Yeah, Failing Again

So yeah.  I'm not updating like I was going to be, but that's because of my failing.  I want to be out there doing something, yes, even running would be nice.  But right now I'm nursing a bad knee.  IBuprofen and ice are my friends for the next week or so (Merry Christmas to me!)

And it's kind of a funky couple of weeks so trying to get any kind of consistent training in the pool is shot, so come beginning of January I will be hitting the pool hard and fast!

Stay tuned! I will be posting more soon!

Stay Tuned!

I am getting my act back together... So stay tuned for new posts... Soon!

30 Days!

So yeah, I've seriously slacked off on keeping up with this thing.  And with my training... But I've now got 30 days left until I hit up Ironman Canada. 

Things are going to hurt!

Bring it!

Huli Drills and Head Winds

What a day of fun in the sun! Absolutely brilliant!  The only problem was the winds that we had while paddling and biking.

Paddling
So while we were paddling we had some pretty bad winds hitting us.  Made for some waves crashing into the boat and the ama bounce up out of the water frequently.  But we had a good strong crew out there and made short work of that all.  Our coach was out on an OC1 (Outrigger Canoe - 1 person) keeping us in check and making sure we were doing the drills and taking pictures of us.

Once we were almost back, coach let me try out the OC1.  And well... It didn't go very well.  I managed to huli it three or four times without getting anyplace.  The wind would pick up and just blow me over like a big sail, which causes me and the boat to flip.  It was quite comical! But also tiring to keep flipping the boat right side up and then jumping on it.  Eventually coach said he would take it back and put me back in the OC6 (thanks!) I almost had not enough energy to get into the OC6!  

My GPS said we did about 6.4 miles, but that was only until I got on the OC1, as the flipping caused it to konk out.  The device still works,  just lost signal long enough to shut down.  And during those flips I managed to cut up both feet, and remove a patch of skin and hair on my leg, which I didn't notice until I got home and showered and yelped in pain!  But a GREAT day on the water!

After that several of us went to Boondoggles and got some lunch and chatting in before myself and one of the crew went off on our biking!

Biking

So the plan was to do the same lap that I did last time I was out there.  About 20 miles around clear lake. This time I was doing it with one of my friends from the paddling club and so we set off!  Oh. Em. Gee. The head wind got us the ENTIRE route!  There were spots where I was literally, and not exaggerateingly (that is a word now, and I'm using it in Scrabble!) pedaling to not lose speed going DOWN HILL! It was brutal out there!  But we got through it!  And my friend was a trooper out there! Not only did we paddle first, but he was out at Chappel Hill yesterday putting in his MS150 training ride on those hills! His legs are going to feel it tomorrow!  Sorry Man!

But we finished it in about 1.5 hours and so it wasn't too bad for that head wind.  And we got a great full body workout in today doing both the paddle and the bike like that.  Hopefully I can wake up in the morning (ok, in 4 hours) to go swim... But it's not looking good since it's only 4 hours away! Yikes!

Enjoy!

Updates of Training and a RACE!

March 23: I ran! I ran 3.03 miles in 26:34.  It was an OK run.
March 23: I biked! 20.37 miles in 1:23:43.  Nice easy bike with a friend.

Today, I did the Law Week 8k Race.  Friend got me to sign up for it and so I did and we ran!  And she pushed the crap out of me.

1. 8:00  [142 ahr] 
2. 8:05  [182 ahr]
3. 8:10  [186 ahr]
4. 8:12  [188 ahr]
5. 8:32  [187 ahr]
6. 1:55 (0.18 miles) [189 ahr]

Around mile 4.25, I had some issues with my blood pressure spiking.  And had to slow down to a walk for about 1/4 mile.  I was quite dizzy and light headed.  But after it cleared I started running and finished it off.  But all things considering I forgot I could run that fast! DAMN!  I seem to be getting my speed and distance back on the running.  This is good for that silly little race coming up!  Now if only I can get into the pool and get my swim on!

So... BRING IT!

Biking and Running

Well, I didn't get to my biking on Tuesday like I wanted due to work problems.  And I also didn't so much do anything on Wednesday.  Yup, I slacked off more.

Then I missed my run on Thursday because ... Slacker.  But I did bike on Thursday with a friend.  And it was good.  We did about 20 easy miles in around an hour and a half.  It was a good ride.

Then this morning I did 6 miles.  It didn't go as planned since I was planning trail running, but I slept through getting to Double Lake where I was planning on doing that.  But still, 6 miles and at then end I felt not too bad.

1. 9:26 (129 ahr)
2. 8:34 (184 ahr)
3. 8:55 (181 ahr)
4. 9:10 (181 ahr)
5. 9:12 (182 ahr)
6. 8:42 (183 ahr)

Looking at those paces, it seems like I'm slowly getting faster while still gaining distance.  Both of which is a good thing.  So, not only was the run not too bad feeling wise, but stats wise as well.  Guess I am happy about that!

Was suppose to do a bike afterwards, but I decided to not, since the rains were suppose to come quickly and not 5 minutes after I got in my truck leaving Memorial, the sky's opened up.  So it was perfect timing!

Tomorrow I canoe and bike though!  Should be good times!  Even if it's windy and cold like it's planned to be!

A Happy Run -- Weird.

Anyone who actually knows me, knows I don't like running.  Fact. Truth. Whatever. I just don't. It sucks. Enough Said.

So when I say I had a happy run... That is pretty mind blowing huge!  I don't know what it was about the run, I was alone, just my iPod and my demons running out there together.  And when I finished I felt great.  I was in a good mood which I haven't really had in a long while, although Sunday was a turning around point for me since I was on the water canoeing with great people, that helped a lot.

I am still sore from Sunday's canoeing and biking too, so I wasn't really looking forward to today's run.  But I got out there.  And I started off feeling the stiffness in my back and buttocks.  But things smoothed out the longer I went.  And I apparently got faster the longer I went as well:

Miles:

1. 9:53 min/mile (168 avg heart rate)
2. 9:03 min/mile (168 avg heart rate)
3. 8:54 min/mile (173 avg heart rate)

Needless to say, not only did I enjoy just being out there running, but I'm quite happy with my results today as well!


And to top it off, I burned 630 calories.

And now ... Biking tonight!

Not Slacking! Honest! (only on updating here)

So, I've only really slacked off on updating my blog here.

So let's see...

March 2nd, I ran.  3 miles.
March 3rd, I rock climbed.
March 4th I biked 11 miles.
March 6th I raced Eco Lonestar with Claudia (4 hours 16 minutes!)
March 8th I started doing some resistance training
March 9th I ran, 3 miles in the morning and biked 15 miles in the evening
March 11th I ran 3 miles.
Today I biked, 20 miles, after getting back into the boat after a long lay off!

So yeah, the boat stuff... I am back in with TOCC and practicing.  Today we were out there for about 2 hours and went almost 9.5 miles.  It was great to be back out there, but I need a lot of work again!  I need to work on my form and strengthen my shoulders some more! Yikes how that all left me!

But it was great to be with the crew again.  Good times and with a goal race in mind to help keep us focused we should have a great season ahead of us!  Love the paddling!

So there you go.  Yes, brief but I don't have much time for these updates since I'm so busy working out or recovering (passed out) from the work outs.  Speaking of ... Time for bed! Night all!

Slackeritist and Sickly

Yes, yes, yes, I know.  I've been slacking off on posting here.  I have done a couple of work outs since my last posting, but have been not really motivated lately because of various things going on out side the realm of training. 

It really sucks a lot when you want to train, but just can't muster the mental energy to do so because of too much crap going on elsewhere in your life.  I still have too much of this going on, but things are slowly clearing up and only about one more week until a lot of it goes away (I hope!)

But I have done a 30 mile bike ride and 3 mile run.  I was suppose to do a 10k run/race this past weekend but because of finding some bad chicken at the Houston Rodeo BBQ Cook Off, I was down and out.

I was also out for a week because of being sickly, and my parents being around, so I really haven't been able to do much of anything.

BUT!  And here is the big news!  I hit the pool this morning!  YAY!  Of course this comes with some slight bad news.  My messed up shoulder doesn't like to swim anymore.  So it was a struggle.  I'm also very out of swimming shape in general so I have a lot of work to do to get back up to where I should be and ready for this race.  What I did today was one length of the pool freestyle (normal swimming for tri) and then one length on my back to even things out.  I did that 8 times.  And for the 25m pools that means I did ... Anyone? Anyone? 200m of both.  And then my arm told me I was done.

