Holiday Challenge - Day 1

I did a 5000m row at a very slow pace.  I need to average about 3600m per day everyday until Xmas to complete the challenge.

  

Cranks giving

Thanksgiving morning I got my butt kicked by Spyder and his crew of MTBrs.  It left me with the taste of blood in my throat for a while after.  

Sunday Ride

I got out for 1:15.  6:50am start.  15 degrees.  Tried out a few new ways to stay warm and only my toes were cold. Stopped for a mid ride coffee break and watched the sunrising over fullersburg and salt creek. 

 

Stroke count

10/10 (hard,easy)

20/20

30/30

40/40

50/50

40/40

30/30

20/20

10/10

Recovery

I'm a little sore today.  

Easy 10 minute row

3x20 sec planks

2x10 push ups

Finally, I think I am ready....

I'm out of excuses.  Rowing machine is connected online finally after some great C2 customer service.  

Here we go:

2000m row for time

Here are the stats:

Sunday Ride

18 miles with a nice long coffee break at La Fortuna.  

Friday

4 x 750m

2 x 10 push ups

Tabata plank

Tuesday

I slept in but got this done at least

3 rounds:

10 push-ups

20 rows trx

5 pull-ups

30 sec plank(teddy kept climbing on my back)

Monday

WU

-------

(3 rounds of)

500m

20 push-ups

20 crunches

20 air squats

------

Tabata Planks

Anyone out there?

Current weight 200lbs

Goal Weight 185lbs

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The plan to New Years:

C2 Holiday Challenge

MWF Row&Weights

TH Swim

SaSu Adventure

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After New Years:

MWF Swim

TH Row&Weights

SaSu Adventure

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Establishing a routine is my first short term goal.  Season Goals are under development.  

Chicago Triathlon 2009 Results

A little adventure ride

Here is a new way I might start showing my ride data:

The Race of Truth

I have started doing some time trialing to train for the triathlon now. Here is the data on them. The first one listed was into a brutal headwind the whole time. I was sore for 2 days after and was still feeling fatigued in the legs at the start of my TT today.

TT #1




TT #2





I averaged 22.1 mph in the triathlon 2 years ago, so I am pretty pleased with my progress so far this year. The Chicago course is faster than this course I am training on so I think I am at a stronger level of biking fitness. Hopefully that proves to be true on race day.

Open Water

I love swimming in open water.

You can get such a rhythm going that you can't get in a pool. I did 2 miles today at Ohio Street and it felt pretty good. One thing I learned for sure is that Big Shoulders is coming up soon and I am not prepared for 3 miles of racing speed!

Run

2 mile run today.

My ankle and foot felt much better after some time away. I think I am going to start training barefoot and see what happens. I just can't stop reading how it has helped so many people run pain free. We will see....

MINIKEGS are here

We did a 35 mile one way ride from South Haven, MI to Kalamazoo, MI on the Kal Haven Trail on Saturday. It was a really nice trail similar to the Prairie Path but the trail was packed much harder. I rode it fixed gear and got a nice leg work out in. We ended the ride by having a few beers at Bell's Brewery. We took home 3 minikegs of Oberon!

Tuesday

I did a 30 minute fixed gear ride around town to loosen up my legs after my big ride last night.

Swim practice:

400 free
20x50 kick on :50

800 free (10:22)

100 cool down

Monday

At about 6pm I was feeling a little antsy and needed to go on a ride. So I loaded the Moots up with 2 niterider lights (1W LED) and 1 cateye blinker up front and a rear light on the seatpost. I left around 6:45pm and decided to head to Batavia where I could refuel at Kline's and then head home. I made a few wrong turns on the way but did explore Blackwell which was pretty beautiful as the sun was setting. I got to Batavia after about 40 miles of riding, most of which was about 18mph. Sarah, Chris and little Jack were up watching the TDF coverage(about 9:15pm). I snagged a few granola bars and a rice crispy treat from there pantry, refilled my waterbottles and headed out for about 35 miles of dark trail riding home. It was fantastic! I had a few random wildlife interactions(skunk almost got me) and I busted up a highschool party outside of Wheaton. I got home around 11:45. It was my longest ride of the season so far.

Thursday

2000m row sub 2:10/500m
30 crunches
30 penguins
2x15 military press
2x15 dumbell press
3x15 curls
1000m row sub 2:00/500m
20 crunches
20 penguins
2x15 dumbell press
2x15 curls

Just a quick one today, my core is still sore from Tuesday!

500 free
400 pull
300 kick
200 drill

20x50 free on :50

2400 total for me

Tuesday

5000m row @ sub 2:10/500m
3x20 crunches
2x20 penguins
3x15 military press
3x15 dumbell press
3x15 curls
2000m row @ sub 2:10/500m
3x20 crunches
2x20 penguins
2x15 dumbell press
2x15 fly's
2x15 curls
1000m row @ sub 2:10/500m
4x30secs leg raise
4x30secs planks

2 mile run @ 8:00 pace

700 yard swim

Monday

I did a short ride today to stretch out my legs from yesterday. My GPS was not charged so I have no data, but it was about 10 miles........

