Week in review Monday 10-17-2011 to Sunday 10-23-2011

Week 34 of 36 had 15 hours and 30 minutes of training in it. The first few days of this week was an absolute blur. Driving back into town took over 10 hours. Combine the drive with the hard training weekend left me completely exhausted. I woke up Tuesday morning my energy levels were really low and knew I would have to skip my morning swim. My body still had not caught up from the previous three days.

Tuesday afternoon rolled around and I was on the computrainer getting a short ride in. I was feeling better. I started to think through the rest of my training week and realized that after this week I would be only two weeks away from my Ironman event. I’ve been in training for 34 weeks and now, doubt and nerves started to set in. So many thoughts started going through my head. Am I ready? Have I put in enough training? Was my quality of training going to get me to the finish line? Is my nutrition on its mark? The questions go on and on.

I got through my Wednesday and Thursday sessions and started to calm myself down. After this week I would begin to taper. This meant a couple of things. First there isn’t anything I can do about the training. I’ve put in the work and I’ve I have to be confident in what I’ve done. This also meant that my training hours would start dropping dramatically.

I think the upcoming two taper weeks are going to be more mentally draining than physically draining. I didn’t want to think too much about the taper weeks and fortunately a friend of mine who text me earlier in the week about training on Saturday shot me another text with what I saw as a challenge. I had a 4 and ½ hour ride online for Saturday and he suggested we do a hill ride that would take 2 hours. I said no at first as I shot him a text message with a photo of a sheet of paper which said, “Keep your effort aerobic. No hard group rides.” I thought about it for a few seconds after I sent the “No” reply and decided to change my mind. I figured I could climb with a low effort for two hours. It would be a test of self control. I also had a 45 min run afterwards which he said he would join me on.

Saturday came along and I started it off with a 1 hour warm up on the bike. After the warm up we started on this “steady” climb which translated to a hill climb that started off with a 2.5 percent grade. When riding a computrainer it is a constant effort. There is no coasting there are no breaks. If you stop peddling you stop going forward. The next two hours would prove to be interested. The grade never dropped below 2.5. There were sections in the course that held steadily at 8 percent, 15 and 18 percent. We hit a section of the course that registered as a 29.1 percent grade. Yes, I will not leave out that .1 percent. J After 2 hours on the steady climb I found that I had only traveled 20 miles. Though I averaged only 10 miles per hour I ended up averaging out over 30 more watts on that ride. The run after the ride went really well. I had two friends run with me. It felt like a social run and it made the 45 minute run go by smoothly.

I had one last long run and short spin on Sunday. I didn’t know what to expect Sunday morning given I had that 2 hour steady climb. It rained that night and into to the morning. I decided to sleep in a bit and get my run in a little later than normal. My run went well I put 12 miles in at a 75% effort and my pace was pretty much on its mark. It felt good to finish my last long week on a good note.

As I venture into my taper weeks I don’t know what to expect but, I’m going into it with a positive attitude. It’s going to be a time of physical recovery and recuperation, a time of mental preparation. I know the event will be upon me before I know it.

As always feel free to email me of you have any questions, comments or random thoughts. If you have a story to share I’d love to hear about it.

..ej
ej@trilifeblog.com
www.facebook.com/trilifeblog

Week in review Monday 10-10-2011 to Sunday 10-16-2011

Week 33 of 36 had 15 hours and 30 minutes of training in it. This week was going to get a bit crazy. I signed up for an out of town event, King of the Causeway Challenge, in South Padre Island. This meant that I would have to travel a total of 18 to 20 hours this week, work three days and figure out a way to squeeze in my training.

I stuck to my normal routine for Monday and Tuesday. I decided to move one of my Thursday workouts to Wednesday to free up my Thursday evening. It worked out pretty well. I ended up putting in three workouts on Wednesday and an early morning workout on Thursday morning.

The drive from DFW to the Rio Grande Valley would prove to be long as expected. I had been up since 4:20 a.m. and I knew my day wasn’t going to end anytime soon. I knew I had a long hard training weekend ahead of me and wasn’t sure how the drive was going to affect me. I’m originally from the Rio Grande Valley and had a family event to attend to plus packet pick up for the King of the Causeway Challenge. My day would come to an end at 12 midnight. It made for a very long day.

