Tough Morning

Last night was our swim practice. Simple really: swim 50 lengths (25 yards each). About 3/4 mile total. 50 minutes. Tiiiiiiiiiiired! Then we played Sharks and Minnows...

This morning, given that the kids were either at camp or sleeping over elsewhere, I had the house to myself. Went for the 15 mile, constant movement, 90rpm bike ride at Balboa Park, which proved to be difficult for the last 5 miles but I did it. Much fewer idiots out on the bike path during the week - have to remember that.

Not to be outdone, I hopped off and stowed the bike in the car and then went on a 20 minute run to turn this morning's training into a brick! The run went surprisingly well - no wobbly legs!

Going by the plan, tomorrow is another swim, Saturday a run, and Sunday a bike. Instead, I'll probably swim tomorrow, take Saturday off (or use it for stretching) and on Sunday we (most of the team) are going to Zuma to practice ocean swimming and then ride the Malibu Tri bike route (another brick!). Monday better be a day off because I'm going to need it.

Here's the workout plan for week 12:

Monday: Day off!
Tuesday: Run 5 mi with some hills Try to do a “negative split” (run. 1st half fast, 2nd half faster).
Wednesday: Coached Swim 8-9pm
Thursday: Ride 15 mi flat, all in Z3 after warm up. Get power from each moment of pedal stroke.
Friday: Swim 1400’ yards. Include: 300y WU, 200y drills, 500y swim, 200y drills, 200y CD
Saturday: TBA
Sunday: Ride 20 mi in hilly terrain

Earthquake!

"Oh my god, did you feel that?" my wife said coming into the house from walking the dogs.
"Feel what?" Ryan and I reply.
"The earthquake! I looked up and saw windows rattling!"
"We didn't feel a thing. When did it happen?"
"About 20 minutes ago."
"Oh, we were still out running." I reply.
"Well I was out walking and I felt the ground move!" she says.
"Must have been Ryan and I tramping up the hill after our run/ride." I say, smiling.

Just another day in too-sunny SoCal!

Monday Swim

Not much to report today. Ended-up taking yesterday off as I spent the morning recovering from the party the night before (Tequila - ta-kill-ya). Swam 45 minutes at the pool this morning, ran through all the drills and went home really worn out, so it must have been a good training session!

First Flat!

Yesterday I dragged the kids to the pool (honestly, who really complains except kids about hanging out at a pool and reading for 45 minutes?) and swam about a mile in laps. Based on my time I figure I've now doubled my swimming ability from when I started - which of course rocks!

Today the team had a practice in San Dimas. Two-hour bike ride followed by a 30-minute lake swim. I passed. Not because I didn't want to do it, but because I didn't feel like driving two hours that would be better spent working at home or training. So that is what I did.

I hopped on the bike (and by "hop" I mean 20+ minutes of getting dressed, preparing hydration, eating breakfast, prep'ing the bike, putting on shoes and helmet, etc.) and rode 5 miles to Balboa Park where they have a nice bike/running/walking path. Rode around that four times (5 miles each loop) and then back home for a 30.5 mile ride! Should have taken me 2 hours, but it worked out to three because - I got my first flat!

On the fourth time around the bike started riding really jerky and I looked down and saw it - flat rear tire. So I found a grassy, shady spot next to a fence off the path and set to work. Twenty minutes later I had a new tube on that was nearly fully inflated (apparently I need to use 1.25 CO2 canisters) and I was off again. On the way back I stopped at Custom Bicycles in Tarzana (18424 1/2 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, CA 91356, (818) 344-2806 - tell Kevin that "Steve sent me" and he'll likely ask "who's Steve?") to get the bike checked-out and my work was pronounced "good." Home I went, the hill getting even easier than last time, and proceeded to crash (given the topic of this post, that is not the correct word. What I meant is "pass-out") before heading out to the dentist to get a crown reattached (yesterday was quite the day).

So I got my swim and bike done and tomorrow, if I'm still able after the party tonight, I'll do my run, and Monday will be the day off, then it's back to dragging the kids to the pool for a week (poor kids!) Have a great weekend!

p.s. Current fundraising total is $2,675 - goal is $2,800 - how cool is that ?!?
p.p.s. I guess getting my core back in shape is working - my back didn't hurt nearly as bad as it did at Castaic

Auction Success - Part II

We received our distributions from the Wine Tasting and Silent Auction event last weekend and I'm overjoyed to say that the four of us who put it on each received $799 (after costs) that we will immediately donate to LLS. Thank you everyone for a great event and for providing the funding that will help so many people!

Swim Practice Update

Given my performance at the tri last weekend in the swimming leg, and the fact that I'm home watching both kids in the mornings for the next couple of weeks, I decided to focus on swimming as much as possible to get that up to a satisfactory level.

I swam Monday morning, Tuesday morning and last night (coached practice). I was told that I had visibly improved and to be honest, I felt better in the water. I had more strength and endurance, and getting into a good planing position took about 10 minutes as opposed to 35 minutes of weeks past.

Now the downside: my back is killing me! It hurt quite a bit on the bike and run legs on Saturday and I didn't quite know what to make of that. I'm going to restart my physical therapy exercises since I haven't been to the gym in weeks, and sporadically for weeks before that since starting tri training. I'm thinking I've lost core strength and am basically, from a musculature point of view, softening up too much. So back to stretching and the gym to lift weights. This of course means my endurance training will decrease a bit, but I'm not sure of any other way around it.