Another Week

I had a bad week of training. I have been getting paranoid that I am getting injured from running. I have been feeling a little pain in my left foot(old injury that lead me to PT) but it is so minor I figured I would just rest it a little bit this week. Then I got sick and was in bed for thursday and friday. I did have one good swim practice this week worth talking about. For the first time bilateral breathing didn't feel awkward. It actually felt natural and I think I was covering more distance per stroke by doing it properly. This was the first time I have ever believed that I could actually race like this. Very exciting progress.

Today we did the Campton Hills to Sycamore loop. about 50 miles in total. Katy, Aaron, Tom, Kevin and I did the ride. It was way out of Katy's comfort range but she rode really strong today and was very impressive on the bike. Tom rode it fixed 40/16 with no brakes. It was the first road ride he has done in a long time and loved it. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Aaron proved to be the strongest climber which was no surprise since everything we were climbing today barely could be considered a climb compared to Portland. I was a little worried after being away from the bike for so long and fresh off an illness that I wouldn't have the speed anymore. I felt really strong today but my legs were pretty gone by the end of the ride. I still have a good top end and am getting more and more excited for the bike portion of the triathlon.

Feeling better now and ready for a good week of work and training......

A Week of Recap

We arrived in Cocoa Beach, FL for the wedding on Tuesday and after checking in to our hotel, Katy and I went to the fitness room. We did 30 minutes on the treadmill at an incline(about 3.5 miles) and then went through a core/strength routine. Reps of dumbell presses, fly's, lateral raises and curls. For the core we did, leg raises, slide ups, rightside left side crunches, bicycles and planks.

No exercise on Wednesday as our day was filled with wedding activities.

On Thursday we arrived at Vero Beach and after the thunderstorms rolled through we ran the beach for 30 minutes(3 miles we will call it) doing some interval work and easy jogging between.

On Sunday I went out for a 40 minute run workout coached by Lance Armstrong. I got through the 8 minute warm up and was not feeling good. During the first 4 minute interval, I realized that today was not the day for this so i turned off the workout and put on some Alexi Murdoch as well as shut down my GPS and just decided to run and see what happened. I got to Wolf road on the trail(my normal turnaround at about 4.7miles roundtrip) and kept going to Ogden and then kept going to Laidlaw school. I was feeling surprisingly good so I ran to McClure JRHS. I could tell i was going to be hurting if I kept going at my run pace so I walked about 5 blocks drinking some water and had a few shot blocks then picked it back up to a run until I got back. I am not sure how long I was gone but I did cover about 7 miles, my longest run ever.

I got a terrible night sleep last night, finally falling asleep when the sky was starting to get faintly bright, so I slept in until about 8am instead of going to swim practice. Scott was not happy with me(sorry) but that was the last thing I needed to be doing in the morning. So I got up and worked on some drawings and estimates for a while with the TDF on the TV. Big Day for Lance! Very tactical and AWESOME! Then I headed off to my jobsite since the subs weren't coming until thursday now and got some things crossed off my list to do. When I got home I did a circuit of lifting and core work for about 40 minutes.

Katy got on the bike trainer when she got home to watch the TDF so I got out the rowing machine and cranked out a 5000m row doing 250m intervals for the middle 1500m. I was cranking at about 1:45-1:50/500m on the intervals and feeling really strong. I need to do another 500m for time. I'm pretty sure I can drop some time with the conditioning i am in right now. I am terrified to try though as it was one of the most grueling things I have ever done.

Sunday's Core and Run

Morning activity:

1 mile run
20 jumping jacks
10 push ups
20 slide ups
20 penguins
20 left side
20 right side
5 x 30sec leg raises
5 x 30sec planks
20 slide ups
20 penguins
20 left side
20 right side
40 bicycles
10 pike ups
3 x 30sec scooter rolls


Doug and I this afternoon did a run. It was a casual jog with us picking up the pace towards the end. Good run that neither of us was excited about doing when we started

Beat up

I woke up today feeling pretty beat up. My body just felt tired. So I just did a little over an hour in the pool, to let myself rest and recover.

1000 - (5x200) odds 3,5,7,pretty / evens no fly IM

then we did vertical fly kicking in a streamline position as well as vertical free kicking. I even did a few with a 10 lb diving brick. My legs were really burning. We then moved on to arm sculling on our backs with our knees to our chest. After about 20 minutes of this we move on to:

20 x 50 kicking with fins

• fly kick on back
• backstroke kick

I was going last and giving the person in front of me 15 seconds space and then would sprint kick until I caught them and easy kicked the rest of the way. I had fun doing that but it hurt also.

I pulled myself out at that point. I certainly could have finished the practice but i felt I needed to rest a bit.

Boom Boom Pow

We had 1 hour of core this morning, including over 5 minutes of planks and 5 minutes of leg raises. It was rough. I was completely blown after that. My stomach has never felt so sore yet strong before. "Progress was made today" Then it was off to the pool for about 2100 yards of "core" swimming. It was a great practice for me and an added bonus was that Katy joined me today!

As the day got hotter and hotter I kept putting off my run. Doug ran with out me and I was feeling very unmotivated. I knew however that if i didn't go soon, there was no chance I was going to do it later. I needed a good run and so I gave it a go. I ran the first mile thinking about stretching it out and really trying to lengthen my stride. That got me to do a 7:50 mile and then I dialed it back and ran to survive the heat. At my normal 5k turnaround point I was feeling pretty good, so I continued on. Its funny what the heat and running will do to your mind. I was all over the place with my thoughts. Wanting to walk, thinking about what I want to do on race day...... The one thing that really kept me going was something that Coach Walker says pretty much to us every day. "No one is training the way you are." I was really struggling at this point in my run, but I focused on that point and kept going. No one is doing what I am doing right now. No one is training the way I am training. I kinda slipped into a nice steady pace and ran the 5K in about 27 minutes which was about what I did at the Run for the Roses. The difference being it was brutally hot out. I am much faster and stronger now and only getting stronger. So at the 5K mark I walked for a bit because I was pretty much melting. My headphones were starting to short out in the left ear I was sweating so much but after about .5 miles of walking I started running again. With "Boom Boom Pow" repeating on my Ipod, I started running really strong and stretched out. I felt like I could just keep going and going. 4.65 miles total on the run + 1 mile run during core training today = my biggest running day yet and I felt pretty great (even in this insane heat).

"Hills of Lemont"

I rode with Kaptur this morning on one of his favorite routes. It was VERY hilly and we were riding pretty fast. Great morning on the bike. We started at 6am from Willow Springs and finished just before 9am. My favorite moment of the ride was when we were riding in a paceline at around 25-26mph on the flats of Frontage road and we were actually moving faster than the cars on I55. A couple of people were leaning over in their car to watch us pass them(traffic was pretty heavy), we were flying! Tom and I were pretty evenly matched overall, but he defineatly can out climb me, as I was dropped numerous times.

Here is a bigger map for those of you interested.

"Challenge Day" -- Failed

Today was a "Challenge Day". Here's how it went.

500 free on 7:00 (I went first in the lane and got passed at the 300 mark)
400 IM no fly on 6:30 ( I went 4th in the lane and stayed strong)
300 back on 4:30 (4th and still strong)
200 breast on 4:00 ( started to struggle as I always do with breaststroke)
100 fly on 2:00 ( i got through it better than a lot of them)

10 x 100 free

• odds on 1:20
• evens on 1:30
• the interval was too fast, Scott said it was his fault. It destroyed a lot of us. I was flipping right into the next 100 after about 4

12x50 kick

• odds free kick with sculling to breathe
• evens fly kick on back
• Now I am a pretty solid swimmer when it comes to kicking, but I got lapped with 2 50's to go (I am now toast)

10 x 100 free w/ fins

• odds 1:25
• evens 1:30
• I couldn't even finish the set and pulled myself out of the water with about 3 to go. 7:45am and practice was over for me..................

In the Afternoon, I did a circuit of high rep, low weight dumbell lifting:

2x20 press(on the ball)
2x20 flies(on the ball)
2x20 lateral raises(standing slightly bent over)
2x20 curls(standing)
2x20 tricep kickbacks(one arm on ball)

Then I went on about a 2.5 mile run. My GPS failed me because I had it in my hydration belt and i guess it got poor reception in there, so I won't be posting the screen shot of the course. I basically tried to run the trail but it was still flooded so i just did a loop of LGP. I ran the first 2 miles(about a 8:15 pace is my best guess) and walked the last half mile. It was brutally hot out(5:30pm) and I went through all my water (16oz). I am pretty sure I would be lying on the side of the road somewhere if I hadn't of brought it.

I also had a nice conversation with Coach Walker. We discussed my dryland training schedule and what I should be doing. I am going to do an additional core day on Saturday and then do some high rep work on Tuesdays and Fridays. While I joke about "failing" today, I am actually quite proud of what I am doing. I am really getting in great shape and forming habits that I can't imagine disappearing.

"Get busy living or Get busy dying"

My Monday

5:00 am - woke up and ate a mini cliff bar and went back to sleep
6:00 am - woke up and ate a piece of bread with nutella on it
6:15 am - arrived at the pool and talked to the coaches
6:30 am - dryland training begins

• 1 mile run
• 20 jumping jacks double count
• 20 penguins
  
• 20 crunches
• 5 x 30 second leg lift
• 40 bicycles
• 10 push ups
• 5 x 30 sec planks raising one arm to the ceiling half way through
• The following with a partner rotating after 30 secs:
  
• scooter rollouts
• crunches with medicine balls
• 5x through
• suicides the length of the indoor fieldhouse 4 times

I think that was it on the dryland and the order may be a little off, but it was great.

7:45 am - back in the pool

• 1000 3,5,7,pretty
• 21 x 50 on 1:00
• #1 - fly kick on back with zoomers
• #2 - breaststoke with fly kick
• #3 - thumbdrag dps
• repeat 7x

8:45am to 3:45pm - Working(drywall day)
3:45 pm to 4:00pm - Tarred the roof where it was leaking around a sky light
6:30pm to 8:00pm - Biked with Katy. We really hammered the hills, both up and down. On our way back home we ran into Nora biking as well, it was a nice surprise. My legs are tired..........

Tour of Naperville

After coaching Masters swimming in the morning, we did one of our "classic" routes today, "The Tour of Naperville". It always proves to be a good ride. Lots of good hill climbing with light trafficked roads. I hit 41.9 mph on a down hill even and it felt great to be riding at 40+ mph! I have a "need for speed" when i am on the bike. Once the ride was over we went to the WSSC and I got in about 1500 yards (DPS with paddles) and also got some nice sunburns where I missed a few spots. My stomach is STILL sore from Thursday's core work.

