Man, time flies. I’m sorry I haven’t updated in so long. Seems when you are busy, it’s hard to keep up with this journal stuff. The blogger’s dilemna–you have to keep doing interesting things, otherwise you’ll have nothing to talk about, but you have to remember to take some time to record the goings on.

Saturday 8-13 — swan 1200 meters or so
Monday — flying back from Boston (wedding + best friend baby visit)
Tuesday 8-16 — Swam solo, 3000 meters
Wednesday 8-17 — Group Coached workout. Rode 21 miles or so, with some running mixed in, including 2 miles in 14.25 and another mile on top of that.
Wednesday 8-24 — Group Coached workout. Ran about 5.2 miles in sprint intervals. Brutal.
Thursday 8-25 — Swam about 2450 meters.
Friday 8-26 — Biked about 15 miles to work pic-nic
Saturday 8-27 — Biked to park for group workout. Biked about 22 miles total, including a 7 mile marker set inbetween two runs — first was warm up 30 minutes and second was faster paced 30 hour work out.

Total Tri Training Numbers
Swim: 31740 meters
Bike: 320.6 miles
Run: 110.4 miles

Finally got the Interweb back up and working at home. I need to give a life update soon–so much to report, but for now I’ll get ya caught up on the tri training.

Just three workouts the past few days. Last Saturday was a group session out at Redwood Highschool. It was a mini-tri (or a big brick, I suppose). First we swam: some warm-ups and some kicking drills and then a ladder followed with some relay racing, which was fun (if exhausting). Swam about 1200 meters or so, I’d reckon. Then we had a fairly brutal hill to climb on the bike. The route was only 6 miles, but it was uphill both ways or something as it had me gasping for air. Actually, the down part was almost as scary with a dirt road stretch and lotsa uneven pavement greeting us. After the bike, we did some laps around the track and ended with a 100 relay. Felt good to open it up a bit.

On Monday, I did my usual 6 mile lap down into Dogpatch and around the park and down Brannon and back. Did it in under an hour with a few stops for lights and stuff–decent enough pace.

Tuesday, I got my swim on and did about 2800 meters, including some fun pull drills in which I shove a styrofoam buoy between my legs so’s I use just my arms. Pretty good for isolating the chicken wings. It’s amazing the difference not using the arms or legs makes in the workout. Doing a few hundred meters with just your legs takes an eternity and then when you go back to using both arms and legs, you feel like you are flying. In the water. Or something.

This week is a rest week, which is good, because my knee is bugging me a bit. It feels tight and like there’s weird stuff going on under my kneecap. I iced it last night and am wearing a brace around the house. Hopefully, it will start to feel normal soon. 😐

Total Tri Training Numbers
Swim: 25090 meters
Bike: 262.6 miles
Run: 97 miles

Ok, since I don’t have internet at home, I have to bust this out real quick at work.

Wednesday’s workout went really well, I’d say. I hoofed it on the bike to Kezar Stadium, which had become quite chilly (good old SF summer). We did a 40 minute ride and were told to "push it" on the last five minutes or so. Well, that wasn’t a problem as I rode with the Big Kahuna folks who pretty much push it the whole time. We rode through the park, out to the beach and then along the great highway until it was time to turn around. I managed to keep up ok with a minimum of panting. Then we hopped off our bikes, slapped on our shoes and started running. First we were to do two warm up 800s and then a mile marker set. I did my first 800, rested a few and then did my second 800. Just as I finished the 800, coach was sending people on the mile marker, saying anyone who hadn’t gone needed to go. Well shoot. So I started right away. I guess it’s a 1.5 mile marker set. Needless to say, it wasn’t my best run, but I did ok. I actually dropped a few seconds off my last marker set–time was 6:55. To be honest, I pushed it a bit more than I should have as the goal is to go at a sustainable pace, but oh well. Did a mile cool down after that and hopped on the bike for the trek home.

Thursday I had planned to do my swim workout, but I discovered that the pool was closed. Doh. So, I rode the bike for an hour — 40 minuts and then 3×6 minute Lvl3 intervals. Went about 21 miles. I was on the reclining bike, which I liked better than the upright. I imagine they excercise different groups–hope it was actually worthwhile. Got on the treadmill for a few minutes afterward to give my legs the ole’ noodle leg treatment.

