Top of the Key

Woke up to another cold, cold morning. Still icy on the roads, but can’t bear to run a treadmill in a gym for more than a few miles. So i braved the cold and dark with my new headlamp, and got in a solid 6 miles. 5 miles in z2 at about an 8:30 pace. Legs actually felt a bit heavy, but I’m sure taking off 2 days from running was the source. Swam right away at the pool, all drills. Tried to stay relaxed and kept a long stroke. My upper back is tight again, the same area that was cupped a few weeks ago. Making an acupuncture appt again so we can bleed out the bad blood.

5pm: 22 miles on the bike
Had to move my bike a bit earlier because we’re heading out to dinner for New Years. But got in the 22 mile OD ride. I rode it all on the cranks, and legs felt heavy still, not really a smooth ride. But grinded through it. Hopefully tomorrow’s brick will be more solid. Today was a good one though, and tomorrow will be even better..first day of the new year. Can’t beat it.

Now, for some resolutions. I try not to make a ton of them, because you really can’t do them all really well. so a few that come to mind:

1. Learn to play the guitar, instead of watching a tv show, take that time to learn a new skill, and woo the ladies, right? Not sure how to go about it, do i hire a professional? can it be done on the internet?
2. Plan more time with Jess, Harry, Lhasa and Weke…i know, for those that know me, it may seem that’s all i do, leaving the home sometimes just to go to Whole Foods or the gym…but there’s always room for more.
3. Build up my web design business again and focus on 1 new client per month, and do it really, really well.
4. Run more…something I’ve started already doing, but want to keep at it because i’m now a devout believer that in triathlon, it’s “all about the run”
5. Stay in touch with family more, maybe a call every month? I have 3 brothers and 1 sister, it’s possible to talk more, just a phone call away.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Big rest day before another 2 week training block. I took it easy with limited activity, and lots of rest. It’s extremely crucial to rest and recover, and not miss a day like this especially when the training gets really hard. It’s snowing lightly again outside. The weather was ok today, not too cold. Caught an early movie today, Juno. It’s really good, if you like that sort of comedy and independent films.

One more holiday, and then it’s back to full work weeks. Actually enjoying this down time some.

It’s so still freakn’ cold here, and the snow’s not melting much even with the clear blue skies and sunshine. I only had to do my long ride today, and finished that pretty easily. A good way to end a stabalizer week. Jess is out right now on her 20 mile run, in preparation for her marathon in a few weeks. This will be the longest run for her. I’m planning to ride alongside her for the last few miles. I have to bundle up, gloves, balaclava, long underwear, you name it. I need it. Just sitting her my fingers and toes are cold in the house.

I can’t believe how well she has moved to more running mileage. When we moved here from RI, we were just gym rats and 15 min. cardio geeks. Now everything has totally changed. And running is probably the biggest change of all. So she’s out now in this wind, and snow packed roads. Hopefully kicking some butt. I don’t even want the dogs to be out in the back yard longer than they have to.

I’ve wrapped up a pretty light week, and happy with what I was able to do with the holidays and guests staying with us. But I’m eager to get going again next week. Monday is shaping up to be a good day, doing a little bit of everything. After Tuesday, the weather looks like it’s turning for the better, getting into the 50’s. Weather to me is just another obstacle to overcome, and battling through it makes you that much tougher come race season.

Here’s a photo of our kids Harry, Lhasa and Weke snoozing. They’ve been doing alot of this lately. Weke, the cat, has settled in nicely with his brother and sister. Nothing really seems to bother him…well, maybe the christmas tree that he took down on Christmas eve…about 1am in the morning. Good thing it was small, i moved it into my home office and shut the door. He’s left it along since then. Not sure if he wants to tangle with that thing again.

Late start to the day, but it was well needed. Sleeping in to 7am, then drinking coffee and catching an episode of Big Love. Figured not many people are working so emails were light. Got to the pool around 10am and put in a good solid effort. My legs feel really light after the massage work Jess did yesterday. Worked the rest of the day, ending it with a viewing of Without Limits, the story of Steve Prefontaine. It’s really motivating if you haven’t seen it. It’s the one with Billy Cruddip and Monica Potter, i think there are a few versions out there. But it gets me fired up to run. Too bad I don’t have a run planned until Monday.

Feeling rested more now, and my Stress Manager is getting closer to zero, which is where I want to be starting the week. With the holidays, and a few more drinks than I’m used to, I’m eager to get back to the plan and routine of our daily lives.

Tons of snow again today. It just keeps dumping. Ran the miles this morning in my yaktrax and got in the full 6 miles. I can start to feel the running and slipping on the snow, maybe affecting my hip flexors.

Rode the cranks later in the day for 16 miles. It was pretty solid. I can feel I’m getting better on the cranks, and my lower back is holding up too. That always seems to be where I break down after a long time on the cranks. Jess got me into a massage right after the ride. It was so needed. I worked the entire session on my legs. At some points it was so painful, but i’m trying to manage the pain better, sort of refocus so the pain isn’t present. My legs felt so light after the session. I need to recover big for next week. Looking at my Stress Manager spreadsheet, I was down to about -40 at the end of last week. Right now, I’m up to -10, so need to bag my run today to get back to zero.

Day after Christmas, and man, not feeling on my game. After a few days of drinking, eating dark chocolate m&m’s and getting out of the normal routine, it’s starting to take it’s toll. I’m thankful to be on stabalizer, but still need to get back in line. Took Chirstmas day off, it snowed the entire day. Shoveled the driveway once, probably should have done it again. But man, so much snow. After a game of Cranium and Scrabble, I had exhausted my brain power. Crazy I know.

Today I did my brick. Rode the cranks for 19.5 miles which included 6 miles of z3, then ran around the block 4 times in my new YakTraxs. Those things are really going to help me stay on my feet, and not take a nose dive to the ice and break something on my body. Didn’t really alter my foot strike too much, and could feel the traction on the icey areas.

Also got a head lamp for running. They’ve come a far way since my first one, used mostly when camping in the white mountains. But this ons is light and bright for those early morning jaunts on the snowpacked dark trails of Boulder. Hoping to continue to recover this week and put in a solid 2 weeks coming up.

First day of stabalizer, and was planning to take Monday off, but figured tomorrow was a better day to lounge around. So since everyone in the house was exercising, why not. The weather is still pretty chilly. Today it’s supposed to get up to 45, but doubt it will happen. Had a pretty good run, easy zone 2 run out and back. Legs felt heavy, so this week will be well needed rest.

Swim was ok. My z4 100’s were about 1:28’s. Not feeling fast right now, but focusing more on form, so I’m ok with it. Now back home, and taking a few minutes to update the blog. Week 9 now, and 25 to go. Once the new year arrives, I’m going to really feel the urge to get racing. Right now I think the first race I’ll do is the Barkn’ Dog Duathlon, then maybe the ft. collins sprint, but i always remember what it takes to race a sprint distance, and it’s not easy at all…so that one’s still out there. Then it’s IMCDA, then maybe 5430 long course, and then IMAZ in November. Probably a light race season as far as number of races. But by no means light on distance and training.

Oh yeah, took Sunday off too. Cleaned the hell out of the house because family was visiting. Finished painting my training room green and blue, colors of IMCDA. Need to do some finishing touches, but overall i like how it looks. And this is where I spend alot of time, mental time too during the winter months. So having some inspirtational quotes and posters are the next task.

Felt somewhat ‘off’ today before starting my long bike. Probably because of the yoga yesterday. Started later than usual, around 10:30am. As the season wears on, I’ll be starting these bikes around 7 or 8 because they’ll take 5-7 hours. Today’s ride was 3 hours and 40 minutes on the trainer. 5 mies on the powercranks, just couldn’t push it. The legs were sluggish. So I switched over to the tri bike and just settled into the workout. Main set was 3×5 min in z4 with 3 min. rest in between. Really focused on hammering this part, with minimal body sway which you get when you power hard on the pedals. I like these sets alot. Craig set me up with these last summer in preparation for Timberman. I was doing 3×20 min. in z4. Really helped me build speed leading up to my 2:30 bike at Timberman. Definitely a highlight for me. So working through the pain on these, on the trainer is key. The crazy thing is after the main workout, I still had 35 miles of z2 to complete. Just sitting there at a steady pace, at a HR of 140 is a total mental training block. And it only gets longer. Let’s see, I watched college basketball, Memphis vs. Georgetown, and then Tennessee vs. Xavier, both highly ranked games. It helps me pass the time. I used to play hoops alot, and even when I started training for triathlons, I would stay play pick up hoops at least once a week. But just too prone to injury, and can’t really afford to be layed up…it’s just not worth it for me.

Finally off the bike, I did my usually quick 1 mile run around the block. Again came in under 8 min. miles, trying to keep my HR around 155/160 which is middle of z2. Came back home and around the corner came this lttle scruffy looking dog. It was heading toward me, and so as it approached, I figured it must have escaped because it had tags. Sure enough, it lived right across the street. It was extremely friendly, so i leashed it up and returned it to the neighbors yard, which it then showed me where it’s been escaping. So i just baracaded that area and left a message for the owner. My good deed for the day.

Onto stabalizer week, perfect timing with the holidays. I got my plans for the next 2 weeks too. Just as i was settling into my workout schedule, I’m starting 4 bikes per week after stabalizer. A sign of things to come. Overall, I’m really happy with the past week, and the past 3 weeks since returning from our vacation. Still building up strong in the run, and that’s the main focus.