Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in psuambassador's LiveJournal:

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Friday, January 9th, 2009
11:20 pm	Sick of being Sick So, my Frederick marathon training was to begin this past Monday. Unfortunately, I have been sick with a bad cold for a week now. I thought about running anyway early in the week and I'm not glad that I didn't. I'm on the mend and I'm hoping that by this Monday, I will be ready to get back to it. My enthusiasm for running is finally coming back. I simply don't have the time for triathlon right now, even though I plan to bike every now and then, but running is a lot more convenient. You can throw on some pants and shoes and within a half hour or forty minutes, you can have a great workout and be back in the house to go on with your day. I'm excited for my training adventure to begin. I hope I have enough time to catch up on the training I have lost. (Comment on this)
Monday, October 6th, 2008
9:47 pm	Stay fit challenge So last year at this time I was in prime condition to complete an Ironman. Now I hurt after running three miles. How did this happen? So here's the deal. I have one month until I turn 30. My goal is to work out every day until I turn 30. I will weigh myself every week starting tomorrow morning. Today I ran for 24 minutes. (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 5th, 2008
9:44 pm	Garmin Forerunner 50 Review I got my Garmin Forerunner 50 in the mail this week. It is the bottom of the Forerunner line, but it has all of the essentials I need to track my run progress. Plus, because I already have a Garmin 305 for my bike, I could not justify the extra expense of an upper end model. The 50 tracks distance (by footpod not gps), cadence, speed, average speed, average cadence, time, intervals, timer, pace, and heart rate. One of the best features is the automatic, wireless uplink to your computer. As soon as you are within about thirty feet of your computer, your new running data will automatically upload to either the Garmin training Center software or the Garmin online software or both, depending on how you set it up. I found it very easy to program. I have not yet calibrated the footpod, but out of the box it is very close to actual mileage. I have found the data provided to be very useful. I think one of the best features is the cadence monitor so that I can improve my running cadence and efficiency. Another great feature is that it can sync with my cadence monitor on my bike and give me my bike performance data as well. I bought it at Amazon.com for $122, including the watch and footpod. I already had the heart rate monitor for my bike computer. I had $25 in amazon cash and took out an Amazon card for another $30 off. For $67 bucks I consider this watch one heck of a good deal! I would add that the negatives are it is not made for water, though it is water resistant. This makes it difficult to wear during a triathlon. Also, the foot pod is not as accurate out of the box as gps. The final draw back is that the battery is not rechargeable like its brethren. It is a cr2032, easily replaceable. (Comment on this)
8:58 pm	Wicked Wind of the East It was supposed to be a rainy and cold day today. Instead it turned out to be a relatively beautiful spring day. Bright sun, clear skies, and of course an unbelievable head wind every where you turned. So, taking advantage of the good weather, I headed out for a nice bike ride. I put in 26 hard earned miles. It seemed like I was using 2x the energy but only going as far as I normally would. I will upload my bike data tomorrow. For now I have to get rest and prepare for my long run of 8 miles tomorrow. (Comment on this)
Friday, March 28th, 2008
10:36 pm	Back in the saddle It was time to get back into it. After 8 weeks off playing with our new puppy, the burnout from IM last year has worn off and I am ready to get back in there. I've lost a great deal of fitness, but with 6 weeks before the Frederick Half Marathon, I'm going to make one last valiant effort to run the race. Training while raising a puppy is not easy. Now I have to wake up at 5 every day because I don't have time for evening workouts. I am constantly shuffling and rearranging my schedule, but it is well worth it. I signed up for a couple of sprint tris so far. One is right up the road. No long distance stuff this year; at least nothing longer than an Olympic tri. I'm thinking about doing Diamond in the Rough again this year. I just can't stay away. I made a great purchase the other day. I got a forerunner 50 watch to keep my distance, hr, cals, pace, etc all on one watch. I have three watches now, and none of them does everything I want. But I think a mixture of each one will be perfect. I also got a new decal for my bike that I think will be pretty nifty. I'll post a picture after I get it on there. Well, here's to 6 weeks of injury free training so that I can do the half. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
