This has been the lightest week of the year so far.  I definitely needed the rest.  

These are my coaches notes for tomorrow's training:  "REST.  Spend some time with the family, you're going to be seeing less of them.  Sorry".  Can't wait to see whats in store.  

I finally have some training to report again! 

Swim - 6500 yards in 3 hours even

Bike - 20 miles in 58 minutes.

My first Tri of the year is two weeks from tomorrow - Carmel (IN) Sprint Tri.  Pool swim at least - this was my first Tri (okay, I've only done two Sprints so far) last year- temperature when I was getting there was a solid 29 degrees F!! 

Also see the foot doc this Monday for my PF- my PT hs been great- I've actually had hours with ZERO pain which has been wonderful.  Still not cleared to run, but I don't care if I have to walk the whole thing in two weeks- I'm doin' it!!!

Big Steve - Love the hill repeat workout.  I've been doing it since I got my first road bike a month ago. 

I could use some advice on apparel. 

What are the uses Tri Shorts? Do you wear them under everything (swim suit, bike shorts, running shorts) as a core and thigh warmer?

Does a Tri Suit replace a wet suite? Can you use it during other parts of a race?  Would it replace Tri Shorts?

Should I buy both Tri Shorts and a Tri Suit?

Any views on Jammers vs. other swim suits?

Any and all comments welcome.  

Here's last weeks workout...it was a recovery week and a very lite week for me.  I think I need a week to recover from my vacation!!!!!  Anyway, this week I'm back on track! 

swimming         2450        1:36:00

Biking (spin)      11.95       0:33:00

Running (Basketball)         2:00:00

Strength                            1:00:00

This will be easy for me find a route with hills to do!  In Colorado Springs, I don't think there's a flat route around!!!!

Come on folks, races are around the corner!!  Time to crank up the volume!

Sorry I am such a slacker but here are my numbers for last week. Good job on the hill repeat you guys, those are tough!

Swim:   5249.34 Yd 2h 10m 

Bike:  34.29 Mi 2h 11m 33s 

Run:   10.87 Mi 1h 56m 50s

Total: 6:18:23

Roberto, i hear you're doing Ironman this year.  Not sure how I missed that in your posts. WOW, thats awesome!   Which one and when?

Nothing beats a structured plan, kind of scary to just wing it before a challenge race like a full Ironman.  Arizona, that's awesome!  I watched last year's on IronmanLive, looks like a great course.

Considering two days of travel still got in a pretty good week. 

I competed in my first ever Tri event on Saturday; an indoor timed event.

I did 425 meters swim in 10 minutes, 15 mile bike in 30 minutes and 2.33 mile run in 20 minutes.  T1 was 10 minutes and T2 was 5 min.  Overall I placed 30^th in a field of 75 and 21^st in a field of 43 for my age bracket (40 and over).  So I’m a middle of the pack guy… I can live with that for now.

Based on my training I had a really good idea what my time for each stage would be.  I hit the mark on the bike and the run, but I was a little disappointed with the swim.  I should have done 450, but I started a little too fast and need to slow down towards the end.    

Now to be perfectly honest with you (and perhaps more importantly with myself), I’m going to have to take things to a whole new level if I want to dramatically improved on these times; because as of now if I were to increase these distances, my times (lap/minute, mile/hr, etc..) would stay in proportion or likely drop some. 

But that’s what is so great about this sport, there’s always another event that’s a little harder and a little longer. 

My next race is May 13^th.  Again it’s indoor at my gym, the Princeton Fitness & Wellness Center. After that is June 26^th for the Patanella Doc & Sok in Watchung. 

What can I say – I’m hooked. 

Congratulations! Great job! As Steven said, it will be even more exciting once you race outside.

thanks very much. 

BTW - is it just me or does a strength training day feel like a day off to anyone else. 

Its not just you, it totally does feel that way.  Unless you do a full P90X DVD for strength training.  That maniac (i say that admirably) Tony Horton makes it feel like a real workout that doesn't need to be complemented with biking, swimming or running.

After six days of high intensity cardio I feel like I would do anything for a day of strength training...

This group is becoming kind of quiet.  Hows everyone's training going?  Excited about the races coming up??

I Got some decent time in this week and am looking forward to the Unite Half Marathon tomorrow @ Rutgers.

Swim  5500.00 Yd - 1h 51m 58s

Bike 105.84 Mi - 6h 13m

Run  11.00 Mi - 1h 30m 30s

I guess this means no trip to Hawaii for the support crew either... I'll go unpack.

I am super excited to finally have some hours to post here

Well, my first race is in the history books.  My full race report is on my blog at www.northernivy.com.  I have not edited it yet but it is posted as draft.  Net...Net.  Horrid swim, hammered the bike.  Ran my fastest 5k ever (but this is still slow).  I took home a 3rd in the clydes category and I was 73 out of 195 total.  The winds today were brutal and I was able to come off the bike 21st (ya now you know how bad a 9:34 mile pace is) with a 21.4 mph average.

Headed to bed early as today wake up was at 4:30.  Thanks for all the support.  Other than the really bad swim I am happy with this as a first effort.

Congratulations! Today was a very tough day for the first race. You did great!

Reading about you heading from the steamy pool into the cold morning air and crazy wind makes me want crawl into a corner, roll into fetal position and weep. What a story! You have a lot to be proud of. So much achieved in 18 months. Once again - congrats!

Great job on your first tri, congratulations!    That was a great race report, very inspirational.    Have them send you your award, you earned it.  When is the next one?