My nose is running and so am I...

I love waking up on a Saturday morning when no one else is awake. Today was one of those days. It was so peaceful making my smoothie, coffee and reading the paper from front to back. I had the house to myself for about an hour and a half. It was nice. We were busy for most of the day. I had to run all kinds of errands. Alice and I must have stopped at a dozen places. As we were going in and out of places I would try a little run from the car to the door and vise versa just to test out the calf. The good thing was that there was no pain from running, so I decided that when we got home I was going to go for a run and put it to the test. 

I got ready and put on my red toque, then I got a bad vibe, that the red would bring me bad luck, so I followed my intuition and put on my green one. Just to be safe. I started running and it seemed okay. At first I was going to do just a 30 minute run, but when I got to the 30 minute point I decided to go for 45 minutes, then when I got to 45 minutes, I decided to go for an hour, and then I became like Forest Gump, I just kept running. By the time I was done I ran for over an hour and a half. At times, I couldn't even feel the calf problem, my only discomfort was my ears from the cold. I didn't realize it was -15 C and should have taken my toque with the ear covers. 

It turns out that I could have run the Chili Half Marathon after all. But I'm still glad I didn't because I would have pushed hard and who knows what would have happened. Tonight is going to be some more relaxation around the bar. I love getting all my training done before the sun goes down. Today was a great day, even though I have a mild cold and a runny nose. Looks like I'm back on track.

Long Run - 1:32:02 / 11.23 miles / 8:11 pace / HR max 144 bpm.

12

Physically the same...

I had a semi physical today. I was virtually the exact same weight and measurements as last year. My weight was .5 of a kg up, but I drank a pint of water before I left home, so I'm essentially the same weight as last year. My waist was even a tiny bit smaller this year and it's not even the racing season. 

I've been drinking water like crazy just to get hydrated. I'm making progress because last night I had to get up a couple of times to go to the bathroom. I was googling about my calf cramping from swimming and confirmed it was from dehydration. Some of the people who posted said it took a week for them to recover. Again, today, my calf was so sensitive to the touch. In the early afternoon I started to get a runny nose and felt a cold coming on. I guess with all the water consumption my body now has some fluids and is trying to get rid of all the toxins. When I got home I took some Cold FX and that seemed to help and then spending the night at our bar drinking beers didn't seem to hurt either. Before I went to bed, Alyssa the baker, made some cinnamon buns, I couldn't resist helping myself to a couple as a bed time snack. Then I realized I probably only should have had one because I'm not training.

Jay Yakabowich picked up my race kit for the Chili Half Marathon. I kept the shirt and bag and gave him the race number and timing chip to give to somebody else if they wanted to race in my place. Last year I crashed the Chili without paying because they were sold out. This year I paid and can't race because of my calf. I guess it all balances out in the end. 

No Training - left calf injury

16

It's still sore...

I took the time to ice my calf last night and massaged it before going to bed. I was a little surprised that it was still tender and getting more tender before I went to bed. When I woke up I still felt the soreness. I stretched a little and it seemed to get better, but as the day wore on it became more and more tender, beyond what it was yesterday. I think I can still run on it, I did a few 10 meter runs and it seemed okay, but the real test would be a long run and I'm too chicken to try that right now. I'm not sure if I can ride on it either. It feels like the top inside half of my calf muscle has been hit by a baseball bat. It's not hard, it's actually very soft, at times I think maybe it tore off the bone. I get the sense that it is more serious than I originally thought. All day the muscles on both my calf's have been twitching like crazy. I'm concerned that if I push too hard too early, I'm going to cause a major injury.

I finished writing down my training plan for the year and it has some serious mileage. I'm actually looking forward to it, but I'm so concerned that I may be on the verge of a calf injury which would be a major set back. It's strange because it happened in the pool and I was just swimming and it cramped hard. 

I have the Chili half marathon race scheduled for Sunday, but at this point it is highly unlikely that I'm going to do it unless something miraculous happens. I think it all comes back to dehydration. I'm now trying to drink as much water as possible, I'm taking vitamins, Advil and Aspirin. I've never experienced this type of injury and the more I play it in my mind, all I was doing was doing an easy 50 meter cool down, swimming slowly on my side and kicking, and then WHAM...calf seized. Strange. 

I was going to do weights, but the Y is replacing all the equipment and the weight room won't open again until tomorrow. Instead, I went to watch Reid's 3 on 3 hockey game. They won and he hardly broke a sweat, he's not a big hustler. The important thing is that he seems to still like playing hockey. Personally, I think it is for the social aspect of the game.

Injury Recovery Day.

A big cramp...

Last night was good, having a few beers was just what the doctor ordered. Basically I hit the reset button. It was a late night last night and I was a little worse for wear this morning, but I was motivated to train. I got my training plan finished and went for a moderate swim tonight, although I did swim hard. With less than 10 meters to go my left inner calf seized. All I saw was all the muscles completely contracted, I could count the striations, it looked like I had no skin on the muscle, and my toes were stuck pointing down. I tried to stand flat on my foot but there was no way. It was a good thing I was in the shallow end of the pool, even then I had to go underwater and I could tell the life guard was watching to make sure I was okay. It took about a minute for the calf to relax where I could walk on it. On the drive home I could tell that my left calf felt different than the right. When I tried to make a muscle, the right was hard, but the left stayed pretty soft. 

