Bring it On

Bring it on. This phrase went through my mind several times during this weekend's workouts. Bring it on I thought as the black bird on my run route screeched a warning and dove for my head. Bring it on I thought as the heat index rose above 100 degrees on both days during my bike and my run. Bring it on I thought as a dog launched itself from the porch in a blur of fangs and feet.

Bring it on I thought in answer to every bit of adversity that popped up this weekend. Do what you will but you had better be ready with your A game. Because that's what I'm bringing to the table and if you want to dance you better come prepared. Because if you don't I will wipe you from my brow and watch you evaporate on the pavement. I will smile as I do this. If I crumble and fall rest assured that I will be back and I will be stronger because of it. So bring it on.

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Workout Summary

25 mile bike - race pace (Thursday night)

3.5 mile tempo run (Thursday night)

10 mile run - LSD with a Z5 push during the last 2 miles (Saturday)

50 mile bike - LSD/tempo (Sunday)

Weekly Summary
This was a tough week. For both Tuesday and Thursday I did double bricks - one in the morning (S/B/R) and one in the evening (B/R only). All workouts went well both energy wise and form wise. Definitely felt the second brick on Thursday as my legs were a bit jiggly during the run and I wasn't up front during the club ride nearly as much as I usually am.

The long run on Saturday was a hot one. I ended up starting a bit later than I wanted and didn't get started until around 10:30 by which time the heat index was pushing passed 100. Fortunately I remember to bring some cash and stopped 1/2 way to replenish with Gatorade and water. The last couple of miles I was feeling good so I pushed hard. Upon arriving at home I went straight through the family room, out onto the deck, and into the pool. I think I saw steam rising as I entered.

Sunday was another hot one. My bike ride was a spontaneous route that took in parts of the ABD club route, Fox River, Fermilab, and Winfield. Once again, upon arriving at home it was straight into the pool for a good soak.

Looking forward to tapering down for the race next weekend.

Nuggets

It began in a civilized manner. Four groups of kids sitting together according to their t-shirt colors - green, blue, yellow, and red. They were all quiet and attentive - unusual for kids at this age. One at a time each child was called up to receive their trophies and then sat back down with their team. Very organized. Very unusual. The coaches told the kids to hand off the trophies to their parents and then come back. My daughter came running back with a huge smile on her face. "Look Daddy - my first trophy!" she beamed. She was so happy and proud of herself. After a couple of years of sitting through most of her brother's trophy and award presentations it was finally her turn to step into the spot light. It's moments like these that make all the trials and tribulations of parenting absolutely worth it. She handed off her trophy, grabbed her weapon of choice, and then rejoined her team. Weapon?

The coaches laid out the ground rules and then promptly struck first with two large buckets of water. Chaos erupted while all the kids shouldered their squirt guns and let the water fly. The contrast was amazing. Kind of like when you tell a well trained dog to sit, then walk away and wait. The dog quivers in anticipation. All focus is on you. Then when you say come they launch like the space shuttle. They don't stop until they run straight into you. This is what it was like. Team vs. team, coaches vs. kids, girls vs. boys, it became impossible to keep track of the sides. Some of the squirt guns were nearly as big as the kids who were wielding them. They all had a blast. My daughter returned from the fray soaking from head to toe.

When she looks back on this she won't remember how many frustrating swings it took to finally hit the ball. She won't remember how many times the ball dribbled past her when she tried to catch it. She won't remember putting up with the dorky little boys who teased her (though not too much since she was better than most of them). She won't remember standing in 90 degree heat waiting for something to happen. What she will remember is knocking the ball out of the infield nearly every time she was up to bat. She'll remember the time she smacked a line drive that knocked the coach on his butt. She'll remember the feeling of accomplishment as she showed us her first trophy. She'll remember the reckless abandon of the water fight. She'll remember how much fun she had with this whole experience. It's those memories that will keep her going.

When I look back on the Triathlons I've done I remember some of the pain and suffering, but it doesn't have as much of an affect on me as the really good moments. My first real good swim. Crossing the finishing line at my first Triathlon. Seeing my family and getting a hug from my daughter mid-way through the run during Ironman Wisconsin. The time, effort, and pain spent preparing for these events far exceeds the time actually spent doing them. The really good memories are a smaller fraction of time still. Yet it's those few precious nuggets that stand out and make it all worth it. It's those memories and the anticipation of many many more that keep me going.

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Workout Summary

30 mile bike - intervals and hills (Tuesday night)

3.5 mile easy run (Tuesday night)

1260 yd swim - intervals

23 mile bike - tempo

4.25 mile run - 1/2 at Z3/Z4, 1/2 at Z4/Z5 boundaries

20 minutes circuit/core/stretching

Man this is a hard week! After the brick workout on Tuesday morning I decided to do throw in another brick in the evening by doing the Tuesday night club ride and a run off the bike afterwards. My absolute saint of a wife also agreed to let me ride again tonight - so it will be a repeat of Tuesday. After pushing hard tonight I'll scale back and begin tapering for Steelhead next week.

Legs today were a bit sluggish and tight (duh!) but everything is still feeling pretty solid. Actually the last couple of weeks have been the best I've felt all summer - peaking rocks!

Will probably "try" to go easy during the club ride tonight and follow up with an easy run. "Try" in quotes because it turns out that in a previous life I was a greyhound and there's a lot of rabbits in this group. The urge to chase is far too overwhelming for me. Oh well - I have good self control in most other aspects of my life so a little indulgence is in order.

BTW - for those keeping score it's official - I'm on the list for IM USA 2007.

Polarity

So, I think I made it in. I have a receipt from active.com and got sent an Ironman number (used apparently to track my progress (or lack thereof) around the course). Ironman USA still hasn't published the official list (c'mon guys!) but all indications are that I made it in. 90 minutes. That's how long it took this race to sell out this year. Good thing I got in as soon as registration opened (2 minutes after it opened to be precise).

It's funny how plunking down something like an Ironman on the calendar alters the focus of everything. Before I had a collection of events with more or less random orientations. The collection is now fully polarized - each event is just another step to the Ironman. Each new event I consider for 2007 will be considered not because it sounds like fun, or presents a particular challenge. Each event will be picked solely on the basis of whether or not it's a necessary step towards Ironman.

Up until now my focus was solely on this year's events however now I find myself not caring as much about the remaining events on my calendar. Ok, I'm still totally excited about the NY marathon. But my few remaining 1/2's and mega-sadistic bike rides just don't seem as important anymore. That's not quite right. I suppose they just don't hold as much relevance now. The 800lb gorilla has just entered the room. All attention goes there.

It's so cool to be on this path again.

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Workout Summary

2160 yd continuous swim - 10 laps easy, 10 laps out hard easy back.

23 mile bike - tempo

4.25 mile run - tempo

30 minutes core/circuit/stretching

Injuries are still under control which is a good thing. The only one that remains is my adductor. If I could learn to stop playing soccer with my kids it might heal. Doesn't seem to affect my run or bike much though - just walking - weird. My run was really fast again today - averaging just under eight minute miles. Must be reaping some benefits from the longer weekend LSD runs. Now that my mileage is ramping up beyond 1/2 marathon levels the 4 mile runs during my brick workouts are beginning to feel like a walk in the park. Too bad I can't hold 8's on my LSD runs!

IM Decision Time

Negotiations were completed late the other night. My final decision was made during my LSD run today. This year's race is tomorrow which I'll be watching over Ironman Live to get a feel for what I'll be in for. The day after registration will open. I'll be ready and waiting with credit card in hand. Cable modem don't fail me now.

The 2nd Ironman for me will be Ironman USA in Lake Placid next year, assuming I get registered before it fills. At this point I'm planning to do a 1/2 sometime in June as a pre-IM tuneup. I had thought about doing TTT again but I got a bit of push back when I threw that out during negotiations. I'll also probably do a 4-5 day training trip around mid May - probably after Mother's day to get some experience with the course and the area. This definitely helped me out for IM Wisconsin so I'm going to try that approach again.

