Christmas countdown

So I have finished all my shopping and was able to grab stuff for the nieces and nephews along with stuff for my own boys. I am pretty sure that my wife will be happy with what Santa brings her this year...

yesterday and today I was able to get in two workouts. Yesterday I tweaked my back a little bit and cut it short so I wouldn't put myself out of commission. So today I was able to get into the gym early and see how things would go. After a good warm up I felt no discomfort and was able to get after it. Some dynamic pushups and pull ups on the TRX then KB swigs and bent rows followed by 1 min of double unders and 1 min of Burpees. All felt good. After that I did single motion dumb bell squats, curls to push press 4x10 with 50 knee to elbows. Got a good sweat and back felt great.

I only have about 2 more weeks of hard weights and will be focusing on single leg isolation with some back work. Then I will be on the bike an in the pool! 2011 is right around the corner the 12 days till Christmas starts this weekend!

12/4/10 WOD

still have a cold and will be taking the next couple days to get better.

Today I performed "CINDY" 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 air squats AMRAP for 20 minutes.
I performed 27 rounds in 20 min.

I beat my last number by 3 rounds.

happy birthday to my big brother good luck at the jolly jaunt!

the next step

I took off the weekend of Thanksgiving just because I didn't want to feel like I was chasing a workout and rushing to get things done. I Had some light activity and an easy run on Sunday the 28th. Monday I did Cross fit again, BARBARA. It was brutal but great all at once. I am seeing some strides in my back and pull ups got all 20 in all 5 sets. I used wrist wraps to fasten my hands to the bar. I hope to move past them this winter .

I know have a pretty good cold. Felt it come Monday afternoon. I ran an easy 8min/mi yesterday for 30 mins. Just to sweat. Going to have active recovery today and CrossFit tomorrow. I am now getting ready for the next step. In building my strength for the upcoming season. I will have about 4-5 weeks more of CrossFit training then will start to implement my tri training for 2011!

tough run

went out for a 7.5 miler today. Legs were beat up after yesterday's workout. Felt good until I hit the 5 mile mark and it felt like my wheels fell off! finish time 57:40

re-do of my own misery

it hurt!

5 rounds

10 kb swings 52lbs

10 push press 55lbs

10 bent rows 55lbs

10 squats on bosu ball

120 double unders

5 min rest

4 rounds

10 weighted chin ups w/ 25 lb kb

10 burpees

60 sec plank.

Getting read for Thanksgiving! I was supposed to do my FTP test today but had a flat tire and wasn't motivated for it...I think I will wait until Dec 1 to get that ball rolling!

workout of the day

"Barbara"

warm up: rope 3 min

5 ROUNDS for time

20 pull ups

30 push ups

40 sit ups

50 air squats

time: 30:17 I was sucking wind

cool down: 3 min rope

Still kicking

So it has been too long since I have written and I have not really had anything to write about. I have been trying to let my body recover and and have been averaging about 1 worlout a day. I have finally got through my calf issues and have been back into weight training. I plan on keeping my body weight as close to 190 as possible with out depriving too much. As we hit the holiday season my youngest started to walk and my oldest is going turning 4. My wife is trainging for her first endurance event. the princess half marathon. She is doing fantastic!

2011 is going to bring a full plate of sprint and international distance races. I plan on keeping my plan simple. This past year I was not smart enough to take recovery days but after some reading and research it is apparent that it helps. I know that everyone has been saying this but I have a hard time sitting still. I will be focusing the next few weeks on crodd fit, TRX and moderately long runs and half marathon pace. I have also thrown in some trail running to mix things up. I need to focus on power training on my bike this winter too. It is a tool that I have only barely touched upon! Once we get through the apple pies and Christmas presents I will be full on tri mode and getting ready for a great season with Team FIT WERX.

Sorry for the delayed post

my own misery

warm up= rope 3x90 with hard last 10

MAIN SET

5 rounds of 10 reps

KB swings (52lbs)

shoulder press (30)

bent lat raide (10)

Split squat

rope 3x120

2nd Round

4rounds 10 pull ups

15 Burpess

Abs= 4 way planks 4x30 secs each

Back at the GYM!

warm up 4 x 500 = row

main set= 7 UPs for 7 rounds timed

7 pull ups

7 burpess

7 thrusters

7 dips

7 push ups

7 knees to elbows

1 min jump rope

Abs= exercise ball= 4 way abs x10

FIRMman Race Report

4:44:20 = Finish Time

I have been planning to do this race all summer. I registered in June and felt that I would try to do a half at the end of the year. This race was the first Half that I have ever done back in 2005 and felt that 5 years later I would go back and see what I could do. Leading up to the race I completed in 10 other triathlons this summer. They were all sprint distance and can feel confident in saying I accomplished my goals with all of them. The last 4 weeks have been tough. I started to suffer from some burnout and overtraining and my body began to feel it. With that I sought the advice of some good friends and professionals in coaching and physical therapy. April Bowling of Tri Life coaching and Sara Thatcher of Bodytuning helped square me away. I have never been coached before and always kind of "winged" it when it came to my training plan. Once I spoke with April I think she was a bit bewildered and put a very scientific but accurate schedule together for me to help me taper and heal my injuries prior to racing. I can say that it made a huge difference in showing me how to get my workouts in and feel overburdened in doing them. Magic hands Sara Thatcher helped get my body back into alignment and felt how much of a difference it made as race day came on.

09/11/10

Narragansett RI.

Going into the race was kind of a downer because my brother was supposed to do it with me. Because of bike accident he had back in July he had been sidelined and was unable to join me. We planned on bringing our families down and enjoying the atmosphere. Unfortunately I would go at it on my own. It is good to say that he is on the mend and will be ready to go for next year. I checked into my hotel at 5:30 pm and got settled. I watched Notre Dame blow what could have been a great victory and then headed over to meet Dr Dave Kilroy and his family for a pasta dinner his wife Maureen had made. Dave and some of his friends were doing the relay. So after a glass of wine and two plates of pasta I decided to retire back to my room. I was able to talk to Lynn and say our good nights. I was really missing her and the boys. I out together my race bag and got my bike in order and did a little light reading. Decent sleep and up at

4AM.

09/12/10

I had a good morning, two bagels and a powerbar and a gatorade. I was feeling pretty good. I had no symptoms of my calf injury and felt confident that I was more than ready for this day. I went to my car and the air was muggy, and windy. I was hoping that the wind would die down but not a chance. Went to check in and when I got my stuff I was told that I was put into the elite/pro wave. I had been racing in the elite category this summer in the sprint distance but going there in a endurance event was a big leap. These other E/P's are 40-50 lbs lighter that me and that makes a huge difference. I got set up and went to my rack, #5. There was a good group of elites and pro's today, I think 10 men. There was a large contingent of team Fuel Belt. It was nice to see another guy I know Dave Lamoureaux. I know him from when I raced with Aquaphor. He is an incredible athlete and runner. I put on my wetsuit and made the one mile walk down the beach to the start.

1.2 mile Swim : 28:44

The water was nice but the surf was big. There was some big waves you had to climb through as you went to the first turn buoy. Once I got there I was able to get clear of some people and head off on my own. I sighted well, in fact I got every buoy that was in the water . I felt really good and there wasn't much to worry about until you got to the last turn buoy. There was a fair amount of waves and you could feel them push you towards shore but I didn't think it because I felt strong in the swim it didn't bother me. At that last turn buoy you really felt the current and what I didn't realize was that you had to make a sharp right turn to get back to the beach. Here the waves were a bit higher than before and I just let them bring me in. I was only about 75 yards off line when I got on shore and made up that time in T1. I got to the wetsuit strippers and was on my bike in 50 secs. By far my fastest T1 ever.

56 mile Bike: 2:35:00

After the swim I thought I was going to have a great race. As we made our way out of town the conditions were pretty good. I was hoping to hold around 220-230 on my power meter. I was doing a great job and new that I was where I wanted to be. Once we hit route 1 the wind punched us in the face. It was pretty steady and made a difference. I instantly saw my power rise and speed drop. I kept telling myself to stay in control and not to push it. At around the 12 mile mark the course went off the highway and into a residential area. I was by myself, not catching anyone in front and no one was behind me. This was good and bad b/c I was doing a good job holding my numbers but I did not feel like I was racing, just on a training ride. This part of the course had a lot of hills. I forgot how many hills there were. I was able to keep on my nutrition of drinking every 10 min and gel every 45. On the return to route 1 I was coming down a long stretch of hill when I started to see everyone else heading out. There was a girl how took a pretty bad crash . I was able to stop for her to see if she was ok. She said she was fine and for me to go on. there was another guy there too. Just up the road was a support crew and I gave the word that she might need some help. At this point I was able to see a bike out in front of me, about a 1/4 mile and know we were back on route 1 and the wind was still there. Usually there is a tail wind on this part of the course but not today. I could feel my thighs burning and I was fading a little bit. I went to get a salt tab and realized I must have dropped them b/c they were no longer in my shorts. Not much I could do know but drink and drink some more. We finally got off the highway and I rolled into town. I thought I could have rode better. Tough wind conditions but everyone had to deal with them. T2 was smooth, and off I went on the run

13.1 mile run= 1:39:44

My feet were numb as I headed out on the run. Not sure why but I didn't have and affect on me too much. In fact I was running way too fast. I was wearing my polar foot pod so I could keep track of my pace. It said I was running about 6:05. I stopped for 5 seconds and told myself slow down. I was still by myself at this point and wanted to hold and a pace of 7:20 for the run. Well my first mile was 6:55. I then avg. 7:05 through mile 8. I was clipping away and feeling confident I could maintain this. As I passed mile 7 I saw the leader, Dave Lamoureaux approaching mile 10. He was flying and looked strong. we exchanged pleasantries and moved on. It was I then hit the 8 and was headed back to the finish. There were only two more big hills to climb and then on to the beach for the last 200 yards to the finish line. it was right at the mile 9 water stop that I got 2 cramps in my quads. They were big. It took a few secs to get them to relax and then was finally able to start running again. I was shuffling along and knew that if I got up the first hill I would be able to tough it out and stride into the finish. I was holding around 7:45's mixed with a stop here and there to squat and stretch my quads. I help pace with the overall female winner. It helped b/c she was great runner and encouraged me to stay with her. We finally hit the beach headed down to the hard sand to make it a little easier. I crossed the line and finished accomplishing my first goal. Finishing. Second goal was finish under 4:45.

Dave L . took the overall win with a time of 4:13. I quickly realized how much size comes into play when it comes to running this distance. I was pleased with the day as whole. It was fastest 13.1 split and my swim was right on. My bike was slower than I thought it should be. I think and bit more specific training would address that. I plan on taking some time this fall to reflect on the things that I can do to improve this winter. I had a great season and a proud of the way it ended. With the support of Fit Werx and the help of Tri Life and Bodytuning I was able to get the start line healthy and confident. I am a bit sore today and I a way it feels good because I know I earned it.

I can't express how much my family supported me this year, Lynn and the boys were more that amazing and it was appreciated. Thank You! Time to start planning for 2011!

Packing up

Well as many of my coaches have said the "hay is in the barn". I have put in all the work I could and today I feel the best I have in weeks. I got a solid night sleep and all those little aches an pains have begun to subside. It is amazing how much the taper plays with your mind. The funny thing is I considered myself to be immune from my own mental torture but as real as it gets, we are all human. I realized that there are only certain things that you can control the rest of it, you just trow up your hands roll the dice and hope your number lands.

Injury is something that can completely through a wrench in to all of it. I was lucky enough to have some great support. I have been very tense this week and before today I took a lot of frustration out on people that are close to me. My own fault. it all comes back to just riding the wave and letting everything fall into place and not let setbacks take over.

Thank you to all those who have put up with my crankiness, I owe you.

Days of Summer

Last night we had the last triathlon at Nahant Beach. It is always bittersweet b/c everyone is talking about there last race or what they plan doing over the winter and taking time off from racing or training and so on. I had a great year at Nahant this year. I raced in 5 of them and won all 5 setting one of the fastest course times in 30 years.

My body is telling me right now to take a break and get ready to watch college football on Saturday afternoon instead of an 8 mile run or hour bike ride. I know that will help me recover more than I could ever imagine but now is the time where I have to focus on my mind game and prepare myself for the 70.3 coming up. I know I am more than physically capable to race and race well there but b/c of all the little tweaks and cramps the doubt creeps up from behind to scare you.

A good friend and coach and athlete had helped achieve some physical gain by advising me on how to taper these last few days. She is very scientific and the proof is in the numbers. I had a successful long brick the other day and last night I had a win in Nahant with a little bit of a cramp at the end of run. The good thing is that today I was not as tight as I thought I would be. I have one more significant run left and then some short high intensity rides with some good swim workouts tossed in. I will be going into this race at a good weight with a good game plan and the mental game in check.

The long days of summer are winding down, so is my training schedule all getting ready for the final test.

getting tired

So I have been trying to get my last bit of long stuff in for the Firm Man 70.3. Man is this getting old. I have had another calf issue take over and am getting tired of this. I was out for a long run and at mile 8 started to tighten up. I have since had some relief but this is just getting old. with only 24 days left I have some work to do.

Maybe this is my body telling me I am ready to taper and need the light work form here on out. I have spoken with some good friends and smart athletes to help devise a plan to get me top level for the race. April Bowling was kind enough to work with me and is keeping on par to hold my fitness and limit my damage. The thing is, I feel fit and strong as hell! It is just that my calves are scorched!. Witch puts my frustration level at a 10! I can swim and ride no problem and took a couple of strides with much issue. but I am as tight as a drum. So from here on out there will be stretching and ice heat repeats along with foam rollers! Ohh how I love it!

