Triathlon Training: 5K and ARX

Alright everyone the Carrot is back up and running!

After my Pamplona excursion and wisdom teeth extractions I am back on track and ready to blog.

First off, the removal of my wisdom teeth wasn't all that bad. I went in the Doctor (who is a good buddy of mine) gave me a few shots and he yanked those suckers out. The crackling sound they made was sort of cool - yes I am demented! The problems occurred after when my sockets would not stop bleeding. Two-and -a-half days of bleeding and it sucked. The first day was awful because I had to change the gauze like every 20 minutes and I had that shitty iron taste in my mouth. I was actually nauseous for the entire time - a very rare occurrence for me.

Anyways, I am back on solid foods and have my sights set square on the Triathlon. I wanted to ease back into training today and just do a light 1.5 mile run followed by 1.5 miles of jogging. Well, I got to the gym and hit the treadmill and just ended up running 5K. I did do it at a little slower pace - finished in 27:10 - just to be safe. My HR was up a little higher than I would have liked but I guess that is to be expected considering the amount of time I was inactive.

After the run I went to the back of the gym and did a pretty aggressive Ab Ripper X workout. Even used the 10lb medicine ball for the mason twists. I was feeling beat up when I left - awesome feeling!

Since I have been home my diet has been clean. I had some fried rice tonight at dinner (Benihanas) with coworkers and I wasn't pleased but that was the only choice and I was starving. Scallops and Chicken Breast for the main meal. And the last few days have been tons of protein shakes since it was hard to eat anything solid. I found myself craving carbs.

I basically have 2 weeks to go until the Triathlon. Tomorrow night I am going go swimming and get in at least 1500 Yards and do ARX again. Saturday morning is going to be an early AM cycle on the 26.2 Mile Road Course. Sunday will start a hole new Run-Swim-Bike repeat, until race day.

Good to be back!

Jeff

Triathlon Training Days 73 & 74: Swimming, Stationary Bike, ARX, and Pamplona!

Good to back in the pool. Was able to go to the gym this evening and get in 750 yards (30 laps). I was a little rusty in the beginning but the good news was that my conditioning is as good as ever. I would have done more then 30 laps but the local swim group had the pool reserved so I had to leave. Instead of going home I went and rode 10 miles on the stationary spinning bike and did Ab Ripper X. Very solid cardio day.

Yesterday ended up being a missed workout day because it was the end of the month. As an outside sales rep I have a monthly quota that I am responsible for. And the company also has a monthly goal as well. We all had to push hard and it resulted in me getting up at 5am and getting home a 10pm. I was actually going to try and get a P90X workout in but by the time I changed out of my suit and tie the adrenaline of the day had passed and I couldn't even muster enough energy to check my email!

Well, I have two more days left to get my workouts in before I leave for Spain! When I return on July 10th I plan on doubling up my cardio workouts. Morning and Night until a few days before the race when I will taper. July 11th and 12th will be butt kickers and then on Monday the 13th I am having all four wisdom teeth removed. That should be a blast! I will probably be down for a day or two (hopefully not more) after that fun procedure.

My schedule in Spain is probably not going to allow any workouts. On Friday night we are flying to Newark, NJ. On Saturday morning we are going to the Nathan's Hotdog eating contest. I know it is gross but it should be a fun time nonetheless!

On Saturday night our plane leaves (10 and 1/2 hours) and we arrive in Madrid on Sunday morning. From there we need to find our way to the train station and make the 3-4 hour ride to Pamplona. On Monday morning the festival for San Fermin kicks off followed by an entire day of partying. Tuesday morning we have a balcony reserved to watch the opening day of the Running of the Bulls and hopefully get some good photos and video. That night will be another big party night. On Wednesday we have a guided tour of the street on which we will be running. We will determine our starting and jump off points. Followed by another night of partying! Thursday morning we will be running. After that we are taking a train back to Madrid, spending the night in a yet-to-be-determined location, and catching the flight back to the States on Friday morning. I think we arrive back in Houston around 10:30 on Friday night.

It should be a fun man-cation with my buddies and I will miss working out but how often do you get to go run with the bulls in Pamplona?

Tomorrow is a hard 4 mile run and another ARX session.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Days 69 - 72: Run and Run

First, it is nice to be home. I always enjoy going on vacation and it was great to have my sister for a workout partner but being at home has a feeling that is just very comforting! Annie and I made it back on Saturday evening around 8:30pm after 2 days and 25 hours in the car. It wasn't that bad because we had two books on CD and they were pretty good. From start to finish I put 2997 miles on my company car. Why did we drive you ask? Well, I needed to get to 72,000 miles by July 1st to start the clock on getting a new company car - Mission Accomplished - odometer was at 72,221 when I pulled in the driveway!

Anyways, the weather is trying to do everything to make me not enjoy being home! The temperature here in Houston has been just ridiculously hot. We are in the 100's with make-you-sweat-as-soon-as-you-walk-outside humidity. I sooo want to go ride my bike but it is dangerous hot so that isn't going to happen anytime soon.

To recap my workouts: On Friday morning before we began the drive I woke up early and ran 4.0 miles with my sister. We ran at a 9 minute mile pace so it was a nice aerobic workout. Saturday was spent napping in a Fairfield Inn and then more driving. No workout happened. On Sunday I got caught up with work and the DVR and planned to go swim at the gym. I got to the gym at 6:45PM and saw the "Hours of Operation" sign said 7 AM to 7 PM on Sundays. Dammit. I could have swore it closed at 8 PM. I saved all the hours in my BlackBerry so this will not happen to me again. My gyms hours are pretty crappy. If it wasn't the only gym with a pool in the area I'd be elsewhere. It was too hot to run or bike so I missed a day. I did do ARX at home so not a complete loss!

So, with a little anger brewing today I decided to run my ass off on the treadmill for 3 hard miles. I ran between 7.6 and 9 mph the entire time and ended up doing the 3 miles in 22:31 seconds. A personal record by over 2 minutes - I was pretty pumped by this time. A little over two months ago I was having trouble breaking 30 minutes. It is very rewarding to see the hard work pay off in my times. I might even push it a little harder next time on the treadmill. Hopefully, all these gains will not be lost while in Spain next week!

Tomorrow is going to be a swim day. I want to do at least 1000 yards!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff