Dave McBride Triathlon Training Log

Beatitudes and my Broken / Sprained Ankle

2010-02-16T17:28:00.000-08:00

Since the beginning of this year, I've been super consistent with my running. Very little biking, but averaging 20+ miles per week and following the Hal Higdon 1/2 marathon training program to a T. I WAS hoping to participate in the first Tobacco Road Marathon on March 20th.

I got a great coaching session from Marty at OSB Multisport in early January. We ran for close to an hour, where he helped me with my form, pacing, and HR analysis, and drills. He followed up with an email with a bunch of traing info. The most valuable being a Vdot calculator which helped me predict where I'd be and should train from a pace standpoint. I did all the speedwork and tempo runs religiously and made sure I was doing the drills as prescribed. I figured if I could keep it up I could pace around an 8:45 for a nice sub 2 our finish. Which ain't bad for a newbie.

Sadly, last Friday night at mile 2.9 of an easy 3 mile run at the American Tobacco Trail, I tripped over a stick at dusk and rolled my ankle over. I've rolled it over before but never felt like this. I was running behind my friend John, so I couldn't even blame him for pushing me....Arrgh. So what ensued????? I drove immediately to our primary care doc who happens to be in the plaza just outside our subdivision. They got me right in (after hour walkins) and gave me x-rays. After reading the x-rays, they indicated I had snapped my ligament on the medial side. And I was to proceed immediately to Triangle Ortho Urgent care. Turns out I do have a fracture, and tough to tell the extent of ligament damage without an MRI. Take this boot and crutches and comeback in three weeks. The good news is that the bones aren't displaced.

So I'll be in "Das Boot" for a 6 - 8 weeks. If that's not bad enough, I broke my bike about 3 weeks ago. The frame broke where the rear derailleur cable enters, so that's been sent back to the manufacturer for warranty evaluation.

Needless to say by Sunday morning I was lamenting missing my 4 miles @ pace from Saturday, and my 9 miles easy run on Sunday. I was worried about losing what little fitness I had gained this year, having to cancel a race, having a broken bike, not being able to train with my friends, and living with the ridicule of falling over a stick. Not good.

So Sunday at Mass, we had the Luke's Gospel from Jesus' Sermon on the Plain. Where he talks about the blessings (Beatitudes) and the Woes. Suddenly I was feeling a little hypocritical and not so woeful at all. More guilty for feeling sorry for myself. I started looking around and thinking of a couple of signs.

1) I'm not in Haiti, I have shelter for my family, I'm fed, hydrated, warm and surrounded by a family I love.

2) I'm healthy and in tact. Last Sunday, I did a Mountain Bike Marathon training race. 42 miles with 6 miles of muddy single track, 30 miles on the road, and 6 back on the single track. I finished 26 and was quite happy. Most impressive was the soldier from Ft. who was doing it with a prosthetic right leg. I rode for a bit with one of his buddies, another wounded Special Forces soldier who told me they were training to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

So whether it be Mark, or Luke, I should consider myself truly blessed and get over my woes.

P.S. I should donate some money to the foundation above. Fort Bragg is really close to home and it's a great cause for folks who are making great sacrifices for me.

Movember is over....

2009-12-13T17:45:00.000-08:00

1st....Movember is over and thanks to many (actually 39) donors I was able to raise $2,072.00 dollars for Movember. My list of donors is long and distinguished.

-An anonymous celebrity

-Nortel (Including Canadians)

-"Railroaders" from GE,

-Brothers of the Fraternity Delta Sigma Phi (The Pearl of Great Price),

-Alfred University Alumni

-Local Friends

-My Triathlon / Training friends

-A Congressional Candidate in 2010

-Friends from Back Home

-And My Sister

I think I got everybody. So thanks everyone for helping me make this a success....

As a tolken of my gratitude I have a couple of gifts to give away......

1st...For my anonymous celebrity friend...A man who is private and also cryptic. This gentleman insisted on matching $ for $ all donations thru the end of Movember rounded up to the nearest prime number. For your $727.00 you will be getting this...

A beer Mug. I've redeemed it and it'll be a couple of weeks before it comes in.

For everyone else, I'll be raffling off an authentic Movember T-shirt.

This year's t-shirt is currently sold out so this could be a collectors item.

For everyone else....Here's a few pics of my last days with a Mo and some fun shaving.

~Dave

Quick one on Movember.

2009-11-09T19:26:00.000-08:00

Here's today's "Mo Shot"

For those who've seen "American Chopper" on the Discovery Channel (or TLC). I wrote a letter this evening to the Dad from Orange County Choppers. Here it is...

Mr. Tuetul,

I'm sure you get a lot of requests for donations and your time. And it's clear to me Your Company and You have been incredible examples of Philanthropy over the years. Though I'm not a motorcyle enthusiast, as an Engineer, and corporate executive, I'm a fan of your show and your motorcycles!

I'm participating in a fundraising initiative named Movember. It sounds pretty corny but it's for a great cause. The gist of it is, guys get donations for growing a moustache through the month of November. Proceeds benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation and The Prostate Cancer Foundation. It's primarily to promote Men's Health awareness around prostate and testicular cancers.

Since I was born with a "5 o'clock shadow" and have never attempted to grow a moustache, I thought this would be perfect opportunity for me. You sir have a fine moustache! I figured you would appreciate my efforts and want to donate to my cause.

I'm writing to request that you log into url: us (dot) movember (dot) com/mospace/289238 and donate any amount you see fit to my donation space. Most of my donors are giving between $10 and $50.

I've gotten a commitment from another celebrity (who wishes to remain anonymous) to match all proceeds I've raised at the end of the final week of November. (I use the term celebrity pretty loosely but that's the way he wants it)

Mr. Tuetul, It would be awesome to have you on my list of donors on my "MO Space" page (url above). It would be even more awesome if after donating you passed the link around to all the folks you know to raise more money and awareness. I appreciate your time and consideration, and I'm looking forward to your contribution.

David D. McBride

129 Elmhaven Way

Morrisville, NC 27560 919 308 0529

P.S. I have read the disclaimer

My Bikes

2009-11-08T16:18:00.000-08:00

Movember is moving along. My MOustache is coming in nicely. I'd hoped I'd be suave and cool, like Lemmy from Motorhead, Tom Selleck, or Hulk Hogan. I think it's really coming in like Nicholas Cage's character in Raising Arizona. Although,... he is a fine character and like myself embodies the image of "everyman."

I gasped when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror first thing this morning. I had just woke up with morning hair. I thought H.I. was in my bathroom! The pic above was taken yesterday after working a generous amount of dollar store gel thru my hair.

Only 3 weeks left to donate and ONLY 3 more weeks of me prattling on in facebook about this awesome beard.

Donate Here: CLICK ME TO DONATE! You donation will be split between the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LiveSTRONG) and The Prostate Cancer Foundation.

So this last couple of weeks my workout schedules have changed drastically. Cynthia's been taking a cake decorating class at Michaels in the evenings so I have missed a couple of weeks of swimming. Travel is picking up some for work, and getting dark earlier hasn't helped.

I have started running some on the American Tobacco Train, and Ulmstead Park and really like that.

This has been my first full year of consistent fitness training since like 1993. I got into mountain biking some in the mid 90's and even did some racing. (poorly, but racing nonetheless). In those days, I probably had a decent aerobic base left over from swimming in college and could suffer thru any ride and replenish with chicken wings and pitchers of beer!

So this fall, I've tried to get out and mountain bike more than I have in the last couple of years. And I'm having a ton of fun! Having the aerobic fitness to ride well makes it really enjoyable. Today my friend Loucks and I went to a local park and rode for a good 2 hours. We did most of Crabtree park and were having a blast.

We saw a bunch of deer including a sizable 8 point who stared us down for like 5 minutes from about 20 yards away. I told Loucks "if he charges us, we should keep our bikes between us and him." His reply "Can that happen?" Me: "Yeah you saw Tommy Boy when the deer was in the trunk." editors note:Ladies, ever wonder what your husbands talk about when they're out? Pretty good example.

We were about 1 hour into the ride and stopped at a map to determine our next loop. A guy in a nice full suspension rig, fancy gear, and a brand new camelback passed us. After a few momements we caught up to him. I was ok riding behind him but he pulled over to let us pass. He made a comment about letting us go ahead since we like riding tires so much. And then I flipped over my handle bars. I got up quickly and was fine thanks to years of experience falling on mountain bikes. So then he asks if we've been back here before. My answer: "No but it's GREAT!" And then he proceeds to lecture us. At which point we ride away and enjoy the rest of the ride.

So in analyzing that confrontation, it's hard for me to think about how we could have avoided it. So here is what I'd like to tell that guy.

1) Yes I'm catching you on the hills. I'm on a 15 year old hard tail bike, and you have a new full suspension bike with a ton of cushy travel. I've got to maintain speed to get over rocks and roots where you can just pedal and glide over them. Feel free to get out of your saddle and work a hill, these aren't that long!

2) Yes, I'm catching you going up the hills because you have a full suspension bike that weighs like 45 pounds. My little hard tail weighs like 25.

