout is that I can't eat anything while I do it. I have to go on what I had for breakfast. All i can have it water and salt. Towards the end my hips were cramping a little but not bad enough to get me to slow down.
Happy with the outcome.

Went to the movies last night with Nat, Boozy and Beth. Saw True Grit. Great movie and acting. The movie had more of an old English flick with long winded answers and New England wit. I still enjoyed it.

swim/ run/ repeat

2011-01-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

Hit the pool with Pain this morning. Good lord I am out of swimming shape. Pain will fix me or kill me trying.

After work I run for 60 mins. I forgot 2 of my snacks today because i was wicked busy at work. I paid the price during the run. Light headed after 30 mins. I knew it was nutritional so I just kept going knowing it wasn't going to kill me. Score one for mental toughness today.

Looking forward to a solid weekend of training and relaxing. Changing the oil in the X and paying bills are really all I have to other than train. Kinda nice not having 4 million places to be.

Nice night for a run

2011-01-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

The weather was just about prefect this evening for a run. I was joined by O'Connor the Blonde and that totally helped passed the time. The point of the run was an easy effort and since she was sick we didn't go even close to moderate. Just social and that was just what I needed.
Hit up yoga today at lunch. Gettin' more flexible everyday.

My job is not rocket science so I don't get too serious about it but......I have a guy that sits near me and he is sick with a cold or something. He has the manners of a 12 year old boy and the noises that came out of him today got so bad I almost whipped around and told him he needed a class in manners....the guy was freaking gross. This is coming from a guy who has seen his share of gross shit while tri training. But this is the office for Christ sake. Dude.....you're gross and you're mother should be ashamed of how she raised you!

Oh yeah.....get better soon.......you asshole.

Good sore

2011-01-05T19:11:00.001-08:00

I hit the pool this morning and it showed that I haven't been for about a month. I was wiped 1/2 way through. Pain was loving it. At about 11 this morning I started feeling the aftermath of the workout. My shoulders are dead right now. Gotta start somewhere. Pain had us breathing to our weak side this morning. Swallowed a lot of water.
After work was a run out of J&A's. Dropped my Kaliber off there and while I did my run James dialed it in for me for this weekend. Thanks James.

1 hour swim
1 hour run

I get entirely way too much freaking mail.

I swear I was at work when this went down!

2011-01-05T07:09:00.001-08:00

This guy kinda looks like me but not as good looking.

http://www.kvue.com/news/bank-robbery-112899644.html

I'm not so much of a 5:00 a.m. guy

2011-01-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

When your alarm goes off at 5 a.m. and you automatically get pissed you could be in for a long day.
Was up early for a 75 min trainer ride today. Didn't feel great getting on but felt good getting off.
Had yoga for 1 hour today during lunch and that was a good workout.
After work I ran w/ Boozy for 90 minutes. She talked about her stressful day of trying to find the right door to an office building and I educated her on the history of the Teamsters. She had no idea what the were and I was shocked. Guess that's what you get when you grow up in the upper burbs of Houston. I don't think the guys from NASA have a union.

Had the X worked on today and the bills was less than I expected. Nice!!!!
Used the new bathroom stop that O'Connor the Blonde showed me last week. Boozy was impressed with my bathroom knowledge.

Coming out of bed swinging tomorrow morning. I actually get to see Pain. Haven't seen her in over 3 weeks!

Making the effort counts.....

2011-01-03T18:39:00.000-08:00

right??????

I didn't sleep well last night so I slept in this morning. Not the best way to kick off training for the year. I figured I'd just hit Barton Springs after work and swim a mile.
That lasted all of about 5 minutes. I was sooooo uncomfortable in the water today for a few reasons.
1- It was cold
2- I brought tinted goggles and it was getting dark. Everything looked like weeds and it was wicked dark.
3- I did not have a wetsuit and as soon as I got out I realized I really needed one.

Shitty way to start but I made an effort even though it was a shitty effort.

Ok....ok

2011-01-02T12:57:00.000-08:00

Enough fucking around.

Tomorrow is day 1 of my training for IMCDA. 06/26/2011 is the date and I fully plan on going into the race prepared and ready.
Day 1 is already having some complications. The weather guy is saying that it's gonna be around 27 degrees @ 5:30 tomorrow morning. The pool will not open if the temps are below freezing. So I am just hoping that 32 plus degrees will show up instead. I am eagar to get back in the pool. I miss my Pain injections on Wed. and Fri. mornings.

Ok....gotta go for now. The L Train is starting it's departure from the station tomorrow. next stop...Painville.

Yoga with a cold = no fun.

2010-12-30T17:34:00.000-08:00

Participated in yoga today at lunch and I sucked. I was just freaking tired because of this cold. Oh and that my quads are tight as a drum didn't help.

75 min trainer ride after work. Watch a couple of episodes of the Shield. I like that show.

I hope the warn weather holds for a couple of more days. 70 degrees here in the ATX.

Sick and now educated

2010-12-29T18:53:00.000-08:00

I"m still under the weather. Ugh......oh well...not much I can do about it now.
Mental toughness day. I so wanted to go home after work but went through with my workout and am happy I did.
20 min w/u
3000 m time trial
cool down.
Felt like crap but got it done.

After that I rushed home because I had a visitor coming over. My coach Zane swung by to help me with my computrainer and how I should operate it. He also looked at my bike fit and decided I needed a shorter neck. While checking my fit he put the hammer down on me and told me I'd continue having back issues on the bike unless I start working on my hamstring and quad flexibility. He showed me some strap exercises to do and told me when to do them. It was good to hear that and I fully intend on getting them done.

Trying to get back on track

2010-12-28T19:36:00.000-08:00

I am slowly starting to get motivation back to hit the pain train again. I am sick right now with a cold but nothing major.
Ran this evening with blonde O'Connor. Great run and she showed me a new place that has a bathroom that I did not know about. That's a big score!!!!
7 miles in the book for today plus 1 hour of yoga at lunch.

Zane is coming over tomorrow night to refit me on my bike to accomidate areo position with hills involved. Hopefully my back with appreciate it. He is also going to give me a crash course in Computrainer knowledge. Hopefully that thing will help me become a monster on the bike.

Saw the Fighter last week. Great flick.

2 weeks away

2010-12-16T17:40:00.000-08:00

2 weeks until the new year and refocus time.

Random thoughts:
- Gotta start swimming consistantly
- Got a new laptop. HP....you suck.
- I have mised yoga for 3 weeks and my body knows this.
- REV 3 Knoxville is May 15th.
- The Pats clobbered the Bears. Hey Grant......hahahahahahaha!!!!!
- Riding bikes is fun....when it's warm outside.
- If traffic is really backed up and you are next to a bar just give up and go get a beer.

Ran with Mary this evening. She makes me laugh. Thanks for the cookies.

Not much rest......

2010-11-10T18:52:00.000-08:00

When you're on a mission!

Back at it again this morning. Hit the pool with Pain. I was frustrated right out of the gate so the swim was not my best. Some days are better than others.
After work I went out for a 45 minute run. Nothing fancy but it got dark damn quick. Like a good boyscout I had a red blinkie on my hat and a head lamp ready. My legs are still a little stiff but that will go away by Saturday I hope. I have a massage @ 11.

Pics from my race on Sun are up if you want to look at them:
Race pics

Ironstar race report

2010-11-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

First off-
Huge thanks to Jim Opre for tolerating me a full 3 hours there and a full 3 hours back. When we decided on who was going to drive Jim said, "You better drive because I don't think it's safe for me to be driving with you in the passengers seat."
Huge thanks to Tim and Stacey Curran for lodging me this weekend. Great food and fun times!
Last HUGE thanks goes out Jack Murray and the crew at J&A's for getting my bike all race ready. Tim and Stacey are Jack's uncle and aunt so Jack made the call and got me the hook up.

Pre race-
We arrived fashionably late because we were....no kidding...about 3 minutes from the race site. Once we got there we loaded up all our gear and made the 1/2 mile walk from parking to transition. That kinda sucked. Once in transition the rack I was assigned to looked mostly full. The rule is that if you are assigned to a rack you need to rack your bike at that rack. So I paused because I knew what was coming, looked around and saw some holes in the rack that could almost fit a bike. Now here is what was coming. I say to all the guys in the area of that rack (all of which were in my age group) "Look here boys. There are 2 more of us that need to rack here so I would appreciate it if some of you would make some room for 2 more bikes." Instant attitude from people who think they need to lay out everything from their house for transition. I should have taken a pic because some of these guys had more shit layed out that Paris Hilton has in her closet. So...one space was made and I gave that to the other guy who was not very outgoing and I knew he would never ask for anyone to make room. He takes his space and I stand there for about 2 minutes. Waiting, waiting, waiting.....time for action. I address the crowd once more, "Ok boys...I have absolutely no problem with getting a USAT official over here and having them move your bikes to make me room. I don't need as much as some of you so all I ask is for room for my bike. If not, there is a good chance your bike is going to moved." Magically a spaced opened up and my bike was racked in no time.
I made it out of transition with 30 secs to spare.
SWIM:
The swim started 15 minutes late because of fog. The water was warm and the air was cold....race time temp was about 45 degrees and this caused fog. 15 minutes didn't do all that much but I could see the first buoy and that's all I needed. I love this race because it's a beach start. That means you run from the beach and into the water. Once you dive in you have no idea who's going to hit you or who you're going to hit. Good times!!!!!
Once to the first turn buoy things got a little crazy. We turned right into the sun and that added to the fog made sighting pretty bad. I just stayed with a pod of guys and by 1/2 way through the fog had lifted a bit and made for better sighting.
The fun part of the swim was that the water was low. People were actually walking through the water where it should have been 10 feet deep. I just kept swimming and ended up passing about 10 guys who were walking. I thought to myself that I needed to save my legs for the bike and I didn't need my arms all that much after the swim so this was a no brainer to me.....keep swimming!!!
Swim time: 35:41
Always room for improvement. Looking forward ot it.
T1: 3:04
T1 is always a joy at this race because it's cold and you need to add clothing while you are there or you won't make it past mile 15 of the bike. I added a skull cap, thermal vest, arm warms and gloves. This totally pay off!
BIKE:
The bike course here is not all that flat but not all that hilly. Just a bunch of roller with pretty much no flat. I nailed my nutrition and my hydration on the bike and that was a huge bonus for me getting into the run. I never was really too cold on the bike and seemed comfortable. The hard part was that my back was killing me on the back half of the bike. I think it's because of the wet suit I wore in the swim. My back was arched for so long while swimming it couldn't adjust to being in the aero position for very long. I ended up getting out of my saddle a lot more than I normally do just to give my back a break as I could not generate the power needed to get past the hill. I lost time on the back half but didn't think much about it. As people have told me and I tell people.....something goes wrong in a race, get past it quick because there's a lot more of the race to go and dwelling on shit won't help.
Bike time: 2:43:30 avg mph 20.8
I was looking for 21.5 plus but that just didn't happen. I could have pushed more but I knew I wanted to have enough for the run. When I say enough I mean enough to catch people in front of me and not just to finish.
T2: 1:19.....I lost clothing pretty damn quick!
RUN:
No time for messing around! I came out of T2 strong enough to separate me from the others just coming out of T2. Once that was done I started to focus on the guys in front of me. This race had a 3 loop run course so after the first loop I had no idea who was actually in front of me so I just told myself to pass everyone. So I did....I just moved from one person to the next and that kept me focused on what I was doing. I didn't once let my mind wander.
I stayed strong for most of the run. I had 1 "bad" mile and I'm not really sure what happened there. I think some of the mile markers were a little off. Here are my splits:
7:55
7:38
7:04
7:38
7:06
8:03
7:44
7:40
7:25
7:11
8:28
7:17
8:16....1.1 miles
Run time: 1:39:34 avg pace: 7:36
This was exactly what I was shooting for. Almost perfect. Felt good the entire time. If I felt great then I wasn't doing it right. No hydration, fuel or cramping issues at all. Just one little blister on my foot that I pushed through.
I PR'd my half iron run time by 6 minutes.

Overall: 5:03:10 - 1 minute PR. 2nd in age group
Loved the swim, was 1/2 and 1/2 with the bike and the run was fun. I am not sure I will of this race again as it was my 3rd time there but you never know. A big shout out goes to the race director and his crew, They totally stepped it up this year with a ton of volunteers and great race support. The finish line was done nicely and the post race massage was painful but appreciated.
Another big shout out goes to the announcer. She was maybe 18 years old and I think this was her first time around. She started out a little rough but warmed up with the weather. Nicely done young lady.

Finally-
My coach asked for a list of my 2011 races I have planned and so I thought I would share those with you as well.

Bandera 25k Trail race - 1/8
Mooseman 70.3 - 06/05
IMCDA - 6/26
More to follow as I find them.

Wait til the get a load of me!

2010-11-08T17:41:00.000-08:00

So next week I get to MC for Macca @ J&A's. That's pretty pimp. The last time I did this was 3 years ago and I interviewed Simon Lessing without any notice @ Lonestar. I had no freaking clue what I was doing and my first questions was...."So how was the water?" Knucklehead!
So it's Macca next week and then I roll right into the man himself....Lance Armstrong! I am announcing The Dirty Du: http://www.dirtydu.com/default.asp
the weekend after Macca and Lance has signed up. This should be a fun weekend as I plan on racing the 1/2 marathon trail race on Sat. and then announcing the Dirty Du on Sunday. Very excited. But that's not the best part!

