Daily Preparation

One of my goals this year was to recover properly in order to hopefully increase the overall effectiveness of my workouts.  Obviously fueling after your last workout/fueling for your next workout are crucial.  I can tell if I've eaten enough, and whether what I ate was healthy or not.  I've really tried to make an effort and it takes some planning, but I think the results will be positive in the long run. 

So this morning I did commit and had a solid bike/run brick session.  An hour and twenty minutes on the trainer followed by a fast brick run.  I wanted to simulate running "hard" off of the bike and so came up with a pace I wanted to hit.  The run was only 3.1 miles, but I was happy with the pace that I had set.  I'm hoping to hold this pace or slightly faster come the "sprint" race season, which will be my first two tri's of the season.  It was awesome to have all of that done before 6:30 a.m.!

When I was done it was time to pack up my food for the day, and this can be quite the process.  So after chillin outside with the dogs while I was watering my garden, drinking my organic chocolate soy milk recovery drink and making sure Winther didn't go on a tour of the neighborhood it was time to pack food for the day.  For me it's quite a process...I don't just throw in a bag of chips, sandwich and an apple.  That wouldn't even make it to school, as I would have it gone on my drive there.  I thought I'd try to spice the blog up with more pictures so here we go...while cooking some scrambled eggs here is a little of the preparation:

Yes it does look chaotic, but I usually have a pretty darn good idea of what's going on, and it all fits into my camo cooler...

What can I say, I eat a lot!!

Still some training to do today, I want to improve my run, and therefore, have to put the work in to do so!!!!!

Tired Pups

So I took the dogs with me for a little part of my run tonight, well over 5 miles and here is the aftermath...

Yep and Winther has the med ball right there for his core work, Roxy says screw that!

Less than a month...

...until the first triathlon of the season.  Crazy to think I know!  And honestly I don't feel prepared.  Yes I have a large base built, but I didn't have a great weekend of training and now I need to commit!  I did get some decent riding in this weekend, but for some reason I couldn't get out the door and get my running done.  So I had a little pep talk with myself.  I know what I want to accomplish, and the only person standing in my way is myself.  Why not me right?  Things have been a little crazy lately, and I have been kind of using some of them as an excuse to slack off on training.  Well there will be no more slacking off.  I have always worked harder than most, and that's what I have to do to be successful...so hard work here I come!

I'm fully committing to the goals that I have for this season, and that committment starts now.  Yep, not tomorrow, or next week, or next month.  I know this is going to be a long racing season and because of that I've been using it as a way to justify skipping a workout or to lessen the intensity on others.  I know what needs to be done to accomplish my goals, now it's time to put that plan into action.

I did ride quite a bit this weekend, Saturday morning I led a group ride out of Endure It Willowbrook, and then headed out on my own for a bit longer which put me at around 3.5 hours worth of riding.  I hit up the mountain bike yesterday, which was a nice shock to my system.  The thing I really need to focus on though is the run.  My bike is solid, my swim...well I don't drown, but I need to have my run improve.  It's touchy though because that is sport where injuries are the most prevalent.  I don't like running in the mornings, but it's something that's going to need to happen.  It's almost May so what that means is a 4:00 a.m. wake up call multiple times a week is definitely a possibility now, and if that's what it's going to take, that's what I have to do.  Tomorrow that's what it's going to take.  Working out at night (unless it's masters swimming) just doesn't work for me...so I am going to get it done in the morning.  Tonight will consist of an hour long run, and masters swimming.  I'm glad I made dinner last night in the crock pot so that I can just reheat it in between.

I did lift today, which was a nice shock as well, I feel good, and stronger that I thought I'd be, I just need to be consistent and get into the weightroom 3 times a week!

