Bike 5/14

After my run, I let lunch digest a bit and then did a 21 mile ride in 1:26.

I biked down to the Valley, along 116th to the SRT, up Hollywood Hill, then back along the SRT. I climbed 60 Acres Hill and then did the usual 520/Old Redmond Road path home. I decided biking straight into the Slater hill climb didn't really give me enough time to warm up.

I had one of the new e-gels, and I have to say, I do like them. This time I took "Cherry Bomb" with me. The packs are 150 calories, so I had half of one after 30 mins, and the the other half in another 30 mins. I wrapped up with my recovery drink.

Run 5/14

I got out to the Redmond Watershed and ran 8.5 miles (outer loop plus inner loop) in 1:30. Great run - I passed a friendly woman on a horse, three times. This is great, not all horse riders are grouchy like the one I met a few months ago.

Swim 5/13

Another good session:

• 4x100 warm up, with fist gloves - ~10 mins
  
• 2x800 - 31:30
  
• 1x400 cool down - 4:30
  

Total of 2400 yards in 46 minutes.

It is time to ratchet up the yards - starting next week I'll aim for 3000 yards. Plus, do an open water swim at Martha Lake Wednesday evening.

Bike 5/12

I got a late start, so I just did a short trainer session - 1:06 while watching some TV. I'll try to make the next three days productive bike days.

Rest 5/11

I wound up napping after getting back from the airport, and decided that today was a good time to take a rest day. :)

Gels

I've been using a lot of gels lately, and I find I require more than is typically available at the store. For example, last time I went to REI to load up, they were out of everything, and I only wound up with 6 gels - 3 PowerGel tropical fruit, and 3 PowerGel green apple.

So I broke down and just mail ordered a bunch. I bought a box of 24 PowerGel tropical fruit from Tri-Zone, a sampler pack of e-Gel from CrankSports, and a box of 24 of Vanilla, Banana, and Orange Burst Gu from All3Sports.

The e-Gel sampler pack and PowerGel arrived, so that's 40 more I now have. Once the other 72 Gu's arrive, I should be set for quite some time. ;)

Run 5/10

I wanted to get a run in, but didn't have time to drive over to the Redmond Watershed. So, I decided to try running around my neighborhood, on the streets instead of a trail - something I've avoided for weeks. But, I have to do it eventually so I might as well find out how my foot is doing.

I did 4.6 miles in 49 minutes, running my neighborhood loop. I took it easy, not wanting to stress my left foot. The great news is - it feels fine! I'll still avoid running on the pavement all the time, but I am happy my foot has improved.

7/11 Hills of Kirkland, part 2

This is turning into a big event! T1 and MM want to come along, as does JHS. T2 told SO about it, and he is interested. As another bonus, another tri-friend CP might be in town for it as well. Plus, EE and BF, some people I did Chilly Hilly with. We're all different abilities and paces, and will ride different distances, so I think what will happen is we'll just try to meet afterwards to eat.

I'm thinking of the 78 or 100 mile course. The 42 mile course looks good, but I sorta ride that distance already and need a good challenging final long ride. I'm familiar with the rest of the course, except for a chunk of the century near Duvall. I have a friend who lives out there, near Cedarcrest High School, and from my drives to visit, I know that Duvall hill (whatever it is really called) is STEEP.

The cue sheet shows the route circles around, on Stillwater Hill/Kelly Hill Road. I am not familiar with those roads, and would want to drive them before doing the century.

Swim 5/9

I upped my long set to 1000 yards, and it felt pretty good!

• 4x100 warmup with fist gloves - ~10:00
  
• 1x400 pushing the pace a little - 7:30
  
• 1x1000 - 20:00
  
• 1x400 - 8:15
  
• 1x200 cool down - 4:15
  

Total of 2400 yards in 50 minutes.

Week 18

May 2 - May 8

	Time
Swim	0:37
Bike	8:04
Run	0:53
Strength	0:00
Weight	142.2 lb
Body Fat	13.9 %

It was a busy week and I only did one swim and one run...

I should take the "strength" row out, I pretty much don't have the time to go to the gym anymore. I do stretch and do a little core work, but I haven't been reporting that all this time, and it would look weird to suddenly start. It is only 10 or 15 mins a day, while I watch TV.

Bike 5/8

I have a few minor household errands to do (laundry, a little mowing, minor cleanup, etc.) and couldn't quite motivate to bike outside, so I decided to do a trainer ride on my Cervelo.

So far I'm at 2:04 on the bike, and I watched Medium, Alias, and Smallville. I recorded the re-broadcast of Ironman Hawaii, so after I take care of a few things, I'll hop back on and spin while watching that - it should be good motivation.

time passes...

So after volleyball I ate dinner, chatted a bit online, and then did another 1:17 on the bike, to bring my total up to 3:21 for today.

Here's an excerpt from the chat, edited slightly for clarity:

L: So did you get two exercises in today?
me: not yet
L: not yet? what are you planning to do still tonight?
me: another hour or so on the bike trainer
L: wow, you're sick you know that? Or inhuman!! which is it?

I think that about sums it up nicely. ;)

7/11 Hills of Kirkland

I found a nice final training ride to do: 7 Hills of Kirkland, on Memorial Day. The ride features a 42 mile 7 hill ride, a 78 mile 11 hill ride, and special this year because it is the Kirkland Centennial, a 100 mile ride. This is 4 weeks before IMCdA, so good timing for a challenging last long workout.

And, I talked to my parents today - wished Mom a happy mother's day! - and found out they are thinking of coming to spectate IMCdA. I know they want to come up to help when the movers are here, so perhaps the timing will work out that their visit will overlap. I'll look up the spectator info on the IMCdA website and send it along.

As for me, I will try to have the movers here the weekend of June 18th/19th or within a few days after that. At that point, with the race just a week away, I'll take vacation and just drive over early, to get settled.

Juggling all this stuff is hard, when so much isn't fixed yet. I'll have a better idea of the move-related schedule after my house starts getting offers.

Bike 5/7

I explored a bit and added to my "hill masochist" route: 124th St East, and 104th St from Avondale - both climbs on Education hill that were really good.

My bike computer showed 45.1 miles in 3:05.




The climb up 124th St was a nice long challenging grade. So was NE 104th St, but I had to change down to the 30 in order to make it up that one. I was able to do all this climbing in the saddle at least.