6/29 & 6/30

After Sunday I was completely exhausted and was in bed by 8. I woke up Monday not feeling much better but still set out for an easy paced 30 min run. My legs were stiff but otherwise I felt fine. I ran 3.3 miles in 29:38 with an avg HR of 130.
This morning I woke up early and set out for and easy ride. I wanted to go for an hour, but my legs were pretty sore so I turned around early and ended with 12.5 miles in 46:20. The next few days are pretty tough so I plan to just relax the rest of the day.

Since it is the end of the Month, June totals are in!
Bike: 13h 10m 07s - 211.63Mi
Run: 8h 18m 36s - 51.84 Mi
Swim: 6h 04m 13s - 14,600 M
Strength: 3h 10m

6/28

This morning I got up and went for ride. It was a little hot, but it didn't really bother me. Overall the ride was pretty uneventful. 86 min 15 sec for 22.25 miles. A little slower pace than usual, but I also got stranded at a few lights. This afternoon I decided I wanted Taco Bell for lunch. Two hours later I went for a 45 minute swim and then learned that I cannot eat bean burritos before swimming. My stomach is still torn up (4 hours later). I am having trouble finding foods that do not cause my stomach to cramp after a swim. So the experiment continues...

Sunday 28th - 90* w/ 31% humidity.

What a fun day for a workout, huh? I'm glad we waited until this morning to exercise vs. yesterday morning... because it was a lot of fun to enjoy our Friday together with the fun decorations you put up! What fun! You always keep me on my toes!

6/25 & 6/26

Thursday was a bike day for me. I got up super early and rode my new loop. It goes up into McDowell Mountains so there are some good hills. The morning was warm, but there was no wind which was nice. Coming downhill I topped out at 31 mph. Before the ride I made sure all the bolts on the bike were tightened, the last ride I thought my fork was going to fall off. I ended up riding 15.95 miles in 57:09. Since it was dawn I did not wear my sunglasses and I kept getting bugs in my eyes, so sometime this weekend I will need to look for a pair of clear lensed glasses or yellow lensed, whichever is cheaper.

Today I woke up a little later than usual (5:30 instead of 4:45) for my run. I was pretty hot and I am glad I brought my belt with me. I went through almost two bottles. Other than that the run went great. I felt good the entire time and the knee only bothered me for the last 10 minutes. Total distance was 6.15 miles in 55:42. This afternoon I went to the gym for a swim. It was flippin crowded at 11am on a Friday. I had to wait 10 minutes for a lane to open up, and I ended up getting the gimpy lane (the lane on the far left is only 20m instead of 25m due to the stairs). It sucked and I ended up letting it ruin my workout. Total time in the water was 32:20, I have no idea how far I went. After the swim I went upstairs and did 50 minutes of strenght training. I am geting pretty weak and need to do this more often.

Once you're beat mentally, you might was well not even go to the starting line. -Todd Williams

You enjoying your day off? I do hope so. THREE DAY WEEKENDS ROCK! (Wife working because she does not earn paid vacation, does not.) You got up pretty early this morning, and based on the way you looked coming back, it looked like you had a great run! I think I'm going to have to swap out into my wick material shirts for all my runs soon. The humidity and the heat are really getting to me!!! Hope the car stuff isn't too expensive, but I guess we've got 2 movies to watch, so we can keep it pretty low key! See you soon!!

6/24: Swim and Run

This moring I woke up and went for a 29 minute run in the Nike Frees. It was the first run since April in which I had no pain. It was exciting. I ran a little faster today than usual since it is a shorter run and I tried to keep my HR around 150 to 155. I managed an 8:09/mile pace for 3.56 miles. It was a little warmer today than usual, but I didn't notice it until I got home and started sweating like crazy. During lunch I went to the gym for a swim. It was pretty crowded for a Wednesday at noon, but I was still able to get a lane, but it was the lane closest to the steps. I really don't like it when people get out of the steam room and just sit in the pool for 20 min. It makes me think they are peeing or something, I think its gross and for some reason it really distracts me. Any way for 40:16 I swam 1800 m (200 wu, 3 x 500, 100 cd) then came home and got back to work.

