I am a bit frustrated. It has been hard to get into a steady groove of triathlon training since IMAZ. I was very meticulous about my schedule for that race and rarely had a problem sticking to it and logging the time and miles. I registered for the Camp Pendleton Olympic Triathlon on July 19th because I wanted to race the Olympic distance but I do not feel ready for the swim AT ALL! The logistics of running, commuting by bike and swimming is really difficult. It is really hard to find the time to swim in the morning, so I try to schedule it at night. By the time I am done working, I am in no mood to get in the pool. It is causing me to question the cost/ benefit of triathlon for me at this point in time. Would it be better to concentrate more on running the rest of this year and get my marathon time down? I could still cycle to work and get plenty of those mile in as well. I need a lot of work on my swim and maybe with a little less pressure ......... Wow! even writing this is painful for me. I am making excuses and that really makes me wanna puke.
I’m not gonna make any rash decisions at this point. I’ll do my swim sessions the next 3 weeks and see how it goes. I do not want to DNS. I was sick for 2 days last week and the whole week of training was off. I think I am feeling the classic symptoms of overtraining. I did listen to my body and took it easy.
I did cycle to work 2 of the 5 days. The plan is to do 4, but as I said, I was sick for 2 days. It is so cool to bike past the gas station and feel the liberation in knowing that you aren’t a slave to the oil companies. Let’s hope that I can get 4 days in this next week.
I have the HB 4th of July 5K on Friday. I am looking forward to a fast time and hopefully a PR. It will definitely be a PR for the course since last year I paced Brittany due to a nasty case of Plantar Fasciitis. We’ve got a bunch of friends doing the race with us and it will be their first 5K. How fun! We are all gonna go out for lunch afterwords and try to make it a special day for everyone.
Paul
Showing posts with label triathlon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label triathlon. Show all posts
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Swim for the iPhone
Becoming an athlete has changed my life. I have always been pretty motivated, but I have always been motivated in creative endeavors, which are hard to benchmark, and rely on other people to assess “value” or achievement. Being a Triathlete is not like that. I run my own race, for the most part, and I am always striving to beat my last PR. The amount of work that I do in training directly relates to my success. It is pretty scientific, you can see it in a graph, absolute. I like that. There are variables, but you define the variables and the constants and then experiment. There is not a lot left to chance. It is empowering and I wish more people were like that these days (If you ever wonder how many “victims” we have in our society, just take a look at how many lawsuits are clogging our court system, sad.) Most importantly, being an athlete is about setting a goal, working towards it and seeing tangible results from your efforts. Cause and effect. It is a constant reminder for me that I get back what I put in. I have learned this and this is what I want for my Daughters!
Back in January, Apple announced the IPhone. Brittany, Jasmine and I were sitting around the table gawking at the video explaining all of it’s amazing features. We all wanted one. So I devised a plan. I told them that if they started running, I would pay them for their miles. I came up with a nice round number, 250 miles for the $500 iPhone. $2 dollars a mile. It sounded like a lot to them and it was, but I knew that if they stuck with it that long they would be hooked and learn a great lesson at the same time. So, I bought them each an IPod Nano and the Nike + IPod sports kit, which tracks your miles and pace. The “Run for the iPhone” challenge was born.
Brittany and Jasmine were off and running. The iPhone came out at the end of June. At that time I was the only one who had completed my miles but Brittany was not far behind. Jasmine developed pain in her hips, but more about that later. Brittany completed her 250 miles in August. She opted to not get the iPhone and instead take cash, which was an option. She spent her money on clothes. You know how women are. I am happy to report that she is now a “real runner.” She has close to 500 miles logged and is training for her first marathon in February ’08 having done several other races including 2, 1/2 marathons.
Jasmine was sidelined with hip problems, so we needed to figure out another challenge for her. Her Doctor said that swimming would be great therapy and it is a low impact sport. So, she is now “Swimming for the iPhone.” Based on the original challenge, I figured that they could comfortably run a 12:00 mile which is 5 miles an hour. So 250 miles would translate to 50 hours of running. Luckily for Jasmine, the iPhone price has come down to $400 for the 8 GiG model so she only needs to do 40 hours of swimming. I figure that she can work up to and swim 1 MPH comfortably. One mile in a 25 meter pool is roughly 32 laps. So, the math is, $10 an hour per 1 mile of swimming for a total of 40 miles. Or .31 cents a lap for 1280 laps. It sounds like a lot but we will be going 3 times a week for an hour a session so it should only take about 13 weeks. We started last night and we had a great time. Jasmine looks like a natural. She looks very comfortable in the water. She watched the “Total Immersion” DVD and did a few drills and swam a few laps.
