Hangin' at the Airport

Today has been an extremely unproductive day.  It was a day that started out with loads of promise, a day which could have been great, a day that would give me everything (a bit of an exageration).  I woke up this morning knowing that I would be saying "Goodbye" to my family for a few days, I was heading out to Chicago today.  The plan was as follows:

• Let my wife get to work early today
• Get my oldest on the school bus
• Drop my youngest off at school
• Get in a swim at the pool
• Get to the airport for my 1:25PM flight to Chicago
• Arrive in Chicago around 2:40PM with time to go to Niketown and a few other stores
• Go for a run along Lake Michigan
• Grab dinner at ESPN Zone
• Get to be reasonably early (to be fresh for my Wednesday morning run and meetings)

Here is how things have gone

• My wife left a bit later than she wanted, not a big deal
• Got my oldest on the bus, kissed her and told her I would miss her
• Dropped my youngest off at school, kissed her told her I would miss her
• Go in a swim at the pool (2,000M in 40:03....yeah, a good swim!)
• Got to the airport for my 1:25PM flight
• Received news that the plane was being taken out of service, ergo flight is cancelled
• Got put on a flight that leaves at 5:55PM and into Chicago at 7:21PM
• Will probably get to hotel around 8:15PM or so, then I'll try to get out for a run and then just go to bed.  Of course this means that I will miss LOST tonight as well....DAMN!!!

Enough complaining for now, I just have to make the best of it.  I will try to grab an early dinner here at the airport and be ready to run out the door as soon as I get to the hotel in Chi-town. 

On a side note, I did get on the bike last night, rode for about 45 minutes on my trainer in the basement.  I had my 12-21 cassette on it and boy was it a tougher ride than I am used to, no gaps.

That's it for now, I'm hoping to get my seat assignment soon and then eat as healthy an airport meal as is possible.  Cheers!

Two-a-Days on St. Patty's Day

Things are heating up and I am getting busy.  Two-a-days are officially up me, not that I hadn't been doing them before, but now it is more official.  I am still trying to figure out which training plan to go with:

• The 36-week plan on TriFuel
• The 30-week plan in Be Iron Fit

The main reason for going with the 30-week plan would be that I could fully train for the half-marathon I have coming up on April 18th (Unite Half-Marathon) and hopefully set a PR.  I just worry that the running load for the TriFuel plan isn't enough to sustain where I want to be and I rish doing too much too early in the season.  Also, I am still trying to build my swim up to a respectable level where I am can manage 2,000M+ at a solid pace (I am not there yet).  I will probably have a decision by Friday, I am leaning toward the 30-week plan right now though.

So....training (and life), here is what the past two days have been:

Tuesday:  Swam 2,000M and felt pretty good doing it.  I definitely have to start getting to the pool earlier since I am struggling to finish by 6:45AM and then rush off to work.  I am thinking that I have to start getting up at 4:30AM, so that I can be in the water by 5:30AM at the absolute latest.  I did a speed work out with Chris and Bill yesterday afternoon.  It was 2 x 1 mile at 10K pace (7:10/mile...too slow), with an 800M recovery, then 6 x 200M at 5K pace (actually we were closer to mile pace....5:30/mile), with 200M recovery.  I always hate speed workouts when we do them because they hurt, but when I am done with it I am psyched that I did it.

FYI, yesterday was a bad day for reasons that can not be discussed.  I was glad to get out and run at lunch to help things a bit.  Also, picking my girls up from school and having them just be happy to see me made things a whole lot better.  Oh, we did have a preview of my oldest daughters 1st Grade art show last night, it was awesome (I'll have to post a picture in the next day or two of her artwork).  Thursday is the BIG night where we get to hear (and see) her sing with her classmates during her schools "Spotlight on the Arts" show.  I can't wait!

Today:  Got up at 5:40AM and rode the trainer for 50 minutes while watching "Pineapple Express".  I wasn't really into it, I guess because I'm not one to do drugs.  I suppose if you are stoner it would have been hilarious....for me not so much.  The ride went well though.  It was breakfast with Daddy this morning, just me and the little ones (my dear wife went to work early since she is taking my oldest to Hip-Hop Dance tonight).  We had a good time and they were awesome.  They were all decked out in green for St. Patrick's Day. 

This afternoon was supposed to be an easy 3.5 - 4 mile run with the whole gang from work,  Bill, Chris, and.....Scott.  Scott used to run a lot more that he has lately, work and life have gotten in the way, but he is going to head out with us today.  Well, we started out nice an easy, the first mile at 8:27 and the second (uphill) at 8:31.  At around the 1.7 mile mark Scott peeled off and we pressed on for another tenth of a mile before turning around.  Well, it was at that point that we picked up the pace and the chase was on.  We joked around about trying to catch Scott, who now had a 1/4 mile lead on us, but we didn' actually say, "let's try and catch him."  I guess it didn't need to be said.  Our next mile was at 7:13 and the last .62 miles was 7:30 pace.  We didn't catch Scott, although we could have had he not ducked into the back entrance of the building.  Our run ended up being 3.62 miles in 28:50 (7:58/mile), and we all felt pretty good afterward.  So our easy 3.6 mile run got turned on its ear in the end.  I think there will be a "I [hate, like, indifferent] Scott' post in the near future.

Work time.  Later!

16 Hours - Bike, Swim, Run & Three Showers

The past sixteen hours has been action packed to say the least. I managed to complete a sort of mini-out of order-triathlon (bike, swim and run), which began around 9:15PM last night and finished at 12:45PM today. How did this come about you might ask? Well, I really didn't want to run yesterday because of the race I did on Sunday, and then the run on Monday. I thought that it would be smarter from a training perspective to get on my trainer and get some time in on the bike. Of course I did this not really thinking about what my "Wednesday" was going to shape up to be.

So last night around 9:15PM, after my girls were finally asleep (why does my 4 year old insist on laying in bed awake from 8:15PM - 9:15PM?), I headed to the basement to join my wife for some evening exercise. She had already put a mile in on the treadmill (good for her!) and I started to pedal away on the bike. As is always the case, it was fun to be down there spending some time with her, just talking and laughing (at the contestants on American Idol). She lasted for another mile or so, leaving me sweating solo (because I didn't want to watch the end of American Idol). It wasn't all bad, I watched last weeks episode of "Modern Family" (great, great, great show!!!) and tried to push myself a bit harder as the ride went on. I ended up doing 13.15 miles in 45:00 at 17.5 MPH, a solid ride where I picked up my average speed through out the ride.

After a quick shower (Shower #1), it was off to get some much needed sleep at around 10:30PM. The next thing I know it is 3:30AM, my oldest daughter is trying to climb into our bed because she had a bad dream. I brought her back to her room, ended up falling asleep there for an hour and then dragged myself back to my bed around 4:30AM. Then, I wake up at 5:20AM, apparently I missed my alarm again! I bolt out of bed, feed the dog, let him out and hit the road to the gym at 5:35AM.

Once at the gym, I went right to the pool and suffered through a relatively tough 750M in 15:13; tough partly because of the bike workout just eight hours earlier, partly because of my lack of solid sleep, and partly because my swimming just sucks (but not or long). I did manage to post a 1:52/100M which wasn't all that bad, not close to my sub-1:35s of last summer, but not too bad. I popped out of the pool, got cleaned up (Shower #2) and I was off to work.

I downed two bowls of Rice Krispies as soon as I got to work, around 10:00AM I need caffine (FYI, I don't drink coffee) so I drank a Cherry Coke, then at 11:15AM I was starving so I was eating peanut butter straight out of th jar. Then came the afternoon run, which was supposed to a relatively easy effort since I was still a bit out of it from the previous 14 or 15 hours. It started out relatively well, an 8:05 first mile and the second mile was a bit slower still at 8:15...I was happy with the slower pace despite the fact that I felt pretty good. Well, then Chris and bill started to push the pace a bit (I think it was them, it might have been me) and mile three was in 7:43 and mile 4 at 7:29. All in all we did 4.05 miles in 31:52 (7:52/mile) with my heartrate around 154 BPM. I was surprised that we picked it up that much at the end, but I felt fine. Oh yeah, then I bathed yet again (Shower #3).

So I sitting here at my desk procrastinating, with skin that could not be more dry thanks to the three hot showers I have taken over the past 16 hours and ah yes, I still smell like chlorine.
A couple final notes:

• I finally got my new camera yesterday, a Nikon D3000. I really wanted the D5000, but I couldn't justify the extral $200 to get slightlymore megapixels and video on the camera. It is my first Digital SLR so I figured if I get really into taking pictures I can always upgrade in a few years.


• I still have not gotten my K-Swiss running shoes (there they are below). I called TriVillage today to follow up and I am just not having any luck with my order. First the Craft Sweden Hat was sold out, so that held up the order, then I found out (today) that my shoe size was out of stock as well. The did promise that they would have it in the mail by the end of the day and they would be expediting it so that I can get it in a day or two. I hope so, my shoes are in bad shape.

That is it for now. Oh I will post some pics from my races in a bit. Adios!

Hot & Cold...The Weather I Mean

This has been one of the most bizzare summers that I can ever recall, weather-wise that is. To quickly recap:

• June was relatively cool, never really got into the 80's.
• July was pretty much just a wash out, it rained, then rained again, then rained some more.
• Early- to Mid-August was when it finally started to get hot and humid, hitting the 90's a couple times
• Late August, the temps are either in the 90s or the 70s, but at least there hasn't been much rain.

Yesterday and today it has been in the low 60s when I left the house and it isn't supposed to get above 74F all day. I blame the weather for my poor summer of training. I never realy felt good at any point. My breathing has been labored for the most part which has led to me always feeling fatigued. I hope now that the cooler weather is here (at least for the short term), my training will improve a bit. Now for a weekend recap:

Saturday
It was my darling wife's turn to do a morning work out, so I got to stay home and play with my girls while she was out pounding the pavement. For about an hour we played a version of "Hide and Seek" in which I would hide, they would try and find me, then I would jump out and scare the bejesus out of them. Oh, and then I would have to chase them and tickle them until they said "Uncle". We had a blast and I was pretty beat afterwards. It was nice to play like a little kid.

After playtime, all the ladies of the house went out to do some shopping while I did some painting (just put trim up around all of our upstairs windows and they needed their first coat of paint). The whole time I was hoping to get out and go for a decent run. Finally I finished and the family came home, and gracefully allowed me to go out for my run. In short, it SUCKED!!! I didn't leave the house until around 2:00pm and the temp and humidity were around the same number "90". I started out pretty well, with an 8:07 first mile and then things gradually fell apart. 8:24, 9:31 (steep hilll that I walked a bit on), 8:07 (down the big hill), 9:07 (walked again), 8:26, 2:16 (.27 miles last little bit). All in all it was a 6.27 mile run in 53:58 (8:37/pace). My average heartrate was through the roof, 162 BPM. I initially felt really good, but the heat and humidity just got to me.

Sunday
I awoke around 7:00am, thanks to my dear daughters realizing that "Tom & Jerry" was on and they came barrelling into our bedroom. I did my best to get an extra 30 minutes of shut eye (I think I actually did) before getting up to let the dog out and get him some breakfast. I then went back and forth with the Misses about whether or not I should go for my bike ride right then or after we got back from her 'rents (we were going to their pool for the day). It was decided that it was best to get it done and out of the way. So I geared up and off I went.

I decided that I was going to try and climb a pretty good sized hill once in NJ so that I could descend Federal Twist (a road I had climbed a month ago that is upwards of 9% incline). It was just a gorgeous morning and I wish that I had my camera with me. About two miles from my house I saw 5 turkey vultures just hanging out on the side of the road (ugly birds, but so cool), the trees were all glistening thanks to the rain the night before and the sun slowly rising higher into the sky, and there were just a bunch of people out enjoying the nice weather.

I made my way down to the river, then found the road up away from the river and started pounding away. All in all it wasn't that tough of a climb, unless I really am in decent biking shape. I climbed up and an for about three miles and then I started the descent. It was pretty gradual for the first three and a half miles, then came the steep part. I was a little apprehensive at first, but then decided to just go with it. I ended up hitting 47 MPH on the way down, my fasted top speed ever. I was really hoping to hit 50+ MPH, but a little too much braking minimized my chances of that happening. After that it was time to make my way back in to Pennsylvania and back up the gradual incline to my home. Total stats: 21.6 miles, 1:14:42, 17.3 MPH, average HR 135 BPM. Here is a link to the route I rode...a very solid ride...short, but solid!

The rest of the day was spent at my in-laws pool where I managed to get in a 500M swim (9:51) and take a 45 minute nap. It was a good day.

Monday
A rest day for me. I was just exhausted and thought any attempt to swim, bike or run would have been a waste. I probably should have headed over to the pool to swim a bit, but it was a bit cool out and I decided to cut the lawn and head out for a family bike ride instead (a good choice I think).

That is about it for now. FYI, both girls started school this week so things are going to get interesting.

Back to Work & Back to Training

My weeks vacation spend with my little girls is over and I am back at work. It was a great week that could have only been made better if my wife had been off as well. Unfortunately she couldn't take off and I played Mr. Mom for the week, taking the girls on errands with me, then to the pool for three or four hours at a clip, and then getting them home and showered before starting dinner. Dang, I was a busy guy this past week.

As sad as I am to have the my weeks vacation end, I am excited to get back to work and back to training. I did step back into it a bit this past weekend by getting out for a decent run (6.5 miles on Saturday) and a brief but tough ride (17 miles on Sunday). Not included in these numbers are the countless times I launched myself off of the 1-meter diving board at the pool over the weekend, crashing into the pool and then swimming to the ladder only to climb out and head back over the board to do it all over again. This probably tired me out more than my run and bike sessions.

So here is what my week is looking like:

Monday: 3 - 4 mile run at lunch (easy); 1,000 - 1,500 yard swim after work

Tuesday: 30 mile bike home from work; swim???

Wednesday: 30 mile bike to work (5:30am); 4 - 5 mile run at lunch

Thursday: 4 mile run at lunch; 1,750 yard swim after work

Friday: Not sure yet, but I hope to get a run and/or a swim in.

Saturday: 7 - 8 mile run

Sunday: 25 - 30 mile bike

Well, there you have it....I am getting back into the training this week. Not the same that I was doing this time last year when I was tapering for my half-iron distance triathlon, but solid training none-the-less. I will probably post pictures from the Steelman Triathlon later today or tomorrow.