Three More Days = No More Tri-Virgin

Good morning.

Big big day today. The Apple I Phone 4 gets released. I have a $200 gift card to Apple that needs to be used. I got this for my 50th in April and have been hangin on to it until something caught my eye. Why not the new phone. I have had the I Phone for a while now and would highly recommend it.

Training, training, training, continues.

Tuesday was a swim day. I kept it short and sweet by doing 2X500. The first 500 was a warmup that builds as I swim. This first set took 9:30. I rested 20 seconds and started the second 500. The second 500 I pushed the effort level and finished in 9:10. This was my fastest 500 to date. The question in my mind: Is the extra effort which was very tiring worth a 20 second gain. My guess is no. But, the only way to get faster is to practice faster.

Later in the day I got in my weekly weight workout. I think the straight legged dead lift has really made my upper hamstring feel better.

Yesterday was a "Brick" day. We had some awesome storms so the workout took place in my basement. I got on the bike and had an excellent 20 mile bike workout. My cadence and endurance continues to improve. At one point of really pedaling as fast as I could my cadence reached 123 rpms. That's hard to do. My legs even felt great coming off the bike.

I immediately changed shoes and got on my treadmill. I started at 6 mph for a couple minutes and quickly increased the pace. I only wanted to do 2 miles because today is my run day and I wanted to save some for today's fartlek speed work.

I have been surprised lately when I get on the treadmill. I do most of my running outside and have picked up a lot of speed and endurance over the last year. The outdoor training has really enhance my treadmill paces. During the brick workout the highest speed reached was 8 mph and it seemed so easy. I was just cruising along and my heart rate was very low. My breathing was not even labored. I kind of liked that.

So, the day resulted in a 20 mile bike with a 2 mile brick run. The bike to run transition is becomming easier.

Today is a 6 mile fartlek run. I say fartlek because I do not yet know how the run will progress. My hopeful goal is to have a nice fast speed session. I would like to get a couple miles in under 7 pace.

I continue to prepare for this weekends olympic/international Bigfoot Triathlon. I need to get some extra bike tire tubes and change both the front and back tubes. I don't like how the valve stems look on either tire and I don't want to have to make these changes on race day. This will also be excellent practice on changing a flat tire, something one must be proficient in during Tri's.

Until tomorrow, whatever you do, enjoy it.


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" Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own, sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction."

* It takes courage to push yourself to places that you have never been before... to test your limits... to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” - Anais Nin