this makes me want to move!

Damn, and see what I get for waiting for it to "cool down" and not getting my run on.

guess it's double up tomorrow, Sweet a Brick!

rockon`

What a Training weekend! I'm tired..

Since Thursday I was scheduled for a swim and for some reason I had that gut instinct no to go, really! It wasn't that I didn't want to go but for some reason I just wasn't feeling it and felt tired to I thought to bag it and rest up for the weekend training ahead.

Friday, was scheduled off day so 2 days in a row, really, I didn't plan that, it's just how it rolls. Went to dinner with the family and just chilled. Was in bed by 10pm as it was up early for Saturday run.

Saturday run was scheduled 90 mins and Coach Liz was up for the easy run with me. Being as I am a much slower runner than her she, she ran with me. I forgot my HR chest strap so I just had to use PRE which I guess is good sometimes. We did a big circle loop and there were many other runners/groups out so it broke up the monotony of just running. I did become a little fatigued towards the end of the run and was fighting my body to stay in good posture and be efficient as possible. Total Run Time: 1 hour 36 mins and 9.11 miles.

After the run it was a quick shower and grab some breakfast, Best part of the run and then it was off to the TNT info meetings as there was a two of them. All went well and lots of people signed up which is always good. After the meetings it was off to REI to get some new products and a bike tube.

After spending about 1 1/2 hours at REI and deciding on which new gels/stuff I want to try I elected for the Cliff Products. Now I know there have been other bloggers that have been able to test some products but JohnnyTri has not been offered no such deals so I had to take it upon myself to search and test.

A bought the GUO2 drink mix instead of some more Accelerade, one it was cheaper and two something different.

Cliff Products: 1 - Lemon Lime Cliff Blocks 1 - Strawberry Cliff Blocks 1 - Rasberry Cliff Blocks 1 - Cliff 20 Bar. I was hungry as it was after lunch and ate the Cliff Bar on the way home and have to say it gets a thumbs up as I liked the textured and taste of the bar.

Then being as Mrs. JohnnyTri was working some OT and daughter went out of town with her friend I stopped by Blockbuster to pick up the The Bourne Identity and Supermacy as I needed to recap before the Bourne Ultimatium is coming out next week! Got home cooked up some dinner and watch the movies which kept me awake till 11pm again and it was going to be another early morning Sunday for a bike ride.

Oh, while I was at Blockbuster I had to buy:

And today after the ride I watched The Departed and it was good!

Sunday ride was out where the hills are and judging by the Garmin chart you can see da rolling hills which felt like Mountains to me at times but I made it though as well as the others that came out to ride, we even had a SAG vehicle, Ryan, and he was able to get some good pics. Actually, Coach Liz was riding but starting having some back pain and stopped about 20 miles in and helped SAG duty and picture taking, will post those when I get them.

Now it's been recovery and it's time for a little birthday for my sister in-law Alice. Happy Birthday!

Time to eat, see ya all later...

Rockon`

Question Answer.:..Training update ..swim question?

Imagine that, rain here in H-twn. not only for today but looks like for the next 3 day! What can ya do? So for training the last couple of days I have been on track!

Tuesday was a 20 min basically Tempo run after a 15 min warm up but like I needed to do that being as it was 93 degrees out and who knows what the heat index was! I got it done and stayed in that darn Zone 4 for 16 of my 20 mins, yikes!

Wednesday it was my 2nd pool time in which I was supposed to get up early before work, which means like 4:30am and get it done but that didn't happen so right after work I had double duty.

Oh, yeah, I started the swim focus plan in the lasts Triathlete mag. and was on the second workout which calls for:

10-15 min warm ups.

10 x 25 Sprints.

Drills 15 minsish.

10 x 100's.

So here's how it went. I did the warm ups, then the sprints and skipped the drills and went to the 100's. On my 5th 100 my neck started hurting (ongoing problem that I have, seems to be from Single Sided (right) breathing and OVERUSE) Hey wait, isn't that what I specialize in fixing?) So after Monday's swim it was bothering me and got it fixed and felt good Tuesday and then during the workout it started coming back and I got Pissed off! SO I stopped with the 100's and went back to Drills for Bilateral Breathing. Now I must say I felt like a first timer swimming, wait, pretty much am when it comes to bilateral breathing and I was swimming the beginning strokes for my left side and comparing them to my right and I kept doing this over and over in half length of the pool. After about 10 mins I swam the full length breathing every 3rd stroke opposite and did this about 10x. Then I swam 2 x 100's breathing bilateral and actually timed myself and set the bench mark. Now I have a time and know I can do it, I just need some more practice and it will come around!

Then after swimming I thought I might as well hits some weight for about 30 mins while I'm here, so I did.

Then I got home, pulled out the bike trainer under the car port and cranked out 60 mins of brutal painful sitting and spinning going now where workout! I was dying about 35 mins and realized I had to get it done, thing is, it was only a zone 2 ride so it was pretty easy, it was just really sitting there that drove me bonkers...arrrraggghhh!

Today is the next swim workout so I will focus on breathing and getting the job done. BTW, what does "Swim 1000 in 3 lengths" mean?

And on a cool note yesterday I got called to go down and work on the WNBA Comets again as it turns out a few of them were in need, I love it! They are all so nice down there.

Tour de France stuff.. gezzzz.. so many thing to say here but it is what it is. Discovery Team in the Top 3, yeah!

I emailed Triathlete mag on the question and here is the answer I received from the author of the article:

The swim in a straight 1000 yards (or meters) with no stopping; however, you swim it as 3 lengths moderate pace followed by 1 length fast x 10.

rockon`

This is so funny!!!

I got this from Neese blog.. so thanks to her for making me laugh!

rockon`

weekend brick...

After getting out on the road this weekend for a 40 mile ride somewhere at the "turn" around I was looking at my Garmin and not really sure what I looked at but did the turn around and when it was all said and done I cut it short by 8 miles! Damn! It was a good ride and hitting the other 8 would have not been a problem but I guess next time is the only thing to say here.

I met Coach Liz there and we hooked up with a group of people who I think were from Houston Racing Club and we all rode out together. After about 4 miles the group started to string out and I found myself at the back of the back and going slower than I wanted to ride so I kicked it up and passed and then I was in the middle of the group now stretching out. I kept up the pace and passed a few on the small rollers and then seemed to be all alone as the faster riders including Liz were now way ahead of me. Just kept my head down and holding steady around 18-19mph.

After a turn I see Liz pulled over waiting for me as the others had turned around and asked how far I wanted to go.. Let's do 20 and turn back.. we pressed on and chatted and as I said above.. I saw something that said 20 (maybe it was speed) and turned around.. The Turn around was great as now we quickly realized there was a tail wind and our speed now was around 21 and felt great. We started catching some of the other rides who had turned around and at one time I thought I recoginzed one as I passed but didn't say anything as I was too sure (it was Jane who I would later see)

Towards the end I was working on the hills a little faster than normal and I found my HR way above where it should have been but it was good to kick it up and I think I made Liz work a little as she makes those hills look like a downhill coast on her new Kuota Kalibur. Once we pulled back to into transistion it was a quick change and head out for the run/brick.

We started out on this one mile loop and this is where I saw Jane coming towards us. I yelled out to her and we quickly said hello and she kept going.. Good job Jane on the brick! Liz and I finished out the 1 mile loop and then I suggested we head down the road we just biked on as there was a long roller and it would be good to run and would give us about 3-4 miles and this is where Liz decided I was running too slow and dropped me like a bad habit. She actually ran 4 and I turned around when she did and ended with 3.5 miles. Oh, I ended up running my first mile in 9:39 PR for that but quickly had to slow down but ended with a nice run and a good brick workout and avg. 10:21.

Got home and rested up and watched the Tour de France recap on TV.. along with some Lake Placid webcam stuff..

have a great Monday!

rockon`

weekend at large..

Last night was a super Victory party with the triathlon Ironhead TNT peeps and boy was it well deserved! Everyone was able to hang out, enjoy some brews, wine, margaritas, mojitos and food! It's nice to get together outside of training and hang out with everyone and really get to know people.