SGV is spending the weekend in the pop up with me and you know what that means.......Fritos and Double stuff Oreo's all weekend long!!!!!! Oh man I can't wait!

Shit just got real

2010-11-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

http://www.jackandadams.com/

Check out the list of businesses putting on the event.
I better get my hairs done.

...why is that when I try and post a link to a website the damn thing never shows up in my post?

Weekly Fritos trainer ride.

2010-11-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

I have decided to have a trainer ride once a week and my only source of nutrition will be water and Fritos. Not the best but I am keeping it only to an hour.

Good news on the BigMouth fronts. A certain someone is coming to Jack & Adam's in Austin in 2 weeks and I have been asked to MC the event and intro the guy. In exchange I get my name on the program and on the website as a sponsor. Good deal in my eyes.
I can't say who it is yet but this may give you an idea.

1st step is admitting the problem or something like that.

2010-11-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

Dealing with a 2 jar a week habit right now.

Tires, teeth and bird beaks.

2010-10-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a fun day.
Yoga at lunch where I almost did a head stand all by myself without using a wall or getting help getting my legs up. Still needs work.
After work I hit the road for a 30 mile ride from the shop. About mile 4 I had a flat. I like to think I'm the king of changing flats. Now with the lack of daylight after work my mad tube changing skills come in wicked handy. 2 minutes on a rear wheel and I was back on the road. What caused the flat? It was either a bird beak or a tooth from a small animal. Even the animals can't clean up after themselves.
The ride was kind of discouraging. Head wind the entire time on the way out and the way back sucked because of traffic. I still negative split the ride and that's what I wanted to do but I just didn't get really comfortable.
Once back at the shop the rear tire was flat again.....go figure. I changed real quick into me run shit and took off for a 7 mile run. The coach told me to have fun with the run. How the hell do you have fun with a run when it's getting dark and no one is running with you? I have run the 7 mile loop enough times to know...... I would need some company to have fun this day.

News and notes: I am starting my own annoucing company. It's called BigMouth Announcing. Yeah go figure...BigMouth. My first order of sound equipment came in today and I pick it up tomorrow. I hope it works because I have a gig on Sunday.
Website will be up soon.

Day #2 of things I am hooked on. Corn, Oil and salt.....all I need to survive.

Thanks SGV for the hook up. Since we went camping back in May I have been living off of these things. Sorry......you're not going to get me on the Double Stuff Orero's. Well maybe not until after INCDA 2011.

Always learning

2010-10-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

Today I learned that when you ride for 1 hour on a trainer @ an 85% effort all you need to eat are 3 Fritos every 15 minutes and wash it down with water. I would not recommend this for anything further.

Things are going well. I am 11 days away from my next race and I am feeling physically and mentally good. I am at my race weight. I peaked a little early and that did me no good when it came to my health. For a couple of weeks I was a mess. I have weighed in @ 150 to 153 the past 4 days and if I am smart I will hold this weight until race day. Then it's doughnut time!
My swim is coming back around and I actually had a solid brick off the bike Sunday afternoon.
I just realized that the race I am doing is a 3 loop run course. I don't recall ever doing a 3 loop run course for a race. Kinda kills the element of surprise. Oh well.....wtf can I do? Not much.

Tomorrow is a 30 mile ride followed by a 7 mile run. All this is happening after work. Gonna be wicked dark by the time I'm done.

I'm hooked on these things:

Tough end of the work week but there was some sun.

2010-10-08T18:52:00.000-07:00

My day job has been killing me lately. Numerous odd requests from people and I don't have a whole lot of back up to help me out most of the time. This frustrates the shit out of me. So yes....more stress than I care to have.

After work today was a 14 mile run. Yes, that's 14 miles on a Friday afternoon. My schedule this weekend is abnormal so I have to make do with what time I have. A challenge this evening was the start of ACL. The trail I love running runs right by the festival...I mean about 10 feet from the fence. I thought this would suck trying to navigate 25,000 plus party go'ers. Not so. The trail was pretty much dead and the music was kinda nice to run to. Reggae was playing and it had a nice beat to keep my stride rate to. The tough part was the smell of bbq chicken and the damn scalpers trying to get rid of tickets.
"I have tickets...hey man you need some tickets?"
"Dude....I'm running my ass of without a shirt and kicking some ass right now...does it look like I want you to bother me and that I need a f'ing ticket?"

I understand free enterprise but some people are just fucking stupid!

Up early tomorrow to announce a race that I am a little worried about. It's their first try at race production and the guy seems a little over his head. Tomorrow could be a long long day.

When you off your OFF.

2010-10-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

My head has been in cloud/fog for a while now and my doc thinks it's allergies and stress. Whatever it is, it's pissing me off. Yes it's allergy season and yes I am stressed out beyond normal but this shit has got to go. I havn't made a morning workout all week and my ride tonight was totally half assed. I would like to say that there is a light at the end of the tunnerl but I think I forgot to pay that power bill because there is no light in site.
Yes....it could be a lot worse and I try and keep reminding myself that so I can sleep. Just a little too much going on right now I guess.

Thought for the day-
I haven't had red meat in over a month. Could this be the cause of all my problems? Or could I suffer the same diease as Denny Crane.....made cow? Surely I can't be KooKoo for Cocao Puffs yet.

Food for thought.

No sleep Tues.

2010-10-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

I am on steroids for a week to try and clear up my head from allergies. One side effect of this stuff is lack of sleep. Last night was my fisrt night trying to get some sleep after taking the stuff. I tossed and turned all damn night. Needless to say I slept in this morning. Sorry Pain!

Did a run workout after work. No coaching for me anymore but still somehow managed to give 3 people a workout to do who showed up late to the T3 run.
Part of my workout was a 20 tempo run. Held 7:09's. Nice and smooth baby!!

News and Notes:
I have many gripes with people but one gripe that I almost forgot but was reminded of during my run is how much people who travel overseas have to let everyone know when they get back that they are on such and such a time. I heard this lady say to her neighbor after getting back from somewhere, "It's like 2:00 a.m. to us right now."
No lady.......it's freaking whatever time it actually is right now. I don't give a shit about how you have to tell everyone you see that you're exhausted from traveling and that you're not adjusted to the time. Now...if you've been over seas for over 3 weeks then I will give you a little to work with but anything less keep your time zone "I want everyone to think I'm important" ass shut.

Tues and cooler weather

2010-10-05T19:47:00.001-07:00

I ran after work today and man did it feel good. The weather was wicked sweet and my legs were rested after taking Monday off.
I tore it up this weekend. 80 miles on the bike @ 20.7 mph followed by a 45 min run @ a 7:50 pace.
Sunday was a 14 mile run. I did the same 7 mile route but just reversed it on the second loop. Averaged 7:49's on the first 7 and 7:10's on the second. Man these cooler temps are helping me sooo much.

Racing another month in Conroe, TX. http://www.out-loud.org/ironstar_triathlon.htm
It's another 1/2 IM and I hoping to PR this time. If the weather is anything like it has been I should have a good shot @ going under 5 hours.

Don't forget to check out my cousins blog.http://chuckbuxton.blogspot.com/
He got a day pass this past weekend and was able to watch his sons football game. Go SCOTS!!!!!.....whatever happened to Groveville 1 and Groveville 2? I haven't thought of the Scots in about 30 years. Wow!

Words of thanks

2010-09-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day coaching for T3 and what a send off it was. Besides a rip roaring workout I had them do I also experienced my first Gatorade bath (only it was water in the cooler), a Texas sized choc chip cookie cake from Yvonne Ruebel (Milton took care of most of it), some very nice parting gifts and one last hoorah @ Mangia Pizza.
Thanks to everyone that came out to the track this evening for my last workout. Even if you didn't participate it was still nice to have you there. Thanks for the cash, gift cards, Whoopie Pies and many many words of thanks.
Erin cried, Dustin drank and Booher showed up. That's one hell of a good time.

Tomorrow is back to heavy training. I have taken a couple of easier days because I haven't been feeling so hot. We'll see how tomorrow @ 5:00 a.m. feels.

Thanks again everyone.

It's not about me.

2010-09-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

It's about the people that I care about. It's about the people that inspire me. It's about the people that I respect.

This is how I feel about my cousin Chad. I have known him my entire life. We grew up next door to each other in Groveville until I was 8 and my family moved 20 minutes away. I have always thought of Chad as my closest cousin because we are close in age and I remember many good times we had as kids. I was never so honored as when he asked me to be in his wedding. I was so proud of him for marrying Crystal and having me being part of the big day.
Well now it's a different kind of caring, inspiration and respect that I have for him. You see....Chad was diagnosed with leukemia in mid August. This totally caught me off guard. How could someone doing so well in life have this happen to them. I know it's not about who you are but man....I just wish it wasn't him.
He is keeping a blog of his travels through this part of his life and I suggest it for your daily reading. It will open your eyes up...seriously. Here's a link to it:
http://chuckbuxton.blogspot.com/
The kid is going through a tough time in life and he still has the guts to post how he is making it through. I am simply amazed by this. I would have crawled into a hole but not Chad. Please feel free to post a comment on his blog offering support and kind words. Anyone in his shoes needs and deserves it.

One last thing:
My life is full of people who train for running races and tri's all the time. Myself included. We bitch about bad days running, days of being sore, to tired and days of bitching because we didn't get our mileage in. Think about this for a sec.....our lives could be in a tougher spot than that crap.
I sent Chad an email the other day asking him if he didn't mind me posting a link to his blog. I love that his pic is in a J&A's jersey and that he has been bitten by the tri bug. But one thing will never escape my mind......the kid from Groveville, Maine that I still look up to had this to say at the end of that email

"For now, this is my Ironman."

Chad....you're tougher than any Ironman I know.
Love ya cuz.

Tough run day

2010-09-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

I had a horrible run this morning. Enough said.

I bought 2 books yesterday. I figured I'd get back into normal reading. Not tri books or CNN.com all the damn time.
I guess my taste in literature is a little off. I bought the obligatory John Grishom book and a biography on Hitler. Yeah...that's a little odd.

Long ride Sat.

2010-09-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

Up at 'em this morning for a ride with the T3 crew. 78+ miles @ 20.7 mph. I honestly felt that i was going faster than that. We had a good core group this morning once we broke away fromt he rest of the team. Hammer, Capt. Jim, New Chelsea, Uncle Milty, Jantzen and New Kid Cole. I pulled a lot on the way out and did some drafting on the way back because my workout within the workout was over and I just to hold 18.5ish on the way back. Nailed my nutrition and hydration which was nice. Used a new formula which I will share because I will forget by tomorrow.
2 bots each with
4 scoops Carbo Pro
4 Salt Stick salt tabs
1 Citrus Nuun
Orhange Gatorade and water to top it off.
At the stop at the store I had about 6 oz of Coke and filled up my water bottle with a new cold Gatorade.

Overall it was a good ride. Now we'll see what the coach says.

Also did a 30 minute run off the bike. It was 95 degrees by then so that sucked.

Brought the boys at J&A's a cooler full of beers today before they closed. Some people bring food....I bring what works. I know Geoff and Brian will take care of the inventory. Just hope I get my cooler back.

Oh and also...... my green thumb got some work today.

And now for something completly different

2010-09-24T19:49:00.000-07:00

Instead of going to happy hour today I rode my road bike for 70 minutes after work. Nothing terribly hard since I have a heavy day tomorrow but just enough to get the blood flowing.
This morning was a swim with Pain. She actually said I am getting better and things are improving. It's funny how if you actually spend time in the pool how things improve.

Bike: 70 minutes
Swim: 3250 meters

Long tough day tomorrow. 3.5 hour ride at a pace a little faster than I am used to. Riding with the t3 folks so hopefully I don't end up on my ass. Matty Rubes said he would be there so that's nice. Neila has 105 miles to do tomorrow. Man I hope she pulls it off.

Work in progress

2010-09-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

I hit the trainer this morning before work for 75 minutes. Much like the workout from Tues. After work I mad my way down to South Mopac. It was a negative split workout so coming back had to be faster than going out. Not easy when you're going out @ 22 mph. I pulled it off. I am hoping this will help me produce the power and speed I need for my next race. Looking to average over 22 mph on the bike.

Beautiful afternoon for a ride. 90 degrees and the sunset was nice. Low breeze made the wind tolerable. Once I stopped the mosquitos came out and they went ape shit over me and Fish. Make sure to add bug spray to the grocery list this week. Btw....with all the food I eat I go to the grocery probably 5 times a week. I went after my workout this evening because I heard Gatorade was on sale. Is it wrong to go to the grocery and just buy 22 32oz. Gatorades? Hell....they were only .94 cents.

Days 2 of my comeback to technology

2010-09-22T20:39:00.001-07:00

This morning was a swim with Pain. Good lord...she brings out the best in me. Actually pulled a 4:30 300 out this morning. Haven't done that in a while. This training thing might actually work.
Total swim was about 3400 meters. The main set was 9 x 300m. They were all different but they did kick my ass. It's one ass kickin' that I do not mind.

After work was a run. Had a 20 minute tempo run in the middle of it. Held 7:15's and felt decent. Came up a little short of the hour I was suppose to get in but one more week and I am done coaching so I'll have more time on Monday's and Wednesday's.

Thought for the day....people need to shut the hell up, remove their heads from their ass and pay the f attention while they drive. Seriously people....you should be embarrassed. None of us are that important to where we just stop giving a shit about others while driving. Good lord.

Let's try this again

2010-09-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

My next race is on 11/7 in Conroe, TX. Ironstar 1/2 IM. I do it for 3 reasons. Cheap race, I like the course and I have a free place to stay while I am there. Looking forward to it.
Down to the digits.

Track workout this morning.
3 x 1 mi
2 x 1200
4 x 200

Lunch was 1 hour of yoga....I do not like the peacock pose.

Trainer ride after work for 90 minutes. My head is a pretzel lately so it was nice to just let is go for a bit. Didn't have to think too much since I didn't have to actually drive, just produce the "POWA"....power for those non Northeasterner's.

Hey technology and the interwebs.....

2010-08-17T19:29:00.000-07:00

Fuck you!

I just spent 20 minutes typing an update to this blog and you give me some bullshit error message. You totally suck and are a complete bitch.
Again....fuck you.

Have a nice day.

You know you are getting serious about something when.....

2010-07-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

You swim @ 5:45 a.m.
Work your ass off from 8 to 5
Coach a badass track workout from 6 to 7:15
and get home to ride your trainer for 1:15.

My day started at 5:45 a.m. and finished @ 9:15 p.m.
I should be able to sleep tonight. But will be up again @ 5:45 to ride to work.

Looking to spice up your mornings?

2010-07-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

Just do what I do...reach for a light switch and dislocate 2 ribs. That'll wake you up in the morning.

Marble Falls 5 years later

2010-07-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

5 years ago I found myself in Marble Falls, TX doing the Marble Falls Tri in early July. It was my first year of tri's and I had no idea what I doing. I remember riding up with Molly, Seba and Puck and having a fun time.
Well.....5 years later I finally make my way back for a second try. What a difference 5 years can make.
The race was a ton of fun and I knew a billion people out there. Great hearing my name and seeing all these folks I have been watching race for the past few years but never getting to actually race with them. Jen Reinhardt actually asked me before the race if i knew what I was doing. I haven't raced a tri in central Texas is a long long time. Good times.
Highlights-
-Talking Angie's ear off on the ride up. I was totally awake by the time we got there.
-Doing most of the ride with the lead female.
-Passing Alex the Russian 1 mile into the run. He told me he was going to sprint from that point to the finish and that I didn't stand a chance. I passed him about 5 seconds later.
-Having the best run of my life off the bike.
-Seeing Capt Jim's wife and Mer on the run. Great motivation.

Here are my times from 2005
Swim: 27:48
T1: 1:21
Bike: 1:10:22
T2: 1:20
Run: 45:17 (10:18 per mile pace...had blisters and ran barefoot for a couple of miles)
Total: 2:26:10

2010 times
Swim: 19:49
T1: 1:08
Bike: 1:01:06
T2: :46
Run: 31:29......7:09 pace per mile!
Total: 1:54:21

I'll take a 32 minute improvement.

Next week it's the Waco Tri. unfortunately I put my back out this morning reaching for a light switch. It's not all glory all the time you know.

Thanks to J&A's, Performance Wellness, Rogue Running, T3 and my coach Zane. I guess this z1/z2 crap works....but it's still BORING!!!!!

Slow sucks, I suck and crazy dreams

2010-07-07T20:05:00.000-07:00

Again... another mind numbing run today. 1 hour in z1/z2. The one good thing it that I was allowed to get in some intense strides. 12 x 20 seconds with 40 secs rest. Still was bored out of my mind.
This morning I went to swim and received a fantastic surprise. Pain was coaching!!!! She's back to coaching swim a couple of days a week and that is awesome!!!! Great workout this morning in the pool. Something about her improves my swimming instantly. Good times!!!

I had a dream last night that I missed the start of an IM because my bike seat post was missing. Once I got to the start line it was dark and they had neon lights all over the place. Brendan Hansen was in a kayak and I asked him if he would shadow me for the swimming since I would be swimming mostly by myself. I'm pretty sure he told me to shove it. No love....shit. But the best part was that there was a blue whale swimming at the turn around of the swim. That was the end of that IM for me.

Listening to the Dropkick Murphy's on Pandora. Somehow some Johnny Cash got into the mix. Nice change.

I hate heat and the f'ing HRM

2010-07-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

HRM is for Heart Rate Monitor.
My run today was suppose to be at z1 to z2. For those of you who know what I am talking about how the F am I suppose to get any faster while holding a low HR while running in 100 degree weather? I ran for 60 minutes like this and my f'ing pace per mile was 10:23 per mile. That's f'ing embarassing!!!!!!

I am getting fed up and frustrated with this shit. Just let me run fast and we'll be good. I am going to get freaking destroyed at the races I have lined up with running workouts like this.

Arrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Trainer rides are........

2010-07-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

BORING!!!!!!!

Totals: 2 hours on the trainer.

Signed up for Marble Falls Tri and TriWaco today.

Let it rain.

2010-06-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

More rain today but no riding so therefor no retard.
Hit the pool at lunch today. Just me and Capt Doctor in the lane. My timing was a little off today so it was wee bit ugly. I just have to stay consistent with the swimming.
After work I hauled ass down to O'Henry so I could run before I coached. My workout was a recovery run where I should have stayed in zone 1 most of the run. When I got home and checked the garmin it said I was in zone 3 for most of the run. I couldn't have gone any slower and this is driving me nuts!!! I am seriously trying very hard to get my HR down but it doesn't go much below 130 while running. What's odd is that if you out me on a bike trainer I struggle to get to 130 and above. I just don't understand this. Very frustrating.

Totals:
1 hour swim for 3050m
5.05 mi in 50 minutes.....that's a 9:51 per mile pace. Arrrgggggggg this sucks!!!!!!!

The 3 R's of training

2010-06-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

Riding......Rain.......Retard

Yesterday before I left the house I checked the weather and it said that there would be a t-storm rolling through around 11:00 a.m. and decent the rest of the day. That was perfect for me. So I rode to work thinking I'd miss the rain. The weather people weren't even freaking close to getting it right!!! The rain was coming down when I left work and only got worse the further I got into the ride. Co-workers were pulling over on 360 asking me if I wanted a ride. Like a knucklehead I didn't take them up on the ride when I should have. Heading up the hill to Davenport Village there was lightening and thunder all around. I was quite concerned that making to the top of the hill was not going to happen. I could just feel people looking at me and saying to themselves, "what an idiot!!" I was and I totally admit it.
I made it the PTC in one piece just in time for the rain to slow down and for the sun to start to peek out. Once off the bike I grabbed a rag, dried off the KHS and grabbed my running gear. Off I went into the light rain for a 1 hour easy run. The roads were dead and the trail was even more so. I loved it. I just concentrated on the workout at hand and enjoyed the slight rain we were getting. When I finished it was sunshine and rainbows.
Started the workout like an shithead but ended like a rockstar. Would I do it again.....probably.

Thanks to Jimmy O for offering me a ride about 2 miles from the PTC. You're a giver Opre!

Bike total: 35 miles
Run total: 1 hour

Rollercoaster of the King!

2010-06-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

Life is freaking crazy. The older I get the faster it moves and the more it pisses me off and the more I can't do anything about it. People say that sometimes you need to stop and smell the roses. Well, everytime I smell the roses and try to relax I remember there's another 20 things I could be doing with my time and off I go. Ugh! Oh well.
Here's what's going on in my life right about now. Some good stuff here.
- One of the big things is that I am finally going to start my own announcing business. Pain is helping draw up a business plan since I have no clue to what I am getting myself into. I look forward to announcing more and getting my name out there. btw---- Anyone have a good name for my business? I was thinking of a conservative name and a real Logan name. Here are my 2 so far - ATX Announcing or Logan's BIG DEAL Announcing. Any suggestions would be nice.

- I have cancelled all of my trips this summer to concentrate on paying my bills. I just couldn't get past the fact that I still owe some money and going on 3 trips this summer just wouldn't be right. Thanks to everyone for understanding.

- I have taken a large step back from T3. Not because I don't want to be part of the family but I just believe my idea of business management and others ideas of it are different. Plus...sometimes people aren't what they appear to be. I am still coaching 2 days a week but that's about it.

- I bit the bullet and signed up for one last Ironman. June 2011 I'll be back in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for the 2011 Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene. I say one last because I really don't want to have to do another one after this so I am hoping that I can hit my goal time and then retire for the distance. I really like the 70.3 distance so I'll go back down to that after IMCDA.

- I have a new coach as well. Pain is still my life coach cause lord knows I can't function without that woman but I have a different tri coach. His name is Zane Castro and he's the same Zane from J&A's fame. We've been working together for 3 months now and I am seeing a totally different approach to training. I will not lie... some days I think it totally sucks...this control your heart rate stuff blows. But I am enjoying the structure and the individual attention.

Well...it looks like I'll be updating more often now that I have a IM on the horizon. I won't actually start "training" for it until January but I have discussed with Zane the importance of being ready for IMCDA so starting a year out with that race as my main goal will absolutely help me out.

First workout-
25 minutes of core..... and I'm gonna be soooo sore tomorrow.
I rode the bike to work. 17 miles.
I am about to ride home from work in the rain and then go for a 60 min run....in zone 2. Zone 2 is for sucks!

Thanks and take care-
Logan

No subsitutes

2010-06-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I was speaking with someone @ the Splash-n-Dash about the Wed. night workout I coach for T3. This person told me that they like the workout because I make them laugh and I keep it interesting. In the same breath they said that others have gone elsewhere for training because they don't get what they want out of the workouts I coach. I have absolutely no issue with this as everyone is different.
BUT.......
You get out of a workout what you put into it. I see a lot of people who come and train and expect things to just come to them. That is sooo wrong!!!! You have to work your ass off to get what you want out of a workout. I don't care if you train with me, Gilbert, Jamie/Fish, Carmen or TNT....you have to put the work in. So many people now-a-days expect things to just be given to them. That's not the way it works. Sorry to burst anybody's bubble but if you want to get faster on the run you have to seriously put the time and work into the workouts and not go about them half ass'd.
Going to train with others isn't always the answer to getting faster. Sometimes that answer is looking back at you in the mirror.

Race #4 and final recap

2010-05-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

This race started like all the others..... late and with piss poor music. You gotta be kidding me...Pasty Cline for pre race music? Good lord that was a kick in the stomach.
The swim this time around was a 2 loop course for 1.2 miles. By this time around I was getting used to the gross water , poor visibility and cooler temps. Overall the swim went well with little issues. But I was sure tired coming out of the water. My arms just did not want to get moving. Wonder why? :)
The bike was tough. It's a road cyclists dream. The course was a 2 loop, very hilly and curvy course. Bike handling skills were a must for everyone. It takes you through the park on single lane roads that weren't closed off but did have very little traffic. Most sharp turns were marked but at mile 21 there was one corner not marked and that spelled the end for many riders. The event people totally should have marked the corner...it was wicked dangerous. With that said.....yes, I went down on the corner and somehow managed to drive ride into a ditch that saved my ass. I just rode the ditch as long as I could (Kurt....I was thinking cyclecross the entire time I was shitting my pants....CROSS RULES!!!!). At about 10 mph my front wheel kicked out and I endoed into the ditch. No major damage except for a bruised knee and some scuffs. The bike was ok but it just wouldn't be the same for the rest of the day. Unfortunately for the guy about 45 secs behind me his luck wasn't so good. He went down hard and ugly. I saw the entire thing and he skidded to a stop about 2 feet from me. The guy was a mess. I dropped everything and checked on him. His helmet saved his life and that's what they are supposed to do but his body was bleeding all over the place. I was joined by a couple of other people and we got him off the to the side of the road cause bikes were coming and it was a blind corner. No one would have seen us until it was too late so I sent someone to the beginning of the corner to yell for people to slow down. Doing a quick check of the guy you could totally tell he was in shock as he wanted to get back on his bike when that was the last thing he needed to do. An EMT who was racing stopped and started asking him questions like name, bib # and where he was. He did ok with the questions but then came the biggie..."who is the president?" He looks at me and says "I don't care...I'm freaking Canadian!" Hahahahahahaha...we all had a good laugh so I ask him who won the Canadians/Blackhawks game the night before. He gets all worked up and says he doesn't know because he's been staying in a tent for the past 3 days but don't tell him because he tv'oed the game and wants to watch it when he gets home. Hahahahahahaha....he's totally ok in my book. Needless to say he never got back on the bike and was taken out of there by an ambulance. Poor guy.
Once back on the bike I took a huge step back and said to myself......just get me to my family and get me back to Pain alive. I never got back into my big chain ring and never hawled ass for the rest of the ride. I just lost all confidence in my bike and was worried that it would fall apart at any time. By the second time around on the bike course they had that corner where we went down marked up like a blue light special at the K-mart. There were ribbons, spray paint and even a police cruiser there now. You could tell it was a bad corner because there were water bottle all over the place that launched off of peoples bike.
The run was interesting. Again it was another out and back but twice through this time. By the time I got on the run it was about 90 degrees and the rain mixed with the mudd on the trail made for a nice sauna. The first loop was just getting my legs going as I did not run with anyone and as I knew my goal time was shot from the issues with the bike. The second loop was great. I got hooked up with this guy Mike from Columbus. He knew about my cousins coffee shop there so that gave him some cool credits.
The run course was very hilly. Not really any flats sports and some of the hills were long and painful. I could hear someone behind me running at the same cadence as I was so that kept me going and by the turn around the guy was yelling at me to keep killing the hills. I told him to hang on til the finishline as we were running at about a 7:15 pace. I could hear him fading off a couple of times and would motion for him to get up beside me and keep pushing. A few f bombs were exchanged but each time he would crawl back up onto my heels. We hit the final stretch and he said go ahead. Screw that shit... this guy just busted his as and I'm not going to show him up. I told him to get his ass up with me and we finish this damn thing off together. It was a good feeling having him next to me when we finished. You could tell he was wiped but very very happy with his run time. Thatta boy.
Post race was the same as the other races. Grab a water, soak in the creek and talk shop. I really enjoyed this part.
Once done with the soak I grabbed my bike, said my goodbyes to my rack mates and loaded up the Edge for a 2 hour drive to Yellow Springs, OH to see the family. It was great seeing them all. Very very good people and I just love Yellow Springs....reminds me of Mayberry. Teresa gets me a beer and there was some awesome guack that was made. All the girls totally took care of me and got me back to feeling normal. The food was awesome...thanks Tommaso. My 9 year old cousin William joined me for a game of Cornhole and we rocked the world. Too bad we couldn't hit that board to save our lives but man that was fun. Thanks to Jason for driving me to Jo's house as the beers were a little too good that evening. I stayed at my aunts house that night and got some great sleep. Sooooooo good!!!!!! Thanks Jo and Rocky. Rocky is her German Shepard who was just a joy to be around. Next time Rocky I won't try and give you a heart attack while playing Kong. The next morning it was off to Dino's Cappachino's, my cousins coffee shop. Dean....those pastries were off the chain. Thanks my man.
My final stop for the trip was a night at Dean and Sheila's in Columbus and of course Wings was our dinner spot. Ending the night watching the Celtics game and drinking Scotch w/Dean and Sheila was a great way to end an eventful week. Thanks again everyone.