Man, I love it when a good plan comes together!
Stay tuned for updates on Jasmine's progress.
Paul
Back in January, Apple announced the IPhone. Brittany, Jasmine and I were sitting around the table gawking at the video explaining all of it’s amazing features. We all wanted one. So I devised a plan. I told them that if they started running, I would pay them for their miles. I came up with a nice round number, 250 miles for the $500 iPhone. $2 dollars a mile. It sounded like a lot to them and it was, but I knew that if they stuck with it that long they would be hooked and learn a great lesson at the same time. So, I bought them each an IPod Nano and the Nike + IPod sports kit, which tracks your miles and pace. The “Run for the iPhone” challenge was born. 
Brittany and Jasmine were off and running. The iPhone came out at the end of June. At that time I was the only one who had completed my miles but Brittany was not far behind. Jasmine developed pain in her hips, but more about that later. Brittany completed her 250 miles in August. She opted to not get the iPhone and instead take cash, which was an option. She spent her money on clothes. You know how women are. I am happy to report that she is now a “real runner.” She has close to 500 miles logged and is training for her first marathon in February ’08 having done several other races including 2, 1/2 marathons.
Jasmine was sidelined with hip problems, so we needed to figure out another challenge for her. Her Doctor said that swimming would be great therapy and it is a low impact sport. So, she is now “Swimming for the iPhone.” Based on the original challenge, I figured that they could comfortably run a 12:00 mile which is 5 miles an hour. So 250 miles would translate to 50 hours of running. Luckily for Jasmine, the iPhone price has come down to $400 for the 8 GiG model so she only needs to do 40 hours of swimming. I figure that she can work up to and swim 1 MPH comfortably. One mile in a 25 meter pool is roughly 32 laps. So, the math is, $10 an hour per 1 mile of swimming for a total of 40 miles. Or .31 cents a lap for 1280 laps. It sounds like a lot but we will be going 3 times a week for an hour a session so it should only take about 13 weeks. We started last night and we had a great time. Jasmine looks like a natural. She looks very comfortable in the water. She watched the “Total Immersion” DVD and did a few drills and swam a few laps.Man, I love it when a good plan comes together!
Stay tuned for updates on Jasmine's progress.
Paul
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Passion and Erasers
“I admire passionate people, they are dedicated and willing to make sacrifices. They are hard workers who aren’t afraid of pain or exhaustion to reach their goals. They’re decisive and purpose driven. Passionate people understand trade offs and risks. They operate within a sphere of self improvement with an altruistic wish to share what they have learned. Passionate people absorb and process advice and and return it to others complete with their own experiences. I admire passionate people a lot. You can see it in their eyes, you can tell by the words they use. People with passion wake up everyday with a deeper appreciation for life. There are never enough hours in the day or days in the week for a person with passion.”
Steve “Runner” Phedippidations
I heard Steve say this today on one of my favorite podcasts “Phedippidations” I thought it was said very eloquently and I was very inspired. I thought I would share it in the hopes that we can all find our passion in life, whatever it may be, and live life to it’s fullest.
“My running shoes have become giant erasers on my feet. Every foot strike rubs away some memory of a previous indiscretion with food or smoke or drink. Every successful mile releases me from the grip of the demons of failure. Every starting line is another chance to prove that my past will not determine my future.”
John “The Penguin” Bingham
Running is one of my many passions. And the above quote expresses beautifully how I feel when I run. My passion for running has only made my passions for the other facets of my life that much stronger. I pray that I will never lose my passion for life and that I will somehow inspire others to find and celebrate their passions as well.
Paul
Steve “Runner” Phedippidations
I heard Steve say this today on one of my favorite podcasts “Phedippidations” I thought it was said very eloquently and I was very inspired. I thought I would share it in the hopes that we can all find our passion in life, whatever it may be, and live life to it’s fullest.
“My running shoes have become giant erasers on my feet. Every foot strike rubs away some memory of a previous indiscretion with food or smoke or drink. Every successful mile releases me from the grip of the demons of failure. Every starting line is another chance to prove that my past will not determine my future.”
