Swim Thoughts

The coolest thing about my swim workouts is the thoughts that bubble up from the shallows.

"A dream without a plan is a wish. A dream with a plan is a goal."

Not sure why the good stuff comes while swimming. Maybe it's because once I get underway I don't have to think too much about it. I'm what I'd describe as an intuitive swimmer - I can feel when my stroke is off or when something needs to be tuned up. Once I feel something is wrong I'll think about it, however if things are going well I don't have to think it through as much so my mind needs something to do other than counting lap after lap. So it spouts random thoughts - most are pretty useless but occasionally a good one bubbles up and sticks with me. When I'm biking or running I have to think and pay a little more attention to what's going on - watching out for potholes, slick spots, cars, and yes - birds. One of the many reasons I've come to really enjoy swimming.

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Workout Summary

3.5 mile treadmill run - 35 minutes (yesterday)

1600 yd swim - 30x(20 hard/20 easy) + 2*(200 speed pyramids)

20 mile mountain bike ride - 1:04 - tempo with a few accelerations into Z5

5 mile run - 30 minutes - tempo

20 minutes circuit/core/stretching

25 mile road bike - club ride 21.5 mph average

Overall things are going well with the workouts - however there are a couple of injuries that I'll have to watch. The first is around my right heel - feels like the tendon might be a bit inflamed. The second is also on my right leg around aductors - feels like a bit of a groin pull. Neither is bad enough to stop me from working out, just have to be careful not to stress them to hard - high intensity run intervals will be out for a while.

Recognition

An open letter to the birds.

To whom it may concern.

For a while now I've known what you are and also metaphorically what you represent to me. Simply put - fear in all it's forms. From bold to timid from direct to subtle. There are as many different forms of fear just as there are many different forms of you. Identification of fear is the first step on the path to resolving it. I see and recognize you.

I understand your tactics and approach so therefore I know the how of you. I see you patiently waiting and biding your time. I see you picking just the right moment of weakness to strike. I understand that you are a bluffer and that if I hold my ground you will scurry away as quickly as you materialize. Know that you may indeed surprise and frighten me momentarily but that I will stand and defend my ground.

I know the where of you. You are everywhere. You are where I expect you to be and also where I least expect you to be. At times you hide in plain sight openly mocking me, daring me to stand up and face you. At other times you hide yourself until you decide to spring. When that decision comes you are quick and agile. So am I.

Understanding these things have lead me to the why of you. You are there to lead me off my chosen path. You are there to place doubt in my mind and undermine my determination. You are there to harass and ultimately break me in order to cheer in celebration at my defeat. Know this - though I may bend I will not break. While I bend you will in turn be bent by the force of my will and determination. You are not as strong and determined as I so it will be you that breaks.

Know that you will lose this fight and in that knowledge feel what you project.

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Workout Summary

2000 yd swim - 35 minutes

20 mile mountain bike ride - tempo

5.5 mile run - tempo

20 minutes circuit/core/stretching

Struggling

My son's three on three hockey team is not doing good. So far they've had three games. They've lost all three. The closest margin was 6 points. The biggest margin is 14 points. The reason for this is simple - of the four teams in the squirt three on three league, three of the teams are comprised of 2nd year squirt elite (AAA) players. One of the teams is comprised of 1st year squirt and a couple of 3rd year mite silver (A) players. Guess what team we're on? Yup. The more A's the more up the food chain you are. We are at the bottom of the food chain.

In the end this will be a good thing. By playing with faster, tougher, more experienced players, it will make our kids better hockey players. We saw this last year when we got bumped up to AA but were still allowed to play tournaments at A level. We were the bottom of the barrel in the AA standings, but won three out of four tournaments and placed 2nd in the state championships when playing against A level teams. The kids rose to the challenge and were better for it.

When I first started riding with the local club I struggled a lot. The club is comprised of several competitive racers who are very strong and very fast. I got dropped on the breaks because I didn't understand tactics. I got dropped on several spots of the course because I simply didn't have the legs to keep up. But I was patient and persistent. Within months I could hang and a while after that I was taking pulls up front with the fast guys.

The lesson I'll be passing along to my son through this is: stick with it and be patient. Do the best you can do and keep pushing the envelope. Know that the point of this is not to win but to struggle a bit at the next level. Know that this will make you stronger when you drop back to your true level. Know that anything worthwhile will be difficult and that the struggle will be rewarded by the strength you will gain from it.

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Workout Summary

10.5 mile run - 1:33 - LSD - Z2/3

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Weekly Summary
Was able to accomplish my long workouts this week but had to punt for the most part on the short workouts.

Surprisingly my long swim, which usually suffers if I'm inconsistent, went really well - I felt smooth and strong throughout the 3200 meters. I was a little sore during the first 1000 but after I got warmed up and worked out the kinks it felt great.

I did a set of local loops for the long bike including a ride out to the river for some hill training - four laps on the hideaway loop. Was originally planning on 75 miles but got up a bit late and had to cut it short. Going to have to try to be a little bit more committed to getting out of bed!

Today's long run was 3 laps around a 3.5 mile loop. It was a bit rough for the first 1.5 miles but then I got warmed up (similar to the swim) and things smoothed out. Got rained on periodically throughout the run which actually felt good since it was so humid. The bird attacks resumed at mile 2.5 and were repeated each loop. This time a red winged blackbird actually hissed at me! I've never been hissed at by a bird. I guess they're changing tactics since the kamikaze attacks aren't working out for them. Oh well - bring it on!

Bunny Hopping

Silly rabbit, roads are for bikes....

The birds appear to have been thwarted. They've given up. No more chases in a week. It seems they've struck a new deal with furrier friends.

There were two waves on my bike ride today. The first wave was lead by the squirrels. It happened while I was riding down a hill. A squirrel darted out, stopped a foot off my current line, shot forward another six inches for good measure (this was about six feet in front of me), stopped again, flicked his tail, and then turned around and ran back the way he'd came. Apparently this is the squirrel version of chicken. Instead of coming straight at you, they come at you from the sides, hoping to get you swerving just enough to lose control. No such luck. Human 1, animals zip.

The second wave was lead by the rabbits. This one was a bit more bold, and had a much more humorous result. I saw him sitting by the side of the road as I was riding along the Fox River. He saw me and darted off. Unfortunately for him there were only two ways to go, along a fence line, or across the road. He chose the fence line. That's when the dog showed up. The dog saw me coming and scrambled across the yard - barking ferociously all the way. This totally freaked out the rabbit who decided death by bladed spoke was a much better alternative to death by gnashing teeth. The rabbit did an abrupt turn and shot out in front of me.

Luckily for me I saw the situation developing and I pulled up on my handlebars and pedals as hard and controlled as I could. I've bunny hopped pot holes before. This is the first time I've bunny hopped a bunny. The situation ended with the bunny disappearing in to the bushes, and the dog crashing into the fence. Human 2, animals zip.

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Workout Summary

60 mile bike ride - 3:30

Course Corrections

Every once in a while I get a week that completely throws my schedule into a tailspin. A funeral on Tuesday messed up my regular brick workout as did the annual "Take your kids to work day" on Thursday. Wednesday I overslept and missed my planned running workout and I was too busy the rest of the day to catch up. After a little improvising I managed to at least get some running in on Tuesday and Thursday but everything else suffered.

When open water swimming, every once in a while you have to look up and see where you're going. If you do this often, the course corrections you'll need to make are minor. Wait too long and you'll end up wasting a lot of energy and will likely need major corrections to get back on track. Iron Wil learned this the hard way recently - actually going the wrong way on a swim course for about 10 minutes before discovering her error.

This unexpected break in my routine forced me to look up and think about where I am and where I'm going. Overall it's a mixed bag - some things are working well, some things actually seem to be hurting me and need to be scaled back, and some things need a bit of attention.

• I've noticed that since I've started doing more Yoga I've been having problems with my lower back and my adductors so I'm going to scale back and instead incorporate more stability ball exercises. I still don't have a solid core routine going yet so I need to do some fishing around.
  
