800's On The Track and The Red Wine Theory

I have really been enjoying the track lately now that the snow is all gone. There is something about the track that you can see defined distances in front of you that you know exactly where your goal is to stop running or stop running hard.

So this morning was a 15 min easy warmup, then 6 x (800 hard, 400 easy) with a 10 min cool down.

My 800's came out as:
Interval 1: 3:26, avg HR 158, max 171
Interval 2: 3:26, avg HR 167, max 173
Interval 3: 3:25, avg HR 169, max 174
Interval 4: 3:20, avg HR 171, max 177
Interval 5: 3:19, avg HR 171, max 178
Interval 6: 3:17, avg HR 172, max 177
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/72098083

So, um, if I did 4 more of those, would that qualify for a Yasso 800 workout? You have to do 10 of them, right? This was a great workout! By the time I got home I knocked off 8 miles. I couldn't believe 8 miles went by so quickly!

So last night I polished off half a bottle of some yummy Cabernet Sauvignon. I was feeling pretty good :) The night before I ran that training half marathon in Central Park I had two awesome glasses of Malbec (my new favorite wine).

What am I getting at?

Seems like getting buzzed off of red wine has a pretty positive effect on a run the following morning. When I rode with Kristin @ The Lazy Marathoner a few times last fall, she told me she had a couple glasses of wine the night before she tackled and PR'ed Lake Placid. She was surely onto something!!!

Now despite our small sample size of red wine = good performance, the bigger issue here is that you CAN embellish in the good things in life and still put up a good performance. Yes, you can have your wine and drink it too! Some amateur age groupers see alcohol as the devil and as a negative performance item, but I say screw it!!! Drink your red wine cuz it tastes soooooooooo good! And hey! It might even give you a few good days!!!

And what is even stranger is that I have this strong craving for drinking some Barolo. I don't think I have EVER drank a glass of Barolo, but after reading up on it and it being called "The King of Wine" from Italy, I think a tasting is in order :)
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Gonna mention my "Unusual but VERY EXCITING giveaway" another time. Do you want to win a signed poster of "Rio"? An animated feature film made by yours truly? CLICK HERE to enter!

What is even cooler is that they made a "Rio" float for Carnival this year down in Rio de Janeiro!!! Here are some cools photos of our director, Carlos Saldanha, riding at the head of the float and other shots! So cool!

He is on the left in front of the flag

Isn't that amazing!

Super cool shot!

Look out for a new Angry Birds flair ;)

A Breakthrough Weekend!

First! If you haven't seen or entered my "Unusual But VERY EXCITING Giveaway" yet, please do so! I am giving away a signed "Rio" poster, signed by the folks who made the movie, aka, ME :) You have 4 chances to win it!

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This past weekend was the weekend I had been waiting for all season: The weekend where every workout is an uber success.

Saturday was another 2.5 hour ride followed by a 4 mile brick run. Sunday was a 1:45:00 min run. Lots of volume. So what are the options? 1) Sandbag the ride and brick run to save the legs for the long run? 2) Kill the legs on the ride and brick run and sandbag the long run? OR! 3) Kill your legs on the ride and brick run then murder your legs on the long run?

I went with option #3 :)

I went farther and faster on a hillier and MUCH windier ride than the previous weekend's long ride, ran faster on the brick run, then almost PR'ed my half marathon run on the long run.

It was a good weekend :)

Saturday's ride came out as 50.67 miles in 2:37:10 for a 19.34 mph avg. The wind on the way back was brutal! I was getting blown all over the road and every time a gust would nail me I would scream as loud as I could. The wind was really killing my speed averages, especially on the flats and even on some downhills. Nothing more frustrating then riding downhill and feeling like you are riding through molasses.

So my power average came out as 185 watts with 199 watts normalized. This was vs the previous weekend's ride of 178 watts @ 18.68 mph, but 3+ miles shorter and on a flatter route. Already within a week my body is responding to the long rides and is improving. Not quite there yet on the bike, but getting closer!

