Jan. 31, 2011

Well, even Ironmen need a day off. I was originally planning to only skip the bike, because of the hip, but with the weather I had to skip the swim. It was starting to get bad, so I had to head home early from Salina. Oh well, nice day of rest was needed.

Product note: My wife is frequently a Brooks Adrenaline wearer as well, but I recently got her a pair of Adidas Supernova Sequence 3's to try. She ran in them on Saturday and really liked them. She found them to be quite soft and liked the way they wrapped her foot. I think she may have found another shoe that she really likes!

Jan. 30, 2011

Sunday was a 2:20 ride on the trainer. I had to stop, because my hip was starting to really hurt. It was like a sharp pain when I was in my aero position. So, my wife and I then went and did a nice easy pool session. Just some drills and laps. Nothing to strenuous. Also, had a bball game in the evening.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I experiemented with the men's 3/4 tights (or as Ben would say, the "manpri"). I must admit, it was really nice. For the temperature it was just perfect. I really liked the fact that it covered my knees and provided both warmth and support. So guys, its okay, give them a try!

Jan. 29, 2011

Whew...20 miles! Today was a rough one. Meg and I both ran 2 hours. I covered 20 miles in 2:03. Which works out to be about a 6:15 or so pace. Burned 1264 calories in the process with an avg. HR of 155. I felt pretty good going out and then at the half way point I took a new flavor of Clif Shot that I had never used before. It was Chocolate Cherry, which although very tasty, has 100 mg of caffeine in it. I think that messed my stomach up. I believe it was just too much caffeine for me. I am still feeling a little upset in the stomach from it. Overall though, I good workout.

We had planned to swim after, but I just wasn't feeling up to it, so we are postponing it until tomorrow.

I just have to tell you all that I broke out a new pair of shoes today. The Brooks Adrenaline GTS. If you don't know what the GTS stands for, you should! It stands for Go To Shoe! In all honesty, if I had to choose only one shoe to wear, this would be the shoe I go to. When I put it on it just feels like home. I must admit I have been wearing this shoe since college, but it just never fails to be a great shoe! That's how a shoe should perform, straight from the box to a 20 mile run with no issues what so ever!

Jan. 28, 2011

I had a short 26 miles on the Trainer on Friday. Nothing too stressful. Averaged right at 200 watts and 22 mph. Then in the afternoon I did a lifting session, this time focused on chest and tri's.

Jan. 27, 2011

Hey everyone, sorry about the delay on this post. Yesterday was a long one. Started the morning off with a 10 mile run. Same course as on Tuesday. Ran it a bit faster, going 1 hour and 2 minutes. My HR was much higher, 153 avg. Felt like I was pushing a bit, but not too bad. So about a 6:15 average. After the run, I had my usual recovery drink from Endurox. I like to use the chocolate flavor and mix it with milk. Adds calories, but tastes much better. If I use the fruit flavors I will use water, but milk for the chocolate or vanilla. I really believe it helps aid in recovery and muscle fatigue.

In the evening I had a pool session, without my wife unfortunately. I had to make it quick as I also had a basketball game later that night. I did a 200m swim, 200 kick, 200 pull warm up and then did a down ladder set. So 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m with 1 minute rest. I felt like it was a good swim and I was getting faster as I progressed. As for the BBall game, it didn't go well and I was super tired.

I would like to critic some of the products that I use on an occasion if that works for everyone. With that said, I am currently running in 3 different pairs of shoes. The first pair is a Saucony Hurricane. First thing you should know is that I am a moderate overpronator and need a lot of stability in my shoes. So for me the Hurricane worked really well. It is on the higher end of cushioning and stability. I use this one for my longer runs and I have almost worn it out. It still feels pretty good even after 400 miles.

The other 2 shoes are Pearl Izumi's, the syncroFuel and the isoShift. Of the two I prefer the syncroFuel as it is lighter and the cushioning feels softer. Strangely it is also the cheaper of the 2, but only buy a few bucks. They both fit nicely around the foot because of the seamless upper and that makes for a comfortable ride. The isoshift is a little more stable, but that causes it to be pretty hard, especially in the forefoot. It is a solid shoe though, and would probably suit a bigger guy better.

Jan. 26, 2011

Update from last nights swim: Meg and I had a good pool session. Lasted about an hour. We did what Meg calls SKIMPS. It means, swim, kick, individual medley, pull and swim. So basically we swim 200m freestyle, do 200m of kicking, then since I can't do butterfly very well, I do 100m of breast stroke and then 100m of back stroke. Follow that with 200m of pulling with only the arms and then finish with another 200m freestyle. We did this a little over two times. Good for getting back into the swimming mode.

This morning I was on the trainer and biked the Wamego loop course on the trainer. The trainer is very cool in what it can do. I basically have mapped out my rides that I like to do around the area and then put them into Google Earth and it allows me to get the elevation during the ride. It is about the only way to keep me working hard in the winter. I was able to average a little over 24 mph and 254 watts.

Strange thing was that I was faster than the last time I rode the course, but my watts were down considerably. I felt pretty good and was happy with the effort. Average Heart Rate (HR) was about 125 bpm. For me that is good, as I struggle to get my HR high riding the bike. I burned over a thousand calories, but not sure the exact number. I will try to pay attention to this better. I am off this evening as I have some things to accomplish.

Jan. 25, 2011

Last night did a nice lifting session. Did some back and biceps. Felt good!

This morning was a 10 mile run starting in the dark. I was able to finish the route in 1:04. A little faster the second half of the run. Looking forward to a good swim this evening.

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Jan. 24, 2011

This morning was an easy 26 miles on the trainer. Hip was sore once again. I think it is coming from the more bent over position of my new TT bike. Seems to aggravate my surgically repaired hip. Hopefully just something that will get better over time and not worse. I averaged 20.1 mph with 154 watts.

This afternoon I plan on getting a lift in, which I hope will help with my swimming. Lets start this week off right!!

Jan. 23, 2011

Today was a long bike ride on the trainer. Meg and I rode on our trainers for 3:15, while we watched a mostly boring Packers game. I rode the good trainer and covered about 67 miles. I had an average mph of 22 and about 200 watts for that distance. I felt pretty good and wasn't as sore as the week before. After the ride we enjoyed a nice dinner at Willie's while watching the second game of the day.

During our ride we went through 3 bottles each of Accelerade and water. Hydration is very important on those long rides and runs. Pretty amazing how much one person can sweat! For the week I totaled:

Running: 26 miles + 30 min. elliptical
Bike: 150 miles
Swim: about 4K (will need to get this total up soon!)

Jan. 22 part 2

Today's run went fairly well. I made it a little over 16 miles in 1 hour and 44 minutes. I averaged about 6:30 per mile. I wasn't feeling great on the way out but was able to pick it up a bit on the way back. After the run Meg and I headed to the pool and got in 2k. Just a nice skimps warm up and then 5x100m, followedby a cooldown. That was plenty for one day!

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Jan. 22, 2011

Getting ready for a 1:45 run. Hopefully can cover about 16 miles in that time. Will have to see how the road conditions are. After the run, planning on another swim with my wife. Not sure what the workout is yet, but should be a good day of training. More later...

Jan. 21, 2001

This morning I was on the trainer again. This time with a little less gusto than the previous right. I was a more reasonable 250 watts and 21.5 mph. I did got 30 miles, which was good. Hip was still a little sore, but hoping it is just inflammed and will calm down soon.

This evening won't be much as we are having dinner with friends. Tomorrow is going to be a monster workout!!

Jan. 20, 2011

Today I woke up to a nice layer of snow on the driveway that I had already shoveled twice the day before. I had planned on a 10 mile run, but with the amount of snow that has accumulated I decided against it. Normally I would strap on the Yak-Traks and go, but they don't work so well when there is too much snow on top of the road. Great for packed snow or ice, just not for pure white snow.

So, I ended up swimming in the evening with my wife. We did 3 x 500m with a warm up and cool down. It was an okay set, but my swimming is certainly the weakest link right now. I think partly because I just haven't been swimming, partly becuase I haven't been lifting either. After the swim, we hurried over the gym where I did a short 35 minutes on the elliptical machine before the gym closed. An okay day overall, although I was starting to feel some weird pains in my hip/gluteus area, which I think stems from yesterdays bike.

The Beginning...

Hey everybody! So, I am starting this blog in order for people to follow along as I train. This year's big event is the Louisville Ironman in August. My wife and I are both competing in the race, hoping to qualify for Kona. Each day I will try and update what I did and how I was feeling. Hopefully you will enjoy.

01/19/11
Rode the bike trainer, (from here on referred to simply as the trainer) for a nice 44 mile loop. Averaged 23.5 mph with a solid 300 Watts. Felt pretty good and didn't really feel like I was pushing too hard. Hoping to get some P90X excerises in later tonight.