Great weekend of fun and games ?

Well I don't know about any 3 Musketeer's and Slurpee's or burpee's. But I do know that up until about 12:40 p.m. yesterday we had great weather in the So Cal region.
It made for a perfect stage of outdoor sports of any kind. Everyone appeared to be doing there thing. From kids soccer games, to kite flying, to RC cars being spun out of control. Everyone was out and enjoying it.
And I was no different. My choice of pleasure and pain Saturday was an early ride with Patrick from  http://www.theroadmultisport.com/ along with the Orange Coast Velo crew. Anyone in the So Cal area should check them out for all levels of rides and race training.
Our luck with January weather has been historic. We hooked up and got road bound by 7:30, picking up other club members along the way. Within 6 miles and steadily heading south bound on PCH, I counted 26 riders in all. That is all good stuff right there.

This is not really us, but it would of looked similar. And this kicks arse !!
There really is something awesome about flying in a group at 18-20 mph warming up and chatting face to face or bar to bar, with friends. Its quite rewarding in itself.
After the clubs 1st regroup point we chose the shorter o the 2 rides that day.
Knowing I'm a week out from Surf City 1/2 Mary and my main focus right now is running. Patrick agreed and then we solidified it by both having long runs stamped in for Sunday.
Our "B" ride would be at a steady pace with some good random climbs, some longer than others, but all challenging. Read more on ride area here - http://www.theroadmultisport.com/ . Because we ride to the ride, our start distance always gets extended. Today's ride for me totalled 56.7 miles. I felt this was more than adequate with Sundays run scheduled for 10 + miles.
I loved the entire ride from start to finish. Was more prepared with liquids and fuel this time, and really enjoyed the route. We got to challenge ourselves on hills and flats for time and speed. We had a great close out ride coming in where we got some flat out wind slicing speeds going. It was awesome to get to be part of that. Ive missed that for quite some time (years) and I really enjoyed it.

Sunday was another story with the weather. WTH ? all clouds, kind of cold and looked like rain. I didn't see this coming. So the wife and I didn't jump out of bed like I had originally hoped. At this point I was just hoping she didn't look at the weather and say screw this, this is ugly and hard and I'm sitting this one out.

So I get up and start getting things going. Water bottles filled, GU's loaded, IPODS gathered etc..

A couple of notables here. My wife is a new member to this outside activity, so I try and make it as smooth as possible without doing all the prep work etc.. I still want her to live the commitment it takes and overcoming adversities.
Saturday we bought her a 20 oz. single shot fuel belt bottle set up. I reloaded 197 fresh songs into her IPOD and got her a new pink arm band for shuffle.
GOING FORWARD, This all seemed to work well. She never said shite about the weather, except a suggestion from me on which jacket she should bring.
We made our way down to our set start point, went over our distance plans and headed out.
This being my final long run before this weekends Surf City 1/2. I have never done this race or any 1/2 marathon before.
 I'm pretty excited and think I am as good as I'm going to get, given the time frame that Ive had to get here.
This should be good.

Anyways I was off and out for 10-12 miles at what should be close to race pace for me. My legs where not heavy but a little shot from Saturday's ride efforts. I started at a 9:13 1st mile pace and held at for 3 miles. It was really tough for me and to make it that much harder the wind was directly in my face. So with a short upward climb and a headwind getting worse, all I could think about was how great the turn around would be with a tail wind and a short down hill.
I made the turn around and started heading back. I felt decent until about mile 7, where I started feeling a little groin pull on both left and right leg. My quads where definitely letting me know they where along for the pain too.
I just kept telling myself that this was the effects of the previous days ride, and that next weekend would be like every other weekend over the last 6 weeks. Nothing more than a long 10-12 mile run stretched out to 13.1 with more effort and fully rested.
I wondered many times while out there how my wife as doing. Was she still enjoying her new found thing ? She was definitely extending her walk miles today. How would the wind be messing with her head ?
All this while trying to sty focused on a decent pace and forget about nagging pain.
My pace did drop off to an over all average of 9:31. But even spent from the previous day and during through some pain, I managed to beat my best time by several minutes. Total run  9.97 miles in 1:38 minutes. I found my wife walking back my way about .3 miles from our start point, she had a smile on her face a she looked very satisfied.
I normally would have ran through until the last .03 miles left, but I figured what was the point. Stop and see how it all went for her, share her experience.
So that's what I did. And to my pleasant surprise she had walked 5 miles and enjoyed it. She somehow only figured out that a 5k is 3.1 miles and she believes she would like to try and run one of those pretty soon. Speaking of that thing called running. As I had hoped, she did try and run several times during this 5 mile walk. She said it sucked and wanted to get better at it .
So long of the short, the weather was not perfect sunshine. But to me would have been perfect run weather temperature, less the freakin wind.
My plans held together in sharing this with my wife.
She enjoyed it and made some new goals.
I enjoyed most of  it and built a little more character. Along with proving I have more speed in me.
I have a long way to go and I have time to get there, so enjoy the ride and stay even keeled about it all.
You can't rush progress. But you know when it is upon you.

Today is a rest day. I have a couple short scheduled runs this week. No bike and I may swim a mile or so at lunch one day this week for pleasure.
Have a great day. Stay healthy.     
   

Fridays fire !

We work so hard to get here. Who am I kidding we work so hard all week long. It's just nice to not have to be s responsible for a day or so.

This week has had it's highs and lows. I choose to leave the lows where there at.
I'll stay focused on the highs.
This was a good week of training with a decent time trial on the  Tri bike, a real good swim session, and a couple of short but decent speed runs.
I have got a long ride with OC Velo and  http://www.theroadmultisport.com/ tomorrow. I CAN'T freakin wait to get back on the BIANCHI . I don't care which ride we choose 42- 60 miles will still be 50-70 miles for me when it's all said and done. But there is a petty big difference in the pace That the A group can do over the B group.
I like the fact that my strength and fitness gives me the option to do either or. Don't get me wrong the A group will likely spit me out the back in places, but for the most part if I stay in line I think I can hang. On the other hand the B group can and will go at it hard too so it makes for a more than adequate session. And fitness and strength can change from day to day. We all know that. One day you can be super human and the next be flat,flat, flat.
Oh crap, let's not say the word flat.
 I think it would be smartest to choose the shorter due to my long run scheduled on Sunday morning. It is slated for 12 miles.
This will be my last run over 7 miles until next Sundays Surf city 1/2 marathon.
Speaking of Sunday run. My wife is still into it, well not running yet, but we'll see.
But even so, she has walked 3 days this week and not felt better than 70 % due to sinus/ear infection.

