Moore Training

Starting Over

2009-08-24T07:07:00.001-07:00

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

2009-04-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-09T08:48:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

run- 25 miles
bike 90 miles
swim- 4500 meter

Making Progress

2009-02-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-02T08:33:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-26T08:35:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-22T20:26:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-20T20:28:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-18T09:04:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-12T07:44:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

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.

Lots of New Stuff Going On

2008-12-31T05:34:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-12T06:39:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-11T13:12:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-11T04:58:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-08T07:43:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-04T19:32:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-02T16:42:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-30T06:19:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-27T06:39:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-24T07:40:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-11-20T05:43:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-17T14:59:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-16T05:48:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-13T07:53:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-02T07:46:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-01T20:06:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-27T20:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-25T06:48:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-18T06:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

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.