Core Madness

I had swim conditioning this morning and I did 1 hour of dryland and 1 hour of swimming. The dryland consisted of Coach Walker running a "bootcamp" in one of the gyms since OF COURSE IT WAS RAINING AGAIN. We did a few warm up runs back and forth of the gym, running backwards and some high knee running. Then we did some rounds of pushups and jumping jacks counting out as a group(about 50-60 people). Core work was next with some planks and ab work and even some supermans. I am pretty sure his stop watch was broken because those planks seemed like it lasted a little TOO LONG. My whole body was convusing and shaking as I layed in a pile of my own sweat. It was a fantastic workout and horribly painful. My core is weak. We then went up into the bleachers and ran the stands for a little while. I was pretty beat but it felt great, something i always skimp on so it was nice to get pushed.

20 x 100 on 1:50
10 @ 3p6k, 5p6k
10 @ IM

15 x 50
5 sets of 3

#1 25 fast/25drill
#2 25 drill/25fast
#3 50 fast

That 1st 100 we did I experienced the craziest disfunction. I can into the first wall to do my flip turn and i actually could barely get myself to tuck for the flip turn. It was pretty wild how exhausted my core was. I spent the first 5 100's laughing under water on the flip turn in disbelief of the fact that I could barely flip myself over.

Then after a few good hours of demolition work I came home and ran a few errands and then did a 3 mile run with Katy when she got home. It was pretty humid out and I was drenched. My legs are so tight right now! Practice should be fun tomorrow am as I am expecting to be so sore in my core that it will be hard to breathe properly.

Fun Stuff.

2.5 hours of Exercise today + a few hours of Demolition.

Good day but I am toast.

Overcoming My Deformity

I don't know what is happening to me, but I am obsessed with running right now! Never in my life have i enjoyed it so much. It is so pure and straightforward. I even starting to enjoy running with out music, you become so in tune with your body and your breathing. I had a 5 miler scheduled for today but I had mechanical shoe failure 2 days ago and I went to the Cfoot today and got some new kicks(yesterdays new ones are going back) So I decided to run 2 miles and then go on a bike ride with Tom. I ran pretty casually for the first few blocks and was feeling great so I started running pretty fast. The next thing I knew I had run a 7:15 mile! Now I was pretty winded, but it was for sure one of the fastest miles I have ever run in my life ( I vaguely recall a 6:45 in gym class but it might have been a 7:45). After that I switched off jogging and running fast the rest of the way home.

Then Tom and I rode to 290 and back, with a lot of fast, strong efforts along the way. I was doing a lot of hammering on the flats at 25-29mph. I love riding fast though one of the efforts almost made me puke. "Money in the bank" I can't wait for my withdrawal at the Chicago Tri. Not to mention some Chicago Cyclocross Cup races this year!!!

Rain or shine

Doug and I ran about 4 miles today (we walked the last few blocks which = about 3.7 of running). It was raining pretty solidly the entire time, but felt pretty good. I got some new shoes today which i tried out. They weren't as good as my last ones and are very much a trail running specific shoe. Thanks to REI for their great customer service! They didn't have any that really fit me as well, so i went with the trail runners and decided to pay Bokamp a visit at the Cfoot to pick up a pair of daily runners. I really enjoy running these days, even in the rain!

"Camping '09"

We went camping near Kettle Moraine South over the weekend. Hickory Woods Campground was great. Site "N" was our home for the weekend. It rained a little but other than that it was a weekend of good conversation, large fires and some good food and drink.























We did sneak a trail run in, part of which was on the Ice Age Trail. 3.21 miles. Trail running is so much more fun.

Day 4

Its hard to even describe what these work outs are starting to feel like. I am so used to taking advantage of the fact that swimming really comes easily for me, but these workouts have really been a wake up call. Its amazing to think about the workouts I and every other swimmer battled through in highschool and college. It never EVER seemed this hard. I know I am not in swimming shape yet, but I have my doubts if i will ever be able to complete a workout in the way I want to. I did have a moment today when I felt great. The 5x200 pull set was my moment to shine today. I started off third in the lane and in the course of the 1st 100 I passed both people and pulled pretty far ahead of everyone, finishing a half a lap in front for all 5. However that changed very quickly when the 100 set was announced, I knew I was going to be hurting. I did the 1st 100 and had 10 secs rest, 2nd 100 I had 3 seconds rest, and from then on I went from 3rd in the lane to just about last flipping to start the next one with no rest. I was absolutely destroyed. I had nothing left...........Thanks Scott and Doug, you broke me big time this morning!

Day 3

It felt great to sleep in today and give my arms a rest! I hit a few milestones today. I broke the 50 mile mark this season! I have never run so much in my entire life. Today's run was a 5 miler and I did it at a pretty decent pace. The other milestone I broke is unofficial because I'm pretty sure I was dehydrated today. I worked a LONG day and didn't drink nearly enough. BUT with all that said, I WEIGHED 189 lbs TODAY! That is a shocking number for me. Since I moved into our new house(AUG '08) I have lost over 25 lbs! I will go back over 190lbs for the next few days, but it is only a matter of time before I am below 190 lbs for good.

