Another Cup of Coffee, Please! - Cycle 12

I love coffee, I always have. Even before I worked 3rd shift, my day wouldn't start until I had a cup (or 5) of coffee. Now that I work 3rd shift regularly, my coffee consumption has increased. This past cycle left me craving two things... Sleep and coffee. It was a balancing act, so to say. The more sleep I got, the less coffee and visa versa. I opted to pick up a 4 hour block of overtime over the past weekend, because, really, who couldn't use the extra cash. Plus, it fit perfectly into my training schedule. It was sandwiched between my double workout day on Friday and my double workout day on Sunday. So with three straight days of getting up early to either workout or go to work, I was lacking in the sleep department and left seeking coffee from the moment I stepped out of bed.

It sounds odd and I catch a lot of grief about it from my wife, but, I have been treating my training plan like holy scripture lately. I created it knowing days that would have to be flexed or tweaked to make other days work. Granted, life does happen and I have been making changes as we go. But when it has come to planning unnecessary things, such as going to a Brewer's game, or picking up optional overtime at work, I'd be lying if I said I didn't check my training plan first to see if; A) It fits into the plan with little or no changes or B) I can make it work with some minor tweaks here and there.

I also had my 2nd appointment with Mike LeMere of Prevea Sport's Medicine in Green Bay this past week. Mike is the head athletic trainer of the Green Bay Marathon. As I mentioned in my last post I was selected for a Running Gait Analysis which involved a video taping of me walking barefoot from the rear, side, and front and then running in my kicks, from the back, side, and front. After we finished with the video taping Mike did a pseudo physical evaluation of me, looking for any tightness, weaknesses, imbalances, or current/potential injuries. The initial evaluation took just shy of 1 hour. I went back in on my first day off for the 2nd appointment, which consisted of reviewing the video and going over personalized strength and stretching exercises to help correct flaws in my running gait. Some things that Mike found in my gait was that I run very erect. He pointed out that I should have a more aggressive forward lean. He also found that along with running upright, I tend to bounce, rather than glide. Ideally, you should have minimal vertical displacement when you run, and I was basically jumping repeatedly. Mike also picked out a very minor weakness in my left hip, specifically my gluteus medias. This was evident by how my knee and foot would point out during my recovery leg swing forward. The videos were very telling. It was useful to actually see yourself running for a change as opposed to looking at a still frame picture and attempt to evaluate my running form, as I have done in the past using the race day photos from the sponsored photographer. The program Prevea uses is called Dartfish. The program allowed Mike to draw lines and arrows and such right on the tv screen, much like you see during football games. I received a copy of the video footage on a CD, but am unable to embed the videos onto my blog due to the formatting. The videos are in Dartfish's unique format and will only open in Dartfish programs. I was, however, able to take a screen shot of a couple of the videos showing the unique capabilities of the program. After reviewing the footage Mike showed me a variety of exercises to help improve my running mechanics. In the end, the weaknesses in my mechanics are very minor and Mike even said that he had to pick something in my gait to attempt to correct. All in all, my running form is pretty good, but obviously there is room for improvement.  I honestly feel as though the fact that I ran a hard 18 mile run the day before had something to do with the fact that my running form was a bit off.  But, none-the-less, I would still definitely recommend this service if anyone was on the fence about it. I would definitely recommend it to an injury prone running, who has been battling injuries such as IT band syndrome, planter fasciitis, or tendinitis in the ankle or knee.

Photos from the video depicting a slight hip drop in my left hip, as well as a rear view of my vertical displacement.

Photos from my video depicting my erect posture and excessive bounce in my stride.

I also mentioned last week that I had been having "issues" with my left foot, specifically the toes of my left foot. Well. I am happy to report that the pain has more or less subsided. I addressed this topic with Mike at Prevea during my Gait Analysis. He believed it to be caused by a large callous on the bottom of my left foot which is putting extra pressure on the tarsals and metatarsals in my foot. Every now and again, I will notice that specific sensation in my toes, but I am ruling it to be "just one of those things" that arise with repeated strenuous activity, such as running.

My diet has been so so. It has not been great, by any stretch of the imagination, but I have kept my weaknesses in check. I have ditched the food log. I opted to do this for a couple reasons. The first being the fact that I have developed a routine that I feel confident in and feel that I have developed a strong sense of an appropriate amount of food to intake on a daily basis without logging every morsel I put in my mouth. Secondly, it was consuming a lot of time that I would rather spend doing something else. Don't get me wrong, the food log helped me develop a routine I feel confident in. It also assisted with general knowledge of portion sizes of the foods I commonly eat. But it was just getting very repetitive in nature and it got a point were I felt I was not benefiting from taking the time to log the food I was eating.

I have also since allowed myself to include more wheat products into my diet. I have gotten to a point with the increased volume in my diet that I was constantly hunger and just seeking out food. I still opt for healthier options of wheat, such as high quality breads or even sour dough breads, quality dinner rolls, and high quality pastas. So it's not like I am abandoning ship and eating cookies, graham crackers, and other highly processed wheat products here. I am just allowing a little more leniency to increase my daily caloric intake as my expenditures increase.

Brief Recap

 This past cycle was the first cycle of the build phase. The total volume was high in comparison to previous cycles, but the total volume was pretty evenly spread out over all the workouts. There was no one or two workouts that shared the majority of the volume. This was partially due to having a 8 hour training day scheduled on one of my scheduled off days from my work rotation. I also had 2 two-a-day workouts scheduled this cycle which kept my total training volume high, without one long training day. The one long day of training was on my 2nd off day where I had my weekly long run scheduled. I scheduled a 16 mile run with no race pace work. I wanted to try something different for this run by running it with no water, no fuel during the run, and no pre-workout meal. Granted, I ate a large meal the night before with a sugary dessert, but stopped eating around 7:30pm. I woke up around 6:30am and had a couple cups of coffee with no food and headed out the door by 8am. I did not take in any food and kept my pace slow to attempt to stay in a aerobic state (aka a fat burning zone). My pace was slow and easy. I never once craved any food or felt that I needed water. I was actually surprised. I finished the run in 2:07 and felt fantastic. The purpose of doing an unsupported run like this was two fold. I wanted to first and foremost force myself to do it, for the mental training aspect of it, to reassure myself that I can run without calories. I also wanted to use it as a judge to find an appropriate amount of calories I personally need during my training. I also did it for the physical benefits of running strictly on my stored glycogen and fat stores. There comes a point in training were you eventually deplete all your glycogen (sugar) stores and force your body to rely on fat stores for energy. When this happens there are countless physiological benefits experienced by our bodies. Some of these include, generally becoming more efficient, an increase in mitochondria production, and better utilization of fatty acids for energy.

Favorite Workout

For my birthday this year, my daughters got me a Finis Tempo Trainer, which is also known as a "wetronome." The purpose of it is to key in on pacing in the pool. You can set it to assist with your stroke rate, or the number of strokes you take per minute, to teach an even, smooth stroke. Or, you can set it to help pace your intervals to teach you proper pacing techniques. This past cycle I have made it a point to begin to swim longer intervals to be better prepared for swimming the 2.4 mile Ironman swim, sounds kinda obvious - right? Yea, well, The longest interval set I have swam to date during this training season was maybe a 500m set - which is just under a third of a mile. Granted my total distance covered during a swim workout has generally been between 1.25 and 1.75 miles, my individual interval sets have been relatively short. So this cycle I had a 2700 meter swim set scheduled. I wanted to take advantage of my new wetronome and decided to swim a pyramid set of 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700. I set my wetronome to 28 seconds per 25 meters. So hypothetically I would swim a single distance of the pool on every beep. I took 2 beeps (56 secs) of rest between each set. It was a good workout, tough, but good. I enjoyed training with the tempo trainer as it forced me to keep a steady pace throughout the interval. After I was done int he pool, I headed into the weight room for a quick strength circuit.

Moving Forward

This upcoming cycle has a few adjustments made due to scheduled 8 hour training days. As I mentioned before, I had a training day on my final off day so I made a small adjustment and swapped out days. So on my first day back to work, I have a long brick workout with a bike emphasis and then right back into my regularly scheduled training week leading up to my weekend. My build phase consists of alternates cycles, there is an A cycle and a B cycle. This upcoming cycle is a B cycle. So I only have 1 two-a-day scheduled this cycle, which will be nice. I was able to adjust my scheduled training days on my off days due to having a training day scheduled on Day 2 of the next training cycle. Having this training on a previously scheduled workday, gives me the night off before to counter the time spent at training (I hope that makes sense). So, my regularly scheduled weekly long run was bumped to day 1 of the next training cycle, which is why you don't see a long run scheduled during this cycle. I do have another long bike ride on my final off day this cycle. I plan on really pushing myself on that ride as it is a "stand alone" bike workout - no run following as there was on day 1. With the weather starting to make the turn for the better and starting to warm up, I will be doing everything in my power to get outside on my bike every chance I get. The time on the bike will be most beneficial for me come race day in September!

This upcoming cycle will also present several days of sheer gluttony. On March 30th, my sister-in-law is hosting the annual Easter celebration at her house and I have very little intentions of eating well that night. Then, my wife and I have already made plans for a Friday lunch date with the girls to a local pizza buffet at The Glass Nickel Pizza in Appleton. They quite possibly have the best pizza in the Fox Valley. And it doesn't end there....Saturday night, we will be meeting up with Pat and Melissa for our monthly date night and will be going out for Mexican food at a local restaurant just down the street from our house. And to top off the week of unhealthy eating, Sunday is my nephew's 1st birthday party down in Milton, WI. The only benefit I will have to eating like crap all week, is knowing that the next long workout isn't far away!

Below are the usual photos from the previous week.... and as always thanks for reading!
Be fast, be strong, and carry on!

Pretty much my exact feelings right now...

Delaney dying Easter Eggs

Maya and Delaney eagerly waiting to dye their Easter Eggs

Maya dying her 1st Egg of the year

She accidentally ripped the egg in half and was rather sad - haha!

Maya and Mom went to the movies - So it was a Delaney and Daddy night!

Same Ol' Situation - Cycle 11

Going into this cycle I was looking forward to a week of diminished volume.  But, to be honest - it seemed like any of the previous training weeks.  Not only did it not "feel" like a recovery week, I was battling a potential injury in my left foot - either my 2nd or 3rd toe to be specific.  The pain first became noticeable after my last long run on Day 8 of the last cycle.  It came on suddenly, almost like a "pop."  It felt as though my toes were attempting to grip and pull with ever push off on the road.  It was during the last few miles of my 8 miles at race pace, so the intensity was higher than usual.  It was as if a tendon or ligament snapped or was torn.  It didn't have a direct impact on my pace or the remainder of my run, however.  At the time I didn't think much of it.  Just "one of those things" that routinely present themselves over the course of training for longer endurance events.  Throughout this past week, I monitored my foot closely.  I poked and prodded trying to self diagnose some type of injury.  I couldn't figure it out.  Typically, with stress fractures (my worst fear) you develop a sharp pin point pain which is unbearable.  With most stress fractures you can find by simply running your fingers along your bones until you find the "sweet spot" that will make you jump.  So just about twice a day I would feel around my toes and couldn't find a certain "hot spot."  So I was 95% confident I could rule out a stress fracture.  Every other specific injury to the foot I looked up didn't seem to fit, based on a specific set of signs and symptoms.  My foot/toes showed no signs of swelling or bruising, which helped rule out a lot of the injuries as well.  I was able to finish all my scheduled workouts as well.  So as of today, I am simply chalking it up to a minor general "over use" injury that typically comes and goes over the course of regular intense training.

The rest of this past cycle was rather uneventful, truthfully.  I did find out yesterday that I was selected as the winner in a Facebook competition put on by Prevea Sports Medicine.  A couple weeks ago they posted a competition on through the Green Bay Marathon's Facebook page asking runners to share their best marathon training/racing advice.  Prevea is one of the title sponsors for the Green Bay Marathon.  I posted on the page with the following response:

Best advice for training/racing - build mileage slowly and consistently.  Practice your race day plan regularly in training and do not try anything new 1-2 weeks before race day and definitely not ON race day.

Luckily, I was selected as the winner and will receive 3 personal training sessions, a running gait and form assessment, training jacket, water bottle, t-shirt, towel, and shoe bag.  Everything in that prize pack is perfect for me!  I will definitely use it all, minus the personal training sessions.  First off, they are only good at a health club in Green Bay, and secondly, as a previous certified personal trainer, really what would I gain from it?  Not to sound "high-and-mighty" or anything, but come on, but would an accountant have someone else do their taxes?  The best thing in the package is the running gait analysis.  Especially coming off of my sore foot/toe.  I am really hoping to pick the sports doctor's mind about my toe and hopefully get some potential insight as to whats causing my discomfort on my push off.

Brief Recap

I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but this winter just doesn't seem to want to go away.  It gets frustrating when you have a set plan put in place and you want nothing more than to go out and successfully complete each task just as it is set forth.  But, when the time comes for a certain task, you are forced to modify that task due to something that is out of your control - you're hand is forced.  In essence, that has be the story of my first 11 cycles.      I went into this training cycle with a set plan, which I had laid out on here after the completion of the last cycle.  But, yet again, I had to make tweaks and modifications to work around Mother Nature.  This cycle had two pretty significant snow falls.  The first came on an evening before I had my scheduled run test. After work I came home and running a successful run test was unrealistic. The combination of the warmer temperatures during the daylight hours and the fridged overnight hours was melting the snow and forming puddles during the day and freezing them over night. Couple that along with an overnight snow fall and you have a recipe for some extremely slick conditions. I adjusted my plan and went out for a nice and easy 7 mile run. Right as I began I fell right on my ass. I made it maybe 100 yards before I took my first fall. I had gone all winter without a fall...until now, in March. I had to take extra caution throughout the entire run to try and avoid falling a second time on hidden ice patches. I had several close calls, but no other falls. The second snow fall came on the day before my scheduled long run. We were hit hard (relatively speaking for a March snow) with about 4 total inches of snow. It was significant enough that I had to break out the snow blower. It wasn't just a typical snow fall, but it came with strong winds, which brought heavy drifting, which definitely didn't help. So, with the extra snow on the ground on top of the forecasted sub zero wind chills, I planned my weekly long run to be done indoors. I had scheduled a total of 18 miles with 10 of them done at my goal race pace. I completed them all on the Heart of The Valley YMCA's indoor track. I was very lucky to start that my Sister-in-Law was willing to take my daughters for the morning and then take them out to lunch so I was able to complete my run. I am extremely lucky that my daughters have such a great Godmother who is always willing to spend extra time with my girls. It's great for them but also for me. Having the love and support from my family is truly special. There is no way in hell I would be able to train the way I do without the love and support of my family. So a big shout out to my Sister-in-law Lisa - Thank's so much!

The track at the YMCA, crossed over the word "Run" 200 times

The track is a moderate sized track, with 11 laps totaling a mile. I sucked it up and ran 200 laps, just over 18 miles. I couldn't stop at and odd number like 198 laps, so I ran an extra 2 to get a nice round number. I ran the first 6 miles at a moderate-easy pace and then turned up the tempo after that. I found that running a sub 7:00 mile on a short track is difficult, especially when there are other people on the track. I like to think that I ran close to my goal pace of 6:50/mile on the long stretches, but there is no doubt that I lost a bulk of my speed on the corners. Below is a "By the Numbers" of how the run went.

200: Number of laps completed
440: Number of calories consumed
21,400: Approximate number of total steps taken
800: Number of corners
4: Number of times I changed directions
39.6 seconds: Average time per lap

The remainder of the training cycle went really well. I stuck to the training plan and didn't need to make any changes (other than the scheduled run test) tot the plan. Instead of completing my originally scheduled run test, I took advantage of a local 5k I had planned on running to be my "test" to tell me where my run fitness currently is at. I posted a race report HERE for the race. It was a great race, all things considered. The course was longer than a 5k, so my time was obviously longer as well. Add to that the fact that the temperatures made it feel like it was the dead of winter, I was pretty happy with my official time of 19:07. I am especially happy with the fact that I took 3rd overall! It was my first time in any race were I actually placed in the top 3 overall. When I took a closer look at my results from my Garmin Watch, I showed that I actually ran at a pretty strong pace. So when you take in the totality of the circumstances that presented themselves on race day, I am very please with where my current run fitness is.

I also had another swim test this previous cycle. I went in to it with high expectations. I had felt as though my swim fitness was progressing very nicely. When it was all said and done, my times were considerably slower than my previous test. It showed me that I need to continue to swim and remain diligent with my form and technique training, and not skimp on the speed/tempo work. I am not dwelling on my unsuccessful test times, but using them as motivation leading up to my next swim test. My critical swim speed pace increased from 1:44/100m to 1:48/100m. My goal is to get it below 1:44/100m by the next test date.

Favorite Workout

I would have to say my favorite workout was my 7 mile run I completed on day 2.  It was originally scheduled as my run test, but due to the ice and snow I changed it to a simple run.  It was the simplicity that made it my favorite workout from this past cycle.  I went out without any specific goals for pace or distance. In fact when I left the house, my original plan was to run 6 miles.  But as I continued to run, I felt great and just kept going.  I ended up running a total of 7.60 miles.  I completed it in 58:26, not a blazing pace, but considering how slippery it was, I was plenty happy to just make it home with only falling once!

Moving Forward

The previous cycle was my last cycle of my Base Phase.  I now make the change to my Build Phase.  This is the phase where my volume....well, builds.  You can see that I have one more additional day of multiple workouts.  I am mostly looking forward to my day off on day 2.  It will be my first full off day since I was sick back on January 22nd and 23rd.  Now that my volume is getting longer and longer, I will begin to have more regularly scheduled off days, which will truly be a treat.  I also have a full day of training on my last off day, which will have a small effect on my brick training.  I will again just split the originally scheduled brick workout into single workouts before and after my day of training.  My weekly long run is just a recovery style long run down to 16 miles with no goal race pace work.  This will allow me to simple go out and just log some easy miles with out stressing about my pace.  It should be a good week of training!  Below are pictures and some videos from the week.  The videos are of the weather that kept me training indoors all week.  They are not all that interesting, but just showing you the snow and wind we had here in Wisconsin.

Be fast, be strong, and carry on!

My Dad and I with our awards from the St. Pat's 5k

Supporting TheTriShop.com during the awards ceremony!

Picture doesn't do the weather justice....but trust me - it was crappy out.

First race in my Team Kit from TheTriShop.com

Had to snap a picture of my race results

 

St. Pat's Day 5k - Race Report

I had this race on my race schedule since I first became aware of it.  This was the first year this race was run in Kimberly, WI, which was convenient as it was literally about a 5 minute drive from my driveway to the start line.  When I did decide that I would do this race I had pictured a cool morning, maybe 35* and sunny, not warm by any means, but still not cold - a typical early spring morning you would come to expect in Wisconsin.  But nooooo, it had to feel like late January, in the dead of winter.  The race was originally scheduled to start at 7:17am, but with cold temperatures in the forecast, it was pushed back a whopping 13 minutes to start at 7:30am to allow the sun to come up and hopefully warm up more.  Well, that didn't seem to really make a difference.  The temperatures at the start of the race where hovering around 12*.  As if that wasn't enough there was also a decent wind from the North which made it feel like it as about 0*!  The only positive as far as the weather goes, was the fact that it was bright and sunny.