366 days to go.

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Workout Summary

16.5 mile LSD run - 2:30

Decided to run long today instead of ride because we're going to a party tonight and my inlaws have the kids for the weekend. Quality time with my wife is definitely worth skipping a workout. I took the same trail route that I did a few weeks ago and ran it at about the same rate and effort. The good news is that I had no injury troubles, though my legs are a little smoked at the moment as they should be.

Damage Control

Things that happen in the blink of an eye rarely turn out good. Such was the case last night during the club ride.

The group had slowed up to make sure everyone got across an intersection and was beginning to pick up steam again. I was on the right side of the road and turned to see if everyone was through yet. My bike drifted further to the right and hit a small pothole. My front wheel popped out of the pothole at a sharp angle. My hand slipped from the handlebar as the bike jumped abruptly to the left. Fortunately for me there was someone next to me. This was not fortunate for the someone next to me. As my bike leaped to the left I hit him which brought me back into an upright position and I was able to regain control of my bike. He on the other hand went down hard.

I quickly stopped and went back to see if he was ok, immediately taking the blame for the accident and apologizing profusely along the way. He was a bit dazed and had a bit of road rash on his elbow, but the bike was ok and no one else was affected. Since he was wearing sunglasses I couldn't tell if the guy accepted my apology or not. He ended up turning back instead of continuing the ride. I felt horrible about the whole thing. I pride myself in being smooth and stable during pack rides, and now I had just reinforced the stereotype that most roadies have a triathletes - we have no bike handling skills.

For the remainder of the ride the group was a bit twitchy and I'm sure people were extra cautious as they rode near me. I felt bad about this but didn't get caught up in it - I can control my thoughts and reactions but not theirs, and I refuse to worry about what I can't control. I did what was supposed to do in light of the situation - I took responsibility and did what I could to make sure that the guy was ok and that he knew that I was sorry. He may be ok with it - knowing that accidents happen and that I hadn't done it on purpose. On the other hand he may think I'm just another tri-jerk with no bike handling skills who shouldn't be riding in a pack. Regardless, I have no control over what he will think and I won't let that stop me from riding with the group. If I let that influence me I will have lost control of more than just my bike, I will have lost control of the only thing that I truly do have control over - myself.

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Workout Summary

28 mile bike ride - fast! (yesterday)

4.5 mile run - fast! (yesterday)

2100 yd swim - fast!

The club rides are usually fast and I stay up with lead group most of the time so that's expected. During the run after the bike I felt stronger and faster than usual - clocking a 7:30 pace for most of the runs which is about 1:30 faster than what I've been running at.

Had to get into work early again so I trimmed my planned 3K swim down to 2K, but pushed a bit harder than normal and did it in 1/2 hour.

Tour de Hood

My son was waiting for me as I walked through the door after work. "Hi Dad - wanna go for a bike ride?" He's sitting on the couch. He already has his one cycling jersey on - a kid sized Primal jersey with a cool graphic of a shark.

I look at my wife who rolls her eyes and continues working on dinner. "Uh, you know bud, it's really hot outside - like Africa hot." At that moment the weather report comes on the TV - heat index is 109. I look at my son. He is unphased by this. Weather conditions mean nothing to him. He plays like a goldfish eats. "Uh, let's see how things are after dinner." Mistake. I didn't say no so for him there's an implied yes. Too late I realize the mistake. My wife smiles and shakes her head - she's with my daughter on this one - we're crazy.

Yes we are. We ended up having a great 4 mile bike ride. Not bad for an 8 year old in temperatures that felt like a 109. There was a small hill (ok, I'm from Illinois so a hill for us is a speed bump for most folks) along our route and when he saw it he smiled and turned for it. It suddenly occured to me that this was his master plan all along.

