Catching Up

A lot has happened since last we spoke. Spring has finally arrived and I have been taking full advantage.

Friday April 2
Bike 10 miles
Run 3.1 miles
Today I had a lot of "Hand of God" Resistance Training (wind).

Saturday April 3
Bike 10 miles

Monday April 5
Run 3.1 miles

Which brings us to today April 7th

It was a 10 mile bike ride on a new course with a lot of "Hand of God" Resistance training

Over the next week, I will be moving my training to Lavallette to get a feel for the course so it is familiar on race day

I am gonna start up more strength and conditioning work and will attempt to pick up a wetsuit as my lagoon is starting to almost be warm enough to jump in with a wetsuit.

Nutrition has been alright. I think I am going to start a vitamin regimen.

I know I am losing a ton of weight as none of my clothes from last summer fit anymore.

Keep working, keep training!

Good Run Today

Things are beginning to come together. 5k at 30:55. Not terribly fast but 3:50 faster than my horrendous time at The Jingle Bell Run. Breakfast was coffee, Irish Soda Bread and a banana. Lunch was a light pasta and a bottled water.
Tomorrow I will bike.
I can feel my stride getting stronger and the times will come down.
What beautiful day to run. Not a cloud in the sky and temps in the mid 50's. If only everyday could be like this.

Just That Much Closer

What a great day!!! I only need to find if I can swim 584 yards and I am good to go. I did the 10 mile bike this morning as well as the 5k run. What a great feeling. I need to get used to T2 (bike to run), the pain was unique and lasting a little longer than I would have liked.
No matter, a solid diet of meditating on "Put one foot in front of the other" and the run was done.
It was such a beautiful day that I could have trained all day but alas work calls.
It feels good to know I can finish the distances with little trouble. Now it is time to start finding "the faster".

I will probably bike on Friday and do strength and conditioning on Saturday morning.

Just Put One Foot In Front of The Other

I just finished Dean Karnazes' awesome book "Ultra Marathon Man - Confessions of an All Night Runner" and was inspired beyond belief. While I took a lot out of that book it was one thing he talked about which has truly helped me is the thought "Just put one foot in front of the other". As I increase my distance and increase the intensity of my intervals I have come to believe that a long race is really just a series of shorter races. As opposed to running 5.5 miles, I am racing to the next telephone pole or to the next street corner. I recommend this book to anybody who wants to improve their life no matter whether you are an athlete or not.
This weekend was great for my training;
Friday - 1 hour of speed, agility, strength and conditioning work at All Star Sports Academy. The work out included ladder work, cleans, TRX pikes, single arm stability ball dumbbell presses, medicine ball granny tosses, kettlebell swings, vertimax jumps and plate pushes.
Saturday - I played 2 hours of indoor soccer with my buddies.
Sunday - This was the day. I refereed 2 ice hockey games in the morning, watched the USA hockey game (Blame Canada) and then ran 5.5 miles.

I did pretty good with my nutrition but I am having problems with energy so I will be working with Phil Hueston a NASM Performance Enhancement Specialist to improve my nutrition intake.

It looks like the weather is starting to break so I will get more bike rides in and get in more runs.

I really believe I will finish my first tri. It all comes down to like my cousin Aque says...it's all about finishing and looking good at the finish line.

Back In Business

Wow, I hate snow. You can only do so much speed, agility, strength and conditioning work. You want to get outside to run and ride. Well yesterday I was finally able to get outside and run as the streets were clear of snow and ice enough to make the travel safe.
I ran 5 miles yesterday. I know I can do the 5k consistently well so now I am upping the mileage. As I am upping the mileage, I will begin interval training on the 5 mile distance til I have it comfortable and confident.
My ultimate goal is to have the ability to complete a half marathon by LavaMan.
I will probably try to get a ride in on Thursday as we have rain coming in which should melt any remaining snow on the roadsides.
Nutrition has been ok. I could have been better. I am eating sort of right but the sweets around the house tempt me :)
That's it for now. My plan is to run tomorrow.

Not Much Happening Right Now

Well a bunch of things have managed to combine themselves into one big slowdown in my training. Last weekend I refereed 6 ice hockey games over a 2 day period. I also managed to get in a game of indoor soccer at our facility. I took 2 days to rest and get my strength back but now with my mother in law in the hospital, that has taken time which leads us to...
Now with 2 feet of snow on the ground and another couple inches forecast for Tuesday into Wednesday, I am not sure when I will be able to restart my training. I can only do so much speed, agility, strength and conditioning training. I need to log in mileage both in running and on the bike.
I have set up a blender in the kitchen and have begun healthy smoothie breakfasts.
The diet is holding up still, I ma not having too many bad days or mistakes.
I just need the snow to go away so I can keep this thing moving.

Night Led Into Morning

7PM Wednesday night I got my strength and conditioning workout in. It was good, here is a list of what was done

Warm-up
power skips (2x)
iron cross (6/6)
Spiderman (6/6)
Push up rotation (6/6)

Speed
W Drill to sprint

Strength
Plate Inchworms
DB Press
SB Twists
KB High Pull
KB Crunch
one arm squat thrusts
MB Body Pikes
MB Lunge/Press

Good work-out, woke up this morning and got myself ready and I rode the bike in to the gym this morning.
I can feel it coming together. My last run was good and my bike ride this morning really felt great. I finished the ride feeling a whole lot better than last time.

I think I am still on pace to complete both the bike and run portions the weekend of Feb 7th.