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 11: 9 Mile Bike Ride

Yes, I brought my new bike home today!

This thing is a freaking rocket - I had it up to 28 mph in my neighborhood on a straight away and the wind was in my face! On my old Schwinn road bike at the same piece of road I could get it up to maybe 22mph if the wind was at my back. And the aero bars make such a difference. They really let you get your legs into the stroke and just hammer as do having the clipless pedals. These two features are just great.

I cannot wait to go take it out on the bike route in Huffman!

Anyways I only got in 9 miles today because of lightening. We had some much needed storm showers all through the day and I was hopeful they were done by the time I got home. But they were not so I had to hustle back to the garage! According to my Garmin I still burned 300 calories so not a bad workout.

Tomorrow is the always brutal Legs & Back.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training: Brick Day

It has been over a month since I attempted to do a brick and I was looking forward to it. A brick is a term used during triathlon training when you do two of the three events back-to-back. Today I did a 14 mile Cycle followed immediately by a 3 mile run. The reason this needs to be practiced is that you need to train your body to get used to moving from one event to the next. Also, it give you a chance to practice your transition!

Today I got out of bed around 6:30am and had a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter as soon as I woke up! I wanted to some fuel in me for the upcoming torture my body was about to endure. Next Sunday my Tri starts at 8am so I wanted to start about the same time today so I can get used to it. I ended up starting at 7:45 so I was close enough.

After some stretching I jumped on the bike and hit start on my Garmin. It took me about 5 miles for my legs to feel decent. I should have did a little more stretching and warming up before I started. I will be sure to do that next week. The ride was pretty nice. I stayed in my community so I had to stop and/or slow down numerous times but overall it was a good ride. I did the 14 miles in 48:12. This is about as good as I can do in my community due to all the stopping. I'd actually be happy with this time next week!

I rode into my garage (transition area) and parked the bike, removed my helmet, strapped on my water belt, toweled off, grabbed my iPod and started to run. The total transition only took me 1:15 - I'd be thrilled with this time next week!

Now the difficult part began. My legs felt so goofy. When you are sitting on a bike pedaling for 48 minutes your legs get used to that motion and so does your vascular system. When you start doing a completely different motion with your legs, like running, it takes a little while for your legs to feel right again. The first 1/2 mile was absolutely ridiculous. My legs felt like two two-by-fours attached to my hips. But shortly after that I started to feel better and found a groove - a slow groove - but nonetheless a groove! I ended up finishing the 3 miles in 28 minutes. The part that was concerning for me was the my Average Heart Rate for the run was 171 BPM with a max of 183 BPM. That is extremely high for me, but for some reason I felt fine running the entire time. I actually could have run a little harder but I kept watching my HR during the run and backed off some.

Overall I was happy with the Brick. The last mile was hard because the sun was sitting high above the trees at this point and I was running due East, right into it, and it was HOT! Not just hot, but Africa Hot! I needed to do this Brick just to see where I was physically. You always think you are ready but until you actually but your body through the ringer you really do not know. Now I know because I really wasn't very tired after I was done and I felt good the entire time.

This coming week I am going to train pretty hard up until Thursday. Friday will be a light day and the Saturday will be an off day. If you are considering doing a Tri or just are wondering how the thing even works I am going to write about that also. Clothing, Transition, Check list, Nutrition, etc .... I will cover it all from start to finish!

Tomorrow is a swimming day -- 1000 yards minimum.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training: 4 Mile Run + 5 Mile Bike + Bilateral Breathing Advice

Hello everyone!

First I want to start off with some advice I received from my buddy Todd. Todd has been doing triathlons for a couple of years now and recently completed a 70.3 (Half Ironman). I have been tinkering with my breathing during my swimming - which is probably stupid considering my Tri is less than 2 weeks away! But he posted this response about bilateral breathing (Boomer you will find this very interesting) yesterday and I found it very informative:

As for the bilateral breathing, if you can do it great, if not, it's not
mission critical. The more oxygen you get the better, and until your lungs adapt
you might actually be doing more harm than good with the bilateral breathing. I
just alternate sides each lap (left-down, right back). This helps you be able to
adjust to race day conditions when the waves are coming from one side or the
other, or you need to sight the shoreline, or stay away from the guy who keeps
slamming into you.

