Feeling Crappy and an evil wife

So my plan for the day was to get home and hop on the bike trainer and get in an easy 20 mile recovery workout. Didn't want to push it. It was 50 out, but had been misting all day so it had that really soak you to the core miserable feel to it so I didn't want to go out for a run. But then a certain someone, we shall call her Preggy to protect the innocent (or guilty as the case may be) got Trinity to give me the sad eyes to ask why we couldn't go running. So I caved and took the munchkin. But wow did I regret it. Tried to keep it to an easy 9 min/mile pace and couldn't get in a rhythm, felt tight, and got raw nips... AGAIN! Then started to get light-headed so I turned back for the day, cutting it short at 3 miles. I guess after that brick workout yesterday I should have known better...

Brick workout

With it being cold again, decided to get in a trainer/run brick workout in anticipation of the sprint triathlon I am racing next Saturday. So I started on the trainer, doing the Team Zoot Spinervals workout, that tired me out sufficiently with alot of heavy gear work and high cadence work to boot. Then hopped off, grabbed Trinity and my IPOD and hit the road. The legs didn't want to work with me right away, so I started off rather slow, hitting the road with a 8:40 pace, but each successive mile after that I had a negative split, finishing with a PR for the new course and a 7:20 final mile. Can definitely feel my cardio getting better! Great run despite the raw nips!

Running with the little one!

Running a new route with Trinity on a new route. After a week away from the girls it was really nice to get back out with my running partner. I know she missed it too! Felt pretty good, started faltering toward teh end some, but overall felt really good after a few days off. Got in 6.3 miles at abotu 8:30 pace.

Over the Hills and through the waterfront to TransAmerica I go...

San Francisco again! Wow this city is insanely hilly (in case you didn't know that all ready!). Started out up Grant again, but this time I took on the Pine St hill that I saw during our walk to dinner last night. Picked up Taylor St from there and headed up toward Lombard St again (saw a hill on the corner of Taylor and Broadway that I need to try tomorrow!). Once up at the top, took Hyde St down to the Hyde St Pier, continuing along the waterfront to Sansome St, where I headed back down to Kearney and Broadway and took on the steepest hill once again! After that, followed Columbus St down to Washington where the TransAmerica (pyrimid building) stands. Then headed on down to Mission St and came on back to the hotel for a 5.4 mile run! Great time, although wearing down a bit from the hills over the past few days, so might need to take it a bit easier tomorrow! Betsy also leaves tomorrow, so that might be a good day to go easy so I can hang with her before she leaves...

Running Lombard Street - Hills, Hills and more Hills!

Running in San Francisco again. Ran out Grant st up to Lombard and then ran up the hill to and through the 'Crookedest street in the World". Then ran over to the Chestnut St stairs and down through the Larkin St Neighborhood to the waterfront. Took Columbus Street back to Broadway, where I ran up the steepest hill (Kearney St) in San Fran again and then came back Kearney to Market and then to the hotel for a great five mile run! Forgot my heartrate monitor, but overall was a GREAT run.... Have I mention how much I love this city?

First Run in San Francisco to Coit Tower

Running on Easter Sunday in San Francisco! WOW huge hills, a 31 percent grade on Kearny street then again climbing up to Coit Tower. Took a quick break at the top to take in the scenery. Incredible view, makes me glad that I took the initiative and went for a run this morning before we went out for breakfast with Brett and Elisha.

Longest run of the new year!

New 8 mile route! Great run! Took trinity out slower, got comfortable and then decided to keep going! Ended up going exactly 8 miles at just under 9 min/mile. Not too bad for my longest run of the year! Trinity was even tired by the end! That NEVER happens! Burned off 1201 calories in the process.

Trainer time... AGAIN :-(

It was extremely windy today; 40mph winds! Actually blew a rock through my passenger's side window while I was at work! SOOOO, figured it might be a good idea to work out indoors today. Therefore it was back on the trainer for the Muscle Breakdown workout from Spinervals.

On the trainer again...

It was pouring rain outside so I had to hop back on the trainer again... After the past two days, decided to do the Recovery and Technique Spinervals video. Nice and easy, nice and easy...

Hitting the Track again...

Running track. 1 mile warmup, 2X100 strides, then 1200 moderate (5:09), then 400 recovery, 1200 hard (5:03), 800 recovery, 4X400 moderate (1:34, 1:34, 1:36, 1:35). Felt pretty tight and tired from my ride yesterday. Definitely need to get a recovery workout in tomorrow. Will be felling the after effects tomorrow for sure. Last two 400's had some serious side stitches and was laboring.

Out for another great ride

Rode the Mt Carmel 28 mile loop, but due to road construction on my road, had to take a detour at the start, adding about 0.5 miles. Felt really in sync the whole ride, really comfortable for the ride, legs moving at a nice even pace. Started laboring a bit toward the end, but held on to avg over 19 mph for the first time this year! Avg Cadence 87

Swimming

In order to prep for my first tri of the year (April 5th) figured I needed to get into the pool! So Betsy took me over to the pool at the PG County Community College and I got in a 200m warmup, followed by 4X500 m (alt swimming and pulling). Felt REALLY weak, WOW its been a while. Need to get in the pool a few more times in the next couple weeks to get back into feeling comfy in the water again!

Exploring Southern MD on a time constraint!

I created my own route based on the pedaling to pisgah ride. Overall pretty fun ride, short on time since we are going to meet Joe and Brooke Corson in Baltimore for the day, so cut the 40 miler down to about 33. Felt strong until very end. I guess I am still getting used to the saddle, but of course the last 10 miles were into the wind, so I am sure that had something to do with the final struggle!

Running Sucks sometimes

Running with Trinity, felt really tight and couldn't get to a comfortable pace, so I decided to cut short and skip the neighborhood.R

New Saddle makes a huge difference!

Got home in time to go for a ride after work. Beautiful weather, mid 50's and sunny. Good ride, just missed passing 19mph for the whole ride, despite winds from the NW at 13 mph with high gusts >20mph (which killed me on the back stretch!). Felt stronger than I expected and first ride with the new saddle! Felt pretty good, although it will take some getting used too! My boys thanked me profusely for the change!

Finally back to Track workouts!

running track at Ft. Ward park. lots of hills in the loop. 5X800 with a 3:00 recovery between. Tried to improve speed with each successive loop, came close 3:42, 3:40, 3:33, 3:28 and 3:29.

Hitting the Trails

Mountain biking at Rosaryville State Park. Out relatively easy, as it has been a while since I have been on that trail. There have been a number of changes too. Only two other riders on the trail with me, both going the opposite direction. Felt ok, didn't quite have all the strength I am used to, but considering the fact that I haven't been outside riding much, I am not overly surprised. Overall, good ride and lots of fun!

Georgia Run again... warmer this time!

After a nice 'hearty' breakfast at Cracker Barrell with my brother's family and my mom and dad, got home and went for a run! Had to burn off those calories somehow! Got out and went for just about 6 miles at about 8:30 pace. Felt much better than I have on any longer run ever since I started getting back into working out again in January! I guess the hard work has paid off! Weather was much more cooperative today, reaching into the 50's with a nice breeze, perfect running weather!

running in Snowy Georgia

Betsy and I flew down last night to visit my mom and dad just north of Atlanta. Went for a run this morning... IN THE SNOW!!! I mean who comes to GA in March expecting SNOW!!!??? So obviously it was rather cold (low 30's), but overall it was actually a decent run. Felt wierd without my training partner!? Poor Trinity, she is going to be PISSED when she finds out I went running without her!

Also, just got another donor for $500 and my mom found out that since the donations are written directly to the charity itself that her work will match hers! Those additions have pushed me over the $1000 mark right now and up to almost $4500 for my max contribution! Only March and we're half way to the goal!

Takin' it easy

I am planning on a solid weekend of longer running (6-8 miles per day) not really long run by my old standards, but then again I am not training for a marathon right now! So I decided to do an Comcast on-demand Tae Bo workout and an ab workout for 30 min of effort. Not too bad. For those interested, I wanted to also point out how much weight I have lost this year so far! I started off in Dec. being over 200 for the first time since Rugby days (however, this time it wasn't muscle!) so started using a website called TheDailyPlate.com which tells you how many calories you burned and have eaten for the day and tells you what your caloric intake should be to lose weight! Check it out! It has been incredible for me! Look at the graph to the left showing my weight over time this year!

Takin' it easy

Still trying to recover, so I decided to do Spinervals Ride Strong workout which is relatively easy. Got a good 45 min ride in. CANNOT WAIT for my new saddle to arrive! I ended up deciding to get the Selle Italia Signo, which has the prostate cut-out for the boys and gel center. Should be a HUGE improvement. I found it about 50% off at ediscountbike.com, a great site for bike stuff at cheap prices!

Going for a run

Such a BEAUTIFUL day! Sun was shining, in the high 50's with only a little wind... got home too late to go biking so went for a nice run with Trinity, and let me tell you did she EVER appreciate it. It still cracks me up that while I am dragging to get motivated to get outside to go running or biking, all I have to do is hint us going for a run, you know "Trini, do you wanna?" or "R-U-N"? and Trini goes CRAZY! I dont' think there is anything in this world she loves more than going for a nice run (other than maybe running behind me while I mountain bike so she can go faster!).
Other than the first 1/4 mile or so, felt pretty comfortable and finished with my fastest time on that course since I started running it in Jan of this year!

Crappy Tuesday Weather

I believe it has officially been 14 years, 2 months, 1 week since we last had good weather on a Tuesday! What does that mean?! Well instead of being outside running the track workout, I was stuck inside on the bike trainer... AGAIN! Winter is killing me! Anyway, I ended up doing the Spinervals Suffer-O-Rama, didn't feel too strong, apparently I might be overtraining a bit. So tomorrow will be either an off day or a easy recovery day depending on how I feel tomorrow.

difficult ride

Got home in time to use the beautiful day (in the high 50's with 17 mph winds) to get out for a ride outside. However, it is now apparent that I am in DESPERATE need for a new bike saddle! How do I know you ask? Errr... the boys are BARKING!!! (if they aren't put in a figure four leg lock and rocked to sleep! Ever had your boys go to sleep? Very disconcerting!) Anywhoo, because of this, cut my ride short to 23 miles from 30 and am getting on to order my new saddle PRONTO!

Stadiums at the Lincoln Memorial

Betsy and I went down to the monuments this morning with the girls (Trinity and Shelbi). Trinity and I started at the Lincoln Memorial and I took off doing just short of a two mile warmup, running up by the WWII Memorial then turning around and finishing at the steps behind the Lincoln. There I did 12 sets of stadiums up the steps. Finishing off, I took Trinity took a lap from the Lincoln, turning around at Washington and then ending where we parked to head home. Betsy spent the time walking with Shelbi. Started off really cool and windy, but warmed up rather quick. Felt really good, finishing at sub 8 min pace.
Really fun running around the monuments, so many people, so much to look at, just so much going on! Beautiful scenery too! Overall, great run!!! I posted an image of the route in Google Earth with 3D buildings so the monuments are included! Just click on the picture for a closer view!

Mountain biking at Ft. Dupont

Finally a nice day, a bit windy, but nice. It was in the 50's and sunny, so got together with the guy who started the local DC area Trips For Kids group and went to Fort DuPont National Park to go for a ride. Its a great, relatively unknown park with open trails and lots of climbs and decents, a few log passes. Had a good time hitting the trails for the first time since early January. Got in 8.4 miles and burned just under a 1000 calories. Great trail, great scenery and great company, all the components of a great ride!