The Madness - that is training for an IronMan

Changing a flat tire

2007-03-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

This morning I met up with Donna for our usual Tuesday morning run. Nice hilly run on a beautiful morning. She cracks me up, it crossed her mind to do an easier run, but that's what Thursdays are for :) Anyway, the run started of well and we talked pretty much all the way up. We are getting used to this hill and very comfortable in that we are able to talk as we run. The steady downhill after the first hill was great - we go even more talking in, then on to the rollers before the last hill. The surprising part of the 2nd(big) hill is that we both took turns leading and I didnt think we were flying up, but it took as 1 sec longer than the fastest time (6min 38sec) we have done. The run down was great.
After the run, we just into our cars and headed out. We both take the same route to work, though Donna gets off the freeway before I do. I noticed as she drove past me on the freeway, that her tire was flat. I gave her a call and asked her to pull over. Here we were on the side of the freeway changing her tire. There were lots of laughs amid the tire changing. Talk about an interesting way to start off the day :)

why on earth do I feel like this????

2007-03-04T21:23:00.000-08:00

That is the question I kept asking myself throughout the workout on Saturday. On Friday night I felt like I was getting a cold. I made sure to hydrate and drank plenty of tea to easy the tickle in my throat. Maybe that was it, the caffeine in the tea my have dehydrated me. I was leading my bike group on a fairly easy bike ride. There were a few hills integrated into the ride here and there, but this is a ride that I had done in the past with no problem. It just seemed like I was sucking wind throughout the whole ride. Boy was I glad when we finished that ride. After getting back, Coach Steve let me know that he wanted me to lead another group for the 2nd half of the workout. I was glad to do that, but halfway through the ride, I had to let them know that I would be riding more in the back, than trying to lead them. At the end of the workout, I was super thirsty and hungry as no tomorrow. I felt much better after a sandwich and some Gatorade. :)

Lead at Track workout

2007-03-01T21:18:00.000-08:00

For Thursday night track practice, I was assigned lead of one of the workouts. I was incharge of run drills. The team was divided into 5 groups, thus I had to go over the running drills with 5 different group. I love running, so this was no issue for me. The head Coach, Steve, asked me to pace myself, but I didnt feel like I was being too aggressive. The workout went well. I especially enjoyed the last group, they seemed happy to be working with me, or it was the fact that this was their last workout group for the night. Either way, we had a particularly cheerful time.

why did the turkey cross the road???

2007-03-01T09:20:00.000-08:00

out for a recovery run this morning with Donna and David. Since it's a recovery run, we were going for something nice, flat and easy(then again, is anything ever easy). We set out for a paced 5.5 mile run. Talked pretty much all the way through the run. I think there was an itch to pick up the pace(maybe we were taking it to easy), but we just maintained. You never know what you'll see when you run at rancho. On the way back in from the run, there were a couple turkeys "grazing". As we approached they decide to cross the path. I dont think Donna saw them until the very last minute and this freaked her out. I had to burst out laughing. Usually she says that 4 legged animals freak her out, but these only had 2. thus the question, why did the turkeys cross the road?

wednesday swim

2007-02-28T16:23:00.000-08:00

was up early this morning to get in the pool by 6am. I made it there a little after 6am. The swim went well, especially since I hadnt been in the pool in a while. quick summary of the workout:
warm up:
300 yd swim
100 yd kick
200 yd pull
Ramp up
8x50 sprint (evens freestyle odds IM)
Kick set:
3x100(50kick/50 flutter)
Main set:
400 yd
2x200 yd descent
there is more, but that's all I got to.
Cool down
200 yd

Total yardage 2300

That's the longest swim so far this season. I am setting a high goal of 3100 yards for the work out in about 3 weeks

zero power in the legs

2007-02-27T15:53:00.000-08:00

Tuesday morning run with Donna, only this time we had a whole crew show up. Donna invited a couple of her running buddies and her coworker David(who I have mentioned in prior posts). As we started the run, she warned me that these girls are fast. The run starts with about a 1/4 mile run then a good 3/4 mile ascent. Half way up the hill, they were gone. We had to push a little harder as we approached the top to catch up to them so that they didnt get lost. This was the start of a trend. I didnt run much with these girls the rest of the run. after the initial hill, there is a nice descent which gives me a good time to rest my legs and prepared for the rollers then the big hill. As we started the rollers, my legs felt flat, heavy... I had no lift. I thought that it was just the start of the rollers and I should get a little lift after a little bit. I took advantage of the little declines letting my legs loose. Ahhhh, the big hill. The fast girls were already on the climb when we got there. I led the 2nd group, but soon realized this wasnt going to be another speed race to the top. I was totally flat, I felt some soreness in my legs as we were climbing. I started thinking back to whether or not I had stretched my quads after the run on Sunday - I dont think I did. That is not good, and may have been the reason I wasnt able to get any lift as I was going up the hill. Took 6min 51secs to get to the top. The downhill was just that, downhill except is was wet so I had to watch my step. Made it back ok, and did a little stretching. I have to be better at doing that.

got's to get this in

2007-02-26T11:51:00.000-08:00

I would hate to forget what I did last week so here is a quick breakdown. Monday - nothing :) Tuesday - met up with Donna and her coworker David at 6am(that was early). When I got up that morning, I thought it was going to be a difficult day out on the run. It turned out to be one of the fastest run we had done on that trail, thanks in big part to Donna saying she wanted to power up the hill because she doesnt really get a chance to do speed work. As we approached the second(grand) hill, she asked me to lead. I started my stop-watch to get an idea of how long it takes us to get to the top and powered away. The pace was pretty high, and we went step for step up that hill. took a 6mins 38seconds. I havent timed us again, but stay tuned. Wednesday was a swim day. another 2100 yards after a long break from the pool. Felt great afterwards. Thursday morning run we did about 5.5 miles flat to rolling hills, nice and easy and track practice in the evening. Friday I decided to rest because Saturday was going to be a looooonng workout. Saturday we were doing hill repeats on the bike. I hadnt done these in a long time. Turned out to be a great day for a ride. Sunday was a captain's run. The run was at Campbell park which is about 1.5 miles from my house, so I ran there(nice lil warmup) and the did a 50 minute run. all went well. I hope to be able to update my blog daily from here forward. Be on the look out for that.