By the time I finished the bike, I thought my legs were just toast and that this brick run was going to suuuuuuuuuuuck. So I just started running, keeping an easy-ish pace. My legs responded well! I finished with 4 miles in 30:45 for a 7:41 pace. Splits came out as:
Mile 1: 7:48
Mile 2: 7:42
Mile 3: 7:38
Mile 4: 7:35

Woke up Sunday morning to some fresh-ish feeling legs and ran around Central Park 2X. After ~2.5 miles that rain storm that socked the Northeast got me and it was rainy-city for the next 10.6 miles. I don't mind running in the rain! Some of my best runs have been in the rain because it keeps your body cooled down. I wound up with 13.1 miles in 1:45:45, so 26 secs slower than my half marathon PR. Coach wanted me to run with a heart rate between 150-160 bpm, and I did it with a 155 average. Good to know what that heart rate zone will yield.

My splits came out as (before my GPS distance crapped out on me):
Mile 1: 8:38
Mile 2: 8:06
Mile 3: 8:23
Mile 4: 8:09
Mile 5: 7:53
Mile 6: 7:50
Mile 7: 7:52
Mile 8: 7:48
Mile 9: 8:03
Mile 10: 7:48

Then mile 11 showed a 6:37 pace and I had slowed down by that point so I knew it wasn't tracking distance correctly anymore. Fortunately I know that each loop around the park is 6.05 miles, so once I hit loop #2 @ 12.1 miles, I estimated a 0.5 mile out and 0.5 mile back, which surprisingly was accurate when I checked it on mapmyride.com! I love running around Central Park :)

Last week was some nice, but faster volume, especially on the run:
Swim: 8300 yards
Bike: 90 miles
Run: 36.46 miles

Hope you had a great weekend!

Confidence Building Workout and a Week in Review

This past weekend was nothing but outdoors! It was great! High 30's/low 40's temps never felt so good!

On Saturday I saw glimpses of my former self; I did a 2.5 hour OUTDOOR ride followed by a 4 mile brick run. Although this ride was on paper not the fastest ride I have ever done in that amount of time, it did quell a lot of self doubt that I have been feeling about myself on the bike. I saw wattage numbers that I haven't seen since August that I was able to sustain for a short period of time. For me, seeing those numbers and the way my body was able to recover mid ride really boosted my internal confidence.

I wound up with 47.09 miles in 2:31:15 for an 18.68 mph avg. Not bad considering I have 6 weeks left to fine tune the bike.

Then I ran a 4.05 miler done in 31:58 which also helped put down those confidence demons. My splits came out as:
Mile 1: 8:00
Mile 2: 7:53
Mile 3: 8:02
Mile 4: 7:44

I am still finding that I run fastest after a long ride.

The weather on Saturday was in the high 30's, but with little wind. Fortunately I wore some thicker socks so my feet didn't get as cold as two weeks ago. It was a VERY good day!

And even better I got home and my beef roast was done in the crock pot!!!!

All American Dinner!

Sunday's run was prescribed as 90 mins at a steady pace. It didn't turn out to be the best long run ever, but I did pick a pretty hilly course. I got the run in, and that was all that mattered. Wound up with 10.33 miles in 90 mins for an 8:42 avg pace. I actually weighed myself post run and came in @ 140.8 pounds. I'm down almost 10 pounds for the year! I swear I am eating TONS of food!

So this past week was a good one! It was week #8 in the training schedule. Here are my #'s:
Swim: 9000 yards
Bike: 100.27 miles (two outdoor bikes, two on the trainer)
Run: 31.35 miles
----------------
~13.5 total hours of training

After this past week, my fears are a LOT calmer now about the 70.3 down in Galveston in April. I know I could do a HIM today if I had to, but I always like to execute all of my future races better and faster than past races. I don't want to do Galveston with the excuse of it being a "training race" or a "benchmark of where I am in the season race." I want to race this one as a "race" that will obliterate my body! I want to go into this one 100% knowing that it will be bad execution that will lead to a bad day rather than my legs not being 100%.

As long as the weather holds up during March and I can get in a quality long ride every week, I think I will hit this goal.

I AM COMING FOR YOU!

I always have interesting race photos taken of me, especially in Central Park. This my latest from Sunday's race, and I look downright scary! Looks like the race photographer has it coming!!!

The Runnerrminator

This is always my favorite "weird" race photo from two years ago. The lady behind me totally cracks me up! I look to be in so much pain.

Check out that double chin! (I was about 20 lbs heavier...)

My legs have been HURTING since Sunday. On Tuesday I did a 45 min run and my legs were just screaming at me the whole time. I think I ran too hard, but I checked my heart rate data and I was right within my zones. I think my recovery zone needs to be revised lower. OR, at this point my legs are going to hurt no matter how slow I go.

Wednesday's run was the same deal. HURTING legs. I think it is time to start to seeing the deep tissue massage experts. With all of my experimentation last year with recovering from those long races, deep tissue massage was by far the most effective for recovery. I am only about 6 weeks into this. Its only going to get worse! I did do an easy spin @ around 130-140 watts for 60 mins that afternoon. This did NOT hurt and loosened my legs up a bit.

This morning's run was better. The legs are feeling looser. I get to call it a day with only one workout! haha!

It might hit 40 and sunny on Saturday. Fingers crossed I can get outside for 2 hours on the bike @ some point this weekend.

Finishing up 27 years with a BANG!

I will never forget the last day of my 27th year on this planet. My coach whooped my boo-tay this morning!!! haha! This morning was week #2 of his swim workshop. He really knows how to drop the hammer on us!

Swim:
100 WU
5 x 100 (25 right, 25 left, 50 @ 3 stroke drill)
100, count strokes per 25
5 x 100 (50 shark, 50 swim)
5 x 100 (50 paddle, 50 swim)
5 x 100 (50 fins, 50 swim)
5 x 100 (hard on 1:45, held 1:25's)
400 CD (50 paddles, 4 x 50 hard,  50 REALLY hard (35.5), 100 easy)
-----------------
3100 yards

My coach loves my stroke. I learned today that I am in the "fast" lane in the group of 16 folks (Sweet!) and that I have a very efficient stroke. We counted how many times we stroked with our right arm per 25, and my count came to be 8, as in I take 15-16 strokes per 25. The other two in my lane were @ 11 or around 22 strokes per 25. One guy is much faster than me, the other is slightly slower. So even though the one guy is faster, he uses up more energy to go faster. I feel good about this!

The big thing pointed out to me this week is that I need to work on my "catch." If I "catch" the water sooner, I will be pulling more water sooner, meaning propelling myself sooner and farther. One final thing that I am proud of is holding those 1:25's on 1:45 so late in the workout. There is one thing about hitting a 5 x 100 set in the beginning of a swim workout, but doing this at the end really skyrocketed my confidence in the pool, and its only December!!!

Sorry if I am gloating too much, but this was a REAL breakthrough swim for me!

Then we ran. 10.16 miles in 1:20:25 / 7:55 pace

Let me first mention that the group was small, only 6 of us. These guys include multiple Ironman finishers, first place podium finishers, a 9 time Kona qualifier (my coach), 17:xx 5K timers...........and me. You always hear that if you want to go faster, train with faster people. Yeah I totally signed up for the "fast" and "experienced" group. You don't get this kind of training experience by reading a book!

This run was humbling not only because of the pace, but also the freaking terrain!!! Look @ this course!

Multiple Slices of Humble Pie were eaten on those giant uphills.

And my resulting run splits:
Mile 1: 8:30
Mile 2: 7:33
Mile 3: 7:26
Mile 4: 8:36 (first big uphill)
Mile 5: 7:43
Mile 6: 7:14 (yay downhill!)
Mile 7: 7:14 (yay downhill!)
Mile 8: 9:26 (grumble grumble GIANT uphill!)
Mile 9: 7:48
Mile 10: 7:34

I needed this run. After last weekends 10K PR, this was a good eye awakening that last weekend was good, but its time (already) to step IT UP!