Friday came around and I was not feeling good. My energy was low and I was just felt crappy. I had a 45 minute swim to put in and luckily I found a public pool to get my swim in. Swim options in the valley are pretty limited. It was the middle of the day and the pool was outside. I ended up getting just enough sun to leave me with a headache. Now not only did I feel weak I also had a headache. I was not too confident about the upcoming weekend’s events. I took something to help boost my immunity system and decided to turn in by 10:30 p.m.

Saturday was here and I was up again at 4:20 a.m. It was KOC Challenge weekend. The event consisted of a two stage bike race on Saturday and a Sunday sprint triathlon. I knew I was going to have to put in more hours than what the event would provide so I threw in a couple extra workouts.

The Saturday morning stage one road race was a 58 mile ride through the southern tip of Texas. The Saturday evening stage two road race was an 11 mile sprint that went over a 3 mile causeway. I had a 4 hour and 25 minute ride to put in along with a run and a swim. I knew the two races would not give me the time I needed. I ended up showing up early and spun on my trainer for an hour before the 58 mile ride.

Before the road race began I was told that since I had a tri bike I was not to ride in a pack or draft off of anyone. I was completely fine with that since I wouldn’t be able to draft in my IM event. The morning ride went well. I missed my training average by a little bit but given I road the course all on my own effort I was very happy with the ride. I was also pretty excited about the fact that I was ridding outside for a change. The south Texas weather was perfect. I finished the ride and got in a quick 30 minute run. I was feeling pretty good after the first event. I knew my recovery and nutrition would be crucial to get me through the weekend. I immediately refueled and rehydrated after the event.

Saturday evening’s event was a quick 11 mile road race. Aside from a little wind the conditions for this race were excellent. I had another great ride and I hit my mark this time on my bike average.

Saturday evening rolled in and I was now feeling a bit fatigued. I was unable to get a nap in during the day as I had planned so I knew I would have to get to bed at a decent time. The next morning was the sprint triathlon and I had family and friends who were going to come by and see the event. It’s very rare that they get to see me race so I wanted to do well for them.

Sunday morning was here and I was hurting. I knew I was fatigued but, there was nothing I could do about it. It was go time and I had to mentally prepare myself for the race. This sprint event had two transition areas so I had to set up my run gear in T2 and road my bike over to T1 to set my bike up. It was maybe a 3 to 4 mile ride between transition areas. I figure it would make for a good little warm up.

The swim would take place on the bay side of the island. This would be my first salt water swim. I was nervous but excited at the same time. I hear that salt water was buoyant so now I would be able to experience it. The race officials called my wave into the water. He mentioned to be carful as there may be some barnacles on the floating doc. I sat on the lip of the floating doc and eased my way into the water. Yes, sir it was buoyant. In fact the buoyancy caught me by surprised and I floated over to the left just far enough to nick a barnacle with my elbow.

I enjoyed the swim. I did not hit the swim time I was looking for but, I still enjoyed the swim. I quickly transitioned to my bike I knew my legs were fatigued but, I also knew the route was going to be flat. I tired to hold a pace the best I could the whole way through. As I was on the bike I noticed a huge blood spot on my knee and quad. I wasn’t sure why I was bleeding. I then noticed my elbow. The barnacle had cut me when I entered the swim area. I blew it off and focused back on my bike.

Coming off the bike I felt I had put in a pretty solid effort. I jumped out onto the run course. I was looking forward to this run and was expecting to hold a certain pace. It didn’t take long to figure out that I was going to miss my run goal. My quads and legs were heaving and hurting. I had to focus hard on my form and depend on it to get me through the run.

I had lost a sprint earlier this year by 13 seconds and I just knew that every second counted. With about a mile to go I was running on fumes. I pushed what I could and got across the finish line. I was happy with my effort and was completely exhausted from the push. I took a few minutes to get myself together. I washed the cut on my elbow and spoke with a few of the athletes along with my family members for a few minutes.

