Rainy Monday and Training Recap

The alarm went off at 5:30 am today as a reminder that I was going to get in a brisk 45 minute run.  I got up and went to let the pugs outside and that is when I heard the crash of thunder.  That was quickly followed by some heavy rain.  Normally, I would jump on the trainer and get in a bike ride, but for some reason I went back to bed and did not get up until 7am for a work conference call.  Not the best way to start a new week!  Oh well, after work I am going to hit the pool and then watch Jack Bauer on the trainer - this should get me back on track!

Last week was a scheduled recovery week and here is how it shaped up:

Planned Trainings:
Swim - 1hr 30 mins
Bike -  1hr 45 mins
Run -  1hr 45 mins
-----------------------------
Total Planned -  5 hrs

Actual Trainings:
Swim -  0
Bike -  4hrs 37 mins (83.30 mi)
Run -  1hr 13 mins (9.32 mi).
-----------------------------
Total Actual -  5hrs 50 mins

The volume was good but I over did it on the bike and put up a goose egg in the pool.  This is mostly because the weather has finally changed for the better and I was dying to get outside and I also did the Duathlon on Saturday at the last minute. 

The funny thing to me is that the more time I spend on the bike my run conditioning is improving.  However, when I was putting in 120+ mile months running in the fall it really did not do much for my bike splits.  So, with this little bit of knowledge about myself if I can get extra time in the saddle than that is what I shall do!

Found this video today on My-Triathlon-Training.com.  It shows some Triathlon specific swimming drills.  Not real sure how I feel about a couple of them?  Let me know what you guys think?




Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Club Duathlon and Sunday Morning Ramblings

I joined a local Triathlon Club last month and this was the opening club event of the new year.  It was held at Deussen Park in NE Houston and this was my first Duathlon and also my first time at this park.  First off, the park was just awesome for cyclists.  It had roads that were in decent condition and separate bike lanes outside the park.  Not once did I fear becoming roadkill by the distracted soccer mom in the minivan! 

More importantly, the members of the Tri Club are some very nice people.  They have members who are multiple IM Finishers and then newbs like myself.  And they are all extremely open to sharing  and helping other improve.  I'm going to really enjoy being in this group.

Okay, onto the race.  We had about 15 or so people participating.  The distances were a 2 Mi Run + 12 Mi Bike + 2 Mi Run.  According to my Bike computer the bike distance end up being over13 miles but I did take a wrong turn once so it just might have been me!

The initial run started out fast.  Three guys jumped up to the front pretty quick, I was one of these meat heads.  I figured it was only 2 miles so why not red-line this sucker.  My Garmin had me at 12:47 after 2 miles and hitting T1 third overall. 

Jumped on the bike and followed the markings the club had placed up.  As I have blogged about, this winter has seen me put a ton of time on the indoor trainer.  It has paid off!  At the end of last year I was averaging about 16 MPH on the bike on any distance over 10 miles.  Yesterday I averaged between 19-20 MPH and when I got off the bike realized I could have pushed a lot more because I was still relatively fresh. 

After T2 I grabbed a bottled water and took off down the trail again.  I was hopeful to do the last 2 miles in 16 minutes (8min/mi pace), but as I mentioned above, was feeling good.  The final time on my Garmin was 14:30 (7:15min/mi pace).

Overall I was the third finisher with a time of 68 minutes.  I had a really good time and look forward to training with this group of Triathletes!

Sunday Morning Ramblings:

• My wife Annie recently competed in her first marathon in Austin (Click HERE for RR).  Last night she commemorated the accomplishment with some body art on her hip - I think it is pretty cool:

• Today is the last day of my "Scheduled Recovery Week" and I am glad.  My body is feeling pretty fresh so it was probably needed, but I get so antsy doing short workouts and taking rest days. 

• Couple of good Trainer movies that I have recently watched:  1) Gamer - this one isn't for everyone.  But if you enjoy fast paced and extremely violent sci-fi flicks then check it out.  Gerald Butler is the star but Michael C. Hall (the guy from Dexter) steals the show.  2) Law Abiding Citizen - This is another Gerald Butler movie that also stars Jamie Foxx.  This is one of the better movies I have seen in awhile.  Gerald Butler is the main character.  His family is murdered during a home invasion and Jamie Foxx is an up and coming DA in Philly who strikes a deal with the man who murdered Butler's family.  Butler's character does not like this very much and the action begins 10 years later ... go rent it, you'll enjoy!

