Wednesday semi-rest...

Anytime I have only one workout session in a day, I think of it as a rest day.

Today was one of those days. I only had an hour bike workout at tempo speed.

I was a little tired before the ride and I much prefer outside riding, but I just put one foot in front of the other and rode.

The ride seemed short. I started at the same time "American Idol" started and before I knew it the ride was over.

After the ride and my stretching, I felt awesome!

Since returning from Vegas I've been tired and not my normal 100% self looking forward to the workouts. Last night I slept 9 1/2 hours and when I woke up I had a cold sore.

I guess my body is telling me something.

I got my next six weeks of training workouts, the 5000 meter long swim in a month looked interesting. And that is just a training session for my 1/2 Ironman.

What's the Ironman training going to look like?

Super Tuesday...

Tuesday is my longest "during the week" training sessions.

Today I had a 1 hour 10 minute run and a 3500 meter swim that took me 1 hour and 24 minutes.

For the first time I really wasn't looking forward to today's workout sessions. But I just forced myself to go and the interesting thing is that I felt good during and after the workouts.

I'm still tired from my trip to Las Vegas, the time zone changes take a while for my body to get used to.

This morning, for the first time in a long time, I was very tired. It was hard to get out of bed.

So far in the first 5 days of this month I done over 100 miles of training, between biking, swimming and running.

It also turns out that I'm going to go to Israel for a few days next month.

That will be a challenge to keep my training up, but I think I can do it...hopefully...I did in Vegas.

I wonder if they have a YMCA?

Finally some sleep...then back at it!

Today I stayed home from work and slept for 4.5 hours.

I really needed to catch up after Vegas. I worked and played really hard.

When I woke, I played on the computer and signed up for the Hawaii Ironman lottery. There is 50 slots open for International athletes. I also signed up for the passport club to get a better chance of winning a spot.

It would be great if I get chosen, as the last time I did Kona was during our honeymoon. If I get chosen this year, it will be on our 20th wedding anniversary. Getting chosen and going for our 20th anniversary with the kids would be really cool.

Training today was an hour and forty five minute ride and an hour of weights. Afterwards Reid had me play hockey with him in the basement. I was starting to bonk!

It turns out I gained 2 lbs during the Vegas trip. It does and doesn't surprise me. I'll know where I'm at for sure when I weigh myself tomorrow.

Coming Home...running all day...

It was a late night last night.

I went to a UFC match, then bar hopping. Having way to much fun and plenty of cocktails along the way.

Saturday was also my "free to eat anything I want" and the hot dog at the UFC and the greasy late night hamburger platter tasted sweet.

I got to bed around 4:30 am and was up by 9:00 am.

I was in no condition, nor had the time, to do my long run. It turned out the weather wasn't that nice anyway, so I didn't feel that bad.

When I got home it was 9:30 pm. I watched the end of the Super Bowl and then went for my long run afterwards.

Surprisingly I felt pretty good before and during the run.

Before I started the run, my heart rate was in the high 50's bpm, which is incredible considering the abuse I put on my body the night before.

My run was 1 hour 35 minutes and I averaged 9:04 per mile, which was 30 seconds per mile faster than last Sunday's long run. My heart rate was around 128 bpm for most of the run.

Another late night! And I need to get up at 6 am to drive Reid to his hockey practice.

At least I achieved my goal of keeping up my training during a very busy business trip.

The training ended up totaling 7 hours over in 3 days, plus my hour and a half run when I got home.

Mission accomplished!

Las Vegas...Day 3

Today was a really big and action packed day.

The night before I didn't get to bed until 12:30 am after many cocktails at the HP after party and hanging around the bar at the Wynn hotel.

I still managed to get up and was at the hotel gym and on the lifecycle by 6:30 am for my 2.5 hour long ride.

It was the first time I've ever done a long bike on a stationary bike at a health club.

The first hour was rough, but once the endorphins kicked in I felt much better. According to the bike computer I was doing about 184 watts for pretty much most of the ride.

Later in the afternoon, after the trade show was over, I rushed to the YMCA to put in a 3000 meter swim. I was hurrying to finish, as I had tickets to the UFC, so I put the swim burners on and finished in 1 hour 6 minutes.

The amazing thing about the swim was that it was very difficult to even keep the heart rate over 120 bpm. For the first 1400 meters of a long swim drill, I averaged 2:04 minutes per hundred meters.

My swimming is showing improvement. During my triathlon races this past summer my average pace was 2:25 per hundred meters.

Las Vegas...Day 2

I got to bed at 10pm last night and had a good 8.5 hour sleep. I was able to wake up for my run before the wake up call.

I decided to run the strip. It was around 32F, a little colder than I thought Vegas would be. I really wasn't dressed for it.

But with that said, it was great to run in shorts. It was a 50 minute tempo run and it felt good. Legs are still fresh after all my training.

Tonight is the test, I have a lot of post trade show party's with free booze. And a 10 pm get together with some prospective clients. I need to behave myself because tommorrow is a 2.5 hour ride and hour swim.

Another early morning wake up call.

Vegas...Day 1

I got to Vegas late and was in bed by 12:30 am (2:30 am EST).

I was worried about how I would feel the next morning. Whether or not I would even be able to wake up or have any energy to work out.

I was up at 5:40 am and took a cab to the local YMCA. I actually woke up pretty easily. I had a good swim workout, it was 3000 meters of speed work.

During a swim, I could barely get my heart rate up any more than 135 bpm, physically my arms were not strong enough to go harder.

I've never had my heart rate limited by my inability to push harder!

I also did an hour of weights and followed up with 15 minutes of stretching. I really got a good pump in the legs.

After the workout I felt great.

I've also really started to notice my body shape changing.

My legs are starting to change shape and I'm getting muscles in places on my body that I can't remember ever having before.

Not a bad side effect!

And this is only the three weeks into the program.