John “The Penguin” Bingham
Running is one of my many passions. And the above quote expresses beautifully how I feel when I run. My passion for running has only made my passions for the other facets of my life that much stronger. I pray that I will never lose my passion for life and that I will somehow inspire others to find and celebrate their passions as well.
Paul
Change of plans
After careful consideration I have decided not to run the full marathon, and go back to my original plan of running the 1/2 marathon at the Surf City Marathon in February. I was getting bummed out whenever I looked at my run log and the weekly mileage was about 1/2 of what I am used to running. Although I could probably add the extra miles into the already high weekly training schedule. The real problem would arise after the marathon and the ensuing recovery process. It takes a good 3-4 weeks of recovery to get back to normal after a full marathon and that would completely screw up my Ironman training at it’s most crucial time.
So, after some great advice from some of the people over at Cool Running. I have decided to do the 1/2 then meet up with Brittany for the last 5 miles or so when she'll need me the most. I think it will be the best of both worlds.
It is funny how we, as flawed humans, can hear really good advice and know it is the thing to do. But, somehow rationalize things in our own head and formulate an opposing plan. I tell people not to do this all the time, then find myself doing that very thing. Life is a continual learning process. Just when you think you have everything figured out ........
Todays training went really well. I was feeling very tired yesterday after a long training session on Sunday. I didn’t have a lot of work yesterday so, I was able to get some much needed rest.
I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and did 1:10 on the bike and :40 run.
Tomorrows plan is a :45 swim, :50 bike and about an hour of strength training (weights). I have enjoyed lifting again. I had stopped for awhile while I was mainly running. But, now I have made it an integral part of my training plan. Three times a week, full body exercises. I don’t look as scrawny in my upper body area. I am sure swimming is helping too. When you are running so many miles a week, it is easy to neglect your weight training. But, it is VERY important since a lot of your power comes from your core.
On a completely different note. I am having so much fun with my iPhone. If you look on my home page you’ll see pictures with a caption that says “image of the day”. I am able to snap pictures from my iPhone, then send them to my webgallery and they automatically update on my site. Amazing!
That’s it for now.
Paul
So, after some great advice from some of the people over at Cool Running. I have decided to do the 1/2 then meet up with Brittany for the last 5 miles or so when she'll need me the most. I think it will be the best of both worlds.
It is funny how we, as flawed humans, can hear really good advice and know it is the thing to do. But, somehow rationalize things in our own head and formulate an opposing plan. I tell people not to do this all the time, then find myself doing that very thing. Life is a continual learning process. Just when you think you have everything figured out ........
Todays training went really well. I was feeling very tired yesterday after a long training session on Sunday. I didn’t have a lot of work yesterday so, I was able to get some much needed rest.
I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and did 1:10 on the bike and :40 run.
Tomorrows plan is a :45 swim, :50 bike and about an hour of strength training (weights). I have enjoyed lifting again. I had stopped for awhile while I was mainly running. But, now I have made it an integral part of my training plan. Three times a week, full body exercises. I don’t look as scrawny in my upper body area. I am sure swimming is helping too. When you are running so many miles a week, it is easy to neglect your weight training. But, it is VERY important since a lot of your power comes from your core.
On a completely different note. I am having so much fun with my iPhone. If you look on my home page you’ll see pictures with a caption that says “image of the day”. I am able to snap pictures from my iPhone, then send them to my webgallery and they automatically update on my site. Amazing!
That’s it for now.
Paul
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Running season!
Now that triathlon season is over for me, I have ramped up my running mileage to prepare for the 5-6 road races that I plan on doing over the winter. It is tough because I am training for the Ironman and the weekly hours are getting steadily longer and longer. But in order to do the races that I have planned, the miles in the IM schedule are not quite enough. So, the trick will be adding the miles while not getting injured or over trained. It has felt great to start getting back to, what is for me a normal weekly mileage. 33 miles this week.
The Long Beach Marathon is two weeks away, where Brittany and I will be doing the half marathon. My PR for the half is 1:56:05 which I did last year in Phoenix. It was very cold that morning. 28 degrees which I think was a record for that date or something. In any event, it proved to be great for my finishing time. We will see how Long Beach goes. I hope the weather is cool and I hope to finish in under 1:50:00.
