Back on the horse

Today I was expecting to cycle 35 miles. I did 30 and did it an easy pace. The bonk at the weekend has left me a bit out of sorts. The legs for the first 5 miles felt hollow but it picked up and by the end of it I felt good again.

New Shoes!

Well its my day off today. Thank goodness! Lately things have been a roller coaster of exhaustion. So we headed down to Road Runner Sports, our local running store. I opted to go through the whole measurement routine again as I have really ripped up my foot, heel and toes, so I wanted to see how it was going.

The measurement routine is free so you don't lose anything by doing it. Most running stores offer it in some way or another. I did started this 5 years ago and its immediately brought out benefits with no knee, hip and ankle pain. Buying a good set of shoes just wasn't helping without some advice.

Anyway as only a gadget geek can do I went the whole hog on the shoes. I got custom made insoles which I thought would maybe be another 30 bucks. Oops I got that wrong! However I went through the whole procedure and the first thing to note was I no longer need Motion stability shoes! My left foot is neutral now and the right only has a small over pronation. So I get a bigger selection of shoes and they will be lighter. I opted for a pair of Brooks as I will not wear Perl Izumi due to their marketing campaign. The shows feel awesome so I'm looking forward to Wednesday to try them out.

Bonk!

I blew it. I ran until dropped today. At 11.25 miles I just stopped, I really couldn't do it. I cant think of a time where I have had nothing left. I tried to pick it up again, even walked a half mile but I really had nothing. Mentally and physically I was done.

All I can think of is my nutritional input wasn't right. Yesterday I Cycled 70 miles and burned about 6000 to 7000 calories. I had breakfast, a bagel and energy bar before hand and about 1500 calories during. Then Dinner and some chips. I missed out lunch totally! Then today I had some cereal, diet toast and an energy bar.

I burned about 2500 calories on the run so I think I just didn't eat correctly! I had visions of running the other 6 miles later in the day. Didn't happen. The swim isn't happening either. I'm a mess and cant hold a conversation properly at the moment. So I'm hydrating as much as I can and eating all sorts of stuff for energy. The mad thing is I got up from the run and cracked open a coke (aka fat coke), boy did it taste good, then I looked a the calories. 140 calories! All I thought was "is that all", what a long way from the evil of "fat" coke. It gave me enough energy to mo about again.

So this week has been a disaster. A great cycle was accomplished though but everything else didn't go so well. Time to brace myself and get the workouts in this week. Kathleen reckons I'm over doing it with taking David to school on the bike too. She is probably correct.

Good bike ride.

I finally got a loop in today. 70 miles on the bike! I cycled out the Bear Creek trail and down C-470 and then up the Platte River trail. The Garmin stopped working for a while and I reckon I got in about 71-72 miles. The bike computer worked for the most part.

The Bear Creek Trail is nice as its shaded but its a bit bumpy. The really nice thing about it is when you hit Bear Lake park its all bike trail and no road. Getting on the C-470 trail took a bit as it wasn't sign posted.

On the water front it must have been hot or the sun was intense. I went through 84oz of Accelerade and 60oz of water! Thanks goodness for Hudson Gardens as I was able to fill up my bottles or I would have been in real trouble with 23 miles to go. I like that place a lot and will be cycling that area with my father in law. He might even like the gardens too!

I had to cycle through the Susan Komen three day walk which was a slow cycle as I kept coming up behind people. I hope they all made it!

Big news! I got the go ahead that I'm in the Ironman! I think I cycled very hard the first 10 miles as I was so exited! So time to get serious on this! Joking! I'm not sure how I could get any more serious with Kathleen divorcing me!

Go Team MacPhee

I thought about titling this "blessed" or something else but the title really covers whats going on in our house with me trying an endurance event . I suspect every other house where there is more than one person there has a similar notion. This whole adventure isnt me verus the world its the whole family!

Sometimes its hard to keep that in perspective when things are hard. Its easier to focus on the bad than the good. The Dark side is always easier - joke.

So Im going crazy with equipment needs and trying to fit everything in. Kathleen isnt getting any downtime with the kids as Im always out training. David and Isla are getting iritated as they are missing their Dad. Its tough on everyone. So lets face it, the whole family is digging in to make this happen! Thanks Kathleen.

New Songs and good swim

Well I cracked out the itunes card today and bought some new music. I ended up with Tubthumping, Eye of the tiger, Two tribes some nickelback and the Bee Gees! Looking forward to them coming into the mix of my training play list!

The swim went good. I have started getting the hang of using by hips to help kick. I can kick a length now in the same time I can swim a length! Thats weird. However I was a bit tired and nearly puked at the side of the pool. Using the hips to kick means you have to use your torso and I think I have beaten up my core pretty good this week.

1900yds in the pool.

Mind is willing but body - not so much

I did something different today with my run. I have been grinding out miles for a while now and not paying much attention so sprints. I have felt for some time that my cardio system is in brilliant shape my mind is good but to be honest the body just isn't up to it. That's one of things that bugs me about training plans is the focus on Cardio when I need the body to enable me to push the cardio.

So today I ran 5 miles that I am calling speed work, it was lactate thresholds intervals (I guess). I ran a mile a 6mph pace. Then ran the next 3 miles at 6.5/5.5 alternating every 400 meters and then ran the last mile at 6mph for 800m, 6.5 for 400m and 7mph for 400m. Its the first time I can honestly say I was sucking air at the end of that last mile. I felt I had triumphed on some massive level.

Two hours on I'm not tired but I'm still running on a massive adrenaline high. What a difference from the usual grind and the "Phew I got there mentality".

Tired

Well its been a week, almost, since I Blogged. This week has been tough. I'm having trouble balancing everything again. So here is a summary of the week:

• I tried out a bunch of nutrition options
• 15 mile run + 1.5 mile swim on Sunday
• 31 mile cycle on Tuesday, Hi cadence workout.
• 7 mile run + 1.25 mile swim on Wednesday
• Wet suit turned up from the Mall across the road from Top Gun!
  

Today I'm done. I haven't slept well all week. I have been starting at 7 and finishing at 10/11 every night and then I need down time. So it took me 20 minutes to find my cycling shoes this morning and from that I took the day off.

I'm am still really tired so I'm off to bed early and I will have a kick ass day tomorrow running and swimming.

I hit a milestone this week. 50 pounds off! That was great. I have to keep the momentum going.

There have been a couple of crazy moments this week though. I have almost decided a "Brick" in my house involves the kids. A kick ass workout is followed by some kids activity. My 2 favourites this week were a 30 mile cycle. 10 minutes down time, the cycle to the school for David. The next day a 7 mile run, straight on the bike and biking David up at school. I think its great, 6 months ago any of this would have killed me.

Good bike

I didn't sleep well last night so Kathleen gave me a lie in. I got around 9 and started preparing for my long ride. The timing stuck so I decided to do it in the afternoon and spend time with the family.

I got on the trail around 4:30 and it was touch and go getting back before sunset. I got in 60 miles. The first 30 miles were brutal with mile 20 to 30 being hard. I did cut through the wind though. I think the cadence work out on Thursday did wonders for this. The hill at the turnaround killed me too. On the way back I was going all out and realized I wouldn't be able to run the next day so with the wind at my back I coasted a bit. In fact it became hard to use high gears to coast so I dropped and found I could go slightly faster at a lower gear and higher cadence. It wasn't as tiring.

So I ran out of water again. I go through 24 oz per 20 miles. I also took along some other foods. They seemed to help tremendously. We headed to the bike shop with my Birthday money and I got a new shirt and shorts and an assortment of nutritional options. More on them on my day off.

Happy Birthday to me!

Its my Birthday so I skipped the swim and ran 6 miles 59:40. That was a great time. I got it in and the we headed out for Curry and I spent the afternoon with the family. The run is getting easier!

Bad cycle day

Well the cycle went from bad to worse. I planned on an early ride but Kathleen was sick so I pushed it back till after lunch, then thought I would help out with kids and was going at 4pm. Its been drizzly all day so I got ready pushed the bike to the front door and Boom! the start of a thunderstorm. I only had 3 hours to fit it in so I set up the trainer and cycled for an hour. I decided to cut my losses and get something in.

After an hour of high cadence I decided that was enough. Stopping early is turning out to be a good idea. My achilles heal is hurting badly. It hasn't hurt all season and I haven't been on the trainer all season. I'm seeing a connection. Hopefully its fine by tomorrow. This is why I couldn't kick in the pool so is got me a bit nervous.

The cool thing though is I could sit on the trainer for an hour. I couldn't do that in March.

Run and Beer

I managed to get in a 7 mile run today. It went well. Things were getting stressful at work and I finally got on the treadmill at the end of the day. It was relaxing.

Then it was off to a beer meeting.

I also got a different wet suit. They all went on sale 6 hours after I bought mine! So I called up Xterra and they gave me the next one up and free shipping all for an extra 20 dollars! Its getting shipped today.

Wetsuit ordered!

I just put in an order for my new cool wetsuit. Its an Xterra Volt and is sleeveless. It turns out that I need to lose a lot of weight before I can drop a size. It should be here in early September. I wont look as good as the picture. Imagine a beached whale. Hooray a gadget!

So bike and swim today as I have a meeting tomorrow night.

30 miles on the bike and it was a "fat day" I went out early this morning and the shop steward of my legs decided that 14mph was fast enough for a bit. I got the average up to 16 but I will have to do more early morning cycles as it leaves the day free and it will be where I start on the day.

The swim went well. I got 2 sets mixed up and hurt my arm by going too hard too early. I think by getting my left shoulder out the water I'm getting more power and can go faster but my left shoulder can only take 2 lengths of that. I also need to get my legs and arms to work together. On a kick set I got my 25yd record down to 35 seconds. This is what I do with my arms and legs! Some stupid woman thought it was a good idea to jump out of the hot tub and stand in the middle of my lane or I'm sure I could have done 30 seconds.

Freak out time!

OK its that time again. I'm having a total freak out about the whole thing. I'm on schedule, my spreadsheet looks good but what am I thinking! How far do you want me to go? There are 13 weeks to go! So I'm freaking that my weekday runs do not get above 10 miles, I'm freaking my bike rides wont get above 45 miles on a week day. I'm freaking as I can lose weight.

I didn't sleep well last night as I had convinced myself the swim would take 2.5 hours instead of 1.25 hours. To say I have hit critical mass would be an understatement. I think if I could lose weight I wouldn't be freaking as much but I cant and I have to increase my BP meds, not reduce them whats that all about!

I'm sure it will be fine but I guess it wouldn't be training without a full freak out!

A real day off.

I woke up groggy again today so I decided to take a day off. I'm puzzled at whats going on as I really ramped the exercise down this week. The upside to this is I spent the day with the family and got a couple of things done. I sorted out my bike and Davids bike and then got bored so I started looking at the broken sprinkler.

I didn't realise until this evening that I have had a day off with no work and no exercise in forever! Its been a good day but I'm still very light headed and at a lose end. The other thing weird about recovery weeks as they lack drive. I like to feel I have accomplished something every week and this is a week where nothing is accomplished.

I looked at a couple of alternate routes along the Platte river today too. Doing the Cherry Creek and Platte River loop is about 70 miles. I also looked at going out the bear creek trail, that's about 70 miles too. So I have some options for a couple of weeks from now.

Rubbish recovery bike ride.

I woke up feeling absolute rubbish today to the point where I had to go back to bed for a bit. Kathleen convinced me to go for my ride so I headed out from the house to Golden. It turned out Golden isn't far enough so I ended up at "The gates of hell" better know as the entrance to the Denver parks system and the start of the climb up lookout mountain (Did I mention I hate climbing).

I didn't feel better during any of the ride at all and I entered clear creek canyon only to discover its off limits to bikes! Anyway I got the 45 miles in and 2000 feet of climbing (Did I mention I hate climbing).

Its 14 miles to outdoor soccer. Maybe I could run there one day and cheer the team on.

Run, Swim, Soccer

The run went well, I was a bit tired and didn't want to do it. I took it easy and had to keep reminding myself its a recovery week and I need to recover. 6 miles in.

I chose a different Gym for my swim today as I'm tired of the shenanigans at my usual haunts. I liked it! There weren't people hanging about and the guy at the front desk was energized and happy. He even seemed to want to chat to people. I may try that Gym again and maybe take the kids too. 1550 yards in.

My Friday soccer team was short tonight as the Goal Keeper couldn't play due to his brothers wedding. Talk about priority problems. So I got to play, It was brilliant! I have to say I do miss football big time. Competing and training are 2 very different things. Anyway I got a shutout and we won 6-0. I was out of breath within 2 minutes but it all worked out. Only one idiot tried to run through me and all I could think of was "Uh oh there goes my knee". Not to worry though my knee is fine.

17.0

I cycled a great cycle today. My average was 17.0! Overall 16.8 but at my marker it was 17. That's the fastest in along time. I'm labeling it record so I can see if I get faster. What a great day. I did a slightly different route today as I'm a bit sick of coal creek canyon road.

I'm still bummed about the crank but I will get over it. Its nice not too feel exhausted this week.

Still worried on Calories but them's the breaks.

Recovery Week and compact cranks.

Its a recovery week and boy do I need it. I have been very tired the last week.

I blew the start of my bike ride today. I went out using the high gears as I can do those now without much problem. However my knee isnt up for that out of the blocks. By mile 5 I was in trouble. However I was able to nurse it and ended up keeping an average of 15mph. Its a recovery week so thats good and it was a good bit of training in case this happens on race day.

I discovered a bit of bad news at the weekend with regards to my bike. There is always the argument about cadence. I like the concept of high cadence but as I haven't done that most of my life its hard to reprogram my brain to take that into account. What I found out was my crank is a compact crank. Which means less teeth. Last year on downhill I could easily hit 40mph this year its about 33 before I run out of legs. I had thought I was dreaming but its the gear ratio.

Compact is great for hills and cadence riders however not the best for downhill top speed or from what I can tell a Time Trial (Ironman is a TT). This is where I make up my time after climbing. So I thought Ill replace the crank it was 200 for a new back cassette. Well it ain't going to happen! A new front crank is about 300-600 plus a new derailer. For the most part it wont matter in Arizona but there is a 5 mile downhill section I would have liked to go faster on.

I didn't know a compact existed. I learned something new!

Relaxing Day

So I ran 6 miles today half at 10 minute miles and half at 11 minute miles. It went well.

The swim was only 1500yds! Fantastic.

Today was a relaxing day of exercise. I'm concerned about calories this week as I'm not going at it hard. I hit 247 this week. 2 more pounds to 50 pounds!

I can definitely tell that a week of recovery is needed.

Did I mention a pit bull chased me yesterday on the bike. Most annoying.

Nutrition time

So Gatorade is my new best friend. At the weekends I'm looking for ways to stack up on calories while I exercise. So I have been asking around on this and lots of options have materialized.

Gels: They wont work I have tried that before and it didn't go well.

Sports Drinks: Well Gatorade worked really well. I might throw in some non fizzy fat coke. Accelerade has been recommended as it also contains Protein. Monster and Red Bull was also suggested but in the same sentence a new study shows 2000g of caffeine during exercise can result in heart problems. That's one can of Monster I believe.

Cliff Blocks: These look like a good option I have used them in the past and they go down well.

Bars: I have gone for Cliff Bars at the moment. This came from the days of watching calories but I haven't found a good replacement.

Shakes: These have worked well in the past so they may also be an option.

Water: Holy Moly how can I get water in and all these other things.

So I'm thinking Ill try Blocks or Sports Beans with Gatorade this weekend and a Cliff bar thrown in. That should take my calorie intake to about 1200 on a 4000 calories bike ride.

Protein has also been suggested as something I should eat before a big run or ride. So something to look into.

All I know so far is Gatorade work really well this weekend so Ill be riding the wave on that one.

Great Weekend!

A few years ago I ran a half Marathon and at the end the people cheering and just completing it put my on a high. Today I ran 13 miles, this is the furthest I have ever run! I felt good for most of it and I actually ran a bit faster. 6 miles at an 11 minute pace! The last mile was tough but as I knew it would be I made it a faster run as I hate just plodding along getting that mile in. It was the only mile my HR went above 140. All in all it was good.

Now why do I mention the half marathon? Well isn't parenthood great? This time I was greeted by my son having a melt down. Looking back on the day it makes me smile.

I decided not to do the Georgetown to Idaho Spring Half next weekend.

So I had a brilliant run but unfortunately I wasn't done...

Swim time! I swam a total of 102 lengths which is 2550 yards or just under a mile and half. That includes the warm up and warm down. Today was a Time Trial which is go as hard as I can for 1.2 miles. I think it went well. Usually the pool is empty on a Sunday night but it was busy tonight.

I am very glad I took Friday off after the run in the morning didn't go well. It allowed me to recharge a little for the weekend and it showed on all the events this weekend. Next week is a recovery week and I hear I'm supposed to push through but there is pushing through and then there is being stupid.

Something else I did today. I took down my favourite belt. It didn't fit as Christmas but now its nearly too big. I had to move the belt in 5 notches. That sort of thing put the training in perspective.

Dave and Mikes excellent adventure

A friend of mine came along for the ride today. It was great to have the company and the miles flew by. 60 miles in.

We headed through Chatfield State Park which I have never been through and thought it was a nice area. I might take the kids there sometime.

I took 3 bottles of Gatorade this time and a Cliff bar. It helped a little bit but still wasn't enough. I blew up again. However it was at mile 55 so that was a bit better. I have been asking around on different options. Gels (wont work as they are minging), Cliff Blocks (will try), Ensure (will try) and Accelerade are all things I have heard this week. Ill be looking into it a bit more for next week.

5000 Calories in 60 miles today!

Exhausted

I run 2.5 miles and my HR was 155-160. I stopped and by the evening felt very tired. I skipped the swim too.

I did go to soccer and cheer my friends on. Whatever is/was wrong with me kept me up till 1am.

Clear my head ride.

Work has been leaving a bad taste in my mouth. After what they did last week to the team in Dublin I an finding motivation a really hard thing to find. I spoke on a call with the guys from Dublin and they are still doing their job even though the VPs are, well a bunch of lowlifes. I'm trying to deal with this the best I can. This will be the second department that I have lost. In the last ten years people have left, forced or otherwise but this one is as bad as the day the DACs department closed. With the lack of bonus's, pay cuts and furloughs is this really where I want to work any more? Its a tough one, the benefits are good, the work schedule is good and I have good relationships with people but the senior leadership is questionable.

With the mood I have been in getting darker and darker due to work and lack of sleep I decided to work the day and go for a long easy ride. The goal was 40 miles and just at a tempo that was enjoyable. So mile 1 I hit and killed a Prairie dog. I was and am gutted. The poor wee thing, they always run in front of the bike. This time I took my eye off the path and boom, it was done. So that was the end of clearing my head.

At mile 5 an expedition made eye contact with me and as I crossed the junction he pulled out on me. He also had a trailer. So I told him to go so bad things to himself. I was going to go another action too but thought that was good enough.

I cycled to highway 93, there is nothing like a 7 mile uphill ride to put you in a bad mood and my plan had been to carry on and then on the way home go another route to increase the miles. I got to the top and turned round and went home. I had no real interest in any challenges after the prairie dog incident.

So the extra 1.5 mile climb beat me up a bit and I only got in 33 miles. Nuff said.

The new tempo.

Great run today. 6 10 minute miles and a warm down at 12 minute pace for half a mile. This is the new baseline for my running on a week day. This is brilliant. I'm stoked at this. The last mile my heart rate did hit 160 but overall 143.

The run was later in the day due to work but I got it in. I also have a theory on my toilet stops on the long run. I run slowly and drink too much water. When I run faster I don't think about drinking so much.

Also on the run I think I need to do more miles on a weekday. Time to do some more planning. The final plan I think.

Movie: The core. It was OK.

Swim: Holy Moly! 2000 yards all my swims are above a mile now. I'm a bit tired and I am slow, again maybe I need a coach.

There is a half marathon a week on Sunday. Its my rest week but should I do it? I don't know. I guess its watch this space.

Wind and lights

Wow! What a cycle. It started great and overall was good. I was climbing hills at a great rate. Then the wind and lights kicked in. First of all every light was Red and every junction had a car. sigh. Cars were in the mood to overtake me and then turn right immediately. Not fun. Then the wind played some shenanigans. It culminated in the last climb where I was cruising along and then at the half way stage it was in my face. It was all very odd.

I made it home just in time for my allergy appointment. The last couple of triathlons with wet suits have left me with hives all over my body so I thought it was time to address that. The Olympic had my family and friends a little concerned I wouldn't make it out the water as on Saturday I broke out after practice then I was on benedryl for the main race. Very fun.

So I went to the allergist guy. I'm slightly allergic to eggs, chocolate, peanuts and pecans. Who knew! As the saying goes "If you go looking for something you will find something". So chatting to the doc was interesting. The upshot is I have something called pressure hives. I thought I was allergic so sweat as I get it with supports, watches and belts. Seemingly that is a symptom of the pressure hives. It just means I shouldn't wear a very tight wetsuit and take some pills.

The doc has given me some plan on how to see if I can bring it on. So we will see. I'm just happy it was easily identifiable. Where I come from the doc would have said one of two things "well don't do triathlons" or "Well don't wear a wetsuit". It would be a bit chilly in Boulder reservoirs without one.

Anyway the bike ride. The last climb is weird, I have thought this for years. You get to the top of the steepest point and it looks like its down hill but you cant get any speed. I always thought my quads were shot. The GPS has shown the real reason, I am actually still climbing! Its an optical illusion or something.

Day off and new tool

I decided to log my miles better. Im trying to get all my miles in the dailymile web page. Here is this week. It wont let me report a 4 week segment and thinks a need to report a week ahead. I should have taken the picture yesterday. Ill get it right next month.




I logged 142 miles in 14 hours and burned 16416 calories. I could have sworn I was working out for 20 hours! Should I up my exersize? Im getting a nervous twitch just thinking about it.

New territory

I suddenly realized today that I'm in new territory for all my event with distance! This is great and a new challenge.

So today started bad. I had what can only be called a hangover and I didn't drink last night. I delayed running for as long as I could hoping the dull headache would go away. No joy. So off running. I can honestly say today was hard, last week was easy but today was just a chore and left me exhausted. I did get my 12 miles in though. I tried fuelling up a bit more before the run but it didn't make a difference.

All day I just wanted to sleep and never really got going. The swim was a colossal 2600yds (104 lengths). I don't believe I have ever swam that far before. I plodded through that too.

The good news is I got all my long events in this weekend and the cycle and swim were further than I had ever gone before! Brilliant. Day off tomorrow - phew.