Week 3 (Valentines week)

2007-02-21T11:40:00.000-08:00

Love is in the air. It always is, but we find a way to only make it important on Feb 14th. Monday was another off day(love my days off). Did some stretching and stayed off my feet to help with the recovery. Tuesday was an entertaining run with Donna at Rancho. It's funny sometimes because we have all kinds of stories to tell on the run and I forget that we are running. The hills kicked our rears, also referred to getting a good workout in :) Wednesday - I slacked. It was valentine's day. I spent the morning with Michele, had breakfast and just chilled before we both headed into work. Thursday, another morning run with Donna and track practice with the Team that evening. Friday - I made it to the pool and swam 2100 yards. Since I started swimming in the off season, I have seen drastic improvements in my stroke and endurance in the water. Saturday was finally a fantastic day to work out. I think it was in the mid 70s, just a beautiful day. We did the marker sets on the bike, which had been delayed a week. Sunday - went for a run with Sandy M and Nicholas on the Los Gatos Creek Trail. Nice easy 4 mile run.

Week 2 Summary

2007-02-14T11:32:00.000-08:00

I need to keep this page up to date. Give a more realistic view of how my training is coming along. That said, I am a few weeks behind, so I dont remember all the finite details of week 2-3 workouts :(. My apologies. This turned out to be a little of a challenging week. As usual, Monday was my off day. Tuesday, I ran at Rancho with the Donna - this was a hilly run, but now I am getting used to it. I had a good idea of what was coming up next. Wednesday, I took another day off(not good, I know) Thursday, Donna and I met up for a recovery hilly run. In the evening I worked out with the Team at the track. We are still in the "establishing a base" phase so nothing too challenging as yet. Friday - I skipped my swim workout. Saturday - we were supposed to do a marker set on the bike, but it was raining and the roads were too wet for a ride against time.

first week of the season

2007-02-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

The first week of the training season turned out great. I didnt get a chance to write daily about each work out, so here is a quick summary. My workout schedule is slightly different than the rest of my teammate. My schedule works out better with the rest of the things I have going.
Monday - my designated rest day. I went to the gym, but actually didnt lift weight because my friend Courtney wanted to play basketball
Tuesday - is a run day. Met up with Donna and a co-worker of hers(David) at Rancho for a morning run. I met them at the first parking lot(which I had never been to) for the run. The run starts off with a long hill(about a mile by my estimation). I was not ready for this, so I was sucking air on the way up. I tried to conserve some energy because I didnt know what was up ahead. I hadnt been on this route before, so attacking the hill was not a smart idea. After the first hill is a long downhill that brings you right past the farm. There were some steady rollers before we got to the big hill. This hill was steep and lots of short switchbacks. I was glad when we got to the top. Coming down was a breeze. Nice steady pace
Wednesday - swim day - Swam with the Los Gatos Master group at Los Gatos High School. Love the pool, and Pete Kain is always lending a helpful hand
Thursday - 2nd run day of the week - again at Rancho with Donna and David. This time around I knew the route, knew where the hills were so I had a much better run.
Also on Thursday we had our first team track work out. This was more of a meet and great track practice.
Friday - 2nd swim day of the week - I worked on my stroke. Trying to be more efficient, hopefully that leads to an improved swim speed :)
Saturday - the first team weekend workout - Being that this was the first bike ride and there are some on the team that don't know the rules of riding, we went out for a short ride to get people used to ride in groups and on the rode. I was a little bit nervous before that ride but everything turned out well.

on to week 2...................

ah ha - a new season

2007-01-28T22:41:00.000-08:00

We had the kickoff for the new tri season this past weekend. Lots of new faces and lots of faces from the past. There was a lot of positive energy in the building, smiles. I am looking forward to a great season.

Making it to the Main Set

2006-11-15T09:01:00.000-08:00

We (Bev and I) set a couple goals when we started swimming with the Los Gatos Masters Swimming. 1) be consistent with our swim workout 2) learning how to do tumble turns. These were all goals for the first 2 months. This is plenty to work with being that we are just building a base, but as with everything goals evolve or more get added. For the first few workouts, we did the regular warm up but thereafter did our own workout. I set a personal goal to able to do the workout on the board. The workout starts with a warm up, then a kick set, then a build followed by the main set, followed by drills and a cool down. I finally made it into the main set. The goal is to make through the whole workout.............. I'll keep you updated

Friday Morning Swin

2006-11-03T10:23:00.000-08:00

oh what a beautiful day to swim. I hadnt swam in about a week and a half. Got to the pool a little after 6am and and the early birds were taking the covers off the pool. Shared a lane with Bev and one other guy whom we didn't know. We got a lot of good pointers from Pete Kain on swim strokes and rolling of our hips. Bev and I set a couple goals: work on tumble turns, and making it to the pool consistently. I have a personal goal of bieng able to do the complete workout before the end of the year.

getting back in the pool

2006-10-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

Beverly and I joined the Los Gatos Masters Swimming program last week. It's taught/guided by Pete Kain. This is my first time in a masters program, and I am looking forward to the experience. Swimming is my weakest sport (from a Triathlon point) thus the area that I need the most work on. We meet at the pool at 6am weds & fridays and after 3 meeting thus far, I feel like I am getting stronger in the pool. Last week, Bev was talking to me about my stroke and how I needed to reach over the barrel. This has helped out a lot and I feel like I have more power in my stroke. Today we worked on kick drills. I am horrible at kicking. My feet drag and I dont feel like I am moving forward. That means I need to work on my core. Strong core = straight back which will help bring my legs up.

Nike Women's Half Marathon

2006-10-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

Oh the title should say it all. It's a women's marathon, though guys can participate in it. For a second year in a row, I crashed the race. From right to left: Michele, Betty, Hilda (Betty sister), and Tina were all registered - I was just a tag along. None of the girls trained for this run. Running 13.1 miles cold turkey is not easy nor is it fun. We were all about to find out. The run started off well, and we were having fun all through the race. There were some pretty rough patches, but all in all we hang out together for the bulk of the race and talked and these girls have stories for days :) Post race, we were all sore, some more than others. lesson learned - train for the race :)

Run @ Rancho San Antonio

2006-09-20T14:32:00.000-07:00

This morning I met up with Donna to run at Rancho San Antonio. We are both working on our base training. That said, this was a relaxed run, quick 5 miles then on to work. The run went well, we were both out of breathe as we went up some of the little inclines. It was more of a chatty run then anything else. we were both pretty happy on the way back in. The goal is to get out there as much as possible.

Running @ the Dish

2006-09-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

This morning I met up with my running buddy G to run the dish. It was his first time running there and my first time back in a long time. We are both trying to get back into prime running shape as the winter approaches. For those that have run at the dish, you know that first hill at the main entrance. We were both breathing pretty hard by the time we got to the top of it, so at the fork, we went right(the easier way). The run went well, though we both noted that we have a lot of work to do moving forward.

Riding the Calaveras Loop

2006-09-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

It's the final weekend of summer triathlon. That said, I am not doing one this weekend, but this is the start of the off season. For the off season, I plan to do more riding and running events. One of the guys @ work mentioned a century ride he is doing in Nov. I figured that this would be a good ride for me to do being that I havent ridden over 60 miles ever. To start training for this ride Carlos and Jeff met up @ Cisco to ride the calaveras loop. It's a hilly 23 mile ride that usually takes me a good 2 hrs. the three of us hadnt been on a bike in about a month so we took it relatively easy, though Jeff is a monster and get this - he is on a mountain bike. It was challenging getting up the hill. Had some good conversations on the way up and back down. The goal is to get more riding in during that week and over the weekend.

lonely day out there

2006-08-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

This is a break down of our (Michele aka KB, Betty aka B-Fresh and me Darkness) day at Vineman.

The weekend started off with us making the drive up to Windsor (in Sonoma county) to pick up our race packets. The drive was long, not any longer that driving up to Santa Rosa, but I think we had the race on our mind and that was weighing us down. This was an interesting race because it had two different transition areas for T1 and T2. We had to setup T2 the night before the race.

Race Day:

We(Michele and I) spent the night at my Mom's house, so the drive to the start was a quick 20 mins. That morning we went through the usual pre-race routine. We got up early, fixed breakfast, packed and headed out for the race.

Swim:
For the first time, I was in the very last wave. I'll go into this later, but it made me much more appreciative of the volunteers and support staff. The gun went off for the final wave at 8:30am. About 5 mins into the swim, I had a little chuckle. I am not a strong swimmer, so I thought to myself "wouldnt it be interesting if I was the last one to come in out of the swim?" This thought actually kept me going throughtout the swim. The swim is in the Russian River, so you swim up stream and turn around and swim downstream. As I was heading up stream, it seemed like the buoys were placed farther and farther away. I kept think that the next one coming up was the last one. It never seemed to end on the way out. Coming back in was much faster. At the turnaround, the river was less that 3 feet deep. I was actually touching the floor of the river as I swam. I later on heard that some people actually walked at the turnaround. As I was heading back in, I took my time to admire the trees lining the river(that's all I could see) and enjoy the lifeguards escort to the finish of the swim. I knew I was the last one in the river and it wasnt just by a short distance, it was a long while. I was glad to get done with the swim, on to the bike.......

Bike:

It started with a race official telling me in the transition that he was going to pull my timing chip because I didnt make the swim cut off. I actually made the swim cutoff with plenty of time to spare. He went on to tell me that he had already sent out the highway patrol so there was no one out there to escort me on the bike. I started off the bike with a sour taste in my mouth about the whole race. There were a lot of negative thoughts that went through my mind about the race so far, about how things were going that morning. I decided not to tlet these thoughts get the better of me and instead channel my energy to making it through the race. I knew that I was at the risk of not making the swim cut-off, but I surely can make the bike and run cutoff. Another thing that took my mind off this whole situation was the great scenery out there on the bike. We were riding through vineyards, beautiful landscapes, parts of Sonoma County that I had never seen. As I approaches mile 13, I remember Michele saying that the water stops were every 13 miles. At mile 13 there was nothing, no panic here, but I wonder where the water stop was. Well, a little less than 1/2 mile up the road was the water stop. I was surprised to see people there when I got there. Wow, you guys are still here....... on top of that, they were Team in Training.... how exciting. My blood was pumping, my legs pedaled a tad bit faster, then I made the mistake of trying to ride through a water stop. This need a little explaination; unless you are a pro, or know how to grab water on the ride, it's best to stop and get what you need. I made the mistake of trying to grab water and gatorade as I rode through the water stop. I drop the water, but picked up the gatorade. I kept riding knowing that I may eventually run out of fluids and that would not be good, especially as the weather was starting to warm up. Around mile 20, I finally cought up the the Highway Patrol officer that was escorting the last rider. I couldnt believe that I actually caught up to the last rider..... This was momentus, I felt the energy rush to my legs, pedal way I felt......I eventually passed 11 people on the ride. From being the last one out of the water to catching up with 11 people felt great. As I was coming into the transition from the bike to the run, I hear someone say "baybuh" It had to be and was Michele. Her and Betty were just heading out on the run. Wow, didnt think I would see them through out the whole race. I rush into the transition park my bike, find my running stuff and head out on the run.

Run:

as I started heading out, I felt the effects of pushing it, especially for the last few miles on the bike. My quad muscles were twitching. I hard to pace myself otherwise I would start cramping up. But I wanted so badly to catch up to the girls. I was looking forward to talking to somebody. We had training for this race together and it would be extra special to run with them. Around every corner I went I was expecting to see them up ahead, but that was not the cse. These girls had turned on the gas. I had my work cut out to catch up with them. I eventually caught up to them at mile 4, but it was a lot of work. From there on we run/walked together. I was so happy to have company, and we worked well together to stay motivated and keep each other moving. We couldnt wait for the run to end, as we approached the finishing shoot, our friend Chienyo came out to meet up us and run with us. Yes we were almost done. As we went through the shoot, all our friends that had done the race were cheering us on. It was great of them to wait around for us.

This turned out to be a great race, a great day, and the best thing was I was able to do part of the race with my training partners Michele and Betty. I loved it, and may do it next year too....... :)

San Jose International Tri

2006-06-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we participated in the San Jose International Triathlon. It was an Olympic distance triathlon(1.5K swim, 40K bike & 10K run). There were quite a few people from past teams and other friend that were in the race too. We got to Almaden lake at 6am, unloaded our bikes, pumped our tires and head over to set up our transition area. Transition area at this race is first come first serve, so it was key to get there early to get a favorable spot. We setup in a row with a lot of our friends so it was nice to know who was around you.

