Phase II

Isn't starting something new just great? Is there any greater feeling than your first run in a new pair of shoes or that first ride on a new bike? There's a wave of possibility and vision that washes over me each time I start something new. Luckily, I'm surrounded by lots of"new-ness" energy these days.

My buddy D-man just got a new road bike. We headed out on Sunday morning for his first ride. My first ride in my new shoes and aero's. It was great. I had forgotten how nice it is to train with a real human being. Don't get me wrong - I love those podcasts, but I'm faced with 2 problems - 1) One sided conversations 2) Fits of laughter in the middle of the street that make me look like the weird guy you always see downtown. I experienced my first "clip-in fall" during the ride. I suppose I should will wear it like a badge of honor. No damage - other than the strange looks I received from passing cars. Oh well. Got that one out of the way quick, didn't I?

I started Phase II of my training plan on Sunday. It works out great because it is such a change from Phase I. It's going to take some time to get use to the new schedule and the new muscle aches. But, it's all good. I've already put down 50 miles on the bike, 1700M in the pool, a core session and a weight session -- and it's only Tuesday. I can already tell Phase II is going to be good for me.

Has everyone checked on Flatman's new gear?? Pretty sweet stuff.

My sis-in-law just got a new car. No, a new BMW. M tells me there was quite a drama surrounding this purchase. Isn't there always a drama surrounding a car purchase? Very cool Amers - post some pics on your blog so we can all bask in the glow.

My friend Tracy is moving to a new place and a new living situation. I can tell from her posts that she is really excited. I'm excited for her! Sounds like she is having the time of her life.

So what gives? Why all the new-ness right now? Maybe it's the pending change in seasons. Spring Fever is already catching. I can see the beautiful sun and fun over the top of my cube wall, across the hallway, over the other cube wall, and through the window. We just moved into our new TBPC standardized 6x8 cells cubes this week. It is sinful to tease me with such beautiful weather. All I can think about is how great a 25x6 bike/run brick would feel in the middle of the day. *Sigh*

So what's new with you?

See ya out there...

Big News

Ok - OK! A day late and well, hopefully not a dollar short!

Friday was a big day for me. I made some significant purchases and changes to my tri-gear. Here we go...

SWIM:

I bought an Xterra Ventilator wetsuit. Yeah, it's last years model. Yeah, it's the first wetsuit I've owned. Yeah, it's the first wetsuit I've worn since open water SCUBA certification back in 1994. Yeah, I look bad-ass in it.

BIKE:

Lots of changes here. I decided on Jack & Adam's Bikes in Austin to get me squared away. They were ranked as the #1 Triathlon Shop in Texas. It shows. I had them set up my shoes, pedals, aerobars, and fit me all in one session. It took a little over 3 hours, 3 bike stems, and about 5 miles on the trainer - but, I left with an amazing aero bike fit and a new inspiration for triathlon. The whole experience was amazing. I HIGHLY recommend this place if you are ever in town. (BTW, they sponsor a couple of Tri's later in the season - I did the Jack's Generic last season and loved it - my first Triathlon.)

I picked up a pair of the Specialized Trivent Triathlon shoes before the fit session. Designed by 3-time World Champion Peter Reid - special sole design. They fit like a dream. For aerobars, I went with the Profile Design Aerolite model. They look great, and fit me well. And, Frank-chesca looks beautiful in them.

Before:

After:

RUN:

On a whim, I picked up a pair of Yankz! laces. I've heard a bunch about these and wanted to give 'em a try. Pretty cool little setup - although I wasn't too sure I would like it. I ran 6 miles in them today and couldn't tell a difference. Very cool.

Race Schedule:

I signed up for my second triathlon for the season on Friday. Actually, it will take place before BSLT on April 9th. An olympic distance - the Austin Cactus Challenge. I've seen some mixed reviews of last years race - it is not USAT sanctioned. I picked this race specifically to school me in the ways of wetsuit transitions- which I'm planning on for BSLT. Also, Party Pat called me on Friday morning and will be doing the Sprint. We both did the Seaworld Splash last year, it'll be fun to head out to a race with him again. Can't wait.

Training Phase:

I've finished Phase I of my training plan. The Half Marathon is complete - triathlon training begins big time tomorrow morning with a 2h:35m ride. There will be lots of those this month. The love affair with Frank-chesca begins.

So, there you have it. Let the games begin.

See ya out there...

Asshat - The new butthead?

Something occurred to me as I was cruising through the blogsphere, reading several recent rants. Lots of folks have started using the term "asshat". How interesting. A quick google search turned up an official definition.

I have obviously been out of the loop here. Darn.

TGIF

I got to looking at my upcoming race schedule today (yay!). My next race and first triathlon of the season is probably going to be Austin's Cactus Challenge. This race will be my first Olympic and my first with a wetsuit. Both building blocks to BSLT. This race is exactly one week after the Capital 10,000, so I'll have to see if I'll spend the energy (and money) to run it - even though I hear it is one of the most fun events in Austin.

Still no word on my fixed Freescale time yet - arg. Hopefully I'll hear something soon. I'm really interested to see how my actual rank turns out.

I've been slacking pretty big this week in the training department. Although, I did have a nice swim this morning. It took me about 1200M to find my stroke after a 7 day layoff, but it was there. I turned out a moderate 2200M in the end and made it to work early enough to turn on the lights.

I was looking at my training plan this evening and realized I have some big time bike workouts coming. This prompted me to rename my bike again. That's a cool part of owning a bike. You get to name it over and over again. So, because of my upcoming training sessions - I figured I would have to develop a love affair with my bike. I decided it must be a woman's name. A name that inspires and stirs me deep within. Something... better than "Frank".

I decided on : Frank-chesca. I'll never give up the name M gave my bike - Frank. It was just too classic. So, until further notice. I have but one bike love - and her name is Frank-chesca.

And finally... Tomorrow night at this time I'm hoping to have some big news to post here. Stay tuned.

See ya out there...

Freescale Update

I mentioned last night that the chip time didn't work out correctly. Well, take a gander at this e-mail I received earlier today...

Freescale Marathon and Half Marathon
Chip Timing and Results Issue

Dear TTUTri
Round Rock, TX


RunFAR Racing Services, Inc was responsible for the timing and scoring of the 2006 Freescale Marathon and Half Marathon. At the start of the race, we misdiagnosed an interference problem and failed to review how our staff set up the digital antenna controllers. As a result, we missed half of the participants at the start line. We regret to inform you of this mistake and we are truly apologetic for the mishap.

We are able to do manual inserts of participants start offset or the time it took for you to get to the start line after the horn was sounded. If you know your start offset time you may contact us to adjust your chip time. If you have already contacted us with your start time, please do not re-email as we are working to adjust your chip time. (NOTE: We will only authorize those start times with comparable paces between the 1st 10k and each other split throughout the course.)

We appreciate your attention to this matter and thank you for you patience. At RunFAR, our goal is to take the best care of our customers as possible. If you have any other questions or comments you may reach our office at 512-326-1600.

Sincerely,

Raul Najera
Owner/President
RunFAR Racing Services, Inc.
Austin, Texas

So, how about that? I turned in a 8m:06s offset. I'm hoping that I'll get a better idea of how I ranked in the overall result after it is fixed. I'll keep you posted.

Madness

Hee Hee Hee! I won the Freescale Marathon this weekend. Ok, well actually, I didn't. In fact, I barely finished the half marathon before the winner of the full marathon. My time for the Half Marathon: 1:59:58. The winner of the full marathon: 2:13:43. Holy Smokes. This was a fantastic race for me. My conservative goal 2:10, I had a dream of finishing in under 2:00. Dreams can come true!

WARNING: Long post alert!

Summary: The Freescale Half Marathon was awesome. I hit all my goals and built up some good confidence toward BSLT. Stop here if don't need all the gory details.

Long Version for you gluttons for punishment:

The weekend started with my parents flying in on Friday night. It was great to have them here. I wish I could say it was to watch me run - but, alas, the grandson was number one on the bill for them. I took most of last week off from training so I would be well rested for the race. By Saturday morning I felt like a caged lion. I needed to get out and do something! Dad and I went down to the race expo to pick up my packet. The expo was awesome. I could have spent an entire day in there.

The expo was right across from ATC, so I managed to make a quick stop to check shoe prices. (BTW, I feel some big gear purchases this week. More to come...) That place is awesome too. Between the expo and ATC, I was energized by Saturday afternoon. By 2 PM, I had all my stuff laid out ready for my 4AM Sunday wakeup.

Saturday night we headed over to Party Pat's house for some pre-race lasagna. It was great. Pat and Jen are the greatest hosts. We had a ball. His buddy from college, Ryan, flew in from Chicago to run the marathon. We got to spend the evening getting to know him and his family. T spent the evening playing with their daughter Ellie.

I was awake before the alarm went off on Sunday morning. I jumped out of bed, started a big pot of coffee and started getting dressed. It was about 32*. We had light freezing rain for several hours overnight so everything was icy. Great. I left the house around 5:30. The Freescale parking lot is only about 15 minutes away, but I wanted to have plenty of time in case of ice. I got there by 5:45. Figures. By around 6:15, M had called and told me the race start had been pushed back to 7:30. I had time to kill. Luckily, I had to pee. Standing in the pee line is a great way to kill time.

By 7:15, I was standing in the chute ready to start. I had on my running hat, ear warmer, gloves, running shirt, long sleeve cotton shirt (for warmth), and running shorts. It was C-O-L-D, cold. Before I knew it we had already made it to the half-mile marker. It was really congested. People were trying to run around the walkers and strollers by running on the sidewalks. I saw at least 12 people slip and fall during the race. At the half mile marker, I saw the paramedics walking a woman back toward the start. Her head was bleeding. She had on a marathon bib. The guy in front of me made some comment about wasted training. It was a wake up call for me. I had to stay alert today. Mile 1 : 10:23, pretty slow. But, with all the traffic, not too bad. My HR stabilized and I got into a good cadence pretty quickly.

Miles 2,3,4, & 5 flew by. It was great having all the spectators out in the weather cheering us on. And, in true Austin style, live music along the course. Cool. Mile 6 - madness ensued. In a 1.5 mile stretch we had 1)the smell of Rudy's breakfast tacos 2)the smell of Krispy Kreme doughnuts 3)a guy in front of me with frozen hair (yes, frozen) 4)my first Shot Blok, which did not taste like a breakfast taco or a Krispy Kreme doughnut. It also did not thaw the guy in front of me. Between miles 7 & 8 we had a brief run into the northerly wind. Brrr. At mile 9, I checked my watch and saw that a sub 2 hour finish was in reach. I went for it and turned out sub 9 minute miles for the rest of the race. I rarely run 9 minute miles, so, this was a real event.

I negative split each mile for 13 miles with my fastest on mile 13 at 8:22 for an average 9:10 pace. I was amazed. Training does pay off. The chip folks had some kind of problem and didn't register the actual chip time properly so all my stuff is based on my watch. They recorded 2:08 and change for me. Turns out a bunch of people had problems with their chip times. Oh well.

I am still pretty sore. Looks like I need to do more training going fast. Luckily, I scheduled a massage for tonight. I spent a half-hour splayed out on a bed while some guy tried to get my legs to loosen up. It was exquisite agony. He suggested I come in on a monthly basis to get ready for BSLT. Another suggestion was to fill a bucket with ice and water, then stand in it and march in place for as long as I could stand. Whahuh? In what universe is this a good idea? Is this for real? Anyone? He claims it will improve circulation and speed micro-fiber healing. Yeah, I'm probably going to try it.

Anyway, it was an awesome way to spend the weekend. 10,000 crazy athletes running through the icy streets of Austin in 32* weather. I came away with more confidence for BSLT and a good solid beginning to the 2006 race season. You gotta love this.

See ya out there...

Big Update Coming...

Hey all - Big weekend. I have lots to tell you about including a visit from my folks, cold weather, and - oh yeah - my first Half Marathon! I need to get a few minutes to get it all together, then I'll post.

See ya out there...

Mental

I've (finally) started reading the Triathlete's Training Bible. I know, I know. All good multi-sport athletes should have memorized it within weeks of dreaming of their first event. I didn't - sue me. I did, however, read this fine little book on loan from a woman in my office. It got me started. I also read a great deal on the web. BeginnerTriathlete, Runnersweb, Trifuel, and TriNewbie all provided great training information. Folks like Phil, Flatman, Kahuna, Wil, Brett and many more helped me understand "the balance".

Honestly, The Bible scared me a bit - lots of jargon like RPE, HR & LT; scary data tables with times I could only dream of; and more. It's not so bad now. In fact, I'm actually thirsty for this level of data and detail. I think that's the only way for someone to digest this information. You gotta need it first.

I just covered a section on the importance of mental training. I have a level of respect for the longer endurance events (marathons, Half / Full Ironman, shoveling through paperwork at my office). After 4 hours on a bike - you need to be able to center yourself and move forward. I can only imagine the height of the wall at mile-18 of the Ironman Marathon. It seems to me that everything boils down to having a good, positive attitude. People with a generally glass-half-full attitude tend to just do better at everything. I've seen a lot of folks who pretend to be glass-half-empty. But, alas, they aren't. Try as they might to fail, they succeed. (Some quite spectacularly.)

As for me, I think I'm a glass-half-full person. At least, I aspire to be. What's the hardest part of mental training? I use a steady flow of podcasts and music to get through the long runs and rides. Are those luxuries a crutch that come back to bite me? How is mental toughness measured? Hmmm.

Now, those of you remotely familiar with Austin know Leslie. Leslie is our drag-wearing, vagabond, almost-mayor, official keep-austin-weird mascot. He/She is a bit of a local celebrity. The general obscurity (and shock) that follows him/her around tends to, well, frighten most people. I had a particularly shocking experience while eating downtown and observing him/her in a mini-skirt across the street. He/She was bent over shining his/her pumps - business end pointed directly at us. I didn't finish my meal. Anywho, check out this glass-half-full article posted recently on our beloved mascot.

I should also point out that I'm technically not an Austinite. I live just north of the city in the burbs. I'm safely tucked away from the liberal holdout here in central Texas. I enjoy endure a 40 minute commute into the city on a daily basis. Those of you who haven't ventured to Austin yet, please do. I have to say it is a triathlete's paradise. You'll enjoy yourself. I promise.

See ya out there...

---

Update - I just proofed my post and I'm changing the title to "Mental". I have to be mental to take a reader from Triathlon books to personal philosophy to Leslie to advertising all in one post. Hey, it's Friday and, no, I haven't been drinking.

Stories from the triathlete lifestyle

#1 - February 12th, 2006 - 9:00PM
Instead of sleeping I 1) spent an extra hour reading the Triathlete's Training Bible 2) tracing the Freescale race route on Google Earth for looking for landmark mile markers.

#2 - February 14th, 2006 - 4:00 AM

TTUTri : (whispers) Bye, babe - see you tonight (turns to leave)
M: (sleepily) Hey babe?
TTUTri: (stops, turns) Yeah?
M: Happy Valentines Day

#3 - February 15th, 2006 - 3:55PM

Washing my hands at work today, I noticed my hair was very overgrown. I think to myself - "No wonder my bike helmet felt so weird. I haven't had time to go get my haircut in a month." I then began calculating if I had enough time to 1) make a stop to get my hair cut & 2) still get in a 1-hour ride before sundown. I ditched the haircut.

Midweek Musings

Just wanted to give a shout out to Flatman and Chris. Thanks for trying to solve the mystery of my bike gear. As of right now, I still haven't been able to find out the official name of the hook-thingy. I'm now convinced this equipment is some sort of "govenor" Specialized put on the bike to keep me below supersonic speeds. Well, Specialized, I've got your number now and I'm removing your little speed govenor. And, the people in my neighborhood are just going to have to deal with the sonic booms I create as I race through the neighborhood.

Wait, I think that may have sounded bad... sonic booms created by my speedy...oh geez, whatever.

I ran across something that I just have to share with fellow Office Space movie lovers. Some guy here in Austin actually went around and visited all the locations in the city where the movie was shot. It's a pretty cool post complete with maps, pictures, and quotes. So, show us your "oh" face and check it out.

I have my last workout of the week tonight. Hope I can contain myself for 3 days without a workout. The afternoon sun has been staying out longer, so I'm attempting to get a 1-hour ride finished before dark. Everybody keep your fingers crossed. Hopefully, I won't get mowed down by some road-raged driver on my way. Everybody tends to be pretty cranky after spending an hour commuting to the burbs.

The Half Marathon is Sunday. Yippee! Those of you who have seen the weekend weather forecast for the central United States already know... for those who haven't... Possible freezing rain forecasted for part of the weekend. Last I looked, it went something like this:

Thurs. 84/51
Fri. 48/47 - !!!
Sat. 61/39
Sun. 61/46 - Race Day

So, we'll see what the day brings. Cloudy and mid-50's might be perfect running weather. I'm planning to head down to the race expo on Saturday morning for packet pick up. The expo is almost across the street from ATC - so maybe I'll have to make a quick stop.

See ya out there...

Happy Day

Lots of Happy's to pass out today...

Happy Belated Birthday to Robert - I know I'm a couple days late on posting this. Robert is always at my races. He's the best Father-in-law a guy could ask for. Happy Birthday - hope it was a great one.

Happy Birthday to Chris - Hey man - we got your card in the mail late - again. So, belated birthday wishes are on the way. (So sorry!) Hope it's a great one!

Happy Valentines Day to everyone - but, especially to my lovely wife M. You are the light of my life. I love you more and more each day. I can't wait to make sweet sweet... dinner for you tonight.

Hey - get your mind out of the gutter everyone!

See ya out there...

Damn Cookies & Tri-Questions

I love cookies. Not as much as M - but almost. I've been eating them like a crazed meth addict all week. Even my 1.5 year-old son is starting to look at me like: "Slow down old man - and for God sakes wipe your mouth!". I'm about 90% over the bug from last week. I think I may have fed it to death. So, needless to say my nutrition has been all over the place. Cravings, salt, sweets, alcohol. Ug.

I cut short the workouts I had planned on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I ran for about an hour (15 minutes short of the planned workout). The wind was so bad. My HR shot up into the 150s about 30 seconds into the run and never looked back. I decided to shut things down a little early and walk the "Soul Stealer" hill at the end of my route.

On Sunday, I planned to do a long ride. First, however, I had to fix a flatted back tire. Oh Fun. I always look like I just spent 39 hours in a running engine after changing a tire. How the heck can I get that dirty in 10 minutes?! I digress. I found the hole in the tune and the little bugger still in my tire. Fixed it, pumped it, rode it. Good to go. I noticed my chain was way dirty, so I cleaned it while I was in "fix-it" mode too.

Question (prepare for special bike lingo): I found a little hook-thingy right next to the front chain ring while fixing my tire. It was rubbing a little on the small chain ring so I loosened it with a screw driver and turned it out of the way. I haven't been able to figure out what exactly it is - even after several google searches. (hook-thingy included) Anybody know what this thing is? Should I put it back in place?

I cleaned up, changed and hit the road. With a full tire and clean chain the bike rode like a dream. It was still pretty windy so I cut it short by about an hour. It was a great workout biking into a 20mph head wind.

This AM I got up around 4 and headed to the club. I churned out 1500M in the pool and just under 6 miles on the treadmill. This was the best session I've had in a long while. I felt like a million bucks on my way to work.

Question: This is the second pool session I've had trouble with cramping. Not my arms, back or stomach -- my foot. The arch of my right foot to be specific. In the pool?!? What the heck is going on here? Anybody have any thoughts??

I'm planning one more workout this week - a bike ride, tomorrow. Then, I'm shutting everything down and focusing on rest until the Half Marathon on Sunday. I'm super pumped.

See ya out there...

I'm sick

OK. I'm sick - after 5 days of denying it, I'll admit it. I've had the muscle aches, running nose, restless nights. Ug. I've been cutting short training sessions all week while trying to kick this bug.

The half marathon is next weekend So, if I'm not back to normal by Monday, I'm probably going to shut everything down and focus on rest until the race. I really want to do well.

Ok - enough of that.

Guess what arrived today? My new Look 396 clipless pedals!!! I'm so pumped. So, I'm off to the triathlon shops (ATC & JAB) ASAP to finish gearing up for the season. Still on the list -- cycling shoes, wetsuit, aerobars (nice to have), helmet (nice to have). I'm also planning to get a full bike fitting once I get the shoes and pedals (and maybe areobars) in place. I start some major bike focused workouts in about two weeks. This means that there will be several feet of snow and weeks of snow showers for the first time in Texas history. Well, let's hope not.

So, what's the word on aerobars? Anyone have any thoughts on them? I want to put forth the best possible effort on the Bike at BSLT. Are aerobars key to that success? Guide me great ones.

See ya out there...

The Bug

Shelly posted yesterday about all of us bitch'n and moan'n about being tired/burned out already. I got to thinking about this during my run last night. Which, by the way, was probably one of the most difficult runs I've had in a looong time. It was only 50 minutes, but I was cooked before I even started. I figured I needed to push through it because I didn't feel *that* bad. It was probably a good opportunity to test out a little bit of mental endurance and determination. I'm sure I'll need it down the road a way.

I needed the support of a running buddy last night. Since I have yet to join up with a training group of any kind, I took along my trusty MP3 player. Luckily, the new one is ginormous and I was able to bring along about 3 dozen podcasts to choose from. I settled in on Zen and the Art of Triathlon and listened to Brett start work on rebuilding a bike. His podcasts are sometimes a little like Seinfeld. Great shows about nothing in particular - it kept me entertained the whole way. Lots of folks have been calling in and leaving him messages. I'm thinking of calling in after I finish the Freescale 1/2 marathon next weekend and giving him the low down on my first Half Marathon experience.

Anyway, back to being burned out. During the run it occurred to me that there has been an abnormally high number of people, myself included, talking about being tired in their blogs. Shelly was right! What gives? The only thing I could come up with was that we, the triathlon world, were going through something like the 6th minute of a race - only, in our newly started training schedules.

You know - 6 minutes into a race you suddenly have this twinge of fatigue in your muscles and realize "Oh crap! I'm swimming on adrenaline! I'm going out way too hard! I still have a bike and a run to finish!", it never fails (for me anyway). For a split second you have this pause in your mind where you wonder if the goals of the day are still possible. Did I screw up everything in just the first 6 minutes? Then, some perspective returns - I've got a couple of hours of work to do here - nothing can get screwed up in the first 6 minutes. The fatigue passes and turns into power.

I think many of us are going through something like this in our training right now. For most of us, the "new" training plans are now weeks old. The first race is still weeks away. The anticipation and excitement has faded and we are now fully immersed back into training after weeks of rest. We may even be feeling the effects of the first months of training on our bodies and trying to come to terms with our own internal Potato Pete who loves to sit on the couch and watch the "Iron Chef" marathon for 16 and half hours straight.

So, what happens next? If you're a triathlete, you already know. The fatigue will pass and turn into strong workouts once again. We'll find comfort in striking the balance in our busy lives and marking through the workouts on the schedule one-by-one. The goals on the horizon will get closer through strong, steady workouts. We'll all pass the 6th minute and finish the race.

See ya out there...

233 days

Here's an important topic as we all head into triathlon racing season & the olympics.

Um. Anybody have thoughts on this?

I swam a strong 2000 in the pool this afternoon. I decided to give myself a little reminder of what is waiting for me in June : A 2000 meter swim. I broke it up into 250 / 1500 / 250. Short drills for the last 2 months had made me a little soft. I was dragging a bit toward the end of the 1500 - but I did it.

Wil's post from this morning kept ringing in my head. I kept plugging along as steady as possible and managed to outlast 3 other swimmers. The first guy dove in and managed to whip by me at (what seemed like) twice my pace. He was only able to keep that up for about 150M at a time so I ended up flip turning past him every so often. After about 450M he left -- I kept going. The next guy only swam about 200M total but his wild splashing gave me a good open water feel for a short time. He kept waiting for me at the wall then pushing off at the same time as I would flip turn. What's up with that? The last guy jumped in with about 500M left in my long set. I don't even remember seeing him leave. He couldn't have been in the pool more than 5 minutes. Whatever.

This was a good swim and a great reminder. I suppose I'll start rotating at least one long set into my swims each week from here on out.

See ya out there...

Catching up

The last 14 days have been an absolute whirlwind. I'm having trouble staying completely clear on all the activities, but one thing is for sure - 14 days have gone by and here we are in February already! Only 137 days left till BSLT 70.3.

I've done a lot of training during the last 14 days and found myself a little behind the curve last week trying to catch up. Throw in a trip to Dallas and *boom* yesterday I was laid up sick. It was mostly allergy and related fatigue, but I also contracted a case of pink-eye.

So, off to the doctor I went yesterday morning. I rarely go to the doctor. I found myself fumbling with insurance cards and trying to understand a process so many others seemed to understand as second nature. I even got to fill out new patient paperwork. I also got to go to the local pharmacy to fill a prescription. Apparently, I haven't actually filled a prescription for something like 6 years. The address that the Walgreens pharmacist read back to me was 7 years old - what the?!

Needless to say, I missed work & my short run workout and pushed everything back by a day for the whole week. (Movie Quote: Well, Bob, I wouldn't say I've been 'missing' it." - can you guess the movie?) My schedule for the rest of the week looks a little challenging - but doable. I'm on the road to recovery now. I have drops for my eyes and all that fun stuff. Tonight, I'm going to pick up my short run and possibly a short ride. Tomorrow - swimming and more running.

I'm getting pretty psyched about the Torino Olympics that kick off in just 3 days. I'm an olympic junkie. I'm mean seriously. On average I DVR'ed about 8 hours of Summer Olympic coverage -- PER DAY. I'd say I spent about 3-4 hours -- PER DAY -- surfing the coverage. I have more olympic shirts than 5K/10K/Triathlon t-shirts -- combined. (ok, well maybe not that many.) It was insane. My favorite story - Rulon Gardner.

I think my love for Olympic competition is partly why I love triathlon so much. There is just something about the Olympians' stories that really gets me motivated - years of grueling training, studying every inch of their sport, giving up basically everything to rise to the absolute top. It's wonderful to see a little known athlete get some time in the spotlight, achieving great things. I'll probably completely ignore the figure skating and probably ignore most of the skiing. Instead, I'll be watching biathlon, cross-country skiing, & skeleton - 3 sports I know nothing about - just to catch a glimpse of achievement on the face of someone I've never heard of.

See ya out there...

Dallas Trip

Part of my birthday weekend included a quick trip to Dallas to see my buddies from college. On Saturday morning, M and I left T with Nana and Poppy and headed out. It was an awesome trip. It was so great to catch up with everybody. We don't get together often enough.

The drive to Dallas was un eventful - but once we got there we made a few wrong turns and ended up taking an expensive trip up and down the Dallas Tollway. Oh well. We met up with Larry and Kara and headed to Bucca di Beppo. Cindy and Sean met us there and we had a great meal, some wine, and some interesting conversation. That place is a hoot. The waiter was hot for me. Afterward, we headed over to the Cheesecake Factory for drinks and dessert. Our waiter kept things lively by throwing a tray of drinks on the floor.

It was awesome to have a night on the town with friends. We covered all the great stories of my 21st birthday, Larry's 21st birthday, and the best frat party from college - complete with a potato. Gone are the days of all night parties - it's great to have such awesome friends. (Cindy & Sean - don't worry the "pictures" of you from this weekend. They are tucked away on my computer for your presidential campaign.) :-) Speaking of pictures, I posted a couple from this week. Click the one above to see the whole lot.

See ya out there...

Birthday Breakthrough

After weeks of quiet & controlled base training, it was time to turn things up a notch and see some results. Saturday morning was the last scheduled workout of my recovery week and a Bike/Run brick, my 30th birthday, and the day to see results. I started off shortly after 7 AM on a new bike route for 45 minutes. It was very cold out. In fact, I pulled a u-turn at the bottom of the driveway and headed back in to grab one more layer. Nice ride - nothing special. I have some work to do on the bike.

The run, however, was another story. I've spent a significant amount of time training in this area over the past few months. I've seen a lot of progress. Today I planned a Zone 3 run for 65 minutes. It was warmer by the time I started running and clear as a bell. By the end, I had finished 7.7 miles in 65 minutes for a 8m:36s/mi pace. Results.

The half marathon is just 2 weeks away. I'm feeling pretty confident.

Friday night the in-laws came in and we had a little birthday party. They came to keep T on Saturday while M and I headed off to Dallas to catch up with some friends. I am so blessed to have such a great family that provides me so much support. Among the many great gifts, I received a new Zen Nano, a Zoot Tri-bag, and some $$$ to go toward a wetsuit and cycling shoes.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to everyone!!

So, I turned 30 on Saturday. 3-0. Or as my loving friends put it... "Half way to sixty", "10 years to 40", and "Triple-X". It was a truly great birthday. M and my family really went above and beyond to make me feel special.

Thanks everybody! See ya out there...

Feed the Chicken and Milk the cow

I felt like a farmer this morning. At 3:45 AM the alarm went off calling my day to order. First up: Swim / Run Brick at the club. Total Time: 1h:30m. Next: Work and meeting #3 for the week today. Tonight: B-day party with M and T.

I got some really awesome birthday gifts already this week. More on that in a later post.

I'm worn out. The past 10 days have been a flurry of miles and workouts. This is supposed to be a recovery week and I don't feel very recovered. What up with that?! I decided to take some time out at the LTF cafe for some breakfast and a cup-o-joe. Great idea.

So, I've been flip turning for a week or so now. My pool splits are way down. I've taken nearly 7 seconds off my 100 split. Is this new time more accurate to open water swimming? I can't believe I've gotten that much faster in a week. Thoughts anyone?

See ya out there...