59 Days and Counting...

-Breakfast : 2 peanut butter granola bars, 2 cups of coffe, 1 package of fruit snacks.
-Lunch: Can of southwestern vegetable soup, handful of wheat thins.
-Dinner: Pasta with tomatoe sauce, and some parmesan.
-Snacks: 4 packages of fruit snacks, 3 pieces of fruit leather, and some leftover easter candy.

-Training:
60 minute bike, RPE 5, felt pretty good. Weather was back to normal for Seattle (50 and rainy) so it was inside on the trainer, but my legs felt fine after my long ride from Sunday.





After the bike, transitioned to a run on the treadmill, and did 30 minutes at 6.5mph. Legs felt good, and no rubbery feeling after the switch from the bike.





I sound like a broken record, but I feel solid after being sick last week. I was paranoid for a little while after my "cold" last year turned into bronchitis and sidelined me for 5 weeks. I am pleased to be feeling well!





I also had another baby appointment at the end of the day today, and we are still "textbook" as far as that goes. Textbook heartbeat, textbook measurements, textbook blood pressure.... Right where we should be! I am starting to have a REALLY hard time waiting. I told a friend at work it's like being Ralphie waiting for his Red Rider BB gun on Christmas morning.... this was exacerbated by the statement from our Good Doctor that the textbook baby comes 8 days after the projected due date.





I never liked reading textboks.

60 Days and Counting....

-Breakfast: 2 Peanut butter granola bars, 2 packages of fruit snacks, 1 piece of fruit leather, 2 cups of coffee.

-Lunch: Can of Chicken Tortilla soup, handful of wheat thins.

-Dinner: Chicken and beef teryaki, white rice.

-Snacks: 3 packages of fruit snacks, 2 pieces of fruit leather, 2 thin min girl scout cookies.

-Training:

53 minute run, outside! It was a very nice day, and though I didn't get out of work early enough to really enjoy the sunshine, I was able to do my run outside before dinner tonight... It was great. Probably 60 degrees, but sunny.

I felt TIRED today running... Oddly, my pace was fine (53 minutes for 6 miles, so brisk for me), but I felt weak. Part of me thinks I didn't eat well after my 4 hour ride on Sunday, as my legs were good, it was more of the rest of my body feeling a little out of gas.

Still felt pretty good though, and feel 100% back from the cold. I don't feel snuffly, no runny nose or congestion, so I think the rest did me some good. I need to ramp up a bit more cyling this week, and hopefully the weather holds to get that and my running outside. It would be REALLY nice to have some warm weather to get used to also! 2007 in CDA was cold, 2008 in Lake Placid was cold and rainy, so I think we're due for hot and sunny for once.... We'll hope so, anyway!

61 Days and Counting....

(Wrote this last night but forgot to post it... Sorry!)

-Breakfast: 2 Peanut butter granola bars, 2 cups of coffee, package of fruit snacks.

-Lunch: Lobster chowder in a sourdough bread bowl.

-Dinner: BBQ chicken sandwich, made from yesterday's leftovers.

-Snacks: I think I ate 6 packages of fruit snacks today (I felt a little addicted, they just tasted good), 3 pieces of fruit leather, and some almonds.

-Training:

None... Wasn't supposed to be a rest day, but I felt the cold sneaking back a little after our long ride yesterday, so decided to lay low today (which was easy since I also had a long day at work), and drink 48 ounces of Propel. Hoping that I can DROWN the cold germs out of my system!

Not too worried about today, as it is supposed to be a rest week, but I have some cycling and running to make up, and it looks like the weather will hold this week for me to do it. I am pretty set on not rushing back from getting sick, as that will just make me MORE sick. Rest is our friend, kids. (Ian, make sure Sarah reads this post!).

62 Days and Counting... And back in the saddle for real!

-Breakfast: Cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter, 2 cups of coffee.

-Lunch: Leftover mac'n cheese, handful of almonds, handful of goldfish crackers, piece of fruit leather.

-Dinner: BBQ chicken and rice, with some carrot sticks for veggie.

-Training:

3 hour 55 minute ride, 60 miles total. Just like yesterday, I strapped on the heart rate monitor to get a baseline. I was pleasantly suprprised by the data, but here is the breakdown:

Minimum HR 89 (just getting started), maximum 160, average 142. It was a bit lower than on the run, which was nice to see! I sometimes feel like I labor a bit on the bike, but I guess that's just because I like it the least.

Today was fantastic though, about 70 degrees and sunny out, so I FINALLY got some outdoor time on the bike! I hit the Cedar River trail along Hwy 169, which is my favorite ride around here. It doesn't really have any hills, but it is a very slight uphill ride for about 10 miles straight, and is flat enough on the way back that there are NO downhill sections where you can coast and rest your legs. So it was a pretty flat ride, but I still feel like I earned my 60 miles.

My 56 mile time (1 lap on the IM course) was 3:40, the same as my first lap in Lake Placid. I tend to be a first lap hero, and have yet to learn how to effectively "hold back" a bit, but it was a good confidence booster that with 10 weeks to go, I felt good today. I still think I need a few long rides outside to keep improving, as my first lap in CDA in 2007 was 3:20. There are lots of downhill sections to bomb that are good for the average speed, but I want to make sure I'm feeling good on the slow uphill sections!

63 Days and Counting... Back in the saddle! (ok, pool, no saddle)

-Breakfast: Cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter, 2 cups of coffe.

-Lunch: Big bowl of Flourescent orange love (kraft macaroni and cheese... please).

-Dinner: Not yet, but I need to do something good for me, as the mac'n cheese was a hedonistic choice. After the run, it sounded like heaven, and didn't disappoint one bit!

-Snack: Big bowl of fruity pebbles, 2% milk. Again, not a wise choice, but it sounded better than granola today.

-Training:

Exciting, as I FINALLY got in some quality workouts after being sick M-F of this week...

Swim, 30 minutes continuous, mostly at RPE 3. Just wanted to test myself after being sick all week, and REALLY felt good. Inappropriate speedo man was back at the pool today, but gave up after 2 flip turns, so no drowning cow circus. My wife freaked me out in the car on the way home, as she asked "did he say hi to you?" I don't recall that, and certainly not opposed to friendly pool conversation (even with Inappropriate speedo man), so hopefully I didn't come across as a pool snob. As a sidenote, it was fun having my 9 months pregnant wife swim laps with me at the pool today (yes, Heather McHottie joined me this morning). Even more awesome, she was faster than some other folks in a neighboring lane! Way to be Iron Girl...

Came back and fueled up on fruity pebbles, and then did a 65 minute run, 7 miles total. Really tried to keep myself at a slower pace, so as not to aggravate the cold I'm just getting over. I was surprised at how good I felt.

I also decided to try a science experiment today. I have some heart rate data from early in the training, and it is fun to run the data and see what comes out. I was curious what my HR would be after being sick, and coming back from a week off.

When I started, I thought I would just take it easy, not pay attention to the clock, and do a 6 mile loop, and see how I felt. I figured 10 minute miles would be a good recovery pace, and not be so hard that I'd get sick again tomorrow.

I ran my 6 miles, and when I looked at the clock it was 54 minutes! Not super fast, but not the lazy 10 minute miles I thought I'd do. So, I did 1 more mile, and finished in 63 minutes. My Avg. HR was 158, compared to 163 the last time I checked on a run. I don't have the credentials to interpret data like that with doctoral precision, but my paraphrased deduction is this:

Feel good while running, running fairly fast, with the ticker not working as hard to maintain the effort...

64 Days and Counting....

Well, I am back today, but no workout news.... Still fighting the cold, and though I would prefer to have gotten my workouts in, the rest isn't a bad thing. I learned the hard way last year about how big a mess I can get myself into if I try to push through sickness. I ended up with bronchitis that shut me down for 5 weeks, so I am doing the smart thing (admittedly, hard as well), and making sure I get well before I push my limits.

So, instead of a workout recap this week, more of a mental recap. I have 64 days left until the race, and am pretty close to halfway through the training. This year, time seems to be FLYING by. Can't figure out why though... I fell as though I haven't done as much training as I did the last two years, and yet on my long days of training, I still feel good; lungs keep working, and legs feel strong. I find myself daydreaming about the race instead of getting nervous for it. I am 100% aware there is still a lot of work to do, and if you drop your guard the race will kick you in the face first chance it gets, so I'm not letting myself get over confident...

All the same, I feel more ready this year than the previous two. Maybe I'm just relaxed because I have a good idea for what to expect? I've only had one bad dream about the race (I came out of the swim and couldn't find my bike; can you tell I'm a weak cyclist?!), and just keep thinking about what it will be like to race with my mom, my sister, my brand new neice, my smokin hot wife AND my brand new baby girl there?

Good stuff. :-)

66 Days and Counting....

Ugh, again today....

Three days now out of commission with the head cold. I think we might have broken it though, as I am feeling on the upswing tonight. I traveled down to Los Angeles for a quick meeting with the boss, and was fighting the cold pretty hard all day. Getting ready to nod off, I feel just the tiniest bit better, so we'll see.

I am missing a big chunk of my bike-focused week, but will try to make up a bunch next week, as it's a rest week. Should be able to squeeze some extra time in ok.

The only other update is that we had our last ultrasound yesterday for baby girl, and all is well. She is situated head down, like she should be, and continues to practice her swim stroke regularly... Yeah, I know she may not be REALLY practicing her swimming, but it beats thinking she's punching her mom in the liver and lungs just for fun. :-)

23 days and counting til baby!!