12:34 pm	Just Checking IN It's a slow time of year, but I'm trying to get back into it. It has been extremely difficult to motivate myself to get up on those cold mornings and get in the pool with no Ironman goal in front of me. To think that I had one overriding goal for the last two years pushing me to do every single one of those workouts and as soon as Nov. 4, 2007 hit, I had nothing pushing me anymore is a difficult thing to get my head around. I will have to make some definite goals, likely speed goals for this year, but as of right now, my goal is simply to keep up with psutrigirl and get back in shape. It doesn't seem that I've lost too much of my base, but my strength has really taken a hit with all of that IM training. I'm pretty sore after hitting the gym this week, but that is a good thing. I'll keep you filled in as the season goes on. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008
12:47 pm	Back to Work Well, the holidays are over and it's time to get back to work. I've had just about two months of eating bad food, sleeping late, watching tv, and doing just about everything other than thinking about triathlon and training. Sure, I managed to fit in a run, bike, swim in here and there, but it definitely wasn't regular and it definitely wasn't structured. Then again, that's what the off season is for. But now it's time to get back to work. Though I won't be doing an Ironman this year, I do have goals for my tri season. I'll be running the Frederick Half Marathon with Elise and then I'll do the Diamond in the Rough, Lums Pond, and Annapolis triathlons. Though I'm not doing anything over an Olympic distance, my goal this year is to add some speed and take my racing to a different level. Today was the first day of my pre-season routine. Because of the timing, I'm only going to have a 2.5 week pre-season. I typically like about 8. Although, since I'm only a couple months removed from my Ironman base, I'm ok with that. I started by heading to the pool today at 5:30am in blustery conditions. Although it was cold and dark, I can at least say seeing some familiar faces warmed me up. While on my way to the Y, I saw the young couple on my right that walks their yellow lab every morning. The husband always looks miserable. The wife always looks like she's having a blast while drinking her coffee on her daily stroll. Then on my left I saw crazy runner girl. She has the craziest, most awkward stride that I've ever seen. It is reminscent of Pheobe's stride on Friends. It is inefficient, but she is working her but off and moving fast. Then I pull into the Y parking lot and see all the people working hard on the treadmills, including crazy runner guy. I don't think he is related in any way to crazy runner girl. This guy clings to the handle of the treadmill for dear life while the rest of his body flails between the treadmill rails. He is just trying to keep up with the machine that his ego has turned into a torture device. Of course then I see Nancy at the desk who knows the locker I like and just hands me my key and towels without even asking. Ah, the perks of being a regular. Then I jump into the pool with the many friends I have made as we bonded during the many dark and cold mornings last year. It's good to be back! (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 29th, 2007
6:04 pm	I know you've all been waiting for the stats from Ironman, so here they are (can you sense the sarcasm?). Enjoy! Just as an update, I'm living the good life over here. I'm eating fat, watching football, and working out only occasionally. I am excited to start up again though, soon. Peace Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 0 ft Location: Panama City Beach, FL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 11/03/07 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 07:42 AM Difficulty: 0 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 111.28 miles Time: 6:52:56 Speed: 16.2 mph Pace: 3' 42 /mi Calories: 6123 Map   Elevation (ft)   Speed (mph)   Posted from bimactive.com (Comment on this)
Monday, November 5th, 2007
10:28 pm	Hank Abromson, You Are An Ironman! Hank Abromson, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN! My two-year long goal finally came to fruition on November 3, 2007. Two and half years ago the thought entered my head to do an Ironman. At that time, I had only done one very short super sprint (not even a sprint distance) triathlon, but I was hooked. And as I have so often done before in my life, I didn’t simply settle for a simple goal. I wanted it all. And so it became my new goal, to become an Ironman. Since I was just starting out in the sport, I knew it would take some time to reach the distances and endurance required to meet this goal. And so I decided that in my first full season of tri I would work up to a half Ironman distance and then tackle the full Ironman in the next season. In 2006, among other races, I competed in the Diamondman half iron triathlon. I completed it, but I was definitely fatigued. That really did not sway me from my mission though. I signed up for the 2007 Florida Ironman that November. I had one year to train. I began lifting weights in October 2006, on my way to building up endurance and strength. Over the next few months I began to run, bike, and swim again, though lightly. Beginning in February 2007, I became a coach for Team in Training cycling. I coached my team to ride a full century ride, 100 miles. By May I had my running up to about 9 miles, I had done several 60+ mile rides on the bike, and my swimming was up to about 2k. I was well on my way. Over the next several months, I honed my skills and got up to the distances required to complete Ironman. I did 5 100+ mile rides up to 120 miles at one time, several 3500+ yd swims, including a 4k and a 4300 yd swim, and runs up to 17 miles. The Race We arrived on Wednesday before the race in Panama City, Florida. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The highs were in the high 70s, a little windy, and sun. The same would hold true for race day. This was especially comforting after reports from last year’s race included strong winds, significant chop in the water, and cold temperatures. In the days leading up to the race I got in my final workouts. I went on a short bike ride to make sure that everything was mechanically sound. I went on a short swim to get used to the salty waters of the Gulf of Mexico. I packed my transition and special needs bags. I don’t think I’ve ever been required to master logistics quite like I did during Ironman week. From making sure I had every piece of apparel for every possible weather condition, every piece of equipment for the three sports, all of my necessary nutrition, money, and clothes for outside of training and racing. Then I had to pack all of the nutrition and special needs bags. Forgetting one special thing in one of those bags could make a difficult day unbearable or worse, impossible. With all of my bags packed and my bike all ready to go, I marched everything down to the transition area on Friday, the day before the race. I managed to get everything in the right position ready for race day. Transition was beginning to take shape. I have never seen so many incredible bikes and so many fit people. The scene is pretty intimidating. It really gets one’s race juices flowing. That’s for sure. The rest of the day on Friday was spent relaxing, spending time with my family, getting in an early pasta dinner. I also watched my favorite movie, What It Takes, to give me a little extra motivation before I went to sleep. After going through the race again in my head I fell asleep around 10:30. I had my alarm set for 3:30, but woke after a pretty solid night of sleep at 2:30am. I laid in bed and ran through the race again in my head. I was anxious to get it started. I was scared, excited, and curious to see what Ironman had in store for me. I got out of bed at 3:30am, went to the bathroom, put on my race uniform, warm clothes for transition and grabbed some breakfast. Eating solid food that early in the morning when you are that nervous is difficult, but I saw it as my first test of the day that I had to conquer if I wanted the day to be successful. I was aiming to take in about 1000 calories. I ate a bagel (290 cals) with a light spread of peanut butter (200 cals). I also had some Propel fitness (75 cals) water to hydrate. I didn’t want to eat any more, but I got in more than half of what I wanted. I considered that a success. I made final preparations, got my special needs bags and miscellaneous food and gear together and headed out the door with my favorite Iron Sherpa and wife, Elise. It was dark and quiet. My head was swirling with thoughts and questions about the day ahead. As we neared the transition area about ¾ mile away from our hotel, we became part of a mass heading in the same direction. We joined other athletes who I’m sure had their own thoughts and questions swirling in their heads. Everyone seemed to be very focused on the task before them. We were all quiet. We arrived at transition right as they opened it up for the day. I got to my bike, put my food on, attached and prepared my bike computers, inflated my tires, cleaned off my tires, and made sure everything was tight. I put food in my transition and special needs bags and everything was set. I then met up with my parents and it was time to put on my wetsuit and say my final goodbyes. Truth be told, I was scared to death. I have never been a swimmer and until about two years ago I couldn’t even keep my face in the water while swimming. To start this day with a 2.4 mile swim in the Gulf of Mexico with 2000 other competitors was not an easy way to begin. Then again, Ironman is not an easy challenge. Ironman will constantly test you throughout the day. It will find out what you are made of very quickly. To start with the swim was my first personal test. The singer belted out the national anthem and soon the gun went off. The 2000 athletes slowly made their mass entrance into the water to begin the day. I started towards the back of the middle and on the outside of the pack. The last thing I wanted was to get caught up in the washing machine of an Ironman swim with people kicking, punching, and swimming over me. I began swimming and within what seemed like a minute I found myself on the inside lane of the swim right in the middle of the washing machine. Great, I thought, but I handled it well. It actually slowed me down as I could not find any open space