A Day Off and A New Question

I took yesterday off of training. I know I always tell people they need to take time off, so I figured it was time to take some of my own advice. I haven't taken a day off in a couple of weeks, and my mind and body was telling me that I needed some time. I was feeling fatigued and mentally didn't have the motivation to get moving. I know something is wrong when I don't have motivation to get rolling. We had 3 games this week, which is why I couldn't swim at masters last night, so instead I called it a night, went to dinner with my dad and took the pups to get some more food at the pet store. I'm ready to put in a solid training effort this afternoon with a little run, some time on the bike, followed by another little run. I think splitting it up that way will help the dogs too...they can run, take a break, and then run some more. Tomorrow might be a wet ride, the first of the season, but it's the end of April and I can't use the excuse of "It's only __________, race season is still a long ways away" My first race (triathlon that is) is less than a month away, so it's time to hit it hard! Things won't be easy until after I have signed my name on the dotted line for something bigger and better, probably November 22nd actually.

So I was thinking this morning...scary I know! I have heard people ask the question "Why am I doing this?" or "Why me?" or something along those lines. The fact of the matter is when you're in a race that is the WRONG time to be asking that question! So I'm trying to take a new stance...why NOT me? I know how strong I am, and I know what I'm capable of, so why not me? That's the new motto...WHY NOT ME??

Keep pushing...

At computrainer yesterday I constantly had to remind myself to keep pushing. I was in my own little hurt locker for the duration of the class. My legs still felt a bit sore from the weekend, but I need to push through these things, that's how I'm going to gain fitness. Ron put up a workout which didn't look too bad...but as we all know looks can be deceiving. Here is the set:

15 minute Warm up

3sets of 5 repetitions of the following w/ 5' rest in between sets
- 1' @ 120%+ (400 watts)
- 1' RI

The first set hurt, but definitely doable. The second set felt much better than the first set. The third set is where the wheels fell off. I was good for #1, alright for #2, had to focus on #3, and tried to hold on for the last two. I went into this workout looking to push myself, and I would have to say that I accomplished that goal. The nice thing is that my legs felt good immediately after, and it wasn't for a few hours that they started to have a dull pain. Nothing brutal, just the type of pain where you know you did something. I shut it down for the rest of the day and just rocked my Zensah recovery sleeves and made sure I ate enough food, which wasn't a problem considering I went to a luncheon at Maggiano's.

I slept in today because I felt as if I needed it. I'll get a run and a ride in today though. I don't think I'll be able to make it to masters because we have a game tonight, so no big deal. I'll just ride when I get home later. Maybe there will be something good on tv...otherwise it might be
"The Hangover" once again while riding the trainer, which I'm cool with. Looking forward to the weekend.

If you're looking for a group ride on Saturday morning, I'm leading a group ride out of Endure It Willowbrook which will be about 25 miles of rolling hills. The ride is no drop, and should be a good time!

Train hard, stay focused!

Phases...

Last week I was feeling really good in the water, I felt like I was getting faster and gains were being made. This week...not so much! Last night at masters we swam 4500 yards, which is a fair amount, but I didn't feel good...ever. I know I raced hard on Sunday, but could 6.2 miles really take that much out of me? Thinking about it I suppose I go through phases of feeling good doing one sport, while the other sports are more difficult. Last week was a week where I felt I had a break through swimming, biking, and running. Things don't seem to be coming as easy this week, so that just means I have to work that much harder. I keep reminding myself that I will never regret a workout, and that has stayed true to form. I need to continue to push myself because great things will happen if I just put the time and effort in. Hopefully the pay off comes on November 22nd when I have to write a large check.

First Race of the Season

So I was basically "dared" into racing this morning. At computrainer on Wed. morning Chad kept taunting me telling me I should go out and run the NCO 10k in Naperville which took place this morning. And seeing as it's for a good cause, and because I couldn't back down from the challenge I decided to race. I think I have only run an official 10k one time, and that was back in college. My running has been going well, but has been stagnant lately. That happens with me...and I'm pretty sure a lot of people too. Back to the race. My mom was awesome and came to watch me race, and to hang out with the pups while I ran. Thanks Mom it was so nice to have you there watching me race! Thanks to Lululemon I not only had the most comfortable running clothes, but I was also the most stylish. I mean check it out, seriously does it get any better than that? Also a big thanks to GU for my roctane to give me the boost I needed and to Brooks for my sweet running flats. Here are a few pics from the day:

!

The pups waiting...

Thanks Lululemon, most comfortable running clothing, and most stylish as well!

They didn't have a 2nd place overall trophy, so instead I got one telling me that I won my division. It's always nice to get some hardware!!

My plan was to head out with the leaders and to see how long I could hang. Well the horn sounded and I set off with one other guy, we opened a small gap on the people behind us relatively early on...probably because we went through the first half mile at around a 5:15 pace. I thought if the pace stayed there I was screwed!! The pace slowed down slightly, and I was shoulder to shoulder with this guy for the great majority of the race. It was cool running behind the motorcycles, which is an experience which I hope to have again at some point. We went through the first mile right at 5:49, alright let's see if I can hang with that. We were still together and went through the second mile in 5:51...I was hoping it would have slowed down...nope. Mile 3 was a little break...5:54 and at this point it was about holding on. I was already at a PR for the 5k distance with that pace so I wasn't sure what to expect the second half of the race. Well Mile 4 was right back at a 5:51 pace, and the finish started creeping into my mind, at this point I realized we had dropped everyone and it was just the two of us. We would both put small surges in and we would each answer. Mile 5 was back at 5:53 and it started up a bridge on an overpass over I-88. The guy surged and I had no answer. He put a small gap on me and I didn't have the extra gear to go and get him. I was ticked and had puke in my throat, stomach started cramping, everything was hurting, I just couldn't bring him back. Mile 6 was a 5:54, the slowest mile of the day, we had caught the 5k group at that point and it was constant weaving in and out. So trying to catch this dude and weave just wasn't working that well.

I ended up with a PR of 36:24 which was good enough for 2nd place overall. I don't know how many people raced, but that doesn't matter. I'm happy that I was able to get a PR and to finish in the top 3 overall, as that was a goal I had for the season. I know where I'm lacking...speed work. I had no kick, no way to answer. My tempo and threshold type of work has paid off as I was able to hold a steady state (I mean shoot my mile times didn't change more than 5 seconds the whole race) now it's time to add the speed stuff in.

Congrats to Chad and Dave who put in an awesome effort and were in the top 15 overall, as well as Jenny Garrison who won the female overall top 10 overall too, and Blaine, Dean, Cari and whoever else I might have missed here.

Thanks again Mom for coming to the race, it was nice to have you there, and I'm sure the pups appreciated it!

Before I forget, yesterday was an awesome day of riding! I ended up riding for 4 hours on the computrainer and rode through the following set twice:

10' warm up

7' @ 70%

3' RI

8' @ 80%

2' RI

9' @ 90%

1' RI

10' @ AT

1' RI

9' @ 90%

2' RI

8' @ 80%

3' RI

7' @ 70%

Cool Down

I rode this with the 6 a.m. class and then had planned to ride tempo for the 8 a.m. class, but decided to do it again. And as my luck would have it I was faster during the 2nd class. Solid day and my biking is starting to come around I think.

Energy

Sorry for the double post today, but I'll make this one short. I headed out for my run and had aspirations of doing some speed work. As I started to warm up I went through the first mile faster than I had hoped. Because of that I figured this was going to be a good day. It wasn't a good day, not a bad day either...any time you can get out and do something active I think you can mark it up to a positive. As I made it about half way through my first interval I realized today was not the day to do speed work, I just didn't have the pop in my legs, and I quickly came to terms with that. As I continued on I began to think about the reasons why my speed just wasn't there. I think there are a few reasons that the speed wasn't there. I haven't fueled properly today, yes I love the pizza from whole foods but that's not what I should be eating to fuel me...especially if I want to have productive workouts. I hadn't had enough water throughout the day. As I thought more about it, the hydration and fuel weren't the only problems.

I have been wasting energy on things out of my control. Why am I wasting the energy? Good question, and I battled that question for much of the duration of my run today. If nothing positive is going to come out of an effort why am I putting that effort in? Trust me nothing positive could come out of the way I was spending my energy. This energy is an extremely valuable resource, and to accomplish my goals I'm going to need all of it that I have...not waste it. So from here out I'm going to make a better effort to worry about what I can control, basically myself, and let the rest go. If I'm dwelling on something that's wasting energy I'm going to think back to this and redirect myself.

