Starting Over

I am now training again. I have signed up for two late season races, the OC Tri, and olympic distance race and SOMA 1/2 Ironman in Arizona in late October. Over the last 4 months my training decreased quite a bit due to the birth of our daughter, Kinsley. However now everything seems to be stabilizing. The last 12-18 months work has been a bit challenging due to the economic slowdown, that coupled with a growing family made training consistently a bit tough.
I have finally joined a Master's swim program. The first week was a real wake-up call. I usually just swam by myself which I know wasn't the best training. I also had never swam long course before. Let's just say that week one was rough. I really think that over the next two months I should be able to get faster and feel great coming out of the water.
My goal for SOMA is to go under 5:12 which was my time in last years Vineman. I am not sure if it is realistic or not but we will see. I really need to find a way to run faster!

Weekly Totals-

Swim- 6500

Bike-85

Run-22.5

Keeping It Together

I have been pretty disappointed with the amount of work that I have been able to put in lately, but I hope that will change shortly. Saturday I went for a ride with three of my buddies only about 30 miles. After a little warm up I put in some hard efforts and dropped them twice which felt good. Saturday afternoon I got in a swim of about 2500.
Easter was a pretty full day with the family. I wanted to run in the afternoon but got addicted to The Masters.
This morning i ran for an hour and hopefully will get out of work in time to get in a little swim. This morning I weighed 180lbs. That is a kinda heavy. I know I have put on some muscle but not enough to weigh 180.

It's been a while

So I pretty much don't blog anymore. Oh well, I guess it is all about Twitter these days. I am not tweeting yet but I am sure it is only just a matter of time. It seems that it would be much more my style. I can handle two or three sentences at a time. So a lot has happened since the last blog. I completed the first tri of the season. I am about to complete my first real estate deal since December, and most importantly we are now a month away from having our daughter, Connor the model in the picture, is convinced we are naming her dinosaur.

In November I took a large leap of faith. I had been working at a company for several years and as my industry of selling office buildings began to slow, I made a jump. I stayed in the real estate industry but went to a company who specializes in a different area of the real estate business. I tell people it was starting over, but with a ton of experience. As I near completion of my first deal, it feels like I might be able to breathe again. I really began to feel the pressure of a 2nd child on her way, a nice house, a wife who has had the ability to work part time, a tough economy etc.... I am happy with the decision that I made, I think it took guts and everything is working out well.

Superseal- So my first race of the season was the Superseal. I originally was planning on doing the Superfrog which is a 1/2 ironman but decided with some guidance from my unofficial coach to just do the Olympic distance. Because of the struggles with work and the pressure of getting out of survival mode my training has not been what I would have like but oh well. And i also got sick the day before the race. I decided to race anyways, i was hoping to have my new wetsuit but unfortunately I got the wrong size and had to wait for a one that fits, of course it came in the day after the race. Jen at Tribuys was nice enough to let me borrow one. So just like always I decided that my first open water swim of the year would be race day. I felt awful in the water as the we were sent off but like always i got thru it and swam about 25mins. The transition to the bike was for sure the furthest i have ever had to go. Got on the bike and for the first time ever had trouble keeping my hr down but wasn't concerned. The course was pancake flat but for half of the race there was a headwind. I was passing lots of people and rarely getting passed. One pass that i did notice was Jordan Rapp, the winner of the race. At the time I was going 24mph and he passed me like i was standing still. It was humbling. I only rode 1:09 or 21.5mph average which was actually quite a letdown. Finally got to the run. My goal was to run sub 8 min miles and I ran 7:59's, about one mile was on the sand so I am sure that slowed it down a little. I truly feel that if I wasn't sick that I could have shaved a few mins. of my time. I finished 17th in my AG if I could have knocked off 3 mins I would have been 11th. What can you do. JK always says you don't have to feel well to race well. Final time was 2:29:50 goal was 2:30. (crushed it!)

I am not really sure how training is going to go after the baby comes. My next race might not be until after summer. I still plan on doing either the Longhorn half or the Soma half as well or the Orange County tri.

I did go to the Calif half with Connor last weekend and watched Matty Reed kick ass. That boy was flying on the run. He looks fast cuz he is so damn tall. He only ran a 1:11 half marathon to beat Andy Potts. i am doing that race next year. It is too close to home not to. We also got our Tribuys gear, which I haven't picked up yet but looks awesome! I am truly stoked to be part of that team and have met some great athletes but better people.

GOOD TIMES

You know you are having a good day when you are out for your morning ride and you get a ticket from a motorcycle cop for running a stop sign. At least I had two of my boys with me to share in the fun.

Training update to come soon and pictures of the Tribuys team workouts at Sport Performance Institute.

Santa Barbara Recap

So this weekend my beautiful wife and I headed up north to Santa Barbara for the weekend. We were originally supposed to go thru Monday but we figured that we would miss Connor to much so we just stayed til Sunday. My wife loves to sleep and read so I brought my bike thinking that I would get some rides and runs in over the weekend. The weather was rainy for Friday and Saturday but both days I was able to get in a 1 hour run. I also got in a spin class on Saturday moring.
I found a bike shop on-line, Fastrack bicycles. I actually ran in there on Friday and they helped me with my bike for free which was really nice. They also pointed me in the right direction for the group rides in Santa Barbara on the weekends. Saturday's ride didn't work cuz it was pouring rain in the morning so I spun instead. Sunday there was a ride that was starting less than a mile from my hotel so that sounded good. I rode for about half an hour before heading down to the start, I was a bit early and ran into a triathlete who said he wasn't doing the group ride but was planning on doing 50 miles which was perfect for me. The guy was a 54 year old semi-retired attorney who did Vineman last year in 5:15. He told me that there was some climbing in the ride and I thought it will be good for me. The first 20 miles was more or less rolling and he said that it was part of the SB long course tri course. Then we made a left turn and the climbing began. Needless to say the total ride was 48 miles with almost 3800 of climbing. This guy thought it was 1700 of climbing, he was off slightly! Anyways it was a tough ride but i really enjoyed it. I don't even know if i can find hills like that around here. It ended at the top of some mountain looking out at Lake Casitas. It was picturesque.

Weekly Totals

run- 25 miles
bike 90 miles
swim- 4500 meter

Making Progress

This week has started off pretty well in terms of traing. I have done a little over 5,000 in the pool with yesterdays main set being 15X100 at 1:30-1:35 on 20 seconds rest. Since I haven't been swimming much in the last couple of months it was pretty much a lung buster. Tuesday I did the Tribuys morning workout and my legs were much better than last week when I couldn't walk for two days. After the workout A-Train and I ran 4.25 miles. It was the first time his hr rate was lower than mine when we have trained together. That will change soon big boy! I also got an hour in on the trainer after last nights swim. This morning I did the Tribuys workout again and did a couple of miles afterward.
Tomorrow Courtney and I leave for Santa Barbara and the little man will be staying at home with his grandparents. I am bringing the bike and plan on riding a bunch. There is also a public pool right by our hotel. It should be a good training weekend. I feel better every day and think that I may drop 10 pounds this month.

Week Recap

So it was a bit of a strange week. I ran 6.5 miles on Monday and felt ok. Tuesday hit the Tribuys team workout. We did lots of leg work, stuff that I haven't done for years. I also ran with Jen for four miles afterwards. I was so sore from the leg work the next three days that I couldn't do a damn thing. Literally I felt like I was 100 years old. At least I know that my legs need some work. Saturday and Sunday I rode, did a total of 60 miles. My fitness is horrible. Today I will be back in the pool and ready to work.
This weekend Courtney and I are headed to Santa Barbara for the "babymoon" a little vacation before the final trimester. I am bringing my bike and plan on riding everyday on getting some running and swimming in as well. Two months before the first race. I need to get rid of at least 10 pounds and get some confidence back.

Back on It! I mean it this time

A new week and the health is finally to about 90%. In case anyone was wondering my total hours of training last week hit 70 mins, which consisted of a ride on the trainer. I was planning on riding with the www.Tribuys.com team on Saturday and it looked like the weather was going to accomodate, however when I got to Laguna Niguel it was pouring rain. Everyone who was there decided to do other things. I wasn't going to take any chances of getting sick again.
Today is a scheduled swim day, but until the cold is 100% gone I will not be hitting the pool. So it looks like a run at lunch nothing too hard. Tomorrow I will be meeting the team at a gym in Laguna Beach for a workout at 5:45am I drove by the place this morning in the daylight so I would know where the hell I was going. It looks nice. I am excited to have some direction about tri related lifting.
One of the perks of the Tribuys team is a free bike fit. I have not been fit for over a year so hopefully on Friday I will get that done.
FYI- I have established my goal for the Superfrog Olympic distance race. I am going to shoot for 2:30. That might be a bit of a stretch but we will see..

Happy Training!

Back On It

So the sickness has finally past. I can't remember having a cold like that in my life. Courtney and I literally went through a box of tissues in 12 hours. I wasn't sure that you could have that much sh-- in your nose.
Tomorrow will be my first day back in training. I plan on doing an easy 5-6 miles at lunch and see how I feel. I was lucky enough to be selected part of the Tribuys racing team. I am so stoked to get to know 25 other triathletes locally that I can enjoy training with. I just don't know that many other triathletes. A-train and I don't live that close to one another and with both of us having small children it makes it difficult to coordinate training together.
Let me say that Jen at Tribuys is an awesome lady. I wasn't able to go to the team meeting last night because Court was still to sick and I needed to watch Connor. So I rolled in there today and spent about an hour and a half talking with her and learning more about the team and getting fit for my gear.
I will joining the team for a group ride on Saturday and if I am feeling well enough I will go for a little run in the afternoon. One of the guys on the team also owns a gym in Laguna Beach which just happens to be right on my way to work and he is hosting workouts on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for us. Superfrog is only two months away so I need to start getting busy. I also need to figure out a goal. In every race that I have done so far I have set a goal and each time I have beat my goal. So do I need to make tougher goals?

Sickness is Going Away

So i am finally starting to feel better. The last time I worked out was Friday. I went into work today for a little bit. I have a big presentation tomorrow. Good Luck Me! My poor wife has been way sicker than me. It has made for quite a interesting dynamic at the house. Two sick parents and the little child who got us both sick is feeling great. I took the little man to the doctor today to get his stitches removed from the little fall that he took. He was a trooper and cried just a little bit. I anticipate that I will rest one more day and try and work out on Thursday, Friday at the latest. Anyways I was lucky enough to get picked to be on the local Tribuys racing team. It should be a lot of fun. I am looking forward to meeting many other age groupers that are local. I would be really stoked to meet some other folks to train with.

Not Such a Good Week

So my wonderful son had been sick for about a week or so. Which meant mommy and daddy were only getting about 5 hrs sleep a night. Of those 5 hrs we each probably got up 5 times to comfort Connor etc. We each spent hours sleeping in his bed so basically it was bound to happen. Courtney and I both got sick. The good news is that Connor is now healthy. Courtney and I both feel miserable.
I got in a few workouts this week before I got sick. I think I ran a whopping twelve miles, swam 2000 and rode about twenty miles. There is no way that I can currently workout with what I have got. Hopefully I will be back in action by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Good Week

So I got off to a pretty good start this week with my training. My totals were something like 22 miles running, 70 miles biking and a whopping 3500 meters swimming. I am starting to feel a little better and mixed in some hills, tempo work on my runs. On Saturday I took my first extended bike ride in the last few months. Actually since I did a century ride in August or September. I rode with a buddy 45 miles. the only thing was the Santa Ana winds were howling well above 20mph. The first 25 miles was uphill into the wind and a total fing grind. The ride had about 2500ft of climbing and by the time that I was done, I was done. The good new was as soon as I got home I had the pleasure of digging holes in my yard for 3 hours. We are doing some landscape renovations and had to dig out 12 rose bushes and plant another 12 in different holes by the way.
I also went for a run yesterday and I averaged 11 min miles with a avg hr of 145. I am not really sure how you factor in pushing a 2.5 year old in a jogger with a combined weight of almost 60 pounds uphill. It is nice to be in California as it was 85 degrees yesterday.

Starting to Get Consistent

So the New Year has gotten off to a good start. I have been relatively consistent in my workouts. I feel OK for the most part except in the pool, mainly because I have only swam about 10 times since the Vineman. I ran hills yesterday morning and for Orange County it was freezing it was about 38 degrees when I left my house. I actually ran in a beanie, everything was warm except for my hands. If it stays that cold I may have to bust out some gloves. This morning I swam there is something about getting in the pool at 5:30 am in the dark with the steam rising that makes me feel good.
It looks like my first race of the season will be the Superfrog an Olympic distance race in Coronado. The race is at the end of March. It is actually put on by the Navy Seals. I really don't have expectations for the race but I am sure as I get closer that will change. In the meantime it just feels good knowing that I am working my way back into shape.

Weekly Totals

Running- 25 miles

Biking- 50 miles

Swimming- 1500 meters

Didn't get a long run in today but did a sh--- load of gardening. I think I am more sore from 3 hours of gardening than a long bike ride or run. I trimmed a big ass tree and got stabbed by some big rose bushes about 50 times.

My goal for next week is to run about 25-35 miles.

Bike 100-125 miles

Swim 4000 meters

Party Animal

I am currently on an a bit of a bender. I drank too much on New Years and last night. My neighbors are a lot of fun. Last night one of our best friends Susie had a birthday day party at the OC Tavern, a fun little joint. The place was actually raging because the Charger game had just finished and everyone was celebrating the OT victory. When my neighbors get together it reminds me a bit of a frat party. I didn't get drunk but I feel a bit slower this morning.
Yesterday I got in the pool for the first time in quite a while. I only swam 1500 and at certain points was pretty sure that I was on the verge on drowning. I am eventually going to join a masters program, if I am going to reach my goal I will need to swim sub 30 mins for my half ironman. Yesterday afternoon I rode the trainer while I was watching the football game. I have serious problems riding that thing for more than an hour. So I rode for like an hour an 10 mins and called it quits. Today I plan on doing a bit of a longer run maybe closer to 9 miles.

Party on!

A little running

After taking yesterday off due to a slight hangover and just being really tired I got in a little run today. I ran about 6.5 miles at 9:30/mile pace average hr was 148. I felt good and did some light weights afterwards. Tomorrow on plan on getting in the pool for the first time in a while and also will get in 30-40 miles on the bike. We also have a birthtday party to go to tomorrow night with our whole neighborhood it should be fun.