Take the Vicodin early, take the Vicodin often

For the past 5 weeks or so I've been fighting a real bad cold. Seems like I've been getting sick this time of year for the past few years.

Anyway, I finally went to the doctor and after a Z-pack and some steroids I seemed to be getting better.

Then Monday the 2nd I woke up with a sore foot. The foot got worse Tuesday and Wednesday it really hurt so I went to see the Podiatrist. Turns out I had a bad infection. The sliced open my toes to clean it out and wrapped it up.

I've never taken Vicodin before. Wednesday as the anesthetic wore off during the night the pain woke me up so I took one. Not bad. Better than a few Advil. Last night same thing but I ended up taking two.

Today I went in for a follow up visit. The infection has gotten worse, not better so the doc switched my antibiotic. She re-opened the foot and cleaned it out again. Katie's worried that it is MRSA. I'm hoping for the best.

Update

Wow. OK. Seriously I actually used to write in this didn't I.

Let's give you some quick updates and then maybe I'll stick with this.

Escape from Alcatraz June 2007

Tons of FUN!!! Really. Swim was tough! Did a great deal of it on my back. It was cold. Had a blast. Ended up I think with a 3:20 or something like that.

Ironman April 2008

I really screwed up my shins in the fall / winter of 2007. I ended up not running at all and doing very little in terms of riding and swimming. I ended up getting out of the water within moments of my 2007 time. The wind was just as tough as last year but in the right direction this time, at your back while going downhill. Ended up getting off the bike within a couple minutes of my 2007 time.

The run was another story. I got about 1/2 mile when I realized I wasn't going to be able to run and ended walking about 25 of the 26.2 miles. Finished in just under 15 hours. Yuck.

Escape from Alcatraz June 2008

Maybe if I had trained a little I would have enjoyed this more. Ended up jumping in the water late. It was a beautiful day but the water was really choppy. I ended up getting repositioned in the water and just swam the mile from closer to shore. The bike and run stunk and I ended up with a 3:35 I think.

Ironman November 2008

Because April is really tough here, unpredictable winds, heat, etc. they moved the race to November. In 2008 there were two IMAZ races. From now on there will only be IMAZ November.

What can I say? I worked hard, remained mainly injury free and Mother Nature stayed away. With nearly perfect conditions I knocked 5 minutes off the swim, an hour off the bike, and ran just a touch slower to finish with a 12:21. That was a good time.

2009

I am actually signed up for a little Olympic distance in Rocky Point this sprint. I didn't get drawn for Alcatraz but I am registered for IMAZ in November. I recovered from the race in November 2008 pretty well but I really twisted the heck out of my ankle the weekend after the race and 3 months later it isn't completely healed.

I'm looking to start some moderate training again so I hope to keep posting.

thanks for reading.

Marc

Very sore

My legs were as sore yesterday as they have been since April 20th.  There's no damage unlike back then but man, my thighs are beat!

 

Going up North this weekend.  Friends are coming up so I can't bring the bike.  I'd like to get an hour and half run in on Sunday.

5.9 miles and counting

I finally got tired of sitting on my ass and got out there this morning.

 

Little one hour run.  Felt good but my HR was all over the place.

 

Gotta commit to something soon.  Possibilities for 2008 include:

 

1.  PF Changs Rock and Roll Marathon (January)

2.  Death Valley Marathon (February)

3.  IMAZ (April)

4.  IMWI (September)

 

More later...

Can't believe I never finished this blog...

I have a family reunion coming up and a couple people asked me how it went. I completely forgot about this. Well it's only been a little over 60 days.

Some more pics from that night!

Sitting on the dock

Lake openned at 7 yesterday but not until 8 today. Waiting.
Freezing...

Funny morning

This morning they opened Tempe Town Lake for swimming at 7:00 am.  I came into the office at 5:00 to get some work done before heading over.

 

I made coffee and waffles when I got in.  Then I walked over to my desk and took a big sip of my coffee and discovered that I had poured syrup in my coffee cup.  Yes, I also poured coffee all over my waffles.

 

Funny part is I remember thinking to myself as I poured the "syrup" over my waffles, "Boy, the butter sure is melting fast this morning!"

 

It's that kind of focus that's going to make me successful Sunday. :)

 

Swim was fun.  Short but actually kind of tiring.  I really don't get going for 600 yards or so.  I'll do it again tomorrow.

 

I found out my Garmin isn't water proof.  We'll see if it works after it dries. :(

I'm a trainwreck!

In all the advice I've gotten about this thing over the past 6 months, nobody warned me that I was going to be this nevervous / excited with a week left to go.

They don't list Ironman in the top stressful things that can happen to you but in the last three months my dad has died and I've moved. I haven't changed jobs or gotten divorced but it feels like a divorce with all the crap I've been dealing with regarding my Dad's ex-wife.

Slow. But not THAT slow!

This weekend I did a 2.4 mile swim in Lake Pleasant with a couple hundred other people and Ironman hopefuls.  Well, it was billed as a 2.4 mile swim but it only measured 2.26 miles.  I wish I’d had my GPS on me because in the last half mile I ended up swimming from one side of the lane to the other.  Not on purpose mind you but I think it added another .14 miles to the trip.

 

The water was cold.  But it really didn’t bother me at all.  I was more scared and excited than anything else.  I got there way too early!  I was walking around talking to people and I realized that I might be the most out-of-shape person there.  Jeez everybody looked fit! 

 

Anyway, I just sat down in my car and read a book for an hour or so until it was time to go.  We boarded shuttles, wetsuit in hand and went down to the boat launch.  There I put on my body glide and my wetsuit (kudos to me for putting on correctly this time) and walked into the water.  Everywhere people were complaining about the cold but it really didn’t bother me a bit.  My feet went numb pretty quick.  It’s hard to describe the feeling if you’ve never worn a wetsuit in the water.  You can feel the pressure of the water against you but you don’t really feel the water. 

 

Right away I had the same problem as last week; I couldn’t breathe in the water.  My chest tightened up instantly.  I guess that is to be expected since this was the second time in my life really that I’ve been in this kind of situation.  I dog paddled out to the start line and did what I’ve been dreading since the first time I read about it.

 

When you have a deep water start, which is when everyone in the race gets in the water ahead of time, you sit there and tread water until the race starts.  This can be up to 15 minutes depending on how early you get in.  I don’t know about you, but treading water is very tiring for me.  So, as I said, I’ve been dreading it.

 

Turns out I’ve been dreading it for no reason at all!  Piece of cake.  I can’t take credit for it though.  My Bat/Wolverine Suit really is buoyant!  All I need to do is move my hands or legs a little and I just sit there and float.  I did a few strokes in the water and all of a sudden I seemed to relax.  7 minutes later the gun went off.

 

I seeded myself at the very back.  This seemed like a good idea but it turns out that maybe it wasn’t.  Some of the people in front of me were much slower than even I was and it turns out that it’s pretty hard to swim around people.  I kept telling myself to go out easy but I think I was going too hard because I pretty much was exhausted after 3 minutes.  The next 15 – 30 minutes I spent switching between freestyle, breast stroke, sweet spot, and even back floating. 

 

The course pretty much a square with quarter to 1/3 mile sides to it.  Until I reached the first turn I thought maybe that I was going to die out there.  After that I figured that I’d get through the first lap and call it a day and then figure out what to do about the Ironman swim.  As I approached the last leg of the first lap though a funny thing happened, I really think I started to find a groove.  I found myself worrying that I was about to get lapped.  I figured that the good swimmers would do this thing in 50 minutes and it was going to take me 1:45 – 2:00 so I realized that I stood a good chance of getting run over in the water.  I just focused on technique and not speed or cadence.  I realized as I went around the start buoy that I was starting to feel good!