Masters swimming tonight, and I'm bringing a new sense of energy with me.

A Potluck Post of Sorts

So this is going to be even more random than my typical posts. I found an old CD of music which I had made in college last night. So this morning as I was getting ready I decided to put it on and see what was on it. It was actually really funny, and as most of my "mix" CD's completely random. I found humor in one particular song. Music can do some pretty amazing things, and it helped to put a smile on my face for the remainder of the day...at least so far!

Yesterday was pizza Wed. at Whole Foods...and since I haven't had their pizza in a while I decided to get two. Yea I'm not sure why I bought two pizzas, it seemed like a good idea at the time. And when you get pulled chicken to put on the top it's freakin awesome! I only enjoyed half of the pizza last night and I had the other half for lunch today. Yea yea yea, I know I eat a lot. At least it was healthier than most other pizza's.

I keep losing channels on my tv at home. Not sure if Comcast is onto the fact that I was getting channels I shouldn't have been getting or if something else happened. I'm a bit suspicious but whatever. So now I'm down to the basic tv stations, and I'm having a hard time justifying the money I'm paying for "cable" tv and internet. Let me tell you the "cable" tv is nothing better than I could get from a traditional antenna. What good is it for me to watch the tv guide network if I don't get the great majority of those channels? I'm thinking about cancelling my cable and internet and just getting an i-phone instead. What do you think good idea or bad? I can't justify $100 a month for tv...especially now when I rarely watch tv. I would rather be working on something and listening to music than sitting down and watching tv, but that's just me. I wish they had a package which just had ESPN, ESPN 2, Food Network, Versus, Weather Channel, Discovery Channel, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, WGN, and maybe VH1...what can I say I like watching music videos during breakfast. I mean is that too much to ask? Unless I could get DVR too...then bring the channels on...I'm sure I would actually watch the shows eventually.

I told you this would be a random post. On the training side of things I have a little run and masters swim planned for today. We'll see how the run goes. I brought my racing flats, and had planned on heading to the track. I'm not sure what kind of a workout I want to do though. I want to do some "race pace" type of stuff...so maybe I'll head out on to the roads, warm up for a mile, then go 3 minutes at race pace 2 minutes "easy", and repeat for 2 miles before cooling down for a mile...who knows I guess it will just matter how I feel. Beautiful day to run!! Get out and do something. I'm rereading "How Lance Does It" which is an awesome book about how Lance Armstrong lives on a day to day basis. I need to get back into that positive mindset and it starts by surrounding yourself with positive people...so that's what I'm doing!

Patience...I must have Patience

So I was looking back at my power numbers from last year at this time and I came to realize that my numbers are very similar. I thought that I would be ahead of the game now, and I think I am ahead of where I was last year at this time, but my numbers haven't showed it. My "big" race (isn't every race a big race?) of the year isn't until the end of November, so I don't want to burn out early on, but at the same time, like any competitive person, I want more fitness...and I want it now! As I was driving home from computrainer this morning I was talking to myself, as I often do, and tried to tell myself that I need to have patience.

I need to look at the gains I made in the water, and also the gains I have made running, while not letting my bike slack off at all. That is a huge positive that I need to embrace. As much as you want everything, you can't always have it. Life is about being patient, and good things will come to those who wait. So I will wait, and I know I will be rewarded in the long run. Waiting is difficult, but will just make the outcome so much sweeter in the end.

This mornings computrainer workout was solid. Ron put up a great set with all threshold work. I wanted to go above what my threshold tested at...hoping that I would be able to hang, and that I did!

15 minute warm up
5 minutes @ AT (305 watts)
3 minutes RI
10 minutes @ AT (308 watts)
5 minutes RI
10 minutes @ AT (311 watts)
5 minutes RI
5 minutes @ AT (320 watts)
Cool Down

This was solid, and I would say I was working at a "threshold" type of output. It was hard, but not so hard where I felt like I had nothing at all left. It was a good boost, and I need to keep pushing. I'll head out for a little shake out run today and that will be about it. And I will have to remember that good things come to those who wait!

Life in the Fast Lane...But Why Was I There?

So I'm not sure why this happened...but it did. Last night Coach Sue decided that Chad needed to lead his own lane and that I needed to get my butt kicked (well I'm not sure about the second part but she said Chad needed to lead a lane). So what does she do...she puts me into the fast lane with Brian and Angela. Let's be serious I have no right swimming with those two...and I have no right swimming with Chad either, so they were perfect in a lane together. Anyway to make a long story short I got SMOKED!! I was able to hold onto a draft for like 25 yards and then it was time to swim my butt off to not get lapped. My "swim my butt off" theory worked well until the last set of 400 where guess what happened...yep I got lapped. Sorry Brian and Angela I was slowing you down. All in all it was a good night though and it is feeling more comfortable to swim at a faster pace. The masters group has helped me to not only get in the water consistently, but also to swim for a solid distance, and to push me out of my comfort zone. I really need to find that for running, as I have it in computrainer classes for biking. So I guess it's time to join a track club.

If anyone knows of any please let me know! My running could use a bit of a jump start, as I'm just in a rut where I go out and run...usually I do run hard, but I need something a bit more structured. Training with people who are better than me totally helps as well.

I'm pretty sure after my performance in the fast lane last night I won't be asked back any time soon, which is alright with me for now. Some day though I will make it...I'm not sure when that day will be...but some day!

The Journey Continues...

Not all that much to report on the training front. I backed things down last week as more of a "recovery" type of week because of the huge volume I did the previous week. I was able to get some solid training in and I feel as if my body is adapting well to the stress that I have been placing on it. It's funny though because I usually feel better with the more training that I get in. Last week didn't seem as easy as I would have thought, and actually the bigger volume week seemed easier.

I do have a funny story though. So I went out for a ride Saturday afternoon, and I rode my tri bike. I ended up riding past this guy during the ride. No big deal, that happens right? Well this guy caught me as I was stopped at a light and decided to start mouthing off how "it must be easy today in the aero position" and basically trying to tell me that be could kick my butt. I just kind of shrugged everything off. Well then he threw down a challenge..."Do you want to race?" I couldn't back down from this! So he said where he wanted to race to and when he wanted to start...so a race he would have...and I would get to put this guy in his place. He said go and I just dropped the hammer trying to open a gap immediately. My plan was not to look back and to just bury myself to put this guy in his place. Well I was able to win, and by a pretty large margin as well. So to the dude with the Madone 6.0 with race wheels and the Mellow Johnny's long sleeve jersey...don't be a jerk, realize that you're not the strongest rider in the area (trust me I'm NOT either!!!) and why don't you just enjoy being out on your bike, it's not about racing all of the time, sometimes it's about enjoying the day. This little event definitely made me enjoy the day a bit more!

I ended up riding about 40 miles, and then followed that up Sunday morning with 45 more on my single speed. I love riding that single speed!

222 days until Ironman Arizona...the journey continues...and I need to pick up my focus!

Ironic

I won't explain why my mood today makes me think of the word ironic...but I find some things rather ironic. Anyway, my training break (also known as spring break to many) is over and school started up again yesterday. It was cool to train hard for a week, and I can just imagine what this summer is going to hold! Anyway I took Monday off of training, which is my first day off in a while. I didn't feel from a physical standpoint that I needed it, but I did need the break mentally. I started up again yesterday with an easy run and an easy spin on the trainer. I never felt good running, it was just one of those days I guess. As I rode longer on my trainer things felt better and better. By the end of 70 minutes I was ready to keep hammering away.

This morning was the usual 4 a.m. wake up call to get ready to hammer away on my bike at computrainer class. The workout was as follows:

15 minute warm up
4 x 2 min @ 110% (340 watts) & 2 min RI
4 minute break
4 x 2 min @ 110% (340 watts) & 2 min RI
4 minute break
2 x 2 min @ 110% (340 watts) & 2 min RI
Cool Down

I decided to go a little above 110% today and held on to finish the workout. My legs didn't feel great, but they felt better as the set moved forward, maybe that just means I have to ride longer...who knows.

Busy couple of days coming up.

Pump up the volume...

Well I had a huge week of training...except for swimming, but I have been hammering that pretty hard so it was nice to take advantage of the weather this week. Overall I ended up with more than 17 hours of training which included 11+ hours of riding, almost 43 miles running, and only 1 session in the pool. Instead of boring you with details of each day I'll point out the highlights starting with Tuesday...I don't want to go back to Monday night and blowing up in the water.

Tuesday: 1 workout...I decided to get up and run the loop at Waterfall Glen. After about a quarter mile I almost turned back and called it a day because I felt like crap. I stayed the course though hoping things would come around. What I've found is that things do come around if I stay with it long enough. It took me about 3.5 miles to start feeling good, and maybe I felt good because it was a down hill part of the loop...but I was feeling better none the less. I just kept feeling better and better and kept hammering away. I ended up finishing the loop in just over an hour. I have a new goal now...I will break an hour for the loop at Waterfall Glen by the end of the summer!

Wednesday: Huge day! It started with a computrainer class at Endure It followed by a brick run, which went well and I clipped along at a solid pace. Then it was time for a quick refuel before riding on my tri bike outdoors for the first time this year, followed by another brick run. After some yard work and more food it was time for my 3rd run of the day...all in all 3+ hours of riding and 13+ miles of running. Here was the computrainer workout:

6 minutes @ AT
2 minutes RI
5 minutes @ AT
2 minutes RI
4 minutes @ AT
2 minutes RI
3 minutes @ AT
1 minute RI
2 minutes @ AT
1 minute RI
1 minute @ AT
5 minutes easy spin
10 x 1 minute (30 seconds max; 30 seconds easy)

Thursday: This was another amazing day! I headed downtown and met up with a friend from college and we went and ran along the lakefront. I think I'm going to try to do this quite a bit this summer, as it's so much fun to run down there (there is no way I would ride!). Running along the lake was so peaceful and it's motivating to see so many other people out there working on their fitness as well. When I got home I met up with some buddies and we headed out for our first mountain bike ride at Palos this year. I forgot how much fun mountain biking is!!! It's hard but we had an absolute blast!

Friday: Another ride outside of around 2 hours or so which was followed by a 6+ mile brick run. I went out and rode with Guy Petruzelli, Jenny Garrison and Colin Riley who are all going to have amazing seasons this year. Guy and Jenny just got done racing at Powerman Alabama last weekend so they were spinning their legs out, and Colin is 2 weeks away from Collegiate Nationals, where he is going to do some damage!! I felt good riding but I got put in my place during this run! Let me tell you it was AMAZING!!! Riding I felt good and put in a solid effort, I hadn't planned on running hard off of the bike...but that changed quickly. I was running with Colin and we clicked off the first mile in 6:40...not bad...but that wouldn't last. He tightened the screws on me and buried me for the next two miles with a sub 5:40 pace. I wasn't sure how much farther we had so I told him to keep going at mile 3 and I was going to slow down. Well when you're running at around a 5:30 pace slowing down is all relative and I was still clicking off 6:20 miles. He was nice enough to loop back for me and we finished up our run together. I ended up running a 38:35 10k, which could be the fastest I have ever run for a 10k. Needless to say I was buried after this and it was great to get home relax and enjoy the day!

Saturday: Computrainer at Endure It started the day followed by an easy 5+ mile brick run. After yesterdays suffer fest I figured this was a smart idea. Here was the computrainer class that I taught though:

15 minute warm up
5 min @ 90%
2 min RI
5 min @ 90%
2 min RI
3 min @ AT
1 min RI
3 min @ AT
1 min RI
1 min @ 120%
1 min RI
1 min @ 120%
1 min RI
3 min @ AT
1 min RI
3 min @ AT
1 min RI
5 min @ 90%
2 min RI
5 min @ 90%
5 min easy spin
10 x 1 min (15 sec max effort; 45 sec easy)
Cool Down

Long run tomorrow morning, and I think Cory is going to join me for about half of it, which will be really nice...time for bed.