Short bike/Long run

I'm still in Roswell, NM with the aliens. The helicopter I'm flying is broke hard and we're waiting for a maintenance crew to come fix it. Hopefully I'll be back home before this coming Friday. I'll keep you updated.

In the mean time I did a short bike and long run today. I did 45 minutes on the bike just spinning at 100 RPM. Nothing major just a short ride to get the blood flowing again after yesterdays long bike. I then went out to a state park here with a couple of the guys for a long run. They dropped me off when we got of the main road and I started running to the lake where they were going. Seven miles and one hour later I finally made it to the lake. The winds, hills and altitude here are brutal. I then did two loops around the area of the lake for a total run distance of 14.5 miles in 2:05:00. That was about 30 minutes shorter than I wanted to go but I was running very low on my water resupply. I actually drank 120 oz of water during the 2 hour run. I'm thankful that Ryan and Shane didn't mind hanging out at the lake waiting for me to come back around for water refills. Thanks guys!

I only have 28 days until the race. So far I have logged 154 hours 6 minutes and 1897.7 miles.

Have a good weekend!

Long Bike/Short Run

Sorry for not posting the last few days but I have been flying cross country and working a lot. I did have time to ride this morning and do a run after lunch before work. I started out from my hotel in Roswell, NM and head northwest on route 246. No I'm not hear doing anything with the aliens! Now Roswell is at 3600 feet and I spent 2:27:00 going pretty much up hill until I turned around at 5000 feet. The turn around point was at 35 miles so it was a gradual climb but a climb just the same. I then turned around and spent 2:00:00 getting back to Roswell with a nice headwind. I love headwinds!! Total distance was 70 miles in 4:32:00. Not really that fast but it was up hill and I'm riding my old bike.

I then went to a state park here and ran with some guys from work. It's hot here, just like everywhere else, but I had my water belt and managed a 51:00 run. I don't know the distance because my GPS died on the bike ride. Not a bad day at all here in the southwest.

Have a good day!

Louisville Ironman bike course

Today I was lucky enough to ride the Ironman bike course. I only rode 80 miles of the course since one 32 mile section is done twice. I have been told by a few people that the hills in Louisville are not that bad. Evidently these people were supermen because there are plenty of hills, some of them very big. The good news is that what goes up the hill slow comes back down fast. I was able to maintain a 17 mph average using my old Trek 2300 road bike. I'm still thinking that with a proper taper, zipp wheels, aero helmet and race day excitement I'll manage a 5:30:00 on the bike.

The roads where in pretty good shape and now I have first hand knowledge of what to expect. I'll drive the course a few more times before the actual race. I'm really looking forward to race day.

Have a good day!

Travel Day

Today I'm traveling cross country again in a helicopter. But before I departed this morning I was able to get in a good long run. I ran at work and here is what I did. I ran 45 minutes before starting my interval work which last another 30 minutes and consisted of 5 min on, 5 min off, 4 min on, 4 min off, 3 min on, 3 min off, 2 min on, 2 min off, 1 min on, 1 min off. Once I finished that I did a 12 min cooldown. After all that I had covered 11.2 miles in 1:27:00.

Now I have some surprising news! Now most folks know that I always travel with my road bike so I can do some bike workouts while I'm traveling. Since I'm flying cross country I decided that we'd spend our first night in Louisville, KY. And since the Ironman is going to be right here in 30 days I'd just get up early before we have to depart and drive the bike course to have a look see. Well as fate would have it the aircraft I'm flying is broke and the new part won't be here until tomorrow evening. Soooooooooo I'm going to get a chance to ride the Ironman bike course tomorrow morning. That is so much more than I ever expected. I'm actually only going to ride 80 miles of the course since 32 miles are looped twice. I'll be riding nice and easy just to soak it all in as I cruise along. There will be plenty of time to haul ass in 30 days.

Have a good day!!

More heat!!!