Race Recap-

Overall I was glad to do the race but will probably never do it again. The race organization was poor to say the best. There were no bathrooms on the bike course and no water hand ups. Just a water refill station where you had to stop and refill your own water bottle. The blind corner was the nail in the coffin. They could have someone seriously hurt on that corner. Having it marked the second time around was good but that didn't help a lot off people from getting hurt. The post race massage was a joke as the massage therapists we not all that great. Totally not worth the $$$$ spent by me. They ran out of cups and water on the run course....who does that!!!!!!!
My biggest issue was the music during the event. It was just absolutely horrible. There was never any upbeat fun music just back woods folk music that killed the possibility of a great mood for the event. If another company took the same concept of the event I would do it again but I'll never do another race that was put on by this race company.

Next up is the Prairieman 1/2 IM in Sept....should be nice and hot by then. :)

Race #3.....warming up is a good idea.

2010-05-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

The 3rd race of the Triple T is a reverse tri (as they call it). First you bike, then swim and you finish off with the run. The swim is never last as there is a damn good chance of someone drowning.
I awoke from my 20 minute nap (needed like 2 hours) and made my way back to the race site with plenty of time. My main concern was finding a parking spot. There is not a lot of parking and a lot of the parking they had is wet and muddy. I am a car rental genius! I rented a Ford Edge and you know what....that son of a bitch is all wheel drive plus I bought all the insurance...so bring on the mud!!!! Having the AWD is coming very handy as I am allowed to park near the race site where it is muddy and wet. No long walks for me.
Bike: The bike was a time trial start from transition with 2 people going at a time about every 8 seconds or so. About 90 secs before JP and I get to the line I realize I have to take a wizz real bad and I already cycled this morning having to pee the entire ride. I wasn't doing that again (there were no port-o-jons on the bike course). JP grabs my bike and I haul ass in cycling shoes to the nearest head and take care of business. I jump out and we're about 15 seconds away from take off and we made it with flying colors. We bikes the same route as this morning and it was much of the same. The roads weren't wet but they were washed out a bit and a lot of loose gravel on them. I took it easy in those areas. My bike time was .1 mph off of my time this morning so I pleased with that.
Swim: This was going to be interesting. I have never done something like this before and a huge thanks to Todd and Joseph for telling me about the trash bag trick. Joe Blackistone brought it up a couple of years ago and I thought he was nuts but this shit worked. You stick your feet in 2 plastics bags and then they just slide through your wet suit with little struggle. Wicked awesome!!!! I wore my sleeveless wetsuit this afternoon as I did not want to deal with getting my hands in through the sleeves. Just knew i was going to be tired. As I took off out of T2, huge thanks the volunteer kid who told me I still had my sunglasses on. I rarely ever take them off so I didn't even realize it. Thanks kid. I run/waddle to the water and I make my entry. HOLY SHIT...... this water is freaking freezing!!!!! WTF! It felt great on my body but my toes and face were suffering. I almost stopped swimming to get my head out of the water so it could warm up but I knew I would have to stick it back in the water so I pushed through it.
The "adjusted" the buoys from this morning so now the swim was a little longer. Gee thanks guys. The swim was going fine up until about 250m from the finish when someone hit my leg from behind. My calf cramped up like crazy. I was very concerned because I couldn't kick (not like I kick much anyway) but I had to point my foot down instead of back because it would cramp again if I did. It was like I was dragging a dead body behind me.....not that I have done that. Also there wasn't a life guard in sight so if I got into trouble I was done for. Believe me.... I was a bit frightened of having some issues. But as you should always do, I didn't panic, slowed down and made damn sure no one hit the other leg. I finished the swim and was happy to be out of the water...back to it tomorrow. Ugh!
Run: The run was fine. I had a hard time getting my legs going but by the turn around I was back in the game. I jumped into a group of kids from MSU and they kept me going for the final 2 miles. I started to have stomach cramps around mile 5 but I rallied and finished off the run with a solid effort.

Checking the results from this mornings race I was 119th from just that race. I again started in 166th so I moved up a couple of slots. This isn't an RunFar operation so who knows when I'll actually know what I did for time. I have not been wearing a watch in the swim and I am too damn tired to do the math.

Post race was a massage (had to pay for it :() and then a run to my fav Italian food place in town. I called in the order and it was ready when I got there. Made it back to the not so Super 8 and sat down for a beautiful meal of bread, chicken parm without the cheeze and red win out of a Super 8 plastic coffee cup. I reek of class!

Race #2....flat...what flat?

2010-05-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

The first Oly is done and in the books. I am currently in my motel room with my compression socks on, feet up and I just finished shoveling some food down my throat. It was a good race today.
Swim: Yet again they were late with the start and no one seemed to give a shit. It rained like crazy here last night and there was also a Tornado warning issued for the evening. Since it rained the water was much higher than it was yesterday and it was freaking cold!!!!!! Even colder then CDA last year. The swim is a time trial start with 2 people going every 3 seconds. JP and I were paired up and we took off. He's not into the swimming so much so I pulled away from him within the first 100m. Note to self...... work more on swimming and long distance swimming. Once warmed up I got into my grove and made my way through the swim.
Bike: The course was not flat to say the least. The roads were wet so I was very cautious on the ride today. I never really pushed it too hard and recovered when needed. According to the gps I avg 19.2 and I feel as though that's where I'll be tomorrow and this afternoon. Only one thing to note on the bike. Some knucklehead passed me twice. Both times we were going about 40 mph downhill and when he passed he passed withing 1 foot of me. meaning he was 1 foot from my side. No one else was around us....not even close!!!!! If either of us moved just a little it would have been the end for both of us. Total assclown and he made it appear that all he cares about is himself. Jerkoff!
Run: Thank the lord Todd Gerlach told me to bring my trail running shoes. The run was 6.55 mi and 6 mi of it was on an old fire trail that was total mud. Big thanks from me Todd...you saved my ass. The run was just as hilly as the ride and it didn't help that I made 3 stops. When you gotta go you gotta go! The gps says I averaged 7:23's but that does not include the 3 stops. We'll see later what my real time was.
Overall: Good race today and the rain brought in nice cold water for the after race soak. Had a 15 min massage after that.

I am currently watching my clothes dry in front of the heater in my motel room and all I want to do is take a nap. Not sure if that's going to happen since race #3 is in 2.5 hours.

Yesterday I started in 166th place. I was 106th by the end of the race. I amde some more advancement this morning. Once I find out the times I'll let you know.

Thanks

Race #1.....wicked short dude.

2010-05-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

Today has been a very long day. The first race didn't start until 5:00 p.m. You may say, "Wow, that's late for a tri." Yeah it's late but not for this tri. The first race of the Triple T is a supersprint. 250m swim, 5 mi bike and a 1 mile run. Here's the break down.
Pre race- I love it when people wear their Ironman shirts to races. No offense but I do find it a bit funny. I'm walking around with a Fore Play Sports Bar t shirt with stains all over it and I'm next to a guy w/ a Cozmel IM shirt. I like not fitting in.
With bike racked it didn't take me long to make a friend. Met a guy named JP from Chicago. He's an adventure racer and wanted to try something new. His dad used to play for the Blackhawks of the NHL so we hit it off with my mad hockey knowledge. Cool guy.
So this is no J&A's event because the start was a mess and it was late. Dan would never have stood for it. The sound system sucked and not many race officials seemed to care about being on time. Oh well.....I figured I'd be done in less than 30 minutes so I didn't care.
The swim was horrible!!!! The water was shallow and the mud was thick. It was like someone put black tape over my goggles because I couldn't see shit. The water was cold so that made it tolerable.
Bike: The bike was so damn short I never really got even close to going. I just kept my HR well above normal and pushed with what I could. It was more like a crit because there were many turns. There was one long hill at about mile 1.5 and I made up some ground on it over other people. I was cautious heading back down because it rained all day and people were flying down it. I didn't want to end my weekend on the first race so I enjoyed the rest. Funny thing was....there were 2 guys in front of me in full areo with areo helmets and they never pulled away on the hill. I was on my handle bars just relaxing and these 2 guys were over the top serious. I had a good laugh at their expense.
Run: A 1 mile run is freaking painful!!!!! It was on wet soggy grass and then a trail in the woods. Never caught my breath and never got my legs going but I did ok. Passed a few more people than passed me and I was happy with that.
Finish.....25:30. No idea what place that puts me in but I really don't care about that. Just here to see if I can survive the pain come Sunday.
After the race there was a creek just past the finish line and the water was cold. A bunch of us sat down in it for a while and yapped about the race. I told folks that there was no way in hell this would happen in Texas because of snakes. Not too much of a worry about that in Ohio.

Overall it was a good time and I feel as though I have not earned my lasagna for the evening. That should be made up with tomorrows horror show. 2 Oly's....one in the morning and one @ 3:00 pm.

Day #1 of Triple T race week

2010-05-20T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a travel day. The flights to and from the airports were ok. Only real big deal was Ronnie freaking Milsap was on the same plane as me from Nashville to Columbus. Now that some real shit right there!
Once in Columbus I picked up my rental car and made the 2 hour journey south to Portsmouth, OH. Portsmouth is a nice little town with not much going for it unfortunately. You can tell that back in the 50's and 60's this used to be the place to be but not any more. They do have this loving Super 8 motel. It's a little shady but so am I and I am ok with that. Once here at the hotel I immediately put my bike together. What a mess that was. The chain was all sorts of tangled up and the damn headset wouldn't go back together without feeling loose. Thank the lord Geoff from J&A's was working today. I called him and he told me how it was originally and that totally saved my ass. I wasn't about to race with a shaky front end.
After the bike was built and test ridden I went looking for a grocery and food. I found the local Kroger and a nice small Italian place called Melini Cucina. Now, if you are ever in Portsmouth, OH ask your self why in the hell you are here and then if you are hungry check this place out. It's wicked small but the chix parm was the best I have ever had. I'll probably go back again tomorrow night for some take out.
So this my vibe of the place so far....
-Accommodations are on the shitty side but it's $55 a night and since I am by myself it's all good.
- My allergies are kicking up a little so this may suck just a bit.
- I love hotel....check that....MOTEL high speed Internet.
- There is not a lot of physical fitness going here in Portsmouth, OH.
- McDonalds is the closest food to the motel by over a mile. Guess I'll be seeing more of Portsmouth.
- The train tracks run across the street...and yes...the trains use them.
- Guice and Jess sent me up here with choc chip bars and some notes of good wishes. I almost coughed up the cookie thing when I read one of the notes: "I'm Logan Delaware......I'm a BIG fucking deal" .....holy shit that still makes me laugh.

I 'heart' the Fluff

2010-04-20T06:24:00.001-07:00

One of my athletes knows I love Marshmallow Fluff. My mom sends it to me sometimes and it's always awesome when she does. Guice found some at Central Market the other day and brought it to me yesterday along with some cookies. This what I eneded up with......

Sooooo good! Thanks!

First big weekend in a while

2010-04-18T16:28:00.000-07:00

I finally put together a solid weekend of training. Happy to do it and happy to be done with it.
Friday I did the bomb run. I was actually ahead of Richie Cunningham (yes, that's his real name) at about the 1.5 mile mark. I was smart enough to peel off and do a different route before he and Evoe killed me. It was fun to get out there and get the blood flowing early on a Friday.
Saturday I swam @ LC for 3000m and I felt kinda ok. Straight was taking it to me but I hung in there. After the swim I went home, changed, ate and made my way to the PTC for a 3 hr trainer ride. Thank the lord that Pain was there shot calling. She kept that up for the first 2 hours and then the last hour was on my own. Watched about 4 IM videos so that kept me motivated. I had Lapuente and Kolko beside me so I always had someone to chat with. After the ride I took another shower and started to clean bikes. I cleaned 10 in one afternoon. Man that was tough but well worth it for the people that needed their bikes cleaned. Plus I made some cash and acquired a 12 pk of Miller Lite. Thanks Esther!
Today I was at the pool again for another swim. I need to work on it so I am forcing myself to get there. Pape was fantastic today. She pushed us but gave us enough rest when we needed it. I look forward to my next workout with her. After the swim I go cleaned up and changed into running attire. I headed to J&A's and departed for a 2 hour run on the trail. Good times but not all that fast. That's ok.... I needed to get the time in anyway so I'm good with that.

Overall is was a great weekend. I had some drama come my way but I tossed that crap in the trash and have moved forward. Some people just irritated me.

Here's something for your funny bones....
I was at the Sprint store today getting a new phone. My Blackberry was just killing me. I was there for a little longer than I had planned and started getting wicked light headed and weak. I knew I needed food. So as I sit there I start taking a mental inventory of what I have in the X for food. All I think I have is a cold Miller Lite. Just one! So now this is where I think I am loosing my mind. I start to contemplate whether it's ok to get the 150 calories from the beer and deal with the booze that comes along with it or do I suffer and hang on til I get home.
I'll let you all think on that and figure out the answer yourself. :)

Deserving, earning and down right cheating.

2010-04-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

There is no fine line between earning and being given things. There is no comparison!!!!! I say this because this week was the Kona Lottery. Let me explain to those who don’t know what it is.
Kona is the Ironman World Championships. This is the big one. Yes, there are many other IM’s out there but those are qualifiers for Kona. To qualify for Kona you have to pretty much finish top 3 in your age group to have a chance. For me, that would be under 10 hours. Once you get a qualifying slot you get the chance to race in Kona. That’s all you get, nothing is free in this world and the people who put on IM’s make your wallet very aware of that. I could totally go into how IM (the event itself) is not worth the $575 entry fee after the first time but I’ll save that for another day.
The Kona Lottery is for folks who pay around $150 just to get their name in a hat for the chance to participate in Kona. That’s right….. they pay a good chunk of change just to be able to say they went to Kona. Notice I said “went”…..these people did not qualify. They were lucky and that’s about it.
My issue with the lottery is that you can pay the $150 bones and then cross your fingers for the chance to go to the big one. I believe this lottery thing is horseshit! It’s just another way to screw the age groupers who work their asses off out of their just right. There are people out there who absolutely bust their ass just to go out to a qualifier and have their dreams crushed because they came in 4th in their AG and only the top 3 get a slot. Why not get rid of the lottery and open up more opportunities for the AG’ers to EARN their spot @ Kona? I understand that there would be some situations that would qualify for someone who can’t qualify for Kona to get a chance to go. That’s cool and I don’t have a problem with that. Maybe having them write an essay as to why they should be given a bib # to Kona. If they have a disease that will not allow them to get there in the future, had a death in the family and there needs to be some closure or maybe their doing it for some honest reason like for the troops or something like that. I’m all good with those reasons. But don’t you tell me that a perfectly capable person who just doesn’t want to work for their spot can pay some money and get a chance to go to Kona. Again… horseshit!
I know people who have just about killed themselves through hard work and determination to get to race a qualifier and have the race of their life just to get that slot. A couple of names that come to mind are PT, Jim and Michelle Ryan. Shit… Michelle had to travel to Brazil to have a chance. All of these people have trained for years to get to where they are and have sacrificed soooooo much to make their dreams of Kona come true. I am very proud to call these people my friends as I look up to them and see that there is hope for me to get to the Big Island one day.
I almost don’t have anything personal against anyone who enters the lottery but don’t you dare even act/think that you deserve to go. Not for a second!!!!! You didn’t do the work. You didn’t sacrifice. You didn’t pay the personal price. You didn’t EARN it! You basically cheated yourself.
So if you are out and about and see someone with a Kona jersey or maybe overhear someone @ a party talking about how they went to Kona you should just pop in and say, “Where’d you qualify?” If they say anything other than a qualifying event…… look down upon that person and say….. “Yeah… that’s what I thought.”

If this offends anyone…… well…. toughen the hell up. This is my opinion and my blog. If you don’t like it change the channel.

Just been busy

2010-04-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Been real busy with the tri season kicking off and such.

Pretty tired right now but I thought i would share this with you.

On my bike ride to the track today I stopped at a light and my boss was a few lanes over getting ready to make a turn. He drives a convertible Porche and it looks badass. He sees me and yells over to me, "Hey you want a ride?" People see this so I reply...." No man I want to race. That car isn't shit compared to the Ltrain." I saw about 3 other people in cars laughing their asses off.

Shit....it's windy!

2010-04-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

Yep, Austin, TX in the spring brings a few things. The Bluebonnets are out, the temps are in the 80's, allergies are through the roof and yes....it's windy no matter what the weather guy says. I have been riding more outside and I always know that somewhere, somehow....I'm gonna get some wind to deal with. I knew this going into the season so I have kinda embraced it. Yeah it's windy.... so what? This goes along with my other thoughts of, so it's raining......so what? There are hills on this route.....so what? I keep saying "Bring it!" I don't advise others to take this attitude on because you kinda have to have a different mindset and have the unique ability of not giving a shit of what people think about you. I look at it this way, if it's windy, wet, cold or hilly it's only going to make me better/ stronger. I am confident in my riding skills and I am comfortable riding with traffic so what others think about a said route doesn't get to me. If I came to ride then I am riding.

Today I rode to work again in the morning after a 40 minute core set with Mo. The ride was nice but the same as usual. On the way home the wind was worse than it has been all spring. I had a total headwind and I was ok with that. I just played it a little more safe than I usually do and pushed the best I could. At one point when going downhill on 360 I was pushing my second easiest gear the bike had with a 85 cad. I was going 12 mph......that's downhill!!! Just a bit of a breeze. Once back at the ptc I changed into some running attire and ran down to J&A's and back. Just about 4 miles. I would have ran with the Ship but the intensity of the runs that they are doing isn't going to keep me healthy for very long. I think one workout a week with them will be good. The run today was tough as I couldn't get into a good grove but that's fine. I have a long weekend ahead of me so I'll forget all about it by tomorrow.

Training makes you tired

2010-03-31T19:16:00.000-07:00

I have no idea how I have trained for 3 Ironmans. I did one really hard workout yesterday and I have dragging ass all day today. I made it to the PTC this morning for a spin class with Pain. I lasted just over 30 minutes. That was my plan as I did not get in a good stretch yesterday evening. I spent 15-20 minutes this morning getting in some solid stretching. It felt pretty good. I used the spin class to mainly loosen my body up so I could stretch.
I hit the pool during lunch today. I got a bunch of sun on my back. I have to remember sun block next time. Amanda was the coach today and she wasn't too bad. Hell, she remembered my name and that's a big plus in my book. I was sloooooooow today but with more swim time scheduled I hope to get back to a normal swim feel.
My hamstring is killing me today. I think it was the swim because before it I think I was fine. It's tight as all hell. I am really hoping is doesn't bother my ride or run tomorrow. We'll see.

Catch up

2010-03-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

This is the crunched version of the past few days.
Friday: Did nothing because my legs were fried from core, riding, riding again, running hills workout, riding some more and then 2 Step lessons. Being a big deal is tough!
Sat: Missed the opp to ride with Jess and the gang so I started at Akins around 7:30. Very windy but I was more than happy to put the work in. 73 miles @ 18.5 mph.
Sun: Did nothing. But I did go to the roller derby Sunday night! Man that stuff is crazy and the people that go to these things are totally fun just to watch.
Mon: Worked and coached.
Tues: Back to being a badass. At the PTC @ 5:30 for core. By 6:30 I was on the road riding to work in the dark again. BORING!!! I couldn't get my legs moving quickly. Must have been the Roller Derby beverages. After work I rode to O'Henry for a track workout with the Ship. This Run Fast Run Less shit is going to kill me.
On tap for tonight was a 1600, 3200, 800, 800
According to Big's chart I needed to run a 6:12, 12:40, 2:58, 2:58
This is how it panned out: 5:59, 13:21, 2:59, 3:01. I read the first time incorrectly and ended up going faster than I needed. The 3200 I think may have been a little longer but I really don't care. It finished on an uphill and I crushed that son of a bitch! Thought of PT while the crushing was going on. The 2 final 800's hurt like hell. Thanks to Big, Dave (?) and Bruce (my favorite liberal) for pulling me through.
After the painfest was over I had to ride back to the PTC. It really hurt to ride that 5 miles. The last hill almost did me in. Just downright hard work this afternoon. Oh and did I mentioned my ride after work had 17 mph headwinds and traffic was all jacked up. But yet again.... I welcome the wind. Bring it bitch!

Happy Birthday to my sister Stacey on Sunday
Happy Birthday to my brother Grant tomorrow
Happy Birthday to Matthew (Molly and Seba's boy) yesterday
Happy Birthday to Pain on Thursday

I think that should cover it for now.

Pain in the morning....International Relations in the evening

2010-03-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday was a big day for me.
Pain was coaching core @ 5:30 a.m. so I just had to be there. Starbucks isn't open before 5:30 so I picked her coffee up from 7/11. Oh thank heaven! Made it to core on time with coffee in hand and proceeded to kick out a 40 min core workout. Once I polished that off I jumped into a phone booth and came out as cyclist Logan. I jumped on the KHS and started towards work. I really dislike daylight savings time. It took an hour of morning daylight away from me. With that said I rode in the dark for most of the ride. I looked like a UFO with all the blinkie lights I had on. I was actually bored riding because I couldn't go fast. Like Ricky Bobby.... I just wanna go fast!!! But I made it to work on time and in one piece. Only one car almost hit me so I'll take that.
After work I was back on the KHS and down 360 I went. The wind was hollowing outside and in no specific direction. Crossing the 360 bridge was interesting and trying to get across Bee Caves always is an adventure.
Instead of heading back to the X I went to O'Henry for a hill workout with the Ship. The workout was a 5k tempo run with hills involved. That freaking hurt! I haven't run a 5k in about 2 years. I stayed with Russell most of the way until he pulled away but I just kept on chuggin'. If you don't understand what a tempo run is it's basically going hard right off the line and not letting up. According to this horseshit running scale that Big Jeff has come up with from Run Fast Run Long, I should have been running a 6:45/ mile pace. That would be 20:39 for the run. I thought this was crazy up until about 30 seconds ago when I checked my time and calculated it into pace per mile. I kicked out a 6:43/ mile pace for 20:34. I have not run that fast in a long LONG time. But I did have fun with it.
After the run I quickly jumped onto the KHS and rode 4 miles back to the X. By now I am just wiped out. My legs had no lift or life left in them. BUT..... Logan was needed once again and this time it was to facilitate international relations. So I quickly drove home, shoved some food down my throat and took a quick shower as I was off to the Broken Spoke!!!!!
The Spoke (http://www.brokenspokeaustintx.com/) is a country music honky tonk type of place about a 1/2 mi from my place. My friend Marla had a co worker (Alexandra) in from the UK and she wanted to do something Texas. What's more Texas than going to the Spoke to learn how to 2 Step? Not a damn thing is more Texas! So me being a TRUE Texan (lol) I manned up to the challenge. Alex and I were partners and we had a freaking blast! We both had never done the 2 step before so we were stepping all over each other. Both of us just kept saying, "1,2,3, step and slide." It was too funny. A Yankee and a Brit 2 steppin'. She had a blast and we all totally had a rockin' good time. Would I do it again? If it were Alex and I, totally. Anyone else I am afraid I wouldn't have as much fun. Huge thanks to Marla and Kent for getting this together and for paying for my beers!
I have a big training weekend ahead of me but the highlight of the week was definitely the Spoke.
Happy Birthday Ma!!!!!!

Totals:
36.5 miles on the bike
4 miles running with a 20:34 5k.
40 minutes of core
90 minutes of 2 steppin'.

No workout Wed.

2010-03-24T18:55:00.000-07:00

I was pretty wiped out this morning and didn't have the motivation to get to the pool. That seems to be a reoccurring theme lately. Will try that again on Fri. I plan on riding to work tomorrow but the rain right now is dampening my spirit to do so. None the less I have packed my ride gear and look forward to the adventure.

Here's some news that I have completely forgot to tell everyone.
I have left my position as team manger at T3. Not to worry as I will still be coaching 2 days a week but no more of the little things I did. Here's why....
I see myself going in a different direction and am looking forward to changing things up a bit. I still plan on staying in the tri world but on a different level. I would like to get my announcing more refined and focus more on my other tri life....J&A's. The J&A's team have a lot of things lined up this year and I feel as though that is the direction I want to go.
Nothing against T3 or the athletes but I see new and interesting challenges ahead of me. I will still train with T3 and again I will be coaching Mondays and Wednesdays. And of course I will be heading up the team camping trip again this year. Team camping just isn't the same without Logan, The Pop Up and my kiddie pool.