My Boy is Back!

My son Ryan just got back from a month away at camp. I'm so happy he's back, we really missed him. He had a great time and (shocker) his voice dropped even more. Ah, they grow up so fast...

Auction Success

Our "Wine Tasting and Silent Auction Fundraiser" was a great success - we made over $2,000 in sales of auction items and another $1,000 in ticket sales. We have a few more things to collect and sell which may bring in another $500-$700, we'll know by the end of this week. The party was fun and easy-going, everyone seemed to have a good time, and we've raised a good deal of money for a great cause!

This morning I went for a 45 minute swim up at the club. Took my daughter Haley with me and she was grumpy from the start as I had to wake her up to get going. Once we got there she became the favorite target of a bee or two and was constantly in motion, moving from chair to chair once they found her again. She finally settled down at the deep end side of the pool and they left her alone. Needless to say I didn't get much uninterrupted swimming in as I was watching and suggesting things between laps, but it was good to get in the water.

And the best news of all: I finally found some goggles that don't leak and are reasonably comfortable: Speedo Vanquisher Plus's. Got 'em over at Sports Chalet which has a huge selection of goggles at reasonable prices - I wish I had gone there first instead of the three other places I've tried.

I'm a Triathlete

It's been a while since I posted so let's catch-up.

Tri-camp was a lot of fun. The Eastside and Westside teams camped together at Lake Lopez. Most arrived Friday evening, I drove up Saturday morning. At 10 we cycled down to the lake for our first open-water swim of about 500 yeards. That was tough but educational. The lake was a bit chilly but other than that and the reeds poking us near the bank it wasn't bad. I got all the way out and then decided my arms were dead so floated and swam my way back. No problems.

After the swim we got on our bikes and road out of the area into town, about 8 miles away, and back. On the way out I needed a "rest" break and while stopping, unclipped my left foot and proceeded to fall over on my right side. Not my proudest moment, but I did get some great gear-gashes on my left leg (still healing...)

That afternoon I went for another short ride (falling over in the parking lot on the way back) and another swim. The swim scared me as I got out in the middle of the lake and realized I was tired, but I floated and calmed down and made my way back to shore safely. Still, a very nerve-wracking experience.

This weekend of course was the Castaic Tri. My brother-in-law Kevin and I did this one. 400 meter swim, 10 mile bike (through the prison in Castaic), and a 3.2 mile run. Kevin is an ex-marathoner so knowing he would kill me in the run I poured it on in the swim and bike, finishing 6 minutes ahead of him overall. Great experience and learning - looking forward to 8/9 for a repeat and better time. Missed the top 5 in my age group by 1 spot (the top 5 all received medals). And with that, I am officially a triathlete!

Tri Camp Weekend

Tomorrow I leave at 5am for a 3.5 hour drive up to Lake Lopez near Pismo Beach to partake in a team camp out. Just me and my bike in a tent along with 62 other triathlete wannabe's. We'll be swimming in the lake, then riding and running for two days. Should be fun and exhausting and a good workout all at the same time. Wish me luck!

Swim Practice

Wow, what a practice. Must have swam a mile. The pool was a bit chilly but after a couple of laps it felt warm. We did sprints, worked on pacing, and then, at the end, worked on staying on target. We lined up at one end of the pool and started swimming toward a red cone. Since looking up causes you to stop, we could only look and check our bearings every once in a while. Now, it's easier in the pool because there aren't any waves, so to make it more difficult the coaches moved the cone around as we got closer, and closer, and started bumping into each other, until finally we all got to the other side.

Everyone got out hungry and we headed over to the local Thai place for a post-workout snack.

11 Days Until First Tri

Registration went out in the mail today - I'll be competing in the sprint triathlon up at Castaic Lake on the 19th. I'm treating this as a "practice" tri. They have another one on 8/9 which I also signed-up for - that one I'll take more seriously. On 8/16 we have out "mock tri" in Malibu and on 9/14 is of course the "real tri." So it looks like I'll actually be participating in 4 triathlons this summer - crazy!

Depending how all these go I'm considering PumpkinMan in Vegas (Lake Mead) in October.

I just figure that since I'm in shape and trained, I might as well go for it!

Try a Tri

On July 19th there's a mini-tri (short sprint) up at Castaic Lake in Valencia put on by one of the local high schools. Looks like my brother-in-law is interested and possibly someone from the TnT team. It would be great practice on a small course so I'm leaning heavily to trying it out.

Today at practice we ran for 50 minutes. I had the opportunity to run alongside one of the coaches (Scot) who very patiently and nicely answered all of my n00bie questions ranging from "how do you clean your feet once you are out of the water" to "what do you do after the race?" to "how do I setup my transition area?" I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing in two weeks. I've got the ability, the equipment and the motivation, so I guess all that's left is just to go do it, right?

Independence Day

Truly a great day: not only are we celebrating the US's independence, but we're also celebrating my independence from having to carry sneakers around with me! That's right, I made it up both the hill at the club and the hill on the way back home when I went swimming yesterday. My legs were burning, my lungs were on fire, I almost couldn't see straight, but I made it up!