So after getting home about 1am and getting to bed it was clear that I was not going to be getting up for the 7am run so it will have to wait till after the TNT information meeting at 10:30am. It's great to have those meetings as all new people come to see what Team In Training is all about and see if they would like to participate in raising money and training for a marathon or half marathon and most of them it will be there first one! Talking with the new people is exciting because you can see they are excited to train and complete there first endurance event and as a Coach I get to help them and that makes it worth while.

After the meeting it was off to the park and hit a 4 mile tempo run, even though it was about 88* and 86% humidity! Yuk! but either way I got it done.

The rest of the day will be relaxing and doing a few things around the house and trying to catch a movie. Then tomorrow is a planned 40 mile bike, my longest in about 2 months, followed by a 30 min run. It looks as the weather will hold out till the afternoon so we will have to get the ride in early!

Hey if you never heard Get Your Geek On #40 issue it's a pod cast with IronWil and Iron Kahuna, pretty good little tips they give you with coach Mike Ricci and some others. Check it out.

Good Luck to all the Lake Placid IM'ers tomorrow!! You can Do IT!!

rockon`

Dino tweak..next race.. wetsuits.

I have had Dino now for about a 7 weeks and I know it takes some time getting used to, some things just haven't felt right.

When I first got it the seat took a little playing with forwards and backwards to find the right spot. Then it has been the aero position which is something totally new but my neck extensor muscles continued to be achy/sore after every 70+ ride... humm.. so even after Ironhead I was sore and just a little bit today.

So yesterday I was at Tri On The Run and talking with Johnny Z. and he said that the position might be a little off and to bring it in. So today I took lil` dino on over to TOTR and we got a few tweaks. The picture is the worksheet Scott used and where I am currently now set up. Scott is super cool and knows what he's doing!

First off, my seat was too low, so up they raised it. Next came moving the seat a little more forward, nice. And then Scott changed out the spacers under my aero bars which were originally 12mm and put 25mm lifting them up just a little but this gave me more comfort in the shoulders immediately.

Scott and Johnny were talking about the Fuji bike (Johnny owns exact same one) and that Fuji in there wonderful design of a tri-bike for some reason missed the boat on the seat angle and are about 74*. Fuji is now making a correction seat post for the Aloha 1.0 bike but is not scheduled to be out till 2008 some time, geez thanks! There is a today fix and that would involve ordering an aftermarket carbon seat post for about $200! WTF!

After the few tweaks on Dino I am now at 75.2*, best they can get it without the seat post.

Overall it feels better but won't really know till I ride for at least 70+ mins.

On another note I am in a deciding factor for which race to do next. There are a few things to consider in this which include,

1) When is next event and how long do I have to train?

2) Should it be a HIM or Oly?

3) Can I do a HIM and 50.5 series 2 weeks apart in that order (IM Myles will say yes, right?)

4) Can I get the volume up safely as to not induce over training and injury?

5) Will it benefit me this far out from IMCdA?

I will be taking a look at these questions and keep you posted.

Next has to be a new wet suit consideration. I will be needing to buy one for IMCdA so I have started looking and researching. I really like the Xterra Vector Pro 2, 2XU Elite and the OR Hydro, there's one other but I can't find it at this time. If anyone has these please comment.

They all seem to be around $500, yikes! Might have to look for something cheaper, any ideas?

rockon`

Ironhead Olympic Recap..

Let's start with the cool stuff. I got to the race site after checking in at my awesome Holiday Inn Express hotel with King bed, flat screen tv in my room and the elevator! ya cool huh. Once at race site, I went packet pick up and got that squared off and then the coolist thing, I got to meet Allez and Andra Sue! (yeah, I know you all are jealous) who came out for a little open water swimming. They are both very nice and great bloggers! Thanks for coming out. After a little swimming in the wave lake from all the jet skiers and some boats it was chill time and I even got to take a look at Allez and her knee problems and helped her out. (Hope it's feeling better Allez)

After all that it was back to the HIE to get cleaned up and go to dinner with the TNT group so Applebee's it was and then we were back at the there motel as Doc JohnnyTri was now in session and had to tend to some TNTers that were needing some minor/fine tune ups. Then it was back to HIE and just chill time for me and get things ready for the morning. I finally went to bed like 11 pm.