Day 2

Well..........4900 yards today. For the first time since college, I feel like I should have my shoulders packed in ice. I did much better today than yesterday, but I still could not get though the whole workout with out crumbling. The beginning today focused on distance swimming and making us aware of our stroke counts. I stayed pretty consistant with 29-31 strokes per 50 yards. Then we picked up the pace with some all out sprinting. I pretty much fell apart after that. My body update for the day: I ripped open some of my blisters from yesterday and got some new ones, YEAH! I also have on each shoulder a raw area where my chin would rub against my shoulders while i breathe. I guess I am going to need to shave before practice? either that or I need to keep my technique together!

1000 yard swim (per hundred :3p12k,5p12k,7p12k,reg)

3 times:
2 x 50 dps counting
2x 100 dps counting
1 x 200 dps counting

10x 100 on 1:40
#1 1st 25 all out
#2 2nd 25 all out
#3 3rd 25 all out
#4 4th 25 all out
#5 ALL OUT
repeat

20 x 50 IM order on the :50 ( i fell apart here after the first 50 fly, I was blown)



After work today I went on my scheduled 3 mile run with Doug. We ran about 2.5 miles of it and overall it felt pretty good. The pace was on the slow side but I wanted to try to stay fresh for tomorrow's 5 miler. Tomorrow is also a big milestone, I will have run over 50 miles this season! Thankfully on Wednesdays there is no morning swim practice!

Day 1

Swim conditioning started this week. Coach Walker and Coach Eichstaedt are going to be beating on me for the next 7 weeks from 6:30 - 8:30am MTWF. Today's practice was short because of introductions and other day 1 stuff but we still got about 4000 yards in. It was a rough start for me. My feet are covered with blisters from my fins and my shoulders are exhausted. I can't imagine regularly doing 6000+ yards a day, but i am pretty sure that is going to start tomorrow. I might be in a bit of trouble............

The pool is set up as a 50 yard pool right now.

20x50 dps on :50
8x150 free/back/free free/breast/free
6x200 3p12k/breastarmsfreekick/5p12kick/breastarmsflykick
8x50 fly kick on back/backstroke kick

that was it, and I was dead.

12 Weeks Until Chicago Tri

National Trails Day

Katy and I ended up exploring today, being National Trails Day and all, the Centenial Trail and the I&M Canal Trail. Our longest ride of the season so far!
It was a great day out with some of my highlights including electrified water, riding 25 mph with Katy tucked in behind me for a few miles .and some bizarre river monster activity. We even got a little rained on a little bit towards the end. Good National Trail Day!

Upcoming Adventure

Backpacking and a water entry! And some Japanese Garden! I can't wait!

http://www.craterlakeinstitute.com/planning-visit/activities/swimming.htm

http://www.nps.gov/archive/crla/brochures/backcountry.htm

http://www.nps.gov/archive/crla/brochures/pct.htm

http://www.japanesegarden.com/

Some Trip ideas:

http://bp2.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip.aspx?tripId=278769

http://bp2.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip.aspx?tripId=10257

or maybe

http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/viewTrip.aspx?tripId=30816

Game Night

I got a quick 11 mile ride in. I did a few laps back and forth on Spring road working the hills.

TEAM RED IN ACTION TONIGHT!
1-1
Lets go 2-1!

Tuesday 5K

TBM and I did about a 5K in 29:17

GPS failed me again today......poor reception!

Monday's Run

One more week of base training before our 12 week plan of action starts. Today's Lunchtime run was a quick one but a fast one. My GPS data was inaccurate and worthless due to the local weather. But it was about 1.7 miles in 17 minutes. A couple farleks thrown in there for some speed.

Saturday's Brick

Did a ride with Nora and Katy:



and then did a run with Katy right after:

Lunch Time Run

Good run today with TBM!

I have also resolved a problem I was having uploading pictures by taking a screen shot and saving it in a .png format:

To capture a portion of the desktop, press Command-Shift-4. A cross-hair cursor will appear and you can click and drag to select the area you wish to capture. When you release the mouse button, the screen shot will be automatically saved as a PNG file on your desktop.

Saturday

I went to morning practice today but was disappointed to have to swim in a shortened pool with a less than ideal main set. I did the warm up and that was about it. So after working most of the day I snuck in a 2 mile run with Katy before we have to get ready for our evening of fun.

Thursday's Ride

LGP to Oak Park to LGP

16.11 miles

Team Red vball debut

1-0 !!

In it to win it, baby!

Run 15

Today's lunch run was my 15th run of the year.

2.49 miles
22:05 (11:20out/11:05back)
8:52 avg pace

Tuesday

3000m Row
20 push ups
20 situps
20 leg lifts

Weekend Activity

I ran in the LGP Run for the Roses 5K on Saturday AM. The results have not yet been posted. Then on Sunday, Katy and I rode from the LGP to Navy Pier for the green festival. From there we rode to Logan Square for Brunch and then headed home. I am guessing it was about 30 miles total of biking. After we got home we had vball practice for about 1.5 hours.

On Monday I ran 2.5 miles with TBM at lunch time.

Surfing Update

Looks like we might be needing to buy a surf board soon!