• With the Olympics over, our favorite TV Shows are back in full swing.  Some better than others:  IMO, American Idol has officially Jumped the Shark.  We have not seen one performance so far where you just went, "Wow!".  It's not that the kids aren't talented, it is that we have seen it all before.  AI is no longer fresh.   The Biggest Loser is back!  If you can get over all the product placements in this show it is extremely entertaining.  I am really pulling for some of this seasons contestants - except for Michael, he is a freaking slacker.  This guy started out at 530 lbs and just doesn't seem to grasp the opportunity he has to change his life - Jillian needs to make him cry like a baby.  LOST  is down to only 10 episodes remaining until the series finale and last week left us with more questions than answers (AGAIN!).  I have no idea how they are going to wrap this puppy up in a couple of months, but in the history of TV no show has ever sparked more conversation, debate, anger, and emotion than LOST.  If they end it and all of us loyal viewers let out a collective, "WHOA", then this will go down as one of the top shows ever in TV history.  If they pull a Sopranos ending on us then it will be a waste of 6 years of our lives - seriously, the line the creators have drawn it that thin!

• Saw that the new hero of the GOP, MA Senator Scott Brown, was at a Suns basketball game with John McCain sitting in the $800 courtside seats last night.  McCain is up for re-election and it is not a sure thing he will win.  So, he brings in Brown and make sure he is seen around AZ to help his lackluster campaign .....  Seriously, I hate politicians.  Brown has already been sucked into the political machine of back room handshakes.  Think Brown is still driving around in a truck?  I voted for McCain in 2008, it was not a vote for McCain as much as a vote against Obama.  McCain is a large part of the current political establishment and he needs to be voted out.  John, you have served your time, move on and let someone else take over and quit poisoning the new guys like Brown and Ryan. 

• Lately, every time I see a politician on TV I want to puke.  I really think our country is about to explode politically.  People seem to be aligning themselves less with Democrats or Republicans and are just sick of the way Washington works.  Obama promised a Change of this type of politics but since he has been in office it has been business as usual and people are pissed.  Obama voters are feeling lied to and Obama detractors are walking around uttering the,  "I told you so" mantra.  As messed up as things seem in our country Democracy does work and come November the people are going to speak very loudly through their ballots and we are going to see incumbents voted out of office at a historic rate. 

Alright, I am done rambling.  My wife is on her way to St. Louis for a funeral so I will be living the bachelor life until Thursday.  Two years ago this would have meant late nights, mass quantities of beer, and pizza three times a day - today it means more training!  Love this life!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

A New Wetsuit, a Brick, and a Fatty

So much for that Recovery Week I had scheduled.  I was scheduled to do a 30 minute RPE 2-3 bike ride for today's workout.  I got home from work and jumped on the trainer and started watching The Biggest Loser on DVR.  Next thing you know I am one hour and fifteen minutes into my ride.  And it was a hard ride too.  Big ring, high cadence.  Then for some reason I tell myself that it would be fun to do a brick.  Then for some reason I tell myself it would be even more fun to see how hard I can run for 2 miles.  Do some speedwork I tell myself.

After the bike I toss on some running shorts and my Brooks kicks and pretty much sprint from the front door.  The first mile was done in 6:08.  My heart was a pumping so I slowly jogged for 2 minutes and then sprinted mile # 2 home.  This was done in 6:38!  Now I am wondering if I can do a sub-6:00 mile?  BTW - this hurt.

Some other cool news - My Wetsuit came today!!!  It was quite and effort to get this sucker on but it fits great.  It is a Xterra Vortex 3 Full Suit and here it is:

 I feel like a superhero in my wetsuit!

Yesterday Annie was going through some old photos she had saved on her computer and came across a bunch of me when I was a huge fatass. This blog used to be primarily about my P90X workouts and I realize many of my new Tri Blogger buddies probably have never seen me as a fatso.  Here is one from about 3 years ago when I weighed about 200lbs:

Here is from Day 1 of P90X, check out the spare tire! This was about 18 months ago and I weighed 190lbs:

Compare the above to this pic from 2 weeks ago,  looks like a different person - weighing in at 148lbs:

Public humiliation is always fun!  Always motivates me to work hard when I see pictures from a few years ago.  You should see the ones of Annie -- she'll never let me post those online!

