Sept 30th - Oct 6th 2007

Sunday 9/30
Run
Out 57;05.06, 10'56", 5.213
Back 58:38.27, 11'06", 5.280
No HR

Tuesday 10/1
Run
39:45.54, 9'30", 4.180, No HR

Sept 23rd - Sept 29th 2007

OK, I am getting serious.

I seem to be unhurt after yesterday's nice run, so I went to Longmont and back to take my sandals to work (on Sunday). Encouraged by the slow run I went slow at low heart rate. It seemed to have worked.

Sunday 9/23/07
BTW: 1:20:44, 17.6 mph, 23.80, 138
BH: 1:24:17, 16.9 mph, 23.90, 140

Hmmm, the HR gave up on me again. A new battery again? Overall, nice ride, a bit cool, I made myself to use the small front ring although I normally don't need it on this ride. It's nice to just spin once in a while

Monday 9/24/07
BTW 1:26:07, 16.9, 24.26, no HR - got seriously soaked.
Played table tennis in the evening, kind of nice

Friday 9/28/07
Short run, 43:04.11, 10'24", 4.139 miles, no HR
HR doesn't work again. Neither one of them. Time to call Timex

The pounds keep piling up. I regularly tip the scale at 192 now. Red flag.

Sept 16th - Sept 22nd 2007

Hmm,
skipped another week. I have a pitiful excuse, Nancy and I went to the west coast, rented a convertible and rode up Hwy 1 North of San Francisco and spent a couple of days camping in Humboldt redwoods. Cool.

Basically didn't do a whole lot this week, went to my pilates class on Wednesday. Then I rode the bike quite fast to work (well, high heart rate), got smarter and ran slow on Saturday.

Friday 9/21
Bike to work - 1:16:36, 18.6, 23.82, 160 - windy, had some nasty side and head winds once in a while. Relatively cool. Drank beer in the evening instead of a ride home.

Saturday 9/22
Run: Decided to go slow, so I figured I'll go out on the bike path and run for about an hour, turn back and run home. It turns out I made it to 124th & Washington, a convenient marker to turn around. Stats:
Out: 56:00.68, 13'13", 4.236 mi, 141
Back: 57:38.13, 13'25", 4.295 mi, 147

Well, I am quite happy with this, my legs don't hurt, I can comfortably run 8.5 miles in 2 hours, no blisters, no knee pains, no gasping for breath. This is a pretty good starting place. The weather was a bit hot on Saturday but this may be a nice route to do every weekend to gauge my progress.

Setting goals

This is my baseline that I will be comparing myself to:

Weight: 192 lbs
Running ability: 11.39 miles in 2:10:02 at 159 beats
Biking ability: Copper Triangle in 5:21:36, 14.9 mph, 79.18 miles, 8000 feet climb
Netherland loop in 7:01:47, 15.9 mph, 112.4 miles at HR 146, 9100 feet climb
Swim: I suck, I can consistently swim 100 yards in about 1:50

Sept 2nd - Sept 8th 2007

So, what happened during past month? I had very little motivation to do anything useful and quite a bit of work. I guess I took the excuse of listening to my body and really didn't do shit. Well, very little, so let's line it up

I did a few bike rides to work and back:
BW: 1:11:52, 19.9 mph, 23.86, 142 - I remember this one, this was one of those 'once a week' after I slacked off for a while. If it wasn't for a school bus I stopped for, I'd make a new 'go to work' record.
BH: 1:36:35, 14.8, 23.85, 117 - I remember this one too. Slacking off and into the wind. Oh well.

BW: 1:13:28, 19.4, 23.84, 158
BH: 1:13:14, 19.3, 23.68, 151 - this felt good

OK, there were a couple of runs somewhere inbetween, got one stat in my watch:
48:36.66, 10'30", 152, 4.629


I checked in at 197 lbs on Saturday afternoon. Not a good thing. So, today is Labor Day, Monday September 3rd and I really needed to go running. So as usual, I overdid it but I am not in horrible pain. I ran to Nancy's tennis social (eat, drink and play tennis).
1:02:58, 10'56", 5.74, 153
then I ate bunch of stuff and ran back
1:07:03, 11'53", 5.636, 164

For a grand total of
2:10:02, 11'25, 11.39 miles, HR 159

Hmmm, interesting.
First of all, I probably should not have stuffed myself with a cheeseburger, chips and bean dip, with a grand finale of key lime pie and a rich chocolate cake. At least I didn't have beer.

Secondly, it was pretty hot day. OK, I drank reasonably but likely not enough.

My calves were hurting like hell for the first 3 miles but then the pain kind of went away, I guess the legs realized that I really mean it.

I also realized that if I want to compete in France, I need to run more than 4 - 5 miles a couple of times a week (not that I have been doing even that much lately). I need to run 8 - 10 miles several times a week. Better yet, to start (and stick with Maffetone) I need to just run for 2 hours, regardless of speed, at low heart rate (135 - 145).


Tuesday 9/4
Time off, my legs hurt like hell. I guess I should have been running or some such.

Wednesday 9/5
Legs still hurt

Thursday 9/6
Nice, short, slow run with DanK
34:13.68, 11'54", 2.873, 149

Friday 9/7

Saturday 9/8

August 5th - August 11th 2007

Sunday 8/5
Day off after the hard ride, came down the mountain, the traffic is a bitch

Monday 8/6
Off

Tuesday 8/7
Off

Wednesday 8/8
Swim, 45 minutes

Thursday 8/9
Swim 45 minutes, 30 minutes TI practice followed by 15 steady laps
BW, 1:08:30, 20.9 mph, 23.88 miles, HR 147 - fastest ride to work ever. Hmmm, rest pays off
BH, 1:23:41, 17.1, 23.87, 144 - a bit windy. after climbing Vail pass on Saturday my daily hills don't seem to be too bad

Friday 8/10
Swim
BW
BH

Saturday 8/11

July 29th - August 4th 2007

Sunday 7/29
Day off after the big ride, feel pretty good

Monday 7/30
Swim in the morning, I figure I need to spend some time in the pool so I'll be practicing TI

Tuesday 7/31
Swim

Wednesday 8/1
Swim
BW - lost the GPS data, nice ride, 23.88 miles or so
BH - no data, windy

Thursday 8/2
Swim

Friday 8/3
Day off

Saturday 8/4
Copper Triangle ride. This was the toughest ride I have ever done. The good news is that I got passed by loads of people coming downhill but by only one rider going uphill. Didn't bring HR so I don't have the data but there were few times I was pushing the limits.
5:21:36, 14.9 mph, 79.18 miles

According to the GPS data collected, this was over 8000 vertical feet

July 22nd - July 28th 2007

Sunday 7/22
Day off

Monday 7/23
Lunch run, 43:10:38, 10'24", 154, 4.149

OK, it's official, signed up for IM France, Nice, June 22nd 2008. I am officially in training again. Got 11 months to get ready, it better be a good one.

Tuesday 7/24
Swim, about 40 minutes in pool, practicing TI drills
BW, 1:18:13, 18.3 mph, 23.96, HR 137
BH, 1:21:00, 17.5, 23.72, 142, windy

Wednesday 7/25
BW, 1:15:14, 19.0, 23.84, 147
BH, 1:29:54, 16.2, 24.35, 130, windy, got lost in Broomfield yet one more time

Thursday 7/26
Off

Friday 7/27
Off

Saturday 7/28
Iron ride - ventured into the mountains for the first time in my life (well, on the bike). Quite interesting. Did about 3 times the vertical elevation of what I can expect in Nice. Total climb of 9107 feet (2776 meters). Looking at the Nice profile, I estimate it at about 800 meters, perhaps it's more, I need to determine it exactly. Very demanding ride, learning to handle the bike at high downhill speeds, did it on 3 Clif bars and about 80+ ounces of water. Didn't take any gels, didn't take any sports drink either, just water. At about mile 95 I took a can of Red Bull, just for grins and giggles. I probably didn't need it and it didn't sit well with me after the ride. Skipp it next time.

Post ride: 2 table spoons (Ts) of hemp oil, 1 Ts coconut oil, 1 Ts hemp protein, 1 Ts hemp nuts, 1 banana, cup of blueberries, cup of kefir, 8 oz glass of Clif mango recovery. About two hours later I had 2 bowls of my menudo (pure protein with a load of collagen). Later that night I did have a glass of wine and some chocolate. Weight has been dropping, I am at about 185 now, the goal is to make it to 170 - 175 as soon as I can. I think that's my ideal race weight.

Body feels pretty good - I felt better after these hills then when I got off the bike in Brazil, I felt worse than in NZ. I got rained on quite a bit in the mountains, the temperatures were probably in the 60s or so. Overall quite demanding but nice. If I do this once in a while, I'll probably stick with my 53/39 11/25 gearing, although there was a moment when I reached for another gear and it just wasn't there anymore. White Lightning wax based chain lube washes off in heavy rain. That sucked, stopped at bikeshop in Lyons, nice guy, he let me use his lube. Got to buy that stuff (some kind of oil), the bike ran so well with it.

Ride stats:
7:01:47, 15.9 mph, 112.4 miles, HR 146 average

July 15th - July 21st 2007

Sunday 7/15
Legs still hurt, time off

Monday 7/16
Off, took the big bike

Tuesday 7/17
BW, 1:12:57, 19.5, 23.79, 157 - nice ride
BH, 1:21:41, 17.4, 23.69, 150 - battled my friend wind, not too bad

Wednesday 7/18
Day off

Thursday 7/19
Run with Dan, no HR
1:06:11, 10'29", 6.306, no HR

Friday 7/20
Day off, feel pretty good after yesterday's run. Had some bananas. Need to start running again, I have been slacking off in that department

Saturday 7/21
Went for my 56 mile bike loop. Very hot, 3 hours 22 minutes riding time, 3 20 oz bottles. Stopped at the bike shop for 1/2 hour or so.

I finally figured out the rear derailleur problem Thursday night. The Campy bar end shifter can be taken apart and can be put together 4 different ways. One of them is correct. That was the problem. The bike finally runs the way it was meant to run and it is so much pleasure to ride it. It's very quiet now and seems to be more responsive. Yey.


2008 IM Austria sold out in 19 hours. Bummer, I was thinking of signing up for it, I guess not. My friend Carl did it this year and enjoyed it. So, I got to start thinking seriously, what's next? Lanzarote is still open but do I really want to abuse myself that much? I could also do Western Australia in December, that would be 3 for 3 in Southern hemisphere and a nice break from the winter. Hmmm.

July 8th - July 14th 2007

Sunday 7/8
Still slacking off

Monday 7/9
BW, 1:11:55, 19.8, 23.79, 161
BH, 1:17:07, 18.3, 23.53, 166

Splendid day. I think this was the second fastest bike to work ever. Hmmm, rest pays off. Actually, this is probably the fastest round trip I have ever done. Not too bad.

Tuesday 7/10

Wednesday 7/11
BW, 1:19:29, 17.9, 23.80, 146
BH, 1:17:59, 18.2, 23.72, 143

Thursday 7/12
Time off

Friday 7/13
Went running with the boys, no HR, no GPS, we did about 4 miles in something like 45 minutes. Ran on my toes.

Saturday 7/14
My legs hurt like hell from yesterday's toe run. Need more bananas and hottub. And probably more running.

July 1st - July 7th 2007

Took the whole week off, no training whatsoever. It felt good to be a fat slob. Well, for a while, anyway, got a bit anxious towards the end.

Jun 24 - June 30th, 2007

Sunday 6/24
Off

Monday 6/25
BW, 1:20:44, 18.1, 24.47, 148
BH, 1:27:21, 16.2, 23.66, 141

Tuesday 6/26
Off - had an afternoon massage and dentist in the evening

Wednesday 6/27
Bike to work day
BW, 1:20:35, 18.2, 24.52, 154
BH, 1:11:47, 19.7, 23.68, 152 - I think this is fastest ever coming home. Probably due to those five bagels and small pizza I had during the day.

Thursday 6/28
BW, 1:21:37, 18.1, 23.58, 145 - obviously not as enthusiastic as I was last night
BH, 1:23:19, 17.0, 23.73, 134

Friday 6/29
Day off, company picnic, rode the big bike

Saturday 6/30
Day off

Summary - not too bad, original plan was to go all five days but stuff got into it. Bummer.
Still pretty good, did about 140 miles, at an average HR 145,
97 - 117, 0:27:52 @ 108,
117 - 136, 1:35:14 @ 127,
136 - 156, 3:27:48 @ 145,
156 - 175, 2:08:24 @ 164,
175 - 195, 0:13:24 @ 178

Looks like a reasonable spread

Jun 17 - June 23rd, 2007

Sunday 6/17/07
Off

Monday 6/18/07
Off, took the big bike

Tuesday 6/19/07
BW, 1:21:30, 17.9, 24.37, 143
BH, 1:25:53, 16.8, 24.12, 141

Wednesday 6/20/07
BW, 1:24:09, 16.9, 23.80, 136
Lunch ride with Craig and Paul I., 59:56, 15.8, 15.81, 129
BH, 1:27:00, 16.3, 23.71, 141 - running out of juice, I guess it was quite warm, came home quite exhausted

Thursday 6/21/07
BW, 1:26:57, 16.1, 23.41, 134 - I guess I didn't learn from yesterday, pushing my luck, it was 60 F at 6 am, up to 75 by 9 am. Looking forward for the ride home. Stay watered.
BH, 1:30:07, 15.7, 23.72, 135 - yup, I am tired

Friday 6/22/07
Off, took the big bike, have Wilbur coming over tonight anyway

Saturday 6/23/07
Off, didn't do a thing, just computer stuff in an airconditioned house. Yey.

Jun 10 - June 16th, 2007

Sunday 6/10
Bike
Out: 2:25:23, 16.7 mph, 40.67 miles, 132 HR
Back: 2:08:27, 17.4 mph, 37.44 miles, 153 HR
Went up to Lyons, nice afternoon ride, something different to do. Gobbled up 2 Clif Builder bars and 3 16 oz bottles. Grand day out.

Monday 6/11
Time off, didn't feel like pushing it. Frankly, was lazy.

Tuesday 6/12
Time off, raining, had to be at massage at 4 pm

Wednesday 6/13
Time off, dentist at 7 am. Actually, went running at noon, very easy run, about 4.25 miles (medium loop) in about 45 - 50 minutes. No GPS, no HR, just having fun.

Thursday 6/14
BW, 1:19:34, 18.1, 24.01, 151 - splendid ride, met with Jeff H. for bagel and coffee
BH, 1:21:01, 17.5, 23.70, 145

Friday 6/15
BW, 1:15:41, 18.8, 23.84, 147 - fast ride, didn't even stop the watch while buying bagel :)
BH, 1:32:22, 16.3, 25.21, 134

Saturday 6/16
Off

June 3 - June 9th, 2007

Sunday 6/3
Bike - went to Longmont and back, just to shake off the jetlag.
21:57.23, 15.1 mph, HR 148, 5.531 miles
1:04:36, 17.3, 141, 18.68
1:18:18, 18.1, 155, 23.64

Monday 6/4
BW, 1:18:24, 18.4, 144, 24.16
BH, 1:19:26, 17.8, 141, 23.68

Tuesday 6/5
Day off

Wednesday 6/6
BW, 1:16:20, 18.4, 143, 23.78
Run, 39:31.73, 9'19", 165, 4.237
BH, 1:21:01, 17.7, 142, 23.91

Thursday 6/7
Swimming for about 30 minutes

Friday 6/8
BW, 1:24:24, 18.1, 150, 25.48 - stopped at the bank
BH, 1:21:01, 17.4, 139, 23.51

Saturday 6/9
Off.

Hey, my HR works again, I just had to push the little reset button after I changed the battery. Cool.

Put in 184 miles this week, 4 of which running. Pretty nice, I feel good, not even tired on Saturday morning.

May 27 - June 2nd, 2007

Spent a week in Czech Republic. Got back on Saturday June 2nd. Didn't do any workouts at all.

May 20 - May 26th, 2007

Well, this week sucked. Busy with work and kind of felt I need to lay off for a while. Went running one day and that was about it.

40:03.24, 9'42", 4.125 miles

Summary:
HR still not working. My suntan lotion does. Can't wash it off even in a hot tub.

Interesting thing happened. I started drinking water again, a little over 4.5 liters per day. By Wednesday the body got kind of used to it and actually started shedding some weight - got to about 186 - 187 again. I hardly drank any at all on Thursday but the body kept on draining like if I kept drinking.

Got bad news from my family, got to go and see them. Got on a plane on Saturday.

May 13 - May 19th, 2007

Sunday May 13th
Off

Monday May 14th
BW, 1:17:13, 18.4 mph, 23.78 miles, -- HR
BH, 1:27:08, 16.3 mph, 23.72, -- HR

Tuesday May 15th
Off, heavy rain

Wednesday May 16th
BW 1:19:53, 17.9 mph, 23.84 --
BH 1:26:53, 16.4 mph, 23.80, --

Thursday May 17th
BW, 1:15:48, 18.8 mph, 23.81, --
BH, 1:29:27, 15.8 mph, 23.67, --

Friday May 18th
Off

Saturday May 19th
Off


Week summary:
Looks like I am slacking off. The HR is still not working, I have not investigated a whole lot, don't have time now to screw around with it. On the other hand, started developing my own natural suntan lotion since I am not willing to pay $16 for Burt's, which runs off with sweat anyway. Starting to drink water again.

May 6 - May 12, 2007

Sunday May 6th 2007: Day off
Micro adjusting the bike, actually got the front derailleur figured out, had to shimmy it a little but it seems to work flawlessly now. There is still a tiny little bug in the back - may need to reroute the cable one more time.

Monday May 7th 2007
Run
35:29.29, 9'25", 158, 3.7 miles
Something is funny with my HR

Tuesday May 8th 2007
Bike to work
1:20:47, 17.6, 23.8 miles, 142 beats
Bike home
1:24:49, 17.9, 24.03, something really funny with my HR

Wednesday May 9th 2007
Bike to work (BW)
1:15:38, 18.8, 23.78, 163
Bike home (BH)
1:18:42, 18.9, 23.76, 143

Thursday May 10th 2007
BTW
1:15:07, 18.3, 22.99 --
BH
1:28:26, ~16.9, 23.77, --

Friday May 11th 2007
Off

Saturday May 12th 2007
Off

Week summary:

Not too bad, 3 consecutive days of bike to work. The heart rate belt is not working for some reason. I put new batteries in both of them and tried both belts with both watches and nada. However, I pickup Dale's belt on my watch, so it's not the watch. Overall good week.

April 29 - May 5, 2007

Sunday 4/29/07
Day off, working on the house, still setting up the bike, finally got the cables routed, what a PITA

Monday 4/30/07
Bike to work:
1:18:21, 18.2, 144, 23.77

Bike home:
1:21:52, 17.3, 138, 23.68

Got and installed new seat Selle SMP Strike. Looks like it should be comfy, we'll see.

Tuesday 5/1/07
Bike to work:
1:31:16, 15.5 mph, 137 HR, 23.61 miles
very enjoyable ride, stopped at a bank on the way in so I dropped a few minutes. Took a different route than usual - instead of US 287, I took So Boulder Rd to 95th Street and came to Longmont on it. The seat feels pretty good. I need to fine tune it now, play with the bars a bit and change the seat angle. I am actually reasonably comfortable but I think I can do better. Hoping for no rain in the evening.

Bike home:
1:24:29, 16.8, 139, 23.7
A bit of rain, not too bad except the road was all wet and splashy. Found a pretty bad cut in my relatively new rear tire. Good thing I am riding with plastic liners. Bummer. Next set of tires will be Conti's gatorskins. Hate dumbasses dumping their beer bottles out of the window.

Wednesday 5/2/07
Day off, went to Mina's for lunch. Yummy.

Thursday 5/3/07
Bike to work:
1:28:03, 16.2, 140, 23.87
Lazy ride, didn't want to get out of bed. But it was worth it. A bit cold, wore my jacket.

Bike home:
1:30:09, 15.4, 132, 23.28
Took a different route home. Took 95th Street all the way down to StorageTek and came to Broomfield on Midway. Actually pretty nice way, less traffic.
Heavy sidewinds, didn't care for it so it was actually really nice that I wasn't on open road like Hwy 287, I was shielded a bit by trees and buildings.

Friday 5/4/07
Bike to work:
1:15:05, 18.8, 139, 23.52
Took yet a bit different route, took 112th all the way to Hwy 36 and then picked up old 120th Ave through Broomfield, came up on Midway, StorageTek and 95th street to Longmont. I think I like this road the best. The least traffic and not too many traffic lights. Left early (6:30), was pretty cold, long pants, jacket, full head gear (Buff and Skunk).
Shifted my shoe clips a little forward last night and raised the seat by about 1/2 inch. Following Andy Pruitt recipe found in my bike magazine. It felt pretty good.
Hit my knee on a tub corner last night and it responded with a nasty bruised bump that hurt in the morning so I debated for a while whether I should drive. Nah, it will probably get better if I move it a bit. We'll see tomorrow.

Bike home:
1:29:04, 16.0, 132, 23.83
Took yet another route home, went towards Boulder and came to 95th Street through Niwot. Not too bad.
It was cold, I wished I had heavier gloves and footsie warmers


Saturday 5/5/07
Got rolfed, day off from working out

Week summary:
4 days of bike commute, not too bad.
Spent about 12 hours on the bike, the new seat is working out pretty well, put in about 190 miles at average 137 beats per minute. Nice week.

Put on a new Continental Gatorskin in the back. I think I am going to put on the heavy duty tubes, too. My commute wheels are probably at least 2x as heavy as my race wheels, that should make it a bit easier on me at the next race.

We'll see if I can throw in some running next week.