A Present to Myself!

First, I want to say "Don't worry!"  I'm alive.  Six hours of spinning didn't kill me.  The raffle winners will be announced shortly (I'm planning on Saturday) and my report will come soon as well.  Things just got a bit busy at work.  But have no fear!

I do, however, have a minute to spare to announce that I purchased a present for myself; those are the best presents to buy! 

My birthday was this past week and I decided to make the Rev3 Quassy Registration my birthday present to myself!  Due to my financial goals this year, I had to wait to the end of the month to make sure my budget would still be in the green, but all's well.  I am officially racing a Half Rev on June 3rd.  My two A-priority races are now all set!!

I've heard a lot of great things about the Rev3 race series, so I'm excited to give them a try.  They're cheaper than the Ironman series and this one is only 40 minutes from where I live, so it's a huge savings in travel, lodging, and food expenses!

In other news...

• It looks as if I will be coaching another running group, this time a 10k program, starting March 31st.  Yay!
• I begin my transition into the group fitness instructor position at work next week.  Yay!
• I bought myself another present - a foam roller.  How I lasted this long without one I will never know.

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Questions

1.  What do you treat yourself to on your birthday?
For the first time in 8 years I had my birthday off, so I treated myself to a long run.  And I'm happy to say that you guys will understand that.  Everyone else thought I was crazy for not binge drinking.  

2.  Have you raced Rev3 before?  How was it?
I've heard that they swag is great and that the atmosphere is very family oriented.  I'm more excited about the fact that they have Gatorade and GU on course instead of Ironman Perform and Powerade Gel.

Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

Six Hours

...of Spinning.

It is currently 7AM on a Sunday.  I've eaten breakfast, packed my bags, and made all the arrangements. In two hours I will begin my full 6 hours of spinning at the Jim Calhoun CardioRaiser for Autism Speaks. 

Let's just hope my butt outlasts my legs.

There's still time to make donations to the cause!  Donate HERE and enter my raffle giveaway HERE.  The drawing is tomorrow!

I'll be back tomorrow to let you know how it went!


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

Racing Schedule 2012 - First Draft

As I mentioned earlier, I will be starting a new job soon and on a personal side, one of the big perks is that I will no longer be working weekends.  We all know what that means! - I can race to my heart's content (as long as my wallet gives consent). 

With this newly wide-open racing season, I've been thinking long and hard about what I want to race this year.  Of course, Beach 2 Battleship is my top race, but it's not until October.  My second A priority race is Rev3 Quassy.  I've decided to opt out of a full marathon this year and go with a half somewhere between the two A races.  Aside from that I want to try to race more short distance than I did last year.


Here's my first draft:

MARCH
03/18 - Max's O'Hartford 5K
03/18 - 5 miler in south CT
** I haven't decided which to do.  A friend is doing the 5 miler and I might run it with him, but I really want a 5K time to work from this year.

APRIL
04/28 - Glastonbury River Run 5K

MAY
05/31 - Lake T Sprint Tri

JUNE
06/03 - Rev3 Quassy Half Rev
06/14 - Lake T Sprint Tri
06/24 - Litchfield Hills Olympic Tri
06/28 - Lake T Sprint Tri

JULY
07/12 - Lake T Sprint Tri
07/26 - Lake T Sprint Tri

August
08/09 - Lake T Sprint Tri
08/18 - Lake T Olympic Tri
08/26 - Old Wethersfield 5K

SEPTEMBER
09/12 - Surftown Half Mary
09/23 - Niantic Bay Half Mary

OCTOBER
10/13 - Hartford 5K
10/20 - Beach to Battleship 140.6

Next step is to convene a meeting with my budgetary committee to see how they view this proposal.

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Don't forget!

 6 days left to 6 hours of spinning!

On Sunday (February 26th), I'll be spinning for six hours at the Jim Calhoun CardioRaiser to raise money for Autism Speaks.  I've got Road ID and GU Energy Labs on board with some awesome prizes HERE.  You've got six days left to enter to win!!  Enter HERE. 

Only $310 left to hit my goal!

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Questions

1.  Do you have this season's race schedule set up yet?

2.  How often to enter a race based on the race itself versus the registration fee?
I have a number of races I may switch due to cheaper registration fees at alternative races.  I even chose my A priority race (B2B) because it saved me $800+ in registration. 


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

Training Week Review (02/13 - 02/19)

This was my first active recovery week of 2012.  

I'll start by saying that while you look over my workouts, I began this week planning on a few good 8:00 pace runs and 23 mph rides; just something easy on my muscles to keep them working, but give them time to recoupe.  From the first look at my watch at the 1-mile mark on Tuesday, I discovered that was not what my body had in mind. 


Totals
Swim - 0 yards

Bike - 63.04 miles (2:30:56 at 25.2 mph)
11.4% decrease in weekly mileage
2.5% decrease in speed

Run - 17.7 miles (2:12:01 at 7:28 pace)
41.4% decrease in weekly mileage
6.39% increase in speed

Monday

 

YOGA

Tuesday

BIKE

12.34 miles in 30:11 at 24.54 mph

RUN

3.56 miles in 25:36 at 7:11 pace

BIKE

13.09 miles in 30:17 at 25.94 mph

Wednesday

OFF

Thursday

RUN

2.94 miles in 0:20:08 at 6:51 pace

BIKE

26.3 miles in 1:00:15 at 26.19 mph

RUN

3.86 miles in 26:36 at 6:53 pace

Friday

BIKE

11.31 miles in 0:30:13 for 22.47 mph

** After Thursday's workout, I made this an "easy" ride **

CROSSFIT

5 Rounds for TIME

5x deadlift (95lb)

10x Up-Down

10x Box Jumps

Round #1 = 5:30 (0:03 faster than 2/5)

Round #2 = 5:29 (0:12 faster than 2/5)

Saturday

CROSSFIT

AMRAP - 5 min

5x push up

10x squat

Rounds = 14.5

Sunday

YOGA

** I had planned on running after work, 

but after a full weekend of work and a late night

I just couldn't mentally bring myself to do it. **

** Lesson learned: weekends after work are not good for cardio **

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Questions

1.  How was your training week?
Have you had a recovery week yet? 


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

3TT: Such An Odd Day

 How has your Thursday been?  Mine was rather uneventful on the big scale, but full of some small oddities...

Dreams

We've all had odd dreams.  There's the ones that seem so real you swear they actually happened.  Those involving creatures or places seemingly out of a Picaso or Dali painting.  There's nightmares, dreams you try desperately to return to, those where you are falling and wake up with a jolt upon impact, and then the ever more rare wet dream.  You laugh, but no amount of denial will cover the fact that they happen.  And don't get me started on what dreams you do or don't remember and why. 

Well, my day started out with a jolt.  From my memory, I had woken up around 8:30am and rolled back over.  Then I wake up suddenly completely tense.  My mind was racing!  "Where am I?  What happened?  ...Huh?"  I grabbed my watch - it was 7:30am.  That didn't help my confusion.  "What's going on?!"  Then it hit me; it was all a dream!  Sometimes I swear our minds are bipolar, pulling pranks on themselves.  I had a little laugh at myself and thought "Hey, at least she was hot!"  ;)

Remember that underwritten rule...?  Something along the lines of "Bloggers will share just about anything."  Yeah... 

Ice Breaker!!

hahaha

Do What You Love.  Love What You Do.
I had a bit of a surprising meeting with my company's vice president yesterday.  She had "an intriguing opportunity" she thought I'd be excited to hear about.  Let's stop and agree to agree here - when upper management says "intriguing opportunity," we all know that could go many different ways.  haha  But to make a long story short, I was offered a new job, our group training/fitness class instructor.

We've been attempting to fill the position for close to a month now and after some time, it came to my manager as well as the VP that my... "addictive" relationship to fitness and my expressed interest in eventually doing personal training made perfect sense.  I was rather surprised at the sudden offer, but I admit I was excited. 

I took the night to mentally digest the offer and of course figure out other details.  After thinking about it during my morning run, the answer came to me while I was on the trainer - "They're asking me to be one step away from being paid to work out."  I get to be a fitness nut and encouraged to be so.  On top of that, I get weekends off to race to my heart's content!  Why would I ever say "no" to this?!

Do what you love.  Love what you do.  They're not my words, but they're the best pieces of life advice I can give you.

Active Recovery Week? Workout
If you follow me on facebook, you saw my Tuesday Bike-Run-Bike workout.  Having today off, I decided to switch the events and do a Run-Bike-Run.

Run: 2.94 miles in 20:08 (6:51 pace)

Bike: 26.3 miles in 1:00:15 (26.19 mph)

Run: 3.86 miles in 26:36 (6:53 pace)

I admit that it was difficult to get myself out the door for the first run, but once that was done, Holy Secret Speed Batman!  And you wouldn't believe what I fueled that all on...

1 banana 

~6 tbs of peanut butter

2 water bottles

1 peanut butter GU

It's 4:00pm and I've had an approximate total of 850 calories and and 1:46 of exercise.  I see a large dinner and a very hungry morning monster in my near future.

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Questions

1.  What's the last dream you remember?

2.  Have you ever had rather sudden job changes?
While I'm super excited about the new job, I admit the suddenness of it is a bit odd.

3. Do you have recovery weeks built into your training plan?
I built them in for two reasons: 1) to avoid injury and let my body repair every three weeks and 2) to give me opportunities to test my speed without the demands of distance.


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

"Running Ruins Your Knees" *shm*

This week is my recovery week, YAY!  Yesterday, I did a grueling reverse duathlon (bike-run-bike), so today I am skipping the morning cardio.  Don't worry!  I have a crossfit workout for this evening planned.  But without a morning workout, I find myself with some free time, so here are a couple things I thought I'd share...

No, Running Does NOT Ruin Your Knees

Meg over at Watch MeGo Run tweeted this morning about a Runner's World article, "No, Running Does NOT Ruin Your Knees."  As most of you guys are either runners or triathletes, I know we've all dealt with our own share of knee related comments.  I'm sure a number of us have even dealt with our own share of knee injuries and ailments.  But

I work at a very all-inclusive gym where I get to entertain a wide variety of personal beliefs about running.  Generally, because I have other things to attend to during the day, I leave it at "to each their own" and that's that.  To build upon the Runner's World article, however, instead of a continuous childish argument of "Yes it is!" and "No it isn't!," I think the best way to approach the issue is to show the nay-sayers how it can be done. 

I very much believe in the notion of "Born to Run."  The anatomy of our bodies lends itself to long-distance running.  Evolution and history also leave us with no other option than the ability to walk, run, jog all the time.  However, with our advancements over time, we've been able to avoid running most of the time and our bodies are no longer used to it.  A sedentary desk worker may get up and run a 5k and find it to be tough and might cause him/herself injury because his/her body is not accustomed to the stresses of running.  However, if we were more active on a daily basis as we were back in the caveman days, our bodies would be ready for a marathon any day of the week.  It's not that we are all born to run right out of the gate, but that we need to know how to ease into running. 

Heart Rate

As I mentioned in Monday's post, I am going to start taking my heart rate post-run to see how fast it decreases.  Since I don't have a heart rate monitor (yet), this is the best I can do for seeing where I'm at.  Prior to these readings, I had rode 12.54 miles in 30 minutes and then ran 3.56 miles in 25:36 (7:11 pace).  Also, after the 5 minute reading, I walked uphill back to my apartment , which might explain why the 10 minute reading was higher. 


Immediately post run, I was at 156 bpm - much better than the 126 bpm I was at after Sunday's run (0:17/mile slower pace and without riding).  Prior to the stats, however, I could feel a difference between the runs.  Sunday's run was more leisurely, while yesterday's was a brisker pace.  I was not surprised to find my heart rate higher.  I'll continue testing it post-run and adding to the graph above.

Hopefully I'll decide on a heart rate monitor in the next month or so.  If you have any suggestions or general comments about heart rate monitors, I'm more than happy to hear them.

Are there any wrist monitors that are reliable or is it better to go with the chest strap?

Are there heart rate monitors that will show your heart rate over time like a GPS does your speed?

Less than two weeks left to enter to win 

GU Energy Lab and Road ID prizes.  

Enter HERE!

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Questions
1.  What is your opinion of the affect running has on your knees?
If you haven't, check out the links that the Runner's World article offers for evidence.  They are quite interesting. 

2.  What type of heart rate monitor do you use for training?


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

Help Me Rename V-Day!

I wouldn't say that I'm against Valentine's Day.  I like the idea of sharing your love for other people.  I simply don't see the need to celebrate it on one specific day of the year.  But even as a single guy, I still get to have fun with the day.  "How?" you may ask...

One of my favorite past times for any holiday is renaming it.  So without further ado, here are my Valentine's Day favorites... (please add your own creative creations in the comments)

Happy 'Oh, right.  I'm Single.  Thanks!' Day

Happy Red-Green Color Blind Day

Happy Hopped-up-on-Sugar-and-Aphrodisiacs Day

Happy 'Please Sleep With Me' Day

Happy 'I got you roses.  Are you happy now?!' Day

Happy Running of The Bulls Day

Happy Shooting-Someone-With-An-Arrow-Is-Okay-Today-

As-Long-As-It-Has-A-Hear-Shaped-Arrowhead Day

Happy Conception Day

Happy November Due Dates Day

Happy Non-Anatomically Correct Heart Day

Happy Rejection Day

Happy Verification of Facebook Status Day

And my personal favorite...

Happy Singles Awareness Day

(Note: This becomes the acronym S.A.D.)

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Questions

1.  What is your opinion on Valentine's Day?

Do you love it and celebrate every year?  Or do you let it go by?  I have nothing against people who celebrate; I just choose not to myself.

2.  What are you up to today?

I randomly got the day off, which totally throws my training schedule for a loop (notice my priorities!).  Today I'm going to bike-run-bike and hopefully finish reading Brisingr. 

3.  What's your favorite new name for V-Day?

Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

Heart Rate Question

This post goes out to everyone who trains or at least pays attention to heart rate.  Heck, it even goes out to people like me - those who are curious about training by heart rate.

Do you train by heart rate?

Do you use a heart rate monitor during training?

Do you do your workouts based on heart rate?

Or do you not consider it at all?

As you begin an exercise, your heart rate increases in order to supply enough oxygen and nutrients to your muscles (along with a vast array of other things).  As you become more and more efficient at performing exercises at elevated heart rates, your heart becomes stronger.  When your heart strengthens, it can push blood through your system easier and no longer needs to beat as often.  This causes a decrease in your resting heart rate. 

Knowing your heart rate during exercise is a convenient way of looking back and knowing how hard you pushed your body.  Did you elevate it to 80% of maximum or was it only 50% and you thought it was higher?

On the other hand, you can go one step further and train by heart rate - set a heart rate goal for a given workout instead of a set pace or speed. 

I've become increasingly interested in the idea of training by heart rate zones.  However, I do not have a heart rate monitor, so I'm left with limited measures.  Every day when I wake up, I grab my watch on my night stand and take a resting heart rate.  So far it's averaged 51 bpm.

Resting HR = 51 bpm

That I'm not surprised by.  An average man is around 70 bpm and athletes are always lower.  On my lunch break at work, I pulled out my NASM book and calculated my heart rate zones according to their three zone breakdown.

Maximum = 194 bpm

Zone 1 = 126 - 145

Zone 2 = 155 - 165

Zone 3 = 167 - 175

Yesterday, after my run, I decided to check my heart rate.  After 3.86 miles at a 7:28 pace, I stopped my watch, turned it back to "clock" and checked my heart rate.  Now, I know that once you stop an exercise, your heart rate begins shifting back to resting; obvious!  However, I also know that it most likely takes two or three minutes even in elite athletes.  I can't be sure of the general time table, but I must say I was surprised to see that my heart rate was only 126 bpm.

Post-Workout HR = 126 bpm

That's barely Zone 1!  Can my heart rate have decreased that much that quickly?  Or does my heart rate not get higher than zone 1?  I am officially in the market for a heart rate monitor.  I want to know where my heart rate is during my workouts.  If I'm not even breaking into Zone 2, or even just barely, I want to know so I can up my pace. 

I'm also adding my post-workout heart rate to the list of stats to collect.  You should see the things I keep track of (And no, I won't divulge them all.  At least not yet.).  If I can find time (and I remember to do so), I'm going to start testing my heart rate immediately after, 1 minute, 2 minute, 5 minute, and 10 minute post-workout.  If I can't tell what my heart rate is DURING my workout, I should be able to get some information from how fast my heart rate decreases after the workout.

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Questions

1.  What is your resting heart rate?
Relax for a full minute, find your pulse gently, and count the beats for one full minute.  An average male is 70, female is 75.  Athletes are typically lower.

2.  Do you have a heart rate monitor?  Do you have recommendations for me?!
I'm in the market for one.  I'm not going to spend hundreds, but I need something reliable.

3.  Do you train by heart rate zones or do you go more by speed, distance, or time?
So far, I've always gone by distance or time.  I'd like to continue doing so, but with heart rate goals mixed in.


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

Training Week Review (02/06 - 02/12/12)

Totals
Swim - 0 yards

Bike - 71.14 miles (2:45:49 at 25.9 mph)
8.2% increase in weekly mileage
0.6% decrease in time
8.8% increase in speed

Run - 17.7 miles (2:12:01 at 7:28 pace)
12% increase in weekly mileage
12.8% increase in time
0.4% decrease in speed

Monday

 

YOGA

Tuesday

Run

2.94 miles in 0:20:50 for 7:05 pace

Crossfit

AMRAP in 10 / 5 min.

5x Push Up

10x Body Squat

FINISH (10 min) = 26.5

FINISH (5 min) = 12.5

Wednesday

Bike

12.48 miles in 0:30:18 for 24.72 mph

Crossfit

3 Rounds for TIME

15x Squat-Clean-Thruster (65 lb)

600m run

TIME = ~15:30

Thursday

Run

3.88 miles in 0:28:29 for 7:20 pace

YOGA

Friday

Bike

20.54 miles in 0:45:15 for 27.24 pace

Run

7.02 miles in 0:53:54 for 7:41 pace

 

YOGA

** I have no idea where my bike speed came from that day

I started out with my left knee feeling iffy

and it turned out to be quite a fast ride.

 

Given that my legs take a mile or so to warm up on the run,

my goal was to try and tire my legs out biking

so that my long run would be more of a test of consistent speed.

It seems to have worked **

Saturday

Bike

38.12 miles in 1:30:16 for 25.34 mph

** I planned on 2 hours, but couldn't mentally go past 1:30.

In hind sight, I should have taken in some calories around 0:45-1:00 **

Sunday

Crossfit

21, 15, 9 reps for TIME

Thrusters (65 lb)

Sit Up (incline)

Push Up

TIME = 6:31

Run

3.86 miles in 0:28:48 for 7:28 pace

** I tried to excuse myself from this run

and ended up going further than I had planned **

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Questions

1.  How was your training week?
This week had a bit of a last minute change with shifting my long run earlier due to incoming weather (that never arrived), but this upcoming week will be even crazier since I have Tuesday and Thursday off this week.  Who knows what this week will be like.

2.  How many hours do you train per week?
I've been surprised to find I train less hours than I would have guessed.  

3.  Did you check out Lance Armstrong's performance at Ironman 70.3 Panama?
2nd place.  Not too shabby!  And he's still fine tuning.  I can't wait to see the '12 Kona race.


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

What Made You SMILE This Week?

Here's the deal:


You might have had the longest work week in the history of work.  You might have had a rather disappointing meeting with your boss that stressed you out.  Your kids may have been the most unruly they've ever been since they learned the word "no."  Maybe you woke up sick, your car broke down, and you spilled coffee all over your shirt even before you got to work on Monday.  But despite everything that we focus on throughout the week, there are so many things to smile about.  So this is what I ask...

What made you smile this week?

And WHY?

Here are a few of my many smiles this week...

I have amazing friends

My best friend from high school and his amazing girlfriend sent me a Christmas gift; A Game of Thrones by George R. Martin  It may have taken a couple tries to get the address right, but it's the thought that counts.  Without even planning it, I picked it up after a long day at work which was a great end to the day.  They know I love fantasy fiction novels and series work really well for me 'cause then I have my reading list done for the next few months.  Plus, 99% of the time, my best friend is SPOT ON with picking books out for me.  I still have one more book in the Inheritance Cycle to finish first, but I'm anxious to start this one.  The amazing thoughtfullness of my friends made me smile (and the anticipation of the book). 

Fitness Challenges

While I admit I stress over sticking to my training schedule, I always feel good both physically and mentally knowing that I've finished what I needed to do.  I've also found enjoyment in testing with my Crossfit workouts.  Thanks to Heather over at Just A Colorado Gal, I am the proud owner of a Gymboss Timer.  I've been a fan of the product ever since I saw it looooong ago on BodyRock.tv.  The timer will serve two purposes in my future workouts.  First off, it will help limit monitor my rest time inbetween sets.  Secondly, it will a motivation for new workout designs; can you say "Three minute AMRAP repeats"?  The ability to design and easily perform new workout designs made me smile. 

