Finally a countdown timer

Well, it has taken me a lot of time and some help from a friend (Thanks Katie) and my son to get the countdown timer on the blog.  OMG.  Can web development be any more complicated?  Enjoy.

307 days to go

By now there is quite some repitition in my blog titles.  It is my own way of counting down, since I can not find a countdown gadget that will work in this blog!  If anyone knows how to do this, I would be eternally grateful. 

This weekend was more base training.  45 miles on the bike and a 7 mile run all in zone 2 on Saturday and Sunday, respestively.  The bike ride was cold.  It had to be about 40 when we started.  I was dressed in my ninja warrior outfit, so I was cool but not cold.  Ninja warrior outfit??  Well, it means I am dressed as follows:  helmet, balacava (full face, only the eyes show and I had sunglasses on), wind proof jacket, gloves, UA heatgear tights, and wind proof shoe covers. Other than the helmet, everything was black. 

We sometimes train with the CL's team in training team.  They are a great group.  Except on Saturday there were 2 new people that were not only dealing with the cold but also dealing with this thing called triathlon.  I am sure they are wondering what the heck they got themselves into.  I really felt bad for them.  It was cold and not fun for them.  Hopefully, they will hang in there.  It always seems like new people come to the hardest practices the very first time.!!

Sunday's run was cold too, but not as bad as the bike.  Wind on the bike = BAD.  Wind on a run sucks but does not ruin the day.  Accomplished both the bike and the run well in zone 2. 

Also finished my tests for the CL last week.  The results were:
Waking HR was 50-55 each day.
# of consecutive push-ups = 33
# of consecutive sit-ups = 28
3 minute step test - HR recovered 40bpm in one minute and an additional 10 bpm the second minute.

All in all I am reasonably fit, but need a long endurance base built up if I am ever going to tackle IMAZ.

Train Smart not Hard
XXX

315 Days to Go

Yesterday, Saturday, 1/7, we had a good size group go riding.  I would say there was at least 15 of us.  It was 40 mile zone 2 bike ride.  We all were good and did not go into zone 3 except when cresting Mount Nona.  In this kind of ride you get to ride with almost everybody and some point in time and you chat it up.  

Folks who are not around me too much really take me way too seriously.  We were talking about how far we had already gone.  We had gotten separated into 2 groups but had come back together.  My group had gone farther.  So my mileage, was about mile further. Julie and Pam's was less.  Pam jokingly said that I must be weaving.  Real indignant, I say I was not weaving.  At this time Julie and Pam have this look OMG we have struck a nerve.  Then I quickly say I do not even know how to knit.  They were quite relieved and amused.

Well, that was a good one.  Sorry girls, it was just fun to tell that story.    

Good Training.

XXX

Ironman, Stretching, & XXX (yes porno)

What do those three things have to do with one another?  Well, the answer is simple if you put some groggy, probably tired, and sore triathletes in a room with one another with nothing else to do.  Whoa! Check that dirty thought right there. You need to hear the rest of the story.

So its Friday 6am and a few of us are waiting for the CL to show up and torture us with the damn rolling grids.  She says they help.  What???  I have not figured that out.  Perhaps its that insatiable desire to see grown men and women scream in agony or maybe it will ultimately relax our muscles and allow them to train/perform better.  I am not sure, but I digress.

So we are waiting and Lynn turns to me and says when you are stretching you sound like you are starring in a porn movie. She was dead serious.  Now several things went through my mind. 1. How does Lynn know what a porn movie is like?  She is older than I but not what I would expect from her. Hmmm!  2. Do I really make that much noise?  I know I am a first class whiner, but really. 3.  Is this a topic/road that we can really go down being that we are sitting in the main exercise room of the YMCA?  Naturally, I opt for number #3 and I vehemently deny I make that much noise and I am sure that the sounds are nothing like a porn movie.  CL shows up during this and we all have a good laugh and the hell, er I mean stretching begins.

And it gets better, Saturday, 1/7, we are going for a 40 mile zone 2 bike ride.  So we are all riding together slow keeping our heart rates down, we stop half way through and the CL informs that Steph has dubbed me triple XXX for a nickname.  OMG!  This is going to be around a long time.  This is going to be a long season.

Well, that is how you put those 3 things together.

Good Training.
XXX

320 days to go

The new year is here and training has begun.  I think this year will go quickly maybe too quickly.  We will see.

So far this year/week I have run 4 miles and swam a little over one.  Biking tomorrow.

Just taking it one day at a time.

320 days on the wall, 320 days, take one down, pass it around, 319 days on the wall......

News Flash

The pool heater has been broken at the Y, so our swim practices were switched.  This means that today we ran instead of swimming.  It was 4 miles in zone 2.  Or dog slow as I like to put it.  It was a comfortable run and the weather was pleasant.

Obviously that was not the news flash.  The CL ran today!!!!!  I actually saw her run for the entire distance.  Up until this day I had never seen her do a run workout with us.  To put this in perspective  she began coaching team Vortex January of 2010.  Almost 2 years.  She did really good.  BTW she pointed it out to me.  I hadn't even noticed.  What can I say?  I am a GUY!

We had a good group out this am.  It was a relaxing day as most of us did not have to work today as it was the official holiday for New Year's Day today. 

So the new year begins, on a good note and a pleasant surprise.  Swimming tomorrow in a heated pool.  Yea!!  It is supposed to be 35 degrees out in the am.  That is way too cold in FL.

Good Training.

New Year's Resolutions

2012 is here.  What will be my New Year's Resolutions?  Let me think about this.

Probably should be something about the Ironman.  What about some family items? Work related? What should I resolve? I took most of the day to think about this and really didn't get anywhere.  So here it goes.

My New Year's Resolutions (yes, it is plural)

1. Finish Ironman AZ and be prepared to do it
2. Stay married while accomplishing #1
3. Support my sons while accomplishing #1
4. Stay employed while accomplishing #1

At the end of the day simple is better.  I probably could have spent days thinking about this and come up with some really mind blowing resolutions, but that would have just been too hard to do.  Why spend the time and energy on just bs. 

So what do the resolutions mean, IMAZ is front and center in my life this year but at the end of the year if I finish IMAZ and lose my wife or my family or my job then I failed.  This year is going to be about balance.  An old wise man saying says, "An accountant's life must always be in balance."  :)

I probably should resolve not to give CL such a hard time at practice.  Not!  I will continue to have fun, not at her expense but at what she wants us to do.  She is a fabulous teacher and friend.  I am simply having fun.  If we can't have fun then I do not want to practice.  Don't get me wrong I am all about practicing hard, but it needs to have purpose and be fun.

I hope that CL will endure the never ending question of why why why!!

Good Training.