So 4:30am comes fast and it was up and start eating for pre-race food. Once ready I was out the door and at the race site by 5:45am, body marked, and in transition. I got a nice spot on the far end of my rack and so I had lot's of space. Next I know 3 other TNTers show up and there rack next too me, Score! then right at the next rack 3 more TNTers rack up.

After getting all settled I realized I left my sunglasses in my suv, crap! But got plenty of time and walk back and get them. By now it's time for swim warm up but I have to go pee so I stand in line and by that time, missed the swim warm, and it's race pre-meeting.

After the in's and out's it's go time and I am in the first of 5 waves. Once in the water it was just about 60 seconds and we're off!

Swim: The swim is a triangular shape and we are swimming with the buoys on the right shoulder, great for me being a right sided breather. As I'm heading for the first yellow buoy to make the turn I hear the gun from the second wave go off. Up in till now I am just trying to settle in and get a rhythm and stay a little wide off the main line and stay off of traffic and it's working. After making the yellow buoy I turn and starting heading straight and then I notice the 2nd wave fast swimmers starting to pass me, some little bumps and nudges but not bad and I recheck position to make sure I'm off the main lane. About half way down the back straight I'm tired and stop and see where I am, bad move! I'm barley no where! Crap. Then I see more wave peeps coming up and start again. Swim, breath, stroke, breath, easy, calm....sight..repeat .. That's how it went for a while and then I realized I was right in the main lane and getting swam into again so I look around and see the faster swimmers from the 3rd wave are catching me, so I move out of the main lane. One good thing about being a big guy, it's hard to swim over me! HA. Ain't dat right Bigun! I finally see the 2nd yellow buoy make the turn and start heading home with the sun in my eyes and hard to follow the buoys now so I just follow the other swimmers catching a draft here and there and one time I started swimming really fast and gotta tired and had to stop for rest, bad move. I seem more tired trying to restart then just slow down and keep going. Finally I'm outta the water and loving it. I know I was slow when I got to T1 but oh well, I made it, Big Score! Time: 49:20 damn that's 3:17/100. Dead last in my Clyds div.

T1: Pretty easy, about 100 yards from the water. Standard stuff. 2:49.

Bike: Once on the bike it the route was out of the park for about a mile and then on the main road. My plan was to stay in middle of Z3 which was 160/min HR and run an 80 cadence. The main road was 2 loops with a turn around at each end. Once making the first turn around I was settled in and taking in fluids and my gels and starting to pass some people and seeing the TNTers. I would shout out or throw a encouragement out as I passed. After the 2nd turn around I noticed I was right on plan and feeling good passing a few here and there. Once approaching the park entrance they had a water bottle hand out but I didn't need it so I just kept going. Making the 1st turn around again I noticed my HR was at the bottom of Z3 and I was spinning about 85 rpm. So I changed gearing to get me on plan and noticed that I actually slowed down and my HR went up, Still on my original plan but why stay there when spinning higher with lower HR and faster mph was working better so that's what I did. After the 2nd turn around I was still feeling great and coming up on bottle hand out and needed some more water as I was out by now and I wanted another Gatorade bottle to take home. Finished the bike of 26.2 miles in 1 hour 21 mins with an avg. of 19.1mph, nice job.

T2: Pretty uneventful expect I started running out the wrong way and had to ask really quick, brain fart! Time: 1:30.

