Feeling better

I was back in the pool for only the second time in about six weeks. I did swim last Tueday, but I laid my bike down in some gravel on last Wednesday and had some serious road rash on my right shin. My pool is big on not having open wounds seeping while you are actually in the water. I can't figure that out.

Today we started off with a 300 warm up and then went straight into a 1650 yd main set. This main set was broken down into 11 laps, 10 laps, 9, 8, 7, etc. Between each set of laps, we had 10 seconds rest. I completed the 1650 in 33:38 and minus the 1:40 of breaks I came in at 31:58, which is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I finished off with a 100 cool down, then 200 of hard kicking, and another 100 cool down. Finishing 2350 yds in about 54 minutes lifted my spirits. I just need to get my endurance back and then focus on form.

I know I always feel so much better when I get up in the morning and work out. Time management can be a problem for me when I am feeling overwhelmed. My charge to myself is to keep this up. I go to bed earlier, sleep better, and feel more motivated all day. But damn, that bed feels good this time year. :)

My Summer in 1000 words or so

Not that my dear readers really care what I have been up too, but I will tell you anyway. As I stated in my last blog post that I have not been working out much and I was humbled in a race today.

I took command of an army reserve unit in June and I have been on a very painful project at work. The work was interesting but it was not managed in the best way possible by client and it took a lot of long hours. Between my job and my respsonsibilities with the Army, I have been working 12-14 hours a day. Something had to give and it was my training. I kept thinking that my base could carry me through. However, it did not. I did the New Jersey State Triathlon in late July and that was my last race.

In August the bride and I headed down island for a week in the Cayman Islands. It was a great vacation where I did diving. If you head down to the Cayman's I highly recommend Divers Down. They run a great operation that has reasonable prices and no more than 8 divers per boat.

A couple of weeks ago we went White Water Rafting in Western Maryland. The night prior we camped at Rocky Gap State Park. It was a great night for camping, about 50 degrees. We got up, had a great breakfast, watched a little of a Mountain Bike Race and then headed off to the rafting site. This particular run was suppose to be Class II to III+. It was fun but I was disappointed in the rapids on the North Branch of Potomac.

So now I am back and if anyone is still reading this, please keep me honest.

Humiliation

This blog use to keep me honest. This blog use to motivate me to get off my ass and work out. Well, I stopped blogging and I have not been working out much. Or is it that I stopped working out much and therefore I stopped blogging? Interesting question don't you think?

This morning I did a small local 10K called the Dash for Dad and I was absolutely humiliated. I have been doing some 4-5 mile runs once a week or so, but nothing you could call serious training. I have ridden my bike twice since the New Jeresy State Triathlon and I even backed out of the Nation's Triathlon due work and lack of training.

When you run alone or even with a buddy and you are slow, you can blame it on chatting while you run or you don't want to leave the person because you are typically faster than they are. You can always find an excuse. However, in a race it is just you against the clock. Today the clock won!!! I did a flat 10K in 1:00:57. I am never really fast at the 10K distance, but I am a typical 50 minute guy. Today just flat out sucked. Today is the day I start training again. I can't lie to myself any more. The clock will not let me. I will beat the clock again.

The New Jersey State Triathlon Race Report

I finally believe in having a strong base of fitness. I know that I have not in very good shape for the New Jersey State Triathlon on Sunday. But what the hell, I can suffer through most any thing. Plus this was the race chosen for the DC Triathlon Clubs New Triathlete Program (NTP) and it was the USAT Mid Atlantic Club Championship Race. That’s a lot of stuff all rolled up into a weekend.

The bride and I left home around 9:30 on Saturday and picked up a friend who was riding to the race with us. We had a very uneventful ride to Mercer County Park in Princeton, and isn’t that the best kind of trip prior to a race? Packet pick-up went quickly as we listened to the Mandatory Prerace speech. After the race director said his piece the head USAT official started to speak. I have to say that her attitude turn a lot of people off. I realize that rules need to be reiterated and followed but there is no reason to come across as a bitch.

After we checked in at the hotel it was time to hit the Pasta Fest that the club put on. It was truly amazing to see over 200 DC Tri Club Members with all getting ready for a race. A large percentage of them were doing their first race. The energy was truly amazing. Plus the food wasn’t bad either.

We all got the race location about 0615 and I easily got set up. My wave did not go off until 8:24, but we had to be out of transition by 0715. The Head USAT official saw a guy on my rack warming up on his trainer and I thought she was going to have heart attack because he did not have his helmet on. I understand the importance of following rules, but I would not have thought to put my helmet on either. There was no need to be an ass about it. However, she seemed to get off on her status of Head Bitch.

I love swimming in warmer water. It is always much easier on my body. It took me about 250 meters to find some open water, but after that the swim was very peaceful for the most part. There was one guy, who kept was all over the place. He would bump into me and I would go to adjust and he would move the same direction I was. He just seemed to be a “messy swimmer”. I got out of the water in 33:31 which is a pretty normal time for me. However, I felt really good on the run into T1.

T1 was painless. I was in and out in 3:11 and out on the bike. I haven’t ridden much in the past month, so I was hoping to be able to average over 17 mph. The bike was a nice flat course with one big loop and two smaller loops through a college campus. Since I love the flat courses, I enjoyed this ride. I came back into the park and looked at my time, 1:18:27, for an aveage of 17.7 mph. I was pretty happy with that. Then it was into T2. My time in transition was 2:30.

Now the fun began. I started the run and felt like ass. I ducked into the first porta-john I found. I did a #1 thinking I would feel better, but alas that did not happen. I ran to the first aid station and then started walking. I was trying to burp or puke, but nothing would happen. About mile 1 my running partner joined me and she pushed me a long to about mile 2. After mile 2 I found a real bathroom and ducked in there for about five minutes of bliss. I felt so much better. I was gaining time from mile 2.5 to about mile 4.5 and then the pain came back. I walked with another member of the board for about a .25 of a mile and at mile 5 we picked it up and were able to finish strong.

I highly recommend the NJ State Triathlon. It is in a lovely setting and well run. Now just to get faster prior to the Nation’s Triathlon in September.

Availability of Time

Wow!!! Where has the last month gone. I wonder if I have any loyal readers any more? In the past month things have been going 100 mph, I wish I could average a 1/5th of that on bike.
After the Philly triathlon I started doing some more serious training and was hoping to drop 7-10lbs before the NJ State Triathlon. I joined the a gym at work and started working out. Then things got very busy with most of my life.

The project I am on at work is demanding with a fairly tight schedule and we have been short people due to vacations, marriages, new kids, etc. We have an evaluation going up the first of August which is a big deal and we have been working to ensure that everything is ready for that.
My second job as company commander takes up another 15-20 hours a week. I do find this job very rewarding and I am glad I did it. However, there is always something that needs to be done.

With everything thing going on, something had to take a back seat and it was my tri training and blogging. I have not been able to get in my second ride a week like I had planned, nor as much gym time during lunch. I made a promise to myself that I would try not to cut into time with the bride, so there went the rides in the evening. So trying to be a good employee, husband, and commander is making a bad blogger. LOL.

I did the NJ State Triathlon on Sunday and I hope to get a race report out in the next day or two. I look forward to catching up with everyone.