4 RACES IN 4 WEEKS

     Yes! The time has come for a day off. My 2nd day off from training in 2014. And its a great one!. I got to sleep in, drink lots of coffee on the front porch with Jen and make a great breaky. Then watched a movie all before 10am (I didnt really sleep in, but i did wake up without an alarm).

     Anyway, so my races. 5k, duathlon (5k run, 20kbike, 3k run), Sprint Triathlon (350m ocean swim, 1.5mi run, 14mi bike, 1.5mi run, 350m ocean swim), and an Olympic Triathlon (1500m swim, 27mi bike, 10k run) - All done in 4 weeks. Results - 1st, 3rd, 6th, 3rd. And a tri earlier in the year is my 5th one. That was a 1st overall.

Yesterday's race recap was a doozy!

     I woke up at 3.45am. The weather was 41 degrees. I did my pre race prep and headed out the door. The drive was over an hour to race cite. I arrived to sign up for the race (waited too long to pre-register)  and was NOT FEELING IT! It was freezing. I was physically tired. I called Jen and told her Im coming home. Its too cold. She then gave me a pep talk which changed my mind along with me seeing Jimmie Johnson (the NASCAR driver) out there doing the race. I refuse to let a NASCAR driver be tougher than me. ;)

So I signed up and got my transitions ready. 

Swim - Felt great. The lake temps felt good compared to the air temps and the lake calmness was refreshing after last week's ocean swim. One guy went crazy in the water and was gone from the gun. Come to find out, he went to the Olympic Trials for the 1500m swim. He killed me. But I was 2nd so that was awesome!

Bike - Freezing! Way too cold the first 5miles but I figured everyone else had to endure the pain. I got in a rythym and limmited the damage on what is my weakest leg of a triathlon. I had the 13th fastest bike which is not good but not bad. 

Run - I felt slow. Flat out. Slow. Come to find out, I end up having the 2nd fastest Run time of the day as well which was great. A couple athletes got lost on the course as did I, and some really paid the price. It was confusing thats for sure. At the end of the day, I am very happy I raced instead of driving home and taking a 2 hr ride at 5am for no reason :)

Thats it in a nutshell. Morale of the last 4 weeks:

There will be times when you doubt yoruself; Times when you dont want to do something even though you know after it you will feel amazing, but at the moment it just doesnt seem worth it. 

Split deicisons in our life could be the key to our future whether its take a job in a different state, send that email to your boss, say those 3 words to a girl, go back to bed or get your workout in. For all these decisions, asking help from God is probably not a bad thing ;)

Alright, here are some pics of the last 2 weeks. :)

3 WEEKS OF TRAINING, LIFE, and PICTURES

Hello!

I love pics. Simple as that. I feel like they tell so much more and are far more exciting than paragraphs. So below are pics from my last 3 weeks. Life has been good. 

I did lose a Coach and Mentor back home who was too young to die, but I have come across many of those situations in my life already and I'm just 26. I have learned that crying and always thinking of them is actually a Great thing. Why not keep those memories.. Don't ever let someone tell you otherwise. 

Swim: Swimming is going great!!! Just feel like a fish in the water (I'm not by any-means - rather slow compared to a fish) 

Bike: Last week I biked 200 miles.. That was awesome. Feeling fit but definitely need to get faster.

Run: Ran a 5k on my birthday in which I won. It was local and thought why not give money to our small town. Come to find out, no one showed up and I won. I ran 2 miles fast then slowed on the 3rd mile. That makes 3 races this year: A Triathlon (1st Overall), A Trail 5k Race (2nd overall), 5k Road Race (1st Overall)

I hope the streak continues. Time to do some multisport racing!

Strep Throat Excitement!!!

Sometimes, looking back isn't such a bad thing.

My 3 azalea bushes are blooming !

Time for a Workout w/ my Pace crew

Not too thrilled for the cold temp waters

First meal with fresh food from our garden!

I thought this was a cool photo of my front porch.

It's Spring Time! My backyard is coming around (Proud Owner)

I do this alot before a workout. Make a Latte and hang out side... I always try and slow down life.

She is my Good luck charm. Not just with Racing. With Life....

Front Yard- Yes- yard work is my hobby!

Everyone wanting to ride 53 miles with me on my Birthday- Pretty cool! ;)

TRIAL RUN

     My friends, I have some advice for you. We all have a main or "A" race for the year that we are training for. We normally have a 12-16 week training plan and we go by it religiously. Let me help you out, please enter in some races before that Main race. Training is good and definitely preps you for your race. But training does not prep you on the other factors that happen during race day.

     For example, I did a local trail race on Saturday. Nothing near what my Main Summer races will be, but it was right near my house and I had a hard run workout scheduled for the day so I said "Why Not?". Well sure enough, I learned something. A big Something. 

     My Heart Rate at the start of the race was 20 beats faster than the normal start of any workout I do. My Max HR during this race was 13 beats higher than my max during any of my workouts. What does this mean? My body was just introduced to a new variable and unfortunately- it happened during a race. This is what you don't want to happen during your Main race. 

     I know a lot of people running the Boston Marathon. They could be in for a long day if they have not prepped for the first 3 hours before the race where you are just sitting in a grass field with no shelter in what could be some frigid temps. This doesn't mean they should do that exact thing on a training run, but I would highly recommend them being awake 5 hrs before one Long run to make sure their body is use  to that. Does that make sense?

     Don't Let the day of your Main ("A") Race be the first time your body experienced something. Push your body during those training workouts (a select few) or do local races so you know (somewhat know) what to expect on the Big day of your Main Race.

     Oh, and even cooler- as I always do with endurance sports- I related this to life. Why not go through trial runs with events in your life before just jumping in? It might work out it might not but at least you wont be surprised in the end. 

One Fun Race!

G

VOLUME - TRIATHLON TRAINING - GIVING THANKS

Hello!

     Ah, another week in the books, another week to be thankful for, another week that made me stronger, another week that exposed more weaknesses in me, another week to prep for the oncoming week.

That's exciting!

     I first want to give you this tough quote from the Bible. I see on social media alot of name calling or boastful comments, especially during the NCAA basketball tournament (I just like to sit back and read these comments :). Its a game people. No need to get mad via Facebook or twitter. Plus, there are sooooo much to be thankful for, and remember to give the thanks to God- dont boast about something that doesn't belong to you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 - In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Simple blog this week.

Swimming:
     PR'd in the 200yds on Friday. That was cool. Also had a really good 5k swim workout on Wednesday. So good, that after it, I laid on the bench in the locker room and was thinking about calling for help to come pick me up. Now THAT is a good workout!

Biking:
     Volume, Volume, Volume. Aka alot of miles, miles, miles... My body needs/ has to get comfortable going fast on the bike for a long time. Rode a 3 hr ride on Saturday with 2 really good friends. I like to ride to meet one friend, then we ride to meet the other. That really helps me break up a long workout. Plus, it was 70 degrees for the ride! Who wouldn't want to be outside in that weather.

Running:
     I had 3 really good workouts this week and the other 3 runs were easy runs to help my body recover. The Skora running shoes have been amazing this year. I cant believe how tight fit they are and that I love. They also are light which has helped lower my times. After a 30mile bike today, I did a 10k run with 2x2mi tempo efforts after. That was some good stuff.

Anyway- that's it on training.

Also, I had an amazing cleaning/productive session to end my week tonight. I dont know about you but that is how I like to start my Monday morning. :)




   
Go Gators! (but im not hating on other teams- they are all very talented, way more talented at basketball than you or me)

G

The U.S. National Whitewater Center was Jamming Saturday

After Jen and I ran, we people watched while eating and drinking. 

The trails there are Awesome!

The farm next to me where I take Sox to play. It looked awesome that day!

Just making Shadow Monsters with a 5yr old. No big deal!

My buddy had this made for me. And 2 others! I love them...

THE BAD AND THE GOOD - TRIATHLON TRAINING/BIBLICAL

     I read this week about the story of Simon Peter. Whats cool about him is that Peter is the name God gave him. Jesus called him Peter when he knew he was going to be good, but called him Simon when he knew he was going to be Not so good. Maybe betrayal here, kill someone there. But anyway, I was fascinated by this story of a man that while all hope could be lost, God still saw the Good in him as he does in us.

That being said..........

The Good:
Swimming- A new milestone was hit last week. I did a workout with intervals that I was never able to do before. That really excited me. I Have also been able to either swim at lunch or before work every work day so that is AMAZING!!!

Cycling-Starting ride more and more outside which is always fun. The sun, the colorful trees, the wind, the horns honking, coffee stops, etc. But even better is that I am feeling more and more comfortable on the bike which has always been my weakest. I am determined to prove this year that I can hang with the Best on the bike as well.

Running-One of my workouts that I was very pumped about was a 5mile run after a 15mile bike, but the run was suppose to be easy. That was until my friend Chris decided to send me a video of an amazing finish last year in the World championship that really pumped me up. So I ran the middle 3miles at 5.49 pace and the last 2 of those at 5.37 pace. It felt comfortable which was great considering it was suppose to be an easy day


The Bad:
Work- I love work sooo much, but being Tax season- this is when I am busiest. But I always look at it as a challenge and tell my self if I can still train day in and day out on top of work- then I can do anything (I know I cant do anything but I like to think so :)

Anyway- a solid 2 weeks of training. Had a blast, and very thankful for every breath I am able to breathe.


Now- Pics from the last 2 weeks.

My Pain Cave

A Run Workout at 5am (I Look Scared!)

Oatmeal (Yep,I took a pic)

Fun Tuesday Night with Jen

My espresso shot I take before my 5am workouts

Yep- We devoured that! Made by Jen

Sox is too Big!

I can not be the only one that does this the night before

HIGHS AND LOWS

     I read the story of Elijah today and realized how easy it is for us to experience the High's of highs and then immediately after the Low's of lows. That's normal. "Man, what a great morning. I swam. Coffee was amazing. The sun is out." 1 hr later "I have so much to do when I get home, I have so much to do now at work,I have to get an oil change, this never ends!"

     I also realized, that if you put life in perspective and expect these lows and greet them with open arms. You then just will see that its a blessing to have those types of issues or situations welcoming you any moment of your life.

     Any-who, The story of Elijah helped me see that with his bold comment to the King and Queen, and his High of winning the Battle, but the Low of hiding in a cave.

     Ok. On to the recap of the training week. Before that, I must say this weekend was perfect. On top of training (below) we planted 3 azaleas, 2 hydrangeas. We (She) set up this really cool garden idea she found on pintrest. And now have 4 bird feeders in the back, one blue bird home, and a.. squirrel feeder???

3 azaleas and 2 Hydrangeas ready to be planted

Just taking advantage of the days that are giving to me. That's all.

Training Recap:
Swim

- pumped. A great 2nd week into training. My training in the winter is already showing during these early training weeks. My lunch break on Thursday, I was able to get 4,500yds in with 1,600yds at a pace faster than race pace. That was a pretty exciting moment after the swim

Bike

- 3 rides outside, 4 rides in my gym. The weather here in Charlotte is on and off and I have not toughened up yet to ride all rides out side but it does help keep my Heart Rate down on the easy workouts. Its amazing though how much wind can change a workout. Truly makes you stronger when you go outside on windy days.

An amazing day to ride the bike..

Run

- definitely a great run week in terms of speed. I did a 4x1k workout on Tuesday after a bike workout. My fastest 1k was 3.12 so that was sweet! The only thing was my rest was alot but that's because its early on into the training block. Rest gets littler and littler as the weeks go. Then 2 tempo runs that I was able to keep my HR at 170 which is right where I want it on tempo's. Today, I did a 9mi run and wanted the HR at 155 which means really easy. I avg. 7.29 so that was cool. It spiked only when a good song came on my iPod and I had to sing aloud. I had to!

My pacer is ready to race...

The Sunset and the Tree made for a perfect photo opp

Have a good week!

G

SHOE REVIEW - MINIMALIST SHOES

So I have been running in minimalist shoes for a while now. I love how it keeps you from being a heel to toe runner, and forces you to run by having your mid-to-forefoot hit first. I love how light they are, and the snug fit.

But, one company in particular has the shoe style that I love. Skora ( http://skorarunning.com/ )


Here are my reviews of 3 pairs for them:

Base:
- Light, alot of breathing, great for triathletes since its a Velcro tie instead of shoelaces. I use these after bike workouts and love them. Plus, with wet feet they still slide on.

Core:
I use these for easy mid runs. 4-6 miles at my easy pace. They feel amazing and really snug to your foot.

Going out for an easy run with the pup.

Fit:
My favorite! Man, these are the all-in-one shoe really. I have posted my fastest 1k time in these shoes and hope to post more PRs this year in different distances. I have also ran 8miles and felt great after the run. Im thinking about putting Yanks (elastic shoelaces) on the shoe and use them in Triathlons; to see if I like them in a race better than the Base. I doubt it though since the Base is really built for wet conditions.

Just finishing a Speed workout, stretching the calves.

Anyway- hope this helps.

G