Run: Oh my it was heating up and the first little bit of the run there was some shade so grab a hold where you can. The course when through part of the park in a little twisty out and back loop which was nice to see everyone and then followed the bike route out of the park for about 3/4 mile where it turned and went up on top of the maintenance road for the lake, which there was ZERO shade! I had forgotten to pack my race hat so I had this black cotton hat that I took and kept it wet and wore it on and off as it got too hot. I was taking in my gels and fluids and started off with a 10:15 first and 2nd mile and then my HR started getting to Z5 and with 4 more miles I figured I'd better slow down, so walking the water stations became the plan which worked well until on the no shade road where I just had to stop and walk to bring the HR down as I was at about mile 3.25, close to the turn around. This guy named Tim and I kept passing each other and I would ask him how he was doing as he seemed to be struggling. Finally Tim decided to run with me as I stayed steady and he would run fast pass me then walk and there I would go and pass him. So he stayed with my till about mile 5 and said to go on as his hamstrings were not working for him, see ya! By this mile I was still feeling good and really started to notice I was catching people..humm... am I running faster? Nope Garmin says same pace..11:30ish now.. so I started asking people when passing them..How you doin` #345? Ahh.. now I know what bonking feels like?.. Next... How you doin` #233? Ahh.. stomach's upset, I'll make it...Next... I passed about 10 people, some I talked to others I just ran by.. and then the finish line!! I picked up the pace and I see all the TNTers there cheering and yelling.. Go Johnny!!! The announcer says #156 John Vigil with Team in Training!!! Time: 1 hour 12 mins, avg. 11:38/min.

Overall, I loved it! Yeah, my swim totally was off but I felt fine out there, just slow. Maybe too relaxed and swam too easy I guess but I got it done and it did seem a little farther than I was used to swimming which makes me wonder the exact distance of my training loop, so next time I am going to canoe with the GPS before hand and check. I totally felt fueled and hydrated and steady the whole time. I didn't feel like I would be in trouble at some point. I am very happy with the results and know what to work on over the next couple of months.

I was even worried about being tired and driving home, having a headache or something but nothing. I got back to the HIE, ate some chicken breast, rice, sweet potato's, Nuun, and sipped on Gatorade. Got cleaned up and drove 4 hours home and was fine the whole time!

Now it's time to nail down the 70.3 distance and the 50.5 series in The Woodlands 2 weeks after the 70.3.

Thanks everybody for the support YOU ALL ARE AWESOME!!

Special Thanks to Allez, Andra Sue and IronWil.

Ironhead Results and thoughts quickly..

OK, peeps I completed my First Olympic!!! Yahooooo!! It was fun!!! It was HOT!! Talked to others! Ran with a few! and right now feel good, just tired!

I will give race recap in full but here's the bottom line.

Swim: I survived, way off my projected time but got it done, Kinda disappointed here but that only means I can get better, right? Projected time was 36 mins, actual time fuckn (ratings, ya know) 49 mins! WTF. Was I doggy paddling out there, damn! Oh wel.

Bike: Avg. 19mph, felt good. I'm happy. Stayed in Z3. Again, happy.

Run: Freakn` hot! No Shade! Avg. 11:30ish pace.. I think it's just a little longer but somewhere in there. Mostly ran in Z4. Again, did I say Freakn Hot!!

Overall time: 3 hours 28 mins. Damn if only that swim was down by 15 mins! no what's if's right?

So not just getting cleaned up and gonna head back to H-twn.

I am happy I had good race even if my swim was slow! I did it.. truly 1 step closer.....

rockon`

Leading up to race day..

This week has been a taper week but for some reason resting this week has been somewhat difficult. Let's see. On Monday, I did swim for about 750 meters and then I had a Houston Racing Triathlon meeting, got home about 8:30pm. Tuesday, I was able to get home after work and relax as I was feeling a little scratchy throat and was like shit, not now, it's taper week!

Wednesday, I got a little body tune up from one of the docs and he actually checked a few extra things on me, now if you are familar with meridians and chinese medicine/accupuncture this makes sense, if not, bare with me. After checking my neurologic system, which I think there is 12 areas they check, turns out 9 of my 12 are out of whack! WTF! Just what I need. So after a few things doc Daniel is pushing on places under my arms that I never knew could be tender. After a few mintues of this I am instructed to get with him again Thursday and recheck some things. So Thursday, I see a couple of patients and then it's off to help work on some of the Houston Comets players as they have a kids day program and are playing an game. Yeah, Score! Professional Athletes!!

