Lots of New Stuff Going On

Let me start by saying that Christmas was awesome. It is so much fun to have Connor realize what is going on as opposed to just being a little baby. It is classic to walk aroung the house and here Connor say, "Santa Claus, ho ho ho!" all day. Anyways my mom bought Connor a Thomas the Train set and the thing is like built in day care. He will play with his trains for hour after hour, in fact the kid almost went on a hunger strike, I am having trouble pulling him away to eat.
We had a wonderful Christmas, both of our families are fantastic and it is great to have them within a few miles of our house.
Vacation- the day after Christmas we headed off to the Monterey Penisula. Wow!! That is place is as beautiful as any place I have ever been. We spent some time in Carmel, went to the aquarium, which of course Connor loved and ate entirely too much food. I will post pictures in the next day or two. I was able to run everyday will Courtney and Connor took their naps. I put in about 6 miles a day while I was there. I generally would leave our hotel and there was a boardwalk that ran right along the coast and "Cannery Row". I think about how lucky we are to live in San Clemente and the beauty that we are surrounded by, however our coastline does not touch Monterey's.
New Years- so we have a little party we are going to tonight. It should be a ton of fun. Lots of friends and fun. The nice thing is that it is on our street. We are also lucky enough to have CM's parents watching Connor. I have made a couple of New Year's resolutions. First of all is too eliminate all fried food. Don't get me wrong, I am not eating fried food all the time but I should not eat it at all. My father died of a heart attack when he was 56, leaving two grown children and his wife. That is not the way I want to go out. I do take much better care of myself than he did, and hopefully have a lot less stress.(he owned a company with over 100 employees). My second resolution is to get abs, which really means changing my diet. This is not a vain resolution. I feel that it just means that I promise to get in the best shape of my life. I would guess that when I did the Vineman on a percentage scale of fitness I was only about 65% and still put up a respectable time. But if I eat healthier and stick to a more strict regime I should be a lot better off.
Racing- 2009 will not be the year of racing that I anticipated. Because we will be welcoming our daughter into the world in late April or early May my triathlon schedule has taken a serious hit. I was planning on doing California half, which blundered because I didn't know that the race would sell out so far in advance. I was also planning on doing Wildflower, but that is the week before our daughter is do. I and was considering doing the Vineman again, but that is out as well. So CM and I were talking about what race or races that I could do that would best fit or schedule and it looks like the Longhorn 70.3 in Austin, Texas is the ticket in October or A-train said there is the Soma 70.3 in Tempe about the same time. I will also try and do the Orange County Triathlon which is an olympic distance race and possibly Malibu as well.
Progression- This leads me to my last topic. It will be really fun to have a goal that is pretty far in the distance. My goal for my next half will be to go sub 5 hours, hopefully sub 4:50. Considering I only went 5:12 at the Vineman that is some serious time that needs to be shaved off, but I think I can do it. Over the next 10 months I plan on cosisently tracking my workouts on this blog to see the improvement. I will put end of the week totals. It will be fun to watch the times get better and better. FYI- I started the doing the walk of shame on the hills yesterday. I did a 5.78 mile run averaging 10:25 per mile and 147hr with 700 ft of climbing. I had to walk several hills which I hate. But if I am going to do it I am going to do it right. In order for me to go sub 5 hours I will need run a sub 1:40 half marathon. Piece of cake. I hope you all make 2009 the best year of your life.

Connor Pics

I never put enough pictures of the family up. Here is our Christmas card this year. Mom and dad didn't feel very photogenic so we let the handsome little guy steal the show.

And the little man blowing out the candle at his 2nd birthday.

New Clothes and Store

Ran about 5.5 miles this morning. Was tired of running slow so I did wear my hr monitor but paid no attention to it. I felt pretty good especially since it was the third day in a row that I ran.
At lunch I went to a store in Irvine and got some new 2XU compression gear. I love all my 2XU clothing so i decided to stick with them. The stuff feels great. Hopefully it will make me faster.
The store is Tribuys.com. They are mainly an online retailer but you can go in and buy gear. The people there were extremely friendly and helpful. They are only about 1 year in the business but seem to be doing well. They have pretty cool ads that I see in Triathlete mag monthly.
They also sponsor a guy named Crowie. I heard he is pretty fast. The one thing that has struck me about Crowie is that everything you hear or read about him says that he is just a class act. I actually met his wife Neri at the finish line of the Vineman 70.3. She and a couple of her friends were at the finish chute cheering all the age groupers on well after he husband had finished. He came in 2nd in the Vineman, obviously he was saving himself for Kona. I asked her if she knew who won and she told me the top five guys. She said Bezzone won and her husband had came in 2nd. She then asked me how I did. I told her 5:12 and she said wow that is awesome for your first half. Pretty cool of a lady whose husband had just beat me by an 1 hour and 20mins. I guess my point is they just seem like very real and nice people. I like to see good guys win.
I don't know how much it is played up in the media but the rivalry between Macca and Stadler bugged me a little. It seemed like all they wanted to do was beat the shit out of each other. While back in the day Mark Allen and Dave Scott wanted to use each other to get better, but respected each others abilities and acted with a ton more class. I have the ultimate respect for Macca's competitive side. He obviously wants to win more than anyone. But again it seems like he could take some life lessons from a Crowie or Beke. I would bet money that either one of those guys would have waited for their bike to get fixed this year and finished the race knowing that they couldn't win. And Chrissie Wellington would have as well, oh wait she still won.
So if you have a chance check out Tribuys.com

Slow Going

So the last two day I have run 5 miles each day. And I am having some serious consistency issues with my heart rate. One day I am running 9:30 miles with my hr under 149 the next day i am running 11:00/ miles. It is boring as hell. Not only that I feel like I am not even working out. I would say more but it is pissing me off.

Tough Weekend

Not much to report for this weekend. I got in a grand total of 4 miles. My son was super sick and we spent most of our time taking care of him. We got almost no sleep on Saturday night. He is doing much better this morning. I plan on getting in some miles today at lunch or after work.

Pictureless Blog

I have been somewhat busy at work the last week or so which is great. I ran on Tuesday about five miles at lunch around Newport Beach. I read JK's and heard that it is 19 degrees in Colorado it was close to that in Cali, about 65 degrees. I think thats why SoCal guys are a bit softer we very rarely are dealing with nature. We do get some heat but no cold, very little rain, and I am not sure if I would recognize snow if I saw it.
I have been a little flusterd lately with my heart rate, I am not able to keep it down the way that I would like. But considering I am not training with a specfic goal in mind right now, it is probably not that big of a deal. Today I plan on running about 6 miles or so, possibly doing some speed work. Tomorrow I anticipate being able to ride for a couple of hours and maybe getting a swim in as well. And of course putting up Christmas lights. My son who is only 2 keeps telling me that we need lights when he looks at our neighbors houses all lit up.
Sunday I am planning to do hill work.

Another Baby

No workout for Monday. My bro-in-law had a health baby boy. I ended up being at the hospital for about 5 hours and was too tired to motivate when I got home.
This morning I ran 5 miles at the gym it has been cold, well cold for California and wet the last few days. I was planning on running outside but wimped out. A-train and I talked yesterday and we might consider doing a marathon together in the next few months. I have never run over 15 miles but since I do plan on being an Ironman one day I should get a marathon under my belt.

Ride & Swim

So i finally went for a ride eysterday. 31 miles with over 2,000 in elevation. I have not been on the bike much and was hurting. I also swam for the first time in over a month only about 1500 which felt good. I am going to start traing pretty regularly now.

Happpy Thanksgiving #2

We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday spending time with both my family and Court's. Court's parents and aunt came to our house for breakfast and we went to my sister's house for dinner. My sister just had her 3rd child and it is nuts over there. This afternoon we will be having our 2nd Thanksgiving feast with Courtney's family. We are so lucky to have family that we get along with so well and that live so close together. We see everyone quite frequently.
This morning Court decided to hit up the sales at Black Friday and decided to get a little run in. I ran 6 miles and felt pretty good. Total 6 miles. Avg HR 149 Avg/min 9:43. I have a lot of work to do but plan on starting to be very consisent. Tomorrow I hope to get on the bike, it seems like forever since I have.

Happpy Thanksgiving

It is raining in California. The last two days we have seen quite a bit of rain which is very unusual for us. Yesterday I ran six miles with my wifes cousins who were in town staying with us from Baltimore. They are super cool people. They both just did a marathon last month in under 3:45 so they put a pretty good hurting on me. I have been doing most of my running in the gym on a treadmill so being in the hills outside was extra hard. When I was training for the Vineman I was always running outside and because of where I live it is all hills almost no flats. I need to continue to run outside, I was so pleasantly surprised with my Vineman run time and I have to credit it to the hills of Talega.
FYI- I am making a resolution starting today. My plan from now until Xmas is to do at least 100 push ups and 10 mins of core work everyday. It seem relatively minor but I am sure it will make a huge difference. I really need a training partner by the way. It is too easy to not be accountable this time of year.
Thanksgiving- I just want to let everyone know how thankful I am. I have a wonderful wife, a beautiful son, daughter on the way and a loving family. I have a great job and God has provided for me and will continue to provide for my family. There have been many changes this year. Some setbacks but a lot of progress. I read a lot of peoples blogs on the net and it seems like we are most concerned about how our bodies feel. God has blessed us all to be able to do a trememdous amount of physical activity and build relationships with people from all over the country and in some cases the world through the sport we love. That is truly something to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Weekend of Nada

This weekend was very productive for me. I did nothing. I did watch my buddy complete and ironman via ironman live while I ate disgusting food and probably packed on 5lbs. I do want to congratulate Aaron for his efforts at IM Arizona. Aaron completed the race in 12:12. I can't wait to hear from him about his performance. Aaron as I have said before is a large triathlete, mix that in with he and his wife having a brand new baby in the house (less than 2 months old) and Aaron working late hours at the hospital just to compete is quite an accomplishment.
This should be a pretty easy work week which should allow me some time to actually get on the bike, so I am excited. We have some family from back east arriving today.

Morning Ride, Not!

So it have been a little while since I have been on the bike. This is only my 2nd week at my new job so I haven't felt good about getting in too late. And I am not a real fan of riding in the dark. And seeing that it is the off season I am just not motivated to ride the trainer at 5am. So work has been going well and I decided today I would hop on the bike with a friend and ride for 90 mins. or so before work. That was the plan. Does anyone have the friend who is generally a 50/50 possibility of showing up? Well my boy did it to me again this morning. I woke up to a text message saying, "dude I don't feel so well." It really doesn't matter what it says and if he doesn't feel well I hope he feels better soon, but like I said he is a 50/50 shot of showing. The great thing was I got my bike loaded in the car last night and all my sh--- ready to go. So now I am headed to the gym to get on the treadmill and run for an hour. Running and weights is all I have been doing lately. There will be a 50 mile ride this weekend or bust!!! I missing riding on PCH and looking at the ocean.
To everyone doing IM AZ good luck this weekend. Especially my boy Aaron. The king of the clydesdale division. Aaron has worked his ass off and mix that in with having a new baby girl a month or so ago he is due to have a great race. I know that JK has been talking to him over the last few weeks and I am glad that they have formed a friendship. They are both great guys. When they get a chance to meet JK will find out that he will be looking at Aaron in the stomach not the eyes . It's ok me too. There is something about getting advice from a guy who kills it over in Kona annually that makes you feel a hell of a lot more confident come race day. Good luck Aaron.

Too Much Smokey

Yesterday was too smokey so I ended up running at the gym and doing some weights. I have not been running with a hr monitor lately because it has been a little frustrating. Yesterday I ran 5 miles not too hard. This is probably the first time in my life that I have ran 4 days in a row. I got some new kicks and they are awesome Saucony Rides.
We still have our house guest and they are beginning to be a little trouble. The kids don't get along that well which makes it not very fun. I was happy to see the work week come my way so I didn't have to deal with two little boys who are unfamiliar with the word, "share." Luckily the guests will be going home tomorrow and life should return to normal.

House Guests

So I finished the first week of my job and am starting to feeling comfortable in my new situation. I have been able to run the last 3 days, nothing major between 30-50mins each day. I have also started to add in so weights. Hopefully if the smoke isn't too bad from the fires today I will get 40 miles or so in on the bike. It seems like forever since I have been on the bike.
We have some house guests. My wifes best friend and her son are in town from Sacramento for the next few days. It is weird having Connor, who is two and Josh, who is three running around the house like caged animals. They play until they pass out.

Sick of Being Sick

Lots of changes in the last 10 days. I started a new job which I am loving. Still in commercial real estate but now working with tenants exclusively. My company is the best in the industry and there are endless opportunities.
I got sick last week and I am only now starting to feel better. Until this morning I hadn't worked out in nearly 10 days the longest stretch I can remember in the last year or so. This morning I ran (jogged) about 35 mins. It felt great just to sweat. The nice thing about my new office besides the incredible ocean views is that we are directly adjacent to a 24 Hour Fitness. I really should have no excuse to not work out even if it is indoors.

Jeff Keil

I was looking around on the internet this morning and saw an interview with a friend of mine , on xtri.com. Jeff Keil is a world class triathlete and a world class guy. Jeff was the 1st overall American amateur in Kona this year and ran a top 15 marathon. I think 2:58 is a fast marathon, lol... Jeff and I have a mutual friend and we met when he was out in Cali winning his age group in the California 70.3. Jeff and I have stayed in contact over the last 8 months and he has helped me in a big way with my training. Hopefully if things work out we will be able to do a race together this year. Below is the link to the interview.http://xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=5095&CAT=21&xref=xx

It's a Girl, Most Likely

So life has been a little busy lately. I am in the process of changing jobs which I am really excited about. The same industry for a far superior company where there is more opportunity. Court and I went to the doctor for an ultra sound and they told us that they were pretty certain we are having a girl which is great. I think if we were having another boy Courtney may have wanted to go one more time to try and get a girl. We are both really stoked. We have picked a name but we never tell anyone. You get too many comments.
I have been doing a little riding. Yesterday I was riding on Pacific Coast Highway near Long beach and had just made a turn heading back to Newport. A hippie looking guy rolled up on an old Schwinn and asked me if I minded if he drafted I said I didn't and thought I would drop him anyways. He hung with me the whole time going 19-25mph.(Its flat) Later he told me that he started riding in Oxnard (probably 90 miles away) and was trying to get to San Diego before dark. And he had actually started riding in San Francisco on Tuesday. Classic. It just goes to show you equipment doesn't mean as much as the motor.

Quick Update- More New Life

Saturday- I rode about 35 miles. Nothing spectacular too many hills.

Sunday- Off

Monday- Ran for an hour, slower than usual if that is possible. My heart rate was higher than normal which was frustrating.

My sister had her third baby today, her second little girl. Libby Casey Rue. We are multiplying big time on both sides of my family. Everyone is pregnant.

Connor's B-Day

October 7th was Connor's birthday but I just got the pics. I know he is mine but tell me this kid ain't a little stud.

Update

Wednesday I did a one hour ride on the trainer. The sun keeps coming up later and later which makes it very hard to get out for a road ride and make it in to work at a reasonable time. The trainer as we all know is sooo boring but it always makes me fell like I am grinding which is good. I also swam 2000 in the evening.

Thursday- Off

This morning I met up with my buddy Aaron, "a clydesdale" 6ft 6inches 240lbs. Mark Allen told him he was the largest ironman he has seen. We rode for 32 miles averaging 17 mph. The ride had over 2150 ft of climbing which was almost all in the first 17 miles. Aaron is doing Ironman Arizona in November and was riding strong. He was also going to run 19 miles after our ride. I finally decided to read about all the things that my Garmin can do last night on-line. Those things are amazing.

Lunch Run w/ Ipod #9

So I couldn't stand running without my Ipod so I got a new one. This time I went with the cheapest version I could get. The 1 GB shuffle. I have lost, washed, and broke others so I went with the $49 special. The best thing about it was I had a $50 gift card to Best Buy so at least I only came out of pocket with 3 bucks cash.
I have been bringing my lunch to work and trying to go run the Back Bay in Newport instead of going out to eat. I forgot my garmin today so I ran at a pace that was problably above my normal heart rate but if felt good and was nice to not always be looking down at my wrist. I went for about 6 miles. I ended up getting two blisters which are on my arches, I am thinking it might be time for new shoes.

Weekend Update

This weekend I went on the ride from hell. I haven't being doing many longer rides since the Vineman. My wife and son went to a birthday part Saturday which gave me a chance to go on a 3 hour ride. I decided to ride from my house to Oceanside and back. It is one of my favorite rides because most of it has a great ocean view and being right on the coast it is never that hot. I made good time down to Oceanside the way back was a whole different story. I will download the info from my Garmin tomorrow but I think I did the first 28 miles in 1hr 23min the way back was directly into the wind and I think it took 2hours to get back. FYI-the last 4 miles is all uphill as well. I was seriously grinding to go 15-16mph on the way back. I thought of how miserable it must be for guys in Kona on windy days.
Sunday I didn't do anything.This morning I ran for 45 mins on the treadmill. I also did a bit of lifting i want to get my legs and core stronger. I hope to eventually look like I do triathlons. I want to start to run outside more but I hate running in the dark. I also washed my Ipod and it went to Ipod heaven, so if you want to know what boring is run on the treadmill with no music and you will find out. I am going to try and swim tonight.

Slowest Runner Ever

I haven't been running much since the Vineman but when I ran yesterday I remembered how dang slow that I am. I ran 6 miles arouund 9:30 per mile while keeping my heart rate under 150. It was hot and I had a 4 pound burrito for lunch that was lingering around, but I am still pretty damn slow.

Unfortuantely I it doesn't look like I will be racing California 70.3. The race is sold out and I tried to get in late but it is not looking good. I now have to figure out what half to do. I am going to plan my race schedule soon. Hopefully to include two halfs and an olympic distance race or two.

Typical California Weather

Being a native Southern Californian I often wonder what it would be like to live in a place where there actually seasons. But days like today remind me that Cali ain't so bad. We are now approaching Halloween and for the last couple of weeks the temperature has been between 80-95 degrees. With fall like this who needs summer.



As for todays training, I swam 2000. I haven't been getting in the pool much so I went pretty short. If I am going to achieve my goal of going sub 5 hrs for the California 70.3 I am going to need to get stronger on the swim. At the Vineman earlier this year I swam 34 mins. I would like to shave 3-4 mins off that in April.



I will also being riding the trainer tonight for an hour. Courtney's friends are taking her out for happy hour for her birthday which was on Saturday. Courtney is pregnant so what will she do at happy hour?

Morning Ride

32.5 Miles on Pacfic Coast Hwy. from Newport to Seal Beach and back. 1:45 mins 18.5mph average. Not bad considering the amount of lights I hit. Never really got my hr up very high mostly under 149.