See you all on the road, trails or in the pool......now if only the damn rain would stop.

Big Monday followed by painful Tues.

2010-03-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I called in sick to work. Cough Cough. I just layed around my apt. I cleaned a little but just felt like being totally lazy....and I was. Around 4 I decided to get my lazy ass out and go for a run before I had to coach. I rolled down to BS and started an 8 mile jaunt around the lake. I never really looked at the time and I concentrated more on my heart rate. I can honestly say I have never done that while running. I always just go and try not to fall apart. It was a great run as the weather was awesome and it was just before it got totally crazy crowded. Had a lovely chat with Maggie and Erin @ the rock and then I picked it up the last 2 miles so I could be back at the X for the start of the workout. 8 miles in 1:05ish and I kept my HR in between 155 and 160. The last couple of miles were around 170.
The team workout on Monday was Wilke repeats. Wilke is a really big hill here in Austin and it's great for training. We had a good crew out there running up and down. I struggled through 5 repeats while running up with different people. I actually got my HR up to 192!!!! I think that might be a personal best.
This morning I made my way to the PTC to get a quick spin in with Pain. I get there, hand off coffee to Pain and start my ride. I really like spinning with Pain. She says just enough but not too much and lets us concentrate on pushing through the pain. I like being allowed to focus and try to better my cycling technique.
After work I made it to the Ship track workout. My quads were a bit sore from the past 2 days but I figured I'd do some slow long stuff and I'd be good. No such luck today. Al had us do 12 x 400m repeats. Ouch!!!! According to this Run Fast Run Long thing that he's been working off of for a couple months now I should be running these things in 1:27. WTF is he getting these #'s? Shit this is gonna hurt! After the 4th one I wanted to stop but I just kept pushing through. The wind was in a horrible place. It hit you on the back straightaway and stayed with through the final corner. Basically you had a head wind 65% of the time. Oh well...makes me stronger.
Here are my times:
1:28
1:28
1:28
1:30
1:27
1:27
1:29
1:29
1:28
1:29
1:27
1:29
1:26

I averaged 1:28.5. I just didn't have it in the tank to pull out all 1:27's. Maybe next time. Now I am laying bed and my legs are sore but a good sore. I know I pushed it today and again... that makes me stronger.
Tomorrow is a swim and lunch with Dionn. Good times to be had!!!

Congrats.....

2010-03-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

to my friend Amy Marsh for winning Ironman China on Sunday.
Believe it or not we actually used to run together and I did beat her on a 1/2 mile repeat once. Yes, it was only once but a win is a win.

Again.....Congrats Amy......oh and Brandon didn't do too shabby either. Way to push it through the run Brandon.

Good times Tuesday

2010-03-17T07:54:00.000-07:00

In the morning it was a spin class with Pain. I only could do about 50 minutes as I had to get to work. I wanted to get there earlier but Starbucks opens @ 5:30 and then I have to wait for them to brew the damn coffee. I can't go to Pains class without her coffee....just wouldn't be right.

After work I went and did some speed work with the Ship.
6 x 800 m repeats.
According to the plan of Run longer/ Run Faster a male between 35 - 39 should be doing these in 2:58. That just doesn't work for me yet.
3:14
3:16
3:18
3:12
3:04
2:56
Good workout.

Lost Maples Cafe

2010-03-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to the place we ate @ on Sunday.

http://www.lostmaplescafe.com/

Maps links

2010-03-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

Leakey Death Ride Day 1

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/tx/vanderpool/697126877139495018

Day 2

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/tx/vanderpool/667126877171177546

Part 2

2010-03-15T14:22:00.001-07:00

Part 2:
Sunday came in a little crazy for me as it was day light savings and that always messes me up. Billy swung by @ 8 saying were going to leave @ 9:30 and it was actually 9 at the time and I was all a mess. But being prepared as I am I already had my bike stuff on so I was in good shape.
At 9:30 we took off. Sunday is always a smaller ride as some people have left and others are running instead of riding. So 6 of us took off in search of breakfast @ Lost Maples Café. Pat, Brad, Stephan, Illiana, Billy and myself made our way around the killer hills from the day before and east towards Utopia, TX. Never heard of it? Well the only real thing there is the Lost Maples Café and a gas station. It’s 16.7 or according to Pat 17.1 miles from Lost Maples Campground. Yup…..17 miles to the nearest food. Yes, we are in the middle of nowhere.
The ride out there was the closest thing to flat that you can get out that way. Some small rollers but nothing even close to tough. We held an easy pace on the way out since we all knew we would need our energy to eat. Once @ Lost Maples Café it was chow time. Pats gf Hillary joined us and everyone sat down, ordered coffee and water while I added a cinnamon roll to my first order. Mind you that I already ate a bowl of Grapenuts for breakfast before we left. The waitress brings the coffee and water and then hauls over the cinnamon roll. Yes I said HAUL….. this thing was freaking HUGE. We were all amazed at how large this thing was. I passed it around the table for everyone to try and we all agreed it was the most delicious cinnamon roll we had ever had. It was freaking HUGE and WICKED good!!!! After that I figured I’d be good for a week but the French toast looked good and what the hell…..throw some bacon in with that. Gotta love country cooking and eating!
After I was stuff and everyone else was finished with their meal we loaded up on sunblock and soon we were back on the road. Pat, Billy, Brad and Stephan planned on doing the 60 mile loop with the same hills from the day before. Illiana and I had had our full of those hills and opted for a less elevated 50 mile route. This route was much easier than the day before. Only one long climb and it wasn’t all that bad. Very very low traffic area which was nice. Always tons of chipseal payment around but by this time it didn’t even bother us. Illiana rocks on the hills but gets bored with the flats so I started to pull away a bit on the way back as we had a tailed wind and I am a bit better on the flats. About every 10 minutes I would look back to make sure she was somewhere in sight and all but one time she was. That one time I doubled back hunting for her and realized the wind was a bit more than I had guessed. Thank goodness she wasn’t too far off. We finished with 50 miles under us @ 17.2 mph with a full belly and chip seal. Not a bad day for not pushing it too hard.
Once back @ camp I jumped into the water with Hillary who just finished running. The water so wonderfully cold. Felt great on my legs. This was around 1:52 p.m. The boys stopped by the water as they were finishing. The park ranger swung by and let everyone know that they needed to out of there camping spots @ 2:00. I had a good quiet chuckle since I had booked my spot for a day longer and that meant I had all day to leave as the others had 7 minutes. Being the good sport I am I broke down their pop up as they got to packing and such. Once done with that Brad swung by for a Coke and conversation. His ass was beat down from this weekend but it’s all for the greater good of training.
I was out of the camp around 3:15 with 3 hours of driving ahead of me. About a mile into Austin I was cut off by another driver and that snapped me back into reality as I realized I was back home again.
This weekend was just fantastic. Good friends and great training. I really wish I could get out there again this spring before the heat hits but I’m just not sure I can with my schedule. If you are a rider and you want a challenge then this ride is totally for you. But if you have a weak constitution then stay at home because of 2 reasons. 1- Mentally you will be tested on the hills and chip seal. 2- Because I don’t want to hear anyone complaining about a ride that I love. Keep that crap to yourself.
Leakey Death Ride 2010 is in the books. Already looking forward to next year.

Part 1

2010-03-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

Leakey- Day 1
Wow!!!!!!!
This freaking hurt! It was awesome! Let’s back track a little bit.
Friday-
I arrived around 3:00 and went to getting the pop up squared away. I have a good spot, away from the main group of riders but not too far. I just like to space between us. I am evolving as a pop up guy. Not only do I have Christmas lights up but I also now have a clothes line, lawn chairs and a 5 gal water jug. I’m pretty pimp for the campground.
So the pop up is up and rockin’ so I have some down time because I am waiting for Brad and Billy to get here so we can ride before it gets dark. I expected them @ 4 ish.. 4:30, 5:00, 5:30 waiting waiting waiting. Ummmm….where in the hell are these guys? With the down time I moved the pop up, cut my hand, helped a guy fix his bike and utilized my new lawn chair. So 6:00 rolls around and anyone who knows me knows one thing happens @ 6:00 while camping. HAPPY HOUR!!!!!! The second I open a beer here comes Billy and Brad. Oh well…..it’s happy hour, the sun is setting (looks great) and I am expecting company for the night so I guess missing the ride isn’t a big deal.
So company that I refer to is Suzanne. She’s racing Sat afternoon near here so she came out for the night and I suggested that she stay in the pop up. She was totally into it so good times ahead. Well, she arrives and is starving. No problemo there as I already started dinner. On the menu this evening was Southwestern Chicken, whole wheat pasta with a nice tomato/basil sauce and some spinach. Dinner totally kicked ass as it was delicious and we talked our asses off. A quick visit from Brad and then dish duty. Finally dishes are done and we’re off to the campfire get together. Nothing like good friends, fire and booze. I retire early and Suzanne isn’t too far behind.
Let me say that it was freaking cold last night. I gave Suzanne the space heater and I took the heating pad. I live such the rough life while camping. J
Saturday-
I wake up @ 7:30 to see Suzanne all balled up in her sleeping bag with just a hand sticking out of it. I should have taken a pic. Too funny!!!
After a quick shower and my first breakfast I am ready to get the day started. Too bad no one else was. So I hang around with the boys for a couple of hours as James makes us all waffles. The best freaking waffles of my life. I mean these were unbelievable. They had pecans in them and had some drizzle thing on them. I then covered them in maple syrup. Soooooooo GOOD!!!!
Once finished with breakfast 2 it was off for the ride.
I started the ride with JT, Illiana, Brad and Andreas. The first 4 miles of the ride are very easy. Once at about mi 4 you turn onto Rt 337 and the pain begins. The first hill you come to is the hardest hill of the day. It’s a mile and half long at a decent grade. The only thing you can do is just keep pedaling. You stop and you are done for. Illiana was really worried she wouldn’t make it but she kicked that hills ass. I was very happy to see her get to the top as she was having nightmares about not getting to the top of the hill for a week now.
The first 20 miles are over a “mountain”. The downhill on the back ½ isn’t all that great as it’s all switchbacks so you can never really drop the hammer. This section is very popular with motorcyclists. Great views, lots of twists and turn plus a couple of scenic look outs. There was a guy taking photos around mi 10 on an uphill. I was crushing the hills and just when the guy starts to take my pic JT and Andreas come out of nowhere and pass me. A-holes did it just to mess up my pic. We all had a good laugh about it so no harm no foul. What was cool about the photo guy is that he’s out there on the weekends and he has signs posted for his website. TX???Foto.com. The name escapes me right now. But he’s takes his pics, posts them on the website and then if you like the pic he took of you he’ll sell it to you. I think it’s a great idea. I’ll be checking out his website as soon as I get some internet and that’s only if I can remember the damn name. Ohhhhh….txmotofoto.com.
We get to downtown Leakey and that’s the first stop. We regroup and decide that Illiana, JT, Hugh and I will continue to Camp Wood, TX as the others will take a shorter route. While we are making the decision the heavy hitters come rolling by. James, Pat and Stephan are on a mission to complete the 130 mi route today. Good lord can they ride. We take off shortly after they pass.
It’s 20 miles to Camp Wood and the route has a seriously long climb that’s long but not majorly steep. Once I hit the hill, Hugh drops off and I am all by myself as Illiana and JT are a little ways back. I just cooking along and I look behind me at about mi 25 and here comes someone. I’m not sure who it is. There were a bunch of people out there racing today. Not sure of the name of the race but from talking to their support teams it was a 6000k race. That’s like 370ish miles. Long freaking day there. So this person finally catches me and it’s my boy Brad. He blows by me just to let me know he is a badass. I already know he’s a better rider than I am so it’s all good. Somehow I catch his wheel. Bike lingo for I get close enough to him to draft. I have been staying away from the drafting because you can’t do it in a tri so why the hell do it while training. But Brad kinda asked me to and after about 2 miles he looks back, I’m still there and he yells, “Logan, hang on til Camp Wood!!” CW is about another 15 miles away and I am slightly concerned that I won’t make it but I was hell bent on giving it a go. I did for about 8 miles then I fell off, bike lingo for not keeping up, on a decent. I have not been very good at going downhill lately as it’s been scaring the hell out of me. Maybe it’s because all the downhills out here are straight down and have hairpin turns. Well, Brad is a good sport so he doubles back to get me to regroup. We talk strategy about how I should draft and what gear I should be in. Good info and off again we went. Finally CW is in sight and that was a relief to me. My back was killing me and I needed a break.
We get to the store (turn around point) and to my surprise there is Pat, James and Stephan. I figured they would have been long gone. It made me feel good to see me catching the top guys on the ride. If it weren’t for Brad I would have never seen them. Gotta love the store in CW. Gatorade, snickers bars and gun ammo. My kinda place. We hang there for about 20 minutes as we wait for the rest of the crew to catch up. That’s the thing with this crew. No matter how fast or slow you are. If we’re friends we’re waiting to make sure everyone is all good. Now when it comes to ride time……bring your legs because you are going to need them. During the downtime it gave me the opportunity to stretch my back out and get in a couple of photos with the guys. 2 snickers bars and a Gatorade later I was ready to go. That’s over 700 calories for those counting at home. I usually stay away from the food during stops but that 700 calories saved my ass today.
Once back on the road, Billy, Brad and myself pulled away just a bit. Again, lots of hill work and holding onto someone’s wheel the best I could. We get back to Leakey Square (mi 60) and it’s time to make the call. Take the same route that we came back which is all hills and 20 miles or go around the heavy hills but add about another 15 miles to the ride. Illiana said that she was going the 20 back and so that’s what we were all going to do.
NOTE: At this time I have had a great ride so far. I felt great as long as I got to stretch my back every once and while. My calorie intake was good and I thought I was hydrated. The next 20 miles were the worst/toughest of the ride for me.
So we take off for the final 20 miles. Again, me, Billy and Brad get out front and we’re taking it a bit easy as we all know that there are some serious hills in our way. I hold on for the first good climb but I know I’m running out of gas in my legs. The second hard climb is where things started going south. Billy pulled off the front and Brad and I stayed back. Brad was telling me how hungry he was and that he was going to take it easy on this hill. This helped me a ton as I was totally slowing down. By the time we got to the top of this hill Illiana had caught up and Brad has now rallied. He’s takes off after he tells me he’s going to reel Billy in. So Illiana and I ride together for a while and she just kept on going as I slowed. I was going up the last hill and usually I would be able to hold 10 to 12 mph and a 60 to 70 cadence, I was now struggling to hold onto 5 mph and my cad had gone down to 35. I was in survival mode. I just kept telling myself that this is the last hill. Towards the top I just wanted to die. I was trying to throw up and at the same time trying to get some Gatorade down my throat. Man did this hurt. I had nothing in the tank and I was 7 miles from home. Mentally I was good but physically I was toast.
Now the last downhill is the same hill we had to climb @ mi 5. Looking down I was so freaking tired and now my head was spinning, I just wanted to be at the bottom. But the bottom was a mile and half away and it was a serious decline and there were, of course, some turns involved. If I were fresh I would have been 75% sure I would be ok but where I was in the ride I was about 5% sure I would make it down this hill and see tomorrow. I am freaking crazy dizzy and I can see the freaking bottom (great view) but I just don’t want to go down this hill.
So I start slowly going down the hill. My hands are cramping because their exhausted because of all the breaking. So here I am going down hill and I look at my computer…… I’m going 7 mph. Holy shit….. I am a mess. Again I feel the need to hurl so somehow I stop on the downhill. I am sooooo close and it’s taking all the energy I have just to stand up. I figure I’m a deadman. I have never walked a downhill but this could be the first, but I realize I can’t even walk so that’s no longer an option.
As I said before, we a re all friends and I mean these people are good people. Here comes JT. He sees me on the side of the road. He can’t really miss me cause I am somehow in the fetal position while still over my bike. The guy freaking saves my ass by stopping and checking on me. This is the same guy from IMAZ 2007 who saw me at mi 108 of the bike and told me to puke and get it over with right after he offered me food. Love stuff like this. LOL. He tells me that it’s totally cool to do what I was doing and he would wait with me until I gathered myself. Good guy right here folks. I finally get some bearings and we take off. I am now up to 12 mph on the downhills…. I’m such a speed demon! We get past the last turn on the downhill and I just stop breaking and say “F it”. If I am going to shit the bed so be it. I just was to die anyway so this will just speed up the process. I actually get up to 44 mph. It took absolutely everything I had not buckle on that hill. Thanks JT…. You saved my ass my friend.
We ride the final easy 4 miles together and talked about how it was the longest 4 miles EVER!! Once back to the campground I make my way to the pop up. I am exhausted but I have to keep moving. I make up a quick Endurox and take off everything except for my bib, jersey and slipped on my flippy floppies. There is a small swimming hole here. It’s maybe 3.5 feet deep but it would serve it’s purpose. I bike down to it, grab my Endurox and just walk into it and sit down. I was smoked and I didn’t give a shit what anyone thought or said. The water was freaking cold and it felt great. Did I mention it was 75 degrees today with only a slight wind. Great day for a ride. JT joins me for the soak and I am slowly starting to feel better.
After a 15 minute soak I go back to the pop up, grab my shower gear and take a hot ass shower. Just awesome!
Today’s ride wasn’t the worst I have had but the ending was the worst I have had. Both mentally and physically, I am stronger because of today’s ride.
Names and shit that I am thinking about.
Brad- You made me a better rider today.
Billy- You make me laugh man. You totally rallied today after blowing up on the first hill. Hats off to you my man.
Illiana- You rocked today. You are going to tear it up at IMFRA.
JT- You’re going to be a father soon. Get drunk now while you still can. Thanks for saving me today.
Pat- I didn’t know that there was an actual gangster pose that has directions to it. Great pic bro.
Bunny (James)- You are the waffle king…hands down…. No one can touch you.
Stephan- How you do what you do when you do it amazes me.
Hillary- Thank baby Jesus you didn’t see me fall apart today. You would have totally called me a wuss. Glad you came out this weekend.
Richelle and Barrett- Thanks for the visit after the ride. I am sooo happy you got me to come out this weekend.
SGV- Good luck racing this weekend and thanks for the Fritos!
2 glasses of wine and I am done for. Bed time.