So we get there and get our all access pass and go down to the training room and meet the head trainer and just talk for a bit. Next thing I know there are several players getting various treatments and relaxing before warm ups. The head trainer comes over and say "hey, doc, can you go work on the lady at the end of the row?" Sure! I get to her and ask what the problem is and she explains and I proceed. After a few minutes it's clear that what I am about to do for is going to help her feel better but is not going to last too long, a day or two, maybe three because she has more things going on that need more time to fix and explain that to her but she is just like, OK, Doc.. just fix me. (now for privacy reasons I can't say who she is but she did have a good game and played alot) After helping out we are then asked if we want to stay and watch the game, huh, YEAH! duh.. so they tell us being as we have all access passes to just go down front and sit any where and if someone comes for the seats just move as it is not expected to be sold out. Score! So we sit in the second row, not wanting to be too greedy and snag Front Row!

So game starts and 5 mins into a player is hurt and they are calling for us to come back to the training room and help. (that is another story) Comets win 87-77 over the Minnesota Linx! da's right!!!

After the game we had lunch, went to book store so I got the new Triathlete mags and then to get my bike inspected for Ironhead. Then it was back to the office for about 1 1/2 hours and then over to Rice University to work on some of the girl's soccer players.

Once there the room they are in is temporary because they are rebuilding there training room and the freakn` A/C is not really working that great so it's sweat time! Luckily, the girls were more apologetic because there just came from working out and had grass/mud/sweat all over them. So it was an equal deal. After a fixing up a few of them I was able to work on there coach and help her out and feel better. Oh, by the way it's about 4:45pm.

After this I had gotten a call when I was back at the office for the hour or so and asked if I could come out to the TNT meeting and cover the Coach's speaking role as the Coach Liz couldn't make it. Sure. So I was there by 6pm helping set up and guess what. No Freakn` A/C either! double WTF! So I do the meeting, hang out and get home by 8:30pm again! What a day.

This morning about 3am I wake up and my back is screaming at me! I get up and go to my chiropractic table, yes, I have one in my house, why wouldn't I, right? and I lay down and attempt to do a self fix and quickly realize that I am not going to succeed and only manage to fix myself about 40%, damn. So I just on the puter and catch up and some things.

The rest of today should be light and I will get my back thing taken care of, I was even going to mow my back yard tonight but now forgetta bout it.. Bigun, is going to razz me I just know but if I wasn't racing on Sunday and leaving tomorrow morning I would, Bigun, really I would. I won't have any other doc's at the race this weekend so I have to stay tip top!!

I'm excited for Saturday as it's travel day, packet pick up and practice swim at the venue. I also get to meet a couple of fellow bloggers but can't say who just yet, check back in Monday for updates and race recap.

I imagine I will be checking in Saturday night and giving the practice recap and pre-race details.

rockon`

Coeur d`Alene, I think we have a winner.

In working with the Bigun this past weekend via lots of instant messages and emails, it seems we have managed to lock down a house for our trip in 2008. Not only will be the Bigun and Di be in tow but Blink and Mrs. Blink will be rounding out the house guests! (just in.. for some reason it totally slipped my mind that Blink and family are from the great state of NEBRASKA! Go Big Red! GO BIG RED! OK, fyi, peeps, I went to high school and some college in Nebraska and I love, did I say love the football team, even in the rebuilding years, did mention Love. We'll take on the Gators, Bigun, neck of the swamp lands any time!) ..back to business...It appears that our place will be about 5 miles from the host hotel and will be spacious and has a jacuzzi, so Bigun, promised not to wear his speedo's and scare my daughter!

I will say I have sent out about 30 emails, 20 web site inquires and made about 10 phone calls. Some all ready taken, some are not renting, some waiting till later in the year to make a decision, some re-renting to 2007 IM'ers, and some available but not that great or not what we were looking for.

So far this has definitely been the hardest part of IM 2008 but I know that will change.

Training:

Saturday was pure lazy and did nothing, which will have to stop as the countdown is one. But I know that it will because Coaching for TNT Winter marathon group will get me out running every Saturday.

Sunday was a 90 min, OK, 100 min bike, I had to catch those to cyclist ahead of me and just pass them, hehe. Then I hit a brick run for about 2 miles. Was working on running pace for next weekend's Race!

