Friday, December 2, 2005
Thursday, December 1, 2005
A Look Back And A Look Ahead...
Here is the breakdown of last month, which went by way to fast.
Swim: 13,487 meters, goal was 14,082. 96% of goal.
Bike: 177 miles, goal was 207. 85% of goal.
Run: 60 miles, goal was 58. 103% of goal.
I saw two blogger, IronBenny again and his wife Nytro for the first time. Good luck with the ankle surgery Nytro.
I completed one sprint tri with better than expected results.
I lost 10 pounds of body weight (5% change) and dropped 3 percentage points of body fat (15% change).
I had some unexpected stuff come up like a trip to LA, a sprint tri that I hadn't expected, a dodgy ankle to end the month along with the usual excuse of sacrificing training till tomorrow to finish something important today and not getting it back on track. All things considered, I think overall I am happy with my progess which has my distances up in all catagory's from the previous month.
In December I will change my training up a bit. I have my final build to the Rock n Roll marathon, which will include alternating weekly long runs of 15-20-15-20-taper out (which doesn't include the mid week run or filler runs, and it looks like it may be 'Pool Closed' on the lake if the temps get lower than the 56 degrees right now. So its back to regular pool sets. I would like to get another one on one with my old swim coach. I would like to work on more drills which will drop my distance for the month since all I really have been doing is freestyle. I need to figure how to solve my lack of saddle time which I think I have accomplished and will report on that project this weekend.
I also worked on two or three big triathlon related projects this month, each nearing completion. I hope to be able to comment on each of them very soon.
Swim: 13,487 meters, goal was 14,082. 96% of goal.
Bike: 177 miles, goal was 207. 85% of goal.
Run: 60 miles, goal was 58. 103% of goal.
I saw two blogger, IronBenny again and his wife Nytro for the first time. Good luck with the ankle surgery Nytro.
I completed one sprint tri with better than expected results.
I lost 10 pounds of body weight (5% change) and dropped 3 percentage points of body fat (15% change).
I had some unexpected stuff come up like a trip to LA, a sprint tri that I hadn't expected, a dodgy ankle to end the month along with the usual excuse of sacrificing training till tomorrow to finish something important today and not getting it back on track. All things considered, I think overall I am happy with my progess which has my distances up in all catagory's from the previous month.
In December I will change my training up a bit. I have my final build to the Rock n Roll marathon, which will include alternating weekly long runs of 15-20-15-20-taper out (which doesn't include the mid week run or filler runs, and it looks like it may be 'Pool Closed' on the lake if the temps get lower than the 56 degrees right now. So its back to regular pool sets. I would like to get another one on one with my old swim coach. I would like to work on more drills which will drop my distance for the month since all I really have been doing is freestyle. I need to figure how to solve my lack of saddle time which I think I have accomplished and will report on that project this weekend.
I also worked on two or three big triathlon related projects this month, each nearing completion. I hope to be able to comment on each of them very soon.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Disappointed
All the faster running I did over the last week, without proper stretching, has caused me some ankle distress. Its enough to 'feel' discomfort in normal activity and enough to appreciate my 15 mile run is in jeopardy this week. This is disappointing.
I had 3,300 yards to hit my monthly swim distance quota last night and I came up 900 yards short. My body was slowing down and my form started to deteriotate. In lieu of zero benefit from continuing, I felt that it was better to come up short than to continue degrading myself in the pool. I actually felt real bad because I had received such a nice 'almost there, hit it' comment from Bolder about making my number.
Its no excuse but I felt that had I not travelled on a swim day and if I was able to make up that time on an off day, I wouldn't have missed my swim goal by 4%. Also I am in jeopardy of not hitting my bike goal as I need to use a stationary bike to do that today, which I almost never use. If I had applied myself a bit better on the weekend or added one or two weekday rides during the month, I would not have missed this.
On top of all this searching I realize that the most motivating blogger to me, Oldman, practically doubles my training volume each month. I am going to try to figure out a better plan to work around this by either changing my training patterns, getting some indoor aid or something. Its Christmas so I have only half a month to get all my work done effectively, which limits work week training.
