Speed Kills.

my training blog my training calendar my training reports Planned training log

Saint Charles,IL

inspire me (16)

Thursday - July 10

Run

1h 02m 13s
5.55 miles
11m 13s /Mi

The most bizarre weather situation I've ever had the pleasure to run though.

I decided I'd give it a try outside since the thunderstorms looked like they were passing...

To my left, a pinkish, yellowish sky with the bright sun setting beneath a line of storm clouds.

Overhead, storm clouds and intermittent horizontal lightening. Very mild drizzle, and very breezy.

To my right, a huge double rainbow.

I got a little spooked from time to time when the lightening overhead would flash, but the drizzle and the breeze kept this nice and cool. The only issue was a pretty strong headwind on the return trip.

I haven't seen my splits yet. Used the electrical tape again.

Saw a family of deer standing in a cornfield. It was striking because they were backlit by the setting sun, which was just underneath the storm clouds. Very picturesque indeed.

Workout wise today I have: 20 minutes of corework and an hour run. Yippee.

In the photo flipper:

That's my foot (circa 1986) and my little puppy Penny. I brought her home on my bike for my 16th birthday. Some guy a couple of blocks over had this basset hound in his front yard. The dog got pregnant and he was stuck with 7 puppies. He just handed me one. And I took it. Rode home with one hand on the handlebars and one hand holding this squirming puppy. Told my parents it was for my birthday.

Unfortunately, Penny met an untimely demise as she was hit by a Commonwealth Edison truck on Christmas Eve, 1986. My whole family witnessed the event and it was awful. Wrecked Christmas. Commonwealth Edison sent a representative to our house THAT SAME DAY, and they promised to get us a new dog when we were ready. We did replace Penny, but it wasn't the same.

*sigh*

Make sure you give your pets an extra hug today.

Yikes! I'm quite the downer. Have a great day, in spite of me.

4:17 PM: OMG. Busy. Busy. So very busy at work today. Gasp! Halp!

7:07 PM: I walked in the door just in time to avoid being swept up in a wicked thunderstorm. WOW. It is raining like a MO FO out there right now. And lightening. And thunder. We've had some serious weather this year. Am going to hold off on my run til I see how long this takes to pass... checking the radar now...

Hmmmmmpf. Well that doesn't look good. I live right under the red blob in CRYSTAL LAKE. Bah.

Health data: Hours slept: 7.5

inspire me (11)

Wednesday - July 9

Bike

1h 42m 37s
29.16 miles
17.05 Mi/hr

Beautiful morning for a bike ride. I had a hard time dragging my butt out of bed, but I was glad I did once I got out there. Not much wind, nice and sunny...

On the road by 5:45 AM on the bike. Yay! Absolutely beautiful morning. It's times like this morning that I'm grateful I've taken up this sport and I'm grateful I have the general ability to ride my bike. Gorgeous morning.

Today I bring you:

St. Patrick's Day 1996. Yes, I am holding 3 beers and a that's probably a hot dog wrapper in my hand. I'm also sporting a lively green shamrock sticker on my left cheek. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

7:31 PM: WOW. People. You have donated $361.57 to cover baggyman's rent from CdA. This means I am reimbursed the $250.00 that he owes me, (((AND))) I can make a $111.57 donation to ALS in BT's name. I can't do anything with the funds until my bank gets itself linked to PayPal, ( I just set it up last night ) but as soon as I can, I'll make the withdrawals and this will be OVER. I'll post the update here in my log so you can see it. Thank you. Thank you. What an awesome and generous community we have here.

Health data: Hours slept: 7

inspire me (6)

Tuesday - July 8

Swim

38m 05s
2300.00 yards
01m 40s /100 yards

Continuous swim. Tried to pretend I was in the lake. Very unrealistic, as I was indoors, in a pool. No sun, no sea weed, no fish and no eColi.

So the distance is an estimate, based on my prior swims and effort level.

Run

28m
2.39 miles
11m 43s /Mi

WOW. It's hot and THICK outside.

10:47 AM: We have resolved the baggyman issue. Things are tough all over and baggyman apparently hit a rough spot and found himself unable to pay for his portion of the house @ CdA. I only wish he would have just told me that via PM.

Meanwhile, the BT community has joined forces to pitch in little by little to pay me back! If I collect any extra money I'll donate it to dumpster's ALS fundraising efforts under the name of "BEGINNER TRIATHLETE". There is a Paypal account set up. PM me if you'd like to chip in.

Huge Huge Huge thanks to everyone.

Health data: Hours slept: 7.75

inspire me (16)

Monday - July 7

Sport

Chiropractic
20m

I did not require an adjustment today to even out my arms and legs. Hoooray! Progress.

Knees actually feel pretty good after a somewhat long weekend of riding and running.

Ice baths = AWESOME. Seriously.

Recovery Day!

Holy Crap. I need it.

Wow. Am toasted. And I'd like to not go to work this morning. Instead, I'd like to lounge around in bed all day. Somehow, I doubt I'll still get paid if I do that. Dang.