The Sunday afternoon, I went to a run clinic which was good but turns out to be a track workout and running 6 x 400's on 2 mins with 2:30 rest! Yikes! I just got done mowing the grass earlier and was not really up for running like that but I got it done.

Today I will hit the pool for about 40 mins and some weights and really this is Taper Week so my run and bike times are down with totally resting Thurs-Fri and Saturday I head to Dallas. Looks like we will be getting together for a short swim and check out the bike course.

Until next time.

rockon`

PR...training update.. and more Rain.

With lots of time being spent on researching where to stay for IMCd`A, talking with family, planning times it seems that this is the hardest part of IM so far! So let's get to some training updates as this week was not a time for slacking off due to the holiday because my Olympic race is next freakn` week!

As the scheduled called for swim on Tuesday which I manged to crank out 30 x 50's with a slower time than I thought but I got it done, did not get to hit the weights that afternoon as, yes, I had to leave to get home and do some family stuff but no complaints as family stuff is good!

Wednesdays training plan called for 90 mins of Z2 easy riding and being as God has been letting us know that he did once flood the earth with many days of rain, He wants to make sure we have not forgotten as it has rained everyday here in H-twn for almost 2 weeks now and Wednesday was no exception. OK, so now that I have signed up for IM and it's raining I was thinking well, gonna have to get used to it but then when it was really coming down and thundering I thought, well, I still have 11 months! So I mounted Dino (the new name, thanks to Blink)

Thursday, plan called for Z4 run, yikes, again! I really thought that when I got to the park that I was going to run my own plan for that day as z4 did just not sound appealing but then thought, just do it! So I started out with the 20 min warm-up and then it was on to Z4. As I was 3/4 mile into Z4 I noticed I was clickin` along and my Garmin pace was close to 9min/mile, WOW! I thought, great just keep going and actually I saw it drop to 8:34/mile at one time!!! Double WOW!! but now it started to rain really hard so I just kept running knowing that I could feel myself slow down a little and then the wind started blowing, HEAD WIND! and I thought, NO You Are Not Taking My About To Be 9 min/mile, and just about then I heard Garmin beep and looked down, mile 3 @ 9:09! Holy Shit! That's a freakn` PR EVER!!! Now I was about to breath out a lung so I slowed down a bit and kept running to finish off the 20 mins but it was not at that pace. Totally wet but a new mile PR!! Then I thought, damn, this training plan is working!

Today, is off/rest day! Yahoooo!

Saturday is 4o min swim and Sunday will be a 90 min bike (brick) with 50 min run.

Also Saturday I am helping out with the a Kids Triathlon so that should be a blast! other than getting up at about 4:30am... but Sunday will not be much different to be riding by 7am.

Glad you all liked the Dating a Triathlete... just too funny..

rockon`

in case your wondering, YES, it's raining right now again!

Dating a Triathlete...

(got this in an email today.. funny)

"I am an outdoors type of person." Really means: I train in any type of weather. If it's raining, snowing, 90 degrees w/100 percent humidity, or winds gusting at 30 mph. I don't want to hear any complaints because I will still train in it and you're just a big wuss for complaining about it.

"I enjoy riding my bike." Really means: with or w/o aero bars, alone or in a peleton, I don't care. If you can't do a spur of the moment 30 miler then you're not my type. I will let you draft, but if you can't hang and I drop you - I will see you later. I am a capable mechanic, but don't expect me to change your flats or tune your bike. You need to learn that on your own.

"I enjoy jogging." Really means: Let's run hills until we puke. I have just as many shoes as you only mine are better because they are functional and all look the same.

"I enjoy dining out." Really means: I enjoy eating out, in or anywhere else I can find food. Don't be shy because with the amount of food I eat, you can have that main entree instead of a salad and you will still look as though you eat like a rabbit in comparison. Don't get your limbs too close though as I may take a bite out of you. Most importantly don't expect any taste off my plate unless you can bring something to the party like more food. Eventually though if your not burning 4,000 calories a day your going to plump up and have a terrible complex due to watching me eat deserts and not gain any weight. Friends and family will eventually decide not to dine with us anymore due to my horrid table manners. Oh, and don't ask me any questions during breakfast, Mid Morning Lunch, Lunch, Afternoon lunch, dinner or Recovery Dinner as it does not lend to efficient food intake.

