Izzy wins!

Izzy won her first race yesterday at her 2nd swim meet of the season. She won the 1st heat of the 6 and under girls 25 yard freestyle. Here she is looking cute with her heat winners ribbon:

I’m still keeping up my training. I got in an early morning bike ride yesterday. This morning I ran 4.5 miles and included a mile of lactate threshold work. I have another indoor bike session on tap for lunchtime today. Tomorrow is a rest day…a short swim on Friday…and the RC and Moonpie Festival 10 mile run on Saturday morning.

Back in the swing of things…

I had a nice training weekend. Daniel Tardy, Branden Verner, and I rode 25 miles at a decent clip covering a few big climbs on Saturday morning.  I’m trying to push the pace a little to prep for race season. We did a 2.5 mile BRICK run immediately following the ride. It was Branden’s first experience running right off of the bike. He did great, but asked “is it normal for your feet to tingle?”. Yes, it is.

Sunday morning I ran 9 miles at a very easy pace keeping my heart rate under 160. It’s amazing how easy running can seem when you keep your heart rate in check. My average HR for the run was 155. I’m thinking I’ll run the RC Cola and Moonpie 10 miler aerobic as well. My PR there is 1:14, but considering the year I’ve had I don’t think this is the time to go for a new “personal record”. I’ll probably just run with Tardy and Hampton nice and easy and consider it a training run. I got another 2 mile run in late yesterday afternoon making the daily total 11 miles. Been awhile since I’ve logged that many miles in a day.

Still thinking about the San Antonio Marathon in mid November.

Izzy’s first swim meet is tomorrow! I can’t wait! She’s so excited. She’ll swim 25 freestyle, 25 backstroke, and the freestyle relay.

A Good Training day and a pic

Today was a decent training day…not too hard…not too easy. It helped that it was 75 degrees outside. I swam 2000 this morning as:
2 x 250
5 x 100
2 x 250
After my swim I spent some much needed time stretching. I stretched for around 30 minutes. Felt great.
During lunch I ran up “The Mountain” with Bruce. The mountain is a 9% grade for 1 mile – pretty tough. The entire run took 35 minutes with an average HR of 170. My hr pegged out at 188. I probably could have pushed it to 190 or more, but chose not to try. Not a bad effort for our first trip up the mountain of the season. We’ll do it every other week as a way to build strength and earn some “free speed”. Hill training is a great way to build the muscles that allow you to run fast without actually having to run fast during training (although we do alot of that too).
Here’s a pic of me and my lifelong friend Moebes (we’ve known each other since we were 10 – 25 years!) last week after Dave Ramsey’s certified counselor training. I have a pic from ’92 of us that looks identical to this one except we’re wearing our wrestling team warmups instead.

Ouch

This has been a great, but looong week. We do Dave Ramsey Certified Counselor Training (I promote and fill it up) every 6 weeks. We have 55 people in town this week including my buddy Moebes. We go about 12 hours a day from Tuesday-Saturday; lots of stuff to teach people who are going to have the chance to change lives. I’ve tried to squeeze training in where I could this week. I knocked out 4000 yards in the pool between Monday and Tuesday. I’ve also gotten a couple of runs in. I did my first “mile repeats” of the season in today. I kept it conservative and did just 2 of them.
I did a warm up mile at 7:50. The first true “mile repeat” of the season clocked in at 6:15 into a pretty vicious headwind (in one direction at least). Not bad, but not where it will be by late spring. That wasn’t wide up, but rather the pace I think I could sustain for 5k or so. The second mile ended up being 6:35. My pacing isn’t great yet obviously. I should have done that first one in 6:20 or so and then the same for the second one. One thing is for sure….OUCH!!!!

Some new pics

Seems I’m spending alot of time apologizing for the lag between posts lately, but . . . sorry, I’ve been busy.

Chugging away at my training. I’m still swim focused right now and will likely shift over to a cycling focus in the next week or two before shifting to some run focus as summer approaches. I’m going to try to periodize my trianing by sport this year. This winter I’m training like a swimmer and cross training with some time on the bike and some run time. I’ll shift and start training like a cyclist with some cross training in the pool and on the run…and so forth until I shift to a more balanced training plan in the heat of the summer.
Here are some cute new pics of the kids:

Mama said knock you out!

the little Cherub looking as angelic as ever

Izzy enjoying the first and probably last snow fall of the year

nice and easy

I’m still taking it easy, trying to fend off a cold. I swam 1500 this morning as:
2 x 250
5 x 100
10 x 50
I ran for 30 minutes during lunch at 158 average heart rate. I think I’m gonna take tomorrow off. I’m feeling crummy and I need some rest before a big week at work next week.
I’ve become addicted to TWITTER since getting my new iphone.