She had a 2:30 hair client and then was going to head out again today.
Come Sunday she will walk, while I run. Our plan is when I hit my 6 mile turn around, I will call or text her and she will turn around  and start walking back as I chase her down. Good for me, good for her.

The best thing to me is :
A- she's still motivated to walk
B- she wants to challenge and stretch her distance. ( she is going to be amazed at how far she will walk in 2 hours)
C- we are (kind of ) doing it together. I hope this leads in to bigger and better things.
D- I get my long run in, without shape shifting my home life. (this does get tricky at times).
E- even walking she is  going to get a taste of what being out there for awhile is about.

I hope her mind doesn't change her plans for her. She really is only about 80 % well yet.
My eating plan leading up to this race, has helped her too and she is feeling some shedding of weight. This makes anyone feel good. And really if it wasn't for her discipline of cooking and shopping  for the proper foods ? Who knows what would be going on.

CONFESSION :The last two days I have resorted to digging deep in my closet and wearing to pairs of pants from suits that I have from 6 years ago.
On one hand it is sad that I am that much of a clothes hoarder.
On the other hand it was a blessing, because I am running out of pants that fit. However I am not yet in a position to go drop $ 30-$ 50 a piece for 1/2 a dozen pairs of dress pants for work.

WHY IS THERE ALWAYS A YIN WITH THE YANG ?

I hope everything goes as written this weekend. And if it doesn't I hope I use my head and make it full filling anyways.

For those racing this weekend, or just pushing yourself to new levels. GOOD LUCK !

For those that have fallen off the pace. I say get up and start moving again. We all fall into funks. What gives you character and makes you different is how you rebound and get back to it.
So your fitness fell, or you added a few pounds. It's only an issue if you don't do something RIGHT NOW, about it.

Don't kick yourself while you down.
Lick your wounds and GO FORWARD.
Because driving out of your rear view mirror sucks.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.

Train hard, train smart, and be healthy.
  
Im not the guy in this picture anymore

    

It all happens at once

Bleh !
Sometimes everything goes sideways at once.
So you just have to look for that silver lining as they call it (screw THEM).
Just kidding. But seriously, It's been one of those challenging days from the rise of the sun.

I got my health,
I got my family,
I have a job,
I have money in my pocket,
I'm eating left over chicken breast and asparagus.
I'll have a warm meal tonight
I'll have  roof over my head

I really can't complain much. But some day's are just a struggle. So I'll leave it at that and be thankful.

I was suppose to have a core set at the gym today. But I got there and stretched. By the time it would have been time to mingle with the gym rats, I was already over it.
I headed up stairs and proceeded to the last treadmill that faces nothing but a plain wall. I cranked up the IPOD and proceeded to run all that crap out of my head.
Mile 1 - 9:13
mile 2 - 8:31
mile 3- 8:08
mile .10 at 7:37

It felt good, it felt right, and even though it was the treadmill, it felt great to be running.   

Time trials are good

As hard as it was to leave the Bianchi mounted on the wall this morning, I did it.
It was a time trial morning. And as different as the two bikes are, there is no comparison in aerodynamics.
My Quintana Roo (in my eyes) is the best bang for the buck TT bike as it is set up.
I'm so glad that I was persuaded to hold on to this bike.
That being said, this bike as most true TT bikes sucks arse on steep climbs. They are not the most comfortable 70 + mile rides, unless of course you can spend allot of time in the aero bars. But riding in the bull horns for 3-4-5 hours is not ideal. And most of those rides will be held for my other love.
But  today was an early TT day @ 20-23 miles.
It was crisp and I dressed as non layered as possible.
Bib shorts with a long sleeve lite base shirt and tights. Tight cycling jersey and arm warmers with full finger gloves. Thin skull cap and Brick shoe covers, topped with my kick arse clear lens Ryder shades.

I only gave myself about 2 miles to get the blood moving and then it was large ring, hammer down aero. I got held at a few lights early on that kept breaking momentum, but I was damned if it was going to crack me a change my mind of going all out.
I was cranking off miles in big gears, just turning perfect large circles at 24-25 steady mph. I felt great and exhausted all in one.
I never spent more than a couple of minutes in the upright position until hitting my turn in spot off PCH. This gets me back home in just about 2.5 miles.
Total miles 21.67 in  1:05:36 . Today was epic hammer weather and I wish I could run that same loop without stopping and having to rebuild max wattage back up,just to see where my time would actualy land.
I have no pictures of the morning, but I'm sure other West coasters will. I'll leave you with the real hero for the day.

Side note: My wife finally caved ad went to the doc's yesterday. Sinus + ear infection = cypro and drops. She still walked 2.5 miles the day before. Took yesterday off because she was feeling like the leaning tower of Pisa, with equilibrium all screwed up. But said this morning that she is already feeling better and is  looking forward to getting out there.

Enjoying the weather while it's here. Taking advantage of it while we can.
Have a great day.
      

Tempo, Tempo.

Not a huge fan of the tempo run, intervals or any other thing that gets me uncomfortable right out of the gate.
I'm more of the wind me up and see how the engine gets going. Not really the best approach if your looking to get faster.
Well I am. And although at 45 years old and some pretty challenged knees Is still believe I have some good to great miles left in me. I will be speed challenged in running, but will never stop pursuing getting at the very least a little faster.
At a 10 mpm pace I can run a long distance I believe. I'm mentally great at picking the next marker and pushing on. But at holding speed for any real length of time, I need to keep trying.
So today was my tempo run at 4 miles.
My new thing I have been trying for anything under 4.5 miles in the a.m. is a small glass of water to wet the whistle, and no fuel. Assuming I ate right they day before. Since my diet has been 95 % spot on and I have been hydrating great daily this has been working well.
I did a quick loosening up, I wouldn't really call it a stretch. Just some knee raises and calve stretches.
Bang, out the door, IPOD flowing to 30 seconds to Mars and my new Garmin friend started.
As usual for me, I start with a smile, then quickly grimace. This always goes away after .25 mile or so, assuming I have not just killed my legs the day before with some long mileage, then it tends to stay a bit.
mile 1- 8:30 pace
mile 2- 9:11
mile 3- 9:59 WTH ??
mile 4- 7:51
Fastest pace 5:44, I don't know yet how to figure out how long I held this. But I like it anyways.
Average was still above 9 @ 9:01, really .01 of a second above 9. Well that's a goal in itself to break. .01
Obviously mile 3 was challenged ? or mind wandering and unfocused.
4 miles done in 34:54.
I'll keep try to stretch the distance out at this pace. Its all an adventure, its all a journey.

