32 Weeks!

It official, the Ironman training started today. Well, the official training for it anyway. I had been keeping up some semblance of training over the winter but today was the first day in a long while I took a look at my plan and said here's what I have to do today.

I'm going to miss the off season just a little bit. I didn't accomplish quite all that I wanted but that's okay. I got some much needed rest and recuperation and that's huge. Here's what my January consisted of:

Bike:	8h 09m 14s - 155.79 Mi
Run:	5h 42m 32s - 31.88 Mi
Swim:	15h 37m 30s - 46750 Yd

Not nearly enough biking, but I hit the swimming hard again and it's really paid off. My local tri group started training again and both coaches and others have commented on my speed gains. Nothing like a few good compliments to bring a smile to a guy's face. That month of run volume looks great in comparison to last month's measly 4 miles too. The hip continues to get better although I wish it would get better much faster. I want to run fast again!

Today was an effort at rectifying January's low bike mileage. I started the day off with a 2 hour session on the trainer which accounts for 25% of this months mileage. Yeah, I was slacking and I butt knows it too. Ouch!

So, 32 weeks till the big day. I have a feeling its going to go very, very fast.

The Great Outdoors!

Man, I love running outside. I just wanted to let everyone know that.

When I got injured in November I had to stop running for a few months and even when I started up again the doctor's orders were to stay on the dreaded treadmill. I complied, grudgingly, however my recent trip took me to warmer weather that was impossible to resist. I sneaked (snuck?) in a couple of great, pain free outdoor runs and upon arrival back in Iowa I thought I might as well resurrect the outdoor workouts.

I prided myself on the fact last winter that I only let the unpredictable Iowa weather keep me indoors only once. If I did that last year surely I can do it the last month or so of this winter, right? Apparently not. A nice ice storm coated about a 1/4" of ice on everything the day I returned. Treadmill. The weekend warmed up though and enough of that ice melted to allow me to get out. I didn't even have to layer too much. Okay, back on track.

Then Monday rolled around and a literal blizzard blew through town. They even closed down pretty much the entire north south interstate of the state. Treadmill. But today, today I made it out again. Still a lot of snow on the ground so it was a slippery slidy sort of run, but the kind that I've really really missed in a sick and twisted sort of way.

Needless to say I'm looking forward to getting out again this weekend when the temps get down in the single digits. Did I mention I love running outside ;)

Vacation!

So just one final obstacle remained before I could conclude that my off season is officially over. And what an obstacle to have: vacation! As is becoming tradition in January I took my annual pilgrimage to a state with much better weather than Iowa that my sister and her famliy resides in. For the third straight year it took me to California, although this year instead of sunny, warm San Diego I got mildly sunny and warm and slightly rainy San Fransisco. Still not a bad deal in my book.

It was my first visit here so I did plenty of touristy stuff upon arrival. We spent an afternoon at Pier 39/Fisherman's wharf. I got to see Alcatraz which was pretty cool considering I will be swimming from there to shore come May. It was a little intimidating, especially when, as we were passing over the Golden Gate Bridge, my brother in law pointed out a small sailboat that was struggling in the current. I get to swim across that? Grrreeeat.

It was great to run outdoors a little bit and my hip handled it okay. We also got in some great hiking through Muir woods amongst the giant redwoods and I got to jog around the Stanford campus where my brother in law is doing his fellowship. Man, what a beautiful campus. The only thing that I was slightly disappointed in with the trip was that I babied the hip while playing with my niece and nephews. Usually there is a lot of running around and roughhousing and whatnot, but I tried to err on the side of caution and tone it down a bit. We still had a good time and I spent enough time with them to get my yearly shot of birth control. No kids in my future ;) (Sorry Mom)

As always the trip was too short and I was welcomed back to Iowa in the midst of an ice storm. The good news is I'll be back in San Fran in just a few short months to take on Escape from Alcatraz. I can't wait!

Meanwhile its back to training here. I am in desperate need of reacquainting myself with my bike. That is the goal this next week before the "Official" training plan starts.

In other news, I wished myself a happy 29th birthday today with a tortuous little workout. I ran for 29 minutes on a treadmill and followed that up with fun 29X100yd @ 1:50 set in the pool. That set was much harder than I anticipated it would be. Good times :)

Progress!

Progress. It's seems like so long since I've seen any semblance of progress in the running department. Sidelined by bursitis since the beginning of November, the weeks ticked by with little perceivable improvement. Well all that has changed in the last few weeks.

Lately, I have managed a few test runs with no irritation. The doctor gave me the green light to start on a run/walk progression. Today was a particularly great run and I have had to forcibly make myself adhere to the run/walk plan outlined by doctor. I'm sore, but not anywhere near the area of the injured hip. Having to recondition these running muscle is going to suck, but I've got plenty of time to do it.

Part of the plan is also keep to the treadmill, which I absolutely abhore (not to be confused with adore). Although I may be violating that rule when I head to California on vacation in a couple of days. Trails there will be calling my name with their siren call and I doubt I will be able to resist.

After vacation it will be time to get serious about this whole training thing. Official ironman training will kick in around Feb 1. Once I get a training plan written up (seems like a good use of my time on the flight) that date will get firmed up. I'm excited to get training again. It's been a long off season, and a much lazier one than I ever anticipated

Bye Bye 2009

So I realize I probably should have made this post on the first of the month/year/decade but I figure I'm getting it in there before the first week is up so that's got to count for something right?

2009 has come and gone and a lot of good things transpired in that year. I won't go into details on the race season since I did that a few post back. Instead we'll just take a peak at my training numbers and then head forward.

So here they are:

2009 totals
Bike:	192h 20m 12s - 3612.89 Mi
Run:	134h 27m 59s - 1029.57 Mi
Swim:	108h 41m 26s - 318543.2 Yd

I could do some fancy mathematical comparisons about how biked across the US or how I ran from here to Utah, but I'm half watching the Fiesta bowl, half napping, and half surfing the internet. Yeah, I wouldn't trust my math now either ;)

But looking ahead there are some new and interesting things on the horizon. Before I even get to the tri season I've got to make sure that I am healthy. This is definitely a new facet to my training that will require extreme patience on my part. I am slowly easing back into into running this week and am cautiously optimistic that things are going to get better.

Next up, will be a unique experience out in San Francisco with the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon. This might be a once in a lifetime shot at this race so I might as well make the most of it and enjoy it.

Then of course there is that little Ironman race at the end of the year. I'm really looking forward to training for and racing that puppy.

Yeah, I think its safe to say that 2010 is going to be an exciting year for sure