Through all this I remain postive that I will get in good productive training and that my injuries will remain minimal as I move into my biggest running month leading up to Rock n Roll mid January.
I had 3,300 yards to hit my monthly swim distance quota last night and I came up 900 yards short. My body was slowing down and my form started to deteriotate. In lieu of zero benefit from continuing, I felt that it was better to come up short than to continue degrading myself in the pool. I actually felt real bad because I had received such a nice 'almost there, hit it' comment from Bolder about making my number.
Its no excuse but I felt that had I not travelled on a swim day and if I was able to make up that time on an off day, I wouldn't have missed my swim goal by 4%. Also I am in jeopardy of not hitting my bike goal as I need to use a stationary bike to do that today, which I almost never use. If I had applied myself a bit better on the weekend or added one or two weekday rides during the month, I would not have missed this.
On top of all this searching I realize that the most motivating blogger to me, Oldman, practically doubles my training volume each month. I am going to try to figure out a better plan to work around this by either changing my training patterns, getting some indoor aid or something. Its Christmas so I have only half a month to get all my work done effectively, which limits work week training.
Through all this I remain postive that I will get in good productive training and that my injuries will remain minimal as I move into my biggest running month leading up to Rock n Roll mid January.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
yeah...
Thanks to The Wha, for his superb aid in helping me with all my html issues and so much more lately.
I would direct you to his site if you don't alredy have the link, but he is taking some time off. When he comes out of the shadows like the 'Wizard', (and some of us know how true that is) and begins blogging again I will give proper signifigance. Surfice to say if he drops you a personal e-mail about how to fix something, its a gift from the Angels.
In closing, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"
I would direct you to his site if you don't alredy have the link, but he is taking some time off. When he comes out of the shadows like the 'Wizard', (and some of us know how true that is) and begins blogging again I will give proper signifigance. Surfice to say if he drops you a personal e-mail about how to fix something, its a gift from the Angels.
In closing, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"
Things are kinda weird today. After yesterdays issues with Bloggers Upload Image section, I now miss my beloved Timex Ironman Countdown watch face which has somehow disappeared. After doing some research this does not appear to be my fault. Hmmm?
In Explorer my sidebar has been moved down. The font also looks bigger. I got some great feedback in Comments and will attempt to work on it today or tomorrow. Looks fine in Mozilla, which I would highly suggest everyone switch too. A more superior browser to Explorer.
I am on track to hit 100% of all my training goals in November, except I figured not on a calender month but a weekly training cycle. So I will do some moving around of training this week to get in my remaining two workouts I need to hit my numbers on the bike and swim. I only need a 3,100 meter swim and a 30 mile bike to be 15% up in training from last month. I already hit quota in running.
In Explorer my sidebar has been moved down. The font also looks bigger. I got some great feedback in Comments and will attempt to work on it today or tomorrow. Looks fine in Mozilla, which I would highly suggest everyone switch too. A more superior browser to Explorer.
I am on track to hit 100% of all my training goals in November, except I figured not on a calender month but a weekly training cycle. So I will do some moving around of training this week to get in my remaining two workouts I need to hit my numbers on the bike and swim. I only need a 3,100 meter swim and a 30 mile bike to be 15% up in training from last month. I already hit quota in running.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Tortilla Flat run
UPDATE 6:39 pm: Having some issues with the blog after today's picture upload. I have deleted the photos completely from the post in the hopes that the sidebar frame will position itself correctly instead of dropping down. Please follow the links to see the pictures.
UPDATE 10:00 am: Zag was kind enough to note that the photos don't show up in Explorer, I run Mozilla, so thank you. At the end of each photo description I have hyperlinked the photo so you can go straight to it if you can't see it.