So I've started back at it, wish I started a lot sooner since I have so much work to do, but, I'm sure once I get things rolling and stay consistent I will get back into shape quickly and be close to where I need by mid April.

So, starting today I'm back in the pool and hopefully I can keep it going and get back to my running and biking as well as needed.

Long ways to go, but not too far away either! Yikes!

Biking and Running

Well, I definitely need to get better at writing these posts in a more timely manner!  But the good news is I've not been overly slackerish.

Firstly! New bike! YAY!  Finally after lots of searching and waiting and such.  I ended up with a 63cm Cannondale Six Carbon 1 With upgraded crankset from the FSA to Dura Ace, to get to 180mm cranks.  I will post pictures shortly!

Saturday I went with a friend and road the Puddle for the Ducks charity ride, of course I had to try out my new bike.  We went out and did 37 miles.  It was pretty good except for the last 7 or so miles.  Between massive headwinds and, my complete lack of shape, it was pretty brutal on me out there.  But the first 15 miles were awesome.  We casually cruised around at 19.5 mph.  I must say, new bike is yummy goodness for the road!  She's definitely a keeper!

Then this morning, I went for a nice 3.5 mile run with another friend and took a nice little spill on the way out.  But got up, dusted off and had a decent run.  Slow but it was cold in the wind and so hard to move fluidly. 

I did use the T6c for both of these rides, but still have to really look over the data to see if anything exciting happened.  I'm getting more and more familiar with it, so hopefully soon I will know what I'm doing and be able to use it to train with properly rather than just collecting the data!

Enjoy!

Where have I been??

Yeah, MIA for a couple of weeks.  I've been working out a bit, except last week.   Last week was a bust due to insomnia.  And this week didn't start much better since I missed out on swimming yesterday.

But I did run today.  It felt like a pretty crappy run, very slow and painful.  I ended up with blisters on my feet due to my socks being end of life and all stretched out and bunching on me now. 

But once I got home, I looked at the stats of the run, and was, shocked.

Using my T6c, I have it auto lap every mile, and here are my stats:

1. 8:51 min/mile
2. 8:19 min/mile
3. 9:18 min/mile
4. 5:19 min/.54 mile

So even though it felt crappy, it was a decent run.  I just need to get my sock situation fixed, and keep those blisters from coming back.

Even though the numbers say it was a good run, I still feel like it was a bad one.  But at least I got out there and did it!  That is the first step to improvement!

Some other interesting tidbits:

• Average Speed: 6.7 mph
• Max Speed: 20.2 mph
• Max Heart Rate: 190
• Average Heart Rate: 144
• Calories burned: 555
• Total time: 31:47
• Total distance: 3.5356 miles.

Boot Camp and Run

Well, I went out and did my boot camp tonight.  It was good, we did a lot of core and leg workout today, squats and lunges, crunches and bridges and pushups oh my!

While doing the pushups and bridges I noticed that my bad shoulder felt different tonight.  It didn't really hurt more or less.  It didn't really feel wrong or right.  It just felt different.  After a couple of the exercises I started to feel my shoulder to see why it felt so different.  Turns out, I have muscle up there now.  That's why it feels different.  Seems to be helping things a bit.  So I need to continue with this and try to continue to rebuild the muscle up there to get stability there again.  Looking good!

After boot camp, a friend and I headed out and went for a run (since I didn't get up and run this morning [bad Steve!]) up and down the TC Jester trail a bit.  Was good, although my legs were pretty trashed from the working out, so the run/walk was about 45 minutes.  3/4 of the distance was ran, the rest was walking so it wasn't too bad.

So it was a good day working out after a rough start and will be continuing to be good from here on out.

No Excuses!

Down and Out and Lazy

Well, I've not been blogging, I haven't not been doing anything, I just have been a bit lazy on blogging lately.  Kind of busy.

But since my last entry, I've done a navigation race with a friend that I had to drop out because I hurt my leg some how in it.  Then I also started up boot camp and did some running and biking and got really sick and am still working on getting over the sick.  But I'm at about 90% better now.

This coming week training starts up with Swimming and more boot camp and running.

I'm still in need of a road bike, I've been a bit lazy and slackerish on getting on that.  Maybe tomorrow I will get out there and see if I can find one.

So there it is, quick up date, I've not been completely lazy, but not doing as much as I should be doing... But it's getting ramped up come Monday morning!