P90X Hybrid Day 37: 10 Mile Bike

Decided to stay in the neighborhood for a quick ride. The sky was threatening rain so I didn't want to go to far.

Ended up doing 10 miles as hard as I could. I stayed on a the couple of straight-aways so I could get maximum speed. My legs were wrecked after the hard 10 miles. I averaged 20.56 MPH according to my Garmin 305. That is the highest average I have ever obtained in the neighborhood.

Tomorrow is a AM run for 40 minutes.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Hybrid Day 36: 8 Mile Run + Core + Shoulders/Chest

Well, it has been another good fitness day for Jeff!

Annie and I got up early (despite hitting the snooze button 5 times) and logged 8 miles. We had absolutely gorgeous running weather: overcast, light rain, and wind! It was still warm but the wind and rain were awesome. It was all Wee-weed up outside this morning!!!

We finished our run in 1hr and 24 minutes for a pace of around 10:30/mile. According to our 1/2 Marathon Plan our pace today was supposed to be conversational and it was. According to my Garmin 305 my total calorie burn was 1002 and my average HR was 147. Both very strong numbers.

Now today was also my free day with the Personal Trainer. I have never used a PT at a gym before and really had no idea what to expect. When I showed he said lets go get warmed up and I told him I just ran 8 miles and was already warmed up. He stopped and did a double take and looked at me like I was crazy - he may quite possibly be right!

He wanted to get a feel for my conditioning so he had me jump on a stationary bike with a built in HRM. He said I would get a good sweat. He turned the tension way up and had me stand up like I was riding hills. Not much of a sweat occurred and I could see in his eyes that he was excited and was going to try and trash me! Well, he did a very good job of it. We spent the next hour just destroying my core and also working in some push-ups and pull-ups as well. I was able to handle it all but will admit he had a nice repertoire of core ripping moves. I was soaking wet with sweat after the hour but still felt surprisingly good. It was definitely more intense than ARX or Abs/Core plus but it was also an hour long. And Steve, he was well aware of Windshield Wipers so we did a few each! When I asked him about them he got a huge smile!

After we were all done he admitted he was impressed and that I was an extremely well conditioned athlete (his words, not mine) and he had a great time beating me up. I felt good about his comments because this guy looks like Adam from the ARX videos - you know the guy in the back with like 1% body fat?

Anyways, I looked into the cost of a few more sessions (more out of morbid curiosity than anything else) and it was WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. If I was the Jeff from a year ago before I found P90X it would probably be worth it for the structure and encouragement. But I have a pretty solid plan already and have very little difficulty with motivation so it probably isn't for me and I could sense he was thinking the same thing, probably ...lol.

Tomorrow is going to be an early morning bike ride before all the glorious NFL games begin! I have the DirecTV Sunday Ticket package and plan on digging in on the couch right in front of the TV for like 10 hours - I am downright giddy for tomorrow!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Hybrid Day 24: Rest

According to my hybrid schedule I wanted today to be Shoulders & Arms. Now according to the regular P90X schedule it is supposed to be a Stretch X day. Well, the creators of P90X are much smarter than me because I did not have it in me. Partly because it was the end of the month and because of the way my job works it was a stressful day. I made it through in good shape but was completely wiped out by the time I got home. Instead of hitting the gym I went to Hooters with a couple of buddies to watch Monday Night Football. Had a couple of beers and am ready to tackle September.

Tomorrow is a running day. If it is still raining I will run on the treadmill.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Hybrid Day 23: 18 Mile Cycle

The plan was to wake up at 6:30 am and be on the road by 7:00 am. Well, that didn't quite work out. I remember turning the alarm off but nothing after that until I picked up my head and saw that it was already 8:00 am. That is very late for me to sleep so my body must have really needed it!

At that point we got up and had breakfast. Annie was going out with some girlfriends to see an early matinee so I figured I'd just go ride then. The temperature was only 87 and the humidity was better than normal. The cool thing was that a nice wind was blowing. Usually this sucks for cyclists but it was going to give me a change to really try out riding in the aero position.