"I enjoy quiet walks on the beach." Really means: Walks on the beach warming up into an 8 mile run and then plunging myself in the ocean for a 2 miler. If you get in my way you're going to find out what mass start is and let me assure you that you don't want to find out.

"I find fulfillment in charitable work." Really means: If I am not racing, I am volunteering and I expect you to be there along side me as I stand out in 90 degree weather for 8 hours handing out sports drink to cyclists going 20 mph. Just stick the ol' arm out there and hope it doesn't get taken off.

"I enjoy sharing quiet moments together." Really means: It's taper time. Just back off because I am strategizing and in a pissy mood because I am worried about my "A" race and can't workout.

"I am an active person." Really means: Aside from my 40 hour job, and the 8 mandatory hours of sleep a night. 10 hours a week are devoted to me during the off-season and 20 during race season leaving us 4 hours. 2 of which are spent inhaling food and you not talking to me, so let's make the best of the 2 hours we will spend together on average each day. If you are a licensed message therapist or doctor this would make the most optimal use of our time together. Nutritionist is also acceptable, but I probably already know just as much as you.

"I enjoy road trips and leisurely drives." Really means: You have your choice of Wisconsin, Idaho, Florida, California, Arizona, and Canada, but don't expect to do much site seeing. If I get enough support from you we might be able to include Hawaii in there.

"I enjoy site seeing." Really means: Lets grab a mountain bike and get our HR's up to 90%. There's plenty of time to look around on the descent as trees and bushes whiz by you at 40 mph.

"I like stimulating conversation." Really means: while we are running, we can talk about food. Then we can talk about how we decided what to wear on this run based on the temperature at start time versus the temperature at the time we expect to finish, how horribly out of shape we are, how many miles we did last week, and how many we will do this week and next week. Then we can talk about food.

"I enjoy relaxing soaks in the tub." Really Means: I'm going to stop on the way home and buy two bags of ice, throw them in the tub with some water, and sit in this torture chamber for 30 minutes.

"I'm interested in photography" Really Means: My camera is permanently perched a tripod in front of my trainer. I obsess over taking photos of my bike position and analyzing them to get the perfect setup.

"I'm into in technology" Really Means: My HRM and bike computer are my best friends. Until you can give me some hard data that can improve my training, don't bother trying to buddy up to me. You could one day break into the top three if I find you as entertaining on long runs and rides as my mp3 player.

rockon`

weekend..movie..IM..Update: Name da Bike?

Training recap: For Saturday I got my open water swim in for about 33 mins. My out was faster than by back and I also felt more relaxed going than coming as I was trying to negative split and swimming faster, well, trying to anyways but according to time, I wasn't. Either way I got it done but not the workout with weights. The rest of the day was resting and then off to the movies to see 1408. Good movie if you like scary jumping out of your seat stuff.

Sunday, met up with a few TNT folks while they were on there 60 mile bike ride and rode 30 with them. Got caught in the rain which was nice at times but then it started coming down really hard when I was on my way back by myself and then it sucked! But then again, Ironman doesn't come with free easy rides so all was good. When I got back to the SUV it was lightening so I changed and started to head home, I was about 70 miles out and by the time I got into town it was barely raining so I stopped at the park and got my 60 min run in. Even though it was lightly raining it was a good run, also gave me time to refuel before running so that made it nice.

The rest of the day was resting, cooking, cleaning as the wife had to work some overtime at the hospital.

Then later that night watched the Holiday with my daughter, funny/happy/sad movie but good to watch. Then it was off to bed.

Ok, so one thing I have figured out with Ironman is that when you tell people that signed up for IM they look at you like, SO! They just don't get it, and at times made me feel a little down but then again, WTF do they know! It's not about them, it's about me and all the others committed to it! I am thankful for blogland and the peeps.

After signing up for the IM I realized that I do not have a name for the Fuji so let's play name the bike like Di did with her new car. Any takers?

rockon`