I’m on a boat!

Okay, I'm not on a boat, but i cant get the song out of my head.  If you haven't seen the SNL skit with Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and T-Pain, you should watch it.  *PARENTAL ADVISORY, it might be offensive* 

Anyways, boats float on water, which must be a nice characteristic.  I don’t float, thought i really wish i did.  The past week has been fairly swimming intensive.  I've ridden semi-consistently for the past month, and running is a fairly regular activity.  However, my swimming has severely dipped off.  With my first tri of the season coming up may 10th, i figure its about time to take a crash course in reestablishing my stroke.  The first two or three days in the pool were a FAIL, as to be expected.  My breathing was way out of rhythm, arms weak and inefficient, and my could not keep my head low in the water.  Long story short, these few days SUCKED.  When swimming is work, it isn’t any fun, for me.  I tried my best to not fight the water, but i knew that's all i was really doing.  Anyways, after 6 swim workouts, i think my learning curve is finally going up.  I am no where NEAR where i need to be, but I'm not struggling to swim the whole workout, which is a plus.  Fortunately, i work at the YMCA, so swim instruction, as least at a basic level, is readily accessible. 

So that’s a quick summation of my last week..two 30+mile rides, and about 3,500 yards in the pool.  Today calls for a 60 minute run, which i will knock out once i get out of class, and i plan on going back to the pool tonight, not to exert myself, but simply to try to log as much quality time in the water as possible in the next two weeks.

Hope all of you out there…(all 5 of you :-D) are doing well.  Its full training season, as least for me, as classes are winding down, with only exams standing between me and a summer full of, summer school.  dang.

much love,

peace, love, chick-fil-a

T

In case you were wondering

NBC is showing coverage (not live) of the Ford Ironman World Championships 70.3   This show covering the half ironman, should be sick.  It comes on today at 4:30 on NBC.

just thought id share, DVR rocks

Iron Gate Winery Time Trial

Could have been titled, Sure, Why Not?

This was more of an impromptu race.  I found the flier at a local ice cream store, and decided it might be fun.

THE RUNDOWN:                                                                         10.5(6) mile time trial in Mebane, NC put on by Chapel Hill, NC cycling team TriCyclists.  This was a more professional race than anything I've done before.  There were many Cat 1&2 riders there along with a whole bunch of 3-5’s. Alas, there were are few of us “citizens” rounding out the remaining participants.

Not much of a story to tell.  I was one of probably 20 bikes there that did not either have full zipps or a rear disc wheel.  Let’s be honest, i was lusting for the better part of an hour.  I waited in line, my time came, rode hard, rode aero, and rode pretty well.  There was a really young kid in front of me on what I’m guessing was a 46 cm bike..if that’s possible…with a zipp setup.  My two goals today were to make sure i passed him, and attempt to keep from getting passed by anyone else.  I caught him at the top of the first climb, road a few lengths behind him for about a minute as i waited for my hear rate to come back down, and then engaged the slingshot, passing my young competition.  I feel like a jerk writing this, but having a target in a time trial makes life so much better.  At about mile 9, i failed my second goal, as a guy who started 4 positions behind me, meaning 4 minutes behind me, came flying passed me.

Interesting side note..i uploaded the course from mapmyride.com to my Garmin 305, and FAIL!!!  My Garmin told me i had a mile left, when actually i had 2 miles left.  When i look at my speed graph, you can tell an obvious hike in speed, followed shortly by an O $#!+, a slowing, and then a true sprint about half a mile later.  If i can figure out how to get this graph out of training center, I'll put it up.  I'm guessing i should switch to sports tracks.  We’ll see.

Anyways, at the end of the day, I averaged 20.4 MPH for something around 31:40.  It could have been anywhere from 31.10 to 32, as i didn’t stop my Garmin when i should have, and the course was not exactly 10.5.  I was told it was a little bit over 10.6.

Long story short, it was a lot of fun, I actually stayed in aero the majority of the time.  It was a lot of fun, and in other news, I WON MY AGE Group.   I’m not telling how many people were in my age group though ;-)

i leave you with more FAIL:

(www.failblog.org)