Today was the last workout of the week. Thank goodness because tomorrow the heat index it going to be around 106 degrees. Today it was a cool 103 degrees! So I did an easy bike spinning at 100 rpm for 1 hour and 28 minutes. The distance and speed where not as important as just spinning at 100 rpm. But I did cover 24 miles in 1 hour 28 minutes. I then did a quick change into my running gear and then the real pain began. I ran into Sea Shore State Park with Lisa by my side on her bike. We then preceded to cover 17.1 miles over the next 2 hours and 30 minutes. Yes that is an 8:45 pace!! I can't even describe the heat that I ran in today. I can only hope that it's not nearly this hot in Louisville for the race. Every time we passed a water fountain Lisa would fill her 2 qt water bottle and pour it over my head about 3 times before I would start running again. It was a tough day but I finished the run and trained my mind to go a little further even when it hurts.

Have a good weekend! I'll be back Monday.

The heat, the heat, OMG the HEAT!!

Today I did my long ride and short run. Actually the run became a very short run. The heat today was just brutal. I went back up to Williamsburg to ride because of the hills and variety of roads to ride. I can't say that I had my best ride of the year because I felt like someone was riding on the back of me bike the entire day. I did manage to finish 100 miles but it took me 5:25:00. That is an 18.5 mph average, which is well below my 20.5 mph goal for the Ironman. I can only hope that once I taper (rest), put on my Zipp racing wheels and my aero helmet my speed will increase. Lets also hope that there is either no wind or a strong northeast wind on race day. Northeast because the last 32 miles of the race are pretty much down hill and heading southwest. Everybody pray for favorable winds. Thanks!!

I then did a quick change into my running gear. But the heat was somewhere in the 103 degree range. I run with a water belt so that was not the issue. I think the combination of the Williamsburg hills and the heat did me in. I ended up quitting early after only 2.3 miles and 19:25 minutes. That is slow just in case your curious.

Hopefully on race day it will not be 103+ degrees!!

Have a good day!

Run, Swim, Run

Ok so today I have my workouts all planned out, but things never go as planned. Before I got the chance to go run an opportunity came up to get my tires replaced and my car inspected. So off to Va Bch I went. On the way I decided that I'd drop off my car, run to a rec center, swim and then run back to get my car. It was 1pm and the auto shop guys thought I was crazy to be running in this heat. Perhaps I am a bit crazy or really motivated, either way it isn't that bad in the heat as long as you have water.

I ran to seatack rec center in Va Bch which took me 42 minutes and covered 5.5 miles. Once at the rec center I took off everything except my swimming/biking/running shorts and did a 1 mile swim in 26 minutes. I then refilled my water belt and headed back out the door towards my car. The run back was more direct and took 24:38 and covered 3.3 miles. I'm glad that I'm getting to run and bike in this head. Louisville is about this same temperature and I'll be riding and running during the hottest part of the day.

Have a good day!

Today I'm feeling like my workouts are getting back to normal. It's really good to be back and doing the routine again. I can't believe how little time I have left. I'm getting very excited about this race. Anyway, I did a 1 hour bike today and covered 20.5 miles. I'm feeling stronger on the bike (at least on these short rides) and think my goal of 5 hour 30 minutes is very attainable.

I then did a swim this afternoon on the way home. I went to the 50m pool at the Fleet Rec center. I didn't want to jump in over my head (ha ha) right away so I did a 2100m endurance/speed workout. I'll continue to ramp up the swim distances right up until the week before the race. Today here is what I did: warm up 10x50m free (15s RI), 300m pull then, 300m free (15s RI), 3x100m free (15s RI), 200m free (15s RI), 2x100m (15s RI), 100m free (15s RI), cool down 200m free/kick, done. Overall I felt really good in the water, especially since I haven't really done a swim since last week.

More to follow.....

Have a good day!!

Back to the routine

Ok it's late and I'm tired but I'm finally back in my own bed. I'll keep it short and sweet tonight so I can get a good nights sleep.

I finally made it back to VA BCH around 2pm today. My totally awesome girlfriend Lisa was there to pick me up. Once I got settled I didn't waste anytime getting on the bike. Today was a schedule brick day so off I went. I did a 50:30 ride here in the local area and covered 16.5 miles for an average of 19.7 mph. I then did a quick change into running gear and headed out for 30 minutes covering 4 miles for an average of 7:30 per mile. It really felt good to be home riding and running.

I only have 39 days until the race so I'll be sticking to the plan very closely from now on. I've also given up alcohol until I cross the finish line in Louisville. Starting 1 Aug I'll also be giving up all junk food.