When I got home my plan was to do an hour on the bike, but after only 5 minutes of riding I could tell that the calf wasn't getting better, so I decided to stop and give it a rest. I don't know what's happening, starting last Saturday, for some reason, my legs have been cramping on me. I still think it must be dehydrated because I can see a lot of veins on my legs that are normally not there. That's usually a pretty good sign that I'm dehydrated. The plus side is that I'm actually proud of myself for stopping the ride and not pushing through it and potentially causing further injury. Now I'm going to rest and ice it for the rest of the night, drink lots more water, and hopefully it will feel back to normal by tomorrow.

51:00 - 2500 meters 

Everything hurt, I need a beer..

My brain hurts and my legs still hurt. For the past couple of weeks, I've been spending a lot of my time doing my personal annual financial, tax planning, expense and insurance review, talking with accountants, lawyers and financial planner. At work, I'm spending a lot of time reviewing budgets, strategy, preparing for a sales meeting and trying to get it all done before my Vegas trip next week to meet with potential customers. I've also been spending a lot of time trying to figure out what type of training plan I should be following. I've been relying on my last years training log and Mark Allen's old book "Workouts for Working People". I think I'm getting close on finalizing a schedule. But doing all this, especially all at the same time is making my head hurt. 

The beauty of training is that it helps give me a break and relax my mind and get me back to clarity. My run tonight did that and when I got home I got on the bike and continued to figure out my training schedule and my head started hurting again. On the run my legs were still stiff from Saturday's run. I did a moderate pace run and didn't exceed 130 bpm, I spent 90% of the run in the 120's. Afterwards I got on the bike and did a moderate bike in the 120 - 130 bpm range. I went slow on the bike, my goal was just to try and loosen my legs and get the lactic acid out. By the end of the ride I was mentally fried and didn't have a spring in my step. I figured I needed to relax a little and while I rode, Alice picked up some beers. After I do this blog entry I'm going to have a beer or two, watch some TV and try to give my mind a rest.

Run - 42:52 / 5.11 miles / 8:22 pace

Bike - 1:15 / 19.06 miles / 15.25 mph

16

Upper body strong, lower body not so much...

I thought that within a day of drinking lots of water, my legs would magically get better, which was not the case. I went to the Y tonight and did weights and a swim. I was doing lunges and I normally do it with 80 lbs on my shoulders. I started to do it and my legs were so sore I cut the weight back to 40 lbs, and my legs were still strained. I was shocked. I still can believe how dehydration can make your muscles hurt so much. After the weight session I did a 2500 meter swim. I was real happy with the swim, I feel like I'm back to doing well. The first 100 I did as part of the warm up was 1:38 and I did a 400 at an average pace of 1:45 per 100, then a 500 at 1:44 per 100, then a second 500 in 1:49 per 100. Last Monday I was struggling to keep it under 2:00 per 100. 

The strange thing is that I'm actually starting to enjoy swimming. I'm thinking that I'm going to try and do 8 km / 5 miles per week. This week I plan on putting together my training plan for my first race in June. I've been going through last years training log and trying to figure out the best plan. I wish I was still with Mark Allen, it was much easier just following their plans.

Weights - 30 minutes.

Swim - 50:44 / 2500 meters

I couldn't train today if I wanted to...

I got home last night at 2 am, my flight was delayed and it was nice to sleep in my own bed. It was also nice to get back to my morning fruit protein shakes. At 10 am the painter arrived to finish staining the bar. 

I committed to changing the front look of the bar before I became "budget boy", as John Barclay likes to put it. I had the bar front redone by Henry, who is a friend of Johnny, a guy who works for me and someone I consider a good friend. Henry is a certified carpenter and for the past 30 years had constructed movie sets for many big budget Hollywood films. He's amazing. If they need the oval office created, he does it. He actually built the plane for the Amelia Earhart movie from photo's they gave him. For the movies, Henry shows up with his 53 foot semi trailer full of equipment. Henry finished the carpentry yesterday and had Rob, another movie guy, come in to stain it. Rob is more than a painter, he creates all types of stuff for the movies. For the Incredible Hulk he created walls that the Hulk broke threw, sewers, caves, distressed apartments and basically anything they needed. He also does great back drops and can make anything out of fiber glass. For one movie, the materials he used, alone, cost over $1 million dollars. The movie business is really slow right now because the actors don't have contracts, so these awesome craftsmen were available to do my bar. I just told them what I wanted, showed them some pictures of bars I liked and they went to it. They didn't need any direction, I just sat back and let them due there thing and they gave my bar a face lift.

Henry did a great job in building it and I was nervous about Rob staining it the right color, but he did a great job. The only problem is that the house stinks, it's toxic from the lacquer. Alice and I both were feeling sick from the smell. The kids are already legitimately sick. From yesterday's dehydrated run, my legs are still really sore and I was only going to do an hour ride just to loosen them up. But because of the fumes, and the fact that my bike is downstairs beside the bar and I didn't want to move it, I decided to push the ride into tomorrow. I ended up spending the day finalizing the races I'm going to do this season and then for dinner, Alice and I had no choice but to get out of the house. Right after we left we started feeling much better.

Rest day

5b

I learnt a big lesson today...

I should have known there was a problem last night. In the middle of the night I woke up and it felt like my achilles was tight. I just chalked it up to swimming two days in a row after a layoff. This morning I woke up early to do my long run. I was looking forward to the warm weather, but that early in the morning, it's not that warm in Florida, it was 7 C. It was luck that I brought a sweat shirt.

