The week started out pretty sloppy with all the snow melting away but mid week the temperature climbed up into the mid 40's.  Here is a glance at my past week:

Swim : 3 sessions x 80 minutes = 4 hours & 14250 yds

Bike : 2 trainer workouts and 2 long rides = 9 hours & 159 miles

Run : 2 treadmill workouts b/c of snow, 1 easy run and one long run
3 1/2 hours = 25 miles

Misc. workouts: 3 1/2= 3 hours
Total Hours: 20

Felt very strong this week.  This weekend I was down in N. Carolina training and had beautiful weather.  I did a long ride one day and the next day did my long run and felt very strong.  I think it was a combination of training in a new location and awesome weather.  Last week I started to add a long swim day were I log 6000yds for one workout to try and help my endurance for racing, we'll see if it works.

Till next week train hard and stay focused

I want to know why it is so tempting  for motorists to feel the need to honk their horns, yell obscenities while hanging out of the car window and try and hold a conversation with us while we are out there riding.
HONKING THE HORN:  I understand that about 10% of the honkers have good intentions, they honk from farther away and its a quick toot toot.  I like this, very courteous, and always gets a thank you wave as they drive by.  Then there's the honk when they are right up on you and HONK for about 5sec.  Is this because they think we are hard of hearing, they think they are better than us because they have a horn and we don't, or because they like to toot there own horn? 

YELLING OBSCENITIES:  Let me first say I don't understand this concept in general hanging out of a car window or not.  These people are hanging out of there car windows yelling at us telling us to get off the road while this nimrod is dangling out of a car.  Who is the unsafe one?  Maybe next time I'll offer this guy my bike helmet just to protect him in case he gets side swiped by a tree branch.  Hey.  I'm not wishing that upon him but...   

CONVERSATION GUY:  This guy is a little different than our yeller,  he will drive next to us to tell us how dangerous it is to be riding on the rode.  This is all happening while he is leaning into the passenger seat, with one hand on the wheel and eyes on us with a glance at the road every 10 seconds or so.  What is wrong with this guy?  Besides the fact that he could run us of f the road, oh yeah and get in a head-on collision which would probably take us out also.  Everything is wrong with this guy: he insults our intelligence, could potentially take us out in the process, and he is being so reckless.  I guess he is trying to make us aware that there are vehicles on the roads, so be careful.  So, if this is the case the thought is in the right place but the timing is way off. 

Ride safe everyone and follow all rules of the rode and do not get distracted!!  

    I had a long bike ride yesterday on a beautiful but windy day and had a big training day today (4hrs of a little bit of everything).  I was wiped out by the end of the day.  I grabbed a quick snack before bed and headed up a little later than normal which was a no-no.  I should of made it a priority to go to bed on time.  I tossed around in bed for hours and stared at my clock watching the time tick away.  With my early morning swim workout approaching, I managed to log probably a horrible 4 hours of restless sleep. 
    I woke up and went to swim practice and I was exhausted, unmotivated and lacked FOCUS.  It started by losing count on short distance swim sets, then my stroke lost its fluidity.  I was wasting so much energy with the poor quality of my swim stroke and was getting very frustrated that I kept losing count or my place in the workout.
    About halfway through the workout I gave myself a pep talk and got myself out of the bad funk I was in.  I now was somewhat working on all cylinders other than my body was fatigued.  My form was back and I was back on track with the workout but I felt like I was spending so much of my extra energy on focusing to keep myself in line.  I made it through but very frustrated and upset with the overall effort I just put into the workout.
     Which brings me to question: How important is rest when it relates to focusing?
    Obviously we know we need to rest to let our bodies recover properly so we can train the following day just as hard but maybe something that is overlooked is the ability to focus completely.  When racing or competing, any slip in concentration or focus could be the difference between a PR or a DNF.  Focusing is so key in these long endurance races but to stay focused for such long periods of time it is so hard to begin with, so we don't start behind the eight ball before the race even starts.  A proper night's sleep is the first key, in my opinion, the day of a race.  Don't take a short cut when it is so easy to go to bed at a decent time the night of the race.  Now the only problem is trying to fall asleep on pre-race night.  In order to perform at a high level make sure you take advantage of every portion of the race as possible.  Take care of the easy ones and they will set you up in a better position for the harder ones.

SLEEP HARD - STAY FOCUSED

1 Banana - Prior to swim workout

Breakfast:
1 Bowl of Kashi Cinnamon Crumble Cereal w/ lowfat milk
1 Banana
3 hard boiled eggs - no yolks
1 Yoplait Greek Yogurt w/ Homemade Granola
Green Grapes

Mid-morning Snack: 1 Clif Bar - Peppermint

Lunch:
1 Turkey/Cheese sandwich
    -Red pepper/Tomato/Spinach/Avocado
    -Homemade Honey Mustard Spread
    -Bread: Arnold's Honey Wheat Sandwich Thins

Snack:
    -Handful Roasted Almonds : Emerald Nuts
    -1 banana choc. chip Granola Bar : Kashi Foods

Dinner:
Homemade: Peking Chicken & Fresh Broccoli/Celery/Onion/Noodle Stir-Fry
Big Salad: Romaine Lettuce/Spinach/Kale/Red Pepper/Celery/Broccoli/Tomato
    Topped with light Italian Dressing
1 - Pink Lady Apple

Snack: 1 cup homemade granola

Just a glimpse into my daily eating habits and what I enjoy.  I really like fresh fruits and vegetables.  I honestly don't like vegetables all that much but force myself to eat them because they are so good for me.  I love fruit though.  My favorite fruits are peaches, cherries, strawberries and blueberries, YUM!!  Well hope you enjoyed a taste of my weekly food consumption. 

This week was a good week other than the winter weather towards the end of the week.  Here's what I was up to:

Swim: 3x80 min sessions: 14,050yds (on Wed did 6000 yds)

Bike : Consisted of 3 trainer workouts: about 4hrs 10 min - totaling 65 miles
was suppose to have long ride on 1/22 but 6 inches of snow put a damper on that idea.  Pushing it till Monday or Tuesday weather and road conditions permitting.

Run: 3 hours 40 min - totaling about 31 miles - did long yesterday of 13.2 miles on a regular route for myself and PR'd it, so was happy considering icy conditions, all the layers I was wearing and the overall cold temperatures. 

Misc Core execises:  3 at about an 1hr each : total 3 hours

Total Workout Hours per Week: 15 hours

First week that I could see the improvements from last season.  I felt like I was getting faster and stronger but never related to the workouts till this week.  I am not really feeling the fatigue factor as much now as I did before.  Todd, my coach from T Wiley Sports, has me on a good plan and will continue to work it as hard as I can, to get the results I desire. 