Swim:
As we were walking down to the lake to get ready for the swim, Annette(my friend Tuong's wife) was already there, with her camera on, documenting everything. I was pleasantly surprised to see her. Gave me a boost right before the race.
The water was pretty warm. There was a heat wave in the bay area with temps reaching close to the 100 for a few days in a row. This helped heat up the lake. I actually could have swam without a swimsuit, but I wore mine. Helps keep me afloat :) I started off my swim and everything was going well until I tried to sight.... The sun was reflecting off the water so it was a little challenging seeing the buoys from a far. My swim lines were not the best, but I made it through. On to the bike

Bike:
I was very much looking forward to this bike ride. Biking has been an area that I have been working on getting stronger at, so I wanted to see how this bike ride was going to go. I started off in my slow but high cadence ride. taking my time for the first few miles to get my legs under me and get the blood flowing. this went well, I was felling great. As the ride went along I was getting a little concerned that I wasnt eating or drink like I am supposed to. I didnt feel the urge, plus I thought my tummy may ache. I forced myself to take in liquids and eat something, otherwise I would have been hurting at the end of the race. Right around mile 14, we started ascending bailey hill, which happens to be the only hill on the bike course. for once I was able to pass some people on the way up :) coming down the back side of bailey was great. I decided to turn it up at this point. I only had 10 miles to go and I was looking forward to beating my bike time from last year...... off the bike and on to the run..

Run:
This started of very slow. I didnt think I was going to make it. It may have been the fact that I have not done many brick work outs where I am charging for the last few miles on the bike then going to the run. I need to work on that. I felt flat, no power in my legs, no idea what pace I could keep up. At mile one I was running a 10 min per mile pace. I had to pick this up, so for the second mile I clocked an 8:40 min per mile pace. From then on I thought I was doing well. Other than the first mile, every mile after that was a lot faster. I finished with a pace of 8:55 per mile.... not bad, but I need to work on this.......

At the end of the race I was greeted at the finish line by Tuong and Annette and their kids James and Emily. It was nice of them to come watch the race.

I will keep you posted on how my training for Vineman is coming along......

it's been a while

2006-06-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last updated my blog. I have a race coming up this weekend, so I am trying to get in gear. Training went well for the last 2 weeks. I am concentrating on riding more and doing more hilly rides. The plan is to treat this race as more of a training day to gauge where I am for the Vineman tri in late July. Tonight we are going on a ride, so I'll keep you posted on how that goes.......

post wildflower - what to do??

2006-05-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

really, now that I have done my race, what should I do?? oh, I signed up to do a couple more races this summer. The first is the San Jose International Triathlon - June 25th. I participated in this race last year. I like it because it's practically in my back yard. I can ride my bike from my house to the start..... nice!!!! The 2nd race that I signed up for this summer is in Sonoma County, close to my mom's house. This race is at the end of July(the 30th).
So what to do.... I guess I have to keep training. Last night I joined the rest of the team that is still training for the Kings Trail Triathlon. The bulk of the team did the wildflower triathlon, so the remaining group is much smaller. I like the smaller group, I get to talk to everybody throughtout the workout. stayed tuned for updates on my future races, and thanks for reading.

Wildflower Race Report

2006-05-15T14:07:00.000-07:00

This is more than a week overdue, but here is the breakdown of the weekend. Thursday was a shopping, packing and hydrating day. The goal is to get a good nights rest 2 nights before the race. I slept well and was up and ready on friday to make the drive down to Lake San Antonio.

The Drive
Sean joined us from NY for the drive down to the lake. It was a quiet ride with most of the talk about strategy for the race.

RACE DAY

The Swim

The swim started off and went well. I started at the end of the pack because I am not a strong swimmer. I wasnt expecting to break any records on the swim. I just wanted to finish it with plenty of energy in the tank to start off the swim. The swim went a little longer than I expected. finished the swim at 55mins.

The Bike

I was a little flat starting off on the bike. This usually happens when I transitioned from the swim to the bike. I started off slow(part of the strategy), spinning my legs and trying to stay loose. 20 mins into the ride I decided to start eating, but I had no appetite. The thought of food made me sick. I deceided to wait it out and just drink plenty of fluids. Around mile 20 I decided to give it a go again. I was ok this time around but at the same time a little nervous as to whether my stomach may start acting up. I took a couple breaks here and there. I felt good, strong on the bike. At mile 41, which is the start of about 1.5 mile hill(commonly referred to as nasty grade) I was going great. It was starting to get a little warm and part through the hill, I started thinking that I was going to get off my bike and take a break, but I just kept spinning away. It was going well up until the first pseudo summit. As I am getting to the top, I hear the air let out of my front tire. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, hmmmm I guess it's not that bad, I needed to take a break anyway. I have to say luck was on my side because the support vehicle was just going down the hill when I got the flat. I pulled over and started the process of changing my flat tire. Within a few minutes I was up and on the road. Once at the top of nasty grade there is about a 2 mile descent. Oh happy day, I think I clocked 45mph at some point. after this great downhill, the ride turned into a countdown to the final mile. I was so glad to get back from the ride... on to the run...

The Run

The run started off slow. My tank was on E which was very suprising. My bike to run transition during the season have been great, this was a first. The run is usually my favorite part of the race. This wasnt the case. by the time I got to mile 4 I was already cramping up. I took it easy, and walked most of the run. I walked and run up until mile 11. At that point the race was almost over. I mustered up all I had to finish the race. The sight of the finishing shoot was the greatest thing.

The Experience

what a great time. The whole weekend was just a blast. Though the race didnt go as planned, I managed to make the best of it. I was there to help raise funds to find a cure for blood related cancers. Nothing I went through compares to a round of chemotherapy or a radiation.

last training weekend before wildflower tri

2006-05-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had scheduled an open water swim and run brick. We met up at Redwood shores because it was one of the closer places for an open water swim. It's not the best place to swim but it's one of the few that are easily accesible. The swim went went, but I forgot how bad the water smelt or tasted. I chose not to run, but cheered on the team as they came back in.

Sunday workout was a ride for time. We were scheduled for a 90min ride. I rode with Carlos and his cousin Manuel. We rode from the high school, out to foothill and headed towards Palo Alto. I feel like I am getting better on the bike. I am tapering for the rest of the week - actually I am trying to kick a cough. Hydrating and taking it easy..... :)

Taper time

2006-04-28T08:51:00.000-07:00

This is the final stretch to the race. In a week and a half I'll be participating in the Wildflower Long Course Triathlon. You may ask how I am feeling.... hmmm I am a little nervous, but this always happens as race day approaches. Last night we had the last track workout before the race. It was another brick(ride then run). The evening started off with me forgetting the front wheel of my bike and having to turn back on the freeway and head home to pick it up.. urrgghhhh. Got to the high school a little bit late, but the group hadnt left for the ride. I was assigned to lead the elite group out on the ride. We started off with a pretty big group but within the first couple miles the gorup started to break up. There was a group of 5 riders in the front that I ended up riding with. We covered about 20 miles on the ride and as per the instructions from the coaches, we went all out. Back to the track and run 2 miles in 15:05. I was happy with the way I felt through the whole work out. After the work out the coach talked about tapering, and taking the time from now to the race to rest and mentally prepare for the race. It sometimes hard to taper after training day in day out all season. I am looking forward to the taper and working out very lightly. Today is a day off then we have a swim and a run tomorrow at Redwood shores...... :)

quick run with Jim

2006-04-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

this morning one of my best buddies Jim was in town from London. He's from the US, but currently resides in the UK. We used to run together all the time when he was in town. Anyway, we met up with one of his peers Jill. The run went well, then Jim lifted weights after the run.

13 mile run on a cloudy Sunday morning

2006-04-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

It was cloudy, but that was just what the doctor ordered. I met up with Shelly and her friends(some of whom I had met before and actually one of the participants from my team was there too) and head down to Santa Cruz to run the half marathon. This was the first time I run this race, but I have run in Santa Cruz quite a few times. The goal was to make it to the finish, at least that's what I thought, but Shelly had a plan - she was going to run for 6 mins and walk for 1 min. That sounded great to me, I am glad she had a plan. Usually I just run and depending on how I feel, come up with a plan. This is not the most effective way of running or racing. The race was going well, up until mile 11. At that point we were all just looking to finish. I was suprisingly hungry, that seldom happens. We trucked on making it to the finish in 2 hours 42 mins. This is the same time that Shelly did her first 1/2 marathon in, though this time she said she was a little more tired and sore. I am looking forward to her next half, I enjoy running with Shelly.

Practice Tri

2006-04-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

Today we had a practice tri at Stevens Creek Canyon. This event is usually held a couple weeks before the race to get help with the prep for the events of race day. There are plenty of key areas and I'll tri :) to cover them as I go. Since the team is training for 3 different distances, the practice tri was an abbreviated version of each distance(about half the real distance of the race). The first event in the tri is the swim. For this event, I signed up to be a buddy swimmer(a support swimmer for those that need help in the open water). I started swimming with one participant but when we got out about 300m, there were 2 more that needed help. I tried to work with them all, but I was stuck because they were all at different levels. I chose to stay with the one participant that was struggling the most and swam in with her. Transitioned to the bike. My legs felt a little flat and I was taking a while to get into the bike. At one of the turn arounds on the bike I stopped to take a break and hopefully gather myself. Headed back out and felt much better, but had to prep myself for the climb up mount Eden. Almost to the top of mtn Eden we came up on a participant that crashed on the way down. I headed up to the top to call for help as Michele attended to the participant. The support car was there within 10-15mins and the participant was taken back to the park. The rest of the bike went well, though I wasnt able to get back out for a second loop. The run was the best leg. I ended up walking a talking to a number of participants that were out on the course. It's always great to get out there and do all three events(swim, bike, run) in one day and get a feel for what race day is going to be like. Tomorrow is a rest day, though I may go to Santa Cruz to run a half marathon with my friend Shelly.

slow week

2006-04-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

from a workout perspective, this was one of the slowest workout weeks. Every night of the week, we had some other activity that drew us away from our workout. Then on tuesday night I started having problems with my stomach that had me down on wednesday. Thursday was a brick workout where were had to ride a 5 mile loop 3 times and then run 2 miles timed and 1 mile easy. the coaches wanted us to give it all we had on the bike. I did the bike ride in an hour and one min and the time portion of the run in 15 mins 10sec. I felt pretty good after the workout like I could have kept going. Today is a rest day and tomorrow is the practice triathlon. Race day is getting closer and closer.....

ride n tie

2006-04-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday's workout was a fun event combined with a workout where we dress in costume(I had a hawaiian grass skirt and a couple lays). We had to partner up with a teammate who had to be about the same height because we share a mtn for the event. It's a leap frog run, so one person runs and the other rides the bike. The course is about 2 mile long loop. A long the loop there are special place items, that we could pick up for time bonuses. There was also an additional hill loop that was also a time bonus. We did a warm up loop just to get everyone used to the loop. During the warm up, my partner Rachel, keep asking if I had a strategy for the run - which I didnt. I had no intentions on competing for anything. We decided that she would ride first and I would run first. The bike we were using was small for the both of us, so it made it a little challenging to ride and riding with a grass skirt is not easy :) We did 3 loops with 3 optional hill runs/rides. We both had a blast though we didnt place, but it was fun partnering with someone I didnt know much about.

a sunny day coupled with our first brick

2006-04-14T09:49:00.000-07:00

We had our first brick(a two sport work out eg. bike/run, swim/bike, swim/run) workout of the season yesterday evening where we biked for an hour then run for 3 miles. I didnt get to run or bike the whole thing, but it was a blast. It was a nice sunny evening. We havent seen one of those around here in a long time. Tomorrow, we are having a fun brick called the ride and tie. will give more details on this tomorrow..... :)

wed = swim day

2006-04-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

swimming, you got to love it in the rain. Last night I really needed to get into the pool for a workout. It was drizzling when I got there, but that didnt matter, it was warmer in the pool than outside. I thought I was going to be swimming solo, but there were a couple people at the pool that I know. It's always fun to workout with people you know. Started off with a long warmup, then the dreaded kicks. The more I work on them, the better I get, but boy, I was tired at the end of that set. the drill of the day was finger to thigh - emphasizing finishing your stroke. I skipped the build set because it was getting late, and went straight to a long steady swim. After the swim, as I was walking out, there was a basketball league going in the gym - oh how I miss playing. fun times :)

swim breakdown
400m warm up
300m kicks
200m drills
6x75m build - I skipped this one
1x800 steady
100m cool down - also skipped

80 min ride - what??

2006-04-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

The workout for yesterday was an 80 min spin at level 2 with 5 six min intervals at level 3. I was working late last night, so I decided to spin at work. did a 20 min interval, stopped and stretched. The 60 min portion of the work out went well, I was able to avg in the mid 90s rpm. The goal is to up my leg speed. I felt strong throughout the workout :)

fatigue & form

2006-04-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

Monday was a swim day with a short run after. The warm-up was long and it included 200m of kicks. I have been working on my kicks, but I wasnt strong enough to finish the whole 200m, I had to cut it short, actually in half. made it through the warm up, to the drills and on to the core of the workout. The intensity of the swim workouts has picked up and we are now doing sets at a max effort level, or one lower. Just to mention, it seems like the Campbell pool is a lot colder than most of the other pools in the area. On the flip side, the water in Lake San Antonio is freezing cold, so I might as well enjoy the pool for now. The last set before the cool down was 8x50m at max effort. the first 2 went well, then fatigue took over and my form went out the door. I started focusing on my form, but that was taking away from giving my max effort. at the end of it all I was so beat, that I gave the best effort I could while trying to maintain a good form... 200m cool down and off to the track for a 2 mile run

first 400m - my thoughts: 2 miles are you crazy, I can barely get my feet off the ground
2nd 400m - ok, this is not bad, I am shooting for a 9-10min mile
first mile - 8:58, not bad and I am feeling much better
I pick up the pace on the 2nd mile, finshed it in 7:32

Swim
warm up 200 swim, 100 kick, 200 pull
drills 10x50 finger tip drag
1x200m @ Level 4(scale is 1-5, 5 being max effort)
4x100m @ Level 3
8x50m @ Level 5
200m cool down

run
2miles

last long ride - oh was it long

2006-04-09T23:16:00.000-07:00

All week I was thinking about the ride we were going to do on Saturday morning. I was signed up to assist with the first group of riders then head out for a 50 mile ride with the Long course riders. I made it about half out for the first ride, but had to return to the Mtn View High School(that's where we train - swim, run and start bike rides) to start the second ride with the second group. The start of the second ride was going well but I was feeling a little sluggish. I was taking some gu at the time and we hoping it would kick in soon. This 50 mile ride involves riding up Old La Honda(3 mile steady incline), one of the better hill climbs in the South Bay. Strong riders make it up the hill in 18mins, I on the other hand take about 30 mins. At the base of the hill we took a break as we waited on the rest of the group to catch up so that we could start the climb together. By this time I was feeling ok. We just worked steadily up the hill - made it up in 32 mins(not bad) After this there is a quick decline, then another 5 mile incline though not a steep as Old La Honda. This was the killer... I was dying and the rest of the team pretty much dropped me on this hill. The rest of the ride, all I could think was I just want to get home. Pedaling away ever now and then I caught myself wishing I would hit a red light so that I could get a break, or some times wishing the light stayed green a little longer so that I could make it through without having to stop. I made it back to the school in one piece to find Michele, a couple of the coaches and some teammates waiting on us wondering what happened to us :)
took the day off on Sunday......

run marker sets

2006-04-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

A marker set is a timed run of a certain distance, which is usually used to compare to a prior similar timed run or a future timed run. This is done to monitor improvement in time and perceived exertion(how hard one was working during the run). That was the work out at last nights track practice. I have to say, it was great to get to the track and the sun was still out and remained out for a long time :) We started off with a weird warm up run because there was a high school track meet that was running late on time. After the warm we did some core strength drills, I always enjoy this part. Then on to the marker sets. I run/walked with one of the age groupers for the first mile. Nice relaxed pace. Towards the end of the run I paced with one of the pros for 2 laps recording a time of 3:35 - which is equal to a 7:10 mile. Today is a rest day and we have a long ride tomorrow(50 miles).

did spring start?

2006-04-02T22:03:00.000-07:00

other than checking the date on the calender and the recent time change, there is no way to tell it's spring time out here. Sure, the trees are starting to sprout leaves again, there are a few flowers popping up here and there.... but the weather, just wet and cold. I dont mind wet, but cold... ugh... what does this have to do with training, oh nothing, well maybe not nothing, more like a miserable time outdoors training. I'll stop here, or it will rain through the summer.
Training this weekend actually went well. Since it was a recovery week, the weekend workout was not very intense. We did a 5 mile loop on the bike and timed ourselves, and on sunday we run about 6 miles, trying to negative split the second half of the run. All was well, it actually didnt rain throughout the workout :) What's in store for this week....??? hmmm, we'll find out soon.

recovery week

2006-03-31T08:07:00.000-08:00

This really was a recovery week. I was too tired to workout on monday. Tuesday I had ever intention of working out, but ended up going to bed at 8:30p beat. Wednesday... hmmmmm just plain o' lazy. thursday, we had a workout at track.. fun times. it was a smaller group than usual. I think most were recovering from practice weekend. we did some strength training at this workout.. I am a little sore. Need to get back into the core strengthening and pushups. today is a rest day, tomorrow we swim and bike. looks like it's going to rain......

a weekend at Lake San Antonio

2006-03-28T09:32:00.000-08:00

march 24-26th was a training weekend down at the course at Lake San Antonio. The weekend started off with us heading down there early friday for a morning ride. There were 3 of us riding the Long course ride(56 mile). This is a challenging ride and was a good reminder of what race day will be like. It's a beautiful ride, rolling hills and a nasty hill at mile 41... It's long and mostly painful. On this day the funny part was after the nasty hill there is about a 1 mile descent. As we approached this descent, a semi with a trailer behind comes up and is slowing going down the hill. We weren't able to fly down the hill but as we rode, the driver of the semi looked in his mirror and signalled us to pass him.... yeah right, that's not happening.....
Saturday was a swim and a bike day. It started raining at 5am, that set the one for the morning. The swim was cold, and this surprised a lot of people. As we transitioned to the bike, I couldnt feel my toes. I rode the Olympic ride and ended up riding at the tail end of the group. I really enjoyed talking to a couple of the participants on the team.
Sunday, was a run day... ouch, painful. I struggled through the run, actually go into a zone around mile 7. The run turned out ok. I know I have work to do. this is a recovery week, so the workouts will be scaled back.

swim practice - IronTeam style

2006-03-22T22:24:00.000-08:00

this evening I decided to crash the Iron Team's coached swim workout. They are the Iron Team for a reason. I had a great workout. One of the coaches spent a lot of time working with me on my technique. There are so many things that I need to work on. Glide when you bring your right hand into the water, high elbow and dont drop your shoulder when going through your stroke, you left hand is going over the midline... those were some of his comments. In the middle of the workout, I was spent, but after getting over the hump, I was ok. It was a fun workout.

seems like forever.......

2006-03-22T17:45:00.000-08:00

I mean that in a couple ways. This morning it seemed like forever since I had worked out. I missed the workout on monday and tuesday for various reason. It's also been forever since I last updated my journal... here we go. Over the weekend we had a wetsuit clinic, and a short ride. I didnt get to participate in either, because I was the SAG(support and gear) for the bike ride. Sunday, we run at the Stanford dish. Did about 6 miles, nice clear day, blue sky, great views from the top of the hill.
This morning I decided to spin, since I missed yesterday's ride. 65mins on the trainer, then on to work. felt great :) big weekend coming up, we are heading down to lake san antonio for practice weekend.

shamrock shuffle

2006-03-17T17:41:00.000-08:00

Happy St. Patrick's day to all. Yesterday at work we had a 5k run as part of the St. Patrick's day festivities. No, we didnt have to run drunk, or with green beer... just a quick 3 miles. There were about 77 participants, lots of fun. finished the run with a time of 22:50. today was a rest day, I love rest days.

spinning on a swim night

2006-03-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

Run 5 miles with Donna yesterday morning. last night was a swim night, but because of a little mix up I ended up spinning on Michel's bike trainer. I am glad we have a trainer now and will be able to do some workouts at home or with others at spin workouts. We have track practice tonight, but I will not be going. Going to run at lunch today..... :)

9 mile run... you crazy

2006-03-12T15:47:00.000-08:00

This morning, the long course pro were supposed to do a 9 mile run... nah, not happening. I contemplated not going to the run, but it didnt seem like there was enough support staff. I run at Los Gatos high School. The turn out was low, blame that on the weather. Run the first half with Berend and Nicolas. I spent the 2nd part of the run with Amanda. We talked about practice weekend and what to look forward to for both practice and race weekends. I am glad I run with her, I havent spent much time getting to know her. nice easy 4 miles.

50 mile ride

2006-03-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

On saturday I started off with the long course group with the intentions of doing a 40 mile ride. Started off a few minutes late, with every intention of catching up to the main pack. We(Carlos and I) started off the ride at a casual pace. Warm up then work towards the main pack. We warmed up, and at around mile 14-15, we caught up to Jen. We rode most of the ride with her, talking her up hills. Berend was kind enough to stop at most corners and make sure that we made it through. We stopped around mile 20 to wait for Rialena, she made a wrong turn early in the ride and ended up behind the main pack. Since we were running late we had to head back in to the school cutting the ride short by 10 miles. Rialena was bummed that she wasnt able to the full ride for a second week in a row.
The second ride, I was sweeping the elite riders who were doing a 20-23 mile ride. This was a fun ride. Part of the ride I was riding with Jamie, then with Barbara, and ended up with Phylis. I had a good time riding with the girls, but I was beat at the end... food please....................

and it rained on the pyramids

2006-03-10T07:09:00.000-08:00

Track last night was cold and rainy. Started off slow with a 2 lap warm-up followed by quick announcements and on to the workout. The workout was a pyramid - here is the breakdown

for the ascent, we were running at L2
200m
400m
800m
1600m

for the descent, we upped the pace to a L3
800m
400m
200m

cool down.

Took a little while for legs to warmup even after the warmup lap. I couldnt wait to get done with the 1600m run. Run most of the workout with Berend. He keeps a good pace throughout the workout. Bev & some Iron Teamers crashed our work out. Only Bev braved the cold to workout - better yet with the pro group.

After the workout, most of us went to a fundraiser at Baja Fresh. I love food fundraisers, especially after a workout.

kick from the hips

2006-03-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

Last night, I met up with Beverly at the campbell pool for a swim workout. The workout turned out to be fun and eye opening at the same time. Michele wasnt feeling well, so she didnt make the swim. We started off with a 400 yard warmup which amazed Bev, being that the Iron Team only does 100 yard warm ups but 400 yard drills(ouch). Sometime during the warmup I lost count and so did Bev, so we kept swimming and swimming. I had to stop and let Bev know, and found out that some times she loses count of how many laps she has done :) we had to do 4x50 kick drills - kick drills always get the better of me, but today I saw some progress. the idea is to keep your leg straight and kick from your hip...... well, I think I finally have it down, but boy were my leg tired after the workout and some muscle around my hip, that I had no idea exsisted....... I was baxhausted(extremely exhausted) after the work out. today, stretch as much as possible and look forward to track..... I love track

5 slow miles

2006-03-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

Did a slow 5 mile run with Donna this morning. We took it easy, just a little low on the energy this morning. Donna asked if we were going to do intervals, hmmmmmmm, not today. Interesting conversation during the run. One of our co-workers runs the same route we run regularly and yesterday he run 20 miles(4 loops), just to see how his legs felt. We laughed about the fact that there was a time we(Donna, G and I) used to do 1.5 loops and we were pretty done after the run. :) ahh good times.
Tonight's a swim work out 2400 yards(a little over 1.2 miles). I'd like to see how I feel after that work out. Race day is 58 days out, not like I am counting(someone else posted this somewhere)..........

nutrition is key - 4 cal/min

2006-03-07T10:20:00.000-08:00

this morning before leaving the house I asked Michele what the nutrition guys said about eating a full clif bar. "Dont stuff the whole thing in your mouth, eat it slow" How slow??? Needless to say, it took me 15 mins to get to the gym, at the rate I was stuffing my mouth, that equated to 1/2 a cliff bar. The workout today was a 70min ride with five 6 min higher intensity intervals. I felt great on the warm up, and the first 2 intervals. at the 30 mins mark, my legs cried no more. I stopped, worked on my abs(Donna said I was just going to sit on my butt).
I dont think the feeling I had in my legs had anything to do with my nutrition morning. It was more of the after effects of this weekends workout. Running the 1 mile hill at rancho on sunday, though I felt great, took it's toll on my quads.

babysitting last night was fun. Justin was incredibly behaved. Michele was giving him a part 2 lesson on Sudoko.

