Finish...

At the Iron Star Half Iron yesterday. Really pumped about that. Went into it a bit undertrained (all things considered) as I hadn't been in the saddle in six weeks. The bike was hilly and had a fair amount of wind to really crush the legs, but I still managed at 1:54:00 half marathon, which was highly unexpected. Many thanks for the my support crew (the bride) yesterday. Couldn't have done it without you!

Sunday I'll take on the Dallas Muddy Buddy with my Ironman buddy Kevin. We'll be looking to improve on our second place AG finish from last year, while staying warm... and getting very muddy.

Getting Back Into Groove

Have pretty solid run last night. It was only six miles, but it felt great. Best run in over a month. And this morning, I didn't get hammered at the Masters swim workout. It was a tough 2450 yards for me, but I did well, and am ready for Friday's workout in the water. After the September workout, I feel like I am getting my mojo back.

Tomorrow morning... bike. (Weather pending)

welcomed the stationary bike back into my life at the gym yesterday. I was planning on rain, so didn't ride before work and did 60 minutes. It went by faster than expected, even with Sportscenter only having two game highlights to show. The one game playoff between the Twins and Tigers looked like a good one. As the weather gets colder in the winter, I think more time on the trainer/stationary bike are going to happen. So now I'm shopping for a phone that I can watch movies on.

George!!!

Vacation at Disney World was a blast. We had a great time with the kids, and the amount of fun they had was worth taking 7 days off from training.... not to mention the 7 days before hand for trip planning, and the 5 days after vacation for 'recovery'. But now, it's back to hitting the bricks. Ironman Mode began today. Today is day one of the 30 week training plan that I am putting together to get me through the mountains of St. George, Utah next May.

As I get back into the groove of early morning workouts, I've started looking for cold weather cycling shoes and gloves, and am starting to look at dates that will work to get up to Ardmore, Oklahoma for some hardcore hill training on the bike.

Stay tuned for more frequent updates, as I make the journey to a second Ironman finish.

Finally got around to the registration this past week, so I am set for 3 more triathlons this year, two half irons and one Olympic distance.

The Hotter Than Hell 100 is very up in the air.  There are a few life events (ie. kids' events) coming up on the horizon that will require some race/training schedule adjustment.  The lowest hanging fruit late August is HnH.

On a training front, things are going quite well.  Running with the bride for half marathon (August 23rd) has been a blast, and I will be a bit sad to see it end.  But I am looking forward to being by her side, as she crushes it for those 13.1 miles.

Mentally, I am ready to unleash a beating on the Prairieman course.  My motivation is quite high, for revenge on that course.  I know my goals for the day will come down to the run on the bridge, and I am ready for it... mentally.  We'll see what the conditions give us.  I'm expecting mid to uppers 80's, coming out of T2 that day, and I'm sure the wind will have something to say before all is said and done. 

The bike needs a tune-up and new tires before September 13th.

Twitter has taken over a bit from my blogging.  The last month has been good.  The PlayTri festival was very motivating... since you can find motivation in a sub-par performance.  My swim was great... Masters Class is paying off for sure.  I set a PR pace in the water, and blew away my best time by 1/10 of a yard per second... what that means is I cover 1500 meters this year, in the time it took my to cover 1500 yards last year (my previous best swim).  That comes out to swimming an extra ~130 yards in the same amount of time.... based on my rough calculations.

There was rain on the course that day, so I took what the bike would give me, and finished with a solid pace, close to 21mph.  The run.... well, I had been concentrating so much on the swim and bike, that I took for granted my run shape.  Hard to believe that 3 months out from my marathon PR, that I would end up walking on this 10K.  That is where the motivation came from.

The bride is half marathon training right now, and we are doing those runs together.  My number one goal for the PrairieMan Half Iron is to nail the run.  I will sacriface my pace in both the water and on the bike, to knock out a walk free 1:50:00 half marathon that day.  Which could be a tall order if it is as hot as it was two years ago.

The bride is training for a half marathon in August, and I am training for that exact same half marathon... in addition to my regular training schedule.  This is bringing on an additional 12-15 miles of running per week (at bride's pace) and I can feel it in the legs.  Also... the Texas heat is picking up, and running at 8am is an energy drain in the sun.

One week away from first triathlon of the year.  Olympic distance at the Playtri festival.  My aspirations for the podium are gone.  I haven't been enough all around training to finish at the pace.  A top 10 age group spot should be doable, with top 5 being a solid day with my current conditioning.

Also, I am not registered for the Iron Star Half Iron in November, that takes place in Montgomery, Texas.  Team Seabiscuit went down there in 2007, but this will be a solo trip.  We are spread out across the country that weekend, since Ironman Florida also takes place that weekend.

Had a good weekend of training.  Didn't get as much swimming done this week as desired, skipping all but one Masters class.... attending the easier Monday workout.  But had some good runs throughout the week.  I'm adding on miles at an easier pace, running with the bride as she trains for her half marathon in August.

Friday and Saturday were solid days on the bike.  Made it down to White Rock for 30 miles on Friday morning and felt really good.  Saturday was an 80 milers with Coco, and I held up for the first 60.  The last 20 were into a steady headwind, and my lack of bike shape kicked in.  But I am very happy with how I did for the first three quarter's of the ride.

Yesterday, I put up a good enough time to win the team 5k at Stonebridge Ranch with D-Rod.  He pulled third overall, and I think I got 7th, on a hilly and hot course.  I wanted to break 20 minutes, but in the conditions, I was very happy with my execution for 20:59.  When Daniel adds 30 seconds to his time, I know the conditions were tough.

This week...

Monday - Off
Tuesday - Track workout
Wednesday - Masters swim & weights
Thursday - Bike at White Rock Lake (~30 miles)
Friday - Masters swim @ weights
Saturday - Bike (50-60 miles)
Sunday - Run (8-10 miles)

Mad shout outs to Kevin and Raul for tearning it up and Ironman CDA yesterday.  Those guys are motivational.

Got a little too fired up yesterday.  I am in the process of helping out my younger brother-in-law prepare for his upcoming fall cross country season.  He is a beast, and at 16 can run a sub 17 minute 5k.  I fully expect him to break 16 minutes this year.  In preparation for his coming summer running camp, I took him to the hills of Stonebridge Ranch last night for a 6 mile scamper... that covered about 1200 feet it total elevation gain.... in the 94 degree sun.

We broke it down into two loops of 3 miles, to cover Sunday's race course in the team 5K we are going to run.  I made the mistake of trying to pace with him.  He took it easy on me, but I still went out way too fast, covering the first 3 in a hair over 19 minutes.  If we added another tenth of a mile that would have been a PR for me at ~19:45.  Throw in the hills, wind and heat and it pretty impressive for me.

Though.... I paid for it on the second loop.  I managed to keep a pretty steady pace overall, right at marathon training pace... but it felt labored and uneven, and I was drained when we got done.  Then I went to meet Yvette at the track for a 3 mile run, as we prepare to the Hottest Half together in August.  It was still hot at 8:30pm when she and I ran, and I could tell that the next day was going to be rough.  Suffice to say, I skipped the team tempo run this morning to recover.

Overall, a nice 9 mile night.... though the middle 3 were very painful and probably not the most beneficial.  The 5K race on Sunday will let me know.