• My basic workout template is working out well for my available time - bricks on Tuesday (tempo)/Thursday (interval), long swim Friday, long bike Saturday, long run Sunday so this will remain unchanged.
  
• Now that I have the NYC Marathon coming I'll throw in another run on Wednesdays (provided I can get out of bed!). In order to not shock my system too much I'll start with low mileage (3.5 mile) and build it to 10 over the course of a few months. I'll also need to start bringing up my long run on Sundays. I'd like to hit at least three 20+ mile runs before the marathon in November.
  
• Cycling has been suffering due to insufficient saddle time. To remedy this I definitely have to get more consistent on my long Saturday bike rides. Bringing my bike to the club when weather permits for my Tuesday/Thursday bricks instead of doing an indoor spin class will also help. I also need to start going to either the Tuesday or Thursday club rides on a regular basis.
  
• Long swim is fine. Two years ago I would not have believed that my swimming would ever be comfortable but it is - so I'm leaving that one alone.
  
• Still have to think about where the circuit training stuff will go. I think I may shift to dumbell based workouts instead of machine based workouts to get more muscle recruitment and coverage.
  

So that's it - overall it seems that just a few little tweaks are needed. I've found during the course of training that little adjustments work best for me. In the past when I've made major readjustments I've gotten injured or completely derailed.

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Workout Summary

7 mile run (Tuesday)

7 mile run (Thursday)

3200 yd continuous swim (1 hr)

There's No Shame in Quitting

This is what we told ourselves as we sat at the rest stop after stage 4. 100 miles in, 26 miles to go. I was done. Totally cooked. Climbing off the bike at the rest stop I could actually feel the fatigue over my entire body. I remember thinking during stage 4 that I wasn't going to be able to complete the ride this year. The slightest inclines brought my speed down to a crawl. The front of my right knee was getting a bit sore from all the seated climbing up grades that ranged from 8% to 13%. It was hot, humid, and windy. It was very very hilly.

In retrospect I think it was the right decision. The remaining 22 miles would have taken well over two hours given my pace at the time. I probably would have ended up doing more damage than good. In addition this is not an "A" event for me this year - it was supposed to be a hill training ride. These rationalizations coupled with the fact that the guys I was with arrived at the same conclusion independently was all it took. Instead of taking the right turn and climbing Pinnacle we proceeded down county road K and did the finishing climb for the day - a 3 mile 11% grade climb up Mt. Horeb.

But.... It still really sucks DNFing. I came out to ride 126 and finished with 106. It's kind of like walking during a run. Once you start it's hard to stop. Now that I've cut a ride will I be more inclined to do it again? Will I now begin going down the path of not finishing what I start? Have I hit the turning point?

The left-side shoulder angel (the one I call Dennis) is of the opinion that we're now great pals. I've seen the light he thinks. I've finally come to my senses. All of this energy spent defining and pursuing difficult goals is for the birds. I'll now join mainstream America and spend my evenings watching network TV in a leather recliner with a built in beer cooler. I'll start drinking Miller Light, gain a good 20 or so pounds, and sell my bicycles to finance a motorcycle. Isn't that what middle aged men are supposed to be doing? I should join the club and coast out the rest of my life. Never mind the incredible feeling of accomplishment and self confidence after striving for and achieving difficult goals. Never mind the myriad benefits of a life forged by taking the hard way. Kick back. Have fun. Go with the flow. Dennis has great plans for the two of us.

The right-side shoulder angel (the nameless one) politely taps the podium. It's his turn to speak. He pauses for dramatic effect. "Are you honestly going to let one DNF on a training ride derail everything you've accomplished?" Dennis' smug smile vanishes. "Will you now change the clever little tag line on your blog from 'reflections on a life sculpted by Triathlon' to 'reflections on a life sculpted by failure'?" Dennis stares in disbelief, hangs his head, and promptly disappears in a cloud of dirty gray smoke. "I didn't think so." Nothing more is said. The nameless one steps down from the podium. The silence is deafening.

Dennis' losing streak continues.