 

That feeling lasted most of the second lap.  I went to my back a couple of times to recharge and I was really doing a good job of sighting.  It’s hard to know where you are going in the water so you have to keep sticking your head up.  I really didn’t have a problem with it.  I made the final turn for home and I was filled with a confidence that I’m not sure I’ve ever felt in water before.

 

That’s when the wheels came off the bus.

 

I sighted a little rock in front of the cove where the finish line was located, put my head down and just stroked.  After a couple minutes I looked up and there was no rock, no cove, no buoy, no nothing.  What the hell?  I had just veered like 45 degrees off course.  I looked back and saw that the people behind me were also swimming in the wrong direction.  I changed direction and swam again.  Must have been a few minutes later I hear this loud splashing by me.  I look up and it’s one of the support people in a kayak warning me that I was WAY off course.  Like 180 degrees off course.  I looked back, and again, the people behind me were also veering in the wrong direction.

 

Now I decided to just keep sighting as I swam.  I think I figured out why I was so off course.  When I went through this particular stretch of water on the first lap the water was very calm.  Now I could see the waves and I could feel the water pushing me around.  I guess as the boat traffic increased during the morning it moved the water.  The problem here is that with all the picking my head out of the water and worrying about speed and stuff my technique really went out the window.  My coach Bill was careful to warn us that on the last third of the swim make sure you don’t lose focus.  I lost focus.  By the time I got it back I was kind of tired.  I swam to the finish and stepped back onto the boat launch ramp.  I talked to some people on the ramp as I made my way up and when I finally reached the top I saw the clock.  It clicked to 1:19.  “That can’t be right.”  I thought.  I must have read it wrong.  It must say 2:19.  I checked.  It said 1:19.  My official finishing time at the bottom of the ramp was 1:18:11.

 

So, that’s a really slow Ironman time.  I know that.  But it’s not the 1:45 I thought it was going to be and it’s not the 2:00 I was afraid it was going to be.  That put me 167 out of 236 finishers and another 27 people didn’t finish.

 

I’m very happy right now.

 

 

What a moron!

In general, I'd say that I think that I'm smarter than I really am.

 

Conversely, people in general seem to think that I'm not as smart as I really am.

 

Lately it seems, people in general know me better than I know myself.

 

This morning I decided to drive to work and then run on the canal by the office.  I got all decked out in my running shoes, shorts, and shirt.  I put my heartrate strap on my chest and even put my phone on the holder on my arm.  All I needed to do was put my headphones in and I could be off.

 

I had a big glass of orange juice and I couldn't hold it, my keys, and my work clothes all at the same time so I put the orange juice on top of Katie's Nissan Armada, her 7 foot tall newly washed and waxed Nissan Armada.  I turned my back and as I went to open my car door I could see in the reflection of my window the orange juice sliding down the roof towards me.

 

So I ended up with a back that was soaked in juice.  Nice.

 

Took me a while to get cleaned up and changed.  Run was fun though.

Can you identify this quote?

This should be agony. I should be a mass of aching muscle, unable to move. And, were I an older man, I surely would... ... but I'm a man of thirty -- of twenty again. The rain on my chest is a baptism -- I'm born again...

Feeling a little better.

Feeling a little better today. I must have had 5 little panic attacks yesterday.

I ran on a treadmill yesterday for the first time. Boring!!! My toe next to my big toe on my right foot is actually a little longer than my big toe. Anyway that nail fell off. Pretty gross.

Anyway, no real pain to speak of so I'm pretty excited about that. I took Paige with me over to the gym and she had a good time in the Kid's Club at LA Fitness.

Checked my body fat % - 10.4%. Down from 13.7% in December or January or whenver I had it last checked.

Swim at lunch today. I'm sure that will go well. I want to try and get a haircut as well. End of the month is coming and I want to keep that New Year's resolution going.

A post I will delete before long...

Fear is not a word that I use to describe how I'm feeling usually but it probably best captures what's going through my head right now. 

 

When this started I said to people, "The only thing I'm not going to be able to say is that I didn't train enough."

 

I didn't train enough.

 

That's what's going through my head right now.  I'm not thinking about the weekends of 5 - 7 hour bike rides and 2 - 3 hour runs; the weeks where I rode or ran for an hour every morning and swam every lunch.  I'm not thinking about the nights when I was so exhausted that I couldn't stay awake late enough to put my daughter to bed.

 

I'm thinking about the 45 minute run and the the 3 1/2 ride I didn't do in December because it was cold and windy.  I'm thinking about the swims I missed at lunch because I was working 80 hours / week in February and March.

 

I'm thinking about my knee.  I'm thinking about the swim.

 

I'm stuck with too many negative thoughts.

 

I need to change the focus.  That's what I'm going to work on.

 

Marc

The water was very cold!!!

I needed a $600.00 state-of-the-art top-of-the-line Zoot Zenith wetsuit. My kid needed a diaper.

Open Water Swim

OK.  Let's rethink this whole thing.

 

It seems like when I bike and run I get faster but every time I do something swimming related I have to push my time out a little more.

 

I put on my wetsuit and went for a swim in Saguaro lake Sunday.  Good time.  It's really freaky if you've never done it.  Anyway it took me a few hundred yards to get comfortable and then it went OK.  I don't think I'm particularly fast though.  No big surprise there.

 

Next week is a 2.4 mile swim in Lake Pleasant.  I guess I'll know what's what then.

 

Ran on Saturday.  Lots of knee pain.  I'm a little concerned here.

Good to go!!!

Yee Ha! I'm good!
I went for a surgical consult this morning. While I do in fact have a hernia the doctor said it would be three years before it will cause me any problems. I asked him if I needed to curtail the training, he said, "Do whatever the hell you want. It's like a pulled muscle."
I'm going to schedule the surgery either right after I get back from vacation in May or maybe mid June.
Anyway. Good to know I'm fine.

What did the doctor say when he saw you?

Same thing he always says, "Wow!" - Sam Malone "Cheers"

Good news! My knees are perfect. No problems, no swelling, nothing rubbing.

I said, "Then why do they hurt so much?"

He replied, "Because the human body wasn't made to run for 3 hours."

Hernia doctor tomorrow. I hope things go as well.

Marc

Some thoughts

"Start slow, arrive early"

From the moment you wake up on race morning, everything you do has an effect on how well you can run the Ironman marathon.

Swim strategy: Seeding is critical. Conserve energy.

Always move!

Bike strategy: Respect the marathon! This is not a bike race!

Ironman begins at mile 90 on the bike.

"An Ironman marathon is 20 miles of hope and 6 miles of reality." - Cam Brown

The marathon begins at the 13 mile mark.

(c) Camelback Coaching - used without permission :)

To Clarify

There is no way that I'm letting a little thing like a tear in the muscles of my abdomen keep me out of this race.

I finally got a wetsuit for God's sake.

I have a surgical consult with a doctor on Friday. I'll know more then.

Injury

On Friday I noticed a little sore spot on my lower abdomen. I didn't pay much attention to it but I did notice it enough on Saturday to draw a little circle around the area that hurt.

I knew what it was immediately. At least I thought I knew. I was afraid that I was wrong and that it was my appendix. It wasn't.

Anyway yesterday I decided that since my knees and my stomach hurt that I would go to the doctor. Diagnosis: Hernia.

Now I have to go get a surgical consult to see if this is something I can wait to fix until after the race and my vacation right after.

Wish me luck.

So let me tell you about my weekend!!

Let's start with the funny part. The part about me not being able to read a calender. For the second time this year I have looked at a calender, and just completely missed something by a day.

So I show up at Saguaro lake, new wetsuit in hand, to do an open water swim (my first) with my swimming coach. After I walk around for a while I looked at my phone/pda and realize that Saturday, March 17 was actually yesterday, Saturday March 17. Nice. I'm such a bonehead.

Don't know if this should be filed under funny, tragic, or lucky: About two hours after I left the area that I was supposed to swim at someone was shot over a pickup football game. I did see a couple guys throwing a football around.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/0319abrk-FootballShooting0319-ON.html

Now to the cool stuff.

Saturday. 130 mile ride to Coolidge, AZ and back. A little tour of the economically depressed areas of Arizona.

After last weeks successful ride, Doug and I got a little cocky and didn't show this ride the respect it probably deserved. It was very windy going Southeast. Mostly in the face but a bit of a crosswind as well. So we figure, this will be great going home. WRONG! The wind changed direction and we had in in the face for 45 of the 65 miles coming back. Very nice.

It took us about 7 1/2 to complete. Getting hot in Phoenix. Lots of sweat. Drank lots of water and didn't have to make any pit stops on the way home.





Sunday: 3 hour run.

Stopped for 2 minutes to take these pictures.













Hmmmm. I don't think I felt real confident here. My knee had not recovered completely so I wrapped it up so tight that I'm not sure my foot was getting any blood.



The fist 30 minutes went OK. I could feel that the knee wasn't 100% but I decided to keep going. Next hour or so I definitely knew that this run was a mistake. The hour after that was pretty much excruciating pain with every step but then the pain pretty much went away for the last half hour.

Aerobically I felt fantastic! No fatigue, no breathing problems. I actually felt great! Leg hurt a lot! I had to help with Paige's Sunday School class an hour after I got home. That wasn't a whole lot of fun. All standing and sitting and walking and playing. Jeez. I sound like a real wussy.

Result: Better than 10 minute miles but not much better. I wanted to get 20 miles in but I ended up just shy of 19.

So that's pretty much it. This is a rest week. Then a taper. I'm really not sure what's involved there other than I have to get my ass in the water.

As long as my knee heals I'll do OK.

Who's that fat guy?

I was looking at my blog from this summer and I was thinking, "Am I going to look like that a couple months after Ironman or maybe Alcatraz?"

I'm not saying that I'm big in that picture, but you can see some fat under my chin and a bit of a belly that is no longer there. Any fat that used to be on my forearms is gone as well. All you see are a lot of veins.

I'm not sure I'm the healthiest person in the world.

10 - SPEED!!!!!

I may have mentioned in the past that my bike is in rotten shape.

No longer true. Last night I purchased a Dura-ace 10 speed group. Very nice. I wonder how long it will take me to wreck it! :)

33 Days of the Condor

So let me tell you about my AWESOME WEEKEND OF TRAINING!

On Saturday Doug and I set out to go to Wickenburg. It's a little town about 60 miles from my house. Turned out to be 60 to the click! Very cool. 120.5 out and back.

Anyway we took a road that we'd never been on before that far west. It was increadible. 4 lanes, paved, and no stoplights for like 70 miles.

I pulled pretty much the whole way. We crossed the century mark at around 5 1/2 hours which is not too bad for that course. The rest of the ride is pretty much steady uphill and straight. I yelled back to Doug that I wanted to make it home in an hour. A hard 20 mph 1 hour pull is tough enough but doing it after 100 miles seems even tougher. So I hammerred away and even though I never let my pulse stray above level 3 and we stopped to look at my new house, and I slowed the last 4 miles for a 10 minute cool down, we were home in 55 minutes.

We did a 20 minute run after to check nutrician. No problems. I no longer get shin splints there but my achiles tendon bothered me a bit. Need to keep stretching.

Next day was another story.

I was scheduled for a 2:50 run. I got 1:25 away from my house and I started experiencing what can be best described as a little weakness in my right knee. I ran through it and then it started to hurt. By the time I reached my house at 2:50 (I ran slower but it was downhill home) every step seemed like torture. Then I stopped running and immediately my leg felt like it locked up. An awful lot of pain there.

I skipped my Tuesday run. I was hoping to do it today but I'm not 100% yet and my bike isn't quite ride ready. Really need to be healthy for the weekend. 7 hour ride to Florence and back and a 3 hour run on Sunday. Sunday afternoon I'm doing an open water 2.4 mile swim in Saguaro Lake. Water is 50 degrees. I guess I only have a couple days to get a wetsuit.

100th Post

Lent

Back in the early 90's I used to own a bar and pool hall. One of my customers and good friends, Larry Lavorgna, announced in 1990 that he quits drinking and smoking during lent. Now I hadn't given up anything for Lent since 8th grade when my Mom made me give up comic books so I pretty much laughed at him.

By late winter of 1991 I decided that maybe I too needed a break from all the alcohol I was consuming and so I decided to give it up as well. That was what, 16 years ago?

So each year around this time I give up booze for 40 + days and nights. I never allow myself the Sunday or St. Patrick's Day exemptions although I have rescheduled my sobriety for my Brother's bachelor party and my friend Carl's 40th birthday party.

Anyway, Lent started a week and a half ago. I would say that for the first time in years I really miss drinking. Fortunately Easter Sunday is the week before Ironman. I hope I sober for the race. : )

The home stretch...

Today started the final two hard weeks of training. Ken was screaming at 3:00 am this morning so I got up and went out riding early.

I did a big loop and found out that our new house is exactly 4.25 miles further from my office than our current house if I take Cave Creek Road north instead of Tatum. Cave Creek is a busier street most of the time but it has a pretty big bike lane. I was thinking that taking Tatum would be faster but I think the distance is just about the same and you feel like you take your life in your hands every time your ride it and that's when the sun is out. It's kind of creepy to try and ride it at night or in the early morning before sun up.

Swam 2,900 yards at lunch. I really should have eaten first. I think I would feel better if I did. As it was it took me about 1,800 yards to start to feel good in the water. I'm very slow in the water. Don't know if I've mentioned that.

A Great Weekend!!!

Saturday we got out at around 6:00 am. The sun was just starting to come up.

The plan was to ride 125 miles and do Usery Pass, a popular ride in Phoenix if you live on the far east side.

The plan got completely changed after we rode for 20 miles into a nasty headwind and we decided just to change the route. I ended up getting 105 miles in just over the required 6 1/2 hours. That seems like a long time in the saddle but there were red lights and a couple water stops and did I mention the wind?

We were going down 9-mile hill, a stretch of road which usually we can average 30 - 32 mph down. I was barely able to turn 20 mph and as usual nobody really wanted to take the front from me. At one point a truck went past us going the other direction and the wind blast from it felt like a glaucoma test. BOOM!!!

Got home and threw my shoes on for a 20 minute nutrition check/run. No worries. Slight shin splint pain that went away on the way back.

On Sunday I got up and did a 2:30 run. I held an average 9 minute mile pace. For a change no real leg pain either during the run or after. I was tired and sore, don't get me wrong. But usually there's some real healing that is necessary. Sunday I just felt good.

That is until Paige announced that she wanted to go for a hike after church. So I got another 2 miles with her on my shoulders.

Funny story: Last weekend I had just finished a 2:20 minute run. I was in the bathroom weighing myself. I came in at 144. Paige walked in and wanted me to weigh her as well so I picked her up and got back on the scale. She weighs 27 pounds for a total weight of 171 lbs. Paige is pretty skinny. Anyway I started thinking that maybe a year ago I weighted about as much as the two of us. To say nothing of 2000 when I reached my high of 189 lbs. Anyway I was thinking that there was no way I could have run 16 miles with Paige in my arms.

An answer

I talked to Bill Wilson over at Camelback Coaching and he said that 30% of the time you can do everything right and still have your body break down nutrician-wise. He said that you can pace yourself correctly, take in the right nutrients, drink the right amount of water, and still your digestive system shuts down and you walk the marathon.