Long story short is that riding aero is just awesome in the wind. One section of road has about a 1.2 mile straight-away that is just wide open. When I made the turn onto it I had my hands on the "bull-horns" of the bike and the wind was blowing directly at my face. I was on the big ring and working pretty good. Looked down at the speed and I was going only 17.5 mph. From there I dropped down on the aero bars and hammered it just to see how much speed I could pick up. A few cranks later I looked at my speed and was going 22.5 mph into the wind. Very, very cool. The best part was that my cadence seemed to be about the same in both positions but my speed had increased. Really digging the Tri Bike!

After the bike ride I got home and got a call from Annie telling me she was in my car about 5 miles from the house and the car had broke down. It is my company car so I called up the leasing company and they sent out a tow truck. I was planning on getting in a run tomorrow morning but now I have to get an early ride over to the dealership and pick up a rental. These situations are never easily or quickly resolved. Should be a fun day!

Tomorrow is Shoulders & Arms again (assuming I have a coche to take me to the gym).

Thanks for Reading,

Annie

P90X Hybrid Day 18: 15 Mile Bike

I drove down to Huffman this evening with my new Tri bike in tow. It was still pretty damn hot so I dressed in light gear and loaded up on sunscreen.

This was my first attempt taking the bike out of my limited access neighborhood to the open roads. I ended up not doing the full trail (26 miles) because it was starting to get dark (traffic was awful getting there) so I just did 15 miles. A couple of things I found out were that this bike is FAST. I mean real fast. The roads I were on are relatively flat and at one point I had the bike up to 32 mph on a long stretch and the amazing thing was that the bike still had some more to give! My old road bike would top out at 21-22 mph and that was working as hard as I possibly could. Another thing that is cool is how much more effective I feel while in the aero position. I mean you can really dig down and pedal your heart out!

Now something that is going to take some work is my steering while in the aero position. I have no problems going straight but making turns is challenging. Surely this will get easier as I ride more. Something else that is different from my road bike is the way the pressure is felt in my legs. The Tri bike distributes the force more evenly through out my quads and hips. With the road bike most of the force was in my quads. This is good and bad. Good because this will make doing the run portion much more comfortable during races. The bad is that all my conditioning has been done on the Road bike and it feels like I am starting from day one again!

Overall, I couldn't ask for a more enjoyable ride. The bike is just awesome and I cannot wait to go again!

Tomorrow is Legs & Back and my quads are probably going to be a little sore!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Hybrid Day 13: Rest Day

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I had a work function tonight so I was switching today's Running day with tomorrow's Rest Day. I just got home and still have a bunch more work to do so this works out much better. So tomorrow evening I am going to my 5 mile run in!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Hybrid Day 6: 3.5 Mile Run

My legs are jello people!

I had every intention of hitting the treadmill for a medium paced 5.5 mile run today. I was in the car driving to the gym and I was talking to a buddy on the phone and telling him how surprised I was at how good my legs felt after doing Legs & Back.

Well, that all went to crap as soon as I started to stretch out my legs in the back of the gym. My quads and gluts were just screaming! I guess I didn't realize it earlier because I was sitting in my car all day long. I stated yesterday that I, "killed it" doing Legs & Back - well I was wrong - Legs & Back won, not me!

Anyways, I started out and every stride was a chore. I tried to ignore the uncomfortableness in my quads and ass by listening to my audiobook. It worked for 3.5 miles and I just couldn't go anymore. I kept telling myself that tomorrow is the rest day so I can push it but I just crapped out and couldn't do it. Still, 3.5 miles isn't bad but I really wanted to do two more.

For the week I ended up doing 13 miles running. This is about double of what I was doing during Tri training so I guess I can't be that upset!

