Water water everywhere

But I couldn't swim!
I took the kids to the indoor pool today. Cc is 2 and is in total denial that she cannot swim. Which means that you have to have eyes on her at ALL TIMES! She kept trying to swim and going under. I kept pulling her out. She kept pushing my hands away saying "I wanna do it" and sinking.
It was exhausting.

I got to ride outside for an hour though. It was 75 degrees today. Simple short workout. Ride away from the house for 30 minutes then ride back as fast as you can and see how much time you can shave off. The ride back is up hill. 30min out, 27min back.
Good enough.

Friday = Thursday.

I am a day off this week given the holiday. So rest day was Thursday and today was tempo run and Crossfit.

Tempo was a 10mi out and back at my house. Went 1:23 which is a pr for 10mi Tt. Good run for me. No potty stop but I did have to scale a 7ft fence to get out of my neighborhood.

Then after a couple hrs break I did The Bear. This is 5 rounds of 7 reps. A rep is a squat clean thruster to a back squat thruster back to the ground.
You have to add weight each round.
I had never finished it. Started super light at 65lbs and built to 95. It is a really tough workout!
Going out to dinner and to a movie tonight. Really excited!

Just do it

Had to take cold meds last night. They worked. My head was congested when I woke up but at least I got some sleep.
Went to the 6:30 class at the new gym. It is huge!!! We will run 3 programs at the same time. A warm up, then either mobility, strength or endurance and then a final wod.
Today I did the endurance path. It was 6x200m row on 2x rest. Rows were between 39 and 43 seconds. Rest was 80 sec.
Then the main wod was 20min time, as many rounds as possible (Amrap) of 15 toes to bar, 30 45lb plate lunges and 45 lift hand pushups (this was the limiter).
3 Rnds 57 reps. Solid but not exceptional. In the excuse department, I don't feel 100% and my disk is effecting my pushups.
I have had so much ice on my back that I killed layer of skin. I need to get the damn MRI so I can get this treated.
I have an rx slip that I got from the doc but couldnt find it this morning. I will call the doc back and try and get another.
Gonna take some time off from work this morning. This isn't the place for it. but I have 2 jobs and am at my limit. The intensity will ramp up next week with the new year so if I don't take the time now, I won't get it.
Here is Ellie opening Christmas presents. One of these days I will post a picture about exercise.
Ok, so a few hrs later and I did my run intervals for the week. 12x200m on 2min rest.
38 to 42 sec. Mostly 39 to 40. These track workouts are funny. By the 3rd lap I can feel myself losing power. Then for 8 laps I am sure that I am slowing down. But I didn't. My first 2 laps were the slowest at 41 and 42. My last was the fastest at 38.
And recovery time is so much faster with intervals than with long slow distance. Much more of a lung burner too. Not better, just different.

That hurt a bit

Was all excited to go to the new Crossfit gym drew opened up today for the 5:30am class. Till I woke up at about 12am and realized how dead I still was from yesterday's run. So I moved my alarm from 5 to 6.
This is the last "build" week before a recovery week so I going to shift everything back a day. So today I will swim at lunch. Cfe calls for 25m repeats on 45 sec. I going to go with 50m repeats on 1:30.
Then tonight I will do a cf wod that a friend of mine gave me this morning:
10rft of:
10back squat
10 pushups
10 deadlifts.
Rx is 135. My guess is I go 115.

That was the plan anyway.
I did the swim. 600m warm up and drill. 12x50 on the 1:30. Most were 54 sec. 400m continuous movement cd.
Then it hit me. I have a cold. And now I understand the lethargy and aches.
Skipped the cf wod in favor of rest. Hope to get ahead of this. Plan to hit hard tomorrow.

16mi at marathon pace. Poop break included.

Day after Christmas. 40ish degrees. Drizzle. 16mi run on the agenda.
Back at the Valero trail.
I have been eating pretty poorly given the holidays and have been having gi issues.
At about mi 7, I had to go. Thank god for Valero Porto potties!
This time I left the clock running. My time goal was 2:24. A 9min/mi pace.
I went out slow for the first 7, then with a 3 min pit stop I decided to try and make the time up over the next 9mi. Finished at 2:23:30. Last few mi at 8:25 pace.
So it went well. I started to wear down at about mi 11 but I kept the pace up fine.
I went back to my car patting myself on the back. I reach in my pocket for my keys. No keys. Long story short, I lost em. So I call Terri who has had it to the eyeballs with our kids and is wondering where I am and had to ask her to come get me. I was in the dog house for a while.
Still, cross another long run off of the list. 5 more to go.

This and that

Got a couple good sessions in today. The ice is helping my neck and tomorrow is going to be 100% kids so I figured today was a good day to put some work in.
In the morning I got an hour in on the trainer. That thing has been a life saver in terms of maintaining a bit of bike fitness.
Main set was 3x10min as hard as I could on 5 min spin. Also did 10min of as high a cadence as I could keep up.
Then in the afternoon I did a cf workout from last November called invite the girls. It was:
For time
20 pullups, pushups, Situps and squats
50 double unders (major skill problem for me) and 50 Situps
63 24kg kbs, 24 pullups
21 95lb thrusters and 21 pullups.
21:09.
Thrusters and double unders were the bottlenecks. But I was 3:20 faster than last year so let's call it a success.

Now I have to wrap as fast as I can an try and get a little sleep!

I just got faster and slower.

Ran my 9mi route around the neighborhood. Pr'd by a minute or so.
The bad news is that what I always thought was a 9mi run is actually (according to the gps) 8.64mi.
Oh well. Still a good run.
1:11.
Went back to the doc about my neck. I am getting tingling in my first 2 fingers now. He wants me to get an MRI.
The good news is that the only restrictions right now are no heavy weight overhead. So russian kbs and squat cleans but no Ohsq for a few weeks.

Pool

Got in the pool today. Didn't feel like doing drills. Just went swimming. 8x200m on about 1:30 rest.
Times were 2:14 to 2:24.
Swimming 1x per week isn't going to cut it during tri season. But for now it is fine.
My disk problem didn't clear up with the steroids so I am going back to the doc tomorrow am. My guess is that he will want an MRI. I have a few days off from work for the holidays. I am going to spend as much time as I can laying down. For now I am going to run and selectively cf. no weight overhead. That seems to aggravate it.
I sure hope that it clears up without having to loose too much fitness.
it seems like something always happens during a marathon training cycle. Usually it is some sort of sinus infection. But even with this, my brain was really asking for a rest and u was trying to push through and now I am hurt. Not sure of cause and effect but it is a conspicuous trend.

Yasso had no top end speed.

Bart Yasso was (is?) a famous distance runner. He developed a workout that he would do leading up to marathons. He would go to the track and do 8x800m repeats. His avg time in minutes and seconds tended to correspond to his marathon time in hours and minutes. After a while, if he wanted to hit a specific marathon goal, he would just work up to 8x800m at the corresponding pace. If he wanted to run 3:00 marathon, he would work up to 8x800m at 3:00 min each.
I ran 4x800 today at 2:57, 2:53, 2:54,
2:53. I am sure by the end of feb I will be able to hold that for 8 rounds. But I will not be running a 2:54 marathon. In fact, I would be thrilled with a 3:54.
I think this is one of the problems with cfe as a training method for people like me. It is one thing to take an accomplished endurance athlete and build strength and speed. They already have the endurance. I don't.
Still, 800's are a hell of a workout.

So much for a long run hangover

I expected to feel much worse than I do after Sunday's run. I slept fine and was ready to go for the 630 class.
4 Rnds of strict pullups for max reps.
10 9 8 8. Which ended up placing me better than I thought it would.
I saw scores from the 530 class in the 20's and figured it was the high score for the round that would be reported. Nope. Cumulative. So 35 was respectable.
Wod was a partner wod.
20min Amrap
15 air squats
4 DL
3 hang clean
2 thruster
1 push press.
Rx was 135 but we went 95. 26 Rnds.
I could have gone all day at that pace.
Oly shoes really help. Even on Airsquats. They make a big difference.
I am going to miss my lunch swim. Gotta work. Will slot it in on Wednesday.
I need to remember not to let hobby get in the way of work or work get in the way of family.

Been a few days...

Friday was cf in the garage.
Did a 20min ladder of single unders and weighted box jumps. 10 and 1.
Got 13 or so rounds.
Saturday was cycle. 1hr on trainer. Man set was 5 on 2:30 off 6 on 3 off 7 on 3 off 3 on.
Today was 5x3mi cutdown run. Lap 1 was about 9:30 pace. Lap 2 was about 9 min and lap 3 was about 8:15. So I ran about 2:12 but I had a 3 min Porto potty stop about 1/2 way through.
It was perfect weather and a pretty easy 15.
I am 2 days in to a course of steroids for what was diagnosed as a bulging disk in my neck. It is fine when I train but gets ugly when I sit up for Lon periods of time. Let's hope it clears.

My name is jimmy, and I am a heel striker.

Rain. More rain today stretching out for the next handful of days.
Might need to run in the rain today. Can't say that I want to but at some point I am going to have to stop making excuses and get the miles in.
Woke up at 5 to drive in to town. I figured of it was raining I would go to the 530 cf a d if it wasn't, I'd run. It was raining so I went to class.
For time:
100 toes 2 bar
75 sit ups
50 v ups
25 burpee box jumps 19:01
The t2b were done in 1's and 2's. It was ugly. Situps were unbroken and then the vups were 1's and 2's. I ha e noticed a big improvement in box jumps over the past 6 months.

I got out at lunch to do 7.3mi. Forgot my watch so I just ran at whatever pace I felt like. Very nice. I also wore my old chunky Nike lunar glides. Big heel drop. Even at 2 yrs old and who knows how many miles they are very comfy. It was a nice run. I needed it.

Oh. I am 41 today. There will be cake when I get home!