Thanks Todd!

Anyways, after my little crash yesterday I was able to muster up some energy and get back on the horse. Monday's are always just crazy days for me at my job! My phone started ringing at 7:30 am and didn't stop until 6pm. A lot of Docs take off Friday and then come in to the office on Monday morning and they have all this crap to deal with. So, when they have crap to deal with they call me. Pretty much every Monday is like this and today was no exception. Finally I made it to the gym around 6:30. I was feeling a little down so I decided to take two scoops of the pre-workout booster NO-Xplode. For those of you who followed my P90X progress you will remember that I talked about this supplement all the time and I absolutely love it. However, this was the first time I have tried it before running.

Well, it definitely gave me a boost. Driving to the gym I was about to jump out of my skin! This stuff is great. The only problem is that my Heart Rate was out of control. Usually I will set the treadmill around 7.6-8.0 mph for my runs and my Heart Rate will usually stay in the mid to upper 160's. Today I checked my HR at the 1.5 mile mark and it was at 180 BPM .... way too high. Now my conditioning is not where it was before my layoff but it is not this bad. It had to be the No-Xplode that was causing this. I slowed my pace down and my HR dropped down to the lower 170's. With the slower pace I finished the 5k at 26 minutes. I walked a little to get my HR down and then ran another mile at a 9 minute pace for a total of 4.1 miles on the treadmill today.

Now I jumped off the treadmill and I was still pretty jacked up from the NO-Xplode so I jumped on the spin bike and did a quick 5 miles. I wasn't planning on doing any biking until the weekend but since I had the energy I figured it couldn't hurt. I am glad I did the bike because it allowed me to stay in the aerobic zone and burn of the rest of the effects of the supplement.

Lesson learned today was that pre-workout supplements are for weight training days only. I think I may have made this mistake during plyo and kenpo a couple of times in the past but completely forgot -- oh well, at least I got in the extra biking!

Tomorrow is a swimming and ARX day. I am going to work on the bilateral and side-to-side breathing like Todd recommended. Not really sure what the conditions are going to be like so it is probably better to be prepared for everything!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training: 24 Mile Bike

Got up at 6am today, tossed the bike in the SUV and headed down to the rural roads of Huffman, TX. I met up with my buddy Chris and we ended up doing 24 miles. We somehow missed a turn because normally this trail is 26 miles - not sure what really happened?

Anyways, it was a very comfortable ride despite the heat. I was able to keep myself hydrated and that really helped. By the time we were finished at 9am it was already 92 degrees! We checked my Garmin at the 14 mile mark, which is the length of my upcoming Tri, and we were at 48 minutes. I'd be good if I did this time for the Tri. The good news was that we really weren't even busting ass either so I believe this time could be even better by a minute or two.

Chris recently acquired a "vintage" Trek 1000 Road bike via craigslist and I rode it for a couple of miles. This bike is a lot faster than my cheap-ass Schwinn Prelude and it convinced me that if I decide to continue doing Triathlons that a new bike is in my future. On my bike I have to work hard to maintain a 20mph speed. On the Trek it was a lot easier, the crank just feels more powerful with each turn. He said the same thing after riding my bike. However, we both agree that my bike is a more comfortable ride ... which in terms of time means nothing at all so I have that going for me! I can't even imaging how awesome my time could be on a brand new Quintana Roo? I might find out soon enough if a couple of things break my way over the next few weeks!!

Tomorrow morning I am going to try and run around 9am. The reason for choosing 9am is that the starting time for my race is 8am and I figure 12 minutes for the swim and 50 minutes for the bike which would put me around 9am for the run. It should be in the upper 80's/low 90's by then so it might be a ton of fun!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 55 & 56: Rest + 750 Yd Swim + 5K Run

Yesterday was both good and bad. But mostly Good! Good that the Pens took home Lord Stanley's Cup and Bad that I had to take a rest day.

I got home from work around 4pm and Annie wanted to go see "The Hangover" ... we haven't spent much time with each other lately and we both had LOOONG weeks so I said what the heck. It was playing at 4:25 right down the road. So glad she talked me into it because it was hysterical. It was as good as Old School and Wedding Crashers, maybe even better! My side hurt from laughing.

We had to rush to get home by 7pm so I could watch the hockey game. By the time the game was over I was mentally drained and pretty much exhausted from the week and decided to sit down upstairs and watch last week's episode of "Rescue Me" on the DVR. I feel asleep 20 minutes in on the couch and no workout happened after that!

To make up for it I did a bookend brick at the gym: 30 laps (750 yards) in the pool and 5K on the treadmill. According to the pool lap clock I did the first 550 yards in 12 minutes. I then did a slow 10 laps to work on my form. My breathing has been struggling the last couple of times out so I needed to refocus. I feel like I got a hold of it on the last few laps.

Then I got changed and jumped on the treadmill. No HR monitor, just RPE running today. I started out at 7.5 MPH and did the first two miles in 16 minutes. My legs were feeling some fatigue so I slowed down to a 9 minute mile pace and finshed the run at 25:53. I was really pleased with this time. Especially after a long swim too!

The heat here has been brutal. The last few days have been 97 degree highs with heat indexes in the low 100's. Tomorrow is going to be no different so I plan on getting up bright and early and driving down to my 26 Mile track for a bike ride. I picked my bike up at the LBS today and it is back in good working order. I am itching to get a good ride in!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 48: 5K Run

Another hot day here in Texas. I waited until 7pm to go for a run and I still was soaking wet afterwards. Instead of just running at a consistent pace I decided to mix it up a little and do some speed training and interval running.

I started out basically sprinting. I ran at a pace --according to my Garmin -- that would have me doing a mile in 6:30. I would do this until my HR got up to the low 180's. Once I hit this high I would slow down to a medium pace and then a brisk walk. Once my HR got down to the 120's I'd start to sprint again. I did this for about 2 miles. It is amazing to me at how quickly I recovered to a resting HR compared to when I first started working out. My last mile I just ran at an 8:00 minute pace and then sprinted home strong. Good day!

I didn't take a rest day this week and really am feeling fresh so I am just going to keep going. Normally I like to do either a brick or a long bike ride on Saturdays, but instead I am going to go swimming. If I am feeling strong I might swim and then jump on the treadmill at the gym and get in a few extra miles. I really want to improve my running so I am going to add in more running. This will probably lead to less riding over the next couple of weeks but that is okay since the riding is going so well. And then on Sunday morning I am going to go on a 25-mile ride on a rural route I found - Click Here

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 42: 4 mile run

Today was my best day running in quite some time. I woke up and had a Whey Protein Shake and then waited about an hour to go run. For some reason I just felt wonderful today. Maybe it was because yesterday was a rest day and my body had some extra time to recover.

It was weird how my time went today. Mile 1 was done in 9:32 - not even near my fastest time! Mile two was done in 8:30, three was done in 8:25, and four was completed in 8:21. Usually, this progression is the exact opposite. My first mile is usually my fastest and I get progressively slower from there on! Part of the reason this happened today was that I ignored my HRM. It was still one of the 4 read-outs on my Garmin. Along with pace, distance, and calories, but I instead just ran on how I felt and not just in the aerobic zone. The weird thing is you would think by being at a higher heart rate for the majority of the run that I would be more uncomfortable. Well, that was not the case. Even after four miles I felt great and my HR was in the high 160's for most of the run?

Maybe it was a combination of the rest day and all the other aerobic training. Who knows, but I hope I feel this way on Race day.

I was going to go for a cycle in the afternoon but instead I did yard work. Annie is having a baby shower for a friend at our house tomorrow and 60 people are expected. That means I had to get the yard in shape. I worked in the front yard for close to 4 hours and I am exhausted. The Texas sun was sitting high and the temperature was in the low 90's. The yard work was probably the most calories I burned all week!