Tomorrow I have a Team Meeting in Waco, TX. It is about a 3.5 hour drive. We have to be there by 9:30 am so my buddy Ryan and I are leaving at 6am. This works out good since this is my scheduled rest/stretch day. I will not be home until 7-7:30 PM and imagine that the rest will do me good.

Saturday is the beginning of Day 8/Week 2 and it is another round of Chest & Back! Also, thanks to Todd, Boomer, and Steve for weighing in on the Tri Bike question. On Saturday afternoon I am going to go take each Bike for a spin and make the final determination. The bikes are so darn similar that it is going to have to come down to which one just fits me better!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Hybrid Day 4: 4.5 Mile Run (pace)

Four days down; 86 days to go!

So another one in the books. Normal P90X schedule today would have been Yoga, but to accommodate my Triathlon training I hit the treadmill hard. My legs were feeling a little sluggish today. I did a 5 minute light jog to try and get some energy in them but it didn't help. I was planning on running for 45 minutes at about a 9:00/mile pace but realized my legs needed some help so I just cranked the treadmill up and figured I'd run at my 5K pace.

My reasoning is if my legs don't want to cooperate then I will force them to! Basically, it is I either keep up with the treadmill or I fall off the back of it ... this worked well because I ended up doing 3 miles in 22:08, about a 7:30ish pace. I wanted to go a little more but was feeling the burn so I backed off to my aerobic 9:00 minute pace and did another 1.5 miles.

Overall a pretty good workout.

The reason my legs were not all there today is because I am SORE. I forgot how bad P90X rips you up the first couple of weeks. My arms, chest and back are just aching anytime I move. It is not fun. And even though my legs are in good shape physically beginning P90X has put some strain on them too! I absolutely love P90X and cannot wait to hit the gym for Legs & Back tomorrow. This is my favorite workout on all the P90X and P90X PLUS videos. And I thought my legs were sluggish today? Wait until tomorrow!!!

Oh, I have been rambling on about wanting a new triathlon bike. I have checked out a few different ones over the last week and am still unsure. I have them narrowed down to two bikes. I might post them both tomorrow and see what you guys think?

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Hybrid Day 3: Shoulders and Arms + Ab Ripper X

Took my butt to the gym again for my Day 3 of P90X and did Shoulders & Arms.

I am enjoying doing the weight training at the gym. Even though I could probably do Shoulders & Arms at home because it is just shoulders - bis - tris and repeat! For one it is much easier to use nice fancy racks with the dumbbells loaded on them then picking them off the floor. Another thing that is nice is having the space to move around. The gym I go to is older and a couple of new gyms have opened so this means I am pretty much alone most of the time. That is cool!

Anyways, I brought the heck out of it today. When I had trouble raising my arm up to put the keys in the ignition of my car that was a good sign that I worked hard. I did extra reps on ARX and again used a medicine ball for the Mason Twists at the end.

If I can keep up this level of intensity I am going to be pretty ripped up again by about day 30!

Today is Day 4 and in the normal P90X schedule I would be scheduled to do Yoga. For my hybrid schedule I will substitute running with yoga. I really should swim today but I have become a little obsessive about my running of late.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Pics and My Future Training Plans

After a day of thinking about what I want to do I have have come to a conclusion.

I am too darn skinny right now (152 lbs). This has been brought on from all the cardio (swimming, running, and biking) that I did in order to train for the triathlon. My problem is that if I want to continue to do Tri's I need to keep on doing the cardio training. I saw serious gains in all three of the Tri sports from the time I began. So, if I stop altogether then I will probably lose all those positive gains.

Now what I really want is to have the build that I did while doing P90X but also not lose any of the cardio gains that I have developed.

So, I am going to do both! The way it is going to work is that I am going to do all the P90X Strength Training workouts + Yoga and substitute the P90X cardio (Plyo and Kenpo) with running, swimming, and biking. I am going to do the full 90 day schedule and on the rest weeks I will increase my cardio workouts even more. Instead of push ups and pull-ups I am going to do dumbbell bench presses and lat pull downs. My buddies Boomer and Steve have tried P90X this way at times and have had good results.