Total Tri Training Numbers
Swim: 21090 meters
Bike: 256.6 miles
Run: 91 miles

Been really tired lately, so skipped my swim workout yesterday. Monday, I managed to drag myself out for an 83 minute run. Did the 8.3 mile loop I’ve been doing. It was a pretty decent pace and I felt pretty good at the end of it. Tired though. Did I mention that I’m really tired? I can’t seem to get enough sleep. Or to eat, for that matter. I’m going to try to hit the sack extra early to see if that helps…

Tonight I have my group workout. A run/bike brick–should be fun. I’ll update soon, including what’s been going on outside of training. Don’t get too excited as it’s not much, but I figured I’d update anyway…

Total Tri Training Numbers
Swim: 21090 meters
Bike: 213.6 miles
Run: 87.4 miles

Quick like a bunny update. I don’t have interweb at my house right now, will be back up on Wednesday
and I’ll get more caught up on shtuff.

Last Friday, I rode about 18 miles with Maz. I was in a pretty horrible mode, for some reason and the ride did me some good. I picked him up in SoMa and we headed up through GG Park and out to Ocean Beach. I sat there for a while and absorbed the magnificence. The ocean really does charge my batteries. Then we hopped back on the bikes and headed back to his place. Ran into the last remnants of Critical Mass. Will have to check that out sometime… Afterward, we walked to Tu Lan and I got my Bean Curd in Tomato Sauce on. Yumsville.

Saturday was group training and it was time for bay swim number two. It was a bit cooler than the week before, but the water still wasn’t too bad. It does really take some getting used to. I really didn’t feel very great about my swimming until a lap or so. We practiced a few mass starts as well, which was crazy. With all those bodies flopping around next to me, it made me a bit frantic and I found I tended to try to sprint out ahead of them, which resulted in a quick loss of breath. Maybe I’ll try waiting and then going, so as not to exhaust myself in the first 100 meters, heh. After a few of those, we did laps. I managed .5 mile laps and about 1 .33 mile laps. Felt pretty good by the end of it. Then we waddled out, stripped off the wetsuits and then shoed up for a 5.3 mile run. I ran with Seamus, who plays soccer and is in a wee bit better shape than me. Felt good to push myself a bit though. The run was pretty all over the place and had us going up the Lyon Street steps, which are pretty brutal. Then a little cross country stint down through the Presidio and back down to Aquatic Park. Ran at a pretty decent pace and was pretty beat afterward.

On Sunday, I skipped the group bike and opted to go solo. I realized my bike computer sucks and made me have to re-figure all the miles I’ve put on it. Seems it’s about 37% off or so. Doh. So, I thought I had biked 50 miles, but in actuality, it was just 30 miles. Was a good ride though–made my first trip up the steep road to the Marin headlands and down the hellishly steep curvy road back around to the lighthouse. My legs were beat afterward, that’s for sure.

Here’s my route:
http://tinyurl.com/b4xxj

Total Tri Training Numbers
Swim: 21090 meters
Bike: 213.6 miles
Run: 79.3 miles

I had hoped to wake up early this morning to hit the pool for a swim, but my body had other ideas. I am really finding that I crave more sleep than usual as I go through training, which makes sense. It makes me feel like I have even less time for other activities, but whatcanyado?

I like the group training on Wednesdays because it gives me a good excuse to leave work at a decent hour. I was talking to a fellow trainee and she said she actually left in the middle of a meeting. If we were training on our own, it’d be a little harder to get away with cutting out, but since it’s for such a good cause–no one can really give ya any flak.

Anyhoo, tonight’s group outing was at Kezar Stadium. We were supposed to be doing our second mile marker set, but there was a soccer match between a SF local team and some team from Spain (who was trouncing our local boys), so the track was closed. We made do and ended up running on the blacktop around the top of the stadium. It was cool to watch some soccer while we ran (until the pain started). Watching them play made me miss playing. Maybe after my tri I’ll look into playing again, since my conditioning will be up there.

After stretching, we broke up into three groups. I opted to run with the Big Kahuna (1/2 Iron Man) guys. I’m feeling pretty good about my running and felt like I needed the workout after missing my swim workout this morning. I would definitely be doing the half if sister wasn’t coming out. Not that I’m not thrilled she’s coming out to participate! I’m training just as hard as I would–I’ll just be trying to really crush on the olympic distance.

