Recovery Week

Well, this was not a "planned" recovery week but it worked out that way. It was time anyway. 

For the several weeks I have been training pretty hard, due to 1) finally good weather and 2) I have my Olympic tri (Columbia Triathlon, Columbia, MD) coming up in a few weeks. This week, started with a hard swim on Monday, volleyball on Tuesday, light run on Wednesday, and took the rest of the week off....due to work stuff. Like I said, it was due anyway. 

In the next couple, Angela and I begin our seperate running training programs. For Angela, she will begin her 8K training program and for me I will be joining my half marathon training program. I really enjoyed this program last year, good people, good coaches, and lots of fun. Also, it falls perfectly inline with my HALF IRONMAN that I am training for in October.

Tonight, I am off to help local high school kids stay out of trouble...it is an AfterProm. I post, Prom party for kids to keep them out of trouble and off the streets. Loads of fun, but it begins at Midnight and goes to 6am. I will have to see if these old bones and still hang with the young ones.

Pike's Peak 10K

First off, I apologize to my 3 blog readers out there for not posting for so long. I promise, I will do better!

This past weekend I ran the Pike's Peak 10K. The race is run by a local running club, MCRRC and they always put on a great race and usually have great support. This race was no different.  The race began at Shady Grove Metro (real close to my house) and ended at White Flint Mall via Rt.355 - a major local road. 

The weather - For the past several weeks, the Washington DC area has skipped the spring temps - it has been in the low 40's most of spring. However, this weekend mother nature decided to bring the heat. It was above 80 degrees at the start of race. UGH! I have not had time to acclimate to that kind of heat. 

Mrs triforacure and I met a couple of friends at the race, hung out, and dispersed among our different pace groups.  There were 2 of my friends in my pace group and we ran about the 1st mile together. As we were running, I was thinking man the heat is really getting to me because I am starting to really work up a sweat. As we pass the first mile marker I found out why, 7:45 for 1 mile- a bit too fast for me to maintain. This is were my friends and I each did there own things.  I knew I couldn't maintain that pace for 6 miles in that heat....so I tried to back it down a bit. Mile 2, I think I was close to 8:00 mile, but was still struggling to keep my heart rate down.

At mile 2.5 was the first water stop, a quick gulp, splash, and go. I have really improved on my speed through the water stops. Just last year, I had to come to a complete stop, drink the water, toss the cup, and find the energy to get back up to race speed. Now, I don't even slow down unless there is traffic. 

At mile 3, Mrs triforacure stopped on the side of the road and cheering me on. Man, what a feeling! It is always nice to have support. About mile 3.5 mile I ran into another friend, Chuck. We chatted for a bit, but he was struggling a little due to the heat. I happened to be carrying a water bottle and gave the rest to him. I thought he needed it more than I did. 

The rest of the race was a struggle...mentally. For whatever reason I just felt like quiting. I was hot, tired, and felt my pace was slow.  At one point, I just happened to check my heart rate monitor and it said 169. For me, that is just a good hard effort pace. So, I said unless my HR gets above 175 I am not stopping. And that was it! I told myself my problems are in my head and not to let it stop my race. 

Somewhere between mile 5 and 6 it happened again -  a runner had collapsed just minutes before I arrived. Medics were just arriving on the scene and there was nothing more I could do. A similar thing happened last year at a half marathon, except it was worse.....that person didn't survive. This year that person made a FULL and quick recovery, very glad for that. 

For me, it was a PR (personal record)! My time was 50:44....a pace of 8:10 per mile.

Overall place 517 of 1398 

Age group place 65 of 189 (top 1/3 of my age group)

My goal for the race was just to finish. I knew it would hot and I rode 30 miles the day before so my legs were not 100%. 

Lovin the outdoors

Today was beautiful day in the Washington DC area. The weather man said it was supposed to be mid 50's - in actuality is was mid 60's. Aren't weather man great? Regardless, I was going to happy with the weather and called my tri buddy to see if I could talk her into a brick workout? Like a good tri buddy she was more than up for the workout. We began with the swim. The local pool was crazy busy! Kids, Kids, Kids, oh and a few parents mixed in. Having dealt with this situation in the past, we stayed with close to the deep end were there aren't as many kids. Had a light swim workout, 45 minutes and done.

Then on to the bike. Today was the first time this year (not this season, just this calendar year) that I have taken my road bike out. I don't like riding my bike in the cold, icy, nasty winter roads. But today I just couldn't resist. What a great day! We did a light 2 hour ride. The ride consisted of many country roads. It was really nice to get out and enjoy the day.

Tomorrow I will be running 10 miles with my local running club. The group is designed to increase my speed. I hope it works. So far, it has just increased my mileage. Either way the program has been good so far.

Needless to say I have been working out and training for my next Triathlon which is in May. And my "real" race in 1/2 Ironman in October. I will keep everyone up to day on my progress.

On the job front - I heard that there was a "offer" coming my way, but on Friday night I heard that was not the case. I don't know for sure, but for whatever reason I don't think I will get the job. That is really disappointing because it was really close to my house and a cool job. Oh well. I guess commuting is in my future.

Developments

As most of my friends know I was laid off about a month ago. The good news is that, despite the economy I have been generating lots of interest with my resume and I have my first interview (phone) on Monday. It has been a long time since I have been on an interview and I am glad the first one is on the phone...I do much better on the phone. I will let everyone know how it turns out.

In other developments I started a Speed Development Program with my local running club. We had our first meeting yesterday for about 2 hours to discuss various items, cancellation policy, weather, how to dress, and what to expect. It was a good discussion and there were LOTS of people. The program has about 300 runners this year. WOW! I have heard many good things about this program and have been really looking forward to it. We start running this Tuesday and I will keep everyone updated.

Lastly, I added my 2009 race schedule on the blog. Please feel free to follow my results throughout the year. Most of my races are local this year, so if you want to come out and cheer me I could use the support.

Christmas Redo

Yesterday my wifes family was finally able to celebrate Christmas together. If you remember from my previous blog entry my wife and I were in Texas for Christmas helping my Mom recover from knee surgery.  We cooked all the traditional foods, big turkey, potates, etc, etc....except we put a twist on it. You see, I was bored with the traditional foods prepared the traditional way. So we came up with a plan to DEEP FRY the turkey. 

Made a call to Mike (wife's brother) and he brought over his deep fryer. We first injected the turkey with a lots of cajun spice, then put more spice (rub) on the outside of him, and dunked him in the fryer. MAN, let me tell you that was the best turkey I had a quite some time. The turkey set the tone for the rest of the meal, everyone embrassed the theme and made the meal just a little different. Its was great!

Before the big feast I went on my normal Saturday morning bike ride with my neighbor Ed. Great guy, great family and kids, and just fun to be around. We headed out on the C&O Canal, we had to cut it a little short because I needed to get back to the house and help prepare for company. We biked 16 miles. Ed wanted a Coke (yeah we live large!) and there was a store about 1 mile from the parking lot. So, I said hay, I am going to meet you at the store....I will run. Ed, being a former triathlete himself took it in stride and said "ok". So, that was it, MY FIRST BRICK workout of 2009. A 16 mile bike folllowed by a 1 mile run. For the record, I was on a 7 min/mile pace (fast for me) on the run. Now I just have to get to the pool. Which I hope to do today! 

Its been a long time!

To all my blog readers out there in the blog world I apologize for my long absence.  Rather than harp on the past, I will focus on more recent events and move forward from there. Rest assured, I have been training. 

Good news - Angela (wife) had her 1 1/2 year CT scan - and the results were GREAT! She has not had any setbacks and the doctors are extremely pleased with her progress. Yay!!! She has been working hard on regaining her strength and is doing well. Angela also has finally warmed up to running. In 2008 she has competed in several (4 or 5) 5K races.

Mom has been delaying knee surgery (knee replacement) and finally in early December she decided to do it. The doctors said she would not be able to walk or drive for 3 weeks after the procedure. My brother was able to help her the first week and Angela and I were there for 2 weeks over Christmas to continue to help. I did my job of nagging her to do her exercises, drink lots of water, and eat a banana per day...all doctor prescribed. In the end, when we left she was able to walk short distances and showed good progress. 

Bad news -  in December I was laid off from my job at CSCI. I was one of the causalities of a mass layoff of 30 people. I had a sense this was coming but I thought I was not going to be laid off. However, it turns out I was wrong. I believe I have an understanding of how business operates and in tough times there are difficult decisions. Fine, I get that. What I lack the understanding of is how a business can lay off so many individuals just before Christmas, without warning, and (seeming) without remorse. In this case there was no severance pay - not one day! I am not one to dwell on those types of things; really, I just want to work. I spent some time updating my resume over Christmas and had received lots of interest but I am trying to get the right job, not the first job.  So I am taking my time.

NOW --- HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Last night we spent New Years Eve quietly with some of our friends...very typical for us. But today we ran a local 5k with our running club. It was cold (22 degrees) and windy. The course was a little hilly but not too drastic. I have not trained for a 5K before, usually the shortest I run is 10K so I was unsure how I could do. I ended up with a personal record (PR) time. I averaged a 7:39 mins per mile pace which is VERY fast for me. It is almost too long ago to remember last year when I was training in the 10:00 min/mile pace. Running wise, I am very happy with my progress over the past year. 

Next week I begin a speed development training program with my local running club. I have heard great things about this program and hope it will help me with my other races this year. Which brings me to my BIG race for next year....1/2 IRONMAN.  The 1/2 Ironman is 70.3 miles: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run. The race, called Longhorn Ironman, is located in Austin, TX. Since I was in Austin last week helping my Mom, I used the opportunity to drive the bike section of the course. It was miles of rolling hills; bumpy roads filled with large cracks, gravel, and small potholes; and pretty strong winds. Probably typical for Texas hill country but new to me.  So, stay turned for my 1/2 Ironman training. 

Birthday Weekend

Blog readers – sorry I haven’t posted in a while.

No not mine, Angela's birthday was July 13th.

Most times people are know to celebrate a little excessive for their birthday and get sick the next day (if you know what I mean?) well that is not our style but we do try to take it over the top every now and again. Angela's birthday was on Sunday but our festivities began on Thursday. After work, we went to the Washington Nationals game. We scored totally awesome tickets and we had 4 seats directly behind home plate! It was a great game that went into overtime and we were able to share the experience with 2 other friends.

On Friday our celebration continued with dinner with some more friends at Gordon Biersch, a chain restraunt that just opened in the area. We have been there several times and our past experiences have been really good, but Friday's dinner (for everyone) was just okay. That might be our last time there?

On Saturday, Angela went with a friend to a Jaycee party and I went out to test drive the boat. I had just completed several repairs on the boat and wanted to give it a run before the rest of the summer. A went boating with a friend of mine at work, the boat ran great and we had a good time.

On Sunday, we had dinner with Angela’s family in DC before the show. The show we all were seeing was Momma Mia! We saw this show a couple of years ago and Angela loved so, we went back. Again, it was a great show.

Finally, on Monday the birthday celebration was over. Wow, I need a brake from all this celebrating. LOL

Now about my training – Since I haven’t posted in such a long time you readers out there probably think I have been resting on my past accomplishments. Well, let me set the record straight….I have been working out. My main focus has been my run training. I have a been training for a ½ marathon (13.1 miles) in September. The training has been progressing really well. My run times during the run portion of my triathlon were a 10 min/mile. Now, I am running 8:45ish min/mile with no problem. My coach of the running club is a triathlete as well and invited me to bike and swim with a group of her friends. I join them for their weekly bike ride but have not gotten the courage to join them for the swim. But I have been swimming on my own. So, in summary I am still working out most days of the week and trying to stay in shape.