Week 5 - Recap & Misc.

This was the first week back after a recovery week last week. Taking advantage of the holiday on Monday I was able to swim 1,800 yards and then go for a nice 10 mile run which I was able to run at a 6:35 pace. It helped that the weather was cooperating Monday with temps in the 50's! Then on Sunday, the last day of the week, I did a great brick workout with an hour on the trainer followed by a 3.22 mile run at a 6:14 pace. On Sunday March 2nd I have the Kelly's Pace 3 mile Hare Hop in CT. Also, this could be Jess's, my girlfriend, debut to road racing! I'll write a post race report on how this race goes and how everyone makes out. All and all it was a great week of training. Here are the totals for this week.

Week 5 Totals:

• Swim - 6,094 yards
• Bike - 2 hour 35 minutes
• Run - 21.41 miles

As a side note to having Jess possibly running her first road race this weekend, she has been a huge supporter and believer in me with my training. Especially in the beginning of this training program I set up. I was ready to quite, but she was the one who told me you'll get through it because this is a goal you want to do. Sure enough she was right! It took some time to get use to the additional training that I wasn't use to and then on top of that having to manage the time we could see each other since we don't quite live together. So instead of seeing each other during the week sometimes and weekends like we use to we have gone to just seeing each other on the weekends. As you can imagine this has taken us sometime to adjust to. All and all I have to give her a lot of credit and I love having her on the sideline watching my races. She's been there for all my triathlons and duathlons cheering for me. So here is a huge thank you and I hope you'll be there for much more.

TriFury Winter Clinic 2 - Feb 17, 2008

What a great clinic that was put on by TriFury. I was only able to stay for about 2 hours of it. I had a chance to hear Jarrod Shoemaker speak and what an unbelievable triathlete he is at only 25! He was kind enough to share some training tips and racing tips and sure enough I’ve taken them to heart and put the training tips to good use or at least I’ve been trying to make myself more aware of them, such as stroke and body position in the water. Once this New England weather starts to warm up I’ll head outside and start practicing my bike mounts and dismounts for racing so I can hopefully spend less time in transition. I also couldn’t believe that Jarrod was also swimming about 25,000 yards a week, strength training 3 times a week and logging about 70 miles a week +-! I guess it’s completely different when you’re a pro and this sport becomes your full time job. Sure this sounds awesome, but you’d need the sponsorship and the dedication to make it. It was also good to hear that he plans to stay with this sport till 2016 for the next Olympics and then wasn’t sure if he’d switch over to the 70.3 distance like Andy Potts has done. At any rate he’ll be a great athlete to follow and see how he makes out. I wish him the best of luck in the 2008 Olympics.

Week 4 - Recovery

I had been looking forward to this week since Week 1. What a relaxing week compared to the last 3 weeks. The next 3 weeks will be on the harder side with the introduction of hill climbs on the bike, the increase of my long runs and the increase of yardage and intervals for swimming. Also, look for a post on TriFury Winter Clinic where I had a chance to meet Jarrod Shoemaker.

Week 4 Totals:

• Swim -4,664 yards
• Bike - 180 minutes
• Run - 12 miles

Week 3 Recap

Yet again another tough and tiring week, but I made it through. Week 4 is something to look forward as this is going to be my first recovery week! My total bike time and running mileage is down from the past 2 weeks due to prior commitments and not having the time to get the training in during the week.

Week 3 Totals:

• Swim - 5,698 yards
• Bike - 70 minutes
• Run - 14.72 miles

Winter Blues....

Being a New Englander definitely has its ups and downs, but come this time of season, I just can’t wait for the warmer weather to arrive and to finally start swimming and biking outside again. There is nothing more torturous than swimming in the pool and following that black line at bottom of pool or riding your bike on a trainer inside for hours on end. These past few weeks here in Massachusetts have been horrible; snow, sleet, rain and ice all within the same week preventing me from getting my miles in on the road where I really prefer to run rather than on a stationary treadmill at the gym. There is nothing more fulfilling than running outside and exploring areas that have yet to be seen. With that said these past few weeks of training have been tiring, overwhelming and less desirable. So yesterday instead of getting on the trainer at my apartment I decided to do a spin class at the gym yesterday. Talk about a way to mix things up. It was definitely what I needed to hopefully get out of this training slump I seem to be experiencing and hopefully get me back on the road to more worthwhile training. It also hasn’t helped that my IT band has been acting up and preventing me from running at my full potential. My runs have been less than desirable running at a 7:15 + per mile pace which is far from my potential. My training runs are usually done at 6:15 per mile pace + or – depending on the route I run with my race pace much better than that.

On a more positive note, my triathlon group, TriFury, is hosting its 2nd Winter Clinic this Sunday, Feb. 17 in Methuen, MA at the Guest House Suites. Why something to look forward? Jarrod Shoemaker, 2008 USA Olympic Team Qualifier will be stopping by for a speech along with Candy Angle, 2002 World Champion Xterra Triathlete along with some other guest speakers from the area. I’ll fill everyone in on how it went.

The Beginning - Week 1 & 2

I'm currently in Week 3 of training for my first Half Ironman on June 7th. The first 2 weeks were tough since I've really stepped up my training. I have a long road ahead, but I'm not going to give up. I'm one of those types that likes to get by on the minimum amount of training but I know that in order for myself to finish in a respectable time I'll have to train harder that I'm use to. Being my first Half you think I'd set a realistic goal of just finishing, but I have a hard time doing that since I'm very competitive in nature. With the help of an old high school buddy/runner Scott DeWire and a week by week training guide I was able to come up with what I think is a pretty good training schedule. See below my totals for the last 2 weeks.

• Week 1 totals - Swim - 4,900 yards Bike - 105 minutes Run - 15.1 miles
• Week 2 totals - Swim - 5,500 yards Bike - 110 minutes Run - 22.4 miles