3) Yes, I'm catching you on the hills because my camelback has exactly 1 liter of water, 1 innertube, 3 tire levers, and a mini pump. Your's looked like you were carrying enough food and gear to survive 12 days in the bush and rebuild a suspension. We're 2 miles from Aviation Parkway for God's sake if you need to do more than fix a flat, call for a ride and walk out!

I'm pretty sure it wasn't my athleticism causing me to catch this guy. And I don't feel I was following that closely. 15 feet isn't bad where you would expect someone to pull over and let you pass.

Anyway, enough ranting. Here's a few pics of my super mountain bike. It's a 1995 Jamis Diablo LE (I believe LE stands for "Luxury Edition") I call her Betsy!

I was riding earlier today with the front wheel.

XT all around except when you need XTR. That's the biggest XTR cluster you could have bought in those days. It makes the bottom chain ring unnecessary. And only 8 speeds.

Early threadless headset! With early Judy XC suspension fork. Too bad there's no 1" steerer tube forks available anymore.

And finally....Aluminum?, Whats Aluminum? Good ol' steel tubing.

I feel better now.

~Dave

Movember, BNSF, and Random Randomness

2009-11-03T18:14:00.000-08:00

Today is a big day!!!! Warren Buffett bought the BNSF Railroad. Not long ago, I ran a locomotive shop in Mexico which did wreck repair. The BN was one of my better, as well as favorite customers. We did number of sizable wrecks, as well as Diesel Engine Overhauls for them in the 2.5 years we were down there! Here's a picture of loco wreck before and after we did. I believe this was the result of a big derailment out in California. Difficult to see as it was a framed photo I've got on my office wall. I think it's pretty cool that a team of 30 guys or so could fix that choo choo in about 8 weeks. It was pretty messed up.

Warren Buffet had a big day and so did I! I got my first Movember Donation for $20.00 from John Huegel of Erie, PA. So I owe him a poem in exchange for his generosity! It only takes one to get the ball rolling so to speak. I've got a good feeling about how my "stash" is filling in and how much money I can raise.

Here's a picture of Day 3.

I'm going for a combination of Magnum PI, Stacey Keach in Mike Hammer, and toned down Lemmy from Motorhead. The rules clearly state that the moustache is not to connect with sideburns, hence the toned down Lemmy.

Here's the Poem...

John H. is my first Movember donor

He's not as wealthy as the BNSF's new owner

But if he'd sold his Options of GE

And invested in Santa Fee (Poetic License)

He'd be more or less Rich

And have more cash to Pitch

For causes like the "Movember"

Training wise I had a pretty good week last week.

Last Sunday I got in 8 Miles (Really slow on the American Tobacco Trail) I really struggled to keep my heart rate under 145. Mark Allen says it will pay off. And he has his own personal Shaman so I guess it makes sense.

Sunday 8 slow

Monday Off

Tuesday Run 4

Wednesday Run 40 minutes tempo run (I've really got to learn to do these.

Thursday 4 miles Easy

Friday Mountain Bike 8 Miles in Crabtree (Fast and Fun) + 7 Miles in Umstead

Saturday Cycle 35 with John M. and Mark W.

So far this week I'm 0 for 3. Family obligations and job are messing up training with a little scoop of daylight loss.

All for now. I think the White House is calling to appoint me as "Poet Laureate" or something so I've got to run to get the phone.

~Dave

Movember, Prostate Cancer Foundation and LiveSTRONG

2009-11-02T19:14:00.000-08:00

I have decided to join a global movement that is bringing much needed attention to cancers that affect men. I’m doing this by growing a Moustache this Movember, the month formerly known as November.

My commitment is to grow a moustache all November and I am hoping that you will support my efforts by making a donation.

The funds raised go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG).

What many people don’t know is that 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 18-35.

Facts like these have convinced me I should get involved. To make a donation, you can either:

• Click this link http://us.movember.com/mospace/289238/ and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account , or

• Write a check payable to ‘Movember Foundation’, referencing my Registration Number 289238 and mailing it to:

Movember Foundation,

PO Box 2726, Venice, CA 90294-2726.

All donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation will use the money raised by Movember to fund research to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation will use the money raised by Movember to fund:

• The LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance program which has the goal of improving survival rates and quality of life for young adults with cancer between the ages of 15 and 40.

• Research initiatives to further understand the biology of adolescent and young adult cancers. For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please go to .

Thank you

Dave McBride

P.S. I have a friend who's agreed to match $ for $ up to a secret amount. Want to find out how much? Donate and l'll let you know.

Even tho I havn't updated, I've still exercised

2009-10-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

After 2 triathlons and a diseastrous bike tour, I've continued to workout, even though I havn't updated my blog. So What's new....

1) I seem to have licked my lower leg issues by not running. I'm now the proud new owner of a pair of custom made orthotics.

2) I've decided to focus some on running as it's getting cooler and darker earlier. I'm on a training plan from http//www.halhigdon.com. I'm also trying to do all workouts with a heart rate under 144bpm which is proving to be challenging.

3) Still biking some but trying to get out mountain biking more. With an aerobic base, I'm really enjoying that.

What in store? Maybe the Randleman 1/2 Marathon on Dec. 12. My friend John Ward from Addison is doing it. He just qualified for the Boston Marathon last month. I'm excited for him and can tell he's pumped.

Also I want to focus on Aerobic Fitness. Lot's of Aerobic threshold training til January or Feb and then some move into more speedwork.

Where I dream to be in 2010.

170 Pounds

Top 10 Triathlon Swimmer

22 mph Bike average in a spring Triathlon

20 Min 5K at the end of a triathlon.

More to come.....

Labor Day Week....Vaca at home

2009-09-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

Monday---- Awesome Mountain biking at Sanford's San-Lee park. They've got a great maintained MTB trail which me and Loucks failed to find. Our first loop was on a tight / Steep hiking trail and brutal. We managed to grab a PB&J sandwich and took 1/2 of the MTB trail and much nicer. Hot, muggy, overcast and fun. About 7 miles

Tuesday-- Run 6.4 Miles at the Tobacco trail. First time running in about 4 weeks and Achilles is still bugging me. will Ice and stretch more...

Here was the workout

Walk 5 minutes...Stretch 10 Minutes

Jog 5 Minutes....8:30 Pace

10 X 1 minute :30 fast :30 Walk 9:00 pace average

1 Mile 8:30 Pace

.5 mile eZ

.5 mile 6:20 pace

.25 EZ

.5 mile 6:37 pace

.25 EZ

.25 7:30 pace

.25 EZ

.25 8:30 pace

.5 Cool Down

I tried to work in some tempo and speed it was fun and a lot less boring than just running.

Wednesday.... 35 Miles leisurely on the road bike.

1 month with no update

2009-09-01T18:11:00.001-07:00

Lot's have happened within the last month that I havent Posted...

My Wife Cynthia did an awesome job making a title page for this blog....She's got "Mad Skills." I'm lucky to have married a woman as creative as her. Here's her premier line of children's fashion and tutus.

We had a 9 yo child stay with us for most of the summer. His name is Luis Pablo (LP affectionately) His folks surprised him a few weeks ago and spent a week with us before taking him back to Mexico. It was great having him around as he clicked really well with our kids and it was sad to see him go. It was really nice seeing him brag to his parents about all the cute things Liam, Sissy, and Grace do.

2 weeks of travel really knock the @#$@ out of you. One week in Mexico and one in Montreal. I managed to exercise on the hotel treadmills and get an awesome MTB session in in Montreal with Dave Owen and his son. But all in all, my regular fitness has taken somewhat of a hit and I'm trying to get back to it.

Also, I seem to have injured my achilles tendon along the way so I've given up on running for a few weeks and visited a Podiatrist to be fitted for orthotics.

So enough of the distractions....Here's what I did do.

1) Solid Interval sessions on Hotel Treadmills. Worked on speed (but exacerbated shin splints and achilles).

2) Did UNC wellness supersprint tri. 250 pool swim, 9mi bike, 5K run. I was happy I ran a 7:13 pace for this after travelling for a week. I managed a 5th place in age group of 35 or so contestants, with an OK swim (I had to dunk a lady who seeded herself too high), and a really slow bike.

3) I hooked up with a great group of triathletes to train with. I've done a 50 miler, 80 miler, and 60 mile killer Tour. All distances I'd yet to have conquered before meeting these guys. They're a bit faster than me, but if I stick with them I can't help but to improve on the bike and run. And fun to train with.

Here's my feed back from the Tour de Gaps....

So this week, I'm back to somewhat normalcy. Back to 3 kids, no travel in the near future and a manageable work schedule. My running aliments are feeling better thanks to modern chemistry, ice, and not running and I'm off on vacation next week with not long distance travel plans. If I can get a few solid weeks of training in, I'd like to sign up for the pinehurst triathlon on Oct. 10th.

So far this week.

M- Swim 3400

500 Warmup

6X50 25Kick, 25 swim

Main Set.

8 X 50 25 stroke, 25 free

4 X 100 descend 1 - 3 hold #4

2 X 200 Pull Steady

4 X 100 50 Kick, 50 Swim

8 X 50 25 easy, 25 fast

100 EZ

Main set #2

2 X 3 X 100

1st set 50 ez, 50 fast

2nd set 50 fast, 50 ez

3400 yards

Tuesday Cycle 29.54 Miles alone.