Tuesday track day

Met up with coach mike and the Alamo endurance folks at Churchill HS track this morning at 530.
It really made me want to be part of a group. Live and learn.
I did 3 sets of 200, 400, 600 with rest equal to work. 200's were 44 to 49 sec. 400's were around 1:35 and 600's were around 2:28. This workout gets hard really fast. Like at about the first 600. The good news is that the times held consistent even though I started to feel like I was running in mud.
Work was crazy so I didn't get to Crossfit till after I put cc to bed. I am starting to hear some domestic rumblings about the amount of time I spend working out. I will have to keep my head down. Too bad. I would like a supportive fan.
Worked up to a max Deadlift of 285. This is a 10lb pr. I was really excited. Finished with a short wod of toes to bar, wall ball and pushups. The pushups were tough. My massage therapist tried to check my stomach out through my shoulder today and my right arm is dead.
Tomorrow is bike trainer day. Not sure if it will happen given the mrs's mood. Now is not the time to use kitchen passes to train. I will need them all come summer time.
Here is what the 285lb bar looked like.

Pool party

630 cf class. Turkish getups, 35lb db hang squat cleans and a simple 12min Amrap of 50du and 10 pullups.
Pretty sluggish feeling today. I need to clean up my eating. I was gonna give myself a pass in December but the sugar is really dragging me out.

Swam at lunch for the first time in 2 weeks. From the cfe site I did a ton of 25m intervals on the minute. Times were 20 to 22 seconds.
The intervals were tough but the worst part was covering the 900m after the intervals were done to round out the mile.
I am second guessing my self programming. Might hire a coach.
No. I committed to try this approach for this race and I am not bailing now. Even if it blows up. I think I miss having someone to report to. And to have someone to rely on. "if I do what you tell me to do, I will be in good shape. But the truth is that it hasn't worked. So I am trying something different. And if it doesn't get me there I will go back to the drawing board.
Tomorrow is a track workout from a year ago. Then a benchmark wod in the garage tomorrow night.

Lost weekend

This was a recovery week after 3 build weeks. Good thing too, because it was a mess.
Yesterday I had to go to Dallas to get Terri her new car. So I flew to Dallas in the morning, bought the car then drove it back. It is a good 4.5 hr drive. I got home about 430, caught a quick map then went to a neighborhood holiday party. Ate pasta and cheesecake. No good.
So Saturday was a total write off. Sunday was pretty light too. I practiced clean and jerk for a bit. Got 155 up but failed 165 a few times.
Then after I got the kids to bed I had a chance to train a bit. I was going to run but I didn't want to take the time so I ran a little to warm up and did Fran.
I am not find of thrusters. I have flexibility issues that make them awkward. It just isn't pretty. Fran is 21-15-9 of 95lb thrusters and pullups. I have done Fran twice this year. Once in the 8:40's and once in the 8:30's.
Tonight it was 11:30.
It was really ugly. The best thing that I can say about it is that I didn't quit.

Back to class

Made the 530 cf class for the first time all week. It was really good to be back.
We did a long partner wod. I worked with a really good athlete and ended up pushing myself a little harder because of it.
Wod was:
250 kbs
200 sit ups
150 burpees
100 pullups for time.
26:22.
Pretty well split the reps in half.
I'd like to try 1/2 the total reps by myself to see if it was faster.
Felt last night's hang cleans during the kbs.
I really like the home gym setup. But I push harder in a group setting. That is just a fact. I can lift big at home without a drop off. But for a hard core met con, competition helps.

Weight

6.29mi run. 30 degrees. 51:56.
Decent tempo run.
Saw drew's pt guy about my shoulder. The guy hurt me bad. Hope it ends up helping.
Also picked up 260lbs of used bumper plates and a bar from drew. $340. Quite a deal. Tonight is max hang clean. Should be fun!
It was. 3rnds Cindy to warm up. Bar practice. 53211111 hang cleans.
135, 135, 145, failed 155, made 155, failed 165 a few times. Then cleaned 165 from the ground just to remind myself I could.

Rest day

The pinched nerve in my neck is driving me batty.
I was hoping that a rest day might help. Nope. It is worse. Today was tough at work. I am beginning to think that this is more stress than injury.
On a positive note, I drove by the new Crossfit gym to check out construction progress. Drew says that we will be in on Friday. I think there is 2 weeks worth of work left. We will see.
The good news is that drew is going to sell me used bumper plates and a bar..
It will end up being less than 1/2 the cost of new. I am psyched. Gonna pick em up tomorrow or Friday. I also met his masseuse who is going to work on my neck tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.

Could I get a normal day? Please!

Today was going to be cfe swim and garage wod.
Then I got the call that Ellie was sick and the nanny had to work and the inlaws were still out of town so was there any way I could come home to stay with cc so that Terri wouldn't have to take them both to the doctor?
So I came home about 2 a d garage wod'd.
From the cfe website 12x2 dead hang pullups on the :45sec. Done with 25lb db. Explosive efforts.
5 min rest.
12 min Amrap
6 push press w 25 lb db's
8 Russian kbs 25kg
10 burpees
8 Rnds, 11 reps.
Gonna swim tomorrow.

