Chasing stray dogs is not part of my job description.

The ride home was broken up twice to chase dogs running free, away from major roads.

First was up in Centennial and I dropped out after three minivans unloaded their troop of preteens to round them up.

The second was in the golf course community down the street from us. I spent five minutes chasing a pair of dogs away from a semi-major intersection and eventually somebody pulled up in a minivan which they jumped into. Not a wave, thank you, or anything. It was quite clear that I was herding the dogs away, but not even a thanks. People are assholes.


Intake: 2350 kCal
I need to drop that down to 2000. That's the cheese block I had as a snack at work and cheddar-pimento spread that Sarah had at home. More fruit, less dairy.

Plan is to run tomorrow night with Layla.

Fatboy still not slim

Life has gotten busy with Sarah travelling more for work, Haley developing a robust social life, and trying to get my CRPC done. That combination has led to no positive effect with regards to losing weight and getting into shape. I'm now sitting at a Shamu level 248#.

I skipped my XTerra last weekend because I'm too out of shape to race without risking injury. I instead went on a dawn patrol with Toshi. That plus doing Mountain Lion with Tim and Nick lead to a very sore Monday. Either way, 14 miles and 3000 feet over the weekend made for good riding time.

I have started riding to work Tuesday and Thursday when Sarah is not travelling. It's taken a few times to get a good route in place to minimize my street exposure, but I think I have it down. I have one major street crossing that is unprotected and about two miles of unprotected street riding that I have just been riding on the sidewalk. At 12 miles each way, it's a decent amount of mileage that doesn't involve sitting in the basement.

I have another XTerra July 31, so I need to get my running mileage up too. Hopefully Layla is up for it, because I need to get up to about 20 miles per week.

I'll be logging more, both my training and intake (ie fatboy is eating too much), because for some reason self-inflicted public shaming works for me. WTF indeed.

Fatboy Not Slim

A quick catch-up: After the Boulder 70.3 in June, the herniated disc in my back (L4/L5, L5/S1) decided it was time to be an asshole again and pinch the nerve. I had another epidural in July with the hopes of racing Santa Cruz 70.3 in September, but it flared up again and kept me from training. I finally got another epidural in November and am feeling great. The downside to this is that I was not able to work out in the slightest for the last six months. Inactivity is not good for me. So to sum it up, I got fat again. Back up to 240lbs. Not quite the Shamu I was two years ago, but definitely a long way from where I was in June at 215lbs.

So… I need to start training again. One of the best ways to get me to fully commit to something is to put money behind it. I did just that when a few of the guys in my office decided to start a Fatboy Slim wager: $10 each, most weight lost by percentage takes the pot. It’s not much, a $30 pot, but it’s there. Which means I need to start working out again. Which gets us to racing again.

Sarah has had some concerns, and I agree, that nothing about me I built to run long mileage. I’m fine running up to 8-9 miles on dirt with no problems, however anything beyond that (especially on concrete) makes things hurt. With that being said, I’m changing my racing focus more towards what I am good at: dirt. There are three XTerra races in Colorado this year that are progressively longer through the season.

XTerra races are off-road triathlons with more focus on the bike. On dirt. On a bike. This is something that I might be good at. Seriously.

So it’s time to start training again. I got into the pool this morning 2 x 500yd, 9:06 and 8:50 pace. Given I haven’t done anything for six months, I am pretty excited by that. It will still be a while before I can start running again, but putting in mileage in the water and on the bike will be my start. Also, I need to lose 20lbs in three months, because I want that $30.

New bikes and turkey trots

I got my first real ride on the new bike on Wednesday. It's nice. It just feels right. Like sex on a bike. Oh so smooth. I had to stop by the shop to have some slight changes around the saddle positioning done, but overall it feels good. I can't wait to get in a ride when it warms up a bit. 26* is too cold. Rideable, but too cold.

Did the Highlands Ranch 5k Turkey Trot this morning. Total time 25:50 minutes. Not fast any means, only holding an 8:20/mile pace. That being said, having only run a few times in the last month, I'll take it. I need to run more.

Next season is here.

The 2014 season is over and training for 2015 starts now. I am working on finding a new program with a bit more focus on running. Swimming and biking are clearly not an issue, so I will just be maintaining par on training and performance. As much as I dislike running, I will need to get my pace down and distance up. Yeah fun.

The Boulder 70.3 is already on the calendar June 13, 2105. It should be an interesting weekend because Haley's birthday party is on Sunday. That being said, it will be nice because my parent's will be in town for her birthday making for easier logistics.

I have an ambitious race scheduled for next season's races. Two early-season Sprint's and an Olympic before the Boulder Half-Ironman, then another Sprint, Olympic, and hopefully a Half-Ironman. I am still deciding on where to do the second 70.3, but Austin could be fun. Now that we know the logistics, flying in Friday would allow us to explore Austin that afternoon plus Saturday afternoon and dinner.

I missed registration for the two 70.3's I really wanted to do - Oceanside and Vineman (Healdsberg) - and did not win the lottery for Alcatraz. Hopefully I can get into them for 2016. I think they would be great lead in races for a full, which I am focusing on for 2016.