Searched the archives for a suitable photo for today... and this is what I bring you:

College. Ummmmm, I'm thwacking my room-mate on the butt with an (empty?) pizza box. As you will certainly notice, I've managed NOT to compromise my drink. THAT takes talent. And balance. And such. It probably also takes core strength. Yes. That's right. Core strength.

In unrelated news: It's the 7th. It's *our* 7th. It's our 21st 7th-iversary. Love you, schweets.

Baggyman owes me $252.59. He finked out on the CdA house. Read my posts in "Iron Distance" and "Arizona" and "Tri-Talk". (All the same)

Health data: Hours slept: 8.5

inspire me (12)

Sunday - July 6

Bike

5h 17m 01s
78.94 miles
14.94 Mi/hr

1.95 loops of IMWI.

I have a Garmin file for this... ~~I'll upload it later.~~ DONE! Am still at Chris' house... just got back and showered. Man, it was a real character builder out there.

Windy. Hot. Windy. Windy. Hot. Hilly. Windy. Hot. And Hilly.

Windy + hot + flat = OK.
Windy + cool + hilly = Meh
Cool + flat + windy = OK
Cool + hilly + no wind = OK
Blah, blah, blah... you get it...

HOT + WINDY + HILLY is just nasty.

First loop with Chris. It was moderately windy when we set out. It just got worse for the second loop. Windier. And warmer.

It was quite the epic slog, lasting some 5+ hours. Chris pulled the car around and met me in an area right by some road construction. I was already a 17 minute over achiever and I was looking to ditch the bike.

Nutrition all wonky today.

Made 3 2 hour bottles of Perpetuem. Drank the first one and more than half of the second one. By the time I was supposed to start slurping down the third one, I started to gag. All I wanted was some COLD Gatorade and something to actually EAT.

Stopped at the gas station and got myself a cold Gatorade, a banana, and a RedBull.

Chugged the Gatorade in record time, jammed the banana down the gullet, and took off, with the RedBull in the jersey pocket. Drank that about 30 minutes later.

Perpeteum is just sorta nasty when warm. *Sigh* I can use it for a HIM, definitely... don't think I can stomach it for an IM. Just sayin'.

inspire me (5)

Saturday - July 5

Run

55m 15s
4.76 miles
11m 37s /Mi

Better, I think. Thanks to dumpster for the electrical tape.

I still haven't seen the splits. Will look at them now...

The miles were 10:08 and 10:24... not great, but much better than last time's 11:26. I feel better about this run. The key is to not let Garmin get into my head. Ignore Garmin. Go by feel. Check results after the fact.

Duly noted.

Strength

Corework

Did a little more today, because I finked out on it on Thursday.

4 x 20 hip lifts off edge of stairs
4 x 30 fitness ball situps
3 x 30 leg up situps. (w/6 lb weights)
4 x :30 Superman
2 x :30 RA/LL
2 x :30 LA/RL
4 x :30 Both legs
2 x 20 "Around the World" on balance plate

Just sitting here watching the TOUR with my dumpster. Saw Circ du Soliel last night for Mother's Day with my Mom and sister and BIL Jim. Wow. That was quite the spectacle. I gotta wonder how those people honed those skills... or even found out they had those skills... exceptional flexibility, trapeze, tight rope, rotating cage walking...? Who knew? Maybe I've got hidden talents I've yet to discover. Stay tuned.

10:12 AM: Today I have another run. I see from my training plan that our approach to running is going to be changing... and I think that's for the better. I get mentally whacked when I see I have to meet a time goal. I fret about it for days, wonder if I can do it, and ultimately throw my water bottle onto the asphalt and curse Oprah when I don't make it happen...This, of course, begs the question: Why doesn't it happen? I don't know for sure, but there's probably some sports psychologist out there that does. Likely something to do with a self-fulfilling prophecy, or self sabotage. Whilst running. As if running wasn't hard enough on the body all by itself, I go and make it hard on the mind, too... so it appears that next week we are going to try intervals where I run "fast". And then run slow. And then run faster, and then run slower. I don't suspect my times will suffer, as that's all I'm doing anyway... faster/slower/faster/slower... I am not yet experienced enough to dial it into a specific pace. I'm actually quite happy I've found my second speed. Last year I was just slow. This year at least I have the option of being faster. So, thereyougo.

Some photos from yesterday:

We spent 2+ hours loitering in a local bar because my sister got the time wrong... said the show started at 2 when it actually started at 4. Wanted us there no later than 1:30... We ate nachos and had a couple of beers while we waited.

Here we are outside the big tents.

inspire me (5)

Friday - July 4

Swim

1h 05m 21s
3200.00 yards
02m 02s /100 yards

Master's schwimmin in the outdoor pool!

200 warm up
200 side kick
100 drill
5 x 100 pull w/paddles
8 x 25 fast/easy (alternate)
Broken Mile:
275 easy (75%)
250 med (80%)
225 fast (95%)
200 easy
175 med
150 fast
125 easy
100 med
75 fast
50 fast
25 fast

2 x 100 sprint kick/cruise/sprint
200 cool down
-------------
3200