The morning started great. Before I left on my run I went to get a bagel and the girl gave me an extra bagel and a wink. Then I started the run and I ran by a farmers field and a cow was watching me, which is a good omen, it happens to me at home. Then about 3 miles into the run, my thighs cramped right up and I mean CRAMPED. It was the feeling you get when you finish a marathon. I couldn't believe it. I can't remember the last time my legs cramped. They didn't even cramp anywhere near as bad as that during the Ironman. I started debating if I should turn around or not, I was afraid I might be risking injury. But with the half marathon next week I felt I needed to keep going.

As I ran I started wondering WHY am I'm cramping. Then I realized that I had only had about a liter and a half of water since I left on Wednesday. Which was after I rode my bike for an hour, swam twice and did some weights. I realized I was in MAJOR dehydration mode. About 8 miles into the run I stopped at a convenience store and bought two one liter bottles of water. I drank one before I started running again and saved the other for the rest of the run. After stopping to get the water, it was really tough to start running again. My legs were stiff, but I preserved. After I drank the water, and for the first time during the run, I started to sweat. I ended up doing 13.1 miles and actually ran at a pretty good pace with all things considered. I did an 8:04 per mile pace without my heart rate exceeding 140 bpm. For the rest of the day my legs were spent, it was tough even going down stairs. 

During lunch I met a guy named Ron Hundley from Signature Printing in Norfolk Virginia. Ron is a runner and even helps coach new runners as part of a fundraising program for Leukemia. Some of the people he coaches may be very over weight or old and who have a dream of doing a half marathon or full marathon, even if they have to walk it. Some of his stories about people he coached were touching. He started running three years ago at age 53 and evolved from a 2:30 half marathon to a 3:45 marathon. Currently he's recovering from an Achilles injury but hopes to be back training by March 1st. It's amazing that no matter where you are from, the feeling of camaraderie you have with perfect strangers who run or do triathlons is instant. After the keynote I thought it would be great to get a photo with Joe Theisman, but after meeting Ron, I much prefer getting a photo with him. He's a just a regular guy making a difference in this world, not only raising money but helping other's build confidence and self esteem.

Long run - 1:45:43 / 13.1 miles / 8:04 pace / max 140 bpm.

11b

Having some Joe in the morning...

The digital printing conference started today and the keynote speaker was Joe Theisman. It's been a while since I've heard an ex-pro speak and it's always entertaining hearing the stories and the lessons they try to relate by telling them. Like anything, some of what they say always resonates in some fashion with your current situation. From a business perspective it has been a good trip so far and I'd say it has been successful, anything else that happens is a bonus. 

From a training perspective I was able to get out for a 50 minute speed swim workout between when the seminars ended and cocktails and dinner began. I had a good swim, I was really pushing myself and my muscles really felt those missed workouts from letting the tattoo heal. Because there was no lines on the bottom of the pool, and it was odd shaped, a few times I almost hit the wall. It didn't help that I was getting tired. 

Speed swim - 50:39 /2300 meters  

Traveling man who hit a milestone...

I spent a lot of time last night getting ready for my trip and being able to fit in some training before I had to leave for the airport. I made sure my bags were packed and I had all my stuff ready by the door. Then I set up my bike, water bottles, computer, newspaper and had my cycling clothes laid out, so when I woke up I could get right to training. Normally to get ready to ride it takes a good 15 - 20 minutes just to get ready and I didn't have that kind of time this morning. It worked out great, I got up early, made a protein shake, a toasted bagel with peanut butter and headed downstairs for my ride and ate and drank on the bike, although it wasn't easy when you are huffing and puffing. Today was an hour tempo ride and it went well. What a difference having a fan makes blowing on you. A few times I've forgotten to turn it on and after 10 minutes I'm just dripping sweat, that's when I remember to turn it on. 

When I got into Orlando it was pouring rain and I took some time to check out the weight room and spa, some how I've got to figure a way out to do my training. Most conference's start early and end late with all the breakfasts, dinners and schmoozing and stuff. It turned out the weight room was open until 9:30 and the pool is about 27 meters is open 24 hours. After dinner I did weights and decided to go for an unscheduled swim. I was going to swim tomorrow, but who knows if I can fit it in or not, I think we have a dinner planned. The swim was challenging because it was a shaped pool with no line on the bottom. As I got more tired it was hard to keep swimming straight and a few times I almost hit the side walls.

I just realized that I hit a milestone. As of today I've done 10,062.39 miles of training, I burnt 803,962 calories, I did 863 workouts and I did it all in 556 days. I also decided that I'm not going to do the UK Ironman this year after all, I had to cut back on the expenses. Which is unfortunate as I wanted to do an Ironman this year, maybe I'll do one on my own. I know a girl who did that two years ago.

Tempo Bike - 1 hour / 18.14 Miles / 18.14 pace

Weights - 30 minutes

Mod Swim - 57:32 / 2600 meters

A blistering run...

Last year I remember my first year of real training under the Mark Allen program and every morning I'd wake up stiff and slowly shuffle to the bathroom. I'd also find myself getting tired and burnt on the duration and frequency of the training. What a difference a year and an Ironman under your belt makes. I feel great when I wake up, no shuffle and no mental dragging. It actually feels much easier this year. I was looking at my schedule from last year and I'm currently doing 400 plus miles for February and last year I was just over 500 and I feel great and my running and swim times are much faster. 

Today was an easy day, just a 50 minute run and although my blister looked bad it didn't bother me today. It is also the first week that I'm not being coached by Mark Allen Online, so I'm trying to use past experience to figure out my workouts. I was thinking on my run that it's got to be stepped up for 3 weeks then one week not so hard and I figured putting in the miles is most important. It will be interesting to see how I race this year. I also considering not doing the UK Ironman, but I'm still working on budget numbers and how much of the trip I can put on bonus points. John Barclay is now referring to me as "budget boy".

Tomorrow morning I'm heading to Orlando for a work conference until Saturday. I'm looking forward to doing my long run in warm weather. 

Tempo Run - 50:00 / 6.41 miles / 7:47 pace (138 - 140 bpm - Max 144 bpm).

Lots of training for a Tuesday...

I woke up a little worse for wear from my 5 day long weekend of partying and was determined to get back on track and pick up Monday's missed workouts. At lunch time I went to the Y and did my swim. My first 100 was at a 1:39 pace and by the end I was doing a 2:00 pace. I could really tell that the time off from the pool was now showing. I really did enjoy the swim and I was still able to do butterfly for 2 x 50's. I got home a little later from work than usual, quickly barbecued up some steaks and was in the basement on my bike by 6:30 pm. From that point on I did a long bike ride, then drove to the Y, did weights, drove back and did a moderate speed run. By the time I finished it was 10:45 pm. From beginning to end it took just over 4 hours to do my biking, running and weights. Through out the night I felt hungry and made sure I was eating. I did the weights after my bike ride and I could tell my legs weren't feeling as strong. On one machine I even had to lower the weight. When I did my run I could tell I was tired and about half way through the run I couldn't wait for it to be over, then a good song started playing and I got my second wind. In the end I had no soreness and felt good that I got everything done and I'm now caught up.

Long Swim -  54:01 / 2500 meters

Weights - 30 minutes

Mod Bike - 1:45 / 31.2 miles / 17.83 pace (130 bpm)

Mod Run - 41:28 /4.79 / 8:39 pace. (134 bpm)

Family Day...

It's been a great long weekend. I've been consuming a lot of calories and because I took Friday and Sunday off I've felt a little guilty. The only time I've taken two day's off in one week is after doing races. So the minute I woke up, I put my cycling shorts on and got on the bike for my 2 1/2 hour ride. About an hour into it I was thinking that I can hardly wait until it is over. Then 90 minutes into it I got a phone call from Hans Winkler, an old friend from Winnipeg. I put him on speaker phone and we talked while I trained. Before I knew it an hour went by and I was finished. Afterwards, I had a good stretch, showered and the Alice, Alyssa, Reid and I went for a car ride in the escarpment. It was only 1 C but I saw a lot of cyclists out on the road and I was a little envious. Next time it's 1 C or more I'm going for an outside ride. I'm also really looking forward to seeing how my new bike rides outside. I can't tell you how much I love this bike, it looks great and it feels and runs even better. It's a bike that I'm not sure that ever want to ride in the rain, which is unrealistic, but that's how much I like it. I was also going to swim and do weights tonight but found out that because of today's provincial holiday the Y closed at 5 pm and I didn't want to cut into the family time. I guess tomorrow with be a triathlon and weights for training. For the rest of the day my legs had a twang to them. It wasn't a sore feeling but it was a workout feeling. It felt like I did something and it felt like like it was a good and necessary workout, not just a mental strength builder.

Long bike - 2:30:45 / 44.70 / 17.79 pace.

16b

I'm having a lot of fun this weekend...

Last night was fun. Reid and I had a great fun fight. He decided to tie me up with his hockey tape and it hurt pulling it off my hair. I got him back and good when I brought out the duct tape. I wrapped him up good. He struggled for close to an hour before I cut him loose. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't being mean, he was just determined to get out. I bugged him by telling him Jeffery Daumler would have got him easily. For dinner, I thought of John Barclay and had some KFC. I made sure we only order the 7 piece meal for Reid, Alice and I. The only reason I put this in the blog is because I know John is reading this and he loves the colonel and the dirty bird and I know he will be laughing that I actually ate it.

Next thing we know there was all kinds of police and fire truck lights behind our house. We had nothing to do so we walked over to see what was happening. We were gawkers. It was a car that hit a power box and it didn't seem like anyone got hurt. Everyone was waiting for the hydro guys to come and fix the box. As we stood there, there was a couple of fire fighter's that seemed like Abbot and Costello, they were screwing around with the light on there jacket and a siren. I found out later that it was a safety devise that used when they are in a building and if they are not moving it sounds. They didn't need it on but they had it going anyway. Firefighters know how to have fun. 

While we were there I heard "HOUSE OF PAYNE", it was Derek Baranoswki, he's a firefighter and Ironman that did the house of Payne run. He was serious about the situation but took the time to say high. I felt like a rock star. I told him that those two guys with the light and siren were making us laugh and he explained the safety equipment would go off if they didn't move and they were just shaking to quiet it down. It made sense, but then I realized they also had there masks on, which was COMPLETELY unnecessary. They were just screwing around. We were right behind them and I'm sure they heard our laughter. 