I’m sure I’ll be twittering all sorts of instant updates from my bike rides in the coming months, complete with pictures. Very cool technology.

Catching up

Sorry, no new posts lately. Busy Busy.

Here’s what the last few days have looked like on the training front:
Sat: 2 hour ride at 149 average HR
Sun: rest
Mon: Run 30 minutes (30/30/60 x4) workout with fast portions at 6:15 pace / ez portions at 8:30 pace.
Tues: Swim 2000 (1500 straight time trial in 22:03)

I love that 30/30/60 workout. This time I warmed up for 5 minutes then went into 4 repeats of that sequence. Do it like this:
30 sec FAST
30 sec Easy
60 sec FAST
2:00 Easy
repeat the sequence as many time as appropriate for the time of year. Right now that was 4 times for me.
I was pretty pleased with that 22:03 considering its only February. I wasn’t sure if I could even make it 1500 without stopping so I went at a very moderate pace. I probably could have taken :30-1:00 off of that time. My goal by June is to swim 1500 in 20:00 or less.

Thank you STUFFITTS! New racing sponsor

I finalized a new sponsorship for the season yesterday with a cool product called “Stuffitts“. I’ve been using them for about 6 months now and am a big believer in the product. Here’s a blurb from the stuffitts site:
Moisture is your shoes’ worst enemy – making them wet and smelly. Simply place these soft, foot-shaped forms in your shoes after work or work-outs to eliminate wetness. The pure cedar filling starts absorbing moisture in minutes and renews your shoes. Use them every day to keep your shoes in work-ready, race-ready, every day life-ready condition!

Here I am on their “sponsored athletes page (you might have to click on “sponsored athletes). That’s some pretty fast company there so I’m very honored to be a part of that team.

Stuffitts joins my long term sponsors!
Cambell Station Chiropractic
and
Franklin/Nashville Bicycle Co.

I’m enjoying a nice reduced training week. I’m chomping at the bit to start training hard again next week though. That’s the way an easy week is supposed to make you feel.

A good run,some tunes, and a quote

I had a nice comfortable 45 minute run on the treadmill out in the garage this morning. Average HR was 157 (low zone 2). I averaged a 7:45 which is still slow, but it felt very comfortable (ala zone 2 the whole way). The goal is to get back a 6:15 pace for 5k and a 6:45 for 10k by summer. It’ll happen; I can feel it already. I’m training with a chip on my shoulder these days, so I’m trying to restrain that energy until I’m fit enough to unleash my anger on my own training schedule and eventually in races.
I had a great shuffle going this morning on my old school nano. Among the highlights were: Blaze of Glory by Bon Jovi, Satin in a Coffin by Modest Mouse, New Year’s Day by u2, and If You Fear Dying (Then You’re Already Dead) by One Day as a Lion.
While reading tonight I came across a passage I like, and I can identify with these days, in “Every Second Counts” by Lance Armstrong. Enjoy:
“Suffering, I was beginning to think, was essential to a good life, and as inextricable from such a life as bliss. It’s a great enhancer. It might last a minute, or a month, but eventually it subsides, and when it does, something else takes its place, and maybe that thing is a greater space. For happiness. Each time I encountered suffering, I believed that I grew, and further defined my capacities – not just my physical ones, but my interior ones as well, for contentment, friendship, or any other human experience. The real reward for pain is this: self knowledge”

Well, that’s one way to get out of a workout: Frozen caveman

This morning I went to the ISC to get in 1500-2000 yards. I did a 400 yard time trial in 5:25. Just as I finished up 900 yards the facility sirens went off. Staff members scrambled telling everyone to get out…including those of us in the pool. I grabbed my towel and headed for the doors. I stepped out into the grey morning to the stark realization that I was dripping wet, naked except for my tri shorts and a towel, and barefooted – as were the rest of the swimmers. It was 24 degrees. They kept us out there for about 15 minutes. A kind triatlete in Ironman gear eventually handed me a jacket. Others followed his lead and started pulling clothing and shoes from their bags to give to other shivering swimmers. Well, that’s one way to get out of a workout.
Yesterday I went and ran with Bruce C. We did a total of 30 minutes as follows:
5 min warmup
30 sec fast/30 sec ez/ 60 sec fast / 120 sec. ez – repeat x 4
8 min cool down
Average HR was 171. The fast portions were at 6:30 pace / ez portions at 8:00 pace

Here are some new pics: (sorry, some are blurry for some reason)

Izzy on awards day at gymnastics

Kate’s first pair of blue jeans

Max “out of pocket” feels better

little sister is happy to have brother home

Some pics from last Saturday’s ride

Sorry for the delay in posting last weekends ride pics. These are from a 2:30 long ride through Theta and Leipers Fork.