Also, today I stopped at the Nutrition Depot and picked up Nitrix, Cell Mass, and N.O. Xplode. I am going to stack these supplements along with Creatine. I started the supplements tonight.

And I am pretty sure I want to try another Tri! Not ready for the Olympic level yet so another Sprint will be just fine. There is one in October about 20 miles from my house. It is currently full but it sounds like on the day before you can show up at the sponsoring Local Running Shop and they will sale you one of the packets that was not picked up ... I might try this!

Anyways, I will ramble on more later and am planning on starting the training very soon.

Here are some of my Triathlon pictures:

My friend has a bunch more and a couple videos. She burned it onto a DVD and of course all three of my computers are not compatible with so I am going to need to go flash drive it.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 75: 4 Mile Run

I was looking back over my last month of posts and realized that I haven't spoke about nutrition too much lately. Probably because it has become habitual to me and I know longer think of what I am eating as different. When I started P90X last year it was so new and weird for me to measure my food, count calories, and read labels. Now it is weird not to!

Anyways, my days are pretty similar nutrition-wise. Today for breakfast I had a vanilla whey protein shake. It is comprised of of 2 heaping scoops of EAS Vanilla Whey Protein, 0% Fat Organic Milk, Ice, and a banana. Also for breakfast I had a whole wheat bagel with a teaspoon of peanut butter. Around 10:30 I had a Pure Protein bar for a snack. For lunch I usually try and have a turkey or chicken sandwich on whole wheat, but today I stopped at a Smoothie King and had the 45G Protein filled, "Gladiator". They are awesome! They also account for about 550 calories depending on the fruit you add -- I like strawberry and banana! Around 3:30 I had a chocolate chip cookie dough Balance bar. This bar is 210 calories, 21 carbs, and 15 G of Protein. I love the taste of these bars! For dinner I baked a 8 oz of chicken breast and cut up and had fajitas on whole wheat shells and mixed veggies in the side. I had 3 of them and the calories were about 800, protein 60Gs, Carbs 75Gs.

If you add up the numbers my carbs and protein are about 50/50 and I am averaging around 2400-2700 calories per day. I am not as strict as I was during P90X with Protein, Carbs, and fat but instead I now focus on eating as clean as possible. By eating clean I try to avoid saturated fats, high fructose corn syrup, simple carbs, enriched white flour, sugar, alcohol (not completely(-:), all sweets, anything processed, high sodium, and all soda! These things no longer make it to my kitchen. I easily drink 12-15 cups of water a day, usually as much as 20 a day. My favorite thing to do is mix in the Crystal Light Green Tea with my water because I love the taste and the antioxidants are good at flushing my system daily.

So that has been the way I have been eating. My energy level is just wonderful and I feel great. Each time I go into a workout my body is prepared because of my eating habits. I used to have acid reflux all the time and I can't even remember the last time that has happened to me! I used to write that when I was doing P90X that the diet was very important. That was a complete understatement because the diet is so much more than important, it is essential!

Today's workout was 4 miles running on the treadmill. I made it the gym at 9pm tonight and watched, "The Office" on my ipod as I ran - helped with the mundaneness of the treadmill! My 5k split was 23:49 and I finished the 4 miles in 31:50. I backed off a little at the end as my left knee started to feel a little stiff. Stretched it out afterwards and it feel fine! I also did an abbreviated ARX after my run. I was the last person at the gym, they close at 10pm, and I could see the staff looking at me because I am sure they wanted to go home! After the Fifer Scissors I jumped right to the Mason Twists with an 8lb medicine ball and finished up.