That would definitely suck!

While I don't like the idea of bringing the "X" factor into this I don't mind the odds.

46 days and counting

So here's my question:

If I can swim 2.4 miles in 1:30:00 and I've ridden 112 miles sub 6:00:00 more times than I can count and it seems like I can maintain a 10 minute mile pace forever (this is a 4:20:00 marathon) why in the world won't I do a sub 12:00:00 Ironman?

None of those times individually is particularly impressive. In fact the 1:30 swim is pretty f-ing slow but if you look at the results from last year a 12:00 race puts me 94th out of 354 entrants in my age group and 459 out of the 1944 total entrants.

I guess I'll answer that question myself either way in 46 days.

AWOL

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately.

The past two weeks have been an absolute bear! I had auditors in the office and I was starting my workdays a 6:00 am and finishing at 9:00 pm. I've done a whole bunch of rides where I watched the sun come up and set while I was on the road. That sure beats watching the sun rise and set from my office.

Last 3 weeks of intense training have started. 3 hour runs and 7 hour rides are as long as it gets with 2:30 rides, 1:20 runs and 2 hour swims during the week.

After that a rest week and I'm 3 weeks out from the race. I have no idea what the training will be like for those weeks.

I keep wanting to write a lot of personal stuff but I just keep running out of time. I'll try and get to that tonight.

Batman Sighting Puts Schools on Lockdown

My friend Carl sent this to me. I wonder if this guy is related to the freak I encountered a few months back.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- To an Arizona middle school, Batman! Three schools in the north Phoenix suburb of Cave Creek were on lockdown for about 45 minutes Wednesday morning after a student at Desert Arroyo Middle School reported seeing a person dressed as Batman run across campus, jump a fence and disappear into the desert, Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said.

The student described the person as 6 feet 3 inches tall and possibly male.

"We're assuming it was male, although they did have a mask on," Clark said.

Officers combed the desert around the middle school. A nearby elementary school and high school also were on lockdown as officers sought the caped crusader.

The result - no Batman.

"It's just one of those interesting little stories that we looked into but we couldn't find anyone," Clark said.

Nedda Shafir, a spokeswoman for the Cave Creek Unified School District, said putting all the schools on lockdown was a precautionary measure.

"We didn't want to take any chances," Shafir said. "We just don't want to put anyone at risk."

Cool video

Where have I been!!!!???

I just looked and it's been like 9 days since I wrote anything.

Two Saturdays ago I was real concerned about my ride. This past Saturday I did 112 miles in 6 hours almost exactly! That included the usual red lights and stops for water during which the clock just kept running so I feel a little better about it. If the workout gods (small g) look kindly upon me I should be able to come in somewhere around 5:30. I'll be happy at 6:00.

Runs have been great! I did a little over 16 miles on Sunday and then Tuesday morning I ran over 8 with 4 really hard 7 minute efforts. 10 minute miles bring you in at 4:20. I can run 9 minute miles all day but I'm not that fast after riding. I get shin splints for the first mile and then I start to feel better. They say it takes a couple miles before you start to feel normal running. Prediction: 4:10

Swims? What can I say about the swims? My math is bad. I kept thinking I was on target for a 1:20 swim but it turns out there is a difference between meters and yards. It's not a real significant difference unless you are talking about 3,600 of them then you have to add quite a few yards to equal that. Prediction 1:35. Chad says just under 1:30 with the wetsuit.

So with a WHOLE BUNCH of luck and another 59 DAYS of prep I could wrap this thing up sub 12:00. I feel like such a schmuck writing that down because I'm going to feel like crap when I crawl in at 16 hours and I won't enjoy the idea that I just finished.

Confront the brutal facts but never lose sight of your ultimate goal.

Worry worry worry

If I told you that the thing I'm most worried about right now is the ride would you believe me?

Seriously.

I did a century Saturday. Kept it in level two for almost the whole ride except for 45 minutes during the last hour when I needed to be in level three. It took almost 6 hours!!!! I haven't analyzed the whole ride yet but I can't help but be disappointed in that time. WITH AERO BARS NO LESS!!!

After that I did the usual 2 + mile run just to make sure the nutrician is in check. Check! Felt a slight shin splint in only one leg and it went away pretty fast.

68 days to go. Very concerned right now.

Goofy Day

I have kept one of my New Year's resolutions. I got a haircut the other day.

So today I think we bought a new house. Add to my list of things to do: Get my house ready to sell. Welcome to the land of high mortgage payments for a while.

Second. Today has been all over the place. I was supposed to ride today but it turns out I forgot that I had to sign Paige up for preschool so I ran 8 miles this morning instead. Good time although I couldn't seem to push my heart rate up to where it needed to be. I think all the chicken wings I ate and beer I drank at Keith's last night got in the way.

Third, I was going to do a long swim this afternoon at lunch but I got over to LA Fitness and discovered I had forgotten my suit. I walked back and got the suit but when I got back to the gym they had started a swim aerobics class so I couldn't do any laps.

Ironman lecture tonight on equipment selection.

June 3.....

Not to get ahead of myself, but... It doesn't look like that far a swim does it?

A couple good articles

Pictures of 2006 World Championship

http://www.ironman.com/columns/gruenfeld/lee-and-cherie-gruenfeld-look-back-at-the-2006-ford-ironman-world-championship-in-kona

Some funny stuff here:

http://www.ironman.com/columns/gruenfeld/lee-gruenfeld-explores-the-wealth-of-vocabulary-in-triathlon.

Article about how to raise your kids:

http://www.ironman.com/columns/gruenfeld/lee-gruenfeld-offers-up-yet-another-hilarious-column-parents-take-note

Hilarious if you haven't seen this

72 days and counting...

I can't believe that it's February already.

Swimming is progressing, nicely I think. I swam 2,500 meters in 56:30. I think that gets me out of the lake somewhere around 1:22. I'm thinking I'll probably get in another 40 swim workouts between now and April. I don't think I'm going to do much in terms of increasing strength by then so pretty much all time savings will come from form and interval training.

Still need to get a wetsuit.

The run Tuesday was an absolute blast! 4 x 7 minute efforts into level 5 after a long warm up. My total time out there was about 1:20. It was excellent. I really like running.

Lots of rain yesterday and today. It really better stop before Saturday. Doug, Ken, and I have a long ride ahead of us.

Anyway, lots happening in my life right now. Maybe I'll do a little personal stuff here tomorrow.

Call me Mr. Big Ring

I'm a love people, use things, kind of person.

Everyone who knows me can stop laughing now.

I really need to show my equipment more respect!

So anyway, my gears are so screwed up that I can't even get into the big ring on the bike without yanking on the cable so I just leave it there all the time now.

Sick twice in a year

So I'm finally getting over this f-ing cold.... Again!

I was pretty sick two weeks ago with the sneezing and the coughing. That's pretty much passed. Last week I kept waking up at 1:00 am with a really bad cough. I have a lot of that cough syrup with codeine so that worked nicely but I decided to stop taking it last night and I slept fine.

The illness really affected my times I think. Three Sundays ago I ran 13.2 miles in 1:50:00. That's a half marathon in under 2 hours. That was the day of the PF Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. If I'd have known I was going to be that fast I'd have run it.

Then two Sundays ago my long run was 2 hours. I thought that I was going to look down at my pedometer and see around 15 miles. I only ran 13.1 miles. That's .1 miles less in 10 additional minutes. That kind of bugged me.

Then yesterday, it being a rest week, I only had to run 45 minutes. I only got 4.83 miles. That's hardly a 10 minute/mile pace. I was really disappointed. Not to mention that I have not felt my best on the rides either.

This morning was different I think. I haven't downloaded the data into my computer yet but today I had to ride for 1:20 and I had to do 4 x 10 minute intervals at HR approaching and even brushing up against LT. The ride went fantastic.

