Up this week... Blizzard!

Not exactly like last year's East Coast Blizzard, but just meh!  But it is still early too.  Had to scratch my early morning run this morning because of icy sidewalks (plus it is SOOO much warmer later in the day)
Here is my workouts for this week (hope I get a few more of these in, especially the runs since I am thinking of going at half marathon in Jan!):

		19-Dec	20-Dec	21-Dec	22-Dec	23-Dec	24-Dec	25-Dec	Totals
		Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
SWIM	Dist.		1	1		1			3	81.4
	Time		1:00:00	1:00:00		1:00:00			3:00:00
BIKE	Dist.	12	17		12		12		53
	Time	0:40:00	1:00:00		0:40:00		0:40:00		3:00:00	9:45:00
RUN	Dist.		4.1	4.1	4.1	3	4.1	6	25.4
	Time		0:35:00	0:35:00	0:35:00	0:25:00	0:35:00	1:00:00	3:45:00
S / R	Time								0:00:00

I had to adjust Monday's workouts because of the freezing rain yesterday, so my Tuesday is jam packed, but I think I can pull it off, since work is on a half-a-day schedule, so I'll have time off to do things (plus there is nothing on TV!)

Oh, also wish me luck, I applyed to SUGOI, a athletic clothing manufacture who specializes in triathlon and cycling wear, to be one of their "Brand Champions".  I am hoping that it is a sponsorship of sorts, since after looking through my training and racing kit, 90% of my gear is SUGOI!  Even my first ever pair of cycling shorts are from them, who knew!  I hope that I am selected, since I love their gear and it fits me well, and I have raced in their gear since last year (I do wear a DeSoto tritop because I never got the Pacific Velo tritop when I raced in Hawaii).  So wish me luck, I might apply with a few other companies that I use also regarding sponsorship, I'm not looking for much, maybe some race gear to wear and a few tshirts, since when I find something I like and works for me, I DO talk about it, sometimes ad nausium!

Ooooh, I just thought of a topic for a future post; what does Andy use to train and race!  Well not that I am a pro or anything, but I will review my gear here and give what the pluses and minuses are and how I like what I have, and what I wish I had to try (I AM on a budget after all!)

So everyone, take care, and if you are in the Plains states here, drive safe!  Talk to you guys later!

Weekend Update and a look ahead

Well, this last weekend was fun, I actually ate some ice cream (and then remembered why I don't anymore!) saw a really bad movie (WARNING: Don't go see "Your Highness" unless you want to: a) kiss 14 bucks goodbye, b) not laugh. Once. Or at all., or c) sit with a bunch of lit up kids laughing at anything/everything) Just sad what is passed off as a movie these days...

Well got out on the roads this weekend, to include a nice ride from one side of Fort Bragg to the house, a nice 27 mile jaunt. But I really amped up my bike this week, but ignored the run and swim, so gotta get back in balance this week!

But last week, I just about made 100 miles total, even with 6 "red marks" on the wall (my "Red marks" are workouts that I planned but didn't execute, either at all or the full workout), so that was a lot of missed opportunities, and thru today, I have one already (missed my swim on Monday night). Not a good start. But just have to get re-centered since i am not racing until 30 April now (Riverwood Sprint in Clayton, NC), so gotta get back in the saddle.

The plus side of concentrating on the bike this last week was that I got FAST on the bike. My climbing is getting back to where it was, and I am really hammering the flats too. Maybe I need to find some bike races this summer, since I am doing 5k / 10k / half marys, open water swims, and triathlons, might as well get the hat trick by bike racing. I have always loved that.

Well, here is what the week ahead looks like:

Tuesday - 6 mile run
Wednesday - 6 mile run
Thursday - 6 mile run; 1500 yards swim
Friday - 20 mile bike; 6 mile run; 1500 yard swim (god, that will be a LONG day)
Saturday - 10 mile run; 12 mile bike
Sunday - 6 mile run; 18 mile bike

That will take me over 100 miles this week, so that will be a busy time for me, perhaps I need to start training with a group or something. Hmmmm.

Well, only 6 more weeks to my first half marathon, and right now the goal is to finish in under 2 hours. I am sure that I can do that, but I just want to have a good goal out there, since I have never run a half before. And next week, I will start publishing my mileage, so you can compare my planned / actual distances.

Later all!

Mid Week Post

Well it is raining out, hard, so my 5 mile run is canked, unless I run on the dreadmill :( but just looking over some stats, comparing last year (a blah training year) with this year, and wow, the difference a year makes. I mean, wow, even with crappy weather, my milage is way up, my times in races are coming down, and I feel better! I guess this training for tris is a whole lot better than just paying my money and suffering with no taining. Look at the two years below:
2011 totals
Bike: 12h 18m 54s - 220.25 Mi
Run: 26h 26m 01s - 198.25 Mi
Swim: 7h 30m 10s - 14800 Yd
Strength: 20m
Walking: 3h 11m 29s

2010 totals
Bike: 55h 00m 24s - 919.07 Mi
Run: 45h 23m 53s - 306.68 Mi
Swim: 6h 38m 43s - 12431.42 Yd
Strength: 7h 30m
Basketball: 1h 00m
Elliptical Training: 50m 30s
Spinning Class: 15m
Ultimate Football: 10h 37m
Walking: 4h 57m 58s

So as you can see, I either am paying more attention to my training, or I am doing more training. But I think it is I am actually getting out and training.