I have a ton of loose ends to tie up tomorrow before I leave for Newark. I was thinking I would love to get up around 5am and drive down to my bike trail, but being that is is midnight already and I have a few things to do before bed that ain't gonna happen! I will probably go to the gym and get a swim and a stationary bike ride in!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 45: P90X Core Synergistics

Got home around 8:30PM tonight. I wanted to go for a run but didn't want to do it at night. Lighting in my neighborhood is less than desirable and I am not a big fan of getting run over by an SUV!

I ate a quick turkey sandwich and figured I could go to the gym and run on the dreaded treadmill. Well, it was about 9:15 and I got dressed and started thinking to myself, "How late is the gym opened?" -- I checked the schedule and the answer was 10pm. So, I basically would have had about 25 -30 minutes to stretch and run on the treadmill. Not a real good option. So, Core Synergistics it was and I am glad it worked out that way because this is just a great workout. My obliques are still feeling some soreness! And I forgot how much the Superman-Banana is a butt-kicker!

According to my HRM I burned 385 calories and my HR average was 144 so this was a good aerobic workout. But I still need to get my running in so I'm going to wake up early tomorrow and get in 3-4 miles. Then if I don't have to go deal with some real estate stuff (actually hopeful that I do) then a 15-20 mile cycle is going to happen tomorrow evening. Sort of a day/night doubleheader! With my Tri only 60 days away I want to start pushing myself harder than I have been.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 43: 15 Mile Cylce + ARX

Yesterday was a good Sunday. I woke up and had my usual Protein Shake and then it was on the bike before it got too hot outside.

I ended up getting in 15 miles before I had to go home and help Annie with preparations for her baby shower. I had a pretty good ride. The streets were a little busy so I had to slow down and stop a few times but other than that a good workout was had! I averaged about 18 mph - a little less than what I want but my track is not the most ideal.

Today is swimming. I am confident about my ability to swim the 500 meters, now I need to work on getting a faster with my Total Immersion technique. So for the next few swim days I am going to work on quickening my freestyle stroke.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 40: Back & Biceps

It is about two months to go until my Triathlon and I am feeling great physically! Since I am only doing strength training once or twice a week I have noticed that some definition in my arms and chest has gone away. Not a ton but I'm not as ripped as I was at the end of P90X. It is more of a vanity thing at this point. You go from being fat and flabby to pretty ripped and you like the way you look.

The cool thing is I checked my BF% today on the digital scale and with calibers and I came in right at 10%. I was hopeful to be around 12% so the 10% was a nice surprise. I was around 17-18% starting my second round of P90X and if I remember correctly (too tired to fact check ..lol) I finished around 13-14%. So, in the 40 days of blasting myself with cardio I have dropped another 3-4% - guess this is why all the body builders do so much cardio before competitions.

Anywho, I did P90X Back & Biceps this evening. I didn't overdo it again and used only the 25lb dumbbells for most of the curls. Even though I haven't been weight training like I have in the past I almost feel stronger -- which doesn't make a lot of sense? Maybe the swimming is the reason because using the Total Immersion technique does give me one heck of an upper body/core workout.

Tomorrow is the last day of the month (fiscal) for me at work - which is always an adventure - I am planning on running tomorrow but I haven't taken a rest day this week so it may happen if things get crazy. I'd like to get up early and go but I have to be on the road by 6:45am so that isn't going to happen. Especially because Annie is working until 11pm tonight and I usually can't sleep until I know she is home. We shall see. If no run tomorrow then a brick on Saturday!

Triathlon Training Day 34 & 35: Rest Day + Jog + Bike + ARX

Yesterday I ended up stopping by a bar for happy hour to see a friend and order our plane tickets to Madrid, Spain. We both had our laptops and aircards but the Continental Website was so slow that it took some time. So, we ended up having a couple of beers. Then Annie had made dinner plans with some other friends so she picked me up at the bar and we didn't get home until late. That effectively whipped out any chance of getting a workout in! The good news was that I still ate very clean despite having the beer and I had not taken a Rest Day this week yet so this was actually okay to do. My body was a little weary too so it probably worked out for the best.

