Riddle Me This

I often think of things I want to ask while I am riding, running, or driving. You know times when I can't write them down. I tried to sit down and and write some of them out today. (note: As I began to write them more came out I hadn't thought of, and then a few more non training related came out just to get to know others.)

In no special order:      

Can you recommend a good triathlon training book, or if not a running or a cycling book?

Does anyone else's knees turn red when cycling?

After what length (time or distance) workouts do you use recovery drinks?

Do you use any supplements (i.e. mito caps, race caps, CLA, Multi-vitamins), if so what do you use?

Have you tried G1 or G3 from gatorade?

Triathlete magazine seems over my head every time I pick one up, any good suggestions for training mags?

Favorite speed work workout overall?

Favorite speedwork workout for running, cycling, and/or swimming?

Do you have sponsors, how did you do it?

When did you start running, what pace were you at when you started, how long until you saw improvements?

What is you favorite piece of workout gear?

What is your favorite healthy/training food?

What food is your weakness?

Have you entered for free socks?

082310 and the weekend

Win Free Socks-----Ends Wednesday.

Goals: 17 mile bike ride, eat healthy

Results: !7 mile ride in

Diet setbacks: none really

Thoughts: This weekend left me exhausted. I travelled to Raleigh to join up with my team for my PADI  Rescue Diver certification. We did two practical tests each day that took about 15 minutes each. Afterward we made a few dives with another class. I was disappointed that I did not get to make any recreational dives and see anything new. Maybe next time. Water was very murky but 86 degrees down to 20 feet. It was the first time I have ever dove without a wetsuit. That was my favorite part. Although I am not the best diver, I enjoy it because as a child who grew up with respiratory issues and I have to face my fear of not having air every time I dive.

http://www.padi.com/

This morning the Prison Emergency Response Team was activated for an escape at another facility. I was given an afternoon reporting time so I wanted to get the cough I have had since I came back from Guatemala checked out. After the Doc listened to my lungs he ordered x-rays and blood tests because he thinks I have pneumonia. He brought the x-rays and said that it was not clearly enough pronounced to diagnose, but was probably there last week. He thinks my exercise/use of my lungs, may have minimized it.

The escapee was caught before I had to go in so I went for my long bike ride, I appear to have been left my group. I rode for a while and a began getting tired. I knew I wasn't going to be able to come back because I was not be going to make the climbs on the way back.  I planned to call my wife ad have her come get me. She was busy and I had to ride back. I felt very proud as I caught a second wind (as I usually do) and made it back easy. My last two climbs were hard but I did them as well or faster than usual. I even made most of the trip back in my big ring. VERY PROUD OF MYSELF!

082010

Enter to Win Free Thorlo SOCKS

Goal: Morning Ride (speedwork or Hill Work), PM Modified Brick, Eat Healthy

Results: PM brick

Diet Setbacks: We'll talk about this later

Thoughts: This is going to be short and lacking depth, my apologies. It was another one of those days. I woke up this morning (after only being able to sleep a few hours) and I was still feeling sore from last night's run. So I decided to put the kybosh on the morning ride.

Work was a full day and left very little time for goofing off, although I did work in a little goofing off.

One short note about the food. I did have a hamburger, fries, and diet coke today. I could not get enough food to stay full today ,so at lunch I hit McDonalds. Not part of my diet, however I think considering my long run and upcoming brick it was justified. I will see when I step on the scale tommorow morning.

After work was my modified brick. I call it a modified brick because I planned to walk instead of run afterwards. Two reasons for this. First, as this is the first brick in a month or so I wanted to start easy. Secondly I will be gone for the weekend and I was able to convince CB to walk with me.