Monday Night Swim Practice

2009-07-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

Great workout tonight....Longcourse

Warmup 300 EZ 50 Kick 50 Breaststroke

4X200 Pull on 3:00 descend (2:50, 2:55, 2:58, 2:57) No descending here...

then

2 X 1 X 100 Free on 1:45

2 x 50 Stroke on 1:15

1 X 200 Free on 3:30

4 X 50 IM on 1:15 (sucked)

1 min rest between after IM's

2 X 4 X 50 on 1:00

#1 25 EZ, 25 Fast

#2 25 Fast, 25 EZ

#3 50 build

#4 Fast

100 Warmdown

2900 Meters

Also John Mitchell came to this workout, and there was another guy (Mike) who swam in my lane. It was nice to have a pretty good pairing for this one.

~Dave

Lake Placid Iron Man

2009-07-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

By the numbers

One: FINA world swimming championships in progress in Rome. Havn't paid much attention yet. Will be interesting to see how Team USA does.

Two: Tour de France wrapped up today. Lance Armstrong comes in 3rd after 3-1/2 years off. 37 - 1/2 yearolds worldwide rejoice as we're suddenly further from 40 than we think.

Three: Ironman Lake Placid in progress. My friend KI

is doing it for her 2nd year in a row and raising over $2000 for cancer research thru Memorial Sloan Kettering.

I've been checking her progress and the math I do looks like she's gonna PR last year's time by quite a bit. She should be done shortly. I can't wait to see!

Looking like this right now...

	Hours	Min	Sec
Swim	1	19
T1		9	5
Bike	7	3	50
T2		5	23
Run Loop 1	2	24	22
	1	1
Total	11	1	40

Looking like she'll break 14 hours fairly handily!

Four: My stats this week... Back at it pretty good.

Monday: Swim 3K - Meters, Run 3.4 miles

Tuesday: Cycle 14 miles, 3K+ yards

Wednesday: Off

Thursday Cycle 28 with CSH crew

Friday: Run 6

Saturday Rest

Sunday Cycle 30.

I did a pretty nice and a little hilly new course with John Mitchell. An old high school swimming rival. Turns out we know a lot of the same folks from back home. He beat me in the Triangle Triathlon 2 weeks ago. 'Nuff about getting beat, it was a great course and great ride.

Here's some pics from the Triangle Triathlon a few weeks ago. Thanks to Oliver and Vanessa Luker.

Cancer Sucks!!!!

2009-07-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

Dear FB Friends who run, swim or bike, or like me,

This Sunday, my Friend KI is doing an ironman race in Lake Placid ...AKA Ironman USA....
She's made it her mission to raise $$$ for Memorial Sloane Kettering for cancer research. She was moved to do this as a close friend (cyclist and runner) has been stricken with Pancreatic Cancer.

Anyway she's about $100 short of her goal of raising $2000
To sweeten the pot, I'll commit to match the next donations donated between now and noon tomorrow (limited at $100 since I'm a cheap bastard). That'll guarantee she beats her goal.
I'd love to see you all help her crush that goal!!!

And it's easy...Just go here...

http://www.firstgiving.com/kilaclair

Enter your credit card info...Print your receipt and itemize the cost next year in your taxes.....

I donated $200 today and could bleed another hundy if you all come thru....

Thanks everyone!!!! Cancer has impacted us all, and it sucks!

Dave

Night Off...Wednesday

2009-07-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

After a solid Sunday, Monday, Tuesday....

We had a friend over for dinner...

And I had a few things to follow up on related to work in the evening...So no exercise today...

So when I do run, here's my play list....

Swell Tunes with a nice Big Head Todd and the Monsters warmdown....

Enjoy

Tuesday

2009-07-21T18:16:00.001-07:00

AM: Cycle to work 6 Miles

PM: Cycle Home 12 Miles for total of 18 miles

PM Swim Practice

400 EZ warmup

6X50 25 kick fly on back, 25 Stroke Drill free

then

2 X 4 X 100 IM :20 Rest 50 EZ Kick

8 X 50 Free on :45 1st set, :40 2nd set. 50 EZ Kick

3 X 200 Free (Pull, Pull, Broken 100 :10 Rest, 75 :05 rest, 25 fast

50 EZ warm down

3150 Yards....

coach said "Nice Job!"

Last Week off, training anew......

2009-07-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

I pretty much took last week off for no particular reason other than Sloth.

Here's last week's stats

M Swim 3000 Meters. Not even sure what I did

T 4 Beers

W 1 Bottle of Wine

Th Can't remember

F Beer, and boneless Breaded chicken wings....Double order....too drunk to count how many

S Swimming....Actually goofing around with the kids.

Su Now we get serious....33 mile Cycling Spoken Here ride....18.6 avg with many pulls....10 Miles mountain biking on the tobacco trail pulling Liam on the tag a long. I actually felt pretty good.

Now It's monday and I'm feeling refreshed....

My shin splint is feeling a lot better. So I decided to ease into running and get back into swimming today.... My two workouts

Running

5 Minutes Walk

5 Minutes EZ Jog

10 X 1 minutes Anternate :30 moderate conversational, :30 EZ Jog

5 X 1:30 1 Minute Moderate hard, :30 walk

2:00 EZ Jog

2:00 EZ Walk

for 31:30 of running for about 3.4 miles

Swim Practice....

400 EZ, 4 X 50 Kick (2 w/o board)

3 X 200 Pull :30 rest descend

4 X 4 X 100 on 1:50, 1:50, 1:45, 1:40 ~ 1:00 rest btw sets.( Last set....1:31, 1:35, 1:37, 1:35)

6X50 Alt Drill / Stroke....I did my last 50 Fly....(Just because I'm ballsy!)

3100 Meters

Gonna ride my old steelie to work 6 miles tomorrow and swim short course tomorrow night...

Again....Because I'm ballsy!

~Dave

Much to Blog about, in lieu of training!

2009-07-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a self imposed recovery week. So far a cruise swim practice on Monday for 3000M, Pool Ring Diving with Luis Pablo on Tuesday, and a bottle of wine on wednesday. Not sure I how to put this week into the spreadsheet....So I won't. My shin feels like it's healing and another week of rest will be good for it. And I MIGHT go for a group ride tomorrow, but I doubt it. I've been sticking to a good diet, and my shin splint is feeling better and maybe another week will be perfect.

Not sure who reads this, but I've got to say, I felt great about all the great comments, and notes I got related to last week's triathlon. My Folks (Bridget and Dave), Sister (Aunt Amy), John Ward, Jeff Davis, Billy Crans, KI La Vincent Clair. You'll all be glad to know that I wasn't thinking of you all when I was trying to avoid pooping my pants thru the 1st 2/3 of my run. There's some other people I was thinking about!

In related news.....The Triangle Community experienced tremendous loss last week in the death of Bruce Rosar+.....He was killed last Saturday in a Cycling / Car accident in Apex, NC (close to here) at a left hand turn. He was a community cycling advocate, a certified cycling safety trainer, and well known thru out the triangle cycling community. I was on a group ride with him 2 weeks ago and tho I didn't speak with him, I overheard him actively discussing cycling safety, community planning, and community involvement. It's clear to me, he's had a tremendous influence and impacted, and SAVED countless lives thru advocacy and education. And for me, the next time I'm on the road on my bike I'll be thinking of him and the hazards around me. And for what it's worth... I've started putting my blackberry in my computer bag in the back of my car while I'm driving so I can drive without distractions.

In other non training related news......

1) My oldest (some say eldest) kid Liam started kindergarten this week. It's hard to believe less than 2 years ago we moved back to the states and he couldn't utter a phrase of english except for "That so fuuunnnyyy!" And now he's already reading And is a certifiable expert in super heroes from both Marvel and DC Comics. And he gets his rugged good looks from his Dad!

2) My college roomate Tom Reed is running for Congress in NYS 29th congressional district. I'm actually the Godfather of his oldest daughter Autumn, and he's the Godfather of my son Liam. He was a really fast swimmer but now he's really overweight. His "media guy" said he's got to drop 40 pounds (to be more photogenic). I think he needs to grow some hair....Anyway we're proud of him, and wish him the best!

Here's my schedule going forward......

Subject to change on a whim, or sudden career action, or in general...A better offer that would provide more fun, entertainment, or booze!

8/09 UNC Wellness Super Sprint Triathlon

8/22 Sportsplex Super Sprint Triathlon

9/20 Considering the Fingerlakes Triathlon at Canandaigua Lake.

Will depend on work, Liam's vacation, life in general. Tho I have some friends already signed up. Scott and KI Laclair and John Ward and it would be awesome to race with them.

11/01 Rex Healthcare 1/2 Marathon

Trying to get my cousin Sarah to shoot down for this one.......I pay her airfare if she paces 8:30.

Other thoughts....Anyone interested in a bike ride from Raleigh, to Wilmington ~140 miles for a long weekend?

~That's all for now. Maybe tomorrow I'll publish my I Pod running play list.....Like this dude!

Triangle Triathlon Race Report

2009-07-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

More importantly we've added a child to the family for the next five weeks.

Luis Pablo (9) is visiting us from San Luis Potisi for 6 weeks for an immersion English exposure. My 5 year old Liam is beside himself with his new "Brother, Idol, Playmate, Punching Bag" etc. He arrived Yesterday. I'll be doing my best to send him back to Mexico with a perfect "Upstate NY Hick" accent.