I was scheduled to do a 2 1/2 hour bike ride today, but because Henry was down stairs working, I couldn't ride my bike while he was there, so I figured I'll do it tomorrow. While Henry worked we ended up doing some grocery shopping  and took Reid to see the old car I ran by yesterday. We figured if it was in good shape that maybe the people who owned it would want to get rid of it and Reid could try to restore it. The car was in such bad shape that even Reid said no way. Reid was trying to open the door and I was going to tell him not to because there could be bees, but I didn't. Then he looked in the window and said there was a bee's nest and figured we should leave.

Rest Day.

12b

Happy Valentines day...

Henry was coming this morning, supposedly early, to work on the bar. I got to bed late, so I decided to sleep in my clothes so I didn't have to rush out of bed, get dressed and greet Henry at the door. I thought it was a great idea at the time. It turned out that Henry had a late night as well and didn't show up until 11 am, which was fine by me. I was awake before he arrived, but only by about 5 minutes. 

I ended up going for my long run around 2 pm and did an hour and a half. My body was feeling it from last night, I ran in the hills in the escarpment and I easily walked at least 20 times just to keep under 140 bpm. At the half way point I was averaging an 8:51 pace going uphill, by the time I finished I was a 8:29 pace, which is slow but acceptable. I love running. As I ran, I listened to 70's music and enjoyed the run, and thought about all the ways I can save money. At one point I thought I saw a body in the ditch. As I got closer my heart was pumping and I was freaked, then I realized it was some garbage someone threw into the ditch. Near the end of the run, I had a beautiful horse cross my path and I was able to capture a great shot of the horse and a car going down the road together, yesterday's and today's transportation.

I find it interesting that what ever I set my mind to, I do to an extreme. I think Alice now thinks I've gone over board on the save money thing. This morning I cancelled some of the channels on the TV, the newspaper and reduced our cell phone charges which totaled about $800 a year in savings. I'm curious to find out how long it takes until the kids realize we don't have those TV channels anymore. It's now after 7 pm and they have been watching TV all day and I haven't heard a word. I guess that means we really didn't need those channels.

I didn't realize that today was Valentines day, it usually is on a weekday and on the way home I usually pick something up for Alice. Because it is a Saturday, it screwed me up and I realized I didn't have anything for her. So when we went to Reid's game this afternoon, I told her I needed to go for gas and ended up picking her up chocolates, flowers and a stuffed teddy bear. I took it home and had Alyssa set them up on the dinning room table all nice. It took a long time and by the time I got back to the rink, the game was in the third period. To cover for my time loss, I told Alice that I had a minor fender bender with a young kid, who called his Dad, who wanted me to wait while he drove to see the damage. She bought it hook, line and sinker. Reid ended up winning his game and when we got home Alice didn't even see the flowers and stuff on the table. I had to point it out to her. I could tell she appreciated it and afterwards I took her out for dinner. She deserves it for so many reasons.

Long Run - 1:30:30 / 10.66 / 8:29 pace

15b

I took a day off and got drunk...

I decided to take the day off, no training. It's the first time since February 2nd. I had a swim planned, but missing is not a big deal. Instead I started the long weekend early and Alice and I hung out around our bar. Henry is redoing the front and now I can put my legs underneath. It is so much more comfortable. I've imported all our expenses into this new software that shows what you spend on what and I still can't believe how much money I spent on triathlons. Around $15,000 last year. Twenty years ago it cost so little. Now with equipment, repair, nutrition, memberships, coaching, travel and race fees, it's crazy. My family was gloating how much I cost the household because I always complain that they are the expensive ones. I've decided I'm going to cancel my trip to the St. Croix half Ironman and start coaching myself instead of paying for it. I didn't realize that the coaching costs me about $1400 per year. Going to the UK is going to be expensive enough, even with the hotel and airfare paid for using my airmiles points. Last year I raced a lot and it was because it was my comeback year. I really enjoy training more than racing, so I'm going to be very selective about how many races I enter this year. Al Nolan called me today to tell me he has dropped 18 lbs because of my motivating him. He said he hasn't been the weight he's at for at least 5 years. I told Al I'm looking at cutting expenses and Al is the KING of cheapness. He told me that he's happy I motivate him to get back into shape and he'd be more than happy to help motivate me become a "cheap bastard". I'm so immersed in cutting expenses I think Alice is relieved. We ended up having another great night, and again, couldn't get to bed before 3 am.

Rest Day

18b

I'm pulling the horns in...

I had a pretty full day of training doing weights and a tempo bike ride. I finally had a strong bike ride. I think the secret is that I didn't look at my speedometer and just went by feel. I'm glad I had to train because before I started my training I was downloading and playing with some financial budgeting software. With the economy the way it is and the money I've spent on triathlons and travel, Alice and I decided to do a full review of what we spend our money on. I've never really done this. The software I got allowed us to download our monthly bank and credit card statements and then puts them into expense categories and then has these real easy to read charts. It was super easy to do what would normally be a lot of tedious work, and it was an eye opener. I don't even want to say how much I spent on triathlons. Alice and Reid saw the expense pie chart and gave me the "hairy eye ball". Anyways, I was getting so immersed in the software that I needed to take off to the Y so I could clear my head. When I got back I set up my laptop and read half of the software instruction manual as I rode. While I rode, Alice picked up some beer for the weekend and I told her to start picking up Lakeport Light, it costs about 30% less than Coors and Amstel. I figured it's a sacrifice I'm prepared to make. For the rest of the night, Alice and I sat at the bar, talked some finance and got to bed around 1 am. I almost forgot, a couple of days ago I started to make a smoothie type drink for breakfast, it includes water, a banana, some blueberries, whey protein and water all blended together. It tastes awesome and it's amazing how full and satisfying I feel after having it. Plus since Monday I've dropped just over 3 lbs, I'm sitting at 181.6 lbs, and I think the drink has something to do with it.