As you an see I was wearing a new race kit at the witch city last week. I have now committed to wearing and using my equipment from Fit Werx. I have known Marty and Dean, co-owners of Fit Werx for many years and we were friends long before they partnered with Ian Buchanan the original founder. As the years have passed and technology has improved Fit Werx has always been on the forefront of promoting the things that work not only for pros but everyday riders and athletes.

I did fulfill my commitment with Aquaphor and don't want people to think that I just jumped ship. I talked with Marty about making the change and I felt that I wanted to support local business and friends before anything else. So from here on out I will be donning the red and black.

Witch City Race Report

I raced the Witch City this year and was very pleased with the way things turned out. It was an early start at 7 am so I was up early and things were going without a hitch. Had a great night sleep. It was the first night in a while that I slept for at more than 6 hours straight. Any way....

Swim : 10:34 (including T1) half mile

I got into the water and it was dam cold. Face numbing cold, neoprene cap wearing cold. A half mile that seemed longer b/c it was so cold. But it was cold for everyone. There were 2 waves that went off. So it was a bit crowded and once I made the first turn buoy I got bumped. Not a big deal until my goggles started to fill up with water. I finally had to fix them and that meant I had to turn over on my back so I could keep kicking while I put them back on. I finally reached land and made my way to my bike. I don't know if the water had an effect on my brain but i could not do a thing right in T1. I messed up my bike shoes trying to hope on my bike but after some time i managed to get going and off I went on the bike.

Bike : 32:44 (by my bike computer) 13 miles

Once I made my way out onto Rt 114 I was hammering. I fueled my fire b/c I was pretty po'd at myself for my T1 mistakes. I got into a groove and just pedaled as hard as I could. This is a bit against my style b/c of my power tap but i wanted to make up time and this was the only way how. The rest of the course was uneventful. Three loops around the neck and back for the run. I was able to get some good speed coming down the backside of the neck and that gave me a slingshot over the causeway. I could see the lead bike on the other side of the causeway getting back onto Rt114. I tried to get closer and I wasn't sure what place I was in. By the time I got back to Salem State I passed another bike. Entered T2 and a better exit.

Run : 16:40 = 3 miles

I did notice my feet were numb, almost like they were asleep. The leader was about 100 yards ahead of me and looked like he was running well. I quickly got to pace and kept him at about 50 yards. My legs felt good but was hoping my feet would warm up. At about the 1 and 1/4 mark we went onto a trail along Salem harbor. It was about a .25 mile out and back. The turn around was there and figured I would wait to see what he would do. I closed the gap to about 15 yards and when we got back onto the street I started to make a pass. The lead runner kept with me for about 10 seconds then I figured I would push a little more. I was able to get some separation and finish with the overall win.

I was proud of the way I fought back after such a tough start. I had a little reason to because I was in my new Fit Werx race suit. I will be racing primarily for them the rest of this year and for the long future to come. Marty and Dean had supported me tremendously I was honored when the asked me to wear their gear. Why not, I ride on all their stuff too! Thanks guys.

It was bummer not being able to race with my brother as he is till recovering from a bike accident. He was there in support along with my wife and 2 sons. Jack liked the fact , as he puts it, I was chasing a police motorcycle as I headed back to the finish line. Classic.

humbling

So that past few weeks have been great. Training has been Ok, a little bit of a shoe issue that finally got resolved. needed to go up a half size. Bike has been going well and Swimming has been just that. nothing improved or lost.

We spent a week on the Cape and i was able to get in some ridding and running. Had to hold off on the swim there b/c of some man eating fish that have been swimming around. I have been building up my endurance trying to get ready for Firm Man. I tis much different that training for the shorter fast stuff. Coming up this weekend will be my lsat sprint of the season. The witch City. I was tossing around going up to Gloucester but I like racing in my own back yard.

In trying to get back some distance this week I went out for a 11+ miler. It was very humid and I brought my fuel best and off i went. I wasn't feeling my best but I chugged along. I was holding between a 7:20 and 7:40 pace when I just lost it. I have done this run countless times and this time I was wiped. I stopped regrouped and chugged along. I managed to get home and that was all I was hoping for at the time. It was a humbling experience. If got some longer runs and rides planned for the next few weeks with a 6 day speed session about 2 weeks before race day with about a 7 day taper for the half I-man. I will take everything I learned from last week to help me move forward.

training ups and downs

This week has been up and down. I went back to the pool this week and got two quality swims in. I worked on 4x400's with 70.3 race pace and went well I wass going into each one at 5:45 and taking off on 6:00 with steady turn over. A couple days later I also worked on speed with 10x100's broken. 1st 5 were pull and last 5 were all out. My last 5 were 1:14, 1:14, 1:15, 1:14 and 1:15. two months ago I was 2-3 seconds slower. So I am happy with my results.

The downs, I have been running on the Newton trainers and racers fo rhe last 14 months. I really adapted well and enjoyed the shoes. This past 2 weeks I have been dealing with some foot pain. Right under my 3rd an 4th toes. Some research proved that I may be wearing a shoe too small. I have looked at my shoes soles and tried to determine if I do in fact need to bump up. I will reach out to Newton today and see what they can help mw with.

Tonight I raced in Nahnat at the beach Tri and it was great crowd. First time back since my brother's fender bender ( he is still out of comission). The water was very warm which also adds to my need to get a sleeveless wetsuit (maybe X-mas). I was first out of the water getting to the beach at 4 mins even. I had a good bike. Legs were a bit heavy but felt I rode par for the course. Completed the out and back in 12:15. Because of my issues with my Newtons i used my Nike Lunar Trainers. Much bigger toe box. The problem here is that my T2 time suffered immensely. After I finally got going I my pace picked up. I will add that I did not like running in these and missed my Newtons. I felt like I had to work a little harder to stay in my forward lean. THe LT's were much softer and I think that it took some energy from me. I hope Newton will let me exchange my other shoes for a bigger size. Right now they are out of stock in the racer. I may have to go to find a retailer and buy them or go to the new performance trainer. The only difference btw the two is about .5 ounces. nothing in the total scheme of things.

Anyway I held a decent run even though they field was hunting me down. I think I lost about 20 secs in T2 and would guess maybe 3-4 secs per mile in the 5K. So my finish time of 34:22 could have been close to own PR at 33:16. But we'll wait till next time!

That Dam Lake! (race report for DAM tri)

Well I raced the Dam today and was pleased with my results. I finished in 1:04. I crossed the line in 4th OA but because of a penalty on the overall first finisher I bumped up to 3rd. I have always said that not only do you have to race fast fast but also know where you are going. I also saw two types of PRO's today, and one of my good friends set a great example of what the word Professional really is.

Today was and odd day for the front runners. Everything was pretty normal up until the start. The water temp was registered at 82.4 degrees. I wasn't thrilled b/c that meant we could not wear wetsuits if we wanted to get $. So the only thing I wore today was my tri shorts.