Or that could happen

Life is what happens when you are busy making plans.
Last post, I ended with a few different training options for monday Depending on how my neck felt.
None of them happened.
Instead, I ran 13.2 at 9min/mi with lots of hills.
It all started the night before. Terri was snoring so I went to the guest room.
Couldn't sleep. So I set my alarm for 6 instead of 5. I get up and start getting ready for work. Neck hurts so I am planning on a lunch run and an evening garage wod.
As I am on my way out, I hear cc calling me from her crib. I cannot resist her. So I go in to hold her. Plenty of time to get to work. Terri has to take Ellie to the bus stop so by waiting a little, I can keep cc from having to go out in the cold. After about 5 minutes, she says, "daddy, you no go to work today." I didn't need much more of a push.
So I stayed and hung out with cc till about noon. Then since the rain was gone I figured I'd make up Sunday's run.
Tough mentally. Windy and hilly but I can check it off the list.
Knees, ankles and achillies hurt toward the end. Had 1 gel at mi 7. Didn't bring hydration.
Today is swim at lunch and a garage wod from the cfe website.

Pinched nerve

So earlier this week I pinched a nerve in my neck. Not exactly sure when or how but I noticed it Monday and here on Sunday it is still with me.
Yesterday I went to a chiropractor. I didn't know what else to do and the constant pain was driving me crazy.
2 hrs later I didn't feel any better.
He said that the nerve was I flamed and would take time to heal. But that by the way I needed a good deal of chiropractic work and I should come back Monday.
If I could be in and out in 20 min, I might give it a try but honestly, with all the e-stim and time on the auto massage table his appointments are always 90 min at least.

Today it rained again all day. I ended up back in the trainer for an hour. I did football intervals. Hard for 2 plays, easy for 2. Hard for 2 commercials, easy for 1. It worked.

Not sure about next week. Would like to log some run miles but I want my neck to heal.

All I know is that the alarm will go off at 4:50am and it will either be time to run if it is dry, Crossfit if it is raining or swim if my neck hurts.

Nature calls

Raining. Which is good because after yesterday's grace and last night's poor sleep I wasn't good for 13.
So I used my new toys and did a deck of death in the garage.
Hearts were wallballs
Diamonds were 20" box jumps
Spades were pullups
Clubs were kettlebells.

Killer. I am excited about all the garage gym toys I have pulled together. The Pullup bar went up last night. It is a stud bar. Highly recommended! Bar is a little slick. I might tape it to get a little better grip. But it is stable for sure!
I would still like to run this weekend. And if I could get 7 in today and 6 tomorrow that would be ideal. But if it is less, so be it. Worst case is I do Tuesday's intervals today and I go longer during the week.
I had planned to build 3 a d recover 1 week in my original plan so if this weekend is light, that is fine.
And, I got a great bike trainer for my birthday so I need to get that running as well.
Well, no run. But I did hit the trainer for some bike intervals. Main set was 3 min all out, 2 min spin. 4 Rnds.

Amazing grace

Took a swing at grace today. Grace is 30 clean and jerks at 135lbs for time.
I did it in January and did not finish before the 15 or 20 min cutoff. Got 27 reps.
Today I finished in 11:43.
And I had enough left to cj 145, 155 and 165 afterwards. Failed 175 and 170. Didn't miss a single clean all day.
I need to work on my jerk though. I do not drop very low at all. So I am relying on a big push jerk to get the weight up.
I need to spend some time with a 95lb bar and practice getting really really low.
Tomorrow should be interesting. Target is 13.1mi but it is supposed to rain. We shall see...

Cut down run, kb fun

Yesterday was tempo run day. I went somewhere flat to treat myself. First 2 mi at about 8:50. Next 2 at about 8:20 and last 2 at about 7:45. Great run. I like cut downs. Easy to start, and I feel great at the end.
Then last night I did a kb workout in the garage. I am bad at Turkish getups!
14 rt hand tkgu, 12kg
50 swings at 24 kg
21 goblet squats @24
30 swings @ 24
21 goblets
10 swings
14 tkgu left hand 12kg
17:30.

Today, I am going to take a swing at grace!

A little heavy

Me. Not the weights. Came in at 164 on the scale today. Up from 161 in early October.
I have been eating pretty poorly so it isn't really a surprise. I need to clean up my food intake between now and christmas because I know that I will hit the pies over the holiday. Then Jan 1 it will be time to eat clean for the 7 weeks leading up to the cowtown.
Today was a shoulder lift and a rep count wod. The lift was 3 push jerk, 2 push press, 1 shoulder press foray weight. 3 rounds. Worked up to 125 which is about right given I did a 1 rep max sp at 130 a couple of weeks ago.
The wod was 2min of work, 1 min rest of rope climbers, shoulder to overhead @95 lbs, hollow rocks, 12" box jump squats. Did like 230 reps.
At lunch I ran intervals. Did 1mi wu, then death by 10m. Completed 16 Rnds then ran 1 mi cool down. This was a little disappointing as I scored the same in dec 2010. It was hard to maintain focus in the last few minutes.
Tomorrow is a rest day. I have a time trial run and grace to do this week.

Back to work

Back to work and regular schedule after the thanksgiving holiday.
I am reminded how much I rely on my routine to keep nutrition and training in line.
Crossfit was 3x5 inverted burpees then 4rft of 400m run, 45lb Ohsq while your partner runs. For max reps.
Swam at lunch. 400m drills and warm as 25m fist, 25 free, 25 underswitch, 25free. Then 100m free. Then rest and the main event: 500m Tt. My time to beat was 10:33. Swam a 10:12. Fastest 50 was 53 sec. Lots of laps at 1:03. A good time was had by all. Swim will alternate between intervals one week and a time trial the next.

Santa stole my bike ride.

No ride today. Put up the tree and did some decorating instead. Weather was bad anyway. I have a feeling that I will be getting a trainer for the holidays. Then there will be no excuse.
I have also eaten like crap the past few days. I need to clean my act backup starting tomorrow. Back to work, back to class and back to the pool. Last big push of the year at work.

12 the hard way

Today was long run day. 12mi at marathon goal pace was on the agenda.
Terri and I actually got to go to the movies last night so it was about 11:30 before I got to sleep.
6:00am came early. But, it was raining.
Rain on a long run day makes for an interesting experiment in stress management. All of a sudden, I was dying to get out there and run. It became clear that I would get my shot but not till the afternoon. Terri took Ellie to a birthday party. Cc went to her grandparents and I had my green light at about 3:30.
And. Now that I could run, I of course really didn't want to.
It was windy and getting cold. I did the 12 in my neighborhood which had about 600ft of climb and 600ft of descent. Much more fun on a bike.
I really wanted to quit on this one about 9mi in. Running into the wind, uphill.
I did my best to not think.
I ended up 90 seconds behind my target time of 1:48. Close enough.

This and that

Another garage wod today. It is the Friday after thanksgiving and I sneaked into the garage between kid feedings and christmas light stringing.
5x3 then 3x5 dynamic deadlifts. The idea here is to take a lighter weight up explosively.
I used 45lb db's and a resistance band.
Then 10 Turkish getups with a 25lb fb.
Then a 10 min Amrap of 10 double unders and 10 step ups to. 20" box with 2x25lb db's (7.5 Rnds).
It was all ok, but not near as good a workout as an actual class.

Countdown wod and 5mi run

Yesterday I took the day off. It was supposed to be a rest day but with today being thanksgiving I figured I would get a wod in.
Did some double under work. Got a bunch of 5's and 7's. I think15 was my longest string.
Then I did a wod that I last attempted in August of 2010. It was one of my first Crossfit classes that I logged.
30 25 20 15 10 of pushups, box jumps and burpees with a 20 min cap.
In 2010, I got into the round of 20's and ran out of time. Yesterday I finished in 19:30. Nice.
Thanksgiving day was to be a 5 mi Tt.
But when I woke up, Ellie wanted to play. So I played with her. Then we had thanksgiving dinner at noon. It took till 8pm for me to feel semi normal again so I did the 5mi at night. But I was really slow. 44:30. That is ok.
I think that my plan is going to be to keep stretching the weekend run without rest till 2 weeks prior to the race. That will get me to 22 mi. I will keep one interval session as well. But the mid week run is going to get modified. I will go hard one week, then add a mile and go tempo the next week. So the mileage will increase every other week. Otherwise I don't think I will be ready mentally to really go for it when I am supposed to.
Today will be a garage wod. maybe a bike wod.

Heavy day

Crossfit was 3rep max pushpress. Got to 145. 1 rep max 165.
I think I built weight too slowly on the 3 rep.
Then is was a tough wod.
7tft
10 wall balls
10 ring rows
10 handstand pushups
25:30.
Interval runs tonight. 5x800m on 3 min rest. Times were between 3:28 ( last rnd ) and 3:34.

Faster than January.

I have it in my head that I am slower than I was at the start of the year. Back then I felt more intensity during workouts and just felt faster.
So today, our first wod was the 1 mile run for time. I really wanted to skip it. I had plenty of excuses. Long run over the weekend, marathon training, etc.
But the reality was that I put down a really good time for me back in January and I didn't want to confirm my suspicion that I was getting slower.
At the starting line I told myself that I would just run a solid mile and not worry about my time. Then coach said "go" and of course it became a race.
The exact time isn't important because the course isnt a mile. My guess is it is .8 mi. What does matter is that November 2011 me is faster than January me by 17 seconds.
Guess I might not be coming apart after all.
Wod 2 was 12 min Amrap of 5 sumo DL @225, 10 jump squats, 15 kettlebell swings at 32kg and a 200m run. 3 Rnds, 11 reps. Swim at lunch.
Swim from the Crossfit endurance website was 5x200 on the 3:30. Since it takes me 4:00 to swim 200m, I went with 5x200m on the 5min. With a goal of identical times.
Warm up was 400m of fist drill and ti drills. Cool was 4x50 for 1600m total.
Times were 4:05, 06, 04, 03, and 3:59.
Could have been a hair tighter on rnd 2. Also could have shot for a pr on rnd 5. My current pr for 200m is 3:57.
I'm thinking I need to see the doc. I get lightheaded when I stand up, do heavy deadlifts or go on long runs or rides.
We shall see. I am going to find a way to check my blood pressure could be low.