2000 meter pool swim turned in to 1600 meters because I got shorted on time. 1x100 to 5x300 on 30 seconds rest. I believe the time was 35:46 . I don't have that watch its in my goggle case in my gym bag.

On another note; I 1 pound shy of ducking under my Clydesdale weight. My goal is still 195 lbs for Surf City 1/2 Marathon Feb 6th.
I'm not dieting to hit that number. Just super clean fuel and training period. If I hit it, GREAT! If I don't, no worries .

 
As my Road ID says. "This is an adventure on a road less traveled by most- LOVE LIFE".
I believe that is true.

Have a great day:  

The cold bug continues

Not for me, but unfortunately for my son. My wife also has something going on, and it appears cold be sinus related. Bleh to both !!
My son spent 2 days trying to get back to feeling half normal and my wife followed about the same. I passed on Saturdays long ride with OC VELO due to some time issues and obligations my wife had early. I did get to hook up for Sundays club recovery ride and about 10 people showed up. It is a different pace, (recovery) than the Saturday ride. It is still great to be in a group ride and chatting while pounding out some miles. The weather called for sun and wind. And at 6:00 a.m. I was seeing the wind they were talking about. My thought was no matter what this could be a tough 40 + mile ride.
When I got to the designated meet point I took a minute to snap this.

The flags were fairly calm (yah) and the air was crystal clear. There was also some great hollow off shore waves. The picture would b hard to pick it out but it was head high + and pretty epic.
I made the inaugural journey on the new roadie.

It fit much better after a stem change, moving the hoods and rewrappinmg some new bar tape. Along with 6 seat adjustments. It was super light and responded great on climbs.It was fast on the down hills and I even got more confident towards the end on cornering at high speeds. She's staying and will see some miles .
Sunday ride took me just under 48 miles having to leave the club at around 35 or so miles. I pounded the rest out by myself and hooked up with a few stragglers on the road for the ride back home, trying to keep a tail wind pace of about 24 mph.
Look forward to some more saddle time, and pelaton time.
Speaking of which it was good to see some current cycling with THE TOUR DOWN UNDER. I wish the coverage could have been a little more full,but Ill take what I can get.
Today is swim a day calling for 2000 meters. 


   

Running in to the black hole

With consistent workouts this week my body begged me to sleep in until 6:30 yesterday morning. I did this knowing I was switching up a 4 mile tempo run to an evening long run of 10 + miles.
Not taking into consideration of how much I (think) I dislike evening runs. Let alone an evening run over 10k. It seems anything less than a 10k is a non issue. Anything over, becomes a mental job. I'm starting to believe it is mostly in my head and gets triggered from the 9-10 hour day I just worked.

I need to get over this and I'm trying.
That being said, I stayed true to my training. I ate well and clean through out the day, stayed hydrated and kept my plan that I was going 10 and then some after work.

By the time I got home and changed, along with gathering IPOD, hydration belt, Garmin and Gu it was 6:00 p.m. before I got to my start destination.

I would be running a well lit (most of the way, more on that later) paved path that should be fairly empty. I parked in the middle of Sunset beach to add a little bit of mileage.
The moon was full and the sky was clear. I opted for shorts a sleeveless tech top and some arm warmers. It seemed cold at first but that went away quickly.
I'm new to this whole Garmin training, but damn exited about the tracking and pacing capabilities. I'm a such a dinosaur when it comes to all the new technology, but I'm slowly learning.
Miles 1&2 were pretty effortless and I was cruising at 9:05 pace. (this is good for me, for now).
Mile 2 to 3.5 get away from the lit path and you start a gradual climb. This incidentally is the stretch where the cyclist was taken out a week ago. Now I have ran and road this section many times but never in pitch black with the thought and visualization of a car or two launching off the bend on this climb. It was all very obvious what went down as I kept climbing and closing in on the approximate area.
Sadly I can't see very good at night. It's even worse with random headlight reflections coming at me. But I had  a visor on and kept hunching my head down to keep the glare away and the unlit path in front of me.
I would have never imagined it being this black. I still felt good and was kind of mind wondering about cycling, and the upcoming 1/2 marathon and how we will be taken by this very spot. It made me smile and really happy to be out there getting it done in preparation.
Miles 3.5 to 5.25 at the pier showed some life of people jogging/walking/running and made me wonder as I always do, I wonder why they are doing this ? Is it a race ? a lifestyle ? New years resolution that is trying to stick ? Maybe it s because they live here ? It never really matters what the answer is, but it's just cool to see it being done.
At this point Ive had a side stitch for about three miles and I'm hoping that stopping and taking a pee break will help.
After I performed that task, I decide to take the picture of the pier, except I had forgotten to wipe sweat and fog off my i phone before shooting the picture, so this is the crappy picture you get "sorry".

Starting back up was easy,because I hate to stop when running. I may slow down to an 10:30 mile but I hate to stop or walk in fact I have yet had to walk since my return in August 2010. That being said I have stopped removed a shoe and adjusted a sock, pressed and pulled a toe etc.. But not cracked to walk yet. Granted I have yet ran over 11 miles either.
Sadly side stitch was still there, and a bunch of random crappy songs on shuffle kept coming up.
I finally got into some type of rhythm and realized this would be a tough run back. I just kept breaking it down section to section and trying to keep a decent pace.
Things got better just before coming back into black hole no mans land decent, my stitch went away and I was going to get to enjoy the rest of my run.
I descended down the black path with as much speed as I could allow being half blind. Crossed the inlet bridge and made the turn back on to the lit path.
I felt the last few miles had been a total gut check of do you really want this ? is this really necessary ? Why run through pain, when you could just stop and rest ?
AND NEVER ONCE WAS THE ANSWER ANY DIFFERENT.
Yes, I really want this lifestyle again. Yes this is absolutely ALL necessary. And you run through as much pain as possible to find out where your threshold is.Your body will tell you when enough is enough AND THAT WASN'T IT.