First of all, you know how a couple months ago I complained that 48 degrees was cold? It was 48 today and it was perfect out. I really enjoyed riding on the aero-bars too. It was very very very comfortable and my whole body besides my legs was very still. That means that I wasn't wasting any energy on anything except moving the pedals. It was easy to settle into a high cadence and keep my HR right where it needed to be. I even took Hummingbird on the way in and did some climbing.

A really good weekend

I kind of feel like I'm back into the swing of things. I'm almost caught up with all my work. The house is a disaster with the projects I'm supposed to get done but keep blowing off. That might matter soon because we looked at a house this weekend that I really like. My Brother says we should buy it but I think that's because he lives near it and wants his property values to stay high.

AERO BARS!!!!

I have officially become that which I used to make fun of.

I put aero bars on my bike, flipped the stem, and raised the seat to achieve the optimal time-trial position. It was pretty comfortable coming to work this morning. I think it was about 40 when I left the house. The sun is starting to come up a little earlier and it seems pretty nice outside right now. Looking forward to the ride home and tomorrow is an easy 2 hour ride. Ken and Doug might join in.

Swam 2,500 meters with no rest at lunch. Pretty easy. I still have lot of energy.

Been gone a while

It's been a while obviously since I updated here.

The weather here has been absolute crap. It's been in the 30s most mornings and it seemed like it rained here for 2 weeks straight. I'm in the middle of a rest week right now.

When my Dad died I sort of promised myself that I wouldn't miss any training and I held myself to that promise. I finished the rides and runs while it was still dark our and then made it to my brother's house where most of my family was congregating all week. Impossible to keep track of all the beer, Jack, and tequila that I drank though. I might just estimate 10 drinks / day for the week and go from there.

The week after was really difficult. I had no warning obviously before taking the week off work and everything really piled on. I still haven't caught up with year end for my clients yet. I should have that all taken care of tonight though. I missed all but 1 of the rides but completed every run. I think I did most of the swims but honestly I can't remember.

Thank you.

I want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and condolences. I started this blog really so that my Mom could see what I'm doing. I am shocked at the number of people that visit and the number of people that have taken the time to wish me and my family well. Thank you again.

Rest in peace, Dad

Kenneth Joseph Petrine 12/30/1941 - 01/08/2007

My Dad holding Kenneth Anthony Petrine.

No training today. Sorry. I was going to swim this afternoon but I received a call at work that changed everything.



On December 30, 2006 we celebrated my Dad, Ken Petrine's 65th birthday. My brother Keith remarked that he was the same age, 35, as my Dad had been when his own Father had died.

Those words turned out to be quite prophetic this morning when my Dad died of an apparent heart attack.

He was an amazing Grandpa to all his Grand kids. He used to take Paige out with him every Wednesday. They would stop at his stock broker, sometimes the library or the park, and then at Costco where Paige and him would have hot dogs for lunch. He knew Paige's names for all the parks. I could never keep track of them all and sometimes I would call him and say, "Paige wants to go to the 'brown' park, or the 'mud' park or the 'yellow' park. Where is that?"

This fall Kirk, Keith, my Dad, and I spent a week together eating, drinking, laughing, drinking, playing cards, drinking, golfing, and drinking. He told me the other day to make sure I didn't use all my vacation time this summer doing triathlons so that we could all take another trip. He always joked that he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes spread on the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach.


I spent the afternoon going through his address book calling people to let them know. If you knew him and I've missed your name I apologize that this is how you heard about it. You can contact me via e-mail and I'll give you the details of the arrangements. My e-mail address is the first letter of my first name followed by my last name @cox.net.



My Dad once said that if your kids don't do better than you did, you were a failure as a father. Well, in some respects he set the bar pretty high. I hope I haven't disappointed him.



Marc

A true renaissance man

I've added making gourmet ice cream to specialty olive oil, roasted coffee, and home brewed beer as the things that I've made in my spare time.

When I build a distillery in my backyard you'll know I have a problem.

A really great day!

Day got off on a bad foot, so to speak. I got up kind of early but bummed around for a few hours so I didn't have time to go out and run before church.

After church we went and hiked North mountain with some friends. I've lived in Phoenix 20 years now and this is the first mountain hike I've ever done. It was a lot of fun. I wish I had brought my GPS with me because there seems to be great debate about how long the hike is and how high. http://phoenix.gov/PARKS/hiknogud.html says it is a 1,500 foot climb over 1.6 miles. Could have been, like I said, wish I'd had the GPS.

I have a flannel shirt wrapped around my waist. I'm not wearing PJs. Am I really that skinny?

I don't know if you've ever gone hiking with a 3 year old. They start by walking, then they run, then they crawl, then they sit down and ask to be carried. All that takes about 100 yards. So the nice thing is I got to do the hike with Paige on my shoulders for a little "extra" workout. She was too tired to walk down as well so I carried her down as well. I really expected the tops of the thighs to be burning today but they feel pretty good considering. I left thinking that I would skip the run today because I did feel like I'd had a decent workout.

Afterwards we got home and put the kids down for a nap I changed my mind and decided to just go out and do something short at level 1. My right knee was giving me some problems so I was getting ready to bail out of the run when all of a sudden I felt great! At first I decided to just do some laps around the neighborhood so I'd be close to home but then I started going out farther. Then I'd say to myself that I'll just go out another half mile and turn around. That turned into a mile, which turned into two, and then three. Eventually I did turn around and got home with 11.31 miles under my belt.

I used the rolling pin on my legs for a long time and stretched out a bunch but my legs are really beat up right now. See how I feel in the morning.

BRICKS

I guess it's called Brick training - doing one sport after another. I was doing a little of this back in September and early October but it's now become part of my weekend.

Saturday morning I set out on a couple big loops around Carefree, Cave Creek, Scottsdale, and back to Phoenix. Doug and Ken both bailed out on me Friday night. Good thing, too. The ride was absolutely miserable! Bitter cold of course but that wasn't the worst part. There's a long 20 mile uphill stretch on Cave Creek Road and the entire ride was into the teeth of a 15 mph wind. Like I said, miserable! If there had been anybody with me it would have been easy to talk each other into quitting. Along it was easier to get the ride done.

I must say that I was a little disappointed as I finished up. It was a five hour ride done at level 2. I honestly thought that if I had a great ride that I would pull in somewhere close to 100 miles. Worst case I was thinking 90, so you can imagine my thoughts as I looked at the computer and saw 81.23 on the display. A little arithmetic tells you that if the Ironman were to be held today, on that course, with that wind, my time would be just shy of 7 hours. Not a very appetizing thought.

There wasn't much time to feel sorry for myself though. I had to ditch all the cold weather clothing I was wearing, throw on my running shoes and hit the pavement for a 20 minute run. The idea here is that physically my body SHOULD be able to take the punishment of a long run right off the bike. What can go wrong is the nutrition or fuel that you've put into your body, so a short easy run tells you whether or not you are on track.

Observations:

1. My feet felt big. I don't know how else to describe it. They felt wide and heavy.
2. The muscle (if you can call it that) just above my right ankle on my shin hurt immediately and did not stop hurting until I stopped running.
3. Nutrition was fine. For the ride I opted for an all liquid diet. I did get the sensation a couple times while riding that something solid in my stomach would have felt good. I think this weekend I'll opt for a couple gels or a power bar while I'm out there. I felt good although my legs were tired. On the bike I noticed that my right big toe kept going numb and that both my ankles hurt at times, but neither was a concern on the run.

Long run tomorrow. I'd like to get 11 miles in.

A strange encounter with a freak!

An extremely weird thing happened today on the ride to work.

There was a full moon and it was cloudy and rainy which obscured much of the light. It was kind of a spooky morning.

I was in the middle of a 20 minute warm up when a guy rides up to me from behind. That's weird because nobody is ever out on the road that early when it's this cold out. Not to mention the fact that I'm not used to getting caught by single riders. So he pulls up next to me. I say, "Hi" but he just stares straight ahead and I'm like, whatever. So after a minute or so I'm getting really uncomfortable having a stranger riding next to me. I'm going to speed up or slow down when he looks over at me and says, "Did you ever dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight?"

I'm thinking that this guy must know me so I ask him who he is. He tells me his name and I have no idea who he is and he doesn't seem to know me. So I say to him, "Why are you quoting Batman lines at me then?" He says that he wasn't quoting anything. Just then my bike computer said it was time to hammer the pedals so I said, "Well I'll see you later freak." And I left him behind.

100 Days and counting....

Where I think I stand with 100 days left to go...

Run: Call me crazy but this has definitely become my favorite discipline. I don't really have any clue how fast I'm going to be able to go after swimming and riding but I think I could run a 1:30 half marathon if I had to.

Bike: What can I say? I love being on the bike still. The long rides are slightly burdensome because of the "have to" aspect to them. Or as Doug put it, "We're not riding with Marc today. We're riding with Marc's heart rate monitor."

Swim: Today I really think for the first time the stroke and the breathing all came together. I think I finally have a stroke that can get me through. It's all about the drills and the speed now.

Hard ride and run

Monday afternoon (already blowing a resolution) was a reasonably short but intense ride. It included 4, 10 minute efforts at level 4 - 5a. Pretty difficult.

This morning I did get out of the house at 5:15 am for an hour run. Fantastic run. I had to do 3, 7 minute efforts again at level 4 - 5a; basically fast enough that you can't really think about anything but putting your next foot down. Each effort got progressively faster and easier. I think in the first 7 minutes I didn't really get my heart rate up into level 4. There were 3 minute "rests" at level 1 between efforts. During the second interval I was able to get my HR into zone 4 but my Garmin HR monitor kept alerting me that it also dropped out of that level quite often. By the third effort I had really found my stride.

I timed the run incorrectly so I found myself about 1/2 mile from home when the time ran out on my 10 minute cool down so I went a little further than expected. I'm not saying that I'm looking forward to next Tuesday already but it was a great time.

Happy New Year!

Doug called me on the phone Friday. He asked if I had any New Year's resolutions. Before I could answer he said, "Wait, I forgot who I was talking to. As if there were any way left to improve yourself! People should call you and ask your counsel on how they can improve THEIR lives."

In all seriousness; I'm three month's into this and it is by no means a foregone conclusion that I'm going to cross that finish line. Well, of course I'm going to finish, but I'm a long way from finishing strong. Stop by the pool any day at lunchtime and watch me swim if you don't believe me.

So as far as Ironman goes, I'm resolving to not only stick with the training but to get the runs and weekend rides done earlier in the day. Besides that I have a couple others:

1. Get a haircut every month. I was born lucky in so far as hair goes and I've still got (most) all of it. With the possible exception of my experimentation with the mullet in the 80's it looks good at every length and style. I really like it short but I procrastinate getting it cut until it's completely out of control. So I'm going to get it cut monthly this year.

2. Improve my penmanship. God, if you've read something I've written you understand what this is all about. Why do men have such rotten handwriting?

If you've ever been unlucky enough to sit through one of my motivational speeches you know it's all about goal setting. I won't bore you with the steps but this year I'm going to follow my own advice. I had two resolutions last year. One of them was to not gain weight this year. Since I'm almost 20 lbs lighter than last year at this time I'd say I was successful. On the other resolution I changed my mind on in May but until then I had kept up with it.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for a pretty good year and believe me this one is poised to be really great.

Time to get serious!

I must say something like this every time I get my next month's training plan. But this is BS!

Doug says that a BS ride is when you are out riding on a long hill and you climb and you climb until someone screams, "This is BS!"

My weekday rides now include 4, 10 minute efforts at level 4 to 5a. Believe it or not, I'm actually a little excited about this because this is exactly the kind of work I started doing when I got back from France. It's one of the things that really put some speed into my legs.

But...

My weekday runs now include 3, 7 minute efforts at level 4 to 5a. Basically this is saying that while I'm out for my usual 7 mile run in the morning I need to run 3 of those miles in 7 minutes each.

And...

On Saturday, after I get done with my 6+ hour ride (with an hour of it in level 3) I have to get off my bike and run for 20 minutes. No kidding, I remember when a 20 minute run WAS the workout. Of course Sunday I get to follow that up with a 2 hour run.

Bottom line: You see the workouts really don't seem to be getting longer, but they sure are tougher all of a sudden.

I'll keep you posted as to my progress.

The rest of the Rest Week

Pretty uneventful Monday - Friday. The rides were supposed to be less than an hour. On Wednesday I rode to work and then rode and met Paige and Katie and Ken at an ice skating rink. I ate wings and drank beer and played with Ken while Paige and Katie ice skated. If I find a picture of Paige in her outfit I'll post it. Somehow I just missed getting rained on Wednesday night.

Tuesday and Thursday were short 25 minute runs. I'd say no problem but my right hip never stopped bothering me after last Sunday.

I blew off the Friday ride figuring I done enough Wednesday to cover it and just swam. I swam Tuesday - Friday with some serious yardage on Thursday.

Saturday was just a fun easy 2 hour ride out to Cave Creek.

Today was a blast. The end of the rest week and my plan called for a 45 minute run with 20 minutes at level 2. I did the ride while pushing Paige in her stroller. I can't say for sure but I think the stroller made the ride easier. I still had to do the time at the HR level but we definitely covered 1/4 to 1/2 mile more than I think I've done in the past.

The weekend and now a rest week

Saturday's ride was spectacular. I left my house at 7:30 am. The temperature hovered around 35 degrees. I met Ken and then Doug as we traveled south. A funny thing happened when we approached downtown. The fog was so thick you couldn't see 200 feet in front of you and the temperature dropped suddenly.

Doug threw in the towel and went home. He hadn't even worn full finger gloves so he was miserable from the start. When we got to Tempe town lake it was spooky. You couldn't see the water as we crossed the Mill Avenue Bridge. The water looked awfully cold. I really need to remember to go pick out a wetsuit.

Anyway, Ken was concerned about time so he bailed out as well. I completed the ride. While I didn't do the entire ride as fast as I wanted to I climbed the hill from Tempe to Fountain Hills averaging well above 18 mph and never let my pulse out of level 2. I think I can go down that road about 26 easy! The Ironman course has 3 big loops that include that up and down.

The run on Sunday was great! I think I ran about 10 miles in 1:30. I was a little beat up at the end of it. There are some days that you can't wait to get out of the house and work out, like Saturday. Then there are days like Sunday where you just procrastinate until you just decide to get it over with. I'll tell you something, I don't really even feel good until 15 minutes into my runs now, but after that I feel fantastic. As the run was coming to an end and I started my cool off (10 minutes at level 1) I really felt like I could have run forever. When I finally stopped I realized how taxing the ride had been. I didn't really eat that day and I wasn't as hydrated as I should have been. I also kind of hurt my right hip. All these will heal of course.

I'm now in the middle of a rest week. Rest week rides and runs are very relaxing. Actually I guess this is my second rest week of the month since I took almost an entire week off because I was sick.

Halfway home

3 months down, 3 months to go; more or less.

I was asked what a typical training day consists of. Basically it looks like this: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I ride my bike for 1:30 at varying levels of difficulty. I usually ride to work so I get an additional 1 - 1.5 hours in the evening. Tuesday & Thursday I run for an hour or so, again at varying levels of difficulty. I try to swim each weekday between 45 minutes and 2 hours depending on what work looks like. Audit and tax season is approaching so time management will get critical.

Saturday is the long ride day. I go for 5 hours at level 2. The time for this ride might increase to approximately 8 hours in March. Sunday is the long run day which is around 1.5 hours now but will grow to 3 hours by March.

I lift weights 3 - 4 times / week, work my core muscles (abs & back) for 15 minutes , and stretch for 20 minutes or so or so every day.

The workouts get progressively longer and/or more intense for 3 weeks and then I have a rest week. A "rest" week really just cuts the workouts in half. All except the swim.

Best place to live.

After 18 years Arizona just passed Nevada as the state with the fastest growing population. One of the reasons is the 350 plus days of sunshine.

So I mentioned that I've got all this cold weather gear that makes the ride reasonably comfortable when it's cold. The one thing it isn't, is water proof.

I mention the 350 days of sunshine because today has turned into one of the 15 days of the year. Hoping Katie can come get me. I really don't want to ride in this weather.

Coughlin's Laws - Please let me know if I've missed any.

Anything else is always something better.

Bury the dead, they stink up the place.

No matter how liberated this world becomes - a man will always be judged by the amount of alcohol he can consume - and a woman will be impressed, whether she likes it or not.

When you see the color of their panties, you know you've got talent.

Never show surprise, never lose your cool.

Never tell tales about a woman. No matter how far away she is, she'll always hear you.

Beer is for breakfast around here, drink or be gone.

The Luck is gone / the brain is shot / but the liquor we still got.

Cool weather

My thermometer read 37 degrees this morning. Actually a pretty perfect temperature. Don't get me wrong, I was very thankful for every bit of cold weather gear I had on. I look like a Ninja with my shoe covers and Lycra leggings. I had arm warmers on and a long sleeve t-shirt on along with the whole head covering Lycra hat. I would have looked like a cat burglar except for my very cool Speed Racer jersey.

Actually a fantastic ride. The air temperature wasn't cold enough to freeze the exposed skin like on Monday and Wednesday but it was just crisp enough to keep the ride nice. I really need to work on drinking more water. I got to work and realized that I hadn't had a drop.

The ride was 1.5 hours at level 3. I was pretty tired at towards the end. I felt like I had been doing leg presses for an hour. As I approached the last 5 minutes of the ride before my cool down I noticed my heart rate starting to slip into level 2. Just then "Viva Las Vegas" came on my mp3. I just hammered it for the last couple miles.

I really need to take it easy in level 1 going home this afternoon. Big ride tomorrow with Doug and Ken.

I really don't like bananas

Wednesday we had a company pot-luck lunch. I made Bananas Foster. If you don't know, it's a dish of bananas cooked in a caramel sauce of butter and brown sugar. It's usually prepared table side. My friend Larry over at the Different Pointe of View restaurant in Moon Valley taught me to make it about 20 years ago. It's a flaming dish and it's so easy to prepare it's silly but it's really impressive when done correctly. And very yummy!

Anyway I had enough bananas for 20 people but I only used about 8. So I have a few bananas to eat.

The proposed route for Saturday. It's an out and back and should be very boring. Hoping to get 90 miles in 4:30. Probably an aggressive goal at 20 mph and still staying at level 2. I'm going to put my old handlebars back on and clip the aerobars on next month.

Look Mom, no hands!

Something I forgot to mention a few weeks ago that I don't understand.

About a month before leaving for France I lost the ability to ride no-handed. This may not seem like a big deal but I took great pride in this skill. I once rode to Doug's house and back, 28 miles, and only touched the handlebars once other than to shift gears.

So one day, bam! If I let go of the bars the bike just veered to the right. I could correct but I'd end up going way left. It wasn't the bike because I couldn't do it on the 5200s we were riding in France either.

Anyway. Right after I finished the 500 in 5 days ride it came back. The family all went out for a spin and all of a sudden I can ride no handed again.

I hope this isn't like an episode of "House" or anything like that. If I end up in the hospital with some unexplainable neurological thing make sure you mention this to the doctor.

Do school bus drivers drink on the job?

I was at a stop sign playing with my phone/mp3 player when a school bus came up behind me. I was way over to the right, not quite on the curb but just next to it. The bus stops behind me and just sits there. I try to waive him around but he just sits there behind me. So I scoot over to the curb and he goes around me.

I'm paying attention to the phone when all of a sudden something touches my bike. I look up and it's the bus! Jag didn't swing out wide enough so if he goes any further he's going to crush me against the curb. What an ass. I'm not even yelling at the guy, I'm just shocked that he's got a license. So I pick the bike up and move it off the street and he pulls forward. The bus jumps up on the curb when he makes the turn.

It was like 30 degrees this morning when I left the house. I felt OK except for my face which which was exposed but other than that it was cool but comfortable.

I had two really cool moments on the ride this morning. The first was as I rode through a golf course. The sun was just getting ready to come up so the sky was a brilliant red. The green grass was white with frost and all the water hazards were steaming creating this surreal effect. I paused my mp3 so that the only sound I could hear was the whir of my chain. It was very zen and peaceful.

Second, my workout today was mostly at level two but I had to do some hills and I was allowed to let my heart rate rise while climbing. So I came up on this 1.5 mile road that just climbs at a reasonable rate but just keeps going up. The road goes South and out to the East you have a clear view of the mountains. The sun was just starting to peak out. A red ball rising in a clear sky. So I start to hammer it and the 80's song "Opportunity" comes on my phone. I spun out gear after gear until I got to the top. My heart rate was darn near maxed out but breathing the cold air felt cleansing. Of course what you don't realize when you are climbing is that you are beginning to sweat. This becomes apparent to you when you begin to descend and that cold air feels like an open refrigerator door. Brrr.

143.5

My weight is now 1.5 pounds lower than when I graduated high school. I think I'm an inch taller too. My Dad said to me Sunday, "Could you lose a little more weight?" He was being sarcastic.

Anyway, funny run this morning. I had to do 55 minutes with 25 of that at level 3. It was an extreme effort to keep my HR up there. I really felt like I was working at 4.5. I think that my nutrician is off. I may not have eaten enough carbs last night.

Had my last swim lesson yesterday. While I wouldn't go so far as to call myself confident, I feel that I have the tools to rock the swim. It's up to me now.

Rest of the week in review...

Let's see. When last I posted I was feeling crappy but I wasn't going to let it bother me anymore.

I finally started feeling good this weekend. I didn't wake up coughing Friday or Saturday.

I'm totally back on track training wise.

Thursday was a 55 minute short run with some sprints up into level 4. I think I blew off the ride on Friday because I knew I had a long ride ahead Saturday and opted for a long swim instead.

Saturday was my long ride day. 4.5 hours doesn't really seem like that long a ride but it can be torturous because over 4 hours of it has to be done at level 2 on flat terrain. If you are like me and you love hills and sprints (sometimes both at the same time) it can be mind numbing to just pedal along for hours. Could be worse obviously. In the Midwest I guess they do entire rides indoors on stationary bikes and trainers. Ugh.

Anyway, we had a great ride. Doug and Ken were nice enough to join me on this exercise in torture. They get longer by the way. I think in February and March I'll be out there for 8 hours. We did a ride out to New River. I stayed out front for most of it but Ken was nice enough to do a long pull at the end fast enough that I could stay in level 2 even in the draft. I think we got about 85 miles in before we were done. Doug and I almost got in a fight with some guy in a Lexus right at the end of the ride. Coward wouldn't get out of his car though.

I did exactly 1/3 of a marathon tonight in exactly 1/3 of four hours. Now that was a fun run! I stayed in level 2 for 55 minutes and timed it almost perfectly that I ended up at home when the clock stopped. I really enjoy running.