It's good to be back! Have a great week!

Bahamas

Well I'm back from the Bahamas and my little mid season break. I had hoped to workout a lot more than I did but that just didn't happen. I think that the slow down in training will be a benefit in the long run. The only thing I did to damage my fitness to this point was drink way more than I normally do and eat pizza almost everyday. It was awesome!! Not to worry because from this point on I'm alcohol free and eating clean until I cross the finish line at the Ironman.

I basically did two workouts while I was in the Bahamas. The first morning I did a Tabata run on a treadmill with a 10 minute warm up at 8 minute pace and a 5 minute cool down at 8 minute pace. The Tabata was done at 10% incline and 6:45 per minute pace. As a reminder the Tabata is 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off x 8. It's a really ass kicker! Try it sometime!

I did a short brick workout also. I did 20 minutes on a stationary bike and then a 20 minute run on a treadmill. Mainly just to remind my body of the training it's currently missing. I did a few short swims as well. The winds here were blowing all the time and swimming in the open water was rough.

Ok that is all the working out that I did. Here is some of the fun stuff that I did.

The main reason for this trip was Corey and Mary's wedding. The wedding was on the beach and it was a beautiful day. The bride looked awesome and the groom was smiling from ear to ear. It was an honor to be here and witness such a beautiful wedding between our friends. Others that made the trip were Corey's Mom and Dad, Bill and Kristen, Craig and Sarah, Chris and Susan and Myself and Lisa.

I did two dives off the west coast of Nassau. We saw numerous sharks, large grouper and sea turtles. The visibility wasn't that great but it was a fun dive just the same. We also did a lot of sailing on the resort Hobie Cats. We went parasailing, which was a first for all of us and it was a blast. I can't believe I've never done that before. I highly recommend doing it. We also enjoyed closing down the piano bar and watching people sing karaoke. We didn't stay out late the last night but we have been told that there was some lap dancing, skinny dipping and men trying on woman's high heels. It was a great vacation!!

Have a good day!

Did I miss a day?? Well it doesn't matter because tomorrow I'm taking a break and going to the Bahamas for a few days. Not to worry I'll be working out while I'm there. But mostly I'm going to relax and have fun.

Monday I went swimming at the Fleet Rec center 50m pool. I really like that pool for long distance swimming. Someday I'm going to learn to do flip turns like all the experts that swim there with me. I'm finally able to bilateral breathe without feeling like my lungs are going to explode. Hopefully that will lead to me getting faster! Here is what I did yesterday: Warm-up 300m free, 300m pull then, 2x100m (10s RI), 2x200m (20s RI), 2x300m (30s RI), 400m pull (30s RI), 100m (10s RI), 200m (20s RI), 300m, cooldown 100m free, done! Total distance was 2900 meters and I only timed the main set which was 2200 meters. My time was 38:37 which averaged out to 1:45 per 100m. I'd like to get to around 1:35 per 100m. I'm working on it!!

Today I went up to Williamsburg for a long ride. I'm not going to be here Friday for my normal long ride so I did one today. I like the terrain since it's more like rolling hills, plus it's not nearly as boring as riding over the Pungo Ferry Bridge for hours. I'm told that Louisville has rolling hills with a couple of big hills. I really couldn't tell you where all I rode today since I don't know anything about Williamsburg. But when I was finished I had rode for 4:12:25 and covered 83.31 miles. That's about 19.7 mph. Still not as fast as I'd like to be but I'm thinking once I taper I'll have the extra go to break 20 mph at the race.

Have a good week and I'll let you know about my workouts when I return from the Bahamas.

Today I did a short bike and a long run. Last night however I went to two different parties and had more food and whiskey than I eat or drink in a normal week. So my performance today was not what I was hoping it to be. I left my house and did a very short bike just to get my legs moving. I rode about 5 miles in 18 minutes before returning home to start my run. Since I'm going to be running the marathon on asphalt I'm doing my long runs on the road and staying out of Sea Shore state park. Lisa and I left my house at 5pm for a 2 hour run. She was riding her bike and I, of course, was running. Our final destination was Lisa's house some 13 miles away. Before we could stop though we had to add some extra mileage to get the full 2 hours. It really wasn't that bad of a run and I felt pretty good the entire way. In the end I ran 2:00:02 and covered 15.02 miles for an average pace of 7:59 per mile. That is my marathon pace for the ironman. Of course today I didn't ride my bike 112 miles, but those are just details!!