Our workout was sets of three laps around the blacktop (about 1.25 miles). The goal was to decrease the time for each lap by about five seconds. The first go around was pretty easy. Mostly because I took a pit stop during the first lap, so it was pretty easy to shave five seconds, heh. Still, I clocked in at 9.52, which is about a 7.30/mile pace. Then we rested for a whole minute before doing it again. This was my best time, 8.42 or a 6.58/mile pace. Woo-hoo! We rested for two minutes, then set out again. I slowed down just a little bit with 8.46 (7.00/mile pace). Rested three minutes or so and then did it one more time, with pretty much the same results as before (8.46 or 7.0/mile pace). Coach gave us a little bit of a breather before sending us on a final four lap route. I messed and forgot to get the stopped time, but it was about a 7.0/mile pace. Mostly because I was neck in neck with this other guy and we kept pushing each other–a little friendly competition. 🙂 Then we took a one lap cool-down before doing some brutal core workouts. I would really be stoked if I could keep a seven minute mile pace at the end of the triathlon. I doubt that will happen, but if you had told me a year ago that I’d be running back to back to back to back seven minute miles, I would have laughed at you. In all, we ran about 7.08 miles

Total Tri Training Numbers
Swim: 19090 meters
Bike: 172 miles
Run: 80.91 miles

Well, the past week was relatively slack week for me, but I still managed to bring some pain. Last Wednesday, our group workout was at Kezar Stadium. I rode my bike there for a little extra warm-up.The workout was fun–we did these cool relay drills in which we grabbed a partner and practiced bike/run transitions. Luke was my partner, who is training for the beefy half iron man (Big Kahuna) in Santa Cruz. Anyway, one person started on the bike and the other did laps around the track. The biker had to bike a short course (about four or five miles or so) — into Golden Gate park and around Stowe Lake and back. Then biker person had to dismount, change into running shoes and go tag the person running laps. I was up on bike first and did a quick lap around. Apparently, the transition areas are the most stressful parts of the event, so it’s something I should practice more. I managed to change shoes pretty quickly. Coach also showed us a way to unstrap our bike shoes while still clipped in so that you have your feet on top of your shoes as you are still pedaling. I managed to get my feet out before getting to the transition area, but it wasn’t so graceful/pretty. I imagine it’s even harder when there are other people on bikes around.

Threw the running shoes on, feeling the weird jelly-like action of the transition from bike to run. Loped down to the track and tagged Luke. I like running on the track–it’s kind of fun. There’s all sorts of activity too–sprinters and marathoners practicing, people playing on the field. I kind of spaced while running, but I think I did about eight laps or so before Luke returned. I did a little better with the shoe removal the second time. Managed five more laps plus a bathroom break before Luke returned. I guess I was running a bit slower this time. Got one last loop in before coached called us in. Overall, the distance wasn’t too great, but it was a good excercise in feeling comfortable changing up from the bike to the run. After practice, I got my wetsuit! Had to wait all way until Saturday to try it on though–needs to be wet, otherwise removal is a biznitch. I was feeling pretty spent, so I hitched a ride home with my rad mentor Carrie.

Bike: 17.6 miles Run: 3.23 miles (corrected for crappy bike computer)

I was beat on Thursday and ended up skipping my bike workout (for shame for shame). Did make it to a team dinner at Ramblas in the Mission. The food was pretty good–the company much better. I like my team–fun folks. Here are some pics.

Saturday was the big day. I have to admit, I was a bit trepidacious at the prospect of throwing myself into the bay. I have biked by Aquatic Park on many occassions and shook my head in disbelief at the crazies that choose to freeze their butts off in the water. I was soon to be joining their ranks. Fortunately, the weather was amazing. Sunny and warm. After getting halfway into our wetsuits, we received a little tutelage on things to think about when in the water. Mostly it consisted of "look up every once in a while to make sure you aren’t off course." This turned to be sage advice as I frequently found myself drifting away from my line. So, with this info in head, we zipped up and did a few practice in and outs of the water. The water was cold, but not as bad as I thought it would be. We did a few mini-laps and then were sent to do a few laps around the buoys (1/3 mile loop). It was definitely a different feeling than being in the pool. It was colder, so I found I lost my breath faster (lower lung capacity). Also, the water is murky, so you can’t see anything when you stick your head underwater (like the shark about to drag you away for a morning snack). It really felt like I was learning all over–my stroke was forced and I really had to concentrate on swimming. Throw in having to stick your head up to see where you are going PLUS the fact that there are others swimming around you and it stacks up to a whole new experience. The first lap was pretty tough, but I felt like I got into a decent (if slow) rhythm on the second one. I couldn’t tell whether we were supposed to do a third one, so I go out. Turns out I could have, but oh well. Next time. We were then told to run until 10:15, so I peeled out of the wetsuit, threw on a shirt and shoes and went for a run. The weather was really warm and I actually broke a sweat as I made my way up Fort Mason Drive and down into the Marina. I managed to get a decent 5.7 miles in. Not too bad. My pace seems to have increased somewhat. We’ll see what this week’s marker set has to say about that though.