My poor right foot though, has taken a beating with the blisters lately. Time to bust out the moleskin and tape!

Sorry, its kinda gross....

That is all for me this weekend. Tonight I celebrate my brother turning 30 and me turning 28! Our birthdays are only 4 days apart. I am taking tomorrow OFF!

New 10K PR!!!!

I just got back from the NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10K in Central Park. I busted up my old stand alone 10K PR by 2:28 for a new time of 44:54. I wanted to break 45 mins today and I GOT IT!


Splits:
Mile 1: 7:23
Mile 2: 7:12
Mile 3: 7:02
Mile 4: 7:15
Mile 5: 7:25 (that mile HURT!)
Mile 6: 7:04
Last .2: 1:30

Course:

The course was one full lap of the park in the counter clockwise direction plus a bit extra. Mile 1 was on top of the Harlem Hills, so getting in a good warm up was key. I ran from 83 & Lex all the way to the park and around the top of the park and a bit extra to the start. I guess I did a broken 30 minute warm up with one good hill. I am glad I did this hill at the beginning of the race instead of the end (a bit of foreshadowing here...)

After mile 1 I was on cruise control until about mile 3 when I didn't feel so great anymore. The effects of going hard were catching up with me. It was mostly mental now. I just tried to put my mind elsewhere. Hitting the mile 4 marker helped me fantasize about PR'ing every distance from 10K and shorter. (which I think I did for the 4 and 5 mile distances).

Unfortunately mile 5 just killed me. There is this hill just past 72nd street & The Boathouse that is one of those hills that isn't steep, it isn't short but it also isn't long. It is just at that right pitch and length that it doesn't let up. I could hardly breath by the top and I knew my pace for this mile was shot. The 7:25, the slowest mile of the race, showed it.

Fortunately after this hill it is basically flat to the finish. I was able to recompose and redeem myself with that 7:04 mile 6 split. At mile 6, I looked at my watch and saw something like 43:3X. I knew it was going to be a close call if I wanted to hit my goal of breaking 45 mins in the 10K. I honestly think I wasn't going to do it. When I turned the corner onto the transverse, the finish was right there and I had a few extra seconds to spare.

Overall the race sucked! haha! No no no, the time was awesome, but 10K's just suck in general because they HURT! They are the most F-ing painful distance in my opinion, or else I need to run some more 5K's. With a 10K you just gun it from the start and hold on for dear life to the finish, since its going to be over before you know it. THAT is why it hurts because it is a redlining paced race that you wish would end about 10 mins sooner.

But 10K's are also a good measure of fitness, in my opinion. It shows how much volume you have, BUT also your speed work, since it is basically a 45 min sprint, in my case.

I think this is why I prefer the Half Marathon distance the most. You don't have to be breathing hard, but yet you can still hit the gas.

The 2010 Season is officially over for me. Kinda symbolic that it ended in the SAME EXACT place is started @ East 96th Street in the park last January 9th. After becoming injured after Timberman and scrapping the NYC Marathon, I wanted one last hurrah! before 2011 started. This was it, and it was a good one. I feel like 2010 was a complete season.

Now let the DOMS show up in 36 hours! haha!

Running from November; Swimming to December

November was a great running month for me @ 104 miles, my highest ever run volume month and 2nd 100+ mile month ever.

This was also a huge confidence boosting month. After my foot injury at the end of August and all through September, my running confidence broke. I dreaded rebuilding my way back.

Well, I did it by following the 10% rule and stayed injury free. It took a solid 6 weeks, but it worked and I am ready to knock a 10K literally out of the park (Central Park) this weekend.

What helped was I am running 5 times a week and keeping the long runs down. My longest run since August 22nd was a 10 miler done only this past weekend. Frequency, I have found, has been paying bigger dividends than shear volume. I added a speed workout on the track once a week for some variety.