I had no real clear goals for this race as it was simply a "C" race - or a high intensity training day.  I worked a regularly scheduled 10p-6a shift the night before the race and I didn't make any adjustments to my training schedule as I was originally scheduled for a 6 mile run this morning anyway.  My outlook on the day was to still try to get in a total of 6 miles through a longer warm up or by adding a cool down after the race, or a combination of the two.  I just really wanted to still log about 6 total miles, some how, some way.  I also originally had a 10k run test scheduled on day 2 of my cycle, but was unable to complete it due to extremely icy road conditions that day.  So, knowing I had this 5k already on the docket, my plan was to use the race to help judge where my current run fitness was at.  On top of using the race as a run test, I still have a personal goal of running a sub 18:00 5k.  My personal best for a 5k was at the 2012 Jailbreak 5k with a time of 18:07.  That goal is always sitting in the back of my head when I toe the start line to any 5k race.  Plus after getting my race kit from TheTriShop.com this past February, I was looking for any opportunity to finally wear my sweet new gear in a race to do my part and support my sponsor!

Training Plan

As I already explained above, I viewed this race as a race, but still just another day of training.  I made no adjustments to my training plan to incorporate rest in the days leading up to it, nor did I incorporate recovery days for the days after.  I have reached a point in my endurance career that a 5k is nothing more than a short tempo run, even at race intensities, and therefore, there is really no need for extra attention for recovery.  The day before the race (Saturday, March 16th) I had a short interval swim session followed by a half hour strength session in the weight room.  I didn't hold back in either of the two workouts and treated them as any other workout on any other day.  As far as the day following the race I have a short "long ride" scheduled of 30 miles, which will probably be done on my indoor trainer due to the lingering cruddy weather in Wisconsin.  On Tuesday, I have my weekly long run scheduled in preparation for the Green Bay Marathon.  This week's run is up to 18 miles with 10 at goal race pace.

Day/Night Before the Race

Saturday night was my "Friday" at work, meaning the end of my work rotation.  So, I had worked 3rd shift for the prior 5 days and Saturday night was my 6th and final night before my weekend.  I went to work Saturday night after eating a good dinner at home of vegetable stir fry on top of a bed of quinoa, along with a salad and a banana and peanut butter for dessert.  I worked Saturday night from 10p-6a and stayed busy, which was nice.  I was happy that I got out on time, which is never a given, especially on a Saturday night, not to mention over St. Patrick's Day.  I never register for a race when I plan on working the night before just in case something were to come up near the end of my shift and I end up getting held over, just so I don't end up losing the money.  It's no fun paying the extra cash for the inflated "day-of-the-race-fees" but it's a small price to pay to guarantee I don't completely loose the money without even participating.  But, like I said, I got out on time and since they pushed the start time back by 15 minutes, I was there plenty early and got myself registered and left myself plenty of time for an ample warm up.

Getting to the Start Line

It was about 6:50 by the time I finished registering, which left my about 40 minutes before the start of the race.  I was very happy to have that much extra time, as I had thought I would only have about 15-20 minutes due to the fact that I was coming directly from work to the race.  Since I wanted to run a total of 6 miles as part of the 5k race, I decided to take advantage of the extra time and do a much longer warm up than I normally do for a 5k.  The weather was freakin' cold.  The wind chills had to be below zero since the sun wasn't completely up at this point, so I knew a good warm up would be beneficial.  I decided to run the course with my extra time.  My thoughts were that I would know what to expect as soon as the gun goes off and it would put my total miles at over 6 after I actually run the race.  My warm up consisted of running the first two miles at a comfortable, easy pace, and then begin to incorporate some "pick ups" throughout the last mile.  By the end of my warm up my GPS watch had a final distance of 3.25 and I didn't even run through the finish line!  With my warm up complete and knowing that the course was longer by at least 0.15 miles I was ready to go all out and put forth my best effort.

Miles 0-3.1

As the race started I went out a little more conservative then usual.  I never race a 5k with a heart rate monitor and run simply based on RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion).  Over my years of running, I have developed a pretty keen sense of pacing, just as many experienced runners have.  Throughout the first mile, I felt different than normal for the first mile in a 5k - it felt easy.  I was still within reach of the lead runner and in about 8th or 9th place overall.  I feel like I had extra speed in the tank, which is a GREAT feeling after the first mile in a short 3.1 mile race.  I debating cranking it up, but figured it was best to just hang with the pack of runners I was with and save any energy for the last mile - if I had any left.  Throughout the next mile, I held onto my current pace and my strategy of not loosing or gaining any ground.  Just before the 2 mile mark I started to crank up my tempo and began passing some of the runners in front of me.  The course was an out and back course, which allowed me to see exactly what place I was in at the 1.5 mark.  I knew I was in 9th place at the half way mark.  There was a pack of 5-6 guys within reach just ahead of me.  For the last mile I really pushed myself and before I knew it there were only 2 guys ahead of me, who were out of reach.  I finished as the 3rd runner to cross the finish line unofficially with a time of 19:07.

Link to my Race Information from my Garmin GPS Watch

Post Race

After crossing the finish line, I took a straight beeline to get indoors for warmth.  The only thought that was going through my mind at this point was, 19:07?!?!  Here I thought I was running at a pace for a "sure thing" PR, and then I finish in a time more than a minute over my goal time?  According to my Garmin, the race was a total of 3.28 miles with an average pace of 5:50/mile.  Immediately I began attempting to figure out what my theoretical 5k time would be.  After realizing that I was not nearly smart enough to convert minutes and seconds into a theoretical finish time for an odd distance such as 3.1 miles, I just gave up and realized that I knew I ran a good race.  My mom and dad also participated in the race, so once they came in, we talked about the course.  A short while later, the results where posted - I was officially 3rd overall and 1st in my age group!  I was so pumped, it was my first overall top 3 finish.  My only regret/disappointment is the fact that the "official race time" looks rather pathetic for a top 3 finish.  The 3 of us hung out for the awards ceremony as my dad also took home an award for placing 1st in his age group, which was awesome.

Other Notes

I feel as though this race needs to have an asterisk due to the extra 2/10th's of a mile.  The fact of the matter is still that everyone had to run the extra distance - so in the end it was a level playing field.  Everyone had to run in the same sub zero wind chills, for the entire 3.28 miles.  So regardless if the race was 2.9 or 3.28 miles, I still took 3rd overall, and no one can take that away from me.  I just wish, when people ask, what was your time, I don't have to explain the longer time.  But, like I said, oh well, get over it!

Lessons for Future Events

The biggest thing I took away from this race is incorporating a longer warm up.  A typical warm up for a 5k would be a total of about 1 mile running with pick ups and active stretching.  This was the first time I ever did a warm up which lasted longer than 10 minutes.  Based on how this race went and how fresh I felt right out of the gate, I will definitely incorporate a warm up of at least 15-20 minutes for most, if not all distances.

What's Next

Well, its right back into training.  I have two more workouts left in this training cycle - an easy paced bike and my weekly long run.  This current training cycle is the last Base phase cycle.  After this cycle I transition into my Build phases.  The build phase is just that, the volume really begins to build, I begin to incorporate more two-a-day workouts and the weekly training volume builds setting up my final training phase - The Peak phase - or the race season.  The next race on my schedule is another indoor triathlon on April 13th.  I know I just said I would not do another indoor triathlon just a month ago, but this race is held at my local YMCA where I do all my swimming so I feel a since of obligation to support my Y.  Plus, they structure their race much better than the Oshkosh YMCA did.  They award points for each discipline based on how you rank in each individual event.  At the end of the race they total your points and the most points will determine your final place - not just your final distance covered.

As usual, below are pictures from the day!
Be fast, be strong, and carry on!

Before the run - hoping I dressed warm enough.

Results - 3rd place overall!  My dad 10th overall!

Rocking TheTriShop.com Gear!

My dad and I - He is the sole reason I am were I am today.

My first ever overall top 3 finish!

A Third and a Half - Cycle 10

 Before you start saying I don't understand fractions, or my math is terrible, let me explain.  First, my training plan consists of 30, 9-day cycles, plus a 31st cycle of 2 days, one of which is race day.  I just completed my 10th cycle, hence one-third of the way through my training plan - which is absolutely crazy to think.  I still feel as though I have a ton of time to prepare for this race.  In reality, I do have a considerable amount of time remaining, but at the same time - not really.  Now, where does the one-half come from?  My Ironman adventure began last September 10th, or just about one calendar year out.  The day of the race is on September 8th, 2013, which was 6 months out from March 8th, this past Friday.  So, you can see, I am in the exact middle of my journey from when it officially began on September 10th, 2012, hence the one-half.

Waiting in line to register.

It's absolutely mind blowing to me that 6 months have come and gone since I stood in line for several hours with a 2 year old and a 14 month-old to register for the race of my dreams.  It couldn't have gone any better.  The girls where amazing and the people around me helped me out too.  But that was 6 months ago.  Today, I have been training not only for the Ironman, but for several other races, for 90 days or 3 months.  I have about 180 days until I toe the line in Madison.  It's tough to wrap my mind around that fact, because in reality, it's 6 months out, but then I look back and see how fast the past 6 months have gone and I know that race day will be here before I know it.  So, I need to stay dedicated, motivated, and positive, and keep on keepin' on.

The past cycle had a lot going on outside of my training.  As I eluded to last week, my birthday fell on day 1 of cycle 10.  I took 2 days off from work at the start of my rotation to enjoy my birthday with my family and friends.  On my birthday, I got in my morning birthday workout (which I'll touch on later) and spent the afternoon with the the family at the mall, where I got to pick out my birthday present from Sarah.  I got some new shoes...that weren't running shoes.  I got a new pair of Croc Canvas shoes and a Brewers T-shirt.  After the girls took their afternoon nap, we had arranged a babysitter for the girls and spent the night out with our good friends at one of my all time favorite restaurants - Titletown Brewery in Green Bay, WI.

If you know me at all, you know I am a HUGE fan of craft beers, and enjoy nothing more than going to the breweries themselves for truly hand crafted fresh brews.  I also mentioned in my last post about cycle 9, that I had been eating like absolute crap - but it was my birthday weekend, so I kind of accepted it.  Well, that continued right on through the weekend.  I splurged and ordered a sampler tray of every single brew Titletown had available (13, plus a root beer).  My overindulgence continued right into dinner.  I ordered a hamburger.  Now, let me explain something here, this was the first burger I've ordered at a restaurant at least since Maya was born 3.5 years ago.  It could even be longer.  I have made hamburgers at home before, with grass fed beef or other game meats, which were harvested locally, but never a normal restaurant hamburger.  Not, only did I order just a hamburger, but a PB&B Burger.  That's right, a peanut butter and BACON burger!  Oh my god!  It was so freakin' good.  It was worth me splurging and getting the hamburger.  After dinner (and a few more beers) we headed back to our friends house for some carrot cake (yes - more carrot cake), drinks, and games.  It was such a fun night.

To finish off my birthday weekend, we went to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert on Sunday night.  Cold Stone is by far my favorite place for ice cream treats.  It's ironic that it's also probably the most unhealthy of all ice cream places.  It was a great way to end my birthday weekend.  But, I knew that Monday morning it was right back to reality.  Yes, there was no breaks, it was right back to eating properly, training hard, and work.  The best part of my past week of work was I took 2 days off at the start of my rotation leaving me only a 4 day work week.  The downside was I had court on one day and two midday trainings on top of the 4 day work week.  The trainings didn't go as long as I thought, but the fact that I still had to wake up in the middle of my sleep to come in for training and then return home only to catch some more sleep before going back to work, still makes for LONG days.  In my 4 days of work, Monday-Thursday, I had to make 7 separate trips to and from Oshkosh, which is about 25 miles from our house.

At the very end of this post are a bunch of pictures from the past cycle, including training and my birthday weekend.

Brief Recap

This past cycle went really well.  My volume continues to grow and my body continues to adapt to the longer stress.  Recovery is still top priority, even though I have been slacking in my daily foam rolling and stretching.  I was pretty happy with the minimal weight gain from my birthday weekend and found it pretty easy to get back down to were I was before my weekend food "bender."  In my opinion, the weather in Wisconsin has finally made the turn to start feeling like spring.  All of days which would normally be snowy days have turned into rainy days.  The temperatures are now hovering just above freezing, which is having a significant impact on the standing snow.  We also got to spring forward this past Saturday night/Sunday morning which, if anything, has a mental effect.  Make no doubts about it, it's Spring time (at least that's what I'm telling myself).  I have put away all my winter coats, I am no longer shoveling, and I am doing everything I can to do all my workouts outside again.  I got outside for one bike ride this past cycle which was a breath of fresh air - no pun intended.  It was cold, don't get me wrong, but even though it was 12* with a light wind when I started, it warmed up to 27* by the end of my 25 mile ride.  The sun was out and the birds were chirping, so even though it was cold, my ride even had a spring time feel to it.  

Favorite Workout

I knew what my favorite workout of this cycle was going to be even before I did it.  On my birthday I planned a workout of 29's, since it was my 29th birthday.  I planned a 2900 yard swim followed by an indoor bike ride of 1:27 minutes - or the duration of a 29 mile outdoor ride at a 20mph average speed.  I caught a back-to-back spin class at the Appleton YMCA to get in my 29 "mile" indoor ride.  My intentions were to head right into the lap pool after.  I changed out of my cycling gear and into my swim suit and headed to the pool, just to find out there was a huge swim meet at the Appleton YMCA all weekend and all the pools were closed for the remainder of the weekend.  Of course something had to go wrong...  I was left with 3 options - 1. Go to the Neenah-Menasha YMCA and use their pool; 2. Go to the Heart of the Valley YMCA and use their pool; or 3. Skip the swim workout all together and just enjoy my birthday without the swim workout.  Obviously, #3 was a viable option, considering how much I was looking forward to this workout.  So, it came down to the Neenah-Menasha or the Heart of the Valley YMCA.  I had to go out of my way and go down to the N-M Y as the HOTV had swim lessons all day Saturday.  I was able to get my swim workout in which is pictured below.  It was a great workout.  I couldn't help but think about my life as I progressed through my workouts.  I would think about each year of my life for every 100 yards I swam.  It was actually kind of neat.  I would try to think of a big event that happened during that year of my life.  From my golden birthday when I turned 2, to getting engaged when I was 21, and having each of my daughters at 25 and 27.

Moving Forward

This upcoming cycle is a scheduled recovery cycle.  My volume is being cut by 12.5% or 1.5 hours.  I have scheduled a couple of fitness tests during this week because of the decreased volume to allow adequate recovery from each test.  I have a scheduled run test along with a swim test.  The weather still isn't nice enough to schedule a bike test yet.  If that changes, my 30 mile bike ride on day 8 will be changed to a bike test.  Depending on my work schedule (if I get out on time), I will do a quick 5k road race on day 7.  The 5k is just down the road from our house, which makes it pretty difficult to pass up.  The route actually runs right past our baby sitters house.  I had a 6 mile run scheduled for that day, so my plan is get in a quick 1 mile warm up before the race and follow it up with a 2-3 mile cool down.  So even though it's a recovery cycle, the intensity will still be there, but the volume will take a significant hit.  My goal this cycle is to use my foam roller and stretch more frequently, which will be needed with the higher intensity work outs.

Below are all the pictures from this past cycle - enjoy!
Be fast, be strong, and carry on!

Yet another indoor bike session - in my cow prints!

The beer sampler place mat - each of the little circles will be covered by that type of brew.

 

My 14 beer sampler platter!

 

My PB&B Burger - Absolutely Delicious!!

A long weekend of partying takes its toll on little angels.  :)

  

Paleo Porridge

I love oatmeal, steel cut oats are my preference.  I usually mix in a banana, raisins, honey, almond butter, flax seeds, and cinnamon.  I will also use other "cereal" grains such as teff, kaniwa, barley, wheat berries, I've even made quinoa as a breakfast in the past.  There is something about the warm creaminess, along with the ability to make a variety of flavors, that I just love.  However, grains really aren't necessarily paleo friendly.  Granted there are many worse foods out there for breakfast and majority of grains are gluten-free.  But it comes down to the fact that all grains are processed to some extent which make them non-paleo.  So, when I found this recipe for a Paleo Porridge, I immediately wanted to try it.

Ingrediants

1. 1/2 Cup Almonds
2. 1/2 Cup Pecans
3. 1/2 Cup Almond Milk (or Coconut Milk)
4. 2 Small (or 1 Large) Bananas
5. 1 Tsp Cinnamon
6. Berries
7. Honey or Maple Syrup to Taste (**Optional**)

Directions

1. Place Almonds, Pecans, Milk, Bananas, and Cinnamon into a food processor and blend until desired texture is reached.  
2. Transfer into a saucepan to heat or microwave.
3. Top with berries.

I was not disappointed at all!  This porridge was great.  It even tasted just like steel cut oats.  It has a definite nuttiness to it, which goes perfectly with the berries.  I topped it with some flax seeds and microwaved it to heat it up.  I think the best part was it was super easy!  It actually was probably quicker than making steel cut oats, considering the amount of time to cook the oats.  This will definitely become a staple for my morning breakfasts not surrounded by a workout, as I usually try to get more carbohydrates into my diet before/after workouts.  

One Year Left...

This past Saturday was my birthday. I eluded to it in my last post about my 9th Training Cycle. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my birthday. I got to get in a workout of 29's (swam 2900 yards and biked the duration of a 29 mile ride). I also was able to spend a lot of quality time with my wife and kids after my workout. Sarah and I were lucky to find a babysitter and spent the night out with our best friends at Titletown Brewery in Green Bay. That was all after spending Friday night with our two families at a fish fry. After going out for fish, our families all came over to our house for some cake. All in all, it was a great weekend. My only complaint is that it went by way to quick.

Maybe that's my point here. That life goes by way to quick. I turned 29 this past Saturday and it still amazes me that I am 29 years old. By no means am I "old," and in the same breath, I am no longer a "young kid." I am one year away from turning 30 and to completely honest with you, that scares the hell out of me. I can't really tell you why, because 30 is still young. It could be the fact that I will no longer be in my 20's or it could be that I will only be 10 years away from 40.

I have been truly blessed and fortunate to have some great life experiences in my past 29 years. I have had the opportunity to travel throughout the USA, been to England for nearly 2 weeks, been to Mexico 3 times, own my own home, graduated college, had 2 beautiful girls, qualified and ran in the Boston Marathon, and married my best friend. I have had a great life, but like I said, it has flown by. It's like they say, don't blink. I feel as though it was just a few days ago Sarah and I got married and now all of a sudden we have a 3 year old daughter who is growing like a weed and is getting smarter every single day. Then there is our 20 month old who is learning what seems to be a new word each day.

To be honest, I have a great life. I have accomplished a lot, as I noted above. There are a bunch of cliches that can be said here. Tim McGraw sang a song called, "My Next 30 Years," Kenny Chesney sang a song about how fast life goes by in his song, "Don't Blink," and there are 100's other songs about making the most of your life and what your given. There are a ton of motivational sayings, such as "Carpe Diem" and "live life to the fullest." People make lists of life goals, or Bucket Lists. This past month, I read about a new type of bucket list called "101 in 1001." The object is to create a large to do list (of sorts) of 101 "things" you would like to accomplish over the span of 1001 days, or roughly 2.75 years. I will be crossing of one of my highest priority life goals this September, when I race in Ironman Wisconsin. Knowing this fact, I have been left wondering, what next - to much dismay of my wife. I debated doing a 101 in 1001 list but realized that majority of the items I wanted to within the 1001 days required to much time to accomplish. Not that the event in itself would take longer than 1001 days, but the shear number of goals, such as running an ultra marathon would require at least a half year of training and preparation and would also not allow me to accomplish other large commitments during that time span. So I decided to lay my life goals out for everyone to read. This will put a sense of accountability to my goals. A public Bucket List, if you will. You can find my public Bucket List under the link at the top of my page titled, quite obviously, Bucket List.

Enjoy the list and never take any day in your life for granted and Carpe Diem!
Be fast, be strong, and carry on!

Coconut Chicken Nuggets

This recipe was taken from a friend on Facebook.  It sounded right up our alley in the Kohl household since our daughters LOVE chicken nuggets.  The fact that they were wheat free and had a good amount of coconut in them was just a bonus!

Ingredients

1. 1 Pound Ground Chicken
2. 1 Egg Yoke
3. 1 Tsp Onion Powder
4. 1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
5. 3/4 Cup Almond Flour (Divided)
6. 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
7. 1/2 Cup Coconut Oil (I used Olive Oil)
8. Salt and Pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup Almond Flour and Shredded Coconut with Salt and Pepper to taste.  Stir to combine.
3. In a second bowl, combine Ground Chicken, 1/2 Cup Almond Flour, Egg Yoke, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Salt and Pepper.  Blend all ingredients by hand to thoroughly mix.  
4. Heat oil in a saute pan.  Take about 2 tablespoons worth of the meat mixture and form into a small ball or patty.  Place ball or patty into the Almond Flour/Coconut mixture to coat.  You should be able to make about 15-18 nuggets.
5. Fry nuggets in oil for approx 3-4 minutes per side.  Remove nuggets from oil and place onto a baking pan covered with aluminum foil.  Once all nuggets have been pan fried and placed on the baking pan.  Place pan into oven and bake for 4-6 minutes to finish cooking interior of chicken.    

Meat mixture on left and breading mix on the right.

Frying the nuggets.

The finished product, served with a  side of mashed cauliflower.

The chicken nuggets turned out fantastic.  The kids loved them and so did Sarah and I.  The nuggets had a great coconut flavor that wasn't too strong and was just the right amount of coconut.  I served the nuggets with a side of mashed cauliflower, which has become a family favorite as opposed to mashed potatoes.  Personally I used a Honey Pecan BBQ Sauce, which went perfect with the flavor of the coconut.  I definitely recommend trying this easy alternative to store bought chicken nuggets.

Paleo Pancakes

I randomly came across this recipe for wheat-free, Paleo friendly pancakes, and thought they sounded good.  So, I figured I'd try them out.  The almond flour was a little pricey, but other than that I had all of the other ingredients on hand.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Almond Flour
• 1/2 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
• 1 Tbsp Coconut Flour (I used my food processor to grind up coconut flakes)
• 2 Eggs
• 1/4 Water
• 1/4 Tsp Nutmeg
• 1/4 Tsp Salt
• Coconut Oil
• Fresh Berries

Directions

1. Combine Almond Flour, Applesauce  Coconut Flour, Eggs, Water, Nutmeg, and Salt in a bowl and mix together completely.  The batter should appear thicker than traditional pancake batter.
2. Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat along with some coconut oil.
3. Drop 1/4 cup of the batter on the pan once it is fully heated and cook like a normal pancake.
4. Top with berries or pure maple syrup.

I found that these pancakes need to cook slower than traditional pancakes.  When in doubt, turn the heat down lower.  I started at a normal temperature for pancakes and that left he pancakes done on the outside and still a little thick on the inside.  They turned out looking like normal pancakes once I turned the head down and let them cook slower/longer at the lower heat.  They tasted good, but not like traditional pancakes.  They were more dense then traditional pancakes, but still delicious.  Our 20 month old loved them and ate 4 of them!  She normally only eats 1, maybe 2 traditional pancakes.  My wife, who usually turns her head at non-traditional food, really liked them as well.  They had a flavor closer related to french toast instead of pancakes.  They will definitely be made again at our house!

Getting Longer - Cycle 9

I have seen my volume really increase for the first time over this past couple cycles.  I use my Garmin GPS watch to track all my training sessions.  The nice thing about the watch is that it automatically downloads all the data to a website that logs all the data and stores it for free.  I use this website ultimately to track all my data and look back on all my workouts.  It uses a normal calendar week as the default for reporting data.  At the end of each week it gives you a weekly totals box.  In the box it tells you your total distance covered in miles and total duration for all training sessions logged that week.  The past couple years I usually rack up about 6-8 hours of training a week.  Over a stretch of 2 weeks (Feb 17 - Mar 2) I totaled 10:19 and 9:41 of training.  The last time I had a week of over 10 hours of training was back in 2010 in the meat of my training for the High Cliff Half Ironman and the Race the Lake Bike Race.  2010 was also my "golden year" of endurance training and racing.  I posted all of my personal bests that year.  I qualified for the Boston Marathon at the Fox Cities Marathon with a time of 3:04 and ran the High Cliff Half Ironman in 4:40.  My body weight was in the area of 160-155 and had a body composition in the range of 4-6% body fat.

This is all really motivating to me as I have always kept my 2010 race season in the back of my head and had always wished to get back to that condition.  The fact that it is only the beginning of March and my training volume is already hovering around 10 hours a week leads me to believe I can easily get back into the shape I was in back in 2010 and most likely even post better race times this season.  There are some differences that need to be noted, however.  First, I have been spending time in the weight room which is being counted in my total volume, where in 2010 I did no strength training.  Although, I have always felt that I lacked in strength, especially on the bike portion of races and during hilly runs.  I have never incorporated strength into my training in the past due to a lack of time - this year I am making it priority and making time to strength train.  The second difference is majority of my volume in 2010 was spent on long runs and long bikes over the weekends and this season my training volumes have been pretty evenly spread out over the course of a week.  In my eyes, this is a great thing, because I want to adapt properly to longer workouts over the next couple months when my volume will really see a big spike, especially during my long weekend workouts.  Lastly, all my workouts have been single session workouts.  By this I mean that I only did one workout a day, whereas this year, I have been doing multiple workouts at least once a week and have also been combining strength with run and swim sessions.  I have also been doing a bike/run brick workout at least once a week as well.  

As far as my weight and body composition goes, I am still heavier than I was in the heart of my 2010 race season.  I am about 10 pounds heavier than I was 3 years ago this time.  That being said, I am in a completely different place in my life now compared to 3 years ago.  I worked a flexible schedule job which was primarily an 8-4 job.  I was a vegetarian which had a huge impact on my body weight.  I also had a ton of spare time to prepare vegetarian meals each night, compared to what I have now for free time.  With all that being said, I am really working on eating properly and getting my weight back down to the 155-160 range.  This past cycle I have consistently been hovering just above 165.  I am also monitoring my body fat percentage this season.  My plan is to get a body comp test every 3 months this race season.  In December when I first started training for the Ironman I was in the range of 8.6-8.7%.  I had my last test done after my long run on Feb 27th this cycle.  I dropped 1.3% since December.  My new body comp is about 7.3%.  I just need to remain steadfast and consistent with my diet and my nutrition.  I am already planning on a significant hiccup in my diet this upcoming weekend as I am celebrating my 29th birthday on March 2nd.     Sarah's grandma makes the worlds BEST carrot cake for me each year on my birthday.  Carrot cake is one of my all time favorite desserts.  The "hiccup" already started on the last day of this past cycle.  We did a big gathering of both my extended family along with some of Sarah's extended family.  We all went out for a Friday Fish Fry and then returned to our house for cake.  Let's just say I had plenty of carrot cake, but having the family over was great.  I'm sure I will also drink plenty of beer on my actual birthday as well, as Sarah and I are planning on going to the Title Town Brewery in Green Bay for my actual birthday.  So, all I need to do is make sure I get my scheduled workouts in and just get past this upcoming weekend and get my nose right back to the grindstone with my training and diet on Monday.  

Just some updates from this past cycle that are not related directly to my training:

1. For the first time I joined USA Triathlon for the upcoming year.  My intentions are not only to avoid having to purchase a "one-day" membership at races this upcoming year, but I made it a goal for 2014 to race at USA Triathlon National's.  In order to qualify for the 2014 Nationals you need to be a member of USA Triathlon, so I joined.

2.  I registered for a couple new races, which have been added to my race schedule above.  I registered for the Elkhart Lake Sprint Triathlon on June 8th.  I also registered for the Appleton YMCA Indoor Triathlon on April 13th.  

Brief Recap

This past cycle wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be as far as work conflicts.  All of my court trials which were scheduled for the mornings right after a full night of work were cancelled and the one day of midday training wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I simply adjusted my training plan ahead of time to incorporate a shorted workout that morning (30 minute strength session) so I could get to bed earlier than normal and I got to training on time and just came right back home and took a short 2 hour nap right before heading back to work.

I was able to get in all my scheduled workouts this past cycle.  The only adjustment I needed to make was that I needed to cut a strength session short because I opted to pick up a 4 hour block of overtime on Sunday morning after my usual 10p-6a night shift.  I came home around 10:30am and was just exhausted.  I still got in my 4 mile run, but was lacking the energy to do a full 30 minute strength session.  I just did a short 10 minutes worth of core work then crashed in bed.  I'm glad I took the overtime though, as a little extra money in the bank never hurts.  

My body is feeling great.  Granted, I have days which I am definitely more sore than others, but all-in-all, I am feeling really good for training 11.5 hours over the course of 9 days.  My recovery has been good, I have been started to skimp a little on my daily foam roller treatment and stretching, but I still have been using my Stick religiously.

Favorite Workout

I honestly don't think any of this past cycle's workouts really stick out more than the other.  I have still been stuck indoors doing my 800m repeats on a treadmill, as well as my race pace long runs.  My swim workouts haven't been anything different or exciting and as for by bike workouts, I probably don't even need to comment.  I haven't gotten outside on my bike since early January.  So this past cycle I spent nearly 5 hours on a stationary spin bike, alone in my basement listening to my iPod.  Did I mention our basement is not finished, there is no TV, and I am alone?  All I really want is to get back to being outside regularly for both the bike training and the run training.  If I were to pick a favorite workout, I'd have to pick my 800m repeat workout from day 3.  I ran a total of 8 miles with 5, 800m repeats.  The only reason I picked this workout is because of the challenging nature of the workout.  It's an intense workout, with long, fast sprints, with minimal rest between the intervals.  I usually get a good ego boost after these workouts and almost always feel like I can easily break 3 hours in the marathon when I am done.

Moving Forward

As I hinted to at the beginning of this post, my Birthday falls on Day 1 of the upcoming training cycle, March 2nd.  I took off from work both Saturday and Sunday night.  The 4 day work week will be nice.  Especially considering that I have court on Monday, and back-to-back days with midday trainings on both Tuesday and Wednesday.  Just knowing that I need to get through Wednesday night at work and then Thursday is my Friday is a GREAT feeling.  As far as training goes, I can almost promise you that my favorite workout from this cycle will be my birthday workout.  I turn 29 on Saturday March 2nd, so I structured a workout based around the number 29.  I will swim 2900 meter followed by a indoor bike for the duration equivalent to a 29 mile outdoor ride averaging 20mph (1:27).  Besides that workout, I have another bout of 800m repeats and my long run gets bumped up to 16 miles from the previous 14 mils, with 8 miles of it done at goal race pace. My long brick workout will actually get to be a true brick workout this cycle too, which I am pretty excited about.  Most of my previous brick workouts have been scheduled on days that I have had 8 hour training blocks scheduled on my scheduled off days, which forced me to split the two workouts between the 8 hour training.  No matter what the scheduled workouts are for this cycle, my #1 goal for this cycle is to get right back into eating right after the weekend of binge eating and pure pigging out - I mean, c'mon - It's my freakin birthday!  It's my one day (or weekend) to eat what ever the hell I want, with minimal guilt  :)

Be fast, be strong, and carry on!