At the end of the day, and I mean the end of the day it was a good character run for me. It wasn't fast, but it likely wont be for awhile. But it was full of adventure and overcoming mind and body games.
I truly believe these are the sessions that make us who we are.
Run was 10.47 miles in 1:43, some miles faster than others, some miles funner than others. BUT IT ALL GOT DONE.
It's Friday and I'm hoping for a couple hour ride with http://www.theroadmultisport.com/ and OC VELO club tomorrow morning on the new Bianchi. She's not fitted perfect but should be good for 45-50 miles I reckon.
Have a great weekend. Train smart,train hard and stay healthy.      
             

Im of Irish decent, but the Italians are so coooool

And I'm not talking about my beautiful Italian wife either,although she has a ton of great moments too.

But this is some other hot Italian I just recently hooked up with.

That's right, I'll be cheating on my Quintana Roo TT at times. She knows about it. They've now meet and will see how things go.
I'm sure they had a long discussion after I put it together last night and shut the lights off.

I'm sure they had there spats, and laughs. Blue probably told Celeste about my crank abuse, my constant dripping and spitting. How I don't care about where my drool goes when I'm riding. How I keep telling her I'm loosing weight, but she can't tell, still feels like the same bag rocks on her seat.

There going to have to get along a place nice together. This is going to be a long,brutal relationship. Were all going to have our good and bad days. Along with victories and defeats.
I'll only blame them when they fail me. Otherwise I'll accept all other criticism.

So the story continues and the passion rises.

I only took it for a couple of fitting spins last night and I have a couple of issues the way it came. I did buy it used via e-bay. I know, I have a self admitted issue with this.

1st of all I'm 5-9 and change and I purchased as listed a 54 cm bike. It was listed 2x this way. However the down tube indicates a 59 cm. My inseam is 30 inches and I actually fit over the top tube fine ? I would have liked a little more than a 1/2 inch crotch clearance though. I have stood over many bikes,especially in the last 3 months. I don't believe this is a 54 cm.
I'm questioning that it is not really a 59 cm frame, but I'm sure it's not 54 cm. I love this bike and have waited weeks for it. I have an e-mail sent to the seller but haven't heard anything back yet.

Other than that, for a 2007 it is in great condition. Some minor frame scrapes that I will try and polish out. The cranks are compact FSA.The brifters are Dur ace, along with the rear derailleur.The front derailleur is Ultegra and it has the black 105 brakes.
The wheels and tires are fairly new, with less than 400 on them I'm told. THEY would not have been my choice due to color and brand. But after putting them together last night, hubs spindles and cassette. They actually look pretty strong. The bladed spokes he used were a nice touch too. Will see.
Lastly the stem appears to be a 110, although I have moved the seat a bit forward to get a little less reach in the cockpit, I think I would be better served with a 100. I haven't measured it yet so I'm not 100 % sure it is a 110. But from past experience I think it is.
Bike fit it huge and I have waited a bit for this bike. More than the several weeks that it took to ship. I want this to be as right as possible being ht it is used I will give it all a little grace, but I plan on putting thousands of hard fought miles on this bike, and it has to be pleasing to the body or it goes. And I don't want it to go. This was the ideal bike for me, brand and model. The price was reasonable for an aluminum/carbon mix bike with good to better components. I hope I'm not over reacting.

Question : at 5-9 with a 30 inseam could I even fit over a 59 cm and feel comfortable ? I don't think I have ever thrown my leg over anything taller than a 56 cm is the reason I'm asking. Ive seen 58-60 cm bikes they normally look huge and this doesn't ??

I'm proud,so i'll brag on my wife a little here

A couple of weeks back our sickness of fitness and training finally broke my wife.
Don't get me wrong, as Ive said before she supports my efforts in multi sports. And though she finds some aspects of it, i.e. like watching cycling on tv for hours at a time, a little ridiculous, she does see the passion.
Going ahead, she asked for a pedometer/HR watch to motivate her to start walking and in my mind hopefully start running. I won't push either, but will certainly jump on any bandwagon that encourages her in that directions.
With that being said I had a pedometer for her within a week and waited anxiously to see what would happen.
Quick note: my wife is super woman in my eyes. She does 90 % of the household jobs of cooking,cleaning,accounting,grocery shopping etc.. I pick up the slack when her life is too crazy. She volunteers free hair cuts for men and women at rehab centers 1-2 times a month.On top of that has a regular hair clientele and is a part time personal assistant. SHE IS BUSY.

One other thing she has mentioned in the last  few days was how an IPOD would help her get out the door and put some miles on (I wonder where she got that term ? ).
So I listened and have that coming.
However she impressed the hell out of mid day yesterday with a pone call telling me she was at the beach and heading out on a walk. YEAH !!!!
Come to see she walked 2.86 miles and felt real good about it. On top of that it sounds as if she will venture out again today.
I tried to explain the importance of repetition in the beginning and let the distance and pace come later. She like that, and I felt it was and is the best approach for anyone starting out.
So yeah for my wife !! I'm very happy for her and proud of her.

This morning session for me was a beautiful crisp January ride of 28 miles. Exact time unknown at present time. Really I don't care. It was a strong pull and I would guess a very good time effort.
It was just real nice to be rolling those cranks over and watching the sweat rain over my clear lense Ryder's glasses.
Riding in the dark sucks, but not riding at all SUCKS even worse. So I ride !

Congrats to my wife, congrats to anyone else that is putting out the effort to better there fitness,life and health.

Do the walls feel as if there closing in ?

If this seems a little out of character for me. It is. Just bare with me. I was asked by an outside source to share this and I'll do the best I can. Thanks

I ask this question of the title because our lives are a series of appointments, home and job responsibilities, family obligations, children, fix this and repair that. It can get overwhelming to say the least.
I guess my point is, how do you fit it all in and train to your potential ?

I know how I do it, I think I know how some closer friends do it. But the reason I bring this up is because  I believe there are a lot of quality potential athletes and certainly non athletes out there that can benefit from your wisdom of how you and I fit it in, and make it work.

There is no doubt that a healthier lifestyle will make for a happier person. A happier person can make for a better spouse, boy or girlfriend, or even parents as a whole. So how do you fit it all in?

First of all it can be a challenge in a relationship, especially when only one partner is into it.
 My advice is to allow it time to take shape. Let the your partner see the positive benefits that will come along with it. Let your extra energy speak for itself.
Don't get so consumed that you forget what real life is. Allow the fun of training to spill over into your everyday life.
Try not to focus every conversation around it. Unless of course you are with like minded people, then it's quite obvious that's really all we want to talk about.

Hopefully your training has put you on a tight schedule. In most cases it will and time is a commodity. Use this to your advantage at home or the work place.
Just because there not training (yet) doesn't mean they wont appreciate your promptness and enthusiasm to get it done right the first time, and on time.

Your attitude, hopefully upbeat now, will become infectious. And others will feed off of this.
This is not to say you won't still have good and bad days. Of course we will, at home and at work.
But use your now better trained body and mind to resist blowing up. Think things out first and make a clearer decision on your actions. Isn't this what you would do if you were training ? The answer is yes ! Therefore use your power that you have created and posses. Let it rub off on the others and see how they change.

A person that is on a regular training schedule should also have better eating habits. Planned meals are important for time saving and for better fitness levels. Use this to your advantage at home and see how it benefits everyone. And even when you don't nail the exact diet you wanted that day or week, don't throw it away. Step back, regroup and refocus. Isn't this what you would do while training ?

In short, I personally try and plan 80 % of my training around times that press me, and not my family.
EXAMPLE- I do most of my training early mornings, before my normal day will start. This doesn't interfere with my family or work life too much. And when I know it will I keep it to a minimum, so as not to allow the two to interfere in a negative way.
I also do several lunch workouts. Yes I sacrifice some social time with some people over a meal, but really whats more important ?
I only give advice to my wife about fitness when asked or I see an opening of interest. Otherwise I'm am an observer and supporter. I do the same with employees and the few friends I have, assuming they are not pursuing fitness.
I don't push my kids to participate in activities that they have no interest in. That doesn't mean I won't drag my son out on a run with me, hey he's 10 years old, I let him ride a bike.
All joking aside, the only thing I tell him is he will have to do something. Find out what you like and we will help participate. But you will not be allowed to sit and play videos and watch tv all day.
 Keep throwing mud on the wall with them, they'll find something that sticks.

Weekends are a little more tricky and take a little more balance. But with understanding on my part and a little give, it will almost always work out.
 Remember very few understand, or even think about what you/we are going through to get to that next fitness level.
They could care less about intervals, hill repeats, sprints and volume. Let alone understand it. So give them a break and don't get to technical. Keep it simple and understandable.
Have fun with fitness and let it blend with your life. Keep it a lifestyle for both or all of you. And for sure do not force feed anyone your passions. Let it take it's normal course and it will eventually be part of them too.
And remember, life happens not always on a schedule. You have to be somewhat flexible with ALL of it, for ANY of it to work.

Train hard, train smart.Stay healthy and happy.

Today's lunch work out was a bit rushed due to a last minute meeting. But I was flexible because life happens.
I did a pool swim at 1300 meters in 26:54 , - 100x1 to 500x2 to 200x1. Showered and back at work by 1:00. However I did leave a bit early for lunch to make it happen that way.

Birthday well wishings, long rides and fire arms ? WTF ?

I had one of those fast and furious weekends that so often pop up in my life. Either it continues to make me stronger or it will kill me. Either way were all going away sometime, so I just cram it all in and do the best I can.
From Friday at 5:00 it was on for 2 days of go,go, and more go.
I picked up my son at 5:00 and we headed home to meet up with all the family for yet another birthday. This one is a special one for sure, it was my grand daughters 8th and they drove in from Las Vegas to make it all happen with us.
A couple months back when we were in Vegas we asked what she waned to do, and she replied a Chucky Cheese party ! "OH JOY" I can't wait.
For me Chucky Cheese ranks right up there with Walmart for me. (not so much). But hey it's what sh wanted.
This was great for the kids and we endured with pizza, (bad pizza) and salad bar festivities.

Birthday girl all smiles.   
The one thing I can say about her is, no matter what she gets, it's like the greatest thing ever. It really make it enjoyable to watch her open gifts. She happens to be a huge Taylor Swift fan and my wife went all out. Getting her some new brown cowgirl boots, a cute little dress, she bought her this pink sweat outfit and did a picture transfer of Taylor Swift on the back, made her a pillow with a Taylor Swift picture on it, and so on, and so on.
She loved it all and it was worth enduring the pain of the CHUCKY.

We finally got out of there at about 10:00 and This little sign caught my eye. Now I think there is some questionable people in there, but this seemed a bit over the top.

No fire arms allowed ! REALLY, does this have to be told ?

So from there it was home and I finally weaseled my way to bed at midnight.
I was behind on sleep time and new I wouldn't sleep that well anyways with anticipation of the next days club ride scheduled at 44 miles plus an extra 6 I would tag on to and from.
I was meeting Patrick from http://www.theroadmultisport.com/a  for the ride. It would be with his bike club and my first ride with them or any real organized group in a long time. Although I have done many of these rides in past years, will just say it has been a while.
We meet up right on time and made are way to the club meet up spot. On the way we talked about going the "B" ride,which would be the shorter of the 2 rides at 44 miles. We both had are following day long runs in mind and trying to be realistic. I was a bit relieved when he said this and came to that agreement.
We meet the crew and got the ride hand out of the days loops and headed out. It was a fun yet brisk pace and it felt awesome to be in a larger organized pelaton ride again. Coming from an original cycling back ground, to me this is living.
Somewhere along the line after stop one for regroup the short ride got blown off. First thought oh shit, I'm not really prepared for a long ride. But the one thing I can say is, I never felt unwelcomed or uncomfortable. So I figured it was on, just do what you can do with the fuel you have and suck it up.
Over the years I had ridden most of this route in bits and pieces anyways. So I just figured trust your fitness and rely on past experiences.
There was some easy flats, fast flats, short climbs, and loooooong assss climbs. One climb was off the hook vertical and besides going into lactate overload and 02 depletion, it was super rewarding to do it and not get cracked. It was equally rewarding to find out only 2/3 of the club did this climb, the other 3rd went around it and we regrouped a couple miles away.
 I'm glad I didn't catch on that there was an option. I truly believe it's things like this that build our character as athletes to a different level.
Even after this climb we had roughly 25+ miles left in our ride and had already traveled almost 50, of which a large portion of that was climbing.
I was pumped to finish this ride hearing that it had been one of there toughest rides in a long time. It was great to put in this many hours and miles with Patrick and even though there is not a ton of chat time, there is still that comradery building.
After I got home and checked my bike trip, I had traveled 79.6 in just at 5 hours.
I was no shining star, but I have to believe they would have me back.I look forward to it and look forward to more long distant rides. On a side note I got to meet another EAP member Nan on that ride. She was super friendly and an accomplished athlete in her own right.