6/23: Hot Bike

So I came up with this great plan to start biking after work of Tuesday and Thursday so I wouldn't have to wake up before 5am. I don't think I will be doing it again. It was 100 degrees and I feel like I am dying. Besides that there was just too much traffic for me to feel comfortable, that combined with a 10 mph side wind. I didn't get into the aero position but 30% of the ride. A little discouraging, but evidence that I need more time on the bike. I rode hard today and that and the heat just killed me. Todays stats were 14 miles in 51:42 for a 16.25 avg mph. Tomorrow I am working from home so my plan is to run in the morning and swim during lunch. Check me out in my new yellow jersey.

6/22

This morning I was woken up by our meowing alarm clock I don't know how many times before my 5am alarm went off. I was a little out of it this morning and took me a while to get ready. I stuck with the Cytomax as my pre run drink and wore the yellow shoes. I felt good during the run and still maintained an easy pace as this week is technically a recovery week. My right knee started hurting about 30 minutes in, but it was not as bad as it has been. I ran 39 minutes and 39 seconds for 4.37 miles (9m 4s / mi).

Last weeks totals:

Bike: 186.42 min

Run: 121.03 min

Swim: 113.02 min

Strength: 20 min

I can't keep skipping my swim workouts, thats where I need the most work.

The Hangover!

That movie was funny! Great idea, Derek! The only movie I really want to see at the theatre is Harry Potter... and that is a few more weeks away. So, no rush to the next show! This weekend, we can take it easy, though, even though you have a 3 day weekend!

6/20: Owieeeee

So today's bike ride was a learning experience. I learned to never ride the bike path again. I learned puddles suck. And I learned it is not much fun to skid accross concrete at 20 mph. So 13 minutes into the ride I hit a wet spot and went flying. After regrouping and making sure the bike was ok, I got off the bike path and finished my 91 minute ride. I found some nice hills up north of where we live and it ended up being a fun ride. I got to go 30 mph again - going fast is fun. I covered 24 miles this morning, not as much as I wanted, but pretty good considering what happened. Now since I have open wounds all over my body I cannot go swimming today, so its a free afternoon for Tristin and I to have super fun.

6/16: F-F-F-Friday

So this morning I woke up early ate a banana, drank some water and set out on a 45 min bike ride. During the first half I felt sluggish and my legs did not want to work. I went a different direction and was able to find a nice hill. At about 22 min into the run I reached the top of the hill and decided to turn around. Going down the hill was fun and I topped out at 30.1 mph. After that I felt much better and made in back home in 15 minutes. Total distance was 9.8 miles in 37:06.
Then after work I went to the gym for a swim. I did intervals similar to Wednesday, only a few more. 200 WU, 20 x 50 odds easy, evens hard, 200 CD. Total time swimming was 35:46. Tonight we have to take Bentley to the vet to get some shots, then we are going to watch a movie and go to sleep. Tomorrow will be pretty tough.

6/18: Run Forrest Run

Today was my long run. I woke up at 4:45am drank some water and ate some sharkies then was out the door. I wore my old yeller shoes today. My arches have been feeling sore from the Frees so I may need to limit thier action to once a week for my 30 min run until I gain some foot strenght. I felt really good throughout the run and ended up running faster than I anticipated and got home at 52:31 rather than a full 60 min. Total distance today was 5.55 miles for a 9:28/mile average (down from 11:15 two weeks ago). Tonight I am going to rest up and hopefully get to bed early.

So Happy It's Thursday!

Hey! Happy Thursday! It will be toying with the 100's for the rest of the week until Monday. So I guess if we're wanting to spend any time outdoors, we'd better start doing that soon. I don't think we'll see the 90's again for awhile. I am not sure if you'd rather ride or run in the heat... this tri training and the 2 a-days really weren't made for AZ summers, huh?

6/17

Today was swim day. I went during my lunch and the pool was not very crowded. I did a 200 meter warmup consisting of drills and stretching then 12, 50 meter repeats where the odds were an easy effort and the evens were all out, then followed that with 200 meter cool down. I have decided to work more on swimming harder and faster in hopes of getting faster. Before I was so concerned with form that I was just learning to swim real slow. So hopefully this works out for me. Total pool time was 31:36.

Hump Day! 6/17/09

Happy Hump Day! I've been having a lot of fun with you since you've graduated from school. Even though you're training, I still don't feel the tri training takes nearly as much time as your school work. Plus, you can watch tv with me! (and I don't have to be quiet anymore!) YAY! You ready to DANCE tonight?