Swim: 11:41

This was VERY slow for me. I thought I would get out in about 10 min. One of the volunteers in the lake said she saw me zigzagging and probably swam 3/4 of a mile with all the distance I covered. I was bummed and exhausted when I got out. Didn't realize how much I liked wearing a wetsuit. When the gun went off there were 3 guys who took off. Dave Sek, Pete Mallet and Dean Phillips. It was great to see Dean looking good w/ all of the injuries he has had. The good thing about no wetsuit is that T1 was super fast.

Bike: 31:40

I felt sluggish at the start. Took me a little longer to get moving but once I did I felt strong. The course had a few ups and downs and I covered the 12.3 in about 31 mins. The strange thing was that I did not see one other rider once I left transition. I think that if I had a rabbit to chase it may have been quicker. I finally got into T2 and had another fast transition. I headed out for the run it was hot right off the bat. In the end I think I need to look at my power file and really see what I need to do to help balance my power. I also think that because of my poor swim, I suffered on the bike to try and race where I wanted to be.

Run: 19:57

A quick turn out of transition put you on a slight down hill heading into town. My legs really were turning over quick and I was curious were I was placed at this time. What I didn't know was that one of the leaders, Pete Mallet, had gone of course on the bike I subsequently bumped up to 4th. I hit the first water table. No one was there so I took a drink on my own. I felt like I was moving pretty good and didn't feel like I was hurting to bad. I was at about the 1 mile mark when I saw a runner up ahead of me. It another elite athlete. I focused on him for a while and planned on making a move after the turnaround. While I was thinking of this Pete Mallet came blowing by us. As we got to the turn Dean Phillips was in 1st, Dave Sek in 2nd Pete Mallet 3rd and Steve Wright 4th with me in 5th. I hit the turn in about 10 mins and knew that I could run harder. I was kind of pissed at myself b/c I knew that I could have pushed it a bit harder and maybe have made a move a littler earlier or eve tried to hang with Pete for awhile. I did make a move and pass Wright at about the 2 .5 mile and felt like I was running hard now. I made that turn back to the lake with a slight up hill and felt the thighs start to burn. I knew that i was going to come in under 1:06 (last years time). I pushed hard the last bit and finished in just under 1:05.

The stories started to unfold after the race. While Dean was out on the run, in first, he was sent the wrong way as he was misdirected by 2 volunteers. He followed their direction knowing that it was the wrong way. If he didn't they could have been disqualified. After getting back on course he fought through the frustration of getting caught by 2 others that would have had a really hard time of caching him if he didn't lose 3 mins. In the end he came in 3rd.

The other issue was Pete mallet not making on of the last turns on the bike and going off course. He re-entered the course at a different location and then headed out on the run. Granted he had a super fast run caught all of us to finish first but he didn't follow the rules or the course. For what should have been a DQ he only got a 2 min penalty. After the race, one of the directors came up to me and Dave Sek. the two who after Pete and asked if there was a volunteer at the turn in question. I told him when I got there, I saw a police office with vehicle on the shoulder of the road along with 2, yes TWO signs that said RIGHT TURN!!

What frustrated me the most was that there is a 25 year old kid who after the race was cursing and swearing and trashing the people and volunteers because he missed a turn. I don't think his sponsors would have been pleased to see his rant. In Dean's defense, he followed instructions and was led the wrong way and came back on course where he went off. I am not a PRO, I have just started racing as an elite this year only because I was asked to in Cohasset. If this is what it entails then I would be happy as and AG and taking podium spots there. But I would rather follow Dean's lead and set the example. I understand the pressure knowing what it takes to be in the elite field. The wimmer was frustrated and yes he would have won, but part of the race and sport is knowing the course, following directions and covering the entire event without problem or penalty as fast as you can. To hear the complaining that this is my livelihood and I have bills pissed me off even more. I laughed to myself because I thought of Dean who even though just as upset kept it to himself and realized this is a sport and yes he is a pro with a wife 3 kids and BILLS understands that sometimes there is human error and you live and learn. Hell I have 2 kids works nights, sleep only 4-5 hours a day and bills to pay. Hell there were elites at this race who asked for free entry. I don't get. you ask to race for free, want to win to get money and when you go off course the was clearly marked complain because you aren't going to get paid?

I learned something for myself when I was in at Norwich, you have to pay the consequences for your actions weather they are good or bad. In the big picture if the payday at that Dam Tri is going to make or brake you checking account then you can have my Fit Werx gift certificate and better start working on a plan B.

Dam Tri

So this week has been super hot. Since the Cohasset tri I have been maintaining my 70.3 training. Over the 4th I had a good run and 2.5 hour bike with a 40 min open water beach swim. I have thrown in some speed work on the bike and Ran the Fire cracker 4 miler. I finished in 23:2o and 4th over all.

Yesterday I tested my endurance and tolerance for heat with an 8.5 mile run. Temp heading out the door was 101. Out in Nahant it was 99 and when I returned it was still 101. I totaled 59:10. My usual time on this has been as fast as 54 min. I will take into consideration that I was going on 20 hours with no sleep and it was hotter than HELL itself. I think the Devil was looking for a pool.

Today I went and did a 2000 yard swim in the pool. I was wiped. Just couldn't get my times. I was just a few seconds off. I am going for an easy 1:15 bike this afternoon. On Sat I will be racing as an elite again at the Dam Tri in Amesbury. Pete Mallet who is riding for Fit Werx along with pro/owner Dean Phillips will be leading the charge. Dave Sek is another friend who is going to race elite. Pete and Dave will lead the way on the swim and surely Dean will take over the bike. I just want to hang on show another solid performance.

For the next couple of days I will be taking my BASE products and Aminos to make sure I have I high level of electrolytes. I weighed in today at 185 and feel like a lot of that was water weight lost yesterday. Well i will let you all know how it goes.

PS. Cyclists remember to check your helmets and ride safe. Keep you eye out for the cars. They are not looking for you. My brother and another friend were in accidents last week. Both are ok. Thank God. Stay safe!

Cohasset Race Report

The turned out to be as good as one could ever expect. I was rather nervous going into this race for a couple of reasons. One my first in the pro/elite field and two I was asked to race there! I did not want to embarrass myself so I wanted a good performance.

0400 wake up call.

Uneventful. Picked up my brother and drove to Cohasset. The area was set up well and I thought that the venue was great. Went to pick up my packet and there was only a section for elites to get there stuff. Pretty cool. Race #13. Lucky 13!

Did a good warm up My brother and went out the bike and tooled around for a few minutes to make sure all the gears were working and put my sneakers to go do some light jogging and warm ups for the run. Got back to transition and then waited to put on the wetsuit and test the water. At 0825, Craig Lewin and I went to test the water and it was perfect. about 64. Had a nice swim and then waited for our start.

0855.