I had a one hour run to do and thought about passing on it. I knew I wasn’t going to pass on the run but, I did think about it for a second. My goal for this weekend just like every past weekend is to put in my training hours. I changed into a fresh pair of running shoes and got my run in. When I got back to the race site I ran into a friend of mine who told me he got second overall. I congratulated him on his placing. He then told me that I took the overall win beating him by 3 seconds. Yes, 3 seconds. I know how that feels. In a sprint every second counts. I was defiantly excited about winning the inaugural KOC Triathlon. Wally and his crew did a fantastic job putting on this event. There was a lot of sweat and time that was put in behind the scenes to make this event come together.

In addition to the sprint triathlon overall win I also took 1^st in my age group for the Saturday two stage bike race. Laura Reyna and her crew also did an outstanding job. I would love to come back next year and do this all again. We’ll see what 2012 has in store for me.

I met several new friends in the area. A great group of guy and girls who I know will be better and stronger next year. There were a couple of triathlon first timers who did an awesome job. I also met a gutsy gentleman who had a badly sprained ankle but, still went ahead with the swim and bike portion of the triathlon. Both Wally and Laura are doing a fantastic job by hosting these events in the Rio Grande Valley area. I hope they continue putting on these events. The valley needs more of them.

For now this week has come to a close. It was a week of accomplishments for me. I had a list of goals at the beginning of the year. I will recap those as we get closer to December. I’ve already hit three of them. Winning a triathlon event was one of my goals. Please see my Facebook page for event pictures.

As always feel free to email me of you have any questions, comments or random thoughts. If you have a story to share I’d love to hear about it.

..ej
ej@trilifeblog.com
www.facebook.com/trilifeblog

Week in review Monday 10-03-2011 to Sunday 10-09-2011

Before I get into the meat of this weeks blog I want to send out a congratulations to all Ironman World Championship finishers who competed this past Saturday morning. A huge congrats goes out to local DFW athletes Patrick Schuster, David Jones and John Morgan for completing this event.

Another week is gone and I’m one more week closer to my IM Florida event. This week was pretty uneventful. Week 32 of 36 had 15 hours and 30 minutes of training in it and was geared to be a low intensity recovery week.

I was pretty tired on Monday coming off of a huge volume week. It felt like one rest day was not enough. I’m constantly thinking about my swim and how I need to improve it. I know it’s not going to happen this year but, I’m still searching and trying new things. I was online searching for strength exercises for my swim and I stumbled upon an article which talked about the EVF (Early Vertical Forearm) technique. I read through the article and it said a lot of things that made sense. I vaguely remember seeing an EVF video earlier this year but, never really did explore it. I searched and found one which showed how several swim pros utilize EVF in their swim. I felt like I had new life again and maybe this is what will help me shave some seconds off my 100 meter pace. I look forward to blogging about the out come later this year.

I also realized that I have not lifted any type of weights for almost 3 years now. All my strength training has come from hill repeats on the run, hill climbing/low cadence on the bike and pulls on the swim. I’m already thinking ahead for next year and want to do some type of base strength training with weights. Optimally I would like to improve my strength to weight ratio in all three areas. This will make me a better athlete for next season.

This week in review is going to be a bit short. Again it was pretty uneventful. I had one highlight which was my Sunday morning run. It rained on me the entire 1 hour and 30 minutes I was out there. I loved every minute of it. My shoes were wet and heavy. I was also soaking wet but, I really did not care. The weather was cool and the water was refreshing. It was so refreshing that I actually took more hydration than I needed. I ended up not drinking close to 24 oz of fluids.

It’s now Monday evening and I’m planning out my whole week of training. I’m going to be traveling out of town and will need to incorporate my training with my travel. I have a couple of out of town events lined up for me this weekend. I have a two stage bike race/rally on Saturday and a sprint triathlon on Sunday. I will use both of these events for training. One of the reasons I signed up for the triathlon was because it was a salt water swim. I wanted to get some salt water swim experience before my IM Florida event.

I’m a bit excited that these events are back near my home town. There are not many triathlon events in that area so I’m taking this opportunity to invite family and friends to come see me race in a sprint triathlon. This will allow me to share something I truly enjoy doing with them. It’s rare that I have any family see me in any of my events so this means a lot to me. I’m looking forward to this fun filled weekend.

As always feel free to email me of you have any questions, comments or random thoughts. If you have a story to share I’d love to hear about it.

