What an adventure:

Saturday afternoon i drove up 1.5 hours to Gainseville with all my gear to go for a long ride in Panama City. Everyone thought i was crazy for driving all the way up there just to ride 56 miles and run. BUT i wanted to ride the course (not drive it, RIDE it) to witness first hand what i'd be getting into. So i arrived in Gainseville (my buddy Carl decided to go with me and his house is on the way) and crashed for an early morning start on Sunday.

5 am we both got up, packed the car and got on the road about 6. On the way up to Panama City Carl was driving and ended up getting a 140 dollar ticket :S. We made good time up till that point, then we had to drive the speed limit! Bah.

Took about 5 hours to get up there, on teh way there ti started pouring, and the temp dropped significantly. So much so that we stopped at Wally World to get sweat shirts. Once we got to Panama City though, the rain had stopped but the temp and winds were rough. Unpacked our stuff, kept the sweatshirts on and headed out. the first part of the ride was very difficult. Carl had just gotten his aerobars and wasnt' too stable, especially with 35 mph gusts hitting us from the sides and a pretty constant head wind. He was cranking the pace at 18 mph and i knew after probably an hour we'd both blow up, so i took the lead and slowed it down to a comfortable pace. I mean, we hadn't even gone 7 miles and my legs were burning. With hte head wind, and being the stronger rider of us two, i kept a pretty solid 15 mph pace. The wind was ceaseless, but it's just like riding a long hill.

We made a turn onto a very busy highway with a breakdown lane that we rode in, then turned right onto another highway...with NO breakdown lane. This was pretty scary, not only were people flying by at 60 miles an hour, but most of them were buzzing us because they had no where to go...couple that with cross winds that threatened to put us into their path with every gust..and it was a tense day. Once we got onto 388, the traffic was a bit more sparse, and the winds died down a little bit. At the half way mark, i believe we had a 15.5 mph avg. Turning around though, i realized something...not only did we have a nasty head wind, but the roads were mostly inclines..slight, but noticeable on teh way back. The way back was much faster then the way up, i was able to keep my speed over 18 for most of the way back. Once in awhile father wind would humble me by hitting me head on with such force that i'd be reduced to 8-9 mph for a few seconds. Once we turned on the second to last street we flew, it was down hill with a tail wind, i was cruising at 22-24 mph without really pushing the pedals.

One of the things i wanted to accomplish and dial into was my nutrition on the bike. I went through 1 powerbar, adn 4 gels in the 2:52 we were out there. Plus 1.5 bottles of gatorade and 1/2 bottle of water. So i planned on 400 calories per hour, which would be 1200 calories, and ended up with about 800 total. It was cold, and i wasn't sweating, so i had to force gatorade and water down when i ate a gel or something, and my stomach cramped just a bit early on. The bar was good and easier to eat on teh bike then i thought it would be, and gels went down ez.

We got to the street where we crossed to get to Wally world where the car was, and as we crossed i moved to my right, which put me in carls way and we both fell over going 2 mph. Right in the middle of a huge busy intersection! Nothing wrong or broken, just really embarrasing. I just picked up my bike and jogged it across the street. We got to the car and changed for our run, took a short stretch break and headed out for an hour run. I started out fast...i felt good. I'd say we were going 10:15 per mile or so, until about mile 1. The new position on the bike (agressive aero for flat races) put some extra strain on my lower back..and falling made me tighten it up. So about 1 mile into the run my lower back started really hurting. At mile 2.5 i stopped adn stretched it and it felt a bit better. After that i started to slowdown, my breathing was labored, and even though my legs felt pretty good, my back was tightening up and each foot fall hurt my lower back.

Then at around the 4th mile, i hit my groove. My endorphines kicked in, my pace slowed just a bit more, i'd say 10:45, and suddenly i felt like i could run forever. It was great, unfortunately Wallyworld was just ahead and our run ended up being probably 4.5 miles. Still, i was pretty beat afterwards, then the 5.5 hour drive back to gainseville was very painful, and the 1.5 hour drive freom gainseville to clermont was just as bad. Overall the day started at 5 am and i got to bed at midnight.

Things i learned:

Overall we avg'd 17.7 mph and that was not knowing the course. In the race i'll push a little bit harder in the first half, knowing that i can 'rest' some speed on the way back as it is mostly declines. One thing that sucks is most of the roads are old tar, and tons of vibration really screw with your leg fatigue. Not much i can do about it except maybe get a carbon seatpost. I hope to avg 18-18.5 in the race.

Coming out of T2 i need to keep it slower. I tend to blow out of transition and blow up on mile one, then spend a few miles recovering. During the race i need to take it easy miles 1-8, then if i feel good, pick it up for the last 5 miles.

This 4 hour brick really gave me some confidence for doing this race. I need to do another brick in two weeks, Carl seems to think a 1 hour ride, and 2 hour run would be more beneficial. Not sure what i'll do.

The new aggressive aero position i'm in really helps me keep my power up on the bike, and after this brick, realized that it makes my back tight, but doesn't sacrifice my running muscles. I just need to get more comfortable in this new position.

Overall a great day, minus all the driving.

Yesterday it poured like water was going out of style, so my afternoon run never happened. I don't mind running in the rain but the temp dropped about 30 degrees so it was cold. Instead i went out to a birthday party and got hammered! heheh, had a slight hangover today, but i'm good now. I think i'l go for my tempo ride today and then take tomorrow off in lieu of my 5 hour Brick planned in Panama City on Sunday.

Well well well, I'm burnt like a piece of toast! I snoozed my alarm this morning for an hour because my legs would not respnod to my commands. They're just totally wrecked, BUT i HAVE to do my tempo ride today! will just take me longer to get warmed up. Why on earth am i doing a tempo ride today? Because Sunday i'm doing a 5 hour brick, and taknig friday and saturday off in lieu of that. I probably won't run today though.

So Carl put on his blog that he wants to do the full 13.1 after the 56 mile ride (the course in panama city which i'm racing in may). Well I'm calling him out! No pussin out now you son of a motherless triathlete, it's on! We're now locked into a 5+ hour brick, not including 5 hours driving up there and 5 hours back! We're going to bike his pace, and run my pace. I think it would be wise to set up some temporary aid stations on the run somehow. We'll have to figure out the logistics that weekend.

it's a bit late so i'll keep this one short: Had a productive day at work, ran 3.75 miles during lunch, then biked 1 hour ez around the lake before dinner. I can't get any swimming in this or next week, well maybe, but it'll be sporadic. I just cant' get into orlando to swim anymore, i'm waiting to get a membership at the NTC so it'll be just down the road. I'll do that when i get my first paycheck from CFT. I'll be a duathlete for the next couple weeks, filling my swim time with bikes and runs.

Today was awesome! I rolled into work at 10 am, went running at noon, left at 4 to get in my hill ride, and came back at 7:30 to finish up my work. This is the PERFECT work environment i've always been looking for! Everything is going so good.

I updated the header so it reflects all of last week. My long ride was cancelled because it was pouring so my hours don't reflect it, but oh well, theres always this week.

Today was my first day at CFT and it was a good day, got a press release done and sorted through contacts, set things up...etc. It was productive. As for training, i got really tired around 1 pm and didn't recover from it, i'm still tired. so i'm taking today off and doing a run tomorrow to compliment my hill ride.

yesterday was rainy rainy. I stayed in and did an hour on my trainer and that was it. Today i started my job and so far so good! I'm really tired right now, i think it's because i took a benedryl, i need some caffeine! doh. Going for a half hour run later.

Just got done a 7.6 mile run (1:20) around the lake. What a great run. There are some places where the road is chamfered real bad and it irritated my ITB, but after about 6 miles my lower body was numb. ANother reason it was a great run is because i ran with Julia, a very cute triathlete staying here for a week to do a clinic at the NTC. We'll be doing a bunch of training togehter, she's young (18) and so full of life it's great. She's not stuck up or moody like some triathletes i know. hehe.

After that she wanted to do a tempo ride. Ugh. Ok. 45 minutes around the lake at tempo pace, then 15 cooldown. Now i'm starving like a hostage and going to Perkins!. then getting a new chain, and a chain whip to take my cassette off and give it a thorough cleaning.

I got the job at CFT Sommer Sports! I'm the race promoter and writer/graphic artist guy. IT's going to be awesome! i go in this weekend to work out the details, but i officially start on Monday. This is the best case scenario i had in my mind when i moved here! Now i can save up some money and get a place of my own in a few months. This should all workout just fine...and also an update on my weight. I've dropped 10 pounds in the last 4 weeks, so thats good. I don't see it...well, maybe i do in my legs adn arms, but i definitely feel it.

I'm testing out my new header which will give you more info on my training. I wasj ust thinking that you really don't know what in hell i'm doing each week. So here's a breakdown that i will update every Sunday night! If i'm feeling extra zealous i'll even take a screenshot of my super detailed Tri Geek Spreadsheet stats page. It's like 2 pages of nothing but anal stuff, for some of you, you may want to see how long i train in each zone, or how my sleeping habbits and training coincide. Or maybe not. We'll see if i feel like uploading that every week. for now the header will have to do!

oh one more thing: I'm going to add stats to my page soon so you can see what i'm doing each week. I'll update it every week on Sunday. It'll have Run Bike and Swim [Miles Time] and % for the week of total exercise. As well as totals for the year.

Phew! It's 94 degrees and not a cloud in teh sky. Lets go run and ride! Did 1/2 hour run, then 1 hour hill ride. THe hill ride was supposed to be 1.5 hours but the heat was getting to me and i didn't have any water, just gatorade. The gatorade started going down hard and i knew my stomach wasn't absorbing well because of how hot it was so i decided to go home. I started drooling a bit and knew i'd be in trouble if i dind't get home soon, so i slowed it down and made it home...downed half gallon of water over a half hour and feeling much better. Now it's time for spaghettie and boca chicken!

Today was a great 30 minute run (3.5 miles) and 55 minutes in the pool (3000m) and the swim was good! The first 2000m was done as 100m repeats witha nd without a pull bouey. The last 1000 was done straight, and my second half was faster then my first. I felt good in the water, my pacing seemed ok, i didn't feel any anxiety like i do in open water. Also my last 200 meters was good because i found out i can lengthen my stroke a bit more by twisting a bit. When i utilized this, i was able to get down to 13 strokes per lentgh for my last 200m after i had already swum 2700m. Thats a good thing. I really spaced out in the water today too which is good. i got into a rhythm after about 1800m and my arms went a bit numb like my legs do when i'm zoned. I was really comfortable.

Well instead of pussing out, i ran :30 minutes (3.2 miles) and after making some MAJOR adjustments to my bike, did a 1 hour tempo around the lake at 20 mph. I feel more powerfull in the position i'm in now, but it won't yeild much power for hills. But Panama is flat! so no biggie.

So i wasn't "BOB" today, i trained and i feel good about it.

My hamstrings are still very tight and sore, and i overall feel very lethargic today. I'm going to listen to my body (my lower back is bothering me to) and not do my hill ride today, instead i'm going to do a 4-5 mile ez run, and maybe a 20 mile ez bike. That should give me close to 2 hours. Apparently my 'hard week' last week was too hard, Jay seems to think after my breakthru run, then moving, was like doing a big race...and i need a few days to recover. So today is hopefully the last recovery day cause this is getting a bit depressing.

Today i decided to take the day off. My hams are still very tight and tomorrow is a hill ride (all hams) and a run. I ate like crap and didn't love it, so i must be over it. Back on track tomorrow!

My legs are totally thrashed. I could feel it yesterday as the tightness began to set in around 4 pm. Right after i helped move Michelle into her new place. This morning i tried to stretch my hams, but even lifting my leg straight was hard to do, so i did my best and geared up for a 4 hour bike. That bike ended up being 1.5 hours for a couple reasons. One: My legs are thrashed, and i wanna take it easy considering i broke through some heavy barriers yesterday running. Two: since biking is my strength, it's not a big deal that i take a few hours off this week. Overall i ended with 9 hours of training total.

I need to do more swim practice, thats my new worry: going out too fast in the swim and bombing. I don't want that to happen, so i need to find a swim partner and swim in the open water more. I'm fine in the pool, but once i hit thta open water, i always swim too fast, my heart races...i gotta overcome whatever anxiety i have in open bodies of water.

Awesome, AWESOME SUPER run! Oh my god, i'm so high right now.

Today i decided to throw caution to the wind and go back to my old running style since i ran without pain on Thursday. Not only did i do 7 miles today without pain (I had tightness in my hip wher ei previously had pain but tightness is better then pain!) but i cruised to my old running times! Check these splits out!

Mile 1: warm up: 10:58
Mile 2: 10:28
Mile 3: 10:06
Mile 4: 9:40
Mile 5: 9:21!
Mile 6: 9:01!
Mile 7: Cool Down : 10:32

I still have my old times! If my hip wasn't tightening up, i could have kept that 9:01 pace for a few more miles no problem, i was still in my upper aerobic. Not only that but i didn't feel fatigued at all throughout the whole run. Based on how i felt, i could definitely hold a 10 minute pace for 12-13 miles. This is such good news, i was really starting to get worried that my run would be my biggest limiter, but after this run i'm really really happy with the results and confident i'll be ok for the rest of my training. My patience and positive attitude has really paid off. I tried to 'fix' my running form and it didin't work, but most importantly i kept my fitness up to the point of being able to go back to my old times. This came as a suprise ...a really pleasant one!


By the way, my newest article was posted on triathlete.com!

I helped Michelle and her roomate move today, after the move i was still full of energy while josh and jeff sorta conked out on the couch. heheh. it pays to be in shape.

Day off today...thank god. I really don't feel that stiff. I think i felt worse yesterday morning then i did today. So i'm hoping for a full recovery of energy by tomorrow morning where i tackle a 7 mile run.

No pain! no pain! finally! I ran today in my old running style (after a very difficult 21 mile tempo ride around the lake..it was VERY windy today) right off the bike. The first mile was pain free at 12 minutes, then my legs 'emptied' of lactic acid and i burned up the pavement to record a 9 minute second mile, pain free! There was some tightness there, but no pain. Damnit, iw as getting really worried that i'd have to walk the half marathon at the end of Panama City but this is a good omen! I'll see how it goes on my saturday 7 miles. If i run pain free for 7 miles, i'll kiss the ground and take off my shorts!

Tomorrow; DAY FRIGGEN OFF. and boy are my legs glad.