I have decided to do the full marathon at the Surf City Marathon in February. I had planned to do the half, while Brittany was doing the full. After thinking about it I decided to pace Brit and use it as a great warm up for the marathon I will be doing after the 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike at IMAZ. It is going to mean more running miles in my training, but, I love running so.....
I took it easy today with a :30 swim and a :40 min bike. I needed a little rest and clear out some lactic acid from my legs and get refreshed for tomorrow. 1:00 swim, 1:50 bike, 10 mile run.
Paul
The Long Beach Marathon is two weeks away, where Brittany and I will be doing the half marathon. My PR for the half is 1:56:05 which I did last year in Phoenix. It was very cold that morning. 28 degrees which I think was a record for that date or something. In any event, it proved to be great for my finishing time. We will see how Long Beach goes. I hope the weather is cool and I hope to finish in under 1:50:00.
I have decided to do the full marathon at the Surf City Marathon in February. I had planned to do the half, while Brittany was doing the full. After thinking about it I decided to pace Brit and use it as a great warm up for the marathon I will be doing after the 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike at IMAZ. It is going to mean more running miles in my training, but, I love running so.....
I took it easy today with a :30 swim and a :40 min bike. I needed a little rest and clear out some lactic acid from my legs and get refreshed for tomorrow. 1:00 swim, 1:50 bike, 10 mile run.
Paul
Monday, September 24, 2007
Long Beach Triathlon race report
Well, yesterday was the last triathlon of the season. It went really well. I was very happy with my times. But, I was a little disappointed with my placing. Triathlon is a tough sport and the field is usually stacked with some heavy competition.
The swim is my weak point. I did the 1/2 mile in 17:49 which was 4 minutes faster than LA Tri and that was 250 meters shorter. So, I am happy about that. The bike went well. I averaged 18.8 mph. The run was great although I felt I could have shaved a little time off of my 8:20 min/mile pace had I not been so tired from the swim. I have to hit the pool and open water HARD over the winter. If I could have sped up the swim I am sure that I could have placed much higher as my bike and run were all in the top 25-35% of my age group. Train train train.....
Paul Both
race # 1021
overall place 428/921
age group place 54/74
gender place 347/528
overall time 1:25:24
swim distance 800 m
swim time 17:49
T1 time 4:32
bike distance 11 miles
bike time 36:29
T2 time 1:16
run distance 3 miles
run time 25:16
It was an absolutely awesome day. Brittany came out and took a ton of pictures. She had a 12 mile run the day before and this was supposed to be a rest day with just a 2 mile run. Well she did almost that running around snapping shots on the course. Man it was a great day!
Paul
The swim is my weak point. I did the 1/2 mile in 17:49 which was 4 minutes faster than LA Tri and that was 250 meters shorter. So, I am happy about that. The bike went well. I averaged 18.8 mph. The run was great although I felt I could have shaved a little time off of my 8:20 min/mile pace had I not been so tired from the swim. I have to hit the pool and open water HARD over the winter. If I could have sped up the swim I am sure that I could have placed much higher as my bike and run were all in the top 25-35% of my age group. Train train train.....Paul Both
race # 1021
overall place 428/921
age group place 54/74
gender place 347/528
overall time 1:25:24
swim distance 800 m
swim time 17:49
T1 time 4:32
bike distance 11 miles
bike time 36:29
T2 time 1:16
run distance 3 miles
run time 25:16
It was an absolutely awesome day. Brittany came out and took a ton of pictures. She had a 12 mile run the day before and this was supposed to be a rest day with just a 2 mile run. Well she did almost that running around snapping shots on the course. Man it was a great day!
Paul
Friday, September 21, 2007
Long training day
I usually do my long training days on the weekend. But, since I am racing in the Long Beach Triathlon on Sunday, I switched my long day to today. I “slept in” till 6:00 am, got up, had a couple bowls of Trail Mix Crunch and headed to the gym. I started with a 1:45 minute ride on the bike. My legs were feeling a little tired so I stayed in the lower part of my “easy zone”. My heart rate was fine and I was feeling pretty good. It’s just that my legs were just kinda sore and felt like I could get to my LT pretty easily. So I just took it slow and steady. I was on the bike 1:45 for a total of 26 miles.