Surfing in Chicago

Bike/Swim

Katy and I did a 12 mile ride to the zoo and back and then went to swim practice:

500 free
6x50's on 1:00
d/s 2fly/2back/2breast

400 free
20sec
4x100 pull on 1:40
300 free
20sec
3x100 kick on 2:00
200 free
20 sec
2x100 IM on 1:40
100 free
20 sec
100 free (fast)

Total: 2800

2 good rides and some Vball

I did a 39 mile ride with Kline that was a bit of a disaster physically. We were out for 2x as long as planned and I bonked big time. I could barely hold myself up in the drops by the end.

The next day I did a 21 mile ride with Tom that was a nice medium to fast ride. Good training for sure, with a good riding partner.

After that we played beach volleyball for about 1.5 hours. We had few moments of greatness, but mostly we were a little rough around the edges.......

Big Gear to the Zoo

I rode in 53/11 gearing for my sustained speed efforts really trying to push hard. Then I would ease off on the gearing for a recovery ride. I did this to the zoo and back. That big gear is hard to push, but it sure is going to make me strong. I put some "money in the bank today". I can't wait to make the withdrawal......





(speed data coming soon)

Registration Complete

I am officially registered for the Chicago Triathlon Sprint Distance Race on Aug 30th. Please mark your calendars, I am going to need some fans on hand to keep me going!

But I would prefer it if you just competed as well........

Chicago Triathlon

A few workouts

I went canoeing over the weekend, doing a volunteer clean up of Salt Creek. It was a nice way to spend a morning.

Monday I did a 5 mile FAST ride and then ran 3 miles with Katy.

Tuesday's Swim Practice:

500 warm up

4 x 100 3/6/3 on 1:45

4 x 50 kick on :55

10x100 free on 1:25

4 rounds of

75 free fast on 1:15
25 back or breast on 1:15

100 cool down

100's

I love 100 freestyle sets.

4x150 k,p,d,s

4x50 k,d fly,back / breast, free
4x50 k,d free,breast/back,fly
4x50 k,d free

5x100 free on 1:30(sub 1:10 on all of them)
100 easy
5x100 free on 1:25(sub 1:10 on all of them)
50 easy

Total 2350

The fight has been raging on

Although I have been ditching swim practice and not blogging, I have been working out. Here is a screen capture of the workouts i have logged with my Garmin Edge 205.



I have taken it on most of my bike rides and runs.
Today's workout was:

• 2000m row
• 30 pushups
• 30 crunches
• 2000m row
• 20 curl to press
• 30 sec plank
• 20 leg lifts
• 2000m row
• 1.09 mile run

Distance

500 free
500 pull w/ paddles
500 free
500 pull w/ paddles
500 free
500 pull
100 free

An Intersting Month

A lot has happened since I left my last two posts documenting my diet. I had another cholesterol test, which came back high once again. I scheduled a meeting to discuss taking a Statin drug. I have been pretty leery of taking any drug for the rest of my life if I could avoid it and since my diet is not always the best I certainly have room to improve it. After scheduling my appointment I started noticing some pain below my waistline on my left side(well i had been noticing some pain for a while, but thought it was a groin strain).

So on Sunday the 8th, we had a Masters swim meet at LT. It was a lot of fun to see everyone compete. Katy and Hillary both took on the 200free and did pretty well. I only swam in 3 relays and was actually swimming pretty fast for minimal training and believing that I had a hernia or something. 23.2 / 23.6 in my 50 free 26.11 in my 50 fly. All in all a fun day for everyone.

I went home that day and pretty much slept all day and then started having some really bad pains and stomach cramps after dinner. It hurt to pee and basically my whole digestive system was messed up. It was a miserable night, at points thinking I wanted to go to the hospital. All day the next day my stomach was pretty screwed up. I could barely eat. All the same digestive problems were going on. So on Tuesday I go to the Dr and blood work shows that my Kidneys are not functioning properly. I have blood in my urine. They are pretty sure I have a Kidney Stone.

A CT scan shows that there is nothing there. So either I passed it Sunday Or Monday(very possible) or it is something else. Ultrasounds and another blood test 2 days later show that everything is back to normal and I am left with what was diagnosed as Colitis, which we thought was related to taking high doses of Aleve for about a week when it was believed to be a muscle strain. I could barely eat all that week and really into the beginning of the next week. I went from about 215 to 197lbs in about 2 weeks. Now that is fighting the Bagel!

My current status is that I am still having some minor stomach issues(nuts, seeds and meat are not digestion friendly still). I am not taking a statin drug, but taking Niacin and Fish Oil and attempting to eat better.

Thursday

Breakfast:
1/2 cup Whole Grain Oatmeal - 140/2.5
1/4 cup raisins - 130/0
10 almonds - 70/6
black coffee

Total Breakfast: 340cal / 7.5g fat

Mid Day Snack:
1 banana - 60/0

Lunch:
1/2 cup chicken breast - 115/23
whole wheat bun - 110/1.5
mustard-NA
raw onion-4/0

couscous - 110/1.25
tomato - 15/0
basil - 1/0
mozz(2oz) - 120/9
balsamic - na
FOP

Total: 479cal / 35g fat

yogurt 60/0
sample of tomorrow's breakfast 40/0

Dinner:
1/2 cup chicken - 115/23
salad mix - 150/9
bbq pulled pork - 250/20
whole wheat bun - 110/1.5

Total Dinner: 625/44.5
Day Total: 1604cal /86g fat

Wednesday

Breakfast:
black coffee - 0/0
1/2 cup of Whole Grain Oats - 140/2.5
1/4 cup of raisins - 130/0
1 banana - 105/.4
1 yogurt - 60/0
FOP(Fish Oil Pill)

Total: 435cal / 3g fat

Lunch:
2 spicy black bean burgers - 240/8
2 whole grain bun - 220/3
chopped onion - 4/0
cilantro salsa - 5/0

Total: 470cal / 11g fat

Snack:
20 almonds - 140/12

Pre dinner Drink:
1 gin and tonic - 150/0

Dinner:
6oz salmon - 300/14
mustard - 10/0
breadcrumbs - 10/0
couscous - 220/2.5
tomato - 15/0
basil - 1/0
mozz(2oz) - 120/9
balsamic - na
FOP

Total - 675 cal / 25.5g

Post Dinner Drink:
4oz red wine - 84/0

Dessert
cup of blueberries - 40/0
yogurt - 60/0

DAY TOTAL: 2080 cal / 51.5g

Tuesday

3x
5 pull ups
10 push ups
20 crunches
10 leg lifts

3 x 15 seated row
3 x 8 curls

400 swim
4 x 100 reverse IM drill on 2:00

2 x 25 sprint on :20
1 x 50 free on 1:00
2 x 25 sprint on :25
1 x 50 free on 1:00
2 x 25 sprint on :30
1 x 50 free on 1:00
2 x 25 sprint on :35
1 x 50 free on 1:00
2 x 25 sprint on :40
1 x 50 free on 1:00

Thursday Night

I rode the Moots to coach at South tonight and after coaching stayed to lift with Doug.

2 rounds:

5 pull ups
10 push ups
20 crunches
20 leg lifts

2 x 10 curls
2 x 10 seated rows

Then had swim practice:

400 swim
300 drill
200 kick

12 x 75 on 1:20

1. fly drill
2. free drill
3. back drill
4. free drill
5. breast drill
6. free drill
7. fly drill
8. free drill
9. back drill
10. free drill
11. breast drill
12. free drill

5 rounds of:

4 x 25 on :30 sprint
2 x 50 on 1:00 easy
1:00 rest

(I only did 2 rounds)

Then I rode home and it was a lot colder on the way home, about 16 degrees

Good night all in all but being at LT from 5:30 to 9:00 is a bit much.

Death by Rowing = 500m sprint

I ditched swim practice and rowed a 300m warm up and did a 500m row for time instead. Absolutely painful, I have to go lay down........

Here is my breakdown:

meter - time - watt - s/m
500m - 1:34.2 - 419 - 37

Splits:
meter - time - watt - s/m
100m - :18.1 - 472w - 40
200m - :18.3 - 457w - 36
300m - :19.1 - 402w - 35
400m - :19.2 - 396w - 38
500m - :19.6 - 372w - 37

Here is the World Record as of about 1 month ago:
http://www.row2k.com/video/view.cfm?vid=6139

Pizza Night

3 x 10 push ups
3 x 20 crunches with legs up

Swim Practice:
200 Free

6 x 50 kick on 1:10
6 x 50 drill on 1:00
6 x 50 swim on :50

25 on :30
50 on 1:00
75 on 1:30
100 on 2:00
200 on 3:00
400 on 6:00
200 on 3:00
100 on 2:00
75 on 1:30
50 on 1:00
25 on :30

4 x 75 IM order on 1:30

200 cool down

Waterfall Glen

Bloomie(and Guiness) and I got about 1.5 hours of hiking/snowshoing at WaterFall Glen this morning. We started near the campground parking lot and hiked to the main waterfall and then traveled downstream along the river on some game trails, pretty much just following Guiness's nose. We crossed on the metal bridge and hiked back upstream crossing the frozen river a few times.

Inauguration Day

Katy and I got out and did about a hour of hiking and snowshoeing early this am. The snow in Bemis was about 6" deep of nice powder.

We traveled along Salt Creek following a few game trails and ran across 4 deer. We also saw some nice evidence of beaver activity(pic).

We were using Sherpa Yatra Trainers which are designed for trail running in the winter. Unfortunately the Company has gone out of business, but were very well respected in the snowshoeing community. We don't use them often enough, but I am sure glad we have them for days like today.

I also got 20 minutes on the bike trainer this afternoon.

Swim Practice:

400 swim
200 reverse IM

8x50 0n 1:00
25 free / 25 back

12 x 100 free on 2:00
odds are k/d
evens are d/s

4 x 4 x 25 sprint cycles on :30

200 swim

Monday

2000m row

middle 1000m:
20 sec - 300 watts
40 sec - 150 watts

3 x 10 Pushups
3 x 20 crunches with legs up

20 minutes on bike trainer

Friday and feeling better

Antibiotics must be working, cause I am starting to feel like myself again.
Its about freaking time!

2000m row
2 x 20 crunches
2 x 10 leg lifts

2000m row
3x10 push ups

2000m row
2 x 20 crunches
2 x 10 leg lifts

20 minutes on bike trainer

Back in the water

300 swim
400 pull
300 swim

5 x 200 broken RI'20 (1,3,5 free / 2,4 back)
50kick/100pull/50kick

10x50 on :50

200 cool down

I ran out of donuts...........