..ej
ej@trilifeblog.com
www.facebook.com/trilifeblog

Week in review Monday 9-26-2011 to Sunday 10-02-2011

Training week 31 of 36 had 19 hours of training in it. This would be my longest training week of my training program. I also had to incorporate the Toyota U.S. Open Olympic triathlon I had signed up for earlier in the year. Last year I went to the event as a spectator. I heard there were going to be some Pros racing and I wanted to see them compete. I had no idea that this event was the finally to a race series. I thought it was really cool to be able to see them race and it would be even cooler to race with them. That’s the main reason why I signed up for the event.
Going into this week I knew that my conditioning would be tested. I had just come off a ½ marathon race and I had one rest day before getting back into my Ironman training. I also had the Toyota Open Olympic event at the end of my long week. I was having second thoughts about racing. I didn’t want it to interfere with my training.

I was a bit sore and tired on Monday. I took full advantage of the rest day and did absolutely nothing from a workout prospective. Last weeks training took extra personal motivation to get my workouts in. I did not want to just “get through” the week so I made an attempt to get mentally into my training. I was sore during my Tuesday swim/bike and Wednesday run/bike workouts but, I pushed through them and felt good about my efforts.

Thursday rolled around. I had a long swim and a run on my plate. The weekend was fast approaching and while I was on my run I started thinking about my weekend’s workout and the Toyota U.S. Open on Sunday. I knew I was going to have to use it as a training race so I had to take that mind set with me into the weekend.

Friday was an easy swim day and I’m glad a friend of mine suggested we go get an open water swim in. I had not been in my wetsuit since late June maybe early July. When I purchased my wetsuit back in 2010 I decided to opt for the full body suit. I read that there was a buoyancy benefit. Well what I didn’t read but, later learned is that there is also more of an effort to get your arms moving in a full body wetsuit. I was hoping the practice session would help me break back into that wetsuit effort.

After my swim on Friday afternoon my weekend turned into a blur. My Saturday started at 4:20 a.m. I had a 5 hour computrainer ride, 45 minute run and 20 minute swim. I put in a good effort on the bike. I had the race the next day on my mind but, I kept telling myself it’s for training. I will benefit more by putting in a solid Saturday workout effort. I reminded myself throughout the workout session that the goal is IM Florida not the US Toyota. I got through my session and felt really a bit fatigued but, I also felt good. I headed over to packet pick up and was fortunate to find some people doing ART for free. I got my legs worked on. This was like finding gold. My legs needed it badly.

I scouted the 40k bike and 10k run and found that they were no picnic. I was hoping for a sub 1 hour 20 minute time but, after seeing the hills on both the bike and run I knew it was going to be tough to get there. I knew that Sunday’s race was going to hurt. My Saturday came to a close a little after 11 p.m. I’m usually in bed by 10 p.m. before race day but, I had family come into town and was playing host.

Sunday came around and I was up again at 4:20 a.m. It was race day. I decided to wear my Wheaties Fuel gear to this event. I was out the door and headed over to the event. I was able to get there by 5:30 a.m. just in time for transition to open. I got my stuff squared away and was ready to work. The day was great for racing. I felt real relaxed on the swim, maybe too relaxed as I missed my swim time by a few minutes. The bike was tough the first 5 miles felt like it was all up hill. The rest of the bike was rolling. We were either riding up or rolling down. I missed my mark on the bike by 3 minutes but, I had not accounted for the hills so I was happy with my time. The 10k run was also very hilly. The first mile was a steady climb the next four miles were rolling hills. The only fun part about the run was the last mile. It was mostly down hill. I kept focused on my legs I wanted to make sure I didn’t fall on my face.

The finish to this event was very cool. We got to run through a finish area that was lined up with people who were cheering us as we came through the finish line. I had no idea what my time was or where I finished. I knew I had a great training session and though I wish I could have pushed harder on the bike and the run I knew that my performance was going to be restricted due to my previous day’s workout. I met up with a fellow Team Wheaties Fuel member who was in my age group and finished in front of me. He asked me how I did; I told him I did not know. I asked him the same question and he was pretty confident that he won our age group. I congratulated him on a great race. He then told me he though I was second in our age group. Now that was a surprise. I was going to get my recovery run in but, I decided to wait for results. It turns out that I did not get 2^nd in my age group but, I did get third. That was pretty cool. I was able to take home some hardware. I also was able to sneak in another ART massage before I headed home. J

As I drove back to my area I was seriously contemplating a nap. I knew I had a one hour run left to do and I started thinking of skipping it and just calling it a day. I got close to my house and starting thinking about IM Florida. I just could not walk away from the last hour of my workout. I decided to stick to the plan. I drove to the park and got my one hour run in. I took it nice and easy just making sure I got my time in.

I want to close out this week’s blog with a quick note. Each time I go to an event there is usually something that keeps me motivated. This Sunday I noticed an elderly overweight lady as she walked on the dock with her wetsuit on. I would have loved to have spoken with her to find out what is her motivation. I knew there were relay teams so I figured she was the swim member of a relay. I was pleasantly surprised to see her on the run course. I thought to myself how awesome is that? She was not on a relay after all. She was doing a sprint triathlon all on her own. I didn’t see her finish but, I’m sure she did. She looked real strong on the run. This is a great reminder that it is never to late to make a change and put forth an effort.

It was great seeing all my fellow triathlon friends at this weekend’s race. Congratulations to all who raced on this tough course. It was no walk in the park.

As always feel free to email me of you have any questions, comments or random thoughts. If you have a story to share I’d love to hear about it.

..ej
ej@trilifeblog.com
www.facebook.com/trilifeblog

Hardware from the Toyota US Open.

Training week 31 of 36 had 19 hours of training in it. This would be my longest training week of my training program. I also had to incorporate the Toyota U.S. Open Olympic triathlon I had signed up for earlier in the year. Last year I went to the event as a spectator. I heard there were going to be some Pros racing and I wanted to see them compete. I had no idea that this event was the finally to a race series. I thought it was really cool to be able to see them race and it would be even cooler to race with them. That’s the main reason why I signed up for the event.

Going into this week I knew that my conditioning would be tested. I had just come off a ½ marathon race and I had one rest day before getting back into my Ironman training. I also had the Toyota Open Olympic event at the end of my long week. I was having second thoughts about racing. I didn’t want it to interfere with my training.

 I was a bit sore and tired on Monday. I took full advantage of the rest day and did absolutely nothing from a workout prospective. Last weeks training took extra personal motivation to get my workouts in. I did not want to just “get through” the week so I made an attempt to get mentally into my training. I was sore during my Tuesday swim/bike and Wednesday run/bike workouts but, I pushed through them and felt good about my efforts.

Thursday rolled around. I had a long swim and a run on my plate. The weekend was fast approaching and while I was on my run I started thinking about my weekend’s workout and the Toyota U.S. Open on Sunday. I knew I was going to have to use it as a training race so I had to take that mind set with me into the weekend.

Friday was an easy swim day and I’m glad a friend of mine suggested we go get an open water swim in. I had not been in my wetsuit since late June maybe early July. When I purchased my wetsuit back in 2010 I decided to opt for the full body suit. I read that there was a buoyancy benefit. Well what I didn’t read but, later learned is that there is also more of an effort to get your arms moving in a full body wetsuit. I was hoping the practice session would help me break back into that wetsuit effort.

After my swim on Friday afternoon my weekend turned into a blur. My Saturday started at 4:20 a.m. I had a 5 hour computrainer ride, 45 minute run and 20 minute swim. I put in a good effort on the bike. I had the race the next day on my mind but, I kept telling myself it’s for training. I will benefit more by putting in a solid Saturday workout effort. I reminded myself throughout the workout session that the goal is IM Florida not the US Toyota. I got through my session and felt really a bit fatigued but, I also felt good. I headed over to packet pick up and was fortunate to find some people doing ART for free. I got my legs worked on. This was like finding gold. My legs needed it badly.

After packet pick up I went ahead and scouted the course. The 40k bike and 10k run were no picnic. I was hoping for a sub 1 hour 20 minute time but, after seeing the hills on both the bike and run I knew it was going to be tough to get there. I knew that Sunday’s race was going to hurt. My Saturday came to a close a little after 11 p.m. I’m usually in bed by 10 p.m. before race day but, I had family come into town and was playing host.