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Workout Summary

106 mile bike ride (Saturday)

60 minutes yoga/core (Sunday)

20 minutes yoga (today)

HHH Preview

It's horrible (read on). It's hilly (over 10000 feet of climbing). There are hundreds (200 K/124.2 miles). And to top it off it will be both hot and humid. The misery comes in multiple flavors for this event.

This weekend is the Horribly Hilly Hundreds - the 2nd toughest event on my calendar this year (the 1st hardest is a new ride this year called the Dairyland Dare held in the same region in August). For those who think it isn't hilly in the midwest better check that. Unlike other areas of the country, all of the hills in the midwest have been gathered together in one area - the southwestern corner of Wisconsin. These are not the long, sit back, find your rhythm, settle in, and spin your way up climbs of the west. These are the short, ridiculously steep, lowest gear you have, vein popping, turn-your-lungs inside-out, totally anaerobic climbs of the east coast. After completing this ride I am more exhausted then I was after the Ironman. It kicks my ass every year and this one will not be an exception.

The best thing about this ride? The next day is Father's day. Floating in the pool, drinking Guinness, entire family at my beck and call. Now that's recovery!

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Workout Summary

1200 yd interval swim

20 mile bike ride (tempo)

6 mile run (tempo)

30 minutes circuit/core/stretching

Woke up late this morning so had to shorten the swim a bit. Went extra hard to make up for being lazy so it ended up being ok.

The bike ride was a double loop around a paved trail in the Busse Woods forest preserve which is about two miles down the street from my health club. Definitely liking being out on the mountain bike instead of being stuck inside in a spin class studio. Still have to tweak the positioning a bit as it's been a while since I've been on the mountain bike but overall I felt good, averaging 20 mph for the ride (I have slicks not nobbys which helps).

The run off the mountain bike was a much better tri simulation then the run off a spin bike. It took me about a mile and a half to get my run legs going - which is about what it normally takes during a tri. Overall the run was faster than normal (8 mpm pace) without my iPod tagging along which leads me to believe that my cadence based playlists are not fast enough. I'm actually beginning to enjoy running without music so I think I'll be running a little lighter for a bit.

Big Apples in November

On a whim I went to the New York City Marathon website to check on the status of my entry. I'm too slow to qualify in so I have to try to lottery in. I signed up back in April and at the time they said they'd post the entrants list in June. Being June it seemed about time to give it a check. I've heard this is a very tough Marathon to get into because it's so popular and there's a cap. I also saw that my chances to get in would increase each year I registered so I figured it be next year or the year after before I finally hit. I punched in my info to search the database of entrants.

I should pick some numbers and run down to the White Hen and play the lottery because.... I'M IN!!!!!!! Holy crap I made it in! First try! How sweet is that?!?

Now comes the fun part - figuring out logistics - where to stay, what to do, where to eat, how to get around, etc., etc. At this point it looks like it'll be a fairly quick trip with no time for site seeing to keep the cost down. Will probably come in the day before and return the evening of the Marathon. I'm a little disappointed with this since it will be my first trip to NY but I suppose I'll see a fair amount during the marathon. If we can find someone to watch the kids for a few days then my wife will come out with me otherwise it'll be a solo trip since it'll be too costly and inconvenient to come out with the kids.

Time to do some trip planning and begin working on my training plan!

Relativity

Last night my daughter made her T-Ball debut and I got to learn a lesson in relativity. Up until last night I was under the impression that my daughter threw and ran like a girl. I didn't think she was quite cut out for sports. Then I saw her against other girls her age. In comparison she's a freakin' all star. Up until then my only point of comparison was her brother - who is and always has been a natural athlete (unlike his father!). Relative to her brother she's a bench warmer. Relative to other girls her age she's at the top of the class.

She had no trouble hitting the ball as far as some of the boys. Her throws actually made it to the coach unlike most of the other girls. They worked on handling ground balls and she was able to stop and return the ball where many of the other girls watched it roll between their legs. She was energetic and focused. She out ran a few of the boys when they were running bases. Only a couple of the ten or so girls were doing that well.

This got me thinking about whether or not there were other areas where I was making incorrect relative judgments.

Relatively speaking my run sucks this year. Looking back at my blogged accounts of my running workouts more or less confirms this. But does it? Not so much it turns out. My run seems to suck because I'm comparing it to how I felt last year at this time. Not an apples to apples comparison as it turns out. Last year at this time I had trained for and completed a marathon and was keeping my long runs on the high side (15 to 20 miles) to keep in form for the Ironman. In general I was also running about 25% more on my midweek runs so a 5 mile run felt last year felt like a walk in the park. Relatively speaking last year's 20 mile run should feel like this year's 15. It does. How about that. Relatively speaking, things with my run aren't so bad after all.

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Workout Summary

45 minutes yoga (yesterday)

2000 yard swim - 35 minutes continuous

45 minute spin class - intervals

6 mile run - 1/3 Z2/Z3, 1/3 Z3/Z4, 1/3 Z4/Z5

Swim went a lot faster than usual for the distance. I was a bit on the gassy side so maybe I was more buoyant today. My form also felt "on" which I'm sure helped. Some days you feel like a torpedo and others you feel like a bowling ball. I like the torpedo days.

I think I'm just about done with spin classes - at least on the non-rainy days for the remainder of the summer. Instead I think I'm going to start bringing my bike to the club and doing that after the swim instead. I haven't been able to ride as frequently as I was able to last year due to my kids getting more involved with sports, etc. and I'm seeing a big difference in my riding. Of course it's quite a hassle so we'll see if I follow through.

The run went relatively well (pun intended!). For the first time in a while I ran without music and mixed up my tempo to push against my heart rate boundaries. I was surprised to see I was running under 8's for a lot of the run. Not having the music also helped me focus on my form instead of just my cadence. Of course there was no long run this past weekend to melt down my legs so that probably helped as well.

And yes, I was accosted by a well known red winged black bird who seems to wait for me now along my run route. Bring it on I say.

TOMRV - Day 2

The first half of Day 2 (Dubuque to Preston) is my favorite part of the entire ride. There are a couple of really good long climbs with a breakfast buffet stop at Kames in St. Donatus to fuel up. The scenery is spectacular. The route follows highway 52 until just outside of Bellevue before breaking southwest down to Preston.

Since I opted for the bonus route I stayed on highway 52 at the break point and took it down to highway 64. During the “post break” point I counted five other riders for about 25 miles. The road ran along the valley wall adjacent to the Mississippi river so there was lots of climbing. The road was overhung by thick trees in many places which helped shelter me from the wind a bit. After a mile long climb on 64 I was cruising into Preston with the wind at my back and feeling good.

For the return trip I hooked up with Paw and headed back down 64. He dropped me on the first baby climb outside of town called Miles. By then my legs were turning to lead. As he was riding he too was attacked by the black birds perched along the telephone wires running parallel to the road. Glad to finally see that I’m not the only one out there who is bird-bait.

Paw and I tracked each other back down to 52 and up into Bellevue. After a quick stop at a gas station Paw quickly shook me loose for the last time up the monster climb out of Bellevue. I was glad to be dropped as it was taking every bit of my strength to sit on his wheel. After that I rode in solitude for the remaining 30 or so miles. The sky darkened up but didn’t start raining until I was back at the truck with my bike stowed for the trip back home. The rest of the gang (shorter option guys) had made it in about 15 minutes ahead of me.

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Workout Summary

117 mile bike ride – 6:33

TOMRV - Day 1

Day 1 was pretty much a wash – literally. The problem with events like this is that you are completely at the mercy of the weather. The weather had little mercy for those who attempted day 1. We did not attempt day 1.

We woke up to 49 degree temps, a light cold rain (which slowly evolved into a heavy cold rain), and winds from the northeast. We got dressed for cycling all the while keeping an eye on the windows and the weather channel. Things were not looking good at all. After about an hour of deliberating and debating options we punted. The main concerns were slick roads on the second half of the route (the hillier portion of day 1) as well as hypothermia. Lightning and a bit of thunder sealed the deal – no ride for us today.

A friend once told me that he evaluated his bike rides along three axis - wind, cold, and rain. He could handle two at a time - wind/cold, cold/rain, or rain/wind, but if all three were present the ride was punted (I personally would punt on the cold/rain combo as well – the others I can deal with). We punted hard on this one.