As we rode towards it he glanced over his shoulder and said "water". Sort of like a surgeon says "scalpel". Suddenly I was the domestique ferrying water to the team leader for the final assault to the top of the mountain. He confidently took the water bottle from my hands, took a couple of swigs, and gave it back. I half expected him to throw it to the side. I slowed down to let him go first. He stood up on his pedals and began a strong, stable, rhythmic climb to the top. I've never seen him do this before. To my knowledge he's never seen me do it. Where the heck does he get this stuff?

He's dead serious. In his mind he's going for the stage win. He checks back on the competition and then with a final frenzied sprint coasts over the top of the mountain. He straightens out his jersery and then smiles for the cameras. He's just won a stage in the Tour de Hood. I'm glad I was there to be a part of it. Sometimes it's good to be the crazy parent.

My daughter was waiting for me as I walked throught the door after the ride. "Hi Dad - wanna go swimming?" She's sitting on the couch. She already has her swimsuit on. She's trying to be deadpan but can't resist cracking up.

My kids rock.

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Workout Summary

1800 yard swim - tempo

23 mile bike - one loop at tempo one loop easy

4 mile run - tempo

Holy crap was it humid this morning. The weatherman claimed that a cold front pushed through and the humidity would be lower. Perhaps at 3:00 PM but not at 5:30 AM apparently. The Rooster figured out the difference between AM and PM on his alarm clock and made it in this morning. The irony of the Rooster over sleeping continues to crack me up.

Muncie Endurathon Race Report

The short version: New PR!!!! 5:21!!!!

The long version:

Saturday was the 27th running of the Muncie Endurathon - the longest running 1/2 in the country according to the organizers. Overall this is a very well organized race with a fast bike course and a slightly hilly run course.

The drive down as usual sucked. Traffic through Chicago sucks. It sucks a lot. It's even worse when there's construction. There is a ton of construction going on. Once through Chicago things went well until I hit Indianapolis at rush hour. Overall it took about 5 1/2 hours to get down.

Once in town I headed to the convention center to pick up my race packet. The expo had great prices on tri suits (1/2 off of a $110 DeSoto suit) so picked one up. Signs posted at the packet pickup area showed that the lake temperature was 82 so no wetsuits allowed. Oh heck why not - it's already going to be humid and in the 90's, why not make it worse by also making it my first wetsuit-less triathlon swim? Oh well - it is what it is. There was an all you can eat pasta dinner at the expo so I took advantage of it and then sat through the mandatory pre-race meeting.

After the meeting I found my hotel and got checked in. Read a bit and tried to get to sleep. I kept trying until about 12:30 when I think I finally did get to sleep. It was one of those "fast" sleeps where it feels like you've only blinked and suddenly the alarm is going off. Great - hot, humid, no wetsuit, and no sleep. I should have brought a hammer so I could hit myself in the head a few times as well. A full cup of espresso and a couple of breakfast cookies had me up and ready to go in no time. Got on my stuff, mixed up my bottles, packed up, checked out, and headed to the reservoir.

After setting up my stuff in transition I hung out and chatted with my rack mates. Most of them had done this race in the past and really enjoyed it - a good sign. The racks were preassigned which I like - it avoids people getting pissed off by someone squeezing in at the last second. I scanned around for landmarks so that I'd be able to find my bike in transition, then grabbed my stuff and headed down to the lake.

I was in the 7th wave so I had a 35 minute wait. They called my wave and I headed down to the water. 82 degrees was very refreshing actually so my apprehensions about the lack of a wetsuit were reduced a bit. I routinely do 2K swims during my mid week workouts so I wasn't too concerned at that point. I lined up towards the back to avoid the washing machine and waited for the go.

It came and I went. The swim was clockwise which suited me well as I breath on the right side. In addition to having large yellow turn buoys for sighting, each turn buoy also had a large sailboat next to it. Excellent idea - it made sighting a breeze. The lake was fairly murky and I didn't find any feet to camp on so slipped into my own rhythm focusing on swimming downhill and pulling from my back - a lot easier out of a wetsuit as it turned out. About 2/3 of the way through I started passing people from the earlier waves, though I didn't pass many people from my wave. As I climbed out of the water I felt my timing chip slip off my ankle. I stopped and grabbed it and ran up the hill to transition. Fortunately the darn thing didn't drop in the middle of my swim!

T1 without a wetsuit and with my shoes clipped to the bike was by in a flash. I didn't bother with socks for the bike - just grabbed my helmet, sunglasses, then stuffed my back pocket with my endurolytes and I was on my way. I definitely need to work on getting into my shoes when they're clipped in. It took me the first mile to get my foot into the shoe. After that things smoothed out and I settled in to the bike.

The bike course is relatively flat with a few false flats here and there. After a couple of miles you turn on to a bike path which you stay on for about 10 or so miles. After that you go out and back on a very smoothly paved county highway. At the 1:40 mark I saw the first place guy going by. After that a few more trickled by and then there was a steady stream of age groupers from the earlier waves. I stuck to my plan of hitting the feed bottle every half hour and refilling my handlebar water bottle at every aid station. There were four (I think) stations along the way and all of the volunteers were very good at the "hot handoffs". The only complaint I have (and one I'll send as feedback to the organizers) came at the turnaround. There was an aid station at the turnaround and I decided to grab a Gatorade at that point. I twisted the top and tried to take a drink - nothing. They hadn't to take off the protective covering under the cap - though I'm guessing they weren't told to do so so I couldn't fault the volunteers too much. In any case I chucked the bottle as I didn't want to attempt to get it off while riding.

During the entire bike ride I maintained a 21ish MPH pace at a 148 heart rate. I did feel like pushing a bit harder but kept it reigned in to avoid blowing up on the run, which had me pretty worried. I also stretched my back every 15 minutes or so.

In T2 I got my socks and shoes on, grabbed my run feed bottle, and headed out on the run course. Thankfully, there was no back pain off the bike - a very good sign. For some stupid reason I emptied my back pocket during T2 and didn't put my salt tabs back when I stuffed my run feed bottle in. Fortunately they had salt tabs at the rest stops though. The run is a moderately hilly out and back over a country road with just a little bit of shade. Aid stations were placed every 1-2 miles and stocked with gels, salt tabs, water, Gatorade, ice, and freezing cold towels. About three miles into the run the first place guy cruised by.

I settled into a 11 MPM pace and immediately got passed by a 25 year old who blazed by like a gazelle. I settled into the run and focused on sticking to my plan of walking the aid stations, hitting the feed bottle, taking salt tabs, and dousing myself in cold water. Normally I'm not very good at sticking to my plan during the run but I knew if I didn't this time it would not go well. I also had a gel at each aid station as well. Overall the plan paid off because I felt good through the entire run - I had a good rhythm going and only walked through the aid stations. The only problem I had was being a little over-zealous when dumping water over my head. A bunch of water got into my left shoe and for 8 miles I got to listen to squish-thud-squish-thud-squish-thud as I ran.

In order to keep focused and keep my heart rate under control I used counting - a tip I picked up from reading other race reports. I counted the number of steps I take during each breath (four) and I also counted each breath. When the breath count got to eight I'd restart. This kept me focused on my run rhythm and also forced me to control my pace to keep my heart rate and breathing under control. During the last five miles I upped the count to three steps per breath for a couple of miles and then two steps per breath as I brought myself down to an 8:30 pace. I'll definitely continue to use this technique as it seemed to work very well for me.

With three miles to go I picked up my pace and passed the 25 year old who blew by me on the hill. She was walking by this point. With two miles to go a spectator called out "Wow - you look great! Are you on a relay?" Wow did that make me feel great! I chugged up the final hill and rocketed down the finishing shoot.

All said this was a great experience. Due to various concerns I spent a lot more time than I usually do in prerace planning. By staying focused and sticking to my prerace plan I was able to avoid a total melt down during a tough and hot day - and I was able to bag a new PR in the process. Now that's a good weekend!

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Workout Summary

2K openwater swim (0:39:45)

T1 (0:02:08)

56 mile bike (2:39 - 21 MPH avg.)

T2 (0:02:18)

13.1 mile run (1:58 - 09:02 MPM avg.)

Muncie Endurathon Preview

Gearing up for the 2nd (actually 5th if you count the Triple T events individually) Triathlon of the season this weekend - the Muncie Endurathon.

Went through my last workouts before the race today and felt pretty good. No sign of the needling little injuries that have been plaguing me of late. Hopefully that holds true on Saturday.

Aside from my injuries the biggest thing that has me leading up to this event concerned is the heat - though current forecasts have it at 90+ degrees with high humidity. For me this translates to a suffer-fest on the run.

The plan:

• Prerace: Up at 5:30 for a full cup of espresso and a couple Cliff Bars. Apply body glide and suntan lotion. Mix up the feed bottles and check out of the hotel.
  
• T0: Rack the bike and open the bag - gotta love simplicity here! Get a chip and find a place to chill.
  
• Swim: Go at tempo and avoid the heart rate spike during the mass swim. Stay out of harms way! Find a pair of feet to camp on.
  
• T1: Get out of wetsuit and spend a bit of time stretching back.
  
• Bike: Will be going with the tri bike for this one. Though I haven't practiced it I'm going to try leaving the shoes on the bike and starting out that way to see if I can get T1 times down. Due to the heat I'll plan on having a handlebar mounted hydration system full of water as well as a feed bottle mixed at 900 calories of Perpeteum with a little Endurolyte added to the mix to keep the salts high. Hit the bottle at 1/2 hour intervals. Keep heart rate at the Z3/Z4 boundary. Focus on staying smooth and stretching my back often. Last hits of hydration at about 1/2 hour before T2 to avoid bloating and stomach slosh. At that time pop a couple of Advils.
  
• T2: Try keeping the shoes on the bike. Spend some time stretching out the back before starting off on the run.
  
• Run: Attempt to keep heart rate at the Z3/Z4 boundary - though I'm not sure how successful I'll be given the heat stress. At most mid Z4 will be ok. If necessary walk to get the heart rate down - at least during the first 9 miles. After that release the hounds. Start out at 11-10 minute pace and negative split down to 8's if all seems good. Another feed bottle (gel flask) with Perpeteum mixed at 300 calories for the run. Hit it at every aid station and follow it with water. Will also be bringing Endurolytes in an empty M&M container - pop one or two at each aid station with water. Walk the aid stations. Frequently pour water over head to bring down core heat.
  

So that's the plan. Assuming all goes well I should finish somewhere between 5:30 - 6 hours, probably closer to 6 given heat.

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Workout Summary

1080 yd easy swim.

18 mile bike - tempo

3 mile run - easy

30 minutes core/circuit/stretching

For the swim I focused on "silent running" - being very smooth and making as little noise as possible. Pushed a bit on the bike because it just felt good. The Rooster over slept today so it was a solo ride. Ran into him on my way back as he was going out for his first loop. During the run I forced myself to stay below Z4, though I felt I could go harder - a good sign!

Originally I was planning on skipping any circuit work this week but I went ahead and did one quick circuit on the cable machines. Something about circuit/weight training leaves me feeling more energized after my brick workouts. I read somewhere that it helps to flush the lactic acid and also spikes the endorphins so there you go.

Anticipation

Today the Rooster asked if I was ready for my race this weekend. I replied that I'm not really that spun up about it. But the more I thought about my reply the more I realized that actually I am.

Lately I've been getting hit with all of these needling little injuries. Pulled calf, sore adductor, pulled glutes, and a nagging back pain. Fear that one of these injuries is going to break through and take me out of the race is what has me spun up. It's the anticipation of pending failure - the potential for a DNF - that looms in my mind. None of these injuries is bad enough to sideline me, but focusing on them has magnified their potential for harm in my mind. And the mind can be a formidable foe when it works against you.

And yet if this was a training weekend I wouldn't be spun up at all. I'd do what I usually do if I've got a minor injury - go out and see how things felt. If things felt bad I'd simply cut the workout short and start thinking about adjustments to my routine needed to get things back to good. The other thing I'd do is warm up carefully and focus on form. If things felt good after a solid warmup I'd push a bit and then reevaluate.

So that's going to be my plan - go easy, warm up well, and focus on good form. If things feel bad I'll DNF. If things feel good I'll finish. I'll resist the temptation to push hard because I know I'm not at 100%, however I'm not going to let anticipatory fear of a potential DNF derail me here. It is what it is, and I'll make the best of what I get.

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Workout Summary

2160 yd swim - easy

25 mile bike - easy

5 mile run - easy

My legs seem to be dropping a bit on my swim - going to have to focus on that a bit. I think I may be worrying about my back so I'm tensing up a bit and under-rotating. Aside from that though the distance is still comfortable and the rest of my stroke mechanics seem solid.

I was tempted to do a spin class today as it was raining when I headed out to pull my bike out of the car after my swim. Since the Rooster joined me again today I decided to tough it out and ride in the rain. I reasoned that a rainy day outside is better than a spin class with Coldplay any day. I think I made the right choice.

Run off the bike was again fine. I played a bit of soccer with my son over the weekend and I aggravated my adductor injury a bit but it didn't bother my form so I ran through it. No sign of my calf injury so I think I have that one licked. My back was tense again during the run but not overly so so I spent a bit more time stretching my back muscles afterwards. Will have to be careful in T2 since that's where I'll likely experience the most back aggravation. I'll probably spend a little more time in T2 stretching and loosening my back muscles before setting off on the run.

Twilight Zone

Quite a few years back there was a movie production of the Twilight Zone. One of the short stories was about a guy on an airplane who was terrified of flying. Shortly after takeoff the airplane encountered a horrendous thunder storm. The guy was already freaked out and then he looked out the window. Perched on the wing of the plane was this gargoyle like creature. The gargoyle looked at him as lightning flashed, barred his teeth, and began ripping the housing away from the engine of the plane. This sent the paranoid guy into a full blown shrieking fit and he was subsequently restrained by the other passengers. In the end the plane broke into the sunlight and landed safely.

I was thinking about this as I ran today - carefully monitoring my calf injury for signs of trouble. I could picture a little version of the gargoyle perched on the edge of my calf, waiting for the sky to darken before tearing my calf to shreds and ending the rest of my season. Dennis popped up hoping for a front row seat to my ultimate demise. The nameless one was a no show. He usually doesn't show up until the key moment of weakness. That's when he swoops in and kicks me back onto the correct course. Fortunately he wasn't needed today. The morning stayed sunny and warm - no signs of dark clouds and thunder. My calf was much less tight then Tuesday's run so it looks like my "push if it doesn't break form" approach paid off. At the end of the run I broke into pure sunlight and landed safely.

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Workout Summary

2160 yd continuous swim - 45 minutes - tempo

24ish mile bike ride - tempo

5 mile run - LSD

Now that I have the proper lane distance my swim times make a lot more sense!

Today's ride was the first one this year on my tri-bike. Up until now I'd been riding the road bike and mountain bike only. As an added bonus The Rooster joined me for the swim and bike legs. He's gearing up for Ironman Wisconsin this fall and thought my sadistic early morning brick workouts were just the ticket to get his training in order. We rode a new route I plotted last night through residential streets around the health club. The tri-bike felt great and it was definitely fun sharing the road with a training partner for a change. Once his calf injury gets under control he'll be doing runs with me as well.

The run off the bike felt good. Form was on, rhythm was on, and none of the injuries flared up. Perserverence wins again.

Country Inspiration

It's surprising how sometimes inspiration can hit you out when you least expect it. A couple of weeks ago I was updating my music collection and decided to add some new country songs to the line up. I should point out here that my music of choice tends to be heavy metal (Evanescence, Drowning Pool, Staind, Breaking Benjamin, etc.), but being a musician I also tend to be very musically diverse. My iPod sports a wide range of music including contemporary Christian, classical, jazz, reggae, country, alternative, and lots of metal.