Sunday came around and I was up again at 4:20 a.m. It was race day. I decided to wear my Wheaties Fuel gear to this event. I was out the door and headed over to the event. I was able to get there by 5:30 a.m. just in time for transition to open. I got my stuff squared away and was ready to work. The day was great for racing. I felt real relaxed on the swim, maybe too relaxed as I missed my swim time by a few minutes. The bike was tough the first 5 miles felt like it was all up hill. The rest of the bike was rolling. We were either riding up or rolling down. I missed my mark on the bike by 3 minutes but, I had not accounted for the hills so I was happy with my time. The 10k run was also very hilly. The first mile was a steady climb the next four miles were rolling hills. The only fun part about the run was the last mile. It was mostly down hill. I kept focused on my legs I wanted to make sure I didn’t fall on my face.

The finish to this event was very cool. We got to run through a finish area that was lined up with people who were cheering us as we came through the finish line. I had no idea what my time was or where I finished. I knew I had a great training session and though I wish I could have pushed harder on the bike and the run I knew that my performance was going to be restricted due to my previous day’s workout. I met up with a fellow Team Wheaties Fuel member who was in my age group and finished in front of me. He asked me how I did; I told him I did not know. I asked him the same question and he was pretty confident that he won our age group. I congratulated him on a great race. He then told me he though I was second in our age group. Now that was a surprise. I was going to get my recovery run in but, I decided to wait for results. It turns out that I did not get 2^nd in my age group but, I did get third. That was pretty cool. I was able to take home some hardware. I also was able to sneak in another ART massage before I headed home. J

As I drove back to my area I was seriously contemplating a nap. I knew I had a one hour run left to do and I started thinking of skipping it and just calling it a day. I got close to my house and starting thinking about IM Florida. I just could not walk away from the last hour of my workout. I decided to stick to the plan. I drove to the park and got my one hour run in. I took it nice and easy just making sure I got my time in.

As I close out this week’s blog I wanted to make a couple quick notes. Each time I go to an event there is usually something that keeps me motivated. This Sunday I noticed an elderly overweight lady as she walked on the dock with her wetsuit. I would have loved to have spoken with her to find out what is her motivation. I knew there were relay teams so I figured maybe she was the swim member of a relay. As the race went on and I was on my run I ran across the same lady. She was out on the run. I thought to myself how awesome is that? She was not on a relay after all. She was doing a sprint triathlon all on her own. I didn’t see her finish but, I’m sure she did. She looked real strong on the run. This is a great reminder that it is never to late to make a change.

It was great seeing all my fellow triathlon friends at this weekend’s race. Congratulations to all who raced on this tough course. It was no walk in the park.

As always feel free to email me of you have any questions, comments or random thoughts. If you have a story to share I’d love to hear about it.

ej@trilifeblog.com

www.facebook.com/trilifeblog

..ej

Week in review Monday 9-19-2011 to Sunday 9-25-2011

Training week 30 of 36 had 16 1/2 hours of training in it. I will admit that this week was the toughest training week thus far. It was mentally challenging more than physically challenging. It took a huge effort to get through the smaller mid week workouts. I had a pretty solid training week which ended with a ½ marathon race. Before I get into discussing my week I wanted to blog a little bit about a person who has gone through a life changing transformation.

I signed up for a half marathon to support my neighbor who is currently in training for his first full marathon. I mentioned the race to a friend of mine who I knew had been working his butt off in the gym and had put some miles on the treadmill. I asked him to come out and run a 5k while my neighbor and I ran the half marathon. I knew he could easily do a 10k but, since this would be his first running race I felt he would be more accepting to the idea of running a 5k.

He agreed and come out to run on Sunday and knocked out the 5k. He did a fantastic job finishing 16^th over all and 2^nd in his age group. Okay I know what most of you may be thinking. So this was a guy who got into the gym trained and did a 5k, big deal.

I did mention life changing transformation, right? Well you see this individual started his transformation back in 2009 and by 2010 he lost 60 pounds. That is an awesome accomplishment. Losing 60 pounds is not an easy task. He kicked up the intensity level and workouts in 2011. Nine months later he had knocked out an additional 160 pounds! Yes, that’s right he’s dropped a total of 200 pounds in less than 3 years with most of them happening in 9 months.

I think it’s safe to say that this person has been through a life changing transformation. I’m very proud of his accomplishment and have encouraged him to continue on with his amazing journey. I think he is well on his way to maintaining. I can see him already making that crossover to living a healthy life style and not considering what he is doing dieting. I’m not a fan of “dieting” it’s a word that is frowned upon by many. There is a cloud of negativity which surrounds that word when it is used.

For those of us who want to loose a few pounds and live a healthier life. It is possible no matter how far from your goal you may be. I hope you can take my friend’s experience and use it as motivation to reach your own accomplishments. I know I will.

Here’s a little wrap up of my week.

As I mentioned it was hard for me to get it done during the week. I spoke with a couple of friends who were experiencing a similar week. I had another high volume weekend coming and I had signed up for a half marathon. At this point of my IM training I think the time on the bike is meant to get me mentally ready for the race.

I had the half marathon in the back of my mind on Friday. I was faced with a dilemma. I wanted to get a solid workout in on Saturday but, I also wanted to have a solid training race on Sunday. I felt my conditioning was very good and that I could make it work. I put in a 4 hour computrainer ride, 50 minute run and 30 minute recovery swim on Saturday. I made it a point to start at 5 a.m. to be able to have as much recovery time as possible for the next day’s hard training run.

I had a couple of goals for Sunday’s half marathon. I wanted to make sure I pushed myself beyond my IM marathon pace, I wanted to finish either at or faster than a 1 hour 30 minute time and I want to make sure my neighbor completed his run. This was my neighbor’s first half marathon. We spoke about the run and came up with a strategy. It was a chance for him to work on his nutrition and liquid intake.

Right before the race started I made my way to the front of the pack. I wanted to latch on to a faster runner to help me push. I also did not want to burn out so I placed a 6 minute mile pace limit on myself. The gun went off and immediately a runner bolted away from the pack. I decided to stick with him for as long as I could. We hit the one mile mark and had put in a 5:36 mile. It was way to fast for what I wanted to do. I slowed it down and tried to stick to my plan.

I knew I had a long workout the day before and I wanted to get through this race without killing myself. As the race went on I stuck to a pace and ended up really enjoying the run. I was presently surprised that I was not suffering or wishing it was over. It was a bit hot and humid but, nothing compared to the 100 plus degree weather I ran in earlier in the summer so I was perfectly fine with the conditions.

I was coming up on mile 10 and I was approaching an aid station. I yelled for water because the volunteers were not looking at runners heading back towards the finish. When I called out for water my right calf started to cramp up. It wasn’t bad but, I felt it warm up and knew bad was coming. As I grabbed a cup of water I noticed a police motorcycle pulled out in front of me. It appeared that he was slowing down and looking back waiting for something. Man did I feel like a goof. I finally realized he was looking for me. I was sitting in 2^nd place overall and had a police motorcycle escort with less than 3 miles to the finish.

I thought that was way cool but, at the same time I knew I was on the verge of cramping. I thought to myself this may be the one and only time I get an escort in a race do not mess it up. It was gut check time and I just could not let this slip away. My calf muscles did cramp up at mile 11 and 12 but, I worked through them. I did slow down a bit for the last couple of miles but, I tried not to slow down to much. I had no idea how far back 3^rd place was.

I was about a fourth of a mile away from the finish and I heard another police motorcycle pull up behind me. I though I was getting passed by 3^rd place. I turned for the home stretch and kicked it up a notch. Right before the finish line I cramped up one last time. I was laughing inside at that point. I was just happy to have crossed the line with goals accomplished.

After the lady removed the chip from my shoe I went back for my neighbor. I found him and jogged back to the finish line with him. He did really well considering the warmer condition and though his ham cramped up with less than a fourth mile to go he was able to work it out and jog it through the finish line. Mission accomplished for him.

I ended up finishing 2^nd overall in half marathon. I also walk way with a PR of 1 hour 22 minutes. After this weekend I’m confident that my endurance is where it needs to be. I have three more events before IM Florida. All of which I am using as part of my training. I will continue to stay on course with my workouts and not taper for any of these smaller events. I think it’s working for me thus far.

The human will is very powerful and when used to its fullest potential miraculous things can happen. I feel very blessed and fortunate to know of individuals who take that will and just simply get it done.

