Living in LA...

Living in LA has proven to be a good thing other than the cost of things, does that make sense? I mean the weather is great, the beach is nice, the traffic sucks, and of course there stars, movie premieres and high speed get away car chases. Really what I mean is after last weekends dealing with the stars and getting back to training I thought it would all be back to normal but it can get better.

First the training: This week was great. I got some good runs in, although they were short I felt very productive. I completed 2 workouts which were also productive. Biking proved to be a little off this week, even after getting a new cassette. So that leaves swimming. As a matter of fact I was back in the pool on Thursday with a new swim coach! I was a little nervous getting back in and not being able to do anything but as I kicked off the wall with the coach telling me to swim 50m so she could see what I was doing or not doing, I actually felt pretty good. You know it’s been 7 months since I was last swimming, can you believe that? Since Cda!! WTH, JT!! Well after a few 50’s I got some instructions and technique corrections and next thing you know I was over 500m. After a few rounds of kicking and doing some 100’s I was finished with 1300m! Holy shit! I cant believe I actually swam that much and didn’t feel totally wiped out. I am glad to be back in the pool and feeling good.

On the weekend I didn’t get my long bike done due to some bike malfunctions that need to be addressed but not really an excuse. I did get a 5k run done at the Mt. Sac Cross Country trail. The trail has a few killer hills and gradual inclines and a nice overall terrain. Its actually the training course for a fire department and Mt. Sac who are ranked high on the cross country circuit of things.

Anyway, the cool thing was I was invited by John Molina, who is a recently signed professional boxer. This guy is very humble, laid back, respectful and a bit of a comedian but takes his training and workouts very seriously on his road to becoming a World Champion. He is preparing for his next fight on Feb 6th, 2009. which will be aired on Showtime, so tune in. I had dinner with John and Danielle on Friday night (which I burned my arm on the stove while helping make chicken) and we were talking about running on Sat. so he invited us out to come run with him. As we started running I could tell he was going to run way faster than I can so I told him to go ahead and I would follow along and that is exactly what I did. I followed from a distance as best I could even though at times John would wait up for me he would still drop me like I was walking. No worries though as I know I could out run him in any long distance stuff, haha! Sorry John. It was a great run and it really opened my lungs up and set a good High HR for me to set some zones with. The overall course took me 33 mins which wasn’t bad considering the hills.

After resting up later Saturday,hooked back up with John and Danielle and went to watch a movie, Notorious, as well as another movie on Sunday afternoon, My Bloody Valentine 3D. It was great to hang out with them this weekend and see how John prepares for his fights in a different training aspect than us endurance athletes. He works for cardiovascular endurance but also explosive power and short bursts of speed. I believe you will be seeing John at the top of the boxing world in the near future!!

This week I will be back in the pool, on the bike and doubling up on the road miles as I need to work on that run, esp. after taking a beating from John on that short run. He really gave me a different type of inspiration to train and focus.!

Rockon’