5150

I'm stuck at Newark Liberty International Airport - flight back home is delayed - so a quick blog entry ...

5150 is not only the first "Van Hagar" album but also my time (51 minutes and 50 seconds) for a 5.5 mile treadmill run this morning at my hotel fitness center. That works out to a quite slow 9:26/mi pace, but about half of the run was at a 5% incline so that definitely made it tougher.

Considering that I only got about 5 hours of sleep last night (another delayed flight coming into New Jersey) I'm quite happy that I was able to get in a solid workout at all.

SCORE!

Got a great deal on some PowerGels today. For some reason they were on clearance. (No, they're not expired - I checked that!)


$1.50 for 6 gels - that's about 80% off - no complaints here! (Actually, my one complaint is that there was only one box for me to buy :-P)

Father's Day Bike Ride

One of my Father's Day gifts was the gift of time - to be able to do a Sunday morning bike ride with Don and Wilhe. Derek was going to join us too but he did a long (14-miles!) run yesterday at White Rock Lake for his San Francisco Marathon training and his legs weren't up to it.

Rode 41.6 miles in 3 hours and 10 minutes. The first 30 miles were done in about 2 hours (about a 15 MPH average - which is not bad considering my heart rate probably averaged 120 bpm) ... then a few long breaks for the next 5 miles.

Ride Route: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://pages.andrien.com/DFWLoop2008-06-15.kml

This was Wilhe's first "real" ride on the bike. He did great - about 35 miles (on a mountain bike!) and still smiling at the end.

I ended up riding the last 6 or so miles by myself and tried to push the pace - about 19-20 MPH for that final stretch. Felt great to complete the ride because it was very hot today - around 99 degrees when I finished at almost 12:00 noon.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Neighborhood Run

Since I had a prior engagement at lunchtime, I couldn't do a long bike ride this morning, so I ran instead. 8.05 miles around my community. The weather was hot (despite starting at 6:45 AM) and my pace was slow. In fact, because of numerous walk-breaks, it took nearly an hour and 21 minutes to finish my run - a 10:01/mile pace. :-P

Hopefully over the next few months I'll be able to get back into running shape ...

This week's workout regimen was unremarkable after Monday's swim:

• Tuesday: 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer
• Wednesday: 45 minutes of an hour-long spin class (yeah, I was late) and then a 1,000 yard swim in 21:39 (splits: 10:52, 10:47)
• Thursday: 33-minutes of a 45-minute spin class (late again) and then another 1,000 yard swim in 21:34 (splits: 10:52, 10:42)

Legs Sore - Time To Swim

My legs are still a little sore from yesterday's run. I'm definitely a little out of practice in that discipline. On the plus side, no soreness at all in my knees - I'm a little leery in that area because of my past IT band problems. On the minus side, I had a little tenderness in my Achilles tendon. Nothing major, but I think I will stay away from running until Thursday at the earliest.

To give my legs a rest, I did a long swim today instead. 3,000 yards in 1:04:22.

Times for the 500 yd splits:

• 1st 500 yds: 10:22
• 2nd 500 yds: 10:31
• 3rd 500 yds: 10::41
• Gatorade break: 0:26
• 4th 500 yds: 10:32.5
• 5th 500 yds: 10:57
• 6th 500 yds: 10:52

Not quite as fast as the last outing, but still a decent swim - completing three hard workouts in as many days.

Slow Painful Run

First, the whining: I was tired from getting up early two days in a row, it was windy this morning, my legs are still recovering from yesterday's ride, blah blah blah.

Okay, now that I have that (and my heart rate monitor strap) off my chest, I will return to my normal positive outlook and philosophy - a slow run is still better than no run.

Ran 4.75 miles this morning - just a jog around my neighborhood. Took 44:07 for a 9:17/mi pace. However, I don't think I was really "taking it easy" because my average heart rate was a respectable 158 BPM. So even though my run was pretty slow because of the excuses listed above - and I even had to walk for about 2 minutes after 3 1/2 miles - it still felt good to get in some running.

The training continues.

Serious Training Ahead!

Definitely doing better this week.

It started off slow. Very busy at work so I couldn't make it to the gym on Monday or Tuesday. Settled for 30 minutes on the home elliptical trainer early Tuesday morning before I headed into the office.

Wednesday: 55-minutes spin class (Avg HR: 156 BPM) + swimming 1,500 yds in 32:23 (just a tad faster than two weeks ago). Splits: 10:48.5, 10:51.5, 10:43

Thursday: 55-minutes spin class (Avg HR: 157 BPM) + 2.5 miles treadmill run (Avg HR: 168 BPM) in 18:50 for an average pace of 7:32/mi. Solid brick.

On Saturday, I will be doing the 100K route of the Mesquite Rodeo Bike Ride. I may also run a little on Sunday morning.

In other news, I am officially signed up for the following upcoming triathlon races:

• July 6: Ironhead Pioneer Power Sprint (Denton – TWU) - http://www.ironheadrp.com/pioneerPowerSprint
• July 13: Disco Triathlon – Olympic Distance (Lake Ray Roberts) – http://www.discotriathlon.com/
• August 17: PlayTri Take On The Heat (The Colony) - http://www.playtri.com/toth2007_race.php
• September 14: Texas Man Tri – Olympic Distance (Lake Ray Roberts) – http://www.texasmantriathlon.com/

So it's a Good Thing (TM) that I'm getting serious about my training again.