So.... what now?

So by now it has been a few weeks since the Ironman.  Now I have to come up with a plan for what to do from here.  The fact that I didn't hate the race, or fall completely apart, or hurt myself too badly, probably means that I will end up doing that distance again at some point.  I pretty much take each personal record to be a number to beat... I'm not sure at what point that will stop. 

I don't think I will jump into doing another Ironman next year... although I am considering signing up for the Kona lottery.  Since I finished IMAZ, I probably might as well do that (because I'd already meet the requirement of doing that distance within a year of Kona).  If I get lucky, it will change my year of training/racing dramatically. 

One thing I'm thinking about now is to do a straight marathon.  I know I can do better than 6:38... and for whatever reason I don't like seeing that as my personal best (even though it is).  There are a few races early in the year in AZ that I could do, Rock and Roll in Phoenix, Lost Dutchman in Phoenix, the Sedona marathon.  I'll have to look more closely at these and see if I want to put in the time that soon. 

My next thought is to get back to Olympic distance.  And again... my motivation here is to blow my personal records away.  I've only done 2, and those were both last year, and pretty slow.  After thinking about this and looking at some races I came back across the Triple Crown Challenge.  This is 3 Olympic distance races in Arizona in something like 5 weeks.  Sounds like that could be fun.  I would be able to try to break my bests for a single race, and stack myself up against others doing all 3. 

No matter what I end up doing, I plan to start strength training quite soon (if my recent neck problems willl allow it).  I could then add on a lot of running to go for one of those early marathons, and then get into full tri training mode for the triple crown races starting in May.  I still need to figure out just how much time I'm willing to spend on training now.  I've accomplished the biggest goal I set for myself, but now I'm still left with a bunch of neverending goals to get faster/fitter at a bunch of different distances.  I need to balance working toward these goals with everything else (time with Fox, work, side projects, new activities). 

Ironman Arizona!

So Sunday was the culmination of I guess 3 years of build up... certainly was a full year of training with the intent to do the full Ironman here. 

I was pretty nervous before the start, but not too bad.  I had estimated my split times to be 1:30 for the swim, 7:00 for the bike, and 6:00 for the run.  I thought I might be able to do these times, but I knew that I had quite a bit of extra time to play with if I couldn't.  

My biggest concern going in was my nutrition plan.  I had been training for the most part only eating Clif Blocks, but I thought I should probably not just eat that all day... I thought that might make me sick.  So I planned to mix in some gels on the bike too.  For the run I just figured that I would mix it up with what was available.  Overall, this worked out pretty well.  I stayed away from Gatorade on the bike (I think that made me somewhat sick in Boise), and I was eating blocks or gels just about as much as I could... around every 20-30 minutes.  On the run I did just mix it up, I ate cookies, pretzels, chips, gels, bananas and drank cola, gatorade, and chicken broth as well as water. 


So now to the actual race.  I had done the practice swim to check out the water temp on Saturday.  I knew the water was going to be pretty cold, so I got in the water as soon as I could to adjust to it.  I got up near the start line too... I know I'm not one of the fastest swimmers, but I figured I would be getting passed (and maybe passing people) anyway, so I might as well start close to the front anyway.  While waiting for the start, they played Ironman by Black Sabbath (which was fun), and then the national anthem.  The pros started, and then 10 minutes later we were off.  I felt ok starting off, but my arms felt a little heavy/tight... I think mostly my triceps were tight.  I just kept going and was still swimming fine, so I just ignored it.  I had on a big patch of moleskin on my neck too... it seemed to be helping with the chafing problem I've had with my wetsuit...but again, at that point there wasn't anything I could do about it, so I tried not to worry about it.  I think I did end up getting a little bit of chafing up in my hair, right above the moleskin patch.  I was wearing my watch, and checked it a few times, but I don't really remember what times I saw.  I mostly wanted to make sure I got to the first turn by 45 minutes, and I believe I did.  All told I finished in 1:23, which was great... 2:11 pace, really good for me.  Got helped out of the water, got help with taking my wetsuit off, and it was on to transition.

For T1, we needed to grab our bike gear bags and change... there were tons of people around just changing outside of the change tent, so I assumed it was too full and did the same.  I got my cycling jersey on (loaded with food), but it was nice at the time, so I decided not to put on the long sleeve shirt I had in the bag... later I would regret that.  I got some sunscreen put on by the volunteers and went and picked up my bike.

I think I came out a little hot on the bike.  There was a bunch of traffic near the start and it was kinda tough to weave past them... but it was kinda fun too.  After a couple of turns, I started noticing my back tire seemed a little squirrelly... I stopped once to check it even, seemed a little soft, but not too bad... but I couldn't get it out of my head.  At the next aid station I stopped at the Landis tent and asked them to check it.  They pumped it up and it was a lot better.  I was shooting for doing each half lap in an hour, and the first one was pretty close... that gave me a lot of confidence.  Turning around into the wind didn't help, but I just pushed through it.  I managed to stay in the aero position quite a lot (and could tell the difference it was making too).  Each leg out was pretty nice, each leg back was torture with the wind.  I ended up doing the whole bike section in 7:23, a little over my hoped 7:00, but I was happy with it.  There were parts with rain, apparently some hail too... it was cold a few different times, and I had no sleeves or pants even in my special needs bag (just food and tylenol in there). 

I got back to transition and hit the bathroom and the change tent.  I took my time changing, had some chips for the salt, some water, and eventually headed out to the run. 

I knew I could do quite a slow run and still finish by midnight... I couldn't remember when the cut-off was (I later remembered it was that you had to start the third lap by 10:15), so I still wanted to make good time to make sure I wouldn't be in danger of that.  I started off running .2 miles and then walking .3 miles... I think with this strategy I had managed 12:00 miles during my training.  I did this quite a bit, but it just eventually fell apart, and I would just run a couple tenths when I could, then walk a while, then run some more.  I was trying to make 2 hour laps, and the first one I think was around 2:10.  I just kept getting slower and slower, but I knew I still had plenty of time to play with.  I kept this up, eating, drinking... walking, jogging... until I was on the last lap.  Then I was able to count down the miles left to go.  I wanted to pick up the pace as much as I could.  I think I did go pretty well for a few miles of the last lap, but then I just started hurting more and more.  At the end, I couldn't run at all anymore, both feet were killing me, giant blister on my right, and some kind of compression ankle thing on my left.  I tried a few times to run a bit, but it just hurt too much, so I saved up and walked... I always have to run through the finish, and usually the crowd is enough to motivate at that time through whatever pain is going on.  This finish chute was the best I've been through... lots of cheering, lots of people giving high-fives... the announcer guy saying "... you are an Ironman" (I think... I heard him say my name and Flagstaff, but I didn't hear that part).  Also, right after the finish, Chrissie Wellington, the fastest female triathlete in the world, was there congratulating everyone.  She grabbed my hand and said congratulations... I was a little dumbstruck, and only managed to say "thank you very much" or something like that... felt a bit silly about it.  I did the marathon in 6:38:15, which again was slower than the 6:00 I was shooting for... but a lot slower than the 5:00 I think I really should be able to run.  

So, my total time was 15:47:09... I'm so happy that I was able to finish.  Considering I'd never swam that distance before, never biked over 100 miles before (never over 62 really), and never run a marathon before (15-ish at most)... I think it went great.  Now the real question is whether I will do more Ironman distance races or not... right now I'm not too excited about the prospect, but I think the fact that I haven't ruled it out means I probably will end up doing it again.  I had thought before that if I do, I will continue picking interesting races to travel to, maybe overseas... which would be great.  

Week 13 of 13 - IMAZ Training Plan - Race Week!!!!!

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim				:30(f)				:30
				:30
Bike			:45(f)			:20(b)		1:05
					:30	:20
Run		:30(f)				:10(b)		:40
		2.3mi				:10

Notes:

Week 12 of 13 -- IMAZ Training Plan

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim		1:00(f)					1:00(e3)	2:00
		2000m					2100m
Bike					1:00(f)	1:00(b)	:45(e1)	2:45
					1:00	14mi	:45
Run					1:00(e2)	:30(b)		1:30
					5mi	2.25mi

Notes:
Tue - s/k/p x 200 x2 to start

Week 11 of 13 -- IMAZ Training Plan

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim		1:00(e2)		:30(e1)		1:30(f)		3:00
		2000m		900m		3600m
Bike			1:00(f)			5:00(e2)		6:00
			1:00			27.7mi
Run		:30(e1)		:45(f)			3:00(e2)	4:15
		2.5mi		3.5mi			14.35mi

Notes:
Tue - kick/pull x200m each
Thu - lower back very tight in the morning, hoped the swim would loosen it up, but no.
Sat - multiple flat tires again on the bike, killed my ride

Week 10 of 13 -- IMAZ Training Plan

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim		1:00(f)		1:00(e2)		1:30(e3)		3:30
		2050m		2500m
Bike				1:00(e2)		4:30(e3)		5:30
				1:00		62mi
Run				:30(e2)			2:30(e3)	3:00
				2.5 mi			12mi

Notes:
Tue - swim/kick/pull x 50,50,100,200,100,50,50, then just swim the rest of the hour
Thu - 400x50s,400x100s,400x200s,400x200s,400x100s,500x50s
Sat - rode on the real course, was pretty windy, and I got 2 flat tires

Week 9 of 13 - IMAZ Training Plan

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim		1:00(f)				1:00(e3)		2:00
						1:00
Bike		:30(e1)		b-:30(e2)		4:00(e2)		5:00
		:30				56mi
Run			:15(e1)	b-:30(e2)			2:15(e2)	3:00
							11.3mi

Notes:
Tuesday was the issue with the gym at the hotel starting to charge $8/use
Wednesday I was sick
Thursday still sick-ish, and had stuff to do in Guadalajara.
Saturday and Sunday, triumphant return, completed everything I needed to do.

Week 8 of 13 - IMAZ Training Plan

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim		1:00(f)		1:00(e3)				2:00
		:45		1:00				1:45
Bike						b-1:30(f)	1:00(e1)	2:30
						1:30	1:00	2:30
Run			1:00(e2)			b-:45(f)		1:45
			:50			:45		1:35

Notes:
Tuesday:  Hay mucho frio en el agua.  kick/pull * 15m? * 4 * 6

Week 7 of 13 - IMAZ Training Plan

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim		1:00(f)		1:15(e2)	1:00(e3)			3:15
		2000m			1:00			2:00
Bike			1:15(f)				4:00(e2)	5:15
			1:15				4:00	5:15
Run	1:00(f)			:15(e2)			2:45(e3)	4:00
	5 mi			:15				1:15

Tue:  s/k/p x 100 x 6.66

Week 6 of 13 - IMAZ Training Plan

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim	1:00(f)			1:00(e3)		1:15(e2)
	1750m			1650m @40
Bike			1:15(f)			3:30(e3)	***
			--				1:30
Run		2:15(e3)			:45 (f)	***	2:30(e2)
		10 mi			4 mi	6:00 hike

Monday: kick/pull x100m x4. Top Speed 25s x2 @16s each!
Saturday:  hiked 11 miles in 6 hours in Canyonlands NP
Sunday:  Biked for around an hour and a half in Moab.  Up and back down a pretty big hill on the bike path.

Week 5 of 13 - IMAZ Training Plan

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim		1:00(f)			:30(e1)		1:15(e2)	2:45
		1500m			1250m		--	1.5mi
Bike			1:00(f)				3:00(e2)	4:00
			1:00				45 mi	60mi
Run		:30(e2)						:30
		3 mi						3mi

Week 4 of 13 - IMAZ Training Plan

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim		:45(form)				1:00(e3)		1:45
		1500m				2300m		2mi
Bike				:30(form)		1:00(e1)	1:30(brick)	3:00
				6.6 mi		16mi	18.6mi	41.2mi
Run	:30(e2)					:30(form)	:30(brick)	1:30
	:30					1.9mi	2.3mi	7.2mi

Week 3 of 13 - IMAZ training plan

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim		1:15(form)		1:15(e3)		1:15(e2)		3:45
		2900m		X		X		1:15
Bike			1:30(form)		:30(e1)	2:30(e2)		4:30
			1:20			:30	2:30	4:20
Run		:45(e2)		1:00(form)			2:00(e2)	3:45
		4.12 mi		5.1 mi			X	1:45

Week 2 of 13 - IMAZ training plan

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim		1:00(form)		1:15(e3)		1:15(e2)		3:30
		1200m @:38			2800m @ 1:15			1:53
Bike			1:15(form)		1:00(e1)	2:00(e2)		4:15
				15mi @1:15		28.8 mi		3:15
Run		:30(e2)		:45(form)			1:45(e2)	3:00
		2.28 mi @:28			4.11 mi @ :45		8.8 mi @1:52	3:05

Alcatraz

Sunday was the Inaugural SF Tri at Alcatraz. 1.2 mile swim in SF Bay, followed by 25 miles of biking and 7 miles of running. I've been alternately looking forward to and dreading this race for a while now.

I got up at 3 on Sunday morning, after maybe 4 hours of sleep (never sleep well the night before a race). I had prepared my transition backpack the night before, stuffing everything I needed in there (it was quite heavy). I had to ride from Union Square to Marina Green to get my bike to transition. This wasn't as bad as I was afraid it would be... not too much of a hill to get over to get there. I got up there early enough that I had time to get some breakfast from Safeway (forgot to do that the night before). Transition opened at 4, and the first bus was at 4:30... they recommended that first timers take the first bus, so I did that. I got all set up, and grabbed my wetsuit bag and boat gear bag and got on the bus.

Pretty much the second the bus started driving I realized I had forgotten my sunscreen and Body Glide in transition... oops. Being on the first bus was a bit of overkill, now we just had to wait around a long time at the pier. Finally got on the boat and found a spot to sit and wait.

Ended up falling asleep a bit on the boat, listening to music with my head under a table. I got up when we finally started moving out. The race directors pointed out the sighting landmarks, so I made sure to note those. It was cool to see the city from out there, and cool to see Alcatraz up close. The boat got into position and people started lining up for the penguin-jump.

Getting into the water was actually pretty fast. People would jump out to the right, to the left, to the center, everyone just finding an empty spot. I jumped out toward the center, but was surprised by how deep under I ended up going... I guess I was higher up than I thought. My goggles got knocked off a bit, so filled up with water. I started swimming a bit, then got my goggles back empty and on right. The water was not too bad as far as temperature. I used the neoprene socks I got, but not the hat again, because I don't like the strap that goes under my chin, feels uncomfortable. I went along with the swim, and I felt really really slow, like everyone in the boat was passing me in the first few seconds. This wasn't the case because there were always some people behind me when I looked back, but in general, I was one of the slower swimmers. I followed their sighting recommendations, first at the 3-masted ship, then the twin apartment buildings, then the Ft. Mason Piers. I couldn't feel the current moving me out toward the Golden Gate, but it definitely was... following their tips I ended up right where I needed to be. I had predicted 50 minutes for the swim, felt like I was out there about an hour and a half, but ended up doing it in 47 minutes. Didn't break my 1.2 mile record like I had hoped for (would be a stretch), but I'm very happy with the result. I climbed up on the stairs (with help from the tons of volunteers there), and jogged my way into my transition area.

On to the bike. The path up across the base of the Golden Gate Bridge was actually easier than the way I had done it on Friday. Still a good climb, but was not bad. The downhill on the other side was fast and fun, then it was the next climb up to the Legion of Honor that was tough for me. Slow and steady, then seemed to just keep going, and got steeper and steeper through the golf course. I made it to the top, and grabbed an extra water bottle there, but I couldn't manage to get it in my back pocket very quickly. Right here is a fast downhill too... I was fumbling with trying to put it back there, trying to steer with just my right hand, and screaming down the hill trying not to run into anyone. After a sec, I decided to just hold the bottle at the handlebars before I kill myself. The road there was not exactly smooth either, a lot of potholes and bumps in it. Made it down, managed to slow down enough at the bottom to make the corner and start heading back uphill. Now I finally got the bottle put away... I should have just waited until getting back up there to grab one, then I could've finished one of my bottles and put an empty in my pocket to begin with.... anyway, I didn't die. Made it up the small hill here, and then down through the really steep part, then down the nice fast hill by the Cliff House. This description is getting a bit long here... let me sum up. I did better than I expected on the bike. I was always trying to take speed when I could (go fast on the downhills), and I worked a lot to get up those hills. For a second I thought I was in the Tour de France, I was stomping on it and wrenching my bike around to get up the very short very steep section on the way back up. There were far too many people who didn't seem to know the rules or didn't care, getting in the way by just sitting out on the left, sometimes very dangerously. Anyway, I beat my estimate by almost a half an hour, so happy with that too.

Got out on the run and I immediately had problems. My calves were super cramping up again. I stopped a number of times to try to stretch them out, with not any noticeable effect right away. I found that running with a forefoot strike seemed to help a bit, so I did that (a bit awkwardly at the slow speed I was going). Made my way up and under the Golden Gate Bridge road, and down the other side. On the downhills I let gravity help out a lot, just going kindof dead-leg Frankenstein style. Maybe not the best for shock absorbing, but let me rest. Made it down to the beach, then the fun really began. There was a short section of really sandy beach, and then the sand ladder... now I know what the fuss is all about. Climbing up this thing, trying to step only on the posts across the ground instead of the sand... everyone was down to a crawl. Made it up okay, decided to dump out my shoes instead of carry 5 pounds of sand the rest of the way, and made my way back to the finish. Only other eventful part was when descending by the GG I nearly ran over a group of 8 girls who had decided to take up the whole path in the middle of the race... after I had to yell they made room for me to get by. My overall goal was to beat 4 hours, and I thought I had a good chance... but I came up 25 seconds short at 4:00:24... I'm calling it close enough.

Week 1 of 13 - IMAZ training plan

First week of the 13 week plan for the full Ironman in November. I'm doing the SF Tri at Alcatraz on Sunday, so this will have to be adjusted to take it more easy for that toward the end of the week. Also, I'll be in SF from Thursday - Sunday, so not sure how this will go.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
Swim		1:00(form)		1:00(e3)		1:00(e2)		3:00
		1900m @47min 2400m @60min					:47	1:47
Bike			1:00(form)		:45(e1)	1:30(e2)		3:15
	:30		15.5 mi		1:30		1:37	4:37
Run		:30(e2)		:30(form)			1:30(e2)	2:30
		2.78 mi (10:48/mi)		:30			1:26	2:26

Aukeman Triathlon

After I had already made plans to come up to Juneau for a bit (flights and all), I found that there was a triathlon the morning after I was flying in. Since I am doing the race in San Francisco later in the month, I thought this would be a good idea to do, in order to get used to colder water swimming. So, I signed up for it around a month ago. All day Friday while traveling and Saturday morning also... I was regretting that decision... not really up for it. After the race started was a different story though.

I bought some neoprene socks and a neoprene cap for the Alcatraz race, so I planned to try them out here. I didn't see anyone in transition with the cap, so I stuck with just the socks. Turned out this was about the perfect setup. The water was surprisingly not cold (seemed maybe warmer than Boise, probably warmer than the first race I ever did in Show Low). At the start of the swim, I took off pretty fast. I felt like I was up in the top few for the first couple hundred meters. I felt like I was going too fast really, so settled down a bit. I was swimming with better form, but still heads up way too much, and once again the back of my neck paid the price (just slight rash, not as bad as Boise). I really need to figure out why I don't swim more normally in the open water. I got to the turnaround and back closer to the exit, and decided to try to read the clock... it was at 12 minutes and something, I was surprised. I ended up getting out of the water at 14:30, which blows away my previous PR for that distance by another 4 minutes or so (which I just set a couple weeks ago). I wasn't expecting that, but after it happened I had to keep pushing to try to put together a good overall race.

Running up back to transition was a long way, but my socks helped a lot there. I would not have been very comfortable running where we had to in bare feet. I got my swimming stuff off, my feet dry and into socks, and I was off on the bike. The bike that Rich borrowed for me was pretty nice. The handlebars were set pretty low, and right off the bat I almost made a big mistake due to that. Going out of the UAS parking lot was supposed to be no-passing (I guess), and there was a woman in front of me, who had to slow down because of a van in front of her... and there were speedbumps. I missed my brake the first time, so was about to run into the back of the woman or the van, so I had to swerve myself to the left. I passed the woman a little, who then said "no passing"... but I gave back the spot once I had my control back. The bike course was fun. I wasn't expecting the couple of hills there, but the downhills were fun. It started to drizzle a bit, so that was fun too... heh. Made it out to the Mendenhall Glacier parking lot, around the loop and back without much incident. Bike time looked pretty good, so back into transition I had to push myself even more on the run.

The run course started off with a pretty steep switchback section to get down to the road. This weighed on me for most of the way back, I didn't want to run up this at the end. As it turned out, it was not that bad. I walked a couple times on the run, but overall was pretty good. I walked farther back than I usually do close to the finish, but I was still able to run up the switchbacks, getting faster even and sprinting to the finish. I pretty much spent it all there, so I was really happy with the race. I set a new PR for this distance, and new PRs maybe for each leg of the race too. Overall time was 1:24:51.

Sonoita-Patagonia Time Trial

I came down to Tucson this weekend to go do this race (and to do other stuff). Even though the race has this special stuff for people that can average 30mph, I knew that wasn't a realistic goal for me. I decided that I would shoot for 24mph (finishing in 30 minutes or less, like a pizza). The race is downhill pretty much the whole way, and I thought I could maybe do that for 12 miles.

I started off probably a little quick. I think my instinct of not wanting to look slow in front of people probably kicks in on the start here (just like running in a big group at the start of a pure running race seems to make me go faster). I wanted to see if I could get up to 30mph and then see how much work it would be to keep that up... but that didn't really happen. I only got up to 30 a couple of times, on the bigger sloped downhills... when I was doing most of the work, seemed like I topped out around 24.

I did work about as hard as I could, and I was able to maintain it for the most part for the whole race. I finished in around 31 minutes (haven't gotten the official time yet). 31 minutes puts me at 22.6 mph, which is not too bad (well slow for everyone else, but pretty good for me). I did wear my HR monitor during the race to better judge my effort... and I did average 171 bpm, and I was pushing the biggest gears I could the whole way. I'm really still not sure how everyone else just whizzes by me, but oh well. I did a pretty good job of completely emptying my tank, which is all I can do really.

Now, to the problem... I did a pretty good job of completely emptying my tank. This is a one-way time trial, meaning that after I finished I then had to ride back UP the hill for the same 12 miles to get back to my car, while running on fumes. This was evil and sad. Took me over an hour to make my way back up... just more good exercise really, but it was frustrating. I was jealous of every truck I saw heading back up with bikes in the back (some people plan ahead and come in a group). Overall was pretty fun, and I might have to do it again to see if I can get faster. only 8 mph more to get the nifty 30mph shirt...heh.

Mountain Man Sprint

Looking at my personal records, I decided sometime last week that I should be able to smash the swim record for 750m, and I thought I could also break my 20k bike record here as well. Those were my goals, and I accomplished both of them, and by breaking those and putting in a reasonable run time, I also set a new PR for 750m swim Sprints as well.

Decided to go without a wetsuit for this swim. The water turned out to feel a little chilly at the start, but was pretty much fine. I did miss the flotation though, and I seemed to get pretty tired in my arms pretty quickly. I suspect that this had more to do with the fact that I haven't been swimming since the Boise race, rather than the fact that I didn't wear a wetsuit. Anyway, I managed through the swim, didn't feel that fast, but kept plugging along. My new goggles did still leak in a bit, and fog up a bit, ended up taking them off near the end. Time was ok, but I could be faster... still more room to improve there. (I had a faster pace at the 70.3)

Ran through to my spot in transition, had a pretty good T1, and was off on the bike. Felt pretty strong right off, then I had more work to do than I thought... think there was more hill there than I expected. Pushed through each bit of incline fairly well though. I also did a better job staying in the aero position, which I'm sure helped my time. Kept pushing myself through to the finish of the bike.

Right away starting off on the run I could feel both calves tighten up. I kept walking often at the start trying to stretch them out, but didn't really get them right. It wasn't until after about 2 miles that they really started to feel ok. Around that point I thought for a second I could just really sprint the rest of the way, but I didn't do that. Ended up walking a couple more times, but then the last kick I was flying. Probably left a bit in the tank, but was pretty good.

Overall, I did break both my swim and bike PRs, and the sprint PR, so I'm pretty happy with that. I think my calves are generally way too tight, so I need to work more on stretching, maybe would have been able to have a faster run without that... I think I could've beaten 1:30.

End of June, start of July update

Since returning from the big trip through the west, I have not really jumped right back
on my training. As of today, I believe I have gone for one good run (6 miles), and one
good bike (15 miles) since getting back on June 20th. I'm planning on doing the 13 week Ironman plan to get ready for the race in November, but I have a number of "extra" weeks before that would begin to work with. With the Alcatraz race coming up at the end of August (and near the start of what that plan would be), I want to start the plan early and just stretch out the middle. I've already redone my redone plan a couple times, and this week will not be making it either.

I think I will just go ad-hoc for the next couple weeks anyway, but try to make sure I'm ramping back up. Going down to Tucson next week, planning to do some biking and play some soccer... so that will be a step up. On the 18th I want to do the Mountain Man Sprint here in town, and then on the 25th I want to go back down to Tucson to do this Sonoita-Patagonia time trial that sounds like a lot of fun (and do more biking and soccer). Looking at all that now, I don't think I'm too far off where I would want to be. I'm going to do a run today, maybe a ride tomorrow morning too. Should get back in the pool soon I guess also.

Ironman 70.3 Boise

Finally home after the race and the subsequent "vacation" through multiple states and national parks. Was fun, but a ton of driving and not all that restful.

So, now to summarize the race: I HATE WIND. I had my figures for each leg of the race, figuring on a 6-8 hour finish, not that ambitious I thought. The swim went fine. It was pretty cold, but after going a bit it wasn't really noticeable. I kept up a good pace, but was swimming with my head up way too much, I'm sure it slowed me down a lot, and it also gave me a nice burn that is still trying to heal over a week later. Total swim time was 44:18, a 2:18/100m pace, which I'm happy with. My estimate was 40-50 minutes, so anything on the low end is good.

Had a reasonable transition, and got put together and out on the bike. After the first downhill that felt pretty fast, I felt like I was riding in mud or on a flat or something. Was going very slowly and people were passing me left and right. I even stopped to check my tires, but they were fine. After the race I thought about the possibility that my brakes were rubbing or something, but I never checked them... whatever the cause I was super slow on the bike, and that was even before the wind was bad. The wind was just brutal, and every time I turned into it I felt like I was going backwards. It frustrated me to no end, and a number of times I nearly gave up... nearly stopping like that didn't help my pace any either. In the end, I was the absolute slowest on the bike of the people who finished the race. Bike time of 4:44:03 (11.8 mph) was way off of my estimate of 3:06-3:43 (15-18 mph). Already worried about making the cutoff times was not how I wanted to finish the bike.

Second transition was fine... no one else around to get in my way or anything... haha. Run was not very remarkable. Ran/walked/ran/walked/stopped/... drank too much and had to stop to use the porta-potty. Ended up finishing the run in 2:52, a 13:09 minute mile pace. Within my estimate of 2:30-3:00, but not by much. I was walking quite a bit on my second lap around, making sure I would be able to finish... probably could've (and therefore should've) pushed a bit harder. I didn't think it was possible to still get under 8hrs after that bike, so I didn't really try for that... I guess I could have, would have just taken me beating my only other half marathon time.

Overall time was 8:30:34. I'm glad I finished, but was disappointed in the time. If I do that same pacing on the full Ironman I will be very close to getting cut off, I don't want to be anywhere near that. The positive things I can take away though are that I didn't quit the million times I wanted to on the bike. I should probably figure out a better eating plan overall, having to stop to use the restroom twice (and feel sick/sloshy a number of times) didn't help me any.

Training Week 13 of 13 for Boise

Sunday:
-off
Monday:
-run :30 (form)
ran 2.88 miles in 28.48 minutes, 10:00/mi, pretty good for me.
Tuesday:
-bike :45 (form)
Wednesday
-swim :30 (form)
moved this to Tuesday instead. Took it pretty easy, but I felt really fast each lap, getting a lot of glide each stroke.
Thursday:
-off
Friday:
-brick
bike :20 (e2)
run :10 (e2)
Saturday;
- Boise 70.3!

Training Week 12 of 13 for Boise

Start of the taper, only 6 hours scheduled for this week.

Sunday:
- off
Monday:
- swim :45 (form)
did :30 of this on Tuesday morning... felt weird, stomach hurt, decided to stop early
Tuesday:
- bike 1:00 (form)
did this wednesday on the trainer. Seems like the stomach pains from tuesday are sticking around, I'm not pleased about that.
Wednesday:
- swim 1:00 (e3)
did this on Friday at lunch. 1900m at 42 minutes. 2600m in the hour.
Thursday:
- run 1:00 (e2)
did this on Wednesday instead. Ran 4.63 miles in 50 minutes (+ some before my watch could find the satellites).
Friday:
- brick 1:30
bike 1:00
run :30
nope
Saturday:
- bike :45 (e1)
didn't end up doing this one either

Training Week 11 of 13 for Boise

This is the last real week of training before the taper. Need to get everything done here, no excuses.

Sunday:
- off
Monday:
- swim :45 (e2)
did this on Tuesday. Went very well, did 2000m in 45 mins. 1900 at 42 mins. 1500 at 32 mins.
- run :30 (e1)
went to go swim but the pool was overfull, so came home and did this run at lunchtime instead. Ran 35 minutes, right around 3.1 miles (garmin is so slow at finding satellites initially that I just started running without it). Running up to the entrance to Buffalo Park seems to be almost exactly a mile by the roads.
Tuesday:
- bike 1:00 (form)
did this on Wednesday on the trainer. Was kinda tough after already swimming and running earlier in the day. Also put on my new aerobars, and I like them so far. Still not that good at staying in that position for long, but they're comfortable.
Wednesday:
- swim :30 (e1)
did 1200m in the 30 minutes, took it easy (which is good because maintaining 400m/10mins used to be hard).
- run :45 (form)
ran 4.3 miles around NAU campus. Intended to run around the track but it was closed due to construction. Average HR of 163, pushed it pretty well I think.
Thursday
- off
Friday:
- swim 1:00 (form)
did this on saturday in the outdoor pool. Felt pretty good, but I didn't count my laps, I would guess around 2400m in the hour.
- bike 4:00 (e2)
finally did a long ride on friday morning. Went out to Lake Mary road, intending to do the half ironman course out there, but when I got to the nasty part of the hills going up to Mormon lake I decided to turn around. Went back past the car, all the way back to town, up through the urban trails to the fairgrounds, then around the airport and back down to lake mary road and back out. Ended up riding 44 miles total in 3:05. 14 mph average, but that includes a number of stops and slow sections on the urban trail. I'm pretty happy with that, probably should've tried to make the whole 4 hours, but decided it was probably better not to push it (3 is by far my longest ride). Forgot to use body glide though, and I paid for that the next couple days.
Saturday:
- run 2:00 (e2)
didn't even try to do this because of the aforementioned lack of body glide. Will try to get it in next week sometime.

Training Week 10 of 13 for Boise

Sunday:
- Tempe Sprint Triathlon
Monday:
- swim :45 (form)
Decided this should become an off day after the race on Sunday.
Tuesday:
- bike 1:00 (e2)
Wednesday:
- swim 1:00 (e2)
did this, but only for around 40-45 mins. Wasn't really feeling right.
- run :30 (e2)
did this on tuesday, took it kinda easy.
Thursday:
- off
Friday:
- swim 1:00 (e3)
yep, think I did 2400m in the hour
- bike 3:30 (e3)
did this on saturday, but only around 1:10 on the trainer.
Saturday:
- run 2:00 (e3)
didn't end up doing this, had Fox all weekend

Tempe International Sprint

New World Record! OK, so maybe just a new Phil record, but I'm happy with that.

This was the first race I've done where you are required to rack your bike the night before. That was kinda weird, but I got there almost first in line, and set up my bike right on the end of the first available rack from the swim (for my number group). Apparently first come first served doesn't mean anything to some people because when I got there in the morning, some woman had moved my bike more toward the middle so she could rack on the end. Really classy move I thought, but I was in too much of a rush (and probably not worth it anyway) to get into it with her. So I just got my stuff set up, ran to get my timing chip and marked up, and got ready for the swim.

My wave was the second to go off, at 6:33. Being Phoenix, the water was actually a nice temperature at this time, but I wore my wetsuit anyway (legal flotation is good). The swim itself went very well. Was hard to see as it always is, little waves, lots of splashing of arms and legs. Lots of bodies at the buoys to try to navigate through. My form in the open water is nowhere near what it is in the pool. I rarely take more than a stroke with my head in the water. I need to do sighting, but that is a bit much. I managed the whole swim without stopping at all, and ended up with my fastest 400m swim yet, 8:41. Looking at the results of my age group, and that was 14th place out of 55, I'm very happy with that.

First transition felt pretty slow, but on the time it wasn't too bad. 2:23 to get out of a wetsuit and get my biking stuff on, I'll take it. Had to run in my bike shoes quite a bit before I could mount, wasn't sure if I wanted to do that, or do the real pro thing of leaving my shoes in the pedals and just slip them on while riding... maybe later. I think I started out a little hot on the ride. And I forgot to start up my watch for a little (I think around .3 miles). Felt okay on the bike, but not great. I tried here and there to use the aerobars, but didn't feel comfortable with it still. There were more hills than I expected. The first few I was just downshifting and slowing way down, but on one of the last (maybe the last) I just decided to power up and push through it... I need to do that all the time. Managed to not fall down while dismounting (barely, I'm not sure what happened), and got through to the run transition. Bike time of 42:01 beat my previous 20k best by 7 minutes... just what I like to see. Looks like 31/55 on the bike, I'm a little surprised by that.

First bit of the run was a struggle. I wanted to run for at least 5 minutes, but I had to fight myself to do it. I limited walking periods to 1 minute, this seems to work pretty well for me. Still when I run in races, I run too fast when running, then have to walk. I'm sure this is not the best way to do it, but I don't know how to fix it so I pace myself properly. Looks like I walked at 5 minutes, then a little after 8 for the water station. Made it to 13:00, and then 18:00. At 24:00 walked a bit and had a drink. Had a small walk at 28 minutes, and then again at 29 to make sure I could run through the finish. While I was walking this last time, this guy told me that I had passed him 3 times and that I had to beat him now. I had noticed his wolf jersey a bunch on the run. This was good motivation, so I picked it back up again. When I caught him again he yelled at me to kick it... I felt pretty good here so I did, I was flying at this point through the finish, passed a couple more people on the way. Looking at my GPS data, I was running a 5:00/mile pace for the last 30 seconds, which is super fast for me. It is a very good thing that guy got me motivated there... I finished 18 seconds better than my previous sprint record. That last kick could have easily been the difference. Run time was 30:38, maybe my second best 5k... 43/55 on the run.

My overall time was 1:25:42. I finished 34/55 in the 30-34 age group. I would have been 13/26 in the Clydesdale group. Overall I was very happy with the race. My sprint at the end meant to me that I probably didn't completely empty the tank through the race. Not that far off maybe, but still was more there I could get out of myself.

Training Week 9 of 13 for Boise

Sunday:
- off
Monday:
- swim :45 (form)
did this swim on tuesday
- bike :30 (e1)
did this outside on monday. 13.2 mph avg in 26 mins. 5.83 miles.
Tuesday:
- run :15 (e1)
nope
Wednesday:
- brick
- bike :30 (e2)
- run :30 (e2)
did this brick at the gym on Thursday.
Thursday:
- off
Friday:
- swim 1:00 (e3)
did this friday. only 45/46 mins, but did 2000m in that time. My neck was bothering me a bit so I decided it was better to stop than to push it.
- bike 3:15 (e2)
probably wont do this long ride yet again. I've been doing too much other stuff on the weekends and skipping these too much
Saturday:
- run 1:45 (e2)
ditto... going to phoenix, probably will golf but thats not the same. Sprint Tri on Sunday will make up for it though somewhat.

Training Week 8 of 13 for Boise

Sunday:
- off
Monday:
- swim :45 (form)
did around :30, was still pretty beat from sunday, decided it was better to rest. Worked on left-side breathing and hip movement.
Tuesday:
- run 1:00 (e2)
ran up to Buffalo Park and around the loop a couple of times. Ended up doing 4.7 miles total, not terribly speedy. Also ended up with a nice blister on my left foot... I need to get used to running in the real world rather than on a treadmill.
Wednesday:
- swim 1:00 (e3)
phew, fastest yet. 2600m in the hour. 1900 @43mins. 500m in 11mins.
Thursday:
- bike 1:00 (e1)
did this on friday. 13.47 miles in 57 mins, 14.2 mph avg. No way to avoid somewhat nasty hills when riding from my new place, maybe even worse than the old house. I came up over Cedar on the way back, that is a huge hill to me.
Friday:
- brick
- bike 1:30 (form)
- run :45 (form)
didn't end up doing this, did the other ride in the morning and then golfed in the afternoon.
Saturday:
- off
went golfing saturday too.

Training Week 7 of 13 for Boise

Sunday:
-off
Monday:
-swim :45 (form)
did this, worked on bilateral breathing, and it really helped a lot (or at least
I was a lot more comfortable breathing on my left side)
-run :15 (e2)
wanted to run 1.5 miles in 15 mins straight.... that didn't happen. Think I ended up at 1.2 or so.
Tuesday:
-bike 1:00 (form)
yep, trainer
Wednesday:
-swim 1:00 (e3)
did around 53 mins, maintained 10 mins/400 m for the whole time.
-run 1:00 (form)
did this run on thursday, 4.6 miles in an hour.
Thursday:
-off
Friday:
-swim 1:00 (e2)
did this on sunday. probably more like e3, I did 1900m in 45 mins again, 2500m in the hour.
-bike 3:15 (e2)
did this on friday on the trainer. Only did around 2 hours I think. I'm way behind on building up endurance on the bike (and still on real world riding on the bike)
Saturday:
-run 1:45 (e3)
did this on sunday after the swim. I had some nice cramping at the start, so I walked the first mile in about 20 minutes. After that I picked it up and ended up doing 6 miles in 1:20.

Training Week 6 of 13 for Boise

Sunday:
-off
Monday:
-swim :45 (form)
yep
Tuesday:
-bike 1:00 (form)
did this on wednesday on the trainer... I really need to get out on the actual road
Wednesday:
-swim 1:00 (e3)
1700m @38 mins, 1900m @45 mins, ended up doing 2500m total, and that was pretty well redlining as much as I could.
-run :45 (form)
did this on Tuesday
Thursday:
-off
Friday:
-swim 1:00 (e2)
1700m @45 mins, 1900m @50 mins, stopped at 2100m @56 mins
-bike 3:00 (e3)
didnt do this one
Saturday:
-run 1:30 (e2)
nope, went down to Phoenix instead. I did go golfing on sunday, thats at least some physical activity

Training Week 5 of 13 for Boise

Sunday:
- off (really did last weeks brick)
Monday:
- swim :45 (form)
think I went around 1300m while trying to work on different stuff
- run :30 (e2)
pretty normal treadmill run
Tuesday:
- off
Wednesday:
- swim :30 (e1)
did this swim on tuesday, I think I went 1300 in 30 mins, getting better.
- bike 1:00 (form)
nope
Thursday:
- off
Friday:
- swim 1:00 (e2)
nope
- bike 2:30 (e2)
I guess I did this on Saturday, but not for 2:30, probably more like 1:30. I was intending to do the 1:00 one, but I let Fox take control of my timer... he makes a good training coach. He would just pause the timer and go away for a bit, making me go longer.
Saturday:
- run 1:30 (e3)
did this run on Wednesday instead (since I wont be able to on sat)... think I only managed around 6 miles.

Training Week 4 of 13 for Boise

This week is supposed to be a rest week, I ended up pushing a lot of stuff to the Sunday though, but close enough

Sunday
- off (really did last week's stuff)
Monday
- swim :45 (form)
did this on wednesday. only managed 30 minutes, my shoulder was hurting a little bit, but seemed to work itself out, but then my neck started in and I had to stop.
- run :30 (E2)
did this on monday, ran 2 miles in 25 mins, then cooled down for the last 5... treadmill still, I'm afraid of the air outside.
Tuesday
- run :30 (form)
did this wednesday evening. Forgot my headphones, but for some reason the run seemed to go faster that way. I ran 2 miles right off the bat at 12:00/mi. Then mostly cool down.
Wednesday
- swim :45 (E3)
didn't do this one this week
- bike :30 (form)
did this on saturday
Thursday
- bike 1:00 (E1)
did this on the correct day... what a concept
Friday
- brick: bike 1:30, run :30
did this brick on sunday watching the end of the Masters. Went pretty well I thought for the first one
Saturday
- off

Training Week 3 of 13 for Boise

Sunday
- off
Monday -- weight 225, still going the wrong direction
- swim :45 (form)
did 1500m total, 750@18 mins, 1200@32 mins
- run :45 (E2)
did this, treadmill, 1 degree incline, was @3 miles in around 40 minutes before cooling down
Tuesday
- bike 1:00 (form)
rode on the trainer while watching "Up in the Air", managed to stay riding for the whole hour straight, getting better
Wednesday
- swim 1:00 (E3)
managed to swim 2400m in the hour (maybe 1:01). was at 750m in 18mins, 1200 in 30, 1500 in 38, 1900 in 48.
- run 1:00 (form)
did this thursday morning instead, ran around 4.4 miles. I started off really well, but then had to switch treadmills because the sun was in my eye... the next treadmill seemed way faster at the same settings... so I'm not sure what to make of that.
Thursday
- bike 1:00 (E1)
did this on friday night, and only went :30.
Friday
- swim 1:00 (E2)
swam on Sunday, this was right after the run below, so I took it easy, managed only 1900m in the hour I think.
- bike 2:15 (E2)
also did this on Sunday while watching a movie. Probably only rode the trainer for 1:30-ish.
Saturday
- run 1:15 (E2)
ran on Sunday, went 5+ miles on the treadmill.

Training Week 2 of 13 for Boise

Sun
- off (actually ran and took saturday off)
Mon (weight 224# -- gained 2 pounds, that's not right)
- Swim :45 (form)
400m in 8 minutes, 750 in 20, 1500 in 41 (couldn't power through to make it 40).
Did a test of single length (25m) at max speed... was 20 seconds.
- Run :30 (E2)
did this on tuesday instead, ran 2 miles in ~25 mins, then 5 min cool down
Tue
- Bike 1:00 (form)
this shifted to wednesday and shrank to 40 mins
Wed
- Swim 1:00 (E3)
didn't end up doing this one
- Run :45 (form)
did this on thursday, 40 mins
Thu
- Bike 1:00 (E1)
did this, was almost back on schedule here
Fri
didn't end up doing anything on Friday for whatever reason, shifted these to saturday
- Swim 1:00 (E2)
did this guy on saturday, swam 2150m total, 750@19 mins, 1500@40mins, 1900@50mins
- Bike 2:00 (E2)
only managed 40 minutes on the bike here. was pretty toast even hours after the swim
Sat
- Run 1:15 (E2)
had intended to do the other swim I skipped and this run on sunday instead (shifting into next week),
but when I woke up I was still pretty worked from saturday. Decided to keep sunday a day off and try to do better next week.

Training Week 1 of 13 for Boise

well, I just realized that I won't be able to do some of this plan, I forgot that this is spring break week, so I can't do swims/runs while Fox is at school... since he wont be at school. Also, instead of the Saturday run, I may just do the GORD offroad duathlon in Prescott.

Sunday
- off
Monday (weight 222#)
- Swim :45 (form)
this swim went very well, I felt very fast, which is odd considering I don't think I've been in the water since Nov. I was focusing on my breathing, and able to limit to 2-3 breaths down the pool, which is better than I usually do. At this "easy" pace, I was doing 1:45 100s, which is way faster than my previous race averages.
- Run :30 (E2)
this run did not go quite as well. I probably should've just gone on the treadmill, but I thought it was warm enough for me to run outside. It wasn't too cold, but I couldn't tell how much it was affecting me. Think I ran for around 20-22 minutes... my garmin was being especially slow about finding satellites. This run did convince me that I should not do the GORD this week... unless something else reconvinces me that I should.
Tuesday
- Bike 1:00 (form)
rode on the trainer later than I should have started. Ended up only riding about 40 minutes or so. I'm still having trouble getting comforable in the saddle, and comfortable in aero position at all.
Wednesday
- Swim 1:00 (E3)
didn't do this because of Fox's spring break
- Run :30 (form)
nope
Thursday
- Swim 1:00 (E2)
didn't do this guy either
- Bike :45 (E1)
I did do this ride, or some of it anyway
Friday
- Bike 1:30 (E2)
Rode for at least 1:00, off and on while watching the daily show online. Still not comfortable
Saturday
- Run 1:00 (E2)
did this at the gym on sunday instead (saturday was a hungover waste). For the first 20-30 minutes my feet, calves, and shins were all fighting me. After a while they got stretched out/whatever so I was able to go pretty well. I actually felt stronger in the last 15 minutes, which I took as a good sign.

January Summary

Let's see, what happened in January... pretty much only the half marathon. I wasn't able to train all that much before that due to hurting my back. I think I was sick early in the month, and I'm sick again now... need to fix that. My resolution was to go as long as I could without eating fast food... that didn't go all that well, but I'll keep track of the number of times I ate it. In January, I had In n out burger 3 times, quiznos twice, subway once, and my nemesis Burger King once. That's a total of 7 times, which is not too bad considering how often I went in December (which I have no idea, but it was a lot). I'm doing to try to use this as a benchmark, and see if I can do better in the later months. (So far Feb. is not starting well, on the 3rd I've already gone to BK twice... got to lock that back down. Being sick I find I'm more pliable to just eating what I feel like rather than making something better)

Rock and Roll!

Today was the P.F. Chang's Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon. It was a very impressive event, just the sheer number of people, volunteers, stuff (water/food/gels/etc).... huge.

My goal going in was to beat 2:30, and I did that, clocking in at 2:21:59 by my timing. I'm very happy with the result, and I learned a few things. First, I need to continue trying to strengthen my neck, my back, my legs... basically everything. I think it was around mile 6 when the first thing started hurting (well, first beyond my feet)... and that was my neck and upper back. Luckily that either went away or was simply overshadowed by my left leg falling apart piece by piece starting around mile 9. I stopped for a second just after mile 10 and tried to stretch my hamstring, and it immediately cramped up... I straightened it out and just hoped it would let go, luckily it did. I didn't risk trying to stretch it again for fear of a continuous cramp... not sure if that was the best idea or not. Anyway, as I continued, the cramping / leg pain seemed to just spread from there. My knee was not having much fun, my calf constantly felt right on the border of a charlie horse, and my hip flexor was pretty much toast... all on the left leg. Now my right leg hurt and all, but did not feel this bad. It was quite a struggle to finish after this... I had to stop and walk a lot more often.

Another thing I learned or relearned was that when there are lots of people around, I tend to go faster... including faster than I should. The first 3 miles I think were all around 9:00, which is not the pace I had planned. There were tons of people, and I had estimated my finish time at 3 hrs. (a long time ago), so I had to weave my way through them. I was cruising and I had a hard time slowing down to the 10:00 mile pace I had in mind (10:00 miles and then :30 walking was the plan). I was able to make myself walk those :30s, but I decided to just run the pace that felt right. This resulted in my pace getting slower and slower as I went... the opposite of what I was hoping for. I wanted to be steady (and "easy") at 10:00 miles, then speed up for the last couple. In hindsight, I think it worked out okay, and if I hadn't gone that fast in the beginning, when I fell apart I may not have been able to beat 2:30.

Well, that's about all I can think of at the moment. I'm really happy I did the race, and I just hope my legs recover okay (right now both knees are incredibly stiff). I think the first 5k was my second fastest (again, not what I really had in mind), and the first 10k was probably my fastest ever. And, since this was my first one, my 10mile and half times are also records (woo!).

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention... I averaged 172 bpm... that seems crazy, and I'm not sure if it is good crazy or bad crazy still. I think that's about the same heart rate that I was scared of the first time I used the hr monitor on a 40 minute bike ride... but now over 2:22... yikes.

January.... countdown to half marathon

On the morning of January 1, I made the fateful decision to pick what was left of a 12 pack of Fat Tire off the ground.... and I hurt my back. Since then I've been trying to be good and rest it (rather than trying to stretch it out or anything, which is my inclination). A friend got a Wii Fit Plus for Christmas, and I was able to do exercises (play games) on there okay, so that's been my exercise for the last few days. I liked it so much that yesterday I went and bought one too. My back feels much better, but not quite perfect yet. I think maybe one or two more days of rest and I can do some more running. There are now less than 2 weeks left until the P.F. Chang's half marathon in Phoenix, it is probably smarter to make sure the back gets all better, versus trying to get a bit more training in. It is close enough that I doubt the training would make as much of a positive difference as a hurt back could make a negative one.

1/7 - first proper workout since the 'ol back strain. Went to run at the gym, planned on doing 10 minute miles for an hour.... ended up doing worse than 10 minute miles for half an hour (finished 3 miles at 36:00 with cooling down walking). Wore my heart monitor during the run, averaged 148 bpm, with a max of 172.... that seems a bit high, but ok I guess.

1/10 - Mountain Biking at Fantasy Island in Tucson. Was super fun, but kicked my butt, which was good. Rode for 44 minutes, averaging 10.3 mph and 158 bpm. Weaving through cactus is a lot of fun!

1/13 - Last treadmill run before the race. I wanted to push myself fairly far, but not too far since this is my "taper" week. 6 miles seemed right, so that is what I did. Ran 10:00 miles and then rested :30 after each (first one was a little slower to warm up). Took 65 minutes to get to 6 miles that way, average hb was 164. I think this will be my strategy to try to break 2:30 on Sunday.... 10:00 miles and :30 rests.