Till next time - Give that little extra at the end of each workout

Alright, I was talking with my really good friend this morning at the pool, Mandy Lovett, a fellow Triathlete, about music.  She told me that her husband made her a mix tape of songs for her workouts.  So I said jokingly to her "what did he put them on a cassette for so you could play it on your "walkman."  We both laughed but as I started my next set I was like, man, those things were the bomb and I believe until this past year they were still being made.  But anyway, I think the technology for our portable music "boxes" must of been engineered by perhaps, need I say it, a triathlete.  Just think about: 
    It first started with portable transistor radio and I bet Mr. "T"riathlete was like lets hook up some wires to this thing and put mini speakers right next to our ears.  We have have to cut down on drag and weight so we can't use the big earmuff type headphones.  So Mr. "T" came up with mini speakers covered in an abrasive foam material connected by a thin piece of steel, probably cutting both drag and weight from its predecessor by about 100 percent.  The only problem was that when your clothing moved it would sometime change the station from 80's rock, to country, to gospel to static.  
    Next came the cassette tape so Mr. "T" thought wow that looks pretty aerodynamically sound if I use that I won't have to listen to static, commercials and really bad songs during crucial parts of my workouts.  So he came up with the ever popular "Walkman."  He also added the bright yellow Sony Walkman probably for night time running so you could be seen more easily.  I thought of it all. 
    There was a small design flaw though, the athletes would have to carry their walkman.  "We can't have this on our long workout days, we can't waste any energy on holding the walkman, we need all of our energy going toward our workout," he thought.  So the ingenious Mr. "T" came up with the velcro arm band.  GENIUS!!!
    After years of dominating the market the walkman was shown the exit door but didn't leave without a fight in true triathlete style.  The Portable CD Player came on the scene.  This was super sleek looking - the CD was reflective like the moon blankets you get after a cold race.  This is perfect.  Mr. "T"'s plan was to incorporate the velcro arm band or incorporate huge pockets in training gear to help hold this contraption.  Mr. "T" then put on the CD player a song time window that could double as a stop watch if one was inclined to do the math in order to pass the monotony of a long run.   One glich though - when you bounced the CD skipped.  Not to mention the weight of these things were pretty heavy, a major no no for training long distances.  It was probably the 6 AA batteries you needed to operate the high piece of technology.  One upgrade Mr. "T" did make was the strapless headphones.  He took out the steel connector piece attached to the speaker, did away with the abrasive foam covers and made the speakers even smaller to fit into your ears, all weight and aerodynamic upgrades, for sure.  They probably were 50/50 with the walkman for use in workouts.  
    Next came the I-pod and this revolutionized the portable music industry.  Mr."T" clever design combined electronic technology and light weight materials to come up with a music box that was smaller than a pack of gum and weighed even less.  You could store hundreds of songs and never listen to the same song twice.  Awesome.  It even passes the aerodynamic test of being paper thin and the weight test (can't be more than a few ounces).  Mr. "T" has come up with the perfect music box for working out. 
    Wait hold the Phone what if Mr."T" could add GPS to it or maybe a Heart Rate Monitor.  I think we might be on to something...
So this all started with the cassette mix tape, Mandy and I were talking about and it turned into all this. 
Special Thanks to Mr. "T" for making my workouts so much easier with all the innovations to the "Music Box." 

I sent out my first wave of Sponsorship Letters yesterday and will hopefully hear some positive feedback.  I have my fingers crossed.  Contacted about 15 different companies varying from tri-related companies to food companies.  I stuck with companies were I use or eat there products.  I also looked into a few local companies that share my same philosophies, so we'll see.  Just looking for some help to get things moving.  If anybody out there knows anybody that works for a company that might be interested in sponsoring me please pass my info. along.  I appreciate everybodies support.  My goal is to get my name out there to get some exposure.  We'll see.

Here is a glimpse of this past weeks training.

Swim: 3x80min sessions totalling: 12,650 yds.

Bike: 1 long 3hr ride = 47 miles in bitter cold
        2 trainer workouts totaling : 2:25 = 42 miles

Run : 4 Sessions = 3:55 = 33.2 miles

Misc. Core and Strength Workouts: 5 sessions : 1hr a piece

Total Time:  17.3 hours/week

Felt Strong throughout my core & strength workouts along with my trainer workouts for the bike.  I feel like they are really paying off.   

Welcome to the K17Sport Blog. 

Just got back from a three hour bike ride in freezing conditions.  I was debating if I should suck it up to ride outside BBBRRRRR!! or just ride on the trainer BBOOORRRIIINNNGGG workout!! I decided to go with riding outside.  It was 16 degrees at the start of the ride and got all the way up to 19 degrees by the time I was done.  My whole ride I kept thinking, why am I out here in these frigid conditions and when is it to cold to ride.  So I came up with a, how you know when its to cold ride list:
1) Your water bottle freezes within the first twenty minutes of riding
2) You can't eat anything for fear of breaking teeth from food being frozen
3) The fog on your sunglasses begins to freeze
4) Your face is frozen in an ugly smirk that says "What the hell am I doing"
5) You can't feel any of your 10 toes or 10 fingers
and Finally
6) You get home and your spouse says is that snot frozen all over your face!!

I think next time when it is so cold I will opt to go the boring route.