On to the race....I finished the Triangle Triathlon this morning in the Beautiful Wake County Park. I got there by 5:30 and had plenty of time to unpack and get settled in.

The race was supposed to start at 7:30 but was delayed like 15 minutes due to traffic. Since this is my first race I decided to sign up for the Novice Male Group. Each group took off on 5 minute intervals and mine was 12th (second to last).

I lined up with my swim wave as was looking around for some buff guys looking like they could swim good. I figured I would find a young ex college swimmer and try to draft of them thru the swim. No such luck. When the horn blew, we took off and the first jack rabbit was like 250 pounds and took off in the wrong direction. I just kept swimming for the buoy, and by the first turn 250 meters I was way ahead of the pack. I had caught the wave ahead of me....Mucho trafico for the remaining 500 meters. Visibility was horrible, so I just started swimming over top of people rather than resort to breast stroke. I exited the water 1st in my heat and in pretty good form. The transisiton run was real long. 250 meters from the beach to the T1 entrance and a big enough transition area for 1100 bikes. I got to my bike, and did a decent job though I sat down to put my shoes on.

I took off on my bike spinning in a pretty high cadence and felt pretty good. I hit the first park speed bump and launched my water bottle....(no turning back here). I rode pretty well for the whole 17.5 miles and was only passed by the relays in the heat behind me. I was super thirsty, but kept passing bikers the whole way. My GPS showed I averaged 20.6 mph, and official was around 20.3.

I came into T-2 really dehydrated and felt like I either had to poop or fart (I wasn't taking any chances here) and my stomach was starting to cramp. I forgot to undo my shoes and clipped out and lost some time after I stopped to take my shoes off in the transition area. The rest of the transition was ok except I was really thirsty.

I took off for the run, and after the first 1/4 mile, I knew I was in trouble. My stomach was cramping, and I still felt like I could poop any minute. After about 1/2 mile, I decided to walk some. I was walking up hills and running down. Then I started doing 1 minute runs with 30 second rest walks. Nothing worked, and I was drinking as much H20 in each stop I could find. At about mile 2 I got passed by the dude that won my heat. I never saw the guy who came in second place (must have been a Ninja). I started to feel ok around mile 2.5 and then it was too late to make up any time. I finished at about a 8:40 mile pace. Which SUCKS!!!!!

Anyway....I'm happy with the swim, ok with the bike but need to improve and really need to work on the run. Aerobic base, and training are a huge part of this. I signed up for a running clinic next sunday to get some coaching.

In the end...174 overall in a field of about 600 men. 3rd in my group (Novice) I'll need to move up sooner than later.

Major area of focus in the next months will be Brick Transitions, and Running (pending shin splints, since they still hurt)

Also....I was super happy to have my family, as well as Oliver and Vanessa there with me. Cynthia and the kids were there real early and walked into the park like 1.5 miles to support me. Since we forgot the camera, Cynthia cozied up to one of the event photographers and had the kids start shouting PAPA, PAPA, !!!!! She remembered us and hopefully there will some nice pics on her website.

www.focusonaction.com.

I'm really fortunate to have the family support.

So long day. Next race....Looking at the Trysports series locally.

~Dave

Decent Week Last Week w/o Running good Swim Practice Tonight

2009-06-29T19:23:00.001-07:00

2 weeks to go before the triangle triathlon. Pretty good training week last week.

94 Miles Cycling, 5600 Swimming in 3 good sessions. And I got out mountain biking yesterday at Crabtree park but was cut short due to a pretty serious crash by one of my friends. His first major wipeout on a mountain bike. Oh well!

Here's what the chart looks like.

And tonight's swim workout.....

600 EZ swim / kick mix

12 x 50 Alt Drill / Free with :10 Rest

1, 2 ) 1 Arm

3) Catchup

4) Dog Paddle

5) Fist

6) Fingertip Drag

Then

3 X thru

1X200 Pull (I picked up a set of Strokemaker Paddles and wow, I'm sore) Rest :20

2X100 Build Rest :20

4X50 Fast Rest :10

1X50 Ez

3150 Meters total.

In other News.... David Carradine, Farah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, and Billy Mays all passed away recently.....I'm getting older!

~Dave

Shin Splint, Cycling and Swimming.

2009-06-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

I've been nursing a killer shin splint on my right leg and havn't run since Saturday (and that was pathetic) I'm focusing on swimming and cycling.

And actually I'm feeling pretty good.

I had 2 pretty good days in the water on Monday and Tuesday, and Cycled to work Tuesday and today (Wednesday).

I bought a behind the seat rack and garment bag from Performance Bike and can pack my biz casz clothes, Laptop etc. and get to work in about 20 minutes. 6 miles. I get in way before anyone else and traipse around the office in spandex and get ready for work. Luckily I'm a director and have a closed office, and thanks to chapter 11 protection, there's plenty of empty cubicles (aka bike parking). I go into the washroom and scrub down, deodorize, fill my hair with product, grab a starbucks and I'm good to go. Tonight I decided to take the long way home and sent my bag with a colleague to drop off at the house.

I did a decent 8 mile warm up (mostly down hill) at a 19.7 mph pace and then did a 5 X 5 minute interval session with 4 minutes rest between.

Like this...

2 minutes moderate effort zone 2

2 minutes moderate hard zone 3

1 minute hard zone 5a

I thought I did pretty well and pace averages came in at.

#1 21.8 mph

#2 22.9 mph

#3 22.1 mph

#4 19.3 mph

#5 22.0 mph

My overall session pace was at 19.3 mph average including the 20 minutes of recovery spinning. This was on a pretty hilly course of about 28 miles, and on my old steel 1994 bike!

So I think my fitness is improving despite the shinsplint.

~dave

Tonight's Swim Workout

2009-06-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

Another good one, and I'm pooped.

Short course yards this time

400 EZ

4X50 Kick

3X100 IM Stroke Drills

3 X..thru

4X50 on :10 Rest 1,3 easy 2,4 moderate

50 Kick :10 rest

100 IM :20 Rest (I really enjoyed these, I've always had a decent fly, and it felt good with such a short pool. I was thinking of the time my senior year in college, I went a PR 2:00 200IM, and one of my friends' parents commented. "hey, you'd be a decent IMer if you could do the backstroke!" Still can't do the backstroke!)

50 Kick

100 Fast (I went 1:07, 1:13, and tried to Negative Split and failed #3 :35,:37 for 1:12 Maybe next time)

2X25 Underwater. (I made the whole length 2X ummph, argh)

8X50 on :45 Ouch!!! I was coming in on :43

100 EZ

3050 yards, I think.

New Goal: Break 1 minute in a 100 free pushoff in practice on a tuesday night in shortcourse. I've done it many times in the 80's and 90's. Should be easy.:-)

Last Night's swim Workout

2009-06-23T05:44:00.000-07:00

I ended up getting a lot of good cycling in over the end of last week / weekend after a pretty much blow off week. Friday run 3.4 miles thru a lot of pain (more time off due to shin splints), Saturday Cycle 2o or so before my CEO conference call (don't ask) and then another 28 with some intervals after that.

Sunday we woke up late for Father's day, so I skipped the usual group ride and opened my gifts. The kids were really excited to give me my gifts. A new cycling jersey, some running shirts, a hydration pack for running, a Keith Urban CD, and my favorite a kitchen compost crock! So then I went out for an easy 30 ride. I was able to push it some but got passed by one of the A groups out there like I was standing still.

Last night I went to the OSB swim practice for this workout....It was great!

500 EZ
4 X 50 kick (2 w/o board) :10 RI
4 X 50 drill (catchup, 1 arm, dog paddle, dps)

then the killer set

500 Rest :50
400 Rest :40 descend
300 Rest :30 descend
200 Rest :20 descend
100 descend

100 EZ

4X 50 kick 40 M easy, 10 M hard
6X50 25 Ez, 25 Fast

100 Warm down.

3300 Meters long course

There were about 10 folks who showed and we only had 2 lanes. As usual, I jumped in the slow lane and the "fast" regulars weren't there. Turns out, I was pretty much keeping with the lane leader of the fast lane. We were going at a pretty good pace, ~1:40. At the end, I got some comments about my choice in lanes, but I enjoyed swimming next to someone holding the same pace, and pushing each other. Maybe tonight, I'll try to hang with the "fasties".

Trying to swim and cycle a lot this week, as running will be limited due to @#$@#@#$ shit splint!

Hot today

2009-06-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

Last night I stayed up too late watching Miracle at St. Anna. Great Movie! And I slept thru swim practice this morning.

We're having an early season Heat / Humidity wave, and it supposed to get up to 100 tomorrow. Today it's 93 degrees and super humid.

I went out for a 5K run between calls. 28 minutes with a lot of walking. I lost like 3 lbs. in sweat. Off to get a professional fitting for my new bike tonight, and maybe a swim workout in the neighborhood pool.

Wimpy Week

2009-06-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

It's Thursday and I've gotten in one swim for 3500 yards and a 34 mile bike ride.

I've decided to make this somewhat of a rest week as it's been rainy, humid, I've been tired, and been trying to medicate and ice a nagging shin splint. That leaves 3 good training weeks before the triangle triathlon. I'll hit it hard for the next two and do a mini taper in week 3.

