Catch ups ...

• This is the weekend weather that they are calling for in Houston!  Very Excited!!!

• Thanks to everyone who sent emails inquiring about how I have been doing with the recent flu/bronchitis/sinus infection/malaria/small pox.  I am happy to report that I am 100% back to myself and healthy and happy.  Already have about 8hrs of training in over the last 3 days and have a HUGE weekend planned!

• My concerns of losing fitness while being sick for the better part of three weeks were valid but so far I am not seeing to much of a drop off.   The pool has been the most challenge to regain my fitness and I am still a few 3000M + Master's Classes away from being back in to form.

• This morning I did a 1000M timed TT and came in at a rather pedestrian 17m 49s.  That is a 1:46/100M time (1:37/100Yd).  Bad news is that this was pretty slow for me. Good news is when I finished my last length I was not even winded.  Meaning that I did not push myself hard at all.  This was encouraging.

• My run endurance is a little weaker than normal but my speed is still present so I expect to be back after a couple longs runs. Last night during a 7mi run our group held a 6:30ish pace for the last 3mi. Also, I did an FTP test on the bike on Tuesday and it was exactly the same as 5 weeks ago.  I was really expecting a 5-10% drop in FTP  power but was really happy to see that did not occur.  Deep sigh of relief!!

• If you are a long time reader you may have noticed  the two bullets above mention Meters and not Yards in terms of swimming?  Well, I found out last night that the pool I have been swimming in for the last year is 25 Meters.  I had always thought it was yards and have been keeping my online training log as such.  That is cool because I have been actually doing more distance than what I have been recording.  I like this much better than doing less distance.

• Rev3 is hosting it's first race (Saturday Sprint/Sunday Half Rev) of the season this weekend in beautiful Costa Rica.  My Twitter and email have been blowing up with all the updates and pictures from my Trakkers Teammates who are there!  To say I am jealous of all those racing would be an understatement!  This race is going to be added to the MUST DO FOR 2012 LIST!  Look how awesome this looks:

Costa Rica Baby!

• This weekend my Tri Club hosted a Duathlon on Saturday morning.  I did not race (thank goodness) as I was in charge of setting everything up and keeping time.  We had about a dozen people brave the 27 degree temps and another half dozen of us hung out drinking hot chocolate while all the racers froze on the bike.  It ended up being a very nice day and I stayed at the park and got in an hour run in the new Avia Avi- Bolt II shoes.

• I have a bunch of pictures on Facebook from the Duathlonnthat I wanted to take and post on the blog but the new Facebook picture page is freaking awful.  Does anyone else hate the new FB photo setup? It will only allow you to save pics as .htm?  If any of you right-click savvy peeps (Kevin?) know a work around please let me know!

Shout-Outs:

-  Surely everyone is now aware of the changes in the Boston Marathon Qualifying rules by the BAA.  I think it is cool but am not going to try and explain it.  Luckily a couple of other bloggers do a real good job of piecing it all together.  Check out Meredith's take over at This Runner's World and then check out Megan's detailed analysis of the announcement as well.  And when you are over at these blogs make sure to become a follower as they are both very enjoyable blogs!

- Joel at TriMadness is beginning a series on Triathlon Coaching.  He has a bunch of posts going up over the next few weeks detailing everything you ever wanted to know about coaches from the perspective of both the athlete and the coach.  Joel works very hard at his blog (ie: doesn't use bullets points 3 times a week like another lazy blogger?) and always presents us with extremely well researched material so I am really looking forward to what he has to say in this series

- My buddy BDD at Tridiesel had an excellent post this morning on something we all sometimes feel:  Frustrated.  He put this feeling to words in a very real and relate-able way.  Make sure to check this one out!

- And last on my shout out list, but first in your hearts: Patrick @ The Road.  And this one is important.  He gave mad love to my 80's looking white sweatband I was wearing in the last post!  Not only that, but he is currently on the look out for an even more badass looking retro sweatband for us both.  One day at a blogger meet-up we will get a pic of us together rockin' the sweatbands!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff