A new start - 2011

I've been spending some time trying to outline my events for 2011 and how they will support my goal of qualifying for Kona. As it stands now, I am going to do the following:

Race for the Roses - half marathon - in April
Eugene Marathon - in May
Ironman CDA - in June
Rev3 1/2 Portland - in July
Ironman Canada - in August

I've been looking at a couple of half Ironman races but they are too close to my Ironman races (both within two weeks). The next part of the planning process is to figure out what changes to my training routine will make the most difference. I already know I need to focus on my race day nutrition / pacing strategy as this was my failure in Kentucky. But have a few other points to hit. Like bike position, training with power, swim coach, stretching, etc. I really want to refine my training to get the most benefit possible.

Maui

I just returned from a 13 day vacation to Maui with the family. We had a great time and I was able to get in some good training with my wife. We found a nice open air community pool with free entry, several good open water swim locations and some nice runs. I also rented a bike from South Maui Bicycle and completed several rides. At the end of the first week I began to wonder why my legs were feeling so tired. It wasn't until today when I updated my log did I realize I ran 52 miles during the first week and biked another 112.

The second week wasn't as extreme since I had to turn the bike back in and we had a travel day home.

Training seems to be going well and with the race being a month out it needs to be dialed in. The next several weeks will be critical!

Speed Workout

Today, I hit the basement treadmill at work to do my speed work. It consisted of a 15 minute warm-up followed by a mile all out at a 1.5 elevation, then a recovery period followed by 7X400 repeats with 2 minute recovery in between. Got through the warm-up with no problem and then right as I started the mile the bell went off and we had to go check out a gas leak in an adjoining district.

So, I jumped into my turnouts and got into the drivers seat and took off with the guys. Luckily within a few blocks we were canceled and able to return.

Back to the work-out. Warmed-up again and got through the workout without any more calls! My mile was done in 5:45 and the repeats at 1:30 each. Heart rate was climbing by number 7 and pretty much maxed out.

Happy with the results as a 5:45 may be my fastest mile... Feel good about this until I think of my teammates and coach who run the entire 13.1 of a half Ironman at sub 6 minute pace.

Buckling Down

Things are starting to get back to normal. I've had some huge distractions in my life with regards to Ironman training. First, we've been working on a major house remodel caused by malfuntioning toilet in an upstairs bathroom. This happened in March and was a huge distaster!/ Second, I've been studying my butt off for a lieutenants exam at work. This is finally over - except for the waiting.. Now, I've been trying to refocus on Ironman and buckle down for Louisville. Today was a 2 1/2 brick. I really struggled to get started. Last night we had 5 calls between 11:30 PM and 6 this morning. Not much rest. Those type of work nights make it hard to workout. Sad part is olny one call was a true "emergency." There are some things an adult should know. How to put on a bandaid is one of them. If your kid is crying comfort them - take them to the doctor - but not everything is an "emergency." vent, vent, vent!

Anyways, I got the workout in and it felt pretty good. Now, however, I am exhausted. Tomorrow is an overtime shift which will bring in some extra cash for our Hawaii trip!. Leaving Sunday morning! Can't wait!

The fund raising effort has started!

I have officially started my fund raising effort for the Boys and Girls club of North Portland. Visit the "Donate" page of my Blog for more info.

Week End Review 6/6/10

Solid week of training. It ended with a 3 hour brick on Thursday and a 2 hour run Friday morning. It is always tough to get up the morning after a brick and go out for a run without breakfast. The good thing was it was my first run on a sunny day in months. The weather has been so bad the last few months in Portland. Coming up the bricks get longer each week and the training hours increase.

Open Water Swim

Got my butt up this morning at 4:50 AM and met some fellow Ironman athletes for an early morning swim around Lake Oswego. It was actually nice to get in the water and work on sighting and not worry about flip-turns. Had to be at work by 7:30 so no time to hang-out after the swim. At the station, we went to the gym and I got another hour in on the treadmill. Go day for work-outs. Now time to study!

June 2, 2010

It's 8:37 AM and my body is telling me to drink coffee and have breakfast but I'm fasting waiting for my daughter to wake up so I can go get some blood work done. In the meantime I am sipping on some green tea trying to curb the desire to tear into the ice cream!

On the books today for my workouts are a two hour bike and a swim. The last couple of weeks of workouts are going better. We've been finishing up a house remodel after the water problem and life is slowly getting back to normal. By the end of June things should be stabilized.

Race for the Roses

Did "Race for the Roses" a half marthon here in Portland, Oregon yesterday with a buddy of mine from work. Went out with the 7 minute pace group and felt pretty good so kicked it up a little about half way through only to max out during mile 12 and slide back a little. Should have waited to mile 10 before hitting high gear! Ended up finishing in 1:31 with an average pace of 6:58. That put me in 79th out of almost 2200 runners and less than 5 minutes from top 10. Considering I'm not training for a running event I felt pretty good about the results and it was a new PR for me.

Some Cats do have 9 lives!

Was a busy day at the station today. Spent the morning pressure washing the fire engine. And then caught a run on the way back to the station. Ended up eating lunch at 2ish. At about 4 I went down to the basement, where we have our gym, and was planning on doing an interval session. 7 minutes into the run, we were tapped out for a house fire. When we got there the whole back of the fire was on fire. We pulled some hose and went to work. When we got inside the house, I heard some crying. Initially, I thought the home owner had shown up and was outside crying or screaming about the house. But as the sound continued I searched through the rubble and smoke (it was bad - when we first went in we couldn't see anything and the smoke was banked down to the floor). Anyways, I found a cat hidden in some debris. The poor thing had one of those loud cries that sounded like a person crying. I took it outside and give it O2 - we have special oxygen mask for animals. How the heck that cat lived through the smoke is beyond me. But so far it looks okay.

Unfortunately, my workout didn't happen as planned but I still logged it as 2:30 hours of exercise since it was a lot of work!

Just Keep Swimming!

This past week has been tough. Last weekend I woke-up to a flooded house. An upstairs bath flooded and water ran through the night doing considerable damage. Two days of clean-up and four rooms being gutted were the end result. Monday morning (two days after the flood)I traveled, by car, five hours to work on my sisters house. I spent three days helping her on a kitchen remodel. Almost put it off with the damage to my house but couldn't do anything at home with all the fans (14) and dehumidifiers running. Finally, returned home Wednesday night and had a good nights sleep. Thursday was my seven year anniversary and my wife and I celebrated by working on house plans. We figured "what the heck - the house is gutted so we might as well remodel!" We did manage a nice dinner later that evening though. Friday was back to work at the firehouse.

My Ironman training was frankly put on hold. I had previously discussed the trip to my sisters with my coach so that was on the books but the rest wasn't. Saturday, I was scheduled for a three hour bike ride which ended up being two and my long run on Sunday didn't happen due to some bad curry!

Life happens and we can't give up when adversity strikes. We must get back on our routines and make new plans. We must "keep swimming" or drown. During my first Ironman in 2005 I was struggling on the run and I came across a painted sign on the ground that said "Just Keep Swimming." It's from the movie Finding Nemo when the fish were swimming down into the deep darkness.

You get the point - Don't give-up! "Just Keep Swimming!"

Longest Brick of 2010 to date

I just finished my longest brick of the year. It was 2:45 bike, 45 min run and a 1:15 swim. Overall felt pretty good. I should have spent a little more time in the aero position but I recently lowered my handlebars and I'm still getting used to the new lower position. The bike ended up being 52 miles, 18.5 mph avg. and 206 watts avg. It was a hilly course. The run felt good on somewhat tired legs I was still knocking out 7:47's. Not race shape but considering I'm six months out it's a start! Later I plan to add a page of goals and benchmarks to my Blog which should add another level of accountability.

Sweating it out in my "Ironman Training Center." I built a room specifically for Ironman Training during the cold wet days of Oregon's winter. Only thing I'm missing is an Endless Pool!

Newton's

One of the areas I'm looking to improve this season is the run. While I can run a Boston qualifiying time straight marathon, the Ironman marathon has always proven difficult. A lot has to do with nutrition but a little has to do with the clunky heavy shoes I wear. Usually, I wear Asics 2100 series shoes. Great shoes but not too light. So today, I went to the local tri store and bought a pair of Newton trainers. It will be awhile before I can tell the difference with the break in period and all but I'm hoiping!

Vision Quest

In the last issue of Triathlete Magazine Tim DeBoom published an article about his favorite motivational movies of all time. I promptly went to my Netflix account and plugged in several of them. So far we have watched "Down Hill Racer" and "Vision Quest." Out of the two I prefer Vision Quest. Matthew Modine does a good job of suffering an hold the course. It's a good flick for a session on the trainer.

Drink Mix for the Early Season Training

A lot of triathletes use all kinds of products for training and racing. I keep it simple especially early on in the season. My favorite drink mix is a approx. one cup of orange juice, water, and a pinch of salt per water bottle. Cheap, no additives, chemicals, etc.

The Ultimate Temptation for a Columbian Vegan

At the fire house we have one guy who is trying the vegan experience. His name is Orlando and he's from Columbia. The last day it was another guys "cook day" and he made pulled pork. I never saw a vegan convert so fast!

End of the week numbers - March 7th

Just finished my long run for the week! It was a pretty good week overall only missed one workout. The numbers are: 50 miles bike, 25 miles runnning, and 10,700 swimming. I pushed it a little on the run today on the second half and did 8 of my 14 miles between 7 minute and 7:30 pace. This was on a pretty hilly dirt/trail run so I'm happy with that for this point in the season.

The Dream has Become the Goal!

I have been doing Ironman Triathlons now for several years and this year I will be racing in my seventh event at Ironman Louisville. The first thing you should notice is that I said "race" not finish. I intend to go to Louisville and put the hammer down and be a contender for a Kona slot. I'm not a novice so I fully understand the gravity of this word "race." I will need to do a sub 10:15 or better in the M40-44 age group.

I plan on using this blog to document my journey and to give people a way to follow along and encourage me on this goal. I am also doing a fundraiser for my local Boys and Girls Club and donors will be able to come to this site and learn more about myself , the Boys and Girls Club and my sponsors Erin Baker's Breakfast Cookies!

More to come!