I went on the Cycling Spoken Here group ride tonight. I've been skipping this ride lately, opting for doing intervals alone. But keeping with the blow off week I'm having, I thought it would be fun. I had a great time! In my absence, they raised the bar from a 17 - 18 pace to a 19.1 average. There was a great group of folks tonight, including one of the swim coaches from OSB multisport whom I swim with occasionally. And I was able to lead and pull a good portion of the ride. I was up front in the peloton (wanted to throw that word in for fun) for most of the ride, and did well in the hills. I guess, the interval work has been paying off. We ended up averaging around 19.4 for the ride.

Hopefully, here's what's in store for the rest of the week.

Friday 6 AM swim practice (I'm not a morning person)

Saturday Serious brick, I'm thinking bike - Run, Bike - Run and maybe a PM swim workout. Gonna hit some hard intervals on the bike.

Sunday: CSH group ride again....Social ride 18.24 mph average.

Last Week Totals, Monday Off, Tuesday Swim

2009-06-16T18:53:00.001-07:00

Last week ended with 98.5 Total Miles. I took Sunday, and Monday off, as my flight was cancelled Sunday evening and I had to get up at 3:45 to catch a 5:40 AM flight.

I'm in a lot of pain with a shin splint on my right leg and have been nursing it with Ice, Ibuprofen, Glucosamine, and Magic Hat #9 (not quite IPA). But I was able to get in close to 20 miles running in last week.

Recap of tonight's swim workout. Short Course Yards.

500 EZ

4 X 50 Stroke Drills

4 X 50 Kick Back, Fly (900)

then Main set

2 X

3 X 100 on 1:40 / 1:30

3 X 100 IM on 1:40 / 1:30 (These sucked_

300 Steady Pull

3 X 50 on 1:00 Descend

2 X 50 25 EZ, 25 Fast

1 X 50 Kick

(2400)

200 EZ Warmdown

Total 3500 Yards.

On another note, I've kept track of all workouts and we're in week 8 of an 11 week training period.

So far I've swam and an equivalent of 8 Iron Mans, Biked 4, and Run 3. Maybe I should be running more.

~Dave

Week Wrapup

2009-06-14T07:26:00.000-07:00

I had a relaxing weekend with my parents in my hometown. I flew up alone on Friday for my 20 yr class reunion. A few classmates are organizing a picnic today and the turnout is supposed to be good. And it'll be a kegger reminiscent of the field party days from highschool. Looking forward to it.

Friday I was off, so got in about 30 miles of interval work on the bike after a great swim workout. Yesterday I hit my old school disctict track for 4.5 miles of 1/2 mile intervals.

I felt pretty good and kept all 4 around a 6:30 pace. Did a lot of slow jogging and walking to recover. Battling a shin splint on right leg and have been eating ibuprofen and glucosamine like it's m&m's. Was planning doing 10 miles LSD this AM but decided to let leg rest and heal. (Late night beer with Dad helped seal the decision)

I'll post total distances when I get home, but looking like around a 100 mile week.

~Dave

This morning's swim workout

2009-06-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

400 EZ

6 X 50 kick :10 rest

6 X 50 drill :10 rest

3X5X100 on 2:00, 1:45, 1:30 Last set moderate / hard

20 X 25 on :30 warmdown

On the last set of one hundreds I went 1:14, 1:16, 1:17, 1:18, 1:17

Going for a bike ride now.

Better Aerobic Base

2009-06-11T16:37:00.000-07:00

Over 60 miles for this week so far.

Monday

Run 5.4 miles Intervals and 2000 Meters Swimming.

Here's my mile pace times for 1/2 mile runs

7:09

7:34

8:05

7:50

8:20

I'd like to get to betwee 6:45 and 7:30 for all of them.

Good news is that I'm running more during the recovery rather than walking and puking

Run was followed by a 2900 Meter Swim

400 EZ

6X50 Drill

2 ties thru

2X 200 Pull :20 Rest

3X100 50 drill, 50 build :20 - :30 Rest

3X100 Fast :05 rest

200 Warm down

I was feeling some speed come back in the fast 100's the first one came in at 1:25

Tuesday

Cycle to Work 6 cycle home 13 and felt yucky.

2 Margaritas

Wednesday

Lunchtime Maintenance Run at the Nortel Hilly Trails.

Super Hot, Super Hilly, Super fun, 7 miles

Thursday

Cycle 30 miles medium to hard effort. Average 19.2 thru some pretty decent hills.

Tonight I pack to go to NY for my 20 yr High School reunion. I can't wait to see the old friends. With a vacation day thrown in tomorrow. Here's what I'd like to do.

Friday.....Swim 6 - 7 AM, Ride 35 Miles with some intervals, Run 4 (brick)

Saturday 10 Miles Running Long and Slow and Easy.

Sunday 4 Mile Track workout at Tuscarora Elementary.

~Dave

Quick Update..... Week in Review June 1 - June 7

2009-06-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

Monday: 5.4 mile run 5X 1/2 mile intervals with 4:00 recovery

7:22, 8:12, 7:53, 9:32, 9:11 pace.....Hilly course, HOT

Tuesday: 28.44 Mile Bike Intervals....Average 17.8 mph

Wednesday: Morning Swim... 3280 Yards

Thursday: 4.6 Mile Trail Run at office trail

Friday: REST

Sat: 22 mile Bike, 3.4 mile Run brick and felt horrible

Sun: 33.4 Mile Group ride 18.4 mph average.

94.6 miles for the week.

Annual Physical Changes

2009-06-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

Results from my annual physical are in.....Here's how I stack up year over year.

2008 2009 Doc's. Comments

Weight (Clothed) 204 184 Need to Lose another 20 lbs.

Cholesterol 233 204 Good Progress need to lose another 20 lbs.

HDL 44 56 Good...Result of Exercise

LDL 165 131 Good Progress...Lose 20 lbs. and you'll <>

Triglyceride 112 86 Good thing you don't have a problem here

Glucose 114 81 Wow, You were "livin' large" last year!

Everything is gonna be ok, if I just lose 20 lbs!

Picking up the Mileage...

2009-06-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

Week in Review... Monday Afternoon

Graphical Version of my mileage log.

I've had a couple of big weeks in a row and hoping to get up over 100 miles this week again.

It appears as though the legend didn't come thru, but the bottom line represents swim converted to miles, yellow is run, and the red is bike. Blue at the top is total miles.

Thursday : CSH Group ride again. 32 miles at a 19 something average.

This ride is getting pretty fast, and I got a little bonky in the hills on the last five miles home.

Friday: Six mile relaxed run with nothing to report but good iPod Tunes. Someday I'll post my wicked pisser play list.

Saturday: Neighborhood pool swim. Here's the W/O

Warmup 200 swim, 100 kick, 100 swim

10 X 50 free drills on :10 rest interval

Mainset 5 X 3 X 100 descend on 2:00, 1:45, 1:30 no rest between

2X100 Kick

Warmdown 20 X 25 on :30

I was trying to race a couple of teenage kids, but hey couldn't keep up with me. ;-)

Sunday: 22 miles solo on the bike. Interval workout

20 min EZ spinning

5 X 3 minutes with 1 min HR Zone 2, 1 min HR Z3, 1 Min HR> 170 beats per minute, 2:30 spin down.

I got up to 27 - 30 mph at times on the Zone 5's. Scary fast on a bike for me. Hopefully the bike intervals will help me go from

This....

To This!!!

Midweek Update

2009-05-27T16:16:00.000-07:00

So last weekend, though productive from an athletic standpoint....not great from a diet point of view....

On Sunday after a great bike ride, we had some folks over for for a cookout. Great food, great friends, and lot's of beer. A couple of Mexican families living locally. Pilar and Rodrigo, and Beto and Maru. My buddy Loucks came over with his kids for a few hours too. Anyway, Loucks brought over his "Baggo" game. Like horseshoes but you throw beanbags into some flat boards. 1 point if the bag stays on the board, 3 points if you make it in the hole. Play to 21. (Oh and you're required to be holding a beer in your non throwing hand) Beto and I took on Loucks and Rodrigo and the steaks were quite high. Here's what the loser's got to do!

Kind of brings new meaning to Multisport.

So, tired, drunk, and sore, I decided to take Monday off!

Tuesday my plan was to cycle into and home from work, and do a brick workout. I took the longway home 13 miles, and changed immediately. My first 15 steps into the run, I felt a twinge in my left groin from Thursday's Swim practice and those familiar shin splints in my right leg. I immediately turned around back to the house with pride in throat and crow in mouth and took a double dose of glucosamine, advil and packed two bags full of ice. "Live to fight another day!"

So today, Wednesday, I made it up for AM swim practice 5:45 - 7:00.

500 Ez

2X100 kick on :20 Rest

4X 400 Pull on 1:30 Rest

2X100 kick on :20 Rest

4X50 Fast :20 Rest

200 EZ

for 2900 Meters

This Afternoon I did an interval running workout...

2 min HRZ1

2 min HRZ2

2 mini HRZ3

.5 mi on 7:30 pace 4 min RI

.5 mi on 6:08 pace 4 min RI

.5 mi on 6:40 pace 4 min RI

.5 mi on 7:49 pace 4 min RI

In all distance worked out to be 3.2 miles for 40 minutes. I felt pretty fast, but out of breath and heart rate was 170 +. Need to do this more often.

So for the rest of the week

Tomorrow.....Blood work for annual physical in the AM, CSH ride in the PM if no Rain

Friday.......AM Swim Workout, PM Run

Saturday.....Bike Run Brick

Sunday CSH Ride.

P.S. Last night I came to a funny realization. I was moping around for awhile bummed about not getting my run in. We sat down to dinner, and Liam didn't want to eat his beans and rice. He made a comment about not eating food he didn't like. So after getting sent to his room and back down stairs to "Talk!" My wife showed him pictures of children starving in Africa, abuse victims from Zimbabwe, and some other REAL and Graphic atrocities. In the end he cried, and ate his beans and rice. Great lesson for him, better lesson for me. There's lots of people in the world dying for an opportunity to compete. Puts in perspective how fortunate we really are.

Monday... Memorial Day weekend

2009-05-23T18:29:00.001-07:00

Had a decent training week last week.

M- Cycle to work 10 mi

T- Cycle to work 17 mi, run 4. (12 mi / bike 4 mile run brick on way home with a 25:something 5K

W-Overslept AM swim practice, but got a ride to work ran home 6 miles.f

Th- AM swim 2700 yards

F- MTB 10 miles
S- Swim 2100 yards, Run in 5K
Su-Cycle 32 miles

Highlights....

Tuesday night, I did my first "Brick" workout. I took a 12 mile route home cyclin, and immediately jumped into run after changing in the garage. I ran about 4 miles and did the 5K in about 25: somthing. So that's a low 8 minute pace.

Here's the workout from Thursday's Swim.

400 Ez

4 X 50 Kick (Groin pull but more on that later)

4X 50 Drill (Catchup, R down - L Back, 6 kick rotation, finger tip drag)

3 X thru the following

4X100 IM on :15 rest interval (These sucked as my shoulder flexibiity for the fly has gone to sh*t!

200 Pull

100 Ez Kick

I've been swimming with the OSB multisport Masters team at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. It's a small team run by Marty Gaal of OSB Multisport. For $6.25 a session you get a great workout and a coach.

Wednesday, I got a lift into the office and made an attempt to run home 6 miles. Not a good idea! Had a great trail run thru the nortel campus (future lunchtime activity planned here) and then onto Davis Drive. Which sucked! Hot, boring and Lots - o - traffic.

Thursday Night I hit the CSH group ride . Hung pretty well with the B group for 32 miles with a 19ish average. Cycling Spoken Here is a local shop. They sponsor about15 rides a week and it's a pretty open and fun atmosphere.

Friday, I went mountain biking with my buddy Loucks. We had a nice 10 mile crank thru Crabtree park. A local park with awesomly maintained single track trails. Loucks really let loose on the tail end of the ride. On the way home on the greenway we were talking about drafting. I told Loucks to get right behind me and get in my draft. Just as he was saying "Wow, that's really cool!" I stood up and farted! HA

Saturday, I got up early and went to our community pool for a quick swim. Then Saturday Night Cynthia and I ran the skirt chaser 5K. This is a really fun race put on by Skirt Sports' owner and professional Triathlete Natalie de Boom. The girls get a race skirt and get to start 3 minutes ahead of the guys. I pushed Gracie and Catherine in the jogging stroller and came in at 30:27.6 - the 3 minutes, my pace came in at around a 8:50 mile pushing 75 pounds. We had the girls dressed up in skirts. Cynthia did great for her 1st 5K without any training. After the race they had a beer garden a band, and a fashion show. I drank a bunch of this!

Sunday I went on the group ride again. About 12 miles in my seat fell off so most of the group left. 4 of us finished the ride together, and we had a great time.

Today, I get a day off!

Training update for Tuesday

2009-05-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

Still 181 lbs.
Monday Cycle to and from work 12 miles 5 going 7 coming home with different route
Tuesday. Cycle to Work 5 miles Cycle Home via Western Route 12 mi immediately followed with a 3.5 mile run. (Brick). I ran pretty hard and held an 8:30 pace.

Tomorrow. 5:45 Swim practice. And bum a ride to work. 8 mile run home.

I think I'll head to the tobacco trail on Friday after work and practice 3 - 3:30 ish half miles on the marked flat trail.

All for now.

~Dave

Weekend Update

2009-05-17T16:52:00.001-07:00

Saturday....No official exercise, should have been a rest day. Actually, I got up early and went to finish the deck project I started Friday night. We finished around 3:30 PM, and I was pooped. I'll count it as a strength and core conditioning session. The family is Indian, so it must be good Karma! A couple of souvenirs from the adventure below.

So after a day of hard work, a double scrub in the shower, we scrambled to get the kids bathed and ready for the sitter (who was 1/2 hr late). We met new friends Oliver and Vanessa Luker in Durham for an high calorie awesome dinner at Vin Rouge in Durham. Food and wine were great and so was the company (Oliver definitely "married up!") And I was asleep by 11:30.

I was planning to do the CSH group ride first thing Sunday but it was raining when I woke up at 6. So back to sleep 'til 8:30, and what to do. So I went down to our neighborhood pool and swam in the rain for an hour and a half in 65 degree water. Here's the breakdown

Warmup 400 EZ, 100 Stroke Drills

100, 200, 100 rest :10, :20, :10

200, 300, 200 rest :20, :30, :20

300, 400, 300 rest :30, :40, :30

20 X 25 rest :10 cool down.

Funny I was the only one in the water, and luckily there was no thunder and lightning!

My weeks run Monday - Sunday so here's the total

Swim 7100 yards +4000 to my plan

Bike 35 miles - 30 to my plan (Bad, Bad, Bad)

Run 15.5 +2 to plan

I'm cycling to work in the AM and it's gonna be COOOOOLD!

That all

~Dave

Work, Hard Labor, Manual Labor

2009-05-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

So this week proved to be pretty interesting. To start. I had a terrible training week last week, due to business travel, and my penchant for good beer, and bad food at Jack Astors on Blvd Sources in Montreal. BTW the only Jack Astor's worth a damn in the whole world, but I digress...

Week in Review.

M - Run 6 miles

T - Cycle to Work, Run 4 miles .5 miles at 7 - 8 min pace, rest 1 min

W- Return to Blog-o-sphere, 25 mile crank, 2000 yard swim

Th- 2100 M swim with Masters Coach

F- 5 mile pitiful run / walk in an attempt to get 7 miles in.

So after a week of trying to get back in shape, I think I finally bonked out today. The disappointing thing is that I really didn't work that hard in the previous workouts. Anyway, chalk it up to experience, quit taking 4 days off in a row, followed by 2 more, and move on with the plan!

After my amazing display of mediocre athleticism, I had a happy hour meeting. I previously commited to helping the family of one of my son Liam's schoolmates' parents rehab their backyard deck. So I grabbed my leather work gloves, sledge hammer, hammer and shitty attitude and proceeded over to their house to demo the spalted and splintered deck boards. The family had quoted the job with a local contractor to simply tear up and replace deck boards for a 24' X 18' deck for over $4000. (Shitty contractors taking advantage pisses me off!) When we measured up what was needed, it turns out to be <$500. So after tearing off the old, tonight in about 2 hours time, we'll redeck the sucker 1st thing in the AM. I told the Dad, we can get it done in <>

So, after a shitty week of work (I'm trying to avoid ranting about work, and cubicle ridden drone coworkers in this blog, so we'll leave it at that), a so-so week of training apexed with a terrible bonk in my 7 miler; I found my nirvana in destroying a backyard deck.

There are a number to times in an athlete's career where the get into the "zone!" Mine are so few, I remember most all of them. The county championship swim meet my high school junior year where I won the 200 IM, and the 100 breaststroke. A dual meet at Hobart when i was in college and did a personal best in the 200 breaststroke. A set of 3 X 5 X 200 meters free training in Florida long course where I was beating the distance freestylers. And a couple more times.

I hit the "Zone" tearing up the floorboards of my son's friend's parent's backyard deck. (That's a lot of possessive participles in one sentence). I was ripping that shit up like it wasn't there. Hammer and tool placement was spot on, and even throwing the boards into the scrap pile was really accurate. I hardly spoke, but I was a crowbarring, board bending, ripping machine. I think I tore up a good 3/4 of the deck. I felt great when we were done. It was the type of experience Robert Pirsig writes about in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." Hopefully I didn't waste a "zone" and will beable to get there for the triangle triathlon on July 12, 2009!

That's all for now!

~DAVE

Colonoscopy and Swimming.... A winning combination

2009-05-14T18:24:00.000-07:00

At 37 years young, I havn't thought of myself as getting older until today. Of course I have a few gray hairs, weight doesn't come off as easily, and in a few years I'll have my first prostate exam. But today was quite different. And not so much related to me but my wife Cynthia.

My Mother in Law, Guadalupe is a Cancer survivor. When she was 36 years old she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Almost 30 years ago they didn't have the colonoscopy technology we have today. Anyway during my wife's last physical our primary care provider referred her for the exam. That was today. Anyway long story short, after a few days of fasting, and all day yesterday of laxatizing and a sleepless last night, she had her exam this morning. Thank GOD!!!! The doc said everything looked good. Only one "diminutive" pollop which was removed and all is well. His point to me was that if there's a family history of this, children should have this scope done up to 10 years younger than the "index patient" (Guadalupe). So he removed the pollop and said cancer starts with a single abnormal cell. This may be pre-cancerous, but now it's gone so it can't start from this cell. We'll test it and go back in another 3 years. So the message to my Cun~ados is...."GET YOUR ASSES TO THE DOC".

I'm happy and relieved. Sorta puts in perspective the Bills not making the playoffs, and Yankees losing at home!

Back to triathlon.......

I went to the OSB multisport masters workout again tonight at the Triangle Aquatic Center. It was great! 3 swimmers and 2 lanes. Two masters women showed up and swam circles around me, but I got a special 2100 meter workout while they had to do 3400.

So here it is...

Warmup 400 EZ, 200 technique

2X100 kick / pull rest :20

3X100 rest :10 (1-Hard / Moderate, 2-Moderate, 3- Moderate / EZ)

3X200 rest :20 (1-Hard / Moderate, 2-Moderate, 3- Moderate / EZ)

2X100 kick / pull rest :20

200 EZ warmdown

I felt pretty good. I stuck to the rest intervals but rested close to 1 minute between sets. Everything about the 200's sucked and I need to work on strength and endurance. Cardio, I felt OK.

So in closing.... Our Gastro Enterologist and his staff were really nice. Great people and considerate and took the time to explain everything. They even chuckled at my reference to Cosmo Kramer and an "Ass Man" personalized license plate...

~Dave

Long time no update...

2009-05-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

I havn't updated this blog since since January. Here's the latest.

500 miles running
300 miles cycling
5600 yards swimming
Down to 181 lbs.
My company filed for Ch 11. bankruptcy protection
Got a new bike

old Bike New Bike

Gotta do a better job of Blogging, and get faster....

Today's workout....

23 miles cycling got avg. 17 mph. Would have been faster but traffic was heavy and wasn't comfortable in the aerobars, AND I got lost. I worked from home this afternoon and played hookey between calls for the ride between 3:30 and 5. I had calls 5 - 6.

2000 yards in the pool shortcourse, immediately after my last call.

400 Warmup (100 swim, 100 kick, 25 R. Arm, 25 L. Arm, 25 catchup, 25 3R3L 6 cycles, 100 Swim)

2 X 5 X 50 on 1:00 held 35 seconds

1X 5 X 100 on 2:00 came in between 1:15 and 1:30 (lotta work to do there)

20 X 25 on :30 cooldown

100 Warmdown stroke drills.

I've signed up for the Triangle Triathlon here in Raleigh at Sharon Harris Park. 750M swim, 14 mile bike, 5K run. I've figured my goals to be

Swim 12:00 includes run to transition

T1 2:00

Bike 42:00 20mph pace

T2 2:00

Run 24:00 7 something pace

Total 1hour 22 minutes.

I've been working on doing some tempo running and cycling in group rides with a local bike shop.

Anyway....More to follow!

Good deal on Garmin 301

2009-01-12T12:28:00.001-08:00

If anyone is interested....I frequent a website called slickdeals.net.

I found a post for the GARMIN Forerunner 301 / HRM for $80 with free shipping.

http://slickdeals.net/index.php?to=2009-01-12&page=7

I havn't looked at the amazon page. But thought it was interesting.

Week 2....Diet, Throw in a Bike, Technology

2009-01-11T17:45:00.000-08:00

Week 2....19 Miles running, 21 Miles on the Bike and 2 days off. I felt great training this week and did really well with my diet as well.

After a day of rest on Sunday, I got right back into it on Monday. My parents had stopped in for a night on their way to Myrtle Beach and I was showing my Dad my GPS. I happened to leave it on and I drained the battery. Apparently this model doesn't have a sleep mode! So I decided to let loose a little. I had no timer except looking at the clock on the way in and out and I estimate that my 4.1 mile loop was about 37 - 39 minutes. I thought pretty good, and I found myself slowing myself down as my breathing got heavier. Tuesday was a rest day because I had a few visitors coming to look at things I was selling on Craigs list. Then Wednesday the loop (chest strap malfunctioned then) and on Thursday it was cold so I went 7 miles on the Dreadmill where I felt Great! My intent was to only run for an hour but felt so good I went for 1 and 1/2 and added a 20 minute cooldown. I paid for it on Friday with Lower leg pain and some evidence of shinsplints, so I decided to take it easy over the weekend. I've started icing my shins after running on Thursday and as of right now on Sunday I feel pretty recovered. I've also added some stretches with an elastic band and have been trying to stretch for a good 15 minutes before bed.

Saturday, the weather forecast called for 60 degrees and Sunny! We fed the kids breakfast and I convinced that I needed to take Liam (my son) to the dump to throw away some old electroniccs, and finish recycling the rest of the cardboard from X-mas. On the way we happened to stop at our local triathlon store with my road bike for a quick cable and brake adjust (10 minutes and FREE) and we were on our way. So I decided to take a leisurely ride and simulate my trip to the office for when I start riding to work. In short. Great Ride, Pretty Flat, and it took about 20 minutes door to door.

This morning it got up to about 58 degrees so we blew off the early playoff games and took the kids, toys, and mountain bikes to ride the American Tobacco Trail. Looking at the results, I didn't ride that great....But I had Gracie (38 lbs,) in a kiddie seat on my luggage rack, and I was pulling a Burley Deelight Trailer with Liam (5) and Sissy (3) riding with their Leapsters, Snacks, and enough water for a cross country hike. So given the situation not bad. I felt great, and strong. So 1 more week of training before I do my AT test next Saturday.

Diet.

I ended last week at 190.3 pounds. I've been doing some research and found this calorie calculator. It estimates based on 6.5 hours of sleep, my work schedule, and 1 hour of exercise daily, I should be burning around 3400 calories per day. And it also indicates that every 3500 calories of deficit I eat, it's work 1 pound. So If I continue to work out 1 hour per day, and only intake a maximum of 2000 calories per day. Roughly I'll be losing around 3 pounds per week. Throw in a few rest days and 1 cheat day (Beer) and I think I can comfortably stick to losing 2 pounds per week. So... What have I been eating.

A typical day will look like this

Breakfast 2 egg white omelet with tomato, onion, redpepper, and some feta cheese 140 cal

Snack 3/4 cup of Kashi Ceareal and Activia Yogurt 150 cal

Lunch Can of Tuna (un mixed) and 1/2 cup of mixed nuts 300 cal

Snack Kashi Snack Bar, Apple, Mixed Nuts 150 cal

Dinner 3 oz Tuna Steak, and 2 servings of Green Giant mixed Veggies 450 cal

Snack Fruit Smoothie 8 oz. Almond Butter, 5 strawberries, frozen blueberries, Ice, Vanlla yogurt, and orange juice 150 cal

So you can see for most of the week, I've been well under 2000 calories, and have managed to eat all day long. This works for me and I dont' let myself get starved. I'm saving Saturdays for a cheat day where I'll eat pizza, drink beer, tacos, and all the crap I miss.

So in the end, a pretty good week. I got my bike out, and mixed up a little. This week I go to Montreal for a few days, so we'll see how I do on the road.

Oh, about the technology.....I noticed all week, I was getting funny HR readings. At one time it reported my HR to be above 220 bpm and at others, it simply wouldn't register. My first thought is no wonder that guy sold me this used junk so cheap....But when I started looking at the chest strap, it has a battery compartment (I've had a Polar HRM in the past and their straps don't have a battery) I replace the battery this morning and the problem seems to be solved.

`Dave

Week 1 results....as of Jan 5

2009-01-05T16:51:00.000-08:00

A quick summary of week 1 results.

In 7 days, I exercised 6 and rested 1. Though tuesday was about a 1 and 1/2 hour hike of the tobacco trail with the kids stroller, backpack, etc. But I still managed to burn a fair amount of calories.

In total, just shy of 24 miles of SLOW running with a lot of recovery walking. I started the week at around 197 lbs. and Sunday AM was 192 lbs.

As it relates to diet, I've done pretty well. NO BEER with the exception of New Year's eve. I've pretty much cut out all breads / carbs, and more or less backed off of red meat. It's all been cereals, salads, fruit smoothies, tuna fish, egg white omelets, and yellow fin tuna steaks (on sale for $7.29/ lb at Harris Teeter.)

Tonights run I felt pretty good. My battery in my HRM was dead so I let it go a little. I sprinted until I was breathing pretty heavy, or my calves cramped, and I walked briskly to recover. I did Typical 4 ish mile loop in 39 min. vs. my regular 58 minutes. Tomorrow....Back to the discipline of the HRM, but it was fun while it lasted.

So in summary.....6 days, 24 miles, 5 pounds. No Pizza, No Burgers, no Bread.

What I didn't do......Get the bike out!

I'm planning to start to record what I'm eating and make an effort to count calories. Hopefully I'll have a simple format set up by the end of the week.

-Dave

Resting Heart Rate

2008-12-31T05:25:00.000-08:00

I've decided....Drawn a line in the sand, set the date. Gonna take the bull by the horns, nose to the wheel, axe to the grind stone....blah blah blah. I'm doing my Aerobic Threshold (AT) test on January 17th. It's be the test detailed in the link to the Heart Rate Training article I posted earlier.