4 calories/min is the rate at which your muscles absord nutrition - interesting, huh

single gear riding

2006-03-06T14:04:00.000-08:00

Saturday's workout was a 30 mile ride, followed by what I thought was a very long swim. The ride started off well, with a group of about 12-15 people. At about mile 12 I decided to hang back and ride with Michele, as she was not having a good ride. She was ready to turn back and head in, but I urged to keep riding. I am proud of her for riding out the rull route, she did great though she was feeling well. Good job Baybuh :) During the ride I worked on riding in the same gear(no shifting) up the whole ride. trying to simulate having a single gear bike. I could feel it in my legs after the workout, but it built strength for the climbing and leg speed on the down hill.

Sunday, we had a captains run at rancho. The attendance was high, and everybody enjoyed the run. Donna crashed the run, so her, myself, Berend, Sabine and Nicolas did the upper wildcat loop - total 7 miles. I felt great through the whole run, but was super tired when we were all done. Breakfast at the Original Pancake House is always a great after a weekend of working out.

Tonight... babysitting and hopefully a swim

out too fast and hanging by a tread

2006-03-03T08:18:00.000-08:00

Last nights track work out was mile intervals with a 400m recovery. There were 4 total intervals for the workout. The goal of the work out was to work on being consistent from mile to mile and negative split(a negative split is when the second half of the mile is faster than the first) within the mile. the first mile went well, faster than I thought and this may have been a result of not warming up. The second mile went well, about 5 sec faster than the first but I remember thinking - can I keep up this pace for another 2 miles. Mile 3, the first 400m ouch, this is hurting, 2nd 400m, I feel like I am fading, 3rd 400m - when is this going to end, but then I hear heavy breathing behind me. Someone is behind me keeping pace, I have to keep the pace. The last 400m of mile three, the 2 guys behind me take over and I struggle to keep up with the faster pace. Still finished the mile faster than the previous two. For the last mile I almost felt like I was running a marathon and at mile 20(this is usually referred to as the wall - the body shuts down and just your mind is left to carry you for the last six miles). I just kept thinking, if I can make one more step I am doing good..... just one step after another....... hang on you can make........ I made it..

mile splits
1 - 7:06
2 - 7:01
3 - 6:56
4 - 6:43

ps. added a little more details at the request of Shveta :)

trying not to drown

2006-03-02T13:36:00.000-08:00

Last nights swim work out... it was a struggle to finish, but I made it all the way. I was beat at the end of the workout, but it was good. The goal is to get comfortable with the longer swims and not work as hard.... I am getting there, slowly but surely....

tonight is track. I am guessing we are doing some sort of ladder workout.... looking forward to it :)

Fat Tuesday - beads and everything

2006-02-28T09:36:00.000-08:00

This morning I rode the stationary bike for an hour. Felt great, but I have a lot of work to do on the bike. After the hill repeats workout this weekend, I know that I need to get serious about the bike. The wildflower long course ride is no joke and the hills will tame you if you take em for granted. I plan to get in a lot more hill work and lower body strengthening.

hill repeats - ouch :)

2006-02-25T12:22:00.000-08:00

today we did hill repeats on the bike... I faired well going up the hills, but I was huffin and puffin. Most of the participants made it up the team, I was happy for each one of them. We cut the work out short because we have guests in town, so we are planning in touring San Francisco this afternoon.

slow down, you'll be running for an hour

2006-02-24T08:49:00.000-08:00

Track practice was a blast last night. Kelch(head coach) asked me to run one of the training station. The work out for the night was 12 min circuit traing with 5 stations (core, lower body, upper body, running techniques and running). I was in charge of the running station. the workout at thr running station was 4 3min intervals where the first 2 mins of the interval was a relaxed run around the track and the last minute we pick up the intensity...... I went out harder than I should have with the first group, not realizing that there were 4 more groups to go. I was pretty tired after the work out.
This morning did some core work that I missed out on last night..... looking forward to hill repeats tomorrow morning.

dead legs, sore body

2006-02-23T15:58:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to meet up with my running partners(Donna & Gerardo) this morning for a 5 mile run, but after a run yesterday and a swim at night(especially with the kick drills - which I struggle with right now) my legs were dead, my body sore. Thank God, when I got in, Donna had dead legs too and G wasnt going to make it to the run :) Did a quick 30 min ride on the stationary bike, stretched and rolled my IT band and calves. track tonight, lets see what the coachs have in store for the team.

kick drills....... nooooo

2006-02-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

we(Michele & I) just got done with a swim work out. First note....I suck at kick drills which were followed by 8x50 where the first 25 is a sprint and the 2nd 25 is at a slower pace. I enjoyed these sets of 50s... definately need to get in the pool more often...... :)

ps. Michele wanted me to add a note... she kicked my ass out there.....

mucho better

2006-02-22T13:29:00.000-08:00

This morning I planned on riding the stationary bike, but I talked to my running partner(Donna T) and she was going for a run, so I decided to join her. Turned out to be a pretty funny and enjoyable run. I felt much better than yesterdays run, so I am glad I came out for the run. I have to say that my core is a little sore. I was supposed to go for a swim on monday(President's day), but the pool was closed, so I worked on my core.... well, I must admit, Michele(love you baybuh) whooped my a$$ with a toned down pilates workout....

kept it simple

2006-02-21T14:37:00.000-08:00

Did about a 10 min warm-up on a stationary bike and a easy slow 5 mile run. Legs felt heavy as lead in the middle of the run. For the last mile I felt like I was in a zone(either that, or there was guy about 500 yards ahead of us that I was determined to catch). Stretched and worked some of the leg and back muscles with the foam roller.

First time blogger, long time reader

2006-02-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

I have succumb to the blogesphere. first the fat boys break now this....... Read on and follow my life as I train for the 2006 wildflower triathlon