Well today I planned on doing the whole tri, and I got close. I think the 5 hours of restless sleep and hangover this morning may have hurt the progress. However, I did get the 400 m swim in, then I took a break to get my BF % measured and then went to the treadmill for a 1.5 mile run on incline 1 7.4 mph, then a 13 mile bike on rolling hills level 9, and then tried to get the last run in, but only completed about .6 mile and called it quits for the day.

So here are the numbers:
400 meters-9 minutes flat..something I’m really not improving on.
1.5 miles -12:17
13 mile bike-37:12
then the other .6 was in like 4 or 5 minutes because I fluctuated from 7 mph to 6.4 and then quit

The BF% is 10.4. I know that isn’t correct, but it was measured the same way it has been the previous 2 times. So that is down over 2% points since the last time and about 5% points since May. As long as they are consistent in the way they measure, then I can tell if it is going in the right direction. I was actually pleased with it since I haven’t been able to lift a whole lot for the past 3 weeks or so.

I’m out and I didn’t gain any weight from last nights adventure. I was 161 in the gym, and yes I have hit a plateau. I have been at this mark since the 1st week in July, but it could also be the bad weekends and times like last night that keep me around it.

Friday- I went ahead and edited this post this morning to include what I did this morning. I went running in my neighborhood, approximately 3.2 miles in 30 minutes. It was great outside this morning. I could even see my breath, but it was so peaceful and awesome. I plan on lifting tonight at 9, hopefully it will be a shoulder and upper back routine, but I’ll test the shoulder tonight and see.

-LJ

a quick overview so far - monday I ran 2.5 miles, tuesday i ran 3 miles (in approx 45 min) wednesday i walked about 4 miles (talking the entire time) and today i actually ran and timed myself - 1.52 miles in 15.17 minutes - not bad for an old fart like me - i can’t believe i did it - a half mile in approx 5 min. - i think i need to write that down somewhere - i’m trying to improve my time but if i want to continue in the race i have to pace myself - tonight i think we will go for a bike ride - gina and the girls are going to go so if pat doesn’t go i’ll have someone to go with - you guys are all awesome for doing this - not only for personal achievement but for cancer too - you are all inspiring young men - all of your post keep me positive about future training and living - thanks for being true heroes - deb

Well yesterday I got back to lifting for upper body. I used light weights and high reps to get the shoulder use to it again and today the upper body is sore. Then I went to the pool to swim, but I think I was drained from the previous bike ride still cause I only did like 400 meters and that was 50 meters at a time with breaks. I got out and went to the treadmill for a 1.5 mile run. It’s getting easier running for sure. 1.5 doesn’t really bother me at all now. I put it on 7mph and 1 incline to start and keep the mph the same the whole time, but every .25 miles I increase the incline .5. Once I hit 2.5 incline I start working it back down until the 1.5 is complete. I did it in 13:10 yesterday.

Well last night went to the movies and saw Bad News Bears, pretty good movie. I did good there, just ate ice. Afterwards was a different story, because whats his name in the movie drank beer the whole time my roommate and I wanted to go have some drinks afterwards. So we went to nicks and had more than a couple and a lot of peel and eat shrimp, well the night was still young sorta so we headed to Spiders for some dancing. Well put it this way a lot of beer later and at 3 am I’m at huddle house stuffing my face. Horrible!!!! Also I smoked a lot last night because we were drinking and hanging with these girls. So I’m scared to get in the gym today, but I plan on doing all the events tonight in the gym and hope I don’t run out of breath or die. I have only eaten a peach all day and will have some oatmeal before the gym for some good carbs to keep me alive during this intense workout. I also want to go run 2 miles around campus tonight after the triathlon just because it’s beautiful outside.

Well that’s the plan, I’m going to punish myself for being so bad last night. Then tomorrow I’m doing AM cardio since I have to work tomorrow til 9 pm.

Sad day!
LJ

Congratulations Scott. Because your training partner was a poser and felt like complete ass after the swimming, and because he also wimped out and didn’t run hills, you win a “Get out of one exercise routine with Keohan” Card! I don’t know what was up with me yesterday, but I had not felt that crappy since the first day of training. Anyway, I went home, ate some tuna, and called it a night. I still don’t feel up to par today, so maybe something is up. I owe you one Scott.

Anyway, the swim workout yesterday was pretty intense. It’s somewhat fun to sweat in the water. Its a weird feeling. We have 1 1/2 months to go. This weekend will provide a challenge though since I will be out of town, White Water Rafting. Maybe if I paddle really hard, it will be like a workout? I’m not going to work tomorrow, so I’ll get in one last workout before I leave. Anyway, hope you training is going well.

Without a doubt, because of Mr. Karzazes email and the fact I almost finished his book last night, today was all about the running. Well, running/walking.

I decided to set the treadmill up a little higher, to make it a bit more difficult, since it’s generally easier than “real” running. It slowed me down a bit, but I still managed to trudge out about 3 miles in 30 minute.

I’m working more towards trying to get my body to operate with some speed for the amount of time I plan to take in the event, for example, run at a good clip for 15 minutes, swim for 10, bike for 45 (then do it again, usually).

One thing I don’t understand is how my mind works in the morning…the entire time I’m struggling to get up at 5am (-ish), all I want to do is go back to sleep. Once I’m up, and working out, I feel great, and I feel better all day. My mood is better, I get more done, etc….if I stay in bed, I’m sluggish, pissed at myself for not getting up, have a harder time focusing…etc…

So, why does my body still want sleep? I guess it will be a battle every morning.

Until the afternoon. Not a lot of site updates today, but that is just a cyclical thing, I suppose. I’m sure tommorrow everyone will post twice

So, Keohan and I went to swim. We did 8 25m sprints…all out. We did them in two sets of 4, and were dizzy after each set. The, we busted out 200m in about 5 minutes. Because we were going to run hills, we called it a workout in the pool.

Keohan wasn’t feeling well, so I went off to run some hills on my own. In Centennial Park, there’s a hill that’s about 100m long at about a 30 degree incline. I sprinted up, and walked down 10 times.

I was spent. Wind sprints are an entirely different world, and I really wished I had started them sooner. Oh well, now I know

On other fronts, I read about half of Dean Karnazes book last night, talk about inspiring stuff. Anyway, I took it upon myself to email him, just to say thanks for being an inspiration, and tell him that we were following in his footsteps in racing for charity. This is an email I had in my inbox when I got home today:
———————————————————–
Hi Scott,

Thanks for the terrific note. Any inspiration that I may have provide you has definitely been reciprocated when I read what you are doing. Keep up the great work! I applaud your effort, and never give up.

All the best,

Dean Karnazes
————————————————————

What? He actually went to the site, and emailed me back. This guy has achieved rock star status in my world, and I can’t tell you how happy it made me to have him respond. This will be great inspiration for my 5am workout tommorrow.

For any of you that are familiar with the site coming into Murray on the new 68/80 bypass from Kenlake and topping that last hill and you can see the main intersection for 641, you will understand this. When I saw that stoplight it was like Dorthy and Toto seeing Oz for the first time….I was thrilled. Yes, I made it and am alive for right now. Remind me to never do that again or at least not until I get some padded shorts. That is probably the worst part of it, my butt is so sore right now.

I forgot to add in the miles that it took me to get to the sign that says Kenlake 14 miles away. So the actual roundtrip was 36 miles, well 36.3 that I did in 2 hours and 15 minutes flat. I feel it was a really good time considering the heat and stopping about 1/2 way back to pee. It’s amazing how your bladder has to let go after being pinched off for so long on a bike seat and then you stand to pedal. Well going there (18 miles) I made it in 50 minutes. I was pumped, because I hit 30 mph at one point pedalling downhill. The bad news is as soon as I turned to come back from Kenlake (the other 18 back) I realized why I made such good time….a hella tailwind was behind me. It was the worst 18 miles of my life pedalling into that wind that was behind me on the way there. I think it helped keep me cool, but I could have done without that just so it wouldn’t have taken so long to get back cause my legs had to work twice as hard and the butt was already raw from the first 18 miles.

Well so for the events my longest non-stop miles are this now:
Swim: moderate pace 600 meters
Run: Good, steady 6.5 and higher mph 4.75 miles
Bike: Fast down and slow back because of wind 36 miles

Just put it this way, the people that do ironman triathlons are in such great shape!

In relaxing the rest of the night after I eat deuce deuce!

LJ

I have decided to skip lunch and leave at 3 today so that I can do that 30 mile bike ride. I was going to go swim first, but after punching into fitday a 2 hour bike ride should burn about 1300 calories which is more than I’ve consumed at this point in the day I decided to wait and swim tomorrow with a run and lift tomorrow. I really want to see if I can do this bike ride, and today will allow me to do it and hopefully be home before 6pm. So I’m headed to Kenlake and back on my bike today. If you all do not hear from me tonight or tomorrow, you know where to send the search committee since you will be the only ones knowing where I’m going. I didn’t tell my mom, cause she would flip with these heat advisories.

Say your prayers!
LJ

P.S. I am going to try and hit the pool hard tomorrow. I need to get back to swimming 3 days a week like I was last week. Actually I may swim tomorrow and Thursday, but won’t be able to Friday or the weekend because it’s the last summer o! Yeah! Oh yeah, I may be looking at moving to the east coast for a job, but I’ll keep you posted on that later. I’m hoping it will be after 9/17/05, but don’t know.

I was reading through the recent posts, and realized I haven’t really posted anything worth a crap in the last week or so. I’ll try to deliver better this week

Anyway, I’m finally back in the groove of getting up at 5. The initial struggle is always well worth it, and you get a good sense of accomplishment just from getting up, much less going to the gym.

It’s no secret, I’ve been having some problems running consistently lately, usually a good workout followed by a few days of leg pain. Well, I’ve finally got some shoes that I think will help, (they are very relaxed in fit, like the Nike Frees, but also have a lot of good cushioning for the foot) the Adidas ClimaCool Recoil. Very awesome shoe.

Regardless, I took it kind of easy this morning, and did about 3.1 miles in 30 minutes at a 1% incline. It seems like things went really well, leg-wise, so I’m going to start to up my speed, time, and distance. Wednesday is our swim day again (and hopefully the pool will be open), and we’ll probably cancel the running because 1) a little extra time in the pool won’t hurt at this stage, and 2) it’s just too darn hot this week.

I called the postal service, and my copy of “Ultramarathon Man” should be in today. Thank goodness, I ordered it almost a week ago. Anyone care to comment on why the postal service won’t just leave a package at your door anymore? Jeez.

Lastly, Stark, email me if you’re interested in posting and I’ll get you set up. Katie isn’t going to be joining us, so we have a slot open.

Well I thought I was leaving for St. Louis this evening for work, but the bus left me because of miscommunication between my office and theirs. Oh well, just means I get in bed tonight before 2 am and that I get 2 workouts in today since I went the gym a minute ago to get a run in before leaving.

Now the milestone, I had about 50 minutes to get a workout in and get home and give myself an hour to shower and eat lunch and meet them at supposedly 1pm not 12:30 pm. So I pushed it hard on the treadmill. I knocked and ran a straight 4.75 miles without stopping. I am excited because this is by far the furthest I have ever ran without stopping. The left calf got numb, but after I stopped and started walking it came back and is a little sore now. I did this time in like 43 minutes and then just walked the last .25 to cooldown and stretch before rushing to meet them. I could have completed 5 and pushed myself to do it, but I needed that few minutes for a cooldown walk and was pushed on time since I couldn’t see a clock just the timer on the treadmill.

I’ll go back this evening and do my legwork and ride the bike or my personal bike for at least 13 miles. Whooo for being home from the gym before 6 pm tonight I hope and still knocking out a lot of miles today!

In Kenyan running goodbye! haha

LJ