Sunday will be posted shortly.

Time for the Death Ride

2010-03-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

This weekend is the yearly gathering @ Lost Maples in Vanderpool, TX. This camping/ riding weekend brings together some of the better riders in Austin and also brings out some not so good riders as well. It's called the Death Ride because it's pretty freaking tough. The first hill you come to @ about mi 5 is about a mile and a half long and will just kick your ass. It's pretty much up one side of a mountain and down the back side. The back side is no picnic, it's all switch backs so you can't really get going too fast or you're done for. Lexus uses the same route that we will be riding to test drive their newer models. No joke.
I'm pretty stoked to go since the weather is looking good and I have some good friends meeting me there. I'll be riding Friday afternoon, Sat morning and afternoon and then on Sunday morning. I should get in just about 200 miles. This is a good way for me to jump start my training. The pop up is ready for more action and Vernau is crashing with me the first night. Good company and good times ahead.

Today I rode my bike to work. I still dealing with a sinus cold but I just had to ride. Coming home I learned yet another valuable lesson. When going south on 360 and making the turn onto the Mopac access road don't do it at 33 mph. I did and on a bike......well.... it's a REALLY bad idea!!!!!!! Almost ended up in the willy wackies. I had the wind at my back for the ride home so I was hammering most of the way. It's not everyday I get the wind going with me so I took advantage of it.

If I get Internet service while camping I'll post some pics.

Thanks Ma.

2010-03-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

Got this email from my mother this morning.

I thought of you when I read this!!

Here's the deal, I'm the best there is. Plain and simple. I wake up in the morning and I piss excellence.

Love you - your Momma!

I've been sick for 3 days now and this email totally made my day.

This is one badass clothes hanger.

2010-03-04T19:40:00.001-08:00

Saving the world 1 pedal stroke at a time.

2010-03-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

I rode my bike for the first time to work for 2010. The weather was friendly enough to go in the morning without freezing my ass of and there was plenty of day light. That was 17.5 miles there. Heading back it was a little longer but not by much. The wind wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I had a guy behind me that I wasn't about to let pass me. Once back to the PTC I jumped on my trainer bike and did yet another savage trainer workout with Pain. She's been hitting home runs lately with the workouts and today was no exception. I was sweating my ass off and she wasn't letting up. Good lord I love that!
So.... 1 hour ride in the morning and 2.5 hours after work. I'd say that was a good day.

Plain and simple....I suck at core.

2010-03-03T18:58:00.000-08:00

6:00 a.m. and there I am at core with Lapuente. I need more days with her and core but my schedule just doesn't allow it. But I also need more time in the pool and time on the bike. Just never enough time for what I would like to achieve. Oh well....shit happens. But I still suck at core.

Hit the pool at lunch. Had a tough swim. Can't hold the times I used to. I guess I have to get to the pool more than 1 time a week. But I did get some sun on my back today. That was kinda cool.

Riding to work in the morning. should be fun. The ride home is gonna suck. the prediction is saying 15 mph head winds. Only makes me stronger but I am sure I won't be saying that around 5:15 tomorrow.

2 for tuesday

2010-03-02T18:59:00.000-08:00

Yeah the title is lame but I lack in creativity right now.
This morning I was motivated enough to get out of bed and train on my own. It's nice having keys to the PTC so I can get my workouts in when needed. I was on the bike @ 6 and off exactly 1 hour later. I really enjoyed the workout. It was similar to the one Pain had us do last week except I made it a bit longer. After a good stretch and shower I was off to work.
After work I did a speed workout with the Ship. It was great running weather so it was a good night for mile repeats. I nailed down 4 of them.
6:45
6:39
6:20
1600 w/ splits
800x2 3:27/ 3:17
Good overall workout as I was never out of my comfort zone. I could have gone faster but there was no need and I am happy with that.

Huge THANK YOU goes out to my sister Stacey for doing my taxes again this year. I suck @ them and she's wicked smart!

Weekend Update

2010-03-01T19:07:00.000-08:00

Sat- I rode 55 miles with the team. I broke out my tri bike as the route we were doing wasn't very hilly. I did well until around mi 40 when my shoulders were tight and my power was decreasing faster than I wanted it to. I just have to work on getting stronger. After the ride i did a couple of 1 mile repeats. 7:30 and 7:21.
Sunday - I ran 13 with Riggs and did a couple of Wilke repeats for good measure. Riggs didn't have a lot of knowledge when it came to longer distance nutrition so I did a lot of talking about what needs to be done in order to survive.
Sunday afternoon - I had the KHS tuned up @ J&A's and then Zane did a quick fit for me since my bars had moved a bit. He adjusted my seat as well and that seemed to make a big difference. Once that was finished I went for an hour ride. I was planning on doing more but I didn't bring anything to eat with me and the wind just sucked.
Monday- I took the day off and will be back @ it tomorrow.

Good times last night @ Home Slice

2010-03-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

The good and the frustrated

2010-02-25T19:22:00.000-08:00

This morning started early with a 7+ mi run before work. I never really got into a good grove as my hands were freezing and I was wearing gloves. I was colder today than I was when I raced in Bandera. It was 35 degrees this morning and usually I am fine but today just wasn't going to be that way. Here's to hoping for warmer weather.
After work I made my way to the PTC for core with Lapuente and then spin with Pain.
2 Things
1- Lapuente's workout was fun for me today. I am starting to get some strength back so the positions aren't as hard as they have been. Plus I love throwing the med ball around. I was paired with Marquette today and I think I made him push himself. I like doing that.
After core I went next door for a spin with Pain. There was a good sized class today and it was warm enough to actually have the fan on and not freeze your butt off. The workout itself was freaking vicious. Lot's of hill climbing. I didn't mind it since I know I need all the work I can get when it comes to hills. Come to think of it.....looks like hill repeats for me on Sunday afternoon. Great workout and I had a solid stretch afterwards.
2- Now.... I love what I do with T3. I like to help people figure out their bikes and how they operate and I like to think when I find a new problem I can figure it out or at least learn from it. I just wish people would understand that when I get on my bike that it's training time and not "Let's bug the shit out of Logan time." I think of it as "A problem on your part does not constitute a problem on my part". Again..... once I am on the bike I am in training mode for Logan. Yes, I am a coach but if you show up unprepared then that's your problem and don't expect me to drop everything to fix your bike or whatever. I totally don't mind answering questions but when I have to stop riding, even during warm up, it drives me nuts!!!!! Yes.... I play favorites sometimes. Heck, the other day Audra dropped her chain and I jumped off my bike to explain to her that she can pop the chain back on without having to get off the bike. I like Audra as she can kick my ass in core and when she's healthy she's a great runner. Being cute helps as well. :) But I do the same for Pain, Guice, Jess and any of my other friends but they have some knowledge of their bikes and get their bike issues worked out before class and before I am on my bike.

I am in full training mode now and I am loving it. Everyday has a purpose and I want to give it my best everyday. I understand that not everyone is like this but please understand that I am. I am intense and focused when training and f'ing around doesn't fit into my training.
Just let me do my thing and when I am finished with whatever I am doing I would be more than happy to help you out.

Short and sweet

2010-02-24T19:31:00.000-08:00

Core this morning with Natasha. I suck at core. The end.
Hit the pool @ lunch. I was in a lane with Kim Obermeyer. She killed me but I almost liked it because I have not worked that hard in the pool for a while. She got out 1/2 way through and left me to struggle. I did pull out a 500 that I actually got splits for.
1:49
1:55
1:56
1:57
1:56
Total: 9:35....that's a 28:45 Oly swim.... we'll see if I can improve.

Good crew at track tonight.

Winter in the ATX

2010-02-23T19:16:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain on my window. I knew it was cold outside so that along with the rain kept me in bed. When I finally went outside to head to work it was sleeting and raining. By the time I arrived at work it was full fledge snowing. Now it doesn't snow all that often here in Austin and today's snow was the most I have ever seen here. It was a nice change of pace.
I had a massage at 4 with Hitner and that worked out well as I didn't have to deal with crazy traffic and bad roads. She really worked me over. I asked if it was ok if I go to the PTC and do a spin class, she reluctantly said yes. Yeah for me.
Got to the PTC and jumped on my bike for what was suppose to be a 90 miute ride but turned into a 60 minute ride. There were some issues that needed tending to so that took away some of my time. Sometimes I wish I didn't care so much about helping others get there stuff squared away. But I feel bad that they don't have the proper equipment, knowledge or that someone said they would fix something of their's and that someone didn't and of course that someone is never wrong and always has an excuse. I am just amazed.