On the route there is a town where the local Lion’s club hosts a pancake breakfast, so we decided to at least drive out and get some breakfast. Along the route we saw a few riders either doing the route or coming back after giving up due to the conditions. At the firehouse where the pancake breakfast was held there were significantly fewer people then normal.

We continued driving up to Dubuque, arrived, and located our suite for the night. While getting the cards we saw a few people straggling in who had actually done the ride that day. Many were from the shorter Preston (the 50 mile option that starts and returns to Preston) and didn’t look too bad. Those who had done the full 100 were noticeable in the crowd. They had the shell-shocked look of having gone through absolute hell. A few had road rash and ripped up jerseys from crashes while going downhill. When asked about how the day was their eyes would glaze over in recollection and they would mumble ”It was painful”. I’m glad we decided to bag the ride for the day.

At dinner in the cafeteria that night there were about half the amount of people that normally show up for this ride. After dinner we went back to the suite and played poker for a bit. The floors in the suite were squeakier than any place I’d ever stayed. Anytime the people above us moved around it sounded like a herd of elephants walking through styrofoam. Slept well despite that.

Colors

Much to my wife's amusement my biking pals and I often coordinate our "colors" before organized bike rides. She likens this to the flurry of phone calls between female friends prior to a formal event. Fortunately we don't take it as far as coordinating our accessories - shoes, water bottles, helmets, etc. However she takes great pleasure in heckling me over this. She's awesome.

My mind loves to spin tangents and as I was thinking about colors it somehow got fused with time - past, present, and future? What colors would best suit these concepts?

The past is definitely red. The past is a double edged sword that cuts deep. That's why it's red. The accumulated baggage of missed goals and bad decisions can weigh you down and root you in the past. It can prevent you from growing and gaining momentum. The other side of the edge is reliving your glory points. "I was so much stronger last week/month/year. I suck now..." Yet another doorway to negativity. The past can be used in a positive way - identify the problems, plan the solutions, execute the solutions. But it's very easy to slide in to the trap and often difficult to claw your way out.

The present for me is green. This is where I try to keep my focus placed. What am I doing now? How am I doing now? Keeping my focus rooted in the present keeps me from being distracted from what I should have done or what I will be doing. It helps me to sink in and enjoy what I'm doing. It helps me stay alive. And life is often green. Green is good.

The future for me is yellow. While it's important to focus on the present, you gotta know where you're going and have a plan to get there - at least the OCD type A part of me needs to. However there is a little danger in focusing on the future and that's why it's yellow for me. Stressing over goals set to high, the weather for this weekends race, and a million other things wastes energy that is better focused on the present. Goals are good, flexibility is better. Flexible decisions are made in the present stream - yet another reason to swim there. Note that flexibility does not imply compromise. Compromise is often giving up where flexibility is going around.

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Workout Summary

40 minute swim - intervals

45 minute spin class - intervals

5 mile run - intervals

In case you haven't guessed today was interval day! It was a good day for intervals as I felt strong and had good energy.

Swim set felt good - my intervals are more muscular endurance than aerobic endurance intervals, alternating between 20 hard freestyle and 20 easy freestyle or breast. For the easy laps I focus on form and being quiet in the water. The hard laps are balls-out there's a shark chasing me type efforts.

For spin I did my own thing since the "official" ride was an Z2/Z3 distance ride. Once again I was the nut in the first row who stands and sprints when the rest of the class is on a seated climb and does one legged drills while the rest of the class is recovering. Oh well, it's all about me so tough.

Still didn't get out and get new shoes yet so my run form still feels a bit funky, though the extended intervals felt strong and fast. I have a playlist that alternates between 80 BPM songs and 90 BPM songs. I match my run cadence to the BPM of the songs so my hard intervals tend to go on for about 4-6 minutes. I was able to hold a 6:30 pace for the hard intervals which for me is very fast. On the easy songs I backed it off to an 9:00 pace - much more reasonable for me.

Only got dive bombed by one bird today. Things are looking up!

May be my last post until Monday - leaving tomorrow for TOMRV (200 mile bike ride in Iowa) this weekend. Weather outlook is cold and rainy. Great.

Creativity

"Hey Dad - wanna play baseball?" I groaned inwardly. This is not a request I can turn down. No matter how worn out and tired I am I cannot deny an invitation to play with my kids. It's that important to me. I spend quite a bit of time away in events and training. Someday both my kids will have interests that will take them far away from me. So I cannot let these moments pass. I must take full advantage of them. I'll rest when they grow up. Rest is overrated anyways.

However, "baseball" for my son and daughter basically translates to "fetch" for Daddy. Basically they hit the ball, and I chase the ball. I feel more like a dog then a fielder. We play a lot so they're both getting pretty good at hitting. This means a lot of chasing for me. What I really wanted to do was play catch with the crosse (Lacrosse stick). Why not both I thought?

I try never to repeat the same races - unless I have a good reason or point for doing so. I like doing new races because I get to see different scenery, people, and face different challenges. I often alter my run and bike routes to keep them interesting. I mix up fartleks, long intervals, and accelerations to keep my runs interesting. The birds help keep my runs interesting as well. If I didn't do these things the daily routine of training would drive me crazy. Getting creative with my training keeps me focused and interested. It's very easy to get caught in the drudgery of routine. Mixing it up keeps it fun. And as I tell my kids often - if it ain't fun, it ain't worth playing.

Our new game was a blast. The kids wailed on the ball. The extra reach the Lacrosse stick gave me made catching the ground and fly balls pretty easy. It also gave me a chance to work on throwing the ball accurately with the crosse to get it back to them. My son thinks I'm a genius. My daughter however still thinks I'm a nut. Oh well - it's all about balance.

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Workout Summary

1200 yard swim at tempo

45 minute spin class - intervals

5 mile run - multiple accelerations between AT and LT

Got up a bit late so I had to shorten the swim. Game one of the Stanley Cup was on last night and it was just to good to sleep through. So I went shorter than usual but balanced it by going harder than usual.

In spin class the instructor saw me and changed CDs for one that didn't have Coldplay on it. Oh the power I wield. People think I'm a nut because I usually don't do what the instructor is doing and I pick at least one song to do single leg pedal drills.

The run went well - I had trouble keeping my heart rate down - probably from going too hard in spin class - so I decided to do accelerations instead of my planned tempo run.

Fashion Sense

My daughter learned a valuable lesson the other day. She came out to play baseball with my son and I dressed in a T-shirt, shorts, and a pair of high heeled white sandals. High heeled sandals and baseball don't mix.

In our family she is definitely the most fashion conscious. My goal when picking out clothes is to match. Doesn't need to look good, or even appropriate, just needs to match. My son would wear the same clothes every day until they fell off. My wife is much better then my son and I. She manages to find appropriate and matching items, though only after a lot of rumbling from the closet.

My daughter on the other hand has recently taken to picking out her own clothes and definitely has a unique style. Once she walked out of her room with a stripped sun dress tucked into a pair of light blue shorts. The ends of the sun dress hung down through the legs holes of the shorts. This did not bother her. She had on brown knee high boots to complete the ensemble. She likes the boots and think they go with a lot more then they really do. She's definitely on the cutting edge of 5 year old fashion.

Once she asked me why I wear all this skin tight lycra/spandex stuff when I go for a bike ride. I tried to explain to her that its aerodynamic, prevent chafing, and makes it easier for others to see me. I told her about the wicking properties of the high tech materials and the reason it looks like I'm wearing a diaper (chamois pad). She takes it all in, makes a face, and moves on. This is what she does anytime she thinks I'm a nut. This happens a lot.

After the baseball incident I think she knows that you really do need to make fashion choices based on the activity you are doing and not on just on what looks good. The two don't have to be incompatible of course but some combinations don't work well. Like high heels and baseball. Maybe next time she sees me in my bright red/yellow/orange biking jersey with matching bibs and bright orange socks, she won't think I'm such a nut after all. At least on this point that is.

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Workout Summary

70 mile bike - 4 hours (yesterday)

20 minutes yoga

The long bike ride yesterday was fantastic. Blue skies with a bit of wind from the south east. Most of the black birds on the route were content to sit on their telephone poles and watch me flash by. A couple swooped down but didn't come within 10 feet.

More Bird Crap

The birds were out in force for today's run. Honestly - is anyone else having this many issues with birds or is it really just me? Today's run route took me by a slightly boggy area with lots of cattails. Guess which birds like to nest in cattails? Yup. Red winged blackbirds. My biggest fans. No joke - I was attacked by a swarm of them this time. I'm talking mosquitoes at feeding time here. There were at least six circling around me and doing mock charges and dives. Fortunately it only lasted for about 100 yards. On mile 14 several more took turns diving at me from telephone wires as I ran past another forest preserve area. I can't wait until the starlings start swarming in the fall - then it will be truly like running through an Alfred Hitchcock movie...

Tomorrow I'll be biking out to a town called Maple Park - the same route where the attacks first began a couple of years ago. I'm anticipating more. I should bring my Lacrosse stick for the ride. The net will make a great bird swatter.

Also - had another falcon sighting this morning at around mile 10. They are extremely rare in this area so it was quite a treat. He too was being chased by a couple of smaller birds. I had to stop running because I was laughing so hard at this.

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Workout Summary

2800 yard swim - 50 minutes (yesterday)

15 mile run - 2:20 - LSD

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Weekly Summary
Took Tuesday off to recover from Triple T. My brick workout on Thursday went well - good energy and good form all around. They're finally done renovating the health club and it was good to get back to "normal".

Friday long swim went good as well - no soreness in the shoulders like I was having during the Triple T swims. I think the wetsuit throws off my form a little bit - instead of using my lats to pull I use my shoulders more. Without the wetsuit my pull comes from my lats and I get no soreness whatsoever. Something to focus on during my next open water swim.

For today's long run I started playing with nutrition - going out with four 8 oz water bottles - three filled with Cytomax. Also took along some Accel gels. I'm done with the Accel gels. I came home and threw my remaining gels away. They work well - the problem is they're impossible to get open when you're sweaty. I ended up biting a hole in the bottom and squeezing it out from there. Not worth the hassle.

The run itself went very well - aside from the multiple bird attacks. I do think it's time to replace the shoes though - I noticed my form felt smoother if I rotated my ankles out a bit so I think the arch support in the shoes is shot.

Looking forward to my bike ride tomorrow - last long bike before TOMRV next weekend.

The Attacks Continue

It felt good to get back to "normal" workouts today after taking a couple of days off from a challenging weekend. Good until the run that is.

The birds it seems have long memories and hold grudges. Today I was harassed by a red winged black bird - my old nemesis. It was a quick harassment. Two miles into my run I heard the familiar "keck" sound of a red winged blackbird in flight. I looked back and he was on my six about a yard away. I threw up my arm and he winged back and retreated to the safety of a telephone pole. I continued running and he came at me again. Same attack, same result. After the second attack I apparently had left his territory and he lost interest.

While running past a meadow I looked up and saw a red tailed hawk. He was being pursued by two fairly irritated sounding finches. The hawk pretty much ignored them. Ah hah! Now I know what's up. After the Falcon incident and the resulting mental shift I'm now apparently viewed by the other birds as a bird of prey. Apparently they didn't realize I was posting in metaphors - I think they may have taken things a little too seriously.

Perhaps I've been a bird of prey for a while now. The attacks started a while back while training so maybe they saw something developing that I didn't see. Now I know what I am and I know what they represent. The attacks are more frequent now so apparently they know what I am as well. Bring it on I say.

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Workout Summary

1500 yard swim - continuous, focus on form

45 minute spin class - intervals

4.5 mile run - 1/2 at AT - 1/2 at LT

30 minutes circuit/core/stretching

Still not entirely happy with my running - I've decided to alter my routes to bump up my mileage (and mess with the birds a bit). My run form feels good but my heart rate seems high for the effort. I had big trouble keeping my heart rate down for the runs at the Triple T so I'm going to work in more distance as well as more LT/AT runs to increase my efficiency.