December will be a swimming month. I am taking two swim workshops that will go into January. One will be with my coach, the other with a tri club over in Greenwich, CT. The cool thing about the tri club workshop is that we will do a 500 yard TT the first week, then repeat it the last week to show if we progressed, and if so, by how much.

Today I did one for practice with my super swimming buddy, Bob, who back in the day once went 4:50 for the 500 @ a meet. He gave me a good strategy for the 500: Cruise the first 200, build the middle 100, then gun it for the last 200.

I did just that today and wound up with a 7:38 for a just-under 1:32 pace. Considering I went a 8:47 18 months ago, I am going to take this as a HUGE improvement considering I am not in the best swimming shape right now.

Looking forward to the swim workshops ahead and hopefully I can get my long distance pace down.

Solid Run in Central Park

I had a great run this morning in Central Park. The 40 degrees and sunny temps made this ideal running weather. I mostly had the park to myself this morning! Is everyone still away?

I am racing a 10K in 7 days in Central Park, so this morning's 10 miler in Central Park was the last long run leading up the race, and also more course recon. I have ran around that park so many times, but I rarely visit the top of the park where the good hills are. It is always a good reminder how that one hill going counter clockwise up towards Harlem can really bite you. I did the top loop 3 times to reacquaint myself with that hill. I felt the best and fastest towards the top, so the amount of running that I have put in over the past 5-6 weeks is really starting to pay off. I am feeling more and more myself again!

Here is this morning's run:



I was proud of my splits. I stayed pretty consistent.
10 miles in 1:20:00 (flat!) for an 8:00 min/mile pace:
Mile 1: 7:59
Mile 2: 8:06
Mile 3: 8:05
Mile 4: 7:59
Mile 5: 7:53
Mile 6: 7:54
Mile 7: 8:19
Mile 8: 7:59
Mile 9: 7:44
Mile 10: 8:01

My current stand alone 10K PR is 47:22 for a 7:38 pace that I set just over a year ago. I think with the "Herd" effect from these Central Park NYRR races, that I am hoping to set a new PR next Sunday.

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving and you were able to get outside for a Turkey Trot or long run to burn off those excess calories!

6:44 to "Bad Romance"

Whenever I am in the "this sucks big time" zone, aka I am going REALLY fast or just pushing it because my body is about to crap-out, a Lady Gaga song ALWAYS pops into my head.

Why Lady Gaga?

Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps because her tunes are uber catchy? I don't hate Lady Gaga's music, nor do I go scrambling for her new songs. They just love to pop into my head.

But it's not like the entire song goes through my head. NOPE! Just a main verse becomes a broken record. Like for example this morning @ the track when I did my stand alone mile, during the first two laps all I heard was:


"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"
"I am bad romance, oooohhhhhhhaaaaooooohhhhh"

That would drive you insane, right? RIGHT!?!?!

When starting the third lap my breathing got really heavy. So I concentrated on my breathing. Sorry Ms. Gaga, but you got the boot. So instead what I heard?

"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Hee Hee, Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

Everytime I did a "Negative Ghostrider" tower flyby of some unfortunate "track walker" I could just hear their thoughts, "WTF is this kid doing this early in the morning and WHY THE F is he making such funny noises!"

The best noise of the day?

The signature Garmin "BEEP!" that said you are DONE!

And a 6:44 showed

:)

Have a good GOBBLER GOBBLER day everyone!!!

Manhattan Half Marathon, race report, BIG PR!!!

The goal of this race was to break the 2 hour barrier that has plagued me over my last 3 attempts at the half marathon distance. I SMASHED it this morning with a time of 1:47:58, for an 8:15 pace. My prior PR was 2:00:10. So 12 mins faster?

Splits:
Mile1: 8:39
Mile2: 8:28
Mile3: 8:08
Mile4: 8:19
Mile5: 8:11
Mile6: 8:04
Mile7: 8:00
Mile8: 8:09
Mile9: 7:22
Mile10: 7:58
Mile11: 8:04
Mile12: 7:55
Mile13: 8:59

I feel like the race wound up in 4 pieces, because my legs felt different 4 times. After a 1.5 mile warm up, the first 3 miles were basically shaking the rust off the legs. I wasn't too thrilled with my first 2 miles after seeing my splits and I thought that I was in for a VERY rough day. Fortunately by the time I got to the top of the hill at the top of the park my legs FINALLY loosened up and I went into autopilot mode until mile 8. I felt fine and I was comfortable.

After mile 8 I switched another gear and went into the pain fog. I knew it was going to hurt (and boy did it hurt!) and just trudged through it and it paid off. My splits started to decrease and the damage started. By the time I crested the top of the hill for the last time at the top of the park, my legs entered into the third stage of pain and I knew it was mental going forward. I realized that I was going to go under 2 hours, but now it was how FAR under 2 hours did I want to go. Well, I let my legs decide.

I held the pain until mile 12 and then another switch went off, which was just surviving to the finish. I felt fast still, but my 9 min split showed otherwise. It was ok, anything at this point was pure gravy.

The funniest part of the race occured around mile 12.5 when this older non runner type woman on the sidelines asked a runner in front of me in a thick NY accent, "What are you all running for?" The runner responded with simply, "Health." Woman: "Health?!?!? Oh gaaaawwwwd." That was enough to give me a chuckle and survive the final .6 miles. Yes, we endurance athletes are an intriguing bunch!

As for my race tactics: My breakfast was appropriate 2 hours before the gun time. Bowl of cheerios, two slices of toast with butter, banana, glass of OJ. I shot a Gu 15 mins before the gun, and took another @ mile 6.5. I got water 3 times on the course. For pacing, I started off slower (not that the legs would let me go any faster) and increased the pace until survival for the final 1.1 miles. My tactics paid off and I "get" this distance now. I would repeat these tactics again and with more and more running, I think I can bring my time down further.

Today was a SUCCESS!!!

For my post race meal, I turned back into a 5 year old and had PB&J on white bread with chocolate milk. Sooooo gooood!

Chock full O' workouts

Its go time! Monday marked the official start of "Base" training. Good bye prep period!

No more, "Oh well, I missed a workout because [fill in the blank]." No more missed workouts from here on out (if a miracle happens ;) )!

The next 12 weeks will define how big I go this season. Big meaning results. As long as I follow the plan and stay uber consistent, I should see the results that I am wanting. It's as simple as that! And the great thing about the base period is that it is all fairly low intensity; you just go and grind it out and gradually increase volume over time.

So after Saturday's 5 mile race, I took it easy for the rest of the day and slept. It felt gooood!

Sunday, I was on the trainer for 1:45:00. Used the TT bike and alternated between 5 mins sitting up, 5 mins in the aero position, and standing every 10 mins for a butt break. The legs were smooth and was in the Endurace zone (zone 2) for the entire time.


Monday was back into the pool @ lunch. Both Bob and I were NOT feeling 100%, so we did our best to get this much done:
500 WU
4 x 100
2 x 50
500
200 EZ
300 EZ
50 to get back and forth to clock side of pool
-------------------------
2050 yards total

And since I could NOT get up Monday morning, I moved my trainer session to last night. I did another 1:13:xx.


After finishing around 10-ish, then stretching and showering, it was off to bed around 11-ish, only to get up @ 5:45 for 5 mile run up @ the Kensico Dam. (Yeah, tell me about it! sleep, workout, eat, stretch, shower, sleep, workout, eat, stretch, sleep.......and shower!)

We held 10 min miles......haha! Boy was that a change from 8:05's only a few days ago!

Got home for more stretching. I am finding that I have been spending a LOT of time stretching/foam roller/icing after every workout. Yes, it takes up a lot of time, but my knee is starting to feel more "normal" finally. The foam roller is a miracle device!

I go in for "THE ELBOW" tonight! Wish me luck!

a running start to the new year, my cockpit setup, and do you like spicy?

I hit the ground running (literally) this year by putting in a short 3 miler to finish in 27 mins on the dot. It was 33 degrees outside....that temp actually feels warm now!

While watching hours of Ironman World Championships on the Universal Sports channel I got motivated to install my Speedfil hydration system onto the P2:

I tested it out on the trainer and I don't have to move my head to drink, only my left arm and hand. The tube clips in easily between my PowerTap computer and the aero bars. In my opinion, this beats Profile Design's aero drink and tube mounted and rear mounted water bottles. With my XLAB bento box, I think my setup is complete and will keep me in the aero position for the entire bike portion of a race. If anything, I will add a Gu flask mount.

Finally, here is a recipe a guy from work gave me. It sure is filling, and its SPICY!

Vegetarian Grain and Bean Mix

Grain Mix:
1/2 c Israeli couscous
1/4 c Orzo (green or red)
1/2 c Quinoa

Spice Mix:
2 tsp. Chipotle chili powder
2 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Granulated Garlic
1 tsp. Minced Onion
1 tsp. Kosher Salt

Bean Mix:
1 can black beans
1 4oz can chopped green chili

Use a 2:1 ratio for the liquid:grains. 2.5 cups in this case Add water (or vegetable stock for more flavor), spice mix, and grains to a pot and cook till all the water is absorbed or cooked off. Add the beans and green chili and stir. Viola!!!

I'm thinking of adding some salsa, shredded cheddar and sauteed bell peppers and onion and sticking it all inside a tortilla. Yum!

back in the pool (again) and a run

I feel like I sound like a broken record. "Hey everyone, I'm back in the pool AGAIN!" Wait, didn't this guy just announce the same thing every 2 weeks for the past 2 months? Well, yes, I have.

After last week's disasters, Bob and I went to the pool yesterday; I was litterly putting my toes in the water and putting my goggles on when the goggle STRAP SNAPPED!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Panic ensued...

Fortunately Bob has been swimming since he was 5 days old and has probably fixed a 100 pairs of snapped goggle straps, so within 30 seconds I was half down the pool.

I was able to get in 1800 yards; he got in 2600 before we were cooked and called it a day.

Then this morning I put in 4 miles in some rather tropical 34 degree weather :)

"Caddieshack" and some hills

After a broken car on Monday, sickness on Wednesday, my super swimmer co-worker, Bob, and I finally made it to the pool on Friday @ lunch. We were all suited up, about to get our passes stamped and jump into water, wheeeeeeeeeeen Bob suddenly points into the water and yells at the lifeguard to look. I will now reference the movie "Caddieshack" and let you figure out the rest. Swim didn't happen (thankfully!).

--------------------------------------------------------
Yesterday I hopped onto the trainer for 30 mins before I lost interest and my legs could go no longer. Yeah....30 mins.....I haven't been on the bike in 2 weeks and my legs were not working. Oh well.
--------------------------------------------------------
Then this morning my super runner buddy, Belden, and I went out for a cold run. He led; I followed; we did hills!

My legs were MUCH better than yesterday's failed trainer ride. I went into machine mode and held a solid pace despite the elevation. This was a good run and Belden introduced me to some nice new terrain with zero car traffic. We ended up with 8.39 miles.

Ironman New Orleans 70.3, ITS ON!

I finally pulled the trigger on New Orleans last night. I hadn't planned on doing a race this early in the season (April 18th), but based upon my training plan, there is no way that I wouldn't be in shape for the race already, as long as I treat it as a training race. I won't have the speed at that point in the season, but I should have the endurance and volume to go slow and steady and basically use this race as a test for better pacing and ESPECIALLY better nutrition to fix some errors that I made @ Timberman last August.

I realized a few weeks ago that you are not going to get better at something (i.e. Half Ironman distances) by only doing it once per year. I'd rather do it 3 times in one year :)

So this means that season #3 of triathlon will officially begin next Monday!
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I got in a 4 mile run this morning. I felt 100% better on this run compared to yesterday's.

post sickness run

My stomach bug (which my ENTIRE family has) is, dare I say, gone? Im able to eat! Even though when I do eat I feel full for hours (which is awesome!) but I don't have much of an appetite even when I do become hungry.

