Week 2 of 20

Here's a recap of week 2 of training for IronMan Coeur d'Alene triathlon in June:

Swim: 6500meters
Bike: 92 miles
Run: 22.8 miles

And here's the strangest part. I swim Mon, Wed, and Sat. Swimming is usually a chore for me. Especially on Saturdays (my recovery swim) after a long ride or brick. But, for some reason, I felt myself craving the swim like I do a bike ride or run. What is going on?!?!?!? Anyway, I'll take it. It is 1 out of 3 of the events in triathlon, so doing some training is probably a good idea. :)

K and I watched the 2007 IM championships on Tivo yesterday. If you haven't ever watched those shows, I cannot recomend it highly enough. Talk about motivation! The highlight for me was to watch a guy named Scott Rigsby become an ironman. He raced with us in Couer d'Alene last year, end-o'd on his bike, and ultimately dropped out. I saw him out there running and he helped me limp through my ever-so-slow marathon. I didn't know it at the time, but after his bike crash the volunteers literally duct-taped his legs back on. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the dude had both legs amputated like 20 years ago. You read that right. A guy with no legs finished the IM world championships. If that doesn't inspire you, I don't know what will.

He inspired me to make a decision I was on-the-fence about. I decided that I am indeed going to race the 2008 Rage in the Sage 1/2Ironman triathlon. It is a tough, tough, tough course. On the website, presumably to "sell" the registration, here is the quote about the run description: "This course is sick! Nothing like it!". Thanks, Scott, for giving me the courage to go for it. I knew I would do at least the Olympic distance (which I've done before), but now I am committed to the 1/2Iron. Anybody else interested in joining me for this torture & suffer-fest? Um, I mean cool race??

1 Down, 19 to go!

So, I survived week one of training for the 2008 Ironman Coeur d'Alene triathlon. Here are the stats for the week:

Swim: 5000m
Bike: 107.5 miles
Run: 17.8 miles

As I mentioned in a previous post, the week started a little rough. But I switched my Friday off for a Monday off, and did all my workouts. I'm very happy about that! And I will be VERY ready for a rest day on Friday.

This week my bike drops down, but swim and run bump up a bit. The swim is the only sport I'm having any trouble doing the distance. I was a little burned out on following that black line back and forth last year, so I pretty much got out of swimming shape. I get my schedule from Mark Allen Online, and he is very fond of long swims, so I know I'll make up for lost time.

Feels good to be back to being a triathlete. I even shaved off my "winter coat" of hair yesterday, and now I even look the part. :)

It's ON!!!

Training for Ironman Coeur d'Alene started this week! Well, pre-training started at the beginning of the year, but the official 20 week schedule started this week. How did it start? Not so well...

First off - congratulations to the New York Giants. They earned that game and deserve to be champions. Bravo. The bad news is that K was driving, and I was really into the game and what it stood for. So, I wasn't really paying attention to how much I was drinking. Or that I really hadn't eaten much after my 10mile run in the morning. I think we all know where this is going. So, my training for this session started with, believe it or not, a REST DAY!?!?!? Not by choice, but I was in no shape to go to the pool. The rest of the gym goers would thank me for that if they knew.

So, rough start. But. There are 140 days of training. I just shortened it to 139. :) Yesterday the bike was a bit rough - flat, lots and lots of red lights. But my run was fantastic! It was a tempo run and I was fast and effortless. Very, very happy about that.

This year I'm going to be more specific about training, distances, all of it. Yesterday we rode 32 miles and I ran 5 miles. Here we go!!!!

Super Sunday

I love the Super Bowl. It's the one time - EVER - that we look forward to commercials. It's the one time all year that virtually everyone watches football. And, invariably, we all try to gather with friends and make the game an event.

And this year, the Patriots are trying to make history. I have been a Pats fan since I knew what a football was (I grew up in New England), so I'm looking forward to watching the game more than ever before. I was there in 1986 when the Bears destroyed the undermatched Pats. I was there through years and years of dismal, horrible seasons when the once great Celtics were terrible, the Red Sox couldn't win the series, even the Bruins sucked for awhile. I even have an old school, old logo Patriots jersey tucked away in a box somewhere - you know, the one with the minuteman in a football uniform and stance. It would never fit, so I'm not even trying to look for it. :)

So, love them or hate them, you need to let us die-hard fans enjoy this time. The last few years have been a fantastic time for a fan of Boston/New England sports. After decades of heartbreak, the flood gates of success have opened. Good luck, men. You have a chance to do something the announcers called "impossible" every season I can remember. And, as I get close to 40, that's quite a few seasons.

We're going to Big J and Momo's house to watch the game. Or, as it's also known, enemy territory. Big J called while I was on my run this morning already talking smack. That's okay big guy, the Giants are a perfect opponent. They earned their way to this stage. They have played brilliantly. They deserve to be where they are. It's going to be a great game...

Blissfully Unemployed

Okay, I have to say that my new lifestyle is hard to beat. My newest term: Blissfully Unemployed. And unemployable, but that's a topic for another day.

Without distractions like, oh I don't know, a job, it's a lot easier to fit all my workouts in! I've discovered that I'm more out of shape than I thought, but consistent workouts should help that problem disappear fairly quickly. I have managed to shed about 5 of my holiday pounds, so I'm already a third of the way there. Of course, they'll get harder now, but that's okay.

As we round out the month of January, I'm definitely starting to settle in to the new routine. And I like it! It may have been crazy to leave my business when I did, but it was very clearly the right move for me to make.

It's hard to believe, but training for IM Coeur D'Alene officially begins next week! Crazy. 20 weeks and counting. I will have to ask K to help me figure out how to post my workouts/log. She's got the tech side pretty dialed in.

Speaking of that, I realized we accidentally happened upon a masterplan for training! See, we gained a bunch of weight over the holidays ( and my hernia recovery). So, we've been riding "heavy". And man is it HARDER!! Then it dawned on me... We are creating our base fitness carrying (for me) 10 extra pounds (after losing a couple). Once that drops off, we'll be stronger, lighter, and faster! Brilliant!!! Wish I could claim it was intentional...

Life Goes On

So much has happened since my last post that I don't know where to begin. Consider this a sneak preview for the next Word Of the Week at allthingstriathlon.com, which makes its return very shortly.

On January 1, at 12:01am I sold my half of my business to my business partner. I'll save some of the reason why detail for the Word of the Week, but the ultimate result is.... I'm unemployed!!! By choice, but it's still a big difference. See, I'm used to working 8-6 as just a normal day. More when we were busy. Then, trying to train on top of that. Those of you with kids may consider that a vacation, but I found myself always behind and never getting anything done right. I have a lot of respect for everyone keeping anything close to this (or busier) schedule. K and I returned from our Mexico adventure on Jan 6, so I've now had about 2 weeks being on my own. And I can train...whenever I want. It's fantastic. It's perfect... well, almost. There's that whole "no income" thing, but we'll save that for another time.

If you've read any of K's blog, you know we, um, really enjoyed ourselves in Mexico. And I can't decide if I'm ashamed or proud of the fact that there are like 20 pictures of me taking a tequila shot while wearing an IronMan shirt. Don't get the wrong idea, not all 20 were on the same day, and I brought a couple shirts, but still.

So, once we got back it was time to get back to training. Not "Rock Star Apprentice" training like Mexico; triathon training. And it couldn't happen soon enough. I've gained, ahem, like 12 pounds, and it shows. First week back - 2 swims, 1 bike, 4 runs, and crunches/abs 4 days. Week 2 (barring something weird this weekend) 2 swims, 2 bikes, 4 runs, and crunches/abs 4-5 days. Strangely. Surprisingly. My body is happy to be enduring this "discomfort" during my transition from alcohol-soaked Shane back to IronShane. I feel like myself. Vacation was fantastic. Unemployment seems to suit me. And I'm back to training. To quote a very good friend's catch phrase "Life Is Good!"

Shane

PS: For those that remember, I seem to finally be past all my hernia-related issues. That was the jump start to the weight gain, but it's more fun to make it sound like it was all from our trip.

PPS: For those of you that are going to send K sympathy letters about her deadbeat husband, I have more going on that I'm letting on. Although it is true that I don't have an income at the moment, and no intention whatsoever of ever having a j-o-b again, it doesn't mean I'm not working. As projects are closer to launch, I'll let you know more. Fun, exciting times are on the horizon.

Getting My Mojo Back

It's been awhile since I've posted, but things are getting much better. I'm getting my mojo back, baby! Just working too much and it's getting in the way of training. I've been working out 3-4 days per week, mostly running, so I'm starting to feel like myself again. Time to start ramping up for base training for IM CDA in June. Can't wait!!



I will try to be better about updating more often. Now that I can run/swim/bike again, I'll have a lot more to say!! One thing for sure, I absolutely love my tri bike. Not so sold on my road bike...


Shane