The base of the Les Robinson climb into Theta

a little less than half way up the same climb

following Brett down one of the slower descents out of Theta

As for today; I ran 45 minutes this morning at 159 average HR. I’m getting stir crazy doing all of this easy base training. I’m ready to RUN and stop jogging!

Bonus picture! Spidergirl at the kitchen table apparently working on her pre-K workbook. She sat this way for about an hour.

one from the Archives

Hey Gang,
Sorry no new posts lately. Max was in the hospital again last weekend, so things have been crazy. Izzy went to Columbia to stay and Kate went to Hendersonville. Karen and spent days (and nights) at Vanderbilt with Max. He’s okay now and we’ll soon have both of our girls home as well. I did manage to train some, but that’s inconsiquential.
Here’s an old post from my other blog that I came across. I like it, so I’ll share it again (is it weird to quote yourself?):

“You gotta have confidence. The question is, what are you putting your confidence in: your own ability? And what do you believe about your ability? Do you believe you’ve done something to deserve it? Or is it a gift? I believe I have a gift from God. But then I also have to train really, really hard. So I see it as being a good steward of the gift God’s given me…it’s my obligation to God to develop this talent the best I can. So, I try and make that my focus rather than wanting to beat people. Not that it’s not fun to win, because it is…I think part of it too is just being content with whatever the Lord has for my life.”
-Ryan Hall as told to Runners World magazine

Good stuff, Ryan. I agree 100%. Although I’m not personally anywhere close to Ryan’s ability I feel the same way when I don’t want to get out of bed at 5:00 am on Saturday and Sunday mornings to ride or run. That little voice in my head telling me to get up is my gift. All of us have our own gift. Make sure you’re true to yours.

I’m a little under the weather from the stress we’ve been through lately – and I probably have whatever put Max in Vanderbilt. I’m motivated by reading my old training blog though. I’m capable of kicking some butt when I train. If you’re interested in those old blogs you can find them on Topstepfitness.com under “TS Blog” and “TS Blog Archive”.

I run for 30 minutes this morning at a 145 average HR then swam 1500 as 500 swim / 5 x 100 swim / 10 x 50 swim. I cut back my distances this week because I realize that external stress and a building training schedule don’t mix. I’m hoping to ditch the stress and the illness soon so I can “train like a madman” soon.

Hello Zone 4 plus some summer music in the dead of winter.

I was scheduled to only lift weights today, but I woke up a bit too early this morning. Since I was up I decided to go ahead and knock out tomorrow’s scheduled 30 minute run, so that I can focus on a good quality swim tomorrow.

I decided to go and run on Bill’s treadmill. I’m paying more attention to my heart rate zones this season as I’m hoping to have a good year. Here’s what I did (all at 1% incline):

10 minutes at 8:30 pace
5 minutes at 7:00 pace
5 minutes at 8:30 pace
5 minutes at 7:00 pace
5 minutes at 9:00 pace

During that second 5 minutes at 7:00 I hit 186 heart rate. That’s zone 4 (of 5) for me while running. I reached zone 4 while doing a bike time trial a couple of weeks ago, but this marks my first time this season in zone 4 while running. Honestly, it’s a little too soon for zone 4 and 5 training, so I need to back it down a bit. I was a little disappointed that I hit 186 while running what used to be an easy 7:00 pace. I should be running 6:00 pace in high zone 4 by late spring.

Tomorrow I’m scheduled for 2500 in the pool. Friday I’ll run 1:00-1:15. My plan is to stay zone 2 throughout (146-155bpm).

Off of the training subject, I’ve been listening the song “Isabelle” repeatedly lately. Great song by a great Charleston, SC band – The Blue Dogs. Check ‘um out.

Silversun Pickups new album plus a nice swim

I love the Silversun Pickups. They remind of everything that used to be pure and innocent about the Smashing Pumpkins in the beginning. Their latest critically acclaimed album Carnavas is everywhere and deservedly so. It rocks.

My buddy BT forwarded this article to me today though. I gotta be honest, at first I thought “yes! a new album!”, but then I thought more about what the article had to say. It sounds like the gang are planning to go big and try some new things – things that sound like the downfall of the Smashing Pumpkins. For a follow up album I’d rather they opt for the safe route and record some more songs that sound like Carnavas. Let’s hope the new one doesn’t “jump the shark”.

For now, here’s one of the early gems to enjoy:
CLICK ME
Want more?
CLICK HERE for their hit single.

I cranked out 2500 yards in the pool this morning with no ill effects. I’m rounding back into swim shape nicely.

Weekend training and another funeral

Sunrise in Spring Hill prior to a cold Saturday ride

It was a nice weekend for being on the bike – 60 degrees temps in February. Brett and I took advantage of the temps on Saturday by riding mid-day. We went just shy of 2 hours at a 15mph average. My average HR was 142. It’s funny how the body can forgot what going 2 plus hours feels like. I’ve done plenty of 4-8 hour rides, but this time of year your body feels like it’s been 4-8 when it’s only been 2. I’ll get there eventually.