I originally planned for a 16 mile ride but rode 14 mile with warm and cool in 59:59.  I attempted 6x1 mile intervals trying to keep above 15 miles per hour (trying to get back into it) with 1 mile rests. If someone has some good workouts on the bike please let me know, I want to increase my sustained speed, not so worried about my top end sprinting. This was an awkward workout because my planned routes kept being changed due to construction and traffic. This lead to unplanned stoplights, hills, and turns, messing with my splits. In fact, I have not even looked at the splits yet. When I returned home I met CB and we walked 2 miles in the neighborhood. I forgot about the two pain I was having last night until we were walking. Next week I will move to three miles with running around/or slightly slower than race pace but with rest in between. I plan to work up to running four miles after my ride. Hopefully at race pace.

That's pretty much it for my Friday night. The next two days I will be out of town and away from the computer as I complete my rescue diver certification. I can't say I am looking forward to it. I haven't had a weekend at home since July.

081910 or Another long post.

Hmm....start with..........Hmm.....

Lets go with my first ever give away....

Since my birthday was last weekend I decided I wanted to give a gift to a follower.

This is my way of giving back because of your feedback and blogs I received training and nutrition tips, inspiration, and hours of entertainment (I have watched the video from Jeff @ dangle the carrot a dozen times this week, I laugh every time).

It may not be much but I am going to giveaway two pairs of  Thorlo CoolMax Socks.

With all the brands out there smartwool, sockguy, defeet, nike, etc., etc., why Thorlo?

I currently reside in Statesville, NC. Thorlo is a local company. The socks are made here, the grandchildren of the owner go to my wife's school and they have pledged  the the socks will always be made here. I enjoy supporting local business!

So with that in mind 1 entry for following me and leaving me a comment that you like socks.

That's all. No facebook, no twitter, no poems. If you want to do any of those, feel free, but no extra entries for it.



Next...........

I posed my question last week about socks because bike socks are my reward for breaking (and staying under) 219 lbs. I have been under since the 9th. (I may even get my next reward soon if all goes well through the weekend). I decided to pick up one crowd favorite and one pick for me.

The sharks won overwhelmingly. I chose the Gorillas as my pick. Although I may buy all of them over time. And as luck would have it, a promoter I raced with earlier this year did an E-expo including a 30% off coupon on Sock Guy Channel Air socks the coupon code is SetUpChlAir if anyone else wants to use it.

Lastly.......my daily report

Goal: 16 mile ride, 9 mile run, Eat healthy.

Results: 9 miles in 2:03.

Diet Setbacks: 1 pack Nutty Buddy bars

Thoughts: Today was a day from hell. I messed up my alarm clock so I missed my morning workout and overslept in general. Luckily my wife helping me with some morning chores so I got to work on time. With my partner on vacation and my boss sick (Dollar you still suck), I got a lot of extra work dumped on me and ended up with more work than I could finish in 8 hours. Plus, I had to lead a tour and attend a staff meeting, about 4 hours total. Do that math- 8+ hours work and 4 available hours. I ended up staying over 30 minutes, bit eventually just had to walk away.

This day just made my run feel that much better. I was actually looking forward to it, to let the days stress melt off. My goal was 1:45 and even though it took 2:03 I am ok with it. My goal was for a negative split and that didn't happen either. The gamin said my first mile was around 11 minutes and the second was 12 minutes. Oddly, everytime I looked at my speed it run sub 10 minutes. I think there were some hills that threw my time off. The next mile was slower, but then they got faster (still slow, but this was LSD so I deal). At mile 8 it all fell apart. Mile 8 was a around 18 minutes and mile 9 was around 16 minutes. My goal for Disney is 2:45, this is not too far off, but I may need more hill work and endurance

Even though I am not happy with my times why am I so accepting because this is my longest run since summer 2003. This was HARD. I even realized my 7 miler was substituted for my first tri and I skipped my 8 miler. I jumped straight from 6 miles to 9.

I have discussed speed but there was more to it.  My first three miles were in the rain and felt very cool despite the rain jacket. At mile 5 my left knee started hurting. Mile 6 my right knee started hurting. Mile 7 my back started hurting and I ran out of water. Hip pain throughout as well (in an odd place  on both legs). I also learned a few things. This was my first run with my new GoLite Hydroswift (thank you  Endurance Isn't Only Physical). I learned that adding an ounce of water to your hammer gel is for the full bottle, not just 2 oz's. Also make sure it is closed tightly before holstering, because its carried upside down, or in your next few steps it will spray ALL over your legs. Around 7.5 miles I was running past my house so I called my wife and she put a fresh bottle of water in the mailbox for a bottle exchange. Best mail order bride EVER.

I had so many questions about long runs during my run but I can't remember now. I still feel off, time for a snack and more water.

081810

Goals: 900m swim, eat healthy, hard core club workout.

Results:900 meters in 23:25.

Diet Setbacks: None that I can think of. :\

Thoughts: Remember that comment I made about yesterday being uneventful? Well, aapparently I messed up my karma. I never got the chance to start my Hard Core Club Workout, because right around the time I was going to head down to the weight room there was a fire in our segregation unit. Not a fire drill, an actual fire. My duty in a fire here is to station myself at a certain central location and await further instructions. I am not a first responder within our building because of my full time duties (this ironic because the combinations training from my volunteer fire/rescue work and my duties on our Special Response team give me more knowledge and experience then most, if not all, the first responders). While stationed in my position, they called for all available fire extinguishers to the location of the fire. The location I was standing at has the largest number of extinguishers int eh building, so I grabbed one and ran. The run was about 125 meters. I noticed all the other guys were gassed ad back to walking at around 75 meters. Also, at one point a training class in the front of the prison let out to assist and a wall of blue uniforms cam running, they were another 100 yards from where I started. I made the observation that over half stopped running after the first 100 meters, and only two were left running by the time we got to the location of the fire. This made me think two things: 1- I am glad to have at least the minimal amount of conditioning that I have; and 2- this is evidence that we need a new fitness standard.

On another work note, by partner is on vacation and my boss has gone out on medical again (this is after being gone for the first 7 months of this year and Dollar if you're at home reading this...YOU SUCK!!) this means I am getting swamped at work.

Since today was my late day at work, I was able to do my long swim before work. 900 meters in 23:25 it felt a little awkward but I got it done. The middle 400 meters was done with fins and just legs; I need to build the endurance in my kicking. On another note i realized i will be out of town the day of my long run so I will try to move it to tomorrow afternoon and my make up bike ride to tomorrow morning. Two long workouts on the same day, this may be interesting...If I live to tell about it.

Lately, I have been doing a lot of reading on recovery drinks. I read about a lot of different supplements and hear just as many people say chocolate milk. I read on one forum where someone suggested Ovaltine. I looked into this and it I am going to try it. It is cheaper than most supplements, has less carbs and fat than slimfast, and basically makes vitamin enriched milk. I NEED more vitamins, I don't take any and not sure i get them all.

Lastly, I recently joined the Distance Dreamers group. I am looking forward to keeping up with everyone as they prepare for their events and I prepare for my first half marathon. I will being doing this in order to improve my running for tri season and to prepare for my goal 70.3 next fall. After my last tri in October I will dedicate the rest of the season to running and cross training (i.e. bike and swim) I hope to stick to speed work in the other two events. If you look below i have the Charleston half marathon listed. i put serious thought into this and decided to make a change. I though about coastal winds in South Carolina In January....this sounds too cold for me. Instead I now aiming for the Disney World Half Marathon..Florida sounds a little more pleasant. And why wouldn't I want to go to The Happiest Place on Earth for my longest race ever. Lucas.......What are you going to do after your first half marathon....I'm going to Disney World!!!

Anyways the Distance Dreamers question of the week was "Do you run with other people - who, where, when and why (or why not)?" I run alone, but not out of choice. If I could find a group to run with slightly faster than me who could push me I would love it. I just have not found that yet. I have tried. I have also learned that I do better with a group it gives me a reference point and if the group moves faster i will push harder to not get dropped.

When i sat down to write this I had several questions i wanted to post to try and get feedback from others but as it has taken me 8 hours to type this due to other issues that keep popping up, I can not remember them....oh well, maybe tomorrow. Have a great and boring day everyone!

P.S. I know I am not normally gramatically perfect, but i feel like this post is the worst ever. Please forgive me as I have been running all day and my head hurts.

081710

Goals: 200 meter swim, 2 mile run, eat healthy

Results: 200m swim with 4.25m sprints, 2 mile run in 23:29

Diet setbacks: 1 small bag of chips, 1 oatmeal cookie

Thoughts: First to address the food;  I aalways bring a lunch and two snacks to work. My 2pm snack was a cup of yogurt. I was craving something salty, however. I did have a left over bag of chips in my desk so I at those instead. I justify it with the fact that I have eaten so well lately and considered the intensity of the  workout the night before and I had two workouts coming the same afternoon. The cookie was a hold over until dinner and it was a Kashi  oatmeal cookie, no icing, no frills. I think that one will be ok. All in all a decent diet day.

My swim today was decent. I wanted to do more sprints but I figured first week back on speedwork I should take it easy. My time were 25s, 33s, 29s, and 31s. I can not wait to see these get lower.

The run was a 2 mile recovery run. I had a target pace of 12:00 per mile and ran the first one at 11:50 and the second at 11:23.  although it was a recovery, in my competitive nature I wanted a negative split. I ran one lap around my block and then ran the second lap to my in-laws where I was meeting my wife for dinner. As I passed our house she was loading the dogs in the car to drive over, so I ran up quickly and grabbed my dog (not that I show favorites between the two or anything) and she ran with me. She loves to run! What makes the split more impressive is that the terrain from the second lap is much tougher. Hills the whole way.

Sorry that this post was boring, I was mostly an uneventful day. I enjoy that because I need one of those every once in a while.

081710

Goals: group ride and eat healthy, maybe some sore work.

Results: 5 mile run w/ 4x800

Diet Setbacks:  NONE- pretty ideal day of eating.

Thoughts: Today was another day like the few I had last week. Due to a prison emergency I ended up riding shotgun (literally, two pistols and shotgun) on the prison bus. This meant staying late and missing my group ride. Not feeling like I had enough time go ride my 16 miles, I needed to re-think my workout, with the pool getting ready to close, run was the only option but not enough time for my long run. I went with swapping my speedwork and long ride.

The 4x800 were ok, not as fast as I would have liked, but faster than my normal trot. I wanted to try my new toy so I programmed the workout into the garmin and it took almost as long as the run. I had to walk the rest because my HR was in the 190's to the total 5 miles took me 1:01:01.

I hope this is not another week were I have to adapt a lot. I don't like breaking from my structure. Hopefully this week i will also get back into doing some strength and core training. Anyone have any good strength training workouts for triathletes?  Most of my co-worker lift for size so I usually work out alone, lunchtime is pretty much a muscle man circle jerk in our weight room.

On a front other than training, CB gave me my birthday present last night. It is not my birthday but there was some mail issues with it. She bought me a used Zeagle Ranger BCD from EBAY. I hope to go get it serviced today. It looks pretty used, a lot of sun and water fade on it. Although those sound like gripes, I am happy to have it. For me diving is like triathlon, I get what I can afford. The more I get into these two sports, they seemed to be filled with a lot of people who have more money than sense. I have a lot of used gear for each. For diving I have fins from a yard sale, regulator from the used rack at the shop, and now a bcd from EBAY. in triathlon, I have a gifted 15 year old bike, used cycling shoes, and clearance running shoes. Despite having education, I fail to find jobs that pay what my grad school advisor said I should make, but luckily I grew up without a lot so I am already well adjusted. At least I'm not getting hand me downs, goodwill shoes, and food from school food drives anymore. Considering the amount of time it takes me to save for new shoes, I can't imagine how long it will take me to save for one of those fancy road or tri bikes. I am done with the semi-rant and please know that I am content with the equipment I have.