This morning I wanted to go for a run. It was overcast and humid out so I decided to go to the gym. I started out on the treadmill and was having some pain in my shins. Not like a shin-splint pain, but more like a muscle pain. I ended up doing 2 miles on the treadmill before I got to the point of it hurting too much to continue. I did some stretches and it felt a little better. I then jumped on a stationary bike that had handles on it just like my road bike. I went for 25 minutes here so I felt good about getting in both a short run and a bike ride. I just hope the shin problem was an isolated incident and doesn't continue.

After the bike ride I went to the back of the gym and did another strong Ab Ripper X workout. By the time this was done I was pretty nice and wore out!

Tomorrow morning I'd like to get in a decent bike ride. If the weather is crummy then I will go swim again.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 32: P90X Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps

Well -- Today is normally my scheduled rest day but I was feeling pretty good and decided to do Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps. This is such a great workout and I miss it now that I am in hardcore cardio mode.

I was seriously considering just taking the rest. I got home around 5:30 today and was completely exhausted. Part of the reason is because I missed lunch. It has been a long time since I missed a lunch and my body reacted by telling me it wasn't please with this. I sat down on the couch to check my work email. The pugs jumped up on my lap and I passed out for about 45 minutes. I woke up when my wife got home and she was hungry so dinner had to be made. Then we started watching the Idol finale and by the time that was over it was after 930pm. Annie went to sleep and I decided to do C/S/T. The little nap did wonders for me and I would have felt guilty if I didn't take advantage of that energy boost.

I didn't kill myself like I usually do on the P90X workouts, but I still was able to Bring It pretty hard. I have lost some of my strength as my reps were down from when I finished my 2nd round of P90X. On the Pike Presses I used the chair and was able to only do 11 reps, I think I did 17 on my last attempt. Not awful but still not what I've become accustomed to! My triceps and shoulders are sore right now and I bet I feel it tomorrow morning!

Tomorrow I am supposed to do a 15 mile cycle. If it is as hot and humid as it was today I may swim instead and do the cycle early on Friday morning. With the holiday weekend coming up a lot of people are off on Friday so traffic should be light and make the bike ride that much more pleasant!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 31: 3 Mile Aerobic Run

I am watching American Idol on the DVR right now. I haven't watched too much of it this season but the two kids they have in the finals are really good. The Lambert kid is extremely talented. Not really my type of music but you still have to respect his skill. Probably should have watched more this season ....

Anyways, I wanted to do a 5 mile run this evening but I ran out of daylight. I didn't get home until 7:30 - my options were to go to the gym and run on the treadmill (which I hate) or go run in the beautiful 72 degree Texas evening! Pretty much a no brainer! Only problem was that it got dark on me rather quick. I didn't want to end up roadkill so the safe decision was to call it a night and be happy with 3 miles.

Being in a hurry to get out the front door I forgot to put on my chest strap for my heart rate readings. I still had the Garmin but couldn't run by using my heart rate readings. So, I decided to take it slow and just chug along at a slow pace. In the end my time was 30 minutes for 3 miles. If I had to guess my HR it probably averaged around 145 BPM.

Usually I don't really enjoy jogging all that much. But today it was somewhat euphoric? I have been working a lot of long hours over the last few weeks and it was so relaxing today to just get away from the cell phone and computer and just run. For some reason I really needed this today and people who don't exercise probably have no idea what I am talking about because mentally I feel so much better.

Tomorrow is old school P90X Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps and maybe ARX.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 29: 15mi Bike + 3mi Jog Brick

What a great day to get outside and train! Sunny, 73 degrees, a breeze - doesn't get much better than this!

I set up my garage as the Transition Area, put air in the bike tires, slopped on some sunscreen and got ready to go! In order to start to get my legs used to transitioning I broke the Brink into 6 legs today: Cycle for 5mi, transition, then run for 1 mile. Repeat, repeat again. So, I got to work on the transitioning from bike to run 3 different times.