I got some really cool news on Saturday. I'll share it a little later.

I'm back!

A little tired? Sure. Coughing up a lung? You bet. Hungry for training? Obviously!

I've been out of commission since, what, Thursday? That's when I killed myself with a couple hard runs. My head cold settled in my chest and sleep has been next to impossible. With as little sleep a I get get anyway I've really been out of it.

Monday I had another swim lesson. It really went great. I realize that coaches get paid to pump you up and tell you good things but I'm really starting to believe the stuff Ann over at Camelback Coaching is telling me. My goal is set and she tells me that it's very possible. I'm very excited. I'd be even more excited if I'd remembered my stupid goggles today.

I missed a total of one run and 4 rides including a 4 1/2 hour ride that I was supposed to do on Saturday. As I've said, I'm not super concerned about that. I did miss one run and I'm disappointed there. I missed a bunch of swims but they were all drills and it didn't seem to affect my performance at all.

Ran last night. Great run! A lot of time at level 3 with an extremely low perceived level of effort. Had some trouble at the end keeping the HR in level three. I just kept wanting to run faster.

Rode this morning. 38 degrees at the house. Wow that seemed cold. I put on all that cold weather gear I bought a few weeks ago and I was very comfortable. The toes on my right foot started getting a little cold towards the end of the ride.

Doctor gave me a 'Z' pack for my cold on the assumption that it's migrated into a bacterial infection. Normally I wouldn't take antibiotics unless the infection was confirmed but it's been 3 years since I took any so I'm not going to be worried about becoming resistant. On the paperwork the doc gave me it says "finish all medications even if you feel better." One of the things he prescribed was some cough syrup with codeine. When I picked up the prescription they gave me like a pint of it! I said, "I'm sure I shouldn't finish that if I feel better." The pharmacist said to save it for a rainy day when I want to sleep. Sure worked last night. Might consider not drinking with it next time.

The clock in hyperdrive....

Oh my God! Only 124 days left.

I'm a dead man.

I still haven't gotten over this cold and all I've done since Thursday is lift weights. Yesterday I missed my first run. I'm not real concerned over some missed rides but I'm real nervous that I haven't been in the pool Since Thursday either.

I have a swim lesson tonight.

I am soooooo sick

I never get sick. Everybody that sees me keeps saying, "I can't remember the last time you were sick." I remember. A little over three years ago I caught a cold similar to this one. Paige was a newborn and Katie wouldn't let me hold her. I was bathing in Purell.

So how stupid am I? Tuesday I flew to Seattle. I went out to dinner with everyone in the office up there and had a great time. I didn't get a chance to run before dinner. I'm not so naive as to think that I would get anything in that night after dinner but I thought maybe I might get a run or maybe some time on a stationary bike the next morning.

Trouble is everybody said that I had to leave the hotel by 5:00 am to beat traffic so that I wouldn't miss my 8:30 flight. So I got up at 4:30 am. I felt way better than I had any right to feel. I always feel like crap after I drink champagne and I think I drank and entire bottle by myself. That was in addition to the several beers that I had with dinner. UGH.

Anyway I got back Wednesday and I could feel a cold coming on. The flight was pretty miserable and my ears really plugged up. I went to work that afternoon and really hit the weights hard when I got home. Chad has given me some good stuff to work on to strengthen my back so I can really rock the swim.

I kind of had a panic attack at work Wednesday because I hadn't done anything for 2 days and I'd missed a run which always concerns me. My Tuesday run was designed to be kind of difficult - 25 minutes at level 3 with a long warm up and 10 minute cool down at level 1. That's way above anything I run at usually. I really felt bad about not doing it.

So after I lifted I was playing with Paige and at 8:00 pm I just kind of fell asleep in her playroom on the floor. She ignored me and just continued playing. I woke up at 9:00, put her to bed and decided to do my Tuesday run. AWESOME!!! Perceived level of effort was pretty easy. I had no trouble keeping my HR in level 3 and I went pretty fast. Timed it a little wrong and had to run a little further than I expected but I ended up doing a 10k in about 53 minutes.

Now the stupid part. Thursday was supposed to be just a 50 minute aerobic run with 25 minutes in level 2. I got up and did just that. Even though I could definitely tell I was getting sick. Perceived level of effort: easy. But my HR was all over the place and my speed was crap!! DUH! Then at lunch I did 1,200 meters in the pool.

Let's see what I did wrong.

1. Not supposed to run 2 days in a row, let alone 2 six mile runs 7 hours apart.
2. Not supposed to train when you are sick. Give your body time to rest and heal.
3. Not getting nearly enough sleep.

I'm exhausted and should stay in bed but I have to get month end out of the way.

Seattle

It's like Wisconsin, without the charm.

I'm here on business for the night. I need to squeeze in a run tonight before dinner. It looks cold out. Perhaps I will try something on the treadmill. I plan to put away several beers at dinner and I don't think I'll be into running afterwards.

Last night I went to the second lecture at Camelback Coaching. This one was on nutrition. I was pretty familiar with most of what was covered with the exception of how salt and other electrolytes affect how well you perform on race day. I need to do a little experimentation here.

A bad omen this morning

Maybe I should have known there was trouble ahead.

I keep my cycling shoes right by the front door. This morning I was barefoot and just about to sit down on the floor to put my socks and shoes on. There were some dust bunnies on the floor so I kicked them out of the way before sitting down. One of the dust bunnies was solid. I kicked it again and then I turned on the light and looked at it.

Holy Shit! A dead scorpion! I'm embarrassed to admit this but bugs give me the willies! While technically not a bug, I don't like scorpions either. I go get a glass to scoop it up with but as soon as I put the glass around the critter the dead scorpion sprung to life. Yipes.

Anyway, I kept my composure long enough to flush that sucker down the toilet.

Did I mention that scorpions (and black widows) like to hide out in shoes? You know, Arizona is about the best place in the world to live, but I really don't like arachnids that sting and bite.

CRASH!!! (again)

I'm becoming a menace to myself.

Today was a great ride in spite of everything. I got out of the house at 5:45 am. Temp was 45 degrees so I didn't wear the full winter regalia but I put on my new cold weather gloves. The ride today was supposed to be a 20 minute warm up followed by 45 at level 3 with a 10 minute cool down.

I met Ken on the road coming in and spent most of the time pulling. At one point we came to an intersection on a red light. I looked left/right/left and even though I saw a truck coming I knew we could make it so I yelled "Clear" hammered through the intersection.

Ken didn't feel as comfortable running the red in front of the truck so he slowed. When I realized he wasn't with me I slowed down and looked back. I saw he was coming so I just kept going. I turned around and just as I was facing forward my front and rear tires rubbed up against the side of the curb.

Ken said he didn't see exactly what happened but he did see plenty of sparks! I tried to control the bike but I went over on the right side and I came down on my right hip pretty hard. I came out of the pedals and rolled for a little while before coming to a stop right in front of the bike.

A quick inventory revealed no broken bones. I know my hip is going to be very sore. I've got some pretty nasty scrapes and my right butt cheek is one big raspberry. The good news is the bike appears to have escaped completely unscathed. I don't know who's watching out for me up there but they're doing a great job.

My new goal here is not to crash again until after April 15, 2007.

The rest of the week...

F - me! I said it was cold Wednesday. B.S.
Temperature dropped Thursday and Friday it was 31 degrees! It must have gotten into the 70s in the afternoon but I was miserable on the ride in.
Saturday after my ride I went to the bike store and bought some true cold weather gear. We'll see tomorrow how it works out.
So that was a rest week. Piece of cake! I actually liked it. I sort of ignored the instructions on the swim and stuck with the 1,000 - 1,200 distance.
So this week looks like there some tough stuff on the run. Looking forward to it! I'll keep you posted.