6/16: Run and Bike

Last night I was pretty tired so I was in bed and asleep by 8:30. I woke up this morning drank some Cytomax and went for a 3.08 mile run in 30 minutes. I took it easy the whole way as I am still trying to build up my fitness. After work I went for a 58 minute bike ride on the multiuse path covering 16.18 miles. The first 10 minutes were easy spinning then 38 minutes of harder spinning followed by 10 minutes of easy. I felt fast during this bike and am really starting to get comfortable riding the new bike, now all I need to do is find some hills to work on my strength.

6/15

This morning I woke up drank a glass of Cytomax and went for a run. I wore my new Nike Frees today and they felt pretty good. I like how light they are and how they force me to run with better technique. I ran for 38:31 at an easy pace and added :30 fast efforts every 5 minutes starting at 10:00. This is supposed to help me get used to the faster runs I will be doing in the next few weeks. I covered 4.02 miles for a 9:35 mile average. The knee pain was minor but still there, everything else felt good.

6/14: Swimming Sunday

This morning was Tristin's 5k out at Reach 11 horse park. The race looked fun and I actually was able to take pictures this time (last race I didn't see her run by and just stood there like an idiot). After the race we went to IHOP for some pancakes, which were delicious. Once we got home I wrapped the aero bars with some black tape then lounged around until it was time to workout. Today's workout was a swim only. I started off with a 9 minute warmup(200), then a 34 minute set (4 x 400) and a 2 minute cool down (100). Overall it was a good workout. I really didn't want to be there and was trying to talk myself into quitting early, but by the time I finished the first 400 I had got into a rythm and kept going with it. I wanted to finish with some drills but had to pee so bad I had to get out of the water.

This weeks (6/7 - 6/13) totals were:

Swim: 73.67 min

Bike: 269.53 min

Run: 114.2 min

Strenght: 65 min

It looks like I did a lot more since I moved Sunday's bike to Saturday.

6/12 & 6/13

Friday morning I woke up and went for a very short ride. I was tired and sore from the day before and really didn't feel like doing anything. I ended up riding 8.3 miles for 30 minutes. After work we went to a happy hour for one of Tristin't coworkers so I skipped my swim workout.

Saturday I woke up early and got ready for my 90 minute ride. The weather was great and I felt good throughout the entire ride. I pushed myself a little harder than I planned, but I am taking tomorrow off so I should be fine by Monday. During the ride I went through a rather rough area and saw a strung out looking woman passed out on the grass with blood on her clothes. I decided to turn around go home after that. Total time was 92 minutes 59 seconds and distance was 24.9 miles. I am feeling pretty exhausted today so I think I will push back my long swim until tommorrow.

6/11: Run and Bike

Last night our downstairs neighbor had some kind of dance party where all we heard from 9 to 10 was boom boom boom boom, so getting to sleep was kinda tough. However when I woke up this morning at 4:45am I felt pretty good. I got up ate some sharkies drank some water then went for a 50 minute run covering 4.8 miles. I kept a pretty slow pace which help delay the knee pain. Overall it was a good effort. After work I made up Tuesday's bike. It was pretty windy and was starting to get hot. The good news was that no one was on the path so I didn't have to worry about that. My ride lasted for 56 minutes and covered 14.55 miles, not the fastest but still pretty good.
To unwind we watched Defiance, which was a pretty good WWII flick. Now its off to bed with another pre 5am wakeup. Hopefully the Boom Boom Room will be closed tonight.

6/10: Day 10 - Swimmer

Today I got to work from home so I went for a swim on my lunch break for 34 minutes. After work Tristin and I went to eat at Macayos. On the way we got stuck behind a stalled car. As we passed we realized the car was not stalled, just some guy had passed out in his truck. After dinner I picked up my bike, the bars have been cut and now I don't have to be Stretch Armstrong to shift. Tomorrow will be a pretty tough day, I have to make up Tuesday's bike tomorrow afternoon and my long run is in the morning. Tristin and I ordered a pair of Nike Frees which came in the mail today, so I am thinking about bustin' them out for tomorrows run.

This is a picture of the piece of glass I pulled out of my tire after the Tempe International Tri.

4 years ago today......

I met you for the first time. Never would have thought we'd end up married. What a mad, crazy world it is. It's been fun these past 4 years. I think every day just keeps getting better!

So you know what that means, right? You've been living in the Zona for FOUR YEARS! AND.... you'd have lived here at least 5 when our lease runs out. BET that never occurred to you 4 years ago. It certainly never occurred to me. I just wanted a fresh start and to experience something new. I honestly didn't know where that would lead me, but I honestly didn't think I'd miss STL so much, or that I'd be here that long. I don't know where I thought I was going... I guess it was a blind leap?