My 2015 goals are pretty clear for me. The first Sprint will be me getting my legs underneath me as a season starter. I finished just outside of the top half in my first one without really training. I should be able to do top third as a season opener. The other Sprint's I am aiming for top quarter; the Olympics I would like to finish top third and quarter; the half's in the top third and quarter.

This off season I also want to lose another 25lbs and get under 200lbs. I still have plenty of body fat that is being dragged around, wasting energy. I took a 3-week hiatus after Austin, only working out 3-4 days per week, and put about 10lbs back on. I need to get workouts back up to daily, but with an additional focus on weights and running. Increasing muscle mass will help with my fat burning. I am shooting to get my running up to 26 miles per week. I'll be cutting my swim back to 2 days per week and riding another 60-ish on the bike.

I did just get a new toy in the form of a road bike - LOOK 585 Ultra. It's much better suited to the kind of mileage I am planning on doing this off season. The Wookie Bike was just not setup for climbing, which I intend to do quite a lot of this year. I used to have a Look 555 which met an unfortunate end by garage door when we still lived in SF. For the build, I was able to cannibalize the Wookie Bike, only needing to buy a post and stem. It comes in at a nice 18.25lbs with a lot of non-carbon parts in the build.
There have been some changes since this picture was taken, as I was able to get my fit done. Blake at BikeSource did this one as well and it feels good. I haven't had a chance to put miles on yet, but getting off the trainer it felt good. I am planning on riding in Wednesday and Friday this week, assuming the weather stays reasonable. I'll ride down until about 35*, but that's when I say 'no'.



Thank you to my parent's, Maggie, and Chuck and Nancy for contributing as birthday presents!

With it being winter I do plan on spending quite a bit of time up in the mountains. We went with the Epic Local pass this season. Most of the guys I work with and our neighbors have that pass, and being able to go up with them would be nice. We were a bit limited with the Winter Park & Copper Mountain pass last year.  According to the snow.com website:

Unlimited, unrestricted skiing or riding at Breckenridge, Keystone, Afton Alps, Mt. Brighton and Arapahoe Basin with limited restrictions at Park City, Canyons, Heavenly, Northstar & Kirkwood. Also includes a total of 10 days at Vail and Beaver Creek with holiday restrictions

 Plus there are Starwood hotels in Beaver Creek, which makes for an easy long weekend.

Success!

Well mostly. I completed it, but missed a lot of my goal marks. Weather will be blamed for some of this though as it was 90* and humid, and there was a pretty steady headwind most of the ride.

Basic numbers:
Place: 102/230
Time: 6:09:57
Field avg.: 6:22:02

Swim place: 25th
Swim time: 33:01
Swim avg. speed: 7:48/500 yards
Field Average: 41:22

Transition 1:  3:42

Bike place: 67th
Bike time: 2:58:20
Bike avg. speed: 18.84 mph
Field avg: 4:20:01

Transition 2: 3:11

Run place: 102nd
Run time: 2:31:43
Run avg. speed: 11:34/mile
Field avg: 2:23:41

The swim was definitely a surprise. I had to double-take my watch when I got out of the water. A solid 5 minutes faster than I expected and I was throttling back so as not to go out too hard. Good start for the day.

My first transition was pretty fast. I had trouble getting my wetsuit into the transition bag which cost me probably 10-15 seconds. I also had to run out of transition in my shoes carrying the bike. The corral was on a grassy field with lots of stickers to eat up tubes. I saw a lot of flat tires in the first 1-2 miles of the ride. I did forget to put sunblock in my bag though - ugh.

The ride went pretty well. I was staying on my food/salt/drink schedule pretty well until about 30-35 miles in and my gut went haywire. I think it was because I had too much drink and not enough water. Unfortunately, that was just after the second aid station so I had to go another 10 or so miles to get water. Until that point I was holding a steady 21.4mph. The gut issues dropped me down to the 16-17mph range and perfectly coincided with the hills, which was a bad combo. I lost a lot of time there. I refueled at the next station and was off and kicking right away after drinking a half bottle of water. I was able to get my speed back up to 18-19mph, but the damage was done. Not a lot, but enough.

The start of transition two was amusing. Getting off the bike into a run was comical. Imagine having two dead legs and being told to run up a hill quickly. That's basically how transition started. I was in the back at the top of the hill. Not a steep hill, but about 100 yards with a 10-20ft elevation gain. Doesn't sound like a lot, but enough.

The actual transition was fast. I almost forgot my salt tabs, but thankfully checked my pockets before I jumped up. My life would have been miserable without them. I also caught the sunblock guy before I ran out. The only had one guy and he wasn't right next to the exit.

Starting the run went well, but the hills. The god damned hills! I ran the first 1.5 miles and hit the hill. After that point I ended up walking up most of the hills. The heat was full bore and I could not stay cool. I was dumping ice down my top every aid station, which were roughly every 3/4 mile. Heat or not, I need to work on my running.

In the end, there are some things that I can do better and others things that I learned.

Swimming: Keep doing what I am doing. Brett and Peter make for a great coaching team.

Transition 1: Remember sunblock and to bring a floor pump to check my tires day of.

Bike: Have one water bottle empty holding a tube and tools. Carry minimal Gu and Chomps and one bottle of water, as you can reload at aid stations. Time Trial helmet: over a 50 mile distance you can save 3-4 minutes on a helmet alone. Aero wheels are good for another 2-3 minutes. I didn't get passed by many people on bike, but almost everybody who did was on aero wheels with a TT helmet.

Transition 2: Sunblock up. Maybe quick tie laces, but I'm pretty fast already.

Run: Just keep running and lose another 20lbs. I just need to spend time getting my running muscles stronger. When it's hot, do anything to stay cool.

My shoulder did act up and I will be scheduling with an ortho soon. I need to have it looked at to see if it's time to fix it. God forbid my shoulder give me proper leverage while I am swimming and not falling out when running.

On that note,  I'm going to sleep. Oh, and my ass hurts. Along with every other muscle in my legs.

So that weekend is here

A reiteration of the last post basically: just super fucking busy. House is being remodeled: kitchen, floors, paint, main floor lighting, fireplace, etc. I did most of the demo to save money, so my little down time has been spent on that. Not much time for blogging.

Updates since my last post:

• Training has been pretty steady. My mileage is up there for running and biking. My swim is holding a steady 9 min/500 yard pace for 2200 yards. Bike I am holding at a steady 18mph over varied, hilly terrain. I expect to hold closer to 20mph during the race. Running I can hold a 9min pace for an hour. Still not fast, but steady.

• Spent Labor Day weekend in Moab, UT with Sven, Abe, Misha, Kurt, and Brett for our annual bike trip/Cal Cycling reunion. In reality it's just us all taking time off to hangout and ride bikes. Abe brought a drone and we got awesome pictures and video. I'll upload some eventually.

• Sarah took Haley to SF for a week during September, so I spent a week training and ripping up hardwood flooring. I highly recommend against doing that without somebody to help. It sucks. 

• And I've lost 35lbs; I'm now sitting at a pretty steady 215lbs. I still have another 15lbs for goal, but I've made a pretty big dent. I'm going to be changing my workout post-race to involve more weight training and less riding, as it's going to be cold as hell soon. I'll probably put on more weight, but hopefully I can keep it muscle then lean down for next season.

• My shoulder has been acting up again. The lack of ligaments between my clavicle and arm becomes very apparent about 6 miles into my run when my arm feels like it is falling off my body. I've been using KT Tape to some benefit, but I have a feeling I will be a very unhappy monkey at the end of the race because of that. I already have a referral from my doctor for an ortho. I might finally be getting my shoulder fixed. Hopefully it's easily correctable, as it impacts my swimming too. Hard to get leverage on my left arm stroke.

The bike was dropped off last week for delivery to Austin, so I rode the 'wookie bike' last weekend. After  having lost that much weight and strengthened my back, the upright position is annoying. I will probably end up picking up a new, traditional frame to swap parts over to. The 'wookie bike' will be hung in the rafters until I'm old and gimpy again.

I haven't decided my races for 2015 yet, but I did put in for the lottery for the Escape from Alcatraz. It was fun the last time I did it, so hopefully I can get lucky enough to be drawn. If I get a slot, I will be getting a new road bike. The course is so hilly that a full aero bike doesn't make sense. I am planning on doing two Sprint, two Olympic, and two Half's next season. The Sprint's will be refreshers in the beginning of the season with the Olympic's being mid-training for the Half's. I screwed up and didn't register for the Oceanside Half in time and registration closed. Still a bit angry with myself for that one.

Race is this weekend. Getting packed up tomorrow and Thursday, flight is on Friday. We'll be meeting my parent's at the airport and going from there. Probably spend the rest of Friday getting our bearings and Saturday on race prep. The race starts Sunday at 7:30am.

Goals are currently:
Swim: 38 minutes. Holding a 9min/500 pace.
Bike: 2:48 hour. That's holding 20mph.
Run: 2:10 hour. Low expectation pace holding a 10min mile.
Total: 5:36 hours excluding transitions

I think I can beat these, as the elevation will be a substantial benefit to me. As long as I keep eating and drinking, taking salt, and not pushing to bonk I will do well. Looking at last year's results, I would fit in around 100/258 starters. I'm still shooting for top third though, which would put me around 5:27. That isn't too outlandish...

The one thing that I am bummed about is that Dad can't run along with me at any point without me risking DQ. That is somewhat (very) frustrating, but I see the point that having somebody to race with could be having a pacer. Hopefully he does migrate out along the run course though. Having people along the course is nice and a boost. When I saw Sarah and Haley at the Aurora race, it was a great boost.

On that note, I'm going to sleep.

I've been training.

Just super fucking busy.

Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday of last week were off for doctor's appointments.

Thursday: 2 x 30minutes - 31:25 min, 3.5 miles /30 min, 3.2 miles

Friday: Off

Saturday: 90 minute run
Saturday result: 10 mile run, 1:40 hours - 10:00 mile pace
I modified to 10 miles to make up for the missed runs and to get some distance closer to13miles.

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Sunday: 50 mile bike
Sunday result: 51.9 mile bike, 2:55 hours, 2500 feet climbed
Monday: 
Morning workout: 500 yd warm-up; 16 x 50, 10" rest; 200 yd cool down
Morning Result: 800 yard swim - Totally gassed out. Only did about half of my workout.

Evening workout: 30 miles bike
Evening Result: 12 miles on rollers

I was totally spent on Monday. I just needed to sleep, of which I got some.

Tuesday:
Morning workout: 800 yard warm-up; 5 x 200, 20" rest; 200 yard cool down
Morning result: Slow. My 20" rests ended up being closer to 1'. Still completed it. The almost whole week off has ruined my fitness.

Evening Workout: 1.5 mile warm-up; 3 x 880 yard 5 bpm above top end of HR zone w/ easy 440 between, 1" rest; 1.5 mile warm-down
Evening result: 23:45 minutes for the sprint portion. The 880yd was definitely difficult. I'm still tired from the weekend.

I'm looking forward to a morning off. Hopefully I can sleep a bit late, assuming Haley sleeps in.

We picked out our granite slab for the counters today. Working with our contractor on cost for floor installation, possibly replacing the top cabinets and doors, and some other miscellaneous bits.

Eyes on the prize

Wednesday Workout:
Evening: 40 mile ride
Evening Result: 40 miles / 2:16 hours / average heart rate 137 bpm

Thursday workout:
Morning: 1750 yard swim - 500yard warm-up; 5 x 100 sw-15" rest, 10 x 50 15" rest; 250yard cool down 

Evening: 50 minute run
Evening Result: 38:16 run / 4.38 miles / average heart rate 153 bpm / 8:44 minute pace

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Friday workout: Skipped

Saturday workout: Skipped


Sunday workout: YOLO Olympic distance race
2:57:37 / 10th of 21 in age group
Swim: 1400 yards / 29:49 minutes / 10:39 pace / 7th in age group
Bike: 24.96 miles / 1045 feet climb / 1:19:13 minutes / 18.9 mph average / 9th in age group
Run:  10k / 141 feet climb / 1:03:28 minutes / 10:13 per mile average / 15th in age group

Link to course map: http://www.5430sports.com/yolo-course/

This week had abbreviated workouts in an attempt to taper prior to the race. The race went well, but I bonked hard on the run. I need to remember salt tabs and to do a better job of eating on the bike. The swim was my surprise because I was breathing every third stroke and gassed out at ~300 yards. I switched to every stroke and got back into aerobic range, which pushed my pace up quickly. The bike leg had three long climbs, which were wearing. The run was just pitiful. Eating during the race and more run training will be my focus going forward. If I can get my run faster, I think I can place

Last week I laid out my goals as:
Swim: 24 minutes (actual 29:49 minutes)
 Bike: 1:25 hours (actual 1:19 hours)
Run: 60 minutes (actual 1:03 hours)
Total: 2:49 hours (actual 2:57 hours) *If I back out transitions, it's 2:51:30

I'll call that a near hit for my goals. 2.5 minutes off my estimates isn't too bad. I am debating signing up for another Olympic between now and Austin. Mostly to practice my food consumption and see if I can place a bit better in doing so (ego boost for Austin).

Bangarang!

Sad day today with Robin Williams' death. Both Sarah and my favorite comedian and actor. I still think that his Live on Broadway show is the funniest stand-up I have ever seen. We were lucky to see him live a few years ago at the Comedy Club in SF. It was about 75% of his LoB show, but with a lot of new SF specific material. My favorite part was his close. Talking about how open and liberal people in SF are, but how he would love to see the reactions if a mosque was built in Russian Hill and the reactions to the Muslim morning call to prayer. And closing by doing the prayer in his normal excessive way. I think I just about pee'd myself.

He came into Zoom a lot to look at bikes and I ran into him on a road ride doing Paradise loop. He was great fun to ride with. My friend Stephen's bike was a bit too small and Robin was laying into him about it the whole time. It's very hard to keep pace when you are laughing that hard. I will definitely miss his comedy.

Monday Workout:
Morning: 1500 yard swim - 500 yard warm-up; 4 x 200’s sw-20" rest; 200 yard cool down.
Morning Result: 500 yard pace - 8:43 (Including rests)

Evening: 25 mile ride
Evening Result: Skipped

Tuesday Workout:
Morning: 2100 yard swim - 800 yard warm-up; 100 stroke drills; 10 x 100’s sw-15" rest; 200 yard cool down 
Morning Result: 500 yard pace - 8:22 (Including rests)

Evening: 60 minute run
Evening Result: 60 minutes / 6.27 miles / 238 feet climbing / average heart rate 150 bpm / 9:34 minute pace

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My swims have been slowing down a bit as I am trying to focus on getting a sustainable pace for longer distances. While my Sprint race left me with a pace of 10:36 for 550 yards, I was completely blown after it. Based on my last couple of longer swims, I am thinking that a 9:30 minute pace might be a bit more realistic. Plus, the 3 minutes I save I should be able to make up on the bike and I won't blow myself up in the first leg.

Week10 - The halfway mark

With Week 10 drawn to a close, I am now halfway through my training. Race day is coming up quickly. The Olympic race is next weekend - a half distance race at the halfway mark.

Been too busy to make updates, but I have gotten my workouts in. Haley was in back-up daycare this week as her normal provider was on vacation. JPMorgan provides back-up daycare through Bright Horizons Montessori schools for $10/day. Which is amazing! The Montessori school she was at is by my office, so  morning efficiencies were a must. Going home however placed us into the middle of commute traffic, leaving little free time in the evenings. I do really like the school that she was in though. She might be going there soon. Who knows.

Monday weigh-in: 225 lbs

Monday Workout:
Morning: 1500 yard swim - 500 yard warm-up; 800 yard swim; 200 yard cool down.

Evening: 25 mile ride
Evening Result: 25 miles / 1:26 hours / average heart rate 130 bpm

Tuesday Workout:
Morning: 2500 yard swim - 800 yard warm-up; 500 stroke drills; 10 x 100’s sw-15" rest; 200 yard cool down 

Evening: 60 minute run
Evening Result: 48 minutes / 5.5 miles / average heart rate 145 bpm / 8:44 minute pace

I discovered that our gym closes at 10:00pm, which is why my run was short.

Wednesday Workout:
Evening: 35 mile ride
Evening Result: 35 miles / 1:56 hours / average heart rate 141 bpm

Thursday workout:
Morning: 1750 yard swim - 500yard warm-up; 1 x 100 sw-15" rest, 2 x 50’s k-10" rest - 5 sets; 250yard cool down 

Evening: 50 minute run
Evening Result: 5.8 miles / average heart rate 147 bpm / 8:37 minute pace

Friday workout:
Evening: 20 mile spin-down ride
Evening Result: 20 miles / 1:14 hours / average heart rate 116 bpm

Saturday workout:
Morning 1: 1000 yard swim - 300 yard warm-up; 500 yard swim; 200 yard cool down
Morning Result 1: 500 yard swim / 8:07 minutes

Morning 2: 90 minute run
Morning Result 2: 8.3 miles / average heart rate 143 bpm / 10:49 minute pace




Long, slow run. I went straight from the pool to my run, so I was focusing on my heart rate instead speed. Which is why it was so slow. The focus made for a much "easier" run in that I could maintain. No big swings in speed, just steady. Adding a few miles to get up to a half would not be hard.

Sunday workout:
Morning: 55 mile ride
Result: 12.1 miles / 1,736 feet climbing / 1:41 hours / average heart rate 137


With my trip to Moab coming up fast, I figured it a good idea to get some dirt time. I had planned on doing a 25-30 mile trail ride, but due to a flat and limited time (yeah! county fair...), I was only able to do a short ride. I was hoping to do two laps. It was a messy ride though. My fitness is through the roof, but bike handling skills are abysmal.

My long rides and runs are going to be a bit screwy over the next few weeks. I have the YOLO Olympic race this coming weekend and Labor Day I will be in Moab with the guys for our annual mountain bike trip. My run schedule doesn't have me doing any more runs over 100 minutes after Labor Day and I will be skipping that. I am a bit concerned that I will not be doing many (if any!) runs over 10 miles, especially because the run is 13.1 miles.

Either way, the run is becoming less of a concern after this week's run. I am becoming a bit concerned about the swim though. I am not good at pacing in the water without known distances to keep myself in check. The race officials note its ~400 yards per length -2 out and back's - but that is still a long distance to estimate.

Goals for this coming weekend:
Swim: 24 minutes - 8:45 per 500 yard pace
Bike: 1:25 hours - 18 mph pace
Run: 60 minutes -10:00 mile pace
Total: 2:49 hours

It's been a long week.

Monday Workout:
Morning: 1250 yard swim - 300 yard warm-up; 800 yard swim; 150 yard cool down
Morning Result: 500 yard swim / 8:56 minutes

Evening: 25 mile ride
Evening Result: 25 miles / 1:23 hours / average heart rate 129 bpm

Very tired Monday and my workouts reflected that. I pushed myself pretty hard at the end of last week and I felt it. Not exactly a day to write home about

Tuesday Workout:
Morning: 2000 yard swim - 300 yard warm-up; 500 swim, 400 pull, 300 kick, 200 swim, 100 pull; 200yard cool down 

Evening: 60 minute run
Evening Result: 7.125 miles / average heart rate 149 bpm / 8:25 minute pace

This was my first really long swim workout. One of the things that Peter had told me was to focus on my stroke and drag until I get efficient, then add in kicking. My pull (no kicking, using float for legs) was marginally slower than my normal swim. Clearly I am doing more dragging than kicking. Once I am able to get another video of my swimming for Peter we'll see what he says need to be fixed now.

The run was epic for me. It was indoor, so controlled temp and flat, but my best long run to date. Sub-8:30 pace which in of itself is fast for me. Let alone for an hour, doing over 7 miles. It definitely felt really good. I ran later than normal though, so I was able to digest dinner properly. I drank a diluted mix of my PowerBar drink during the run as well. The combo of having time to digest and the diluted mix seemed to be a positive. Going forward, I will use a diluted blend.

Wednesday Workout:
Morning: Skipped

Evening: Skipped

Shit got interesting this morning. It started with a high pace dripping sound that was conveniently dripping on me while I slept. There is no wake-up like jumping out of bed sprinting around to find a bucket for the drip onto the bed, then ripping all of the bikes off the ceiling in the garage to get at the ladder that is buried behind them. And then trying to run up a flight of stairs with said ladder without waking up Haley. Scaling into the rafters to find the leak only to discover that it is on the side of the roof with damn near impossible access.

