Sunday, September 16, 2007

Suffering

Think back to the times that you've "suffered" during training or racing...paid a visit to the pain cave...burnt all your matches, etc. Good times eh?

I guess with an Olympic team spot on the line, you take suffering to the next level. Here's Jarrod Shoemaker letting it all hang out, literally, as he crosses the finish line at the Beijing World Cup. As first American, he earned the first USA olympic team spot for USA Triathlon. He beat out USA favorites Kemper and Potts in the process - good on ya Jarrod!



I got in a short run and a trainer ride where I "suffered" a bit for 2 x 20 minute intervals, albeit on a much much much lower scale! ;-)

After the training silliness, I did get around to more important things like watching The Royal Tenenbaums again. With a lot of the crap out there, you have to revisit the worthwhile stuff every so often.


Have a good week!

*Peace*

Friday, September 14, 2007

Yummy, Part Deux

Here's how it goes down....
You start with natural, hormone & antibiotic-free, grass-fed, *LOCAL* beef, slice up some organic tomatoes, toss on some organic greens and voila!!



You can almost rationalize away the guilt from eating a hamburger...and a tasty one at that!

No excuses for the beer though...that one hurt so good! ;-)

Hope everyone is doing well out there...I know my updates have been lacking but I've been buried at work among other excuses. On the training front, I'm still working on healing the feet and have been restricted to running a max of one mile. I'm not too happy with that but hoping to beat this chronic PF!!

In other news, my beautiful ZIPP 999's have gone bye-bye! *sigh* I love that disc wheel but trading them for a Powertap SL. It's all about raising that functional threshold POWER in 08!!

Before I turn off the lights, let me leave you with some PDP. It's not the greatest video but you gotta appreciate the cool vibe. For real.

Sing a simple song brah!



Have a great weekend!

*Peace*

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Yummy

It looks like Quintana Roo listened to everyone who whined about their ugly 07 graphics...hell, it even hurt my eyes to look at the 07 Lucero frame the first time I laid eyes on it! But, it's all about the fit right? Now I don't even notice how ugly my frame is...*yeah right* ;-)

My bike....kinda like the "before and after" weight loss pics

My 2007 bike *Before*



Now the "After" pic...Check out the 2008 Lucero Lite...SWEET!!



My money is on the ChiCqilo though. I love the pink graphics! If I didn't already buy the Lucero, I'd have a hard time choosing between the Lucero and the ChiCqeeeeeeeelooooooo! Say it with me now!



Hope the week is treating you all well!

*Peace*

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Glutton For Punishment

Yeah Baby! ;-)


04 Sep 2007 13:22:19 -0800
This message is generated as confirmation of your recent registration on Active.com. You have been successfully registered for the following:

Registration: 2008 Subaru Ironman Canada On-Site Entry
Purchase Date: 09/04/07
Category: On-Site Registration
Event Date: 08/24/08

Sunday, September 02, 2007

All In

Anyone else losing sleep over the "shoulda / woulda / coulda's" from a recent race? Ok, maybe not losing sleep but it still has been on my mind alot lately since IMC.

Based on a review of my Ironman races:

1999 Ironman Florida 11:54:41
2000 Ironman California 12:02:51* Long swim
2001 Ironman California 10:55:51
2001 Ironman Canada 11:13:13
2002 Ironman Canada 10:41:29
2003 Ironman Canada 10:48:56
2003 Ironman Florida 10:22:41
2004 Ironman Canada 10:55:27
2006 Ironman Canada 11:15:05
2007 Ironman Canada 10:50:46

See a theme there?

"If you change nothing ... Nothing changes"
-unknown-

Except for the races where I blew up (reduced to walking alot of the marathon in 01 / 06 IMC), I seem to be stuck in a rut of finishing right around 10:50. Don't get me wrong, anytime you cross the line at an Ironman race, *regardless* of finish time, it is a victory in my opinion. BUT, *and it is a big but* you know deep down in the dark recesses of your brain, you have a certain goal or time that would validate all the sacrifice and struggle of the huge training volume over a season.

I guess you can't expect to get different results by following the same protocol season after season so I plan on mixing it up next year. If i'm going to put in the training hours, a given as always, why not push it? I don't necessarily mean an increase in hours because I think the law of diminishing returns applies here. I mean training smarter.

I have a computrainer that has been nothing more then an glorified trainer based on my usage. I plan on exploring more of its features such as using its ergo mode to train at a certain power / wattage level. I also plan on seriously considering the option of training with power (powermeter)- it almost seems like a necessity at this point to get to the next level. I will join the Nike Masters Swim program. They meet twice a week and it would definitely be a good idea based on my swim times going south lately. Finally, I am going to have a more balanced approach over the winter vs. strictly running. Granted, I plan on focusing on the run during the winter months but I will not eliminate or ignore the swim / bike stuff. I just want to have a SOLID aerobic base across all disciplines come April vs. playing catch-up and jumping right into my first 20hr week in Late April as I did this year.

Here's a link to some great training articles for anyone interested.

I know I've mentioned it before but if you have some time, pour a BIG cup of coffee and read the "Hadd's approach" article available through the link above. Yeah, none of the sexy fast stuff there ala track workouts, etc but long-course racing is an AEROBIC engine exercise and focus should be placed there. The ability to run 5 minute miles probably won't come into play during your race! ;-) Also, great stuff in the other articles.

That's it. Simple.

I'm all in for 2008.

Now excuse me while I head out for a run. :-)

*Peace*