I felt strong enough to go for my scheduled 5 mile run today, which I did @ lunch so that I could get a full night's of sleep last night.

So its December 3rd, and its 62 degrees outside! global warming?

Which meant that I was out in shorts and a short sleaved jersey. I felt like I should have been out on the bike.

But anyways, the run was one that I was very very thankful have over with. From not eating very much over the past 48 hours, my strength has not returned 100% but I still managed to run an 8:48 pace for a 44 min flat time over a somewhat hilly course. My stomach was bothering me the most, but I think that was due to the fact that I downed 3 bowls of Cheerios 90 mins before I ran....so either my stomach is still finicky, or that was just a stupid idea. Im going with stupid idea :) Either way, I can only liken the overall feeling of the run to fingernails down a chalkboard.

I feel VERY victorious to have done this run. I can only see up from here...and I am VERY thirsty.

operation 100 & new shoes!

I just looked at my training plan for the month of December, and the # of miles that I am scheduled to run is 103. I am very superstitious, so I don't want to jinx myself, but this is gonna be an awesome goal to accomplish and will put me in a GREAT spot for January's Half Marathon.

Already I'm down 4, 99 bottles of beer to go! Ran in some mighty fine 32 degree weather this morning. It was brink and my face hurt for the first mile, but I better enjoy it, cuz this is gonna feel tropical compared to what I am about to encounter over the next 3 months. The coldest I have ran in is 17 degrees, and I had to stop once for traffic and I instantly froze. In other words, once you are moving, DONT STOP! haha!

Also this morning, I broke out my new pair of shoes. This is probably my 5th or 6th pair of Mizuno Wave Riders. Great shoes. I felt like I had trampolines under my feet and they didn't hurt after the run.

7 miles to round out November

I finished up a personal record running month this morning by knocking off 7 miles; I'll end up with 73.78.....which for a seasoned marathoner is probably a week's worth of volume, but for me, is a milestone. I'm really trying to nail some confidence when running a half marathon. I want to race it for once instead of running to finish. I have 8 weeks till the NYRR Manhattan Half, and I am in a good place right now. Im for the first time consistently running 4 times/week and my body is able to take the abuse. I was feeling it a bit in my knees a bit in the final mile this morning.

Today's run: http://connect.garmin.com/player/19798160

fueled by turkey

I went "easy" last night on the turkey day dinner. Easy meaning only 3 slices of pie. haha!

So I had ZERO hunger issues this morning for my 4 mile run. I like running on holiday weekends because there is ZERO traffic in the mornings. Its this erie feeling like running through a ghost town, especially when you live in suburbia. I sometimes think of the beginning to "28 Days Later."

And when it comes to zombies, I always refer to Rule # 1 of "Zombieland,": CARDIO.

check!

I haven't been on the bike in almost a week and my legs are not feeling 100% right now. I think I had a peak week last week because I never once felt fatigued, wheras this week I have only ran and my legs feel like crap every run. Maybe tomorrow I'll head out for a short ride.

I hopped into the pool on Wednesday and did 2300 yards. I felt wasted by the end, but at least I didn't feel as wasted. Monday is gonna be a big day in the pool.

6 miler

Started the morning off with a tough 6 miler. I did 4 yesterday, so this made 10 in 2 days. The first 2 miles felt great, but by mile 5 the legs were hurting. The final mile felt better since I knew this pain was coming to an end. Its only going to get harder from here in the next few weeks! This was a good character building day.

Around the mile 5 marker is a 3/4 mile portion of trail running, which is spectacular. Saw a big beethoven type dog that from a distance looked like a black bear. Then soon after that was an absolutely GORGEOUS pure white Boxer. He was not on a leash and ran along side me for a bit to say hello. That lifted my spirits a bit.

I am finally reading Dean Karnazes' "Ultramarathon Man." Its been a quick read so far; Im only half way through it, but man, he is a BAMF! I think im about to start reading the part about the Death Valley ultra. Melted shoes anyone?