Monday I went for a run after work. 80 minutes, to be precise. Ended up running about 8.6 miles (plus several shoe tying and one pit stop). Not the greatest pace, but it also included some hills (getting home up 23rd street, especially). Here’s the route.

Total Tri Training Numbers
Swim: 19090 meters
Bike: 165.6 miles
Run: 73.83 miles

Last Thursday, I did my first "brick" workout, which is basically just two events back-to-back (i.e. swim then run or bike then run). I was a bit concerned as coach mentioned that it’s good to practice to get used to the feeling. So I hit the gym expecting some new level of pain to greet me with a bike/run brick. First off, I have to say I hate the stationary bike. It’s so not fun, not to mention terribly uncomfortable. But I didn’t want to bike around and then have to lock up the bike while I ran. Did 50 minutes on the bike and went 17 miles or so. Then went immediately to the treadmill and ran for 30 minutes. It wasn’t so bad really. I managed to run 3.5 miles, which is a pretty good pace. All in all, a good workout.

I didn’t get such a great workout in over the weekend as I was away camping, but I did manage to get a run in and do some swimming at the river. The run was quite humbling. It was hot and I neglected to consider the elevation (3500 feet). Well, I was reminded pretty quickly as I was sucking wind in no time. Made me feel like I wasn’t in shape at all! I kept with it and my lungs eventually settled down. Ended up running along a the Blair Lake hiking trail which ran through the woods, past old waterways that were used in the gold rush days and ended at Blair Lake. Since there was a life preserver there, I figured it was ok to go in, so I hopped in for a quick swim. Felt very good and cooled me down before I headed back to camp. All in, I probably only ran 4 miles or so. It was pretty brutal though.

The rest of the weekend was spent pretty much goofing off, though I did a little swimming. I’ll post some pics of the trip soon, but I estimate I swam about 1500 meters over Saturday and Sunday.

Monday, I wasn’t feeling so good, so I skipped my workout. Which means I doubled up today. Slept in a bit, then hit the gym: 60 minute run (7 miles) followed by 2700 meter swim. I was pretty chuffed to get them both in and be able to walk. Heh, of course, I have to wake up on the other side of it.

Tomorrow will be cool as I get my wetsuit (they were distributed over the weekend) and it’s group training day, so I get to see some of my training peeps. Plus it’s a bike/run workout. I just put my nifty new bike computer on tonight, so I have something dorky to futz with while riding…

Total Tri Training Numbers
Swim: 17890 meters
Bike: 148 miles
Run: 56.3 miles

…or something like that. I ended up working too late last night to do a swim, so I woke up early and hit the pool. Had to wait for 15 minutes for a lane, which was kind of a drag. There were a few triathlete-looking folks there as well. They certainly like their gear–buoys and hand flippers and feet flippers and laminated cards. Of course, I’ll probably be like that a year from now.

Had a good swim — swam on the pro set and ended up doing 3000 meters, including a pretty grueling ladder set: 25, 50, 100, 150, 200, 200, 150, 100, 50, 25 (meters). I felt pretty good afterward though, if a little tired .

I was late for the the group bike ride in the evening–left my house at 6:15 and booked it to the edge of GG Park. Was only ten minutes late, which isn’t so bad for the distance I went. I had to then immediately head out on the warm up, which was about a six or seven mile loop around the park. My legs were definitely feeling a bit spent after the haul up to the park, not to mention the swim earlier today. I muddled through aiight and then was sent immediately out on the second marker set for the bike — a seven mile down and back. Not sure what my time was, but I definitely wasn’t in top form. I think it was a good experience though–to push myself a bit, but still pace myself. Pacing seems to be the key with this whole event, so any practice with that is great.

