Wrapping up Week 4!

Today was the last workout of week number 4 and I am still going strong (at least I have not missed a workout). This morning, Lauren and I went on a run for 25 minutes around the subdivision of my parents' neighborhood. We got out there around 9 and it was already starting to get hot (probably the low 90s), but it was a good run with a good sweat to go with it. I am not sure of the distance, but it was a solid 26 minute run.

Tomorrow is the start of week 5 and a challenge to the workout schedule. I am supposed to do a swim and a bike ride tomorrow, but I actually have no venue for the swim. Sooooo, I am biking in the morning and rescheduling the swim for Wednesday, when we arrive at the campground in San Angelo, TX. We are camping at a lake, so I can practice my open water swimming as well. Should be fine and I will still get all of my workouts in for the week.

Still working

Even though I am on vacation, I am continuing to work out as best as I can. Yesterday, I was able to put in a one hour bike ride (avg 16.5 mph) and get in a 25 minute swim. Although the swim was much slower than I have been swimming, it was still a pretty good workout overall. Especially, since it was 105 degrees out and as soon as I got out of the pool, I was sweating profusely.

Today was a rest day and that worked out fine since we had an Italian cook off with my family and we ate like pigs the whole day. So one day off is fine and we will make up for it in the next few weeks. I still have not missed a workout to date...

Vacation!

Well, my vacation has started, but the training has not stopped, nor will it. I completed week three and got right into week four yesterday with a 20 minute swim, followed by a 30 minute bike in the morning. The only downside was I had to ride the stationary bike in the gym, since my road bike was already loaded on the motorhome for the trip.

I have a 25 minute run scheduled for tomorrow morning. My daughters tell me they are going to get up with me at 0600 to run with me around the campground...we will see about that one. I have to get out and do it early though since we are in New Mexico and temps can get pretty high very early in the day. The temp was about 105 as we drove in this afternoon, so I definitely need to run early. Plus, tomorrow we have another 400 miles to drive to Sonora, TX for our next campground. After that, we will be at my parent's house in Cibolo, TX (on the outskirts of San Antonio)

Don't worry people! I will not miss a workout. At least, I am not planning on it...

Week Three!

Well, I blinked my eyes and week three is almost in the books. I had a good, but tough week of training. All in all, my legs were weak and sore most of the time, yet my cardio continues to improve. I had some good runs, a good bike ride on Wednesday with my friend Jon. (Great to see him back on the bike) My best performance this week was my swim yesterday. I set a new best time in the 800 at 18:46 and I was "worked" after that performance. But I can feel my form getting better in the water everyday. I am hoping to go sub-18 minutes come race day, but we shall see.

Got my 45 minute bike ride tomorrow and then it's off to Texas on Tuesday to visit the Celano family. Don't worry....I have all of my workouts planned out along the way.

Peace!!!

Sub 20 Minutes!

OK, I am excited about this...even though I know it is not very fast relatively speaking. This morning, I was able to complete the 800 yard swim in 19:36, which for me is great. Considering a few short weeks ago, I could not swim 100 yards without having to catch my breath. My swimming is coming along nicely. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the bike. Which is very surprising to me, since I have focused on cycling for so many years. Oh well, it will come around.

Week 3 is off and running!

Second Week Under the Belt!

Well, I have made it two whole weeks, without missing a workout and I am really starting to feel the momentum pushing me to work harder both during my workouts and when I am recovering.

Today, I finished off the second week with a bike ride. The training plan called for a 45 minute ride, with no specifics as to intensity or type of ride (flats, hills, etc). Since it is a beginner training plan, I am kind of making it up as I go. Somedays, I ride the flats, sometimes the hills. Today, I chose to ride to Irvine Park from my house, which is slightly uphill the entire way. Although I averaged 14.5 on the way there (first 7 miles), I did not feel good at all. It was a hot day today and I just felt like my legs were like two pieces of lead. My cardio was fine (which is a good sign), but I could not get my legs to make me work any harder.

I ended up with a 15 mile ride in roughly 58 minutes, for an average of 15.2 mph. Not very good, but I was still glad that I got out there and did it....and I have not skipped a workout. In the past, I found that these types of workouts, the ones you really have to force yourself to get up for, end up doing the most good for you afterwards. No pain, no gain, right?

This coming week is more of the same, but I plan on doing the Friday swim on the open water again with Elie. That is a blast....scary, but a blast!

Open Water

This morning was a milestone for me in my tri training program. I got the opportunity and privilege to swim with my mentor and friend, Elie. We went down to Alamitos Bay, in Belmont Shores, to swim 1000 yards in the 58 degree waters. Brrrrr. Trust me, the water is cold and it will be nice to get a wetsuit.

Elie gave me some good tips on my swimming form, but overall I am swimming well given my limited experience in the sport. For one thing, I need to kick more. I find myself just using my arms and dragging my feet along with me....not very efficient and something I need to work on. Also, not having that big black line to follow, like I have in the pool, makes navigating a straight line something of a challenge.

All in all, I was really glad that I did it. From everything I read on tris, you dont want to wait until race day for your first swim in the open water. So I will definitely include a few more of these swims in the coming weeks.

No Granny Gear!!!

I had a pretty good bike workout today at lunch. I was a bit worried since I thought it would be pretty hot out there, but it was actually not too bad. It was in the high 80's but there was a bit of a breeze which can make a huge difference on the bike.

I was impressed with this ride, not from a speed standpoint, since I only averaged 14.7 mph for the total 9 miles. But because of the fact that I stayed in the MIDDLE ring up the Newport grade and believe me....I wanted to use that granny gear so badly. I just need to switch from the comforting triple to the compact double gearing and be done with it.

The workout was supposed to be a 35 minute ride and it turned out to be pretty close. The total time was 36:59 and I was not exhausted at the end. The cycling strength seems to be coming back much faster than the swimming or the biking. But that does not surprise me since my heart has always been with cycling.

Which reminds me....IN a few days, we start Christmas in July! You cycling fans know exactly what I am talking about. Let's see if anyone that follows this blog can tell everyone what that means in a comment to this post.

Tomorrow, I am set to do the dreaded "High School" workout with a friend from work, in place of the run. It actually is a run, but has some upper body workouts interspersed in the middle. I will elaborate more in the next post.