Sunday we went at sunrise so we didn’t get to enjoy the 65 degree weather. Instead it was 34. We only went for an hour though. Later in the day I was able to sneak out for a 30 minute run in the nice weather. I pushed a little on this run and averaged 169 on the heart rate monitor. That’s still below lactate threshold.

It’s been a trying few months. As most of you know Karen, Max, and Kate spent months in the hospital. I also buried a friend a few weeks ago – much too young. Yesterday we attended the funeral of a 6 year old girl. Somehow I’ve managed not to shed a single tear through everything we’ve been through. I’ve bit my lip and managed. When Karen and I walked into the funeral on Sunday afternoon I looked at all of the pictures of the little girl and lost it. I ran outside and around the building so that no one would see me “coming apart.”  For some reason, that was the moment when I finally broke down. It didn’t last long. This little girl was very sick and is much better off in heaven where she has a new body and can be with God.

I gave my kids a big hug when we got home. Here are some new pics!

Izzy in a new outfit

Max watching the superbowl

Kate’s version of “enjoying the superbowl”

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Not all workouts are gems

This morning was one of those workouts when I wished I had just rolled over and stayed in bed. I was running a little behind schedule so I decided to shorten my run from 7.5 miles down to 4.8. That particular route normally takes me about 36 minutes to cover. This morning? 44 minutes! I haven’t been feeling great and didn’t eat much yesterday.

Average HR was 167 even at that slow pace. Somethings not right.

“you’re not getting sick. you’re not getting sick. you’re not getting sick.”

It wasn’t a great morning. To remedy that I blasted Uncle Tupelo’s “No Depression” (thanks CT) on my way in to work. 

Feelin’ California plus a run/swim combo

I started the day with a 30 minute treadmill run at a very moderate pace. I’m trying to get back to training by heart rate, so I stayed well below my lactate threshold throughout since I’m still 5 months away from my race season.

I ran 30 minutes at an average HR of 157. Somewhere in there I peaked at 182 (still below LT).

I followed my run with a little lifting: 1 set of flat bench press with 50lb dumbbells x 15 reps, seated cable rows with rope handle x 15 w/ 130lbs, 10 pull ups, 10 commando pullups, 10 burpees.

I ate a Hammer Gel (rasberry) and hit the pool. I only had time for 1500 this morning.

8 x 50 on 1:00

2 x 100 pull on :20 rest

8 x 50 on 1:00

2 x 250

On my way to work I heard Zephry Song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. RHCP always makes me think of L.A. and summertime. It was immediately followed by a Doors song that I’ve forgotten the title to. It was one of those were Jim recites poetry instead of singing “I wanna tell you about Texas radio and the big beat…”. The song reminded me of the giant wall size poster that adorned the front wall in my last college apartment. My roommates and I would “ask Jim” when we were confused about something or deciding upon something by taping hand written questions on the poster. It was eventually nearly covered with notes. They were always funny to read the next day and most of them didn’t quite make sense. I can’t imagine why.

Here’s that poster:

Swim and saying farewell to an Ironman

I attended the visitation for a good friend last night. Today I’ll attend the funeral. Several of us will follow on the funeral processional on our bikes. He would have loved that. He was a father, husband, and friend. He’s gone way too soon. See you on the other side, Jon.  Here’s your M-dot; you earned it Ironman.

I train in 4 week increments, going hard/building for 3 weeks and then taking a 1 week break during which I scale my workouts back to about half the normal duration. This week is my scale back week. Good timing as I have alot going on this week.

I did get a short swim in this morning. Here you go:

Warm up
•	2 x 100yd Any Stroke (even pace), rest 0:15 / 100yd
Build up
•	8 x 50yd Single Arm with fins (arm out front) 6 x left, 6 x right, 6 x full stroke, rest 0:15 / 50yd
Core
•	4 x 50yd Freestyle Swim, target time 00:36 / 50yd, rest 0:15 / 50yd
•	4 x 100yd Freestyle Swim, target time 01:10 / 100yd, rest 0:20 / 100yd
•	2 x 200yd Freestyle Swim, target time 02:20 / 200yd, rest 0:30 / 200yd

Run / Swim

I did my normal run focus / swim  this morning. I couldn’t help thinking about my friend Jon throughout. More on that as it becomes appropriate. Here’s what I did:

RUN

15 minutes at 8:34 pace

3 minutes at 6:40 pace

3 minutes at 8:34 pace

2 minutes at 6:40

2 minutes at 8:34

1 minute at 6:40

4 minutes at 8:34

30 minutes total

SWIM:

(250 swim / 100 kick / 100 pull / 50 back-breast) x 2

5 x 100

1500 total