Well this is what the remainder of my workout week looks like:
Wed - 5 Mile run
Thur - 5 mile run; 1900 yard swim
Fri - 12 mile bike; 1500 yard swim
Sat - 5k race; 24 mile bike
Sun - 12 mile run; 12 mile bike

Well, I guess back to work, and hey, drop me a note on here with suggestions on how I can make this blog more fun to read!

Thanks!

Weekend Update (and mini-race Report!)

Well another weekend down, they really should make them all 3 day weekends! Oh well, it was a fun weekend all and all, plus I got points for helping in the garden with the wife! Bonus! And I only really wussed out on one workout, so that wasn't so bad.

Friday after work, took a nice 12 mile ride on the Jamis, which was a little longer using a new Pope AAF (AFB) since the gates are now open, but the roads leading there are VERY bumpy, so might have to find a better way of getting there without mixing my innards up like a blender! Nice!

Woke up early (read: 0815) and jogged over to Hendrix Stadium on post for the Moral, Welfare, and Recreation Monthly Family 5K fun run. I hadn't done one, so I figured that it would be a good speed workout, so why not. Jogged over and stretched a bit more and at 0900 on the dot, the "race" was on! I went out at a good pace, keeping the leaders in sight, luckily the first 1/4 to 1/2 mile was downhill, so that was a nice leg stretcher. But with every good thing, the universe must have a bad thing to balance itself out, so the next half mile was completly uphill, so sad face, but I wasn't too effected by it. I actually made up ground on folks there, so that was a good thing. I just tried to maintain a nice easy pace and keep moving forward. Once I got back to the stadium, you head downhill a little bit and finish on the track (after running 3/4 of a lap). Despite my leasurely outlook on this "race", I ended up crossing the line at 21:08, a new PR. Wow not bad for just taking it easy! I walked around, was told I was top-10 (doesn't get you anything), drank some gatorade and jogged back to the house.

In the evening, I took the QR out for a ride, riding the Pope Loop twice for 18 miles, which felt good, but wears me out some what. I rode without the aero bottle, but glad I took a water bottle as it was warm. Came home, helped in the yard, and relaxed for the night.

Sunday was fun, took Harley to one of the drop zones and let her chase birds and run crazy (she always looks forward to Sundays for this reason). I always record how far we go, so the humans walk about a mile, but Har ends up about 1 1/2 miles from all the running she does. It makes her happy and tired. We got home watched some hoops and the race, fell asleep for 3 hours (all of us) and then hit the road for another Pope Double, this time on the Jamis. Not bad, but about 2-2 1/2 mph slower (no aero). So all in all, another good weekend!

I'd also like to thank Ken, my first real follower (I thought a week ago I had a follower, but it was just myself, oops, no friends!), so THANKS! And let's look at this weeks workouts:

Monday: Run 4 miles, swim 2000yards
Tuesday: Run 5 miles, jump out of airplane, $1 bowling night!
Wednesday: Run 5 miles, Moe's Wednesday!, Survivor night
Thursday: Run 5 miles, swim 2000yards
Friday: Run 5 miles, swim 1800yards
Saturday: Race in Raleigh (Run the Ridge 5K); long 30mile Bike
Sunday: Run 12 miles, bike 12 miles

Sounds like a full week for me, but if I keep getting faster, it is worth it. Now if I can just lose some more weight to get even faster... Enjoy your week everybody! And check the Azalea post, I will have pictures in there!

Nice Weekend!

Well talk about your nice weekends! Saturday, Jen and I rode out to Vass and picked up her new pistol, and then I got to go to Cary to pick up my new bike. BTW, make sure you update your GPS, or it WILL play a trick on you and have you drive 7 miles out of your way, just to turn you around and send you in the right direction. Awesome.

But I arrived at Inside Out Sports (which will now be referred to as "My Tri Mecca"), because once I walked in, I was blown away by the selection they had in there. Wow, too bad it is a almost 2 hour ride to get up there! But Justin helped fit me on my new Quintana Roo Tequilo and even helped fix my form up a little bit. Needless to say, my form kinda sucks, but hope the little hints and tweaks help. I even took the new ride for a quick spin to test it out, so no major faults, guess it was time to check out. But OF COURSE, I had to shop a little bit while up there, and found a few things that I needed.

Decided to take the new bike out for a longer shakedown ride, and boy was that painful. Rode the Longstreet Range loop, a nice 26 mile rolling hill ride, and despite having the bike fitted to me, my nether regions we NOT fit for the task. OUCH! Despite the minor rub (read: hamburger like consistence) down under, the bike was sweet, but still have to get used to aero, but while in aero, I get at least 3 mph fast (and into a headwind no less), so that has me excited for racing it later in March.

All in all, not too bad, even helped the wife with some gardening, vacuumed the car out, it was a nice weekend.

Workouts for this week:
Monday - 3 mile run, nice and easy 8:00-8:30 pace
Tuesday - 3 mile run - 7:30-8:00 min pace; swim 1000-1300 yds
Wednesday - 5 mile run
Thursday - 3 mile run - 7:30-8:00 min pace; swim 1000-1300 yds
Friday - Off
Saturday - 8 mile Long, slow Run; Swim 1600yds
Sunday - 16 mile bike; 3 mile run (Brick); T2 practice

Pictures of the new bike (Elenor) to follow! Enjoy your week!