You would assume that doesn't look too hard to get to, but you'd be wrong. Underneath the insulation is drywall that cannot be stepped on, so you're only moving on the 2x4's. This is at the far end of the house from the access point, so I ended up crawling to the other side of the attic by structural members. Then I got to crawl army-style on my back just to get to where I could place the bucket. The drip was substantial enough to fill up ~6 gallons of water between 8am when I left for work and bed time at 10pm. Sarah isn't going to climb up into the attic for this kind of work, so each trip was on me. Not that it would matter, because she left for a presentation in San Francisco that afternoon.

Usually when Sarah is out of town I am able to juggle getting her, dropping her at the nursery at the gym so I can workout, and then get home to do our normal nighttime routine, but not with the drip. It cost me both of Wednesday's workouts.

Thursday workout:
Morning: Skipped
Evening:Skipped

It rained for 6 straight days, which never happens, and that is part of why the leak occured. More volume than the roof could take. For context, this pond is normally 10' x 10' and maybe 2 feet deep. I'd estimate that at the deepest it is probably 7 to 8 feet deep. It had reached the overflow and was draining through that instead of the normal drain at the bottom of the dam(?). It stopped raining that morning and the pond had completely drained when I got home from work.

Friday workout:
Morning: Skipped

Evening: 1500 yard swim; 30 mile ride; 50 minute run
Evening Result:
Swim: 500 yard warm-up; 16 x 50 10" rest; 200 yard cool down
Bike: 25.56 miles / 1330 feet climbing / average heart rate 135 bpm
Run: 9 minutes / 1.1 mile / average heart rate 133 bpm

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In an effort to get caught up on my workouts, I decided to try and do three in one go - ie. an Olympic triathlon. The swim didn't go to badly. I definitely felt the difference between morning and evening swimming as I just didn't have as much juice. I made a switch to the bike and realized pretty much as soon as I started that I didn't have the right jersey. I was in my tri top, not a road jersey which tend to be slightly warmer. The ride went well, but I had to cut it short as I was running out of light. I did forget a running shirt so I ended up running in my tri top again. I am still not somebody who should be running it a tight top like that, so it made for some funny looks from the other people on the track. The transition to run wasn't that bad. It took about a half-mile to get my legs working properly, but it wasn't bad. I was on good pace and could have kept going, but stopped given I had an 80-minute run to do Saturday morning.

Saturday workout:
Morning: 1000 yard swim / 80 minute run
Result: Missed / Blew Goatballs

I held off doing my run in the morning while I waited for the roofer to come inspect and repair the roof. Also because I was still exhausted from Friday's workout. Doing a race (while not racing) will wear you out. He arrived after 9:30am, which is too late to start a run that long as it puts you on trail at 11am. Which will cook you. My plan was to swim and run in the evening. We went out to dinner a nice little wine bar in old town Littleton which was a bit too nice to have kids. To keep Haley under control, she sat on my leg all the way through dinner. He sit bone planted nicely in the middle of my thigh. Getting up it was clear that my leg was not happy, but I kept to the plan.

I missed swimming as getting Haley ready for bed took longer than expected, but still went for the run. I left at 8:00pm with a headlamp and splitting headache. My head had been bothering me but I figured I could just run it out. Not so much. I started out limping, which was a bad sign. The thigh Haley had sat on was not pleased. My headamp died about a mile into the run, then my headache got worse. It pretty much ended my run right there. I forced myself to finish walking the big block around our house, but it isn't even worth noting. I turned off my timer and heartrate monitor as it was a waste of battery for that.

Sunday workout:
Morning: 35 mile ride
Result: 35.29 miles / 2:09 hours / average heart rate 130

This went better though. The ride was up to Golden along C470, through Morrison, behind the Hogback by Red Rocks, into Golden, and back the same way. My leg started out sore, but with a long 20-minute warm-up I was able to start working pretty well until it went away after about 30minutes. I really focused on my eating and drinking, eating three Gu gels, two Gu chews, a large bottle of mix and two large bottles of water. I felt strong the whole way, even through my warm-down. The climb from Morrison to Golden is brutal. Three miles with an average grade of 4* is rough when you are geared to go fast on flat terrain. The tri bike is far from a climbing machine.

Overall the ride was uneventful until coming back down Red Rocks to Morrison. It's one lane going downhill with a 45-50mph speed limit. Doing the sane and legal thing, I took my lane and kept a solid 35mph going down the hill. Given it's only three miles, as a car you aren't going to be delayed by more than 1 minute top to bottom. There was nobody behind me halfway down when I had a straight and looked. I point this out because I was getting to the bottom of the hill where it goes 25mph into a T-intersection, an asshole thought it a great idea to blast past me while on the horn. When you are in the tuck, you basically have no ability to make sudden maneuvers. So if things go wrong it probably won't end well for you.

We got to the red light at the same time and I lost my shit. He was with what looked to be his wife and kids and went 'deer in headlights' while I was laying into him. I think when I mentioned that going down at those speeds on a bike can kill you and that I would like to spend time with my daughter when I got home, much like he was now, he had a light bulb go on. His face changed from terror and 'what do I do?' to 'Oh. I'm the asshole here'. The burn of disgust from everybody in the town looking at him probably had some impact too. Hopefully it changes how he drives around cyclists.