This is actually a view of where we start our swim. Where you see the bluish/green 'car?' on the road is where we park and then the rock outcropping just below that is where we change into our wetsuits. The rock outcropping, bottom left, is 75 yards from the start and where we swim for a warm up before tackling the buoy's. In my sidebar, I have a picture from the bridge showing the inlet buoy which is outside frame on the lower left corner. We swim to the inlet buoy and then underneath the bridge into the canyon to the rock buoy and back for two full laps or 1.1 miles. I usually count this as 1.25 miles total, because I usually swim off the short line to the buoys and have to make corrections. For those that might remember my almost drowning episode in September, it was at just about the very tip of the bottom left as I headed back to the outcropping. Photo here
Its a nice hill going down into Tortilla Flats. Its about .80 miles. Going up was actually not as bad as I thought it would be. Photo here.
Yup, this is the whole town of Tortilla Flats.
Really what I want to illustrate is the beauty of our training area, the mountains and the water and such. Photo Here.
UPDATE 10:00 am: Zag was kind enough to note that the photos don't show up in Explorer, I run Mozilla, so thank you. At the end of each photo description I have hyperlinked the photo so you can go straight to it if you can't see it.
This is actually a view of where we start our swim. Where you see the bluish/green 'car?' on the road is where we park and then the rock outcropping just below that is where we change into our wetsuits. The rock outcropping, bottom left, is 75 yards from the start and where we swim for a warm up before tackling the buoy's. In my sidebar, I have a picture from the bridge showing the inlet buoy which is outside frame on the lower left corner. We swim to the inlet buoy and then underneath the bridge into the canyon to the rock buoy and back for two full laps or 1.1 miles. I usually count this as 1.25 miles total, because I usually swim off the short line to the buoys and have to make corrections. For those that might remember my almost drowning episode in September, it was at just about the very tip of the bottom left as I headed back to the outcropping. Photo here
Its a nice hill going down into Tortilla Flats. Its about .80 miles. Going up was actually not as bad as I thought it would be. Photo here.
Yup, this is the whole town of Tortilla Flats.
Really what I want to illustrate is the beauty of our training area, the mountains and the water and such. Photo Here.
A piggy back
In the past when I have attempted serial posting, I think it has been little overwhelming, especially when I was going over the marketing of supplements and how supplement companies lie to us.
However, today I feel compel to at least buffer my CMS commentary from Saturday. There was some great comments left on that subject.
The overriding theme I took from what I wrote, and sometimes I don't know that until I am done, is that as we try to defeat CMS we are constantly beset by people who want to break us down. That don't want to see us succeed. That don't want us to break away from the social norm that we have been stuck in and accomplish something that is bigger than ourselves. When I was reading this morning I came across this verse in Jeremiah,
What I am trying to bolster in myself is a shield against negativity. Sometimes I have been accused of not living in reality, that I am going forward with my eyes closed. I say sometimes you have to lift your eyes off the ground, or close them against the foreboding circumstances and doubts of others before you. With my eyes fixed on present circumstances, like weak swimming or peer pressure, I will miss my vision of completing Ironman.
I dream big because dreams keep me younger, healthier and more alive than anything else.
However, today I feel compel to at least buffer my CMS commentary from Saturday. There was some great comments left on that subject.
The overriding theme I took from what I wrote, and sometimes I don't know that until I am done, is that as we try to defeat CMS we are constantly beset by people who want to break us down. That don't want to see us succeed. That don't want us to break away from the social norm that we have been stuck in and accomplish something that is bigger than ourselves. When I was reading this morning I came across this verse in Jeremiah,
" 18Today I have made you as a strong city ready for war, as a pillar of iron and as walls of brass against the whole land... 19And they will fight against you. But they will not have power over you, for I am with you to take you out of trouble," says the Lord."For those that would rather see this in a New Age Spirituality aspect, you can go HERE.
What I am trying to bolster in myself is a shield against negativity. Sometimes I have been accused of not living in reality, that I am going forward with my eyes closed. I say sometimes you have to lift your eyes off the ground, or close them against the foreboding circumstances and doubts of others before you. With my eyes fixed on present circumstances, like weak swimming or peer pressure, I will miss my vision of completing Ironman.
I dream big because dreams keep me younger, healthier and more alive than anything else.
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