Children are great motivators.

Rode about 35mi in about 1:55. Bike feels much better on the legs. And I like the change in the shoulder angle as well.
Today, we had both kids at home. Ellie decided that she did not want to spend the night at grandma's house. Much to our horror. But with Ellie, you can't make a big deal about it or she will never spend the night out again.
So instead of watching football after a nice ride like last weekend, today I covered the kids from 10 till 1:30 while Terri worked out and did the shopping
By the time she got home I was going crazy. It was hard to find things or the 6 year old to do that the 2 year old could also do.
When Terri got home and settled, I was out the door like a shot. So when I say that kids are motivators, it isn't that I am training for them, it is that I am training to keep my sanity.

10mi at marathon pace

After a rest day yesterday it was hard not to push the pace. But I took it easy. Ended at about an 8:50 pace. Nothing that should keep me from being recovered to ride tomorrow.
I guess I will just keep adding a mile for the next few weeks. At least till it hit 16 or so. I need to look at a calendar and see how many weeks I have to get ready. I want to get a 22mi in a few weeks before the race. If I can succeed at 22, I can gut out 4.2 for sure.

When to say when

So after yesterday's Tt in the morning, the banded box squats and metcon at lunch and my second bad night's sleep in a row, I'm resting today.
It is the right thing to do. I need to recover after the work. I knew it when I was starting to get sore last night. Then George woke me up at 1:30am. Then Terri started snoring at 3.
Cc was crying for someone to come get her at 6 and it was clear that the right thing to do was rest today. I can always hit a garage wod this evening if I feel better. Maybe a 21 15 9 of push press and banded pushups. Give the legs a break.
Here is George. When a Great Dane asks to be let out to go to the bathroom, you let him out.

Space between thoughts

Mike charmical was written up in one of the tri mags this month. The subject was mental toughness. He said that he learned to race in the space between thoughts. Rather than pumping himself up with positive ( because they run out of power) or fighting off negative thoughts, he remains in the space between.
I brought this idea out to the track today for a 4mi Tt. The Tt workout is the toughie for me. ESP in the cold at 530 am.
My time was either 30:08 or 30:49.
Or somewhere in between. Garmin said I ran long and that my 4 mi time was 30:09 which would be a pr. But I hit the stop button a little after I crossed what I thought was the line and that time was 30:49. Why does it matter? Because my old pr was 30:17 from 8/11. Either way I turned what I thought was a bad run into a very good result. Good for me.
The whole workout almost got cxld before it started. As I was trying to get out the door at 5:00am I hear cc standing up in her crib crying and calling for me. So I rocked her back to sleep. Great way to start a day!
Gonna hit some heavy dynamic lifts later today. Either at lunch or at home.
Afternoon update- did some banded box squats today. Dynamic sets. Started with 10x1 at 135+2 60lb bands then moved up a little. But I need a form check. I don't think I had my feet far enough away from my body. Pretty fun though. Gonna hurt tomorrow.
Then I jumped in with the class on a wod of 10 Rft 20 split squats, 10 sit ups and 5 handstand pushups. 11:15 best time of the day!

A "new normal" day

Cf in the morning. 5:30 am class
50/25/10 40/20/10 30/15/10 20/10/10
Of squats, 24kg kettlebells and pullups.
10:17. Good time. Paced well. I kept looking at the guy next to me and trying to keep up. Turns out that he was the rabbit of the day and he was using a lighter kettlebell.
We also did 3x5 overhead squats. I was only moving 105. I think my grip is too wide.
Tonight is 2 mi Tabata. After a warm up you sprint for 20 sec, then rest for 10 seconds. And you keep going till you cover 2 mi. Tomorrow is rest!
I still need to go heavy at some point this week. Thursday would be a good day.
I am going to move some workouts to the evening instead of at lunch. I really need to put in a little more time at work. Interval runs are easy to do at night. And with a trainer interval bike could be at night. Will have to be flexible...
Yesterday was Crossfit and an evening swim. My goal was to swim a mile in whatever intervals I felt like. Did 400m then another 400. Pr'd my 400m at 8:08! Then did some 100's and a really slow 400 to round it out. Good to see the times coming down in the off season.

Feels like a new bike!

Got out for 90min on the bike today. My position is really different. Feels good. Did not break any time trial records but it felt good to be out there again.
Cc is really sick. She has been throwing up for a couple of days. Last night Ellie spent the night at Terri's parents house so I dragged her mattress into cc's room and slept on the floor. Cc woke up every couple of hours with dry heaves and I would rock her for a while. It was really nice to not have a race looming that I had to worry about. I will most likely be sick in a few days. Gratefully, it does not matter. Today I spent most of the afternoon holding cc while she dozed. Poor kid. I am taking tomorrow off from work to stay home and help with cc. Looking forward to it!
Today was the san antonio marathon. I usually run the 13.1 as a dust off for the cowtown. Don't need it this year. This year will be more focus on fewer races.

Mostly easy, sometimes hard.

9mi run at marathon pace 1:21.

Over at beginnertriathlete.com, the mantra regarding running is: run often.
Mostly easy, sometimes hard.
That pretty well describes this morning's run. The first 4.5mi was down hill. The return was uphill. Tried to be attentive to form and just trot along and wait for it to get hard. No problem.
Last night, our 2 year old cc came down with a stomach bug. She is throwing up often. I'm waiting for symptoms that I have it too. Nothing yet. Today was Ellie's 6th birthday party. She had a blast. I am glad I decided to skip the san antonio 13.1 race tomorrow. It made it easier to be helpful at the party and not concerned about registering, expo, etc.
Running on tired legs was a great idea. Gonna keep that up. No rest before the long runs.

Sure hope I recover!

Wod was a chipper:
Row 500m
30 strict pullups
100 air squats
50 ground to overheads of a 45lb plate
50 lift hand pushups
20 each leg split squat jumps
Time: 14:16.
I sure hope I recover. I have 9mi at marathon pace this weekend and I would like to do it tomorrow so that I can bike a bit on Sunday.

Tough 3mi!

I am continuing to recover and find more intensity during training.
Yesterday I went to the 5:30am Crossfit class and had one of those "inside out" moments. It had been a while.
Inside out is that point in a cf workout or interval session when your brain tells you that you really really need to stop. Just for a second. Just to regroup. That if you dont stop right then something is going to go wrong. And you keep going anyway. To me, it is the goal of every cf workout to chase that experience.

Wods were: 40 overhead squats (30@65, 10@95) 30 Bsq at 125 20 front squats at 125. The lifting shoes move the load from quads to glutes. I felt much more stable in the front squats. I need to do some mobility work somewhere because it is hard to get set and balanced in the overhead squat.
The next Wod was where the inside out moment came. It was 4 rounds for total reps of 30 seconds work/30 seconds rest. We did wall balls, 95lb push press and double unders. In either round 3 or 4 I really needed to drop the bar during the push press. I had almost failed the rep before and wanted a rest really bad. But I went for one more. It wasn't anything huge but it is that pushing of my own perceived boundaries that this thing is all about.

In the veining it was time trial run time. 3mi for time. Took 24 min. Which is pretty slow. About 3 min off of pr. But, I know that I went at it as hard as I could. And that is what matters. Last season, I would run in the morning then Wod later. This season I am going to flip that. Which will mean that I won't be running fresh but that might be good. We will find out in feb.

I got my bike back last night. It looks fast! But it is begging for new wheels. I am trying to ignore it...

Feeling better

Made it to the 530 am cf class today. I'm really glad I did.
Every Crossfit gym has that one class that everyone knows about. The one with the extra intensity. At mission Crossfit that class is the 530am.
I haw not been to that class since the 70.3 16 days ago. I just wasn't up to it.
Well, I was up to it today.
There were 2 wods. The first was 23 burpees and 46 single leg box bounds. You step one leg up on to the box, drive thru the heel, pull the other knee high and jump up off the box. It took 3:31.
The next Wod was a 12 min Amrap of the bear complex. I went kind of heavy for me at 115lbs and got 15 complexes.
This was day 2 with the lifting shoes. They really change the squat movement. It moves load from the quads to the glutes. Good stuff.

Today was interval run day. 1mi warm up with a focus on pose form.
3x1200m on 1/2 rest. Times were 4:55 4:49 4:51. Pretty tight. Sure felt like I was in quicksand by the end!

Lessons from coach drew

Today was heavy lift day.
Rep scheme was 555322 back squats
Weight was 135 165 185 205 225 205.
225 got shallow so I went back down.
Then a 6min Amrap of 10wbs 10 pushups and 10 24kg kbs 4 Rnds 6 Wbs.
In talking to drew I learned a few things and am going to change my programming:
If long run is Sunday, dont look for max on Monday. Do a dynamic lift on Monday or wod. Move heavy day to Thursday. After rest. Also, more variety in the lifts. Only do the exact same lift every 6 months or so. Squat to diff boxes, use bands etc.
I am going to run this week on the old schedule then move next week's heavy day to Thursday.

Swim main set was 3x300m on 1/2 rest. Went 6:05 6:03 6:05. Good times and tight grouping. Swam 1600m total with drills and cool down. Good swim for me and best relative workout in a few weeks.

Bike fit

Yesterday I spent 3 glorious hours with the retul/fist fitter from soler's in Helotes.
By the end we had raised the seat, moved it forward, put on a shorter stem and cut down the bars. I feel like I have a new bike.
Which is good because the money that I had squirreled away for a new bike just went to car repairs...
Still, the biggest $250 upgrade I can imagine.

Today was 8mi at marathon pace. Done. Still not feeling confident as a runner bit that is ok. As long as I hit the times.

I am thinking about bagging the Austin 13.1 warm up race. Save the money, not lose the training time for taper and recover and not have to deal with the mental consequences of either doing well or doing poorly. Right now I pre inclined to just keep my head down and train. Seems like the right call. I don't think I would regret skipping the 13.1.

Still waiting...

For my motivation to return. Today was supposed to be Crossfit early and bike intervals at lunch.
The alarm went off and I thought, "all I ever do is work out. Is it really time to train again???
So that is no good.
Am Crossfit turned to lunch Crossfit and bike didn't happen.
Crossfit was a teams wod of handstand pushups, chest to bar pullups and 45lb walking plate lunges.

This lack of motivation will pass.
Right??????

Didnt wanna.

Today was 2mi Tt. Bad news first: 15:02. About 50 sec slower than august.
The good news is that I followed marathon training rule #235: just do it.

Went out last night wit terri to entertain clients. Had fun but was out late. Then overnight a front came in and dropped the temp by 25 degrees with a stiff wind when the alarm went off at 4:50.

Got up and wet to the track anyway. My brain was working me the whole way trying to negotiate it's way out of the run. I just let it chatter on as I drove, parked the car and did the run.
4miles continuous as:
1 mi warm up 9:09
2mi hard 15:02
1mi cool 9:31.

I think that I am still recovering from the half iron in austin 11 days ago. Between my ears at least. I always get a little low after a big race. It always passes.

Here is a random picture of cc:

Triathlon rule #2375

Reads: control what you can.

Yesterday i could control very little. Tuesday was supposed to be 4x1000m repeats at about 4:00 each plus or minus a few seconds. Then Crossfit at lunch.
Got to the track at 5:30am ready to go. But I couldn't hold the pace. After 3 repeats with times ranging from 3:58 to 4:14 it was clear that I needed to shut it down. So I jogged another mile and went to work.

Work has been a mess lately. Markets have been ugly for 11 years and clients are getting sick of it. A little before 11am we were meeting as a team to plan for a review with a grumpy but important client set for the following day. Just then, he shows up. Fire drill.
Needless to say I did not get to Crossfit at noon. Later classes were out as well. Terri needs me home with the kids by 5 at the latest. So it didn't happen.
So that workout got pushed to Wednesday which was supposed to be a rest day. Here is what I did:
After warm up jog I did Cindy with 24" box jumps in place of pullups.
Cindy is a Crossfit workout. It is 20 minutes of time in which you complete as many rounds as possible of:
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats.
It is a lung burner. By minute 12 the pushups get really hard to rep out.
I didn't have access to a Pullup bar at home so I subbed in box jumps on a 24"box.
17 rounds in 20 min.
Tomorrow morning is 2miTt...

1st post!

So this is my first ever blog post.
I am putting this together to document my journey towards completing an ironman in 2013. My hope is that this will serve as a record for me and as a source of information for others who plan to train via the cfe method.
A bit of background first. I have been active for most of my adult life. A few years back I got the bug to complete a marathon. I read and followed "the non-runner's guide to marathons" and completed my first 26.2 at the Cowtown marathon in feb of 2009. I felt good for the first 16-18mi then muscle cramps got the better of me and I did a good bit of walking. Time was 5:08.
After the race I crossed 26.2 off of my list and looked for something else. But I kept coming back to running. So I decided that I would see if I could run a better race and improve my time. In 2010 I ran 5:04 then in June I ran 4:56.
At that point I was frustrated. I couldn't figure out how to improve in a meaningful way.
Enter Crossfit. It was suggested by a stranger. I showed up to class with my marathon ego and was promptly whipped by some soccer moms. I was totally hooked.
Crossfit led to Crossfit endurance which led to me dropping 25lbs, running 4:20 and 4:30 marathons this year and seeing big 13.1 improvements as I dropped from 2:20 to 1:45.
I still cramp at around mile 18...
This summer, in an effort to stay in touch with endurance sport and engage in longer events, I took up tri.
I worked up to and completed a 70.3 in Austin about 9 days ago. Here is proof!
Going forward, I have 3 main goals for 2012
Complete a sub 4hr 26.2
Complete a sub 6th 70.3
Sign up for a 140.6.

For the marathon, I am taking only 1 shot this year. The cowtown on feb 26.
For the 70.3, I have 2 set up. One in Canada in June and Austin in October.

Right now I am on my marathon prep schedule which is as follows:
Monday cf strength, swimming
Tuesday interval run, cf
Wed rest
Thursday tempo run, cf
Friday interval bike, cf
Saturday long slow run
Sunday long bike.

This year I going to log more longer runs, experiment with walk breaks on the long runs, and make sure that my long runs are at or above race pace.