Have a great week!!

Today I did my weekly long bike followed immediately by a short run. I wasn't able to depart early because my precious little girls spent the night with me. I met up with the Fat Frogs group at 0730 to start my day. I also did some nutrition experiments today on the bike. I tried to drink my nutrition instead of eating peanut butter and honey sandwiches, but I packed 1.5 peanut butter and honey sandwiches just in case. I rode with Fat Frogs for about 50 minutes before heading out on my own. The wind today was 15 mph out of the ENE and by the end of the ride that wind would be kicking my ass. I rode out to my new favorite place, Pungo Ferry Bridge, and did 5 crossing before venturing further out into Pungo. I did a 45 minute loop before making it back to the bridge. It was when I was out on the 45 minute loop that I ran out of liquid nutrition and energy. I then switched back to peanut butter and honey with energy gels mixed in. That seem to help, but the damage was already done and I was behind the nutrition power curve. Once back at the bridge I did 6 more crossings. When I'm crossing this bridge it's not just over stop, turn around, over stop. I actually ride about 2 miles when heading towards Blackwater rd and about 1/2 mile when heading towards Princess Anne Rd. The trip from Princess Anne to Blackwater rd and back takes about 18 minutes. When I had been out riding for 4 hours I finally started heading back for my car at Fat Frogs in Red Mill Commons. It took me every bit of 1 hour to make it back into that head wind and my legs where screaming at me. I arrived back after riding 5:00:05 and covering 92.7 miles. My average speed was 18.6 mph. Oh to have a day with no head winds...haha.

I then changed into my running shoes, grabbed my water belt and headed out on the road. The heat was brutal today and my time reflects it. I was only able to cover 5.66 miles in 45 minutes on the run. It was hot and I'm very glad that today was not my marathon day. It would have really sucked!!

I'm taking tomorrow off so I'll be back Sunday night with more exciting news. Thank you all for reading and supporting me in this adventure.

Run/Swim

Today I did a one hour run with some interval work in the middle. I got about 2 miles out from work when my body started saying, "please, please can we go home and cut this short." My mind however said "cool it you wuss" and we completed the workout as planned. It's never easy to workout when your body is telling you to slow down. Actually I did slow down from my last run but just a little. I did a total of 1:00:20 today with 5 x 800m sprints in the middle. I covered 7.82 miles which gave me an overall pace of 7:43 per mile. I also ran while drinking my accelerade drink. I mixed it in concentrate form then drank water to mix it in my tummy. Worked great! More experiments with nutrition in the future.

I eventually made it to the Fleet Rec 50 meter pool. However, since I was running late I only had time for 45 minutes. So here is what I did: Warm up 300m free, 400m pull, 300m free, 200m pull then 8 x 100m, times up! I only timed the 8 x 100m laps and my average time per 100m was 1:42. Swimming is so exhausting and now I'm sitting in bed barely awake. At least tomorrow I'm doing a 5 hour bike!

Have a nice day!!

Bike/Swim

Today I did a one hour bike around Ft. Eustis. I started off with a 25 minute warm up then I did 10 hill repeats, then a cool down for a total of 1:00:02. The distance was 19.39 miles. I also didn't drink any water on the ride, yes that's right I didn't drink any water. I was doing a sweat test to check my sweat rate. My pre bike weight was 172 lbs and my post bike weight was 168.25 lbs. The temp was 91 when I started and 94 when I finished. I lost 3.75 lbs of sweat in one hour. That is more than 2% of my body weight in lost fluids. If I lost that much on the Ironman I would be out of the race. Bottom line - Hydrate!!

I then went to the Fleet Rec center pool for some 50 meter laps. I did a 900 meter warm up followed by 4 x 100m free with 2 minute swim intervals (SI), 800m free, 8 x 100m free with 2 minute SI and a 6 x 50m cooldown. I only timed the main set of 800m and 8x100m. My average time per 100m came out to 1:45 per minute. Total distance was 3200 meters. I didn't feel that great when I first got in the pool but by the end of the session I was feeling great.

