Bowel Bug

I got some sort of thing going on with my stomach.  I think I got it from Elena this past weekend as she was having tummy trouble and so were Joe and Amber last week.  Oh great, anyway it's a real pain in the ass and that's both figuratively and literally.  I was going to run for 75 minutes yesterday but ended up with just over an hour after a mid run pitstop.  My stomach was just in knots the entire run.  ***WARNING NEXT SENTENCE CONTAINS GRAPHIC INFORMATION*** I just can't seem to keep any food down, it goes in and it comes right back out in about 10 minutes.***END OF WARNING***  I'm worried that I'm not getting enough calories. Plus the humid weather and staying hydrated is a pain.  Hopefully it will gone soon and that my immune system is full kick virus/bacteria butt mode.

I slept in today.  Woohoo!! I decided to skip swimming for a couple of reasons.  First, I was planning on just a swim off day.  Second, with this stomach bug I was up 3 times during the night to take care of business so I didn't get much sleep anyways.  Oh well, it was worth a shot.

I might try to get me a cheap Mac computer.  Yes, I said Mac.  I saw the cool video editing that Joe was able to do with a movie he took of Elena's karate sparring that I might just go the Mac route.  The only thing I ever did on my PC was play games and I haven't done that in ages.  I just hear from friends that they are so easy to deal with and my PC with XP is just pissing me off.  I mean the thing takes forever to boot up and shut down.  It's storing all my pictures/videos/music on it but that's about it.  I have my Polar software for tracking my rides but I rarely use it.  I'm not sure if the Verizon music store works on Mac but now with Amazon and other music services offering DRM free music I won't be using the music store anyway for new stuff.  Plus if I go with a small Mac laptop its just more convenient overall. I know nothing about Macs though so we'll just have to see how they sell on Ebay.

Just under 24 full days...

I can't feel my arms

OMG, being a year older about killed me in the pool this morning.  What a way to start my 38th year(yes it's my birthday and I'm 37) on the planet but getting up at 4:30am and heading to the pool for the death pyramid workout.  It reminds me of the movie Apocalypto when the Aztecs/Mayan who knows are sacrificing people at the top of the large pyramid.  Heads rolling down the steps...brutal is all I can say.  I did the workout at one of my faster paces for this workout but man was it tough.

I decided to skip the pool tomorrow and just sleep in.  We'll see if I can.  I've been going to bed earlier than usual every night for the past week trying to get out of this tired feeling but it's not working.  On the bike yesterday, I could tell that my legs still hadn't recovered from the 2 hour Sunday run.  They were trashed even though they slowly warmed up but still I decided to bag the easy brick run.  No need to risk an overuse injury at this point for a stupid 4 miler.

I got my new chain for the bike as I already have just over 2000 miles on it since May.  I put it on yesterday but still can't quite get it to ship smoothly for all cogs and chainrings.  It's because River City messed up the rear derailer cable routing.  They didn't go through the guide correctly under the bottom bracket.  I could fix it if I had one of those nice little cable ends but I don't.  I might try to go pick one up at a bike shop and redo the routing before the Ironman.  Although, I'm worried to change anything too drastic before the big event.

I must be getting too old because now I can't get over some of the lyrics in songs today.  They just crack me up like the Pussycat Dolls new single When I Grow Up.  It cracks me up with appears to sound like this, "...When I grow up, I wanna see the world, drive nice cars, I wanna have boobies...".  I mean this is what it sounds like but maybe it's something else.  The other song is by Estelle, American Boy.  There's a line in there about a 5' 7" man.  5'7"...really that's a dream man height.  I'm 5'11" and I'm relatively short but 5'7" is pretty damn short for a guy.

As I was just typing this I saw the circle of life in action...too bad I didn't get a picture.  I'm looking out the window in my office/bedroom.  Well there's a tree right outside my window and they're always birds in it.  Anyway, on the screen for my window there was a big moth just hanging, a bird swooped in and grabbed it.  Good stuff.

I have a long 75 minute run today which I hope will go well and then this weekend is going to be a ton of fun.  I'm going to do a 10 mile tempo run at hopefully 6:30s on Saturday.  This will be a good test for the legs and the hamstring.

24 days...

Tired

I just can't get enough sleep these days.  I always feel tired.  I read a thread on Slowtwitch a couple of week back which basically had someone asking if it was normal during this phase of training.  Everyone chimed in with "YES" in various wise cracking form.  We are on the last push for the big event.

I had a great 2 hour run yesterday.  Well as great as it could be with 80% humidity but it was only in the upper 70s.  It wasn't too bad.  My pace was pretty good and my legs weren't completely wiped out at the end.  I might have a chance to come up with something during the marathon.  The run will be where I try to make up on all those fast swimmers and fast bikers.  It's a single loop run course so everyone I pass will count.  I'm hoping that little bit of competition will help get me through the tough spots in the marathon.

I swam for 75 minutes this morning and it was awful.  The first 100 I felt tired and knew it was going to be a long swim.  I just never got going.  Oh well, I guess all the swims can't be good. I'm back to my swim goal of 75 minutes for the 4400 yards even though I only got thru 3900 yards today in that time.

I have only 3 more weeks of tough workouts.  1 week of some serious work and then 2 weeks built for shorter duration but hard efforts and then the week of taper.  Ahh, I can't wait to taper.  I find it amazing how people train too hard through the taper.  Every taper I've made it to, I'm so happy to take it easy.  I'm counting down the days.

I can almost smell the Doritos that I'll be eating coming the 25th of August and if lucky maybe on the evening of the 24th.  Although, I may not be able to eat them.  I had trouble making it through half my tub of popcorn yesterday during the Dark Knight. I also didn't do so well with the popcorn during my visit to Oregon and watching Hellboy 2.  God I am getting older but man if I lose the ability to eat junk food what will I do?  A life without being able to eat mass quantities of chips, popcorn, candy and greasy food would not be worth living.  I'm sure the Frito Lay YTD financial results are having troubles meeting expectations since I haven't had any since August last year.  That's easily 52 bags of chips that have not been purchased.  Don't worry the 2nd half of 08, I'll make up for my year off.

27 days...

Waiting

for my laundry to finish before hitting the hay.  I figured why not bust out a quick blog for today's workout action and some other fun tidbits.  Well maybe not so fun but nonetheless here we go.

I had a decent run Friday afternoon.  I pushed the pace a little and the hamstring didn't complain.  I think it will be good for the tempo runs starting next Sunday.  I called Desoto Sports because my tri-shorts that were made by them started tearing the stitches.  I mean my ass isn't that big.  My luck with shorts just sucks.  I swear all my stitches come undone right at the pad connection.  I hear they are real good about warranties and such so I give them a call.  They say just to send them back and they'll repair or replace.  Sweet...so I wander over to the post office and send them off for $3.  I ordered another pair just in case they don't get them back to me before the big race.  Can't go wrong if they'll fix them if they rip!

On the walk back from the post office I notice this car and just immediately start laughing.  I snapped a quick picture.


Good advertisement for this school.  Classic stuff!

I woke up this morning refreshed for a long day in the saddle.  Well not exactly refreshed but a long day in the saddle happened anyways.  I got my new Infinit Orange formula on Friday so I tried it out today.  I had them up the flavor so it would have some taste at the end of a long bike ride and it worked.  The only problem was at the beginning it was almost too strong.  I'm still not sure what I'll do.  Anyway, I started out the ride and it was a slog.  My legs just didn't feel great.  I suffered for most of the ride and it showed at the end with a 18.9 average for just 110 miles.

I decided after the ride to run to the pool rather than drive.  So I booked off for an easy 3 mile jaunt to the pool for some fun 200yd intervals.  My legs felt good on the run and I was thinking about how they will feel at Canada.  I was able to bust out some super fast 200s with my new stroke action.  I even put up a couple of 1:39s for the first 100 of the 200.  The only problem occured when it got crowded and I had to share a lane.  In the confined conditions, I wasn't able to rotate as much.  I need to fix this because at Canada I'll have about as much room as a middle seat between two fat Jareds.  Maybe if I practice my stroke in my bathtub, I have a chance.

Okay the laundry is in the dryer and I just yawned so I'm off to dreamland.  I have a whopping 18 mile run tomorrow and I hope it goes well.  It's the last long run before the big event.

28 days(4 weeks on Sunday)...

Swim breakthrough

It happened...well at least I was able to figure out how to get a better roll during my stroke and not look like a snake going down the pool lane.  My co-competitors in Ironman Canada, Don and Jeff have been giving me swim help since I met them up at last year's event.  I've combined all of their advice into my current swim stroke.  This morning I rocked my workout as I was swimming continuously while alternating fast 100 yards with an Ironman pace 100 yards.  I was swimming each of the fast ones at my fastest times ever for 100 intervals and this was in my normal swim trunks.  These balloons add about 5 seconds per 100 as compared to a normal tri-short or swim jammer.

My swim has been sucking for so long that having this workout really got me excited to keep waking up at 4:30AM.  Now if I can get a little stronger and pull it all together at Canada, I might have a chance at a decent swim time.  This combined with my awesome bike workout yesterday really is showing that things are going well.  Now if I can get my run in line, I'll be set.

I still keeping my running tentative to make sure I don't have a hamstring problem.  I'll probably keep going easy until the 2 peak weeks in the training program.  During that time, I will do the tempo runs and see if I can get my run together.  Based on the info about the Canada run course, it's going to be a tough haul through the meat of the course from 10-17 as it goes up hill.  Uh-oh, I didn't get any hill repeats in during my training.  I'm a little worried about how the legs are going to respond.  This makes going at an easy pace for the first half extra important since it's an out-n-back course.

Now I just have to figure out what type of workouts I need to do today and tomorrow...ugh.

31 days..

Rest does a body good

I had an awesome bike workout today. I'm reaping the benefits of the killer workouts in Oregon and two days off from the bike.  I was planning on riding yesterday but the weather wasn't looking the best.  I decided to ride first thing after dropping off Elena because there's a huge rain storm headed our way.  I was planning on doing less intervals but increasing the effort and length.  I was killing my first 30 minute interval as there was no wind, no direct sun and it was only 70 something with a decent amount of humidity.  I finished that interval and did my rest.  I started my last interval and my speed was just phenomenal compared to my usual pace for a shorter interval on the same road.  I was cruising at 25 to 26 and it felt pretty easy on the flat smooth road.  I'm excited about the bike portion of the Ironman as I can hopefully go at a good pace while it being easy to save legs for the marathon.  Now if I can just get my run to the same level, I'll be set.  Although, I don't think there is a pace that will allow you to feel great after mile 20.

I can't seem to get enough sleep though as the early morning swims continue for me even though I do get a break when I have Elena and on the weekend.  I guess it's the increased training during this key phase of training.  At least I didn't have any Ironman dreams last night.

My cycling floor pump bit the dust this morning.  Doh!  The stupid hose cracked enough to create a hole.  It happened because of folding the hose over the top of the pump.  Double DOH!!  It could've lasted forever and now I have to get a new one.  I tried duct taping the hose but no luck as it wouldn't hold past the 80psi mark.  I have to hit up a cycling store to get me a new one which probably won't be as functional as my current one.  The worst part is I have to drive to pick it up.  At least gas prices have sortof leveled off here in DC.

31 days....

Rain and running

It rained about an hour before I was planning to do a hard ride with 2 longer intervals and then an easy 4 mile brick run.  I decided to switch my Wednesday long run instead and hopefully it will be a better day tomorrow for riding.  It was a cool mid 70s although there was 80% humidity.  I wanted to run for 75 minutes at my cruise pace to test the hamstring.  I was able to feel pretty comfortable cruising at 7:30s but man was I soaked.  My quads still hurt from not getting enough "pounding" into them from the road.  It seems to take about a month of consistent running for them to feel normal on the run.  The 10 mile run didn't feel too bad but it shouldn't because that's not even halfway.  I think if I can get enough nutrition and hyrdation in during the Ironman marathon I should be able to make it.  I think my body is still on track for the 2 hour run this Sunday.

Elena is really showing her willpower these days.  I have her Mondays and Tuesdays so I can train each weekend up to the Ironman.  I went to the store last night with her for a couple of things to use for her lunches.  She threw a fit when I wouldn't buy her a "Lunchable".  She normally wants certain things when we go shopping but this time she basically flung herself on the floor.  I had to practically drag her out of the lunch meat section.  On top of that she wouldn't get up this morning either.  Ugh...6 going on 16.  She's getting in mad shape for karate though.  She did 20 pushups last night and is doing them with better form than before.  She also did 100 jumping jacks and 10 sit-ups.  She showed me a medal she received for not crying.  Good stuff!!

I did a quick easy pool workout this morning trying to figure out body roll on each stroke.  I was able to post some decent 100 yard splits when doing the body roll but it's hard to keep doing it.  I have to really focus on it or I just forget to roll.  If I can put it all together, I might be able to really go at a decent pace for the swim.

It's getting real close to the big day.  I'm actually having dreams about executing my race plan on the course.  I'm hoping I can guide my body into a nice peak on the bike, run and maybe even the swim for that day.  Mile 20 of the run looms in my head though as that is when the race is going to get super tough.  I already know what it's going to feel like and I just have to bring everything together when it occurs.

32 days...