Rain is on the way.

2010-02-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

Since the weather for tomorrow afternoon is going to be crappy I have had to change my weekly training plan up a bit. I was going to run after work tomorrow but rain and cold weather have derailed that. So instead I booked a massage for 4:00 and did my run this evening with the team. We did 3 man relays in the hills. My legs didn't have much in them but I feel as though I could have done better.
Before the workout I met up with Jess for a 3.5 mi warm up. Love running with Jess as we talk the entire time and I like hearing about her life and her days at school. When we finished I felt like crap. The same thing happened last week doing the same warm up. Last week I ate something right after the workout and that made me feel better but today I did not want to eat anything since I would be doing more intense running in just a little bit. I had some water and that seemed to do the trick. We'll try again next week with a little more water in me at the start.
Yesterday afternoon I did a 2 hour recovery ride with some interval sets in the middle of it to get the heart rate up. Nothing major and about 1/2 way through I felt as though I was cheating myself a bit. I like training by myself but at that time I needed a rabbit to give me something to do and to push me.
I am wanting to go faster but I have to keep that in check as I don't want to injure myself early on.
Going to Leakey in 3 weeks so that will be the big test to see how my bike fitness is.

Solid weekend so far

2010-02-21T09:03:00.000-08:00

My weekend training started Friday morning @ 5:30 a.m.. A bunch of us did our long run on Friday morning so we could trail run Sunday morning. I never felt quite right during the run but I still forced myself to keep going. Ran with Jess most of the way so the conversation was good. We ran through campus and I have never been there. Jess explained all the buildings and it was like a personal tour of UT. Very nice and informative. Finished off with 13.3 miles in 2:06.
Yesterday morning I met Miah @ Applied Materials to get in a quick 20 miles before the team ride. He had to move that day and I needed to check out the course as rain had come in and I wanted to make sure it was safe to ride. I wore my video glasses and caught the first 20 miles on tape. Here's the edited version for that ride:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5UyL9KrjJs
Once back to the start we started out again for the remaining 40+ miles. I took off with the lead group and watched them suck wheel off of each other. I found it amusing that all week I talked about drafting and such and still people find the need to do it. Whatever..... I know when it comes race day I'll be more prepared than someone who drafts all the damn time. It's frustrating to me because the leaders that draft are not setting a good example for the others on the team who aren't drafting.
At about mile 45 into the ride my back started to ache but this has been normal for me for some time now. I am hoping to get stronger on the bike and in core so this pain doesn't come up on race day. We'll see.
This morning we had the team run. We cancelled the trail run because of rain. I did the 7 mile loop and pushed the last 2 miles. Having G-um and Noah running with me helped. I finished off the 7 mile loop in 56:30. That's the 1st time in about 4 months that I finished the 7 mile loop in under and hour. I felt good during the run except for the last 1.25 mi. I was pushing it so it was suppose to hurt. If it didn't then I wasn't doing right.
After the run the Scotsman (Gordon) and I went to Lift for coffee and tacos. Always fun conversation with Gordon. It was even nice enough outside to sit on the patio without freezing our butts off.
Off to take a quick nap and then around 2 I'm off to ride for a couple of hours. I love full training mode. makes my days worthwhile.
Beers tonight with Ms. O'Connor as she has signed up for her first Ironman and wants to chat about that. She's nice, cute and did I mention she's buying!!!!! Never turning down a free beer. :)

Keepin' it low.

2010-02-18T18:45:00.000-08:00

All I did today was core. Now I'm not saying that core was easy. I remember this time last year I could kick out 50 push ups with taking a break, Now I can barely do 10 without seeing stars. I am hoping to correct this. Lapuente not only kicked my ass this afternoon but she looked as only Lapuente could look. Good looks can kill.:)

So this weekend's team ride is kinda of a comeback for me. We are doing the Rosedale Ride. This is the same route where I went down last year. I haven't ridden it since and I am eager to get back out there. I'm a smarter rider than I was last year and this is a proving ground for me. I look forward to the challenge.

On a T3 note. Thank the lord that Mo put his foot down about some shit going down at T3. Now my putting the foot down and Mo's are very different but he did put an end to some shit before it snowballed out of control. It's nothing major, just people not respecting other property. Trainers and other crap. My personal opinion is if you can afford this sport you can afford a freaking trainer. I tend not to rely on others and I feel I'm pretty self sufficient. Others..... well let's just say it amazes me.

2 of my cousins got back to me about my race in Ohio. I now have a place to stay on sunday night and Monday night. Thanks Sheila and Teresa.... I am looking forward to the post race dinner.

2010-02-17T18:31:00.000-08:00

Today was a productive day. I actually got out of bed for spin this morning. I am sure Pain appreciated the coffee. I usually get off the bike @ 7 so it leaves me time to stretch, shower and answer questions before I have to leave for the office. Today I decided to stay on for the full workout because I was really enjoying it. We had 23 people in the PTC this morning and that created some energy. Having Pain there always gives me a boost, not that I needed it today. Just a great spin class.
At lunch today I jetted over to Lost Creek for a swim. I swam next to 2004 Olympian Brenden Hansen. The guy has a bronze, silver and gold medal for swimming. Needless to say I was impressed with how he was kicking everyones ass. I was in the same lane as Dionn today and I just love swimming with Dionn. I never know what's going to come out of her mouth next. We did a 20x 50 m pull set. Lots of breath control and we had fun with that. The last 1500 meters were 3x 500. I was spent and barley survived. I need more time in the water..... work in progress.
After work I coached the T3 track workout. Plenty of people and it wasn't too cold.

So.....people have been asking me what races I am doing this year a lot lately. I decided last year that I just didn't want to do an Ironman in 2010. I decided on a race called the Triple T. It's in May in southern Ohio. I have family that lives about 75 minutes from there so I thought making a race/ family trip would be a good idea.
The Triple T was just voted as one of the best weekend tri events in the world by Tri Mag. The event consists of the following:
Friday @ 3:00 p.m. : Super Sprint Tri
Saturday @ 8:00 a.m.: Olympic Tri
Saturday @ 3:00 p.m.: Reverse Olympic Tri (Run/Swim/Bike)
Sunday @ 8:00 a.m.: 1/2 Ironman
I signed up to do all the races. I know it sounds crazy but they have about another 200 people doing it so I won't be the only one suffering.
You can check it out @ http://www.americantriple-t.com/

I also plan on racing Ironstar in Conroe, TX in November. I have done this race before and I liked it. Plus it's a cheap stay as Jack's uncles live less than 2 minutes from the race site.

Mornings :(

2010-02-16T19:53:00.000-08:00

Yet again I stayed in bed this morning. I think I need some therapy to get my ass out of bed. Tomorrow will/ have to be different as I am spinning with Pain in the morning and I already told her I would be there.
After work today I ran with the Ship. I ran with one of the top women's masters runners in town, Cindy Salazar. I really like running with Cindy as she can talk but when it's time to work she does it. We kicked out 5 x 1000m repeats.
4:25/ 4:12/ 4:23/ 4:13/ 4:16
I was happy to be out there today. My back is killing me since my quad is all messed up. I foam rolled for 5 minutes before bed this evening and I hope to continue with that for a while. I am back @ Performance Wellness on Friday to have more work done on it.

Check out this great video of Chrissie Wellington @ a Q&A session.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeDmwjEzGi4
I really really like Wellington. Not only is she totally badass but we couldn't have a better ambassador for the sport.

2010-02-15T19:02:00.000-08:00

So I didn't drag my sorry ass out of bed this morning to make it to swim. My loss.
I did get to the PW today as my hip as been really bothering me. Sellers got right to me and started working his voodoo magic. My quad is so tight that my hip has rotated into my pelvis a bit. It's making my right leg about a 1/2 inch shorter than my left. He worked my hip flexor and adjusted my back and neck. I felt great leaving but I know it's gonna take a couple of week to work out. I'm not too worried because I still plan on training through it and I have all the faith in the world with Sellers and Performance Wellness. They do fantastic work.
After work I coached a hill workout but before I did I went for a 3.5 mile run with a newer T3'er, Seth. Nice guy and it was a nice an easy pace to burn some calories. Towards the end of the run I totally felt like crap. Not enough calories in me, too cold or just plain old candyassness. Oh well....live and learn or learn over and over again.
Jess got an internship with Whole Foods. It's an actual paying job. Freaking awesome for her!!!!! Now I wonder where she will find free time? Full time school, part time job, she also has another internship going on, her husband, a house, cats and me. Yeah Jess..... I'm a big deal. Don't cut me out of the fun!!!! :)
Spoke with my sister today. She was in a good mood. On the couch in sweatpants watching tv. She told me about her 80 something year old friend from the Y that does water aerobics with her. Her name is Ida. Nothing like 80 year olds as friends. They can put live in a solid perspective for all of us.

Baby Jesus..... thanks for getting me out there this weekend.

2010-02-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

After many weeks I have finally felt the need to get out and do some training.
I am starting to see and feel the turn around. I am actually reading my current Tri mag and absorbing what it has to say. I feel a different sort of dedication this time around. More anger in my heart than usual. I'm not a mean person but I feel as though I have slacked off enough to actually get upset with myself. I rode today by myself and it felt great. No one to worry about and I challenged myself just enough to get a sweat going and not to much to get tired.
Saturday I rode with team T3 for 55 miles. I rode the old KHS and loved it. People who just ride tri bikes have no idea what they are missing. I love it when I keeping up with people with $5000 machines when my little KHS is worth about $300 on a good day. It just proves that it's not the bike but the heart and sole of the rider that make it fast. So many people down here think they can buy speed but it's the person that provides the speed.
This morning I ran with Guice for the 10 mile loop around the lake. It was my longest run since Bandera and we went at a perfect pace. I never felt wiped and she let me talk all I wanted. After the run I had breakfast with Amanda and Gordon. Gordon introduced me to vegan breakfast tacos and they kicked ass. We will be having our post run breakfast @ LIFT from now on.
Once breakfast was finished I made it home for a 90 minute nap. Couldn't sleep all that well because of things on my mind but I was off my legs and that was nice. Once I was awake and moving I prepped the KHS, loaded up the X again and made my way to Kiker. I called my mom on the way there to check in with her. She has a cold and I feel bad that she's sick. She's tough as nails but there is no need for her to be sick when she could be enjoying the Maine winter. Wait a sec.... maybe she's better off being sick. Ha!!!!! When I started my recovery ride it was 75 degrees. Absolutely gorgeous! I rode for 26 miles in the wind as a front was moving in. I finished and it was 54 degrees. What's up with that???? I enjoyed the ride as I was by myself. I do enjoy riding with the team but it's the alone time I enjoy more to reflect and think of how I can better perform. I cherish the time I get to spend alone on the bike.....it doesn't come that often.
After the ride I hit the HEB and did my shopping for the week. I sped home and took a quick shower as I was off to Red's Porch to meet up with Haggs for beers and a bite to eat. We had a great time and we were joined by Jenn around 7. It's always a pleasure to spend time with people that enjoy my company and that I respect. Both ladies are just good people.
I am hoping to get up and swim in the morning with Pain. If I do this then I will feel that I am 100% back into the swing of things. Hopefully the beers won't hurt too bad.

By the end of the day.... I think I'm up a bit.

2010-02-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

My day today start with a morning swim with Pain. I had a good time. We did a bunch of 100's and this is how I gauge where my swimming is now to where it once was. Today I almost died trying to hold a 1:38. A year ago I could pull down a 1:22. To me that's a big difference. Hopefully with some work and time in the pool I'll be good to go.
Work was hell again today. Ironically, this month is my 6th year at DMI and also the first time I have ever had to take work home with me. Guess who will be working during the Superbowl?
Not all was bad at work today. I received and email late in the day that kinda caught me off guard.
ANNOUNCING AGREEMENT

THIS AGREEMENT is made and entered into by and between WORLD TRIATHLON CORPORATION (hereinafter “WTC” and Logan Delaware (hereinafter ANNOUNCER”) and shall govern the terms and conditions under which the consultant will provide consulting services to WTC.

That's right bitches.....I am now a paid employee of WTC. WTC are the folks that put on the Ironman 70.3 racing series all over the world. I have been hired by them to announce 2 races this year. Lone Star and Long Horn. I thought this was pretty pimp and the contract even gets me my own room at the races, along with food and gas money!!! I guess I'm doing something right.
Tomorrow is my first day back riding with the team in a very long time. I'm gonna hurt.

rain rain

2010-02-03T19:10:00.000-08:00

It was raining kinda heavy this morning but I still managed to drag my ass to the pool. I shared the lane with Jess and she mopped me up. Pain was there and was totally soaked. At the end of the swim we had 8 25's left. She had us doing back stroke, butterfly and breast stroke. Needless to say I sucked ay most of it. It was fun and a nice change of pace.
After work I ran the 4 mile loop from O'Henry before the workout. It was still raining but the run was nice.