The Brick today went very well. I did the first 5 miles on the bike in 16:30 and the first 1 mile run in 8:45. It took me a good two minutes for my legs to not feel like rocks after the transition. A buddy of mine who has done a few Triathlons told me to kick my heels up to my ass and even high steps a few times just to get the blood flowing. I did this and even though my neighbors are probably still talking about me it actually seemed to help with the goofy leg feeling! My second 5 miles on the bike was 18:30 and the run was at 9:00 flat. The final 5 miles on the bike was 18:30 again and the last run was 9:55. I was a little winded for about the last half mile of the run and decided to keep my Heart Rate in the aerobic zone instead of trying to sprint for a better time! This was probably a wise decision because I feel pretty darn good right now - I could almost go do a P90X Strength Training video - almost!

Tomorrow is a Swimming Day. I'm going to work on my freestyle stroke and try and get in 40 laps or so - 1000 yds.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 27 & 28: Missed Day & Swimming

Sorry I have missed a couple of days posting. I have a laptop that is given to me by my company and it needed to be shipped into corporate for repairs. The screen was cracked and the internal modem was on the fritz. So, I have been without my trusty laptop for the last couple of days. Hopefully I will get it back on Tuesday. And hopefully I end up wtih a brand new computer!!! I have been using Annie's laptop but she is very stingy with it!

On Friday I left for College Station at 6am for work and didn't get home until late in the day. Then we had to go scope out a couple of foreclosed properties we are looking at rehabbing. By the time I got home it was time to go to the restaurant for the dinner plans we had scheduled and before you knew it my day was done.

Saturday was another busy one but I was able to get in 30 laps (750 yards) at the pool. I got to the gym around 7:15pm and they were closing at 8pm so I had to move it along rather quickly! I came home and did Ab Ripper X just so I could get in some core work. Then Annie and I went to see "Wolverine" with some friends. It was just okay. About a 6/10 rating. I am hopeful that the other big movies: Terminator, Star Trek, Transformers, and GI Joe will be better. I love summer blockbusters!

The temperature has been in the 90's here in Houston the last week or so. But last night we had a cold front come through so the temp right now is 73 degrees! It is overcast with a pretty high chance of rain but is supposed to clear in the next couple of hours. I am going to try and do a brick in a different way today. Here is how it is going to work: Start with 5 mile bike ride, hit the Transition area (my garage) and do a 1 mile run. Then do another 5 mile bike ride and 1 mile run and repeat again. I still get in the distance that is required (15 miles riding/3 miles running) but get to practice transitioning and getting my legs used to biking to running. Last time I did a Brick my legs felt so weird trying to run after biking. I have been reading a triathlon book that recommends doing it this way and it will greatly help to acclimate my legs to this. We shall see!

Be back a little later today!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 26: Cycling

I got home from work today and had to do some more work for my Real Estate company. This is the 3rd evening this week that I've had to do that! I guess it is good to be busy so I can't complain!

I got home around 7pm and got changed, stretched, and pumped up the bike tires! And the patch that I applied the other day blew up again. So it was time to put in a new tube. Now I haven't changed a tube on a bike tire since I was probably 15 years old. It took me about 45 minutes to get the damn thing figured out and back on the frame! It is better to learn how to do it now than during the race!

The bad news was that since it took me so darn long to change the tube I was running out of daylight. I got in 7.5 miles before it got to dark to continue riding. I could have easily went for 2 times that but what can you do? Now the good news was that the wind was a little less severe today. It was still a hindrance at time but nothing like the last few times out. I averaged about 19 mph today and was cruising around 21 mph for a lot of the ride. My goal is to average 20 mph or a 3 minute mile during the Triathlon.

Tomorrow is going to be a swimming day. I want to work on my TI drills and practice the form. I have to leave the house at 6am tomorrow and will probably drive about 200+ miles and this has been an extremely long week so not too sure if I'll have the energy to swim 1000 yards again!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff