Weekly Ramblings - 2/14/2011

Workouts:

My first recovery week of the program, while not drastically different than last week, it was reduced.  Since I am bridging a set plan along with a cycling specific plan, they do not fully mesh together, so the rides were still pretty solid efforts this week.

Monday: S- 1700 Yards (28:32 Minutes), B- 17.44 Miles (62:09 minutes)

Tuesday: R- 6.14 Miles (45:52 Minutes)

Wednesday: S-  1750 Yards (31:40 Minutes), B- 16.46 Miles (62:36 Minutes) 

Thursday: S-  1700 Yards (27:49 Minutes), R- 5.30 Miles (44:22 Minutes)

Friday: B - 22.27 Miles (80:44 Minutes) 

Saturday: R -  11.09 Miles (95:54 Minutes)

Sunday: B-  30.20 Miles (105:06 Minutes)

	Distance	Time
Swim Totals	5150 Yards	1 hr 22 min
Bike Totals	86.37 Miles	5 hr 10 min
Run Totals	22.53 Miles	3 hr 6 min
Total Volume		9 hr 38 min

Week-In-Review:

I am pumped how well my nutrition has been going, my weight is moving in the right direction, Sunday I was down to 161.5, not too far from my goal of 160.  I am quite happy with the results from this week.  Although I had a few things that did not play nicely, I call them treats:)  Two cupcakes on Thursday at work was a bit of a setback, but they were mmm mmm good!  I had been craving French Onion Soup, and decided to make that on Saturday night.  For a first attempt, it was really good!

We prepared for the big winter storm that hit over the weekend.  I managed to get a great run outside on Saturday before the snow rolled in.  It was supposed to be an easy run, but I felt good and my pace looked pretty good in the grand scheme of things.  I took out my Avia Bolt-IIs for this run.  I was a bit nervous going out for 11 miles in these since I do not have a ton of miles on them, but my feet thanked me.  The shoes were like running on pillows the whole run, plus they felt really lite on the foot.  When I got home, I was able to spend some time with my new best friends (Recovery Pump) This thing is amazing!  I am a firm believer in compression clothing, so I was anxious to try this as soon as we found out they were on board with Trakkers this year.  When they arrived last week, I was stoked to try them out.  While I did not have a hard workout to use them, I still got in a short session.  The long run would be a great way to test the capability of this new product.

Here they are straight out of the box.  With very little effort to get it up and running.  Plug the 4 ends into each leg and then into the machine, plug into the wall, viola, medical grade compression!

Recovery Pump recommends anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours of usage depending.  They even say some people will sleep in the leg sleeves.  After the long run, I kicked up my feet and watched some tv.  I am very happy with how quiet the pump is.  I was expecting more noise as it pumped air into the boots, but the majority of the sound comes from the release of air.  I found putting it on the ground and placing a pillow over it helped make it much better.  After a while you do not even hear it.  I will be preparing a full review as I get some more use, so look forward to it.  Feel free to follow them on Twitter at @recoverypump  Look for more information on their webpage to come!

I put in my order for First Endurance products.  I am pretty excited to see what everyone is talking about.  My first order looks like this:

• Ultragen - Cappuccino and Orange Creme
• EFS Drink - Grape
• EFS Liquid Shot - Wildberry and Vanilla
• Prerace
• Optygen

With the workouts I have in the next few weeks, I am excited to see what all the hype is about Ultragen (if not just for the flavor alone!)  I will be ordering my Kestrel in the next few days, which means I need to make a decision on size.  I am quite torn between sizes, but will get it figured out even if I have to rely on the coin flip app!  

The remainder of my weekend was also spend watching the Rev3 coverage of Costa Rica Live.  What a great race and lots of updates through each of the races.  Finally, I have a project to begin converting all of my DVDs to put them on a hard drive.  We are moving in less than a month (yeah its only a few miles away) but I want to get my HTPC (Home Theater PC) hooked up and put all of the DVDs away somewhere for a clean installation, but still have access to all of the movies.  Much of my long weekend has been spent getting this process underway!  

Trakkers:

I must say I am in the company of some pretty badass people.  The Trakkes team had a great showing with people doing the team proud.  While I was out running in single digit temps, fellow Age Grouper Andree Miceli had an outstanding appearance with some pretty amazing reults.  Check out her blog to read more about it!

Time keeps ticking away as the season gets closer, and I cannot wait to get out and race for this team.  Right now with all of the action from the team, I am getting anxious to get out and race again!  Patience is a virtue!  Check out the Trakker Blog List to see what my teammates are up to.  Some great performances at the Austin Marathon this weekend as well!  Props to all my wonderfully supportive people!

Weekly Ramblings - 2/7/11

Workouts:

My bike workouts have been pretty good, last week I had a set of 6x4', the 6th being a bit higher than your 20' FTP by 3-5 watts, then that acted as the baseline for this weeks set.  I managed to squeeze that out, but I was walking funny afterward!  The battery in my Quarq died, and surely I did not have a spare in the house so Wednesday and Thursday Bike/Run got swapped, not ideal, but I still got them in.  Biking at 5AM takes a whole different mentality, and I can tell that I did not have as much in me, it was hard to get going and push some numbers out. 

Monday: S- 2000 Yards (37 Minutes), B-18.85 Miles (65 minutes)

Tuesday: R-  6.5 Miles (55:48 Minutes)

Wednesday: S-  2800 Yards (52 Minutes), R-  6.5 Miles (55:02Minutes)

Thursday: B-  15.57 Miles (56:05 Minutes)

Friday: B- 22.67 Miles (80:52Minutes) 

Saturday: B- 25.50 Miles (90:01Minutes)

Sunday: S- 1500 Yards (25 Minutes), R - 10.06 Miles (88:20 Minutes)

	Distance	Time
Swim Totals	6300 Yards	1 hr 54 min
Bike Totals	82.59 Miles	4 hr 52 min
Run Totals	23.06 Miles	3 hr 19 min
Total Volume		10 hr 5 min

My first 10 hour week where I have not felt like I was taken out back and beat to a pulp! Sunday was 48 degrees in the Twin Cities, so I took advantage of a nice long run outside.

Week-In-Review:

I am quite happy with how my nutrition has been going, despite the one goof-up from the Superbowl, I have been doing well and think I have finally gotten it dialed in for the time being.  I am seeing weight come off at a fair rate, not too fast as to affect performance, but also not so slow you need a postal scale to measure it.  Thursday morning I hit the absolute lowest I have been in nearly 10 years if not longer.  My energy levels are through the roof, my performance in all sports continues to build, and I am feeling good.  I cannot wait to get on the new Kestrel bike and get outside to see how it translates on the road.  Here is an example of a day for me.  I have not gone to the extent of counting calories, and I probably could afford to do it a few days to get an idea of what I am taking in.  I know when I start getting into some build weeks my intake will have to go up for performance not to suffer.

• Breakfast:  
• Oatmeal
• Early morning: 
• Cup of tea
• AM Snack: 
• Banana with PB and sometimes rolled in some granola
• Lunch: 
• Leftovers typically (Turkey Burger, pasta and sauce, soup, or turkey roll-ups with peppers and some cheese) 
• Peppers or Carrots with hummus
• Snack:
• Green Smoothie(Kale, Banana, Frozen Strawberries, and Orange or PB depending on the day)
• or fruit such as Red Grapes, Orange
• Late Snack/Post Workout:
• Laughing Cow Cheese with Pretzels 
• or
• 3 or 4 Turkey/Cheese on club crackers
• Post Workout Drink: Skim Milk mixed with a bit of Hershey Dark Chocolate Syrup
• Dinner:
• Main Course: (Turkey Burgers, Soup, Pasta/Sauce, BBQ Chicken Pizza, Taco Salads w/ ground turkey, Spinach/Basil Stuffed Chicken Breasts)
• Sides: Cottage Cheese is big in our house, sometimes green beans or corn
• After-dinner treat:
• I am on a huge kick of the Dove Dark Chocolates, 1.. ok maybe 2 

By no means is this the only way, the best way, or the way for you.  It is what I have found to work well for me so far.  One thing I plan on doing in the future (probably after we end up moving into our new place) is post more recipes.  I have been finding all sorts of new things to try that are great to shake up the norm, some have even become regulars on our menus.

I had a successful weekend of eating which sets me up nicely for this week.  I am at the same weight as I was on Friday, meaning my weekend did not put me off track much if any!  My energy has been great during workouts and I am feeling like I am headed in a great direction for success!

Sunday's long run was outside in 48 degree weather!  This felt like the tropics since only a week ago, it was -18! 60 degree swings in temp are quite nice when they are going up.  The run was a bit windy, some pretty heavy winds from the west made running that direction a bit harder than expected, but when it was at my back, I was warm!  I was overdressed to say the least.  With as much snow as we have had paired with the higher temps, there was a lot of slush, and water runoff.  Most of the run was manageable, but one section I trudged through was 20 steps at pace, through 4 inches of ice cold water, BURRRRRRRRRR!  I was wet up to my knees, luckily I had wool socks on, so a few minutes later my feet were toasty again. 

Trakkers:

I received a care package from Carole and Rev 3 Tri on Friday! What a nice gift with a new Trakkers visor.  My wife's first comment was "Sweet now I will be able to spot you easily!"  Thursday I received my first shipment of TriSwim products, and I had to wait until Sunday to use it!  I was a bit disappointed, but schedules did not allow me to get to the pool to try out my new products! A shout-out to SBR Sports Inc I must say it only took one use to be convinced!

• Foggle: This stuff is pretty sweet, I have no problem spitting in my goggles to prevent fogging, so this was probably the least of the products I was eager to try.  I took a pointer that you can reuse the cloth up to 5 times by storing it in a ziploc baggie.  I gave it a shot, and I was shocked, what I thought was poor vision to my goggles being cloudy, was probably more cloudy from my spit.  Highly impressed with how well this works, and still no fog!  

• TriSwim Products: I was super thrilled to get these in.  I know some swimmers and triathletes believe 'chlorine' is a growing cologne scent, but I am not particularly a fan, and the female I am trying to impress is even less impressed with the scent.  There were 4 bottles: Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash, and Lotion.  I gave the first 3 a shot, and I even got approval from my sweetheart (Hey! It is Valentines day!)

• TriSlide: I gave this a shot on Saturday for my long ride, and wow.  It is hands down better than lathering up with chamois cream.  I was quite impressed with how easily it applies and keeps things friction free! I also decided to use it on my long run Sunday with some running tights that tend to give a little chaffing, no problems after 10 miles!

I also received my new Avia Bolt-IIs.  I got them for a quick spin, but did not use on my long run this week, I want to break them in slowly.  They are nice and light.  Looking forward to putting in some good miles on these shoes! 

The last box  I received had my wheel set that I will be riding this year.  A set of HED Stinger 90s.  These puppies look speedy.  I cannot wait for some dry roads and warmer temps to get out and see how they ride.  This is my first time on tubular tires, so I will need to get some new brake pads for full carbon rims.

 

Take a peek at our Trakkers uniform designed by bettydesigns.  This is one sweet kit, ready to be sported at a race near you!

Weekly Ramblings - 1/31/2011

Workouts:

Here are the workouts for Week 2 of Rev 3 Knoxville prep. There were ups and downs about my training this week.  On the docket, was 5950 Yards of swimming, 2:29 running, and since I am making my own plan, I had 4 bike rides scheduled (3 to work on building FTP and 1 longer ride) somewhere around 4:45 total (1:45 longer ride)  I hit everything except the long ride, thanks to last minute plans for a superbowl get together.  In the grand scheme of things, it is early and the 1 ride is not going to make a difference, but it is the mental slip that makes it hard to deal with!

Monday: S- 1900 Yards (37 Minutes), B-15.66 Miles (55 minutes)

Tuesday: R- 6.19 Miles (52:42 Minutes)

Wednesday: S- 2200 Yards (42:35 Minutes), B- 16.2 Miles (57:46 Minutes)

Thursday: R- 6.25 Miles (50:34)

Friday: B- 18.37 Miles (65:40 Minutes) 

Saturday: R- 8.21 Miles (69:45 Minutes)

Sunday: S- 2300 Yards (39:23 Minutes)

	Distance	Time
Swim Totals	6400 Yards	2 hr 9 min
Bike Totals	50.23 Miles	2 hr 58 min
Run Totals	20.65 Miles	2 hr 53 min
Total Volume		8 hr 0 min

Although I am creating my own plans this year, did you know that Rev 3 offers free training plans if you are registered for an event?  Check them out on their webpage.  Need more than a basic training plan?  They also offer in-depth plans at very reasonable rates:

• Rev3 12- Week Olympic Plan: $120
• Rev3 16-week Half Plan: $130
• Rev3 20-week Full Plans: $140

Finally, if you are wanting the extra attention of a personal coach, they offer that as well.  Joanna Zeiger and Carole Sharpless are two of the coaches working with Rev 3 for this option.  Both are highly qualified ladies that will find pleasure in kicking your butt into a PR for your next big Rev 3 Race. 

Week-In-Review:

I had a good week of workouts that went pretty well (despite the one missing long ride.)  I even suffered through a treadmill run on Thursday night!  The first mile and a half were rough, partially because of the treadmill, partially because of me disliking the treadmill, but after that it was smooth sailing, until the 5x20 strides at 10 MPH, but even they were manageable. Saturday I had a run outside that was great weather for running outdoors. 

Now it is time to vent and create a public service announcement.  To the asshole uneducated driver whom I had an encounter with on Saturday, a stop sign is there for a purpose.  It does not mean to roll through with caution.  It is there for your own good.  Error number 1, you rolled through the stop sign.  As you were doing so, you clearly made eye contact with me running, yet you continued to roll forward into the cross walk.

So the horizontal lines in this picture indicate a cross walk and the thick white line to the right is the line you are supposed to stop at.  Stop before you get to this line, so that people walking across the street can do so without your car being in the way.  Error number 2, you rolled through and then stopped on the cross walk. 

As I was running behind your car, being considerate as to not risk my life running in front of you, you were rolling forward and as I went to round the back corner of the car, you slammed on your brakes, about making me body check your Chrysler 300.  No harm no foul.

Yes you did deserve the 'Really?  Really?!?!' Look and exclamation because you almost ran me over, then almost made me check the back of your car.  At no point in this did I curse or do anything illegal or in the wrong, so what made you hit the gas, peel around the corner like a bat out of hell, roll down your window and exclaim that you are a "Faggot!" to me?

Now you have my attention, and get a few words of my mind.  You sir are also the reason I would like to start running with a golf ball size rock when I run.  Since there was snow around, I wish I would have thought of rolling a snowball and tossing it in your window at you to cool you off. 

I would love to understand your thinking that I was anyway in the wrong in this situation prior to your exclamation. 

Saturday night was a card night with some people from work.  I ended up 2nd out of the bunch and was able to finish ahead for a change!  I should have the result of the winnings later this week, along with some other things I know should be arriving shortly.  It will be like Christmas all over again this week I have a feeling!

On to other notes.  We had a last minute change to watch the super bowl and I made some of my guacamole which I realize I have not put a recipe up for yet!  Note to self, do that sometime soon Jeff!  We also had to stop and pick up some Papa Murphy's bread sticks, while inside, I was enticed by the smores  dessert pizza.  I broke and picked it up, planning on not having any bread sticks, but only a slice of the chocolate and marshmallow goodness.  Well... my will-power broke, and it was more than a slice, in fact it was more than 2...  Let's just say I did not want it to go to waste. All the hard work all week, out the window! 

Trakkers:

Again what a great set of people, I have been able to leverage the knowledge of others to learn some new recipes.  Check out Andree's Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup.  My wife is not a big soup eatter, and she criticized the look/texture, but agreed the taste was phenomenal.  I am looking forward to lunches this week.  It packs a heck of a punch and fights off hunger!  I would have to say the secret lies in the cinnamon and ginger.  Mmmmm!