to swim. I kept going, doing the best I could to get my regular stroke down, sighting every now and then, and slowly making progress towards the ultimate goal, the finish line. I swam around the first buoy. The first quarter of the swim was done. I drafted a bit coming back to shore. Before I knew it I came out of the water after the first lap of a two lap swim with a time of :40. This was perfectly on pace for what I expected my swim time to be, 1:30. I saw my family while running along the beach before getting back in the water. Getting that first lap done and in such a great time for me was a huge lift. I got right back in the water and started the second lap. It seemed like I got to the buoy much faster this time. On my way back to shore I was getting tired though. I had enough swimming. The time went by a bit faster though once I started to notice the flying fish coming up between the swimmers. I also noticed some very large fish beneath us, which pushed me to go a bit faster. I finished the swim exactly at my expected time 1:30. I was very happy with that. I made my way up to transition after the swim and got my wetsuit stripped. As I was getting stripped, I thought to myself this is really the Ironman. This is exactly what I’ve read and heard so much about. How neat! I grabbed my suit, grabbed my bike transition bag and ran into the changing tent. I sat down and began putting my bike stuff on just as I had practiced in my head the night before. I stuffed my wetsuit in the bag and ran out of the change tent. One third done, I thought to myself. I got my bike out to the mount area and got on. Ok, here we go, like a thousand times before. My only fear on the bike was a flat tire. I rode my bike so much this year that I thought I could probably get a decent time. I started out on the bike and went through town. It is nice and flat and provides a great way to start. I avoided the pothole that I hit on my training rides a couple days before and I headed out of town. As I practiced before, I only took in water for the first twenty minutes to settle my stomach and nerves a bit. My training and preparation really came together in this race. Everything paid off. At thirty minutes, I took in my first dose of food and began my Gatorade intake. They offered Gatorade endurance on the course. This has more salt than I am used to, which turned out to be good because I couldn’t keep my regular salt intake up like I did when I practiced on the rail trail. In training, I could prepare my bike bottles with salt the night before. But at Ironman, I was forced to use on course drink. It became difficult. Everything was going fine though. I hit the bridge leaving town and was making good progress, slowly over taking bike after bike while keeping my effort very light. Just as I entered the flat after the bridge, I heard “psssssss” and my bike began to shake. I hit the brakes and slid a bit. Sh*t! My worst fear has been realized, a flat tire at mile twelve. I pulled over and touched the tire just to make sure I wasn’t wrong about the situation. Unfortunately, I was quite right. At least it wasn’t the tubular tire, I thought. I removed my aero bottle full of Gatorade so I could keep my hydration. I removed my rear wheel and just as I had practiced so many times at home, I changed my flat tire. I got the job done pretty smoothly. My only concern was that I only had one clincher tube as a backup. If I got another flat, my race was over. So much training and preparation would be wasted. If I over inflated the tube, I was done. If I got a pinch flat, I was done. Sheesh! I got back on the road and everything held up pretty well, but I had to ride a little more cautiously, constantly looking for debris that could flat my tire. The bike course was generally rolling to flat. I kept a steady pace and energy level. I got off the bike a couple times to go to the bathroom and get some food and to stretch. I figured this saved me time in the long haul. Some of the roads were pretty rough, causing a lot of lost gear on the roadway. I passed some unused tubes that other cyclists must of lost on the course due to the bumpy roads and thought about picking one up as a backup. Unfortunately, I passed them by too fast and didn’t want to stop suddenly and cause an accident with a bike behind me. I kept going making sure to block out the negative thoughts I had about another flat potentially ending my day. I maintained positive thoughts only. Most of Ironman is mental and if you let negative thoughts sneak into your head, it’s over for you. At about 70 miles I could not eat any more solid food. I was done. I took in what Gatorade I could for calories and kept up my salt and water intake. Avoiding dehydration was one of my main goals of the day and I think I did a very good job maintaining my hydration level. I was very pleased with that part of the race. I came into transition at 7 hrs bike time, 7.5 hours including fixing my flat and potty stops. It could’ve been better, but it could’ve been worse. Frankly, I did not care at all about my time in this race. My sole goal was to finish and become an Ironman. My biggest concern at this time was the fact that my chest was really tight and I couldn’t breathe deeply. I’m not sure if it was caused by allergies or over exertion, but I sat down in transition before the run and thought about getting checked out by medical. I feared that medical wouldn’t let me go on though, so I made the decision that as long as I could at least take shallow breaths and remain upright, I should keep going. So, I kept going. I got my run stuff together. I took three salt capsules and took down some water and Gatorade. I headed out onto the run course. I didn’t feel great, but I didn’t feel too badly either. My aim was to run from water stop to water stop and that’s pretty much what I did. I thought the layout for the marathon was great. It was 6+ miles out and 6+ back, which made it really easy to break down the race in my head. It made it much more manageable for me. I headed out on the run course and ran from stop to stop. I completed the first lap in about 2:30. Not bad at all. I turned around and saw so many of the athletes finishing. Although it was tough to see others finishing while I was about to head out for more punishment, it really did not break me mentally as it has in so many races before. Typically, I cannot handle seeing others coming into finish while I have more to do, which is one reason I don’t like double lap races. For whatever reason, I was fine with this though and it gave me something to look forward to. I grabbed my special needs back and threw on a long sleeve t-shirt. I saw my snickers bar in there, but I had no craving for anything solid at that point. When I stopped, I realized how tired I was. I rested on the metal barrier on the side of the course for a second or two and then I ran over to Elise and my sister who were taking pictures of me from the side. I asked Elise to walk a little with me and she did. That was probably the best part of the race for me :-). I then decided that enough was enough and it was time for me to get this last lap over with. I walked much more of the course this time, but managed to get some good shuffling in here and there. I ate some hot chicken broth which tasted like the nectar of the gods at the time. I followed with some water to keep up my salt and water intake. I would typically then take in some cola at the next stop. And on and on this game went. I was still sweating and I took that as a positive sign that I was well hydrated. It was getting dark on the course, but that didn’t stop people from partying. It was like a huge block party along the entire course. It was great. I made my way around the turn at the far end of the course and I turned towards home. I shuffled as much as my body would allow. I picked up a glow stick too, as I wanted the full Ironman experience, which I always pictured walking along after dark with a glow stick. I got to the 23 mile marker. I only had 3.2 miles left! I made my way through the neighborhoods and then I saw the glow of lights from the finish area and heard Mike Riley saying, “_______ YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!” I decided it was time for me to go home and accomplish my goal. At 2 miles out, I began to run. All the pain, hunger, and weakness left my body at this time. I came running out of the neighborhoods, across the main drag and into the final stretch. I was running at a fast clip at this point, just focusing on finishing and staring straight ahead. I caught a lot of double takes from other competitors who were in disbelief as I sprinted past them. One guy tried to run with me then just said, “You have too much spring for me. I’ll see you at the finish.” The closer I got, the faster I got and the more people cheered me on and commented that I looked strong. Each cheer got me more excited and the adrenaline became to pump. I was so focused on keeping the pace and finishing though, that I barely recognized their cheers. I was thinking thank you, but for some reason I could not or chose not to speak. I stared straight ahead and gave slight thumbs ups to those cheering me on. As I headed down the final stretch on Thomas Drive, the finish line opened up in front of me. The sidelines of the course were packed with spectators. Everyone was cheering me on now. I saw the finish and I charged! I couldn’t see faces, only bodies and clapping hands. The lights were bright against the pitch black sky. I was hoping Elise and my sister could see me and were getting this on film. My excitement reached a high. I pointed to the sidelines with each arm as I came screaming down the chute. I slapped some spectators five and then I pointed straight up to the sky with both arms as I barreled through the finishers tape and screamed YEEEAAAAHHH! I then heard the magical words that I had worked so hard to hear for two years. “HENRY ABROMSON...YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!!!!!” I came through the shoot and felt great. A volunteer asked if I needed help, but I didn’t. He led me over to a volunteer who put the finisher’s medal around my neck. Then I got my t-shirt, hat and heat shield blanket. Then I took my finisher’s photo. I was greeted by Elise and my family and I felt great. Two years of waking up at 5:30 am for early morning swims and spending entire days cycling and running; Paying close attention to my nutrition and learning the ins and outs of proper nutrition and hydration techniques for racing. Two years of building strength and endurance got me to this point. It wasn’t easy, but I can say without a doubt that it was worth all the pain and hard work. I am an Ironman and no matter what I do from here on, I will always be an Ironman! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, October 25th, 2007
7:47 pm	And like that, she's gone I just got back from taking the bike to the store for a final tune up before they load it up on the truck to take to IM Florida. It's really getting close now. All my gear is packed and ready to go. I'm feeling good. This second week of tapering has my body feeling rough, but I'm told that's exactly how it should be. By next week I will be fully recovered and ready to rip out on that course. I had a great final long brick today. It was supposed to take place last night, but because of rain I postponed it until this morning. Of course, it was still raining this morning. Nevertheless, I awoke at 4:45am got on the bike for 1:25 then ran outside for a half hour. I felt so fresh that I didn't even think about the fact that I had just done a two hour brick in the middle of the night. I mean it felt that I had just gone for a walk around the neighborhood. So, I overhauled my bike. I changed the cables, the chain and cleaned in every nook and cranny. It is ready to go. I am still working on getting used to my inflation tool and I need a new set of aero bar pads. Check out Beast's pics as she is all ready to go to Florida. [IMG]http://i20.tinypic.com/6p3ms8.jpg[/IMG] By the way, my race number is 359 so make sure to track me on the big day! (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 17th, 2007
6:44 pm	All Done Well, it's taper time! All the hard work is behind me. I wrapped up my long training this past Sunday with a 112 mile ride on the Western MD Rail Trail followed by a short run. May I say that I may possibly never go back to that trail. I love the trail, but it is kind of like eatin chocolate ice cream all day long. It's great ice cream, but man would you get sick of it. I have started my taper. I took the last two days off after the ride. Today I got in a good, short tempo swim. Tomorrow I will be doing a two hour brick, 1.5 hr bike and .5 hr run. I plan to take Friday off, then i will be doing another long brick on Saturday. I hope to also get in an open water swim on Saturday as well. I'm hoping to do some x training on Sunday with Elise. Other than that, I am getting my bike ready for the race and prepping my gear. The bib numbers will be out any minute. I'm also packing my gear and making our last minute plans. For now, I'm off to do some tapering. Man, I love the taper! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 9th, 2007
10:56 am	This is a test Hey everyone. Training is going well. I did a 17 miles run this past weekend and a 4300 yd swim. I took yesterday off and got back to it this morning with a 4 mile run. Tonight I have a bike. I want to use this post as a test though. I want to see if I can post a picture. Let's give it a try...[IMG]http://i23.tinypic.com/15z02om.jpg[/IMG] This is me racing Lums Pond. (Comment on this)
Saturday, October 6th, 2007
8:07 pm	The Final Two Weeks The final two weeks of regular training are about half over. I have to say that I am feeling the grind, but I'm still hangin in there. Today I went for my last long run. I did 17 miles. I love that the weather is staying warm for acclimation purposes. It was 90 here today. I ran just under three hours, which is perfect. I didn't want to run any longer than that. Tomorrow I have my last long swim, 4500 yds. I think that is more than enough distance. I already have a 4k swim in the bank and several 3.5k + swims in. Despite my hard training, I'm pretty sure that Ironman is going to be painful. I know how I felt after my run today, and I can only imagine what it's going to be like after a long swim, bike and run. Next weekend I have my last long bike, 112 miles followed by an hour long run. I want to run with some tired legs to get the feeling. I'll fill you all in after my last long bike next week. (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 16th, 2007
5:49 pm	Well, at least it wasn't 102 degrees this time. It was just 64, windy, and chilly. Headwinds that picked up all day long did not make this an easy ride, but my goal of 115 was accomplished and actually expanded to a 120 mile ride. This ride gave the confidence to know that I can do the 112 distance. This ride also set me up for a nice 112 bike and medium run after. I had a good week this week. I did the 120 mile ride plus two other rides during the week. I also got in a nice long run of 15 miles and 2:30 hours. This week I want to keep the pressure up as this is my last regular full week. I will do my 4000 yd swim this week, a 16 mile run, and a long brick next weekend. I'll have a rest week next week then I enter my two peak weeks. I like the position I'm in right now. I haven't burned myself out. I haven't tired myself out. I've built myself up nice and slow to some nice distance. Now it is time to lay down the hammer when it counts. I want to get up to an 18 mile run, 4300 yd swim, and I'd like to do one 8-10 workout day. I was over 7 yesterday, so I should be able to get there. In addition to those workouts, I'm going to add more swims and runs during the week. I'd like to do 4 swims a week through my taper, 4 runs per week up until my taper, and keep my three rides per week through my taper. I really want to get my legs ready for that kind of wear and tear that I'll experience on race day. And since I am comfortable with the fact that I won't get burned out at this point, it seems logical that now is the time to really go for it. Next week, during my rest week, I'm going to do some work on my bike to get it ready and put some time into race detail, including strategy, clothing, and nutrition/hydration work. Enjoy the stats from the ride. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 0 ft Location: Big Pool, WV Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 09/15/07 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 07:00 AM Difficulty: 0 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   66F temp; 41% humidity   66F heat index; winds NW 14 G 23 Performance Distance: 120.17 miles Time: 7:10:47 Speed: 16.7 mph Pace: 3' 36 /mi Heart Rate: 122 bpm (Avg) Calories: 6768 147 bpm (Peak) Map   Elevation (ft.)   Speed (mph)   Heart Rate (bpm)   Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 174 - 193 0h 00m 0%  0.00 mi Zone 4 154 - 174 0h 00m 0%  0.00 mi Zone 3 135 - 154 0h 21m 4%  6.60 mi Zone 2 116 - 135 5h 52m 81%  99.97 mi Zone 1 97 - 116 1h 35m 22%  17.60 mi (none) out of range 0h 34m 8%  1.61 mi Posted from bimactive.com (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 26th, 2007
2:06 pm	105 All the way Live! It was 102 degrees and I was just thrown over my aero bars onto the ground. Parts of my brake levers were missing, my bar end shifter was turned sideways, and my palms were bleeding, so what did I do...I picked myself up, checked the rest of my bike and rode 65 more miles. Yesterday, was not the easiest day of riding, but despite the overwhelming heat and humidity, I rolled out for 105.5 miles. Riding with some tri buddies who pushed me to go farther, I picked up the pace to the tune of 1 mph faster average. That is a lot considering I took the final 16 miles relatively easy. Often I was riding around 21 mph. It was good to get a little speed in, especially during such a long distance ride. Because I kept up with my nutrition and hydration, I didn't really feel weak until the very end. That was my second full century, third ride over 95 miles, and one of maybe a 8 rides over 80 to this point. I'm pretty happy with my cycling base to this point. I am planning on getting two more centuries in during september and one more during my peak weeks in October. For now, I'm going to rest up and get ready for another week. (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 23rd, 2007
9:53 pm	A good week about to get better I've gotten in some good workouts this week. So far I got in two 1:30 minute bikes, a 3500 yd swim, a 1000 yd swim, and tonight I did an 8.8 mile run. The run was scheduled to be a 14 miler, but I ran out of light. Plus, I am a bit ahead on my running schedule and I didn't want my legs to be trashed for my big bike on Saturday. I figure I'll do my 14 next week, even though it is my rest week. I added some intervals to my run tonight. I'm slowly adding a little speed to my workouts. But I have to remember that speed is icing on the cake and I don't quite have the cake yet. Tomorrow morning I have another swim. Tomorrow night I'll be doing a 5 miler. Then on Saturday I have my 105 bike and on Sunday I have a short run to work out the LA a bit. It's going to be a good week. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007
8:12 pm	Going Strong I had a good race this past weekend. I competed in the Lums Pond sprint tri. Apart from a horrible T1 due to some equipment malfunctions, I was happy with my performance. The bike was super fast. I averaged 21mph. I also had a good run, completing 3.1 miles in 22 minutes and change at a 7:18 mi pace. I never felt tired and I recovered quickly. So all in all it was a success. Training has been going well so far this week. I put in a 3500 yd swim this morning. I have a 14 mi run tomorrow night then a 105 mile ride on Saturday. I'll also be mixing in some nice workout in between the big ones. I have about 9 weeks until the race, about 7 weeks of hard training, so now is the time to hit it! (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 12th, 2007
11:17 am	I did it! Century #2 is in the bag. I headed to the Western Maryland Rail Trail for this one, so I could just roll out without worrying about cars and stoplights. It was great. I saw about 16 deer that jumped right in front of me, a family of oppossum, and tons of rabbits, squirrels, and other woodland creatures (as Elise would say). I did the full trail (22mi each way) twice, then went up 6 miles and came back 6 miles. The trail goes along the C&O Canal, so there are a lot of historic land markers to see along the way. Even though it got to about 89 degrees by finish, the trail is mostly shaded, so it stayed relatively cool. I followed my nutrition/hydration plan to a tee and I felt great after the ride. My butt was a little sore, but my legs still felt good and my energy level was high. You can see the stats below. Enjoy! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 441 ft Location: Big Pool, WV Elev. Gain: -3 ft Date: 08/11/07 Up/Downhill: [+3359/-3362] Time: 06:52 AM Difficulty: 5.0 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   79F temp; 54% humidity   80F heat index; winds NE 6 Performance Distance: 100.57 miles Time: 5:58:57 Speed: 16.8 mph Pace: 3' 34 /mi Heart Rate: 126 bpm (Avg) Calories: 7406 147 bpm (Peak) Map   Elevation (ft.)   Speed (mph)   Heart Rate (bpm)   Heart Rate Zones Zone Range (bpm) Time In Zone Distance In Zone Zone 5 174 - 193 0h 00m 0%  0.00 mi Zone 4 154 - 174 0h 00m 0%  0.00 mi Zone 3 135 - 154 0h 31m 8%  9.48 mi Zone 2 116 - 135 5h 24m 90%  89.10 mi Zone 1 97 - 116 0h 46m 12%  4.82 mi (none) out of range 0h 02m 0%  0.21 mi Posted from bimactive.com (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 9th, 2007
8:30 am	Feelin' Hot Hot Hot! Last week was my rest week and I wanted to take full advantage of that. I put in a lot of hours and miles during my last block and I was starting to feel a bit worn down. As the book "Going Long" says, if it is an easy day, make sure you take it easy. If it is a hard day, go hard. I extended that philosophy to my rest week. With the exeption of a short 500 yd swim and an hour long spin on my bike, I did nothing. It felt great! I came into this block with more energy and motivation to keep it going. With 13 weeks behind me and 13 to go, I decided to cut out my strength day on my usualy Monday off day. One day a week wasn't really doing me any good and at my age, I can build and maintain muscle pretty easily just by swimming biking and running. Instead of strength, I inserted a light swim. This will allow me to keep my feel for the water, get in some extra swim time, not fatigue my muscles, and it stretches out the week a little bit, so I don't have to do so many doubles with a nine hour work day squeezed in between. This is the first week I tried it and it seems to be going well. On Monday, I put in my light swim. On Tuesday, I ran for 40 minutes in the morning and then did an hour spin at night. Yesterday, Wednesday, I swam 3,250 yds in an 1:20. I know, not blazing, but I did it. And I did it in a big, frumpy swim suit with all of my hair. Those aren't exactly race conditions. Today, I ran for :30 this morning and I plan to get in a 1-2 hr bike tonight. I plan on putting in a third swim tomorrow, then a 13 mile run and a 100 mile bike this weekend. My numbers are really getting up there. More importantly, I gave myself the time, by starting my training last October, to really work up into this distance and spare myself from the overtraining injuries. I find myself now holding back a little bit on the run miles especially so that I don't get burned out or too fatigued. I still have thirteen weeks to go and my mileage, I think, is looking pretty good. Here's to a great weekend of training! (Comment on this)
Friday, August 3rd, 2007
10:48 pm	Half way home I'm just wrapping up week 13 of my training. That means I'm exactly half way there! I've come a long way from last October when I started my weight training. I think I'm doing pretty well. I have 6 rides of over 60 miles to this point, including an 93 miler, an 80 miler, and several 70 milers. My running is up to 12 mile long runs. I want to hold this back as much as possible because I'm already up to 2 hours of running (don't want to go over 3 hr) and running really fatigues the legs from the impact. Plus, bike miles can easily be substituted for run miles. My swimming is coming along well also. I have a long swim in of 3,000 yds and several swims over 2500 yds. I want to get up to 4500 yds, which shouldn't be too hard. So where do I go next? Good question. Here my goals for the second half of training: 1) Add frequency. I already have a good base down, now I need to add to weekly hours and miles by simply working out more often. Even if I'm tired after a long day of work, I will make the effort to get a few miles on my bike. 2) Get in at least three centuries. This also should not be hard. I intended to do one last weekend, but got rained out. 3) Get in some speed swim workouts. I really have to work on arm turn over to get some speed in the pool. I'm comfortable with my form at this point and don't want to mess with that. 4) Eat better. This includes staying away from fried foods. I'm in shape, but every pound counts. You can't slim down by dropping calories during IM training either, so eating better is the only way to go. 5) Give it all I got. This is my one shot at Ironman. I have thirteen weeks to make my 2 yr goal and my dream come true. I need to approach it like I approached the bar exam. Give it everything you have, even if it hurts, and do it right once. So here's to my final thirteen weeks of training! (Comment on this)