On to the run. I love running after cycling. I guess I am blessed that I don’t really get dead legs. They just get a little numb, which makes it even nicer to run. I ran for 1:10 at a pretty slow pace. I felt pretty amazing the whole time. 1:10 for 6.5 miles. I did a little stretching, calves and hamstrings, and a set of back extensions and some crunches. Next up, :45 swim. I am starting to enjoy swimming more and more. I just started swimming about 4 months ago. I bought the DVD “Freestyle Made Easy” from the company Total Immersion, per the advice from several Triathletes. I have no idea how I would have ever learned to swim as fast as I did had I not watched this video. I have become fairly efficient in a relatively short amount of time. Still, swimming is still my weakest discipline. I’ve gotta work on that. :45 swim for a little under 1500 meters.
I feel really good. Tomorrow I’m going to do an open water swim in Belmont Shores and rest for the rest of the day in preparation for Sunday’s race.
I am shooting for at least top 35% in my age group. It is the last triathlon race of the season and I will be happy with if I achieve that goal.
I will post a race report after the race.
Paul
On to the run. I love running after cycling. I guess I am blessed that I don’t really get dead legs. They just get a little numb, which makes it even nicer to run. I ran for 1:10 at a pretty slow pace. I felt pretty amazing the whole time. 1:10 for 6.5 miles. I did a little stretching, calves and hamstrings, and a set of back extensions and some crunches. Next up, :45 swim. I am starting to enjoy swimming more and more. I just started swimming about 4 months ago. I bought the DVD “Freestyle Made Easy” from the company Total Immersion, per the advice from several Triathletes. I have no idea how I would have ever learned to swim as fast as I did had I not watched this video. I have become fairly efficient in a relatively short amount of time. Still, swimming is still my weakest discipline. I’ve gotta work on that. :45 swim for a little under 1500 meters.
I feel really good. Tomorrow I’m going to do an open water swim in Belmont Shores and rest for the rest of the day in preparation for Sunday’s race.
I am shooting for at least top 35% in my age group. It is the last triathlon race of the season and I will be happy with if I achieve that goal.
I will post a race report after the race.
Paul
Monday, September 17, 2007
Long Beach Tri on Sunday Sep. 23rd
I am getting ready for my 3rd triathlon this Sunday. It is a 1/2 mile swim, 11 mile bike and 3 mile run. Pretty short race actually. I am attempting to place in the top 30% in my age group which should put me in the top 20-25% overall. We’ll see how it goes.
I have been training 7 days a week for the last 8 weeks. I am in the 9th week of my 36 weeks of Ironman training for Ironman Arizona on April 13th 2008. It is a huge commitment but I have never felt better physically.
Tomorrow I have a 1:05 bike session and a :35 run. I’ll train at the gym since it is logistically easier than training outside. I wish I had more time to train outdoors. I moved to Long Beach about a month ago and it is a great place to train because I am so close to the beach. There seems to be a lot of triathletes that live and train around here. The race starts and finishes about 3 blocks from my house. It will be nice to not have to drive to the race. How often does that happen:)
Tomorrow is another typical day. Get up around 5, out the door by 5:30, train for 2-3 hours then off to work at Post Modern Edit. Then when I am done I will come home and try and work on some music. My song “Red Bloody Sun” was just used in the NBC show “Friday Night Lights” episode #105 “Git’er Done”. Pretty cool and unexpected. I need to keep writing.
Paul
I have been training 7 days a week for the last 8 weeks. I am in the 9th week of my 36 weeks of Ironman training for Ironman Arizona on April 13th 2008. It is a huge commitment but I have never felt better physically.
Tomorrow I have a 1:05 bike session and a :35 run. I’ll train at the gym since it is logistically easier than training outside. I wish I had more time to train outdoors. I moved to Long Beach about a month ago and it is a great place to train because I am so close to the beach. There seems to be a lot of triathletes that live and train around here. The race starts and finishes about 3 blocks from my house. It will be nice to not have to drive to the race. How often does that happen:)
Tomorrow is another typical day. Get up around 5, out the door by 5:30, train for 2-3 hours then off to work at Post Modern Edit. Then when I am done I will come home and try and work on some music. My song “Red Bloody Sun” was just used in the NBC show “Friday Night Lights” episode #105 “Git’er Done”. Pretty cool and unexpected. I need to keep writing.
Paul
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)