I am thinking of doing a Dualthlon on Saturday morning: 2 mile run - 12 mile bike - 2 mile run.  It is with the new Tri club I just joined.  I have to be in Katy for an implant surgery at 1pm and the race starts at 8am - pretty sure I can do both!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Product Review: The Right Stuff

So a few weeks ago I received an email about The Right Stuff from the President of the company.  The email was asking if /I had heard of the product, which is a NASA developed hydration concentrate.  I had not so I told them if they sent me some freebies I would try it out and write a review on the blog.

They were nice enough to send me some Wild Berry and Citrus flavored concentrate to demo.

So, What is The Right Stuff? 

It is Elite Hydration for Elite Athletes.  A hydration concentrate Developed by NASA.  Yeah, that sounds intense.  But it is pretty much like one of those Crystal Light Iced Tea packets that you put into your water bottles.  Not complex at all.  Here is what the packets look like:

These packets are actually easy to use.  The top twists off and the concentrate quickly and easily pours out.  This could be a very good feature when refilling your Aero bottles during the bike portion of a Tri.

Some beneficial features of the product is that it contains ZERO Carbohydrates and ZERO Calories.  For us endurance athletes this is a huge benefit because it allows us to separate our nutrition from hydration intake.  When I am planning my nutrition for a long day of training or racing there is no need to figure how much of that is coming from my drink.  Also it contains 1625 Mg of sodium so it could conceivably replace salt tablets for us guys who perspire like crazy.

I tried the right stuff a couple of weeks ago when I did 3.5 hours of consecutive training and I also tried it during the Austin 1/2 Marathon.  It works!  I did not suffer from any of the side effects (cramping, nausea, headaches..etc) of dehydration during either time I tried them.  What was really noticeable to me was how good I felt immediately afterward and how well I recovered.

Now this product is not perfect.  In my opinion, it does not taste very good. It isn't bad, just not good either.  More sharp than sweet.  It leaves a rather salty after taste in your mouth.  I would never drink this as a beverage like Gatorade or Powerade.  That being said, I usually do not use Gatorade or Powerade for hydration purposes either.

The cost of The Right Stuff is $8.99 for 3 packs or $26.99 for 10 packs.  For me this makes the product prohibitive for training purposes.  If money were not an issue then I would use The Right Stuff for every intense workout over an hour.

Overall my summary of The Right Stuff is that it lives up to the product claims and is a beneficial product to Triathletes for hydration.  Amazingly I could feel the difference when using The Right Stuff so I am confident saying it really works.  I would choose this over Gatorade everyday and twice on Sundays!   However, for me I feel it is too costly to use in everyday training but I am going to purchase it to be used on race days.  If it was priced more in line with Gels ($1-$1.50) then I would consider using it for everyday training.

I'd like to thank David Belaga from Wellness Brands Inc for letting me try The Right Stuff.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Week 11 Training Recap and 10 Things About Me ...

Here are my week 11 totals:

Planned Volume:
Swim - 30 mins
Bike - 7 hrs 30 mins
Run - 1 hr 30 mins
--------------------------------
Total Planned Volume - 9 hrs 30 mins

Actual Volume:
Swim - 1 hr
Bike - 6 hrs 45 mins (121.5 miles)
Run -  1 hr 15 mins (10.23 miles)
--------------------------------
Total Actual Volume - 9 hrs 00 mins (121.73 miles)

Overall a good week of training.  Being that my profession is an outside sale manager with a monthly quota the last week of each month is usually challenging for me. The last week of each month is long days with tons of stress and this is pretty much the norm but if I can continue to get this type of volume in I will be happy.

This week is a lesser volume rest week built into my training program.  I am debating on following it or adding more workouts?  I am feeling really good right now but am afraid I might get worn out if I do not take it.

Julie from, Julie's Running Blog, tagged me to list 10 Random Things About Myself.  So here are 10 Random Things:

1. Favorite food is Pizza, which I rarely eat.
2. The best vacation I ever had was in Bradenton, Florida during Spring Training for the Pirates.
3. I teach Doctors how to surgically place dental implants and also know how to do a Root Canal.
4. My favorite all-time band is Led Zeppelin.
5. I have been happily married for 8 years.
6. I have a Real Estate License.
7. My Blackberry runs my life.
8. Have been a Texas resident for 5+ years now.
9. Hate country music.
10. I was an Intern with the Pittsburgh Penguins during my Junior year of college.

So that is all I got today.  Time to watch Jack Bauer waste some baddies!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff