BRICK

nice brick workout yesterday, did 60 minutes on the bike trainer and then ran outside for 20 minutes in the feezing fog.


Also half way to my fundraising goal for the POLAR PLUNGE!!!!!

WATER WATER WATER

Spent a solid 30 minutes doing swim drills on Monday and they feel pretty good. I think I actually felt the "downhill swimming effect" that Total Immersion touches on as well as I noted in my recent DARTFISH analisys by Vanessa. So I tried to do 100 m repeats thikng about just one aspect of the stroke on each 100. First 100 hand entry, second 100, head roll, 3rd etc etc etc. You get the idea. It is freezing out this morning ( about 21 degrees but also foggy). If it warms up a bit , or at least the fog lifts I am planning an outside ride of an hour or so with a Brick run attached.

In 4 weeks I am planning on doing the Polar Plunge here in Bend. Good cause and me jumpig in to an icy body of water at night...how much better could it get.

Links for info:

My fundraining site

event info

Cold and sunny

Well plans changed, Rob had some other items he had to attend to so no go on the bike ride but i feel good because I did not bag out on my plan in two ways. First My wife really wanted to east at Pilot Butte burgers as a last hurrah before she started her 2007 training for a few marathons. She had done almost nothing since the last Portland Marathon which is good in a certain way as i did not want her to get burned out. So we went and I told her I would hold her to Monday being day 1 of her program and she agreed. I on the other hand in into my program so I had a .........cup of coffee while everyone else had greasy ( yummy) burgers the size of your head since I had a bike ride to do that afternoon. I went out a few hours later and instead of plan A) spinning with Rob inside or plan B) going to the fitness center and doing a spin class I opted for plan C) go outside and brave the cold. It was great, I had just the right gear on and stayed warm and spun for 1 hour and 45 minutes listening to the lactate threshold testing at trivantage that Brett Did. I spun at 135 BPM which is way into my zone 1 the whole time keeping the cadence up. averaged about 16 MPH. Wearing my HR monitor was smart to make me go easier since it is a base ride.

My zones are ( based on a lactate threshold blood draw like Brett did at a lab)

zone 1 125-150
zone2 150-174
zone 3 175-180
zone 4 181-195

all in all a very productive weekend and today is skill drills at the pool.

big day

So since I had KMA on Thursdays and that seems to be the schedule I have moved my off day to Friday. That way I can get more work done at the office...important...NOT!! So Saturday morning I did a Fit TV show that Incorporated cardio and weights and that was not bad to start the day off. Not real hard but about 45 minutes. nice to loosen up after the hard Thursday and then rest Friday.

Later I went to the Pool and swam for 30 minutes doing drills and really working on form, went pretty decent and got in about 1000 meters ( I lost track after about 600) still hard for me to do more that 1000, not that I am physically done I am just BORED!!!! I need an underwater Mp3 player or something. I got so zoned out on one lap that I hit the other side of the pool with my hand and jammed my finger,,,,,LOSER. I think the lifeguards are watching me extra close.

but then I went straight from the pool to the new fitness center at the other side of the building and it is very nice with all new equipment. I hit the treadmill for 20 hard minutes ( new wide precor with nice incline feature to 9....) I did semi hard pace and every minute jacked up the incline a notch and then brought it back down. SO i am jamming out with my Ipod shuffle and looking out the window since they all face outside into a park which is nice. I notice two ladies looking at the treadmill next to mine and she is showing her friend how to use it. they are kind of close together as you can see in the pic ( a great pic from their site of old people walking really slow on them, not that I am against that it just seemed low fitness to me for all the killer new equipment for a promo but that's me) and then BAM!! i fee l my treadmill bounce and look back and she is shooting off the back of mine like a bad commercial. she had stepped back with a foot onto mine which was cranking and woosh she went.......I asked if she was OK as she was getting off the floor and she was but then I laughed so hard inside i got an extra stomach workout.

I then did some core and rode my bike about 6 miles home ( wife dropped me off on the way to the store) , it was 22 degrees out which is why i did the treadmill for a change as i would rather run outside.....then i realized I had done a mini tri today. not really planning it that way but I guess i swam, ran and biked.


Today I plan on hooking up with Rob and spinning for a few hours at a easy zone 2 pace to get in some time. I read that time on the trainer is like 1.5 on the road so equivalent to a ride of about 3 hours outside. much rather be outside but 3 hours in 22 degrees???? uh no. 30 minutes or so no worries I have warm gear but after that not enjoyable so We will rent a movie or something.

KMA #3

another brutal hour with trainer Kyle Will, i will tell you that I know what the rubberized surface on the floor of the gym looks like up close.......Bruce and I both grabbed our ankles a few times during the workout. I ended up going and buying a BOSU ball on Kyles recommendation for my home gym...As you can see difficult to get home on a motorcycle but I managed.

did treadmill at 10% incline intervals, did lung squats with dumbbells at our sides and did shoulder flys at each lunge, did push ups with one arm on the bosu ball upside down and then lift the non bosu ball hand up in the air ( this was at the end of the workout and i was kissing dirt) all I know again is that my heart rate got to 185 and pretty much stayed there for an hour. we ended with out 300 sit ups in various variations........he is killing me!!!! In a good Way!. Thank god i am paying him for this or I would have told him to &%$#^ off after about 20 minutes but not the case as I asked for it and about an hour later I want it again!!!!

NUUN

So after reading the Core performance book by Mark Verstegan I am really trying to stay hydrated properly. Awhile back Brett from triscoop introduced me to NUUN. These tabs that you drop into water and they became slightly flavored water with some needed electrolytes but not too much and no sugar. They really keep me going. I find myself drinking them at work, after and during workouts etc. They were hard to find in my area ( you can get them online) and they last a long time and come in this super cool tube for dropping in a gym bag, messenger bag, desk drawer stocking stiffer etc etc.

So I contacted the company and told them about Ironman Canada and a bunch of other stuff I was doing and after some discussion they set me up with a package sponsorship!!!! How cool is that. They sent me a nice box of goodies that i will be sporting with pride. ( I like the tag on the hat that shows the kid pulling the visor from the wash likes its a prize) I have been turning on friends by just giving them a tube and that seems to be the hook. I would not sport the stuff it I did not actually use it....like CYTOMAX.....NOPE cannot stand that stuff, tastes bad to me and too grainy. i have Friends that like it but I sure do not. personal tastes I guess.

try a tube, they are like $6 a tube but have 12 tabs and I use 1 tab per nalgene bottle so they last me about a week and a half a tube. for the price of two Starbuck coffees ( which I try and avoid due to cost and piss poor flavor in coffee) you get a ton of hydration. The biggest sell to me was not messing around with powders that are ok if you are in a kitchen...........bu i do not workout in my kitchen.

swim click

todays swim kind of clicked, the drills my coach Vanessa gave me really helped...I think I am doing it much better....I need her again to see if it is just in my mind.

Tomorrow is KMA day with trainer Kyle.....I am lookimg forward to the pain!!!!!!!!!!!!

So We have no snow and Brett has Ice in Texas????????? Here is a pic of my Sis in law Melissa in Texas who is there to rock climb and she gets more snow than I got in Utah???? What up with that???????

Tuesday RUn

so rode the bike to and from work yesterday ( as usual) getting me my easy 60 minutes of spin time everyday and added a 50 minute run at lunch. nice enough out that I ran in shorts and t-shirt, granted it was probably only 45-50 degrees but it felt hot to me. listened to another fun podcast that is from another triscoop crew 2intrasit . great show by Liz and Cara a couple of friends in Texas ( and now northeast) that have great energy and laugh a lot which makes me smile at some of their random thoughts as I am running.

this morning i am off to the pool for workout drills and then I will hit the gym for some core ( light because I have another KMA session on Thursday)

Have a few road trips coming up for work and will have to mix in some different workouts but then again sometimes that is good to mix it up right?

Great Monday

swam for about 40 minutes using the new drills hat I learned in the dartfish analysis. It is harder now!!! Bruce commented to me that it is like getting a golf swing analysis and you have so much to think about now it is like going backwards before going forwards. I agree. I do feel I did a little beet with hand position getting a little better full pull.....need more lessons. rode for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. got an hour in before I picked up Jennelle and then a nice 20 minute with a 50 Pound trailer going up hill. today is run day ( on top of usual bike commute to work).


Here are a few more pics from my ski outing last week.

great movie

great movie, I watched this for the second time last night during "family movie night" The triplets of Belleville. Animated film that has almost no dialog so is a great international film. lots of cycling and really funny. one to watch on a trainer for sure. even non cyclist family members will enjoy. there is one scene where they (The bad guy) shoots a cyclist so that part not so great for kids but it is not graphic just suggested but still......

highly recommended.

kicking my own ass

so used my new home gym today and watched a great workout on Fit TV, not sure how long this channel has been around but it is great, it is an offshoot of Discovery Channel. I did a workout with Cathe Friedrich. using a lot of weights and doing squats and lower back work and dumbbell curls. Since you control the weights you can make the workout pretty hard. The nice thing is I have a DVR in that room so I can skip the commericals and also pause the show if I need to change weights to heavier or lighter. I was going to swim today but I think I will do it on Monday and get back into my M/W/F swim routine since it is a nice break during the workday and I always feel fresher afterwords for part two of a workday. Plan is to warm up with 200 m then do 100 meters of a drill then do 200 m then 100 meters of a drill then anotehr 200m giving me 800 meters, doing that for the next few months and working on form will be key.

worked

between the hard session on Friday and a swim lesson on Friday and riding the bike another 2 hours feel pretty worked coming off my "active" vacation. I think today as a 100% down day where I will organize the house and get some work done.

Friday had the Dartfish session with Vanessa and she showed Bruce and I our swim video and WOW WOW WOW I have some large items to work on. but then again that is what I paid her for. She gave us each personalized worksheets, color vid caps with comments and a dvd with analysis. great stuff and then we followed up with a short swim lesson to go over the drills. The plan at this time is to do a swim lesson every 2 -3 weeks for the next 2- 3 months as well. I will try and get some of the video and pics on the blog this weekend.

got my ass kicked again!!!

round two......all I know was tat I spent an hour today looking at the floor trying to catch my breath, HR monitor was above 175 for about 40 minutes. The trainer kept throwing CORE workouts that I had never even though of.....throw a medicine ball against a wall ...catch it and then put on ground doing a squat, run up stairs with a 20 pound bag of sand over your head, stand on a balance ball and run in place swinging arms like you would run but with 10 pound weights in each hand...Go Go Go.....I was smarter and brought some Gatorade and had a better meal before the workout but still doubt I will be able to do one sit up in the morning......It hurts so good. I dread it but then feel fulfilled that I did it each time. Money well spent. Bruce and I agree that without a trainer there is no way we would go that hard...zero chance. like you wold not ride your bike at threshold for 2 hours but in a race.....sure.......by yourself....fugetaboutit!!!!!!!!

Where is Waldo??? I mean Drew

I have been in Utah for the last week, skiing in the wasatch with My brother Adam, Rob and Ford.....big mountains. climbed them all, in one shot you can see a helicopter dropping off some clients in the backcountry for $2000 a load, we did it on jelly bellys and a sandwich...pick your poison. more to come....good workout and Tomorrow will be Kick my ass session two.

ass kicked part two

ok so here was how the hour workout went,,,,,warm up on the treadmill/ bike, of course I had already bike commuted that morning and dropped off my daughter in the kid trailer and bikes to the workout....then we started with 25 push ups, 25 large hops up on to a big block, 25 of something where you take a huge medicine ball and lift it over your head and then drop it and kick back and then kick forward then lift it over your head again. Take two dumbbells and place them on the ground and in the push up position do pulls to your chest while keeping stable on the other one.

break.....no go hit the treadmill at a 10% incline where Bruce does the same set.

25 clean with 45 pound bar, sit on Bosu ball ( see pic) with legs off the floor ( i touched my heel almost every rep) and do military shoulder press 25 times. Wow you can feel that in the core.
flip it over and do dumbbell curls 25 times to the bottom and then lift up and do a curl all while balancing. do 25 1 leg squats holding a large medicine ball......Now at this stage I am worked and can barely do these and I actually stop and set the ball down and feel like I may pass out. Kyle the trainer looks at me and says "are you doing okay?" I answer yes even though I should say no and he says "just do not puke in the gym, that's my only rule....ok 10 more"

break?.....no back to the bike and spin while Bruce does his set.

The spin helps get my HR down from about 179 to a reasonable 155. We then do a series of ab workouts on a mat that include 90 crunches, 30 reverse crunches, 50 bicycle crunches, medicine ball twists, medicine ball lift and side lifts.....done


So I will be subjecting myself to this 1 time a week for the next 8 weeks......OHHHHHHH

ass kicked

Had my first sesssion to day with Kyle Will who is a personal trainer here in town, he is mostly a runner ( ran Boston) and knows his stuff. Bruce used him last year with great success and this year we are training with him together 1 day a week. We did Core and all body workouts and I honestly almost passed out in the middle it was so hard. ILOVE IT!! I will get some shot of his studio that is pretty high tech. Will update wth more detail manana.

also check out the great new podcast up by my buddy Jetpack here. see show number 26 that i did some audio for.

SWIM BIKE SKI

ME


ROB

I wish ski was the third of the three but alas no. spun on the bike a few hours here and there, ran for a solid 60 minutes in the cold on Sat and it really wore me down ( trail run), felt like a real workout, I got a MOXI set up in the gym so I could record workouts and shows for working out and sitting on the trainer. pretty sweet to have HDTV sitting in front of the trainer I must say. rode for 1 hour last night ( easy after a long day of snowmobiling/backcountry skiing) and it went by easy. I also read that the time on the trainer is worth 1.5 in the real world so I guess it would be like I did a 90 minute ride. today EASY EASY recovery swim ( I already rode the 6 miles into work at slacker pace listening to Zen and the art of triathlon on the Ipod shuffle. ) nothing on Tuesday and then big Core workout which will be part of the series with trainer starting the two month series. Then Thursday leaving for Utah to ski for a week.......good times.

NO DUH!!!

Thought of Coach Adam when i saw this pic I took in NYC a few years ago ( did not know coach Adam then but I know he would see the NY humor in it)

back to work

back to work yesterday after being off for a few weeks. It was a good two weeks as I did workout and ski and spend time with the family, nice mix. Now I am in full swing. I have my first core training/strength training session on Wed with trainer Kyle Will. I will train with him once a week for 2 months to build core strength. Last year Bruce did this and it really made a difference. I went to one of the workouts with him and ran on one of Kyles treadmills ( kick ass facility...i will take some pics) while Bruce did the workout, I was glad I was running 6 miles on a treadmill vs. what he had to do...so this year I will suffer as well.

Still waiting for the Dartfish analysis but she should have it soon....will keep you posted. Today i will run and then on Sunday going backcountry skiing in the morning and then hit the trainer for an easy hour in the gym.

pic I took with the cell phone from the top of a secret hill we ski on the other morning at about 6:30 AM

1 hour easy spin

got and and went to the pool at 5:30....damn thing was closed for an open house later that day....so no swim threw my whole day off. later did a indoor trainer ride with rob watching one of his birthday gifts of some DVDs of last years classics. good quality stuff and no commercials. rode for 1 hour at about 135 HR, easy stuff but I am in base. I will go swim in the morning though and then looks like we are taking the munchkins out on snowmobiles. I need to spice up this blog, looking back pretty factual and boring.

Note to self

Note to self: too many of these make your new years day slower and throws training off by 1 day