Sunday consisted of a long conversation with my future son in law about training and his amazement of my passion and transformation over the last year. It was refreshing to hear someone that knows me, yet doesn't see me very often to make that comment and actually motivate him to want to start running.
I encouraged him to pursue it, and start slow. I could help keep him motivated even from a distance, and suggest he link on to http://www.enduranceathleteproject.com/ for further info and possibly finding like minding athletes in the Vegas area.
They headed back to Vegas at 12:00 and me and my wife thought we would enjoy some outdoor shopping at a farmers market for a couple of hours.I was more than glad to stretch my legs for a couple hours of walking. I blew off my Sunday morning run for fear of hurting something.

I woke up this morning and ran 6.2 miles in 1:01:06 not fast by any means. In fact, for the first mile I was a bit shocked at how drained I was. But I quickly gained inspiration off of the great weekend I had just had. I also realize I was not the least bit sore, which was also motivating. My cold is 100 %  a thing of the past. I have the HB 1/2 in 16 days and couldn't be more exited about running 13.1 miles.
Thanks for reading this lengthy blog today. I just felt it was all important. 

beauty eh !

Beautiful So CAL day. Would be a great day for a ride,run, or even an OWS.
But I'm at work and feel pretty lucky to be here. That being said, if I was off on a multi sport trek it would be sweet too.
Today is rest day. And I always trip a little on rest day,except last week when I was really feeling the head cold. But now I would say I am just about full strength.
Ive had a few solid work outs this week and can see it all locking back in.
I'm locked and loaded for a long ride with OC VELO and  http://www.theroadmultisport.com/ tomorrow. I'm stoked and prepared to hurt. It will suck getting spit out the back of the pack, but I have to get my bike fitness back to par so I will just go with it.
Actually I'm feeling lucky to even get the hook up, being that I will be rolling on my Tri bike. That can be a bit taboo, but Ive been told it may be a little more laxed. Will see, I'll expect the eye rolls and snubbing but hope I can fit in quick, because they are not getting rid of me that easy.
Patricks pretty solid, he'll have my back :).

Family notes. I got the grand kids come in from Vegas and we will get to give them there Christmas gifts. Yeah for them, yeah for us. They get gifts, I get them.
Oh which also means Chucky Cheese tonight. That sucks, because it is my least favorite place to patronize. Sorry I don't mean to offend (actually 2nd least, 1st is Walmart). But we are also celebrating my granddaughters 8th b-day and she digs it.
So I will endure, and take out my vengeance on there salad bar.
Business has been fair to pretty good, and that is a great sign.

I ordered my 1st road ID this week, and bet I get it today ! I HOPE.

I ordered some other cool stuff too, but I'll share that as they get here.

If you haven't got on board with     http://enduranceathleteproject.com/ because you have been on vacation in a cave on a deserted Island, please do so.
Have a great weekend of traveling safe, training hard and smart. And loving your family and friends.

Howl at the moon ! 

rip-Blaze.

come on, come on now touch me babe

Happened to be what came blaring out of my IPOD this morning on shuffle. There are only a handful of Doors songs that I would say I would run to and I wouldn't have thought this to be one. However it actually worked to get my dragging arse going. My bike volume has been so pathetic in the last couple weeks with this cold, and then the cold weather at 6 a.m. ( please no comments from the peanut gallery about California can't be cold) or blah, blah, blah, yadda yadda. That being said I had a really strong indoor cycle session yesterday at lunch and smoked my legs.
This definitely was a test this morning to see where I was at with this stupid head cold of late and how much is lingering. My recovery was good yesterday, and I had a great dinner of diced chicken with mixed bell peppers and onions for dinner. I woke up at 5:40 and couldn't get it together and out the door until 6:30. This time also included breaking my favorite headset and finding the back up ear buds(which I hate) and then having to go in and out of the garage 6 times. All this because I was a morning moron and kept forgetting stuff that I needed.
MY POOR WIFE !!
The sunrise was just off the hook beautiful. It was a brisk 46 f and clear as a photo. I headed out a different way to break up the doldrums and headed off to the beach. Hit PCH and looped back, cutting through various neighborhoods to the Marina and then back home. Total run 6 and change at 56 minutes put me at 9 mpm pace and I never felt like my legs would really fire. They were pretty toast from yesterdays pedal fest. Though I won't truly be happy until I can consistently put down 5 plus miles in the 8 plus minute range. I still thought this to be a good example of where my fitness is at right now.
Body fatigue, nose still a bit gooey, but getting it done.
I had  a GARMIN on for the first time and I did something wrong and noticed it stopped somewhere at 17:37 ? I must have paused it. So once I get this thing a little more dialed in I'll give Garmin reports I guess.
Love your life, it can all change tomorrow and I hope it does for you. FOR THE BETTER !

Iam not this guy anymore.

Hood to Coast takes center stage today

My thoughts and feelings - Quick review of the Hood 2 Coast documentary- I thought it was well done. I realized very quickly at how hard it must have been to pull the emotion out of this race and edit it into a watchable movie. They did great. It focused mostly on four teams and there transition from everyday life and happenings to the race and the adventure of it. However they also pulled in some great outside musings and things going on. The area looks jaw dropping and made me want to run right then and there. And yet it also showed the grit and determination of the reality that goes along with it. This is a tough race without any doubt, and yes it is run and completed by everyone from elite athletes to will say less than average people. But it shows some real class and I give it an 4.5 star out of 5 as a runner that loves running. I would even go so far to say the non runner would truly appreciate it.
I'm a freak that enjoys true body suffering, and I quite honestly take pleasure in watching people athletically suffer and push through things. I envision myself in there position and reflect back on times similar. I love this part of the movie, and maybe that is what I was wanting to see more of?

I was thinking it would be different, but I can't tell you why that is. I do know my friend and yours, Patrick at http://www.theroadmultisport.com/ is doing this race. So it got me that much more psyched to get a preview of what he may and may not experience.
The one thing I can say about that is. Patrick is damn passionate about multi sport. He is a better than average runner. I am not, but I know I would take that race serious. I would have fun and wallow in my mantra "it's not the destination, but the adventure getting there". 
But hey, being serious about racing is not a bad thing either.
Nor is having fun and a great time. 
There is a fine line there for me.
I suggest it be viewed and your own opinions be made. I liked it allot and would see it again.
Maybe not for $ 12.50 a ticket and $ 10.00 in snacks. But it would be a cool movie to hang around and recover to with friends. I'm not saying it wasn't financially worth it. I'm just saying Ive been there, done that.
Id rather rent/buy a copy and chill at home with a smoothie and a pile of chick pees :-).

I had the most insane PAY IT FORWARD gift ever presented to me yesterday. Totally unexpected and overwhelmingly appreciated. I would go further, but that might not be cool. You know who you are and what you did.

Lastly, my oldest son was working late last night. So his fiance was chilling with my wife until I got home. Next thing I know it's midnight. So needless to say I totally wimped on my 6 am ride.
I hit the gym and did a  45 minute spin class to the beat of my own drum.
 I know that instructor hates when I do that.But I got an agenda and it doesn't include spinning at level two for 20 minutes on intervals.
We gotta go big or go home !!

    

What, me ? Oh thank you, thank you.

First I would like to thank the academy for this award, it is an honor to be here tonight and..... o.k. wrong speech.  But I digress.

Being awarded the "STYLISH BLOGGER AWARD" is uplifting. I hope you get a laugh at me or ??
1.Thank you http://www.midwestmultisportlife.com/

Part of the AWARD is homework and a test ! WTF !
2.Share 7 things about yourself.

. I'm addicted to E-bay and I don't know why .

. Even though Ive lost 40 pounds in the last year, my head won't shrink. (Ive been told by a reliable source it's called Mahoney Head, and this too shall pass). "I'M WAITING".

. By way of a 2nd, but wonderful marriage, I became a grandfather at the age of 34. It freaked me out at first. Now I couldn't imagine it any other way. ( I AM THE COOLEST GRANDPA IN THE WORLD) .

. Even though I oooo and aaaaah about other places around the world and in the United States, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else but Huntington beach California.

. I'm new to blogging, but even the smallest comments or a new person that follows my blog is like a Christmas present to me.

. I can become an emotional train wreck watching other people progress,strive and succeed. Yet when I evaluate myself, I rarely cut myself any slack and wonder how much harder or further I could have pushed it.

. I could never,ever have too many pairs of running shoes,bikes,gear etc..   

3.pay it forward to 15 great blogs- YOU HAVE BEEN TAGGED A "STYLISH BLOGGER"

James at http://hubcitytri.blogspot.com/
Barbie at http://barbie-tryingatri.blogspot.com/
Patrick at http://www.theroadmultisport.com/
BDD at http://tridiesel.blogspot.com/
Diana at  http://dianatries-a-tri.blogspot.com/
Neil at http://becauseallthecoolkidsaredoingit.blogspot.com/
John at http://mtb-ironman.blogspot.com/
Shannon at http://irontexasmommy.blogspot.com/
Kate at http://kate-mybookshelf.blogspot.com/
Joel at http://joelpstrickland.blogspot.com/
DRog at http://drogmn.blogspot.com/
Jon @ http://www.swicyclorun.com/
Charisa at http://charisawernick.blogspot.com/
Richard at http://cyclingart.blogspot.com/
Ryan at http://falkeetriathlon.blogspot.com/

4. Contact those bloggers and let them know about their award.

• Consider yourself contacted, if you at least read my blog. Then you know. God forbid you leave a comment :-) .

This was fun and I look forward to hearing from others. Now go train for God sake I'm sure you have a race coming up.

Big snakes, Big lizards and humping turtles

you heard it right. I took my son to a pet shop locally around our house. It is well known for having huge reptiles and exotic bugs,spiders etc.. Right up a boy of 10 1/2 ally. He was up and ready to roll by 10:00 and we weren't leaving to go until 12:00 or so.
They have huge Boa's and Anacondas amongst 100's of other species there. Massive Monitors and dragons etc..
I took a couple of shots, he took over 70.

This is some rhino monitor about 4 feet long.

My son by some huge coiled up beast, touted as the worlds largest ??

The place is pretty cool, it is the first time I had taken him there, and it had been over 12 years since I had gone in there. They now have kids birthday parties there (makes sense) and it cost $ 5.00 per person to walk through the entire store unless your there to purchase something.

As we got ready to leave we stopped once again at the water turtle tank where a water monitor also lives. He is about 6 feet long and I only seen he move once. He had a bunch of turtles climbing all over him. How miserable would that be. This is the best picture I got of him.

So at this point I'm ready to go and now looking for my son. There are kids everywhere because two birthday party groups have now arrived and kayos is starting to ensue. I here a bunch of loud kid laughter and jokes to my left, so I make my way around the pond to the large desert tortoise pen. Only to find two of the ten massive turtles having a go at it and about twelve 6-11 year olds viewing it. If that wasn't awkward enough, these thing make some LOUD grunting noise when there doing the deed of mating, and the male stands up pretty tall back there to get it done.On top of that my son has gone from taking pictures to now videoing this act of mother nature. Oh boy, now it's time to leave and I'm sure answer a few questions. He asked a few naive questions, but I got to say he is not fooling me much. I will be checking his YOUTUBE uploads closely over the next month. I can just see him doing it to see how many hit it gets. Damn technology,damn kids. I have no picture of this, but clearly he does.

My cold has gotten better, but it is holding on. My plan is to be on full alert this week and try and get at least 3 two a day workouts plus the normal. Focusing mostly on run, but sliding in some pool and at least 1 morning ride until this weekend.

post run with my son. I really haven't shaken this thing yet. I look deathly. But I did get some miles done. We just did about 6 here.

Hes happy to be home I feel like a congested mess.
today is 35 minutes core and 700 meter swim.

      

How would you act ? Food for thought

If you could tweak somethings in your life ever so slightly and make it that much better, would you ?

This often rolls in and out of my head. Sometimes I even take heed to it and make some changes. Ironically, things usually change for the better.
Given the opportunity to change certain things about the way your life operates or that you operate your life, what small things could you,would you being wiling to change to get a different outcome?

Could you be more patient on giving an answer to someone and have a different or better outcome ? I don't know. I do know that we were created with 2 ears and 1 mouth, therefore I think we should listen more than we speak. Just a thought.

How about personal affection ? Are you not a hugger ? Or a type that gives and or even takes compliments well ?
How about wrapping your arms around someone you SHOULD hug, and do it more often. Along with that telling them how you really feel. Words in this manner can go along way.

How about in the multi sport world ? Could you set a short term goal to change your eating habits, if not for a lifetime, than for 60 day's? Just to see what a real difference it would make. Correct food with an aggressive work out plan is a serious recipe for unbelievable results.

Could you add an extra mile to every run you do, or even every other ? Would it matter ? maybe not to some, but to others it would be putting them into a whole different category.

Can you take the first few minutes of every ride your on and give thanks to the one the gives you the ability and the opportunity to be capable of being on that ride. Maybe you do this ? I do. Try it and see if it's any better.
Could we be more transparent about or goals and dreams with the ones closest to us, not just on a blog ? ( I personally fall short of this) and I will work on doing a better job. Maybe that lack of understanding would have less of a negative impact.
Could we be an example to others around us and not even know it? Wow what if you where,would you change certain mannerisms and the way you deliver things ?

Believe me if your exited and changing, it is contagious. Other people can start reeling off what you started. And remember you caught it from someone or something else.
I see so many people walking around down and discouraged these days. I get it. But what if you weren't one of them ? Would your life be better for you and them ?  

I got no training updates. I'll get in some miles tonight, but I hate updating anything until I do it. It makes it sound like it's done. AND IT'S NOT !

I did have another awesome dinner last night of fresh Ahi tuna and wild rice with a side Greek salad( lite on the dressing of course).

Lets get crackin !

January 1st was an awesome day with a reuniting with my sister. January 2nd I had an awesome 10.3 mile run that was exactly where I felt I should be. January 3rd,4th and 5th kind of sucked with a cold. So I'm going to restart this sucker.

Had a great New Years eve. very festive.

backyard, this was pre people.

I don't really care to discuss 3rd/4th/5th, except my wife has our/my food spot on !! Thank you awesome wife.

Today I made a packed to do a work out finally,as my health is probably 75 % back.
I ran the treadmill for 3.1 miles. First mile @ a 10:30 pace, then going to a 9:31 pace for mile two. Walking for .25 miles because of oxygen depletion. Than kicking it back up to 7:51 pace for .4miles and finished with an 8:31 pace. I walked the last .1 for recovery.
I'm still not a fan of this guy.

It was awesome to run again though, so I got to give it props for that. I took about a 15 minute steam and just stretched and tried to clear wicked thoughts. Showered up and headed back to work.

road to recovery 

absolutely sweating bullets, it took me 15 minutes to stop the body faucet. Bike news coming soon. Patrick I went another route.But I'm pretty sure you'll approve. Keep you posted and as  of right now 1 hour post work out, I believe I back on for a.m. beatings !!!!  Keep your goals close to your heart, wear them on your sleeve if you have to. Endurance Sports are upon us and we shall all rise ,fall, and rise again together.

Die cold, die !

The good news seems to be that this cold is a head cold. Runny nose, sneeze, fell like I am walking around half stoned. The bad news is that I can't stand being sick and like every single one of you,it just doesn't fit into my lifestyle or schedule. I have given it 2 days with rest, food, and gallons upon gallons of fluids. It has helped and I feel stable. But I can't even think about not running tomorrow. I don't think I'll do the 6:oo a.m. damn patrol but maybe an evening.\
Would everyone agree bundling up to be best. Then make sure I get home and right in the shower after. Along with some type of recovery drink ?
Any views from the forum would be appreciated.

Speaking to soon

Happy New year first of all. I hope everyone was safe and sane.

I hope you all got to enjoy a little you time, along with a bunch of family time.
We did bring in the new years at my house with  very mellow group of people. It was quite different than just a few years back in my life. Where there was lots of loud music,hammered people making fools of themselves, including me. And blah,blah, etc..
The night consisted of some dollar poker, UNO, Domino's, and even some Bingo. (yah, I said it Bingo).
And I won a whole 11 dollars so there.
Food was good and company was great. We spent most of the night watching this years Eric Clapton's Guitar invite festival filmed and recorded in Illinois earlier this past year. If you can appreciate legends of guitar players, I highly recommend this.
We watched the ball drop at 12:00, gave our hugs and kisses and everyone was on there way by 12:20. Wow how my life has changed (for the better).
My wife and I decided to get the entire house back in order so that we would have absolutely nothing to do the next day,(which we were already in).
We finished up by about 2:00 a.m. and hit the rack.
Waking up to an awesome day but not getting out of bed until 10:00 a.m.
Is was so warm and clear she did ask If I wanted to hit the bike for awhile. But I had already bailed on Patricks invite a.m. ride and was not really feeling myself yet.
I'm not a 2:00 a.m. go to sleep kind of guy anymore. So I hung out and just chilled.
It was really a good thing too. My sister that lives in Kansas called me :) we hadn't spoke in at least 3 years. Sad I know. We had a falling out fueled by none other than our mother and things have just not been the same. 3 hours later on the phone and there was alot of clarity to what had happened, and we have resolved that issue. And vowed to never ,ever let that time go by us again.
So that was a great start to the new year.
We enjoyed the day together and got to bed late. I knew rain or shine I was on for a long run on Sunday. They called for rain late Saturday night and on through Monday. But we are now 1 month away from 1/2 marathon and these runs have to get in.
I woke up to semi cloud,cool but nice weather. I was down at the beach by 8:30 and off for 10+ miles.
There were a ton of people running, you could see the ones that are on board for the upcoming Marathon and 1/2. And you could pretty easily pick out the ones that had made a resolution.
For me I was wishing them all luck inside, and excited for what was to come.
I had a decent run. I didn't start my watch until about a mile or so in so my time was all jacked up. To the best of my calculations I ran the 10.3 miles in 1:42 to 1:45 ? give or take. I was kind of pissed at first but there will be more runs. I felt good, was hydrated and fueled. I didn't forget anything and I never really faltered or struggled at any point.
Went home and started right into some minor house items. Then we hit up the store for this weeks meals of fish and chicken.
One of the many great things about my wife is when I need her to get on board about food for me/us when training, she is all over it. And she makes it very convenient too.

The only issue I see is that I woke up and feel like My body is fight a chest/head cold. So I'm going to play it safe and pass on my lunch swim, stay warm and keep feeding my body super foods and water. All this and trying to make sure every nickle made it to the bottom line for my end of month payroll tomorrow.

how did you spend your new years weekend ?