Monday Run

4 miles at Brook Haven. My watch did not work for the first 2 miles.
The last 2 miles 17:41, AHR 162.

Thursday Run - Post WW Half

4 1/2 mile dog run. Nice slow pace.

White Rock Half

Time 2:06
I am very satisfied with the time especially since I felt like I was running much slower and my training was about 70% of what is should have been. The Mexico vacation ending 4 days before the race did not help any.
I came very close to not showing up for this run - but I thought there are always reasons not to race and if I give in once it would be much easier to give in the second time. I walked 35 steps every mile except for the last 3, plus a restroom stop. The first 10 miles went well. The last 3 were more difficult, maybe because I have never run more than 12 miles before the race.
I am proud of running a Half Marathon and sticking with a plan that got me through it reasonably well. I am also even more impressed with Marathon runners than I was before. I can't imagine making a second lap.
First 5 miles at 9:56 pace - the last 2.1 miles at 8:52 this is according to the White Rock Results. Not a bad split.

Mexico

Great time.
One 4 mile run.
Three good ocean swims.
Gained more weight.

The White Rock Half is going to be a "fun run" for me.

Wednsday Run

6 miles, 56 minutes.
I need to get in a 13 miler on Friday. Then - Mexico vacation taper.

Week off

A week off. Gained 5 Thanksgiving pounds.
6 mile run on Monday. Watch did not work, but I was happy with the "feel".
I bought a small electronic metronome and have used it on the last 3 runs, I really like it. I am working hard on my running form which includes a high cadence. I was surprised that my “new” natural cadence was 91 to 92 steps per minute. Plenty fast. That is good news. Now I need to keep working on a good base and next year maybe on some speed which would means a little longer stride with the same 92 steps. The metronome keeps me on pace and focussed and helps especially when running up hill and when I start to tire.

Tuesday - Post Roll Run

6 miles, not a bad effort after the rubber leg bike ride.

Turkey Roll

A minor mistake.
72 miles is too far when you haven't trained for it. This is the first ride that I actually considered the sag wagon at mile 40, but when you ride with an Ex-Marine there is no quitting no matter how rubbery your legs feel. Fortunately things got better the last 20 miles, probably because I spent most of it sucking air on Jimmy’s rear wheel. Anyway, got thru it and had a good time believe it or not. I hope that I learned a lesson - probably not.

Boggin Bloggin

It looks like my blog will take some time off.
Maybe start up again next year.
You boys and girls have fun.

Wednsday Run

10 miler
1:38

Saturday 5k

25:38
38 seconds too slow.

Thursday Run

3.5 puppy run

Wednsday Run

6 miles, 59 minutes.

Monday Run

4.5 miles @ 9:00 pace.

Sunday Run

3 miles with Trigger. Slow.

Friday's 9 miler

9 miles in 1:27. About a 9:40 pace. So I am revising my HM time goal up to 2:05. I don't think that I can pull off a sub 2 hour HM.
I did find a great place to run - Brookhaven College. They have a two mile trail with a track like surface. I will run there more often.

Wednsday Run

5 1/2 miles @ 80% of pace.

Tuesday Schwinn

Schwinn ride - 45 minutes, 500 calories.

Monday Run

4.5 miles at an easy pace.
Spent the weekend with #1 son at Tech. Rita and I had a great time meeting his fraternity "brothers" and going to the Tech game.

Runs and stuff

I have put in a couple of runs of 4-5 miles no big effort.
I did run 7 miles yesterday. The weather was perfect and I kept a pretty good effort going. I ran around the soccer fields on the cinder track and my feet feel much better than on the typical concrete lake runs. I guess that I will drive the park more often.

US Open Race

Race morning - up at 4:30, peanut butter and honey sandwich and a cup of coffee.
Drive to Reunion to set up T2 (actually just unpack stuff since I had dropped of the bag the day before) and catch the shuttle to Joe Pool Lake. Learned a new lesson - bring your own toilet paper. The port-o-potty was not stocked, but a nice young lady had brought a spare roll. Hopped on the old yellow school bus and headed to Joe Pool. I was glad that I had on a jacket and sweat pants, it was a little cool.
Set up T2. We had to leave a bag to put the swim stuff in so that it could be transported back to Reunion.
Learned another lesson - bring some throw away flip flops. T1 closes, you have almost an hour before your swim, old feet walking on a gravel parking lot is not a good combination.
There were a lot of first for this tri. Point to point being the biggest, but also the swim start. The pros got to start in waves. Us amateurs went out in groups of four and you could not get in the water at all prior to the race. The going out in fours went better than I expected, but I did not like not being able to do a little warm up swim. It meant that there was no way to check the water tightness of you goggles. As soon as I started I got a little water in the goggles, but fortunately they sealed up and did not become an issue.
Swim: 32:39, 2:01 100 yds. Grade B+
I haven’t done a lot of swimming lately and I always worry some about the swim, just the unknown stuff like will I get kicked in the head and drown, nothing serous. The swim went well, real similar to the last several OWS’s. I thought that I would like the staggered 4 man start because there would be less banging into other swimmers. As it turns, out I actually like
swimming with more people. With more people I don’t have to sight very often. I can see other swimmers when I take my breaths on each side and therefore don’t have to look up. This time I swam a little off course 3 times which cost me some time and had to sight more often which also slowed me down. Overall went well.
T1: 3:23
This was different. Long run on the gravel parking lot, strip wet suit (glad to have a shorty), stuff swim gear into bag, gear up for bike, run bike out.
As you can see it took awhile.
Bike: 1:23:37, 17.9 mph. Grade B
After driving the bike route I was concerned about the hills, but they weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. I was probably too conservative on the bike. I did use more gears on this ride than any other tri. It was a rough course with bumps and cracks in several places. So when I was screaming down a hill at +35 mph (I was afraid to look down at the speedometer) I would get out of the aero positing and hold on tight to the drops. At one point my second water bottle jumped out of the cage and got stuck between the bike and my right calf. I was going down hill trying to grab
the bottle. It took three tries but I finally got it. I was afraid to drop the bottle because I did not want to run over it myself or cause someone behind me to have an accident. This was the first tri that I saw 3 ambulances.
T2: 1:18
Went as well as it could.
Run: 58:25, 9:25 miles, Grade B+
Not fast for some people, but good for me. I did like the 2 loop course. It allowed me to break the course into 4 parts, out and back on each loop. One of the negative mind games on the run for me is not know how much further I have to go. I did use a small part of the running lesson that I had 2 weeks prior to the race. Specifically - the breathing and to some degree the arms and I do believe that it helped.
Overall Race:
I liked the race and will definitely put it on the calendar for next year. The goody bag was not impressive and the overall event was not as big as I expected, I mean someone won more the 400,000 bucks, but it was fun, different and the
weather was great.
Overall Grade B+

Oh yeah, I fogot, I lost 2 more six packs of beer. I am glad that I don't go to Vegas.

US Open Stats

Stats:
Swim 32:39, 100yd/ 2:01,
T1 3:23
Bike 1:23:37, mph 17.9
T2 1:18
Run 58:25, min/mile 9:25

Total 2:59:19

messing around run

Me and the dog.
Trying some of the "new" form.
Fartlek style. Run some - walk some. One problem with this new form is speed. I run way too fast.
Lean forward+move arms+high turnover+ breathing = too fast.
1. I need to learn to go slower.
2. I would love to learn to actually run this fast for a 10k (not going to happen).

Sunday DA swim/bike

Beautiful day for a Grapevine swim. Used a wet suit becuase my idol told me to, although the water was plenty warm.
Swam 3 loops, 33 minutes, approx 1700 yds.
Good bike ride. 33 miles, 17.5 mph.

Run Clinic

Not bad, not bad at all.
Much more arm movement.
Leaning forward more.
Faster cadence.
Breathing rhythm much different.
Allot to work on.

Wednsday Run

5 1/2" miles, I tried to go slow HR but couldn't slow myself down.
I don't know why.
Also, Trigger dumped me. Hurt my feelings. Only the second time he has not been excited about going for a run.
Maybe he was under the weather.

Tuesday Run

4 1/2 miles @ 80% with Trigger.

Monday Run

Ran with EP, a friend, at the Katy Trail. Nice place.
3 1/2 miles at a steady pace. A good warm up for a couple of 5k's that she is running

Thursday Run

4 1/2 miles at an easier pace than the 80%, although the time was just as good.
My guess - I had a consistent pace this time and probable went out faster and finished slower before.

Wed. Swim

45 min. swim

Tuesday Run

4 1/2 miles @ 80%

Sunday Run

2 1/2 miles with Rita and Trigger. Run/walk.
3 miles just me. Mostly 400's.

Friday Swim

45 min. swim at the Y.
I have decided to learn the "flip turn".
I am going to take a few private lessons.
Why? Because I have always wanted to, that's why!

Thursday Run

4 miles, 400's a good hard workout.

Tuesday Run

4 1/2 slow miles.

TexasMan

I could have and seriously thought about skipping the TexasMan. I just could not come up with enough good excuses and how could I chicken out on the TexasMan the tri that started my great triathlon career.
I have slacked off of training and had some concerns about the swim and run. I have never swam 1500 yards in open water without a wet suit. And have only run a 10k once and that was at my first Oly back in April, along with my 1500 yard wet suit swim. Well, I am glad that I went through with the TexasMan and I am glad that it is over.

Swim- 29:32
Went very well. It was a mass start for all of the men doing the Olympic. A decent number of guys and I did not want to get
beat on so I stayed on the inside. In reality I felt like I swam a pretty straight line to each buoy. Most of the swimmers seem to go on the outside so there was not too much banging going on. The swim started out into the wind, but it was not too rough. I did not have to sight until I was getting close to the first buoy. I felt very much in control, but I did think
about the distance a few times. After rounding the first turn I swam almost unmolested all of the way to next turn. With the wind on my left side I always got good air on my right breath. Then the turn for home: one - I know that I am going to finish, two the wind is at my back, three - I can see all of the people on the beach. I finished with a nice kick and a moderate heart rate. You know it is funny, I can remember one year ago swimming the Sprint at the TexasMan and wondering if I was going to make it. Today 1500 yards, no sweat. Grade A (considering anxiety) next time I am going to expend a little more energy on the swim.

T1 - 2:59
It was a good little run up from the beach.
Took the time to sit down and put on socks.

Bike - 1:22.04, 16.8 mph
I did not want to press it on the bike and I guess that I didn’t. I expected my time to be a little better, but it was a good ride.
The middle of the ride is on a back country road with lots of good looking land and was very pleasant. Grade B- I don’t really know why the time was so slow.

T2 - 1:17
Same old thing.

Run - 1:06.04, pace 10:40
Ah, the run. I did not want to press the run either, but dang it was slow. I mean real slow. I swear the Tom marked the course wrong. The first section was nice and wooded. Then a right turn onto the Park road with some sun, then a right turn on to the Highway with nothing but sun. I ran and I ran and I ran . . . where is the turn around. I swear if I was there by myself I would have turned around assuming that I missed it some miles back. Finally I see the turn around. Good news, I am half way home, bad news, I am only half way home. I had 3-4 runners ask me how much further the turn around was - I lied, “you are almost there”. Now at least I know where I am going. I get to 2 miles from the finish and think about picking it up some - just think about it. One mile from the finish - how about a little kick - I don’t thinks so.
The only thing that kept me going was knowing that Peter was still on his bike. Grade ? I don’t know if I did good or bad. It was hard and it was slow. I guess a B+ for effort and a C- for results.

Final - 3:01.54
Ranked 4/5 if I would have knocked 4 minutes off my time I would have been in second place.

For my second Olympic I am satisfied.

Tuesday Run

2 1/2 miles with Rita and Trigger. Walk a 1/4 run a 1/4.
2 miles by myself all run (slowly).
Ribs are 90%.
I am getting better - I am getting better.

Post Rib Swim

My second try at a post injury swim.
The first try was 50 yards holding on the lane rope, finding a ladder and getter out of the pool. All of which was very painful.
This time I swam about 1500 yards with a moderate amount of pain. The question was can you stand the pain and can you bike/run after the swim. Yes on the pain, maybe on the other. I am going to have to put in a mini-tri at the Y. A 1000 yard swim, 30-40 minutes on the stationary bike and 30-40 minutes on the treadmill. We shall see.

HH100

Time 6:32.
I could not make it in under 6:00 hours. For the first 60 miles to Hell’s Gate my average was 19.5 mph with one short
stop. I made Hell’s Gate by 10:30. I was very satisfied with the effort. After Hell’s Gate life got a little harder.
Three main reasons - 1. the heat, later in the day things start to warm up, 2. the wind, the last 30ish miles have a
head wind, 3. you’ve just ridden 60 hard miles. The first 60 miles one short stop . . . the last 40 miles 3 stops with
each longer than the previous. Ended up with a 17.5 mph average. I am satisfied with that overall average.
If I could have skip some reststop my time would have been much better, but believe me - I only stopped because I
had to.
The HH100 is a grueling event. It is much more enjoyable after it is over. Hanging out with all of the Dallas Athletes
after the ride was great. Beer, hot dogs and stories.
This was my second and I will diffidently make this a yearly event, but one 100 miler a year is enough for this old man.

The ribs - my biggest concern was whether my bruised ribs would stop me. I was not sure that I could spend 6+ hours on a bike. Fortunately the ribs never got worse throughout the ride. Always sore but not too bad. I could not take "real" deep breaths, and tried hard not get out of breath. I kept my RPMs very high, almost alway over 100. I figure about 32,000 revolutions for the whole ride. I went for a short run/walk on Sunday. Now I have to see if I can swim.
Texas Man here I come?

Thursday Run - Not so much

Ok, time for a run. I go buy my a 4 bottle fuel belt (because Peter has one) fill them with my favorite sports drink.
Get Trigger, and he is excited. It has been a long time since we ran last, way too long for him. I tell Travis that I am going
on a run and will be gone about an hour. I plan to take it easy.
Out the front door . . .standing on the side walk . . Triggers ready . . . I’m ready . . . I put the leash on Trigger . . . we a ready to roll. We are off. One step - three steps - five steps - that’s is as far as we (I) get. All the way to the middle of my neighbors yard. I feel like there is a spear sticking out of my chest and with every step the spear bounces up and down.
Needless to say I am disappointed and have to settle for a walk. Trigger is very unhappy. He is walking ahead of me always looking over his should saying with his eyes, “let’s go, what’s up with you, come on let’s go already”.
We get back home after 35 minutes. Trigger plops down in front of the fire place and pouts the rest of the night.
Triathlete I am not.

Been awhile

After two week layoff and some bruised ribs I finally got a ride in last night.
I rode with the no drop group, to check my ribs out, which was led by Lowell and way to fast and too long for a no drop.
After Lowell incorporated the long route into our ride I took Aaron (a Tri 101er) back on a short cut. She was very tired and it was also a good excuse for me to shorten my ride.
Anyway, ribs - not too bad. Pain the whole way but bearable except when I got out of the saddle to hump it up a hill.
The combination of pulling down with my arms while my legs were pushing my body up was too much. So no blistering
hill climbs in my near future.
I tried swimming after the ride. Used a pull buoy ( I would have drown with out it) and made it only 50 yards. I had to use a ladder to get out of thepool.
HH100 in 9 days - spooky. I will just have to do what I can do.
FYI. Last week on vacation in Colorado my two boys (17 & 18) and I took the ski lift to the top of the mountain and rode “downhill” bikes on a “upper intermediate” trail down the mountain. There were no green trails. I crashed in the first 100 yards and bounced off a banked curve with my side. No breath, lots of pain, the only thing that I knew was that I was not going to die. So after some recovery time we head down the hil agian. Even the boys were impressed with how difficult the trail was which scared me even more. It took us over an hour to get to the bottom. Therefore bruised ribs.

Sunday Run

I ran between rain storms. The highest humidity that I have ever run in.
Just put in about 3.5 miles. Trigger and I about died.

The Goatneck

Short version.
The first half was a blast. The second half not so much.
I am way off on my hydration and will continue to work on that for the HH100.
17.4 mph
4:11 time

Wed. Bike/Swim

Not my best effort. Some times the blood just does not flow. Plugged along at 18.1 mph and actually felt a little cramping in my calf. That was first. I tried to leave some room for some effort for the swim. No such luck about 3/4 thru the swim I started cramping and had to give it up. This is after 6 Enduro pills, a banana, 18oz Glukos and water. I will use my camelbak on the next ride.

Sunday Long Run

I haven't done anything since the Wednesday bike/swim.
Ran/walked 5 1/2 miles Sunday evening with the dog.
Felt real good. I like the concept, but worry about time.

Wed. Bike/Swim

My favorite workout.
Ride - Ave 18.7 my fastest average. I did get pulled thru the first 3rd into the wind.
Swim - 2,100 yards mostly just a long swim. We swam 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 6 -100's. The first 1/4 of each was to be faster than the last 3/4, but after awhile it was just a one long swim.
Only a touch of cramping.

Hills of VR

Riding solo at the hills. I choose to park at the bottom of the hills in a apartment parking lot, that way I don't have to cross MacAthur. 5 trips up the hill.
Time 1:06
Ave HR 155
Max HR 171
I did not feel as strong as other days, but it still was a good workout.

Rita's Sunday Run

Sunday started Rita's training. Rita, Trigger and I went for a training run. My goal, and I hope Rita's, is to do train for a few weeks do a couple of 5K's and a 10K and then the 1/2 Marathon at Whiterock.
800 run/400 walk x 4
Went well even in the heat.

Peach Pedal

My goal for this ride was being self sufficient, stay within my abilities and average 18 mph.
For once I accomplished all of my goals. I had 40 oz of Gleukos (which is my preferred sports drink) in my Camelbak and two water bottles.
I also eat one power bar and one gel shot, which according the “guru” David was not enough calories. I will try to do one gel per hour
on my next ride.
Like Jimmy and Peter I ended up riding almost all of the ride on my own. The first half of the ride was pretty fast with some hills the second
half was tough going, especially from miles 30 - 40, with lots of rolling hills each one slightly higher than the last. I couldn’t get my rmps up and
felt like I lost some leg strength. I had to refuel at rest stop #6, so I had drank all of the 40 oz and some water through the first 50 miles which
was good for me. I was able to pick up the pace for the last 10 miles and finished with and 18.0 average and a 3:22 time.
Ave HR 153, Max HR 171
HH100: This time would get me to Hell’s Gate around 10:30 - well before the cut off. A 6 hour HH100? Not yet. I need to get this average up to around 18.5.

Wed. Bike/Swim

Bike - Those of us who braved the weather were rewarded with a perfect ride.
I rode with Odie with no drafting. A good overall ride.
18.8 AVE
Swim - It had been awhile since my last Wed. night swim and I was visited by cramps about 80% into the work out. Up until then all was good. I took 3 endurolytes before the ride, drank 2 bottles of sports drink during the ride and took 2 more enduros before the swim. I guess I will have to add to my intake some. I am sure glad the swim starts the Tri's, I would hate
to get a bad cramp in open water.
Distance all messed up due to cramps.
Also, Tom wants me not to turn my head so much when I breath - now I take in half as much air and twice as much water.
Great - thanks allot Tom.

Hills of VR

My friend, I use the term loosely, Jimmy and I rode the hills at Valley Ranch.
5 trips to the top. It is a good workout, especially in the heat, humidly and into a 15 mph wind. This is the third time I have ridden the hills and 3 riders was the most, yesterday it was just us two. I would like to see David or maybe Ken there in hopes of picking up some pointers.

Sunday Run

6 miles. Again another slow run with Trigger. Ave HR 140. The HR got a little higher due to the heat, humidity and all day 4th party on Saturday.

Friday Run

1 hour run. Kept my HR below 140. Ave HR 135.
I am going to adopt some of the Gallaway training.
I may incorporate some walking if I can get my head (ego) around the concept. I did enjoy the run more.
I think I have been running too fast for my ability.

Crossing wheels

Wreck - about 1/2 thru Wednesday's ride we were in single file. I was about 4th out of 10-12 riders when I crossed wheels with rider in front of me. I guess that he slowed a little and I did not notice. It was definitely my fault. I was able to disengage our wheels by breaking hard and had to bail hard to the left. I just got my foot down to keep from crashing into the pavement.
Obviously my hard breaking caused chaos behind me. I looked back in time to see bikes going in every direction grinding to sudden stops. One bike ended up in the ditch. Fortunately no one was injured and there was no bike damage. It could have been much worse.
If a car was passing when made my 4 foot leap to the left . . . if there was not a nice grassy ditch . . . if I could not have got my foot down to stop my fall . . . timing is everything and this turned out to be lucky timing. Lesson learned - when following close stay focused at all times.

July 4th Bike Ride

A nice break in the weather. 6:30 Wednesday morning around 20 riders left Andy Brown West for a casual ride and for a DA group the first half was about as casual as it gets. On the second half the group split into different speeds. I went with one of the faster groups.
40 miles.
18 mph
I took my camelbak an drank about 40 oz which is far more than I would have drank out of bottles and I felt pretty good at the end of the ride.

Monday Treadmill

45 minute run
145 AHR
9.5 minute miles
4.8 miles

Sunday Pre-Disco

I wanted to make sure that I made the pre-tri sense I am missing the real deal.
Swim - could not have gone better. It is so nice to be passed (I hope) the anxiety of the swim. Swim coach gave some pointers most of which were not of much interest. He did encourage swimming in cold, very cold, water without a wet suite - I think not.
Drafting - one of these days I want to get Peter in the water and try it on a long straight swim, just to check it out. I am curious if the drafting makes a notable difference.
Bike - short. 16.5 miles, 19.5 average. Nice smooth road with some rolling hills.
Run - I had some stomach issues on Saturday that started to catch up with me on the run. The further from the restroom I got the more worried I became. So I cut it off short.
Overall it was very good practice.

Friday Swim

45 minute swim at the Y. Oly pace. I can never keep count of the laps.
I haven't swam in a couple of weeks. It seemed to take 30 minutes before I felt "comfortable".
Should be more than more than 2300 yds but how much more?

Thursday Run

Form run. 3 1/2 miles. Run a 1/4 focus on lifting legs, ball of foot strike. Not a speed drill.
I have to build up my calf muscles for this new form.

Wed. Schwinn

You gotta love the rain.
Another garage ride. 550 cals. I don't keep up with anything else - what's the point.

Monday Schwinn

500 calorie garage ride. High intensity with lots of sweat.

Disco Bust

I just found out that I will miss the Disco Man Olympic.
Bummer. Our family always has a big 4th of July celebration with about 40 family members.
I was originally planned for June 30th - it got moved to July 3rd.
I am going to try to make the pre-tri on July 1st.
So, I guess I will pick up my packet, wear my tee shirt and be a poser.

Thursday Run

Worked on running form last night. Trying to have less heel strike. So, I ran a 1/4 mile walked 100 yds focusing on staying on the balls of my feet and not letting my heel hit the pavement or just barely touch. 3 miles. Near the end I could feel my calf muscles, but no real ankle pain this morning. I am going to watch the Evolution Running video and do some of the training drills. I also plan on checking out Jeff Galloway's book.
Hopefully I can learn to run injury free.

Wed. Bike

I wish I could find somebody to ride my pace : (
18.9 but my computer cut off as I turned off of Beltline. I am sure that I lost a few 10th's of miles on the last stretch into the wind. I kept up with the "intermediate" group for the first quarter of the ride, had to slow down for the second quarter because I was maintaining a HR above 170, sped up for the last half. So I ended up riding 3/4 alone. No one wants to play with me.
Too hard of a start. Next week I am going to start at my own pace. I will probable drop down to around 18, but I know it is better for me than blowing out the first few miles.
Then maybe I will feel like swimming.

Hills with Travis

I was dressed for a slow easy run. I was going to work on my form - less heel strike, more ball of foot. And then Travis (#2 son, 17) comes in from working out and is going for a run. Dad ask meekly, "can I run with you?" Travis, "sure, but I am running the hills".
So off to the hills we go. Short sprints up a steep grass hill at the high school. He goes up 10 times, I go up 8 times. Travis, "let's move to the STEEPER hill and do 5 more". Dad's lungs say, "no"; dad's heart says "no"; dad's mouth says, "yes". Then we move to the steeper hill. We both go 5 times. Short intense workout. Time well spent with Travis.
No heart monitor which was good because I am sure that I really did not want to see my heart rate.

Tour d'Italia

You've got to watch these DAer’s or some day you will wake and see your name in a mass email as a ride coordinator.
Actually it worked out pretty good - me, Peter and 6 women (that’s right 6 women) met at the DA store at 6:00 and believe it or not everyone was on time. We left around 6:15 and headed South into the meat of a rain storm. Fortunately the rained stopped as we neared Italy.
We met up with 4 or 5 more DAer’s and got our packets and headed for the start line. I really liked the open start (from 8 -9). This was a first for me and made the start much less crowded and rushed, we actually started closer to 8:30. The group decided on the 50 mile route.
I experimented with something different on this ride. 50 miles no rest stops or stops of any kind. I had 2 bottles of Accelerade, a Camel back of water and rode by myself as if I were in a triathlon - no drafting even when the opportunity presented itself. After a few miles the rain came down pretty good. Not hard enough to stop you but it got your attention. Only lasted a few miles and the rest of the ride was pleasant.
50 miles - 2:46 which puts me well inside of 3 hours for the HH100, but realistically with the heat, double the distance and knowing that you have to have several rest stops I still need to speed up.
Average speed 17.5 mph. One big advantage of the HH100 will be drafting.

Monday Run

1 hour run.
147 AHR
95 degrees and humid.
I had been thinking about a fuel belt for the longer runs and warmer weather. I wanted one of those 4 small bottle holders.
I went to Run-On and of course they were out of those. After talking with a salesperson I decided on 1 large bottle behind the back. Started my run - went 1/2 block - turned around and went home- dumped the belt - carried the bottle in my hand. The bottle bounced around way too much. Hated it.
Ankles - during and after running both of my ankles hurt. It is not debilitating, but it does make me limp some. Rita notices and I get in trouble. So, now I am on a search to find a cure. I soaked my feet in ice water and than helped, but that is not a cure and me with my feet in a bucket of ice just gets me in more trouble. I don’t know if it is my running style (I hope so because I can change that), shoes (although I have two pair of good shoes) or just old joints (no cure for that one). We will see how it goes. Olympics may be my max.

Metroplex Tri

Another triathlon under my belt.
800 meter swim, 30k bike, 5k run.

Swim: 15:47
Spent the pre race with Peter, Eric and Dave. Eric, being so young, had an early start while the rest of us started together.
I decided to move up a little at the start of the swim and ended up getting beat on (or beating on others) almost the whole
swim. The first turn was only a couple of hundred yards from the start and it was very crowded all the way there and around
the mark. I thought it would thin out on the long second leg but nothing changed. I got kicked, punched and banged on constantly. Then I started catching some “green caps” from the previous wave. These were big guys taking up lots of room. Four or five times I had to breast stroke in order to look around to see what was happening and to try to find open water. Finally around the next mark, but it was still crowded all the way to exiting the water.
Oddly I was pleased with the swim. I felt fairly confident during the swim even with the close quarters. I go frustrated but not anxious.
If this would have happened at the TexasMan (first tri, first open water) I would have panicked.
Lesson learned - three choice: 1 - if up front swim faster, 2 - swim outside the main group, 3 - start further back.
I am going to choose number 2 at Disco. I think I can have a faster swim with out all the banging and have a better time even after adding a few yards.
Grade A, not for speed, but good experience, and not a bad time.
Pace -1:58
Disco goal - about the same.

T1: 1:52
I could always save a few seconds, but fast enough.
Grade B+
Disco goal - will be slower because I will put on socks.

Bike: 49:01
It was a good bike ride my goal was to average about 20mph. Short flat course. I felt good, but I kinda backed off in the middle third of the ride. I was making good time, but I knew that I could have pressed it more than I was at the time. Maybe thinking about the run - maybe still have not completed enough Tri’s to know how much to push it - maybe just not man enough. So, in hind sight I should/could have knocked some time off the bike. Starting in the second to the last wave does have some advantages. You get to pass allot of people and don’t get passed too often. Good for my fragile ego. I did get passed by Peter after a couple of miles. Next time I am going to stay with him through the bike.
Grade B-
Pace 20.5
Disco goal - about the same.

T1: 1:40
Same as above
Grade B+
Disco goal - about the same.

Run: 28:49
Ah the run. My favorite leg of the Tri, NOT. I can’t (choose not to) be to hard on myself about the run. I just don’t train like I should. I want to run faster because that is were I can make up some time but until I train more it is what it is. I tried to do a reverse split and believe that I did. It takes a mile of running to get past the bike legs and a get a good rhythm. It was an out and back course so I saw my nemesis Peter coming back as I was going out . We high fived as we passed each other, next time I am going to trip him. With a mile to go I picked it up some. Passed Carra with about 100 yards to go and tried to finish strong. One of these days I will get faster.
Grade B-
Pace 9:14
Disco goal - 9:14 for a 10k would make me happy.

Overall time: 1:37:10
21st out of 28 in age group
243 out of 506 overall

I believe this was a fast group of triathletes.

Overall lessons:
Swim - clean water.
Bike - press it a little more.
Run - train or except it.

As with every Tri so far - a good time was had.
Oh, almost forgot, I lost a six pack of beer to Peter.

Friday Run

Easy 3.5 mile run in preparation for the Metroplex Tri.
Me and the dog.

Wed. Bike

Rode with the faster Intermediates.
My goal was to hang on as long as I could - hung in better than I expected and finished with the back of the group. I was pulled the whole way and was proud of it.
It very windy.
Dang computer still does not work.
But I was fast. I left D, Peter and Scott in my dust. Well Scott didn't ride but if he had he would have eaten my dust too.

Tuesday Track

90 degrees.
1 mile wu
6 - 400's on 3 min.
All laps between 1:45 and 1:50.
Left more than a minute rest between laps.
1 mile cd
151 Ave HR
177 Max HR
Good workout.
I should do more like this.

Sunday Run

Trigger run
1 hour
151 AHR
163 Max
Another warm humid run. Trying to get use to it.

Sunday Swim

I don't know if I will ever be completely comfortable in the open water.
You know you can swim 2000 yards in a pool - so why have anxiety about 800 yards in a lake. It took one lap to get the tightness out of my chest. I am sure that it was just mental. The swim got better except that I had some trouble sighting. I wore my tinted goggles and as the clouds rolled in it became more difficult to see. I am swimming allot straighter than last year, but I still pull to the right some. I stighted every 12th stroke. Hopefully with more bouys and swimmer I will sight much less on Sunday. The swim was shortened due to lighting, but I still got in two loops about the distance of next Sundays Tri.
Water temperature was not an issue for me although Peter was winning like a baby in the parking lot before I made him "man up" and go without a wetsuit.
approx 800 yds.

HH Ride #1

David's first HH training ride. He wanted everyone to get to know each other and to check out the different abilities. About 15 riders, David dropped back early to stay with a slower rider and a couple of girls dropped off later. The goal was 17 mph. We had a slow start but started picking up from about 1/2 way on. I wanted to stay up front so that I could use the aero bars more in prep for the Tri on Sunday, plus a little extra work.
Coping from Peter.
40.6 miles
2:22
17.2 ave
I put a new battery in my bike computer so hopefully it will work now.

Thursday Run

47:06
147 AHR
159 Max
Lots of sweat.

Wed. Bike

After a 6 day layoff I finally get in a workout.
I got to the parking lot after everyone had left. I had to hump it alone almost the whole way. I passed the No Drop group at 635 and Luna and caught up with some of the Intermediate group leaving Las Colinas. Pulled through VR and part of Belt Line. I worked very hard and a had a good ride.
18.5 mph. slower than last week but sense I was on my own I felt good about the pace.
Enjoyed beer and pizza after the ride and was happy to skip the swim.

Thursday Schwinn

45 minutes of recovery on the Schwinn.
Nice and easy.

Wed. Bike/Swim

Biking might actually be improving. Rode with the slow intermediate and I caught up with Peter. That’s right the infamous "HIM” himself. When he looked back and saw me I think a little air went out of his tires. Not only that, I did some pulling myself. Some of the pull was with the wind in VR, but I also pulled down Beltline and was able to maintain over 19 mph.
Ave 19.1 - best ride to date.

Swim - slow start, Tom was late on deck.
wu - 200 pull, 50 swim
100 Sprint
3 x 300
3 x x150
3 x 75
Each 100, 50 and 25 set faster.
no cd
Total 1,675
Fought cramps the last 1/2 of the swim. Never got a full blown cramp but was so close.
Right foot, calf, and at the end thigh.
Overall another good Wed. night workout.

Hills of VR

Waiting in the parking lot David shows up. He is not going to ride so I am on my own. After putting in a good 40 miles yesterday I was dubious about the hills and rightfully so. After the first climb I was having to spin up in second gear. My legs just did not have the strength. I decided (being the wise old man that I am) to just ride around the neighborhood
for a while and consider it a recovery ride.

Sunday

OWS - 35 minutes
Bike - 40 miles @ 18.5
Run - 15 minutes

Saturday Run

44:15 lake run
HR 147
Trigger liked it.

Friday Track

wu 1 mile
8 x 400 on 3:00
cd 1/2 mile

Wed. Bike

Beautiful day. Rode with the lower Intermediate Group. I was able to hang with the front 6 riders although they pulled me along. I felt like a poser. Still very satisfied with the ride.
Swim - Ken on deck(he rode the VR hills Monday). A little different than Tom. Shorter distance, more technique and breathing.
Finally a full Wednesday workout.

Dog Run

Me and Trigger went for a lake run. I forgot to check my watch.
About 45 min. Around a 145 HR. Nice day although the temp was in the high 80's the wind was cool.

Swim/bike

750 meter swim at Loos at lunch. They had the entire 50 meters open.
Olympic pace.

Rode the Hills of VR with a couple of guys. Ken (not ours) and Bob.
They took the short route, which skips a couple of hills, I took the long.
4X felt the burn. Good ride

Schwinn

45 min. around 3.5

Granbury

Saturday Granbury ride.
Pecan Plantation has to be the best place in Texas to ride a bike.
Smooth asphalt roads, little traffic and fairly flat.
27 miles, 18mph ave.
I wish I could ride there every week.

Thursday Schwinn

45 min. level 3

Wed bike - not agian

Went, waited, called off by David.
Rode the Schwinn in the garage.
I am going to focus on the bike thru August.
I will not have another ride like the MS150. I WILL NOT.

MS 150

Saturday: windy
I treated this ride more like a Wednesday night ride than the first half of a 150 miles. Short version - I probable drank the equivalent of 1 bottle of Accelerade, 1 bottle of water and couple snacks along the way. Jimmy and I hooked up with a couple of fast groups for the first 40 miles. The last group that I hung with was trucking at 27 mph on the flats. After about 50 miles I was toast. No leg strength left. A slow last hard long 20 miles. I made Jimmy go on ahead so I would not be bogging him down. I still finished at noon which was my goal.
But the way I finished just sucked the life out of me. And - I had 75 more miles to go the next day. I was not looking forward to it. At the TXU tent we talked about my “problem”. Well, 5 bottles, 4 - 5 gel shots, lot’s more snack (carbs) a better breakfast was more of what I should have done.
Excuse? I have none.

Sunday: very windy
Saturday night I cleaned my bike, oiled the chain. My bike and I had a private conversation in the garage in which I apologized for my poor preparation. Steel cut oatmeal, a bottle of Gatorade for breakfast, a Camelback full of
water, 2 bottles of Accelerade, 4 Gel shots, 2 bars plus I knew I would get some more nutrition at three short stops.
It took a few miles for my leg to into the ride, but I already felt better. The ride out to Decatur was pretty fast. At Decatur it was a left turn straight into the wind all the way to down town Ft. Worth. Jimmy and I traded off about every mile but it
was a grind. Hooked up with two more guys which allowed us to pick up the pace. Four in the rotation was much better than two. By the way the aero bars were great for the lead position. I still got weak toward the end and finish about 40 minutes slower than Saturday but I enjoyed the ride more because overall I felt that I did a better job.

Lesions Learned:
Drink a bottle minimum every hour - thirsty or not. Saturday it was misty all day.
I never really felt thirsty and paid the price
Eat something every 15 -20 minutes - gel, bar, snack, etc.
Don’t hook up with groups you can’t hang with unless you are near the finish.
Take a long ride more serious.
I need to train more on the bike. A Wednesday night ride and one weekend ride
every once and while is not enough. I need to build some leg strength before the
HH100.

Wed bike - not

Discretion.
I went to the parking lot for the Wed ride and decided not to go. I was very proud of my decision.
Being a man it was hard not to go. About 10 riders left the lot. My guess - the storm hit them
at the halfway point.
So,I go swimming at the Y. Not such a good idea. When there is a storm there is a good chance
you will get kicked out of the pool. After about 15 minutes of swimming the pool closes do to lightning.
I wasn't in the mood to run on the treadmill.
Better luck tomorrow.

My First Spin Class

Son Travis' Lacrosse team works out at the Y. Father Bryan works out and has a family membership at the CAC.
Son Travis want a Y membership. Father Bryan cancels CAC and joins the Y.
Good - more stuff at the Y, like spin classes.
Bad - more people at the Y.
My first Spin Class - 45 minutes of good sweating. Almost lost a leg when a I decided to coast. No coasting on a
spin bike. The 45lb flywheel does not coast. I was able to spin the whole class but I was not able to get out of the
saddle as much as the instructor said. Position "3" (tri-bike like) was ok, but position "2" (standing straight up) was not ok.
I hope to get a little better coordinated and build some leg strengh.
I would like to incorporate one spin class a week into my routine.
After spin I put 2 miles on the treadmill a 8 min. miles.
Rita got in about 35 minutes of workout also.

5K PR

Rita's Uncle who is 69 has been trying to hook up for a 5K with me for a couple of months. He called after finding out about the run that Carrollton Runners put on each month. He lives in Fort Worth and drove all the way here just so we could run together. Sunday morning I show up at the park and wait for him, but he does not show up. I start without him and run an 8 minute mile for the first mile then I see an older guy coming up the road (it was and out and back course). Sure enought it's Uncle Juris (Rita's family is from Latvia, in fact she is first gerneration American) with his head down just running along. I turn around and we run the rest of the 5K together. We run along talking about running, the birds chirping and the reflection of the trees on the water. He has broken his pace down to seconds per yard - he thought we were doing about 2 1/4 yards per second. We had a nice run. Juris won a trophy for second place. You guessed it - 2 in his age group.
My time 55:25
Juris' time 44:15
Later coffee and bagels at our house.

Friday Run

Around the lakes and 3 x the fields.
Approx 6 miles. I ran into Ken again and stopped to
talk with him for awhile. He totally ruined my run.
I am sure that I was setting a PR. Dang it.
We are going to try and hook up at the MS150.
Maybe Ken can pull my and Jimmy the entire way.
That would be nice.

Saturday DA ride

33 miles
18 mph
Small group due to the Kid Tri.
Rode with Jimmy. We are trying to get ready for
the MS150.
Great day for a ride.

Wed. Bike

Good Wednesday ride. Lots of wind. Trouble with my computer.
Kept up with the intermediate group.
Ran up to Beltline after the ride.
Beer and pizza after the run.

Tuesday CAC

Treadmill:
1 mile @ 9:30
1 mile @ 8:00
1 mile @ 10:00
.5 mile @ 8:00
.5 mile @ 10:00

Swim:
30 minutes at Oly pace.

Olypic Tri

My goal, other than just finishing, was anything under 3 hours.
Posting a 2:45:43 was better than I could have expected.

swim 29:37 - 1:58/M
T1 3:22
Bike 1:09:53 - 18.9 MPH
T2 - 1:38
Run 1:01:09 -
Total 2:45:43

SWIM - 29:37 - The swim went very well. I actually turned around sooner than I expected. I was one of the first in the water, filled my wetsuit, dunked my head, took water in my mouth and spit it out and did a little warming up before everyone got set. I learned most of the start routine in a lecture from a swim coach the day before. And yes I did break by wetsuit in, if you know what I mean. The start went well with not too much banging but twice as we made right turns everyone congregated at the wall and it got very crowded. The swim coach said "own your space" and I tried to make myself do it. I kept thinking long reaches, head down, feet up. I used other swimmers and the wall for most sightings. I don't think that I strayed too far off course. After the turn it did not get crowded again until near the finish as everyone started heading for the same spot. It took a couple of tries to get out of the water because the first step was way high. The "strippers" unzipped my wetsuit but I kept it on until I got to the bike.
Could not have gone better.

T1 - 3:22 - sat down , dried off, put my socks on (I can't run a 10K without socks) and got ready for the bike.
Could have gone faster, but I did it on purpose so I can't complain.

BIKE - 1:09:53 - Started on the bike thinking about just spinning for awhile to get the feel. Looked down and am going 25 MPH with no effort. Trouble. I am biking in a vacuum. The wind was blowing much harder than I realized. On the way in from the first loop back into the head wind I am going about 13 MPH with some effort. A couple of times the wind blew so hard from the side that it moved my bike over a few inches. I did love the aero bars. Stayed in the aero position about 80% of the time. Even when I was going 13 due to that fact that the wind was so strong.
Satisfied with the ride. Could make some improvement. My goal is 20 MPH.

T2 - 1:38 - Fast enough.

RUN - 1:01:09 - Now I have only run a 10K distance a couple of times getting ready for this Olympic being the smart man that I am and never after a bike ride. It took about 1/2 mile to get the rubber out of the legs, but hey I was glad that I could run at all. The first mile rest stop came soon enough - got some water and salt pills, after the second mile rest stop I knew, or at least thought that I knew, that I was going to make it. I tried to keep a steady pace and my HR about 160. At the turn I spoke with Tom and ask for a ride to the finish, he pinched me on the bottom and just told me to pick up the pace. The second half went well after all I was in the last minutes of my first Olympic. With a mile to go and a tail wind I picked it up some. Crossing the finish line with Rita there and all the other support was great.
The run is where I will make my biggest improvement. My goal is 8 minute miles.

The overall event on a scale of 1 - 10 it was a 9.

A great 50th birthday present to myself.

I checked my USAT Ranking.

Overall Ranking: 60.7711
Rank 2373

I don't know what it means, I just thought I would post it.
Maybe I will see an improvement as I do more tri's.

Now, I know some people will post theirs just to be mean.

Wed. Swim

I did not think that I had time to make it to the Wed. ride. I rushed home and in my hast forgot my bike shoes. I think the Tri Gods conspire against me.
So I headed to CAC for a swim.
200 pull wu
2000 yds - 40 minutes
Oly pace
150 swim with sighting cd
Tomorrow a recovery run.

Swim no Swim

Monday I went to CAC for a swim. I wanted to put in a long
Olympic pace swim and I wanted to try out my new
ear plugs. They are just big balls of wax. But when I get there
the pool is closed.
Why? Some child thru up in the pool during swim lessons.
I explained to those in charge that I did not mind swimming
with a little vomit in the water. After all I swam in Lake Grapevine
to build up my immune system.
Alas, no luck.

Tuesday I went to CAC for a swim. I wanted to put in a long
Olympic swim . . . But when I get there no lanes are available
for lap swimming.
Why? The Boy Scouts are swimming for badges. The life guard
says she doesn’t believe it will take too long. They were only
swimming 3 laps. So I decide to wait and wait and wait. I did
see some real interesting swim “styles”. Some would make even
Peter look like a good swimmer. Anyway, just as the Scouts are
finishing up and I am stuffing wax in my ears the Life Guard
tells everyone to get out of the pool. For a moment I think she
is clearing the pool for me. I can’t quite hear what she is saying
because I have that stupid wax in my ears, but no not for me.
Lighting. Pool closed.
Alas, no luck.

OWS/Bike

Sunday first open water swim with Dallas Athletes.
No buoys so I don’t know how for we swam. About the same as
Thursday maybe a little further. Felt good again. I did have a new
sensation - vertigo when I tried to walk out of the water. Learning that
one thing might make a difference in the Oly. I have read about it but
never experienced it, some have even had motion sickness to the point
of throwing up after the swim. I am going to start swimming with ear
plugs which is supposed to solve the problem.

Bike ride was swift (for me). Jimmy my old friend came along and
struggled some at the beginning but got his legs about half way
thru. He, like me, felt like we did pretty good job. Of course the average
age of our group might have been near 100. Me, Jimmy, Peter, Doc (Tom)
Ken, Dr. Stitch, one youngster.
33.8 miles
1:53 time
17.9 Avg.
Peter wanted to run after the ride but Ken and I said no thanks.


In the afternoon Rita and I went on a short 45 minute ride at about 15 mph.
The day was too beautifull to pass up.

Looking forward to the Olympic - not so much.

I forgot to post a 4.5 mile recovery run on Saturday. If I had not seen
Ken on the run I would not post it. I keep half of my training a secrete.

First OWS

This was the most important single workout of the year.
I now know that I can complete the Oly. I was shocked, not by the cold water which it was 68 degrees, but by the lack of anxiety of the open water. Even though there was a stiff wind on the lake the swim went better than I expected. Not so much the distance, we were in the water less than 30 minutes, but the positive "feel" of the whole experience.
Travis, #2 son, was in our kayak and kept a good eye on us (me and D) which also helped in the confidence area. We swam with the wind for ,just guessing, 300-400 yds and then had to turn into the wind on the way back. That made for some work.
Over all 600 to 800 yds.
Great learning experience.
Maybe I am becoming a Triathlete.
I was trying to explain the difference between open water and lane swimming to Travis. The best analogy that I could come up with was imagine walking a 6" wide board on the ground. You could do it all day long. Now raise the board 50 feet in the air and try walking on it. The only difference is in your mind . . . and the fact that you could die. I think he got it.

Wed. Bike

Nice ride, my best so far.
Took on the Hill @ LC.
Got aero a few times and thought it was great.
Drafted allot - pulled a little in Valley Ranch where I spent the most time areo.
Made a difference, at least in my mind.
Kept up on Beltline.
Ave 18 mph
Ran up to Beltline 8:10 pace, 14:37. Too fast, way too fast.
Now all I need to do is add about 4 more miles to that run and I will be ready for the Oly.
Again copying data from others.
Nice little brick.

Tuesday Run

3 Mile Time Trial
1 mile wu
3 miles in 26:30, 8:50 per
1 mile cd
AHR 162
Mhr 183
I don't like Kuay. First she laughs at me because I can't get me legs to look like a "4" and then she helps me stretch by smashing me into the track. She did make sure to get my name so she could help identify the body when I went to the
hospital.

Tour Dallas

Rita's first "real" bike ride. A 30 mile tour of Dallas, Swiss Ave., White Rock, the "M" streets and AA Center. With a temp of 38 we added an extra layer of clothing and headed down to the AAC. Surprisingly the weather was not that bad, but I was glad that I had not just finish a swim like some fools. We did bike thru some small snow flurries, but neither of us got very cold. We stopped at the 10 and 20 mile rest stops. This was truly a tour. Lots and I mean lots of turns. We took it nice an slow. Rita had a good reverse split. The second 10 miles was faster than the first and the third 10 miles was faster than the second.
I may have have created a monster. We are going to ride the Lancaster Country Ride - me 62 miles, Rita 26 miles. We will see if she still loves me.

Base Run

Approx 4 1/2 recovery run with the dog.
Watch problems so I don't have any data.
I am sure my AHR was aroung 147.

Well I finally made it to a Tuesday morning run.
wu 1 mile
8 x 400s in 3:00
Each lap in 2:00 with 1:00 rest.
Last lap in 1:45
cd 1 mile

4 miles total

No HR info

I'm learning how to post this stuff. Still copying.

I plan on running one more week with Group A then try to move to Group B.

Hills of VR

Went for a 30 minute swim at lunch at Loos.
It was me and an old lady sharing the pool. I am sure she is writing in her blog about a her and an old man.
Just a swim no drills.

I tried to hook up with DA bikers at Valley Ranch for the "hills" ride. I could not find anyone so I decided to go alone.
4 trips up the hill on Riverview from MacAthur up to the theater. About 13 min round trip. Min 9 mph, max 30 mph.
The last trip was a fast (or slow) as the first.
4 times - 53:36
Ave HR 154
Max HR 169

Rain, Iightning and run

Took Trigger for a run in the rain last night.
Approx 4 1/2 miles.
Details later.

Wed. Bike/Swim

The bike ride spanked my butt. Like a fool I led for a couple of miles into the wind and that took the wind out of me. It took me the next 10 miles to recover any legs at all. I did enjoy the first Wed. ride of the year. 20.8 miles at just over 17 hph or so, my computer was down so I am copying from others.
The swim:
long wu - 250 I guess I was early.
4 - 100 swim
8 min swim, out at HIM, in at Oly.
6 min swim, 50 pull, 50 swim
4 - 100, out on back, in on belly.
6 - 100 fin
I feel like there was more, but I can't remember.
cd
Around 2,400 yds.
Needless to say it was a good hard Wed. workout - looking forward to more.

Saturday Bike Ride

I started out with the old 101's but caught a light and got left behind early in the ride. I waited for the next group to catch up with me. We rode 32.5 miles and averaged 17 MPH. Other than my "friends" leaving me it was a great ride (I cried a little). Nice cool day with cloud cover and 17 MPH was plenty fast for my second road trip of the year. Later in the day I went back to DA and talked to Gary about getting some aero bars for my bike. I might give them a try for a transition to tri bike and to help out on some of the 60 and 100 mile rides. About $100 bucks, but I have not decided yet.

7 Miler

7 mile recovery run, time 1:10, AHR 146.
I have only run this far once in my life and that was more than 25 years ago.
I figure if I am going to do an Olympic I might want to run more than a 5k at least once.
We will see how if feel in the morning. Am I proud of 10m miles - your darn right. I hope by the
end of the season my recovery run will be down to 9 or below. I will have to fake as long as Rita is watching. If she thinks I am hurting she gets made at me. I can't figure that out.

Wed. Swim

Tom was not the devil last night. A good workout
I copied this from Peter (no, I'm not smarter than a 5th grader).

w/u 200 yards easy
w/o 15 minutes @ HIM pace 800 yards
200 HIM pace/200 Oly pace/ 100 hard(1:45)
250 pull
4 X 25easy/25 hard/25 easy
c/d 200 HIM pace

total 2250 yards in 55 min

A little pain in my left shoulder. I tried to do some pushups and could not do even one. Fortunately there are no pushups in Tri's.

Run

Approx 4 1/2 miles, AHR 153, MHR 179, Time 49:37.
Ran the middle mile above threshold HR175 (168 is threshold).
I had to walk about 1/3 of the time after the threshold run in order
to keep my HR below recovery 147. It felt like a good workout.
Trigger was tired.

Spenc

The hockey boy.

Swim with Spenc

Spencer (my 18 year old) and I went for a swim at CAC last night.
Almost every time I go for a run or swim I ask both boys if they want to go.
It is just part of my ritual. Their part of the ritual is - "huh, what, are you kidding, no way".
Last night was different. Spenc is getting a little more "homey", maybe because he will going off to Tech, maybe it is just my imagination. Either way I was thrilled to have him along. I did not get in much of a workout and would trade all of my workouts to be able to spend time with my sons, we were in the water for about 30 minutes. I gave him a few pointers and if you have kids you know there is a fine line that is very easy to cross with too much advice. I believe that I stayed on the good side of the line last night (unusual for me). I thought that his stroke was pretty good although he got tired very fast, faster than he expected. Who knows, maybe he will come again, maybe Travis (17) will grace me with his presence. One can only hope.

This morning? I blame it on the alarm.

My good friend and "teammate" Peter has been obsessing over a silly little medal they gave out at the St. Paddy's Day Triathlon. So for his benefit I provide this picture of how he actually felt after receiving the award. For him this is a smile.

ST. PATRICK's Day

The facts:
Swim 6:12 Pace 1:54, T1 1:54, Bike 42:02 Rate 17.1, T2 1:24, Run 27.04 Pace 8:44 - Overall 1:18:09
Place 137.
I was very please with the race. To be only 56 seconds slower than the Monster Tri in October of '06 ,which was the exact same course, surprised me. Faster swim and run, slower transitions and bike, but not by much. I have been on the only bike twice in the last 4 months. I feel like that I have a great head start on the season. Realistic Monster Goals:
Swim 6:00, T1 1:15, Bike 36:00, T2 1:00, Run 24:00 - Total 1:08:15
Even with my motto “tri-ing not so hard” I know that I will make improvements this season.
One reason for this early season race was just to get another Tri under my belt and to get a base time. There was less pre race anxiety than the other two Tri’s and everything went smoothly.
After getting up at 5:00 and racing at 7:40 and ending in less than an
hour and 20 minutes I have decided that Olympics will be done. I may be under prepared but probable better off than I was for the Texas Man Tri (my first).

LSD Run

Approx 4 1/2 miles of base running yesterday with my trusty side kick Trigger.
We did not work too hard - gotta save up for the first Tri of the season.
Looking forward to it . . . kinda.

Rock n Relays

As team captain for OWGR (Scott, Ken & Greg) I am very proud of the team effort.
I expect all members to continue to train hard and make improvement in your times. I will be sending out a training schedule that should be strictly adhered to. A couple of areas of potential improvement. 1. Ken - do a better job of getting the directions to the race site. For some reason everyone thought that I knew where I was going. 2. Scott - know exactly how far to run. You said that you had a 1/2 mile kick left in you when he ran out of room to run (sure you did). Scott it’s 5.25 not 5.75.
3. Greg - stop stopping and smelling the roses. I think you also fit in a little time for fishing along the way.
Other than that we were good.
Scott/Kim continue to be aloof. We cheered them on, but they would not even acknowledge the we existed. I think Scott even sneered at us as he went by. And why not, he and Kim were running 9 miles each. We were mere mortals among gods.
Dave had a team that may have done slightly better than us, but I don’t know their team name. So, until I find out we will call it a tie.
And then there was “Achille’s Heels”. I’m not sure their finished yet.
OWGR over all time - 2:49:01
If Ken was only 2 seconds faster we would have been sub 2:49. Come on Ken all I ask is a little more effort - for the team.
We were slightly off the 2:30 that I was shooting for - next year?
My leg 3.75 miles @ 33.42, 8.9 min/mile., AHR 168.
Note: no water on the course

Swim or Torture

If you scream under water does anyone hear you? NO.
Because I did and no one stopped to help me. I was going to make this entry last night but I could not raise my arms above my waist.
Rita had to spoon feed me oatmeal while I stared blankly into space.
The boys sat trembling in the corner watching their Dad, but were afraid to say anything. I am afraid of the water - very afraid. When Rita turn on the water in the kitchen I found myself cowering behind the couch. I don’ remember how I got there. A shower? Forget it. I did “gut it up” and brushed my teeth before I slithered into bed.
Almost 1000 yards as fast as I could swim. We would swim 100 and go on 2 min. If you finished in 1:45 you got 15 seconds of recovery. I now understand Einstein's Theory of Relativity”. Time in the water moves faster than time on land ie. 15 second rest after 800 yards of swimming = 2 seconds when you look at the clock on the wall. Tom (the devil) was on deck. I think that I could hear his evil cackle as I was struggling through this “workout” and every time my head popped up he seamed to be growing horns. “We’re going at the top” - “we’re going at the top” - “5,4,3,2,1 you should be off”. I began to cry for my Mommy. Finally a break - some fin and pull work.
Then the devil said “Do it again”. That’s right another 1000.
I did get in a little open water workout. They guy next to me kept swimming into my lane and bumping into me just like a “real” triathlon. I think we were both swimming like a drunken driver. Weaving in and out of lanes.
I love me some DA.

Base Run

I like the words "base" or "engine". That was the term used by Ahmed instead of recovery. I built my "base" today. Took Trigger for a 5.8 mile run around the soccer fields. 59.03 min. AHR 146. I promise - after St. Patty's Tri I will start some threshold training. Right now though, I am rebuilding my engine.

Sunday's Bike

If you go on a bike ride organized by Peter be sure to bring your drivers licence and a get out of jail free card. About 2/3 of the way thru the ride the last in line announces "car back". We tighten up on the shoulder and then hear a loud "WHOOP" followed a few second later by "WHOOP" followed by "please pull over". We were pulled over by the police and it was not for speeding. We did not come to a complete stop at a stop sign although we did get props for signaling our left turn.
They were nice enough and "reminded" us that just like any other vehicle - we had to stop at all Stop signs. All in all a great first season ride.
30.3 miles, 1:52 and 16.2 avg mph.

Chicken

I was going for a track work out last night and was really going to push it. I had decide that it was time. Then why did I end up on a causal run with Trigger. Why? Well . . . I took off work a little early to help Number 1 son, Spencer, get signed up for Texas Tech. That went well, with him being 18, and all that goes with being 18, we don’t “just visit” all that often. And then two of his friends show up and we sit in the living room talking. Talking mostly about nothing, me listening mostly. Spenc has known Kent sense birth. We shared lots of laughs especially when the story about Spenc knocking Kent's tooth out when they were playing football in the front yard and Spenc was the only one wearing a helmet. They decided to go eat. I gave Spenc $8
bucks, yes even though he works he gets a stipend sometimes.
So, why did I run with Trigger and not head to the track?
I was afraid of hurting my foot so I chickened out - that’s why.
Run:
about 4 miles
3 - harder 225
the rest recovery

Wed. Swim

2250 yds (57 min)

w/u 200
10 X 50 (25 swim/25 drill)
3 X 100 pull
5 X 200 HIM pace w/20 sec rest
(4:13, 5:18, 4:13, 4:16, 4:14) extra 50 on 2nd set
100 kick
c/d 100

It is so nice to swim with Peter. I can just copy his blog.
This swim wasn't as good as last Wed. Not as many people
a little less intense, but still a good workout. I only kicked for
50 and that took forever.

Recover Run

First real recovery run sense “the foot”. Not too bad.
4.64 miles, Ave HR 147, time 49:43.
Even after a 4 mile run my foot feels better today than yesterday.
I think that I am on my way to some real road work. The run is the weakest link in my otherwise very strong triathlon skill set. I hope to be able to focus on the run this season. My goal - Just beat Peter and De'anne and Kimbo - I guess just beat everyone.
Hopefully I can join the Tuesday morning DA group after the Patty Tri.

Gramps & Granny

Rita and I came to my Mom and Dad's for a wedding shower. I put in 3 miles, 27:25, Ave HR 163. It should have been a recovery run (HR 147) but the weather was too nice to go that slow. Hopefully I can start some real running and work on my time. No hope for the Patty's Tri though. Maybe I can keep from embarising myself to bad. Rita and I are going for a bike ride when she gets back from the shower - that's right I am too mannly for a wedding shower.

W i i i n d y Run

Man if you weren't running all out into the wind you were going backwards. The strongest wind that I have ever run in. It was kinda funny. I almost got blown off the trail once and almost got tripped by the wind once - no joke. Ran the same distance as yesterday (around the lakes and to the bridge)although I had to work a lot harder due to the wind. Ave HR 165 which is close to my threshold HR. Time ---
Even Triger got blown around. At least we got in before the dust hit.

Run - not too bad

I got in a quick run last night before going to "Mohawk" boy's lacrosse game (Coppell 19, Southlake 5).
Not too bad of a run. About 3 1/2 miles of recovery running, Ave HR 148. Today the foot is less painful than it has been after any previous runs sense the injury. Take a day off from running today and test it again tomorrow, but I am encouraged.
Even OMM can heal!

Parenting 101

Peter and I had a good swim workout with Tom last night.

w/u 300 (incl 150 pull)
300 in 5:43
3 X 100 in 1:53, 2:04, 2:04
300 in 6:06
3 X 100 in 2:00, 2:12, 2:10
500 in 11:45
c/d 3 X 100

Total 2300.
So, I come home feeling good after the workout and what do I see? Number 2 son, Travis. His Lacrosse coach gave him a nice hair cut. I am a proud Dad.

I like my dog better evey day.

Tuesday's Duathon

Bought new NIke running shoes from Run On with neutral pronation. I had bought my previous shoes at Sports Authority with no help and did not even know that they had mild pronation. The Run On salesperson thought “neutral” might help my foot. I hope that I am not just throwing money at my foot.
So, Tuesday I put 3 miles on the treadmill at 8:40 pace. We will see how the foot feels. Also, swam laps for 30 min. after the run. Approx. 1500 it seems that 2 min. for 100 is a good long term pace. I will bring the time down for the 300 at St. Patty’s Tri.

White Rock Bike

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day. The weather was perfect for a Sunday morning bike ride with friend Jimmy around White Rock Lake. This was the first time on a bike in maybe three months and boy is my heinie sore. My legs are good but I can feel it in my shoulders and arms. I can’t wait until the Wednesday rides start up again so I can build up some speed and endurance. Jimmy (he is 2-3 inches shorter than me) bought a 60cm Trek on Ebay, we swapped bikes about halfway thru. His bike is the first biked that I a have ridden that “felt” like it fit. So we may work out some type of a deal. We did go slow, but it was a great warm up ride.
25 miles.

CAC SWIM

Met another DA athlete last night at CAC. We talked after the swim. He is training for a full IM. You might ask me if I am jealous? Jealous - no, envious - yes. It would be like being jealous of Tiger Wood’s golf game. You can’t be jealous of something that you can’t do, but unlike Tiger’s game I can gain on the young man (that’s right, he was younger than me). I did notice that I could swim as fast as he could, not that we were competing or anything.
With the awesome peer pressure that I am under (Peter) I may raise the bar to a HIM at the Texas Man. Anyway, a nice swim with just the two of us in the pool.
200 wm, 5x100, 3x150, 30 min. @ HIM pace. approx. 3,000

Playing the Fool

The best laid plans of men and fools. Rita worked a little late last night. So, being the caring husband that I am, I called to check on her and to see how her day had been and explained that I would be swimming with the DA tonight. Whoa - slow down fool. Didn’t I know that it was Valentines Day, didn’t I know that we where having steaks at home with the whole family together? Didn’t know?
Well, I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but . . . it slowly began to dawn on me that maybe I was not going swimming tonight.
Anyway, we did have a nice dinner together with the boys.
It was worth staying home.
Sorry Peter.

Only 2 miles

Two miles on a treadmill. Two miles - that's right, two miles. Only two miles and my foot hurts. So no running for awhile. I am going to lay off until the 23rd. Swim mostly and some biking. It is going to be an interesting St. Patrick's Day Tri. Just get through it Bryan and move on. Don't race. I give permission to any DA at St. Patrick's Day to thump me on the head if it looks like I am running too hard.

Back on Track

Made it back from Aggie Land. Coppell Varsity 2-1, JV 1-2.
Travis plays on varsity but also played in the JV win since they were
short on players. Got home just in time, because Rita drove - no one passes Rita, to catch my other boy Spencer in his hockey game. They
played a weak team and won (9-0). A (the) girl got a hat trick so several men threw their hats onto the ice. All in all a fun weekend.
I’ll start with another slow run tonight.
No Tuesday morning track yet.
Peter - welcome to the blog world.

Three Days Off

Son Travis is playing in a Lacrosse Tournement in College Station this weekend. Rita (my lovely wife) and I will be there all weekend.
I have decided not to take my running shoes so I am investing three days of doing nothing with the hope that the time off will be good for my foot.

DA Swim

Wednesday night swim with DA. First group swim in months. I was concerned about keeping up but no problem. Well, that’s not exactly true but true enough.
Tom and Tiff on deck. Lot of “athletes” in the water. Most seem to be 1/2 and full Iron Man trainees and a few others like me.
It wasn’t that long ago that a warm up was a workout. It is amazing what your body can get use to. I did keep up with a girl that did flip turns - when I grow up I want to do flip turns.
200 wu, 2 x 300, 6 x 100, 6 x 75, 150 cd, total 2000.

Slowing Down

I started using a heart monitor in the spring of last year. My lovely wife
made me get it. She was concerned that my heart was going to
explode. She know that I do not have enough self discipline to control
myself. I learned that I could ride for about 4 hours with a rate of 160.
Any faster than that and I would tire out.
This year I am actually trying to train using the monitor. For running my
recovers rate is 147, my threshold rate is 168. Since my foot injury I
have been doing nothing but recovery runs.
Last night - 4 1/2 miles, today more soreness in my foot than I would like.
I guess I’ll back off to 3 miles and maybe skip more days between runs
and build up gradually.

Swim Coppell Aquatic

A very enjoyable swim. Pull wu and cd.
Several hard 50's with 10 second rest.
Lots of high intensity laps.
Met a Coppell High Senior that just joined DA.
There is a high school group taking Tri 101 and
training for the St. Patrick's Day Tri.
Sense I am an old salt with 2 tri's under
his belt I had to depart some
encouragement to the young man. He took it in
stride and had the decency did not laugh while
I was standing there. I am going to kick his
butt.
Time 47:55, Avg HR 144, Max 164

Progressing

Sunday - Visited Mom and Dad in Granbury and went for a 3 mile walk
in the morning beautiful day.
Foot survived so what the heck. I put in about 4 1/2 miles of a slow run.
And took my little man (Trigger). We ran around all of the lakes (3 miles)
around the soccer fields (1.3 miles) plus from the house and back (.5 miles).
Best guess anyway. I call this 1L1S. One lake, one soccer. I am going to wait
another week before trying a fast run. But so far so good. In fact I am very
happy.

Trigger hates me

Treadmill to test the foot.
My dog is going to hate me. He probably knows that I am writing
about him right now and could have taken him for a run, but instead
chose the treadmill.
Well Trigger (that's his name) I thought it would be less pounding and
would allow us to go running sooner. I did it for you boy. I promise.
30 minutes - 3 mile. Includes wu and cd. I was flying.
Foot - a little pain. Cut the meds from 1320 to 880.
I believe it will be a slow gradual clime to get back to my blistering speed
or yore.
Time will tell.
Avg. HR 165, Max 175

Swim

First day back.
Planned a 3 mile walk, but the weather was too bad.
Went for a swim. 100 pull wu
Laps for 40 minutes. I don't know how many.
I can never keep count. 100 pull cd.
I always add a few laps with my eyes closed and
practice looking ahead for that buoy. I discovered
(by reading) that I was looking up at the wrong time.
I would breath then look. Evidently it is more efficient
to look then breath. It is not an easy change to make.
More practice. And the better that I get with my eyes
closed the less I have to look.

Foot

Well, all may not be lost.
X-rays came back showing nothing.
Although the Doc said the X-ray would probably not
show a stress fracture.
Anyway, my foot is getting better.
The layoff and the meds must be making a difference.
On Thursday I plan on a 3 mile walk with my dog.