It was a little late but our start finally went off. I was nervous as hell. There were 35 other men and women in my wave who respectively were at the pro and elite level. I had no real idea how to rate myself against these people because I have never raced at this level. It was a run in start and that made things worse because they kept saying one minute, one minute and the sun was baking us in our wetsuits as I felt the sweat running down my back. Then bang the gun goes and so do we. I ran into the water and dove on. Goggles rolled down quick fix and on the way. I didn't feel great in the swim. Not sure if I didn't pull up my wetsuit high enough or if the the full suit is giving my shoulders tightness making it feel like they are working more than they have too. There was some bumping but not much. It felt like I was way back but I drafted off someone and could feel someone drafting off me. got tho the last buoy and headed for shore. I exited the water by my watch at 6:23. I hit the mat up on the beach at 6:45. I ran through transition and grabbed my bike. Off I went. Once in my shoes I raced off.

T1

Got to work on this part. over a minute, Some of the other P/E's were out in under 50 secs.

Bike

The bike was moving. A slightly rolling course with with some technical turns. I feel like I was able to keep things moving quickly. I passed a few elites around mile 2-3 and then I was just chasing the small group about 100 yards ahead of me. I held my power well and was surprised at the end that it wasn't higher. Not sure why. could be because of a lot of turns. I then entered T1. bike computer said 28:?? but race clock was 29:39.

T2

AGAIN! must work on this, 1:09. If I had the same transition times as most of the other elites I would have knocked off 1:oo min of my total time moving me up 3 spots!

Run.

It was 3.2. A couple guys, went past me as we exited transition. I wasn't rattled because I knew I was going to get my legs and going to hold a 6 min mile. That was not the issue. What was the issue was the humidity, The air was getting thick I was at a 9 out of 10. I moved along and took back my two places. Just ahead of was the women's leader, Alicia Kaye, I wanted stay with her because I knew that would get me in under 1 hour, We rolled along and the mile clicked off. I was caught and passed by Carmen Monks of Team Psycho. I then wanted to keep up with him because he was now jockeying with Alicia. At about 2.9 there was tough hill through the course there was a guy from Fast Splits who was giving times to the Psycho guys. Luckily I was close enough to Carmen so I could here the #'s. As we crested the hill it was all down form there. I was trying to pick up the pace to get Carmen in the last 3/10 but he was doing the same. He then entered the finish line with Alicia behind him and me behind her. I hit the stop at 58:00.

The race was awesome. I saw and met some great people. It was crazy to pass the 1995 IRONMAN World Champ on the bike and have her throw out a compliment like she was my coach! I think that as you get to know the course you will be able to cut some time off. I absolutely have to get faster in transition. I must practice this more. There were a lot of Aquaphor guys there and we were represented well on the podium. I am looking forward to the Dam TRI on 07/10 where I will race again at the elite level. We'll see how that goes!

Here it comes.

So I am getting ready for Cohasset this weekend. I have been feeling pretty good, I fact i weighed the other day to see that I am down to 186. I have never been this light. I also checked my power files and noticed that I have been getting a little stronger too. This is good...getting lighter and gaining power! I will be holding it back tonight at Nahant. I just plan on a hard swim and an easy run. I am tempted to leave the bike home but we'll see.

Speed

So the other day I posted about how I was feeling sluggish and that I was "getting there". I am not going to say I am there yet but I can say that I was pretty damn pleased with my race last night at the Nahant Beach Triathlon. This has been going on for 30 years and last night I was told by good friend Warren Macphail that I posted one of the fastest times.

33:16.

Now it is time to get ready for Cohasset!

getting there...

The past few weeks have been kind of sluggish for me. I went to Sandbridge Beach in early June and while I was there I was able to get some quality swimming and running in. However I have put myself in a place were i just felt like i wasn't making any progress. I don't know if have been over training or not. Before we left for VA I did a 1.2 swim in the pool to get an understanding on where is was. I would like to PR for the half this year. After the Patriot half last year, it could be tough. I was sub 4:40 and that was a big jump for me. I have been working on speed lately and not sure if it is settling in. I will be doing my first Nahant Tri today and that could give some of the answers I am looking for. good or bad.

I hope to use Nahant to springboard me into one final good week before the Cohasset Tri. I am still amazed, nervous, excited an uneasy that I am going to be racing in the 1st wave. I feel like this is my first triathlon again. I have been looking at the results from previous years and there are some seriously fast people that will be toeing the line...enough bitching!

So, after looking at my own numbers of the past few days I have been coming in right about where I was last year. Mt run is about the same. I have an 8.2 out and back i run and came in at 54:45 the other day. A couple of seconds off form last year. My bike has been going well and yesterday I had a 2 hour ride up to Gloucester and held a good pace. Threw in a few intervals, My power file showed that average of 205 for 20.2 mph. I am planning on a 220 for the 56 mile bike in the FirmMan. I feel pretty confident in my swim. I held my final set of 5x100's at 1:16 with 15-20 sec rest. I felt strong at the end. I have also set a pr for my 5k this spring.

All in all I think I am getting there, I plan on a solid couple of days with some good stretching and diet to get to where I want to be for Cohasset. I will let you know how it turns out!

Next Up...Cohasset

I can say that I was pleased with the way the JCC Tri ended up last week. What caught me off guard was that I was asked to race the Cohasset Tri as an elite/pro. This is a sprint tri that has over 900 racers and the e/p field has the likes of Jarrod Shoemaker, US Olympian and 10 time Olympic medalist Gary Hall Jr. At first I had some reservation because these guys are in a different level of speed. After tossing it around for about 5 minutes I said sure! why not, right? I never imagined when I started this sport that I would enjoy it as much as I do or have some success while doing it. I guess that everything form here on out is gravy.

For the next few weeks I will be working getting some speed in the water and the run. After looking at the results of previous Cohasset races, I feel like with a good day I could have some fun and push my limits. There are going to be some superior athletes there and to be able to stand on the line with them is pretty damn cool. One of the best things that I have learned recently is how to sustain my race pace and handle the pain it may cause. I have been liking the sprint distance because it is over quickly, all relative to distance of the race.

So as the season kicks off I will be focusing speed along working on my transitions. The faster I can get from one discipline to another the better the overall time is. For the bike I am going to go long 2 days with another 2 focusing on interval and power training. I am going to try and take a page from Dean Phillips and build up endurance on the bike so I can sprint the run. The 5 days I will be spending in VA beach with the family will be a good opportunity to get some hard running in and solid swimming in a pool of meters, not yards and some open water swimming. The Ocean temp is in the mid 70's.

I am already looking forward to the next race!

Spring Training is Over : JCC Tri by the Sea race report

Today started my Triathlon season for 2010. My annual attendance at the JCC sprint Tri in Marblehead MA. I consisted of a 250 yard swim 10 mile bike and 3.5 mile run. The swim is in a pool and a time trial start where racers are placed in order of the estimated swim time finish. This year I entered a swim time of 3:10 and I was seeded 9th. .



Race morning wake up 0515. I woke up and coffee, cereal with banana. Packed the car and drove my 4 min commute to the event start. Set up and got my warm up in. bike felt good and a quick run with some strides and plyometrics got the body loose.



Swim: watch 3:10



I entered the water 2 min after the 1st racer started. There is a 15 sec delay between racers. I felt great in the water, my swim warm up was a bit sluggish but that was mental. I got through my first 100 yards in about 1:12. When I got to 150, I was tapping the girl in front of me and she was swimming into the guy in front of her. I can say it was frustrating because I was moving pretty well. In fact at the 200 yard mark I had to stop in the middle of the lane because there was a back up of swimmers. I finally got passed them and sprinted through the last 25 yards. I looked at my watch when I hopped out and read 3:10. Probably could have been sub 3min if I didn't get hung up.

T-1 was usual. No issues.



Bike : 10 miles, computer 25:56 (avg power 264)


I have ridden this course more times than I can count. I got on the bike in 6th place. I knew Dean Phillips Fit Werx owner,would be rocketing out in front. By the time I got to the causeway I had passed three more people. I was holding a good pace and power was ok. I am still learning how to balance my power when it comes to a course a hilly as this. It is not that the hills are big but there are a lot off them. Nevertheless I was holding between 245 and 265 on the flat areas. After the first loop I merged with the on coming racers and in that pack was good friend Marty Miserandino, Fit Werx owner, the two us raced the next two loops together. I also caught the next two people ahead of me. Leaving Dean out in front. After getting back T2 my legs were feeling pretty good.

T2= no issues, shoes on and out.

Run= 3.5 miles watch 21:01

Got out onto the run and knew that Dean was ahead of me but unsure by how much. Dean is a good friend and great athlete. I also knew that he has been battling nagging injuries all winter that had prevented him from running and had a pretty serious crash in a TT in Maine just 2 weeks ago. With all that, I have been running very well this spring and was keeping my mind focused to try and get him in my sights. I felt like the run was going well. I forgot to check my splits but knew I was moving well. The last mile has a turn onto a side street with a tough uphill that leads into a long downhill. Once reached the top I could see Dean at the bottom making the last turn back onto Atlantic Ave. At that point it was a little over a half mile to the finish line. I had timed the distance between at that turn and it was just over one minute so I knew that If I could hold my pace I might catch him. After 52:00 flat, 2mins off last year's time. I pulled it off.

great job to My brother who took first place Clydesdale, and to Vin Miserandino who finished third overall and Marty who finished 7th. Also congrats to April Bowling who took top prize finishing first for her age group! It was a great season opener!

Geared Up

This week is prep week for the first triathlon of the season. I am feeling a bit overtrained and the legs are still a little heavy but i do feel fit and ready to go. I think this week I will just stick to one workout each day and focus on the specific element. My exertion levels will be zones 3 to 4 in the pool and on the bike. Depending on the weather I may just do a longer moderate run (zone 2-3) on Thurs. (60 Mins total). Friday will be a swim and Sat a super easy bike to make sure all systems are go.

For this season I will be riding my Guru Crono win Flashpoint 60's. Powertap Elite with Disc Cover on the rearwheel. Newton Distance racers and Profile Design (now AquaCell) wetsuit. It should be a fun season and I am looking forward to kicking it off! Race report to follow...

getting ready

The past few weeks have been pretty good. I have been adding some quality work to my training and am beginning to see some improvements. For the 2010 season I will be racing for Team Aquaphor. I will be toeing the line on May 16th for the JCC triathlon by the sea. There is always great athletes there and I don't expect this year to be any different.

The past few days i have been working in speed in the bike and swim. Intervals have been a key part in both exercises. On the 18th I start my program for the FirmMan. I know that I have a good base but I want to focus on some long stuff early so that when the warm weather comes I can focus on 70.3 specific speed.

On a side note ; I was up at my old stomping ground Norwich University last weekend. There I played in the Alumni Lacrosse game in honor of Brendan MacDonald. Brendan, a cadet who tragically lost his life while at Norwich is honored by fellow alums and players along with his family. It was a great day and fun was had by all. I was pretty beat up after. Slow and fast twitch muscles weren't mixing to well.

This upcoming week I will be focusing on my intervals and get ready for the JCC. My goal is to try and beat my time from last year. We'll see!

psalm 147:10-11

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of a man;

the LORD delights in those who honor Him,
who put their hope in his unfailing Love.

How fitting for us athletes

Success!

So we had the Gold Star Run to Honor this past weekend. It was for the memory and honor of SPC Jared Raymond. KIA in Iraq in 2007. He was a local Swampscott kid who enlisted after 9/11. While serving his country he lost his life. A few years ago his mother had organize a road race in his honor. This past year a friend asked if I could help. I went to B n S Fitness to see if they could be the race directors. They did an outstanding job with the production of the event.

The weather couldn't have been better, low 60's sunny and lots of people. there were well over 225 people racing including my wife and 2 boys. I pushed the jog stroller while my brother pushed his 2 girls and we were gluttonous by registering for he 10 K. the course was a little long and challenging. Also running was a good group of fellow officers from the Swampscott Police Dept. I was excited that so many guys were ready to do this. It was great representation for local kid who deserved the attention for the day.

When all was said and done, 3rd Overall and 1st for Military/Police with a time of 42:57.

Going Aero

So I put an aero disc cover on my rear Flashpoint 60 w/ powertap this week. I had been researching this for a little bit and a friend of mine had used this product from wheelbuilder for years with some great success so I decided to throw out the 90 bucks and get one. Assembly was very easy and after reading a few reviews it was also recommended to use electrical tape along the edge to help secure the cover to the rim, which I did.

After a nice one hour ride I could see the benefits of a disc. I was able to use a Zipp disc at Lake Placid in 2008 but I didn't think I was able to obtain the full benefit of it because of the rain for the entire bike segment of the IM. So using a version of the aerodynamic benefits on a moderately windy day seemed to show how much the disc can add speed to the bike. I do have to have the rear derailleur adjusted to prevent rubbing when I slide into the top ring of the rear cog. Otherwise I think this is a wise investment. I will give some more info on it as it comes in.

FTP 2

This has been a low key week. I have been recovering from a couple good weeks of work. I have done a few tests to see where I stand. I know running is going well with last weeks 5k. I have done some swim intervals and at the end of Monday's swim workout I added a 250 at race pace. Probably not the smartest thing b/c I had a hard swim before that. But I wanted to see how I would do. I covered it in 3:20. Not what I was looking for but I have to consider that I swam 3000 before that. Oh well. I will test it again at the beginning of my workout next week and see what I get. I plan on the rest of the week being relatively easy. After this week I will be increasing intensity and distance to the bike and run. After my FTP test I will be able to use the new numbers and focus on some solid base rides of a few hours long. As for the run I 90 min runs at 65-70% HR.