Well, I had to walk away from the challenge. It was too much on my body.

Oh yeah, and the donuts have all been consumed........

Happy Holidays!

Donut Fight?

10,000m in 47:57.9 (2:23.9/500m)

It was harder today. My body is tired and I need to rest. At about 5000m my back was hurting which doesn't normally happen until about 8000m. I got through it but it wasn't fun.

As I was hurting with 5000m to go, I kept thinking about the fact that when I reach 100,000m I will only raise $2.00! for the charity of my choice. What can Conservation International really do with $2.00? But rowing was better than eating my way through a box of donuts Jessica brought over. Thanks Jess! I burned 550 calories today rowing instead of eating 300-600 calories in donuts. The box is amazingly still unopened.......................

making the push

1000m
1:00 break
5000m
2:00 break
3500m
2:00 break
3500m

13,000m total all nice and easy

Getting High on Saturday Morning

10,000m row 43:59.0 (2:11.9/500m)

4:00+ minute improvement!

with about 600m left to row I actually said out loud, "break 44:00, just hang on" and then a few meters later my entire body started tingling. Rowing High!

If I can break 100,000 meters by midnight xmas eve, my meters will raise money for the Holiday Challenge. Its going to be rough!

Thursday

10,000m row in 48:12.6 (2:24.6/500m)

an improvement of about 1:30 since the last 10,000m row I did!

Tuesday Night Row

10:00 warm up

6 x 350m(2:10/500m) RI '20

2:00 break w/ stretching

6 x 350m(2:10/500m) RI'20

5:00 cool down

Blizzard Ride

I commuted to LTHS South tonight to go coach via the Moots and Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires. It was about 5 miles total but felt like 15.

It was a constant fishtail that was relatively under control......I never crashed, but felt extremely squirrely when I got stuck in ruts in the road. Riding on fresh snow with a layer of ice underneath was totally fine in areas that were not plowed.

I did have a few mechanical problems to note. My rear derailer actually froze and I couldn't shift. I'm not sure if it was the actual derailer or if it was that the cable froze inside the housing. The other problem I had was with my braking. When I could brake, the spikes in my tires would drag and actually had great traction. The problem was that the rims were getting ice on they making my braking pretty poor at times. Disc brakes would have been nice!


I actually passed 2 cars because they were going so slow! They had some interesting looks on their faces for sure.

Great quick adventure!

A Return

10,000m row 49:46.3

Could be a great day in Chicago

Today, a group of surfer's are meeting with the Chicago Park District to attempt to lift the ban on surfing in Chicago. While conditions here may not be as great as coastal regions, it would certainly give me a reason to get excited!

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/1319220,CST-NWS-surf08.article

I ditched

I couldn't bring myself to go to swim practice. I came real close, but I am really just not interested in spending anymore time at the pool than I already do. So I did this instead:

2000m row
3 x 10 push ups
3 x 20 crunches

Wednesday

Row:

7:00 warm up

5@350m
sub 2:10/500m pace
:20 RI

5:00 cool down

Bemis on spiked tires

I went on a 30 minute ride through parts of Bemis today. The trail was a mixture of about 2" of snow and ice. I had 35mm Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires on the Moots and they are pretty grippy. I can turn pretty close to normal on ice. The ride was pretty tiring, kinda like riding in mud, but it was a lot of fun.

Monday

Row:

7:00 warm up

5@350m
sub 2:10/500m pace
:20 RI

5:00 cool down

1st Interval Row

Row:

7:00 warm up

5@350m
sub 2:10/500m pace
:20 RI

5:00 cool down

Saturday

2000m row

Pre Turkey Workout

10 minute bike trainer
30 pushups
40 medicine ball twists w/ partner
2000m row

A new way

1000m test row on our new rowing machine

swim practice

200 free
200 back
200 free

200 back
100 free drill
200 free
100 back drill
100 free kick

24 x 50 free on :50
every 4th all out

8 x 25 fly/free on :30

100 cool down

2800 yards

Clydesdale Status

208 lbs

500 warm up
8x50 scull/free on 1:00

10x
100 IM on 1:45
50 free on 1:00

4x50 bk on 1:00
100 easy

2700 yards

The Fight Continues................

Tuesday:

500 swim
5x100 drill on 1:45

500 on 7:00
5x100 on 1:20
500 on 6:45
8x50 on 1:00 build each 50

100 cool down
3000 yards

Wednesday:
40 minutes fluid trainer

Status Update

A lot has changed since the last posting. Katy and I put our house on the market and sold in 6 days! We then went out and bought a new place. So for the last month we have been dealing with the logistics of buying and selling and basically losing our minds at times. Working out and preparing for our upcoming events took a major turn for the worst. We have the 1/2 aqua bike in about 3 weeks and are just going to wing it. We just really started training again and it is still not consistent. I have been getting out on the Moots and playing around with its capabilities. It is really quite something. I even got out and rode with an Cat3/4 biker who has done product testing for Gatorade and he completely destroyed me. We did about 44 miles of hilly terrain off and on road. He dropped me on every hill. Crazy thing was he was riding fixed with 32c knobbies on(Surly Cross Check). He was a machine. Anyways, tomorrow he is taking me out to test my lactate threshold, should be interesting. I will report back on that.