Thursday, November 26, 2009

Off to Cozumel..!!

okay fellow blogger family.. its time to head to Cozumel... I am actually at the airport now waiting to board and let me tell you, flying on Thanksgiving afternoon is actually kind of cool.. no lines, no people... very dead here at the Vegas airport.

I was down in Tempe last week but too bad it was not to see Ironman Arizona, it was more to get take a certification in fascial stretch therapy and OMG it was Amazing!!! I was so happy to have had the time, money and opportunity to learn the first section of this amazing stuff. Can't wait to show all my local peeps the great feeling it can help in your overall flexibility and fitness.

Now, I was able to get all my packing and things arranged by Weds so today i was really able to enjoy the morning with my parents, coffee and the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Mom made a great Turkey dinner yesterday and we all enjoyed, I am very Thankful..

Josh, my friend, sorry I have not emailed you the stretching stuff but will do so when I return! enjoy your run as well!!

I will have Internet access while down in CZ so will be updating here and of course on Facebook..

until then.. Race #922 John Vigil aka JohnnyTri...

rockon'

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Taperitis.. and a fond farewell..

Of course now that taper has started I seem to be in taperitis and thinking that I need to be doing more but this point in the game, less is more! On Sunday I went to the gym and did a bunch of nothing just to occupy some time and it felt great! I really can't wait to get back into the weights and start Ultra training for the 50 miler in March!

In the mean time I still have 11 days till the Big Show so let me recap some thing:

First off Preliminary weather report from AccuWeather.com is good but not so good.

As you can see the extended forecast is calling for sunny skies and temps of 83* but feeling like 103*! I imagine with the humidity! Freakn' Criminy!!

So race day strategy may be changing up really will only know come closer to the main event. Either way I am ready as I can be!!

Now with that being said I pretty much am ready. I have all my Swim stuff, goggles, etc.. Bike is tuned up, cleaned, I have my bike box from great buddy Dave, the LV Tri Club President, and I have my new running shoes. I am going to be wearing TNT Triathlon singlet and short but for the bike I will wear biking shorts over the top and still undecided to run in the tnt tri shorts or I will put my trail running shorts on over them because I love all the pockets and just have they work for running. I have training a few times with my tri shorts underneath so I am really good either way.

With the next few days I will get a short run and swims in and then I will be heading out to Tempe, AZ.. no I wish to see IMAZ.. more like for some great training on some chiro stuff I am going to be incorporating into my office, more on that later.

Okay.. so we'll chat later..

But before I go I want to give a HUGE Shout Out to IronWil who will be taking a step away from the blogging world.. it will be a lonely Bloggerville without her. I have followed her since the first time I signed up for my blogger back in Sept. 2006. I have found her blogs to be inspirational, motivational, life and just plain friendly. I will miss you Wil and look forward to still meeting you !!!!

rockon'

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Silverman sherpa.. and feeling better.

This weekend was the Silverman triathlon and it's stated it is the Hardest North American iron distance and half iron distance and I must agree it probably is. Formulaic took on the full course and a few other friends jumped in on the 70.3 distance. I must say there is some great schwag for this event and if you dont believe ask S. Baboo as he has done it himself and can probably give you his opinion on how tough the course is.

This year was the 1st time in the history of the 5 year race that weather conditions were perfect. Flat glass water, no winds and minimal 70's temps. I was on hand from the 7am start till Form crossed that finish line 140.6 miles later.

I was at mile 95 on full and 44 for the half on the Famous Sisters. 3 back to back to back hills that are just not nice at this point in the race. The 3rd is just steep and it takes all you got to get to the top of it unless you got some serious climbing gears, which I would totally recommend for this course as it's continuous hills, climbs and hills all day long.

I was glad to be out there cheering everyone on and thinking in 19 days it will be my turn. I am feeling much better in confidence but I am worried about the humidity that will play in as I have talked about for the past several blog posts. My calfs are feeling better and overall I guess I am in taper but I feel more nervous wanting to get a couple of long runs and swims still in. I got new shoes and do need a few runs on them but overall I am confident they will be good for the marathon.

Silverman, 2010? Humm.. A part of me says no F'ing way and the other part says I have to conquer this back yard course, in faster than 15 hours 58 mins! Sorry Form! haha.

rockon'

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Reviewing the totals..

Now that the month of October has ended I figured my training totals for the month, at the right on the side bar.

The first thing I notice is how much swim time and meters/yards what ever you want to call it but time in the pool! I really didn't think I swam that much but low and behold I did! and that is great. I do feel better about my swim but I need a couple of more key swims to really seal the deal and I am sure they are coming, like tomorrow's 3000 meter swim in sets of 500's. Nice. Ughh.. choke choke.

Now biking is looking well and the time in the saddle has definitely got me feeling ready and with another 100 miler this Friday and then a couple of "shorter" distances I will be much ready in the saddle.

Run. Well I see my time has gone down there although I do feel I have had some great key running sessions maybe just not the full long stuff I was getting used to in the Ultra world but after Soma I did feel a little off step in the run department but I still can't really nail down if it was the Heat or just not running as much leading up to the event. Either way, I will have the Heat in Cozumel and more running time on the feet, although, I am having a rather annoying calf issue right now and have been getting it worked on so I am hoping for it to be better. I tried running again today but only got a mile and stopped just because I was confident and wanted to give it another days rest.

Staying healthy and injury free is the key over the next 24 days and that's a tough job in itself with a travel weekend coming up the week before Cozumel, some studying for a course I am taking that weekend, finishing up the last training heading to Cozumel, of course Life and work stress.

I am having fun, feeling more confident and excited as we are getting down to the teens of the count down!!

rockon'

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Quickly..

I am still alive and getting to it. Training has been a little more time consuming with longer swim sets, biking and running.

I was able to smash out a 112 miler on Sunday in 6 hours 10 mins with another 10 mins of stopping time to refuel at the store and use the bathroom. That will be cut down a little on the actual course so that is good but I had a good day in the saddle, worked my nutrition, salts, gu's.. etc.. Now I am only concerned how the heat and humidity will play out.

As for the run, well not so great. I was scheduled to run 21 on Saturday and by mile 11 my left Achilles/calf was giving me problems so I called it quits b/c I just could not get the calf to loosen up and work so I didn't want to stress it any more. It's better today but still needs a little TLC so hopefully by this weekend we shall be back in action. I am also on the hunt for new shoes in town but not having any luck with my big size 15 foot.!!

Swimming is coming along and after swimming a long set last week I am feeling confident that I will make the swim, maybe not any faster than CdA but that's Okay.. Survive the swim and get to the bike is goal.

Until next time.. !!

rockon'