Have a great day!

Monday/Tuesday

Ok folks I'm back to the keyboard to catch you up on my training!

Monday I was up at 0550 so that I could get in an early morning swim at my secret open water swimming spot. I met Scott K (ok it's not that secret) and we did a one mile swim around the lake. It's was a beautiful morning for a swim, smooth clear water, perfect temperature, no wind, which leaves me wondering why it took me 30:18 to swim .97 mile. I'm hoping I just had a slow day. Overall it was a good swim and I was back home before anyone even knew I was gone.

Monday evening I did a one hour run in Sea Shore state park. Lisa rode her bike to keep me company along the way. During the run I inserted 4 x 5 minute all out efforts with 3 minute cool downs between. On the cool downs I ran at an 8 minute pace. My total time was 1:01:48, I covered 8.25 miles for a pace of 7:30 per mile.

Today I did my weekly brick workout. I rode hard for 45 minutes and then ran 30 minutes with minimal time between events. The bike took 48:52 for 17.14 mile which is an average of 21 mph. The run was 30:00 and covered 3.99 miles for an average of 7:31 per mile. It was a good day for training. Very hot and little wind.

Have a good day!

Long Run

Today I did a long slow run. I didn't have time to run this morning because my girls had a swim meet and you have to be at the meet by 0700. After the swim meet I hustled over to Lisa's house for her daughter's birthday party. The twist is that the party was at a skating rink that just happened to be about 12 miles away. So after taking a little trip back to 1974 on the roller rink and enjoying some yummy birthday cake it was time to run. We brought Lisa's bike with us so she could ride back with me, while her sister drove her car back home.

After running all over south Virginia Beach we finally arrived back at her house. The total distance was 13.82 miles in 1:48:05 which comes out to 7:49 per mile. That is the pace I want to run on the Ironman marathon. The good news, at least to me, is that I could have easily continued at that pace. I have longer runs coming up in the next few weeks as I build for the race. I'm hoping to continue getting stronger and hopefully a little faster.

Happy 4th of July!!

Long bike/Short run

I started my Friday long ride a little later than normal this week. Mainly because the low last night was 67 degrees and I was too worried about the heat. I departed from Fat Frogs bike shop at 0650 for a quick 30 minute ride before meeting up with the main Friday morning "family" group. We left Fat Frogs at 0730 and I rode with them until about 0820 when I headed out on my own. I rode back over to Pungo Ferry Rd to ride over the bridge. I rode between Princess Anne and Blackwater until it was time to depart for home. I managed to cross over the bridge 10 times during my travels. I finally made it back to my car at Fat Frogs in 4:25:30 after covering 87 miles. The last 20 miles where the worst since I was riding into an 18 mph headwind.

I then did a quick change and started my run. I did 45 minutes and covered 6 miles which is a 7:30 pace. The weather was perfect for a long run.

During the bike I ate peanut butter and honey sandwiches plus water. It's messy but it works for me.

Have a good day!

Run/Swim

This morning I was running errands and didn't get to work until 0930. I was stressing about getting in a one hour run before attending the change of command and promotion of a very good friend at 1100. Luckily I was wearing my running gear when I got to work and headed right out the door for a run. I did a repeat of yesterday's speed work intervals, except of course I ran. I did a 18 minute warm up then, 5 minutes on, 2:30 minutes off, 6 minutes on, 3:00 minutes off, 7 minutes on, 18 minute cool down. During the "off" times I still ran although at a much slower pace. On the 5, 6 and 7 minute intervals I was able to maintain a 6:30 pace average. The total distance was 8.22 miles for 59:30 and the pace was 7:14 per mile.

I then attended meetings and ran more errands in the afternoon but before the day was over I managed to get in the pool. I didn't have any special workout in mind so I just jumped in and started swimming. After 32 laps (25m pool) I stopped my watch and the time was 26 minutes. That averages out to 1:37 per 100m. It was good to just get in the pool and swim.

I want to give a special shout out to my girlfriend's daughter who turned 13 today. Yes she wants to do a triathlon sometime.

Have a good day!