Afterward, did some stretches, then I biked home, including a hellish jaunt up the 23rd Street hill. I almost feel over as I barely had the legs to keep my bike moving forward. I made it up, if a bit shakily and got home ok. Snarfed some dinner and started preparing for my camping trip this weekend. Going to the Yuba River with the gang. It’s going to be great. Here’s some photos from last year. I’ll post some when I get back too.

Total Tri Training Numbers
Swim: 13690 meters
Bike: 148 miles
Run: 45.3 miles

<cue chariots of fire soundtrack>
Well, I didn’t think I had it in me, but I ran 8.3 miles today. All at once. Uphill both ways. Well, the last bit was all uphill as I loped up De Haro back to the crow’s nest. I originally set out just to run for an hour straight, per the training schedule, but ended up pushing myself to get to the ferry building before heading home. So I ran from my house, down 20th Street into the Dogpatch, ran by the many broken down vans and buses that serve as home or burning man staging areas for some to the corner of 25th and Illinois before heading back down 3rd Street. Ran by the ballpark and down the embarcadero to the ferry building. Did a lap around the building and headed back down the embarcadero, hooking a left on Brannon. I think I made it about 6.8 miles in about an hour, which is better than yesterday and certainly better than I thought I’d be doing. I have to say my ankle and knee started grousing at me, but I aim to do some exercises some cutie showed me to strengthen ’em up. I also bought a strap for my knee that seemed to help a lot. Now that I know how far I ran, I’m not really surprised I started to ache a bit, heh. Anyway, I ended up running for a total of 72 minutes, which means I was running at about a 8:40 mile pace or so. We’ll see how my legs feel about this in the morning, but right now, I’m pretty stoked. 🙂

Other Tri workouts the past few days:
I got my goggles from sister (thanks Sister!) on Thursday at work so I was able to go swimming on Friday morning. Didn’t go too hard as we had a group swim and bike the next day. Ended up swimming about 1450 meters. Felt good to be in the pool. Swimming is pretty relaxing, once you settle down.

Saturday was up early-like and got picked up to head out to Marin for our group swim. I broke down and bought a pair of tri shorts. You know–the ones that make you look like an idiot? Yeah. Those shorts. I was actually getting kind of tired of feeling my swim trunks drag. Swallowing my pride paid off as we did a marker set in practice and my time increased dramatically. My previous baseline 100 was an abysmal: 2:24, mostly because I was so winded. Well, this time, thanks to my better lung capacity and those nifty shorts, I shaved almost a minute off my time: 1:27! I was pretty surprised myself. The best part is that it wasn’t all out as we had to go back and do more drills afterward. It’s pretty crazy to see how quick the body can adapt, huh? We did some pretty fun drills in practice too–some dolphin kicky drills and then she crowded four of us into a lane and made us swim laps together. Supposed to simulate race day. I found that I swam a bit faster/harder with someone next to me. Have to remember not to burn myself out trying to catch up with some barracuda of a swimmer, heh. We swan a total of 1600 meters, I’m told. After that we geared up for a quick bike ride. I helped my mentor change a tire and we had to race to catch up a bit. It was a pretty easy ride to Mike’s Bike’s and back up Camino Alto (long hill). I got pretty winded because I was racing to catch up with the group and caught them just as we climbed these two wicked little hills. Oh well. I got up ’em ok and made the rest of the trip ok. it was about 15 miles, altogether, including an unintended detour with Mika (who made the maps we were supposed to be following, no less). Oops.

Sunday
The weather was really nice, so I hopped on my motorcycle–intending to drive down to the marina for a run near the GG Bridge. Well, nice in Potrero does not guarantee nice in the Marina. Admittedly, I got a late start. But I wasn’t super psyched at the chilly, fogginess that greeted me. I did a 60 minute timed run, since I missed the captains run. Ran from the Sports Basement to the wharf (mason and jefferson) and back (30 minutes and back). My coming back time was faster, which is a good sign. My knees started to hurt toward the end of the run, but I managed to run about 6 miles, as near as I can figger. Not to bad for a non-runner. It’s kind of fun running by the Wharf–you get all sorts of tourist obstacles…

Total Tri Training Numbers
Swim: 10690 meters
Bike: 121 miles
Run: 45.3 miles