Lance is Back

As I mentioned in yesteredays 3TT post, Lance Armstrong is back at athletics.  This time however, he's returning to his original sport, triathlons.  I was always glued to the Tour de France when Lance raced it and I have no doubt I'll be checking the results of Sunday's Ironman 70.3 Panama to see how Lance finishes.  He's hoping to qualify and be a contender for Kona and I would love to see him in the mix.  And not only am I happy to cyber stalk Lance's progress, but I'm happy to see an inspiration in Lance's story.  Just as when he returned to pro cycling, Lance is an athlete at heart and simply loves the lifestyle.  Every athlete feels that way at some point.  I smiled for the prospective of seeing Lance, as a representative of all die hard athletes, test himself yet again against the field. 

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Questions

1.  What made you smile this week?
I want to hear your stories!

2.  What about this weekend is going to make you smile?
Looking ahead and finding happy things/events makes life so much more optimistic!


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

Three Things Thursday

I don't even know where to start!

History Repeats Itself
I haven't been around much this week, so I'll go back to this past weekend with a Congratulations to the Superbowl XLVI Champions!!  Sorry Patriot fans, I was rooting for the Giants.  It wasn't as exciting as the last drive of the 2008 game, but it was a much closer game throughout.  And without a doubt, this was the best play of the entire game...

His feet are IN!!!!!!

Deadlifts Strike Again
Remember how I told you that Dead-lifts are Dead-ly?  Well, I found an Olympic Bar at the gym that has sections without grip right where my shins drag.  Yay!!  Hopefully I'll avoid tearing up my shins from now on.  But don't worry, I found another way to beat my body up.

The bar is now bruising my knees!!  I love deadlifts.  They're a great workout, but I'm not sure how much more my body can take of them.  And I did another set of Clear-Thrusters last night that did even more damage, but at least my knees now match.  =\

If you're interested in Crossfit workouts, there's the websites for Crossfit as well as Crossfit Endurance.    The sites have a Workout of the Day that you can follow any time you want.  They're great references for exercises if not simply schedules for strength training workouts. 


Lance is Back!


I recently heard that the long standing allegations against Lance Armstrong for drug use are being dropped.  Read about it HERE.  My stance is that since he has never tested positive, why continue the investigation?  They've been after him ever since he started winning and nothing has come of it.  Yes, they're attempting to maintain the integrity of the sport by being thorough and exemplifying that they will not let things squeak by, but it's also highlighting the fact that all cycling officials think athletes take drugs.  It's not a good perspective to have.  As a fan of Lance the athlete (not as much the person from what I've read), I'm happy to hear he's going to have some relief. 

On top of that, I just read the other day that Lance will be entering the realm of pro triathlete this year.  He is competing in the Ironman 70.3 Panama as well as a full Ironman later on in an attempt to qualify for Kona.  Read about it HERE. 

Any thoughts on how Lance will do?  Keep in mind, Lance was a pro triathlete before he turned to strict cycling, so he could very well be a top contender.  Either way, I'd like to see someone give Lieto a run for his money out on the bike course!

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Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win any of these awesome prizes!!  Enter HERE.

Box of peanut butter GU

Box of Strawberry Chomps

Canister of Lemon Lime GU Brew

$35 giftcard for Road ID

Road ID shirt

Road ID hat

Enter NOW to win some awesome prizes and support an amazing cause!

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Questions

1.  How has your week been so far?  Anyone longing for the weekend yet?
Today's my Friday since I have Friday and Saturday off.  I'm very much looking forward to a couple long run/bike days.

2.  Do you have strength training in your training schedule?
I only just added strength training this year and I've loved it thus far.


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

The Giveaway Swag is Here!!!

Two packages arrived yesterday.  One was from Road ID.  The other from GU Energy Labs.

"I wonder what they could be!!!"

Your prizes!!!

1 box of Peanut Butter GU

(Sorry, the 2nd box is mine, but if you're nice I might share with you)

1 box of Strawberry Chomps

1 canister of Lemon-Lime GU Brew

3 Road ID Trucker Hats

1 Road ID Visor

1 Road ID "Wanna Go For A Ride" Vintage T-Shirt (size L)

1 Road ID Vintage T-Shirt (size XL)

2 Road ID $35 giftcards (not pictured)

Enter HERE  

for your chance to win any of these awesome prizes. 

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Questions

1.  Do you use any of the GU products?  If so, which ones?
I've always used GU lemon sublime and mandarin orange gels, but I'm excited to try the new peanut butter.

2.  Do you wear Road ID gear?  If so, what do you have?  If not, what would you like to get with the giftcard?
I have a Road ID Wrist ID Sport in purple that I wear on every outdoor workout.  I also have an Ankle ID I wear on open water swims. 


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

Training Week Review II

Totals
Swim - 0 yards
Bike - 65.76 miles (2:46:03 at 23.8 mph)
Run - 15.79 miles (1:57:21 at 7:25 pace)

Monday

Yoga

Tuesday

Bike

18.05 miles in 0:45:24 for 23.85 mph

Crossfit

5 Rounds of...

 5x Deadlift (95lb)

10x Burpees

Time = 4:29

Wednesday

Run

3.86 miles in 29:09 for 7:33 pace

Yoga

Thursday

Bike

11.99 miles in 30:24 for 23.67 mph

Crossfit

AMRAP - 10 min.

5x pull ups

5x sit ups

5x back squats (45lb)

FINISH = 10 Rounds

AMRAP - 5 min.

5x pull ups

5x sit ups

5x back squats (65lb)

FINISH = 5 Rounds

Friday

Bike

35.72 miles in 1:30:15 for 23.74 mph

Saturday

Run

6.13 miles in 0:45:24 for 7:24 pace

Sunday

Crossfit

2 sets of...

5 rounds for TIME
5x Deadlift (105lb)
10x Up-Down-Box Jump
(that's THIS without the pushup)

FINISH #1 = 5:33
FINISH #2 = 5:49

** That workout shredded my legs **

Run

3.86 miles in 28:45 for 7:27 pace

** I tried to push the pace on this run and wouldn't you know!...
My long run on Saturday was still an overall faster pace.
I'm going to be graphing my paces pretty soon
to find a trend. **

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Questions

1.  How was your training week?
Last minute schedule changes altered the order of this week's workouts, but it still worked out.  I also found that my short and long runs are practically the same pace.  My body doesn't seem to warm up until a couple miles in, so my short runs are in desperate need of a warm up.

2.  Who are you rooting for?!
Despite not being much of a football fan, I'm rooting for the Giants. 

Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

What do you do for yourself?

Today is my Saturday.  But for most of you, you're looking forward to tonight.  Once you're off of work, you get the entire weekend to yourself.  The question is, what will you do with the time?

Will you run around doing errands?  

Will you do your long workout days?  

Will you spend time with family at home?  

Will you check out and take some personal time?  

Will you run yourself ragged preparing for next week?

I'm sure we all do a mix of the above.  But what I want to ask today is one of those questions that gets at the heart of your personality.

When you have nothing else to do 

(no appointments, no restrictions, no responsibilities) 

and you want to take non-athletic time to yourself 

what do you do?

Do you make tea and read a book?  Do you cuddle up with someone and watch a movie?  Do you put on some music and clean?  Do you walk around the mall?  Do you work on a hobby project?  What is it that you do for yourself?

For myself, no matter what kind of day I've had - stressful, easy, long, short, perfect, unexpected, etc. - when I get home, I eat a snack, get ready for bed, and pull out a book.  It doesn't matter if I'm in bed early that night or I'm already an hour past my absolute bed time, I will always make time to read a chapter from the book I'm currently reading.

Reading is my escape.

I'm currently re-reading the book Brisingr, the third book in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini.  I got the fourth and final book for Xmas and I wanted to reread the previous three in order to fully appreciate how the story ends.  Taking 15-30 minutes every night before I go to sleep to read wipes the entire slate clean even if I'm fuming over things that happened during the day.  After a chapter or two of diving into someone else's life, a far off land, and intriguing adventures, I'm calm, relaxed, and ready to get a good night's sleep.  Then on my days off, I always spend the morning reading.  That's what I do for myself.

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Check out the awesome prizes from Gu Energy Labs & Road ID!

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Questions

1.  What do you do for yourself outside of athletics?
I read, write this blog, do puzzles and when I can (aka, when I make it home), carpentry. 

2.  What is your escape?  If you've had a stressful day, what do you do to calm/relax yourself?
I read every night.  Running also helps wipe my slate clean.

3.  What's on the agenda for the weekend?
I have to do some grocery shopping, my long ride AND my long run.  


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

3TT: Mother Nature, Training, and The Monster are all Crazy!

The Weather

Now I know when you need something to make idle conversation, you go for weather, but let's be honest with ourselves - Is it mid-winter or is it mid-spring?!  Mother Nature has been a bit indecisive this winter season after having had a snow storm on Halloween, leaving us completely green through Christmas, and then lately we've been in the 40's if not 50's here in CT.  I went for a run yesterday without my windbreaker (just a long sleeve tech) and I could have easily gone with the sleeveless.

I've loved the weather simply because it makes training much easier.  However, I also fear what this is going to mean for spring and summer.  Is the current weather just delaying winter?  Are we going to have snow in May, or June?!  

Training Schedule

I know I said I was going to have it finished, but...  well...  it's not.  I thought I had it all worked out, but then I realized that I can't do my long bike ride on Friday of Week 1 because I have Sunday off specifically to go to the LBS ride which is the long ride.  So that means my long run has to be Friday instead of Sunday and that blows my "no more than two run days in a row" rule out of the water.  Ugh!

You have no idea what all that means, but in summary, this training schedule thing is tough!!  More to come on this front next week. 

The Monster is Moving Back In
On break yesterday, I ate my typical lunch.  It usually holds me over for awhile and then I'll have a snack again around 8pm and then munch when I get out at 10pm.  However, lunch only held me over for about 30 min.  It seems the monster that lives in my stomach is starting to move back in.  Since this morning was a harder workout (a 30 speed bike ride and a 2 mile run), I packed a few extra sandwiches today in hopes of satiating the hunger when necessary. 

So far I've been holding steady on weight, but I may very well starting seeing that drop a bit.   I do love eating though!  =D

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Questions
1.  How has the weather been where you are?

2.  Do you have a set training schedule?  Did you write it yourself or use a pre-designed program?

3.  Do you notice a change in appetite during training?


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard. 

Deadlifts are Deadly

What do you think when you read the word deadlift?

Do you think of the free weight area of your gym?  The huge body builders that grunt and bang weights around all the time?  Do you have to google it 'cause you don't know what it is?  Does your mind go to a picture of something like this?...

Doesn't it look like the guy in the back is checking him out?  Creepy!

Well, I'm here today (and every day) to tell you two things.  First, deadlifts are an awesome workout.  I've started incorporating them into my strength training (aka. Crossfit workouts) and I love them.  They work a great mix of your lower body and core all at the same time.  And you don't have to do high weights.  On the contrary!  I'm sure a lot of the guys at the gym look at me and think "Wow, that's all you're deadlifting?," but I mix it up with rounds of burpees, pullups, situps, box jumps, squats, and lots of other things.  They can think what they want, but I doubt they could keep up with me.  =P

However, the second thing I need to tell you is...

Dead-lifts are Dead-ly

(...for your shins)

A deadlift - as I mentioned - works your lower body and core.  The upper body should be relaxed which means that the bar that you're lifting on a deadlift is supposed to drag right up against your shins.  Ouch!!! 

I've been told to pick up a pair of long socks or shin sleeves and I may very well have to do that because after last night's Crossfit workout, my shins are not too happy with the idea of doing deadlifts again.  Here's the workout...

5 Rounds

5 Deadlifts (95 lb)

10 Burpees

Timed - 4:29

This is a very quick workout.  Next time around, I'm going to cut it to 5 rounds of 5 deadlifts and 5 burpees, then follow it up with a 0.5 mile run, and repeat that two or three times. 

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Questions

1.  What is your least and most favorite cross/strength/non-cardio training exercise?
Deadlifts are fun, but my shins get ripped apart.  Crossfit altogether is awesome all around though - maximum 20 minute workouts and I'm sweating more than a 10 mile run.

2.  How many times a week do you cross or strength train?
I try to fit in three days a week, four if I'm feeling good.

3.  It's Wednesday!  Who's making plans for the weekend already?
Does a workout count as a plan?


Swim fast.  Bike smart.  Run hard.