Lazy

I'm feeling lazy... I have some friends who want to day trip to Whistler tomorrow, and I am tempted to go. Reasons to go: I only got out once snowboarding this season, I'd get to sleep much of the way, my volleyball match was cancelled. Reasons not to go: I'd miss a whole day of training and I really need to bike, I'd miss spectating at the Mercer Island half, I have housework to catch up on.

And now, instead of hopping on the trainer and cranking out 2 hours, grabbing dinner, and packing up so I can get up super early tomorrow, I just want to rest and watch TV.

I just checked the schedule, and for the 10th week I am supposed to do a brick: 2 hour bike and 1 hour run. Well I did the run this morning so if I can get motivated to do 2 hours on the trainer... I'll convince myself that skipping tomorrow is OK. Wow, I just checked again, the GB plan is light for this week - just two of everything: 2 swims, 2 runs, 2 bikes, 2 days off (since I am currently skipping strength training). Huh. I think I can actually do this - I'll feel guilty and spend some time convincing myself not to be. :)

This is the downside of IM training. I'm in decent shape for an oly, and with a bit of effort could get to half iron. The full is another level of time/stress scheduling the workouts and getting them done.

Run 3/19

I drove out to Carnation with my friend AM, where we met my running club for a timed run on the Snoqualmie trail. The format was: run at your own pace, and turn around in 30 minutes.

According to my GPS, which lost reception once, I did 6 miles in 1:00:30. I turned around at 30 minutes, and positive splitted slightly. Still, it was a nice run along the trail - it is flat and leads all the way to Snoqualmie Falls.

I think I need to run more, maybe do two runs of one hour each per week. But mostly concentrate on the bike of course.

Bike 3/18

I slipped in a quick bike ride on my basic home loop: 11.8 miles in 49 minutes. Afterwards I ate some apple cinnamon Carboom - it was pretty good, but once again is probably too sweet for event consumption. Actually, this stuff tasted just like real dessert.

Swim 3/18

I didn't have as much time today, so I did 1200 yards: 1x100 warmup, 2x400, then 1x300 cool down. Total time was around 25 minutes of swim time - I didn't track my resting periods this time.

I'm slightly over 2 minutes 100 yards - the 400 sets took me about 8:30 and 9:00 minutes respectively. That is OK, I'm in the neighborhood of a 90 minute IM swim (of course I would slow down over the full distance). I'll work my long set up over the weeks; right now I just want to consistently get to the pool twice a week.

Bike 3/17

50 minutes, 90 Watts, cadence of 85-90 in the 39x17, for an average speed of around 15.5 mph, according the the CT.

That seems slow, but I checked it out on a gear calculator and sure enough, the speed is about correct for the gear ratio and cadence. Hm... I need to start riding in the 39x16!

TOPO Florida

I ordered TOPO Florida, which arrived today. When I get a chance I'll look for the infamous SugarLoaf hill that is on the Great Floridian and Florida Challenge triathlons. This is out in the Clermont area, which has rolling hills.

So now, I am all set to measure distances and make the elevation profile maps for Florida bike routes. I have so much fun with that. :)

Run 3/16

I did 4 miles in 41 minutes along the SRT, from 60 acres park to 145th and back. I would have ran for longer, but my stomach was bothering me - I had a late lunch at Dixie's, a local BBQ place, and was absolutely stuffed. Thus, trying to run even four hours later was a little uncomfortable (lunch at Dixie's is pretty heavy).

IMAZ Volunteer

I signed up to volunteer at Ironman Arizona, at bike special needs, along with T1. This should be interesting, because the bike course is three out-and-back loops, plus an ending section, so we'll get to see all the competitors a few times. And of course cheer for T2. :)

Check out the map. I'm not sure where bike special needs will be - I would guess at the turnaround on highway 87.

The volunteer coordinator promises that we'll be done in plenty of time to see the marathon finish. This is actually perfect - bike special needs won't need to be there as early as transition zone volunteers or swim volunteers, and we finish earlier than run course monitors or run course aid station workers.

I've seen portions of the last few hours of an ironman - the finish line turns into a giant disco party. All the spectators are screaming, the music is cranked, everybody is yelling encouragement to the athletes trying to make the cutoff.

Swim 3/14

My long swim of the year: 1800 yards, as 9x200 in 45 mins. I did the same pattern - start each 200 yard set on the 5 minutes, and rest the leftover time.

Week 10

Mar 7 - Mar 13

	Time
Swim	0:37
Bike	6:57
Run	1:10
Strength	0:00
Weight	141.0 lb
Body Fat	16.3 %

A total of 96.4 miles on the bike, counting the trainer. Next weekend I'll need to push again and do another long ride. I also need to get my swim frequency up to twice a week, and shoot for more running as well.

In other news, I made plans to travel to IMAZ to spectate, cheer, and maybe even volunteer. JHS is coming, and so is BF. T1 and I talked about that during our ride - I'm interested in volunteering, as long as I am free enough to cheer on T2. Some position that finishes up early would be good, or a shift on the bike/run course that also finishes as early as possible. I'll see, I get into Phoenix early enough to catch a bit of the expo - I'll attend and see if there is a last minute need.

Bike 3/13

I met T1 for a nice ride. I asked if T1 wanted to do 80 miles, just to "one up" T2's long ride, but T1 declined. ;) I chose a nice route: start at my home, around the 60 acres hill, to Marymoor, then along West Lake Sammamish Parkway to NE 24th St and back. We did 19.5 miles in 1:26.

It was a great weather, but just a bit cool. T1 and I were able to ride side-by-side for most of it (nice wide bike paths) and chat. At the turnaround, I tried a Carboom Chocolate Cherry gel, something I got in a goodie bag. It was delicious! However, I think I'd puke it right back up during an event. The ideal for me is something just slightly more flavored than bland. All these exotic flavors must be for variety in training rides. ;)