6/9: Day 9 - Run only

Last night I brought my bike in to get the aero bars cut down about an inch and won't get the bike back until Wednesday. So that meant today was a run only day. I ran in the morning and the weather was great - it hasn't gotten too hot here yet. Today I used my really old shoes to see if they made a difference in my knees. My right knee still hurt but overall I felt much better. I ran 3 miles in 28 minutes, still taking it easy these early weeks. When I got home from work today I did a quick workout on the Iron Gym.

Last weeks totals were:

93 Minutes biking

110 Minutes Running

60 Minutes Swimming

20 Minutes Strength

6/7 & 6/8: Days 7 & 8

Yesterday was my long ride. It was very nice outside and the multi use path was very crowded. I had a good ride and felt great throughout the entire 90 minutes. I brought one bottle of water and one of Cytomax and didn't finish either. In 90 minutes I went 24 miles. Later in the afternoon I went for a 40 minute swim followed by 40 minutes of Strength training. The swim was ok and by the end I was completely exhausted.

I woke up this morning after not sleeping well and didn't want to run. I ran 3.5 miles in 35 minutes and the whole time I kept thinking how much I hate running. I ran slow and walked a lot, my right knee hurt quite a bit, and I now all I want to do is go back to sleep. Hopefully tomorrow is a little better.

6/5: Day 5 - Bike and swim

This morning I woke up at about 4:50 a.m., which is not fun, and went for a 12 mile bike ride on the multi use path for 45 minutes. I didn't get as far as I wanted due to the sprinklers blasting me the entire way. I guess from now on I will have to stick to the road on the early morning rides (which made my ride totally dirty - and I dont want to pay for the necessary cleaning tools). The weather this morning was perfect for a ride. Tristin complained about it being too hot, but anything under 90 in June is nice for me. After work Tristin and I headed for the gym for a swim. We went 30 minutes for about 1200 yards, which still wiped me out. The runs have left me very sore today and I plan to get some good stretching in tomorrow during my much needed day off.

6/5/09 - swim, bike

Swimming with you today is going to be interesting. The last time I went swimming with you was in February I think... I had to stop because of my hip. I am hoping my hip won't be a problem this time around.

I'm glad your run was successful and pain free!

6/4: Day 4

Today was my long run. I was supposed to go for 60 minutes but went for 45 due to lack of endurance. I felt very slow and only covered 4 miles, but was pain free for most of the run. I am glad I do not have to run for 4 days. My odometer/speedometer came in the mail today so it is installed and working. I have the lights set up on the bike also because at 5 a.m. it is still kind of dark.

6/4/09 long run

Derek, I'm really impressed that you are training through the summer months of AZ. That is really awesome. I hope I can be half as supportive as you were for me for my marathon training and race. In that effort I'll embarrass myself by going and swimming in a Scottsdale gym with you! (Plus I dont mind the swimming... just give me the clear goggles that are all nasty!) You really are amazing. I'm so proud of you, very proud of you!

Day 3: 6/3

Today was a swim only day and I enjoyed the time off my legs. I think I am finally recovered from the weekend. Total time swimming was 30 minutes, total distance was 1200 meters/yards, whatever a pool is measured in. Was feeling good today and no noticeable pain in either knee, so we'll see how tomorrows run will go.

6/2: Day 2

So this morning was tough to get out of bed, I was pretty sore from yesterday's run (the longest since the rain soaked marathon) and the weekend's activites. There was still pain in the right knee and the left knee started to hurt also. I ended up doing 2.7 miles in 26 minutes, I can tell I am no longer in as good of shape as I thought. Then after work I went for a ride on the new bike. I felt pretty good and am gaining confidence on the aero bars - my first ride I thought I was going to die and wanted to return the thing. I stayed on the multiuse path and will for the next several rides until I feel comfortable to ride in traffic. I am waiting for the replacement parts so I can mount the odometer on the new bike so I have no idea how long I rode for, total time was 47 minutes 42 seconds. Overall a good day and am glad I don't have to run or bike tomorrow.

Good luck!

Glad to see you up on blogger! I'm proud of you that you started training for the Ironman 70.3 (half ironman) the day we got back from Vegas. That is pretty incredible! October is just around the corner!!!