Day 150

Well all of my farm animals survived the holiday weekend.  Neighborhood kids did a great job feeding them. Low and behold none got out on the highway.  Yeah!   We had about 8 inches of snow at our house, and after a few hours of plowing, our home no longer looks abandoned. 

Yesterday I ran intervals on the treadmill listening to music.   After 3 mins of warm up, I ran one min at each of the following paces:  10min mile, 9min mile, 8min mile, and 7min mile, then started over.   I did this for 5 cycles.   On the 6th cycle I added a 6min mile on the end.   Then a 10min cool down.

We have another snow storm coming today with 5 more inches expected.    This will make the snowiest November on history for our area.

I hope to go to the Kroc center for a one hour swim workout....maybe a short bike afterwards.

Cheers.

Day 149

We went snowshoeing yesterday in fresh powder about 3 feet deep.   It was incredible how much harder it is breaking trail on the way in, compared to coming back.  The views of the ski resort and surrounding mountains was awesome.   I worked up quite a sweat and used a lot of different muscles.   It was a refreshing break in my base training.   The snow continues to pile up and my back has gotten a workout also. 

I saw a women in her mid-50's jogging along the icy road this morning.   Quite impressive as she was running up hill at about 5,000ft elevation and the temp was 25 degrees.  She made me feel guilty for taking a holiday break.  She was wearing some black rubber studs over running shoes, and was getting pretty good traction.   I will have to add a pair of those to my Christmas list.

I hope to do an indoor 90 min Brick tomorrow.  

Cheers

Day 148

Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving!

I tried to enter a new post with my Droid, but I cant seem to make it work.   Need to hit my Tech-no buds up for some advice later.  

We had a great Thanksgiving here in Sandpoint Idaho.   5 inches of new snow.  Finally warmed up into the 20's, but not yet warm enough for an outdoor run.  I have mild asthma, and the cold air can make my runs miserable.  I usually do not have any problems when the temperature is 30 or higher.  I ran 4 miles on a my aunts treadmill, and did not need my inhaler.   Anything over 4 miles without music or a movie is too difficult indoors. 

Tonight is Pinochle, and domino's.

Tomorrow I hope to go snowshoeing for a few hours.   Maybe the local pool also.

Ah yes.....now on to more pumpkin pie.


cheers

Day 146

6 degrees today.....light snow.

Yesterday was a great day.  I swam one mile in the pool.   Afterwards a friend challenged me to do some speed workouts to get me out of the rut of long endurance swims.   We did 5-100 meters, followed by 5-50 meter sprints.   While I was totally exhausted, it felt great to go faster.   My endorphins must have been up, as afterwards I did 10miles on the stationary bike listening to Nickleback.  

Ya....I am paying for it now.  Feel pretty tight all over.  I ran on the treadmill at lunch for 4 miles easy today. 

We were able to get a neighborhood kid to feed our sheep, chickens, and goats for the 4 day holiday.  Will take the dogs with us.  Fish will have to fend form themselves...haha.   

cheers

Day 145

Good Morning:

I got up today at 4:00am to put the dogs out and stoke the fire.   Then off  to plow the driveway and entrance to the pasture.  Wind chill was 15 below.  The girls(lambs) did not seem to mind the cold.   And were very happy for another round of alfalfa.  Next week we are selling 3 lambs.   I will keep two for breeding next year.  The goats and chickens looked healthy.

After this I decided it was too darn cold for an outdoor run.   I will be going to the Krock Center for a 2 mile swim.   Maybe a short bike also. 

No school for the rest of the week, so the kids are headed up north to Sandpoint Idaho for a family gathering.  I will join them tomorrow night.

Yikes....5 more inches expected for this Friday.

Cheers

Day 144

"Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas"

Well 7 days in a row are enough.  I am going to take a day off.   Besides, we have almost a foot of new snow, and I am sure I will be doing some shoveling sooner or later.  I am glad I put the plow blade on my 4 wheeler.  

My student laughed and said I should put my bike in the office and sit on it during paper work.   To build up saddle time.......you know this might work.

Cheers

Day 140

Well..... Winter is upon us.   Silver Mountain ski resort has had 32 inches of the white stuff so far.   I have borrowed a treadmill and put it in the basement.   Mike Sampont loaned me his bike trainer for this winter, it is next to the treadmill.    I am ready to take on indoor training.

I put in 3 miles on the treadmill yesterday.   Did not want to do too much after the Olympic.  Tonight I hope to put a least an hour in on the trainer.

Will be in Sandpoint Id for the Thanksgiving Holiday.   I hope they have a gym up there, as I really do not want to go 5 days without a good workout.

Cheers.

Day 139

Hello out there!


My training partner Casey and I just finished our Olympic Triathlon.   The 1600meters in the pool was refreshing and took about 30 mins.  The 25 miles on the bike was okay, but trying to keep my RPMs up above 90 for the whole time was difficult.  The bike portion took about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  The 6 mile run was okay for the first half, and then quite painful for the last half.   Total time of  2 hours and 50 mins.   We had about 6-8 mins transition times between events.   Riding the stationary bike was weird.   No outside physical cues to change and adjust to.

My Day calander is counting up the number of days I have trained to build my "Base" physical fitness.  Starting in January my days will count down to the Ironman Triathlon. 

I have my first meeting with a Triathlon Coach on December 7th.


Cheers!

Day 137

Good morning: 


I am going to take the next two days off in preparation for a hard workout on Tuesday afternoon.  Most Coaches will tell beginners that they should be able to finish an Olympic sized triathlon 6 months prior to starting  an Iron man training program.  On Tuesday I will attempt to  swim 1500 meters(0.93 miles), bike 40km(25miles), and then run 10km(6.2miles).   This should take me about 3 hours.   I will figure on drinking fluids every 15mins and bites of protein bars every 15-30.    Except in the water as that would be pretty messy.

Amanda asked how to keep from getting board.  On some of my long workouts I will have music, and this can be quite motivating.  Unfortunately the IM series triathlons have made it illegal for electronic devices while doing the Iron man races.  My college background is in wildlife biology.  I ride my bike on the Rails to trails system in the silver valley and it is filled with wild life.  Many of my runs are on back roads, and it always amazes me on the diversity and change with the season.   My life is also very busy, and it does my mind good to digest the days activities and plan for the upcoming week.   I can day dream on flat surface runs for 15 mins at at time.   Sometime I have broken out in laughter and people around me are thinking I am nuts!

More later

cheers

Day 136

Great!    I know it sounds wierd, but I have not lost any weight for the last month.  I lost five pounds in the beginning.  I have lost 4 pounds this week.  Either I am trading fat weight for muscle weight or an efficient carboholic. "C" is for Cookies and thats good enough for me!!!

 Last nights swim was tough.    I really wanted to get out of the water after about 30mins.  The pool has a clock in every corner.   This was my second week of swimming twice in one week.  I thought for sure someone was pulling a prank on me and slowing the clocks down.   I knew I needed to complete the hour.   I feel that I need these distance swims in my base training to develope some muscle memory.  A lot of the 24 week plans have different swim work outs and that will start in January. 

I looked up that trainer's web site.  I will have to look a my budget, and see what I can afford for advice.  It is amazing how many gadgets are out there for triathlons, and I have yet to buy touring bike.   My goal is to finish an IM triathlon without going broke.

I have to work this weekend and I am on call for our group.  The kids have sports try-outs and one has a game.   I bought a bright head lamp for jogging at night so I can still squeeze in a workout in the dark.  My ITB's(Ileotibial bands or Lateral thighs) are a little sore from the spinning class, so today I will go on an easy run after work.   A good stretch afterwards.   Probably 4 miles, but if I feel good half way through I will go to 6 but no more. 

Cheers!

Day 135

Good morning:  

Awoke this morning to 34 degrees and 1 inch of white slushy snow.   Now the Walmart Chistmas displays dont look so out of place.   Yesterdays spinning class when well.    I really need to work on my quads.  Calves still sore from the stair workout the day prior.  I met a Triathlon coach Derek Garcia.  He is 27 yo and just finished the Kona Hawaii IronMan championship race in less than 10 hours.   I will be meeting with him in the future to plan out my training plan from Jan to June.   I will not only need to get into better endurance shape, but need to figure out hydration, electrolyte replacement, and meals during my 15 hour adventure. 

Tonight I will be going back to the Crock center to swim two miles(74 laps/148 lengths).

I better get to work.

Have a great day.

Day 134

Good morning!

Wow are my calves sore.  Yesterday I ran approximately 1000 stairs at Teeters football field.   Probably good to work different muscles.  While trying to get into shape,  I have been running most of my miles on flat ground.   Tonight the whole family is going to the Crock center in CdA.   I will bike in an endurance spinning class for an hour, the rest of the family will spread out and do their thing.   I hope to gain some insight to riding indoors, as winter the Pacific Northwest does not allow for much outdoor bike riding.   I will need to develop some serious butt pain tolerance to riding a bike for 7 hours in June.

Day 133 Continued

Well it is really stinking cold out there..40 degrees..yikes......so I decided to run stairs for 30mins instead.  We actually have a football  stadium here in Kellogg.  I got a phone number to a Certified Triathlon coach at the Crock center.   I will be calling her soon to arrange a meeting.  Hopefully she can help me formulate a training plan for the last 6 months.   I plan on joining some endurance classes at the crock center.  

Day 133

Ah yes.....IM lingo....  I have been working on my Base now for 133 days.   Approximate four days on and one day off.  Today I am going to run for 4 miles.  Recently replaced my orthotics for a fallen arch.  I dont really want to push it on new orthotics and injure my ankles.