As always feel free to email me of you have any questions, comments or random thoughts. If you have a story to share I’d love to hear about it.

ej@trilifeblog.com

www.facebook.com/trilifeblog

..ej

Week in review Monday 9-12-2011 to Sunday 9-18-2011

Training week 29 of 36 had 18 hours of training. This is the biggest training week I’ve had all season. I just had a solid ½ Ironman training race and I was ready to get this week’s work out going. Reflecting back to my first ½ Ironman I could tell my conditioning was much better this time around. I had some soreness but, nothing that would keep me from training.

On Monday morning I remember stepping out of my place and feeling the cool refreshing 70 degree weather. It made it almost impossible for me to take my training day off. I held strong and resisted. I enjoyed the day off and the great weather. The change in weather was so welcome by all in the DFW area.

On Tuesday I had a swim in the a.m. and a bike in the p.m. I was a bit disappointed going into my swim session. I had the 41 minute 1.2 mile swim from Sunday on my mind. It really is frustrating for me knowing that IM Florida could be a 1 hr and 20 minute swim for me. If that happens I’m going to be at least 20 minutes behind my competition. My bike isn’t strong enough to make up that ground and neither is my run. I’ve convinced myself not to think much about this IM’s upcoming swim. I’m going to let it play out and work on this during the offseason.

I contemplated blogging about my Wednesday’s morning run earlier this week. I may still add a little something under the 101 pages. I had a morning run and the rain was rolling in. I sat in my car and noticed how hard it was raining. For a second I thought about going back home and skipping my run then I thought to myself, “What is a perfect day?” I started thinking about race day and started going through the “What ifs”. I train with the “What ifs” in the pool why not on the bike or on my run. I heard stories of races having rain, high winds, cold temperatures and hale. There wasn’t any lighting just a hard rain so I decided to go get my run in. The reality is that your race day may not be the perfect race day. I took the opportunity to put myself in an uncomfortable situation, so if it does happen I will be a bit more prepared for it.

My Thursday and Friday workouts ran together. I put the work in while thinking about the weekend’s workout. I had high volume workout lined up and was already getting mentally prepared for it. As most of you already know I’ve taken my training rides indoors for the rest of my training session. On Saturday I had a 5 hour 15 minute bike ride on tap followed by a 30 minute swim. It was going to be a long Saturday morning.

My alarm went off at 4:20 a.m. on Saturday. I wanted to start my ride by 5 a.m. since I was dedicating close to 6 hours of my Saturday to a training session. Starting any later would leave me without much time to do anything else. I had a solid training ride in putting in 113 miles in on the bike. My swim also went well. I felt really good after my Saturday training session. I wanted to get out and run but, that was not on my plate for the day. I would have all the running I needed on Sunday.

Sunday’s workout session was a “Sandwich”. I just learned that term this week. J A “Sandwich” is a run, bike and run. I got a late start on Sunday and I paid for it. The humidity was pretty bad. I got done with the first leg of my workout and I was drenched with sweat. The only refreshing thing about my run was seeing Rick dong SAG for Patrick’s (IM Texas armature champion) run. That gave me a bit of an energy boost. It was good to know that I wasn’t the only one out there training and suffering.

I quickly transition to my bike and got my 45 minute spin in. I tried to keep my cadence between 85 to 90 rpm while watching some of the IM Vegas 70.3 on Universalsports.com. I’m glad Madison made that suggestion it made the 45 minutes go by pretty quickly.

I got off the bike and threw on a fresh pair of socks on and I was off to finish my 3^rd and last leg. Legs were starting to feel heavy. I had a 30 minute out and 30 minute back to finish my day. I had put in a total of 21.5 miles on the run and I was so done. The only thought running threw my mind was ice bath.

This week was packed full of hard fun. I really enjoyed putting in the work. Completing this week boosted my confidence as I’m now less than 2 months away from my first Ironman.

I have a couple pair of shoes which I picked up from The Texas Running Depot. They are fairly new to the U.S. One is a trainer the other is a racing flat. The racer sits at a very light 5.5 ounces. I’ll put some work in them and blog a review in a week or two.

I hope you all had a great week. The weather is finally cooling off. Get out there and enjoy it.

As always feel free to email me of you have any questions.

ej@trilifeblog.com

www.facebook.com/trilifeblog

..ej

Trianer

Racer