enjoying the sunshine?

With some small level of certainty, I think we can finally say that summer has arrived in Seattle.  At least the sunshine has for the last week or so.  Temps in the 80's and 90's!  Asking if someone is 'enjoying the sunshine' is a typically Seattle thing to do, since sunny days are rare and if it's sunny out, damn it if you're going to stay inside and wait for rain.

As for training, we are in a taper at the moment, and no body loves a taper more than me, after all i was born lazy.   Am doing the Lake Stevens 70.3 event this Sunday; it will be my first race since last summer at Vineman!  Had a chance to ride the course last weekend, while doing my very first century ride, EVER.  Punchy, saw tooth hills requiring a fair amout of climbing, instead of smooth fast rollers.  Thinking this will be good practice for Wisconsin.  Hoping for a day in the 70's however as I'm not too sure I am ready for a race in the 80's.

Went to the cardiologist and nothing to worry about --- my biggest fear was that he was going to tell me I shouldn't race.  He did not.  

As for training:

6/21 - group ride 107 miles (Redhook to lake stevens loop) - 6.5 hrs /avg 16mph --- got very lost!  felt great at the finish though, even on the hills back up from the valley

6/23 - swim 3700 yds (65 min)

6/24 - 50 min swim 2700 meters (at lovely Colman pool - salt water, 50m on the puget sound!) and ride 20 miles

6/25 - worst ride of my life!  short fast mercer island loop but not me --- getting spooked on the cornering,  ugh!  ditched the swim as a result!

6/26 - speed work at the track:  20 min warm-up, 1.0, 1.5, 0.5, 1.75 (2 min rest between each) at 10km pace, 10 min cool down.  I love doing speed work but find I really have to concentrate on keeping the intervals consistent and not overshooting the first couple of intervals...  maintained a 7:00/mile throughout workout.  Felt great on Friday too!

6/28 - short tempo run at Alki then brunch at Matt's (aka m@) who has a spectacular view of the Puget Sound!

My freaking L.A.D.

This will hopefully be a quick one. Two days ago I had a CT scan for my cancer surveillance and all is well in that regard. However, my oncologist, who happens to be on jury duty, emailed me to say that I have a calcification in my freaking L-A-D (left anterior descending artery) of the heart, and this is unusual in a guy my age (clearly they missed the sub-title --- a fat lazy kid...) and warrants a cardiac work-up. Lovely! Just what I need --- one more excuse to back out of ironman. Btw, this is the major artery of the heart and from what I am told, it is called the 'widow-makers' artery. Figure it out. Mom's concern was that my training partners knew CPR.

So I have already seen the cardiologist, who was concerned but not worried. Now a million dollar workup will begin and I will carry-on to Madison for my race. Speaking of which, training carries on, and I promised I would post a brief update:

6.14.08 - run 18mile (2:28.50)  avg pace 8:13/mile with goal of a negative split. Successful by three minutes

6.15.08 - 45mile recovery bike ride. Best route to date: Cedar river and May Valley

6.16.08 - open water swim at Martha Lake 1.2 miles

6.18.08 - easy brick - quick 15 mile ride (20mph) then easy 1 hr swim (2800 yds)

Today - 10km tempo run - 46:24 - avg 7:44/mile  

* that's not my CT by the way

critters, wildlife and a regional delicacy

Well the day finally arrived -- my first open water swim of the year; though I'm not sure I will be heading back to Martha Lake anytime soon -- unless it is cold outside and there will be no 'huffers' on the beach taking dibs on my stuff the minute I hit the water. Seriously, the wildlife tonight was huffing --- aerosols.

No less, I was recently reading in my neighborhood's local rag that this year the muskrat population has gone through the roof, and now it's 'buyer beware' if you plan on swimming. I guess with the cold spring and late run off the growing conditions are perfect for the typical muskrat diet of cattail roots, lily roots, and stems. As well, there was a late autumn ban on trapping in the Pacific Northwest and that has allowed the populations to flourish. So now they are warning beach goers (do 'beach goers' in Washington really have a 'beach' to 'go' to in the standard sense of the word?) to pay extra attention in the calm, shallow waters along the lakeshores. Just what all of us need.

Seems folks in Erie, MI will have a good crop of meat for their next 'Muskrat Dinner' to be held at the VFW Erie Post 3295, date TBA. Here's a couple of links for anyone interested in more information: http://www.erievfw.com/
http://www.blogsmonroe.com/food/2008/01/26/eat-this-blog-muskrat-dinner-at-erie-vfw-post-3295/

BTW newsletter clip:
Notice: The renovation committee is in the process of replacing and modernizing the ceiling and walls. A handicap unisex bathroom addition is also planned.

The Gun raffle: Went well.

5-16-08: Howard is at home recovering. He goes to therapy 3 days a week. He was promoted from a walker to a cane yesterday

I think this calls for an original haiku:

furless so naked
flanked by mashed and sweet cream corn
muskrat swims no more

'100 days of greatness'

I say this with my tongue in my cheek... this is what I have termed the last 100 days leading up to IMWi.08.  I doesn't imply 'greatness' in the presence; instead it refers to how great my training will (has to) be.  Hopefully this will entail better nutrition and sleep.  Maybe I should also strive for blog greatness.  Makes me feel like a class B blogger when I look at my friend Perry's Alcatraz site.  Visit his site and you will get a day by day update --- impressive if you ask me.  I also took some heat from a couple of friends (who have a minor addiction to tri blogs about not sharing mine with them).

The weather has been 'sub-par' for training (but par for the course for spring in Seattle) so I am feeling like I haven't been riding enough.  The trainer counts but is so literally and figuratively painful.  We did a great run in Eastern Washington -the Sunflower Run.  A great hilly trail run from Mazama to Twisp.  It was billed as a 22-ish mile course, but my footpod clocked it closer to 23-ish.  Seriously, a teammate of mine commented that parts of the course were like the "hills are alive with the sound of music" hills.  Had a great paella feast afterwards... I could blog about that too - I guess. 

I swore I would never do this; that is bore people with my training of log, but I figure this way maybe some passer-by might make me accountable for the next 100 days (actually 86 and a couple hours currently) -- Dare me to train:

6.9.08 - swimming in Boulder, CO - tough one with the elevation so I swam for time (60min) instead of distance.  Too bad one day in the pool at elevation wouldn't help me out at sea level, but enjoyed the 80 degree weather and got a sunburn to boot!

6.11.08 - morning swim with endurance and technique focus - 3600 yds / 70 min.  Got the workout from "Going Long" by Joe Friel and Gordo Byrne

6.11.08 - Cross-training / weights at the gym - 60 min

6.12.08 - Late afternoon brick; it was sunny and high 60's - 100 min ride / 20 min run

I worked too late today to train, but am planning an 18 mile run tomorrow with brief swim at Coleman Pool (a Seattle treasure if I say so myself), then an easy 45-50 mile recovery ride on Sunday.  Keep you posted...

* btw - the pic was taken along the North Cascades Hwy coming home from the Sunflower run

alive and kicking...

on a brand new bike! You wouldn't believe what it has taken to buy a bike. Took me six months to and then three visits to finally purchase the bike in the pic. Well worth the wait!

Now it only has to stop snowing in Seattle so I can take it off the trainer and hit the pavement. This must be what it's like training in Wisconsin --- waiting for the snow to melt. Boredom is spelled --- I N D O O R T R A I N E R

Ground Zero

September 2007 --- I had the chance to go to Ironman Wisconsin (IMWi) to support my friend Drew and volunteer on raceday.  Madison and IMWi.07 are my 'ground zero' for me -- as this is where I lined up in the cold rain the day after the race to secure my spot for IMWi.08.  Seemed like a good idea at the time, and since I was successful in convincing a friend, Julie, to sign up, I had no way out.

The clock no longer says 365 days and since then I have paid my dues and other than six more months of training, the only thing left is to book the restaurant for our pre-race pasta feed with our families and friends.

channeling the inner.IRONman

As I start out with this blog, there is one thing for certain in my mind --- until you are the guy that crosses the ironman finish line, you are only a guy who may or may not have an inner.IRONman.

I think there are two kind of people in regards to doing an ironman triathlon; you either sit watching the ironman on TV and say, "Why in the world would anyone ever even think of doing such a thing?" or you say, "Hmmm, I could do that..."  Well I was that second guy, and now here I am, channeling my inner.IRONman. 

The clock is already ticking and the countdown nearing the six month mark.  So here it is, a journal, a blog, a corner of the www that is mine --- and maybe yours --- where I will begin to learn more about the ironman inside of me.