I haven't decided what to do tomorrow yet. Since the baby shower is going on for most of the afternoon I'd like to either swim or cycle in the morning. I might be playing golf with a buddy during the shower and if that is the case I will probably cycle since the swimming exhausted my arms and shoulders which would be a problem for golfing! And riding in the neighborhood on Sundays is usually nice because not much traffic is around. I am definitely doing ARX.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 38: 20 Mile Cycle

I am really beginning to enjoy cycling. However, I am getting bored riding around my neighborhood. Venturing out onto the roads is a rather dangerous proposition considering the large amount of traffic in the area. So, I guess that purchasing a rack for my car is the next best thing. I found a good looking 25 mile ride map here online that is on some rural back roads. This might be how I spend next Saturday morning!

Anyways, I did manage to get in 20 miles in my neighborhood this evening and the wind was non-existent so I averaged 19.4 MPH. My Garmin said I burned 1254 calories but that seems a little extreme to me. I got home from work at about 5pm today and was ready to go but the outdoor temp was 94 degrees - wow! So I waited until 7pm and the temp was all the way down to 89 degrees but at least the sun wasn't as high in the sky and the humidity wasn't bad either. So the ride was actually very pleasant. I was still a sweaty mess at the end but it was still fun.

Also, I am really getting the bug to purchase a Triathlon bike. Right now I have a Schwinn Prelude Road Bike that I got at The Academy for $220 bucks. Overall, the bike is excellent for the price. It is lightweight. It has decent Shimano components. But only has 14 gears. I really feel like this is limiting my top speed. Now the smart thing to do would be to hold off until I finish the Triathlon and see if it is something I'd like to keep doing. And if it is then go buy a nice Tri bike. I keep thinking I need aerobars and clipless pedals but don't want to spend the cash on these accessories when they would be part of the new bike package! Decisions, Decisions...oh, what should I do?

Tomorrow is my scheduled off day but I really want to go swimming. Last swim I did 62 laps and when I got home I realized a mile was 70.4 laps. I missed it by only 8 laps - it has been bothering me ever since and I need to remedy that!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

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

P90X Round 2 Day 76: Legs and Back + 10 Mile Cycle

Just finished off Legs & Back and I am exhausted. I was out until about 3pm doing work today. I had a protein bar in place of lunch so when I got home I made myself a grilled chix sandwich on whole wheat and had an apple. Waited about an hour and decided to try out my new bike computer on my new cycling route! I mapped out a 6.5 mile route in my neighborhood. I tried to limit the amount of stop signs and put in a few straight aways. So, today I started out and everything was looking good until I got to my first straight away and the wind was blowing right in my face!!! Let's just say the wind REALLY effects you on a bike. WOW. I continued on through the neighborhood and had the wind at my back a few times too so it all balanced out!

Overall, I really enjoyed the cycle and enjoyed having the bike computer. I rode for 10.2 miles. My average speed was 14.9 MPH. And I biked for a little over 40 minutes. The Triathlon course I am doing has a 13.8 mile track. If I averaged that out I would have done the bike in 55 minutes. That needs to improve by 8-10 minutes for me to be happy with the time during the Tri! However, I did stop for probably 2-3 minutes to put air in my rear tire about 2 miles into the ride. I should have checked that before I left the garage. The reason I didn't do the full 13.8 today was because I wanted to do Legs & Back.

After the ride I went upstairs and immediately did Legs & Back. It was good because I was really warmed up and ready to go. It was bad because the leg portion was just brutal. My energy level was toast. The ride took more out of me than I thought because I only did 88 reps on the 8 pullups exercises today. I think I did 176 last week? And I was struggling to get to 88. Not only that but I am pretty sure it is going to be difficult to get out of bed tomorrow. After the ISO Lunge things my legs felt like two pieces of rubber. Going down the steps was difficult to navigate! I decided to skip ARX today because I was just too beat to do it. I'll toss it in tomorrow so I do not miss it. I took 3 advil and am drinking a ton of water tonight praying that it keeps me loose for Kenpo tomorrow. Good times - sometimes I wonder why I do this to myself!

But on the good news side - I am now wearing size 32 pants again! I haven't fit into size 32 since I was 19 years old. About 9 months ago I was wearing sizes 35 and 36 (and squeezing into some 34's ...lol). The 32's aren't even tight either. I guess milestones like these answer the question of why I do this to myself!!!

Tomorrow is Kenpo and Monday begins Week 12!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff