T-Minus 30 Weeks

I am knee deep in b-school applications and way behind on updating you on my IMLP base training. This one will be short and sweet so I can get back to working on my application essays. Here's the hour breakdown below. Not a very sexy week. Just basically trying to stay consistent with a routine.

Monday - Scheduled day of rest
Tuesday - One hour on the bike on the trainer in the basement followed by 15 minutes of abs and push-ups
Wednesday - One hour on the treadmill at the gym. 6.46 miles. Followed by 15 minutes of abs and push-ups
Thursday - One hour swim. 6X500 and 8X50 = 3400 yards
Friday - One hour treadmill run. 6.3 miles. 30 minute swim. 6X200 and 3X100 = 1500 yards
Saturday - Missed day of workouts due to b-school apps. Bummer to miss workouts, but I needed to prioritize.
Sunday - Two hour bike ride on the trainer followed by 15 minutes of abs and push-ups.

Totals:
Swim: 1:30 (4900 yards)
Bike: 3:00
Run: 2:00 (12.76 miles)
Strength (abs and push-ups): 0:45
Total time: 7:15:00

Only a couple weeks left of application work. Really looking forward to having them out of my hands.

Thanks for reading.

Festivus!

In my haste to wish my friends and family a Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas, I completely neglected to say Happy Festivus!

Click here to buy your very own Festivus Pole.

T-Minus 31 Weeks

I'll start by apologizing for being a complete blogging slacker as of late! Between work, working out and the rest of my life, I've unfortunately put my blogging on the back burner.

Here's my update of my last week of training.

Monday: Scheduled Day of Rest
Tuesday: Swim - 1:00:00
Wednesday: Bike - 1:00:00
Thursday: Run - 1:29:44
Friday: Bike - 1:05:00
Saturday: Bike - 1:30:00
Sunday: Run - 1:11:09

Totals:
Swim - 1:00:00
Bike - 3:35:00
Run - 2:40:53
Total - 7:15:53

Overall, I was pleased with my past week of workouts.

The main highlight for the week was my run on Thursday. I set out to do a 10 mile run outside in the unseasonably warm weather we were having in the Northeast. Have you ever been about halfway through a workout and just decide out of the blue that it's time to drop the hammer as best as you can? That's pretty much what happened on Thursday. It was my first "long" run since the Philadelphia Marathon and I took the first five miles at a reasonable pace. I decided in my last five miles that I'd give it all I could. I ended up finishing the 10 miler with an 8:58 mile pace, an 8:20 final mile and a negative split of 0:01:44. This was a pretty strong effort for me considering my PR for 10 miles is 1:28 with some change, which was done nearly seven years ago when I was considerably lighter during my college varsity swimming days. 1:29 is also a pretty strong effort considering my half marathon time in my Philadelphia Half race in September of this year was 1:59:13. If I pushed it to 13.1 on Thursday, it's unbelieveable to think I probably would have eclipsed my race time. Progress for sure!

With the exception of my Thursday run, the intensity of my workouts has been fairly minimal. But considering this is an Ironman base building period for me, I am okay with what I've done. Right now it's all about just consistently putting in the hours and building up a solid foundation. I am proud of the fact that I've been able to stick to my workout schedule with everything else that's going on in my life right now. Outside of work and workouts I have been incredibly busy with my applications for business school (MBA) programs. All of my applications will be done by January 15, which I'm really looking forward to. One less thing to focus on.

Thanks again for reading.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas!

T-Minus 32 Weeks

My first week of Ironman base building is in the books. Overall, it was an average week. I can say with complete certainty that 7 hours of combined swimming, biking and running is a lot easier on my knees compared to the 7 hour run-only weeks that I put in during marathon training! It was a pretty uneventful week to tell you the truth.

Here are the stats for those of you who like numbers:

Monday: Scheduled Day of Rest (I haven't quite become a 7-day/week triathlete yet!)

Tuesday: 1:00:00 - My first ride on Cookie Monster (my bike) in a very very long time

Wednesday: Same as Tuesday - 1:00:00 with CM

Thursday: Back to the pool! 1:00:00 - 3000 meters (not yards) with plenty of rest built in. Just like my long delay from bike riding, I also spent considerable time away from the pool while I geared up for the Philadelphia Marathon. The workout was broken down 5X300 meters on 6:00. I was repeating these on 4:50...so plenty of rest as I said. Following the 300's, I simply went 30X50 meters on 1:00. Nothing too sexy...just getting my sea legs back.

Friday: Missed workout! Dammit. Had a last minute dinner invite, which I didn't pass up. My discipline isn't quite Iron yet...but I'm working on it. That's what this journey is about afterall...lessons learned...right?

Saturday: 2 hr bike ride with CM...by the way...I neglected to mention all of my bike time during this week was on the indoor trainer.

Sunday: 1 hr treadmill run. 6.30 miles. Followed by one last 1:00:00 indoor trainer ride on my bike.

Here's the time breakdown for the week:
Swim: 1:00:00
Bike: 5:00:00
Run: 1:00:00
Total: 7:00:00

Lots of time back on the bike was much needed after a long lay off. I am pleased with the 5 hrs I put in. I was shooting for 2 hrs of swimming, so that was my only disappointment. In terms of running, my heals and knees are still not excited about it. Following the marathon, from the knee down, my body has been a bit tender so I've been trying to ease my way back into running. Overall, I'll say it was an average week. Not great, not horrible. I'll be shooting to keep my weekly totals around 8 hrs until the New Year when I'll bump things up a notch.

Last but not least...I have blogger issues! Since switching over to this Beta Blogger version, some strange stuff has happened to my blog. For starters, right after I made the switch, my profile got erased. Secondly, nearly all of my comments went from being identifiable bloggers to going anonymous. Anyone else experience these glitches and know how to solve them?

Thanks again for reading!

What's My Contribution?

During my first week of my Ironman training plan I've been doing some thinking about this tri blogging alliance that I am part of. There are so many unbelieveable people that I've met (cyber-speaking, at least) because of the alliance. Some people in the alliance have done so much for the tri-community and ask for little to nothing in return. As I've been getting back into the swing of all things tri after a couple of long months of being very run-focused, I've decided it's time for me to give back...at least in some small way.

If there's one thing homeboy can do...it's swim. Not that I have any intentions of coming out of the water first in Lake Placid, but when it comes to discussing swim technique and workouts...I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about. I started lacing up the speedo when I was five years old and finished my swimming career with four years of college varsity swimming at a Division I program.

So here's my contribution - If you ever have a swim question, please ask away. If you don't have technique-related questions, but are looking for some new workouts, I have hundreds that I could share with you. I would love to help in any way possible. Click here for my email.

So It Begins

Ironman Lake Placid is only 33 weeks away and my Ironman training plan has officially begun! Following the Philadelphia Marathon I took two weeks off from training to fully recover. The break was much needed and I feel ready for the madness that is my 33-week Ironman training plan. Training was originally going to start today, but due my wife’s uncanny ability to score last minute Monday Night Football tickets, I decided to kick things off yesterday instead of today!

To celebrate the beginning of Ironman training I did my own little indoor Olympic-distance triathlon at my gym yesterday. 1500 meter swim (24:40), 40k stationary bike ride (1:08:46) and 10k treadmill run (1:00:00). Let’s just say T1 and T2 were very leisurely and not worth mentioning. It felt terrific to be swimming and biking again following a very long break from both so I could focus specifically on running in order to get across the line on 11/19.

It’s extremely difficult to describe what I’m feeling right now. It’s part scared shitless, part overwhelming excitement and part fear of the unknown.

33 weeks
3 disciplines
3 goals for IMLP
1. Have the time of my life
2. Reach my National Breast Cancer Coalition fundraising goal
3. Finish in under 17 hours