3-20-98 (27 of 92) SwiB 19/29

I swam a 19 minute course (38 laps), but had goggle problems, my goggles kept leaking, and my nose clip kept slipping. I had to stop 2 or 3 times to re-adjust, or de-fog. After lap 10, I king of settled into a groove, but my stroke/breathing seems to be falling apart. I supposed to be doing 1 1/2 strokes then breathing on the last half of the stroke, but after about 15 or 20 laps, I just can't get enough air, and I'm having to breath every stroke. This is great for sighting, but sighting isn't really going to be an issue in a pool tri. More work on the Expand-a-lung is needed.

I biked 29 minutes and set the bike for constant HR - Don't really like that kind of workout, but I guess it has it's place. I need to figure out what my real target HR should be. I set the bike for 155 bpm, but that was a guess at best. My resting HR is about 44 bpm. I've also developed my first biking related problem - saddle sores. I've rubbed areas on my backside a little raw. I may take this as the initiative to move to my bike instead of the Sporstplex stationaries. The weather is warming up, so this may be a good time to do it.


I've used up the last of the vanilla powergels and won't buy any more of those. The strawberry-banana are pretty good - tastes like thin strawberry yogurt.

Also did dailies, and pushups with Steph when I got home, and more pull-ups. I was looking at my arms and I think I need to start some bicep specific dailies, too. I think my triceps are outrunning my biceps thanks to the pushups and dips.

3-19-08 (26 of 92)

Supposed to run 14 minutes, but got scheduled out of my run later in the evening.

3-18-08 (25 of 92) SwiB

First night off of recovery week, but it was still a recovery length workout. I swam 30 laps in 14 minutes, and pedaled for 29 minutes (covered 8.9 miles). I kind of lagged in the first minutes of my bike ride, and spent in inordinate amount of time doing math in my head trying to figure time/distance/pace info. I should have done all of that before I started pedaling. The result was that I spent the ENTIRE time trying to catch up to what I thought was a good goal - - 9 miles in the 29 minutes. I busted it pretty hard for about 26 of the 29 minutes - pushing my self to hit goal times that I kept missing by the slimmest of margins, but I was closing in. If I'd had another 5 or 10 minutes of pedal time, I probably could have evened the pace up. 1/10 of a mile short of a daily training goal.

Lesson learned - set your time based distance goals before the sweating starts.

I've also been experimenting with carb-gels. I bought up several packets of PowerGel brand gels this weekend, and have been trying them on workouts that I know will last over an hour. I shouldn't have to fuel too much during the race - probably a gel before I start, and one about 9 miles into the ride, so I don't crash on the run. I want to make sure they aren't going to mess up my stomach, or make me want to pitch my guts on the course. The Vanilla flavored is kind of nasty tasting - too sweet. Of course, that's the first ones I found, so I bought more of them initially. The others I have (berry-banana and orange) both have caffeine in them, so I'm curious about that interaction. So far, no stomach problems, per se, but I can feel them in my gut into the workout. I took one before I left the office for my workout to give it time to get in my system before the swim, and I felt it a little heavy in my stomach towards the end of my swim. I also took one about 8 minutes into my bike ride. Same result: small discomfort towards the end of the workout. Gu makes a gel that I'll probably try next, as does Hammer, but I'll need to order those online. I found some Clif shot bloks @ Dick's, but they look too messy to use during a race.

I've also been taking some protein shakes after my harder workouts. I laid off almost completely during my recovery week. I figured that since I wasn't working as hard, or as long, that I didn't need to consume the extra calories that come with the protein shakes. But I wanted the protein for recovery and to build a little muscle mass.

I took some pictures of myself on Oct. 5 of 2007. This was about when I hit my goal weight of 150 lbs and when I started swimming. I intended to take pics again several months later to see if I could see any changes. I wish I'd taken pics in January of 07 (before I lost 40 lbs). I'll post the pics in a couple of days in slide show - probably on a side bar or Flickr slide show.


I found a video on the torrent a few weeks ago called "Triathlon- Eyes of the Elite" - - the name makes no sense after watching it, but it was a documentary following several of the US triathletes that competed in the first Olympic Triathlon in Sidney in 2000. I didn't realize how young the sport was. Anyway, they were speaking to a former Kailua-Kona Ironman winner (multiple winner, actually), and he said something that stuck to my ego ( I guess because it's kind of an arrogant and bold statement). He said (paraphrasing here) that Triathlon is about pain- you put your body in a lot of pain to participate. If you can't deal with the pain, then you should find another sport. For some reason that sentiment keeps coming up during my training times. Over the sound of the water splashing in my ears while I sucking for breath above water, or over the sound of the music blasting in my ears while I see the other people in the gym chatting/laughing in the mirrors - I hear that thought: "suck it up or find another goal" - " must go faster".

Big Catchup post

I didn't realize it had been so long since I'd update the blog. I put the training calendar at the top of the page (mostly just to see if I like it - - jury is still out on that).

I'm also doing this posting on a new keyboard - again, the jury is still out.

3-17-08 (24 of 92) - Last night was supposed to be the last night of my recovery week, but I just had to run farther. I know it has a purpose, but a 14 minute run just seems wasteful - I barely have time to work up a decent heart rate, them I'm kind of wired the rest of the night. I feel like I need to do 2 more workouts to balance it. So last night I decided to just do a long easy run. I didn't even have a set distance in my head, but I figured I'd go for about 5 or 6 miles. When I got home, Steph said she wanted to run with me, so she came along. We ran 6.5 miles in 1:13:01. We took several stretch and walk breaks to avoid it being a torturous workout. I'm pretty sure that's the farthest Steph has ever run (she had also run about 45 minutes earlier in the day - - she's on spring break this week). However, the distance did aggrevate my right knee a little. It still felt good to run a little longer.


3-16-08 - Rest Day

3-15-08 (23 of 92) - Recovery SwiB - Slow swim and an easy ride on the stationary (14 minute swim, and 29 minute bike ride). I made an effort to go as slowly as I could on the swim - focusing on form and breathing, and my turns. Did 30 laps The bike ride was at a comfortable pace (not slow, but easy). I also did dailies.

3-14-08 (22 of 92) - Recovery Run - 14 minute run scheduled, but did a recovery SwiB instead because of scheduling issues and time. Swam slowly/easily - still have some work to do on my breathing. Did 28 laps. Biked for 25 minutes - had to leave the gym because they were closing, so I didn't get to do the last 5 minutes of the ride. Only did 1 round of dailies because of time.

3-13-08 (21 of 92) - Recovery SwiB- 14/29 SwiB scheduled, but flipped to a 14 minute run instead because of scheduling issues. My daughter was inducted into the Beta club at school, so the cermony took precedence over a day of training. Steph and I went out about 8pm (after ceremony and dinner) to do a brief 14 minute run....oohh...mexican food + late run = uncomfortable. Jalepeno dip is GREAT (the first time around), and fajitas sit heavy for a while after you eat them. The run wasn't bad, but I was glad it was a short one. We did 1.43 miles in 00:14:24.

3-12-08 (20 of 92) - Recovery Run - We ran at the dam and did a 14 minute short run at a comfortable pace. We did 1.5 miles in 00:14:07.