Yesterday I performed my 2nd power test. It is a tough workout for sure! But it is vital to make sure that I am able to monitor my progress. I started out with a 15 min warm up and the 3X1's followed by 5 min easy spin. Then for 20 min hit went all out trying to hold that pace for all 20 min. I wasn't really sure what to expect because I wanted make sure I survived the 20 min but needed to get a good number to gauge what kind of progress I made from my first test.

Well after 20 mins I cooled down with another 10 min at an easy pace. The results showed that I avg 286 watts for the 20 min interval. the formula takes that number and multiply it by 95% and that is my FTP= 272. I progressed by 8 watts.

After the deluge of rain stops I plan on enjoying the Easter weekend with the family then plan on some focused workouts.

Spring Training

It was a pretty good week of training. The weather had gone up and down.

Wednesday I had a good swim. Did a pyramid of 50-400 and back down with some other drill work. Then I got on my bike in the afternoon. I performed a test that I did about a month ago. 10 reps of 120% FTP for 2 min with 2 min rest. In my first test of this I only hit 115% and my 10th rep was a joke. After some good training and power focus riding I went at it again. After a warmup and some single leg drills I started. I was hitting 325-340 watts for my first few reps. I was curious if this would last. It did. I felt good and strong. I was able to hold the aero position for the first 8 reps. 9 and 10 I started aero but sat up for 30 secs before gettin gback down. I still was able to hit 320+ watts. I was really pleased to see such an improvement.

Yesterday I was able to get out for my 8 mile run test. The temp was in the low 60's and when I started there was one heck of a head wind. I wasn't too optimistic on the first couple of miles. Running along the shoreline can be a pain in the neck b/c the wind changes on an instant but after about 3.5 the wind changed. I hit the 4 mile mark and turned. I instantly felt the wind pushing me from behind and the temp felt like it jumped 10 degrees. The legs felt pretty strong and my HR said I was at 97%. Find it hard t believe, I think I need to retest that and adjust the numbers. Anyway, I was heading home and feeling pretty good. My numbers were pretty good and I was making up some big time on the way back. I was about 30-45 seconds off my first 4 miles b/c of the wind. Yes it was that bad. I finally hit mile 8 at 55:10. It was not the 54:?? i was looking for but all things considered I was happy. I cooled down for another mile and called it a day.

Today is a recovery day. I will get on my bike for one hour and ride at 65-70% FTP (175-200 watts) I want to let my legs recover a bit and will have another crossfit tomorrow.

St. Patrick's Day Recovery Run 5K

Today I participated in my first 5K of 2010. I was about 50 degrees out and sunny wiht a hedwind on the course for the whole way. I finished 2nd Overall with a clock time of 18:14 and watch time of 18:12. It was by far my fastest 5K ever! My first mile was 5:42 and at the 1.75 mark in the race the overall winner went by me. I tried to hang with him but his light frame slid through the wind and left me behind. His finish time was 17:26. All in all I was excited about my race because I had not done many intervals with my run training.

It finally feels like the season is getting started. My first TRI will be May 16th, in Marblehead and I will be running a 10K on April 24th. I don't think I will be holding 5:40's for that one!

Steady goes the ship!

This has been a very good week. I am more than please with my numbers and the feel pretty good about setting myself up for what could be another fun season.

Yesterday I was in the pool and got a great swim workout. Did a good hour set and worked in 5x100's. I started off hitting 1:19, 1:19,1:17,1:17 and 1:15 for my last 100. I was happy with the fact that I was able to monitor my pace as close as I did . I think by the end of the month I should be able to break 1:15.

Today i punished myself. I had a one hour bike. After a short warm up I performed 10x2min at 120% ftp, which was 315 watts. I hit the mark on 9of 10 and the last one was close. It took me about 40 secs to get to 315 and really was grinding out trying to hold it. Non the less I was pleased with my results. After that got to bed for a couple hours and then had a 5K to go and pick up my car from the shop. I averaged 7:15's and felt pretty good.

Not a bad set today considering I had to cut short my sleep today after a long shift. I am looking forward to my days off where I can catch up on some rest. I will be cross fitting tomorrow, "Cindy". 5 pull ups,10 push ups and 15 air squats AMRAP and will take off Sat and Sun before my TT run test on 8 miles on Monday. I am shooting for sub 55 min. Hope everyone has great weekend!

final pre-base prep

So this past weekend was the ride for Jules. It is a 3 hours spin fest that a good friend of mine has been running for the last 6 years. It is to help fight diabetes. I have to say that I selfishly take advantage of this event to put my training into high gear. when do you the opportunity to get a 3 hour coached session of all out spinning? not often. Any rate because of certain circumstances I was only able to complete 2:15 min of the event. During the event I burned just over 1600 calories. I weighed in at 190 lbs after the event. A whopping 4 and 3/4 pound loss. I held an average heart rate of 74% with a max heart rate at 96%. I felt pretty good too considering that I was going on zero hours sleep b/c I worked the night before. All things considered it went well.

On Sunday the sun was out and I was feeling a bit sluggish. We did the weekend stuff with the kids and then everyone took naps. I couldn't for the life of me let a beautiful day in March pass me buy so I went out for an easy 45 min recovery run. It was nice I didn't turn on my watch I just ran by feel. I know I covered 6.2 miles and finished the run under 42 mins. I didn't once find myself pushing or trying to over do it. It felt great.

Today I same 2100 in the pool and will got out for a run this afternoon. The swim was a 1/2 Ironman focus workout. I did a 400 warm up the 4x50 kick then the main set was 3x400's on 6min. It was hard. I finished the first set at 5:52 and then took off at 6:10 the second set was better at 5:50 with a take off at 6:00 and the last set I really focused on a good stroke an breathing and finished at 5:48. Other than the poor judgement on the first set I think I made up for the 10 sec delay after the first set. My run this afternoon will be race pace for the 1/2 marathon. I am going to work on 7:25. with good form and cover about 8 miles. This will be a good test to see how well I am recovering and the weather again is gorgeous! Let you know how it all shakes out!

So I went out for my run and got to say it was windy out there. the sun was warm though. Wore shorts for the 1st time in 2010. When I got started my legs felt heavy. Took me a while to get warmed up. A little over a mile into it I felt a bit better. I only was running at about 7:50 when i got started. At the 2 mile marker I stepped it it up to a 7:25. I held it there until the 4mile turn around. Where i headed back home. Mile 4-5 was around a 7:50 again. the wind was blasting me in the face but it felt good to just work on my form and focus on stride length. At mile 5 I picked it up again and went 7:00 the remainder of the run. I was a bit all over the place but it felt good to get some different speeds today. As the weather gets warmer and the season nears I plan on working intervals into my runs. I would like to add some track workouts this spring to help brake the speed plateau. Every little bit helps!

In like a Lion

March definitely came in like a lion. H2O heater needed to be replaced, Car got dinged, best friend gave us good and bad news so that off set itself. Also the person who never gets effected by illness was knocked down the last 24 hours. I picked up the slack and the boys were pretty good, giving Mom the bedroom to catch up on her sleep.