We got the roof fixed today too. Apparetly when the vents on the roof were installed, they were just mounted onto the top of the felt (modern tar replacement)  with the shingles laid over the top. The only thing preventing the water from draining  was the shingles. The problem we had is that there was some wind damage over one of the vents and with no shingle covering the vent base, the water just drained in. He found that all of the vents were installed incorrectly, so he is fixing them all. As annoying as it is, having this go wrong could not have happened at a better, worse time. We are installing solar and needed to have some wind damage repaired. The repairs would need the panels removed if dealt with in the future, so there you go. He also quoted us $275 to fix the single leaky vent. When he found all 12 needed to be repaired, he changed the quote to $1875, which is about $1400 less than if he had charged them all at normal price. It's not much and I am still cutting a check for $1875, but it's far better than $3300 or the worst case scenario of having to replace the roof.

This coming week should be interesting as Dee is on vacation and we had to find alternatives for Haley's daycare. Through work we are able to take her to Bright Horizon's Montessori for the week at $10 per day. That's way less than we pay as it is. Given how close it is to the office and what we are currently paying for daycare, Montessori might make sense. Not 100% as convenient as next door, but still hard to argue against. Especially because it gets her around more kids, which is good for everybody in the household.

Lastly, we are officially grown-ups. We now have a full-sized fridge in the garage.

I should try to stay current on this thing.

Thursday workout: Rest Day

Friday workout:
Morning: 1250 yard swim - 300 yard warm-up; 16 x 50 swim 10" rest; 150 yard cool down
Morning Result: 500 yard swim / 10:13 minutes (including breaks)

Evening: Run skipped

Saturday workout:
Morning:  70 minute run
Result: 7.4 miles / 158 feet climbing / average heart rate 150

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Hot morning run. I left early and it was still hot. I need to start running without music, but that just sounds really unpleasant. Not sure that I would really want to do that.

Sunday workout:
Morning: 35 mile ride
Result: 35.29 miles / 2:09 hours / average heart rate 130

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Windy. Brutal headwind on the way back from the ride. It got progressively worse as the weather started to come in. I found myself sitting 4-5 gear higher up the range than I normally ride at, just to account for the wind. I still had a good pace, but not where it could/should have been.

This was a much needed rest week. Even with shorter distances, I was feeling the last few week build-up. It's been stupid hot for the last week, so that hasn't been helping with much of anything. Next week should be interesting as my training starts to make a substantial turn from base building to fitness building. I will be adding intensity segments into my rides, a Friday ride, Saturday morning swim, and Sunday afternoon walk. It should add about 2.5-3 hours to my weekly training.

Weight-wise I am maintaining right around 228-230# still. It is frustrating that I am not making any headway in that arena. At this point I am convinced it's muscle mass that's forcing the balance point. My pants all fall off without a belt and I need to add more holes to the belts. I was able to bust into the "skinny drawer", which hasn't been opened in ages, and I have quite a few t-shirts that fit nicely now.

Wreck-it Ralph

Wednesday Workout:
Morning: 50 minute run
Morning Result: 5.8 miles / 245 feet climbing / average heart rate 151 bpm

Evening: 25 mile ride
Evening Result: 25 miles / 1:22 minutes

Did my Tuesday run Wednesday morning. Felt good and was constantly pushing, although not killing, myself. I probably could have tacked on a few more miles at the same pace if i wanted to. Held an 8:36 mile pace for almost 6 miles, which is great. Going forward I will be doing my Saturday run starting around 6:30am latest. Not cooking was great.

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Evening bike was good too. Fastest pace for a 25 miler yet, with consistent holding in the 20mph range. The warm-down was very fast, which was surprising how quickly my heart rate recovered. I moved from Netflix back to Xfinity and watched Wreck-it Ralph during the ride. That's a pretty good movie.

That was nice.

Monday Workout:
Morning: 1000 yard swim - 300 yard warm-up; 10 x 50 10" rest; 200 yard cool down
Morning Result: 500 yard swim / 9:47 minutes

Evening: 20 mile ride
Evening Result: 20 miles / 1:05 hours / average heart rate 121 bpm

Tuesday Workout:
Morning: 1250 yard swim - 300 yard warm-up; 8 x 100 15" rest; 150 yard cool down 

Evening: Pushed to tomorrow

Tonight's run was pushed to tomorrow morning, as we had a guest over for dinner. Matt, who I used to work with at Bloomberg, was in town for a few meetings. It was nice sitting on the deck, drinking beer and eating Chinese food, while getting caught up.

So that's what flat feels like.

Sunday workout: 45 mile ride
Result: 45.01 miles / 2:31 hours / average heart rate 136 bpm

Good ride today. 14 minutes off last week's ride of the same length. I went a bit farther east and north than I have in the past. Once I turned north the path began to level out, so I was able to get in a 7 mile stretch that was semi-flat. My speed over the flatter sections felt much faster. That's a good speed check for Aurora and Austin which are mostly flat.  It was not near straight, so I found myself getting out of the tuck quite a bit and I definitely came to a few emergency stops when I missed turns, so that only added time to the ride. Probably negligible, but still time.

I installed my under seat, double-bottle holder yesterday and the extra water was much appreciated. I finished all three bottles with about 10 miles left. I need to be able to carry additional water, so I will probably be getting a bar mounted bottle too. I need to be better about my nutrition consumption, but with the larger amount of water I could carry, I felt much better on the ride.

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That'll do Donkey. That'll do.

Saturday workout: 80 minute run
Result: 8.59 miles / average heart rate 155 bpm / 9:18 pace

First long run with the CamelBak and it was glorious. Much easier that carrying a bottle and I was able to have Gu and Chomps while I was running. I started to struggle to maintain pace at about 60 minutes and it was visible in my heart rate. My goal was 9 miles, which would have put me at a slightly sub-9 minute pace. 9:18 is bad by any means, but I think I can do better.

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And... BOOM goes the dynamite

Wednesday Workout:
Evening: 30 mile ride
Evening Result: 25 miles / 1:40 minutes

Thursday workout:
Morning: 1500 yard swim - 500 yard warm-up; 4x200, 20" rest; 200 yard cool down
Morning Result: 500 yard swim / 8:37 pace

Evening: 40 minute run
Evening Result: 5.01 miles / 180 feet climbing / average heart rate 152 bpm

Wednesday was another 'god job dumb ass' day.  I forgot my watch at work and given it is my heart rate monitor, that makes it difficult to track one's heart rate. The speed is on par with hold an upper end of the range workout though.

Thursday I blew up on my swim. I made it through the first 200, but was excessively winded and swimming sloppily. I made it through the next 100 but had to stop. I ended up just doing a grinder workout for the next 400. It wasn't exactly a great pace, but not bad by any means. It was a pace that I could comfortably hold for longer distance. It is slightly faster than my target speed for the race, so that's good.

My run however went far better. It took me a while to get warmed up and everything functioning well. The out leg of my run felt slow and choppy, but the run back was far better when I hit my cadence. I ended up holding an 8:00 mile pace over the whole run. Given how bad the out leg felt, the end pace was a positive.

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Things are looking up

Monday Workout:
Morning: 1250 yard swim - 300 yard warm-up; 800 swim; 200 yard cool down
Evening Result: 500 yard swim / 7:50 minutes / First 500@ 6:32

Evening: 25 mile ride
Evening Result: 25 miles / 1:26 hours / average heart rate 125 bpm

Tuesday Workout:
Morning: 1750 yard swim - 500 yard warm-up; 5 x 100 15" rest, 10 x 50 15" rest; 250 yard cool down 

Evening: 60 minute run
Evening Result: 6.8 miles / average heart rate 152 bpm / 8:49 minute pace
 
I had a couple of notable results so far this week:

1. Monday swim had a 6:32 minute 500 yard. That is epic for me. My last no-rest 500 was week 4 and that was 8:50 minutes. That is a huge jump in speed.

2. Monday's 'warm-down' ride was marginally slower that last Thursday's hard ride. More power at less RPM's.

3. Tuesday's run was sub-9:00 for a 60-minute run. That is a full minute pace off of my other hour plus runs. It was indoor, so we'll see how that compares with this weekend's long outdoor run.

My running Camelbak showed up Monday and I had a chance to use it last night. Being able to drink as needed and eat Gu and Bloks while running. I could definitely tell when I needed a hit of energy and was able to grab at that point in time. I was carrying more weight, but was still able to run faster. Guessing it might have had a positive impact on the run.

Nothing eventful otherwise. We are replacing our front storm door because ours is loud and jams a lot. The counter tops have been ordered, we are going to pick out the slab on Tuesday. I need to order a few flooring samples so we can decide on which one I will be installing. I am still deciding on whether I will be ripping out the half wall in the main room.

Good job. Dumbass.

Sunday workout: 70 minute run
Result: 7.16 miles / average heart rate 149 bpm

Given today's temperature my intentions were to run indoors. One of the rec centers has an awesome pool with a lazy river and playground. We all went there planning on having Haley and Sarah hang out at the pool while I ran. It was a great plan right up until I locked the keys in the car. I haven't done that before, so it does make you feel like an idiot.

My solution to said problem was to run home to get in my 70 minutes, then drive the other car back. Great plan, but damn it was hot. I ran into the same problem as last week - not having enough water. Thankfully I had my bottle, but I again ran out of water a few miles from home. I also wasn't able to carry my Gu or Blocks, so no replenishment of nutrients and calories. I can't wait until my Camelbak shows up.

To add insult to injury on the whole thing, I didn't have a spare key and our neighbors with a key weren't home. Thankfully, the front window was unlocked and I was able to get it open. One of our neighbors was able to jump in and unlock the door for me. Ironically, he is a Douglas County deputy. I had a cop help me break into my house. We are getting a hide-a-key today and giving another neighbor a key. Apparently we didn't give a key to the neighbor who watches Haley.

The run wasn't too bad. I was able to hold a 9:47 pace even when I was tapering off at the end. Doubling this distance will still be hard. Scrubbing a minute off per mile is going to be harder. I'm hoping that being able to carry more water will help with my speed and endurance.

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