"5 min. warm up slowly to a pace at the end where you are beginning to breathe a little hard
5 min. maintain the pace, increasing a bit at the end
5 min. increase pace again to labored breathing.
5 min. on a gradual incline increase the pace from just breathing hard to
breathing very hard. Transition directly into…
2 min. all out sprint on a steep hill to maximum speed!
1 min. push this max speed while still going up and hold for a minute or
as long as possible!! Record MHR.
10 min. cool down at a very easy pace and stretch.
------------------
33 min. total ( 18 minutes hard, 15 minutes warm up/down)"

So to get ready, I slept with my HRM last night to get a glimpse of my true resting heart rate (RHR). Kind of funny results but I've established 65 BPM as a base line which I seemed to achieve a couple of hours before I woke up. However, I appear to be somewhat of a restless sleeper as there were some spikes thru the night. I'll have to read up more on that.

Anyway, I went ahead made some theoretical calculations for training zones just to see what they may look like. Above are the results for my ideal training zones if my Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) turns out to be 185 like I suspect. So actually, my concern of training too fast maybe a little unfounded. Regardless, I'm gonna stick with the original plan and try to maintain a lower heart rate and run for time rather than distance up until the date of the AT test.

On another front....I go back to work on Friday. (whoo hoo, one day of work before the weekend). So today I'll get my road bike out, clean it up, check the tubes, and tune up as necessary. Probably going to attempt a test ride to the office tomorrow (New Year's Day activity) and then attempt a cycle into the office. Should be fun!

So as I get my trusty old Nasbar home built steed out, I've got to keep in mind one thing about myself. Bicycles are to me....... what pornography, crack, booze, and gambling are to other addicts. I love it, and can't go past a bike shop without going in, chatting with the mechanics, and walking out with $30 worth of tubes, levers, tools, jerseys, shorts, cleats, or anything else their nasty point of purchase displays have to offer! If not kept in balance, I could easily throw my family into bankruptcy $30 - $100 at a time! So wish me luck!

-Dave

Today's run....sort of

2008-12-30T10:31:00.001-08:00

So, I've been using a Garmin Forerunner 301 GPS / HRM running computer. I got a great deal on it used from the Craigslist for $75. I've been using the Garmin Training Center to log my workouts. I think it's really convenient.

So in this morning's post I set my target to keep my workouts for the next 3 weeks in the 120 - 130 bpm range. Holy cow is that difficult, frustrating, and boring! I set the HRM alarm for an alert at 140 bpm so the plan is to slow down to a walk, and recover at the 140 mark. The chart show's that it only takes like 1 minute of jogging at what I feel a comfortable pace is before I hit the 140 alarm and have to slow down to a walk. I was really surprised at how much I was walking and recovering. I think tomorrow I'll set the alarm at 135 and see if I can do better.

-Dave

Training Plan...uh Sort of.

2008-12-30T06:30:00.000-08:00

So, I've been running pretty steadily for about 3 weeks now. Averaging 3 - 4 times per week, between outside, our own treadmill, and various Shera-hilton-iday-Hampton Inn Hotel workout rooms. And sadly, I haven't been losing weight like I had hoped. Here are the two reasons I believe.

1) Travel, work dinners, hotel, and Airport Chili's restaurants. I typically find myself having 2 -3 business dinners / week which usually means a beer or two and some wine. Throw in my natural desire to polish off the bread basket before appetizers, and you couldn't necessarily classify my existence as "carb-free" living.

2) Beer. When I'm home I LOVE beer! Who doesn't? Anyway I have such a refined taste that I'll only drink porters and stouts, and consider a pretty hoppy Pale Ale my light beer. I scoff at Miller Lite, and would rather drink dirty pond water than open a bottle of Michelob Ultra! That's a problem as each beer is the equivalent of 2 pieces of bread. I've no clue how many equivalent loaves of bread I consume in a week. But onto the most important topic of this blog....

3) The way I've been training.... Which consistently means, trying to rush to the treadmill or get my sneakers on and get outside before someone notices I'm gone. I get at most 1/2 hr in and try to run intervals where most of the training is at a heart rate of 150 - 160 bpm. Luckily I can maintain that because that's what I'm accustomed to, but not good for establishing a good "aerobic base". This hit me last week while on the treadmill looking at the various speed / inclinations settings there are categories for a) fat burn, b) aerobic, c) endurance and d) strength according to various speeds. And another chart for heart rates according to age. And for my age, the fat burn zone is around 123 bpm. Everything I've read (and happily disregarded) is that early in training the concept of LSD (Long Slow Distance) inorder to establish an aerobic base and conditioning to build on for future improvements.

I should have known better as my College swim coach back in the early 90's swore by this concept and made sure there were only 2 ways to get your ass screamed at in practice. A) For not swimming slow enough during conditioning sets. That's actually tough when you feel good and want to work out in that 150 - 160 bpm zone. and B) For not swimming fast enough during the speed / endurance sets. The times when you work so hard that you can feel your heart beat in your head, start to get dizzy, and almost throw up.

Coach had a process for establishing the perfect pace time for training. Each swimmer would do a set of 5 X 100 free from the wall at max effort with 10 seconds rest between each. Let's say the times work out to be :53 + :10, 55 + :10, 1:00 + :10, 1:05 +10, 1:10 + :10 for an average of 353 seconds. Divide that by 5 for an average AT time of 1:10 roughly. Then all training was done with a swimmer swimming at a pace close to their AT time. For example a typical practice set would be 3 X 10 x 100 free at AT + 10 seconds, AT + 8 seconds, AT + 5 seconds on 1:30, 1:25, and 1:20 second intervals. And the team was divided into lanes based on like AT times. This test was done 3X per year.... 3 weeks into practice, right before the 2 week florida training trip, and right before taper. It was amazing to see how our averages came down because the splits of the 4th and 5th 100's improved so much due to conditioning thru the season.

So, what does all of this mean to me and Triathlon training? A) I'm eating wrong (handle that in a different posting after I eat like Kobiashi on New Years), and B) I'm training wrong and in the wrong zone. Above is an example of a training run I did on Sunday Night. As you can see I'm way out of my zone, and was very frustrated. My naturally inclination was to run at the 150 160 bpm range and as I set my alarm on the HRM, I found myself stopping to walk to get back down into that base building zone. Ideally (without data) I think I need to be in the 120 - 130 zone but I haven't done any testing to find out where I should be. So I found a great article at beginnertri.com

on how to establish the correct training zone to build a base. It consist of a pretty grueling test similar to that described above in the pool. So my plan is to train in the 120 - 130 range for at least an hour a day 4 - 5 days per week, and maybe long walks or family hikes on the off days for the next 3 weeks. And then do the test on a Saturday outlined here.

So that's pretty much my plan for the next Month as this is a figure it out as you go Tri training program. In closing a few more things to work on. A) Figure out how to cycle to the office (hopefully travelling will slow down and I only live 5 miles from work. B) Get the bike down and pump up the tires.

-Dave

Dec 28, 2008 Day 1 Week 1

2008-12-28T18:06:00.000-08:00

Ok, Let's get going.

The pic's posted above are me over the last 16 years. As you can see evolution hasn't been so kind to me! I've just turned 37, breached the 200 lb. threshold, and have decided I need to set a good example in lifestyle and nutrition for my kids. So I've decided to get into the Triathlon game. So you ask, why not just join a gym, do nutri-systems , weight watchers , the Adkin's diet or something like that? For me the answer is simple....I'm freaken lazy, I like Nachos, Pizza, and beer! So if I don't have a goal, target or competition of some sort to strive for, I'll never get off my ass and get my act together.

What better way, than to force myself to sign up for a local Triathlon Series.

So why Triathlon? Easy again. A) Experience, B) It'll get me into shape quickly, C) It combines 3 sports I've done, am familiar with, and love. So here is where we baseline.

I did a sprint tri about 10 years ago. Since then I had difficulty keeping up with training as new jobs, ex pat assignments in Mexico, getting married having kids, and other obligations rightfully took priority. It was rather natural as I ran Cross Country and Track in High School, swam in High School and University (actually achieved Collegiate All America status ), and have picked up a passion and enjoyment for Mountain Biking. (One of the things I've learned is that I enjoy Mountain Biking 10X more when I'm in shape from doing a lot of road biking). And also Triathlon training by nature gives a nice variety to keep from getting bored with the same 5K loop day after day.

I intend this blog to be a repository for my training diary, work out planning, and info I come across when researching training techniques, injury prevention, and diet. The Goal....Look Like I did when I was 20 with out shaving my head!

These pics are the evolution of me....!

Left, age 20 (1992) ~165 lbs. And NO I wasn't in a Guatemalan Street Gang! Just getting ready for State's my Junior Year at Alfred University.

Middle, around 1998 age 26 running the Y-athlon in Erin, NY! At that time I was living in Corning NY and also coaching age group swimming. With that I was able to cycle to work daily, run daily, and would train in the water with the team 2 - 3 nights when I wasn't coaching.

Last, TODAY, Dec, 28 immediately after my 4 mi. Run / Walk / Run / Walk / sputter / cuss / wince / Run session. 196 lbs. buck naked!

But more on training plan, log, and weight tomorrow!

-Dave