Monday I was on the trainer and got a good 1:30 on the bike. I hit 4x5 at 95% and then steady ride at about 65%. The power tap is beginning to help me stay balanced while I ride. I don't find myself all over the map. I am able to focus on a particular # and maintain it. It also reminds me to finish my sets. It is as if someone else is watching you and you don't want to let them down.

Tuesday I got in the pool and swam 3300. It was a good set. I varied that intervals and have been working on getting long on my stroke when I get tired. I think that I have been doing pretty good at that. I now want to start working on some speed. By the end of the month I would like to have my 100's down to 1:15. Right now I am coming in on 1:17. I know that it is early but this is the time to make progress. After the swim I was able to go and do some light weight work.

Yesterday was an unscheduled say off. Had to hold down the fort. Probably not a bad idea b/c my legs felt like lead.

Today I am off to the pool this morning and then an easy ride for 60 min. I am planing on 3600 in the pool. It is typical March, flurries and cold early in the month but I am optimistic that in 3 weeks we will have some better weather and will be outside more often. It takes a physical toll on me too b/c going into the month I feel like a lion because all winter there is weights and cross fit and sluggish training that kind of brings out the aggression of a lion by the end I hope to have dropped 2-3 pounds and develop the triathlon mentality. Winters in New England can be tough and though it is not over yet there is a light at the end of tunnel.

Another thing that I am looking forward too is the ride for jules. It is a 3 hour spinathon that a friend of mine has been running. This is the 6th year. It is also a reminder that the spring season is upon us. I am not wishing the days away but honestly I am tired of scarfs and winter hats, I am ready for flip flops and sunscreen. On that note it is time to go swim.

Gains

So since I have moved the overnight shift things have pretty much stayed status quo. In fact I feel that I am making some gains. It may be because I am now more focused on the workouts I have and the time I have to do them. I also think that I am focusing on my recovery time because of my lack of sleep compared to what I got before. I have even been able to land a couple of double workouts during the work week.

This week has been good, I landed a great swim workout on Monday morn. got 3800 yards in with some good tech work and stretched out some other sets. Followed that up with and after noon pm run. Tuesday was a 3200 High intensity swim with an easy recovery ride at 65% FTP. Yesterday I got a crossfit workout in the am then I killed myself on the bike with a 55 min ride(cut short b/c 6 month old woke up from nap) It was still a hard effort with 7x3 at 120% FTP with 3 min recovery. followed by steady spin at 65%. My steady spin was short by 5 min. Don't think it is a big loss. Today was good too with another swim and then a 7 mi run on the treadmill. I performed 5 min intervals at different races paces.

All in all I feel like I have made some gains with my numbers. I have two more build weeks and then a recovery week. So hopefully the kids won't get sick until then. I will try to keep my workouts posted online. I have been writing them in my calendar book instead. That is if anyone out there is reading this?

Later

How long till spring?

So I got my bike back, again. Guru had to repair the shell casing in the bottom bracket. So they gave me a new paint work up as well. It looks amazing. I will post some pics soon. As far as training goes it has been steadily progressing. My swim stroke is coming back to good form, I have been pretty please with my number on the bike. I am just sick and tired running in the damn cold weather! I don't know how I ever trained for the marathon in this stuff. I a such a warm weather person.

The past two weeks have been different b/c I am now working the morning shift and trying to fit in my workouts in broken sleep has been challenging. The one thing I notice is that I have adapted quickly, even though I slept like crap today. I now start my day and 1o pm. Go to work at 11:30 pm and finish at 7:30. The get to the gym for a swim or weights the in bed by 10 am. for 3.5-4 hours. then I get on the bike or run. Pick up the boys and get dinner ready. Spend time with the family. Now my wife puts all three of men to bed before 8pm. Then I wake up at 10pm and do it all over again. because I learned to function on little sleep with new borns I think this transition is a bit less stressful. I just can't wait for that warm weather to help lift the spirits as I walk to work when everyone else is going to bed. So be it.

Off to work

So last week I performed my FTP test. I couldn't decide if I was disappointed or surprised with my outcome. After an easy warm up I preformed on set at an all out pace that I could maintain for 20 Min. The result was an avg of 279 watts. It was nice to be able to use the software to look at the graph of my progression. The last 5 min I pushed 2 watts more per minute than I did the first 5 min. The point to taken from this, is I can now truly chart my workouts and focus on increasing the amount of spend and power I can push. Ultimately making me a faster cyclist.

Last week I also met Sara Thatcher of BodyTunning. I have always been dealing with the little nagging injuries that would either make me train less or not at the level I want to be at. Sara was able to point out some weaknesses that have had an impact on my performance and was able to prescribe some workouts for me to "rehab" those trouble spots and potentially making me faster.

With those two important parts of my training block taken care of I can now get ready for the up coming season with a better direction. So now it is off to work!

Time to set the bench mark!

So I have to say that using a powermeter is very informative. The other thing that it can provide is a benchmark for future training. I have to test my FTP. functional threshold power. This will let me see how hard and fast I can actually ride my bike. Fit Werx has provided me with a simple test that will rip me to the core in about 35 mins. Because of the test I will be able to truely take advantage of the information power can give a rider. I will let you know the results!

riding

I finally was able to get on a bike today. As noted before my crono had to be fixed and I am eagerly awaiting its return.

my friend Marty let me use his old rig to get some much needed trainer work. I have been looking forward to the trainer this winter b/c of the power meter. I had set my numbers for this winter off my last sprint race from 2009. I avg. around 260 watts for that race. So today I set up my workout and it went off with a bang. I am weighing in at about 197. My goal for the end of the month is 195. I am definitely stronger b/c my weights this winter.

For today I started with 5 min warm up and then a 5 min drills and then 5 min at 110 rpm's. Thought this would be a good way to get the HR up. My main set was 8 intervals. The 1st 4 were at 255-260 watts for 2 min with 1 min cool down. The 2nd 4 were at 300-310 for 2 min with 2 min cool down. I love the powertap b/c I was able to find the rhythm and just push. I hit my numbers and was feeling pretty good. The 2 nd set challenged me towards the end. I think I had a good say considering this was my 1st bike workout in 3 weeks. before that I had not been on it since Sept 22. I am counting the hours til I ride again!

4 MONTHS!

Four months have passed since the birth of my second son. It is so different the second time around and the two of them are so different. The best thing about babies is the innocence that surrounds them. They tend to have it rub off on whoever is holding them. Last night Seamus decided to test the patience of Mom and Dad. Teeth are coming and his belly needs more and more but after he finally decided to sleep at about 3:50 he transformed from the screaming red-faced 15 lbs of mayhem to the picture perfect angel resting with his "blanky". I think these are times that test us as parents so we can develop our own tolerance for each child in the certain ways so that we can raise them to be good people.

Four months has felt like four hours. The time flies and we are loving every minute of it!
Happy New Year!