Tempo Bike - 1 hour/19.14 miles /19.04 mph

Weights - 30 minutes

6b

It was a pisser...

I think my body has been going through major detox. For the past two nights I've had the sweats and I've noticed that my running is a little slower at my standard heart rate. Today I woke up feeling pretty good and I didn't sweat during my sleep last night. I'm even down to 183.4lbs from 185 lbs. I waited to do my run tonight because I was so immersed in reviewing my personal finances from last year and projecting for this year. Tax season has that effect on me. I couldn't believe how much money we spent last year on the house and triathlons. If I had looked at it earlier I doubt I would have signed up for both St. Croix and Ironman UK this year, I would have chosen just one. Next year I think I'll spend more time closer to home. It is amazing how much doing triathlons cost based on equipment, nutrition, race fees, coaching, memberships and travel. This year I got a new bike and wheels, this should be the last year I'll have to make any major expenses. I can't imagine what else I would need. By the time I went for my run, my head was spinning from all the number crunching. 

I was looking forward to running in the warm weather but when I opened the door it was pouring rain. Never fails when you buy new shoes. It was another character building moment. I ended up putting on a rain jacket over my normal jacket and pushing myself out the door for my tempo run. For the first mile I was on a 7:08 pace at under 140 bpm and I thought I was going to have a great run and then half way through I had to slow down to keep under my target heart rate and ended up averaging a 7:51 pace. I was going through my calendar and noticed that my first race, the Chili Half Marathon is March 1st, which is not far away. I can't believe I have my first race of the year in just over 2 weeks.

Tempo Run - 45:17 / 5.76 miles / 7:51 pace / 138 - 140 hr (max 143/145)

It was a weird start to the day...

For the past few nights I've been sweating. Two nights ago it was hard and I was shivering under the covers. Last night it was just my lower body and I was able to remove a cover and it got under control. I set my alarm to get up early for an Oakville Chamber of Commerce morning meeting and got there by 7 am then found out I got the date wrong. It was close to home so I went home and had some breakfast and a nap before leaving for work. Tonight is a busy training night, 2 1/2 hours. I was going to run when I got home from work but was too tired and went out with Alice to look at some stuff. I broke down a little and ate some popcorn and taco chips and figured it wasn't a big deal because I'll more than burn them off tonight. After I ate dinner I forced myself to nap and then started training around 7:30 pm. I did a moderate run and the weather was great, it was around 7 C and I even ran without my tuque and had to open my jacket to keep cool. I ran on the street because the side walks were wet. I ran by one house and the guy shoveled the snow from his yard onto the street. I've seen that before and wonder why they do it. It's a lot of work for having your lawn melt a day or two before your neighbor. On the run my left calf was twitching and I could still feel my blisters. When I got home I quickly got on the bike and did my moderate ride. Exactly 51 minutes into the ride I was mentally tired and felt like stopping, but I didn't. I figure it is time like these, where you are tired and persevere that helps you get through the Ironman. It is character building. I ended up finishing, albeit a slow ride, and felt pretty good. Time passes when you watch TV, read the paper and surf the net.

Moderate Run - 1 hour / 7.12 miles / 8:21 pace / 129 - 135 hr (max 137)

Moderate Bike 1:30:18 / 26.01 / 17.23 pace / 126 - 135 hr.

Water retention and Immersion...

I woke up this morning and weighed in at 185 lbs, on Friday I was 181.6 lbs. That was from a weekend of partying. It's so much fun at the time, but when you drink beer it is so easy to gain weight. By the end of the week I'll be back down to 181 - 183 lbs, but even with a lot of training it is hard to keep the weight down when you drink beer. The one thing about gaining a little weight is that it motivates you to train and burn it off. Tonight, after my weight training session was my long swim, the first real swim since I got my tattoo almost three weeks ago. I was scheduled to do 3500 meters, but I got in the pool little late and was only able to do 3100 meters before it closed. When I woke up this morning, for no apparent reason my left shoulder was a little sore when I moved it in a certain position, so when I swam tonight I didn't want to over do it and get injured so I went a little slower than normal. Or at least that is my excuse anyway. Although I will say I've lost some strength in the pool. When I was doing the butterfly I can normally do 50 meters pretty strong and tonight I was only able to do one 50 meters, barely, and then the other two I could only do 25 meters strong. I was also doing my 100's at a 1:50 - 2:00 pace, which is slower than the 1:38 - 1:48's that I was doing three weeks ago. I will say that I enjoyed the swim and it felt good to get back in the water.

Weights - 30 minutes

Long Swim - 1:07:36 / 3100 meters

Lazy, Lazy Day...

Alice and I didn't get to bed until 5 am and I had to get up for 9 am because Henry was coming by to do work on my bar. It was a good thing I set the alarm because if I didn't I definitely wouldn't have heard the doorbell ring. While Henry worked, I was hurting, all I wanted to do was go back to bed. While he worked I made myself a grand slam breakfast of pancakes, an egg, bacon and rye toast. Henry only took about an hour and a half, thank goodness, and I went right back to bed and slept till 2 pm. The rest of the day was grocery shopping and coming home and napping. I also booked flights to Las Vegas for "work" and then Alice is going to join me and we are going to "play". We had our regular family Sunday steak dinner and by 8 pm I was on my bike for my long ride. I made a point not to look at my watch. I find that if I don't look at the watch time goes by faster. When I did look at it, I only had 1 minute of riding left. The time flew by and my legs felt really good and strong. This ride was also one of those days where you just sweat salt and it smells like you were training. Even when I had my shower the salt was burning my eyes. I guess my body was detoxing.

Long Bike / 2 hours / 36.47 miles / 18.24 mph

Oh what a beautiful day...

I had a great sleep. Woke up at noon. I needed it after staying up with Alice until 3 am. Today was unusually warm weather, it got up to plus 9 C. I decided to go for my run in the afternoon when it was warmest and I could put some food and lots of water in my body before the run. Before the run, Alice and I ran a lot of errands and of course it all cost money. I needed to get new shoes and a new coat. We lucked out because every store was having a sale, I got a great jacket from Danier Leather at half price. The deals were so good, even the employees were buying jackets for themselves. 

Saturdays are my long run and I like to run in the escarpment, it so scenic. My resting heart rate was higher than normal because of the late night, which mean my running heart rate is going to be higher, which it was. To keep my heart rate below 140 bpm I had to walk at least a dozen times. At the best of times it is hard to keep the heart rate down in the Escarpment with all the hills and today it was REAL windy. I started the run feeling a little rough and by the time I got back I felt great. It's amazing what a good run in the fresh air can do for the body and mind. Only downside was both feet are starting to get blisters from the new shoes.

Long Run - 9.26 miles / 1:15:42 / 8:09 pace

16b

Back in the water...

I had a great day at work today. It was one of those days were I was on a roll, I got everything done and done well. I didn't eat lunch, other than a bag of microwave popcorn and a couple of yogurts and by the time I left work my desk had nothing on it but an in basket. Right from work I went to the Y and on the way I was debating if I should swim today or wait until Monday. I ended up taking the plunge, pun intended, and did a swim. It just worked out that today's scheduled workout was a short one. I did 4 x 100 meters of speed work and my fastest was 1:35 and my slowest 1:38. Not bad considering being off for 16 days. After the swim I did weights. I set a PR on the squat press, I did 540 lbs, that's 12 - 45 lb plates (6 plates per side) and I was able to do 15 reps. I found that my left calf was cramping. I think it was because of the swimming and having to point my toes, although I'm always paranoid that it's dehydration. I made sure I had a good stretching session after the weight training. On the way home I picked up some beers and when I got home I met Alyssa's boyfriend for the first time. He seems alright. It was also a big night for Reid, he went to the local community center for a dance. It is the first time he's ever been to a dance.

Swimming - 22:21 / 1100 meters.

Weights - 35 minutes

15b

The blog logged over 5000...

This week has just flown by. That's the one thing about training regularly, it's like ground hog day everyday. I Wake up, have a protein drink, go to work, come home, eat, nap, train, log my training, blog, watch the Daily Show, go to bed, and then do it all over again. It causes the week to fly by, especially the weekdays. Which I guess isn't necessary a bad thing. I'm finding as the days get longer my energy gets better, the less sleep I need and my evening naps are becoming much shorter. In December and January I was napping 60 - 90 minutes a day, now I can get by with 15 - 20 minutes. During the Spring and Summer last year I don't think I napped very much at all, if any. Tonight's training was a tempo bike ride for an hour. Before the ride, Alice and I went to the LCBO to pick up some beer and rum. It's been a good week, I've got a lot done and I figured a few cocktails tonight will be a great way to ease into the weekend. I made sure I only picked up 6 beers, I don't want to over do it, I need to get up at 5:30 am to get Reid to his hockey practice and I need a clear head for work, I've got a couple of important meetings. I also saw my blog visitor clock surpassed 5000 visits to my blog today. I'm amazed and shocked at how many people have been to my blog over the last 15 months.

Tempo Bike / 1 hour / 18.93 miles / 18.84 pace / 138 - 140 bpm

8b

A blistering run...

I weighed in today at 182.8 and a 21.8 BMI, it was exactly what is was last Friday when we went to Winnipeg. I was actually pretty surprised that it was back down after eating and drinking so much on the weekend. I felt much better today, I'm fully recuperated. Before my tempo run tonight, Alice, Reid and I went to the movie "Gran Torino". It was a pretty good movie. Before we left I was pretty tired and could have used a nap. When we got to the movie I thought I was going to fall asleep in my chair, but as we got into the movie, it got my interest and I got my second wind. When we got home and I got out the door for my run around 9:30 pm. I was a little frustrated before I left because my GPS ran out of power again. It's not like a regular watch with a battery, it's a rechargeable battery that only lasts 7 hours and then has to be recharged and if you leave it on overnight it drains the battery. It was frustrating because whenever I do a tempo run I'm always like looking at my speed during the run and tonight I couldn't. Before I left the house I put on an old pair of socks, which was a big mistake. With the old socks being loose and moving around in the new shoes, I got a blister starting on my left foot. It was irritating but didn't get painful before I finished, thank goodness. I need it to heal by my Saturday long run. Time for some new socks, the ones I was wearing were probably 4 years old. In the end, I had a good run and at times I felt like I was running on springs.

Tempo run - 45:00 / 6.01 / 7:28 pace / 138 - 142 bpm

New shoes, new spring in my step...

I wanted to wake up early in order to give myself enough time for a relaxed breakfast. Since I stopped snacking after 8 pm, I long for my breakfast. It's like my treat. I actually don't eat perfectly before 8 pm, I try to minimize bad eating, but I'll still have some potato chips and such, but I try not to pig out. But after 8 pm, no food, except for fruit or power bars every hour if I'm exercising. I find not eating after 8 pm gives my body more time to recover and get rid of toxins. I find my weight is more manageable when I don't eat past 8 pm. My next step is to try and not eat any fried or simple carbohydrate foods at all. I was thinking about it during my run tonight. My plan is to race this year around 170 lbs and I currently weight about 183 lbs. I was thinking that rather than trying to lose all the weight over a one month period, I should just make some simple adjustments so that I loose about 1 lb a week. I think that if I cut out fried and simple foods and not eat after 8 pm it will happen. The only thing I won't do is cut out the beer, but I will try to limit it.

I had 8 hours of sleep last night, but still woke up pretty tired. I started to feel better and feel sharper as the day wore on. At lunch time I went and bought a new pair of runners. It broke my heart spending $150, but I knew I had to or risk injury. When I got home I was tired. I had something to eat, then a quick nap and then on to training. I did a moderate paced run and bike ride. I made sure I drank a lot of water and I had a really good stretch after the session. I could really tell the difference with the new running shoes. Much more support and I felt like I was running on springs. It was unbelievable. I compared the new ones to the old ones and the old ones were about 3/8" flatter, same model, but compressed from the wear and tear. After the run I did a bike ride, for the first 15 minutes I couldn't push hard and keep a high cadence. Then after about 30 minutes my legs felt super human and I was just powering. It's strange, I can get sore, but if I just keep going, I get stronger, I don't feel the pain. The pain somehow gets masked and then I feel like a machine. Bryan "the Train" Payne.

Mod Run - 50:18 minutes / 6.18 miles / 8:13 pace / 130 - 135 bpm

Mod Bike - 75 minutes / 20.02 miles / 17.62 mph /129 - 133 bpm

Back to business...

I looked up at the alarm clock at 5:55 am and was going to get up to do my long ride, but figured it would probably be best to catch up on my sleep. It was a good call, I need recovery from this past weekend. All day long I've been drinking water, I'm not sure if my calf's are dehydrated, or they are phantom pains. When I woke up I decided to use my massage roller on my calves, just as a precaution and I think I'm going to keep doing that until I feel comfortable again. Plus new shoes are a must. 

I had to go to the dentist again today, just 20 minutes before the Wedding one of my crowns came off when I bit into a pre Wedding snack. In the last two months I've had a root canal and three crowns. Hopefully after today's permanent gluing of the crown I won't have to see the dentist for a while. Although I do like going to see Bruce Gardner, he's my dentist and has done over 40 marathons and also does triathlons. I took a picture of us in his office, on the walls of his office are pictures of him doing his marathons throughout the years. It's a great idea, a "wall of fame". I did a long ride today, afterwards all my lower legs were doing was twitching from muscles spasms. I love that feeling, I always think my muscles are growing when that happens. I found myself really tired after the ride, my legs weren't sore and I wasn't bonking, I was just tired in a "Zen" like way. I think the weekend was catching up with me. After a snooze, I literally pushed myself out the door to get to the Y and do my weights. The first half of the session was HARD and I felt like I lost strength. By the end, I felt great and got my energy back. It's amazing what working out can do. I'm so glad I'm back home and getting into my regular routine.

Long Bike - 2:35 /47.02 miles / 18.02 mph

Weights - 35 minutes

January Training Totals:

Swimming - 6.05 miles

Biking - 330.08 miles

Running - 82.42

Weights - 9 sessions

Totals - 418.55 miles / 31,582 calories

Total Time - 38.48 hours

100b

Super Bowl Sunday and we had our last fun day...

Another late night, and I woke up with an even bigger "black dog". We ended up going for brunch with Rich and Sharon. They had a late night as well and Rich also had the "black dog" chasing him. Alice and Sharon are lucky, they can get hungover but don't get the BD. We went to Shooters on Main and the food was awesome, it's in the club house of a driving range which you would think would be the most unlikely place to have a great restaurant. It was packed, it is becoming one of those hidden, word of mouth treasures. The timing was perfect, by the time we were done, we got to the Airport and for the last day of our mini holiday, sans kids, we had a few cocktails. Nothing fixes a sore head like more drinks. It was a great flight, it arrived early and we decided to go for dinner and drinks around the corner from our house and watch the Super Bowl before heading home. It turned out that my phone died and we were having such a good time we forgot to call the kids, which is not like us, especially Alice, and by the time we got home it was 11 pm. The kids thought we'd be home by 7 pm, so they were starting to get worried, checking to see if any planes crashed or major  vehicle accidents, then they started to call my parents. I was torn, I was glad to add drama to their home alone stay, but I felt bad for dragging my parents into it and causing any worry. My plan was to do a 3 hour bike ride, but for only the second time in 18 months I didn't do it. I figured I'm dehydrated and don't want to get injured, Alice and I are having fun, it's the off season and not a critical workout (although I do need to burn off all the food and booze) and I can always do it tomorrow, since tomorrow is a swim day and I still can't swim because the tattoo is not healed.

Fun Day - Rest Day