I’ve been toying with signing up for a fall ‘event’ to really kick-start the IMLP 2008 training.

This one sounds like it’s right up my alley!

World Wide Half Marathon –

See you out at the virtual race!

Lots of stuff on my mind today:

This weeks training was sort of a mini-breakthrough. A damn solid run on Tuesday, nice MTB rides on Mon & Wed, solid swim on Thurs with negative splits on successive 300’s (4:11, 4:09, 4:07) and a nice run today at lunchtime. In between were some nice recovery rides with Weazer. So I’ve got a little over 9hrs of training in this week, and it’s only Friday afternoon. It’s starting to show in my body specs too. Body fat is back under 10%, muscle mass is up, and I look and feel a lot better. In total, I suppose that defines progress.

I received my new Garmin Forerunner 305 yesterday, and used it on my run. It’s a pretty cool device. I’m going to really enjoy using it, and the MotionBased web site, for my IMLP training.

LifeHacker has been running a series called us your Go Bag”. It got me to thinking about what I carry with me on my daily commute. Since I’m a triathlete, my go bag usually consists of 2-5 different bags. Here is my typical rundown:

Daily:
Booq backpack w/laptop and work stuff
Igloo soft-sided cooler with breakfast, lunch & snacks

Bike Day:
Zoot Tri bag w/work clothes, bike clothes, shower kit and towel
USPS Mail bucket w/Helmet, gloves, sunglasses, shoes, CamelBack Rocket, water bottles w/Heed

Swim Day:
Zoot Tri bag w/work clothes, shower kit and towel
Swim Bag w/fins, pull-buoy, goggles, swim caps, workouts, water bottle w/Perpetuem

When I arrive at work most days, it looks like I’m moving in for an entire weekend.

When the alarm went off at 5:15 this morning I rolled over on my left side to hit the snooze bar, and a shooting pain shot from my hip to my brain. Oh, yeah, that’s where I hit the rocks last night on the MTB ride.

I decided to skip the AM run and try to sneak it in over lunch at work.

That didn’t work out so well. So at 3:00pm I packed up for the day and came home and ran one of my usual 1hr loops.

I felt pretty good today, and the hip injury didn’t really bother me all that much. I just kept pushing the pace for the whole loop (except for the 5 min I stopped to talk to Paulie).

Lo and behold, I end up with a 6.83 mile run in 1:00:21, or 8:50 pace. Wahoo… That’s more like it..

Now it’s off for an hour bike ride with Weazer!

Got some new gear for the Hours of Allamuchy race, which is just 2 short weeks away.

I discovered that one of my JetLite batteries had died over the years. So I decided to send it in for repairs, and also upgrade the helmet light to an HID. I’m a huge fan of JetLites. Their products are rock-solid, their customer service second to none. They cost a wee-bit more but the extra coin is well worth it. These guys know their stuff, and produce top quality products.

After discussing various units with James Taylor (not THAT one, but the J.E.T that
s namesake of the company)I picked up the Axis 4400 HID.

4+ hour run time, tiny battery, bullet proof connectors and oh-god-get-that-shit-out-of-my-eyes bright. I took the unit out on a spin in the backyard and scared the crap out of the deer that infest my property.
The kit included light, charger, battery, helmet & handlebar mounts. I’m going to mount the HID on the helmet, and use the new, universal handlebar mount with my 3-way halogen Jet Lite.

I also got this cool jersey:

Anyone want to guess WHY I picked this jersey?

So I’m just about set for the race. Please pray for dry conditions for the next three weeks!

Flying Monkeys are cool!
Work-Gaffs

But Weazer will only allow one of these in the house when they start to fly out of my butt..

The light & noise show started at 3:37am. Well before my normal early morning wake-up. Next came torrential rains, that sent me outside to check basement window wells for any clogs. Fortunately, the two windows that get a lot of water were clear, and draining well.

At that point I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I decided to work from home today. I got up and got ready to do a weight workout in the basement, instead of heading to the As I get on the Nordic Trak to do my warm up, I notice some dampness on the floor. Upon closer inspection, one of the OTHER window wells had filled up with water, and leaked all over the wall and floor. Naturally, this is on the end of the basement with all the electronic treadmill and CompuTrainer. So I spend the next hour clearing out that side of the basement, moving rugs, fans and dehumidifiers into place and starting the dry-out process.

What fun.

Fortunately, there wasn’t a lot of water, and I noticed it before it had a chance to sit around and get really funky.

So I WILL be headed to the YMCA this morning for my weight workout. Assuming the basement is dry by the evening, I’ll likely do my brick in the basement. Today’s forecast is for mid-upper 90’s and +50% humidity.

No way I’m doing the 1:30 bike/:30 run in a sauna.

Just completed registration for IMLP 2008. There was a problem with the Active.com link that we were given in our on-site registration certificates. After a quick call to Active.com support, I got an e-mail with the correct link and fired off my registration.

My wallet is now $475 lighter, and I’ve got a double-barreled deadline pointed at my head.

Bring it…

I’m on a roll! Three consecutive weekends incurring injury! WooHoo.. I’m consistent!

Saturday, I sat out in the sun for WAY to long w/out sunscreen. Today I’m wearing a shirt that is the same color as my chest. Yummy. It seems like I burn myself every year.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

On the positive side, I’m not letting the burn interfere with my workouts. I did two IBSP loops on Sunday morning. The first loop was with Weazer. The winds were blowing north to south, meaning that we’d be facing a headwind on the 2nd half of the ride. I got in front of Weazer and paced her back for about 1/2 of the ride. However, she’s still a bit nervous about drafting, so she only really got about 1/2 of the effect. When I would pull off and let her lead, she’d even pick up the pace a bit. She also did a full loop on Saturday AM. 40 miles in the weekend for her!

My second loop was a hard aerobic pace. My legs still feel stiff from the wipeout, and I underestimated how much effort it took to ride the 1st 20 miles. I managed a nice 22.5 avg on the downwind leg, but had to push hard to keep the speed up on the return trip. I tried to keep my HR in Z2, but it occasionally moved up to 144-146 a couple of times. During the last 1/2-3/4 mile, I hammered all out, Z4 to the IBSP gate, and got the HR up to 171! Ouch. What I find odd about any Z4 work is how much it hurts to get to that point, but after a few minutes at Z4, the pain seems to subside. Or at least I don’t seem to mind it as much.

I got back home at exactly the 1:00 mark, average 20.4 for the loop. Spent the rest of the day napping; either on the couch or on the beach.

IMLP2008 training started today. 1st run in a long time and 1st run after the Mojo wipeout on Sunday. I thought I’d start with a goal of 30 minutes, and possibly stretch to 45 depending on how the ‘old-and-busted’ felt.

As I got started, my ankle felt a bit stiff and tight, and the shoe was rubbing a bit where the outside of my ankle was still as bit swollen, but it held up fine. Running felt like there was a bag of rocks strapped to my right ass-cheek. The bouncing around didn’t feel so good, and the glute on that side was almost useless for about 1/2 the run.

But after about 20 minutes, everything started to loosen up, and I went for the longer run, trying to keep the pace moderate.

5.1 miles, 50:08, 9:49 pace. Damn slow, but got ‘er done.

That’s one down 350-odd to go…

1st big accident on the Mojo today. We were riding in a new location in PA. The trail surface was pretty sketchy, with lots of loose, broken shale. Kinda like riding on a bunch of broken plates. About 15 minutes into the ride we were headed downhill along a narrow single track. I was in the rear, watching Biskey, Raab, Waldron & Adase cruise through the trail. Pat B was just in front of me, and I watch him flow over a small smooth rock right next to the tree. I figure I was doing 10-12 mph when (as far as I can tell) my right handgrip grazed the tree. The next thing I know I’m whipsawing down the trail, trying to fight back for control. I yelled something obscene, then hit on my right side. I yelled something obscene LOUDER as I slid 10 feet down the trail, until I came to a stop as my head hit the trail.

At this time, I’m pretty freaked out. It’s the hardest I’ve beefed in a long time, possible the hardest hit ever. As I’m trying to get my left foot unclipped, the guys came running back up the trail to check me out. After I do a mental check, I sit up to make sure that I’m ok. Everything seems to be working, and a visual check of the helmet shows no damage or even scratches. Pat give the Mojo a good once-over and exclaims that he can’t understand how it came away without a scratch.

After a few minutes we get back on the trail. I’m still shaking pretty badly from the scare, and can’t get a firm grip with the right hand. At this point, it starts to rain pretty hard, making the trail pretty slippery. I’m sliding all over the place, and have lost all confidence in my ability to ride the bike. I get dizzy when I’m up on the bike, and I end up walking over some really simple stuff. Once we get to a climb, I’ve got no power in my legs at all. I decide to call it a day.

Bob leads me and the rest of the guys back to a road, and I say my goodbyes, and head down the road. Once I get a mile or so down the road, I can feel my knee starting to throb and notice a nice knot starting to appear on the kneecap. The small bit of road riding actually helped sort out my head and I could feel the adrenaline starting to flush out of my system.

I got back to the car and started to wipe myself down to assess the damage. Most of the scrapes were superficial. The worst pain in my right forearm was just a big bruise on the muscle and not on the elbow joint. When I took a look at my hip though, I was surprised to see how big that scrape was. My entire right ass-cheek is glowing bright red.

During the drive home, everything got tight and sore, but nothing that a warm shower, Advil, lunch and a beer can’t put right.

I think I’ll live to fight another day!!