Today I had the country playlist playing for background music while I was working when the following lyrics reached out and grabbed me (the band is Rascal Flatts):

Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause its all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand, Then you stand

Great stuff from a bunch of "Good 'ol boys" - here's to musical diversity!

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Workout Summary (Yesterday)

2000yd continuous swim at tempo

26 mile bike ride - tempo

4.5 mile run - easy - LSD

Bad news on the swim front - all this time I thought the pool I was swimming in was a 20 yd pool. Turns out that it's only 18. Guess I need to bump up my lap count a bit. There's also a 25 yd lap pool next to the 18 yd leisure pool but it's a good five degrees colder and I'm a wimp when it comes to dipping into the cold first thing in the morning.

Had some trouble coming off the bike and starting the run. As soon as I started running I had shooting back pains. I stopped and stretched a little bit and that seemed to help. After a couple of blocks my back was fine. At about the 3 mile mark my heel started bugging me again. My general rule of thumb is that if it's shooting or sharp pain, or if it causes me to break form then I stop. This was neither so I ran through it and spent some extra time stretching after the run. So far so good but I will baby it over the next couple of runs. For now all runs will be LSD - no tempo or interval work.

Will wait until next week to make the call on the Muncie Endurathon. If it's still really bugging me I'll either scratch or go and do the swim and bike.

Only Time for Summaries

Busy day today - no time for the usual ramblings. I'm sure you'll get over it....

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Workout Summary

16 mile run - 2:30 - Z3

Weekly Summary
Overall workouts this week went well. In the past it's been difficult for me to add a midweek run but it seemed to go ok - at least for this week. Also was able to get out for the club bike ride on Thursday evening. I expected to be slow since my Thursday morning workouts were a bit flat energy wise but ended up feeling pretty good.

Long bike this weekend was a challenge, but it was also quite fun. Rather than sticking with my planned three-loop local route I decided to "wing it" and picked roads that took me into the wind. That way I could cash in for the ride home. I ended up at Fermilabs in Batavia. Unfortunately I misjudged and didn't have enough water - or money on me. Fortunately for me I found a water pump behind a tennis course at the little village they maintain inside the campus. Note to self - double check and make sure you bring money idiot. How long have I been doing this?

Long run today was also good - an out and back along the prairie path. For the first time in a few weeks I went out with my iPod but avoided my cadence based playlists and let my legs do what they wanted. Time passes a lot quicker with the distraction. Finally snuck out yesterday and got some new shoes which also helped contribute to a good run.

Going to have to watch injuries a little more closely during the coming week. My long run aggravated my heel injury a bit though the groin injury seems to be under control.

Adversity

Today I had one of those character building rides. Lots of wind, lots of heat, lots of suffering. The perfect training ride. It's training rides like these that train the mind to deal with adversity.

Anyone can have fun flying down the road with the wind at their back. It's an entirely different game when a strong wind is in your face. At first it's frustrating - you're slow, you're tired, and you're struggling to keep control of your bike in the cross winds. For me the frustration evaporates when I recognize it as an opportunity to work on efficiency. Wind has a great way of showing you where your aerodynamics are messed up. If you're a bit off you'll pay a heavy price. By making adjustments you'll dial in your efficiency which will impact your ability to endure.

As with most of the mental aspects of training for Triathlon, this translates well into the "real world". It's all good when things are going your way. When things are not it's easy to just wallow in frustration and self pity/loathing. It's easy to beat yourself up and start a negative think spiral. When this happens let the adversity you are struggling with illuminate where the problem is. With that knowledge in hand work out how to tune yourself to become more efficient in the face of the problem. It is hard. It takes work and perseverance. It takes change. It's all worth it.

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Workout Summary

3200 yd continuous swim - 1hr(yesterday)

82 mile bike - 4:38 - Z3